Chapter 62
Minotaur (1)
“Entire army, halt!”
Atlan raised his flag, signaling the vanguard to stop.
Before them sat a massive, muscular figure, roughly five meters tall—
a giant with the head of a bull, quietly seated cross-legged.
It was a boss monster.
Yoo Geon-hyeok smirked faintly.
‘Just as I expected.’
At best, it was probably a satellite-class being.
It looked far too shabby to be considered stellar-class.
He almost felt disappointed for having brought so many troops along.
“Prepare the barrier!”
“Prepare the barrier!!”
With a unified shout, the Holy Knights extended their arms.
Their bodies were enveloped in a golden aura,
and a hemispherical barrier spread out around the boss monster.
— Kwooooom…
Only then did the bull-headed giant stir, trying to rise and escape—
but it was useless.
It was the Divine Purging Barrier,
a sanctified field that burned unbelievers without mercy.
And monsters, beings untouched by divine blessing, were no exception.
If that creature tried to force its way out,
even a boss monster would be reduced to ashes instantly.
“Narrow the barrier.”
“Narrow the barrier!”
The knights clenched their fists while still extending their arms.
Shhhhhh—
The barrier’s radius began to shrink slowly,
compressing everything within.
Their plan was to crush and eliminate the monster outright.
THUD—!
The bull-headed giant charged and rammed its shoulder into the barrier,
but only its flesh burned—
the field itself did not so much as flicker.
Yoo Geon-hyeok grinned confidently and shouted,
“It’s finished! Pour everything you’ve got into it!!”
Attacks rained down on the confined monster—
fire, frost, lightning—
a barrage of every element for a long, relentless minute.
When the assault finally stopped,
smoke billowed thickly around the barrier.
Breaking the silence, one player muttered,
“Did we… get it?”
“Damn it, who jinxed it?!”
“Relax, I’m kidding! Haha!”
The tension broke, and laughter rippled through the group.
The battle had ended almost too easily—
no resistance, no struggle.
Everything had gone according to Yoo Geon-hyeok’s plan.
“Hmph, cowardly bastard.”
And to think some fool dared oppose his orders.
As he recalled Choi Sung-cheol,
who had argued against his approach,
Yoo Geon-hyeok spat on the ground.
He’d never liked the man—
a blockhead who insisted on the long road
even when an easy path lay open.
Caution? Don’t make me laugh.
Choi had missed a crucial point when he’d dismissed this as a stellar-class rift.
‘There was already a major subjugation raid not long ago—
a stellar-class rift had already appeared here.’
When a rift manifests, it drains the stellar energy from the area.
And since the amount of stellar energy in any given region is limited,
it’s impossible for large-scale rifts to appear in the same spot back-to-back.
A stellar-class rift had already erupted in Korea recently.
So, of course, this one was bound to be a fluke,
its scale inflated beyond its true nature.
Even the rift’s interior had been eerily quiet—
a clear sign of weakness.
And the rift’s instability, once a concern,
was actually working in their favor.
A rift’s state and size directly correlate
to the strength of its boss monster.
The more unstable the rift,
the less complete the boss’s manifestation.
Just as Yoo Geon-hyeok had predicted—
this one had offered no resistance at all.
“An amateur like him could never seize an opportunity anyway.”
He chuckled and was about to spit again—
—when a cracking sound echoed through the smoke.
Crkkk…!
“The hell? That sound—no way!”
KRASH!!
THUD! THUD!
Bursting through the haze,
the bull-headed giant emerged—
its body riddled with shards of the shattered barrier.
The unthinkable had happened—
the barrier had broken.
Panic spread among the knights.
“How?! The barrier—”
“Don’t lose focus! Formation! Prepare the Holy Lances!”
“R-ready!!”
Piiiiiiiiing—!
Spears of light materialized in the knights’ hands.
“Throw!!”
Like a barrage of rockets,
dozens of radiant spears rained down on the charging Minotaur.
