Chapter 87: Arrows and Allies Triumph

“Magnus the Entwined…”  

The boss Monster had appeared.  

In truth, it was only natural.  

Every Gate was bound to have a boss Monster.  

It was just that I had been so focused on handling the immediate situation that I hadn’t anticipated it at all.  

The Manticore itself looked like a creature stitched together from various animals, but the boss Monster was on a whole different level.  

Two heads, five pairs of wings, and three tails.  

It looked like several Manticores fused into one.  

No, judging by its size, it seemed like more than ten Manticores combined.  

Its roar was grotesque, as if the cries of every beast in the world had been melded into one.  

Without realizing it, I took a step back.  

“Are you going to be okay?”  

“Even if I’m not, I have to do this.”   

Once I had resolved to block it, there was no other choice.  

I raised the Crossbow again and aimed the sight at Magnus the Entwined.  

The Crossbow would handle the fine aiming anyway, so all I had to do was frame Magnus in the sight and pull the trigger.  

“Thwong!”  

The arrow would find its target by itself.  

Sure enough,  “Screeeak!”  

The awkwardly shot arrow flew toward Magnus.  

“Thunk!”  

The arrow embedded itself, and then:

“Crack!”  

Frozen wings.  

Even though it was a boss Monster, I figured that if it couldn’t fly, I could deal with it somehow.  

Even if I couldn’t land a critical hit, falling from that height with that size would cause a huge impact.    

“Huh?”  

Magnus didn’t fall.  

One pair of wings near the base was frozen, but the other four pairs remained intact.  

And then, “Karurururuk~!”  

Our eyes locked.  

At that moment, Magnus shot up into the air.  

Since our eyes met directly, it was obvious what its target was.  

“Damn it!”  

“Thunk!”  

I fired arrow after arrow straight at the charging Magnus.  

[Lightning Arrow]  

“Crackle!”  

Lightning erupted from the arrows hitting its wings.  

Lightning that had singed the wings of other Manticores black couldn’t burn Magnus’s wings.    

The Flame Arrow was no different.  

The scorching flames burst forth, but Magnus’s wings remained unscathed.  

“Crunch!”  

Even when the arrows turned into massive stone stakes in its wings, Magnus didn’t fall.  

“Uwaaaah!”  

“Thunk, thunk, thunk!”  

Shoot, shoot, and shoot again.  

I had plenty of arrows prepared.  

Determined to use them all, I fired relentlessly without pause.  

Luckily, since Magnus was flying straight at me, aiming wasn’t difficult.   

“Kyarrurruruk!”  

“Kyarrurruk!”  

The problem was that my arrows weren’t having any effect.  

Magnus flew steadily despite taking dozens of elemental arrows.  

Its two heads roared wildly.  

It seemed as if it were shouting, “Soon I’ll tear you to pieces!”  

“Ms. Nam Bora, run! Quickly!”  

“Yes!”  

I had Nam Bora evacuate first.  

I might get a little injured as Guild Master 1, but I wouldn’t actually die.  

Even if Guild Master 1 was damaged, I was confident I could repair it and get it back up.  

But Nam Bora was different.  

Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely she would be able to defeat that damn boss Monster.  

“Thunk!”  

“Crack!”

I kept pulling the trigger.  

Though I hadn’t completely shattered its wings.  

“Kyarrurur-…”  

Thanks to exhausting all my remaining arrows, I was able to inflict some meaningful damage.  

Its wings alternated between freezing, burning, and shattering until the flesh was charred black.  

More than ten arrows transformed into stone stakes, impaling the wings to the point where proper flapping was impossible.  

Its wings, blackened and trembling, burned fiercely.  

While I couldn’t completely cripple its flight, I had at least managed to slow it down considerably.  

Satisfied with that.  

“Karururuk!”  

Just as I was about to calmly face Magnus.  

“Master!”  

A familiar voice came from below.  

Though hidden by the window frame, the voice was unmistakable.  

“Team 1 Leader?”  

It was Park Sang-hyun, leader of Team 1 of the Vulcanus Guild.  

But how?  

This was the top floor of the building.  

Even if they had rushed here the moment the boss Monster appeared, there was no way they could have arrived so fast.  

Curious, I overcame my fear of Magnus and peeked out from the broken window frame.  

“I’m here too, Guild Master!”  

Familiar faces came into view.  

The first I saw was Team 9 Leader, Jeon Ji-min.  

She was the electric-powered fighter who had previously ‘disciplined’—or rather, interrogated—an assassin.  

Behind her were Team 1 Leader Park Sang-hyun and Team 2 Leader Yoon Hee-joo.  

Yes, they were all riding.  

“Wait, what…?”  

They were mounted on Manticores.  

One of them looked like the same Manticore I had hit with a freezing arrow, showing signs of frostbite on its wings.  

I couldn’t understand either how they were controlling Manticores or how they had flown here on them.  

Ordinarily, regular Manticores wouldn’t be able to reach this place, let alone the boss Monster Magnus.  

Without even needing to ask, Jeon Ji-min, holding the whip like reins, eagerly began to explain.  

“I overloaded them electrically! I removed their limiters and stimulated their brains a bit, so somehow they managed to fly up here.”  

Her ability was Conductor (S).  

It allowed her to send electricity through objects or living beings she touched.  

She had used her ability effectively before when disciplining the assassin.  

But this time, her usage was on a whole other level.  

‘Could it be that she practiced on the assassin last time?’  

Though she explained it simply as an overload, it was far from an easy feat.  

