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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Barickmeteo was flying.
The sight of the grotesque, with its massive wings and lion head soaring through the air, was intimidating in itself.
Barickmeteo descended from the sky towards where the masked man stood. He’d been flying for days looking for this masked wanderer.
Annoyed, Barickmeteo growled,
“You. Why didn’t you answer my calls?”
The masked man didn’t even look at him, replying dismissively,
“Because I knew you’d ask for a bothersome favor.”
“…”
He hit the nail on the head.
But he couldn’t return empty-handed now.
“If you’re a member of the organization, cooperate a little.”
“I’m doing just fine with the tasks the organization assigned me. Why don’t you worry about yourself instead of others?”
“…”
“It’s bothersome, so deal with it yourself. Don’t ask others for help.”
“I’m saying this because it’s hard for me to handle the Hero alone. That Hero bitch… isn’t normal. Elena didn’t choose her for nothing.”
“…”
The masked man recalled the image of Lina he’d seen through the black smoke. She was definitely not ordinary.
“The Hero is interfering with our plans. She’s sniffing out our operations like a bloodhound and disrupting them. We’ve already lost two locations to the Hero.”
“Both places you were managing.”
“…”
“Those above must be putting pressure on you now, right? Since two of your hideouts have been destroyed, you’ll probably struggle to make your monthly payments.”
“…”
“Is that why you swallowed your pride and came to ask me for help? Pathetic.”
“You might be next. I don’t know why, but the Hero seems to know a lot about us.”
The masked man looked at Barickmeteo. This prideful lion had put aside his ego to ask for help.
That’s how desperate he was.
He didn’t care whether Barickmeteo lived or died, but as he said, he might be next.
‘If Barickmeteo manages to take out even one member of the Hero’s party… it might make things a little easier for me.’
“Do you have a chance of winning?”
“Nasen said he knows of a useful weapon. We’ll see once he gets it.”
“You’re trusting that idiot’s words?”
“Nasen was the one who found the White Witch’s Seal Orb. He has a knack for finding good items. Of course… once this is over, he’ll end up in my stomach.”
“Keke. I can see it now.”
“Idol Worshipper, if you help, we can defeat the Hero.”
“Not a hundred percent guarantee, though, right?”
“…”
An awkward silence hung in the air.
The reason Barickmeteo hadn’t been captured by the Hero was his wings.
He could fly away, and even the Hero couldn’t follow him.
That was it. Barickmeteo didn’t seem confident in defeating the Hero.
‘If only I had captured that troublesome man last time…’
He regretted letting that man escape.
If he were an intermediate magician, he might be able to knock him out of the sky with magic while he was fleeing.
“Those above are also keeping an eye on the Hero, Barickmeteo.”
“I’m aware of that.”
The Hero was actively interfering with the organization’s activities.
This implied that the Hero appeared specifically to thwart their plans.
“Fine. Since those above are watching, I’ll lend you my strength this time. But I don’t want to be bothered again after this.”
“…Thank you.”
The masked man handed Barickmeteo a few small stones.
Barickmeteo grinned with satisfaction at the sight of them.
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Within the Labyrinth dungeon, Lina and her party heard a strange scream.
Moooooooo!
“Get lost! You crazy cow!”
It was Nasen’s voice.
Although they couldn’t see him, Nasen was somewhere in the Labyrinth. And he was quite close.
Kerry took out the magic storage orb. The party was already familiar with it.
“This is a magic storage orb containing a tracking spell. With this, we can find Nasen, but only once.”
The tracking spell wasn’t all-powerful.
It had a limited range. But since they could hear Nasen’s voice, he must be close enough to be tracked.
That bastard. He was caught.
With equal skills and stats, numbers were their advantage. True justice always prevailed through the power of friendship and love, aka ganging up.
“Shall I use the tracking spell?”
Lina nodded. The other party members did the same.
Kerry activated the tracking spell.
Mana waves spread out, allowing him to sense the structure of the Labyrinth.
The complex maze naturally formed in his mind.
Within that maze, he sensed Nasen confronting a Minotaur.
“Follow me!”
“Kerry, stay close to me. There might be traps.”
Victoria stuck close to Kerry’s side.
The party ran after Kerry. Fortunately, there were no traps along the way.
They finally found Nasen. He was grappling with a Minotaur.
“You stupid bullhead, you better leave while I’m being nice.”
Moooo!
If dungeon bosses ran away just because they were threatened, no one would have to suffer.
Natasha gritted her teeth.
Fortunately, thanks to the skill seal, she didn’t go berserk.
“Natasha, you can’t fight alone right now, okay?”
“I know, Husband.”
Their skills and stats were currently sealed.
They needed to approach cautiously. The best scenario would be to stab Nasen in the back while he was fighting the Minotaur.
Cowardly? Justice was never cowardly, no matter what methods were used against evil.
In Hero stories, villains always died after being ganged up on, but no one ever called the Hero’s party cowards.
It was the same principle.
“Let’s hide and ambush him when he comes near. That would be the safest approach.”
“…”
The party didn’t seem to like the idea.
Such pointless stubbornness. They didn’t have the luxury of maintaining their pride right now.
Crash-
The Minotaur swung its fist at Nasen.
Nasen threw himself to the side, barely dodging the Minotaur’s fist.
Cracks appeared on the wall each time the Minotaur’s fist connected. Its destructive power was immense.
Even Lina might be severely injured by a single blow. Especially now, with their HP at only 10.
