Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 210: An Absurd Ending and The Desired Skill (1)

Shwooooosh!

Mavros was extremely strong in his combat mode, and he flew up like a rocket into the sky.

‘Keeuuuh…!’?Han-Yeol gritted his teeth and tried to withstand the air pressure.

He was not wearing any special suits that would reduce the pressure he felt, and even as a Master Rank Hunter, his body was having a hard time withstanding it.

They continued flying up until they reached the thermosphere.

The thermosphere was void of not only air but everything else, making it a place where one would be confused whether they were already in space or still on Earth.

Han-Yeol could see space right in front of his eyes, but that was not what was important right now.

Whoosh! Tak!

He could not speak due to the lack of air in the thermosphere, so he tapped Mavros to tell him to start their descent.

Shwooooooosh…!

‘Keuuuuh…!’?

Han-Yeol felt as if his entire body was burning like a crashing comet, but he was able to withstand the pain thanks to his stats and mana.

Seuk…

He snapped out of it and started to focus once he felt that they were getting nearer to the ground. Slowly, he climbed his way up Mavros’ body.

Shwaaaaaaa!

As they neared the ground, he could feel his body heating up even more. Fortunately, Han-Yeol possessed the Fire Attribute, granting him some resistance against heat and flames. It was at that moment, just before they were about to crash into the ground...

“Throw that guy and fly up, Mavros!”

“Kieeeek!”

Whoosh! Puuuk!

“Kieeeeek!”

Mavros had been preoccupied with biting down on Asus, which was why he hadn't responded earlier. However, as soon as Han-Yeol gave the command, Mavros immediately opened his mouth and let out a cry. Then, with a swift motion, he kicked Asus with both of his hind legs, propelling himself into the air.

Whoosh!

Han-Yeol jumped off Mavros' back and flew toward Asus.

“Eat this! Flash Strike!”

Shwiiik!

A flash appeared before Han-Yeol swung his sword, almost at the speed of light. Asus tried to avoid the attack, but it no longer had any power in it after its entire body was burned from the drop. After all, Asus possessed the Ice Attribute, and fire was its biggest weakness.

Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!?

Of course, Han-Yeol was not one to miss such an opportunity. He repeatedly stabbed his sword before finally thrusting it into the empty void at the center of Asus’ helmet.

Pukeok!

The helmet might have appeared empty, but Han-Yeol could feel something the moment his sword 'entered' it. He was certain that there was something inside the helmet, but it did not feel like flesh at all. Nonetheless, he pushed the sword deeper and felt something break within the helmet.

Then…

Baaaam!

“Kwaaah!”

Both of them crashed into the ground with the full force of gravity, starting from the thermosphere, and the kinetic energy their bodies held spread shockwaves throughout the ground the moment they hit it.

Han-Yeol and Asus suffered from the same energy upon impact, and both of them could feel excruciating pain, as if their bodies were being ripped apart.

“Aaaargh!”

The force was so strong that Han-Yeol let out a scream, despite being a Master Rank Hunter. However, it was because of this energy that Asus could not easily pull out the sword that had been stabbed into its helmet.

Puuuuuk!

Strangely enough, Han-Yeol could plunge his sword deeper and deeper into the helmet.

Tak!

Asus squeezed whatever strength it had remaining and grabbed Han-Yeol’s arm in a desperate attempt to pull the sword out of its helmet.

“Cough!?Not so fast, tin can!”

However, Han-Yeol had no plans of letting the boss monster go free even though he was coughing up blood.

“Die! Explosion!”

Han-Yeol prepared to deal the finishing blow.

Shwiiiik…!

Silence ensued for a second before…

KABOOOM!

A massive explosion was triggered from within Asus’ helmet and blew away everything around it, including Han-Yeol.

Ding!

[The rank of Explosion has risen from (B) to (A).]

A message popped up as Han-Yeol was flung back.

Tak!

Mavros suddenly swooped in and caught Han-Yeol. The black dragon truly came at the most optimal timing as Han-Yeol was completely void of energy right now.

“Hahaha… Thanks, Mavros.”

“Kieeeeeek!”

Mavros looked extremely fierce in battle, but he suddenly turned into a docile, cute creature the moment Han-Yeol praised him. This was the reason Han-Yeol could not help but dote on his black dragon.

Despite spending most of his mana by triggering Explosion, Han-Yeol was not an ordinary Hunter but an overpowered one.

‘Restore.’

Wooong!

White-colored mana emanated from Han-Yeol’s hand and healed all of the injuries he sustained from the explosion. This was the skill that would allow him to completely heal himself as long as he was still alive and had some mana remaining.

“Phew…?It’s done,” Han-Yeol let out a sigh of relief before hopping off Mavros.

The place where the battle took place was a complete mess. A sizable crater had formed from a meteorite that was only five centimeters in diameter.

With the combined weight of both Han-Yeol and Asus being more than two hundred kilograms, and the fact that Han-Yeol used his mana to further accelerate their descent, a massive crater was created in the Cheolwon hunting ground.

Shwiiiiiik…!

A thick black smoke was rising from the spot Asus fell.

‘I didn’t gain any levels, but that guy is?probably de…’

“Grrr…!”?Mavros growled before Han-Yeol could finish his thoughts.

Clack…!

“Kieeeeee…!”

Asus appeared from within the thick black smoke. Its eyes were glowing bright red and its armor was in tatters.

‘H-How can this be?!’?Han-Yeol was shocked.

