Steel-Eating Player - Chapter 164
Episode 164 [Yggdrasil, Green Wave, Dragon of Death – 4]
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The moment the white airship Pridwen entered the huge hole in the ground, Maru gathered up the remains of the buildings lying around and firmly filled the hole.
Kkudduddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd ——
“I blocked it with as much force as I could, but um… maybe I gained a second or two?”
It was a skeptical judgment uncharacteristic of Maru.
Didn’t Nidhogg climb up the ground and the building with his bare body in the first place?
No matter how tightly you plugged this hole, it would break through even if you were tearing up a piece of paper.
“Still, he could be caught or succeeded by 1 second….”
Lee Hyun-wook said that and turned his head behind him.
Just before entering this place, he saw the bastard soaring into the sky as if in a fit, and soon Nidhogg came chasing after him.
‘There is no answer if you are caught in this narrow passage.’
The reason why the conflict with Nidhog was able to lead to an advantageous situation was because the battlefield was open to the sky.
If he were to collide in this narrow space, he wouldn’t be able to survive even 10 seconds….
‘…You must do everything you can to get rid of it.’
Hyunwook Lee lifted up the Mana Messenger.
“Oh, Mr. Harris, can you hear me?”
– Damn it, can you at least tell me before you do something? Why on earth did you go into that hole?
“I’m sorry I don’t have time. And I need your help right now.”
– Yes, I had a rough idea of what the situation was. Nidhogg I see that bastard flying away in a huff. It looks like he’s hiding something great in that hole. Can I tighten the roots so he can’t get in?
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Now Friedwen was navigating her tangled, twisted dark passages, following the guidance of Emilia Müller’s ‘Holy Light’.
Kkudduddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd ——
Soon, the passage behind Prydwen began to narrow, and Yggdrasil’s roots tightened, making it impossible for even a rat to pass through.
Donald Harris was exercising his authority as manager of the World Tree.
‘But that’s just a temporary gain of time.’
According to Donald Harris, the reason the monster Nidhogg was able to be imprisoned in the root prison was because he was in a weakened state and the most powerful holy relic called ‘Saint Dom’ was placed on top of it.
However, once freed and fully restored, the World Tree’s sprinkling would be a bit of an annoying spider web and Saint Dom’s sacred power would be nothing more than an unpleasant heat.
just as expected…….
Kwasik— Kwasik—
A bloody sound begins to approach from behind.
The sound of digging up the ground and tearing up roots….
Kwasik 1 Kwasik 1
It was as if there was a metal grinder on my back.
Also, the sound was accompanied by angry breathing.
“How dare a human being insult me!”
“ah….”
The moment they recognized that voice, everyone instinctively groaned.
“Suddenly, I feel…”
Lee Hyun-wook didn’t feel anything because he had the ‘mental barrier’ he gained as a dragon slayer, but other people felt like their bodies were losing strength.
“Everyone, come over here and look at this light!”
Fortunately, Emilima Müller created a white flame that removed the ‘condition abnormality’. If you stay near it, you can escape the fear of Dragon Fear.
but….
Kwasik 1 Kwasik 1
The roar behind us quickly got closer, and everyone couldn’t help but feel it.
There are only a few seconds left until that terrible sound reaches overhead…
“I’m so fucking sorry, but can’t you go any faster?”
Kim Se-hee, who had become thoughtful, shouted at Yeo Sang-min, who was controlling Friedwen.
“How the fuck do you get around such a twisty road so quickly? Ugh….”
He was also very sensitive, so he increased his speed even while shouting.
This would make it difficult to control the rain process and greatly increase the risk of hitting the wall, but he decided that it was better than getting chewed up by Nidhogg.
Kwasik 1 Kwasik 1
Nidhogg, on the other hand, seemed to be traversing such a complex passage at incredible speeds, but he was able to move freely through the winding passage as if it were flowing, with senses that were better than those of a human.
If his roots had not been closed by Donald Harris, he would have already been caught and torn to pieces.
at that time….
Quadddd——!
The most recently tightened root on his back was torn as if a curtain had been opened, and a red eye appeared through it.
“I found these bugs——!”
As it digs through the torn roots, its huge body approaches like a dark cloud.
