Published at 9th of December 2020 03:46:39 PM
Chapter 346.
Chapter 346 . Diak Appears
Once they dealt with the Centaurs, Kang Oh's party continued to hunt in the Black Forest .
They encountered other monsters such as Forest Ogres, which possessed incredible physical strength, and Swamp Crocos, which resembled crocodiles . They were all over level 400 . The monsters weren't really that hard to kill, but they couldn't afford to lower their guard .
Kang Oh was hoping that his team would get used to hunting in the Black Forest, since they would eventually have to face Diak here . He was also hoping that their teamwork would improve .
As they made their way through the Black Forest, Kang Oh's party also discussed how they would defeat Diak .
"I can use a spell called Gravity Ball . If used well, it can slow down Diak," Soren said .
"Wouldn't using binding magic to keep it from moving be a good idea too?" Karin added .
"Eder, do you think you'll be able to cast a slow curse on it?" Kang Oh asked .
"If I use the AoE version, then I should be able to . But I'm not sure it'll work . "
"Gravity Ball, Sand Bind, and a slow curse . It'd be great if we could use all three against it," Kang Oh said .
"There's something that worries me though," Darion said .
"What is it?"
"Me, you, and Mr . Sephiro are all physically fit, so we'll be able to respond if it attacks us, but . . . The twins and Mr . Eder might get taken out . "
"That's true . "
"I could summon a Sand Golem as soon as it shows up," Karin said .
"What if I make a bone fortress?" Eder asked .
"Yeah, let's think about it some more," Kang Oh said .
"Yes . "
Kang Oh's party kept hunting, and eventually, the sun began to set .
"It's nighttime . Let's end it here for today . We're not ready to fight Diak yet . "
At nightfall, the Black Forest became Diak's domain . Kang Oh's party wasn't ready to fight it yet, so leaving now was the correct call .
"Are we coming back tomorrow?" Soren asked .
"Yeah . " Kang Oh planned on hunting here until they were ready to fight Diak .
"Understood . "
"See you tomorrow . "
"Yes . "
"Bye, bye . "
His party members left one or two at a time, and Kang Oh ripped a return scroll .
* * *
It was D-Day .
Kang Oh and his teammates stared at the full moon . It was a good night for hunting!
"Let's go, shall we?" Kang Oh said .
Eder nodded his head, and the others stared at him resolutely .
Kang Oh had already turned on live film mode . First Hunter's contestants and its production crew were probably watching him right now . Several people would see it later down the line too .
'Let's go with confidence . '
People were normally more conscious when they knew people were watching them .
Kang Oh entered the Black Forest, and his teammates followed behind him .
The Black Forest contained several bizarrely twisted trees with sharp spikes . Thus, it looked like a scene out of a horror movie, and it only got worse once night came . It was as if graves and ghosts would suddenly pop out .
'I could never bring Soo Ah here . '
Soo Ah couldn't even watch B-grade horror movies, so he couldn't bring her to a place as scary as this .
Fortunately, neither Soren nor Karin were afraid of the forest . They had nerves of steel, and could watch horror movies without issue . Thus, there was no reason that they'd be afraid .
Anyhow, Kang Oh's party roamed through the forest in search of the silver-furred beast, Swift Diak .
Sometime later . . .
Diak wasn't the first monster they encountered .
A black leopard stepped out of the shadows . It was called a Shadow Leopard, and it supposedly only appeared in the forest at night .
There were five of them in total .
Grr .
They snarled and hid within the darkness . Befitting their name, Shadow Leopards could freely move through shadows .
Swish!
The Shadow Leopards appeared beneath Karin and Soren's feet . The twins quickly pulled back, and Kang Oh and Darion rushed over and swung their weapons .
The battle had begun .
The Shadow Leopards weren't just quick, they were stealthy too . If you took your eyes off it for a second, then it would sink into the shadows and disappear . And if you lowered your guard even just a little bit, then it would reappear beneath your feet or in the shadow of the trees .
"Aht . " Karin yelled in pain . She'd been swiped by a Shadow Leopard's sharp claws . Waryong's neck was also bitten too .
"Watch each other's backs," Kang Oh yelled .
His teammates fought crazily .
Eder cast various spells . The Shadow Leopards didn't give Sephiro the chance to shoot arrows, so he swung his bow at them or kicked them .
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Soren and Karin were weak physically, but they cast quick spells . Darion moved flashily, wielding a gladius in either hand .
Kang Oh stood like an impregnable fortress; whenever a Shadow Leopard popped out, he'd respond with a mighty counterattack .
The battle continued for some time .
'What is this?' Kang Oh suddenly had a strange feeling . He instinctively raised his head and widened his eyes at what he saw .
A beast with shimmering silver fur watched them from the top of a tree, beneath the light of the full moon!
[You have discovered the Master of the Black Forest, the Moonlight Shard, Diak . ]
"It's Diak!" Kang Oh yelled .
"What?"
"Huh?"
His surprised teammates quickly looked around, and eventually found the silver-furred beast .
"It really is Diak . "
"T-The battle's not over yet . "
"I'll let you know if Diak moves, so finish off the Shadow Leopards first," Kang Oh yelled .
