Chapter 57

Chapter 57

But the Minotaur quickly regained its senses.

It shook its head, then swung the heavy club in its hand down toward Yoo Mina.

"Aah!"

She stumbled while trying to dodge and let out a short scream.

At that moment, Park Seungjun rushed forward from seemingly nowhere.

He wrapped his arms around her and took the attack in her place.

"Urgh...!"

"W-What the hell?! Are you crazy?!"

"Yoo Mina, you're the one who needs to get your act together! Everyone, help us!"

Park Seungjun pulled Yoo Mina back.

As though they'd been waiting for his signal, the others immediately attacked the Minotaur.

Jo Kangjun unleashed a dark power.

Lee Junhyuk fired his Fire Wind magic.

Han Siwoo sent his sword flying toward the monster.

And I...

[Skill 'Lag Lv.9' activated.]

I restrained the Minotaur to prevent it from dodging their attacks.

Even though it was only D-rank, a boss was still a boss.

The Minotaur struggled violently.

CRRRK.

The skill binding it gradually began tearing apart.

But we didn't need to restrain it for long.

"ROOOOAR!"

Everyone's attacks struck the Minotaur directly in the face.

It staggered several times.

Then it fell backward beyond the wall with a heavy crash.

As the vibrations beneath our feet gradually stopped, my brother spoke in a serious voice.

"Did we get it...?"

"Not yet. We haven't received a raid completion message."

"Still, we must've done some damage. How much time do we have left?"

I answered Han Siwoo before turning toward Park Seungjun.

"Five minutes have passed."

That meant fifteen minutes remained.

Could we defeat the monster within that time?

I couldn't be certain.

And their tanker, Choi Jiwoo, still hadn't fully recovered.

Will I have to use that again?

I thought about the Scythe of Light I'd used earlier.

Then I shook my head.

The aftereffects were troublesome enough.

But using it would also make it impossible to collect the monster's items.

I wanted to avoid that if possible.

Let's keep it as our last resort.

A pair of horns slowly appeared above the enormous wall.

Then the Minotaur's head rose into view.

It had already stood up.

Radiating murderous intent, it let out an enraged roar.

"ROOOOOAR!"

Seeing its imposing figure, Park Seungjun laughed weakly.

"Looks like we only made it angrier..."

"Kim Jia, you said you're a healer, right? I'll finish that thing off, so can you help me?"

Yoo Mina glared at the Minotaur as she spoke.

From what I'd seen so far, she seemed to have a habit of trying to handle everything by herself.

I shook my head.

"If you intend to fight alone, I can't help you."

"What? I might actually have a better chance on my own! What if someone else attacks halfheartedly and only provokes it further?"

Yoo Mina ground her teeth and glared at me.

Wasn't she a C-rank Hunter?

From her perspective, perhaps our attacks really did look insignificant.

But even a C-rank Hunter couldn't defeat a D-rank boss alone.

Especially not when we were running out of time.

And yet she was still this confident.

Now I understand why Park Seungjun thought his party was a bunch of misfits.

"I don't know how impressive a Hunter you are, Yoo Mina. And frankly, I don't care. But I do know one thing. If you refuse to cooperate, we won't clear this dungeon within fifteen minutes."

She hesitated.

I drove the point home.

"Fight together with your teammates. Otherwise, I won't help you."

"Haa... Fine. I just thought it looked weakened, so I wanted to finish it off quickly."

Yoo Mina muttered an excuse and briefly lowered her sword.

Then she took a deep breath and looked at me with renewed determination.

"I'll cooperate. What do you want me to do?"

Instead of answering immediately, I looked toward the Minotaur.

It had taken everyone's attacks directly, but its condition was much better than I had expected.

"ROOOOOAR!"

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The ground shook with every step it took.

At least there was an enormous wall between us.

It'll take some time to reach us.

We needed to find its weakness before then.

I pulled out the Monster Analyzer and pointed it at the Minotaur.

[Monster Analyzer used. One use consumed.]

[Remaining Uses: 2/5]

[Minotaur]

[Characteristics: Commonly appears in D-rank dungeons.]

[Strength: Every part of its body except its weakness is extremely durable.]

[Weakness: Tail.]

I immediately called out to everyone.

"My skill can stop the Minotaur's movements for a short time."

"And?"

"When that happens, attack its tail."

"Its tail...?"

Yoo Mina narrowed her eyes and stared at the Minotaur.

Naturally, we couldn't see the tail attached to its back.

"Well, fine. It's not like we have another plan."

She pointed her sword toward the approaching monster.

"So all I need to do is cut off that bull's tail?"

"Yes. More importantly, we need someone to draw its attention..."

I let my voice trail off and looked toward my brother.

