Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 133

In fact, it had been a long time since large barriers were built along the Imjin River in the north of Paju City. Using the river as a moat, the barriers were made of thick concrete reinforced with various skills to block monsters in the North. This barrier ran along the river from the East Sea to the West Sea and only select teams of Hunters would cross over the barrier sometimes to go for a round of what was called Field Hunting.

That was why Paju City had enough buildings and equipment to prepare for monster air raids. Therefore, if the air raid alarm sounded, non-Hunter residents of Paju City would evacuate to shelters prepared by the government or shelters at their own homes. On the contrary, Hunters would immediately respond to monsters and start fighting.

Ji-Cheok didn’t know this because he was busy fighting Ghouls, but five Gates in total had just opened in this Munbal District. Even excluding the Ghouls that Ji-Cheok blocked with his flame barrier, there were monsters pouring out from the remaining four Gates. It was inevitable that many battles would occur in this region. Fortunately, the people at the shopping street where Ji-Cheok had been were able to fight off the monsters for the time being, but they were barely holding on.

This news first spread on social media, then an emergency broadcast system was organized and Hunters were dispatched. However, no matter how quickly the Hunters were thrown into the fray, they could not immediately stop the monsters from pouring out and spreading in all directions. The monsters instinctively started running about in search of humans to slaughter. They also pounced on Ji-Cheok, who was chasing the giant [Hideously Mangled Corpse Abomination].

* * *

“Of all the monsters out there, we get stuck with flying monsters!!”

The Mono Bike was running on the ectoplasmic road created by [Soul Telekinesis]. Essentially, they were driving in the sky, away from the monsters running rampant below. However, large buzzing insect monsters suddenly appeared around them, attacking them.

These bee-like monsters were [Killing Hornets].

[Killing Hornet]

[Level: 35

Attribute: None

Weakness: Wing / Head

A carnivorous insect monster that is believed to have evolved from a wasp. Although individually weaker than the average monster of a similar level, it is known to have a more deadly impact on civilians due to the fact that it can fly and it moves around in massive numbers. Its main weapon is its stinger, which injects paralyzing poison.]

They only attacked with their poison stingers and their mandibles, but even that alone was threatening, taking into account the fact that they were a full meter in size. As expected of giant insects, they were terrifying.

There were dozens of them flying around the motorcycle, trying to headbutt the two Hunters and stab them with their poisonous stingers. If it wasn’t for the shield made by Seong Kwang, they would have been dead a long time ago.

The large swarm of hornets buzzing around like flies was annoying, but the real problem was the Abomination walking in front of them. At first glance, it seemed to be moving slowly, but Ji-Cheok knew that its unimpressive walking speed was only relative to its huge size. It was actually covering ground faster than the average monster.

‘Good thing I’m almost caught up with it!’

“Hold on!” Ji-Cheok shouted.

He could feel Seong Kwang holding his belt firmly, and then he made the leap onto the body of the huge Abomination.

“Kiaaaa!”

“Kiaaaeek!”

‘Holy shit, these bastards were still alive?’

The moment the wheels touched the Abomination, the Ghouls that were merged into it tried to grab the bike while making weird sounds.

Vroom!

Crunch!

Ji-Cheok crushed the Ghouls’ limbs while driving at high speed. Activating [Wall Drive], he ran up the body of the giant.

“Activate [Blaze Walk] and [Cthugha’s Steps!]”

Two walls of flames rose behind the bike as Ji-Cheok drove at full speed. He was thinking of following the same plan he had used to take down the World Tree Giant.

“Oh, apostle of the great chicken! Thou art the great saint who saveth mankind by frying his own body!”

[Zealot Seong Kwang cleansed the entire area for 10 minutes with his purification skill.]

‘Good job, Seong Kwang! You’re doing great!’

Roar!

The holy power of purification hit the giant, setting it on fire. The effective area of Seong Kwang’s prayer was ten meters in all directions, so it covered the entire Abomination, in spite of its size. While Seong Kwang was using his skill, Ji-Cheok also drove all over the giant. The burning flame continued to burn the monster.

Crack!

Then, something unexpected happened. The huge body of entangled Ghouls split apart, and dozens of the Ghouls rose to attack them!

‘I knew this would happen! This is mecha anime 101! If they can merge, they can separate! Even in children’s card games, they can merge and separate the Giant Gods card!’

Shing!

Ji-Cheok let go of the handle and drew out his dual swords. In one breath, he extended the blades to two meters each using Sword Qi and swung both blades at the same time, in a cross shape.

Slash!

“Hmph!”

However, even Ji-Cheok’s Sword Qi could not cut cleanly through the Ghouls. Instead, the Sword Qi wave soon slowed down, as if stuck in a tough object. In the end, Ji-Cheok managed to cut through five of them, but after that, the Sword Qi disappeared.

Ji-Cheok crashed into the Ghouls.

Bam!

The rest of the ghouls were simply blasted away by the bike’s momentum. The problem was that Ji-Cheok’s motorcycle was also pushed back by an equal and opposite force.

“AHHHHHH!!!”

Seong Kwang screamed.

‘Don't worry!’

Screech!

With the power of [Soul Telekinesis], Ji-Cheok grabbed the bike as it flew through the air and held it in place.

‘This is the power of [Soul Telekinesis]! It combines the power of telekinesis and ectoplasm.

Ji-Cheok once more created an ectoplasmic road in the sky and drove along it. Unfortunately, the Abomination also kept walking, despite being burned and hit so many times. It almost felt like the monster was being aggroed by the shelter.

“Is it because the detection range of the monster increased as its size increased? Is that why it is heading toward that crowded shelter?” Ji-Cheok asked.

“I’m sure of it! And the shelter is just around the corner!”

