Pruina (4)

The first start of Fire Rain was good.

At the moment Pruina hesitated, not knowing what to do about the pouring rain of fire, Kang-hoo linked Dark Energy Ignition.

If he was going to properly scatter Pruina’s attention anyway, it was better to dazzle her with a stronger fire.

As soon as the released flow of Dark Energy touched Pruina, he ignited it with Ignition.

“Kkieeet!”

Pruina shuddered and tried to brush away the flames.

Still, since her whole body was ice itself, she raised her own frozen state even further and began extinguishing it.

In the meantime.

Kang-hoo used Forced Fusion, the hidden skill he had plundered from Vincent Meyer.

It was a hidden skill he was certain would become the game changer in the Pruina battle.

‘The flow is good.’

He could see that Park Dong-jae’s buffs were continuously being renewed without any gap.

In addition, debuffs were rapidly wrapping around Pruina’s whole body as well.

Unlike buff skills, debuff skills usually did not apply evenly to the debuff target.

The debuff value displayed in the tooltip was the average value of the entire debuff, and when calculated by body part, it differed.

So, just like coloring a sculpture, carefully filling in the whole thing with a brush, one had to approach debuffs in the same way.

Otherwise, some parts would be in a debuff state lower than the average value, while other parts would be abnormally overpainted.

When he had gone to Jeju Island before at Groo Guild’s request, he had killed Hwarong and plundered Flame Enhancement.

At that time, thanks to linking Flame Enhancement to Flame of Death, the current “Flame of Annihilation” had been created.

Flame of Annihilation could create up to five fireballs depending on Dark Energy and mana usage support.

On top of that, the amount of Dark Energy it used was only about half of Flame of Death, so Kang-hoo had no hesitation in using it.

Fwoooosh!

In an instant, five Flame of Annihilation fireballs were created one after another.

According to the characteristics of Forced Fusion, they fused into one.

Thanks to the maximum proficiency effect, the giant fireball that had entered a cast delay state floated in the air.

It was not swept up by the wind or shaken up and down.

It was in a state where only Kang-hoo’s command could give it power. An invisible mental connection existed.

Fwaaaak! Fwaak!

Like that, Kang-hoo instantly created three giant fireballs, each made by fusing five Flame of Annihilation fireballs.

Since the fourth one onward would be forcibly released, there was no need to hurry and make one.

On top of that, Pruina, who had extinguished the flames of Dark Energy Ignition to some degree, was just regaining her senses.

“I prepared quite a lot of gifts.”

Three giant fireballs.

When Kang-hoo could not be seen because of those flames, Pruina’s expression darkened.

She was in a situation where she could not even estimate how those fireballs, as large as her own body, would fly toward her.

Kwaddeudeuk. Kwadeuk!

To prepare for another attack, Pruina raised the freezing energy wrapped around her whole body to its maximum.

Her calculation was that if the fireballs flew in like this, she would swallow them with even stronger freezing power.

But.

Step. Step. Step.

Kang-hoo slowly approached Pruina while keeping the three fireballs stopped in the air in a “holding” state.

He did not try to attack in a hurry, nor did he move restlessly.

He merely walked over with steady strides while watching Pruina’s reaction. It was a thorough probing.

“Y…… You!”

Pruina, feeling as if he were trying to mock her, bared her blue teeth and stretched her hand forward.

If he would not attack first, it was a reasonable calculation to attack from her side and draw out a reaction.

Kwaaaa!

Several frost spheres flew in while containing cold air and freezing even the air. It was the approach of threatening freezing spheres.

However, Kang-hoo did not stop and continued advancing while lightly blocking the incoming frost spheres.

He created defensive walls either by installing them appropriately overlapping the path or by layering them twice.

Then the frost spheres, which had excellent destructive power when they struck but weak penetration against structures or defensive walls.

Twing! Twing!

Like rubber balls hitting a wall, their contact surfaces crumpled, and they soon lost power and fell.

If they had been “frost spears” with high penetration instead of frost spheres, the result would have been different, but her choice had been poor.

The next choice was also bad.

Perhaps thinking that she needed a stronger blow, Pruina stretched both arms toward the ground.

The thought of crushing Kang-hoo in a contest of strength against strength was good.

However, what Pruina was overlooking now were the three fireballs Kang-hoo was holding.

Pruina could not even estimate how powerful the firepower they contained was.

Kkudeudeuk!

The cold energy that explosively burst out along Pruina’s outstretched hands seeped into the ground.

Usually, when a preliminary motion like this began, something like ice thorns would then surge up from the ground.

Ice thorns similar in form to when Kang-hoo used “Ashen Thorn Hell” would be created.

It was indeed a powerful attack option. No human would be fine after being pierced by ice thorns from the lower body up.

The problem was time.

If it stole the target’s time and bound them well until then, it became a fatal strike. Otherwise, it became wasted effort.

Just like right now!

Fwaaaak!

When Kang-hoo stretched both hands forward and infused intent into the fireballs, the three giant fireballs all headed toward Pruina at once.

