Chapter 14. The World Becomes a Dungeon (7)

“Kiyaaaa!”

“Kyaaak!”

Menacing ghosts turned their attention toward us. I quickly scanned the room to find the Wraith Queen. Just like I had expected, she was looking down at us from a throne in the innermost area of the room. She appeared to be 3 meters tall and took the form of a woman.

“Humans dare to enter my territory? I shall extract your souls and make you suffer for all eternity!”

“We’ll take care of the wraiths first!”

The attack strategy was not too different from the strategy for the Orc Lord. Against all the wraiths flying toward us, I used Tempest and paved open a path.

“Kuaaaaak!”

“Alright, let’s go!”

“... Eh?”

“... Yes?”

Since I spent 300 mana to kill about 30 wraiths, I felt it was justified. However, my party members seemed to disagree. I remember the party leader saying that the Wraith Queen had a skill that summoned wraiths when their numbers got low and that we had to take care of them quickly. What was wrong?

“Is there a problem?”

“What level are you?”

“10. Aren’t we all?”

“Are you really level 10?”

“Yes, I really am.”

It felt a bit weird hearing them repeatedly say ten[1. ’Ten’ in Korean sounds similar to the F-word equivalent, although not exactly]. When I replied in a displeased tone, the party leader retorted as if he had just heard the most ridiculous thing.

“What skill allows a level 10 to kill 30 wraiths of the same level?”

“The high-rank spear technique.”

It was level 2 high-rank spear technique, to be exact. High-rank weapon techniques really were hard to level up.

“H-High rank...”

“This is the power of the Crown Prince...”

“Crown Prince...”

I felt like dying from embarrassment. In the meanwhile, the Wraith Queen was making a summoning gesture.

“More wraiths are coming out! I have a limit to my mana, so I can only use that skill two more times!”

“Ah, everyone, charge! Priestesses, prepare your status effect cleansing spells!”

“Yes!”

With the party leader taking the lead, everyone rushed forward. Although I also ran while taking care of the incoming wraiths, the Wraith Queen re-summoned ten wraiths in one go. The summoned wraiths flew toward us the moment they were summoned, and the Wraith Queen went back to her summoning gesture.

“She’s one annoying ghost for sure. When the number of wraiths fall below twenty, she starts summoning more!”

“I’ll take care of the wraiths so you can focus on dealing damage!”

“Got it! Everyone, use auras!”

A bluish aura wrapped around the party leader’s sword. As I struck down the wraiths, the party leader and five other people all used their swords, blades, and spears to attack the Wraith Queen. Even as she screamed out in pain, the Wraith Queen didn’t stop summoning wraiths.

“Haaap!”

I let out a spirited shout and activated Tempest to sweep the wraiths once more. Mana surged from my body as it traveled from the heart, ran down the arm, and wrapped around my spear. It formed a spiral current as I thrusted it forward!

BOOM!

“Kiyaaaaa!”

“Syaaaa!”

A majority of the leftover wraiths were swept away by the Tempest. The Wraith Queen stopped her summoning and let out a rageful scream.

“KIYAAAAA!”

[Wraith Queen used Vengeful Spirit’s Wail! All party members fall under a state of confusion! All party members fall under a state of fear!]

[You attempt to resist. With 22 charm and 11 luck, resistance chance is 28 percent... Resist failed! You fall under confusion and fear!]

What? What just happened? Suddenly, I couldn’t balance myself properly. My head was spinning and I wanted to fall down. I didn’t understand why I was here. I just wanted to lie and rest.

When I raised my head, I was surrounded by several Palludias. Huk! No way, Palludia!

“You Orc!”

“Bastard Orc!”

“You dare ignore me?”

“You’re just an Orc!”

“I’ll kill you!”

“Sorry! I didn’t meant to ignore you!”

“Like I care!”

“Die!”

“Uwaaaak!”

All the Palludias suddenly jumped at me. I’ll die, I’ll die right here! At that moment...

“Save those who fell under darkness! Purify!”

[You have been cleansed of status effects.]

“Uwak, Palludia, I’m sor... Eh?”

