Chapter 68: The Swamp King Jauros

The existence of that monster sealed in the Toin village on the 15th layer.

Yuseong learned about it for the first time this time.

Because of that, he didn’t even know the name of this ancient crocodile-type monster.

He was only able to learn the whole story through the village chief here.

When directly translated from the language of the Toin, the name of the sealed monster is called the ‘Swamp King’.

Apparently, it is considered the ancestor of all the crocodile monsters on this layer.

In the distant past, it was said to have truly ruled like a king.

According to the Toin’s explanation, the Swamp King is a creation of Barretan.

It was strong, but arrogant, and eventually rebelled against its creator, Barretan.

Because of that, Barretan became enraged and punished it with a thunderbolt, but as a kind and compassionate creator, Barretan could not bring himself to kill his own creation.

Instead, he drained all its blood and locked it inside a Treasure Chest.

Only the blood of the White Crocodile, which inherited the monster’s blood thickly, could awaken it again.

The Toin’s explanation sounded like a myth and was interesting to listen to.

“There really are still plenty of creatures in the Abyss I don’t know about.”

This time, he was late to discover the Swamp King, but who knows how history originally flowed?

At the very least, Yuseong had never heard of such a monster.

It could be that the future he changed by returning has given them a clue.

Either way, it was a pleasant matter for Yuseong.

Wasn’t it proof that the Abyss still held hidden treasures like this gift of meat?

Such monsters are always difficult to catch, but the rewards are that much sweeter.

Yuseong spoke to Jang Dojin beside him.

“Watch carefully. You rarely get to see monsters like this.”

“Y-Yes.”

In the corner, Sam Horang was slumped against the wall, looking devastated.

His shield could block even decent crossbow attacks, but just a single swat from that tail had sent him flying.

He’d only expected arrows or poison darts, so he was completely caught off guard.

Fortunately, Yuseong and Jang Dojin, who were nearby, had quickly sprayed emergency hemostatic agent, saving his life. Otherwise, with the blood pouring from the back of his head, he might have died.

But that was all.

Yuseong started to seriously observe as Il Horangi and Lee Horang faced off against the ancient crocodile.

He was also distracted by concern for his youngest brother, glancing at Yuseong.

“The youngest is safe.”

“Hyung, I’ll attack, so draw its attention for me.”

He always put on a relaxed, leisurely appearance, but even he couldn’t do that now.

Before them was a powerful monster that you’d never imagine could appear on this layer.

Only now did he understand why the Treasure Chest had lost its light.

That golden glow had been drawn out by this giant crocodile.

It crawled along the ground, but its size was so immense that its eye level was already above 17.

The green glowing eyes alone made one’s body want to freeze upon meeting their gaze.

And when it bared its dagger-like fangs and opened its mouth—

『 Hungry. 』

The rumbling, growling sound.

Everyone in this sealed chamber felt a chill run down their spine.

“It… it’s speaking? The monster?”

“That can’t be…”

Yuseong’s expression changed as well.

This was more than he expected.

Monsters capable of speech are supposed to appear at least from the 20th layer and up.

『 Hunger, revenge… Barretan. 』

Yet, though awkward, this creature was definitely speaking.

[Special Hidden Boss, Swamp King Jauros has been unsealed.]

[Currently, it is a monster at a level that cannot be opposed.]

[Advising Explorers to retreat.]

He even heard such a message.

The two brothers facing off against Jauros seemed to panic.

“If you show your back, it’ll attack right away.”

“I know, let’s stick to the original plan.”

Still, they were A-Rank Explorers.

Except for a small number of other Explorers, they were among the strongest in the Explorer caste.

Even if they specialized more in unconventional skills than raw power, it was the same here.

They used their team’s trademark coordinated technique.

“Now!”

First, the eldest drew his crossbow and fired a bolt straight at Jauros’s eye.

Pipipipip.

The high-grade repeating crossbow launched several bolts almost simultaneously.

They all flew accurately, aiming for both of Jauros’s eyes.

It was impressive marksmanship, but Jauros dealt with it easily.

It didn’t even bother dodging—simply closed its eyelids.

Tting.

The golden scales were so tough, not even a scratch was left on the eyelids.

The second brother’s eyes nearly popped out in shock, but he barely managed to do what needed to be done.

“Bind!”

With that command word, Lee Horang’s magic-type Gift activated.

Chains of black magic energy formed in midair.

