Chapter 92: Pharaoh
Chapter 92: Pharaoh
“Finally. Now, I can sense Mana better from here.”
Ji-woo couldn’t find a reason why the wall could block his ability to sense the Mana. However, when he stood in front of the five paths at the entrance of the underground labyrinth, the ability worked very well.
“Let’s see. Dong-hyun uses this path.”
Ji-woo looked at the other four paths. He was not sure of how Dong-hyun was because a massive Mana was clouding his sense ability. As for the other three paths, he confirmed that there were several fatalities. He then contemplated which pathway to enter first.
For Ji-woo, helped the hunters that were not the original members of the Raid Party would come later according to the circumstances. He was also sure that Dong-hyun wouldn’t die even if he fought several high-ranked hunters. What Dong-hyun needed to do was use his Mana efficiently and dodge the attacks well and smoothly.
He was more interested in taking the loot of the underground maze. However, the presence of the massive Mana was pretty concerned because it disturbed his Mana sensing ability a little bit. That made Dong-hyun’s situation uncertain.
Suddenly, the underground maze shook quite violently and blew up everything there. The walls and floor fell apart.
Ji-woo’s eyes widened, and his face fell. He ran out of the labyrinth and went to the surface. Of course, he was actually strong enough to hold it in. He would not get hurt by the explosion and the flying debris. But, it was a different story if he got buried, and it would be a hassle to get out of it.
The underground maze shattered into pieces. And what was even more surprising was that several hunters survived the explosion.
Dong-hyun, Seon-ho, Joon-yong, five other B-rank hunters, and seven C-rank hunters survived the destruction.
The three newbie C-rank hunters were nowhere to get seen.
Kaboom!
The maze completely crumbled and collapsed. The entire area became wrapped by a thick and large cloud of dust sand.
Ji-woo covered his nose and mouth from the cloud of dust.
Immediately, the dunes shook, and a giant creature emerged from the ruins of the labyrinth. The being was the same size and shape as an average dragon. It only didn’t stand on four steps. The creature stood on its two legs and shouted upward. The entire body of the giant being got made of gold. Even the wings were the same.
The golden dragon then spouted fire and scorched the sand around it. It also caused the cloud of dust and sand to disappear in an instant. Some surviving hunters could not escape the torrent of fire and got burned to death without a trace.
Seon-ho, Joon-yong, and the five other hunters have nowhere to run anymore.
Joon-yong then kicked Dong-hyun hard to the side. He needed bait to distract the golden dragon. He cast a magic spell and aimed it at the giant creature.
“Magic of Lighting, God’s Thunders!”
In Joon-yong’s hand came out three massive thunderbolts with tremendous power. He threw it hard at the golden dragon and then ran away, leaving Dong-hyun alone in that spot. The other hunters also ran away from there.
Boom! Boom!
The golden dragon got hit by the fierce lightning strike. However, it was not enough to knock him down, much less to injure the giant creature. The golden dragon turned in the direction the attack was coming from and saw Dong-hyun sitting down in fear staring back at it.
The golden dragon took a deep breath and started spitting out flames that were smaller in size. But, it was hotter and more powerful than before.
Luckily, Dong-hyun was able to escape the torrent. He ran from the opposite direction of Seon-ho and Joon-yong.
Unfortunately, Dong-hyun’s escape didn’t go pretty well. He got stopped when the golden dragon jumped and landed in the middle of his stride. The ground sand shook, causing him to fall, and it was difficult to get back up again in a short time.
In that short period of time, the golden dragon spat out its fire again at Dong-hyun.
Dong-hyun closed his eyes while shedding tears. He surrendered himself to get scorched by the golden dragon’s torrent of flames.
Bang!
Suddenly, the golden dragon fell onto the sandy ground after getting kicked in the face.
“You know Dong-hyun~ah. You look so pathetic now. You should continue to show your determination to the end even if you have to lose your life. Instead of closing your eyes and staying on that spot, getting scared.”
