Swordmaster Healer - Episode 70
TL: Boko
Editor: Ren
Chapter 23: Summoner Riduke (3)
He felt a strong mana beyond the solid, massive iron gate. Sung Joon wanted to ask Rishubalt whether he could scout, so he glanced slightly at him, but Rishubalt shook his head.
"The mana inference is severe."
Sung Joon nodded his head; he had thought that be the case.
"Let's continue."
"Yes," Jun Chul responded, and Sung Joon opened the gate.
The iron gate was extremely heavy, but with the physical strength of an rank Hunter, it was much too easy to open.
As the door opened a long rectangular, vast stone chamber was revealed. At the end of the stone chamber, there was a table on which a blue crystal lay, and a chair.
Someone wearing yellow robes was sitting in the stone chair.
"Welcome, other worlders. I didn't think you'd come this far."
An eloquent and dignified voice rang out in the stone chamber. He took off the hood which had concealed his face and picked up the staff that had been leaning beside him.
Sung Joon and Jung Chul could easily tell that he was the Boss.
'A Mage by himself…?'
A Mage seldom moved alone. However, no matter how he looked at it, wearing the staff and the robes was like screaming 'I'm a Mage!'.
"A humanoid monster…?"
It was rare, but humanoid monsters did indeed exist. Intensely anxious, Jung Chul grasped his spear. If a humanoid monster appeared as a Boss, they would usually have an extremely high combat ability.
"There may be a trap," Rishubalt cautiously assumed.
When a Mage confidently exposed himself, it meant that there was something behind him.
Sung Joon also agreed with Rishubalt's supposition. He thoroughly examined his surroundings. However, he couldn't find any traces of a magical trap.
'There are two cases.'
Sung Joon may not be a Mage, but he was knowledgeable enough to cut magic; so it was either a high-rank magical trap or he hadn't set one up in the first place.
However, Sung Joon didn't put too much value on the latter case. That was because the enemy looked way too relaxed.
'Is he a Battle Mage…?'
Battle Mages were different from normal Mages in that they learned many techniques for close combat as well. However, they were simply making up for their weak points; it didn't change the fact that they were Mages*. (*Remember, these "classes" are pretty clear-cut. They have specific advantages and disadvantages that cannot be overcome. However, Sung Joon is a cheater. He has all the advantages of both "classes" and the weaknesses of neither.)
'It's good to be cautious, but it'll be unfavorable for us if he starts his casting first…!'
Sung Joon made his decision.
"Mr. Park Jung Chul, I'll make a path first."
"We don't know if there are any magical traps. Rather, I should go…" Jun Chul volunteered, but Sung Joon shook his head.
"I'll go."
Sung Joon, who was proficient at the Spell-Breaking Sword, had a higher chance to live in the frontlines than Jung Chul. Jung Chul could do nothing but nod at Sung Joon's determined voice.
"I'm going."
As soon as he had finished speaking, Sung Joon's body shot towards the Mage like a bullet.
"H-he's fast!"
Jung Chul was in awe of Sung Joon's high-speed movement, but nonetheless followed behind him. A little while ago, they had fought together on the battlefield, but that had been a pressing situation, so he hadn't observed Sung Joon closely.
"Oh! Have you finally decided to fight? I, Riduke will show you the dignity of the Empire!"
He had instantly closed the distance. However, when Sung Joon swung his sword, Riduke wasn't there. He should've been flustered, but he instead calmly examined his surroundings.
'Blink…? No… The mana didn't flow that way…'
If he had cast the high-rank magic, Blink, there'd certainly be a trace of the flow of mana remaining; but Sung Joon couldn't find any such trace.
"It's Illusion Magic!"
Rishubalt detected it first.
"His main body is…!" he exclaimed.
Sung Joon quickly scanned the inside of the stone chamber. Riduke slowly revealed himself from the darkness.
"So it's the Empire's elite knights' high-speed movement! If that's the case, I'll use the full extent of my strength!"
"Ha!" cried Jung Chul.
Jung Chul was closer and threw himself at Riduke. But at the same time, there was a flow of mana and a magic circle was drawn in the air.
"Summon!"
"A Summoner?"
Those activation words were unexpected. Then, the heavy bodies of five Living Armors walked out of the magic circle.
'He's trying to buy time!'
Sung Joon instantly realized Riduke's intent. Riduke, who had summoned five Living Armors, had quickly retreated and was drawing another magic circle in the air.
"Damn it!"
As Riduke had intended, Jung Chul fought against the Living Armors, so his feet were tied. He cut down the number of Living Armors with his aurclad spear, but it seemed like it would be difficult for him to reach Riduke before he completed his next magic circle.
"Mr. Kang Sung Joon!" Jung Chul yelled.
Sung Joon had already initialized his high-speed movement, so he was in the process of closing the distance. It was his top speed, but Riduke's casting speed was much too fast.
Before he reached him, Riduke's magic circle had been completed.
Something bulged out of the magic circle and swung its sword. Its sword was enveloped in aura. Sung Joon suddenly threw his body to the left and avoided the sword strike.
"Observe! The dignity of the Death Knight…!" Riduke yelled excitedly, but Sung Joon just laughed.
'Heal' functioned as offensive magic towards the undead. Riduke had seen Sung Joon's movements and assumed that he was just a swordsman that wore clothes made of fabric. Then he saw how relaxed Sung Joon was and looked at him with suspicion.
"Heal!"
The white light shone..
The higher the healing power, the more damage the undead took from Heal; and Sung Joon's healing power was quite high. It was to the point that the rank monster, the Death Knight, couldn't move.
"A Sacred Prayer?"
Riduke had belatedly realized that something had gone wrong and started to draw a different summoning circle, but Jung Chul had dealt with the Living Armors and approached him, piercing with his spear.