“No, he followed right behind me!”
At that time, Park Jun-mo was scared and spewed out electricity from both hands, and the world turned black in an instant.
Hold it——!
As if this passage had become a high-voltage wire, an enormous amount of current flowed through the entire passageway, so much so that the roots of Yggdrasil were charred black and caught on fire.
but….
Pa—ja ja ja ja——!
Nidhogg was caught up in it, and without even blinking, he thrust his head in and rushed at him.
“If we keep this up, we’ll get caught in no time! Give it all!”
Hyun-wook Lee exploded all of his ‘Fire Traps’, Se-hee Kim fired blades of wind, and Emilia Müller spewed out arrows of light.
All of them gave everything they could.
Kwa 1 and 1 and 1 and 1 light——!
However, Nidhogg was not pushed away at all.
If the straight section had continued, the breath would have melted the entire Pridwen… Fortunately, the curved section appeared at the right time.
“Everything is useless, so accept death——!”
At that moment, Friedwen accelerated to maximum speed.
“—We’re here! Hold on tight!”
Woooooo——!
When Yeo Sang-min pulled the control stick, the gnome engine unleashed its maximum power, distorting the surrounding air like vinyl.
Immediately after, I passed through a straight section of hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye.
Hung!
“It’s done!”
The deep and wide darkness that not even the saint’s Holy Light could illuminate proved that the narrow passage had finally led to a vast cavity.
Immediately after, Yeo Sang-min sharply turned the control, and Friedwen increased altitude and went up near the ceiling.
At the same time, Hyunwook Lee jumped out of the lamp door and shouted at the back.
“—Emilia, hurry and find the Life Vessel!”
If you destroy it, Nidho dies instantly without having to deal with Phase 2, and the strategy ends.
‘In my previous life, it took me too long to notice and Nidhogg destroyed dozens of cities.’
Dragon slayers from all over the world united to face the creature, and despite delivering several fatal blows, the creature did not fall.
The reason was that he had hidden his ‘source of life’ somewhere separate from his body through advanced death magic.
Right here in the root prison where he was trapped….
If we hadn’t known that, Nidhogg would have been the worst disaster. But on the other hand, if you know that… it may actually be the easiest prey to attack.
“What on earth does this guy know that he dares to come here——!”
Soon, the thickest root at the entrance to the root prison was torn off and Nidhogg rushed in, his mouth wide open at the same time.
‘I’m trying to shoot the damn dragon’s breath!’
If he gets it, he buys it unconditionally.
No matter how large the cavity was, the area that could be avoided was limited, so it was extremely dangerous.
‘But on the other hand, he also becomes defenseless.’
In some ways, Dragon Breath was like a huge artillery piece.
In order to unleash that enormous firepower, there was no choice but to maintain a relatively fixed posture in order to withstand the equivalent reaction force.
To put it simply…
‘A big attack always leaves a big gap!’
Lee Hyun-wook summoned the AD-2 engraved on his left wrist, took out his Balmung from within, mixed it with other weapons, and sent it scattering near the guy’s head.
‘Maybe… I can give it a shot.’
Meanwhile, a black shimmer boiled inside the guy’s throat, and a pillar of black fire burst out.
Qua—and—and—and—and——!
As it hit near the ceiling, Yggdrasil’s roots began to melt and the bastard whipped his head around, scattering his acidic breath in all directions.
This entire cavity was filled with acidity and the spirit of death.
“Ugh, everything is scattered!”
The party jumped off the Pridwen and dispersed, and Lee Hyun-wook gave Mana to the Pridwen and turned it into a shield.
And at that very moment
Sigh!
A balmung hit the guy’s left eye.
“Kaaaa——!”
As mentioned earlier, Lee Hyun-wook’s strike aimed at the gap that opened up in the fixed position was an accurate hit.
‘Okay, I got a real kick out of it.’
Of course, I would use recovery magic soon, but I only bought time by temporarily losing the use of one eye.
“Now Emilia! Hurry and find it!”
“I’m looking for it! But it’s too wide!”
While Nidhogg was pulling out the Balmung stuck in his left eye, Lee Hyun-wook summoned ‘Hugin’, launched him into the sky, and began to explore the darkness with his transcendent sense.
