Chapter 120: Chapter 120

Entrance to Ilion Castle.

A crude castle made entirely of gray stone.

In front of its gate, a single monster stood guard.

[Lv. 245 Dark Lizardman]

A monster resembling a lizard.

However, it stood on two legs like a human, wielding a spear in its right hand and a shield in its left, its head and body armored with a helmet and armor.

“…Why this one, of all things.”

Cain shuddered slightly.

“Why?”

Jeong-Hoon tilted his head in confusion.

“They probably tightened security after realizing we escaped.”

Cain and the two warriors had seized an opportunity when the guards were lax to make their escape.

Of course, they ended up getting hit by the Poison Beetle Creed.

“We’ll have to take this one down first.”

Jeong-Hoon slowly walked forward.

Leviathan was gripped in his hand.

“Hiss- Who are you?”

The Dark Lizardman spotted Jeong-Hoon, pointed its spear at him, and shouted.

“The one who’s going to kill you.”

[1st Form: Initiation is activated.]

As Jeong-Hoon activated Initiation, sharp sword strikes rained down on the Lizardman.

The sound of Leviathan’s blade clashing with the Dark Lizardman’s armor reverberated.

The Lizardman, seemingly impacted by the blows, frowned and tried to block with its shield, but each time, Jeong-Hoon used his movement technique to strike its unguarded spots.

[2nd Form: Subjugation is activated.]

He immediately activated Subjugation.

Destructive power was added to the swift and sharp sword strikes from before.

Jeong-Hoon used his movement technique and aimed for the Dark Lizardman’s head.

“Hiss- You damn human!”

[The Dark Lizardman uses ‘Warrior’s Valor’.]

As Jeong-Hoon swung Leviathan with full force, the Dark Lizardman’s body turned red, and the sword was deflected.

‘Is it using an invincibility skill?’

Jeong-Hoon chuckled dryly.

It had absurd special abilities for its level.

“Hiss- I’ll kill you!”

[The Dark Lizardman uses ‘Spear Breath’.]

The Dark Lizardman slammed its spear into the ground.

The ground shook, and the concentrated mana exploded where Jeong-Hoon was standing.

The exploding mana shot up like a fountain and then vanished instantly.

Fortunately, Jeong-Hoon had used his movement technique to dodge the breath before the mana exploded.

‘If anyone other than me had been hit by that, they would have been turned to dust.’

It would be difficult even at a similar level.

One would need to be at Jeong Chang-Ho’s level to handle the Dark Lizardman and reach Ilion.

‘That Theme Dungeon was quite a challenge for me too.’

He had said he struggled quite a bit, and now he could fully understand why.

But that was all it was.

The difficulty that Jeong Chang-Ho, who was in his early 300s, had struggled with.

That level of difficulty wasn’t enough to hold Jeong-Hoon back.

[2nd Form: Subjugation is activated.]

He closed the distance with the golem once again, unleashing Subjugation.

Jeong-Hoon swung Leviathan with a wide arc.

The invincibility skill lasted for only a brief second.

This time, Jeong-Hoon’s sword struck the Lizardman’s head with full force.

[Leviathan’s Wrath is activated.]

Luckily, Leviathan’s Wrath activated.

[3rd Form: Annihilation is activated.]

Confirming the activation of Wrath, Jeong-Hoon immediately unleashed Annihilation, piercing through the golem’s weak point, its neck.

The vulnerable spot between the helmet and armor, where defense was impossible.

“Keeek!”

The golem collapsed on the spot with a scream.

“Wow…”

“Perfect… Is that true swordsmanship?”

Cain and the warriors, who had been watching from hiding, were mesmerized by Jeong-Hoon’s sword skills.

“What are you doing? Let’s go quickly.”

At Jeong-Hoon’s call, they snapped out of their daze.

“Yes!”

* * *

Meanwhile, Ilion Castle was in a state of emergency.

“The Dark Lizardman was defeated?”

“Yes…”

“Hmm.”

A humanoid monster sat at the head of the table, resting its chin on its hand.

Ilion was lost in thought for a moment.

He was irritated because some of the prey he had recently captured had escaped.

He had been working hard, and three of the most promising sacrifices had escaped, so he couldn’t help but be annoyed.

