hotmtlnovel Chapter 86
Chapter 86
"Jeong Da-on, get a hold of yourself...!"
"No, Jeong Da-on, don't worry about me, just go!"
Han Jae-young quickly issued his orders after handing Seol Mae to Lee Pyeong-hwa.
With Yoo Han-ul, the most powerful member of the group, down and Jeong Da-on frozen without showing any response, there was no choice but to act.
The most urgent task at the moment was to get Seol Mae out of here.
Lee Pyeong-hwa nodded with a grim expression, tightly holding Seol Mae.
"Yes, understood!"
Thud!
Lee Pyeong-hwa quickly donned the speed-boosting item Han Jae-young handed him and rushed away.
At least that was a relief.
For a beginner hunter, the drain on mana was somewhat burdensome, but if they could just get out of here, the consumption wouldn't be such a waste.
Once Han Jae-young confirmed that Lee Pyeong-hwa and Seol Mae had disappeared into the thick fog, he let out a sigh of relief and focused on the scene in front of him.
"Ugh, this is a mess."
Yoo Han-ul, almost unconscious on his knees, and Jeong Da-on, frozen and immobile.
And the bodies of countless soldiers that were enough to make counting them feel daunting.
Even for a veteran like him, it was impossible not to be thrown off by this situation, but Han Jae-young calmly assessed the situation.
First, the mummified soldiers before him.
'Did they die while attacking this fortress?'
The faces of the soldiers were still etched with the emotions of their last moments.
Each face reflected terror or agony.
And as Han Jae-young looked around more closely, he realized there were not only the soldiers' corpses.
'There are animal carcasses mixed in too.'
It looked as though the soldiers had tried to devour the animals.
Among the soldiers' corpses, the bodies of animals lay scattered.
And all of them were in a mummified state, completely drained of mana.
'So that’s why there were no living creatures other than fish around here.'
It was clear that every living thing had been sucked into the flow of mana like a black hole and had perished as a result.
Han Jae-young approached one of the soldiers, placed his hand on them, and activated his mana to try and channel some power into the body.
The hunter he had found before on Yeongjong Island Dungeon, just before death, had been on his mind.
'There’s no chance of them coming back, but if their spirit remains, I might be able to make contact for a moment.'
Sometimes, when a body dies suddenly, the soul doesn't immediately realize it, and in those cases, infusing mana might allow him to communicate with the soul for a brief time.
However, no matter how much mana Han Jae-young infused, the souls here showed no signs of returning.
"How many years have they been here...?"
"Did you hear that?"
"Ah, you scared me!"
It wasn’t time to treat Jeong Da-on like a rookie hunter anymore.
While she wasn’t as strong as Yoo Han-ul, she could certainly handle a supporting role.
Besides, there was no way out of this situation.
They couldn’t return to Earth unless they defeated the boss monster and cleared the dungeon. There was no better option than pressing on with the current challenge.
"...So, could you help support Yoo Han-ul for a bit?"
"Weren’t we leaving him behind?"
"Didn’t you two get along well?"
"...Why should I be the one to help?"
"Because my hands are free and I’d rather not leave him to you, Jeong Da-on."
Even though Han Jae-young knew Jeong Da-on had hidden strength, there was no way her pure stats were higher than his at the moment.
Jeong Da-on seemed to recognize that too, clicking her tongue, before lifting the unconscious Yoo Han-ul.
"Why is he so heavy?"
"People who’ve lost consciousness tend to be heavy."
Yoo Han-ul’s large stature made his feet drag as they walked, but there was no other choice. The two of them began making their way through the sea of bodies.
It was quite a chilling experience.
And as they neared the castle, one thing became clearer.
"The mana flow here feels similar to when we encountered the ‘Dummy Fire’ last time."
The ‘Dummy Fire’ had sucked mana in like a black hole, and now the same sensation was present.
There was an intense pull, trying to absorb mana from somewhere inside the castle walls.
Han Jae-young fell into a quiet thought.
‘If there’s a ‘Dummy Fire’ here... doesn’t that make no sense?’
Based on their previous hypothesis, the ‘Dummy Fire’ was likely a monster created by humans.
But this place, until Yoo Han-ul’s entry, had been an unidentified dimension, and Han Jae-young himself had ended up here by accident.
‘If the ‘Dummy Fire’ is a man-made monster, how did it end up here?’
If someone had intentionally created the monster in this dungeon, it shouldn’t be an unidentified dimension.
‘...No, I’m asking the wrong question.’
The problem wasn’t with Han Jae-young.
He glanced at Jeong Da-on, who was carrying Yoo Han-ul.
Her face was unreadable, and her expression was distant, as though she’d heard something she wasn’t supposed to.
"Just now... what did you say?"
"...Yoo Han-ul, are you sure you haven’t joined some weird cult lately?"
Han Jae-young seriously debated checking if Yoo Han-ul’s mind was in the right place when suddenly—
Boom!
"What’s that?"
Suddenly, a huge black mist engulfed the group.