67 – 14 – Irregular Mutation – 2

After a short but fierce battle, Gi-jun succeeded in pulling out four more of the moon-swallowing wolf’s front claws.

Now, if he pulled out just the remaining two, the beast’s two front paws would be reduced to mere blunt weapons containing extreme cold, rather than weapons equipped with sharp and deadly blades.

Of course, even that would be incredibly strong—!

—Boom!

It was not the sound of a bomb exploding.

It was the impact sound generated when Gi-jun blocked the charge of the giant wolf—which had leapt backward to retreat and then charged forward, grinding up the entire area—with a giant shield of light created by combining his two shields into one.

—Graaaaaaaoo!

“Ugh, kuuuut…!”

The cold-laden wind that rushed in along with the terrible impact melted against the holy fire wrapping Gi-jun’s entire body, creating thick steam.

The Shock Absorber, which had released all its stored impact and regained its functionality, discharged once again with a beep— sound.

But of course, Gi-jun held his ground without being pushed back this time as well.

“Are you alright, Jun!”

“Even if I’m not okay… I’m fine! Just shoot!”

Gi-jun replied with veins bulging in his neck at Hervunt’s voice coming from behind, then swung his shield to strike Hati in the face.

Because it was right after the collision with Gi-jun, Hati, unable to react in time and struck by the shield, had a stream of blood spurt from its snout.

Almost at the same time, a flying slug hit Hati’s relatively soft abdomen, delivering a significant impact that pushed the beast back, but Hati’s murderous intent had been focused entirely on Gi-jun from the start.

‘Is this really possible?’

From the perspective of a damage dealer attacking from long range, it would be difficult to find a tank as outstanding as Gi-jun, so Hervunt could not help but admire him inwardly even as he reloaded the bullets.

‘Even though he is making increasingly bold attacks, he is stably holding its attention… Jun’s presence feels like a towering iron wall.’

Not only was he holding back a monster that had undoubtedly reached the legendary realm all by himself, but he was also continuously counterattacking to inflict irreparable wounds.

That was probably due to the power of the holy fire dwelling in his shield; although Flame Humans were said to be adept at handling flames, the very fact that he wielded such power despite not being a priest proved his caliber.

‘Can we really catch that thing? Will he hold out until then?’

Hati, who had taken consecutive attacks from Gi-jun and Hervunt, was surprisingly suffering from wounds close to critical condition.

In addition to all the power Gi-jun possessed being the absolute counter to the beast, it also helped greatly that the gun and bullets left behind by Gin’s father were masterpieces that drew Hervunt’s abilities beyond their limits.

But those things, in truth—were not all that important in this battle.

—Graaaaaang!

“Where do you think you’re going…!”

The courage to continuously block, without a single moment of hesitation, a monster capable of crushing and killing him in an instant as it rushed in with the momentum of a tidal wave.

“Hervunt, shoot—!”

“Yes!”

—Bang!

The charisma to boost fighting spirit so that not only himself but others as well would not give up on victory, eventually causing them to be sincerely inspired by him.

—Kyaoooo!

“And this—is the seventh!”

—Crunch!

An iron will that never broke despite carrying on a fierce battle where his life was in danger at every moment, intimidating even an enemy that should clearly hold the absolute upper hand.

All of those things were gradually turning the possibility of victory—which had seemed completely hopeless when they first faced the monster—into reality.

—Crash!

—Kuaaa!

‘We might be able to win…!’

Firing another bullet and finally bursting one of the monster’s eyes, Hervunt thought that he might have gone crazy.

His joining of this party, and his guiding of Gi-jun to these ruins.

It was certainly not for the purpose of risking his life alongside him to deal with a legendary-grade monster.

Perhaps Hervunt was projecting his own unfulfilled ideal onto that foolish man who even risked his life to save a werewolf.

Even though he knew that well… at this moment, he simply wanted to focus purely on defeating the enemy in front of him.

“—Ah.”

Attempting to reload after emptying all three bullets, he suddenly felt dizzy.

Although he had succeeded in inflicting fatal wounds on Hati by continuously pouring out bullets while drunk on battle, there were no bullets left anymore.

No matter how good a gun was, it was completely useless without bullets.

Among the skills of the shooter class, there was a skill called Magic Bullet that generated and loaded bullets made solely of mana, and Hervunt was also an owner of that skill, but even if he created Magic Bullets with his current mana, he would not be able to land an effective hit on Hati.

‘I have buckshot left, but even if I get close and fire it, it’s uncertain whether I can pierce that monster’s defense.’

In that case, should he switch to a crossbow and shoot silver arrows at least?