The damage the boss monster suffered was not from an ordinary attack. It was an attack carrying the combined forces of Han-Yeol, Mavros, and the drop from the thermosphere.

However, Asus withstood that attack, even though it was exposed to extreme heat during the drop, which was its natural weakness as a monster of ice attribute.

“Tsk…?You’re quite tough.” Han-Yeol clicked his tongue.

Whiiish!

Tak!

Han-Yeol caught his sword and thought, ‘Damn it… What should I do? I doubt the same attack is going to work twice…’

The only silver lining right now would be the fact that the boss monster was in absolute tatters, and Han-Yeol was confident that he could still win this fight.

It was then…

[I will finish this…]

‘Arch Lich-nim?’

Seuk…!

The Arch Lich appeared in front of Han-Yeol.

Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!?

Asus did not seem to be threatened by the presence of the Arch Lich as it made its way toward Han-Yeol. The boss monster finally went on the offensive only after its body was in tatters.

Seuk…

The Arch Lich floated toward Asus and stopped when they were about five meters apart. He then raised both of his hands toward the boss monster and spoke with authority:

[I command you with the cold powers of the abyss… Heed my commands and return to eternal rest, oh cursed soul, as I am the lord of death, the Arch Lich. This is the law of darkness and death, Death Mind!]

Chwaaak!

The Arch Lich shot out his mana from both hands toward Asus.

Crack…!

Asus continued walking forward, but started to slow down until he came to a full stop.

‘Huh? Is that some sort of mind control magic?’?Han-Yeol wondered.

One could pick up clues on what kind of magic it was from the incantation used, but that did not mean that one could listen to the incantation to avoid the spell, as it would probably be too late by that time.

“Kweeeeeee!”

“What?!” Han-Yeol was shocked after seeing the dozens of Ice Demons nearby suddenly shriek in agony before turning into smoke.

Ding!

[You have successfully hunted the final boss of the Cheolwon hunting ground, the intermediate demon, Asus.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

…

[Your level has risen.]

Han-Yeol immediately gained more than ten levels after killing the boss monster, but that was not the end of it.

Ding!

[The Arch Lich has successfully brainwashed an intermediate demon.]

[Your Invoke has increased by 100.]

[You have automatically contracted the intermediate demon, Asus.]

“What?!” Han-Yeol was shocked once again.

He somewhat deduced that the Arch Lich was using a mind control-type magic on the boss monster, but he did not expect it to be automatically contracted to him.

“Haha… What the hell is this…?” Han-Yeol was flabbergasted.

Thud…!

It was at that moment when Han-Yeol was completely out of it that something dropped beside Asus, who was standing blankly after getting brainwashed by the Arch Lich.

“What was that?” Han-Yeol wondered as he approached Asus.

He cautiously moved toward Asus, not being one hundred percent sure, even though the message appeared a while ago.

However, his worries seemed to be unfounded as Asus only stood still without moving an inch.

“Hmm… This is quite intriguing…” he muttered.

Han-Yeol had studied a lot about monsters and hunting grounds ever since he was a Porter, but this was the first time he ever heard of being able to raid a boss monster in such a manner. There were no such instances of a boss monster being brainwashed in books, reports, papers, or the news.

Han-Yeol was shocked once again after reaching where Asus was standing.

“What?!” he exclaimed after seeing the object that dropped beside Asus.

“I didn’t expect any loot since I technically didn’t kill it, but it’s quite surprising that there’s still loot regardless… This is amazing,” he muttered in awe.

Indeed, it was amazing, just as he said.

The loot that would probably have dropped if Asus died was laid out on the ground. Han-Yeol concluded that these were probably the loot due to a mana stone the size of a basketball being among them. A mana stone of this size was usually dropped by boss monsters, and these mana stones held a denser concentration of mana compared to the normal ones dropped by ordinary monsters.

However, that was still not the end of the surprise.

Woooong!

There was other loot on the ground, such as a longsword, a magic shard, an epaulet, a cape, a pair of leggings, and a belt.

The longsword looked quite different from the humongous sword Asus was using, but it still emitted powerful mana while surrounding itself in a blue luster.

The magic shard looked quite peculiar as loot, but he could instinctively tell that it was going to be useful, judging from the absurd amount of ice energy it was emitting. In fact, the ice energy was so strong that it felt as if anyone daring to grab the shard would have their hand frozen solid by it.

Gulp…!

“Am… Am I dreaming right now…?” Han-Yeol muttered in disbelief.

These were all treasures dropped by the boss monster, and every single one of them was going to be immensely valuable.

Whoosh! Whoosh!?

Han-Yeol looked around and saw that only the Arch Lich and Mavros were with him. The rest of the party members seemed to be exhausted, fighting against the remaining Ice Demons, and they were quite a distance away from him.

“Hehehe… These are all mine…” Han-Yeol muttered while sheepishly grinning.

Nobody could dispute that Han-Yeol was the one who hunted the boss monster. Also, he could simply feign ignorance and pretend nothing was dropped since the boss monster was still standing. In fact, it was going to be harder for him to convince them that these items were dropped since the boss monster was still ‘alive’.

Still, avoiding any suspicion was going to be the best course of action, so he had to hide the loot as soon as possible. However, it was not going to be easy to conceal these items as there were quite a lot of them, and they were too big for him to hide from the others.

In the end, Han-Yeol had no other choice but to…

“I wanted to do it slowly, but I guess I have no other choice…” he muttered before he gathered his remaining mana and started to expand it.