A gust sprang up.
Uncle Choi Cheolgi used Flying Dragon Flash to break through the front. As the boars were shoved aside, the Subspace opened.
WOOONG—.
I had sent Uncle Choi Cheolgi through first, but I had not opened the Subspace merely to hide.
It was for defense.
THUD—. The Subspace blocked the Flame Guardian's enormous hand. The hand that struck the Subspace burst apart.
It seemed to be because it was entirely made of lava. The impact sent lava scattering in every direction.
SIZZLE—
Some of it touched my body. Parts of my clothes burned away. I felt an intense heat, but considering I had been touched by lava, I was all right.
Like getting into an incredibly hot bath?
If I had not possessed A-Grade Fire Resistance, I would have screamed right there, but I could endure it.
"Keep running!"
I sent Uncle Choi Cheolgi on ahead first.
I had a Gate Escape Scroll, and I could effortlessly move 20 meters using the Subspace's Portalization.
-SQUEAL!
Kicking off the ground, I swung the Windflow Sword behind me. I intended to deal with the boars charging from the rear first.
I bought a little time with Wind Cleave while I thought.
'We're getting overwhelmed, but...... I think we might be able to kill it.'
The Gate's recommended level had changed to 25~30.
A recommended level was not determined solely by the monsters that appeared. It also included the environment inside the Gate.
That meant it had not risen because of the Flame Guardian alone. The lava region and the boars coming from both ahead and behind had to be factored in as well.
It was large, but its difficulty might not be that high.
If we excluded the surrounding environment and the boars, we might be able to handle the Flame Guardian.
FWOOSH—!
The arm of the Flame Guardian, which had already regenerated, flew at me like a whip once more.
As expected, it was not particularly fast.
It was slow enough to dodge. I considered opening the Subspace, then braced my knees and kicked off the ground.
A short leap.
I spun in the air and evaded the Flame Guardian's arm. It was a Fighting Rooster evasive move, leaping high like a chicken.
WOOONG—.
I opened the Subspace again in midair. I connected the ground where I would land to a point 20 meters ahead.
The moment I landed, I planted my feet on the ground. In an instant, I arrived 20 meters ahead, beside Uncle Choi Cheolgi.
"Are you okay?"
Uncle Choi Cheolgi worried about me.
"Yeah."
The Flame Guardian did not stay still. It planted one hand on the path and slid toward us.
RRRRUMBLE—. A gigantic lava hand was rolling down the path behind us like a wave.
"O-Oh, no."
"Run!"
Its sliding speed across the lava was faster than we could run, but it was not a problem.
The answer was the Subspace again.
The Subspace that formed behind us blocked its arm. Lava splashed in every direction as its fist disappeared.
Of course, it was already restoring itself.
"Damn, seeing it in action, that's fucking broken."
Uncle Choi Cheolgi exclaimed at the sight while we ran.
"Isn't it practically invincible?"
"Halfway there, I guess?"
The Flame Guardian drew nearer.
The boars had been dealt with for the moment, and as I swung the Windflow Sword, we retreated.
Usually, to defeat elemental-type monsters like that, you had to destroy the hidden core.
I sent one strike toward its head, where the core was most likely to be, then another toward the arm it had raised to attack.
-GROOOOAR!
The strikes had definitely done damage. A path of wind formed at the impact sites, severing the connection.
But they had not pierced through the entire lava giant. Its recovery speed was faster than I had expected, too.
'I think Flying Dragon Flash could pierce it.'
After thinking for a moment, I asked Uncle Choi Cheolgi.
"What do you think? Flying Dragon Flash might be able to do it. Should we try?"
"That thing? After using it once, I'll fall into the lava."
In other words, after using Flying Dragon Flash once, he would land on top of the lava.
Fire Resistance was not absolute. Continuous exposure would eventually break through it.
Uncle Choi Cheolgi's Fire Resistance was lower than mine as well.
Dragon-Human Unity. Perhaps because Yongyong was still a hatchling, it could not grant him Fire Resistance on par with mine.
"You can use it consecutively, can't you? Could you use it as an attack first and then as a movement skill?"
Even in games, dash-type attack skills could also be used as movement skills. Could he not simply use it in succession?
Of course, that depended on Uncle Choi Cheolgi's discretion.
"Oh?"
