Chapter 29. Jungle Exploration (2)

Translator: Boko

Aaoooh!

They suddenly heard the cries of a wolf.

'There are wolves in the jungle too?'

Kang Oh tilted his head.

It seemed like wolves lived in Baramut's Hunting Ground as well.

The group of wolves waded through the brush and came out one or two at a time.

These wolves were about level 60 - 80 and lived and hunted in groups.

Kang Oh quickly formulated a plan.

There were twenty wolves in total.

"There!"

Eder pointed towards the approaching wolves.

Within that group Kang Oh saw...

"Baramut!"

It was the boss monster, Baramut.

Baramut watched them from atop a giant boulder, its eyes glowing with a blue hue.

Kuheong!

Baramut roared.

The wolves barked violently, as if they were responding to Baramut's call, and dashed towards Kang Oh and Eder.

Keong, keong!

'What the hell? A cat's working together with dogs!?'

Now that he thought about it, the very idea that cats didn't get along with dogs was nothing more than an old idiom.

Ultimately, Kang Oh and Eder were forced to face both the 20 wolves and Baramut itself!

They were clearly outnumbered.

"Are we going to fight?" Eder asked.

"We have to fight back-to-back! It'll be more dangerous if we show our backs to them."

The wolves weren't the issue here.

If they attempted to escape and turned their backs to the enemy, then Baramut would attack, which would signal the end for them.

"I understand!"

Kang Oh and Eder stood back-to-back.

He firmly gripped the hilt of his blade, while Eder raised a bone spear.

Five wolves acted as the vanguard, and rushed Kang Oh and Eder as if to surround them.

Kureureu!

The first group of wolves leaped and lunged at Kang Oh while baring their teeth.

Kang Oh swung his sword horizontally.

Swish. Peok!

One of the wolves fell.

But in exchange, two of the wolves aimed for each of Kang Oh's legs.

Kang Oh moved to the left, avoiding the wolf to his right.

While doing so, he thrusted his blade into the left wolf's mouth.

Peok!

The left wolf fell to the ground.

Kyaoh!

The wolves continued their assault.

Kang Oh engaged the rushing wolves, whilst continuously glancing at Baramut.

He had no problem with mere wolves, but Baramut could prove to be an issue!

He couldn't afford to miss a single one of its moves.

Kureung.

Baramut, as always, stood proudly over the rock, and looked down at the fight among Kang Oh, Eder, and the wolves. Its eye continued to glow a bright blue.

'When are you going to attack!?'

Kang Oh continued to swing his sword without lowering his guard.

Papak!

He sensed that Eder was engaging the wolves from behind him.

Eder used a variety of bone magic to keep the wolves at bay and would kill any wolves that came too close with his bone spear.

Kang Oh swung his sword freely to push the wolves back! Whereas Eder used all manner of bone magic to harass the wolves!

The wolves began to dwindle. Kang Oh and Eder were up against a group of twenty, but the wolves were still no match for them.

If Baramut didn't join the fray, then the wolves would inevitably meet their end!

However, Baramut had no intention of letting them do as they pleased.

There was something strange about the wolves as well.

Their eyes were bloodshot and they drooled excessively.

It felt as if they weren't the ones on the hunt; rather, they acted like they were the ones being hunted.

'I thought it was weird that a cat was working together with dogs; Baramut's controlling them!'

Kang Oh figured out what was going on.

The bright blue glow in Baramut's eyes! It was likely a skill that allowed it to control the wolves.

Yet there were twenty wolves it needed to control.

It must require intense concentration, which would explain why Baramut hadn't moved an inch.

If that's the case, then Baramut wouldn't join the fray until the wolves were either all dead, or a certain amount of them had died.

"Eder, keep your guard up. Baramut could attack at any time."

"Ok."

He didn't think it necessary to explain that Bahamut was controlling the wolves and subsequently couldn't move.

It was merely a hypothesis. There was a chance that he was incorrect, and it could have the reverse effect of lowering Eder's guard.

Kang Oh continuously swung his sword and felled more and more wolves. Fortunately, Eder didn't lower his guard.

Keong, keong!

Ggeung.

The wolves' barks and moans seemed to combine.

There were only five wolves left!

That's when...!

Kuahhang!!

Baramut roared.

The brush rose and fell, and several birds flew into the sky.

"It's coming!" Kang Oh yelled.

While they were surrounded by the five wolves, Baramut dashed towards them whilst maintaining the blue glow in its eyes.

'As I thought.'

Kang Oh was right.

It hadn't been able to move while controlling that many wolves. But once their numbers had dwindled, it had decided to join the fight.

'Clever bastard!'

It had whittled down their HP, MP, and Stamina with the wolves, and was now attempting to finish them off.

Pak, pak, pak!

Whenever Baramut strode forward, its feet would kick up a lump of dirt.

'It's fast!'

Kang Oh put up his guard, readying himself for Baramut's incoming attack.

"Get away!"

Eder launched a barrage of bone shards at it, but it zigzagged on its way forward, allowing it to dodge all of the projectiles.

It quickly came within range of Kang Oh and swiped like lightning with its front foot.

Boong!

Its sharp claws cleaved through the air, coming for Kang Oh's head.

Kang Oh defended himself with his blade.

Kang!

Although he'd blocked its strike, the force behind it was still transferred to his body.

Eder quickly cast Bone Bind. Bones sprouted around Baramut's hind legs.

However, Baramut was no ordinary monster; it was a boss monster!

And the master of the jungle at that!

Baramut swept its hind legs, and the obstructing bones rustled to the ground.

