Stop, Friendly Fire!

<Chapter 41. The Second Advent of the Sun God - 2>

No matter what he did, Jin's skill would multiply his agility gain by a factor of three. Therefore, his agility stat was truly abnormal. Assuming Jin's total stats were 10,000, his agility would be 6,000, 2,000 would be in magic, and the remaining 2,000 would be split between strength and health.

Just to be clear, if Jin wasn't a horse, then he wouldn't have a way to effectively use these stats. At least he was armed with Steel Heart, a skill that changed his magic into strength or health; with it, he was able to deal with this imbalance, but it didn't change the fundamental problem.

These disparate stats were special compared to other horses, as well as flying monsters.

[The Intermediate Fly skill has become Lv4. Agility has increased by 30.]

So once Jin, who'd acquired the Fly skill and a means to fly, actually began to fly, his flight was in a dimension of its own; compared to other monsters' flight, it was like a superhuman ability.

With the wings Lee Shin Woo designed and his own Wind Breath, Jin freely accelerated and decelerated repeatedly. He, who could fly freely regardless of what direction he went, befitted the title of Child of Light. Jin was so fast that everything else seemed to come to a stop.

[Kashat!]

[Kihik!? Kiik?]

"Where are you looking? That's an afterimage!"

"You're doing great, Jin!"

The Desert Ghost couldn't overpower them, despite the level 8 stat bonus, since Lee Shin Woo's Rebellion skill was being applied to Jin as well!

Although the Solar Scarabs knew how to fly, their skill level wasn't very high, so Jin could easily around with them. Lee Shin Woo and Jin didn't have to worry about the scarabs for now.

[The Intermediate Fly skill has become Lv5. Agility has increased by 30.]

"Ah, my stats exceeded 10,000 because of the skill level up."

"10,000 stats aren't the issue here. I told you, we're leaving this dungeon once we've both hit level 8! Heup!"

[Kehek!?]

Lee Shin Woo said and simultaneously extended his greatsword once more. The Desert Ghost had shot lava in every which direction in order to catch Lee Shin Woo and Jin, who both kept appearing and vanishing in thin air. But then, Lee Shin Woo's greatsword dug into the Desert Ghost's forehead again and discharged a bolt of powerful lightning. To be exact, this was his third attack.

He wasn't sure why, but it couldn't move from its spot; plus, Jin had gained wings and was actually flying around, so there was no way it could win. The carapace over its head had been half-way crushed. If he attacked a few more times, then he should be able to kill it.

[Kyaaaaaaaahk!]

"Huh!?"

Then, the Desert Ghost exploded, as it couldn't bear the one-sided beating! To be exact, it blew up its remaining exoskeleton, where its powerful flames were concentrated. Due to its size, the exploding flames covered the entire dungeon.

It didn't discriminate between friend or foe; the flames mercilessly melted the Solar Scarabs as well. There were some who took the attack straight up and disappeared right then and there, as well as some who lost their wings and fell down to the ground. All he was sure of was that hundreds of level 8s had been incapacitated by the attack.

It was an attack that truly fit a level 8 elite's finishing move. Even if one were to equip fire resistant armor from head to toe they wouldn't be able to survive this torrent of lava.

"Hoo."

[E-Eight scale greatswords!? What happened!?]

That's right. Through his Bone Armory skill, Lee Shin Woo had summoned 8 Fire Dragon's Scale Greatswords, aside from his armor (since he had added level 6 fire to his armor, he was assured of its resistance) and the Prayer of the Dead (the level 7 cape that possessed the High Speed Casting and Magic Reinforcement options, and would buff any action related to magic). No one, other than Lee Shin Woo, could replicate such a feat!

"Why didn't you just summon those when they (the priests and paladins) left?"

"SSeup, I wanted to see if I could beat it with a single sword..."

The torrent of flames, which had covered the area surrounding Lee Shin Woo and Jin, was being absorbed by the eight greatswords. Lee Shin Woo looked at the greatswords and muttered in disappointment.

The reason he went with just one sword was simple. He wanted to know how effective his Bursting Thunder skill was. However, he could no longer demand for a one-on-one confrontation any longer, so being stubborn would just be a waste of time. Now, he had no choice but to go into 'annihilation mode'.

[How are there eight scale greatswords!? Is that an Elementalist's ability too!?]

"The scale greatsword's information is kept inside me. I can only summon a certain amount of them, but I can keep summoning items with the same info."

[I-Is that so... You can summon treasures whenever you wish. I see. I suppose that is possible.]

[Kyahaaahk!]

Zenon realized that what Lee Shin Woo had shown before was merely a portion of his true abilities and spoke gibberish while shocked. The Desert Ghost, who'd shed its exoskeleton and revealed its disgusting body within, noticed that they were still standing and shrieked.

It was no simple scream. It was composed of ultrasonic waves reinforced by High Rank Wind.

"Heut!"

[Kya!?]

The ultrasonic waves traveled at the speed of sound, yet Jin moved his body and easily dodged the attack. It was then that the Desert Ghost realized that they were unscathed and was shocked. Why? It was such a powerful attack that even the Solar Scarabs, which possessed Fire Resistance, were severely harmed!

"Let's go clean up. It feels like we lucked out, so I feel bad, [1] but... Let's go!"

However, Lee Shin Woo didn't even give it the time to respond. The 7 Fire Dragon's Scale Greatswords followed his gentle hand gesture and shot out all at once, aside from the one of he was holding (the one Zenon was inside of); the swords pierced the exposed, disgusting skin of its head.