"Yes . "
"Understood . "
Kang Oh kept his eye on Diak . Fortunately, Diak did the same; it watched Kang Oh and his party, but it didn't make any other moves .
'It's aloof, so it doesn't do things like surprise attacks . ' Kang Oh recalled what Darion had told him . If his information was right, then it would explain why Diak wasn't doing anything .
'It'd be cowardly, so it won't attack us while we're fighting other monsters, huh?'
Was it because of its aloofness?
However, this was all just a hypothesis on his end . Perhaps it was just watching Kang Oh's party and collecting information on them .
Whatever the case, the best he could do was keep a close eye on it and make sure it didn't make any sudden moves . At the same time, he relied on his Hyper Intuition to fight off any Shadow Leopards that attacked him .
Kang Oh, who'd cleared Ubist's trial several times already, was used to having his sight cut off . Thus, it wasn't hard for him to fight without his eyes .
Sometime later . . .
Kang Oh's blade and Karin's Sand Spear pierced through two Shadow Leopards, killing them . Then, the rest of the Shadow Leopards escaped through the shadows, believing that they couldn't win .
Kang Oh and his teammates couldn't follow them . Diak was right in front of them, after all!
"Commence operation! As planned, build a fortress . . . " Diak interrupted him by suddenly disappearing from the tree top .
"Damn it, he's coming!" Kang Oh yelled urgently .
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All of a sudden . . .
"Aahk!" someone screamed .
"Karin!" Soren yelled .
Diak reappeared in-between their party, having bitten Karin's neck .
"No!" Kang Oh swung his sword as fast as he could .
Transcendent Blade!
[You have used Transcendent Blade . ]
[A large amount of HP, MP, and Stamina has been spent . ]
[Please keep an eye on your Stamina!]
The world began to slow . The only thing that moved at normal speed was his blade . Or that's how it should've been . Something else was moving normally within the slowed world .
It was Diak!
Diak ran off with Karin .
Swish!
A flash of light .
Demon Sword Blood was swung so fast that it couldn't be seen . Despite that, it didn't hit Diak . It had been even faster than his sword .
Diak quickly widened the distance between them with Karin in tow . Huge shards of light kept falling from her neck, and Diak bit even harder .
Crunch .
Karin stopped moving and her body turned ashen . The Desert Fairy, Karin, had met her end so easily .
'Holy shit!'
This was the first time he'd ever lost a teammate so quickly . However, this was only the beginning .
Bam!
Diak vanished once more . Kang Oh responded with another Transcendent Blade .
It was rushing at Eder . Kang Oh swung his sword, faster than what should be possible, and also used Lightning Breath too . Right before it bit into Eder's neck, the snow-white blade unleashed a blast of lightning that struck its body head-on .
Crackle!
Diak's fur bristled, and sparks danced over its skin . It also rolled onto the floor two or three times . But then, its body glowed brilliantly like a star . Its scorched fur had been restored to its original state .
Kang Oh knew exactly what had happened .
'Self-Heal!'
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It had a special characteristic that increased its healing and quickly removed status ailments like paralysis .
"Arise!" Eder just barely regained his composure and yelled .
Whoosh!
He built a fortress that protected Soren, Sephiro, Waryong, and himself . It was like a giant cage .
Originally, Karin would've added her sand magic to fortify the fortress, but . . . Karin had died right out of the gate, so the plan had gone astray from the very start .
Would this bone fortress be able to stop Diak's attacks?
Diak moved . Kang Oh lost him again .
If it'd been aiming for him, then his Hyper Intuition would have warned him and he would've been able to handle it, but it was aiming for Darion .
However . . . Darion's gladius shined . It was like a flash of light!
Bam!
Diak fell to the floor, spurting shards of light .
'Transcendent Blade!' Kang Oh's eyes widened . That's right . Darion had just used Transcendent Blade .
Transcendent Blade was Master Gladiator, Burkan's secret move, so it made sense that Darion would be able to use it . However, one's swordsmanship had to be at high-rank in order to use it . In other words, Darion's swordsmanship had already gone up to high-rank!
Kang Oh couldn't hide his astonishment . He hadn't had high hopes for Darion, but he'd managed to surprise him . But that only lasted for a short period of time .
He focused on Diak once more .
"Haahp!" Kang Oh quickly swung his sword at the downed beast .
However, it was a trap . It was as if it'd been waiting for this moment . Diak suddenly stood up, avoided his blade, and bit his neck .
His Hyper Intuition had warned him, but it didn't matter if he couldn't react in time .
Like right now . . .
Bite!
Diak's sharp teeth bit into Kang Oh's neck . It was a game, so it wasn't that painful, but it was a scary feeling; it was like he was getting a shot .
Ding, ding, ding!
The warning bells rang in his mind . He also received an actual system message stating that his HP was dropping too .
'Damn it!' Kang Oh gritted his teeth and swung his sword .
Tempest Tiger!
It was a close range aura attack . However, Diak quickly moved out of the way!
Ultimately, the golden light struck the ground .
"Hoo . " Kang Oh rubbed the bitten area with his off-hand . He was almost sure that the path ahead would be nothing but trouble .