Dungeon Predator

Trekking through the jungle at nighttime was much more dangerous than doing so in daylight.

Which was exactly what they were doing right now!

Kang Oh felt a chill on his head, so he reflexively ducked his head and rolled onto the floor.

Kwak!

All of a sudden, Baramut sprang out from the darkness and bit the space his head had once occupied.

If not for his Hyper Intuition's warning, then Baramut would be chewing on his head right now.

"W-What!?" Eder yelled in shock.

Kang Oh quickly stood up and prepared himself for battle.

'Black!'

Kang Oh opened his eyes wide.

During the day, Baramut looked like any other tiger, with orange fur and black stripes. Now that night had dawned, however, it had turned black. 

Eyes, claws… its entire body had turned completely black! 

It was a perfect camouflage for nighttime.

'You're no lizard!'

His shock was merely momentary.

Kang Oh got a hold of himself, rushed towards Baramut, and swung his sword.

"Use the stalker curse!" Kang Oh yelled.

"Please buy me some time until I'm done casting it."

Eder muttered drearily whilst elaborately moving his hands around.

Slowly, a red shape began to take form between his hands.

Once Kang Oh attacked, Baramut counterattacked.

Its sharp claws sliced through the air.

Kang!

His blade and its claws clashed together, giving off sparks.

Baramut immediately lunged forward with its mouth.

Kang Oh bowed his head, managing to avoid its teeth, and then swung his sword horizontally.

Slash!

A white line cleaved through the air.

The tiger dodged his blade and leapt away, creating some distance between them.

"Eder!" Kang Oh called.

He was basically saying 'So how's that stalker curse going?'.

"I need a little bit more time!" Eder yelled.

Kang Oh dashed towards Baramut.

He needed to stay up close and personal so that it couldn't escape. But by doing so, he was exposing himself to that much more danger.

Kuheong!

Baramut kicked off a tree and dashed towards Kang Oh in a zigzag pattern.

The kicked tree snapped and toppled to the ground.

Kang Oh and Baramut were running towards each other.

In an instant, they had closed the distance between them. 

Baramut's front paws turned gold, a clear indication of a skill in play.

He didn't know what skill it was, but it clearly wouldn't bode well for him.

Boong!

Baramut struck with its front paw.

Rather than attack, Kang Oh chose to safeguard his body with his sword.

Kang Oh could feel an immense gust of wind coming from Baramut.

The wind became countless whips that swept him away.

"Ugh!"

Kang Oh gritted his teeth.

[You have been grazed by a Wind Claw. You have taken 80 damage.]

[You have been grazed by a Wind Claw. You have taken 91 damage.]

[You have been grazed by a Wind Claw...]

[You have been grazed by a Wind Claw...]

[Remaining HP: 621]

Kang Oh took plenty of damage from the wind, and was unable to steady himself.

The biggest issue was Baramut's next attack!

Kuheong!

It roared, as if it knew that this was its chance, and aimed for his neck.

He felt a cold sensation on his neck. Even if he didn't have Hyper Intuition, he'd be able to sense the impending danger.

It was dire.

'Shit!'

He couldn't die like this.

Kang Oh activated Gluttony, sacrificing the Ghost Pattern Shell Armor he was currently wearing.

Darkness flowed out of the blade and devoured the armor.

[The Demon Sword Ubist has consumed the Hero's Ghost Pattern Shell Armor.]

[It is a BB-rank item.]

[Entering Gluttony mode.]

[The demon sword's abilities, as well as your own, are doubled for three minutes.]

Jet-black energy leaked from Kang Oh's body. The darkness wrapped around his body, as if to defend him.

At that moment, Baramut used its back teeth to bite Kang Oh's neck.

Red shards gushed from Kang Oh's neck.

"Ugh."

[You have been struck in a vital area. You have taken 520 damage.]

[Remaining HP: 101]

He'd taken a substantial amount of damage. If he wasn't in Gluttony mode, then he would’ve died right then and there. Thanks to it being active, however, he was barely able to cling to life.

"Uaaaahk!" Kang Oh yelled, and thrust his demon sword.

Peok!

His blade released a wave of darkness.

Darkness Strike!