But—
“Wh-What the hell?!”
“It’s not even flinching?!”
Even with its body bristling with spears,
the Minotaur’s charge didn’t slow.
It grabbed a knight with one massive hand—
CRACK!
The man’s spine snapped before he could scream.
The creature tossed the corpse aside without a care.
Faces went pale all around.
— Snort…
Hot breath billowed from its nostrils,
and its bloodshot eyes locked onto the farthest man—
Yoo Geon-hyeok.
“Don’t panic, you idiots! Keep attacking!!”
“D-damn it!! Die already!!”
At his barked order, players unleashed everything they had.
Yoo Geon-hyeok gathered energy at his fingertip,
aiming directly at the monster’s head.
Thoom—!
It was his skill, [Air Shot],
capable of piercing the skulls of most boss monsters easily.
But—
Thung!
“What… the hell?”
The bullet struck the Minotaur’s forehead and simply bounced off.
And not just his shot—
every attack ricocheted harmlessly away.
THUD! THUD!
As the Minotaur stomped forward,
each blast of energy and spell slid off like rain.
‘Resistance? No… that’s not it.’
There were over a dozen unique abilities among the players here.
There was no way it had resistances to all of them.
Then realization struck him.
It wasn’t resistance—
it was overwhelming stellar energy.
Its sheer power was so immense
that attacks were being repelled before they could even connect.
That small body was packed to the brim
with a stellar-class concentration of energy.
“E… Everyone, run!!”
THUD! THUD! CRASH!!
But he realized it too late.
As the Minotaur charged,
those who tried to flee were trampled to death—
their bodies crushed beneath its hooves.
The rest would soon share their fate.
The hunters had become the hunted.
Meanwhile…
“Priest! The barrier?”
“T-three minutes! No—two!”
“Hold out until then, no matter what! Understood?!”
“Yes, sir!!”
At Choi Sung-cheol’s command, his team formed up instantly.
Formation C – Tower Defense Line.
It was the optimal formation for holding off swarms of spiders
coming from all directions.
Under Sung-cheol’s direction,
the team fought desperately to keep the monsters back.
Soon, a protective barrier barely large enough
to enclose their safe zone shimmered into being.
“Everyone, fall behind the barrier.”
Clack— Clatter—
The moment they withdrew,
spiders swarmed over the barrier,
scratching furiously.
It felt like being trapped in a deep-sea bunker,
surrounded by darkness and pressure.
As the priest focused every ounce of willpower on maintaining the barrier,
Sung-cheol asked quietly,
“How long can you hold?”
“Two… maybe three minutes.”
“Hold for five.”
“I-I’ll do my best…!”
Meanwhile, the others readied themselves.
The barrier offered brief safety,
but it wouldn’t last forever—
the priest’s stellar energy wasn’t limitless.
CRACK!
“Eek!”
A spider leg thrust through a weak point in the barrier.
As the priest flinched,
Sung-cheol calmly ordered,
“Reform Formation C within one minute. I’ll buy us time.”
“Yes, sir!!”
Clank! Whirr—!
His right arm was enveloped in metal plating,
transforming into a massive gauntlet.
Through countless modifications,
it had become far too large to even be called an arm anymore.
‘Suh-hyun called it… the Golem’s Arm, right?’
After finishing his upgrades,
Suh-hyun had dubbed it that—
saying it looked more like molten iron than flesh.
Hissss—!
Steam vented from the gauntlet.
Heat coursed through Sung-cheol’s body
like molten blood.
“I’ll tear them apart. Once I do, move in—use the new weapons.”
“Yes, sir!!”
He drove the gauntlet into the ground.
“Blazing Sky Eruption (火光衝天).”
Hissssss—!!
Steam roared,
and magma surged beneath the surface.
Like roots spreading underground,
lava veins split the earth—
until fiery pillars erupted skyward,
as though a volcano had exploded beneath them.
Spiders shrieked and melted instantly,
their flesh sizzling in the molten heat.
