Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Episode 10. Iron-Hoof Lord

Someone swallowed a curse.

“That thing is F to E Rank?”

“Retreat! Prepare to retreat!”

The Association agent shouted, but fear was already evident in his voice.

‘Iron-Hoof Lord.’

Jinho had never seen that name before in his life. But he instinctively understood what kind of creature the monster before him was.

The leader of the Iron-Hoof Boar herd.

Its body was grotesquely swollen, as though it had gathered all the iron and blood of the entire colony into itself. Layers of metal-plated armor rose from its back, and its four legs were as thick as stakes. Every time its hooves struck the ground, the concrete shattered, and its tusks left long marks whenever they grazed the passage walls.

Doyoon stepped forward.

“Everyone, fall back. Don’t get in the way.”

His tone was different from the arrogant way he had spoken earlier. The composure he had shown while casually cutting down small fry was gone.

The Iron-Hoof Lord moved first.

BOOM!

Its enormous body surged into the passage. Rather than a charge, it was closer to an entire wall pushing forward.

Doyoon threw himself sideways. His sword stabbed toward the Iron-Hoof Lord’s flank.

CLANG!

The tip of the sword bounced off.

Doyoon’s eyes trembled.

“Why won’t it go in?”

The Iron-Hoof Lord twisted its head sideways. A curved tusk swept past Doyoon’s body.

CRACK!

Doyoon’s shoulder guard was torn away. His body rolled across the floor and slammed into the wall.

“Mr. Doyoon!”

The Association agent shouted.

Doyoon immediately tried to get up. But one of his arms would not move properly.

The public entry team fell apart in an instant.

They had never come here to fight a boss in the first place. They were low-rank hunters who had come to deal with low-rank monsters under the name of a government project. They had prepared to face one or two Iron-Hoof Boars, but they were not prepared to fight an enormous colony boss that had never appeared in the records.

The Association agent grabbed his radio and shouted.

“Unidentified large specimen! Suspected higher species of Iron-Hoof Boar! Location is the eastern outer passage! Requesting immediate support...!”

Before he could finish speaking, the Iron-Hoof Lord stomped the floor.

BANG!

The shock spread through the passage. One of the low-rank hunters at the rear lost his balance and fell, and Taesik pulled him toward himself.

“Don’t scatter!”

Taesik’s warning was correct. But fear came first. People instinctively retreated, causing the path through the passage to become tangled with bodies.

The Iron-Hoof Lord lowered its head.

This time, it was not toward Doyoon, but in the direction where the smell of blood was strongest.

The dying Iron-Hoof Boar, the gaze it had directed at Doyoon’s sword, the people standing around it...

‘Don't tell me.’

The Iron-Hoof Lord’s snout twitched.

Grrrrrrrr.

Its gaze turned toward Jinho.

“Get down!”

Jinho shouted.

Several people reflexively lowered their bodies. But a few seemed not to have heard him.

The Iron-Hoof Lord’s tusks swept through the passage.

CRRRRACK!

The wall split apart as though it had been torn open. The tusks had passed at the exact height where people had been standing moments ago. One person who reacted too late had his protective gear torn away by the tip of a tusk.

Those who had ducked in time survived. The survivors stared at Jinho in astonishment.

Taesik approached Jinho, practically crawling.

“How did you know that just now?”

“Because it lowered its head.”

“Just from seeing that?”

“Unlike when it charged, it was taking a stance to sweep sideways.”

Taesik looked dumbfounded, but there was no time to question him. The Iron-Hoof Lord moved again. This time, it was toward Doyoon.

Doyoon tried to raise his sword, but one of his arms would not lift properly. For the first time, fear appeared on his face.

“Damn it...”

The Iron-Hoof Lord’s foreleg came crashing down toward Doyoon. Jinho reflexively picked up a broken spear shaft from the floor and threw it.

Thud!

The shaft struck the Iron-Hoof Lord’s armor and bounced off. It failed to inflict a wound, but it drew the creature’s attention. Its head turned toward Jinho.

“Hey, are you insane?”

Doyoon shouted.

He was right. Jinho thought he was insane too. But if Doyoon got trampled there, who would be next?

“Then handle it yourself!!!”

Jinho adjusted his grip on his dismantling knife. He was not trying to fight. His gaze shifted toward the things scattered across the floor.

The Iron-Hoof Boar’s blood, the Blackrock Salt he had secretly collected earlier, the Red-Vein Moss growing on the wall. And the Iron-Hoof Lord’s snout, flaring roughly as it breathed.

The creature was more sensitive to smells and sounds than to sights. It turned its head toward the strong smell of blood and had come all the way here after following the dying Iron-Hoof Boar’s cry.

‘What if I could disrupt its sense of smell?’

Jinho grabbed a handful of Blackrock Salt from his inventory and scattered it toward the Iron-Hoof Lord’s face. The black powder spread through the damp air.

GRRRAAAAGH!

The Iron-Hoof Lord shook its head violently. It had not been injured. Instead, its nostrils flared wildly, and its gaze wandered aimlessly through the air.

“Now!”

Taesik reacted first.

Gripping his spear with both hands, he ran toward the Iron-Hoof Lord’s side. Two other low-rank hunters gritted their teeth and followed him. The tip of the spear stabbed into the inside of the Iron-Hoof Lord’s hind leg.

Crunch!

It did not penetrate deeply. However, the leg buckled for an instant.

Jinho narrowed his eyes.

Piercing the iron armor itself was impossible. But the armor did not perfectly cover the gaps between the joints that opened whenever the creature moved.

“Inside the hind leg! Aim for the gap that opens when it turns!”

Taesik and the low-rank hunters immediately changed direction. However, the Iron-Hoof Lord would not fall for the same trick twice.

