ITDG 16

Chapter 16

Kalir lost one of his own kind while hunting humans and was left with wounds scattered across his body.

But he didn’t care.

Now, there was only one thing left to do.

To savor his victory while chewing and swallowing the flesh of the humans he had hunted.

Was that all?

If he consumed the soul stone of his fallen comrade as well, he would become an even more powerful being.

Afterward, he planned to greedily absorb the soul stones of all the other demons here, amass his power, and finally escape this unknown place.

First, though, he intended to celebrate successfully completing his hunt…

Thwack!

A sharp arrow shot straight into one of his eyes.

“Kraaaah!”

Kalir roared in pain and rage.

He had assumed all humans were dead, yet apparently, some had survived.

“So, there were more of you rat bastards!”

He hurled the chunk of meat he had been holding roughly aside and yanked the arrow from his eye.

Ignoring the gushing red blood, he instinctively turned his head to find the source of the arrow.

Not far away, he saw a human wielding a bow and another with blonde hair.

Kalir exhaled harshly, planted his four legs, and charged at them.

In that moment, another arrow shot toward him.

He didn’t even think of dodging.

With a swift swing of his tails, capable of cutting through steel, he deflected the arrow in a single motion.

“I’ll chew you up alive!”

Kalir bared his sharp teeth and growled.

His gaze was fixed on the foolish blonde human charging straight at him.

The distance between them closed in an instant.

He raised his four tails, each longer than his own body, intending to shred the human into pieces in a single strike.

But then—

“Now!”

The blonde cried out.

Kalir immediately realized his mistake.

Why had he assumed there were only two?

In an instant, countless humans sprang from the alleys on either side, wielding weapons.

Individually, they were insignificant, but humans in numbers could never be ignored.

Swish!

Kalir twisted three of his four tails, previously aimed at the blonde, to strike the humans swarming from the sides.

Thuck! Smack! Thud!

“Gyaaargh…!”
“Ugh! My aaaaaarm!”

Each swing of his tails sent screams echoing, scattering blood through the air.

Kalir swung his tails faster and harder to prevent the humans from counterattacking.

Humans, paralyzed by fear, couldn’t get close.

Looking down on them, Kalir curled his lips into a predatory smile.

Weak humans.

Now began the time for him to toy with his prey.

Slash!

“Kraaaah!”

A scream of pain erupted from Kalir, who had been certain of victory.

The tail aimed at the blonde suddenly throbbed with searing pain.

Flesh was cut, and the tail dangled limply.

At the same time, an arrow shot from behind the blonde.

Kalir reflexively tried to raise his wounded tail to block it, but—

Screech!

At that moment, the blonde swung a sharp sword.

The tail was completely severed, spinning through the air before falling to the ground.

“Ugh…!”

Kalir gritted his teeth, swatting away the incoming arrow with his hands, shattering it.

“Stop the tail! Disable the tail!”
“Make it unable to move!”
“Ugh!”

In that instant, as his relentlessly swinging tail faltered, the humans all charged at once.

They ruthlessly struck down at the tail with the weapons in their hands.

Thuck! Thuck! Screech!

“Graaah! These worm-like things dare—!”

Kalir roared in fury.

But two of his tails were already deeply wounded and could barely move.

He gritted his teeth.

If he couldn’t use his tail, he would use his hands.

He would grab them one by one and crush their heads.

Then—

Thud. Thud. Thoom.

Heavy footsteps echoed.

Kalir lifted his head toward the source of the sound.

On a rooftop stood a human, enormous in size, wielding a massive hammer.

Unlike the others, this one’s size alone was intimidating. He swung the hammer back and leapt from the roof.

“Hyaah!”

Kalir instinctively sensed danger.

He swung his last remaining tail with all his strength.

The humans clinging to it flew off.

The tail extended toward the side of the towering figure descending.

“Die!”

The tail was faster than the hammer.

In an instant, it would pierce the giant’s body.

But Kalir’s expression hardened.

Something tugged sharply on his tail.

The tail veered off its intended path.

Only then did Kalir notice thin threads wrapped around it.

They glimmered, reflecting the glow of a magic stone, binding the tail tightly.

“These primitive humans…!”

But his roar didn’t end.

Crack!

The massive hammer struck Kalir’s skull directly.

Without agility, Kalir’s swift tails would have been impossible to manage.

Dermot had invested all his stat points into agility.

His agility, once 7, rose sharply to 19.

He could feel his body moving much lighter.

‘I wanted to avoid using skills as much as possible… but I have no choice.’

Gorgo had been in danger, so Dermot reluctantly used the sturdy web skill.

Although he hadn’t planned to, considering he gained two skills from the demons in front of him, it wasn’t the worst outcome.

Crack! Thwack! Crack-!

Dull thuds echoed repeatedly.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Dermot saw Gorgo venting his fury on Kalir’s corpse.

Crack! Thwack!

Dermot grabbed Gorgo’s hammer-wielding hand.

“Damnable demon…”

His ragged breathing betrayed his rage.

