Chapter 48
The Bigfoot swung fists that were as big as a cauldron, and a large sound emanated each time its fists violently impacted on the shield .
“Koo-oohk!”
Tim’s body was being pushed backwards . He was taking each heavy blow from the Big Foot without being sent flying backwards . It was almost a miracle that he was pulling this off .
The Bigfoot became angry . The weak and small prey actually had the audacity to resist against its attacks . Moreover, there were two other prey it wanted, and if it was not careful, it might lose them . Hence, the Bigfoot’s instinct told it to go on the offensive .
-Koo-rahk!
The Bigfoot gathered both hands together, and it raised both arms into the air . It brought down its gathered fists towards Tim .
Boom!
The shock and explosive sound couldn’t be compared to before .
“Ahhhk!”
Tim let out a scream . His shield had barely withstood the attack and wasn’t broken . However, his arms, legs, and his entire body felt creaky . His muscles were screaming, and his bones had reached its limit .
“Tim!”
Emily yelled out his name . Sungyoon moved quickly into action .
‘I can’t allow him to die now . ’
Since he had decided to fight the Bigfoot, it would be strategically advantageous for him to have as many allies alive . He gripped his spear, and he approached the Bigfoot, who was trying to hit the shield again . Fortunately, the Bigfoot was too angry to notice Sungyoon . It kept attacking Tim . Sungyoon ran at full speed with both his hands gripping his spear . He stabbed the Bigfoot .
Puhk!
Sungyoon’s face crumpled as if he had chewed on something bitter . He didn’t hear his spear pierce through flesh . It sounded as if he had hit a drum made out of leather . An unpleasant feeling ran up his hands . Sungyoon had struck with all his might, yet he hadn’t been able to critically wound the Bigfoot . In fact, he hadn’t even been able to pierce through its thick hide .
-Koo-roohk!
The Bigfoot’s red eyes slid to the side, and it caught sight of Sungyoon . It looked at Sungyoon as if he was an annoying mayfly .
Hoo-oohk!
The Bigfoot tried to slap Sungyoon with its open palm . It swung without much thought . Even this minor movement had the power to threaten a person’s life . Sungyoon really did feel like a mayfly as he dodged the hand . Of course, his pride wasn’t hurt . His pride had already suffered to a point where it didn’t bother him to be treated as a mayfly . There was no way he would get angry .
“I’ll help you . ”
Sungyoon stood next to Tim . Tim didn’t say much in regard to Sungyoon’s offer of help . He had already heard the words exchanged between Sungyoon and Emily . Tim just let out a sigh . Soon, he reignited his fighting spirit . He spoke as he glared at the Bigfoot .
“Thank you . ”
The two men looked tense as they pointed their weapons towards the Bigfoot . The Bigfoot just stared down at them . In the end, its wrinkled face twitched .
It once again smirked .
It seemed Tim’s pride was hurt . His face turned a little bit red . However, Sungyoon maintained his blank face as he focused on observing the monster .
Hwooohng!
Suddenly, a weak light emanated from Sungyoon’s body . He flinched in surprise . At that moment, he heard a voice from the back .
“I’ve enhanced your strength and speed . I’ve also enhanced your senses and weapon . ”
When he turned his gaze around, he saw Emily . She was pointing her short staff at him .
‘I see . This is support magic . ’
He had heard about it, but this was his first time experiencing it .
“Emily’s Gems are geared toward healing and support magic . I’m embarrassed to ask this of you, but you have to protect Emily even at the cost of suffering some injury . ”
Tim felt abashed . Tim had asked Sungyoon to prioritize his sister’s life above his . However, Sungyoon wasn’t offended as he answered Tim .
“Understood . ”
He didn’t care if Emily was Tim’s sister or not . There was sound logic behind the idea of protecting Emily . Since he accepted the reasoning behind the request, he didn’t plan on giving Tim the stink eye . In fact, he was extremely happy to hear that Emily was capable of using healing magic .
“How effective is her healing magic?”
The amount of risk he could take depended on how effective her magic was . This was why this question was very important .
