Chapter 62. Event Raid (5)

“Ah, Mastiford-ssi.”

Even with all the effort I put in, the city was still half-destroyed. I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. However, the fact that civilian casualties had not spread was a relief. If father and I didn’t kill it, the boar would have kept charging through Guangzhou and destroyed the entire city. If that happened, millions of people would have died.

[You were even stronger than before, at least as strong as S-rank. Ah, of course, I’m still much stronger! Oh, if you’re with Yungoong ajusshi, tell him that he looked cool today!]

“We went our way right after the raid. You should tell him yourself, I’m sure he’ll be happy.”

[Yeah, I will. Ah, um... Thanks. I was touched. I thought you were selfish and mean, but you’re really a good guy! A cool guy! I, Hwaya Mastiford, can guarantee it.]

“I didn’t go just to save people. I went because I knew I could win.”

[Even so!]

Mastiford’s good mood was clear from the excitement in her voice. Then, she suddenly became quieter.

[Sorry for putting you through all that danger... I hope something like this doesn’t happen again, but if it does, I’ll be sure to go with you.]

“I wasn’t alone. Yungoong ajusshi was there too.”

[Ah, uh, y-yeah.]

Mastiford’s voice shook a little. I shook my head at father who was asking what was up. Then, I returned to my conversation with her.

“But yes, we should come up with a plan to deal with something like this. We can’t let another Event Raid break out and have a country greedily say they’ll take care of it on their own. Guangzhou had tourists from other countries too. We should leverage that fact and create a guideline or procedure for foreign ability user assistance in dealing with giant monster appearances.”

[Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. This time, I’ll show you the weight that an SS-rank’s words have! I’m done sitting still and shaking my legs while I fully know others are dying!]

Mastiford’s voice was filled with rage and confidence. Thinking how she was fiery like flames, I laughed.

“What about Beijing and Shanghai?”

[The monsters there were successfully suppressed. Because the Chinese government deployed high-ranking ability users to both Shanghai and Beijing, their civilian casualties and materialistic damage were lower than Guangzhou’s. Two S-rank ability users died in the process, though.]

“Died!? S-ranks?”

[Yep. It was from the Mini Krakens’ poison. Perhaps because the Curse Magician was there, they didn’t send any healers above A-rank. Stupid. Because of their mana-eater property, the Mini Krakens evolved to near B+-rank, making their venom highly lethal. Two magicians without any resistance against them died. I think even the Chinese ability users were shocked.]

“Tsk.”

Inside the bath, I closed my eyes and pondered. They really died in vain. Less than 0.1 percent of ability users were S-ranked, making them elites amongst elites. However, they died in a C-rank boss raid. It was the result of recklessly attacking the enemy without knowing their special property.

Thinking how they died so stupidly while enjoying luxurious lives, a sense of emptiness swept over me. Reality was this unpredictable and cold-hearted. Everyone had to realize that the change that came with the second moon was not some gift from God.

When I was bitterly thinking about the people that died, Mastiford called me.

[Um... Yeon Hwawoo.]

“Yeah?”

[When are you going to stop calling me Mastiford-ssi? It feels stiff. You don’t talk so formally otherwise.]

“... Hm?”

[When it’s just the two of us talking, call me Hwaya. That’s easier and simpler, right? Okay, that’s that! Thanks for today!]

With that, she disappeared. I forgot the serious things I was pondering and became flustered. Eh? Uh...

“Is she saying we should be friends?”

“What do you mean, son?”

“Uh... it’s nothing.”

It felt a bit weird to tell father about it. I didn’t know why, but I found my heart pounding slightly... Why was it pounding? Was something wrong with me?

“Ah, it must be because I made a new friend.”

I was satisfied with the answer I came up with. I had finally obtained the qualification to face Hwaya Eleni Mastiford eye to eye. From herself, no less!

She didn’t ask me to work under her either. She thanked me, and said she’d join me in the future. It meant no one would be under anyone’s orders, and that we would stand on equal footing. As friends. I thought my heart was pounding at the excitement of being acknowledged as a friend by an SS-rank ability user like herself.

That was probably it. Yep, probably.

That day, what happened at Guangzhou was broadcasted to the whole world. A knight in a black suit of armor and a knight in a silver suit of armor suddenly appeared out of nowhere and disappeared along with the Giant Iron Boar after defeating it.

The Chinese government treated them as international criminals and declared that they’d capture them as they gritted their teeth. On the other hand, almost all other nations publicly denounced China, saying that they attacked this era’s true knights. Not to mention, they attacked China for ignoring the safety of their citizens and foreign citizens that were there for tourism and business, all in their greed for monster remains.

Countless international lawsuits barraged them, the Chinese government sweated to take care of them all.

In the end, through a joint public negotiation between Guardian and Freedom Wing, an international law was created to outline the procedure of Guardian, Freedom Wing, and rogue ability users when another massive monster outbreak occurred. Although a similar law already existed, what happened with China today emphasized the importance of such laws, repealing and reinstituting a completely new, strengthened law.

In the case that civilian evacuation was not prioritized, or the monsters were not taken care of within a fixed amount of time, there would be no problem even if foreign countries’ ability users appeared to help out.

There was already a law that said any ability users counter attacking in self-defense in case of a monster outbreak would not be held responsible for damages. As such, the ability users that were in the area would automatically be eligible to fight any monsters.

This new law allowed combat units of each country’s Guardians and Freedom Wings to act more freely. When an event raid occurred in a country, these combat units of neighboring countries could be deployed as soon as a fixed amount of time passed.

Of course, the law worked differently for dungeon explorers. We could teleport to target locations as soon as the fixed time passed.