‘You can find it right away because it’s in here.’
However, the size of the cavity was larger than most soccer stadiums.
Also, as this was a prison, Nidhogg must have put a lot of effort into hiding the ‘Life Vessel’ in order to avoid being discovered by the guards.
‘No matter what, you can’t avoid my eyes.’
The combination of ‘Hugin’ and ‘Eye of Horus’, which are legendary grade information acquisition items, does not miss out on most information.
But then Lee Hyun-wook sensed the tens of tons of front feet falling on his head and rolled on the floor.
Kwa-a-ang——!
A heavy impact reverberates through the ground as if a dump truck had fallen in the direction of gravity.
Lee Hyun-wook dodged the attack by rolling and rolling on the floor, then summoned Moglei to cover himself.
‘Damn it, if this happens, there will be no time to turn your eyes and senses elsewhere!’
Hung——
The front foot flew out from a blind spot, like a piece of heavy equipment that had stepped on the accelerator again.
Lee Hyun-wook turned the mogul ray that was covering his body and blocked the attack.
Tsk——!
Upon impact, the Mowglai flew back hundreds of meters and landed somewhere with a loud bang.
Hyunwook Lee lifted his body into the air without any time to bring back the Mogle Ray and was out of the range of Nid Hog’s front feet.
“Come here, I’ll personally dip you in acidic juice and make you drink it——!”
Huh—huh—huh—huh—
As Nidhogg’s eyes glowed, magic circles appeared from all directions, clearly illuminating the darkness.
bang! bang! bang! bang!
Magic of all kinds, including fire, water, ice, earth, and electricity, pours out from all directions.
The entire cavity was indiscriminately bombarded, similar to spraying insecticide throughout a room to kill a single small insect.
“Tsk!”
Even Lee Hyun-wook could not avoid the carpet bombardment in this narrow space, and was eventually swept away by a single round of flame magic.
‘shit!’
The position and angle made it impossible to avoid the lightning striking above him. If I got hit by that, it seemed like I would at least be in a near-death state.
But for some reason, the lightning changed direction and landed somewhere far away.
“Hurry and avoid!”
This voice was Park Jun-mo.
He had redirected the lightning.
At that time, a white line appeared in the darkness.
“Hwaap!”
This time, Peter Clark, the leader of the [Wight Tree Guard], squeezed all his mana and unleashed ‘Heavenly Sword,’ which is said to be the Paladin’s strongest attack skill.
A translucent white sword about 10 meters long appeared in the air, and when Peter Clark swung his sword, it moved as if remotely controlled and slashed at Nidhogg’s back.
Tsk——!
but….
“Well, that’s laughable….”
Phew——!
Pete Clark was swept away by a huge flame and disappeared into the darkness dozens of meters behind.
I support you!
Next, Park Jun-mo fired a series of spears made of electric current towards the side, and Kim Se-hee scratched the other side with the wind sword.
But it was all to no avail.
Since they didn’t even have a ‘Dragon Slayer’, they couldn’t penetrate the barrier and would have to be beaten for at least several tens of minutes to inflict any meaningful damage.
And one by one, magic circles began to bloom behind their backs.
“No, avoid it!”
Since the two people had no defense skills, a single hit could have killed them instantly.
Fortunately, Lee Hyun-wook had filled their bodies with some metal in preparation for situations like this, and he pulled them out and threw them out of the attack radius.
At that moment, a bright beam of light shot up from behind Lee Hyun-wook and reached Nidhogg’s face.
Zeng——
「—Tsk!」
The bastard frowned and turned his head into the darkness, as if his eyes were dazzling.
“Now that I think about it, your eyes are more accurate! I’ll stop it, so quickly find the location of that damn thing!”
Emilia Müller shouted as she ran toward Hyunwook Lee.
Yes, she was right.
Lee Hyun-wook found it much faster.
“Damn but….”
If Lee Hyeon-wook left the battlefield and started searching for the Life Vessel… no, if he only glanced away for a moment, there was a high possibility that all four of them would die.
Emilia Müller seemed to have noticed Lee Hyun-wook’s thoughts as she passed by Lee Hyun-wook and said.