They were fireballs made by clumping together not one Flame of Annihilation, but five, so they were no different from small suns in shape.

But perhaps Pruina was confident she could withstand them with her body, because she snorted and focused on preparing the ice thorns.

At that moment.

Kang-hoo stuck close behind the fireballs and charged toward Pruina at high speed.

Since he had Fire Immunity, he did not need to worry at all about damage from the flames.

It was also another mistake Pruina had overlooked.

Her calculation had been that if he did not want to get caught in the flames and burn himself too, that human would not be able to approach carelessly!

Kang-hoo had already made a choice that made that premise miss its mark.

Srrrr.

At the same time, Park Dong-jae, who had positioned himself at the side-rear where he did not overlap in a straight line with Kang-hoo, applied a debuff.

It was a debuff that greatly reduced defense. It was applied in a timely manner, right before Kang-hoo approached.

Debuff skills had the greatest reduction effect when they were first applied, and gradually weakened as time passed.

Right now, when Kang-hoo’s attack was imminent, was the best time for synergy.

Kajik. Kachit!

The frozen ground could be seen writhing. Just before ice thorns would soon shoot up without mercy.

“Tch!”

Pruina clicked her tongue as she saw the flying fireballs. She was resolved to block this much with the authority of the Frost Queen.

Kwaaang!

At last, an explosion occurred.

Hellfire that seemed ready to melt everything wrapped around Pruina, but.

Kudeudeuk. Kudut.

A fierce chill that seemed capable of sending even hell’s karmic fire back to the world of nothingness endured the power of the flames.

Of course, it was not a perfect defense.

Flame of Annihilation, implemented in thrown form, immediately activated “True Annihilation” upon colliding with the target.

Along with the explosion of flame, a highly acidic liquid scattered out from the point of collision, and this was something she had not predicted.

Because of that.

“……Eet?”

Pruina belatedly realized that a sunken hole had formed in the center of her chest.

That was not all.

Something that should not have entered had entered through the deep gap in her chest created by True Annihilation.

It was Kang-hoo’s dagger.

Moreover, both daggers he held in each hand were embedded so deeply that their blades could not be seen.

The next moment.

Swaaaaak……!

“Kkiaaaaaak!”

Pruina felt the movement of the daggers that had started at her solar plexus gradually rise upward.

There was no need to confirm it with her eyes. She had experienced extreme pain as her ribs sequentially broke and burned.

Kang-hoo linked every skill he could pour in through the daggers stabbed into Pruina’s chest as a medium, starting with fire attribute infusion.

He infused Dark Energy.

There was no need to mention Dark Energy Ignition, which immediately raised flames and was like a regular menu item.

“Hyung! I’ll amplify you to the max!”

The damage amplification buff coming in from Park Dong-jae at the right time was a bonus.

It was not an existing long-duration buff, but an amplification-type buff for an extremely short period.

It was a skill called Victory Report, with a duration as short as 1.5 seconds. Its cooldown was also long.

However.

In a situation like now, where the attack used physical strength rather than a skill, it was no different from a finishing move.

The next moment.

Something happened that surprised Kang-hoo, the attacker; Pruina, the defender; and Park Dong-jae, who was watching.

From Pruina’s body, which could fairly be called ice itself, there came a riiip sound of tearing!

It was a sound like what might be made when tightly pulled paper was cut with well-sharpened scissors.

“Eeeeeek!”

A cry rang out that could not be identified as a scream, panic, or a sound made after losing her mind.

Swaaaaak!

Pruina’s body, whose physical limit to endure had collapsed, was split in two while still standing.

Starting from the solar plexus and cleanly cut all the way to the crown of her head, it was truly a “split-in-half death.”

Sharurururu……!

As if celebrating Pruina’s death, ice crystals sparkling in the sunlight shone beautifully.

What Kang-hoo had been covered in was not red blood, but snowflakes of a five-colored feast.

If death could be called beautiful, it had a charm enough to make one say this was what that meant.

“Phew.”

Only then did Kang-hoo exhale hot breath and stabilize his breathing, which had kept growing ragged.

Since he had momentarily drawn out and used all the strength in his whole body, he felt his strength drain away as soon as he saw the result.

The experience bar filled to the maximum several times and repeated the process of entering a new level stage.

For a hunter over level 400, it was common to evaluate raising even one level in a single dungeon as a great increase.

Considering such a case.

There was no need to even mention Kang-hoo’s gain from entering Full Moon Dungeon and sweeping up all the experience with just two people.

Park Dong-jae also stood blankly for a long while, as if unable to believe the experience he had acquired along with Pruina’s death.

When he was with Kang-hoo, it was true that reality felt distant in any situation.

But the experience acquisition created explosive growth for Park Dong-jae to the point that he wondered whether this was really reality.

Right then.

“Oh.”

A skill book, a trophy far better than a mana stone and so difficult to obtain that it went beyond the level of rare, was given as a reward.

That was not the only good news.

One more unexpected, surprising reward came out.

It was an extremely precious fortuitous opportunity that even Jang Si-hwan, the protagonist of the original work, had obtained only once by the end.