<Chapter 28. Kratia's Quest - 10 [End of Volume 6]>

The moment he had realized that their final battlefield was an environment overflowing with mana, Lee Shin Woo really only had one strategy.

How would he gain superiority over the level 7 elites, who could use that magic better than him... Lee Shin Woo came to the conclusion that he would just have to change that mana into something he could control better than them.

'The moment my weapons, which are infused with elemental power, blow up, they release that element's mana into the area.'

He was filling the Breath of the Lightning Gods to the brim, which possessed a level 6 lightning element (drawing in the ambient mana and fully infusing the Breath of the Lightning God only took about 0.2 seconds) and blowing it up, which was altogether quite effective. Because the mana concentration was 18x normal, they wouldn't be able to withstand this.

During the time that the Breath of the Lightning Gods affected the ambient mana, Lee Shin Woo would have greater mana control than the monsters.

If he repeated this process twice, four times, no an uncountable number of times, then he might be able to fuse together Lightning Shadow and Lightning Sprint again with the plentiful lightning in the environment!

In this world, only Lee Shin Woo was able to use this extremely temporary and effective ability, and was only able to do so in one place: the training facility. As a result, the technique he'd created was quite effective.

[Kihiiihk...!]

[Kureuahgagahk!]

"Heup!"

He hadn't really developed a new killer technique or prepared a trap in advance. He was merely manipulating the environment to one that was advantageous to him. With just that, Lee Shin Woo was able to take on two level 7 elites at once. Perhaps he had come to this realization much too late.

'Just being able to use a high rank element gives you such a huge advantage.'

Whenever he summoned and blew up a Breath of the Lightning God, the surrounding mana would be tinged with lightning. Thunderclouds formed, filling the battlefield. Originally, the forest's mana had been advantageous to them. They had gotten so used to it that the Ur Leon and the Croc Erantu felt uneasy from the sudden change.

No, it was more than that. Whenever the two level 7s moved, strangely, the thunderclouds would damage them. Normally, they would be able to draw in the surrounding mana to recover from such grievous wounds, but the thunderclouds prevented that from happening.

[Kwang!]

[Kihik!]

In the midst of that, Lee Shin Woo exploded four new swords and inflicted more damage upon the two level 7s. Even the black leopard (Ur Leon), which would recover from any injuries it sustained, seemed to realize that it would have no mana left remaining if it continued to do so; therefore, it adjusted its strategy and stopped healing its wounds immediately.

They realized that the situation had become disadvantageous for them and that they would have to escape from this area. If they were to escape from the thundercloud-filled area, then they would be able to heal their wounds immediately, as well as give them a chance to turn things around! If not, then they would buy time by allowing their comrade to be killed first.

Of course, Lee Shin Woo couldn't just let them go.

"If you leave, then I'll kill this guy."

[Keuuk!]

[Kihi...!?]

In the beginning, the two had exchanged blows with Lee Shin Woo, yet at some point, they had become wary of each other and had been fighting whilst looking for an opportunity.

Of course, their nimble and soft strikes had enough force behind them to kill him, but in this close battle, Lee Shin Woo evaded even quicker, attacked even stronger, and mustered up all of his strength!

[Clear. Attacking the enemy with the 378th trap.]

"Hoo, Hoooo.... It's not... perfect yet."

[Sureureureu]

On the other hand, Kratia, who was responsible for hacking the magic traps and taking care of the final level 7 elite, was quite even with her opponent.

She activated her orb, gathered the ambient mana, and halted the elite's movements. Also, Rem assisted her in hacking into the magic traps and directing them at the level 7 elite!

[Shaaaaaah!]

[Lv7 Emperor Boa]

In terms of size, the snake was the largest of the three monsters. Unfortunately, it possessed ice resistance, and Prince, who had originally assisted Lee Shin Woo in fighting off the two elites, had ultimately been forced into doing her utmost to stop its approach.

"Ugh, Fire Demon's forearm! Hey, is my junior ok?"

"Shin Woo is... a lot better off than us!"

Kratia continued with her headache inducing calculations and struggled to reply. There were some magic traps that she couldn't control, even with Rem's help, so once she was finished analyzing them, she would immediately disarm them. On the other hand, for the magic traps she could control, she would control in conjunction with her orb to attack the boa, which was incredibly difficult.

