Chapter 17 A God among Mortals

Sung Jin Woo.... Inside the Instant Dungeon....

"Huuf...huff"

Jin Woo breathed heavily as he sat on the damp floor of the swamp dungeon. It had been a hard-fought battle, but he had emerged victorious over the dungeon's boss, Blue Venom-Fang Kasaka.

It was equal to a C-rank boss monster of a normal dungeon.

"Haa..haa... my clothes are a mess," He said while taking heavy breaths.

"And Mr. Kim's sword is also destroyed..." He looked at the regard broken sword he was holding.

"Ugh! My body hurts everywhere.."

a system notification dinged in his eyes.

"Hehe, I got something even better than that sword..."

He said as he took out a new dagger from his inventory, which he got after killing the Boss Monster.

|Kasaka's Venom Fang|

 He looked at his stats to check his growth,

"Level 18"

"Title: Wolf Slayer"

Jin Woo grinned, feeling a surge of satisfaction. This was proof that his hard work was paying off, and he was growing stronger.

The system signaled the dungeon's closure. Jin Woo stood on tired but steady feet, gazing around one last time. He had come far since starting this path, and would only continue to get stronger.

As Jin Woo exited the swamp dungeon, his surroundings abruptly changed. 

The whole dungeon had changed back to the original Hap Jeong Station.

Before he could ponder this development, a soldier dressed in fatigues spotted him.

"What are you doing here?" He looked at Jin Woo's sword and tattered cloths and asked, "Ah! Are you a hunter?" To which Jin Woo nodded.

He saluted Jin Woo and said, "There is no time, let me escort you!"

 The soldier explained a powerful boss monster had emerged downtown. Other hunters were battling it but to no avail so far.

Jin Woo nodded and followed the soldier.

While they were walking, the Walkie-Talkie hanging on the Soldier's back started making a sound.

He quickly answered the call and started talking to his senior.

That's when Jin Woo's enhanced hearing picked up a message coming through the soldier's walkie-talkie: "There's been a gate break reported inside Seol City Centre Mall as well. Requests back up immediately."

Jin Woo froze in place. The Seol City Mall - that was where his sister had said she was heading after school. If a gate had opened there, she would be in the thick of danger.

He quickly turned in the direction of the Mall and dashed there with his full speed,

"Wa..where are you going!?" The soldier asked in panic, but Jin Woo had already left.

He didn't care about the hunters here, his sister's safety is his top priority...

'...Please.. Jin-ah, please be safe..'

♣♣♣♣

Inside the Mall...

Haa.. an abnormal Gate breach, huh? 

Mostly, after a Gate appears, it would give the hunters a time of 6-7 days, if they are unable to kill the Boss inside within those days, The Gate Break occurs.

But there are some anomalies, like the one which had appeared 4-5 years ago inside the Disney World Theme Park.... Well, Let's see...

"Hey Song Yi, don't worry! Just make sure to capture everything on your phone!"

Azaroth said without looking back, Although he had told all of them to record, they were still school girls, what if they just collapsed after some gruesome scenes?

He only trusted his little pet in this matter as he knew that she would do whatever he commanded to a T and that's why he yelled that specially to her.

Azaroth looked at the spider monsters and there seemed to be some low-level Hunters fighting them.

He looked at the monsters closely and some information flowed in his mind.

It was due to his- Monster & Dungeon knowledge (Mastery)

[Arachnid Buryura: D-rank monsters.

Gungeon: Insects Dungeon.

Serves: Giant Arachnid Buryura (Rank C-B)

{Children of the Monarch of Plagues}

Weakness: Fire, lightning.

Note: Smells like chicken kawab when roasted! 

Note 2: But tastes like shit! ]

(A/N: Remember that many D-rank Hunters are needed just to defeat a single D-rank monster.)

A few off-duty E-rank hunters who were in the Mall nearby were the first to respond.

They quickly sounded the alarm and began evacuating civilians from the area. But more spiders kept pouring out by the minute.

Some D-rank hunters also arrived, having been alerted to the gate's opening. They engaged the spiders, but the arachnids fought with ferocious speed and strength. Their venomous bites and claws tore through any exposed flesh.

"Waa.. What the fuck is happening? The time between the dungeon portal creation and dungeon break is a week" A D-rank tank said as he blocked the attack from his shield.

"I dunno! Maybe an anomaly? Hey! behind you!" Another shouted.

"B..Behin—" The first Tank looked behind, but the Monster chomped his head.

"Haa!" A young E-rank hunter, armed with a sword, faced off against a particularly massive spider monster.

*crrreee!* But the creature retaliated with a venomous bite. Her screams echoed through the chaos as the venom coursed through her veins, paralyzing her before the spider finished the grisly job.

"Agh—"

A D-rank hunter tried to lead a family to safety. But a spider lunged and bore its fangs into the father's neck before any could react. His agonized screams were cut abruptly short.

The smells of blood and death in the air seemed to incite the spiders further. They attacked with greater fury, swarming any victims unable to escape their reach. Limbs and torsos were torn apart as civilians fell prey one by one.