What a joke; his crossbow was a fine weapon, of course, but it was not suitable for dealing with such a giant monster.

If so, then how?

—Kyaaaaaaaak!

“Shoot!”

Gi-jun, who was trading blows with the wolf, shouted as he pierced the wolf’s snout with the blood-red fang and stopped its movement.

However, when no bullet came from Hervunt, he swung the shield held in his other hand, pounding the bridge of the wolf’s nose repeatedly, and safely pulled out the fang to back away before the beast’s counterattack could fly.

Then, he glanced back at Hervunt and asked with a worried expression.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah… the gun jammed, I’m sorry. I’ll fix it right away.”

Hervunt felt pure joy and guilt at the same time from Gi-jun’s casual tone toward him.

The two of them were fighting against that monster together as members of the same party.

Yes, the two of them were still in the same party.

But how could he entrust his back to him without even a shred of doubt?

How, when he must have already realized his identity?

‘Being able to fight together like this must only be for now.’

He imagined the aftermath when the battle with the moon-swallowing wolf would end safely.

He could not go against the darkness flowing through his veins, and.

One of them, either Gi-jun or Hervunt, would definitely have to die.

Gulp—his Adam’s apple twitched on its own at the clearly rising image of death.

‘—Then, I would rather do it now, with these very hands.’

At the point his thoughts reached that far, Hervunt tightly shut his eyes.

But at that very moment, he felt a foreign mana wriggling inside his body.

A startled Hervunt opened his eyes wide.

The magic shotgun held in his hand fell and rolled on the floor.

—He is not moving. I told you he would betray us!

Lucy’s shrill voice as she watched Hervunt rang in Gi-jun’s mind.

—Maybe he is trying to attack the Contractor. Shouldn’t we take action beforehand before the situation gets more difficult?

Gi-jun did not reply to her and once again put forward his two shields to take a stance.

Before his eyes was a legendary-grade enemy.

It was not the time to disrupt his focus by worrying about things that had not even happened yet.

‘Still, we pushed it hard thanks to Hervunt, didn’t we? It’s doable.’

Gi-jun’s mind was perfectly fine.

Both of his arms holding the shields were also firm.

His legs stepping on the ground did not tremble at all.

The Adamant skill was still concentrated solely on the two shields.

If so, then what was the source of the strength that allowed him to stand and hold his ground?

It did not matter what it was.

—Contractor!

‘It’s okay… because I’ll never lose.’

Replying while gritting his teeth, Gi-jun adjusted his grip on the shields and looked up at the wolf.

The beast was also already close to its limit.

Its two front paws had all their claws pulled out except for one and were covered in blood, one of its eyes was completely burst, several of its teeth were broken leaving its mouth drenched in blood, and several thick silver bullets were lodged in its abdomen, emitting smoke.

Even so, it still felt as massive as a mountain, but then he just had to bring that mountain down.

“Come at me—!”

—Awoooooooo!

Hati charged forward, replying to his shout with a howl filled with rage and murderous intent.

Gi-jun smiled faintly and overlapped the two shields, planting them firmly into the ground.

As he scraped together and amplified the light mana and spiritual power that were nearing the bottom using Salutaris, flowing them into the shields, Lucy and Ur, in sync with it, combined the spirit powers of light and fire to create a dazzling holy fire.

The holiness was to such an extent that even he was surprised, as it was unbelievable that it was created by simply combining light and fire.

Until now, he had felt a bit uncertain, but while dealing with that damnably cold wolf today, he felt confident that he had completely mastered ‘Holy Fire’.

—Boom!

—Beeeeeep!

The giant wolf, which exceeded dozens of meters in size, failed to break Gi-jun this time as well and stopped in its tracks.

Without him knowing when its cooldown had finished, the Shock Absorber dutifully absorbed the impact and let out a loud cry.

Although he felt both hands holding the shields trembling, Gi-jun pulled out the shields with all his might and aimed the fang at the wolf, which was unable to steady itself—

—Contractor!

In that instant.

Lucy’s shrill voice stopped his movement.

—Block immediately… No?

The next moment, Lucy, who had been trying to draw the power dwelling in the shields to create a protective barrier of light, was startled and canceled it.

Bang!

A bullet flying from behind lodged into the other eye of Hati, who had stopped moving, and burned it spectacularly.

—Kraaaaaaaaak!

Not only was it far more powerful than the slugs that had hit so far, but the reaction was also violent.

As proof, the number of slugs Hervunt had fired just to crush one of the beast’s eyes earlier was close to double digits, but now, a single shot had completely burned its eye away!

Had it taken time because he was changing bullets?

“Now is the time, Jun!”