It wasn't just a normal Darkness Strike.

It was a Darkness Strike that was amplified by Gluttony. 

Perhaps that explained why the beast-like shape was larger and denser than normal.

Kwang!

The gigantic tiger took a direct hit from the darkness wave.

Since there was no space between them, there was no way that Baramut could avoid his attack.

Kyaoh!

Baramut yelled in agony and rolled onto the floor.

Because of its large size, Baramut created a large groove in the ground.

"Haahk, haa."

Kang Oh regained his ragged breath, and rushed Baramut once more.

'This is my chance.'

Kang Oh quickly made his way before the beast and swung his sword.

Slash!

However, his attack had failed.

It activated its gold skill, creating a protective coat around itself.

Pak!

His blade was stopped by the protective coat.

'What a skilled bastard!'

How can a tiger have a shield!?

Even so, Kang Oh pushed on, repeatedly swinging his sword and cracking the protective coat.

With Gluttony active, each and every one of his strikes caused a crack to form on the tiger's shield.

Kureureung!

Right before it cracked, Baramut swung its front paws.

Kang Oh responded in kind, forcefully swinging his blade to match it.

Kwang!

Blade and claw met, but Baramut was the one that was forced back.

That was just how powerful Gluttony made him.

He took a step forward and slashed horizontally.

Darkness Strike!

Baramut was engulfed in a wave of darkness once more. It looked as though a pack of wolves were hunting the tiger.

The tumbling Baramut barely kept itself steady.

And began to retreat.

At full speed!

"Where do you think you're going!?"

Kang Oh followed Baramut.

At that moment, something grazed his side.

It was a dark red skull blazing in blue flame.

The skull flew past him quick as lightning and circled around Baramut.

And then, he heard a bizarre sound.

Kyagyagyagyagagaga!

"I've applied the stalker curse," Eder yelled.

"Follow it!"

This was their chance to take down Baramut.

Baramut continued to run with the stalker curse applied.

Gagagaga...

Kang Oh followed the stalker curse's blue flame and the bizarre noises.

Eder followed quickly behind him.

* * *

The speed of Baramut’s retreat was incredibly fast. It would traverse great distances whenever it kicked off the ground. 

However, it couldn't escape Kang Oh. After all, with Gluttony active, Kang Oh was faster.

"You!"

Kang Oh quickly caught up and swung downwards with his blade.

Swish!

Kuheong!

Baramut quickly rotated its body in order to avoid his attack.

Pook!

And his blade struck the innocent ground.

At that moment...

It violently swung its front paw.

'Eek!'

Kang Oh quickly bowed his body.

His HP was barely hanging in there. Thus, he was forced to dodge this attack no matter what.

Fortunately, Baramut's attack only sliced air, and Kang Oh mounted a counterattack.

However, it kicked off the ground and attempted to run away once more.

"Stop right there!"

Kang Oh followed after it.

It had evolved into a running fight.

But halfway through, he noticed a cave with a giant entrance, which Baramut escaped into.

Kang Oh followed it into the cave, but the moment he stepped foot into it...

Baramut turned 180 degrees and lunged at him. Golden energy rippled around its body.

"Huahp!"

Kang Oh swung his sword with all the strength he could muster; after all, he couldn't back down now.

Slash!

Tang!

Kang Oh and Baramut!

Their strength was dead even. Ultimately, neither side could overcome the other and both were forced back.

Gyareureu.

The tiger opened its mouth, allowing him to slightly see its teeth, and then vanished, retreating deeper into the cave.

'I can't let it go.'

Kang Oh followed it deeper into the cave. However, a system message appeared, informing him that Gluttony was no longer active.

'I have to take it down no matter what!'

Since Gluttony was inactive, he couldn't chase Baramut anymore. That just meant that he had to catch it now while he still knew where it was.

Kang Oh ran as fast as he could in order to catch it.

But did Baramut agree that they both needed to end things here?

If not, then was there nowhere else to run besides this cave?

Baramut stood proudly at the center of the vast cave, which was illuminated by the embedded gemstones.

Its black camouflage had disappeared; it regained its orange fur and black stripes, and stood before him as a majestic tiger once more.