*Shatter!!* Just, as all hope seemed lost, a tall warrior girl with short shoulder-length hair came inside the mall, with a long-haired man in a mage outfit through the window of the 2nd floor,

"Hi, I'm Kim Chairin, a C-rank hunter and this is Hoek Dong!! Don't worry, We have got this!!" She spoke enthusiastically, lifting the morals of her fellow hunters, Azaroth curiously looked at her as the man with her quickly dashed in another direction.

She gripped her steel sword tightly as the gigantic spider stared her down with its many eyes.

"You lowly E-rank monsters!"

'Oh! Right! these monsters are usually E-rank ones, with their Boss being a D or C rank, what is happening?' 

Azaroth furrowed his brows at the info his knowledge mastery provided as it said they were ranked each with their boss being a C or B-ranked monster.

'Meh' He shrugged his shoulders, he was not in danger anyways, and looked at the hottie charging toward the D-rank monster while thinking it was E rank.

"Take this!" Her blade sliced through the first leg with a wet crunch. 

*splash* Black ichor spurted from the stump as the spider screeched in pain and anger.

Thinking that it should have died as a mere E-rank Kim Chairin lowered her guard, but the spider lunged with startling speed, sinking its dripping fangs deep into Chairin's shoulder.

"Ugh!!"

 Her agonized scream pierced the floor as the venom entered her bloodstream, numbing her body within moments.

'Pfft...' Azaroth barely controlled himself from laughing, looking at her.

"U..wa..a... h..el..pplea..se.." She collapsed to the blood-covered ground, watching helplessly as the vengeful arachnid closed in for the kill. Its hoarse chittering was the last thing she heard before unconsciousness took her.

Near the elevator, Heok Dong called upon his gift of fire magic.

"You shall perish under the might of Fire!!"

Tendrils of flame danced along his outstretched hands as he faced a small army of spiders massing together. "Burn!" he shouted, hurling a great fireball into their midst.

*Boom*

*creek!!* For an instant, it seemed his attack had succeeded, as the spiders were engulfed in an inferno. But then their high-pitched squeals changed to a sinister chanting harmony.

*snicker-snicker-snicker*

"Waa..what!!?"

They emerged from the flames unscathed, spreading a thick web that entangled the stunned Marius in an instant.

"Ugh! heok..!" Fangs and pincers made short work of him amid his muffled screams,

Azaroth looked at his surroundings, Limbs were severed, bodies crushed, and screams of agony filled the air. The once vibrant mall now resembled a nightmarish battlefield, 

'Let me save the day as the kind hero I am~' He wore his gloves with excitement on his face.

He looked at the four monsters coming towards the restaurant and *snap* snapped in their direction as a piercing flame pierced each one's eye in succession and then burned them all from the inside.

He looked behind and flashed a smile towards the baffled girls of his class.

Then took a deep breath and leaped gracefully into the air, his direction? In the middle of the swarm on the 2nd floor.

In mid-jump, he snapped his fingers.

*Snap!*

A massive plume of fire roared to life from his outstretched hand, branching out like veins.

*BboOOomm!!*

The Inferno descended upon the spiders below with hellish fury.

The arachnids had no defense against the sudden conflagration. Their chitinous exoskeletons and hairy bodies burnt within seconds. Pained shrieks filled the air as the swarm was engulfed in all-consuming flames.

Azaroth landed amidst the spider carnage, hardly a hair out of place.

He clenched his fist, "Well, that was.... fun"

All that remained under him was a large scorched patch of blackened blood and the acrid smell of burned flesh.

He looked at the surroundings and noticed many E & D rank hunters were defending themselves from the spiders,

He closed his eyes briefly, visualizing the battlefield like a chessboard.

"Fuu~" With his profound mastery of alchemy akin to Roy Mustang, complex calculations ran through his mind at lightning speed.

He accounted for spider positions, hunter locations, and wind patterns - all variables merging into a masterful equation.

"Heh, Jack-pot..." He muttered. Eyes flashing open and began snapping his fingers rapidly one after another.

*snap-Boom* *Snap-crrk* *Snap**********

 Plumes of precisely aimed fire danced from his fingertips, weaving elegantly through the air.

Each flare found its target with pinpoint accuracy, engulfing spiders both near and far. The arachnids screeched as their bodies vaporized instantly into ash, leaving no remains behind.

Yet not one flicker of flame touched the hunters mingled within.

 The hunters gaped in stunned awe and relief, they gazed at the untouched ground around them, then to Azaroth standing tall amidst the burning wreckage of spiders.

"Well, friends," Azaroth turned to address the grateful rescuers with a roguish grin. "Shall we finish things up?" He pointed at the Gate near the escalator.

"As you can see, these are not ordinary E-rank monsters," He pointed at the dead remains of the two C-rankers.

They all looked at him in understanding and nodded.

"We need to go inside and kill the Boss monster or this gate will not close." He said.

Everyone looked at each other, they were all panting heavily and in tattered conditions.

"Y..You can't be suggesting that.. that we go in there right?"

A D-rank hunter asked to confirm.

Azaroth gave him a smirk.

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