Seong Kwang pointed at the mountain in front of them, and Ji-Cheok saw the shelter dug into the mountainside.

The outer wall of the shelter was made of concrete and had Mana flowing through it, probably because it was made with Arcane Engineering. In front of the wall, Cheok-Liang and the shield that Ji-Cheok had given him were already taking position, covered in flames. The problem was that there were only a few hundred meters left. Considering the size of this giant, it wasn’t going to take long to reach the shelter, and Ji-Cheok hadn't been able to land any critical hits so far.

Wiiing~

‘God damn these persistent bees.’

.

Dozens of Killing Hornets started to attack them again.

Shing!

Ji-Cheok pulled out his dual swords from his waist again and threw them into the sky. He used [Soul Telekinesis] to make his dual swords move swiftly through the sky, while still imbued with Sword Qi, and cut down the Killing Hornets in the air.

‘Taste my Flying Swords!’

Vroom!

He continued to drive his motorcycle while controlling his swords with his [Soul Telekinesis] and, at the same time, creating an ectoplasmic road in the sky. He felt that he was going to go crazy if he kept multitasking so much.

‘I should’ve played more Starcraft when I was young. Multitasking is so hard!’

“Lord of Light! Please grant me thy power!”

While Ji-Cheok was killing the Hornets, Seong Kwang was also using his divine skills, brandishing his staff. It was an attack skill exclusive to priests! A spear of light appeared from the clear sky and plunged straight into the Abomination.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to do much damage. The flames of [Cthugha’s Steps] and [Blaze Walk] that Ji-Cheok had laid down were also still burning, but they were not effective either.

‘Shit. How strong is this guy?’

The Ghouls were known for being tough, so hundreds of Ghouls merging together resulted in something quite literally hundreds of times tougher. This meant that wide-area skills couldn’t do much damage.

‘What should I do?’

While Ji-Cheok was thinking of ways to kill the giant, the latter had already arrived at the sea of fire in front of the shelter.

Tssssss.

The monster was being roasted both by the fire on its body and the fire on the ground. However, it still raised its huge fist and punched at the shelter without hesitation.

Boom!

The shield blocked the fist. However, the difference in power was so great that even the shield was pushed back. Cheok-Liang jumped up and helped block the punch by pushing the shield from behind.

Woof…!

“Damn it, Cheok-Liang!”

Cheok-Liang bounced off, but the shield remained in place. The Abomination punched again.

Boom!

This time, the shield was pushed back into the shelter’s outer barrier.

Psssssss

The shelter’s protective barrier trembled. Then, from its gigantic face, the Abomination shot a ray of dark energy.

‘’Oh, you’re shooting Breath too?’

CRAAASH!

This time, the shield was able to stop the attack. It had been pushed back by the fist, but Ji-Cheok felt that it could at least block the Breath well enough.

“NOOO!!” Seong Kwang screamed.

‘It can’t go on like this any longer! I need to think of a solution. I need to kill that monster! What should I do… I need to kill it in one blow…’

“Hm… I guess this is the only way.”

One shot, one kill.

‘This has to work, otherwise…’

Ji-Cheok put his hand in his pocket, which was now the entrance to the Shadow Pouch dimension, and pulled out an item.

Berserker Medicine.

[All stats have increased by 200%.]

[Your stamina is decreasing at a rapid rate!]

[You will die after 30 seconds. Please cancel the effect!]

Ji-Cheok created a vertical ectoplasm path and drove for the clouds.

Vrooom!

“Seong Kwang! Please use all your buffs on me!”

“Got it!”

Seong Kwang’s prayer resounded behind him, but it didn’t register in his brain at all. Ji-Cheok pulled out the remaining Qi and raised all the strength he could have in his body. The [Soul Telekinesis] energy wrapped around him and the motorcycle, in the shape of a massive ectoplasm sword. Ji-Cheok imbued the sword with all his Sword Qi, and then also thought of his newly acquired Sword Threads.

The Sword Qi split into thin threads, coiling around the sword and spinning. Ji-Cheok and his bike turned from a sword into a drill—a titanic drill imbued with Sword Qi and blazing with divine power.

‘Preparations are complete. Let’s go!’

Ji-Cheok turned the Mono Bike G toward the ground.

‘Vertical fall!’

The Mono Bike G was heading downward, but it was not in free fall. Instead, Ji-Cheok built an ectoplasm road toward the monster and accelerated down the road to increase his speed to the maximum!

SHOOOONG!

‘Sword and Self as One!’

They were falling toward the huge Abomination like a meteor. As if it felt the danger, the monster put out its hand to block Ji-Cheok, but it was already too late. Just like that, the bike and the monster’s hand met.

Crack!

The monster’s hand, shoulder, and torso were cut through like a piece of paper. And with Double Strike, the damage doubled.

BOOOOM!

The merged bodies of Ghouls started to burn and disappear. The mixture of divine power and Sword Qi incinerated the grotesque beings.

Ji-Cheok firmly gripped the handle without losing his concentration until the end. Just before hitting the ground, he managed to turn the handle, and his body jolted violently as it fought against gravity. At that moment, Ji-Cheok used another function of the Mono Bike G.

Click.

The device holding Seong Kwang’s feet was released, and his body flew backward. Ji-Cheok also let go of the handle and turned around to grab Seong Kwang. Mono Bike G flew to one side, and Ji-Cheok rolled on the ground to the other side while holding Seong Kwang.

Boom!

Mono Bike G smashed into the other side of the mountain and exploded.

The giant was split in half, from the top of its head to its groin, and the halves slowly collapsed left and right with a loud noise.

Thud!

The Abomination stopped moving. They had finally taken it down.

1. It’s a river that divides North and South Korea.