Chapter 85: The Manticore’s Challenge

“Wuuuung—”

In front of the Vulcanus Guild building, a distortion in space began to form.  

In the present age, such a spatial distortion meant only one thing.  

[Gate]  

A portal leading to the monster-infested fields, the very door from which monsters pour forth.  

The Gate.  

Suddenly, without any warning, a calamity appeared and began to materialize right before the Vulcanus Guild building.  

“Everyone, gather in front of the guild!”  

–  “Huh? But we haven’t finished cleaning up here yet…”  

“A Gate has appeared right in front of the guild building.”  

– “Understood. We’ll finish as fast as we can and head there.”  

– “Team 9, we’re heading out immediately!”  

“Understood.”  

Among the Vulcanus Guild members, Nam Bora was the only one permanently stationed at the guild building.

She called out to the other guild members.  

While defenses elsewhere were important, protecting the guild building itself was more critical than anything else.  

The guild building was not simply a residence.  

It was the symbol of the guild.  

Nam Bora wasn’t calling the guild members out to protect herself.  

She could always run away if things got dangerous, but the guild building had to be defended.  

Especially now, when the name of Vulcanus was rising higher than ever before.  

“Wuuung~!”  

Meanwhile, the Gate was growing larger.  

Floating in midair, it gave the impression that flying-type monsters would emerge.  

Shortly after, the form of the Gate began to take shape.  

A grotesque shape, as if ripped from the pages of myth.  

Though not precise, those who had seen countless Gates could predict the kind and level of monsters that would come out just by the Gate’s size and shape.  

Nam Bora was also able to roughly estimate the Gate’s level.  

‘…At least Rank 6.’  

No, no.  

That’s not a mere Rank 6 Gate.  

The oppressive aura it emitted said otherwise.  

At least Rank 7.  

She wondered if it might close as it was, but—  

“Pzzt!”  

The Gate began to collapse.  

Gate Break.  

A catastrophe where a Gate collapses due to unknown causes immediately after forming, releasing the monsters inside.  

And as the Gate crumbled—  

“Karururu—.”  

A strange cry echoed.  

A bizarre howl blending the sounds of various beasts.  

And with it came a horribly twisted demonic face.  

It resembled a human face but was definitely not a human head.  

A lion’s mane grew from the face.  

Sharp thorns jutted irregularly from the mane.  

Teeth jagged like saw blades.  

Its tiger-like body was blood red, with bat wings on its back and a scorpion’s tail lined with countless poison stingers.  

Having studied various monsters to support the Vulcanus Guild, Nam Bora immediately recognized it.  

“Manticore.”  

A legendary beast from Iranian myths, widely known in Western European medieval art.  

No, now it was a real, existing monster.  

Manticore.  

But what mattered right now wasn’t the explanation.  

It was the Manticore’s rank.  

“Rank 7. Among the highest of Rank 7.”  

Among Rank 7 monsters, it was considered near S-rank in difficulty.  

Such a monster had appeared right before the Vulcanus Guild.  

“The Manticore? That Rank 7 monster, the Manticore?”  

– “….”  

***  

It was ridiculous.  

A Manticore.  

Nobody targeted it, yet a Gate Break occurred right in front of the guild building.  

And a Manticore emerged from it?  

“Can we hold it off?”  

– “I can’t be sure, but it’ll be dangerous.”  

I knew the Vulcanus Guild’s level well.  

With their incredible growth rate, guild members were already tackling Rank 6 Gates.  

Even considering the help of equipment, their growth was phenomenal.  

From that perspective, one rank difference might seem small, but the reality was different.  

“The gap between Rank 6 and Rank 7 monsters is worlds apart.”  

Just because you gather Rank 6 hunters doesn’t guarantee you can take down a Rank 7 monster.  

Think about it.  

No matter how many ants there are, they can’t beat a human, right?  

Unless you exploit a weak spot, it’s not easy to handle Manticores bursting out of a Gate head-on.  

“At least it’s a Manticore.”  

– “Yes. We’re prepared for its poison.”  

The lucky thing about the Manticore was that one of its most powerful attacks was poison.  

The Poison Breath spewed from its mouth.  

The venomous stingers on its mane and tail.  

The Manticore was rated among the highest Rank 7 monsters because of this poison, but our guild had excellent anti-poison gear.  

The Detox Mask made to block the poison from the Hamak Mountain Gate.  

With that and the cloak we made together, we could defend against the stingers to some extent.  

‘The problem is its raw physical power.’  

The Rank 6 Gate in Hamak Mountain, which Team 1 had tackled before, was rated Rank 6 purely due to its poison.  

But this was different.  

Even with perfect preparation against poison, the Manticore’s sheer physicality was worthy of its Rank 7 rank.  

That already made me uneasy.  

– “Team 9, we’ve arrived!”  

– “Team 1 has arrived.”  

“Team 5 has arrived as well.”  

Even after hearing what the monster was, the Vulcanus Guild members were returning to the guild without hesitation.  

All of them.  

Even those who would have to face the Manticore soon were like this, so I couldn’t just worry from the sidelines.  

“Can I help with anything?”  

– “Hmm, I’m not sure.”  

“The equipment has already been upgraded to match your levels, so I think trusting the guild members is the best approach.”  