It lowered its body and immediately turned sideways.

BOOM!

Its enormous torso slammed into the passage wall. The wall burst apart, sending chunks of concrete flying in every direction. Taesik barely managed to roll away, while one of the low-rank hunters was struck in the shoulder and sent flying backward.

“Damn it!”

The Association agent shouted.

The Iron-Hoof Lord scraped the floor violently with all four hooves. Something resembling iron powder sprayed from between the shattered concrete.

Jinho’s expression stiffened at the sight.

The creature was not merely agitated. It was lining itself up for a charge. And at the end of that straight line stood the tangled entry team.

‘I have to stop it.’

He could not withstand it head-on. There was no way Jinho could endure a charge that had sent even Doyoon flying.

‘I need something stronger than before.’

At that moment, something red caught his eye. It was Red-Vein Moss.

It was an ingredient he had identified earlier while passing through a closed-off passage.

- Can be used in small amounts to remove unpleasant mana odors.

Jinho took a handful of Red-Vein Moss from his inventory. A sharp, grassy smell immediately spread from his fingertips.

The Blackrock Salt alone had been enough to temporarily disorient it.

‘Then what if I mix in an ingredient that removes odors?’

Jinho grabbed the Blackrock Salt and Red-Vein Moss together.

“Mr. Taesik!”

“What?!”

“We need to lure it toward the right wall!”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“If it charges straight ahead like that, everyone will die!”

Taesik swallowed a brief curse. But he did not ask any more questions.

“Right! Lure it to the right!”

Several people moved. The Iron-Hoof Lord did not react to their movements. Its gaze remained fixed on the smell of blood and Jinho.

Jinho inhaled. Then he threw the Blackrock Salt and Red-Vein Moss he was holding toward the bottom of the passage’s right wall. The black powder and red moss mixed into a pool of blood. The sharp grassy smell, metallic odor, and scent of blood became tangled together.

The Iron-Hoof Lord’s head wavered.

Grrr?

For a very brief moment.

The creature lost its target.

“Mr. Doyoon!”

Jinho shouted. Doyoon, who had been leaning against the wall, gritted his teeth.

“What do you want me to do?!”

“Slash to the right! Toward its snout!”

“Don’t order me around!”

Even as he said that, Doyoon moved. He pressed his injured arm against his body and gripped his sword with his remaining arm. Then he lunged toward the Iron-Hoof Lord’s snout. Doyoon’s sword grazed the creature’s nose.

It was not a deep wound. But that was enough.

GRRRAAAAAAGH!

The Iron-Hoof Lord twisted its head in rage. Its target shifted to the right.

The next moment, it charged.

BOOOOM!

The Iron-Hoof Lord’s enormous body slammed into the right wall.

The wall collapsed. Dust and chunks of concrete erupted as though exploding. The entire passage shook, and rebar protruded from the ceiling.

“Retreat! Everyone, retreat!”

The Association agent’s shout rang out.

People rushed toward the main passage. Taesik dragged the injured away, and Doyoon staggered to his feet with one arm hanging limp.

Jinho tried to follow as well.

But his feet were one beat too slow.

Because the Iron-Hoof Lord had not fallen yet. The creature was still embedded in the wall, breathing heavily. Its right hind leg was bent at an unnatural angle. The area Taesik’s spear had stabbed and the fascia damaged by its repeated charges seemed to be nearing their limits.

Jinho hesitated. It was a momentary conflict.

Between ‘If I sever that, it won’t be able to charge anymore’ and ‘If I run now, I might survive.’

‘If the Iron-Hoof Lord moves again, it’ll ram into the people retreating from behind.’

In that case...

‘Just once.’

Jinho adjusted his grip on his dismantling knife.

“Mr. Jinho!”

He heard Taesik’s voice. Jinho did not answer.

He lowered his body toward the inside of the Iron-Hoof Lord’s hind leg. The stench was horrible. The smell of blood, iron, wet fur, and a beast saturated with mana seemed to choke his throat.

The gap where he could insert the knife was extremely narrow.

Between hide and muscle, between torn flesh and fascia.

Jinho pushed the tip of his knife into that gap.

“Please.”

Not knowing what he was praying to, he gritted his teeth and twisted the knife.

Slice.

The sensation of something being severed traveled up through his wrist.

The Iron-Hoof Lord let out a monstrous shriek.

GRRROOOOOAR!

Its body convulsed wildly. Jinho tried to pull out the knife, but it was too late. The Iron-Hoof Lord turned its head toward him. White steam from its breath engulfed Jinho’s face.

‘I’m screwed.’

An enormous tusk sliced through the air. Jinho threw himself aside. But he could not avoid it completely. The tip of the tusk caught his clothes and the equipment strap around his waist.

The next moment, the world turned upside down.

BANG!

The Iron-Hoof Lord twisted its body as though having a seizure. Its hind leg, which had lost its mobility, stumbled against the floor, and its enormous body tilted toward the inside of the collapsed wall.

There was empty space beneath it.

A fissure leading to the lower level, exposed when the wall had collapsed earlier.

The black hole there opened its mouth toward him.

“Mr. Jinho!”

Taesik rushed over. Jinho reached out his hand.

But his body was already being dragged along, caught on the Iron-Hoof Lord’s tusk.

Taesik’s fingertips brushed through empty air. The Iron-Hoof Lord’s body fell into the fissure below. Jinho was dragged down with it in an instant.

“Huh?”

His vision tilted. The chunks of collapsed concrete seemed to float upward.

No, he was falling downward.

The wind howled past his ears.

The last things he saw were the tip of Taesik’s spear and the hands reaching toward him through the dust.

And then

THUD!

Darkness swallowed Jinho.