Chapter 291. Sky Monster (4)

Holding Final Horizon in his hand, Seo Jun-Ho placed 'something' on the bowstring. It was what he asked from Duke Schubert a few days ago.

"Wait, what the hell is that...”

Damian didn’t know what to say as his mouth repeatedly opened and closed. It was no wonder as the Player in front of him hadn’t put on an ordinary arrow on the bowstring. No, it was something that couldn’t really be called an arrow.

"…You're kidding, right? You're seriously going to shoot that and try to hit it with that? It won't even reach it."

"If it’s Final Horizon, it will..."

What Seo Jun-Ho put on the bowstring was not an arrow but a ‘harpoon’. And behind it was a chain of excessive length.

"Don't tell me you're going to do something crazy like shoot that through it and go up the chain to fight?"

"I've never said anything crazy, but you've got it right."

That was the second hunting method Seo Jun-Ho had prepared.

‘It's an operation in case we fail to bring Telgia down to the ground.’

Back then, Seo Jun-Ho still hadn’t seen Telgia with his eyes, which meant he had no idea of its size.

‘If it's bigger than I thought...’

He judged that he couldn’t stop its flight with most arrows or spears. That was why he had changed his mind. If they couldn’t bring it down, then they just had to go up over there.

"…You’re crazy. You're out of your mind. You're going to have an aerial battle with a monster that can call on the storm?"

That was crazy talk. Fighting it in the sky was more than just giving it the home advantage.

"Quiet. You’re distracting me."

Seo Jun-Ho muttered and ceased breathing. The strong wind incessantly ruffled his hair.

“…”

The Final Horizon could ignore the effects of any wind, but a hurricane was different. He had to shoot while calculating both the trajectory and the intensity of the wind so that his attack could reach his target.

'Honestly, I was a little worried because it has been a while...’

A corner of Seo Jun-Ho's mouth went up. It could be because of his Weapon Mastery (S), but the bow felt like his favorite weapon.

‘Now.’

Whoosh!

When the bowstring was released, the harpoon with chains rushed toward the sky. The Final Horizon’s ability was simple.

‘To make the arrow fly all the way to the horizon’s end…’

On top of that, the speed of the arrow would increase by a thousand percent, while the force of the arrow would increase by five hundred percent. The harpoon flew to Telgia in a blink of an eye.

[…]

It looked down at the harpoon. It easily avoided the huge arrow Damian had shot at this distance, so there was no reason why it couldn't avoid the heavier and slower harpoon.

[Kyak?!]

But in the end, it couldn't escape the harpoon. It wasn’t able to move its body even though Seo Jun-Ho hadn’t used the power to freeze.

‘That takes too much magic.’

From the roof, he would have to use nearly half of his magic to stop Telgia just below the clouds. Considering the following battle, it was a clear overinvestment.

‘So, what I came up with as the next best thing is...’

It was none other than an ice golem. If it was the highest flying bird, its vigilance for things above its head would be somewhat loose. And his prediction ended up being correct.

[Kyaaaak?!]

Telgia was firmly seized by four ice golems that had fallen from above its head. As a result, the sharp harpoon was able to penetrate even deeper into Telgia's chest.

‘It has been a while since she was so useful.’

It had also been a long time since the tired-looking Frost Queen looked so proud. With this level of performance, he was willing to buy her an expensive cake after the battle.

"H-he really managed to hit it?" Damian muttered, dumbfounded.

‘It's not just that the accuracy was high.’

Summoning the ice golem at the perfect timing to limit Telgia's movements was a godly move.

'It’s honestly my loss. He’s thoroughly prepared. How far ahead is this guy thinking when he fights?’

Damian conceded. It was the only way for him to move forward.

"Khmm… Not bad. It's something worth learning from a fellow archer.”

"No..."

"What?"

"I'm not an archer."

Seo Jun-Ho stuffed the bow into his Inventory and grabbed the chain.

[Kyaaaak!]

The burning pain made Telgia scream as it flew even higher. As Telgia rose, the chain connected to it began to rise as well. The same was also true with Seo Jun-Ho holding on to the chain.

"H-hey!" Damian called out to him with a bewildered look, but Seo Jun-Ho's figure quickly became a dot and disappeared.

He blinked and muttered, "…What are you if not an archer?"

***

Whooosh!

‘Today, I have to make sure to keep on changing,’ Seo Jun-Ho thought as he felt the wind hitting his face hard.

Today, he was going to be an archer, swordsman, spearman, and sniper. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to hunt down his opponent that roamed the sky like it was its bedroom.

‘Let's focus.’

Seo Jun-Ho focused on the current situation with his eyes open. This hunt would end in failure as soon as his concentration was disrupted. And it was most likely that...

"…It's damn high."

It was most likely that the failure would result in irreversible consequences. When he looked at the ground, which had become as small as his finger now, his hand holding on to the chain unconsciously tightened.

[Kyaaak!]

The giant bird seemed like it disliked the human flying in the sky with it. As a result, it flew faster, penetrated the clouds, and finally entered the realm above the clouds.

"…Ha!"

Meanwhile, Seo Jun-Ho exclaimed. The realm above the clouds where the bright sun could be seen unobstructed was beautiful beyond words.

[Kyaaak!]

"If we weren’t in this situation, I would have enjoyed it properly."

Seo Jun-Ho lightly clicked his tongue, grabbed the chain with one hand, and focused.

‘Overclocking, seventy-five percent.’

