Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 444 - Mechanical Creature (1)

Mavros and Tia were pure servants of Han-Yeol with nowhere to go, so they could be trusted a hundred percent, but the servants of others were a different story.

“Lava Golems!”

At the loud call, five Lava Golems strode forward, their footsteps echoing in the air.

Chuck chuck chuck!

“Guard this cocoon closely!”

At Han-Yeol’s command, the five Lava Golems saluted.

Luckily, the Arachnid cocoon wasn’t anchored to the ground, so Han-Yeol was able to load it onto a cart he’d retrieved from the subspace storage.

It was a self-powered cart that Han-Yeol had stored in the subspace in case something like this happened. The storage was the perfect item in a dungeon where cars and trucks couldn’t move.

“Load it up carefully. I’ll kill anyone who drops the cocoon.”

Tremble.

Trembling under Han-Yeol’s murderous threats, the Lava Golems worked to move the Arachnid cocoon.

They only started moving again after after they loaded the Arachnid cocoon into the cart and secured it with ropes to prevent it from tipping over.

“Ugh, when will we be able to go back home...”

“I hate everything now...”

“I want to go home...”

“Mommyyy...”

Sniffle.

The ordinary crew members were being protected here and there, but mana couldn’t protect their mentality. They had never experienced monsters like this before, and after a month of hunting, they were barely able to keep it together. In addition to the horrible conditions and lack of sleep that made it even worse, it was surprising that they hadn’t gone insane yet.

‘Hmm...’

Han-Yeol felt the same way, but there was no way to get out of this.

‘I’d like to get out of here too.’

As much as he loved hunting and fighting, he felt the most comfortable doing so on his own turf.

‘I wonder what the hyenas and Kandir are doing while I’m here? I hope my father’s doing well. Ah, Mujahid, you bastard, you borrowed ten trillion dollars from me!’

Han-Yeol, once a loner whose father was his world, now had many people he wished to protect and be with.

It wasn’t just the ordinary crew members who wanted to get out of this strange dimensional fraction.

“Everyone stop!”

“All of a sudden?” the captain asked.

“It looks like everyone is too tired, so let’s get some rest here. From the looks of it, the underground doesn’t seem to be as dangerous as the surface, so let’s catch up on some much-needed sleep.”

“Hmm, alright.”

The captain didn’t understand, but it was an order from Han-Yeol, so he nodded and moved to take care of the ordinary crew members. After becoming a Master-Rank Hunter, he no longer had the subordinate crew members that he had when he was an aircraft captain.

He took care of the ordinary crew members to prevent Han-Yeol from having to do it himself.

‘Hunter Han-Yeol-nim already has a lot to take care of, including battles and exploring the dungeon. I can’t let him be bothered with anything else!’

Ye-Rim also helped the captain and took care of the crew members.

Thump thump!

After allowing the others to rest, Han-Yeol crossed his arms and stared at the Arachnid cocoon that was beating regularly.

‘I wonder what will come out of this after thirty days? Will it be Tia, or will it be some other creature that I’ll have to get to know?’

Han-Yeol hoped that the Tia he had already been close to would come out. It would be fine even if she didn’t become more powerful, because his own power was enough for him anyway.

He didn’t have any brothers or sisters, so Mavros and Tia were good substitutes for them.

Of course, even if a new creature was born, he could simply get close to them again. However, there were memories he had built with Tia, and it would be sad to part ways without having the chance to say goodbye. Han-Yeol was a romantic who believed that one had to say goodbye if one had to part ways.

“What are you looking at?” Stewart asked Han-Yeol.

Crunch!

Scarlett took a bite out of a sweet cookie and came up next to him.

“Han-Yeol! What are you looking at?”

“Ah, Stewart, Scarlett. I was just looking at the cocoon Tia is resting in. There’s something calming about watching the cocoon beat at a steady pace.”

“Boring.”

Stewart turned and walked away with the same expression he had come in with.

“That guy! Tsk.”

Han-Yeol looked at Stewart’s back and clicked his tongue.

“Hmm... It does feel weird. It feels like we’re looking at her heart.”

But Scarlett understood what Han-Yeol was feeling.

“Haha, yeah.”

“Come, let’s go eat. The crew made a good meal.”

“Okay.”

The break Han-Yeol had given them was proving to be a beneficial time for healing. Of course, nothing had been solved yet, but after barely getting any rest underground, this moment of rest was very precious.

A few of the stewardesses on the crew had gotten together and made a delicious meal.

