Chapter 284. City of the Abandoned (4)

Scorching sand flooded Eun-Ho’s mouth, so much that it pushed all the way down his throat.

The Third Eye was the skill that analyzed an opponent’s abilities. If Eun-Ho had shut his mouth the instant he said the words, this would have gone better.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t. That thing had fixed what Eun-Ho assumed were its eyes directly on him.

The identity of that Golem or boulder or whatever it was felt far too familiar.

If it’s the Abandoned Ridge... Eun-Ho thought.

[You have absorbed the Abandoned Ridge's Diamond.]

When the restructuring first began, he received a small stone as a mystery box reward.

[Petrify(Lv. 1) has been unlocked.]

[Due to low absorption, the initial manifestation range is limited.]

He had only touched it on a whim, figuring he might as well throw it if nothing else. Instead, he absorbed it and obtained the Petrify skill.

And that thing came from here? And now the system wants me to defeat a mountain range? Eun-Ho thought.

[Defeat the Abandoned Ridge!]

Just then, the Mountain Ridge stood up. “Man, and it’s even human?”

Ruuumble—

It looked far larger and more imposing now than when it had been sitting. “Ridge” was an exaggeration; it was more like a small mountain.

Eun-Ho pushed himself upright. The ground beneath his feet was firmer than expected. Keeping his gaze locked on the creature, he spat out the mouthful of red sand as if coughing blood.

The creature approached him, every footstep sending tremors through the earth. “Why would a perfectly sane guy crawl all the way out here?”

Thud!

Under the strain, it almost sounded like the ground itself was groaning.

“Ah, never mind. I don’t actually care, so you don’t have to answer. You probably just came here because you wanted to die.”

Eun-Ho had no idea what exactly was going on.

“Today really is my lucky da—”

“Hey, rockhead,” Eun-Ho called out.

If I don’t know what’s going on, I just have to ask.

If words worked, then with words. If not, then with fists.

“What exactly are you?”

***

Il-Dong, the Crow, slowly cracked open its tightly shut eyes. “Caw!”

Its neck had bent at a horrific angle. One wing had folded backward with the bone twisted midway through. Pain wrapped around it so tightly that it nearly blacked out again. Even so, it clenched its beak and endured.

A true warrior cannot collapse from pain like this!

The Crow pried its eyes wide, but everything remained dark. That was because a giant boulder blocked out the sky above it.

"Ayasa! That rock looks remarkably strange. Come, take a picture of me with it."

"What? Why are you in the picture?”

"Shouldn’t I leave proof that I came here?”

The boulder was also familiar to the Crow.

"T-the rock just grew a head?!"

"Ha, a snack flew right to me on its own?"

That stone-headed monster had burst upward like the earth itself was exploding, then stubbornly chased after him while shouting about finally trying crow meat.

"Caw! Why aren’t my attacks working?!"

"Hahaha, keep going! It’s been a while since I’ve had such a nice itch!" the stone-headed monster had replied.

The bird knew well that fighting that thing was a losing game. It had learned that lesson during their last battle. That was why it had planned to play dead, wait for an opening, and escape whether through gigantification or high-speed flight.

The problem was that its wings wouldn’t move. Crashing through the sandstorm while shielding its dear friend and subordinates had utterly wrecked them. Of course, Il-Dong thought that was simply what any proper commander ought to do!

Where are my subordinates? They should be nearby!

Il-Dong had to find its kind friend and his subordinates first.

How frightened must those young ones be, dropped into this strange land?

Il-Dong summoned superavian strength just to lift its head. Beyond the stone-head, it caught sight of a familiar figure.

“What am I? The one who’s going to eat you,” said the stone-head.

One poor soul stood in a face off against the persistent stone-head. Il-Dong was aware that once one started fighting that monster, the battle never seemed to end. Therefore, while they were distracted fighting, Il-Dong planned to escape and search for the others.

That had been the idea, but then that poor soul was its dear friend.

“Abandoned Ridge. Is that what I should call you?” Eun-Ho asked.

Thud!

Apparently not hearing Il-Dong’s silent scream of horror, the stone-head kept approaching Eun-Ho.

Panicking, Il-Dong rubbed spit over its bent neck and mangled wings, as though it could somehow heal them. At the same time, it worked frantically to bite through the rope binding it.