"Why? What? Why are you looking at me like that? Don't tell me you want me to be the bait."

"You catch on quickly. It's not like you have anything else to do. You did pretty well last time."

"What? Hah. Seriously..."

My brother kept letting out disbelieving sighs.

But he didn't actually argue.

"I'll help too."

At Park Seungjun's offer, I shook my head.

"Just in case something happens, Seungjun, please stay here and protect Jiwoo and me."

"Sorry, hyung."

"No, it's fine. I'll do that."

Park Seungjun nodded.

Just then, the Minotaur finally reached us after making its way through the maze.

I lifted my chin and stared at its enormous body.

"Looks like there's no need to go out and meet it anyway."

"Damn, that thing's huge. I'm not going to get stepped on and killed, am I?"

My brother summoned his shield as he spoke.

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen."

[Skill 'Shield Lv.10' activated.]

My brother glanced at the Shield surrounding him.

Then he approached the Minotaur's feet and shouted.

"Hey! You stupid bull-headed bastard!"

"ROO?"

The Minotaur looked down at him as though it had discovered an insect.

While its attention was focused on my brother, I whispered to the others.

"Now. Hurry!"

Everyone nodded and began quietly moving toward the Minotaur's back.

Park Seungjun, Choi Jiwoo, and I hid in a blind spot outside the monster's field of vision.

Then we watched.

My brother was still talking nonsense to the Minotaur.

"A bastard like you is the master of this labyrinth?! The labyrinth deserves better! You thousand servings of premium beef... Hrk!"

[Skill 'Lag Lv.9' activated.]

The Minotaur's club struck the ground dangerously close to my brother.

If I'd used my skill even a little later, he might have ended up crushed beneath it.

I pressed a hand against my chest when I saw that he was safe.

The Minotaur picked up its club to attack him again.

I glanced behind the monster.

Everyone had reached their positions.

It had been a little close, but this should be enough.

I gestured for my brother to retreat.

"Oppa!"

"Ah, damn it! I can't do this anymore!"

At my signal, he immediately ran toward us.

The Minotaur raised its club to strike him.

But suddenly...

"ROOOOOAR!"

It let out an ear-splitting scream.

"All that size, and it's not much of a threat after all."

At Park Seungjun's words, I looked at him and nodded.

But...

Why hasn't the raid completion message appeared?

Just as I began feeling that something was wrong...

"GRRRR!"

The Minotaur let out a low roar and turned around.

Then...

"W-What?"

My brother muttered in surprise.

I'd expected something to happen.

But nothing did.

And that made the situation even stranger.

Suppressing the anxiety rising from the soles of my feet, I looked farther into the distance.

There, I saw our teammates standing completely still.

No.

They weren't simply standing still.

Their bodies had hardened.

I didn't mean they had frozen in fear.

They had literally turned into stone.

For a moment, I couldn't understand what I was seeing.

Park Seungjun muttered in disbelief.

"W-What in the world...?"

It seems their damage wasn't sufficient.

A bird's voice came from above.

"Damage...?"

Yes. Why are you taking such a difficult approach? You could simply summon the Scythe of Light and finish this easily.

It would certainly be easier.

But I wanted to keep it as a last resort.

Collecting all the items dropped by the boss would bring in a considerable amount of money.

"Why isn't it attacking them?"

Just as Park Seungjun said, the Minotaur was completely ignoring our teammates, who had turned into stone.

Instead, it kept looking around, searching for us.

"Don't tell me it's using them as bait to lure us out."

My brother's words made both Park Seungjun and me widen our eyes.

"That's possible. In that case, we'll have to give it what it wants. You said its weakness is its tail, right?"

"Wait a moment."

I stopped Park Seungjun, who had already gripped his daggers and looked ready to charge.

Then I activated a skill.

[Skill 'Debuff Removal Lv.8' activated.]

[Due to 'Minotaur's Domination,' the effect of 'Debuff Removal Lv.8' has been weakened.]

[Physical contact with the target is required to use 'Debuff Removal Lv.8'.]

That was unexpected.

Previously, the system had simply told me that removing certain debuffs was impossible.

Now it had given me a condition.

It still wasn't an immediate solution, but it was better than nothing.

I turned toward my brother and Park Seungjun.

"The Minotaur is targeting us right now. If Oppa's theory is correct, that also means the others are safe until it finds us."

I hid myself farther behind the wall to stay out of the Minotaur's sight.

I hadn't planned it this way, but thank goodness we'd ended up in a blind spot.

Despite what I'd said, Park Seungjun couldn't take his eyes off our petrified teammates.

"But what if something goes wrong...?"

"Exactly. We can't just keep running away. Besides, Choi Jiwoo still hasn't..."

"I'm fine now. I can fight."