Rumble.
Was the expression 'the walls are crumbling' always this literal? As the secondary dungeon began, the wall that was the floor, the very 'ground,' started to collapse entirely.
"Kyaaaaaaah!!"
"Uwaaak!!"
The Hunters, myself included, plummeted helplessly. The Knights with their sturdy bodies might be fine, but the Espers would be crushed to pieces. I had to decide.
Should I reveal my true abilities to the Guild members here? Various thoughts flashed through my mind in that fleeting moment, but I soon made my decision. If I didn't unleash my full power, everyone here would die anyway.
Fwip— In the midst of the endless fall, I kicked off a piece of the stone debris that was once the floor and flew toward Lee Ye-chan. The guy had his eyes squeezed shut, flailing his arms and legs.
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
"Stay still!"
I grabbed Lee Ye-chan's waist with my left hand. The circumstances weren't ideal, but my powerful, D-rank level grip held Lee Ye-chan firmly in place.
"Gah!!"
Of course, he must have felt a pain like his waist was being crushed, but it was better than dying.
Fwip.
I barely managed to turn, kick off another stone chunk, and leap toward a female Esper nearby. Poison Step was one thing, but I could feel my own movements had become lighter. It felt like watching Master Oh Ji-ho's videos on repeat for two weeks had definitely helped.
It wasn't just the combat moves; I felt like I was starting to understand what it meant to 'use my body'.
Grip.
"Hup!!"
As I snatched her slender frame, the female Esper couldn't even scream. Feeling a 'crack' at my fingertips, I think I broke her ribs. At the same time, I saw a new floor below.
"Shit...!!"
I gritted my teeth, held them both tight in my arms, and spun my body around.
CRASH!!!
Even though I had focused all my Black Ether onto my back, an immense wave of pain washed over me. It was a pain so severe it reminded me of my days before Awakening. My head was spinning.
"Is everyone alright?! No...!!"
The team's leader, Hunter Choi In-ho, looked around and was startled. He could probably guess the situation just by seeing how I was sprawled out.
"Hunter Hae-seon!!"
Choi In-ho rushed over to check on me. The others might have minor injuries, but none would match the damage I took from bearing the weight of two people.
"I'm... alright."
I stopped Choi In-ho with one hand and placed my other hand on the female Esper's waist.
Shhhh....
"Hmm...."
Fortunately, the bone damage wasn't severe. While I was healing the Esper, the pain in my back also began to subside.
"To be able to heal others while simultaneously self-healing..."
Choi In-ho muttered to himself as if he had never seen such a thing before.
"How is everyone else?"
"Ah... Besides these two, everyone else is a Knight, so they're fine. I thought they would be seriously injured, but you, Hunter Hae-seon..."
Choi In-ho was so moved he couldn't finish his sentence. To not only throw his body on the line to save the Espers but also to think of the well-being of the other Hunters. Judging by his overwhelmed expression, that's what he seemed to be thinking.
I only asked to check how much of our combat strength we had lost, but it seems he misunderstood. I turned away from Choi In-ho's sparkling eyes and looked around. It seemed the Hunters hadn't actually taken much damage.
Being composed of high-rank Hunters, it seemed they could withstand this level of impact. After all, even my D-rank reinforced body had managed to endure it.
"Hunter!! I will never forget this kindness as long as I live!!"
Having heard the story, Lee Ye-chan bowed repeatedly to me. Not only Lee Ye-chan, but also the female Hunter I saved and the other Guild members expressed their gratitude. At the same time, they looked extremely curious.
Even though I'm an S-ranker, my type is healer. Aren't both Espers and healers supposed to be physically weak? But for that healer to save another Esper while falling and bear the full weight of the impact.
Objectively, it was clearly a strange occurrence. But I had no intention of explaining anything. Because the real crisis was just beginning.
"Just how far did we fall?"
"I thought I'd been through it all, but I've never experienced the ground collapsing before..."
The Guild members shook their heads and looked up. As if to mock the fact that the ground had collapsed, a blue sky stretched out above. A sky beneath the ground.
It was dumbfounding.
"Oh..."
And then, in the piercingly blue sky, dark spots began to appear.
"What are those?"
A few became dozens, and dozens became hundreds. Seeing their identities as they appeared in a swarm like bees, Choi In-ho gritted his teeth.
"Harpies...!!"
Harpies.
I've heard that name somewhere before. Watching the swarm of hundreds flying from a distance, I called V1. For a non-Poison-type Monster, having 'B' for Other Attributes was likely because it was a flying type.
It was a Monster with a head and torso resembling a human's, but with wings and talons. I guess this is what a secondary dungeon is like. From the very first mob, the Difficulty was unusually high.
There were four B-rank Knights in our party, but a shadow of despair fell over everyone's face. This was because Knights had no effective way to subdue Monsters floating in the sky. They could only counterattack when the creatures came down to attack, which meant the Harpies held the initiative completely.
The only ones on our side who could attack first were the two Espers. The B-rank female Esper and the C-rank Lee Ye-chan. Above all, the sheer number of them, hundreds covering the sky, was staggering.
"How are we supposed to kill all of them?"
"Team Leader. What do we do?"
"Calm down! Form up first!"
The situation was quite grim, but Choi In-ho, ever the leader, commanded his team. A tank Knight stood at the front, with the other Knights forming an arrowhead shape on both sides. And inside that formation, the two Espers and I took our positions.
It was a formation designed to protect the Espers and the healer from the rain of Harpy talons and to launch a counterattack.
'Effective. But...' "They're coming!!" Swoosh. Harpies fundamentally don't make any cries. There was only the chilling sound of air being sliced as they descended to tear apart their prey. The Harpies formed a great wave and rushed us as a single mass. Kagahng!! Kkang!! The Tankers' shields and the Knights' battle devices clashed with the Harpies' talons.