When I snapped out of it, all the Palludias disappeared and turned into wraiths. No, they couldn’t have been Palludia in the first place. They were wraiths from the very beginning. Did I mistake them for Palludia in the confused state? Why was I so afraid of her in the first place!?

“Leader!”

One of the priestess suddenly shouted. When I hurriedly turned my head, I saw the Wraith Queen endlessly shooting out ectoplasm arrows at the party leader. He seemed to not have any Spiritual Shield or have run out as he turned pale and soon fell.

“Damn, the leader died!”

“The Wraith Queen is summoning again!”

“Kuk, at this rate...”

The next thing I knew, the raid was about to end as a failure. Didn’t I have an item for this exact situation? I hurriedly took out a Soul Bomb from my inventory and threw it at the Wraith Queen. The moment the bomb made contact and exploded, a boom sounded out and the Wraith Queen staggered.

Kwang!

[Spiritual Burst activated! Wraith Queen received 1,496 damage.]

[Wraith received 700 damage.]

[Wraith received 4,700 damage.]

‘Damn it, it could deal up to 5,000 damage and it only did 1,500!?’ Although I was disappointed by the Soul Bomb’s power, it managed to stop her. The two wraiths standing near her also died in the blast. Now was the time to turn the tide! I decided to use the skill I kept hidden.

“EVERYONE, CHAAAARGE!”

[You used Orc Lord’s Warcry! All party members are cleansed of negative status effects. All party members’ attack power increases by 50 percent for the duration. All party members become super-armored, unfazed by enemy attacks.]

“W-What’s this?”

“Isn’t this the Orc Lord’s skill? Who used it?”

“No way, it’s the Crown Prince!”

“Stop babbling and attack!”

Feeling my body glow under the effect of super-armor, I rushed toward the Wraith Queen. When I thrust my spear in, I could feel a definite response. As expected of a 50 percent attack power increase!

“Kiyaaaak!”

“Die!”

‘I’m going to have to work on my habit of shouting out in fights.’ Even as I scolded myself internally, on the outside, I was acting wild like a boar that had just been hit. The party members seemed to understand that questions were for later as they followed my lead and attacked the Wraith Queen.

Attacks from the entire party! Not to mention, they were strengthened by 50 percent! The Wraith Queen could not finish her summoning gesture and stumbled down. When a beautiful woman fell, it would be a man’s instinct to help her rise. Unfortunately, none of the men here had the desire to escort the Wraith Queen.

“Kiyaaaaak!”

[Wraith Queen uses Vengeful Spirit’s Wail. Super-armor state ignores status effect.]

‘Wow! I didn’t know super-armor had such an effect.’

In truth, because the super-armor was such an unusual state, I did not fully know all of its uses. However, I did know that this was the best opportunity to finish off the Wraith Queen.

I checked the amount of mana I had left.

‘Still about 300. What should I do? Save it? No, if I saved it and Orc Lord’s Warcry ended, it would be terrible.’ I did not doubt I would succeed, but I did not want to unnecessarily send other party members on week-long vacations.

“Kuk, we’re being pushed back!”

“This Wraith Queen! Even her physical attacks are strong!”

“Sinoa’s about to die! Heal her!”

“Kiyaaaa! Let the vengeful spirits burn you alive, humans!!”

In the end, I came to a decision. Brushing aside the wraiths that were nearing me with a single swing, I pulled my spear back slightly. This was not a spear technique I learned from Peruta, but a Kang family spear technique I learned from father.

It focused the entire body’s power into the spear tip and penetrated the enemy. By pouring all of one’s concentration into the spear tip, it created a single blow that surpassed the limit of humans.

With it, I wrapped the spiral current of mana used in Tempest. The spear tip began to tremble, and I held it back with my willpower alone. For a move that poured everything into a single attack, not a shred of hesitation or wavering could be allowed.

“Eh, Crown Prince is doing something.”

“Someone hold down the Wraith Queen! She’s trying to run out!”

“Crown Prince, hurry!”

