Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Kwakwakwang—!

Thunder rumbled through the sky.

It was my first time drawing down lightning using Peregrie’s power, but for some reason, I felt like I knew how to do it.

‘If I roughly do it like this…….’

I reached my hand toward the sky and slowly clenched my fist.

Then dark clouds began to gather above me and Bukar.

Tskkkeee—

Perhaps my actions looked strange, because Bukar stared at me quietly for a moment.

Then he began moving again.

Leading his body covered in black stone, he strode toward me.

‘Not yet. Not yet… just a little more…….’

His massive body approached, but I carefully watched for an opening.

And when Bukar finally reached the exact spot beneath the gathered storm clouds—

‘Now.’

I lowered my fist toward the ground, and at the same moment, a bolt of lightning struck down from the clouds.

It was only a single bolt, but anyone could tell it carried incredible power.

Kraaaagh—!

The lightning struck Bukar square on the crown of his head, and soon a scream full of agony burst from him.

But I didn’t relax.

Bukar wasn’t a monster that would fall this easily.

Tskuuu—

“Right, no way it ends with one hit.”

Bukar, who had collapsed after taking the lightning head-on, immediately rose to his feet.

Some of the black stones covering his body had cracked and fallen off, but overall, he still looked mostly intact.

‘First, I need to break enough of those stones protecting his body. Only then will Siri have a gap to slip inside.’

The key to fighting Bukar was stripping away the shell surrounding his body.

The most common method of defeating golems was to attack the golem’s core.

Because the weakness was so obvious, golems weren’t considered particularly dangerous monsters in this world.

But Bukar had compensated for that weakness, tormenting the people of Muktaba for many long years.

‘Those stones covering his body protect the core.’

Well, in truth, those stones could be broken if one broke them.

The problem was the poisonous gas Bukar emitted.

Because of that, people couldn’t even approach him until now.

But thanks to the handkerchief Akuz gave me, the gas was no longer an issue.

‘Now I just need to think about how to break his skin.’

I could break it, sure, but that didn’t mean it broke easily.

Even after being directly struck by lightning, Bukar was still fine.

Still, judging by how one bolt had already cracked him, three or four more would probably do it.

However, the problem was……

‘Seems like I can’t call lightning again right away.’

I focused for a moment on the power of Peregrie flowing inside me.

I tried to summon lightning again, but the power didn’t respond as easily as before.

‘Judging by the feeling… maybe around ten minutes.’

This was unexpected.

I had planned to peel off Bukar’s shell by summoning lightning as quickly and frequently as possible……

Tskkakakaka—!

“…Ah.”

Before I knew it, Bukar, having risen again, charged straight at me.

As he raised his massive fist and slammed it down, I quickly threw myself to the side to avoid it.

Bang—!

A huge crater formed where Bukar’s fist struck.

I felt like taking even a single direct hit would kill me instantly.

“Wuh?”

Without giving me even a moment to breathe, Bukar continued his assault.

His massive fists kept slamming down, and I had to keep rolling across the ground to dodge them.

Bukar’s punches were fast and threatening, but with the Attack Prediction Skill and my experience fighting him many times in the game, I managed to keep avoiding them.

After dodging several times, I gradually grew used to his attacks.

I kept dodging while positioning myself, then widened the distance and raised my sword.

‘I need to stall until I can use lightning again.’

Wrapping my body in aura, I quickly observed Bukar’s movements.

And the moment I saw the red dot of the Attack Prediction Skill, I raised my sword instead of dodging.

Bang—!

“Ughh.”

Bukar’s strength was overwhelming, but thanks to the aura surrounding my body, I managed to block it somehow.

After deflecting his punch, Bukar paused in what looked like surprise.

But he soon slammed his fist down again, and this time I didn’t block it.

‘…Now.’

When Bukar struck the ground with his fist, I slipped slightly to the side and raised my sword.

