"Keruk. Keruk. Our home is burning, Captain."
Um… I see.
In the end, the cave that we had been using as our base also got swallowed by the fire.
Contrary to my expectations, the fire is spreading too easily.
It is too much.
It had not rained for a while, so the weather is dry. Plus, the wind is still blowing westward.
In addition, there is no civilization here that formed a cohesive group. The rapidly spreading fire is the result of these three factors.
At the Ihaoi Continent in the 12th Floor Stage, each and every monster possessed powerful and unique skills. However, they didn't have a large scale civilization beyond the size of a small tribe.
At best, the biggest one was like that of the orangutans.
The orangutans chose to run to the west after realizing the intensity of the fire.
They might try to fight the fire when it spreads too far. However, as long as I interfere, the flame will not get extinguished.
The plan is working out too smoothly.
There aren't any unexpected enemies getting in our way.
Monsters either ran away in chaos or tried to stop the fire on their own. We just needed to hunt them down.
I actually feel anxious because things are rolling along too smoothly.
This is h.e.l.l Difficulty, it shouldn't be so easy.
"… Keruk."
Huh? Idy's voice is strange.
"Hey, are you crying?"
There was no response.
Instead, I felt some light movement on my back.
It felt like Idy just raised her hand to wipe off tears from her eyes.
What should I do?
I ended up making Idy cry.
I took Idy's sentiment about the home that she made too lightly, which was burning right now.
Should I console her?
How?
I can't turn this situation around either.
The fire is now at a level that I could not stop even if I wanted to.
The home has already been swallowed in the blaze.
Wow… Really, what should I do?
Should I send a message to Kim Min-huk and ask?
When it came to relationships, he was better than Doraemon. If I got advice from him, it would work out somehow.
However, Idy is on my back right now.
Idy won't be able to read and understand the message, but I don't think it will be good idea for me to seem like I was ignoring Idy at this moment.
I'm facing a dilemma with no easy solution.
I'm facing the greatest danger ever since I entered the 12th Floor.
I think I should say something to Idy…
Time is ticking.
"Ah…. Um."
d.a.m.n it. I was anxious, so I opened my mouth, but I could not think of anything to say.
This is driving me nuts.
Am I too late?
Could it be too late to say anything?
The awkward silence and uncomfortable atmosphere was making my head swim in circles.
Thankfully, a person came to resolve this difficult situation.
No, it was not a person.
It was a monster.
[Kiiiaaaaoooo!]
I see. It came out!
The other bogus dragon!
This isn't just a large sized monster.
It is a real bogus dragon with a fire breath skill.
It sounds weird to call it a real bogus dragon, but anyway, I am really glad to see that monster right now.
"Idy! Let's kill that one first and think about it later!"
"Keruk. I got it."
Idy quickly erased her gloom and responded with grit.
I used Blink several times in a row to get out of the fire breath's range that was directed towards us. We flew to get closer to the bogus dragon.
[Kwaaaaoooo..!]
Obviously, the result was our victory.
Its fire breath was a powerful attack. However, this one was actually easier to fight than the monster earlier which had the barrier skill.
When it was shooting its fire breath, its signs were too apparent.
Hey, I'm going to shoot the fire breath now!
It was practically attacking after telling us that. I just needed to use Blink and dodge them.
If there was anyone in gaming world who could not even dodge that, they must have one s.h.i.tty hand. I bet he could not even be in a WOW Raid.
Ah, of course, one has to be able to fly and have mobility equaling Blink Skill.
After dodging the fire breath, I stabbed it thoroughly with sword a number of times while it was catching its breath; the fight was over just like that.
Just like the monster that used the barrier, after being affected by the deterioration from Soul Steal and the poison from the Poison Energy, the monster lost strength where it stood and plummeted.
All that was left to do afterwards was piercing its head and ending the battle.
Thump…
When the monster collapsed to the ground, the monster's gigantic body triggered a ma.s.sive shockwave.
Hmm, it didn't cause me to level up this time.
No. This is not important right now.
"Kuhum. Idy. The thing is… Our plan is too effective, so…"
"Keruk… I know."
"Actually, I was planning on burning down just the eastern area. I never predicted that it would spread to the west so fast."
"Keruk. Keruk."
Now that it has come to this, it cannot be helped.
Since our home burned down too, let's just burn the entire jungle and clear the stage, Idy.
"I got it, Captain. I am aware that it could not be helped. I won't complain anymore, so tell me about the plan to go forward."
She still looked down, but she asked coolly.
To clear the stage, the condition is to survive for 25 days. However, if I burn everything and conquer the stage, then I should be able to clear the stage instantaneously.
[Kiiiiiaaaak!]
[Kaaaaak! Kyaaaak!]
My ears hurt.
Several hundred thousand monsters are at the same place roaring.
The fire spread through the entire stage in the end. It eventually progressed to the end of the western boundary.
To the west… The monsters had been running and running to the west. Now, blocked by the invisible wall at the boundary of the stage, they were trapped.
This place was literally no different from h.e.l.l.
At one end, there were countless monsters using skills in attempt to stop the fire somehow.
As I thought, these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are quite intelligent.
They are recognizing the dire situation. They are setting aside their differences and cooperating with each other.
At one end, there are monsters with burns that are crying out in pain.
On another end, monsters are running amok, shoving and stepping on other monsters in attempt to get a little closer to the west.
