Dungeon Predator (WN)

"The wall's our way out!" Kang Oh yelled.

Eder had fought alongside Kang Oh for a long time, so he knew what Kang Oh wanted from him.

"I'll hold them off. Please open it ASAP!"

"Ok!" Kang Oh approached the strange wall, while Eder stood before the horde of Death Worms.

'I need to buy as much time as I can. To do that...'

When Eder remodeled Eclipse's body, he focused on certain traits. An Immortal Monarch, or a Lich's greatest strength lay in their ability to summon the undead. However, he gave up on that ability, and had instead maximized the body's ability to use bone magic and curses!

Bam.

Eder slammed his scythe onto the ground. Then, a purple ring spread outwards.

AoE Curse: Age!

The Death Worms noticeably slowed. It didn't just decrease their speed; it lowered all of their abilities!

'Next is...'

Bone Wall!

Eder raised his hand into the air, and a thick wall rose from the ground.

The aging curse had weakened the Death Worms' acid too. Thus, the bone wall would be able to withstand their assault much longer than usual. Of course, it was still just a temporary measure.

Soon, the Death Worms would break through the bone wall and overwhelm them with their endless numbers.

Thus...

"Please hurry," Eder yelled.

"Yeah," Kang Oh replied absentmindedly. He was busy examining the wall.

'It's definitely not a normal wall.'

The wall didn't feel right. A hard wall wouldn't feel like this. It felt more like leather that'd been pulled tight. Or maybe it was more like skin. Even so, it was tough to the touch like a tendon.

'How do I open this?'

The first thing he thought of was ripping it open with a precise attack! Kang Oh immediately tested his hypothesis.

Transcendent Blade!

Flash!

Like a flash of light, Kang Oh swung Ubist downwards.

As a result...

Complete fail!

It didn't even leave a trace.

"Haa, haa." Kang Oh caught his breath, creases forming on his forehead. Using Transcendent Blade consumed his HP, as well as the MP and Stamina that he'd been saving.

'You can't open it by force.'

The wall had completely absorbed the force of his attack. The fact that Transcendent Blade hadn't even left a trace was proof of this!

'Then...'

He needed to try fire next. Perhaps the wall would react to it.

"Hey, Eder!"

"Yes?"

"Can you use basic fire magic?"

"I can cast a fireball."

While inside the Lich's body, Eder was capable of casting a few useful spells outside the realm of necromancy. It ranged from creating a light sphere that'd illuminate their surroundings to creating a transfer magic circle. He could also cast basic spells like Fireball or Waterball. The only problem was how weak they were.

"Shoot a fireball at the wall."

"Alright." Eder stretched out his hand.

Roar.

A fireball, the size of an adult's fist, flew towards the wall. But upon impact, it was completely absorbed. Just to be sure, Eder cast a waterball too. However, the same thing happened; it too was absorbed.

"It absorbs physical and magical attacks," Kang Oh quickly concluded.

"Do you have any other ideas?" Eder asked.

"There might be a 'button' that opens the wall." Kang Oh carefully patted the wall with both hands.

'Huh?'

His right hand felt a small bump. Fiddling with it caused the wall to pulsate. Kang Oh kept playing around with it, causing the wall's shaking to intensify, and eventually, a zigzag crack opened.

'This is it!' Kang Oh wriggled his fingers around, as if he were playing a piano, and kept tickling the lump.

The wall trembled, and the zigzag crack opened once more. But no matter how much he fiddled with it, it wouldn't open wide enough for them to move through it.

"Mr. Kang Oh!" Eder yelled. The bone wall melted, revealing a horde of approaching Death Worms.

"Just give me a little more time!"

"I won't be able to hold them back for much longer." Eder cast Bone Wall once more.

The only thing standing between him and the Death Worms was Bone Wall. If they got through the wall, then he would use Bone Bomb no matter what.

Kang Oh was absorbed in thought. His fingers wouldn't be enough; he needed something that'd be even more ticklish.

'Something like a feather... Oh, that's right!' Kang Oh quickly opened his inventory and pulled out a black crow feather. It was a token of friendship that the Nuwak Tribe had given him!

Kang Oh began tickling the bump with the feather. "Oooh!"

Tremble!

It was shaking unusually.

'Take this, and this, and this!' Kang Oh kept tickling the bump with the feather.

And finally...!

Split!

It was wide enough for him to pass through. Kang Oh immediately jumped in, and the opening closed instantly. Eder was left behind on the other side, but that wasn't an issue.

"Summon Eder!"

Soon enough, Eder's blazing eye sockets stared back at him.

"Phew. What a relief."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kang Oh took a look around.

They were in a completely different environment. The best way to describe it was a 'crystal cave'. However, it was much different from a normal crystal cave.

First, the color of the crystals! The crystals were as red as blood, and upon closer inspection, it seemed like they were filled with some sort of liquid. They didn't radiate dim or bright light either. Plus, the crystals were interconnected with thick pipes; the pipes repeatedly expanded and then shrank back down.

'They're like blood vessels.' No, they may actually be blood vessels. After all, he was inside Liviola's body right now. 'So we went from the digestive organs to the vital organs...'

"Where do we go now?" Eder looked around and asked.

"We have to find its heart."

"Its heart?"

"In cases like this, you usually find something important at the heart." After all, the heart was one of the body's most vital organs.