Then I assumed the opening stance of House Balmuth’s swordsmanship, and with all my strength, I struck Bukar’s wrist.

Clang—! Ziiing—

“Agh!”

Attacking Bukar’s tough skin made my own hand tremble with pain.

But it wasn’t without effect—his wrist now had a faint crack.

‘Now I know roughly what to do.’

It would take some time, but I definitely felt like I could win.

The issue was the handkerchief Akuz gave me.

It couldn’t block Bukar’s gas forever.

Eventually, the gas would seep into my lungs.

‘I need to avoid dragging this out too long… and manage my stamina. If I fail, this could turn into a war of attrition.’

Meanwhile, Bukar glanced at the faint crack on his wrist and swung his fists even faster than before.

Not only that, he released even more gas around his body.

“Ah, Xbal.”

He spewed a mouthful of lava.

If not for the Attack Prediction Skill, my entire body would have melted from that lava.

‘So you won’t go down easily, huh?’

With a hollow laugh, I looked up at Bukar again.

A monster whose speed didn’t match its massive size, endlessly spewing threats like lava and gas.

There was a reason even the Isrinbloom Family hadn’t managed to subjugate him for so many years.

‘Still, now that I’ve found a method, it’s only a matter of time.’

All I had to do was block or dodge Bukar’s attacks well.

And blocking or dodging was my specialty.

Tssaaaaak—!

“Yeah, come on.”

Clang—!

I raised my sword and blocked Bukar’s fist.

Then I leapt to the side, continuously dodging his attacks.

‘…I won’t need three or four times after all.’

With that thought, I swung my sword with all my might toward Bukar’s leg.

As expected, another faint crack formed in his skin.

Bukar’s durability was much lower than I had assumed.

‘One more bolt of lightning should finish it.’

I drew out Peregrie’s power again.

Perhaps some time having passed helped, because this time, it worked properly.

‘The first bolt earlier… landed around the nape.’

Avoiding the lava Bukar spewed, I checked the back of his neck.

Just as I expected, there was a large crack there.

‘I need to aim precisely.’

As I drew on Peregrie’s power, storm clouds appeared above me again.

Soon after, I finished preparing to call down lightning.

‘I need to finish this in one strike. One strike.’

I could feel the gas slowly seeping through the handkerchief.

Soon, the handkerchief would be useless.

I didn’t have much time.

After finishing my thoughts, I lured Bukar beneath the storm clouds.

And the moment Bukar reached the exact spot I wanted……

‘Now.’

I raised my fist toward the sky, then brought it straight down.

Then lightning struck down and hit Bukar’s nape once again.

Kraaaah―!

Bukar collapsed with a painful scream.

This time the blow must have been severe, as he didn’t move for a moment, and I didn’t miss that opportunity.

I climbed on top of the fallen Bukar.

Because he had already been struck by lightning twice, the large crack on his nape had become even clearer, and I began striking my sword into that crack.

Bang―! Bang―!

“Huff, huff.”

Using the swordsmanship of the Balmuth Family, I struck Bukar’s skin with all my strength.

It made my hands and arms ring painfully, but I didn’t stop and kept attacking.

As a result, the crack gradually grew until a small hole formed on Bukar’s nape.

And from that hole, lava flowed out like blood.

‘Just a little more…….’

Dodging the lava flowing out, I kept swinging my sword.

To widen the hole even just a bit more, I moved without rest, and as if rewarding that effort, the hole slowly widened.

Tssskk……

“Ah.”

But a moment later, Bukar seemed to have regained his senses and began to move.

He reached a hand toward me, who was on his body, and I quickly got off him and created distance again.

Tssaaaaa―!

Bukar had already risen fully, glaring at me as he let out a roar.

But regardless of that, I kept my eyes fixed on his nape.

The small hole that had formed on his nape.

Even now, lava trickled out of that small hole.

It was far too small for a person to enter, but big enough for a dog.

“Siri! Now!”

“Woof!”