In such a situation, he received the news of the Dark Lizardman’s defeat.

“I’ll go check it out.”

[Lv. 250 Fenrir]

A wolf-like monster rose to its feet.

It was a werewolf monster, capable of walking on two legs like the Lizardman.

“Alright.”

Ilion nodded.

Fenrir was a subordinate ranked higher than the Dark Lizardman.

He wouldn’t be easily defeated.

“Yes!”

Fenrir confidently opened the door and stepped out.

And not long after…

“Yelp!”

Fenrir’s scream echoed from outside.

“…”

Ilion stared at the door in silence.

Soon, the door was flung open with a bang!

“There you are.”

* * *

[Normal Quest: Rescue the Irun Tribe]

He had dealt with all the miscellaneous monsters while entering the castle, but only those two were counted.

This meant they were the mid-bosses of this Theme Dungeon.

After finishing off Fenrir, Jeong-Hoon arrived at the boss zone where Ilion was.

They said it was a humanoid monster, and unlike the Dark Lizardman and Fenrir, it truly resembled a human.

‘The rescue is up to them.’

After dealing with all the monsters inside the castle, Cain and the two warriors were sent to the prison where the tribe members were held captive.

Now all he had to do was comfortably deal with Ilion to finish the Theme Dungeon.

“You dare touch my sacrifices and think you’ll be safe?”

Ilion growled, baring his fangs.

He looked human, but his teeth resembled those of a great white shark.

“Yes.”

Jeong-Hoon nodded confidently.

“…What?”

“I said I think I’ll be safe.”

“How dare you!”

Ilion rose from his seat in a rage.

A sly smile crept across Jeong-Hoon’s lips.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

[Blackfield is activated.]

First, he activated Blackfield to boost his stats.

[All stats are increased by 1.2x.]

[Due to the effect of Blackfield, all stats of monsters that have entered the area are decreased by 3%.]

It wasn’t enough yet.

[All stats are increased by 15%.]

[Damage reduction of 20% is applied.]

[Time limit is ‘1 hour’.]

He also used the stat-boosting ring he had been saving for this moment.

“Human… What are you doing?!”

Ilion’s face under the helmet was filled with bewilderment as Jeong-Hoon’s aura suddenly surged.

But Ilion quickly regained his composure.

[Ilion uses ‘Enhanced: Super Armor’.]

Enhanced Super Armor.

It increased Ilion’s defense by a whopping 1.7 times.

[Ilion uses ‘Enhanced: Sword Aura’.]

And a blue aura gathered on Ilion’s sword.

‘The sword aura’s condition isn’t bad.’

It was slightly stronger than the sword aura a level 265 Saber would unleash.

Jeong-Hoon used his movement technique to close in on him.

[Ilion uses ‘Enhanced: Senses’.]

He had three abilities.

With his enhanced senses, it seemed he had read Jeong-Hoon’s movements, as his black eyes within the helmet darted around.

At the same time, he pivoted on his right foot and swung his sword diagonally with force.

Woosh-

However, the sword strike only sliced through the air.

No other sound was heard.

At that moment, Jeong-Hoon appeared behind Ilion.

[1st Form: Initiation is activated.]

Jeong-Hoon’s sword, with Extinction Sword’s 1st Form activated, began to strike Ilion’s armor.

“Impossible!”

Ilion hurriedly turned around and raised his sword.

But Jeong-Hoon had already used his movement technique to move to his right side and consecutively slashed at his flank.

[Leviathan’s Wrath is activated.]

Then, Leviathan’s Wrath activated.

[2nd Form: Subjugation is activated.]

And then, Extinction Sword’s 2nd Form, Subjugation, was activated.

“Ugh!”

A groan escaped Ilion’s lips as the sword strikes, now with greatly increased attack power, landed.

Subjugation activated once more, striking Ilion’s thigh.

Crack.

The armor Ilion was wearing crumpled.

And the impact was directly transmitted to Ilion.

“Ack!”

He groaned again and swung his sword widely.

But the sword strike only cut through the air.

“Your attacks are too simple.”

To Jeong-Hoon, there was no difference between the Dark Lizardman, Fenrir, and Ilion he had faced before.

Their attacks were all simple, making them too easy to dodge.

