81.

“Is it a tarantula?”

Traditions about swamps are spread all over the world where they exist.

It was because the swamp was an ominous geographical feature that was both dangerous and uncommon.

however.

There is a clear difference in the frequency of occurrence of swamps in the lore of each region.

For example, there are traditions about swamps in Korea, but they are not very common.

It was because it was difficult to see the swamp, and even if there was one, the scale was not large.

That’s why the frequency of legends about swamps is high… An American Indian tale or an English or African side of a large swamp.

Among them, the most likely to connect tarantulas with swamps was, after all, Africa.

“How did you bring this?”

Seo In-na muttered that and took out the amulet.

African swamp spiders cannot have walked all the way here on their own.

That means someone took this from there to here and released it.

Like the fire fox from before, I wonder if there are people in the social community who deal with strange things.

Seo In-na threw the talisman along with such a question.

A total of five amulets spread out in front of her as if drawing a pentagon.

And inside the pentagon, Seo In-na aimed her crossbow.

“Shaaa!”

That moment.

A swamp spider jumped toward Seo In-na and the others who had entered its territory.

At this, Choi Eun-young’s face became contemplative, but Seo In-na calmly aimed at the man who jumped up.

The 5 amulets Seo In-na now spread were a type of sorcery using the theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements.

The theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements is an idea that represents the universe and humans as five attributes: fire, water, wood, metal, and earth.

If you judge the properties of swamp spiders according to this.

Swamps have the dual attributes of water and trees, and insects have the dual attributes of soil and trees.

Therefore, the most suitable attribute to destroy it is…

Metal and flame piercing each other.

When Seo In-na made that decision, the pentagonal amulet was engraved with the letters Hwa and Gold, and was divided into two and three, respectively, and overlapped.

At the same moment an arrow was fired, and the amulet followed like a string.

And the moment it hits the spider’s stomach.

Wow!

With a loud explosion, dozens of huge iron spikes wrapped in flames protruded from within the body of the swamp spider and tore the body apart.

“… … ”

The magic contained in the arrow and the amulet exploded with spiritual power, and fire and metal were realized in an instant.

Soon the iron thorns and flames disappeared like an illusion.

As a result, the swamp spider, which instantly turned into a rag, sank back to the bottom of the swamp in pieces.

“and… ”

Seeing this, Choi Eun-young exclaimed in admiration.

Seo In-na opened her mouth after confirming that there was no movement in the swamp anymore.

“Then let’s keep going.”

“Hmm, can there be more like this?”

“You don’t seem to be one of those who live in groups, so it should be fine.”

“I see.”

Kwon Tae-soo nodded and moved on.

That’s how they crossed the still swamp that quickly became quiet.

As Seo In-na said, the only monster that lived in the swamp was the swamp spider.

Soon they reached the cliff on the other side and found a gap in the cliff.

The huge cliff split on both sides, leaving enough space for one or two people to pass through.

“This… ”

And inside it was a staircase.

Stairs continued down the cliff, heading somewhere upstairs.

“Huh, after going through all that hardship, did you want me to go up again?”

Kwon Tae-soo frowned and said.

But since I came this far, these stairs are the only way.

“I can’t help it. I have no choice but to go.”

Saying so, Seo In-na started to climb the stairs.

Choi Eun-young, who followed her, let out a small sigh at the unpredictable length of the stairs.

* * *

After defeating the Underground State enemy, we approached the door he was guarding.

A large wooden door that looks like the front door of a nobleman’s house is buried in the soil.

I grabbed the handle and pulled it straight.

As if there was no locking device, it revealed its inside with a ghastly sound.

And the scenery seen inside was unusual.

“I… ?”

It was a huge temple.

The first thing I saw was the headless statues of the Four Heavenly Kings guarding both sides of the entrance.

Inside, there were dozens of buildings each fenced off.

Like the underground country established by the Dwarves, the building was built on a vast space dug out of the ground.

Also, the temple was built along a certain slope from the bottom to the top, as if it were built along the slope of a mountain, and the entrance I entered was in the middle.

Moreover, its overall size was as large as the site of the Seoul branch of the General Headquarters of the World, which I had been to.