Luckily, they had more than enough ingredients. In fact, it was so plentiful that it was hard to believe that they were trapped in a strange dimension. It was to the point where they could get better ingredients than an S-Rank restaurant.

This was all thanks to Han-Yeol’s subspace storage.

After indulging in the delicious food and enjoying a sound sleep for over ten hours, people were able to shake off some of the gloominess.

“We got this!”

“Woot woot!”

“Nothing’s going to change even if we remain gloomy. We need to cheer up and get moving so that Han-Yeol-nim can pay less attention to us, and we’ll be able to get out of here faster.”

“You’re right!”

‘Finally, you understand. Thanks.’

Han-Yeol couldn’t be more thankful to hear those words.

*

Han-Yeol encountered the next undead clergyman after walking another day into the underground ruins.

Boom!

‘As expected, there were no ambushes up until this point, but that’s because we had to venture this deep!’

But there was a problem.

“There are so many of them!”

After a day’s worth of moving, they finally encountered around a hundred undead clergymen.

Considering that they had almost lost Tia to around twenty of them, this was a dangerous number, but not if Han-Yeol unleashed his full strength from the start.

Kwanggg!

“Good to see you, bastards! I’ll avenge Tia this time!”

Those who hurt Tia had died at her hands or sacrificed themselves to her, so Han-Yeol himself had killed very few. He hadn't had the opportunity to officially punish them before, but now that they had crossed paths again, Han-Yeol was prepared to kill them.

[A strong enemy has invaded the sanctuary.]

[Destiny Explosion!]

Boom!

‘How dare you!’

Pak!

The undead clerics tried to join forces and attack Han-Yeol, but he had already taken out his Blood Strengthening and Blood Legs.

‘Karvis!’

[Yes, Blood Teeth!]

Crush! Pakk!

One undead clergyman right in front of Han-Yeol was chewed up by the Blood Teeth Han-Yeol created, and his entire body exploded.

At the same time, Han-Yeol’s body surged with power, as a portion of the undead clergyman’s remaining mana replaced it.

‘Haha, here we go.’

[Yes, Han-Yeol-nim!]

Han-Yeol then pulled out his most recent combination skills.

‘The skills I’ve chosen are Frozen Field (A), Ice Shattering Shock (B), and Whirlwind Smash (A).’

[A new skill will be triggered through those three skills.]

Ding!

[A combination skill has been created - Blizzard Control (D).]

‘What a name. Blizzard Control!’

As soon as the skill was created, Han-Yeol didn’t hesitate to use it.

Whoosh!

A magic circle formed beneath Han-Yeol’s feet and started to grow in all directions.

“D-Dodge it!”

Seeing this, Ye-Rim and Scarlett quickly evacuated everyone out of the magic circle.

After they finally got away from the magic circle, they couldn't help but stare at the magic circle in a daze. Inside the magic circle, an incredible destructive skill was being activated, something that they had never seen before.

Kwangggg!

[Ahhhh!]

[G-God!]

[How could you do this...!]

[Aghhh!]

The undead clergymen writhed in agony.

Ding!

[You have leveled up.]

‘Nice!’

Han-Yeol raised his arm and celebrated his level increase in a victorious stance.

The dungeon of the ruins grew larger the deeper they went, and the more magnificent the city became.

“Woah, look at this. Is this a script from the dimension where this city was?”

“I think so, and this city...” Stewart trailed off, glanced back at the magnificent city, and then spoke again. “I think this whole city was built for religion.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. This grim feeling and this subtle conflict with my powers tell me it was made for religious purposes. It’s not strong, but I feel divine power throughout the city. It seems that this entire city was once a religious institution.”

Han-Yeol nodded in agreement with Stewart.

“Well, that makes sense with all these undead monsters. It’s hard to imagine that this was a place with just a few churches. So in terms of earth, the ruins must’ve been like the Vatican City.”

“I think so.”

Han-Yeol felt a bit of guilt as he looked at Stewart, who was so intent on his duties, but he soon shook his head and brushed off the feeling.

‘No, this is all for Tia’s sake. Even if Stewart is a trustworthy assistant, he’s still Lucifer’s faithful servant.’

Even if he didn’t want to, if Lucifer or the other demon lords wanted to, Tia might never see the light of day again.

‘All I have to do is eliminate even that small possibility.’

Trust was a good thing to have, but in reality, trust meant nothing like a blank check. Trust was a one-sided relationship that could crumble at the slightest hint of betrayal or doubt on either side.

But Han-Yeol was currently the one in doubt.