Chapter 16 - Mines
n
n
n<
n<
nDohyuk felt a small paper card forming in his hands.
n<
nItem to summon famous wandering merchant of the desert who has many valuable items. You are required to have enough coins to purchase his valuable items. Be wary of how much you have.
nDohyuk immediately put it in his pocket. Whatever that this merchant was selling wasn’t applicable right now.
n“Status.”
n<
n-Strength: 39( 2)(E)
n-Stamina: 30( 7)(E)
n-Agility: 40( 2)(E)
n-Magic: 2( 3)(F)
n-Endurance: 26( 5)(E)
n-Charisma: 25( 3)(E)
n<
n-Coins: 18293
nThe armored robot was now turning back to Dohyuk. It was a slow turn, but its charge was at the speed of lightning.
n‘I was lucky.’
nIt was out of pure luck that he survived in dodging the attack.
n<
n<
n<
n<
nIt was a choice that couldn’t be undone.
n<
n<
n<
n<
nDohyuk made his choice and did not look back. He did not have time to do so. The armored robot approached him and swung its sword. Dohyuk could barely manage to react. It was hard, but it was doable.
nDohyuk kicked the armor’s right arm. Just kicking its arm hurt him a lot, but his increased strength had paid off. The arm was thrown back widely and Dohyuk jumped up.
n-Do-Ryu-Zen
nA kick with a spin in the air squarely struck the armor’s neck.
n‘It lacks power-‘
nBefore Dohyuk could think, something grabbed Dohyuk’s arm. It was the robot’s left arm. Dohyuk was then was thrown out. Pain surged up as he crashed against the ground. It felt like some of his chest bones were breaking. Dohyuk moved his head and the sword pierced the ground where his head previously was. Dohyuk then grabbed the armored robot’s left arm that was holding onto Dohyuk’s arm.
n<
nFlavor of Iron
n“…”
nThere was no hesitation.
n“Digest.”
nDohyuk mumbled and the arm disappeared. Dohyuk did not stop there. He reached out with both his hands to touch the other part of the armor, but the robot quickly took a wide step back.
n<
n-Coins: 3013
nEven after his injuries were healed, a large amount of coins were deposited into his wallet. The robot’s left arm now had the once-human arm sticking out from it.
n“So I can… digest it.”
nHe now had a way to fight this thing.
n<
n<
n‘I just need to touch it.’
nIts armor was gone, but it was surely working. That’s when the armor did not move. It began to morph itself.
n‘It’s…’
nIt became more slender. The sword on the right arm had also changed shape. It was now like a thin sickle, but there was more. A total of 9 sickle blades were now sticking out from various parts of the body.
n“UGH!”
nThe armored robot moved in. Unlike its previous charge, the movement resembled that of fencing.
n‘W-wait…’
nThe robot was now moving much faster and Dohyuk was now having a hard time following it. The armor had altered itself to better fight against Dohyuk and his Nature.
n‘Let’s keep calm.’
nDohyuk thought as he dodged those attacks. At least he was able to dodge them.
n‘But it will be over if it moves even quicker.’
nDohyuk moved. As he tried to dodge, the armored robot moved its right shoulder, following its blade to where Dohyuk had moved to, and it finally sliced one of Dohyuk’s arms off.
n-Oh, man.
nBasil moaned. Maybe it was too much.
n-Well, it transformed… I guess it was too much.
nTransformation through education. This was the Nature of Ka’Kudenol’s slaughter machine. The robot had started out weak because of the girl’s weak power had served as a host, but the robot was growing. The only way for Dohyuk to win was to come up with a plan to kill it with one strike.
n-Oh, there you are.
nBasil turned and two other angels came down to him.
n-Wow, slaughter machine?
n-That’s done. But look at him, he’s not even screaming with his arm cut off.
nThe angels cackled and tapped on Basil’s shoulder.
n-Let’s go to the other region. I heard there’s a crazy one.”
n-Crazy one?
n-Yeah. You heard about the one with Gauntlet of the Fire Demon? Jo Changhun? He has a record number of kills now. He’s killing everyone he sees.
nThe angels seemed excited. But…
n-You guys go ahead.
nBasil turned back.
n-I’m going to watch some more.
nThe other angels shrugged.
n-Okay, fine.
n-It’s your choice.
nThe angels flew away, but Basil did not turn back. He wasn’t sure why he was still watching, but something was making him uncomfortable right now.
nDohyuk was still dodging with his arm cut off. It didn’t hurt as the attack was very vicious and the cut was extremely clean, but the fear of having one lost body part was pressuring him.
n‘What should I do…’
nTo win? Dohyuk thought. He couldn’t just grab those sickles, but the only part of the robot he could touch was one of the sickles. It was now even getting faster.
nThat’s when Dohyuk heard a small jingling sound from his pocket, and that gave him an idea.
nHe took out the object. It was an F-rank bracelet, the only food he had after the long battle with the group. It wouldn’t grow his arm back but-
n‘It might be enough to stick it back on.’
nDohyuk glanced at his cut-off arm. It wasn’t far.
n‘…Let’s see.’
nHe then jumped. The robot pursued him, swinging its sickle at Dohyuk. He felt heat on his right as his ear cut off, landing on the ground. Yet, he got to his target. He was now holding the arm. All he needed to do was the last step. But… was it because he was relieved? His other wrist was cut off by the sickle that followed.
nDohyuk looked down. He tried to grab onto the arms that dropped, but he couldn’t. He took a step back.
nThe robot came closer, but Dohyuk took another step back and slumped down.
n“No…”
nHe kneeled.
n“You can’t… do that.”
nWhen the armor came close enough to raise its sickle high to finish-
n“You shouldn’t step on other people’s hands.”
nDohyuk looked at the armored robot and spoke.
n“Digest.”
nOne of the robot’s legs shined. It was one of Dohyuk’s arms. It was the mine that was carefully placed. The robot swung and Dohyuk jumped up. He didn’t think gaining his hand back would allow him to touch the armor. That was why he wanted to experiment.
nIf touching would allow him to digest, would it be possible with the hand that was cut off?
nTherefore, he picked up the hand and had it hold onto the bracelet. And he knew. That’s why he gave up his other hand and kicked it to have its palm face the sky so that it would touch the robot’s foot when the armor stepped on it. That’s why Dohyuk closely observed the placement and the armored robot’s footsteps. Then, he kneeled at the right distance.
nIt was now payback time. His regrown left hand held onto the armored robot’s right wrist while he used his right hand to hold the head.
n“DIGEST!”
nAnd with the light, Dohyuk kicked it with his knee.
n“Thank you, YOU BASTARD!”
n<
n<
n<
n<
n<
n