The Baramut watched him from ahead and seemed to signal this with its body language.

'Let's finish this!'

And in the end, only one of them would leave here alive.

"That's what I'm talking about."

Kang Oh strode towards Baramut.

He could summon Eder, who was running as fast as he could to follow them, but he decided against it.

Kang Oh just wanted to fight it one-on-one.

Baramut continued to stare proudly whilst Kang Oh strode forward; it didn't move an inch.

Kang Oh stopped close enough where his demon sword could reach it. Obviously, he was close enough that Baramut's claws could reach him as well.

In other words, they were close enough to harm each other!

They stared into each others eyes.

Was that the signal?

They moved simultaneously.

"Die!"

Kang Oh swung his demon sword.

Kuheong!

While Baramut swung its giant front paw.

The clash between these two!

They continuously attacked in an attempt to kill the other!

Both Kang Oh and Baramut forewent defense and focused entirely on offense.

Kang. Ggang. Kang, kang!

His blade and its claws clashed endlessly.

They didn't hold back with their skills either.

Slash! Earth Shards! Slash!

Wind Claw! Roar! Wind Claw!

In the midst of all that, due to the ferocity of their confrontation, they both continued to take damage.

Shards of red light continuously poured out of both Kang Oh and Baramut little by little.

However!

One side was gradually gaining the advantage.

Kang Oh swung his sword as if he were in a trance.

His concentration was at its peak right now.

With the experience and talent he possessed as the gamer who ruled over Warlord as the game's strongest, as well as his Hyper Intuition, his real-life combat senses, as well as his tough character...!

All of these factors combined raged on, like metal smelted in a furnace, even when facing such a powerful foe in such a desperate battle! His strength was bursting out all at once.

Baramat too, resisted until the very end.

It used its gold skill effect!

It also repeatedly used its Wind Claw and swept him away.

However, Kang Oh swung his sword like a madman, and continuously deflected any and all wind whips that came his way.

Moreover, his first attack against its shield had formed cracks along its surface, and by repeating striking against the cracked surface, it broke instantaneously.

One step. One more step.

Kang Oh advanced steadily.

While Baramut was pushed back.

Kuaaang!

Baramut roared at the top of its lungs.

A normal person would feel weak at the knees!

But scared dogs bark the loudest.

Conversely, Kang Oh's eyes were calm... no, they were completely still.

Ultimately, Kang Oh unleashed his final attack.

Swish.

With his demon sword that cut through the world.

The snow-white line followed the trajectory of his blade!

Peok!

Baramut's vision became blurry.

It mustered up all the strength it had left to turn its body to one side of the cave.

It bowed its head in that direction and then met its death.

[You have defeated Baramut.]

[Baramut is a unique boss monster.]

[Baramut drops items that include its name.]

[You have defeated a unique boss monster. Your fame has increased, and all your combat-related side stats have improved.]

[Baramut's Hunting Ground has returned to its original name: Quiet Lavero Jungle.]

[You have acquired the title, 'King of the Lavero Jungle'.]

'It was a unique boss?'

This meant that this was the only one to exist in Arth's history, whether it be past, present, or future.

Whereas the Spider Queen, Alishi, would revive after a certain amount of time.

To be more specific, it would respawn. It was only natural, as this was a game.

However, unique boss monsters wouldn't respawn.

There was only one of them!

If they were killed, that was it!

Thus, Baramut had, in the truest sense of the word, died.

Never again would anyone be able to see Baramut ever again.

Also, boss monsters would drop one-of-a-kind equipment that bore their name.

That was what the four pieces of shimmering equipment around Baramut were.

Kang Oh collected the equipment.

And he looked over to where Baramut had bowed before it died.

The last act of the unique boss monster, Baramut.

It was...

'It seemed like it missed its home.'

It was said that foxes turn their heads towards their home before they died.

That's how Kang Oh interpreted Baramut's final act.

'Why?'

Kang Oh walked over in that direction.

There was a giant piece of cloth draped over the wall. He raised the fabric, revealing an area which seemed fit for a human to live in.

There was a brazier, a bed, a table, a bookshelf and books, cooking utensils, etc.

And there was the body of an old robe-wearing woman rocking atop the rocking chair.