Meanwhile, the stone-head asked Eun-Ho, “Do you know me?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then you don’t know me?”

“It’s hard to say I don’t know you at all.”

It was an incredibly bizarre conversation.

“Then what about you? What kind of bastard are you? No matter how I look at it, you’re not someone who should be here.”

“I’m pretty sure I asked first.”

No actual information had been exchanged. Yet, the short conversation felt like both sides were probing each other.

“Maybe you’ll start talking if I hit you a little?” Eun-Ho said.

The stone-head moved first, swelling its chest like a mountain rising. “Huh?”

Thud!

Following that, it hoisted a massive stone hammer onto its shoulder. The thing was as tall as Eun-Ho himself. “Well, who cares? What matters is that I finally get to gorge myself on fresh meat after so long.”

The Ridge raised its stone hammer, while Eun-Ho brandished his sword.

“If you’re gonna attack, hurry up. I need to eat before the others show up and make things messy,” said the Ridge.

“Works for me. I’d rather not deal with extra complications either,” said Eun-Ho.

The fight was between one man and one mountain, facing each other atop the endless red sand. The tension made Il-Dong’s feathers stand on end.

Just then, Eun-Ho kicked off the ground. His upper torso leaned forward as he charged, his pure white sword blazing with flame. In a flash, the distance between them vanished. Footprints scorched into the red sand behind him like embers.

The marks were initially close together, then farther apart, and then so sparse they nearly disappeared entirely.

Whoooosh—!

A massive stone hammer came crashing down from overhead. However, Eun-Ho slipped half a step backward.

Thud!

The hammer slammed into the ground right where he had stood. The sheer mass behind it was overwhelming. Just the wind pressure from the impact shoved Eun-Ho backward.

The weapon seemed like it had been carved from an entire boulder. One could easily guess what would have happened if it had hit Eun-Ho.

The Ridge licked its lips as it stared at Eun-Ho’s muscles. “Haha, you’re fast! Bet that meat’s nice and chewy too!”

That flesh straining beneath flimsy fabric looked delicious.

Thinking that, it moved unusually quickly and yanked the embedded hammer free.

At that exact moment, Eun-Ho’s pure white blade ignited. “Sword Aura.”

Red flames surged together with blue sword aura. Then, dark blue energy wrapped around the engraved blade like a thin veil. Even looking at it felt chilling. That razor-sharp force shot straight toward the Ridge’s heart and stopped at the surface

Crack—!

It didn’t cut nor did it pierce. Eun-Ho’s sword aura couldn’t leave so much as a scratch on the Ridge’s hardened exterior.

“Kuhaha! It’s been forever since someone gave me such a satisfying scratch!” The Ridge laughed gleefully. “Well? Want to keep going?”

The mockery was obvious. It was basically saying, “No matter how much Eun-Ho attacked, the result would be the same.”

Eun-Ho lifted his firmly planted right leg and brought it down.

“Friend!”

A brutal kick slammed into the arm holding the stone hammer, fierce enough to tear the Ridge’s limb clean off. “Have you lost your mind? Your sword didn’t work, so now you’re trying to kick m—”

Crk—

Tiny fragments fell away. When the Ridge turned its head in irritation, it froze. What was happening? It was made from noble stone, stronger than any mineral in existence. There shouldn’t have been even the slightest scratch?

The Ridge creaked and its eye holes widened. “You damn bastard!”

“That thing of yours.” Eun-Ho slowly raised his head. He smacked his lips softly just like the Ridge had while admiring fresh meat. “Is way better than Petrify, isn’t it?”

A chill ran through the air.

***

“You damn bastard! Tell me now! Where the hell did you get that?!”

“It was a gift,” Eun-Ho replied.

“Cut the bullshit!”

“Don’t believe me, then.”

“How dare these thieves give gifts like this?!”

Eun-Ho had already confirmed through Third Eye that there was one thing missing from the Ridge’s abilities. If this creature truly had ties to the Abandoned Ridge's Diamond, then it absolutely should have possessed Petrify.

[Abandoned Ridge]

- [Ignition(Lv. 99)], [Charge(Lv. 71)], [Heavy Strike(Lv. 80)], [Omnivorous Cooking(Lv. 99)], ... [Adamantine Body(Lv. 4)]

Instead, another skill stood there proudly in its place.