Uncle Choi Cheolgi's eyes lit up at my suggestion.
"I think it might be possible."
"If it only might work, then it's going to be difficult. Safety comes first. Wind Cleave can't deal a proper blow to something that large. If it doesn't work, we'll head for the exit like this."
"I can do it!"
Uncle Choi Cheolgi answered with certainty.
"But I can't use it too many times. I don't have much mana."
"I'll find its weakness."
As we spoke, another fist came at us. I opened the Subspace and blocked it. I had mana to spare.
THUD—! Lava splashed in every direction from the impact. Uncle Choi Cheolgi recoiled with a startled cry.
"What kind of strength is that...... If not for the Subspace, we'd have had to run."
He was right.
Even with stats high for our levels and Fire Resistance, getting hit by that massive arm would surely put us on an express train to heaven.
"That's why I said we should try it—we have Subspace!"
The speed at which I opened the Subspace was not fast yet...... but fortunately, the lava giant was not particularly fast either.
Its speed while sliding across lava was fast, but because its body was made of lava, its upper body was slow.
"Let's keep falling back until we figure out its weakness!"
The Gate's exit was visible ahead, anyway.
The place where the Fire Crystal Jade had been was near the exit as well.
The conventional way to clear it would probably be to return the Fire Crystal Jade or run for the exit.
If we tried and could not find an answer, we only had to escape.
Because we were fighting while retreating, the Gate's exit was getting closer. I kept swinging the Windflow Sword.
Its head, its upper body's chest and solar plexus, and its arms. But I still had not found its core.
Lava flowed inside it, and the spatial sense I had been given did not let me see inside a body, so there was nothing I could do.
"Could it be beneath the lava?"
"It might be."
It happened as I swung the Windflow Sword while speaking. Perhaps because of Uncle Choi Cheolgi's words, the Windflow Sword headed below its solar plexus, toward its navel.
When Wind Cleave split the area around its navel, I saw a sphere of lava. It did not seem to be flowing, but clumped together.
And immediately, the Flame Guardian raised one arm to cover that area.
"Huh?"
We both noticed something was strange.
"One more time!"
Before Uncle Choi Cheolgi had even finished speaking, I sent another Wind Cleave flying. It was the same again.
We had only been targeting its upper body, but it seemed the creature's weakness was the lower part connected to the lava.
"Can you do it?"
"Of course!"
"I'll break through its arm!"
I fired Wind Cleave at its arm in rapid succession. The lava arm blocking its abdomen split apart and flowed away.
Then Uncle Choi Cheolgi kicked off the ground.
RRRRUMBLE—!
The first Flying Dragon Flash pierced the lower portion of the Flame Guardian, which had come close to us.
I saw the sphere of lava shatter within its pierced abdomen.
Beyond the splashing lava, I saw Uncle Choi Cheolgi turn his body in midair.
His lance pointed upward.
The second Flying Dragon Flash tore apart the lava giant's upper body and brought him back to where I stood.
Because he had aimed his lance upward, he was suspended about three meters in the air. It was high, but that was not a problem. He was an Awakened Hunter, after all.
Uncle Choi Cheolgi slid across the ground and landed like a hero making a landing.
"Wow."
I had seen it with my own eyes, and it was an incredibly cool sight. If we filmed it and posted it online, it would surely get an insane number of views.
Of course, Uncle Choi Cheolgi could not maintain that cool image.
"Aaargh! Hot!"
He twisted in pain from the lava that had splashed onto his body. Flying Dragon Flash had pushed the lava away with its gust, but.......
He had given himself a lava shower by piercing the lava giant's body twice.......
He writhed in pain and dropped Yongyong. Dragon-Human Unity and Elemental Adaptation broke, turning his groans into outright screams.
"Aaargh!"
"Grab Yongyong first and use your skills!"
"Aaargh!"
After finally grabbing Yongyong, Uncle Choi Cheolgi panted heavily.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm dying."
"No matter how much it hurts, how could you let go of Yongyong?"
Perhaps embarrassed about having screamed, Uncle Choi Cheolgi scratched the back of his head.
-GROOOOAR!
In any case, the lava giant whose core had been destroyed was collapsing with a roar.
[Level Up.]
[Level Up.]
Exhilaration surged through me along with the messages. Two levels up—an enormous amount of experience for defeating a single monster.
