Survival Story of a Sword King - Chapter 28

Valtara Warrior (3)

The Dungeon ended at a huge underground cave covered in pure white spider webs.

Each web was occupied by a giant spider that glared at the intruders with their crimson red eyes.

[Race: Tarantul Knight. Lv. 39]

At the center of the swarm was a queen spider about 10 meters in size.

[Race: Tarantul Queen. Lv. 46]

The army and its Queen served as the guardians of the Tackle Dungeon.

A creepy shriek rang across the cave.

Aaaaaaaah!

The Tarantul Queen had ordered her minions to attack.

The Tarantul Knights swiftly mobilized, rushing at them fearlessly.

Kakakakakak!

Brad immediately shouted.

“Artis! Take care of the spider webs first!”

“Okay! Ice Storm!”

The best way to deal with a spider’s web was to burn it, but if he set fire to such a huge amount, they would suffocate and die.

In Dungeons, freezing the spider webs was a common way to get rid of them.

A blizzard soon began to freeze the webs.

Prang! Prang!

It allowed them to move swiftly without being tied up or being stuck in the webs.

Brad and Martin stepped forward.

“Damn bug bastards! I’ll turn you all into spider skewers!”

“I’ll break your heads!”

Brad’s spear began to pierce through the spiders’ heads as Martin’s Warhammer smashed the spiders’ bodies.

The Priests also started chanting spells behind the short-range fighters.

Elsa’s spell strengthened the warriors’ bodies and weapons.

“Ramniana’s tears dwell in the body, and Yesen’s protection rests in the sword!”

Poel also set up a light barrier to block the monsters from coming into their blind spots, then cast a spell that constricted their movements.

“Light of Althea, become a wall! The knot of Sorondi, grab my enemy’s ankles!”

Though they were both Priests, they both had their own specializations. Elsa excelled in recovery and healing, while Poel’s expertise was defending and flow control.

They utilized their abilities as best as they could.

Artis also cast additional spells as soon as the Ice Storm was over.

“Lightning Bolt! Terra Arrow! Wind Blade!”

With enhanced body and armament, the warriors could fully block the spiders.

With their front protected and their sides blocked off by the barrier, the Mage and Priests could safely concentrate on attacking from a distance.

Despite their best efforts, however, they were gradually being pushed back.

The Tarantul Knights were daunting monsters for Hunters whose levels were somewhere between 30 and 40.

If it were any other day, they would’ve already retreated long before reaching the end of the Dungeon.

But that day, they were aiming for Dungeon Closure!

They had the legendary Valtara warrior, Felard Bean!

“I’ll take care of this!”

A huge Swordsman shot forward from behind the party.

He immediately jumped in front of Brad’s team and caught the spiders behind them.

Then he swung the black greatsword in a row.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A whirlwind of steel blew through the spiders with a heavy burst.

The blade storm wrecked everything it came into contact with.

Keratinous fragments, frozen spider webs, and insect limbs were scattered all over the place.

Brad burst in admiration.

“That’s awesome!”

He burst forth at the right time, causing their morale to increase.

The flow of battle had been turned over!

Taaaaaats!

The others also began to rush wildly.

They smashed the baby spiders around them as they aimed for the Tarantul Queen.

Kakakakakakak!

The thrilled monster stood up.

Even her young spawns had been killed.

At the rate the battle was going, she would soon be in danger as well.

The Tarantul Queen’s eight compound eyes rolled and began to flash.

Plaaaash!

It shot out a destructive red beam aimed at the Ryu Han-bin, who was leading the charge.

Easily avoiding the flash, he stuck his tongue out.

‘Does it really shoot beams from its eyes?’

He learned about it from the Guidelines’ explanation, but it was still strange to watch.

‘Since it’s a spider, it should shoot out spider silk or spit venom. Why shoot a beam?’

It did seem to have a poisonous needle as well.

