Chapter 170: Tier 5: No Excuses

To be the truth. There wasn’t a single hunter who wasn’t nervous about being in a tier-5 Portal Gate dungeon. Everyone on the Vanguard team was currently feeling intense tension. Luckily, no one made a mistake. After exploring the area for about 12 hours, everyone returned to their original place and reported their findings so the team could prepare for their next steps.

In their conversation, everyone agreed that there were two types of creatures in the dungeon with them, just like two mountains and two environments.

The creatures in the ice section were Undead Knights in white armor, while the creatures in the fire section were Undead Knights in red armor. Both have attributes according to their respective areas. The Mana possessed by those creatures was already on par with S-rank hunters, and some surpassed them.

On the other hand, When the hunters thought about what plan they would use to conquer the dungeon, Ji-woo just looked around at it. In the first place, he had never turned off his Mana sense to find out how many creatures there were and where the Dungeon Owner was. But, it was of no use at all. Even if he had to use Null Eyes, it could only cover a 5 km radius. That was not enough for an area as big as Seoul.

Ji-woo wiggled his fingers. ‘This will be a chance to see how far I can go with a heavyweight like this.’

After a while, Gang-ho finally decided to split the team into two groups. Their job was to hunt in silence until they found the Dungeon Owner and then regrouped to take care of the creature as quickly as possible.

The placement of the hunters this time was also the same as before. Gang-ho and In-ah were in one group, and the rest were A-rank hunters. Whereas, Dal-soo and Ji-woo’s groups have a mix of A-rank and B-rank.

Several hunters with unique elements were also initially considered to join the Vanguard team.

However, the plan was changed by the guild Headmaster because he felt he lacked confidence in bringing in those hunters that were far below B-rank.

“Okay, let’s go now and be careful.”

Gang-ho and the others head to the ice section while Dal-soo’s group to the fire section.

On the way, Ji-woo looked again at the composition of the hunters in Dal-soo’s group and was speechless because of that.

Dal-soo noticed that, asking Ji-woo what was wrong.

“I know there is some intention to test me in this dungeon, but it should get done better. A formation like this is the same as telling my face that everything will be taken care of by myself.”

Dal-soo smiled awkwardly, “That’s not true. I’m sure everything here will come in handy when dealing with these creatures.”

“Sure, and that time has come. They’re coming.”

“What!?”

Suddenly Dal-soo felt an intense heat coming from the front. He ordered all the hunters in his group to get ready to fight and try to fend off the magic attack but was interrupted by Ji-woo’s voice again.

“Not just one. Two more coming after.”

Dal-soo widened his eyes and wanted to ask what Ji-woo meant. Just in time, the answer was right before his eyes.

Two Undead Knights with flames in their armor leaped up and swung their swords at the same time as the fierce burst of blazes struck.

Dal-soo gritted his teeth and yelled at the other hunters. It really wasn’t the time for jokes. The Mana he felt from the three beings was terrifying now that they were close to him.

“The rest of you take care of the two sword-swinging creatures! I’ll take care of the one in front.”

Dal-soo wrapped his hands in magic energy and was about to jump forward. But, he got stopped by Ji-woo.

“I take care of the one in front. You and the other hunters take care of the other two creatures. Be careful.”

Ji-woo said with a reminder. He knew that Dal-soo was in a panic because the three Undead Knights facing them had Mana above an S-rank hunter.

Dal-soo immediately went after the other hunters to take care of the two Undead Knights. Meanwhile, Ji-woo darted forward and stopped the intense burst of flames, which was about to hit the group.

It was an easy thing for Ji-woo to stop the magic attack. The instant his hand was pointed forward and met the intense flame, at that moment, the magic disappeared.

There was no creature to be seen after, but Ji-woo knew where the Undead Knight was. He moved quickly and found the creature. Unfortunately, his speed was not like before. He had to receive a sword swing attack from the Red Undead Knight. Even though he could react, his movements couldn’t keep up.

Ji-woo couldn’t dodge and only raised his right arm to block the sword slash.