It accounted for the fact that this was a monster above our levels in a Transformed Gate.
"Good work."
I poured a Recovery Potion from the Subspace over Uncle Choi Cheolgi's body as I spoke. He drew in ragged breaths.
"It would have been impossible if you hadn't helped me with the Subspace."
"We couldn't have killed it without Flying Dragon Flash either."
Wind Cleave was an outstanding skill, but it was better against small targets than large ones.
Of course, Uncle Choi Cheolgi could not have killed it alone, either.
After all, if I had not been able to block the Flame Guardian's attacks with the Subspace, we would not even have thought to look for its core.
We could do it because we were together.
I knew our party, a Spatialist and a Dragon Knight, was good, but it was even better than I had expected.
"Whew, that was rough. It brings back old memories."
"Really?"
"Actually, the old days were rougher. I almost died fighting an Awakened Orc without skills. No, was that thing similar too?"
Uncle Choi Cheolgi smiled. It was not as though danger was anything new.
Gates were spaces where death was always near and unforeseen events occurred.
We were the people who entered such places voluntarily.
"Still, you went up two levels."
"What? I only went up one."
"My level is a little lower. Still, we leveled up, right? Let's go have a drink."
"Yeah. Let's go have a drink."
Then, through the Gate-clearing reward, we both gained experience and leveled up once more.
The Gate had transformed, creating a difficult situation, but it was another three-level increase.
'It's disappointing that the reward was a useless rare metal, but three levels is more than good enough.'
I was level 14, while Uncle Choi Cheolgi was level 16.
We could not help but smile. Minseok was sure to love the Fire Crystal Jade when we gave it to him.
Moreover, had I not also succeeded in verifying the hypothesis I had conceived when the Subspace leveled up?
A spatial sense that allowed me to feel the space within 20 meters around me.
If there was a hidden secret inside a Gate, I had a strong chance of finding it no matter where it was.
[Speculation on the Future Moves of the 'Spatialist–Dragon Knight Party' (Pure Speculation)]
-The Spatialist solo cleared Dead End of the Labyrinth (5~10).
-The Spatialist and Dragon Knight cleared Flame Valley (11~15) as a two-person party.
-A small group keeps clearing Gates that even decent full parties avoid.
Everyone knows those two are the most talked-about Hunters right now, right?
The Spatialist had been a hot topic since his debut, and so had Senior Choi Cheolgi, who had truly become a 'Dragon Knight.'
They have been clearing difficult Gates one after another, and I am guessing their next target will be a 'Level-Limited Survival Gate' (This is pure speculation. If you disagree, everything you say is right).
The successful ones at levels 16~20 have probably been contacted before.
The Gate Break is two months away, so the Association already has a fire at its feet.......
-Even so, do you think the Association would send people like them into a Level-Limited Survival Gate?
┗Wouldn't those two be able to pull it off?
┗Whether they can pull it off isn't the issue. Just looking at their classes and skills, they're talents the Association needs to raise as the next Advance Team.
┗Yeah. The Spatialist was famous even at the Workshop, and Senior Choi Cheolgi was good at fighting even when he couldn't use skills. They're people whose future holds even more promise. We can't let anything happen to them.
┗So other Hunters can die?
┗Fuck, when did I say it was okay for them to die?
Hunternet was abuzz over Uncle Choi Cheolgi's and my accomplishments. We had repeatedly cleared Gates that Hunters avoided with only a small number of people.
I scratched the back of my head while reading a post speculating about our future. They did not need to fight like that.
Whether the comments turned into a fight or not, I planned to enter a Level-Limited Survival Gate. The reason was simple.
A Gate where difficulty was multiplied by difficulty would naturally have better rewards. There were many precedents.
'Even among low-level Gates, it is a place where good rare items can appear.'
Even if I did not get an item, obtaining a Skill Level-Up Scroll or an Elixir itself would be an enormous gain for me.
It was also a place that posed no problem at all for me, who had the Subspace.
'I will not volunteer to enter, though.'
What I wanted was to enter in response to a request from the Association.
Whenever the Association commissioned a Gate subjugation, there was always an additional reward.
'I gave them information about the Subspace, and judging by how they have treated me so far.......'
Would not waiting be enough? Before I contacted them, they would likely offer a reward and request that I clear it.