Chapter 45: The Heavenly Demon (1)
As the era of hunters began, people were able to use skills they had only seen in fantasy or martial arts movies.
Various professions utilizing different abilities emerged, but the roles for each profession were implicitly defined.
Primarily, there were DPS (Damage Dealers), Tanks, and Healers.
Tanking was handled by heavily armored warriors at the front, healing by specialized priests, but DPS varied depending on the party composition.
There were melee DPS like swordsmen, ranged DPS like archers, and so on.
Some dealt sustained damage over time, while others unleashed massive damage in a single burst.
While almost anyone could become a DPS except for a few specialized professions, if asked to name the strongest DPS, everyone would say the same thing.
Mage.
In the era of hunters, there is a saying: "A mage is more valuable than a doctor, a judge, or a prosecutor."
It’s the almost unique profession capable of using both AoE (Area of Effect) burst and sustained damage.
Didn’t the Guardian Angel use a wide-area spell that covered the entire Geumgang mountain range during the Elder Lich subjugation?
Although they are physically weak and need time to chant spells, these drawbacks can be mitigated with the help of the party.
There’s almost no party without a mage, and they are treated like nobility, just like healers.
They are given higher regard than swordsmen, by a margin of one or two levels.
Ordinary hunter parties and expeditions usually structure their strategies around making the best use of the mage’s damage output.
In fact, parties are often formed for that very purpose.
It’s the most reasonable method, based on experience and accumulated data.
There have been times when a battle that would have taken warriors hours of fighting and sweating was cleared in an instant with a single spell from a mage.
But sometimes, such a strategy can backfire.
There are monsters with high magic resistance.
Golems made from rare metals or dragons of all kinds, for example.
The monster that appeared in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, was the worst of them all.
A monster called the bane of mages.
◆Monster
Doom Eye
(Boss)
(LV 7)
A huge, floating sphere with a massive eye in the center and a mouth full of sharp teeth underneath.
Its upper body is lined with tendrils, each tipped with a small eye, making for a grotesque appearance.
It might look ridiculous, but it’s incredibly powerful.
The area illuminated by Doom Eye’s large central eye becomes an anti-magic zone where no magic can be used.
But the anti-magic field wasn’t the only issue.
Doom Eye emits various rays from its eyes, causing annoying status effects like confusion, sleep, and slow, as well as fatal attacks like disintegration, petrification, and wound aggravation.
It’s a floating type that hovers around, with intelligence far beyond that of a typical human, and it even has exceptional regenerative abilities.
It neutralizes not only magic but also most magical active skills, so fighting it with normal monster-slaying methods is a guaranteed loss.
In fact, hunter parties that encountered Doom Eye without recognizing it in time were either wiped out or suffered near-total losses and had to flee.
Luckily, this time there were no major casualties.
The leader of the first party to explore the newly-formed field dungeon in Cheorwon was knowledgeable about monsters.
Recognizing from the terrain and other signs that a Doom Eye was present, he fled without looking back.
Satisfied with not being greedy, he reported the dungeon to the government and was content with the reward money.
As usual, the government informed the Hunter Association, which then put the dungeon up for auction.
Though there were many top hunter guilds in Korea, they were reluctant when they heard a Doom Eye was involved.
Its difficulty wasn’t worth the reward.
Thanks to that, Hyun Suho’s Ex Machina Guild was able to win the bid at a relatively low price.
[Output at 50% charged.]
"Fire."
BZZZZT!!
Hyun Suho, who finally discovered the Doom Eye while progressing through the field dungeon, planned to end it in one go as usual with plasma.
But to his surprise, the Doom Eye simply glared with its large eye, deflecting the plasma.
The plasma beam, which should have shot straight at the Doom Eye, instead passed through and pierced an innocent tree.
"Is that an anti-magic field? I thought it only worked on magic?"
[It refracted the beam by adjusting the refraction index of the atmosphere. Quite an interesting trick.]
"I don’t think this is the time to be impressed."
The Doom Eye, seemingly furious from the attack, glared at Hyun Suho.
It then fired a gray laser from its eye.
ZZZZZ!!
