Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 440 – Mystery Ruin (3)

“Ugh, this is so gross...” Scarlett grumbled while rubbing her arms.

She did not bat an eyelash despite spending numerous days in the humid jungles crawling with all sorts of critters, and yet she seemed uncomfortable after entering the cave.

‘Tsk. This place gives me the creeps, so I wonder how Scarlett feels right now... Especially them too...’

“Ughh!”

“What the hell is this place?”

“Bleuurgh!”

Those who did not manage to awaken were almost about to have a mental breakdown, and they only calmed down after the newly awakened Master-Rank Hunters, Ye-Rim and Ki-Jang, set up their mana around them.

Han-Yeol did not have to bother himself with caring for the rest of the crew, as the two Master-Rank Hunters were more than capable of it. Excluding Han-Yeol as a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, Master-Rank Hunters were considered to be the most powerful human beings on Earth after all.

The party continued venturing down the dark, damp narrow tunnels, and they soon reached a spot that was more spacious than before but still damp and dark. Then, they ventured a bit more and were greeted by a vast and wide space.

“Hmm?”

“It seems this is something like what you humans call Atlantis, but the only difference is that this city is buried underground.”

“I think so... And another difference is that Atlantis was only a legend while this city actually exists...”

“I agree.”

[This is amazing.]

Han-Yeol, Stewart, and even Karvis were amazed by the sight before their eyes.

“Wow...”

Even Scarlett forgot about the uncomfortable feeling she was suffering from and stood amazed at the grandeur of the sight before her. She was a secret agent from the United States, so she had the privilege of traveling to numerous ruins, both hidden and discovered, around the world, and her experience from those trips made it easy for her to tell just how amazing this ruin was.

‘What’s so amazing about this...?’

‘It’s just a bunch of old rundown buildings...’

On the other hand, Ki-Jang and Ye-Rim were not on the same page. They could not understand why Han-Yeol, Stewart, and Scarlett were in awe of this place. The other crew members would have probably had the same reaction if they could think, but unfortunately, they were not in the condition to think properly right now.

The party stood and admired the sight for a while, but their peace was short-lived.

Chwak! Chwak! Chwak!

“Damn it...” Han-Yeol grumbled.

“The enemies are here,” Stewart said calmly.

They were only distracted for a few minutes, but the monsters took advantage of that and started approaching them.

“Huh? Undead?”

“So we are up against undead this time...”

Stewart was very familiar with the undead. Although demons and undead might be two completely different races, both lived in the demon world. Of course, the undead were among the lowest-ranking creatures in the demon world, and the demons treated them like trash. However, Stewart grimaced after seeing the five undead monsters for some odd reason.

‘Hey, Karvis.’

[Yes, Han-Yeol-nim?]

‘You can’t scan them, right?’

[H-How did you know?]

Karvis was flustered after she repeatedly failed to scan the lowly undead monsters. An undead was just a lowly undead regardless of their dimension, so it did not make sense that she could not see any information regarding them.

Also, Karvis had ample data on the undead thanks to Han-Yeol’s relationship with the Arch Lich, so at least one of these monsters should have matched with the database she had.

However, she could not do so, and even Han-Yeol knew it was not possible before she told him.

‘You can tell from the vibe they’re giving off and their appearance that they are not ordinary undead monsters. They probably used to be clergymen or something.’

[Ah...!]

After hearing Han-Yeol's words, Karvis finally realized why she could not scan the undead monsters. She took a closer look at them and noticed that their attire was not the only strange thing about them. They did not give off the same evil, sinister mana that the undead monsters had.

Of course, that did not mean they possessed holy mana or anything like that, but their mana was definitely different from that of typical undead monsters.

[I see... Then it will be impossible for me to scan them no matter how many times I try.]

‘Yeah, that’s probably the case. Well, I guess we only have one way to check.’

[I agree.]

Shiiing...! Shwiiik...!

Han-Yeol took out his sword and chain. He wanted to get this done and over with as fast as possible. There was no reason for him to delay things any further, as he could easily make quick work of them, and he was more interested in exploring this ruin rather than fighting these undead monsters right now.

Gwuuu Ooooh!

[Intruders...! Intruders have stepped foot... on our holy grounds...!]

The monsters resembled humanoid creatures walking on two feet, but there was something different about them upon closer inspection. Their flesh was rotting and peeling off, so it was not clear immediately, but their pelvic bones were far larger, and their femurs were split into numerous bones.

On top of that, their shoulders were far broader, making them larger than an average human, and their cheekbones were smaller than a human’s, while their chins were far longer with two holes at the bottom.

The most noticeable thing about them was that every single one wore colorful trinkets, but it was hard to tell what these trinkets were for and if they were only worn for some kind of religious ceremony.

