Chapter 112

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As Ming Hu continued to walk inward, hunting the gargoyle soldiers, he frowned as another one came into view.
‘It’s getting shorter and shorter.
Ming Hu thought as he looked at the stone soldiers that came into view. The further in he went, the less distance there was between the stone soldiers guarding the path. At first, the distance was about 300 meters, but now it was only about 100 meters. Perhaps the next group of gargoyles would be visible from where he was now.
“Huh?
Stop
As Ming Hu approached to hunt down the stone soldier, he sensed something was wrong and stopped in his tracks.
“…what is it?
Ming Hu shook his head and looked at the gargoyle soldier. The stone soldier in front of him was different from the ones he had seen before. For one thing, it was larger and more finely carved.
“Intermediate?
The different-looking gargoyle seemed to be a mid-level gargoyle, not a low-level gargoyle. No, it was definitely a mid-level gargoyle. Ming Hu began to walk toward the gargoyle soldier.
“Are you going to take a bow this time?
The number of gargoyle soldiers totaled three, two of them with swords and one with a bow. He was not a low ranking soldier, so he was unlikely to be wielding a bow. When Ming Hu was in range, the gargoyle with the sword started running toward him, and Ming Hu saw the gargoyle pulling a bowstring toward him.
‘Now you’re shooting arrows.’
Ming Hu quickly stepped to the side as he watched the arrow fly toward him. Soon, the arrow struck where Ming Hu was standing. Ming Hu looked at the arrow embedded deep in the ground, then turned and began to run toward the stone soldier running toward him.
As they ran, the distance between Ming Hu and the gargoyle soldier quickly closed. Ming Hu swung his fist at the gargoyle soldier, who was now in range.
Puck! Puck!
The gargoyle soldier attacked by Ming Hu immediately began to crack. Seeing that, Ming Hu ran past the gargoyle soldier to the gargoyle soldier who was about to shoot a bow at him again.
Wham!
Ming Hu saw an arrow coming toward him, but it was not fast enough to dodge, and he was struck by it.
Jurrrrrr
Ming Hu was knocked back slightly by the arrow. I checked his health, and it wasn’t too bad; the knockback was simply the effect of the arrow.
“Where.”
Ming Hu quickly ran toward the stone soldier pulling the bowstring again and threw a punch.
Puck!
The stone soldier pulling the bowstring stopped immediately after the attack, cracking and shattering. Ming Hu watched the rapidly disappearing remains of the stone soldier and began collecting the dropped items.
-You have earned the Intermediate Gargoyle Soldier’s Mark.
-You have mastered intermediate marble sculpting.
-You have earned the Intermediate Gargoyle Soldier’s Mark.
After collecting all the items, Ming Hu closed his inventory and started walking again. Sure enough, as expected, a group of gargoyle soldiers blocked his path not far away. Ming Hu approached the gargoyle soldiers to see what they were carrying.
“Oh, a wand? Are you going to do magic?
Of the three, one held a sword and two held staves. As the stone soldier with the bow shot an arrow, Ming Hu began to run toward the stone soldier with the staff, wondering if the stone soldier with the bow would use magic.
Soon within range of the stone soldier, Ming Hu glanced at the stone soldier running toward him and saw the two stone soldiers standing behind him. Chunks of stone appeared from the staffs of the two stone soldiers and began to fly. Ming Hu saw the rocks flying toward him and extended his fist toward the stone soldier with the sword who had arrived in front of him.
Puck!
Throwing a punch at the stone soldier, Ming Hu quickly moved to the side to avoid the rocks.
Sigh
“Huh?
However, as if guided, the boulder turned and flew toward Ming Hu.
Puck! Puck!
Ming Hu was immediately knocked backward by a rock.
‘Arrows or rocks or… I wonder if it’s all like this.’
Ming Hu thought as he watched the rocks fly toward him again.
Puck! Puck!
This time he threw himself to dodge, but the boulder changed direction and pushed him back. Ming Hu quickly began to run.
Puck! Puck!
As he ran, a rock hit him and knocked him back. Ming Hu frowned as he watched the rocks fly toward him.
“This is more annoying than I thought.
The rocks, which I didn’t think would be a big deal, were more annoying than I expected. They didn’t do that much damage, but the knockback effect was really annoying. The casting was also fast, so closing the distance wasn’t easy.
“Ouch!
Annoyed at being pushed back again and again, Ming Hu threw his fist at the flying rocks.
Poof!
“Huh?”
The boulder hit his fist and exploded. It wasn’t even pushed back. Ming Hu smiled and began to deflect the boulders flying toward him. When he had closed the distance, he attacked the two stone soldiers casting the boulders. The boulders that appeared disappeared the moment Ming Hu’s fist touched the stone soldiers.
“Huh.”
Ming Hu let out a short sigh, then muttered.
“Four of them would be really annoying.”
Ming Hu shuddered at the thought. He began to pick up the dropped items.
-You have earned the Intermediate Gargoyle Soldier’s Mark.