The shooter, who had finally succeeded in taking both eyes of the divine beast, shouted at the top of his lungs as if boasting of his achievement.

Of course, Gi-jun did not miss the opportunity he had created and immediately swung the shield in his left hand.

The moment the shield, which had transformed into a sharp and large blood-red fang, cleanly pulled out the last remaining claw of the beast—

—Succeeded in snatching a body part from an enemy that has reached the legendary realm. You have obtained [Moon Claw (L-)]. The eight trophies, having gathered together and reclaimed their original potential, have merged to become [Moon-Devouring Wolf’s Claw (L)]!

—The Slaughter (R) skill has reached level 25!

—Succeeded in snatching a body part from an enemy that has reached the legendary realm. You have obtained [Moon Claw (L-)]. The eight trophies, having gathered together and reclaimed their original potential, have merged to become [Moon-Devouring Wolf’s Claw (L)]!

—The Slaughter (R) skill has reached level 25!

An amazing message had popped up, but now was not the time to be examining legendary-grade trophies.

Gi-jun, who threw himself onto the nose bridge of the thrashing divine beast after it lost both its sight and weapons, drove the shield in his right hand (R) into the middle of its forehead, and using it as a foothold, climbed onto the beast’s forehead.

—Kyaaaaaaaak!

The wolf, realizing that Gi-jun had climbed onto its head, belatedly shook its body wildly in an attempt to shake him off—but he held on without falling from the wolf’s head, as if planting his feet into the earth.

He reshaped the shield in his left hand, the King of the Well, into a fang once again.

“Die—!”

And he stabbed it into the beast’s forehead with all his might!

—Kyaoooo!

Unable to bear the pain, the wolf frantically slammed its head, with Gi-jun clinging to it, against the ground.

However, that only caused the shield lodged between its eyes to drive deeper between its eyes; Gi-jun shifted his position on the beast’s head to avoid colliding with the ground.

And once again, watching for a gap, he accurately struck the spot he had stabbed earlier with his shield!

—Crunch!

—Kyahaaaak!

Finally, the divine beast’s hide was pierced, and its blood spurted high.

Fitting for a divine beast of darkness, even its blood contained a freezing chill—but before the beast’s blood could freeze Gi-jun’s skin, it burned and evaporated under Ur’s resistance.

—Bang!

Just then, a bullet accurately flew into the wound Gi-jun had made, completely crushing Hati’s hide and widening the wound.

Gi-jun snorted and slammed the shield down once more.

—Kyaoooooooo!

The moment the wound grew larger and blood spurted in large quantities.

Feeling its death drawing near, the wolf spat out a cry mixed with rage and attempted its final struggle.

For a moment, its entire body seemed to be dyed jet-black, and then black energy soared into the air, all aiming and rushing at Gi-jun.

—No—!

Lucy screamed and tried to block it, but the black energy passed through the light barrier she had deployed as if it were nothing and struck Gi-jun.

—The moon-swallowing wolf sacrifices a part of its soul to cast the Curse of Devouring upon you. However, the light mana and spiritual power that have reached the legendary realm, and the skill Salutaris (L), resist this and weaken the curse.

—[Unfailing Body Clock (L)] strongly resists physical and mental interference.

—Resistance great success. A positive modifier has been granted to [Salutaris (L)]. The [Salutaris (L)] skill has reached level 10! Light Mana (L) and Spiritual Power (L) have increased by 3 each!

—The moon-swallowing wolf sacrifices a part of its soul to cast the Curse of Devouring upon you. However, the light mana and spiritual power that have reached the legendary realm, and the skill Salutaris (L), resist this and weaken the curse.

—[Unfailing Body Clock (L)] strongly resists physical and mental interference.

—Resistance great success. A positive modifier has been granted to [Salutaris (L)]. The [Salutaris (L)] skill has reached level 10! Light Mana (L) and Spiritual Power (L) have increased by 3 each!

And the message he had always seen came to Gi-jun.

Even a modifier accompanied by the permanent growth of skills and stats this time.

Feeling the circulation of mana inside his body instantly accelerate as his mana and spiritual power welled up, Gi-jun twisted the corners of his mouth into a smile and raised the King of the Well high.

The King of the Well, strengthened with all his energy concentrated, looked almost like a blazing lightning.

“Now, die already!”

The golden lightning pierced between the wolf’s eyes.

The wolf opened its mouth wide and made some sound—but it faded into thin air without reaching anyone’s ears.

Immediately after, the beast’s lifeless body also collapsed onto the earth with a loud crash.

It was the moment Gi-jun had defeated an unweakened legendary-grade enemy for the first time.