Normally, sending electricity through a Monster just caused it to stiffen and be electrocuted.  

How precisely she had to manipulate the electricity to pull this off was baffling.  

Of course.  

“Kryarak, ryarak-.”  

The overloaded Manticore was already far from normal.  

Its brain seemed burnt out, eyes rolled back showing only the whites.  

Muscles were singed and torn, puffing smoke.  

Regardless, the three team leaders chasing after Magnus leapt off the Manticore that was now falling and serving its purpose.  

“Safe!”  

“Phew.”  

Team 1 Leader landed gracefully, driving his Claw into Magnus’s back.  

Team 2 Leader landed elegantly with exceptional balance.  

Team 9 Leader wrapped her whip around Magnus’s wing bones and hung on.  

Thankfully, all three landed safely on Magnus’s back.  

“We’ll take it from here.”  

Park Sang-hyun stood up, swinging his Claw fiercely.  

Though the Claw’s individual damage was lacking.  

“Swoosh!”  

His attack speed was unmatched.  

With incredible speed, Park Sang-hyun’s Claw tore one of Magnus’s wings to shreds.  

“Karururuk~!”  

A pained roar escaped Magnus.  

Even with one wing torn off, Magnus did not stop.  

But the team leaders’ assault was only just beginning.  

“Hngh!”  

Team 2 Leader swung her Scythe.  

Since this was a boss Monster, her Scythe’s armor-piercing effect wasn’t enough to cut multiple wings at once.  

I’d heard that the higher the Monster’s grade, the stronger its soul defense was.  

Even so, “Swoosh!”

Her Scythe sliced cleanly through one of Magnus’s wings.  

As always, her Scythe left no visible mark on the surface.  

“Thud.”  

But her attack was a success.  

The wing she cut drooped like a severed tendon.  

Normally, even they couldn’t cut Magnus’s wings this easily.  

Magnus was a boss Monster, so its defense was on par with an Rank 7 boss.  

But the reason they were able to cut its wings was—  

“Thanks to you, Master!”  

Because of the arrows I had fired.  

Frozen, burnt, and electrocuted, Magnus’s wing bones were already severely weakened.  

That’s why the team leaders’ attacks landed so well.  

“Swoosh!”  

Two pairs of wings were already severed by the two team leaders.  

Still, Magnus did not stop.  

Though its balance was off, its body swayed, and its speed slowed, it stubbornly flapped the remaining three pairs of wings and flew straight at me.  

Even though those three pairs were far from healthy.  

Then, hanging onto Magnus’s body, the Team 9 Leader spoke.  

“My turn!”  

Still dangling from the whip coiled around Magnus’s wing bones, she tightened her grip with both hands.  

Then shouted, “Jump!”  

Had she given them the plan in advance?  

With Jeon Ji-min’s shout, the team leaders leapt from Magnus’s body toward the window where I stood.  

At that moment.  

“Pzzzzzzzt~!!”  

“Kyarrarararak~!!”  

A massive surge of electricity coursed through Magnus’s body.  

Normally, the current would have flowed over the surface of its hide and failed to penetrate properly.  

But because of the wounds in its body, the electricity flowed directly inside Magnus.  

Even so, this attack wouldn’t kill Magnus.  

“Kara—”  

But it was enough to paralyze it.  

With its wings already battered and now electrocuted, Magnus’s body stiffened.  

And then it began to fall.  

The sky belongs not to those who have lost their wings.  

“Uwaah!”  

Fortunately, Jeon Ji-min barely managed to release the whip and tumble onto the Vulcanus building’s rooftop.  

To be precise, she rolled around on the roof.  

The falling Magnus regained its senses and tried to move its wings.  

“Kyararak~!”  

But the wings wouldn’t budge.  

Already damaged, the electric shock had completely paralyzed them.  

In the end, Magnus could not spread its wings as it fell.  

“Boom!!”  

It crashed helplessly from a height equivalent to the top floor of the Vulcanus building.  

The tremendous impact shook the surroundings.  

When the dust settled, Magnus was on the brink of death.  

One head was completely crushed, all wings broken.  

Its tails were either severed, crushed, or twisted, and its thick legs grotesquely bent.  

Still, Magnus screamed in defiance, “kyyyyrukkkk!!!”

“Finish it!” With that order, the waiting Vulcanus Guild members below sprang into action.  

[Boss Monster, ‘Magnus the Entwined,’ has been defeated.]  

[Level Up.]  

[Level Up.]  

The level-up messages kept coming.  

Well, I deserved it, having contributed a lot to the Gate’s clearance.  

Just having surpassed level 90, I had defeated an Rank 7 Monster like the Manticore and even its boss, Magnus the Entwined.  

– We’ll handle the remaining Manticores!  

– Good work!  

– Thank you for your help, Guild Master!  

Voices of guild members echoed in my ears.  

Thankfully, the number of remaining Manticores was not too large, and they seemed capable of handling them on their own down there.  

A real relief.  

Especially since I had no arrows left.  

I had poured every last arrow into taking down Magnus.  

– Take them down!  

How many levels have I gained from this battle?  

–  Well, these were all top-tier Rank 7 Monsters after all.  

– Let’s quickly finish off the rest! They’re all bundles of experience!  

Got ’em!  

It didn’t take long to clean up the remaining Manticores.  

Meanwhile, on the other side of the fierce battlefield, a lens gleamed in the sunlight from a nearby building.  

“Unbelievable…”  

The Vulcanus Guild, currently the center of attention.  

A Reporter who had been waiting in a nearby building to film them was capturing the entire battle scene.