Startled, Hyun Suho quickly hid behind a large tree, only to see the tree turn to stone in an instant.
It was the Doom Eye’s signature petrification magic.
Without special protective magic or resistance, it was practically a one-hit-kill attack.
"That was close."
Hyun Suho quickly switched strategies, changing his Genocide weapon to a rifle mode and counterattacking.
DUDUDUDU!!!
Doom Eye’s gaze couldn’t defend against physical attacks.
So, the classic method of hunting Doom Eye was with swords and bows.
Normally, an upgraded attack from the Genocide would be enough to take down any ordinary Doom Eye, but this was a Level 7 boss monster.
The tendrils sprouting from its head moved rapidly, swatting away or catching all the incoming bullets.
“Those weren’t just decorations? I thought they were like hair.”
He had underestimated it because of its floating appearance, but it seemed its physical abilities were above that of most monsters.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to catch the bullets from Genocide, which had been enhanced with skills, let alone ordinary bullets.
[Kraaaah!!]
Enraged by the continuous attacks, Doom Eye began firing multi-colored beams incessantly.
When Hyun Suho kept hiding behind trees and rocks, Doom Eye finally flew towards him at high speed.
It intended to get close and then fire a wide beam, making it impossible for him to dodge.
“Let’s retreat.”
[Switching to flight mode.]
Doom Eye’s forest was filled with strange trees and vast swamps scattered throughout.
Flying too high above the trees could result in being shot down, so Hyun Suho flew low, almost skimming the ground.
ZZZZT! ZZZZT!
Hyun Suho flew quickly at low altitude, but Doom Eye was just as fast.
And its body was so tough that it bulldozed through any trees blocking its path.
CRACK! CRUNCH!
It was definitely no ordinary Level 7 boss monster.
Even without the anti-magic field, Doom Eye was powerful.
Its attacks were mostly instant kills, so even a high-level hunter could die in an instant if they weren’t careful.
“No wonder we got it for such a low bid.”
Saving money was great, but if they couldn’t take down that Doom Eye boss, it would all be for nothing.
The problem was that the distance between them was gradually closing as time went on.
At this rate, it seemed inevitable that he would be caught before they could exit the field dungeon.
Realizing this, Hyun Suho landed in a narrow canyon and prepared for battle.
“Come on!”
[Keeeeek!]
Doom Eye seemed to understand his words and followed him into the canyon, firing its beam attack.
ZZZZT! ZZZZT!
With the canyon walls closing in on all sides, there was nowhere to escape from the incoming beam attacks.
Just as it seemed like he would be turned into a stone statue, Hyun Suho used his teleportation ability to move to the top of the canyon.
FLASH!
Doom Eye was momentarily confused by Hyun Suho’s sudden disappearance.
It quickly turned its head to locate him, but it was already too late.
Everything was unfolding exactly as Hyun Suho had planned.
“Bipo! Now!”
As soon as Hyun Suho shouted, Bipo, who had been hiding around Doom Eye, revealed itself.
"Beep-boop! Bop!"
Click! Click!
Missile turrets were installed in the canyon.
Not just one or two, but six at once.
He had planned this far ahead in case the plasma attack didn’t work.
It had already been proven in several battles that the plasma beam wasn’t invincible.
As expected, Doom Eye neutralized the plasma attack with its strange abilities.
But this time was different.
Doom Eye had no way to avoid the sudden missile attack from six different directions.
It instinctively swung its tendrils to block them, but it couldn’t prevent the explosions.
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion erupted, causing the canyon to collapse.
Thick dust spread in all directions, reminiscent of a nuclear mushroom cloud.
Each missile had been upgraded and reinforced with magitech, but that alone wasn’t enough to take down Doom Eye.
[Keeeeek!!]
Amazingly, Doom Eye had only singed a few of its tendrils.
Doom Eye’s abilities weren’t limited to just attacks. Sensing the danger, it generated a defensive barrier to block the damage.
Though it had been slightly scorched due to a delayed deployment, it was nothing more than a scratch.
[Kreeeeek!!]
Doom Eye was trembling with fury.
To Doom Eye, humans were nothing more than inferior creatures.
Their strength and magic were pitifully weak, and they even lacked intelligence.