At my shout, Siri leapt out of my shadow and dashed toward Bukar.

She ran so fast that Bukar couldn’t even react, and soon she climbed up his body.

She went into the hole I had created—meaning she entered inside Bukar’s body.

‘From here on, there’s nothing I can do. I can only hope Siri does well.’

I looked up at Bukar.

After Siri went inside his body, Bukar stopped moving, as if realizing something was wrong.

While I continued watching Bukar without lowering my guard—

Kur…k…tss……

After a moment, Bukar began letting out a painful groan.

He collapsed to his knees while clutching his chest—near his heart.

Kugh, kak, krk… kaaahk!

Then he vomited out an enormous amount of lava.

And together with that lava, Siri burst out.

“Woof! Woof woof!”

Siri ran toward me excitedly, just like she always did.

In her mouth was a black sphere the size of a baseball.

It was the Lava Golem’s core.

“Good job. I’ll give you something tasty later.”

“Woof!”

“Well, then…….”

A Lava Golem without its core was nothing special.

So I prepared to finish Bukar for good……

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, countless red dots appeared before my eyes.

Meaning my Attack Prediction Skill was triggering endlessly……

“Ah.”

Sensing instinctive danger, I quickly turned and hid behind a large boulder nearby.

And the moment I hid my body—

Bang―!

Bukar’s body exploded.

The stones covering his body shattered and scattered in all directions, and the lava making up his body splattered everywhere.

Because I hid behind the rock, I narrowly avoided the explosion.

“Hoo… This wasn’t in the game. Hey, Siri. You okay? Are you…….”

“Woof! Wowawawooof!”

“…Right, always so excited.”

Siri rubbed her body happily against the lava puddles scattered everywhere.

At her ever-consistent behavior, I let out a small laugh.

“Hey, enough. Come here. Let me check what you’re holding.”

“Woof!”

Siri immediately ran over and placed Bukar’s core in my hand.

“Ow, hot! Damn, that’s really hot.”

Still, thanks to coating myself with aura, I managed to hold it somehow.

As expected, the golem’s core looked like a black pearl.

A large pearl the size of a baseball.

“…I’m sure it’ll be useful someday.”

I slipped the golem’s core into my coat pocket and stood up.

I hadn’t come here to get a common Lava Golem core in the first place.

“…There it is.”

Avoiding the lava splattered everywhere, I went to where Bukar’s body had been.

A blue jewel-like object had fallen onto the ground.

‘Water Rune.’

I picked it up and examined it closely.

It looked quite similar to what I had seen in the game.

‘With this, I can use the Blessing of Water buff…….’

Honestly, I wanted to engrave this rune onto my body right away.

But before I could do anything, Siri suddenly growled low.

“Siri? What’s wrong?”

“Grrrr.”

I turned my head toward the direction Siri was staring.

And then I saw people approaching from afar—no.

Soldiers, lined up in orderly ranks, were approaching.

“…Get into my shadow. Now.”

“Woof.”

Siri immediately dove into my shadow, and I silently observed the approaching soldiers.

There seemed to be around fifty of them, and at the front was a man on horseback.

Black hair, and strangely familiar features……

“…Ah.”

I recognized who he was immediately.

‘Why the hell did that guy suddenly come here?’

I wondered for a moment, but after thinking a bit, I arrived at an answer quickly.

In a region where thunder hardly rolled and rain rarely fell, someone had summoned lightning and struck it down.

There was no way it wouldn’t draw attention.

Honestly, I wanted to run, but it seemed too late.

The soldiers had already come close, and the man at the front dismounted his horse and walked slowly toward me.

I secretly sighed inside and immediately bowed my head.

“I greet Duke Isrinbloom.”

“…Are you Gideon Kyrgram?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you. Especially Kafka praises you quite a bit.”

“Hearing such words is an honor…….”

“Enough with that pointless talk. Answer my question. What exactly were you doing in my territory, and at Bukar’s Lake no less?”