Just as before, Si-woo and Hae-in walked ahead in the group while the rest of the team followed behind.
They took the same path they had traveled earlier, eventually finding a small hill not far from where they had killed the salamanders.
“I sense our boss must be somewhere up there,” Si-woo suggested, raising his eyebrow toward Hae-in.
She answered with a nod, and they began climbing the slope.
It did not take them long to discover a large opening split inside the hill itself.
“Looks like a lava tube,” Hae-in muttered, examining the stones around the opening.
“I suggest we scout ahead.
We wouldn’t want the group to be ambushed in a cramped place like this,” Si-woo said.
Hae-in answered with another nod.
Si-woo jumped in first, landing directly on the cave floor, while Hae-in gracefully dropped from rock to rock, landing silently beside him.
The two moved forward in absolute silence, crouching low and taking measured steps deeper into the cavern structure.
“Ah, it is actually cool in here,” Hae-in broke the silence with a quiet whisper.
“Hm.
I could build a house down here to settle in,” Si-woo whispered back, a faint smile on his face.
“My own personal man cave.” Suddenly, Si-woo extended his hand flat in front of her, halting her progress a short distance away from a sharp turn in the tunnel.
He gestured toward a hollow corner that was just big enough to conceal both of them.
Hae-in pressed her back against the wall while Si-woo crouched right in front of her, keeping his face next to her ear so they could speak in low voices, resting one hand on the stone behind her for support.
“I’ll take a quick look through the entrance to see what we’ll be dealing with,” Si-woo whispered.
“No,” she shook her head, grabbing a handful of his shirt to keep him in place.
“We create a commotion instead.
If the boss has minions, they will come out first.
We cull their numbers and then tackle the boss with fewer distractions.” Si-woo raised a finger of his free hand.
“Okay, first, your plan is better than mine.” “Because your plan wasn’t really a plan.” “Second, ow.
Third, do we bring the party in or not?
I think they’ll be more of a liability than a help in there,” Si-woo whispered, placing a hand over his heart in mock hurt.
“Yeah, let’s not bring the party,” Hae-in agreed the next instant.
“Let’s get the buffs first, though,” Si-woo added.
Hae-in let go of his shirt.
Si-woo turned around, checked the path, and gave her a quick thumbs-up.
Both of them ran like the wind, jumping from rock to rock until they emerged back in front of their raid party in less than a minute.
“I need you all to stay on your guard out here.
Kill anything that tries to walk out of this entrance, except us,” Hae-in ordered.
The last instruction earned a few chuckles from the surrounding hunters.
She pulled out her handkerchief and walked toward the party’s primary healer alongside Si-woo, directing the man to cast his spells on both of them.
“A speed buff for Hunter Cha and an agility buff for Hunter Kang.
They will last for half an hour.
Please take care in there,” the healer said kindly after completing the enchantments.
The rest of the party gave them supportive thumbs-up, though a few looked a bit disheartened to be left out of the main fight.
Still, they knew there was nothing to be done about the terrain hindering them.
“Thank you,” Si-woo said, patting the healer’s shoulder before leaping back through the entrance, with Hae-in following closely behind him.
They reached the cave opening that led to the boss chamber and quickly communicated through hand signals.
Hae-in took up a position in one corner beside the opening while Si-woo stood directly across from her in the other.
Both of them crouched low with their swords gripped firmly in hand, ready to launch themselves forward.
Si-woo signaled to Hae-in that he would create the initial distraction.
He formed a spinning wind vortex directly in his palm and, with a sharp flick of his wrist, launched the cutting winds straight into the cave.
A furious, echoing roar immediately followed the attack.
Si-woo noticed Hae-in’s eyes widen slightly at his sudden display of elemental magic, but there was no time to discuss it.
Three distinct figures surged out of the cavern.
They possessed humanoid upper bodies composed entirely of smokeless blue flames, while their lower bodies consisted of swirling, translucent wind.
The moment the figures emerged, a loud boom of breaking wind echoed through the tunnel as Si-woo launched himself at them, his large sword poised to his side.
Hae-in moved with less sound but equal lethality, spinning through the air to cut one Ifrit clean in half.
Si-woo utilized the sheer reach of his massive blade to cleave through the remaining two in a single swing.
“Keep attacking.
They are spiritual beings and can reform their bodies rapidly.
Only prolonged attacks made with weapons imbued with magic can actually kill them,” Hae-in instructed as she moved back inward toward her recovering opponent.
Si-woo nodded and swung his sword in a wide arc again, dispersing the two newly forming Ifrits before they could solidify.
