The Hero Returns

"How many are there?"

"Usually the monsters in forest type dungeons like this are often specialized in quantity rather than a specific strong one."

Su-hyeun answered Jordan's quiet statement. Jordan thought for a moment and nodded.

"Yes. It was like that so far," Jordan thought.

He remembered the times when he went to the forest type dungeons. He and his team had to fight against several monsters rather than a particularly strong one. Even so, this situation was different. There were way too many monsters.

"It looks like there is a leader."

"You mean the boss?"

"Yes. That one is probably intelligent. It controls all these monsters."

The monsters did not jump from one side. Rather, they surrounded all sides and slowly approached. There were not many monsters as coordinated as this. Moreover, this boss was controlling a lot of monsters. There was only one monster Su-hyeun could think of.

"The Troll Druid," Su-hyeun said.

"Druid?"

"Yes. This one is a boss that controls animal types of the monsters. It is not that big, but it is intelligent and good at magic.

"I've never heard of it before," Jordan said.

"I've only seen it once in the Tower of Trials. I think the boss is probably that monster."

The best excuse was the Tower of Trials because no one could figure out what kind of trials Suhyun had suffered. Fortunately, Jordan did not doubt Su-hyeun's words.

"Druid…"

"The monsters will move systematically, so keep that in your mind when you fight. The most important thing is to get rid of the heads of the Druid. Then, the other monsters will disperse."

Jordan nodded at Su-hyeun's analysis. Killing the boss from the battle between the big groups was the basis of the strategy. However, there was a problem.

"If it can think, then it wouldn't show up so easily," Jordan said.

"We will get it."

"How?"

"I will find it."

Having expected that answer, Jordan sighed.

"Will you be okay?"

"Nobody can do it except me. I can move faster than you, Mr. Jordan."

Su-hyeun was right. Last time, when Su-hyeun had disappeared from the beginning, Jordan didn't even notice that he moved. Additionally, he had been watching Su-hyeun's fights. Su-hyeun was able to move much faster than him.

"His mood is changed," Jordan thought.

So far, Su-hyeun looked pretty relaxed. Now, he looked a little nervous for the first time since entering the dungeon. Perhaps he thought the Druid was that difficult enemy. Jordan had no choice.

"Please, take care of it," Jordan said.

"Got it."

Su-hyeun caught Miru's tail as he flew over his head.

"Then, please hold out well."

Tap, tap!

Then, Su-hyeun tapped on Hak-Joon's shoulder and said in Korean, "You hold out well, too."

"Yes?"

Swish!

Su-hyeun's body quickly disappeared.

Purr...

People could here Miru's pitiful cry in the distance. It looked like Su-hyeun was running with Miru's tail on him.

"Did he say hold out?" Jordan muttered what Su-hyeun had said, "I'm worried..."

Grrrr!

Creak, creak!

Woof, woof!

Countless cries came from all directions. They could not even guess how many of them there were. Based on the sounds they made, it looked like there were hundreds of them.

"…Damn it."

Even before the fight began, Jordan had a cold sweat on his forehead. Now, he could figure out what "hold out" meant.

"You guys all heard, right?"

Jordan looked around the monsters that came from everywhere and said to everyone.

"Set your jaw and endure!"

Act 3

Whiz!

Su-hyeun stepped on the branches and leaped among the lush trees. The scenery passed like pictures. Miru, who was caught in Su-hyeun's hand, started to laugh as if he was having fun.

Kiyaaaak!

A monster resembling a leopard hid at the top of a tree and swiped at Su-hyeun from above, but failed to catch him and only broke a useless branch. When nothing was caught, the leopard turned its body and started to find Su-hyeun again.

Krrrr!

Swish!

At that moment, a thin red line appeared on the leopard's body.

Splat!

The leopard's body split in half as a fountain of blood gushed out. Su-hyeun had moved far away already.

"Which way should I go?" Su-hyeun thought.

Assuming that the other monsters were less intelligent than their leader, the Troll Druid could control them. It only appeared more than blue-colored dungeons. It was a tricky opponent to handle in a group fight. Unlike other bosses, this one did not easily expose his position. But that did not mean Su-hyeun could not find it. There was a limit of the range that it could control the other monsters, so it would not be too far away.

"The direction that the shadow leopard showed up...," Su-hyeun thought.

Su-hyeun believed in his instincts, with Miru giving him the confidence to do so.

Purr!

Miru was hanging on Su-hyeun's arm now. He cried in excitement to the direction that they were heading. For some reason, Miru could sense other monsters and react sensitively to Su-hyeun's feelings and thoughts. Su-hyeun was looking for Druid, so Miru must have been looking for it as well.

Swish!

Kiyaaak!

Woof, woof!