“No, why is there such a thing under the ground?”

At this, Han Seong-min muttered.

Nahajeong didn’t say anything either, but inside she seemed quite surprised.

Unlike me, they didn’t seem to have seen anything like it.

furthermore,

“Hey, someone is there.”

nahajeong said

The wide temple was not empty.

I could feel the obvious popularity here and there.

In the building looking up, I could see several figures in monk’s robes moving.

You can even hear the sound of chanting from nearby buildings.

“This way for now.”

I passed through the entrance and hid behind a fence.

It was near the building where the sound of chanting could be heard.

I stared into the building from there.

There were several level markers in it, all ranging from 10 to 20.

Even if there are some numbers, it’s a level that can’t be said to be threatening by any means.

“hmm… ?”

From nob le mt l. com

Just then, the door of the building opened and a monk came out.

However, the appearance of that monk… was not a person

“Isn’t that a corpse?”

It was as Han Sung-min said.

What came out of the door was a shriveled corpse that had been dried and discolored black.

And the conditions of the monks who were seen through the open door were all similar.

Those who had already died were wearing monk’s robes and chanting Buddhist chanting.

“… … ”

Everyone shut their mouths at the grotesque sight.

Even if I tried to deduce the intention, I couldn’t easily figure it out.

Obviously, moving a corpse to do this is not common sense, but it must be related to tradition or have a deep shamanistic meaning.

“What are you going to do now?”

At Na Ha-jung’s question, I was lost in thought for a moment.

Looking at the structure of the clause from the bottom to the top, if you think simply, there is a high possibility that there is something at the top.

And since the corpse monks around were not very strong, going up itself might not have been that difficult.

but… That wasn’t a very wise decision.

The owner of this temple is a guy who has an underground enemy he met a while ago as a gatekeeper.

A powerful enemy that was only able to face off after using buff consumables.

So assuming there’s something stronger than him waiting up there.

Unless you were particularly lucky, you couldn’t guarantee victory easily.

Then it would be right to just find another exit and withdraw from here.

Thinking so, I raised the arrow of the quest that I had temporarily removed from sight due to the battle.

however… since when

“hmm?”

Suddenly, the arrow split in two.

The red arrow points to the top of the section.

And the green arrow pointed in the opposite direction, down.

Last time, it was like this at the school that resonated with the magic station.

At the time, red arrows meant enemies and green arrows meant allies.

At that time, it meant to rescue an ally, but Seo In-na was the only ally who could be here.

So in this case it would have meant joining, not rescue.

“Let’s find an exit first.”

So I said that to my teammates.

“Exit? Is it a sword to withdraw?”

I nodded.

Of course, I really had no intention of leaving.

Seo In-na is a powerful level 67.

So, if it was possible to join Seo In-na and the others, the guy at the top was also worthy of hunting.

However, in order to find Seo In-na, I had to pretend to find the exit.

“It should be. The enemy is stronger than expected.”

“That is so. That bastard earlier, my attack didn’t even work.”

“… … ”

Han Seong-min agreed with my words, and even Na Ha-jung could not easily resist.

She also experienced the power of the underground enemy, so even if she didn’t like it, she wouldn’t be able to oppose withdrawal.

“then Let’s go. Those aren’t very strong, but don’t touch them.”

At my words, the two nodded.

I took the lead and led the group.

Fortunately, most of the corpse monks were only active inside the temple.

Occasionally, monks with spears around level 30 or guys with giant maces patrolled the area.

It wasn’t too difficult for me, who could see the level markers, to avoid them.

So we got to the bottom of the section.

There was the main gate of the temple.

A door that was much larger than the side door we entered caught our eyes.

“There is an exit.”

Beyond the main gate was a path leading out of the temple and down.

The main gate was guarded by two corpse monks, so we climbed over the side fence and headed that way.

“Syomsa… ?”

At that time, Na Ha-jeong muttered as she looked at the front gate.

I didn’t realize it when I looked at it from the back, but the name of this temple was hung on the main gate.

At the time of the corpse, the yeomsa who wrote the thought yeomsa.

Indeed, it was the name of a temple overflowing with corpse monks.

“There are stairs on this side- Whoa!”