“It is quite effective . She won’t be able to do anything if you suffer a major injury like losing a limb . However, she can instantly heal broken bones and cuts . The only downside is that there is a long delay between each healing spell . Moreover, she can’t heal multiple people at the same time . She can only cast it five consecutive times . ”
“I’ll remember that . ”
It was enough . He was thankful to have her on his side .
Tim placed his shield in front of him, and he raised his axe . Sungyoon also aimed his spear and shield towards the Bigfoot .
“My level is low, so I can only maintain the support magic for a short amount of time . I’ll reapply the buff before it runs out, but it isn’t a sure thing . Please be mindful of this . Your enhanced abilities might run out during battle . ”
“Understood . ”
“Also, I cannot use the support magic multiple times . When all my magic runs out, I’ll yell out to inform you . ”
Sungyoon once again nodded his head without making a fuss . He took a glance at Tim, who was standing next to him .
“Do you not need the support magic?”
“The buff is already on me . ”
Even before Tim had met Sungyoon, he had been receiving the help of Emily’s support magic .
The Bigfoot charged once again . Sungyoon’s eyes could pick up Bigfoot’s movements more easily, thanks to the support magic . His tracking was better than before, but he was still having a hard time keeping up with its movement .
-Gwuhhhhhh!
Its large hand came down towards them . It was as if the Bigfoot wanted to squash both of them with a single blow . The two men split up to either side as they dodged the hand .
Boom!
The large impact shook the ground as the hand collided with the floor of the labyrinth . It was terrifyingly strong . Sungyoon felt a chill down his spine . If he took that blow without any defense measure, he was sure his corpse would be blown to pieces .
“Hoo-ahhhhhp!”
However, he couldn’t remain afraid . He used the long reach of his spear to attack the Bigfoot . His movement was swift thanks to the support magic .
Poo-oohk!
His strength had been enhanced, and his weapon had been reinforced . Sungyoon’s spear blade was finally able to damage the Bigfoot . However, his face immediately crumpled . He was able to damage it, but the damage was laughable . It was almost embarrassing . After piercing through the Bigfoot’s hide, it only went in 1cm deep .
However, Sungyoon’s attack had the effect of diverting its attention . When the Bigfoot turned its head towards Sungyoon, Tim swung his axe from the other side .
“Eee-yahhhht!”
He let out a loud shout . His overclocked axe impacted on the Bigfoot’s side .
Poo-shoohk!
This attack was effective . The blade of the axe dug ruthlessly into the Bigfoot’s side .
-Kwuhhhhhhhhh!
The Bigfoot felt pain as it struggled . It swung its arms wildly .
Boom!
“Koo-oohk!”
Tim’s reaction was a bit late, because he had been trying to extract his axe . The Bigfoot’s arm impacted on his shield . He lost his balance as he took steps backwards .
Toohk!
He had already lost his balance, but to add insult to injury, his heel tripped on an uneven surface .
“Ooh-ahht!”
Tul-suhk!
It was an ungainly sight . Tim swung his arms in the air as he fell backwards .
The Bigfoot let out a roar of anger as it charged Tim . A Fang Boar’s charge didn’t hold a candle to this . It felt as if the whole world was shaking . Tim’s face turned pale .
“Tim!”
Emily became surprised by the turn of events . She ran towards the Bigfoot . In a flash, her short staff was gone . Instead, she was holding a mace and a shield . It seemed she had brought these weapons in case she had to get into a close combat .
“You idiot! Don’t come here!”
Tim yelled out in desperation .
-Koo-roohk!
The Bigfoot also noticed her .
Duhl-kuhk!
Her body froze in place . At the end of the day, Tim and Emily were also beginners . Moreover, Emily had always supported Tim from the back . Even if both of them were beginners, her experience in fighting monsters from the frontline was pitiful compared to Tim . She had equipment for close combat, but it was a contingency measure .
The oppressive pressure given off by the Bigfoot’s presence was unimaginable . She had run forward, because she had been worried about Tim . However, the Bigfoot’s eyes were looking straight at her, and fear made her unable to move .
