Even at that moment, the enemies were steadily closing the distance.
Seeing this, Hong Yeon-hwa immediately used a Rank Boost.
A bright light burst forth from the magic scroll and surrounded her body.
[Activated ‘Rank Boost’.]
[Skill and trait growth rates increase significantly.]
A notification like that probably popped up.
I planned to use mine a bit later.
Since my skills were relatively short-range, I would have to wait until the enemies reached the wall anyway.
Hong Yeon-hwa summoned the giant phoenix once again.
Fiery feathers filled the sky as they rained down, with countless small flames bursting into life.
Whoosh—!
Each time, hundreds of ice monsters would burn up and vanish in chunks.
There were so many that it didn’t seem like their numbers had decreased much when looking at the whole monster army.
“Let’s keep going.”
“Mhmm.”
But there was no reason to stop.
Since we had been fighting them head-on anyway, it seemed best to reduce their numbers before the real siege began.
Hong Yeon-hwa too likely wanted to make the most of her Rank Boost while it lasted.
Whoosh—!
Since she unleashed a one-sided barrage of magic, there was no way the enemies wouldn’t notice us.
The Ice Witch was no exception.
Even from a large distance, I could feel her gaze lock directly onto us.
The ice monster army picked up its pace.
Soon, perhaps deciding we were now in range, the orc shamans and the Ice Witch began casting their spells.
“……!”
Hong Yeon-hwa felt the surge of mana from the enemy lines and reacted immediately.
She interrupted her large-scale spell mid-cast and chained together defensive spells instead.
[Reverse Curtain]
[Blazing Armor]
Whoosh—
One layer of flames took on the form of armor, while another formed a protective sphere around her.
But Hong Yeon-hwa didn’t stop there. She activated a third spell as well.
[Blaze Shield]
A burning shield floated in midair and blazed with intensity.
Looks like she learned something new.
Taking my advice to heart, she now had three layers of defensive magic.
What would happen if she faced Seo Ye-in like this?
Although marksmen held a slight advantage over mages, I couldn’t be certain which side would win until I saw it with my own eyes.
But there was one thing I knew for sure.
They’ll never break through this.
Shwip! Shwip! Shwip! Shwip—!!
The Ice Orc shamans launched ice spikes, and the Ice Witch hurled a huge ice spear.
They were aiming to shatter the very walls we stood upon.
However, Hong Yeon-hwa merely stared at them with a haughty gaze with her blazing shield held firmly before her.
The moment the oncoming ice spells struck the shield—
Ssssshhhh—
They evaporated without leaving a single scratch.
“Hmph.”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s lips curled up as if in disdain.
She probably expected this outcome.
Even in her duel with Bukgong Han-seol, she had effortlessly nullified her opponent’s attacks.
Such was the absolute power of Aqua Flame over ice-type magic.
Ice spells continued to rain down a few more times, but Hong Yeon-hwa didn’t bother to defend further beyond maintaining her Blaze Shield.
She decided that this alone was more than enough.
And with that, she shifted back to offense. She focused on summoning the phoenix.
Fwoosh!
After repeating these spells for some time, a faint look of fatigue began to appear on Hong Yeon-hwa’s face.
I sensed her condition and asked,
“Are you out of mana?”
“Mhmm, almost…”
After casting a large-scale magic spell dozens of times, her mana was bound to run out.
The enemies were almost at the wall, but for now, she needed a brief rest.
A few blue magic circles appeared beneath Hong Yeon-hwa’s feet.
Thin threads extended from the circles and connected to her.
It was a mana recovery spell that absorbed, refined, and supplied the surrounding mana to the caster.
In that state, Hong Yeon-hwa turned her gaze toward me and raised an eyebrow.
Probably because I was leaning back as comfortably as could be in a makeshift chair.
I gestured to the empty chair next to me.
“Take a seat and rest too.”
“Oh, uh, thanks…”
Though she hesitated slightly, Hong Yeon-hwa eventually sat beside me.
Her eyes kept darting toward the camping stove sitting next to us.
It was part of a set with the portable chairs. These were things I borrowed from Dang Gyu-young.
– Why do you need to borrow these?
– To protect world peace.
– Ah, fine, just take it, take it!
Apparently, “world peace” and “200 graduations” were universal cheat codes.
At least, so far.
“……”
Seeing that the stove was unlit, Hong Yeon-hwa glanced at me briefly before lighting it herself.
Fwoosh!
I had been just about to ask, but she beat me to it.
Thanks to her, warmth spread through the air.
I placed a teapot on the stove, and soon, the water began to boil.
By the way, I borrowed the tea set from Shin Byeong-cheol.
I poured hot water into the [Golden Elephant Merchants Guild Teacup (E)] and handed it to Hong Yeon-hwa.
“Coffee?”
“…I’ll drink it.”
Given the situation, I couldn’t exactly prepare anything fancy, but a quick cup of coffee while we took a break seemed fine.
When I mixed a packet of instant coffee into the hot water, the coffee was ready in seconds.
Then I offered Hong Yeon-hwa a handful of coffee mix packets as well.
“Add as much as you like.”
“Mhmm…”
Her demeanor was timid, but her approach to the coffee was anything but that.
She took the entire handful and emptied all of it into her cup.
That’s almost straight concentrate at this point.
Now that I thought about it, she always added a ton of extra shots whenever she ordered coffee at the shop.
It seemed a bit heavy on the caffeine, but since it was her preference, I didn’t comment.
We settled onto folding chairs and sipped our coffee.
I took the opportunity to ask about her current progress.
“Any rank-ups?”