When his body warmed up, he started to run on the air. The reason why he could do such a thing was simple.

Craaackle!

He froze the air and created an ice platform with every step he took.

‘Ugh!’

He hadn’t taken more than a few steps just yet, but his head was already aching. To say it was a headache was an understatement, rather, he felt like his brain was being overworked.

"Damn it!"

To make matters worse, the wind had become violent. Telgia mustered a storm and sent it over to Seo Jun-Ho.

‘It's coming.’

If he entered the storm’s sphere of influence, he wouldn’t be able to hold on to the chain. After all, it was impossible to resist natural disasters with human bodies. Seo Jun-Ho let go of his hands as it wouldn’t be enough even if he strongly grasped the chain with both hands.

"Heup!"

Holding on to the chain with his two thighs, he opened his Inventory. And what he pulled out was a bow.

'Tempest Butterfly.’

It was a bow considered to be India's national treasure.

"Storms, do you really think you're the only one who can cause it?"

Shake!

Telgia began to shake its body like crazy. Naturally, Seo Jun-Ho's body hanging upside down from the chain shook up and down as well.

‘Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm…’

Seo Jun-Ho increased his concentration. Within the spinning world, he quietly stared at his goal, the storm.

‘The target will be destroyed.’

What he was trying to do was create another storm within the storm and offset it. However, it was practically impossible to do something which was difficult to do even on the ground under these bad conditions.

‘Impossible...’

Seo Jun-Ho grinned. After ruminating over it a few times, ‘impossible’ seemed to be doable.

Whooooosh!

The sound of the storm deafened his ears. But even while his body was shaking violently, his waist remained straight. That was the only way he could send the arrow exactly where he wanted it to go.

‘Now.’

Twing!

Leaving the bowstring, the arrow flew toward the storm. An ordinary arrow would have been caught in the storm and disappeared without a trace, but he was holding Tempest Butterfly. Kal Signer hadn’t been anxious to obtain this bow for no reason.

‘I got it.’

Booooooom!

In the storm created by Telgia, another storm began to stir. The two storms faced and growled at each other before disappearing without a trace.

[Kya?]

Telgia blinked its eyes. It had no idea that the human could even get rid of the storm it had created. Seo Jun-Ho took advantage of Telgia's moment of panic and began to run on the air once again.

"Heup!"

When he arrived just below Telgia’s chest, he completely let go of the chain and stepped on the foothold. Rising high, Seo Jun-Ho stretched out his hand.

‘Please!’

He felt something soft at his fingertips. Seo Jun-Ho held it tightly without hesitation.

Thud!

"Gasp, gasp."

After grabbing Telgia's fur and safely settling on its back, Seo Jun-Ho breathed roughly. He felt dizzy because he didn't want to imagine what would have happened if he wasn’t able to get on its back.

"It's been a long time since I felt like this.”

He felt alive as adrenaline coursed throughout his body. It was a kind of joy he could only obtain from fighting monsters.

"Let's slowly bring this to a close."

Once again, he opened his Inventory and took out a huge sword.

‘Sawtooth Sword.’

The greatsword weighed 1,305 kilograms. The great monster-slaying weapon made by the dwarves had finally appeared.

Stab!

Seo Jun-Ho thrust the serrated sword into Telgia's back without hesitation.

- It’s 3 meters long with 32 saw-toothed wheels embedded along the body that rotates when injected with magic.

The words Graham told him lingered in his ears, and he began to inject magic into the sword.

- Oh, and if you can, don't open your eyes wide when you use it.

- Why?

- It's just... It's not a very recommended sight.

At this moment, Seo Jun-Ho fully understood the meaning of Graham's words.

Tatatatata!

The wheels started to dig out Telgia’s flesh. It was not very pleasant to see blood and flesh splashing like back-flowing toilet water.

[Kyak! Kyaaaaaak!!]

The screaming Telgia began to shake its body like crazy. It felt pain, no, intense pain that it had never experienced before in its life. Since it couldn’t even speak, it expressed the pain it felt with its whole body.

‘I'm going to push it in like this.’

Seo Jun-Ho grabbed Telgia's feathers with one hand and began to push the Sawtooth Sword with the other. As the wound opened, Telgia's struggle became even more intense.

‘It’s at its limit now.’

Telgia had lost too much blood. It was about time for its mind to go hazy.

"Let's end it."

Seo Jun-Ho let go of the Sawtooth Sword and started running on Telgia’s back. With an outstretched hand, he pulled a long spear out of his Inventory.

‘I should give this one a name, too.’

It was a spear made with Ten Thousand Years Cold Iron that would freeze everything it would come in contact with. He still hadn’t given it a name, so he had been calling it the nameless spear.

"…It's bothersome, so let's just go with Cold Spear."

Woong! 

The Cold Spear cried. Regardless, Seo Jun-Ho lifted the spear high and aimed at the target.

‘Telgia.’

It looked around with a fearful look. However, the bird's body structure made it impossible for it to look at Seo Jun-Ho on its back. The only thing the sky monster could do as the scent of death engulfed it was to shake its body vigorously.

"Goodbye, monster."

Crack!

Using both hands, Seo Jun-Ho's Cold Spear dug into Telgia's skull like tofu. At the same time, the deafening wind that had been blowing disappeared, and a gentle breeze similar to a spring breeze began to blow.

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho sat on top of the slowly falling Telgia and looked at the beautiful scenery for a while.