"Ugh!"
The spear penetrated Riduke's shoulder. Riduke screamed in agony and vomited. He had plenty of combat experience, but he had always supported from the rear with his summons and wasn't familiar with pain.
Riduke barely got ahold of himself in the midst of the dizzying pain. He attempted to retaliate with chantless attack magic, but once again, Jung Chul was faster. He discarded the spear in Riduke's shoulder and drew a dagger from his waist, slashing his neck.
"Cough!"
Riduke spat out blood and collapsed. The Death Knight, tormented by Sung Joon's Heal, was unsummoned as soon as Riduke died.
"Mr. Kang Sung Joon," Jung Chul called softly.
"What's wrong?"
"Why do you think that that Summoner's body didn't disappear and also didn't drop any magic stones?"
It was obvious that a monster would drop a magic stone when it died. That's why Jung Chul was so confused.
"You may have already heard, but this dungeon is different from normal dungeons. This may have been a special case where a magic stone didn't drop, but I don't feel like it's very strange."
Sung Joon already knew the reason, but concocted a suitable excuse.
"Also, there's no way that something that's not a monster would be in the dungeon."
He was sure that Jung Chul wouldn't believe him if he told him about the Empire's invasion plan.
"I suppose?"
Fortunately, Jung Chul nodded his head and accepted it.
When they had left the dungeon with a bag filled to the brim with magic stones, they didn't see any more monsters and they didn't hear the sound of battle either.
"It seems like it's over. Defeating the Boss was the correct answer," Sung Joon said.
"It's similar to the Raid system," Jung Chul responded to Sung Joon, examining their surroundings.
Just in time; the military's armored vehicle was passing by.
"Let's hitch a ride," Jung Chul said. Sung Joon nodded his head.
Though Hunters could run quickly, the two of them had gone through a fierce battle, so they both just wanted to rest comfortably in the car.
They hitched a ride on the armored vehicle heading towards the assembly area. Hyun Sung was busy dealing with the aftermath, so they couldn't meet. Sung Joon and Jung Chul wanted to get their rewards in the future, so they requested that a worker record their information. After they were issued confirmation, they left the assembly area.
Jung Chul stopped in front of a black sedan.
"Mr. Kang Sung Joon," he called Sung Joon, who was walking away without a word.
Sung Joon turned his gaze to Jung Chul.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
Jung Chul said, "Please write down your contact information here. I'll definitely repay you for today."
Sung Joon wrote down his contact information on the notebook that Jung Chul had taken out. He had said he would repay him, so there was no reason for him to refuse. Jung Chul took back the notebook, got in his sedan and said, "I'll contact you within a few days!"
Then the sedan departed. Sung Joon was about to call a taxi, when he felt a presence behind him and turned around.
"Mr. Kang Sung Joon!"
Hyun Sung was running towards him.
"Weren't you busy?" asked Sung Joon.
"I heard that you came, so I made some time. You see, if it's related to you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon, Headquarters is lenient," Hyun Sung replied with a smile.
"I see. But… what's the matter?"
"I heard that your car was destroyed."
"Ah… that did happen…"
"I believe the Bureau will be able to compensate you."
"The damage caused by dungeons, monsters, and the Raids… I heard that regulations regarding compensation for the damage were quite fussy."
The nation would compensate them for the damage, but the process of compensation was really selective, so it wasn't easy to receive compensation. At least, that was the way Sung Joon understood it.
"Yes. It only applies to a portion of the cases, but you're included, Mr. Kang Sung Joon."
"Could you please explain it to me?"
"You parked your car at the dungeon's entrance, correct? That place is recognized as under the jurisdiction of the Dungeon Bureau, so the Bureau has to take responsibility."
Sung Joon hadn't known that.
"Therefore, the Bureau is obligated to compensate you."
"Will I be compensated with the same model?"
"That's normally the case but… That's also not necessarily true."
"What do you mean?"
"This time, because of you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon, the damage was reduced significantly… So headquarters will grant you a special reward and they decided to provide with a car that you desire."
The Hunter Bureau desperately wanted a close relationship with Sung Joon. As a result, they contacted the Dungeon Bureau and expanded the compensation that Sung Joon was to receive.
Of course, the Hunter Bureau and the Dungeon Bureau were connected and Sung Joon had also played an active role, so that was why it was possible.
"A car I want? I heard that there was no restriction. I didn't hear wrong, did I?"
"Of course."
Hyun Sung nodded his head and Sung Joon smirked. As it so happened, there was a car he wanted.
"Then, please give me a Hunter sedan."
A Hunter sedan.
Sung Joon was talking about the specially made car that could traverse through the battlefield of a Raid. There were differences in the prices, but the starting selling price was at least $1.5 million.
Hyun Sung had thought that he would pick a foreign brand car that cost less than $1 million, but Sung Joon had responded unexpectedly, so he was a little flustered. Nevertheless, he immediately collected himself.
"It… shouldn't be difficult. I'll make the request to headquarters," Hyun Sung responded.
Sung Joon smiled. It was a satisfying result.
"That's that, but the car's a special reward. My reward for clearing the Boss Room will be applied just like that, right?"
"If you're talking about your doubled reward, then it'll be applied without any problems. You don't have to worry about that."
"I see."
"You just need to bring the confirmation that was issued to you just a little while ago with you when you sell your magic stones," Hyun Sung explained.
Since he wasn't finished with his work, Hyun Sung returned to the assembly area. Sung Joon rode in a Hunter Bureau's car that they had called and went to the Dungeon Bureau.
As he sold his magic stones, he submitted his confirmation.
"We are done processing your doubled reward. We have deposited $2.2 million into your account, Hunter."
//