Bang!

“F*ck!”

Ji-woo was thrown backward and tumbled several times on the ground until he finally stopped himself. He didn’t have time to look at the injuries sustained and charged directly at the Red Undead Knight.

“Ragh!”

Ji-woo shouted while throwing a punch at the creature’s face. The Red Undead Knight must have been hit and pushed back by that. Unfortunately, his blow damage got quite reduced because the creature had time to block the attack with the sword.

Ji-woo clicked his tongue. ‘Bastard! Just a thousand kilograms alone, my strength got reduced by almost half. This is annoying!’

Bwosh!

Out of nowhere, fireballs flew towards Ji-woo, and he swiftly dispelled all the magic attacks with ease.

“Heh! Easy! Is there anything more powerful than this!? Get it all out! Don’t be half-hearted.”

The Red Undead Knight just stared at Ji-woo calmly without being affected by the provocation. He then tilted his head and instantly jumped with fire thrust on the ground.

Ji-woo’s eyes widened and prepared to dodge the slashes of the Red Undead Knight that came at a fast speed. He managed to duck from the strong laceration but couldn’t avoid the creature’s kick that landed on his stomach. He was again knocked to the ground for the second time even though the fight had begun.

“You damn creature! It can’t talk. But it turns out it has a brain instead.”

Ji-woo realized the Red Undead Knight’s gaze earlier was an observation. The creature noticed that magic spell attacks were useless against him after those two attacks. The Red Undead Knight immediately attacked with only his sword and other physical attacks with that kind of conclusion.

The result?

Incredibly perfect. Ji-woo couldn’t do anything at all. He had thought about removing the weights on his wrists and ankles. But then, he dispelled the idea. In the first place, he used those instruments to improve his physique. Not used for the practice, it meant that the original purpose was in vain.

‘I don’t want to admit it. But, this has to be done until it reaches my limit. Full power will not come out completely if the vessel is not strong.’

Even though his full strength was back, Ji-woo still realized that his power wasn’t exactly the same as his time in the Magical World. And he could only think about the physical differences he occupied.

“You’re strong. I have to admit. And I have no excuse for this humiliation.

“The magic ends here! Nullifier!”

Zap, Zap–

Two pieces of light emerged in Ji-woo’s palm. Two short swords with one-sided blades appeared. One was sky blue and amethyst, and the other was denim and black.

“It’s time to dispel the magic that surrounds us, kids!”

Ji-woo threw the Shadow Blade at the Red Undead Knight while running.

The creature initially intended to parry it with its sword. But sensing the terrifying sensation of the blade, the Red Undead Knight immediately changed his mind. He ducked his head to dodge, but at that moment, Ji-woo suddenly appeared above him, holding the Shadow Blade that got thrown earlier.

“Surprised!?”

Ji-woo immediately swung the Shadow Blade, and the Red Undead Knight had to resist it head-on.

The creature immediately crashed to the ground beneath it, and the sword used to block cracked slightly.

Ji-woo did not waste the opportunity. He threw the Diffusal Blade at the fallen creature.

However, the Red Undead Knight managed to dodge the Diffusal Blade and widened the gap with Ji-woo. Now, he was in trouble. Previously, he predicted that close combat would favor him until Ji-woo’s two strange swords appeared.

The moment Red Undead Knight blocked the sword slash, he could feel an unusual weight from it. Even though in terms of speed, it didn’t change much. He couldn’t help but feel wary of it.

Ji-woo started sweating. Whereas before, he was still unaffected by his surroundings. he then summoned the Dual Blade. But that didn’t help at all. The weight of the instruments reached thousands of kilograms, plus swords weighing 300 kg each. It was frankly a tremendous challenge for him.

On the other hand, Ji-woo also felt a little tense from it. He smirked. He thought it would be interesting to fight those creatures and the Dungeon Owner.

Ji-woo’s fighting spirit felt unstoppable. Whether he was at a disadvantage or not, he didn’t care. He didn’t want to make that an excuse.

A fight was just a fight.