I did not even have the energy to reply. Damn, controlling mana and controlling the entire body’s strength. Doing these two things at once gave me a splitting headache. Was it really impossible to do both of these at once? ... No, wait. Wasn’t mana part of my strength? Why was I trying to stick to the shape of Tempest? It was an attack focused on a single point. Why couldn’t I just focus my mana with it?

The moment I realized it, the current of mana wrapping around the spear disappeared. Instead, my mana began to flow from my body to the spear tip. The stream of pure white light flowing and gather at the spear tip made it look like I was gathering energy for an energy blast.

But I had to end it quick. I could feel my mana draining. The only thing to do was to draw my breath and thrust out. In this tranquil state, I stared fixedly at the Wraith Queen’s chest, the target of my attack.

“N-No way... That light is...”

“Hero? I see, Crown Prince was his world’s Hero. I thought he was overly strong...”

No words entered my ears. The only important thing to me right now was this attack. I devoted my entire focus on this attack.

The attack timing came in a surprise. It was the moment right before the Wraith Queen tried to use another Vengeful Spirit Wail and also the moment right before Orc Lord’s Warcry ended.

I thrust out with my spear.

Puuuk.

Surprisingly, a soft sensation like sticking a fork through cake flowed through me. I smiled. I knew this attack was a success. There was no chance that it failed.

“KIYAAAAAA!”

The Wraith Queen let out a bloodcurdling scream, slowly turning transparent. At the same time, in front of us eight members (someone else seemed to have died without me noticing), a large window appeared.

[You became level 11. You obtained the qualification to enter the 11th floor.]

[You obtained 5 bonus stats.]

[You obtained 3,000 gold. It is distributed evenly amongst party members. You received 375 gold.]

[Rewards will be distributed in order of contribution.]

[Kang Shin-nim’s contribution is the highest. Choose your reward.]

“Kyaa, we did it!”

“We won, we won!”

“All hail Crown Prince!”

“Crown Prince is the best!”

After standing blankly for a while, everyone threw themselves onto me. Because most of them were women, I almost lost my sense of reasoning from their sweet scent and soft touch.

“Everyone, let go of Crown Prince. He has to choose a reward before we do.”

“Ah, right. Sorry, Crown Prince.”

“Sorry, Crown Prince, but you looked so cool back there!”

“That aside, why do you all keep calling me Crown Prince...?”

Expressing discontent at my nickname that seemed have become fixed, I checked the reward list.

[1. Wraith Queen’s Headdress

2. Middle Potion

3. Mana Potion

4. Soul Tempering Elixir

5. Rescue Nut

6. Animate Dead Magic Book

7. Wraith Queen’s Ghost Shoes

8. Emergency Medical Kit]

...Hu, huhu, huhuhu.

“Hiik, Crown Prince is laughing.”

“Hm? What could have come out?”

“Ah, I’m 3rd in contributions. I hope there are at least 3 Wraith Queen drops...!"

‘Huhu, don’t worry, you’ll obtain what you want. Of course, I will too!’ Would I choose anything else at this point? Without a shred of hesitation, I chose number 4, the Soul Tempering Elixir.

[Soul Tempering Elixir (Rare)

All souls become dirty and mixed with impurities as they live their lives. When the body experiences sudden growth, the soul often is unable to adapt to the new body and even degrade. The Soul Tempering Elixir purifies the soul and strengthens it to fit the body. A tempered soul not only affects the body positively, but it also positively affects one’s mana.

Note, when someone whose soul has already been tempered to the max or when someone who has both weak soul and body consumes this elixir, it may deal permanent damage or even kill in the worst case scenario.]

As I expected! When I swallowed the Soul Tempering Pill without hesitation, it felt like hot water was pouring inside me. However, I endured it with my willpower. When the feeling had disappeared, a message I had been expecting appeared.

[You tempered your soul. As a result, your magic and charm increases by 1.]

‘Eh, why did charm go up?’ Although this was something I hadn’t expected, since it was a good thing, I decided not to put much thought into it.

“Wow! There are two Wraith Queen items left!”

“This raid was amazing on so many levels!”

“Kya, a magic book!”

““Crown Prince! Crown Prince!””

Can you guys stop chanting Crown Prince!? Please, I beg you!