The Tarantul Queen then opened its mouth and spewed out dark blue fluids like a fire hose.

Kaaaaah!

He didn’t avoid it this time.

He could have avoided it if he wanted to, but there was a high possibility that the venom would target Elza or Poel.

Instead, he simply slapped it.

Pong!

Swinging the flat surface of the sword, Ryu Han-bin deflected the fluids away.

The blow was so intense its shockwave caused even the little droplets to fly away from them.

The spiders that survived were soon hit by the Queen’s spit, causing them to melt slowly.

Kaaaak!

Kaaarg!

As the remaining baby spiders died off, Ryu Han-bin swiftly moved under the Queen and hit its chin.

The Queen Spider raised its forelimbs and attacked him as well.

Avoiding the Queen’s attack, Ryu Han-bin executed a series of deadly swings.

The attack caused two of the monster’s front appendages to be sliced off and crushed.

Quaaack!

Brad and Martin followed after Han-bin, utilizing the opening he created.

Brad stabbed his spear into the Tarantul Queen’s sides as Martin smote down his hammer against the monster.

With their bodies strengthened by Elza’s technique, their attacks dealt a lot more damage!

Quaack!

They had broken two more of its remaining legs.

They were nothing compared to Ryu Han-bin, but they were still veteran warriors.

Kh, Kaargh?

The bewildered Tarantul Queen’s compound eyes shook around in pain.

Without missing a chance, Artis cast his spell.

“Explosion!”

Flames erupted against its compound eyes.

The monster shook and rattled crazily after losing its sight.

With the struggling monster going haywire, Brad and Martin stepped back.

They had already done their part.

The only one who could end the Tarantul Queen was the deadliest warrior in their team.

“Wotcha!”

Ryu Han-bin jumped up.

Landing on the Tarantul Queen’s head, he aimed his sword down and pierced it deep into its skull.

The blade was burrowed so deep more than half of it was no longer visible.

Paaaak!

Still not satisfied, he twisted the handle and ran over the spider’s back.

His attack caused a huge gorge to form in the middle of the Queen’s huge body.

Taaats!

He almost caused its torso to split in two.

The wound was so deep that not even an insect-type monster with immense vitality could survive.

Eventually, the Tarantul Queen fell to the floor.

“I’m done.”

Brad’s team’s cheers resounded throughout the cave.

* * *

Ryu Han-bin walked with his sword in his hand.

He then slashed through the neck of the Tarantul Queen.

Smash!

With that last attack, the Queen had officially fallen.

At the same time, the Guidelines popped up a message.

[For defeating a Lv. 46 Tarantul Queen, you have obtained 238,110 EXP.]

‘So level 45 monsters still give me experience.’

He wasn’t particularly happy with that.

He already knew the next message that was going to come.

And just as he expected…

[Current EXP: 351,350/54,581,975,800]

The remaining experience requirement was 54.58 billion. That meant he needed to beat 200,000 more monsters.

‘Even spending a hundred days clearing Dungeons like this won’t be enough.’

Meanwhile, Brad’s team looked around the cave without hesitation.

On the frozen web where the queen spider was sitting, a large hammer hanged at the center.

It was the core of the Tackle Dungeon.

Poel muttered excitedly.

“Oh, it’s an Artifact!”

Elsa also seemed to be impressed.

“I’ve never seen an Artifact in the Dungeons. I’ve only seen them when other Hunters are carrying them.”

“Right, Elsa, is this your first dungeon closing?”

Martin’s eyes, in particular, were shining.

His main weapon was a Warhammer.

Since it was a hammer-shaped Artifact, it naturally drew his attention.

“What is that thing?”

Brad replied as he looked at the magic pattern engraved on the hammer.

“Maybe it’s a heatwave type… I can’t be sure until I appraise it.”

Of course, Ryu Han-bin already knew the true nature of the Artifact.

[Firestorm Hammer (Artifact)

You can activate Hurricane Flare, a level 35 magic spell if you wield this hammer.