The fact that it had been pushed to this extent by such humans wounded its pride.
Was that pride its downfall?
Doom Eye assumed that Hyun Suho would obviously run far away again.
So when Hyun Suho emerged from the dust cloud, Doom Eye was utterly shocked.
[Kaek!]
It realized it was too late to fire the beam.
Doom Eye instinctively swung its tendrils to strike down Hyun Suho.
These tendrils, though flexible, were powerful enough to easily block incoming bullets.
Even with his battle suit reinforced with monster materials, a direct hit would likely result in serious damage.
Doom Eye intended to block Hyun Suho’s sword with a few tendrils and use the rest to crush him.
But even a highly intelligent monster like Doom Eye couldn’t have known.
The sword Hyun Suho was wielding wasn’t just any ordinary longsword; it was a Sonic Blade, evolved with Over Technology.
Swoosh!
The Sonic Blade not only severed the incoming tendrils one by one but also slashed through Doom Eye’s enormous mouth.
[Ka…!!]
Though it suffered a fatal wound, Doom Eye still wasn’t dead.
Even in that moment, Doom Eye showed impressive combat abilities, flipping its body to fire a beam in retaliation.
However, by then, Hyun Suho had already moved behind it and precisely sliced through the exact spot where its brain was located.
Slash!
No matter how powerful Doom Eye was, it couldn’t survive after its brain was severed.
In the end, Doom Eye’s massive eye rolled back as it collapsed to the ground.
Boom!
When its gigantic body hit the ground, it made a tremendous impact.
“Phew!”
Only after confirming Doom Eye’s death did Hyun Suho let out a long sigh of relief.
It had been a tough opponent.
And there was something important to consider.
“Killing it without damaging the eye is no easy task. The eye makes up over 80% of its body.”
[But thanks to that, didn’t you obtain Doom Eye’s eye?]
Hyun Suho’s goal today wasn’t just hunting.
He planned to use the Eye of Doom eye to enhance himself through body modification skills.
“But can this gigantic eye really be adapted to fit me?”
The eye was larger than a human head. The idea of transplanting it seemed unbelievable.
[As I mentioned, Hunter skills should not be approached purely from a physical perspective. It’s entirely possible, so you don’t need to worry.]
“Got it. With this, I wonder if I’ll be able to use an anti-magic field too.”
Hyun Suho skillfully butchered Doom Eye, separating the eye and the mana stone.
“Come to think of it, is this the first time I’ve hunted a Level 7 boss monster?”
Of course, he had used traps, but he had won a fair fight one-on-one.
It was a boss monster that typically required a team of four to five hunters of the same level to take down.
“I really have gotten stronger.”
Just as he was about to use his body modification skill... his device suddenly rang with a call from Branch Manager Kwon Cheol-jung.
“Yes, sir! Branch Manager, what brings you to call so suddenly?”
-Hey! Long time no talk, Light Bringer. Are you busy these days?
“Of course, I’m busy, but... is there something you need?”
-A dimensional gate has been discovered near Wonsan City. I’m thinking of giving the hunters in the city priority. Are you interested?
“A dimensional gate?”
Not just any dungeon, but a dimensional gate.
The rewards and experience points are much greater than those from a normal dungeon.
Naturally, he was interested.
But Hyun Suho didn’t miss a suspicious detail.
“No matter how much you’re offering priority to the city hunters, wouldn’t there still be a bidding process? Why are you offering this directly to me?”
Of course, Wonsan owed a great debt to Hyun Suho.
But that alone wasn’t enough to justify giving him the privilege of a dimensional gate priority.
No favor comes without a price.
As Hyun Suho pressed for details, Kwon Cheol-jung revealed the truth.
-It’s not your average quest, you see. In this city, I think only you are capable of clearing it.
“Is the difficulty that high?”
-The difficulty is indeed high. But that’s not all.
“What else is the issue?”
-Well, it’s...
The quest Kwon Cheol-jung explained was one of the most challenging types on Earth.
-It’s a solo quest, meaning only you can take it on. It’s not a typical summoning-type dimensional gate, but a possession-type dimensional dungeon.