Kuheong!

Baramut roared.

With its roar, the five remaining wolves dashed towards Eder.

The wolves lunged at Eder in three separate directions.

Eder quickly conjured up a bone blade and shield and parried their assault. However, he could no longer harass Baramut.

Thus, Kang Oh was forced to take on Baramut one-on-one.

Of course, Kang Oh was convinced that he could win.

"You damn cat!"

Although Baramut was three times the size of a normal tiger, it was still fundamentally a cat!

Kyaoh!

It seemed as though it had understood his insult, as its face crinkled.

At the same time, it kicked off the floor and lunged at Kang Oh. It was as though he were being struck by lightning.

Kuhah!

Baramut opened his mouth wide. Its sharp teeth gleamed. If those sharp teeth sunk into his skin, then he'd be cut apart like he were on a butcher’s block.

'Can't let that happen!'

Kang Oh gritted his teeth and swung downwards.

Slash!

The white line etched into the air following the trajectory of his blade. Darkness Strike activated in tandem with it and a black wave engulfed his magic sword in the form of a wild beast..

The combination of Slash and Darkness Strike!

Kwang!

Thus far, Kang Oh had been pushed back in terms of strength.

This time, not only did he overcome Baramut's strength, but it also rolled onto the floor a few times.

'Now!'

He immediately dashed forward and thrust his sword into the ground.

Once the sword made contact with the ground, a barrage of earth shards assaulted Baramut.

Pabapak!

Baramut quickly stood up and forcefully kicked off the ground. It narrowly avoided the earth shards, merely being grazed by a few of them.

'I thought you'd do that!'

The earth shards had just been a distraction.

He was the true threat!

Kang Oh rushed towards it and swung his sword.

"Huahp!"

His jet-black blade cleaved through the air!

Kureureu!

Baramut laid down, narrowly avoiding his blade by a hair's breadth.

"You're not getting away!"

Kang Oh cut through its side.

Slash!

A white line that seemed to divide the world came out! Unfortunately, Darkness Strike didn't activate. Instead, his blade had made contact with its side.

Swish!

A clear wound had appeared on Baramut's side.

Kyaaah!

Baramut roared menacingly and swiped with its front paw.

Thus far, it was its fastest attack yet.

'Head!'

Kang Oh felt a chill from atop his head, so he tilted his upper body back.

Buwak!

Baramut rent the area he'd once occupied. It was truly a ferocious attack!

However...

'It doesn't matter if I don't get hit.'

Once he dodged its front paw, he counterattacked.

Swish, swish, swish!

Slashes of his jet-black blade filled the air. He was aiming for the wound on its side!

Kuhang!

Baramut didn't back down. With its incredible agility, which was unbefitting of its large frame, it dodged Kang Oh's assault and counterattacked with its claws and teeth.

"Die!"

Kang Oh yelled.

Kuhang!

Baramut roared.

They exchanged blows several times. However, it wasn't easy to decide a victor. They were true equals! They were completely on par with each other!

But Baramut was the first one to give an inch.

Kureureu.

It turned its body so that the wound on its side wasn't visible and glared at Kang Oh.

"Haa, haa."

Kang Oh caught his breath. He didn't have much Stamina left, so he didn't immediately charge at Baramut.

'Hmm.'

Kang Oh glanced at Eder.

Eder had already taken down two of the wolves, so there were only three remaining.

'I have to keep it busy until Eder's free. If we fight together, then we can take it down for sure.'

Kang Oh adjusted his grip.

Baramut sure was a clever tiger. It was well aware that time was not on its side.

Kureuuu.

It let out a low growl and the blue glow disappeared from its eyes.

At the same time, it turned itself around completely and vanished into the foliage.

"Stop right there!" Kang Oh quickly yelled.

But why would it stay still just because he said so?

In the end, Baramut returned into the jungle's depths and disappeared completely.

Keoheong, keong, keong!

Simultaneously, Baramut's control over the wolves was broken, and the two wolves that had barely made it out alive began to run away as well.

"Where do you think you're going!?"

Eder pierced one of the escaping wolves with his bone spear.

Kang Oh killed the last remaining wolf, ultimately feeding his blade a chicken rather than a pheasant.

"Good work, Mr. Kang Oh."

Eder approached him.

"You too."

"Here."

Eder passed him the collected junk items.

"Mm."

Kang Oh laid all of the junk items he'd collected thus far, as well as the ones Eder had given him onto the ground.

He extended his magic sword over the junk and activated its Predator ability. Then, darkness flowed out of the blade and consumed the junk items.

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[Ubist has consumed the Wasp's Poison Stinger. Satiation has increased by 0.06%.]

[Ubist has consumed the Rattlesnake's Rattle. Satiation has increased by 0.1%.]

[Ubist has consumed the Wolf's Tooth. Satiation has increased by 0.12%.]

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

While he was feeding his magic sword, Eder asked, "Baramut keeps escaping. What will you do?"

"We have to finish it in its den, so that it has nowhere to run."

That was the entire reason they had been roaming around the jungle in the first place. In order to find Baramut's den.

"Then... Next time we meet, I'll attempt to cast a curse onto it."

"A curse?"

"Yes. It's called a stalker curse and will allow us to ascertain its location."

"You could've done that earlier."

"I hadn't thought about it until now."

Eder scratched his head.

"Fine. Then next time we meet, use that stalker curse on Baramut."

"Ok."

Kang Oh and Eder began their trek through the jungle once more. Baramut didn't show up for quite a long time.

And...

Night had fallen.