Terms of use: Lv. 35. Range, 33 meters. Usage limitation: five times a day.]

However, he remained silent.

‘It would cause trouble if they were to learn that I know.’

Martin eagerly urged the party to leave.

“Let’s go back and get it appraised!”

Brad laughed and pointed with his finger up.

“Get a hold of yourself, Martin. Why do we have to go up there? We’ll move up on our own.”

“Oh, right.”

Now that the Artifact had been removed, the dungeon closing would begin.

Whenever a Dungeon disappeared, the monsters that belonged to it also returned to their original dimension.

Anyone that wasn’t originally part of the Dungeon was transferred outside along with their items. The shape of the landscape the Dungeon spawned in also reverted to normal.

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!

Indeed, a roaring sound began to ring and distorted like a haze.

The Tackle Dungeon, which lost its core, was being deported from the Latna Continent.

* * *

Brad’s Team and Ryu Han-bin’s group headed straight to the Magic Tools shop.

Their profits were huge due to the large number of Dungeon guardians that they hunted down.

The income they received just from the Devil Spirit Stones alone was around 2,200X per person.

They didn’t sell the Magical Tools and the Firestorm Hammer but instead shared them with Brad’s team.

It was so useful to them.

Of course, they didn’t give the items for free.

After measuring the magic tool shop’s value, they paid Ryu Han-bin and Artis the same amount.

Thanks to that, they earned an additional profit of 4,000X per person.

‘This is around 40 million won in Korea, right?’

In just a single day, he had closed a Dungeon and earned a huge sum of money.

‘It’s so easy to make money…’

Of course, considering that he had to be trapped in Hell for over 20 years to become as powerful as he was now, he couldn’t say the cost was cheap.

As he admired the sack of money, Brad asked him a question.

“Are you sure you don’t mind giving that Artifact to Martin?”

The Firestorm Hammer was a very useful weapon for warriors.

Even Brad, whose main weapon was a spear, also desired to have it.

Artis replied in Han-bin’s stead.

“Valtara warriors hate Magical Tools, you know.”

“But it’s…”

Brad looked into Ryu Han-bin’s eyes with disbelief.

Humans could never fully hide their greed.

However, after a while, Brad became astonished.

He wasn’t even interested in the Artifact!

He looked at such a valuable weapon as if it was garbage!

Of course, for Ryu Han-bin, it was indeed trash.

Because the usage condition was lv. 35.

‘If I can’t use it, it doesn’t matter if I covet it or not.’

With sincere admiration, Brad shook his head.

“Huh, the legend of the Valtara Warrior really is true.”

A new wave of greed arose.

Incredibly strong, incredibly reliable, and doesn’t desire Artifacts?

He was definitely the ideal companion to have in a team.

However, when he invited them to attack another dungeon, Ryu Han-bin replied bluntly.

“I don’t want to!”

Martin asked carefully, feeling intimidated.

“Why? Did we do something wrong?”

Honestly, nothing was wrong.

Brad’s team treated Ryu Han-bin and Artis politely enough and worked as their colleagues faithfully.

If the two were ordinary hunters, they would have accepted their proposal.

‘But we are not in a position to become close to anyone.’

The best thing about the Valtara Warrior was that he didn’t have to make utter excuses.

Ryu Han-bin exclaimed confidently with his chest wide open.

“I don’t want to because I don’t want to!”

“Well, if it’s like that…”

Embarrassed, Brad thought for a moment.

‘Shall we hang around longer? Oh, but it would be a big deal if he gets angry.’

The Valtara clan’s custom was that fists went before words, and swords went before fists.

If he scratched the Valtara warrior’s temper and got hit once, he didn’t have the confidence that he’d be able to survive.

He had enough strength to destroy measuring stones like they were cookies.

Brad gave up and said goodbye instead.

“Thank you for everything. May the six Goddesses bless you in the future.”