“Ah, ah . . . ”
She couldn’t even form a proper sentence . She could only scrape out a small sound from her vocal cords . She could only make short broken sounds .
“Emily!”
Tim desperately jumped to his feet, and he tried to run towards Emily . However, he was too late . The Bigfoot had already swung its hand towards her .
She didn’t even have the presence of mind to lift the shield she held . She trembled in fear . In reality, it was a short amount of time, but the moment felt very long to her . The rugged hand was approaching her . It would break her slender body into pieces . She knew she had to move, but her body wouldn’t move .
‘Ah . This is how I die . ’
She had such thoughts . It felt as if she was watching events unfold from a third person view .
However, something pushed her hard at that moment . Her slender body rapidly fell to the ground and rolled across the floor . The dirty ground turned her white robe black . However, one thing was for sure . It was better than becoming a red smear on the ground .
Kwah-jee-jeek!
At the same time, she heard something shatter, and something dispersed into the air . It fell from the air like rain, and the unknown substance hovered in her vision . However, she was being dragged away from where she had fallen . She didn’t even have the chance to check what had dispersed into the air .
“Please do not leave the backline . ”
His voice sounded restrained, yet it was very cold . He had her by the collars as he dragged her away . She was having a hard time breathing . She quickly turned her head . Sungyoon’s blame filled eyes looked down at her .
Half his shield had been blown away, and the other half was mangled . She could see his left arm hanging limply by his side . Emily finally realized what had sprayed in the air . The shield couldn’t withstand the Bigfoot’s attack, and the wooden splinters had dispersed into the air .
His broken shield disappeared in the next moment .
Then . . .
Pah-jeek!
One of the Gems slotted into his bracelet broke, and it fell to the ground .
Sungyoon looked at it with mixed emotions .
“You bastaaaaaaard!”
Tim charged the Bigfoot . The Bigfoot had been approaching Emily and Sungyoon . Tim rammed it with his large shield .
-Koo-rook!
The Bigfoot easily changed its target to Tim . It seemed the Bigfoot viewed Tim as the biggest threat since he was able to injure its side .
“You guys should run away!”
He once again shouted with all his might . A deep sob was mixed in with his shout .
When Sungyoon joined the battle, Tim had allowed himself to hope a little bit . However, this was an impossible fight . Emily couldn’t fight properly, and Sungyoon’s Gem was damaged by the Bigfoot . His level was too low, and it wasn’t as if they were proper allies . It was enough to kill any little hope that had remained within Tim .
Sungyoon became conflicted when he heard Tim’s words . His spear could do no damage and his shield was broken . In truth, he had overclocked his shield, yet it hadn’t even been able to take a single blow before breaking . He was a bit shocked by that development, but it wasn’t as if he couldn’t understand why his shield had broken . It had taken a lot of damage in previous fights on this floor . It had taken the blow of the Bigfoot while it wasn’t at its peak durability .
‘As expected, this is impossible with Purple Gems . ’
Even if his shield was intact, it was unknown as to how long he could hold out . He was wondering if he should run away when his eyes landed on the fallen Emily . He caught sight of her mace and shield .
At the very least, her weapons didn’t look worse than his . Sungyoon grabbed Emily’s shoulder .
“Give me your mace and shield . ”
She had just escaped death, so it seemed she had completely taken leave of her senses . She finally woke up from her daze to look at Sungyoon . It seemed she realized his intentions, so she quickly took off her left glove .
There were two Gems attached to the back of white glove . It was located at the back of the hand . Surprisingly, the Gems were higher ranked than what he possessed .
‘This treasure was being wasted on her . ’
Sungyoon grumbled inwardly as he quickly put on the glove . The glove had looked a little bit small, but it expanded to fit Sungyoon’s hand .
Sungyoon unsummoned his spear then he imbued the newly acquired Gems with his magical energy .
These weapons were two ranks higher than his broken shield and ineffective spear . He probably won’t lose one sidedly with this level of weapons .