-You have earned the Intermediate Gargoyle Soldier’s Mark.
After collecting all of his items, Ming Hu resumed walking along the path, fending off the mid-level stone soldiers as he made his way inward, until he came upon the massive city walls.
“Is that a tolerance…”
Resistance was evident.
“Well, that means we’re going to get a more advanced gargoyle soldier.”
According to Haim, knights come from the inner circle. If that was the case, the higher-ranked stone soldiers should be coming out soon. Ming Hu defeated the intermediate stone soldier in front of him and walked inside. After a while, Ming Hu stopped walking with a smile on his face.
“Yikes.”
It was as Ming Hu had expected. A stone soldier, taller and more finely carved than the intermediate stone soldier, stood in the way. It was obviously a high-level stone soldier.
“Good to know.”
Ming Hu muttered as he looked at the weapons the stone soldiers were carrying. There were three of them in total, each holding a bow, a sword, and a staff. Ming Hu began to walk toward the stone soldiers.
Sigh
The gargoyle soldiers looked at Ming Hu as if they were in range.
“Hmm?
Ming Hu couldn’t help but feel a little flustered.
“Why isn’t he jumping?
He didn’t understand why the statue soldiers with staves and bows didn’t rush at him, let alone the ones with swords. But the next move, the one with the sword, made Ming Hu frown.
Yay!
Swords were flying. It wasn’t just a sword. Beside the sword, two arrows and a chunk of stone were flying.
“First the rocks.
The boulder was a lead. You could dodge everything else, but you couldn’t dodge a rock. Ming Hu first moved sideways to avoid the sword.
Eek.
“…!
Moving to the side, Ming Hu couldn’t help but panic slightly as he saw the sword changing direction after him.
“Was that an induction?
Ming Hu extended his fist toward the sword. However, in his panic, it took him a moment to extend his fist, and the sword struck Ming Hu’s body first.
[Stunned for 2 seconds].
“…huh?
Ming Hu looked at the stunned message, then back at the sword, then back at the stone soldier, then at the two arrows and the chunk of stone that had come to rest in front of him, and he frowned.
Puck! Puck! Puck!
Two arrows and a chunk of stone struck Ming Hu’s body in quick succession.
Jurrrrrr
Having been pushed back a considerable distance, Ming Hu frowned as he recovered from his stun and began to run toward the gargoyle soldiers, arrows and rocks flying at him again.
Boom!
Ming Hu first dodged the arrow, then knocked away the rock. Then he quickly parried the sword that came flying back. The distance seemed to close quickly.
Siaak
Just then, a magic circle appeared in Ming Hu’s path, followed by a three-meter wall. Ming Hu stretched his fist toward the wall blocking his view.
Boom!
Did he know that Ming Hu was going to destroy him? The wall shattered and Ming Hu could see that two arrows and a sword were closing in on him.
“Holy shit.
Poof!
[Stunned for 2 seconds].
Struck by the sword, Ming Hu stared blankly at the arrow flying toward him as he read the stun message.
Puck! Puck!
The arrow knocked Ming Hu back, and when the stunned man recovered, he began to run again, frowning. By repeatedly running forward and being pushed back, Ming Hu gradually closed the distance. Once Ming Hu was within a certain distance, the stone soldier with the sword stopped throwing his sword.
Wham!
Ming Hu looked at the stone soldiers running toward him, the flying arrows, and the chunks of stone, and for a moment wondered which to deal with first. But the answer was clear. Ming Hu threw a punch at the stone soldier who was about to swing his sword.
Puck! Tsk tsk.
The stone soldier who was hit by the punch immediately cracked all over his body, and after confirming it, Ming Hu quickly extended his fist toward the stone chunk.
Poof! Puck puck
The boulder and arrow knocked Ming Hu backward, but he smiled and started running again.
Whiz! Bam!
Ming Hu quickly closed the distance, dodging the arrows and hitting the rocks. As he closed the distance, the stone soldier with the bow jumped backward and released an arrow. Ming Hu quickly dodged the arrow and punched the stone soldier with the staff.
Boom!
A magic circle appeared in front of the staff-wielding statue soldier, revealing the three-meter-high wall from earlier. Flying toward the statue soldier, Ming Hu’s fist made contact with the wall and it shattered in an instant. Ming Hu frowned slightly and punched again.
Puck! Tsk tsk.
The stone soldier that was casting cracked and stopped working. Only one stone soldier remained. Ming Hu dodged the arrows, closing the distance and killing the remaining gargoyle soldier.
“Huh.”
After defeating the stone soldier, Ming Hu let out a short sigh. He picked up the dropped items and muttered to himself.
“Next time, I’ll use a skill.”
He hadn’t thought he would need to use his skills until he faced the knights, and as he thought, he was able to hunt without them, but it was incredibly inefficient and, more than anything, irritating. After gathering all the items, Ming Hu’s eyes flashed and he began to run towards the stone soldier who stood blocking the path to the inner castle from the front.