No matter how explosively one increased their attack power, it was useless if the attacks didn’t land on the opponent.

While reading and dodging all of his simple sword paths, he saw a big opening.

[3rd Form: Annihilation is activated.]

He activated Annihilation, aiming to pierce through Ilion’s neck through that opening.

“…!”

Jeong-Hoon’s expression changed subtly.

[Ilion uses ‘Warrior’s Valor’.]

He hadn’t expected Ilion to possess the same ability as the Lizardman.

Thanks to the 1-second invincibility, he was able to defend against Jeong-Hoon’s Annihilation.

“Kekeke, human! I will surely sacrifice you! And I will become even stronger!”

Bloodshot eyes glared at Jeong-Hoon from within the helmet.

Ilion then raised his sword high and swung it down.

He continued to swing his sword fiercely, relentlessly pressuring Jeong-Hoon.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Amidst his sword strikes, Ilion felt a sharp pain in his side.

Jeong-Hoon had approached him and punched his side.

And it was with the 1st Form of the Underworld King’s Fist Technique, imbued with the Underworld King’s energy.

As Ilion’s sword strikes momentarily paused, Jeong-Hoon pointed his sword at his neck.

“I told you it wouldn’t work.”

“How is this possible? Why am I not getting hit even once…?”

Ilion’s voice sounded somewhat hollow.

“It’s simple. You’re weak.”

“…I don’t understand. I’ve never been defeated before.”

Ilion openly expressed his confusion at the straightforward answer.

“That’s because you’ve only been picking on weaklings.”

“…”

“Get lost.”

[3rd Form: Annihilation is activated.]

The tip of Leviathan’s sword finally pierced Ilion’s neck.

“Cough!”

Ilion died instantly with a scream.

[You have cleared ‘Theme Dungeon: Ilion Castle’ for the first time.]

[30,000 achievement points are awarded.]

[Level up!]

[All stats increased by +1.]

[Bonus stat +1 awarded.]

[Quest completed.]

[Return to the village for completion rewards.]

Done.

He had cleared the Theme Dungeon.

‘It’s good that I can close the royal palace’s Random Gate now.’

Since he had cleared this Theme Dungeon connected to the Random Gate, forcibly severing the connection, the Random Gate would soon disappear.

Jeong-Hoon picked up the item dropped by Ilion.

It was a boss item that dropped with a 100% chance upon first clear.

[Ilion’s Tooth]

– Type: Consumable

– Grade: Unique

– Can be used to enhance Unique-grade equipment.

– Upon successful enhancement, an additional +1~3 is added.

The item he dropped was a material used for enhancement.

It added a value of 1~3 when enhancing Unique equipment once.

‘It would have been useless if it were Epic, but Unique is fine.’

Now all that was left was the ‘Rune,’ the highlight of this Theme Dungeon.

It was time to claim that Rune.

* * *

“Is everyone alright?!”

Cain led the tribe members out of the castle to safety.

While he was away, two more warriors had been sacrificed as offerings, but the rest were safe.

“Phew… We’re okay.”

“Chief Warrior, you succeeded…”

The warriors were holding on with sheer willpower, even though they looked like they could collapse at any moment.

“Yes… Thanks to the foreigner who helped us, no, the true warrior, we were able to escape.”

“True warrior?”

“Yes. He’ll defeat Ilion and return.”

“Defeat Ilion? That’s impossible…”

They had experienced firsthand how absurdly powerful Ilion was.

None of their attacks could penetrate his defense.

After their crushing defeat, all that was left was to be imprisoned and become his sacrifices.

Defeat such a monster?

He was bound to lose.

“It’s alright. He’s the one who personally defeated the Dark Lizardman and Fenrir, so trust him.”

“…Is that really true?!”

Cain nodded.

“Not only that. He took care of all the golems outside and the monsters inside the castle.”

“Huh…”

They couldn’t believe it.

They were monsters they couldn’t even handle one of, so how did he do it?

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s all true.”

As if to prove Cain’s words, Jeong-Hoon soon opened the castle gate and slowly walked out.

In his right hand, he held Ilion’s head.

“It’s true!”

“Woooooah!”

“The true warrior has defeated Ilion!”

The tribal warriors recognized Ilion’s head and cheered loudly.

———-