“Mhmm, I’ve already ranked up on Phoenix Flutter …”
Since we had been using that skill continuously in the dungeon, it would’ve been strange if it hadn’t leveled up.
Hong Yeon-hwa then gestured to the Blaze Shield hovering around her.
“And that one too…”
Because of the attention she drew from our enemies, freezing spells kept hurtling toward us even now.
Fortunately, her Blaze Shield blocked every one of the attacks without a single gap, and it had just ranked up from E to D.
Of course, the boost had likely played a big role in raising the rank of two skills in such a short period.
“You’re doing great. Just don’t let your guard down, and let’s keep going like this.”
“Mhmm, I will.”
We finished our coffee almost at the same time and stood up.
In the meantime, the ice monster army had finally reached the fortress walls, and the full-scale defense battle was about to begin.
“Fire—!!!”
At the commander’s shout, a rain of arrows poured down from the walls.
Ice Orcs were hit by arrows and fell to the ground, but the Ice Trolls and Golems continued on and each completed their attack.
They began hurling huge chunks of ice up at the walls or gathering to break through the front gate.
“…….!”
Quickly assessing the situation, Hong Yeon-hwa unleashed her fire magic.
Up until now, she had scattered fiery feathers over a wide range, but now she concentrated her firepower on key areas in order to protect the most strategic points.
Pillars of flame erupted across the battlefield.
Kwooooosh—!
I’d better work on ranking up too.
[Activated ‘Rank Boost’.]
[Skill and trait growth rates increase significantly.]
I stood next to Hong Yeon-hwa and planted the Deep Rooted Sapling in the ground.
[Earth Line]
[Spiral Explosion]
Fwoooosh—
A whirlwind swept across the area centered on the ice trolls that were walking toward the main gate.
The orcs nearby were also dragged into its pull.
Boom!
The compressed wind exploded.
Taking advantage of the momentum, I decided to test out the Octopus Limbs as well.
At that moment, Hong Yeon-hwa was engraving fire pillar magic circles in two places, so I cast spells on two spots as well.
[Earth Line]
[Octopus Limbs]
[Spiral Explosion]
[Spiral Explosion]
Whooosh—
Two whirlwinds formed at the same time and started pulling in the monsters.
Soon, fire pillars spiraled up from the magic circles,
Boom—!
The compressed air burst which caused an even larger explosion of flames.
In the next moment, everything within the area was completely obliterated.
The synergy is as strong as expected.
The combination of Spiral Explosion and Fire Pillar.
When fire and wind mixed, the power multiplied even further.
“……!”
Hong Yeon-hwa seemed to be thinking the same and looked at me with a bright expression on her face.
As she kept glancing my way, I spoke in a casual tone.
“I’ll aim, so just keep doing what you’re doing.”
“…Mhmm, I will.”
With her broad awareness and skill at managing the field, there was no need for me to give additional instructions.
She surveyed various parts of the fortress walls and selected weak spots to cast Fire Pillar spells.
I would then add Spiral Explosion to those areas.
Kwooooosh—!
After repeating this process for quite some time, once my mana ran low, I would sit on a camping chair to rest, then head back to the battlefield and repeat.
“——!”
Amidst this, we often heard furious shouts that came from none other than the Ice Witch.
With two random intruders burning her entire army to cinders, it was no wonder she was filled with rage.
At one point, Hong Yeon-hwa glanced at me and asked,
“Is… is she alright…?”
“Yeah. Just ignore her.”
I brushed it off casually.
The Ice Witch was more of a commander-type creature; her own fighting power wasn’t particularly impressive.
All the ice spells she sent our way were blocked by Hong Yeon-hwa, and with the overwhelming difference in power, there was no need to worry about her.
“Honestly, it’d be a waste to attack her.”
If we killed her now, the dungeon would close right then and there.
Better to keep her alive as long as possible to keep leveling up, and then, when we were ready to leave, we could treat her like hitting the dungeon’s exit switch.
Hong Yeon-hwa nodded in understanding and continued casting her fire magic, which had been paused for a moment.
Once again, fire pillars began sprouting up all over the battlefield.
Kwoooosh—!
***
For hours, we continued to cast our spells with mechanical precision.
Hong Yeon-hwa used a variety of fire spells in rotation, while I focused mainly on Spiral Explosion.
By now, she had likely made substantial progress in ranking up.
I think it’s about time to wrap this up.
There were two conditions to clear this dungeon.
Either survive for a set period of time or defeat the boss monster.
It felt like the “set period” would soon end, and the dungeon would close on its own, but if we defeated the Ice Witch beforehand, we could get an extra random box.
She looks a bit worn out too.
Although Hong Yeon-hwa tried not to show it, she seemed fairly drained from repeatedly exhausting and replenishing her mana.
Just as I was about to give the order to wrap things up,
“……..!”
An unsettling presence appeared at the rear of the battlefield, something that didn’t belong in this dungeon.
It was a thick, pitch-black liquid like rotting sludge, but it wriggled like a living creature.
It slithered across the ground and moved steadily toward the Ice Witch.
So, it appears here, huh?
I had expected it to show up around this time, but I never thought it would be in this dungeon.
Hong Yeon-hwa spotted it as well and when she felt that something was wrong, she shot me a worried glance.
For the first time since entering this dungeon, I spoke in a serious tone.
“Remember the last day of midterms?”
“Mhmm.”
“It’s a similar situation to that. Stay focused from now on.”
“…….!”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s expression grew more tense.
At the same time, a notification message appeared at the corner of my view.
[Main Quest 2-1]
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