Kadadadak.

They began to coil tightly around Jauros’s body.

Jauros made no effort to shake off or react in panic at being bound by these magical chains.

Despite feeling anxious at that calm demeanor, the eldest followed up with his own Gift.

“Pierce through!”

Another magic-type Gift, also activated by a command word.

From beneath Jauros’s chin, black thorns sprouted up.

Pupupupup.

Il Horangi’s Gift, Black Thorn.

A power that created magical thorns with incredible piercing force, erupting from the ground.

So far, this Gift had never failed to pierce through a monster.

“Bug.”

Except this time.

The Black Thorn couldn’t penetrate Jauros’s chin.

It only managed to slightly lift the creature’s massive bulk.

“N-no way…”

The second brother’s defeated mutter faded into the air.

Jauros finally moved.

As it shifted its limbs, the magical chains coiling around it snapped like mere threads.

The Black Thorn scattered beneath its huge foot, crumbling like rotten twigs.

Then, that abnormally long tail for such a large body swept through the air.

“D-dodge! Second!”

“Watch out!”

The tail, accelerating like a bolt of light, struck the stunned Il Horangi and Lee Horang.

Boom, boom!

All they could do was curl up and protect their organs from rupturing.

“Damn it, guh!”

Il Horangi coughed up blood, feeling his lungs shrivel from the pain.

“This kind of monster… is just too much…”

Something was wrong here.

He’d known from the start that they couldn’t win against that giant crocodile.

But for their attacks to be completely ineffective—was unthinkable.

That they, as A-Ranks, had been swatted aside like insects—

It meant only one thing.

This Jauros was, at least right now, stronger than any monster ever witnessed in the Abyss.

An utterly overpowered monster.

He was about to lower his head in despair when—

Someone’s back, not his brother’s, came into view.

Baek Yuseong.

The one who’d been watching like a bystander stepped forward to face Jauros.

『 Another… bug. 』

Jauros’s booming voice echoed through the ruins.

Yuseong didn’t reply, just adjusted his backpack.

Just as the Toin chief had told him in the myth.

This Swamp King, at least right now, was not a monster that humans could handle.

A monster, like a special event in a game, that only those who entered these ruins could encounter.

It was a pity, but even for Yuseong, hunting Jauros at this point was impossible.

“Indeed, even if all the 5th-rank Explorers came, they couldn’t take it down now.”

But the Abyss never places all the weight on one side of the scales.

Balance must be maintained, and the Toin had a secret weapon to stop Jauros.

If Jauros escaped this prison, there was a way to seal it again.

Barretan’s Sacred Statue.

“Get back in the Treasure Chest.”

What Yuseong pulled out of his backpack was none other than Barretan’s statue.

Barretan had the appearance of a wise old man.

The only peculiar thing was that he held a long staff, with a snake winding around it and birds perched on top.

But Jauros’s reaction was dramatic.

“Barre…tan—!”

It stumbled back in panic.

And then, Barretan’s Sacred Statue began to shine.

At the same time, the patterns carved all over the walls of this sealed chamber lit up.

Tststststs.

Chains of light sprouted from the walls and flew toward Jauros.

They were incomparable to the magic chains Lee Horang had conjured earlier.

『 No… 』

Jauros thrashed its powerful tail.

It tried to shake off the chains of light, but it was useless.

Pazzzzt.

Barretan’s power was like Jauros’s natural enemy.

Sparks flew, and its tail was wounded.

The thick chains coiled tighter and tighter around Jauros’s body.

Kagagak.

It struggled, but unlike before, there was no sign of the chains breaking.

As the chains tightened, the scales peeled away and blue blood began to flow.

『 No… darkness… 』

For a creature called ‘King’, Jauros seemed terrified.

Finally, the Treasure Chest that had sealed it opened by itself with a loud creak.

The chains hauled Jauros’s body toward the Treasure Chest.

As he watched, Yuseong shouted.

The moment he’d been waiting for had come.

“Now! Let’s go!”

“Yes! Transform!”

Jang Dojin, responding to Yuseong’s signal, transformed his body.

The Guardian Armor descended, covering his body in full armor.

Yuseong jumped up onto his shoulder.

“Grab that thing’s tail. Hold it steady while I cut!”

“Yes! Uwahhh!”

Even if they couldn’t hunt it here, they had no intention of letting it go for nothing.

At the very least, they would take its tail.