Seuk... Thud!

[Death to the... intruders!]

The undead monsters cried out in a language Han-Yeol could not understand, which was only normal as they were currently underground on an island in another dimension.

‘I guess these guys use blunt weapons, and the other information aside from that...’

Tak!

Han-Yeol jumped toward them and shouted, “I can just collect it while killing them one by one!”

Gwuuu Ooooh!

The undead monsters rampaged the moment Han-Yeol jumped, and they raised their weapons while screaming at the top of their decayed lungs.

The monsters held five different kinds of weapons: a two-handed mace that looked like a spear, a normal mace and shield, a flail with a mace attached at its end, a giant hammer, and a steel rod that was as tall as them.

‘Tsk. I’ll kill them in no time, so why do I have to bother myself with their weapons...’ Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly. He checked their details out of habit, but he really did not feel the need to, as there were only five of them.

Judging from their mana, they looked strong, but they were just monsters barely enough to be appetizers for him.

Clang!

That was what Han-Yeol thought until one of the undead clergymen easily blocked the attack.

“Eh?”

He had attacked without much thought, but it was still an attack from a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, and a monster should not be able to withstand such an attack.

However, the undead clergyman easily blocked it as if it was nothing.

[Divine punishment for the intruder!]

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The undead clergyman wielding the giant hammer swung it overhead twice before swinging it at Han-Yeol.

“Tsk.” Han-Yeol clicked his tongue and jumped back to evade the attack.

Bam!

[Hmm!]

The undead clergyman seemed upset that the intruder easily evaded its attack. The flesh on its face was decayed and dropping, but it was easy to tell from its expression that it was indeed frustrated.

[They are quite tough. I thought they only possessed a lot of mana, but I did not expect them to be this strong.]

‘Yeah, me too.’

This was their first exchange, but Han-Yeol could already tell that these undead monsters were not a joke.

[They are far stronger than the monsters we faced above ground.]

‘We can’t really tell for sure, but I think they’re as strong as a Master-Rank Hunter.’

[H-How is that possible?!]

Did it make sense that these rotting corpses were as strong as Master-Rank Hunters?

‘This is insane... Is this where it really begins?!’ Han-Yeol grumbled out of frustration.

[I believe so.]

It was normal for the difficulty level to increase, but this was a massive leap.

However, Han-Yeol smirked in response to the increased difficulty. He was not the type to despair just because the challenge in front of him was difficult.

‘I guess it’s going to be fun from now on.’

He had killed a lot of monsters until now, but most of them were weak and only relied on their venom to hunt their prey. Han-Yeol found them difficult to deal with because they actively tried to hunt the crew, which consisted of ordinary people, so he had to pay close attention and protect them.

However, it was a different story when there were a handful of enemies, as he did not have to concern himself with protecting other people.

Crack! Crack!

Han-Yeol cracked his knuckles and thought, ‘I finally feel like fighting.’

[Divine... punishment! Divine punishment!]

“I have no idea what you’re saying, so just shut up and fight me, you rotting corpses!”

Bam!

Han-Yeol unleashed his mana all over the place and flew toward the ceiling.

Kwachik! Boooom!

[Intruder...!]

[Gwaaaah!]

The undead clergymen could instinctively tell that their opponent was strong.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

However, they were no match against Han-Yeol the moment he got serious.

Gwuu oooh!

They might be comparable to Master-Rank Hunters, but that was it.

‘Tsk, did I get my hopes up?’ Han-Yeol grumbled.

He was powerful enough to face a dozen Master-Rank Hunters and still emerge victorious, so there was no way a bunch of undead monsters, even though they were comparable to Master-Rank Hunters, could cause trouble for him.

‘I got excited thinking I could finally fight humanoid monsters again, but they died too easily. Tsk.’

Whoosh! Clang! Puuuk!

Han-Yeol swung his sword and stabbed their hearts.

[H-How can this—?]

The reason he aimed for their hearts was simple. That was the only part of their bodies he could feel life energy from, so that was obviously their weakness.

To be precise, it was not necessarily their weakness, as a layer of powerful mana protected it. Indeed, the powerful mana managed to protect their hearts from Han-Yeol’s sword, but their hearts soon shattered the moment Han-Yeol pushed them harder with a bit of strength.

Thud!

The first undead clergyman died after Han-Yeol’s sword pierced its heart.

[N-No way!]

[We are holy men guarding this place!]

[Our holy ground!]

[God! May you smite that heathen!]

[...And awaken your holy guardians protecting this sacred place.]

The undead monsters started rambling about things Han-Yeol could not understand when—

Pshwoong!

Han-Yeol noticed that something on the monsters’ bodies started sparkling. “Hmm?”