"In cases like this?"

"When you need to find something within a giant monster."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, so follow me."

Kang Oh followed the crystals and the interconnected pipes. If these were indeed Liviola's blood vessels, then the heart should be at the end of these pipes.

How far did they go?

Kang Oh and Eder's progress was halted by monsters made of blood red crystals. They were about 2 meters tall, and had thick, wide shoulders and forearms, and short legs. There were five of them.

"I've never seen these things before." Kang Oh knew several monsters, but he had absolutely no information on these ones.

'I need to learn more about it first.' Kang Oh drew Demon Sword Blood.

Kuha!

The crystal monsters simultaneously opened their mouths.

Spurt!

Out came crystal fragments. The fragments pierced through the air, the pointy ends as sharp as a drill. Kang Oh didn't retreat; instead, he advanced while avoiding the fragments.

Whoosh!

One of the crystal monsters swung its heavy fist at him. However, it wasn't your average fist.

Bam!

Sharp crystals suddenly protruded from its arm and fist. Thus, it looked more like a spiked mace than a hand.

"Huahp!" Kang Oh swung Blood.

Clang!

His blade clashed with its fist. The sound of cracking crystals echoed throughout the room, and crystal powder fell to the floor.

'This kind of strength and speed... It's over level 300...' The crystal monsters were by no means weak.

Another crystal monster swung its fist at him, and this time, its hand transformed into a sharp, crystal blade. Kang Oh quickly turned his body to the side.

Swish!

Kang Oh dodged its strike by a hair's breadth; the strike, having grazed past Kang Oh, left behind a vertical groove in the ground. Based on the trace it left behind, the crystal sword was quite sharp indeed.

Before it could swing its crystal sword again, Kang Oh counterattacked.

'A weak point!'

Of the many crystals that made up the monster's body, its weakness was a crystal that was darker than all the others.

Thrust!

Stab!

A giant shard of light escaped its body, which was promptly absorbed by Blood. Kang Oh immediately rushed forward, and then followed his previous attack with an upward strike.

Uwooooh!

The other crystal monsters surrounded him and attacked.

Kang Oh's expression remained calm. He wasn't alone after all!

"Not going to happen!" Eder slammed his scythe onto the ground.

Bone Road!

Bone spikes rose from the ground, hitting any crystal monster in their path. Kang Oh used that opportunity to swing Blood in a wide arc.

Darkness Strike!

The red wave formed a circle around him like Jwibulnori, and then spread outwards.

Boom!

The five crystal monsters reeled from the impact.

With Darkness Strike's activation, Blood had instantly gained max stacks. Thus, Kang Oh immediately followed it up with a Blood bomb.

The crystal monsters thought they'd surrounded him! But what they'd actually done was jump into an explosion of their own accord.

Boom!

The crystal monsters fell to the floor, sloughing blood red crystals.

"Please get out of the way!" Eder said.

Kang Oh immediately backed off. Eder then clenched his fist.

Bone Bomb!

The bone spikes exploded.

Boom!

Bone fragments flew everywhere!

Bam, bam, bam!

The bone fragments indiscriminately battered the crystal monsters. However, they were still alive.

Kang Oh swung Blood downwards.

Tempest Tiger!

The golden aura pounced on the crystal monsters. Only then did they break into pieces.

[You have defeated a Bloodstone Doll.]

They were apparently called Bloodstone Dolls. Anyhow, Tempest Tiger was followed by a raging whirlwind.

Whoosh!

Wooo!

A surviving Bloodstone Doll pierced through the whirlwind. Of course, it hadn't remained unscathed.

"Get him!" Kang Oh yelled.

A short while later...

They finished off all of them. Kang Oh and Eder had won.

* * *

"Mm."

At some point, the environment had changed.The bloodstones, as well as the pipes that connected them together, were still the same. However, the ground was filled with overgrown thicket, and there was a hexagonal hole on the ceiling, which was connected to a hive of some sort.

Bzzzzz!

A swarm of Bloodstone Bees rushed out of the hive. The bees were huge. They were about the size of a human torso. Despite that, they were quick, and could fly well.

"Eder, destroy the hive!" Kang Oh ordered after coming to a decision. If they didn't destroy the hive, then bees would probably keep coming after them.

"Understood."

"C'mon, you stupid bees!"

Kang Oh took on the bees that were flying towards them all by himself. Eder trusted that he'd be fine, and summoned a giant mass of bone.

Whizz!

The bone mass smashed into the hive. Of course, that wasn't all.

Bone Bomb!

Boom!

Eder didn't stop there.

Bone Spear! Bone Bomb! Bone Bind! Bone Bomb!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ultimately, the hive began to crumble. However, the barely surviving Bloodstone Bees popped out of what remained of their hive. Of them, there was one bee in particular that was far different from the rest.

[You are the first to discover the Bloodstone Queen Bee, Agrisan.]

[It is a named monster.]

The queen bee had appeared!

It was about 3 meters large, making it far bigger than other bees. It had a huge body, which was filled with eggs, and its wings were appropriately large in proportion to its body.

Its antennas shook, clearly showing how angry it was.

[The hive has been destroyed.]

[The Bloodstone Bees have gone berserk.]

Moreover, destroying their hive had caused the bees to go berserk.

Bzzzz!

The enraged bees came flying at them.