Thudthudthudthud.

Jang Dojin smashed the tiles as he ran.

He leaped forward and grabbed the tip of Jauros’s long tail tightly.

“Hold it taut!”

“Damn, what strength!”

The power of Jang Dojin, protected by the Guardian Armor, was beyond imagination.

And their opponent was completely restrained by the chains of light.

Yet even so, just holding Jauros’s tail was a struggle for Jang Dojin.

Yuseong didn’t miss the moment and ran up the chains of Barretan.

He stopped at the midpoint of the tail.

First, he swung the Rose Knife to check its hardness.

Kagak.

As expected, even the Rose Knife made of Orehalcon alloy could only leave a scratch.

It made sense, since Il Horangi’s Black Thorn hadn’t pierced the hide either.

It was probably because of Jauros’s own magical power.

But Yuseong had a secret weapon.

He pulled out the water flask from his waist and poured water onto the Rose Knife.

“So sweet.”

A sweet aroma instantly filled the air.

It was water that had been steeped with Essence of Verdure for a whole day.

Barretan’s power was fatal to Jauros, and the Essence of Verdure, produced within Barretan’s sacred grounds, was filled with that power.

The result of pouring it on the Rose Knife—

Pook.

The blade sank smoothly into Jauros’s tail, which had previously shown not a scratch.

『 It hurts! 』

Jauros, bound and helpless, screamed in pain.

“Hyung, hurry! If you’re too slow, you’ll get sucked in too!”

Jang Dojin, still gripping the tail, shouted frantically.

The chains of light finally began to drag Jauros into the Treasure Chest.

With the creature’s head already halfway inside, bound tightly in iron chains—

『 Must… bugs, Barretan…! 』

Even the defiant Jauros finally lost all strength, his words faltering.

Chrrr.

With the sound of chains clinking, Jauros began to be sucked into the Treasure Chest.

Yuseong severed the tail just before he could be dragged in too.

Bang!

The Treasure Chest, which swallowed Jauros, snapped shut the instant Yuseong landed.

“Whew.”

Yuseong let out a long sigh.

It had been close.

His whole body was drenched in the blue blood gushing from the severed tail.

“I’ll need a good wash when I get home.”

But Yuseong’s expression was bright.

After all, he’d managed to cut off the tail of a monster that no one could possibly face right now.

Even without getting a magic stone, he’d secured a much rarer piece of tail meat.

[You have received the Blessing of Blue Blood.]

[Barretan is pleased that you saved the Toin’s lives.]

[Heroic Achievement: Knight of the Toin has been accomplished.]

[As a reward for your achievement, you will now be treated as ‘Noble Status’.]

[From now on, other races of the Abyss cannot look down on you easily.]

[Races hostile to the Toin may treat you with hostility.]

“This is… I’ve already received a title.”

With the emergence of new races in the Abyss, humans could no longer ignore them.

The Toin, though only able to shoot poison darts and otherwise unremarkable, were just the beginning; Dwarves and Elves, who would later appear in the Abyss, were in many ways superior to humans.

“Noble Status, huh.”

And being recognized as a Noble meant he would not be looked down upon by such races.

It was dangerous with races hostile to the Toin, but Yuseong’s achievement was Knight of the Toin.

Since the Toin were gentle and weak, there weren’t really any races hostile to them.

With this unexpected reward, a smile spread across Yuseong’s lips.

He patted the exhausted Jang Dojin’s shoulder as he was still pulling at the tail.

“Hurry up and grab the tail. Let’s go grill it.”

The hunt was over—now it was time to cook the hard-won prize.

Yuseong and Jang Dojin carried the golden tail and stood up.

Just moments ago, the Three Brothers who had mocked Yuseong were squirming on the floor like flies hit by a swatter.

***

A few days later.

It was three days after the Seven Brothers had posted a video declaring their victory.

On their channel, comments urging daily uploads poured in.

People expected the next video to show the discovery of a treasure, but it never appeared.

Various speculations ran rampant in the online communities.

However, no one thought they had died during exploration.

That was because a photo of the 17th Three Brothers being wheeled into the hospital had surfaced a few days before.

So there were theories that they got hurt during the expedition, or failed to get the treasure, or ran into Baek Yuseong and got beaten up.

Many different theories were proposed.

And as the fans’ reactions grew increasingly agitated—

Finally, that night, a livestream was posted on Il’s channel.