He had further reinforced them with wind mana, so their speed was comparable to the Desert Ghost's ultrasonic waves. The Desert Ghost couldn't move from its spot, so it obviously wasn't able to dodge the blades anyway.

[Kiaaaaaaaahk!]

When it blew up its exoskeleton, it made sure to keep its head protected. But once the seven greatswords dug into its head and the Fire Eater option activated, its shell began to shrink.

Its shell was a result of its flames, so there was no way it would remain unscathed when the seven greatswords were sucking out all of said flames.

[Kihik, Kiheeeehk...!]

[Impossible. How can a human be allowed to possess such power...!?]

Zenon watched as the Desert Ghost died a dog's death, despite its status as a level 8 elite, and shuddered.

Of course, this was all due to the option of the Fire Dragon's Scale Greatsword; the option was incredibly effective against the monsters inside this dungeon. Even Lee Shin Woo wouldn't be able to dominate a level 8 elite monster normally, but Zenon didn't know that.

"Zenon, let's finish it."

[Ah, I got it.]

"Jin."

"Ok."

It was truly ironic that Lee Shin Woo was using his weapon, which possessed a high level of fire, to absorb fire rather than release it, but... What he'd learned today would help him in the future. What exactly were elements? At the end of his study, he should find what he was looking for.

"Ha!"

Jin accelerated. The seven greatswords pierced through its head and its flames were being sucked away as well. The Desert Ghost rampaged about and violently twisted its body, but it still couldn't move from its spot.

Lee Shin Woo suddenly thought about the possibility of it being bound here by something underground...

"Lightning Strike!"

[Kyak!]

Lee Shin Woo raised his sword into the air and sliced its head open. He absorbed its flames and emitted lightning out of his blade, unleashing a powerful attack. It not only cut its skin in half but the brain and respiratory organs that lay hidden within.

Flames burst from its body as a last-ditch effort to kill Lee Shin Woo, but even that was divided and absorbed by the eight greatswords.

[You defeated an elite enemy with ease, and in the process, defeated the other higher leveled foes as well! You used an enemy to kill several of your other foes; a truly shocking karma! All stats have increased by 10.]

[The Rebellion skill has become Lv5 and the skill's effectiveness increases. All stats have increased by 10.]

[The Absorption skill has become Lv10 and Magic has increased by 20.]

[Lucky Strike! You have acquired 83,119,090 Perium. The Lucky Strike skill has become Lv3!]

[You have acquired the Desert Ghost's Head Carapace.]

[You have acquired the Lv8 Flame Wind Core. Through Bone Reinforcement, it has transformed into the Lv8 Flame Wind Bone Core.]

Lee Shin Woo tilted his head, as he didn't quite understand what it meant by him defeating all the higher leveled enemies. Now that he thought about it, the Solar Scarabs that had been caught in the huge explosion had been level 8! He didn't even have a chance to fight against them and hadn't even been attacked; he'd considered them a weak mob...!

"Jin, have you achieved a feat of some kind?"

"Two achievements related to flying. My agility went up again..."

"As I thought, you were destined to fly. Just as planned."

"Even so, I'm not going to forgive you for suddenly testing it out in the field."

"It's all a misunderstanding. My secretary planned it all... Huh?"

The dungeon suddenly vibrated while Lee Shin Woo (who'd collected all the loot) went back and forth with Jin like always. He wondered whether the floor beneath them would collapse with the Desert Ghost's death. Depending on the situation, Lee Shin Woo might have to run without hesitating. While thinking that, he looked down at the distant underground.

With the Desert Ghost's disappearance, the opening to the underground could now barely be seen, and Lee Shin Woo saw darkness energy leaking from that crack. Lee Shin Woo swallowed and said.

"...This feels kind of dangerous."

"That's funny. I thought the same thing."

It would've been ok if it were normal darkness, but the darkness had been changed. In other words, it was the same energy as the curse that permeated the Underground Empire. Some of the other, lower level dungeons he'd cleared had been affected by the curse, but a level 8 dungeon...

"This dungeon's boss... It might be stronger than the 12 generals."

"Well, the Desert Ghost was stronger than most of the 12 generals anyway. That's not unexpected."

"No, what I'm saying is that it might be stronger than the Archmage."

He automatically gripped his greatsword tightly. On one hand, he thought 'It's dangerous', and on the other, he thought 'I'm lucky to be given this opportunity before fighting the Archmage'. Then, black lava surged from underground. This was the primary cause of Lee Shin Woo's tension.

It was no mere fire or darkness, a vestige of his long forgotten chuunibyou syndrome, or his past Flames of Revenge... It was a new element formed from the combination of the fire and darkness elements.

[Kyahaaaaaaaah!]

[Kiiiiiiik!]

[Kugugaaaahk!]

"These bastards, what are they even saying?"

"Mm."

Jin imaged the fierce battle ahead of them and joked weakly. Lee Shin Woo saw the three Desert Ghosts as they stood up within the lava... They had become undead and were reborn as [Lv8 Fiery Sand's Dark Flame Ghost]. He looked at the elite monsters and shrugged his shoulders.

"Doesn't seem like they want to become friends, huh?"

[1] T/N: The expression he uses here is "eating it raw". This is usually used in a negative connotation, as it describes you producing results without struggling or putting in the effort.