[Rather interesting rumors are going around. Two people in a full suit of armor suddenly teleported in, an ability user that could teleport people teleported two strong melee ability users into battle, etc. It would seem that the characters from these rumors are among us.]

[That’s an interesting story, but rumors are rumors.]

[You aren’t wrong, but it’s clear that these aren’t just rumors. Not to mention, I’ve seen what happened at Guangzhou. Mastiford couldn’t have been there, especially since I already know her ability. That would mean the culprit is among the three of you.]

[I could say the same about you, Walker. Not that I think you’d be the type to do something so admirable.]

[You’re right, I wouldn’t do something like that... I’ll let this conversation rest here.]

Of the two armored knights that appeared in Guangzhou, the media began to call the one in black suit of armor, ‘Dark Knight,’ while the one who freely controlled lightning was called ‘Thunder Knight.’ These nicknames spread to other media platforms and became universal. Every time I heard the media call us Dark Knight and Thunder Knight, I couldn’t help but cringe.

“My Thunder Knight, bring your father some water.”

“Dark Knight-nim, why don’t you get it yourself?”

“Huhu, you must be itching for battle, Thunder Knight.”

“You must be quite bored yourself, Dark Knight-nim!”

... After a few battles with our honor on the line, we negotiated by agreeing to never call each other by our nicknames.

*

[Rage Rush Boots (Unique)

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Durability – 170/170

Defense – 240

Equipment Limit – Level 35+, 100+ Dexterity, 80+ Constitution

Options – Strength +5, Dexterity +10; Increases the effectiveness of all rush-type skills by 50 percent.]

The boots I got from the Giant Iron Boar was incomparably stronger than the Lizard Knight Set in terms of defense. Not to mention, the boots looked extremely fancy as it let out a black luster. Unfortunately, my level and stats weren’t high enough to equip it. Plus, equipping it would break my set effect, though it would technically be made up for by Rage Rush Boots’ options. As I didn’t have any rush-type skills, the boots didn’t have much effect on me either. As such, it was trapped in my inventory for now.

Of course, not having these boots didn’t mean I couldn’t hunt the Giant Ghoul by myself. Even today, I easily hunted a Giant Ghoul and consumed Skin Strengthening Elixirs.

[Your skin becomes strengthened to the limit, becoming tough enough to withstand spears and swords without armor. All blemishes on your skin disappear, making it even smoother and clear. Your constitution and charm both increase by 3. It seems consuming more of this item will have no further effect.]

Nice, this was the last one! As expected, the Skin Strengthening Elixir increased my constitution and charm by 12 each. Looking at myself in the mirror, I noticed that my skin was much smoother and cleaner than before. Even I thought I looked good. I felt how important having good skin was.

“Are you close to completely conquering the 25th floor?”

“Yes, there’s only one equipment part I didn’t get. I hope it appears next time, and not some other part or Skin Strengthening Elixir.”

I used another Party Member Scarecrow as I answered Loretta. Nodding her head, Loretta calmly replied.

“In that case Shin-nim, I’ll see you after your next raid. Don’t forget to visit me afterwards.”

“Understood.”

After casually answering Loretta, I turned my back from her. I could hear her letting out a light sigh from behind, but I didn’t look back. Who knew if she’d try to sell something to me again?

“Guoooooo!”

“All of you, come at me!”

[You used the skill, Provoke! You draw nearby enemies towards you!]

Giant Ghoul’s solo raid was extremely simple. First, I just had to repeatedly use Provoke to gather the zombies towards me. Then, I didn’t even need to use Elemental Tempest, as just a few normal Tempests were enough to completely wipe out most of the zombies, opening a path to the Giant Ghoul.

“Tempest! Tempest!”

“Humaaan...”

“Back... to... darkness...”

As zombies continued rising from the ground, I just ignored them after I opened up the path. I ran towards the Giant Ghoul, at the same time the Giant Ghoul ran towards me, enraged by the fact that I killed so many zombies.

“GUOOOOOO!”

“Huu, haap!”

Raids in real life were good, but the dungeon’s raids also had their charm. Being able to fight against opponents this strong and feeling myself getting stronger in the process, there was no better feeling!

“Haa!”

I leaped up diagonally and extended Black Earthen Spear’s reach with my mana. Slashing through the back of Giant Ghoul’s hand, I lightly landed while breaking a few tombstones on my way. With luck, the Giant Ghoul was immediately poisoned. Blood was flowing down from his mouth. I loved Black Earthen Spear’s poison. Not only did it deal continuous damage over time, it also slowed the enemy’s movements and made him more vulnerable to fatal attacks.

“GUOOOOOO, HUMAAAAAN!”

“I swear, I’ll change my race one day. Then I won’t have to listen to that line again... Haat!”

The Giant Ghoul reached toward me on all fours. Dodging his steel claws, I swung my spear at his face and shot out a Thunder Bomb. After my Spirit Mastery became mid-ranked, it became easier to use Peika’s elemental magic while maintaining Spirit Aura state.

“KUOOOOO!”

“Being sturdy is your strong point! Come on, be more aggressive!”

Floor Master battles were so difficult because of the bosses’ cheat-like skills, strong attacks, and boundless health and defense. In other words, if you could avoid their attacks and pierce through their defense and deal damage, you could easily kill the Floor Master alone.

Of course, most people would not even have a chance as they would be kicked out after taking a blow. The Floor Masters’ attacks had a wide reach and could easily be fatal to anyone that was hit. To shave down their boundless health while fighting them alone, the challenger would need to stay tense and alert the entire fight.