There are even monsters who were fighting each other in middle of this chaos.
Numerous monsters are being killed from being shoved and stepped on by other monsters as well.
Their few types of responses were all desperate and terrifying.
The screams of the monsters… I think I understand them.
The knowledge before the time of Babel is clearly delivering to me the fear, anguish, despair, sadness and longing that are echoed in their screams.
This place is h.e.l.l.
"Keruk. Captain, here it is."
I drank the heat resistance potion that Idy handed to me.
I had been drinking one every six hours.
I felt like I was wasting this pricy potion, but it could not be helped.
The heat from the fire which was burning down the entire jungle could not be avoided easily anymore.
Now, without the potion, Idy's movement became very sluggish, and she suffered from dizziness and headaches.
Now, shall we get going?
With Idy, we flew to the area where it was packed with monsters.
The monsters saw us, but they were too busy to respond.
Are they thinking that we are just two of them that ran here to avoid the fire?
That's not bad for us.
Idy and I moved quietly so we won't draw the monsters' attention.
To where the monsters are all gathered, to the middle of the area…
There were several hundred thousand monsters there.
The west was blocked by an invisible wall, and there was a huge wave of flames coming from the right.
Isn't this perfect?
This is where I wanted to be.
This is the situation I wanted to happen. These are the enemies I wanted to face.
Instead of finding and hunting one or two monsters at a time at snail-like pace, I prefer this, being surrounded by countless monsters and fighting like a madman.
The adrenaline from my excitement heightened my senses.
"Now, shall we begin?"
"Keruk."
Idy also quietly nodded.
Slowly, wielding the backsword, I cut off a monster from the back.
Also, I stabbed the sword into the heart of a monster that was looking at the fire in the distance.
Because of the fire in the distance, all the monsters crawling at the area washed in anxiety and fear, there were monsters that didn't notice us, and we killed them one by one with a single blow.
We did it quietly so it wouldn't cause a large commotion.
However, not all of these monsters were in complete disarray.
As we increased the number of monster corpses, other monsters in the area started to be wary of us.
They quickly took battle stances when we approached them. There were some that ran toward us from a distance to attack.
However, they were not coordinated.
There probably are over several hundred monsters fighting each other in this h.e.l.l hole.
Most of the monsters ignored us, thinking we are just more of such monsters fighting another.
Like that, for a long time, we cut and stabbed monsters and killed them. The situation changed little by little as we proceeded.
Now, all monsters around us were glaring and growling at us.
"Keruk. I think they all finally noticed us."
You mean they noticed that we had been indiscriminately attacking all monsters in our sight?
"It won't matter even if they realized it."
[Soul Steal]
I used the skill at a narrow range.
The monsters' eyes harbored intensified animosity as they were affected by the skill's deteriorating effect.
Now, all of these monsters are staring at me and recognizing that I am definitely an enemy.
With all of their murderous gazes focused on me, I felt an electrifying thrill.
Hahahaha.
That's right. This is it.
This is it.
"What are you glaring at! You little monster b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!"
I shouted and charged toward the monsters in front of me.
Although there are hostile monsters are surrounding us, in the end, they are only an extremely small fraction of the total.
Most of the several hundred thousand monsters gathered here are not even aware of our presence.
Like that, I am going to kill the monsters little by little.
From the outer edge of the west, the spreading wave of fire will continue to swallow up the monsters. Meanwhile, from the inside, we will kill the monsters disoriented by the chaos one at a time.
It is a perfect master plan.
[Kyyyyaaaaaak!]
I thought that as I stabbed a knife to a screaming monster who lost its legs by my backsword.
I thought it was perfect.
"Keruk."
Idy was making the sound out of frustration. Having heard her, my head tilted lower even further.
"Keruk. Captain, so… what happened to that conquest clear?"
"Um… that is… I… I don't know!"
The only thing I could do was to yell confidently.
I don't know, so what could I do?
We burned the entire jungle to ashes. We killed all monsters that used to be alive. Despite all that, the conquest clear was still not accomplished. How should I know why?
"Keruk… Captain, I need to rest for a bit now. I was exposed to the heat for far too long."
While we were killing the monsters one by one, there was a sudden change in the situation.
There were monsters that were putting up valiant fight against the spread of fire. However, their defensive line against the fire collapsed.
Riding the wind, the flame started to spread to the west again.
In state of panic, the monsters swarmed toward the west and pounded on the invisible wall.
Of course, the wall remained unyielding.
That wall must be made by the system to contain the s.p.a.ce inside the stage.
At an instant, several tens of thousands of monsters died from being trampled upon.
With monsters running amok, I could no longer be certain about our survival while being in midst of it.
We stopped hunting and escaped from the area.
We moved to the area that had been completely burned to ashes and was no longer burning. However, in the process, we had to go through the sky above a wave of flames.
I had Idy take heat resistance potion and low-level elixir. However, it her condition didn't seem well.
I brought out a tent from the dimensional s.p.a.ce bag and had her go inside.
Fortunately, I had a tent that had the temperature control function.
This time, I brought out freeze potions from the bag and spread the freezing water around.
I spread them like a farmer spreads pesticide to the farming field. The heat coming off from the ground cooled a little, although it was still like a sauna.
I crunched down to the ground. I looked around.
Ugh…
What should I do.
Am I supposed to hold out until the round ends?
In this place where everything is burned to ashes?
… How many meat jerkies did I have left in the bag?