Shadow leopards and monkeys jumped to Su-hyeun from all sides of the trees. At that moment, Su-hyeun flew up several steps with the Leap skill. Upon his ascension, he quickly glanced at the scenery below. He could see several monsters forming a circle.

"Over there!"

Whiz!

His body quickly fell there. At the same time, the movement of monsters became quick. Hundreds of monsters looked at Su-hyeun at once.

Krrr!

Screech, screech!

They did not rush to Su-hyeun, but only revealed their teeth and growled.

"It looks like there are about two or three hundred of them."

Each monster was not a big threat; they were weaker than green-colored dungeons' monsters or similar to the monsters of yellow-colored dungeons. The problem was there were too many of them. It was rare to see that those monsters gathered in one place, aside from the outbreak.

"To deal with these monsters..." Su-hyeun thought.

Flap!

Miru, who was hanging on Su-hyeun's arm, spread his wings and flew up. He revealed his small fangs and roared as if showing his fighting spirit.

Grrr! Grrr!

Stomp, stomp!

At that moment, heavy footsteps came through the crowd of monsters. It came from a monster that was three meters long. It was wearing the leather of the other monster and covered its face with a white mask. It had a body like a human being but was of abnormal size. It was Druid, the leader of these monsters.

"Who... are you…?"

It spoke a human language. To be more precise, what it said directly went into Su-hyeun's brain. What Su-hyeun heard through his ears was incomprehensible, but he could tell what this monster was saying. It sounded a little inarticulate. It looked like a side effect of this process.

"I am your enemy," Su-hyeun said.

At Su-hyeun's response, Druid tilted its head slowly. Su-hyeun had seen it before only once, but it still frustrated him. Su-hyeun had seen the face under the mask, that was why he felt more in that way.

"You…are…a…quarry."

It looked like Druid saw Su-hyeun as just its prey.

"Well, let's see..."

Whiz!

Su-hyeun penetrated Druid's arms.

"—who will be hunted."

Purr!

[You received the blessing of the divine dragon.]

[Your moving speed increases.]

[Your strength increases slightly.]

[Your resistance to magic increases.]

[Your magic...]

They were Miru's buff effects. It helped Su-hyeun move as if he had wings. It only took a second to dig into Druid's arms.

Swish!

Puff!

When Su-hyeun swung his sword, the Druid scattered like fog. It looked like it either was an illusion, or it used evasion magic in that short time. Su-hyeun didn't expect that he could kill it easily from the beginning, so he didn't feel sorry about it.

Kyaaak!

Screech, screech!

When Su-hyeun moved, hundreds of the monsters came to attack him. He did not dodge from them and instead ran through the giant wave of the monsters.

[Indomitable body.]

[The transfiguration skill: Imoogi.]

[Flame]

Whoosh!

The Flame skill surrounded Su-hyeun. His body became hard as the scales of Imoogi started to grow all over his body. And…

[Doppelganger is activated.]

Doppelganger was a new skill that he got from the 28th floor. It consumed plenty of magic power, but it was a good skill to use when fighting against multiple monsters.

"One, two."

Su-hyeun laid the sword horizontally. Then, he swung his sword to the monsters.

"Three."

Whoosh!

The flame stretched out along the sword. The Flame was the only wide range skill that he could use to attack. He increased the cutting power of the sword with his Flame. One disadvantage was that the wider the range went, the weaker the cutting force became. Even so…

Slash!

From his back, the same attack spread out.

Slash!

The monsters started to burn down, their blood gushing out like a fountain. The active skill, Doppelganger, was a little unusual. It created another "him" that moved the same way from behind him.

"It's quite useful to deal with the enemy behind me," Su-hyeun thought.

The condition to use this skill was complex and could vary depending on the user. However, it was not a bad skill to use this situation. Anyway, both front and rear were enemies. There was nothing to lose.

"Hey, Miru!"

Whoosh!

Su-hyeun raised his head and looked up at Miru, who had been flying high above the sky.

"Sweep them all."

At that moment, Miru's mouth opened and began gathering magic.

[Breath.]

Breath was the divine beast's or dragon's most basic and destructive power, comparable to any top-range attack skill.

Whoosh!

Miru's breath was the result of the magic. The colorless breath swept everywhere. When Miru used its breath, Su-hyeun leaped high.

Kiyaaa!

Kkrrr, Krrrrk!

The monsters howled in pain. Miru was still a dragon, albeit a small one. Regardless, Miru was no ordinary dragon.

"It takes time to load, but its power is astounding," Su-hyeun thought.

He could not believe that Miru's small body could breathe out that much power. If Miru grew up more, it would've taken him less time to load the breath. It would've been stronger as well, making it even more useful.

"About half of them are left."

There were still several monsters left. Su-hyeun tightly grabbed the spear that he had been bringing all the time on his back.

"Then, I'll try this one."