“I’ve sent a support request, but as you know, the Gate Burning situation isn’t over yet, so help is unlikely.”  

There was nothing I could do.  

It was a frustrating feeling.  

Like physically experiencing the limits of being a blacksmith.  

Meanwhile, the battle between the Vulcanus Guild members gathered in front of the guild building and the Manticore began.  

– “Form a group formation!”  

– “Everyone, put on your poison resistance masks and cloaks!”  

– “Wearing them now!”  

– “We don’t need to worry about the Breath, but be careful of the poison stingers! Even if the poison doesn’t work, the physical force of the stingers can’t be blocked!”  

And yet, not even all 100 members had gathered.  

Some were still in combat elsewhere, so it was unavoidable.  

Still, having over 50 members gathered was impressive.  

Nam Bora’s command to respond to the Gate Burning centered around the guild building was a big factor.  

“Kakang!”  

The Vulcanus Guild clashed with the Manticore.  

The guild was strong, and had rarely been defeated by monsters before.  

– “Kyarururu!”  

This time was different.  

A Rank 7 monster, the Manticore.  

Though prepared for its poisonous attacks-  

“Thud!”  

– “Ugh!!”  

– “Team leader!”  

– “Hold the line!”  

It was no match for a Rank 7 monster’s raw physical power.  

In fact, it was remarkable that those just over level 100 could fight the Manticore at all.  

Even the team leaders—  

“Slash!”  

– “Kyarr…”  

– “We cut off its wings! Finish it off!”  

– “Yes!”  

The guild was putting up a decent fight against the Manticore.  

The Manticore fluttered its wings and swooped down, swinging its tail.  

Dodging the poisonous stingers, Team 1 even climbed onto the Manticore’s back by riding its tail.  

They dug one claw into the leathery skin and tore madly at one wing with the other claw, eventually bringing one Manticore down.  

Even a Manticore was vulnerable once it lost its flying advantage combined with poison, allowing focused attacks to take it down.  

‘If only we can deal with the wings, we can manage somehow.’  

Watching the fight, I gritted my teeth.  

Though I was poor at actual combat, I could tell just by watching.  

The Manticore was a powerful monster, but its strengths were poison and flight.  

We already had counters for poison, so only one thing remained.  

Flight.  

Hitting a flying Manticore with ranged attacks wasn’t easy.  

The only option was to meet it head-on with close combat, ready for its sudden dives and ambushes.  

If we could stop its flight—  

Then even Vulcanus Guild could hold the Manticore back.  

Thinking that, I nodded and raised my hammer.  

“What’s the use of just thinking?”  

It was always like this.  

Everyone just needed to focus on their own role.  

And I was a blacksmith.  

[Using Improvement Skill.]  

The item I lifted was a crossbow.  

[Dragon Blinder Folder]  

A weapon I had made recently to take down the Mine Drake, the boss monster in Mining Zone 4.  

I upgraded the weapon to match my level and the current situation.  

I removed the abilities focused on dragon-type monsters and concentrated all its power on its original ‘Tracking’ and ‘Blinding’ functions.  

[Upgrade complete.]  

[‘Blind Tracker’ skill acquired.]  

Not long after, the upgrade finished.  

Its core function as a ‘Dragonslayer’ was removed, greatly changing the weapon’s performance and even its name.  

It was basically a downgrade, but since what mattered now wasn’t Dragonslayer abilities, it didn’t matter.  

On top of that—  

[Using Crafting Skill.]  

[Please select the item form to craft.]  

“Arrow!”  

I began crafting arrows.  

Usually, I didn’t invest much effort into arrows, but this time, I put considerable care into them.  

[Ten Thousand Ice Stone]  

A rare metal from District 1.  

Translucent like ice, it exudes cold.  

I combined it with—  

[Branch of the Ice Tree]  

Rare wood from Zone 3.  

[Ice Feather]  

Monster material from Zone 5.  

I combined all these.  

And most importantly—  

“Bulddong, ‘Frostbind,’ please.”  

“Got it!”  

“Fwoosh!”  

I engraved runes.  

Though I only upgraded the materials this time, it was a familiar craft.  

Before meeting the two gatekeeper statues in Zone 5, the first arrow I ever made to relieve stress was this Frostbind Arrow.  

Since they were arrows, no matter how good the materials, the rune’s power couldn’t last and they were single-use.  

But the important thing was that one shot.  

[Crafting complete.]  

[‘Hanbing Arrow’ acquired.]  

Not a mere Frostbind Arrow, but Hanbing Arrow.  

Thanks to using proper materials instead of the basic ones from before, it seemed to be a higher-grade arrow.  

This kind of Frostbind effect should be enough to freeze even a Manticore.  

Of course, it wouldn’t be enough to kill one, but at least freezing its wings to make it fall was doable.  

I didn’t just stop at making Hanbing Arrows with the remaining materials.  

[Crafting complete.]  

[‘Lightning Arrow’ acquired.]  

I quickly crafted arrows that would help bring down the Manticore.  

The quiver I had prepared was soon filled with the arrows I made.  

And the one who would fire these arrows was—  

“Guild master 1.”  

“Yes, master.”  

“Get ready.”  

Guild master1.  

No, it was me, the one who would possess Guild master 1’s body.