They would have easily been able to whittle the three spirits down with enough time, but the chamber boss chose that exact moment to intervene.
A massive torrent of smokeless flames erupted from the cave entrance, accompanied by another furious roar.
Hae-in would have been caught directly in the blast radius if Si-woo had not instantly used his wind magic to push her safely backward.
“Focus on the Ifrits, Hae-in!” Si-woo shouted, utilizing a burst of wind magic to propel himself straight into the burning cave.
The fire Ifrits were A-rank monsters, meaning Hae-in could comfortably handle three of them without sustaining a scratch.
The moment Si-woo crossed the threshold into the main chamber, he was met with the sight of a three-meter-tall giant made of dark obsidian, wielding a massive sword and wearing a pointed, horned crown.
They had no time for introductions, as Si-woo was already airborne, thrusting his blade forward to pierce the giant’s chest.
The silver-haired boy channeled his wind magic to accelerate his descent, twisting his body to the side as the metal tore into the stone torso, eliciting a painful roar from the monster.
Si-woo twisted his grip, freeing his sword by cutting cleanly through the giant’s side.
The monster retaliated instantly, bursting into a vast sea of flames that rapidly expanded to cover every inch of the cave floor.
Si-woo began using his mana at a rapid pace, generating a heavy water current from one hand to counter the heat while using his wind magic through the other to maintain a tight current of oxygen so he wouldn’t suffocate with the natural oxygen burned up.
He had already sent his sword back into his separate space to keep his hands free.
The giant reformed abruptly behind him, raising its massive weapon and swinging it down with devastating force.
Si-woo barely managed to evade the blow by rolling sharply to the side, immediately using both hands to spray the monster with heavy water currents.
“I’m fine, Hae-in!” he shouted over his shoulder.
He could sense that Hae-in had almost been caught by one of the shifting Ifrits outside when the giant turned into a sea of fire, as she had momentarily feared he was caught in the flames.
The flame giant roared toward the ceiling, grasped its sword with both hands, and plunged the weapon deep into the cavern floor.
The entire hill violently shook as the ground cracked open, spewing thick lava and wild fire from the depths, engulfing Si-woo entirely.
However, the expected pain of burning never arrived.
Si-woo suddenly found himself standing within his own inner spiritual space, the quiet area where the five mysterious eggs gestated.
One of the eggs had cracked open.
Three distinct pairs of hands were actively prying the thick shell apart from the inside, and Si-woo caught a brief glimpse of burning, intense eyes staring back from behind the crimson shell.
In the real world, a mournful wail escaped Hae-in’s lips when she saw Si-woo get completely swallowed by the column of fire.
That momentary distraction gave the remaining Ifrits the time they needed to reform completely.
They used the kinetic force of their own reformation to generate a heavy blast that threw Hae-in backward, sending her crashing hard into the stone wall.
The three fully formed Ifrits opened their mouths, a concentrated sphere of fire condensing between them, poised to launch directly at her.
Before they could release the attack, three massive, flaming hands shot up from the cracked ground, grabbing the spirits tightly by their heads and dragging them down into the depths from which the hands had emerged.
Inside the main cave, two larger flaming hands manifested around the obsidian giant, pulling its thrashing, roaring form straight into the earth.
Si-woo opened his eyes at that exact moment.
He ran over to Hae-in and found her resting heavily against the damaged wall.
She was conscious, but a steady trickle of blood was coming from her mouth.
He gently wrapped his arms around her as a warm, healing light engulfed her figure, mending her broken bones and damaged tissue in seconds.
A sharp gasp escaped her lips when she realized Si-woo was standing before her, completely alive.
Her eyes widened, and small tears formed at the corners as she wrapped her arms tightly around him.
“I’m fine.
We’re fine.
Does it still hurt anywhere?” Si-woo reassured her before checking on her injuries.
She shook her head slowly.
“How did you…” she muttered, her voice trailing off as she watched the magical light fade from his hands.
“How can you perform all these different forms of magic?” She had seen him use wind, water, and now high-level healing magic with her own eyes, leading her to assume he could manipulate other elements as well.
“I just could, ever since I awakened,” Si-woo answered.
He wasn’t technically lying to her.
The healing light vanished as the wounds finished closing, though he continued to hold onto her gently to steady her.
“Can I ask a favor of you?” She answered with an immediate, definitive nod.
“Can you keep this a secret for me?” he requested.
Hae-in nodded again.
She raised her hand, clutching a fistful of his almost burned up shirt as she rested her head against his shoulder.