[Adamantine Body(Lv. 4)]

That had to be the reason Eun-Ho’s Sword Aura had failed to leave even a scratch. From that one strike, he could tell it was way better than Petrify.

“Does it matter? Your ability looks stronger anyway,” Eun-Ho said.

“Shut up! What the hell do you know?!”

Which meant, Eun-Ho only had one thing to do. “Summon.”

I’ll just capture it and figure out how to upgrade my Petrify skill into Adamantine Body.

“Shadow Bind.”

Fwoosh—!

The blazing sun overhead kept the shadows short. However, they were still long enough to seize the creature’s ankles. “You think making a few chips means I look easy? I’ll just break this crap apart!”

This wasn’t the type that relied on fancy combat skills. It fought with overwhelming natural strength and absurd durability.

If there was a trap, it would simply stomp through it. With that gigantic frame and crushing weight, it had probably flattened every enemy it ever faced.

That’s probably how it always won, Eun-Ho thought.

Raw talent alone seemed to have been enough, until it met Eun-Ho.

Eun-Ho pulled out a palm-sized orb. “Summon.”

Like a snow globe, it contained a dark red desert swirling inside glass. It was the Plague Swamp. The heavier the target, the more it struggled and the deeper it would sink into that deadly swamp.

The moment Eun-Ho parted his lips, a thick rope shot in from the distance. “Acti—”

Swoosh—!

It has allies?

He then launched himself away at once.

“Holy shit.” The noose-like knot flew past and tightened around the Ridge’s neck. It spat in annoyance. “Ugh, those bastards came so fast.”

Then, one by one, figures began emerging across the wasteland like scavengers.

“Hey, rockhead! If you found something tasty, you should’ve thought about sharing.”

“Seriously! You just hurt my feelings.”

“Bullshit. Since when did any of you share?”

A gaunt bald man stepped out from a collapsing house. A woman with short-cropped hair rose from behind the remains of a fallen wall. Then, six or seven more appeared from behind low hills, twirling daggers and maces as they approached.

Their clothing had no consistency and neither did their weapons. However, several things about them were horrifyingly identical.

Every single one of them was skin and bones. One had ribs jutting out so sharply they seemed ready to tear through flesh. Another had limbs as thin as matchsticks.

Several had faces so sunken and skeletal they wouldn’t have looked out of place standing beside Skeleton Soldiers. This entire place was filled with people who appeared like they could collapse and die at any second.

What kind of eyes are those? Eun-Ho thought.

More disturbing than anything else were their gazes. Their yellowed sclera and narrow pupils didn’t look human.

“Damn, just looking at him makes my mouth water.”

“Should we eat him raw? I’m craving alcohol too.”

Every eye stayed locked on Eun-Ho as tongues slid hungrily across cracked lips. They were more like hyenas wandering the desert after starving for centuries.

“Do you even remember what alcohol tastes like? Hasn’t it been a hundred years since you drank?”

“Fuck that. I’m claiming the head, got it?”

“Then give me the eyeballs. I wanna swap mine out.”

“No way. I’m popping them in my mouth.”

What the hell are they talking about? Eun-Ho thought.

“Then I’ll take the tongue—”

Honestly, Eun-Ho was far too busy to keep listening to this deranged nonsense. He still had no idea what kind of insane place this was.

“Hey, friends. I’m in the middle of a very important conversation with that rock over there.” Eun-Ho cut straight through the madness. “So could you all piss off?”

“Huh?”

A stunned silence passed.

“What the hell did this bastard just say?”

“He told us to piss off.”

The scavengers’ eyes gleamed like wildcats. Nine pairs of fluorescent eyes shimmered across the red desert.

“Should I rip his mouth apart first, boss?”

So that one is the leader.

Eun-Ho crooked his finger toward him. “Hey you. Yeah, you. Come here.”

The bald man let out a disbelieving laugh. “You calling me right now?”

“Puhaha, looks like our guest wants to leave some last words.”

Eun-Ho started walking toward him. “I need one of you to guide me.”

The bald man sneered. “Bullshit. Why would you need a guide? We’ll take good care of putting you in our stomachs.”

“Oh, really?” Eun-Ho asked.

“What? Why are you smiling?”

“Let’s roast him. I think he’s diseased.”

“I’m in too much of a hurry to deal with you one at a time,” Eun-Ho replied.

So you can all come at me at once.

“Activate.”