BOOM!!
A psychic power more like an explosive charge than a flame enveloped their surroundings, and Lee Ye-chan fired off electric shocks haphazardly.
Crackle!
And I healed the team members in real-time until the Harpies' attack was over.
Clang!! Clang!!
"...!!"
The attack, which felt as long as an eternity, finally ended. Dozens of Harpy corpses were scattered around. Though there were minor injuries, our side had zero casualties.
It was a moment where Choi In-ho's leadership shone.
"Good. Let's keep thinning out the Harpies just like this!"
Choi In-ho encouraged his team, seemingly having gained some confidence. However, flap flap. The Harpies, which had been clustered in a round ball-like formation, began to spread out widely.
True to their nickname, 'Cunning Wings,' they had found the optimal way to hunt us. A circular band floating in the sky. The creatures formed a large circle above us.
"This is...!!"
The triangular arrowhead formation shows the greatest efficiency against a frontal assault. But what if the attacks came from all directions—front, back, left, and right?
"Change formation!"
Sensing the crisis, Choi In-ho positioned the Knights to face all directions.
Swoosh.
This time, it wasn't just a single pass like a wave. The cunning Harpies pulled back the ones that had finished attacking and rotated in fresh ones, swiping their talons relentlessly.
"Keuk!!"
The arm of one of the Knights in the fight was shredded. He raised his shield with his remaining hand, but even a glance showed he wouldn't be able to hold on for long. At this rate, the formation would collapse in an instant.
"Everyone, get down!"
As the B-rank female Esper shrieked sharply, the Knights quickly dropped to the ground. I, too, stopped healing and quickly ducked my upper body.
"Qi Explosion!"
KWAGAGAGAGANG!!
An explosion erupted overhead. Simultaneously, dozens of Harpies that had been surrounding us were roasted like sparrows and fell from the sky. Startled by the power, the remaining Harpies shot back up into the sky, and the smell of explosives filled the air.
'So this is the power of a B-rank Esper.' A high-rank Esper who saved the team by detonating the entire surrounding area. It was a destructive power unbelievable for a single person to wield.
However, drip.
Unfortunately, the price was also steep.
"Come over here."
It seemed there was a major backlash from using her ability over the entire area instead of a localized one. The female Esper collapsed toward me, blood streaming from her nose.
"Damn it... Is today the day I die?"
The Knight whose arm had just finished healing spat out a curse. The other Hunters didn't say anything, but they also seemed to be preparing themselves for the worst. Thanks to the B-ranker's desperate struggle, we had overcome the immediate crisis, but there were still over a hundred Harpies flapping their wings in the sky.
If they attacked in the same way again, we would have no way to stop them. After infusing the female Esper's body with healing energy, I gently laid her down and stood up. And slowly, I walked away from the group.
"Hunter Hae-seon?"
Choi In-ho looked at me with puzzled eyes. Could he be... running away? A flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes for a moment, but that look didn't last long.
He saw the blade in my hand.
"It's dangerous! Hunter Hae-seon! These aren't creatures you can handle just because you have a weapon!"
It seems he thinks I'm some naive healer who doesn't know the ways of the world.
Just watch.
I'll show you how to take down those damn things.
Flap, flap.
The creatures' gazes fixed on me. A predator's top priority when attacking its prey. Attacking one that had strayed from the pack was a perfectly natural phenomenon.
Vwooom.
I poured a large amount of Black Ether into the hand holding Exa. My healing energy was less than half, but my Black Ether was untouched. The blade, which used to be barely the length of a finger joint and was embarrassing to even call a blade, had now grown to the length of a handspan.
I deliberately stepped back slowly to lure them.
"Hunter Hae-seon!! Come over here!!"
As if Lee Ye-chan's desperate shout was the trigger, all the Harpies descended toward me.
Swoosh!! Fwip.
The moment their talons were about to rip through my body, I used Poison Step to get away.
"Hunter Hae-seoooooooooon!!"
Lee Ye-chan must think I'm still there. I'm not dead, so stop crying out so mournfully. I moved my body here and there, luring the creatures.
To get them into an arrow shape, just like our initial formation. No, to be precise, to get them into a straight line. 'This spot looks good.'
It was basically a plain, but there were large rocks scattered here and there. I moved between two relatively close rocks and raised Exa over my shoulder.
Swoosh.
As if furious at being toyed with, the Harpies approached with their talons fully extended. 'I'll pierce as many as I can.' I injected the maximum amount of Ether into Exa and threw it with all my might.
Pababababababak!
The first Harpy, then the second, and the third. Exa, thrown with menacing force, pierced through their torsos and continued on endlessly. Ten of them on the way out.
Five on the way back. Was killing fifteen with a single throw a good deal? 'No. Not enough.'
This kind of straight-line attack is excellent for 'killing' opponents, but for me right now, just inflicting a minor injury is enough. That's because the toxicity of the Black Ether in the blade can inflict a fatal wound with just the smallest scratch. I caught the returning Exa and got out using Poison Step.
The creatures couldn't even chase me; they had to look left and right just to figure out where I had moved.
'Like this, increase the range...!' The Harpies swarmed in again, and this time, I spun Exa like a discus and threw it.
Shyaak!
Exa returned, tracing a large circle. Just as I expected, dozens of Harpies within its radius plummeted to the ground without a fight. Even the ones that only received a tiny scratch on their wings took less than three seconds for their bodies to stiffen and die.
More than fifty. With two attacks, I had annihilated a third of the Harpies. Only then did a shadow of fear fall over the Harpies' faces.
"N... No way."
Watching me flick the blood off my blade, the Hunters' jaws dropped as if they were unhinged.