“You know what’s right above here, right? It’s my home, Saint Dom! I can use that power, so don’t worry, quick!”
Emilia Müller opened her hands, and at that moment, a white shimmer began to fall from the ceiling.
Go—oh—oh—oh——
All the sacred power contained in the strongest holy relic of Saint Dome was brought down.
Even without that, the saint who possessed the strongest divine power was able to control more than twice as much divine power.
Her eyes began to glow white.
“What the fuck, a stinky lizard like you was curled up at my feet?”
An armor made of light was placed on her body, and her body slowly rose into the sky.
“For some reason, my dreams are always disturbed…”
It was probably due to excessive drinking, but she blamed Nidhogg and unleashed her divine power to its maximum.
Woo one ooh one ooh one ooh——
Even Nidhogg flinched and adjusted his posture at the overwhelming divine power that was symmetrical to the power of darkness.
Churrrrrr——
Soon, the sacred energy flowing from the ceiling took the form of a chain.
It was several times thicker and several times larger than the chain that had restrained ‘Banshee’ in Ganghwa Island not long ago.
They poured down like a white waterfall and began to envelop Nidhogg’s entire body.
Cheeeee——!
As the two conflicting forces collided, sparks and smoke appeared as if a short circuit had occurred.
“This dirty bitch, Jim, has always felt the power of you. And I was always looking forward to the day when I would slaughter the four years, so today is that day——!”
“Shut up, I’m going to cut you into small pieces, soak you in oriental snake wine, and drink it!”
“You are blasphemous!”
Then, white light began to condense near the ceiling, and a sphere was created, emitting light so intense that one could not dare to look at it, as if a white dwarf had appeared.
If you could look closely, you would see that it was a huge mace.
“Archangel’s Punishment——!”
It was a more divine attack skill than the ‘Heavenly Sword’ that Peter Clark had previously demonstrated.
It was a blow filled with enormous divine power, enough to instantly kill even the necromancer if hit directly by it.
‘Of course, there was no opportunity to hit him directly.’
This is because it was impossible to penetrate the massive undead army that it commanded.
However, Nidhogg was now alone and bound by sacred chains.
Tsk——!
As the Archangel’s Punishment struck Nidhogg’s large head, black light began to spread out like blood from his head.
The dark power it possessed disappeared as if evaporating.
“Off….”
Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-wook was scanning every corner of the cave in detail through Hugin.
And finally….
– (!) Entrance to the hidden stage ‘Unidentified Gap’
Disparate information was caught in his ‘Insight Lens’.
‘If I didn’t have the Insight Lens, I would have searched for this all day…’
Lee Hyun-wook returned the Mogul Ray and turned his head. Now it was time to touch the baton with Emilia Müller again.
But then
bang–!
From Hugin’s perspective, Emilia Müller was seen flying behind him in the distance, accompanied by an explosion of alcohol. She was missing one of her arms.
“No matter how strong the darkness is, it can be lost to a handful of light, but on the other hand, no matter how bright the light is, it cannot push away the vast darkness. “The burden will be as dark as the universe…”
Lee Hyun-wook kicked off the ground and flew up, melting several metal weapons and wrapping them around her waist and neck, giving her control over the metal.
And he pulled her close, hugging her body and dodging all the flying magic.
“Damn it Emilia, come to your senses!”
“Cough! Oh, it’s so fucking embarrassing…”
She slapped Lee Hyun-wook’s chest and her blood poured out.
“What… I didn’t drink wine…”
“Stop talking nonsense and just heal.”
Lee Hyun-wook flew towards the ‘unidentified gap’. Although her condition was not good, she had to go straight ahead no matter what.
By the way…
Kwa 1 and 1 and 1 and 1 and——!
The guy fired acidic breath at that point, and Lee Hyun-wook had no choice but to hastily change direction.
“Ha, it’s a bit difficult if you do that….”
In order to aim for the Life Vessel, someone had to stop that crazy guy.
However, Park Jun-mo, Kim Se-hee, and Peter Clark were not enough.
“There is no way for you, you bastards of insects, to escape, so you will have to bow your heads and sacrifice your life force!”
Lee Hyun-wook moved Balmung around on the guy’s head, making him nervous, and he thought about how to create a ‘gap’ for the guy again.