[Shaaaaaaaahk!]

"Geuut...!]

Because the orb's frost attacks were almost meaningless against the boa's ice resistance, she had switched over to defense a long time ago. Rather, Prince's fire magic was incredibly effective against the boa and was even able to stop its advance, while occasionally damaging it. It made Kratia feel like she could just back off.

Kratia seized that opportunity and attacked the boa with the traps: the skewer, the poison arrows, giant boulders, being pressed down by gravity, etc., increasing its wounds!

[Shah, Shaaaaaht!]

The sight of hundreds of magic traps being commanded by a trainee (who was the original target of the traps) simultaneously aiming at the monster and attacking it was truly a spectacular sight.

"Just a little bit more and we can take it down!"

"He's in the middle of preparing a large scale technique... Stop him in any way possible!"

"Don't ask for the impossible...!"

Validating Kratia's words, the Emperor Boa spewed out a huge amount of poison mist from its body, attacking everything at once.

The ridiculous concentration of poison even contaminated the magic itself, nullifying all the magic traps in the area. It had simultaneously eliminated Kratia's avenue of attack while attempting to poison them!

"Tch... Fire Demon!"

However, poison was weak to fire. Because she had been fighting for so long, Prince had become a bit more used to the high concentration of mana, which enabled her to immediately gather clean mana into her body. She then used her teacher's ultimate move: summoning a fire demon!

[Kureuk... Kyaha! Kureureureureureureureuk!]

[Guooooooh!]

A giant circular gate formed in the sky, and from that gate, a demon's head popped out. Its emergence burnt the trees to a crisp, and it seemed to look around for a moment. Then, once it saw the Emperor Boa's poison mist, it grinned and breathed out towards it.

The deep purple mist was evaporated instantaneously, and the Emperor Boa's body was actually enveloped in flame!

"If you could do that, then why didn't you use it earlier!?"

"This is my first time using it, and I was barely able to do it. Barely!"

Kratia griped with wide-eyes, and Prince responded angrily.

Honestly, Prince had only learned the technique and had never even thought of using it before. If it wasn't for this unique environment, then she would've only been able to barely cast the spell after she'd become a high rank level 7, and gathered various materials for ten days.

[Kihik! Kihiiiiiiik!]

"Anyhow, this is our chance! Give it everything you got!"

"I know...!"

Kratia realized that they had to finish this and absorbed the orb into her body, which had been condensing mana.

Rem plopped off her shoulder and used the still-functional magic traps to attack the boa. As a result of her casting a spell she wasn't ready for yet, Prince had a splitting headache and her body burned. She gritted her teeth and endured, ordering the fire demon to push on so that the boa couldn't move!

[Kureureuraaaaaaaaaaa!]

[Kihiiiiiii!]

"Heup...!"

The Emperor Boa was immobilized by the fire demon's hellfire. But they didn't know how much longer the demon would last. If they wanted to end it, now was the time!

Kratia focused her power into a singular object, forming a gigantic spear in the air. She gripped it tightly with one hand, pulled it back, and then, the spear began to shake and rotate.

The faster the rotation, the more intense the cold. If the Emperor Boa wasn't affected by cold, then she just needed to use a temperature low enough that would!

"Wrath... of the Winter Queen!"

Kratia focused all of her body's mana into her fist and it seemed to gush out, but then, the rotating, midair ice spear absorbed it. At that moment, the ice spear shot out like lightning, passing the fire demon and destroying both the boa's head and tail!

[Kihik, kihiiii...!]

The Emperor Boa couldn't maintain its weight and gruesomely fell to the ground. It had been burnt by flame and ice coated its body, making its corpse look really unsightly. Fortunately, it didn't last for very long and disappeared... It had only left a few pieces of loot on the ground.

"It's over, Rem!"

[Checking for any remaining magic traps! Marking magic traps...!]

"...Ha!"

Them taking down the Emperor Boa gave Lee Shin Woo the signal to counterattack.

The moment that the Emperor Boa (it was the strongest of the three), which had survived in the facility with them for dozens of years, perished, the Ur Leon and the Croc Erantu felt an unbearable unease and their bodies went stiff. There had been a balance between the three, as they kept each other in check, but the moment that that balance was broken, Lee Shin Woo shot out like lightning and thrust his sword into the Croc Erantu's head once more.