Dong-hyun opened his eyes and looked at Ji-woo. He felt relieved but at the same time felt very guilty. He had trained hard under Ji-woo. He had to keep his resolve from then to the end. He wanted to be strong because he wanted to stay alive. At least dying in trying still showed his intention to live, while giving up meant already dead before dying.
Dong-hyun clenched his fists and stood up. He rubbed his face with the back of his hand. He gritted his teeth, and his eyes were red. He had to show his determination. He must be strong. His will to live must be able to make him survive.
“Here are the daggers. Aim at the chest. No need to worry about the dragon’s magic. Let me take care of it.”
Dong-hyun nodded and caught the daggers while Ji-woo stood at the front to lead the final attack.
The golden dragon rose and screamed while letting out a breath of fire. The giant creature then took a deep breath and spat out a big, blazing fire.
Ji-woo jumped up and used both hands to neutralize the destructive fire, which instantly dissolved upon contact with him.
He landed and held the golden dragon’s mouth. He then slammed the giant creature into the sand with a bang.
Dong-hyun followed by landing a few slashes of the dagger on the golden dragon’s chest. He didn’t attack for too long and retreated after using the short burst technique.
The golden dragon tried to get up but was not given a chance by Ji-woo. The creature screamed in pain as Ji-woo ravaged one of the creature’s wings ferociously.
Ji-woo finally collided with the golden dragon that went berserk. The two of them pushed each other with their hands. However, he was at a disadvantage because his footing was the sand.
Meanwhile, the golden dragon had no problem because its big feet and the sand didn’t prevent the creature from using its raw strength. The dragon also didn’t let the opportunity pass and let out its hot flames to shoot at Ji-woo.
Ji-woo could handle the flames. But, the clothes wouldn’t last long enough if it continued.
“Do it now! Pierce the dragon’s chest!”
Ji-woo yelled, and Dong-hyun instantly appeared under the golden dragon, stabbing the two daggers into the creature’s chest. He knew that the defense in the golden dragon’s chest was always weak when it spouted fire. That was why the golden skin was powerful before. But it was brittle now.
The burst of fire at Ji-woo stopped, and the golden dragon stood upright in pain. It let out a hoarse breath of fire while holding the chest pierced by the small weapon.
The golden dragon then lit up and turned into a big fire. And it transformed into a wind of sand at the end.
In the place where the golden dragon disappeared, there was a mummy with less linen than usual and five meters tall. The undead’s face was also uncovered and showed the thin dead skin that forms the bones of the facial skull.
It was the pharaoh of the tomb, the guardian of the underground maze.
“Humans… Deserve…, to…, die!”
Pharaoh took off his linen and revealed his emaciated body covered in fragile dead skin. He then turned into a fire element, and all the sand around him turned into lava.
Dong-hyun got pushed back by the heat pressure of the fire element pharaoh. And he also endured the heat of the lava.
Ji-woo saw the skin on Dong-hyun’s hands slightly burned from holding on to his position.
“Throw me the daggers. I’ll finish that off.”
Dong-hyun tossed the two daggers at Ji-woo. His skin was peeling a little.
“Everything… Must…, incinerate!” The pharaoh shouted in a piercing voice.
However, Ji-woo appeared from behind and thrust both daggers into the pharaoh’s chest.
“No. You’re the one who has to die here.”
The pharaoh fell to its knees. The undead turned its head and glared at Ji-woo. The undead did not understand why the human was able to withstand the heat and touch the body of the fire element.
Ji-woo stared back while his face got held by the pharaoh.
“It won’t be able to hurt me. Magic is futile.”
The pharaoh faded and vanished. The Dungeon Bead finally fell into Ji-woo’s hands. But, before, he wanted to destroy it.
Seon-ho, Joon-yong, and five other hunters come out of their distant hideout.
“Heh! How lucky you two are to be able to defeat the dungeon owner. Good. Good. It’s not in vain that we invite you to join. Now, hand over the Dungeon Bead and obey our orders.”
Ji-woo and Dong-hyun looked at the seven hunters with different thoughts.