But that only lasted a moment.
Kreeeee—!
More waves came,
crawling over the corpses of their kin.
“Leave it to us now!”
The team, now armed and ready, advanced.
Shing—!
“Huh?”
Inha’s eyes widened at their new weapons.
They were swords, spears, axes, bows—
but all forged from the same material.
“Those weapons…”
“Oh, first time seeing them?”
Sung-cheol grinned.
They were made from Lava Stone.
Thud—!
A bald teammate drove his spear into the ground,
and magma wrapped around it.
“Time to cut loose!”
He spun the flaming spear overhead and charged—
a sweep scattering spiders in every direction.
An opening formed where they’d stood.
Whizz—!
An arrow zipped past his ear, landing in the center—
BOOM!
A column of lava exploded upward.
“Hey! I almost died, you maniac!!”
The bald man yelled back,
but the ponytailed archer ignored him, eyes sharp.
“See? Told you, that’s the wave’s focal point. Not a full surround.”
“Hey, baldy, we might need to switch to Formation D.”
“Quit calling me baldy!”
Even as they bickered,
they switched formations smoothly.
Formation D – Defense Line.
They formed a straight wall of fighters
to prevent the wave from breaching their line.
They’d fought together for so long
that their coordination was flawless.
Even Inha, who had worked with them before, recognized their rhythm—
though this time, their equipment was far more powerful.
“Squad leader! You can raise the output!”
“If it’s too much, say so immediately.”
RUMBLE—!!
More magma burst from the ground,
wrapping around arrows and spears—
every strike exploded like artillery.
They were temporarily sharing Sung-cheol’s ability through the weapons.
“Wait, did Suh-hyun give you those?”
“Yeah.”
“He said, ‘I can’t give you artifacts yet,
but these should help for now.’”
Sung-cheol scoffed.
“‘Help for now’? We had to rewrite our whole strategy for these things.”
Until now, teamwork had always been limited—
Sung-cheol’s lava ability was too destructive for coordinated combat.
While his team held off waves,
he’d conserve power for the boss fight.
But now that he could share his power through weapons,
everything changed.
He could fight aggressively,
support his allies,
and command the battlefield all at once.
“Throwing away something that amazing like it’s nothing… typical Suh-hyun.”
Inha couldn’t help but smile at that.
“Count me in.”
“You sure? Waves aren’t your thing.”
“We don’t have time to be picky.”
“…Fine.”
Inha was among the strongest fighters,
but she had one flaw—
she struggled in coordinated battles.
Her speed and instinct were exceptional,
but in group fights, they made her unpredictable.
A double-edged sword.
She knew it and had tried to fix it,
but old habits die hard.
Her movements often disrupted formation,
forcing teammates to adapt around her.
So she usually fought separately.
“Take out anything that slips through the line. Don’t overdo it.”
“Got it.”
Sung-cheol sighed, reluctantly giving the order.
He didn’t like sending her into the chaos,
but she wasn’t wrong—
they needed every ounce of power.
“I’ll be back quickly.”
Boom—!
Inha drew her sword and charged.
The line was stretched thin;
a few gaps had opened.
‘If those break through, the whole line collapses.’
She darted out, targeting spiders trying to flank them.
But outside the line was pure chaos—
projectiles raining everywhere,
lava pillars erupting unpredictably.
Fwoooosh!
Still, Inha weaved through it all,
cutting down enemies in the blink of an eye.
Bang—!
Her quick strikes stabilized the line,
turning the tide in their favor.
After ten long minutes,
the endless wave began to thin.
BOOM!!
Kieeeeeee!!
“Huh?”
A massive crash made Inha turn.
Something was plowing through the swarm,
flinging spiders aside like rag dolls.
She leapt up lightly—
and saw it.
“The hell…”
A giant with the head of a bull,
snorting steam as it charged straight toward them.
“Minotaur?”
The monster straight out of Greek myth.