Of course, it wouldn't die from just this, but Lee Shin Woo wasn't normal either.

"Taste the breath of the lightning god!"

[Kuhak, Kuguhaaaaaaahk!]

After he'd stuck the Breath of the Lightning God into the croc's head, he stretched out his hand and placed it onto the perforated area; he then repeatedly summoned Breath of the Lightning Gods and shot them at it. It was an unbelievable continuous attack that was only possible in this training facility overflowing with mana!

At least a dozen blades were burrowed into the croc's head, making its mind dim. While Lee Shin Woo continuously attacked with the Breath of the Lightning Gods, the black leopard took that opportunity to strike. But as it pounced, Lee Shin Woo blew up all the swords without hesitation!

[You faced two higher level foes and have succeeded in defeating one! All stats have increased by 3. High Rank Lightning has become Lv4, and Magic has increased by 20!]

He simultaneously blew up all the weapons in a single area, and the resulting lightning energy was so powerful that the Croc couldn't even utter a word and disappeared on the spot. The lightning energy, which had burst out from the Croc's body, remained chaotic!

[Kaha!]

The Ur Leon was sure that it would lose if it tarried, so it charged in immediately. It took advantage of the inevitable gap in Lee Shin Woo's defenses that resulted from using a huge technique, so Lee Shin Woo couldn't evade!

However, the Ur Leon would soon realize that its efforts were pointless. It had seen through Lee Shin Woo with its senses as a level 7 and had attacked with a speed that Lee Shin Woo couldn't match...!

[Kuhu?]

But the moment the Ur Leon attempted to find Lee Shin Woo's location and attack, a golden crack appeared on its body.

The crack formed starting from the top of its head, all the way down to its eight legs... It looked like a beautiful tattoo and made those witnessing the battle watch in awe.

[Kihi...]

The Ur Leon didn't realize what had happened and tried to retreat, but at that moment, the black leopard's ears, eye sockets, jaw, torso, arms, fingers, and legs were broken up, and it fell to the ground.

It was a futile and cruel death.

[You faced two higher level foes simultaneously and succeeded in defeating them. All stats have increased by 5! Proficiency in all combat-related skills has increased significantly!]

"...Hoo."

Lee Shin Woo appeared beyond the falling body of the Ur Leon and let out a deep breath. Fortunately, he was able to use the technique one more time at the end.

Of course, he hadn't been able to acquire it as a skill yet, but compared to a few days ago, he was confident that he'd gotten a step further. Why? Because...

"!? W-What was that just now!? What!?"

"What do you mean? It's just high-speed movement."

Because he could use Jin for this technique as well.

"It seems like a technique that works by temporarily changing both the interior and exterior into lightning. In other words, our bodies and minds become one."

"One in body and mind..."

For some reason, he wasn't happy, even though they had asked exactly what he had wanted to hear. This feeling that came from the technique was so strong that it was unbearable.

[You have acquired 2,948,550 Perium.]

[You have acquired 3,674,490 Perium.]

[You have acquired the Lv7 Ur Leon's big toenail.]

[You have acquired the Lv7 Croc Erantu's molar tooth.]

[You have acquired the Lv7 Ur Leon's outer shell.]

However, Lee Shin Woo collected the loot and turned around, regardless of whether or not Jin understood how he felt. Fortunately, he got two bones from the Ur Leon, and couldn't be happier.

"Kratia, are there any traps left?"

"If we just disable the ones that are in our control, then..."

However, when Kratia was reporting on the situation while smiling bitterly at not having a chance to help out Lee Shin Woo...

A huge crack appeared inside the training facility.

[Hoh, hoh... As expected, how entertaining.]

The voice they heard at that very moment... Lee Shin Woo would probably never forget it.

[I was wondering who it was, but... it turns out you were cute heroes.]

"...Huu."

"Oh... Shin Woo."

"What did I tell you, little lady."

Kratia called out to Lee Shin Woo, and Prince, unable to face the high level opponent, fainted. Jin was overwhelmed and couldn't move, and in the middle of all that, Lee Shin Woo just sighed.

[Lv8 Archmage Feotane Von Seldin]

He was an enemy they couldn't hope to beat... One of the key members of the 12 generals had come to the training facility.