Suddenly, a desperate shout rang out.

“Sir Gorgo! Sir Geeks is still alive!”
“What?!”

Gorgo sprinted to his fellow knight.

Knight Geeks’s intestines had spilled out.

He was breathing faintly, but it didn’t look like he’d last long.

Gorgo knelt beside him.

“Go…r…”
“Don’t speak, Geeks!”

Gorgo reached for Dermot.

“Dermot! Give me a potion!”

Though costly, the potion was strong and stored safely in Dermot’s inventory for emergencies.

Dermot quietly shook his head.

“What are you doing! I said give me the potion!”
“You know, sir, even a top-tier potion won’t help with injuries like this.”
“Still… just in case!”

Gorgo’s gaze fell.

Geeks’ bloodied hand rested atop Gorgo’s.

Tap. Tap.

Geeks tapped Gorgo’s hand with his fingers.

“Geeks…”

Gorgo bowed deeply.

He understood Geeks’ intent through his eyes.

The young knight’s gaze had shifted to the wounded soldiers injured during the battle with Kalir.

“It was an honor to fight alongside you all.”

No reply came.

Gorgo closed Geeks’ eyes and rose.

“Sorry for yelling, Dermot.”
“It’s fine.”

Geeks had been a talented knight before even reaching adulthood.

Dermot had tried countless methods to save him, but never succeeded.

Sadly, he had been fated to die here.

“Can you use the potions to heal the wounded soldiers?”

Dermot handed over potions from his inventory.

Gorgo used them on the most seriously injured soldiers first.

While everyone tended to the wounded, Dermot began extracting soul stones from Kalir’s corpse.

Without being told, Tom also retrieved soul stones from the demon corpses among the soldiers’ bodies.

[Soul absorbed.]
[Skill acquired: Blade Frenzy.]
[Blade Frenzy:
Increases weapon swing speed. Physical attacks have a high chance to critically strike.
Duration: 15 seconds
Cooldown: 1 hour]
[Stat points gained: 6]

Blade Frenzy.

A skill fitting Kalir, who swung his deadly tail without mercy.

Though its duration was short, the critical chance boost was highly useful.

He immediately absorbed the next soul stone.

[Skill acquired: Ferocious Charge.]
[Ferocious Charge:
Use explosive lower body power to charge forward. Collided enemies are briefly stunned.
Duration: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 10 minutes]
[Stat points gained: 6]

A skill obtained from Zugar, the demon that charged enemies with massive horns.

Two excellent skills and considerable stat points—Dermot thought they might clear the dungeon easier than expected.

“Once ready, let’s move again.”

All injured members of the hunting party had been healed with potions.

Fortunately, there were no deaths.

Gorgo held a bottle with just over half its red liquid remaining.

Dermot took the remaining potions back into his inventory for later use.

“By the way, I thought Kalir was a 1-star demon incapable of speech. Why could he talk?”

Gorgo asked Dermot, who seemed to know the answer.

Memoth’s party, who had fought Tarantula in Silver Look, joined the conversation.

“Same situation as with Tarantula.”
“Could it be related to the Dark Mage, Commander?”

Dermot nodded.

It was due to the Dark Mage.

He forcibly fed soul stones to 1-star demons to strengthen them and unleashed them to prevent intruders in the dungeon—just like Kalir and Zugar.

‘Tarantula had escaped during that process.’

According to the developer, consuming the soul stone made Tarantula a kind of warning, a hint about the Dark Mage.

“It’s definitely the Dark Mage’s doing. They’re the type to raise the dead—what can’t they do?”

Dermot moved toward the alley.

“That’s not important now. Others might be in danger from demons, so we need to find and help them quickly.”
“Understood.”

Gorgo followed Dermot, hammer in hand, as the hunting party reorganized.

By now, the knights and the party leader were likely in battle with demons.

They needed to join them as fast as possible.

“Let’s pick up the pace.”

Dermot quickened his steps.

Commander Grashut, leading the hunting party, had expected this mission to take only a day.

But now, a week had passed, and they still hadn’t returned.

Who could have predicted they’d get trapped in a maze-like cave?

After days of travel, they finally emerged into a massive underground city.

Waiting for them were demons.

With only a few pieces of jerky to eat over the week, and having faced demons with little strength left, they had already lost one knight and five soldiers in the first battle.

They barely retreated to a ruined building, only to be ambushed again, splitting the party in two.

Though worried about Geeks’ group, Grashut could only hope for their safety.

He couldn’t reach them—his feet were trapped by demons.

Screech!

Grashut tilted his sword and deflected a demon’s massive blade.

Beyond it, he saw his fallen comrades—mostly incapacitated—and the accompanying priest was also in poor condition.

‘Things aren’t looking good.’

If this continued, they’d be wiped out.

Two demons had been killed, but one remained.

The warrior-type demon wielding a massive blade grew stronger the more they fought.

“Damn it…”

Grashut struggled to block the demon’s attacks while retreating.