‘A gap can be created somehow.’
But the answer came from a completely different place.
Blah blah blah——
The roots of the ceiling of Yggdrasil opened and two figures began to come down through the gap.
“We’ll leave that bastard to Steele’s care, and you can finish your dark plan!”
The two figures were Donald Harris and the Spirit King.
And with them….
Qua—ah—ah—ah——!
A huge amount of water, probably from Lake Chad, poured down like a waterfall and soon formed into seven water columns and began to push Nidhogg’s body.
The collaboration between the Spirit King and the S-class elementalist was truly amazing and succeeded in driving Nidhogg to the edge of the wall.
“Kaaaaah, these are just random things.”
“Steelane, right now!”
Before the Spirit King could shout, Lee Hyun-wook ran towards the ‘Hidden Stage – Unidentified Gap’.
When I looked at that spot, as expected, I couldn’t see anything with the naked eye.
He recalled the ‘home’-like keyhole he found in the Black Dragon’s Labyrinth not long ago.
‘But I can’t afford that now.’
He recklessly swung his moghlay towards the wall.
bang–!
A handful of roots on the wall burst open, and cold, foul air flowed out from inside.
Lee Hyun-wook inserted Moglei into the gap and used the principle of leverage to widen the gap even further.
Kwasik!
Finally, a space large enough for three or four people covered in scales was revealed.
Perhaps Nidhogg created a space by removing his scales to prevent Donald Harris from detecting it.
Emilia Müller noticed this and stuck out her tongue.
“Tsk, there’s a really thick bar shield. It’s on the same level as the dragon’s barrier. Shit, this is going to be fun…”
As expected, it was protected by the power of the dragon…
“No, I’ll wake up soon, so I’m getting ready.”
When the giant sword of the 2nd level Moglai Dragon Slayer touched the shield, it disappeared like tofu.
And in the center of that space, there was a huge black gem.
Go—oh—oh—oh——
At first glance, it was an unusual object with black shimmers wrapped around it like a belt.
“That’s the Life Vessel….”
As Lee Hyun-wook took a step forward, Emilia Müller grabbed his shoulder with her remaining arm.
“—No, don’t get closer.”
Lee Hyun-wook nodded his head and stepped back.
“Yes, you shouldn’t get any closer.”
The ‘Life Vessel’, a vessel containing the lich’s life force, is a top-level death magic that sucks out the life force of a living person like a magnet just by getting close to it.
Therefore, ‘purification’ through divine power was necessary.
Emilia Müller stepped in front of him.
“after….”
When she closed her eyes, a golden glow emanated from her severed arm, and soon her arm was regenerated.
Then, when she put her hands together, a dense sacred power flowed from her entire body, forming a barrier, and in that state, she took long strides towards her black jewel.
Wooooow——
As she slowly stretched her arms forward, her purifying light poured over the Life Vessel.
Cheeeee——!
Black smoke billowed out as if water had been poured on a pile of charcoal.
“Kaaaa——!”
At the same time, Nidhogg’s screams seemed to be working properly.
“Now that’s enough, let’s destroy it quickly!”
Lee Hyun-wook held the moglai with both hands and struck the black gem with all his might.
Zeng——!
At that moment, a tremendous pressure poured out from within the black jewel and pushed the 2-ton Mogle Ray away, but Lee Hyun-wook put a rigid body on his entire body and pushed the tip of the sword in with all his might.
Quadddd——!
Soon, clear cracks began to spread over the black jewel.
bang! bang! bang! bang!
All kinds of explosions rang out from behind, and the moans of the Spirit King and Donald Harris could also be heard.
Even if they were one, if they collided with Nidhogg, they wouldn’t be able to last long and would lose their lives.
Zeng——!
But Lee Hyun-wook was a little faster.
Per—hundred billion—————
The black gem was crushed, turned into powder, and disappeared.
– congratulations! You have defeated ‘Nidhogg, the Arbiter of Death’!
– congratulations! You have achieved a special achievement.
– congratulations! By satisfying special conditions, ‘Mogley’ is imbued with mysterious power.
Soon, all kinds of system messages came to mind.
And Mogley changed to ‘Legendary’ level.