In the meantime, Han Seong-min, who was looking down the road, screamed.

I looked there to see what was going on.

In front of him was a familiar winged eyeball.

that… Choi Eun-young’s watcher.

As expected, he encountered Seo In-na and the others.

and after a while

We immediately joined Seo In-na and the others, hiding near the stairs leading down to share the situation.

“There was an enemy of the underground country, and you captured it?”

Seo In-na, who heard my report, said that with a look of surprise.

He already knew how strong the enemy of the underground nation was.

“yes. It was pretty strong.”

“Yeah… of course. He’s not too hard on me either. How the hell did you get that?”

“that is… ”

“No, it is. That’s not the problem now. Anyway, I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

Saying that, Seo In-na looked at me and the other two.

However, soon recognizing that everything was fine, she sighed and frowned.

“however… If that’s the case, it’s way beyond expectations.”

Seo In-na said with a half annoyance.

I wonder if it was the monsters like bats and centipedes that had been flying on the cliffs until then.

The existence of the underground enemy was clearly at a level that greatly exceeded the police’s judgment.

If I knew there would be an enemy like this, the police shouldn’t have sent only our team.

Seo In-na would not have made the decision to split the team, even if it was too much.

“Then do you want to withdraw… ?”

Choi Eun-young, who was standing next to her, said.

There, Seo In-na hesitated for a moment as if she was worried.

“I think it is better to continue the investigation.”

I couldn’t wait to see the decision to withdraw at all, so I opened my mouth.

Then Seo In-na also nodded.

“That’s right, Inspector Kang. That’s what I think too.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t seem to have Cheolsu in mind from the beginning.

And her words continued.

“The name of the temple, Shiyeomsa, and the corpse monks filling it. It’s not for combat. A cult is, after all, a group for worshiping God. And the existence of a god is further strengthened by the faith of Shinto. Combining the two, it’s more of a faith production facility. It’s convenient to think of it as a factory to strengthen their gods.”

It’s a faith factory.

Is it to gather the faith of the corpses to strengthen the gods?

“Is that possible? Even if they are dead?”

“Of course, the faith of the dead is absolutely not a normal faith. It’s closer to resentment than faith, and that’s why it’s so twisted. But it doesn’t matter if the god they believe in is also a twisted existence.”

A seemingly unknown explanation followed.

I calmly listened to her words.

“And from that point of view, it is highly likely that the gatekeeper Kang met was a factory security guard. But the guard has already been knocked out, leaving the factory with nothing but powerless regular workers. In other words, although the scale of this temple is large, there is not much power left. Probably the owner of this factory up there is everything.”

On that point I agreed.

From the middle of the temple to the bottom, I didn’t see a single one that could be called a strong enemy.

Most of them were corpses just chanting Buddhist prayers in the temple, and the patrols that I occasionally see weren’t that strong either.

“So we’re going to continue the investigation, but what are your opinions?”

There was no objection to Seo In-na’s words.

I wonder if it was when they were divided into two groups.

The overall strength of the 2 support teams is strong enough to defeat a tolerable group of mines.

There was no reason to back down.

In response, Seo In-na nodded her head in satisfaction.

“good. Then let’s sweep it up.”

“But what are you going to do with those corpses?”

“Anyway, they are just being manipulated by witchcraft. We have to free them all.”

At Seo In-na’s words, Kwon Tae-soo nodded as if he understood.

At the word to kill everyone in sight, Na Ha-jung was already smiling with a handgun out.

“Then let’s go.”

We headed straight to the main gate of the temple.

Because I didn’t have to hide anymore.

The two corpse monks guarding the entrance were immediately blown off by Naha-jeong’s bullets.

and,

“Oohhh!”

Choi Eun-young’s Minotaur also made a roaring noise and smashed through the front door as it charged.

The signboard of Siyeomsa falls to the ground and shatters, and loud gunshots and ruptures reverberate through the quiet underground temple.

Bodies poured out from all over the building.

It was a huge number, like a wave dyed black.

“Kiaaa!”

“Kiyi!”

They were pushed down here, and we soon collided with the zombie horde.

The screams of corpses, explosions, and the sound of rotten flesh exploding filled my ears.

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