Lina and the party prepared for an ambush at the end of the passage Nasen was retreating through.
The Minotaur was chasing Nasen from behind. Lina’s party hid at a fork in the path, waiting to ambush him.
‘Your luck ends here.’
After capturing Nasen, the Minotaur would still be there, but they could figure out how to escape it later.
“Damn it. That damn crazy cow.”
Nasen cursed as he ran.
It was a T-intersection. Lina and her party were waiting for Nasen on both sides.
As Nasen emerged from the passage, his eyes met Kerry’s.
“Long time no see, you skeletal bastard.”
Normally, such a direct confrontation would be unthinkable, but here, Kerry had nothing to fear.
After all, Nasen’s skills and stats were sealed as well.
“Annoying man! How did you get here?!”
“Shut the fuck up and die.”
Kerry swung his sword.
Nasen blocked Kerry’s sword with his spear. With their strength stats equal, he struggled to even block Kerry’s attack.
“Well done, Kerry.”
At that moment, Lina’s sword flashed beside him.
It was so fast that he questioned whether they truly had the same stats. What was this? A difference in skill?
Nasen couldn’t move, focused on blocking Kerry’s sword.
Lina’s sword sliced through his side. Blood gushed out like a broken faucet.
“Kuhuk…”
“Die! Enemy of my tribe!”
Natasha also dashed behind Nasen and plunged her dagger into his back.
Not just once, but repeatedly, stabbing him frantically.
“Uaaaagh!”
Nasen screamed in agony.
Kerry shouted at the frenzied Natasha,
“Natasha! It’s dangerous! Get back!”
Natasha immediately retreated at Kerry’s shout.
Moooo!
The Minotaur, which had been chasing Nasen, appeared.
The Minotaur struck Nasen with its metal-like fist. Nasen’s body flew back, crashing into the wall and rolling.
That must have hurt like hell.
To think Nasen’s end would be so anticlimactic.
It would have been more satisfying to capture him and torture him, but they didn’t have time for that now.
Moooo!
The Minotaur now targeted them.
“Let’s run.”
“We… we haven’t confirmed he’s dead yet! He doesn’t die even if you cut off his head.”
“We have no choice, Natasha. The Minotaur is right there.”
“We can come back and finish him off later.”
“…Okay! Husband.”
Kerry felt uneasy, but they had no other option.
Their only choice was to run from the Minotaur.
Moooooooo!
“Shut up! Follow me quietly!”
It wasn’t as if it couldn’t run without screaming.
Kerry thought the Minotaur was using its roars to track them.
But that wasn’t it.
“K… Kerry.”
The party, which had been running, slowly stopped and looked back.
The Minotaur was screaming in pain.
The Minotaur and Nasen’s bodies were grotesquely merging. No, more accurately, it looked like Nasen was absorbing the Minotaur.
“Huff… huff… that cow dared to hit me.”
The Minotaur, fully fused with Nasen, spoke in Nasen’s voice.
“Because of you bastards, I had to resort to this.”
Then, Nasen swallowed a pill.
Lina’s party didn’t know, but the pill was made from the lives of the villagers he massacred.
It had side effects, but it was better than being devoured by Barickmeteo.
The Minotaur, fused with Nasen, rapidly grew in size.
Its already bulging muscles began to swell abnormally.
Injecting steroids into a naturally ripped Minotaur? That was a grave insult to bodybuilders everywhere.
“That bastard!”
“Kerry, stay behind me.”
Its already massive body rapidly doubled in size, becoming twice the size of a normal Minotaur.
“Isn’t that cheating? Where does he get off fusing with the dungeon boss and taking drugs?”
They only had 10 in all stats! This was absurd! This world was too unfair.
“…Complaining won’t change anything.”
Was there no one who could sympathize with his anger?
Nasen, now taller than the Labyrinth walls, looked down at Lina and her party. This felt incredibly dangerous.
“…Sorry for hitting you earlier.”
“…”
He offered a gesture of reconciliation, but there was no mercy to be found in a steroid-pumped bodybuilder.
Or so he thought.
Ignoring Lina’s party, Nasen headed towards the tall altar in the center of the Labyrinth. He charged straight ahead, demolishing the dungeon walls with his massive body.
Kerry remembered that the Doll Ginseng was on the altar.
As he suspected, Nasen was after his Doll Ginseng. He wouldn’t give it up without a fight.
“Let’s chase him, Lina.”
“Yes, Kerry. But what can we do against him now that he’s so big…?”
“That doesn’t sound like you, Lina. Giving up so easily?”
“…”
“I asked you before we entered the dungeon. Why would Nasen come here? What else could it be? He’s here because he needs power. So if he reaches that altar… he might become even stronger than he is now.”
“!”
Lina’s eyes widened as if she finally understood the situation.
“We have to stop him.”
“That’s right, Lina.”
“Husband, stay back. I’ll… no, we will kill him!”
He was planning on staying back anyway. He would only be a burden, and he had other things to do.
Lina’s party chased after Nasen.
He could almost hear epic background music playing as the giant Nasen and Lina’s sword-wielding party faced off. You know, that music from that anime where they fly around and slice up giants.
“But Kerry, there’s no way we can stop Nasen now.”
“Just… buy me some time. I’ll figure something out.”
Lina nodded at Kerry’s words.
Kerry separated from the party. He unfurled the dungeon map and started running towards the altar.
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