<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family Chapter 41>
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Kumus
Form: Medium. Humanoid. Domain-type. Non-aggressive unless provoked.
Height: 11 meters. Medium monster.
Attack Level: 4
Defense Level: 6
Features: Two pairs of arms, and the four long arms move like whips, allowing attacks from any angle at any time. The two legs are sturdy enough to effortlessly bear its bulk without difficulty……
……its head is located not on the shoulders but in the center of its chest. This eliminates the weakness inherent to living beings—a neck—and enhances survival. The critical weakness, the face, is also surrounded by a tough outer layer and only revealed when it spits acidic fluid……
Overall Assessment by Hunters:
– XX is totally a b*stard!!
– It’s not that hard, but it’s super annoying.
– If you’re going to hunt properly, I recommend finishing it off with 30 or more people. It’s surprisingly fast, and once it starts running, it’s almost impossible to stop.
– Must wear protective gear for bio-hazards. You may end up staring at its rear for an entire day. I did.
– I hunted this thing for two days and it was absolutely disgusting; I never want to see one again.
– But the payoff isn’t bad, right? The corpse is expensive.
– Yea, cosmetic companies buy the carcass for high prices. It’s a sweet deal.
– Just avoid the saliva and you’ll be fine. The critical weakness is when it spits—watch for that.
– Hmm, maybe it’s just me… but isn’t this thing kind of cute?
– No, it’s definitely not just you.
– One thing’s for sure: avoid any area where only Kumus monsters exist. They gang up on each other, and it’s pure hell. This is why ‘Fat-Bellied Maze’ is a definite no-go.
…
…
Park Ki-hyuk and his party were attempting the ‘Fat-Bellied Maze’.
Rated as a Level 5 Gate, the only monsters that appear are Kumus monsters; nothing else.
And though Kumus monsters are medium-sized, they offered the prospect of high rewards if hunted. One would think this would appeal to treasure hunters, but reality couldn’t be further from that.
The ‘Fat-Bellied Maze’ was an underrated gate, barely attracting anyone, embarrassingly so.
And the reason for this was the peculiar habits of the Kumus.
True to its non-threatening nature, the Kumus usually remains in a slumbering state.
“It’s quiet. Are they dead?”
“They look like boulders. They’re probably breathing though.”
“I’ve read their breathing organs are concealed.”
“Everyone, stay quiet. Let’s surround and have our tank move in first. Do not attack immediately. I want to observe their patterns first. You guys, focus on positioning.”
“Jun-woo, are you ready?”
But once they engage in battle, the Kumus shows no trace of its docile nature. Bulking in as a medium-sized monster, Kumus unleashes a brutal rush attack. It’s a common sight to see its surroundings utterly devastated during an attack.
Just like now.
“Hey, look out behind! The tree is falling! Be careful.”
“cr*p, it’s putting up quite the resistance. The arms are like whips just like they said… Here it comes again!”
“Whoa… just look at those guys over there. Are they dodging everything?”
“Ki-hyuk’s been called a Sword Master, but wasn’t that other one named Jun-woo? He’s surprisingly skilled. Is he that good?”
“Both of them are Bloodline users, so they’re naturally different from us… Look out! Block it!”
Fact is, Kumus’ aggression may seem overwhelming, but when it comes to medium-sized monsters, this level of assault is actually rather standard. In terms of offensive power, it’s actually below average compared to other medium monsters.
But here comes the real problem.
When the Kumus perceives a threat to its life, such as when health drops or sustaining irrecoverable injuries, it enters a ‘flee’ mode.
“What’s going on? Is it turning its back… Oh, it’s running!”
“Why would it run away?!”
“Block!!”
In these flee patterns, the Kumus temporarily receives a stat boost.
“Apply debuffs, and put up a wall!”
“Magic hit… but why is it speeding up?”
“My spells don’t seem to be working at all.”
With the enhanced stats, it attempts an all-out escape.
“It broke through…”
“Don’t just stand there, chase after it.”
But where is this Kumus headed?
That’s right.
To the closest Kumus monster.
This professional term can be called a “friend trigger.”
Kumus that successfully find friends receive an immediate boost of health and return to combat readiness.
“Snap out of it! Retake your positions! Yuri Jin, control the rear damage dealers. Mary, take charge of the weakened one with Jun-woo. I’ll handle the intact one.”
A Kumus with lower health instinctively seeks out its allies. As you know, the ‘Fat-Bellied Maze’ is home to nothing but Kumus. This means an incredibly high population density, and finding allies when in trouble is practically a given.
Attack, run out of health, find a friend, attack again. As health drops, it runs to another friend, who also brings in a friend… Eventually, after repeating this loop a few times, you might find yourself face-to-face with three or four seemingly innocent Kumus monsters merrily “kyorokkyorok~” leaping around together.
This is why the Kumus are so challenging and why the ‘Fat-Bellied Maze’ has been relegated to an underrated gate.
“Oof…..”
As one voice groaned and collapsed, others followed in a domino effect, crashing to the ground one by one.
Whether they’re conscious or not, these magic users… fragile ones. They collapse after merely 18 hours of hunting?
Lattes? They hunted for three days straight!
How weak are the younger ones these days? Are they even training their stamina or what?
“Hey, Head, did you guys not do any stamina training? How are the kids in such a state?”
“What? Hey! I didn’t want to say anything, but do you really think this is normal? Did you ever consider that your standards are too high? No hunting team hunts for 18 hours straight without rest, you idiot!”
“Hmph, guess you’re right. Just send the kids to rest in the tent.”
As the drained group shuffled off to the tent, I was left alone.
Finally, peace.
Sitting down somewhere with the supporting machine’s coffee in hand…
“Kumus, the Gate, and the key.”
The key I had been tirelessly collecting for 20 hours was in my hand.
The Fat-Bellied Maze’s field is divided into two types. One is the ‘Grassland Field,’ which we hunted in today.
This is the Grassland exactly as described.
A serene pasture that would inspire visions of sheep leisurely grazing on soft grass—it’s idyllic.
Of course, the reality is that instead of cute sheep, we’ve got house-sized Kumus monsters.
The second type of field is the ‘Labyrinth Field,’ located in the center of the grassland.
This is truly the main area, and this is why the gate is named for the labyrinth, not the grassland.
“There it is.”
My gaze drifted to the distant sky.
Amidst the clear sunlight, a mysterious darkness loomed. It obscured the area where the labyrinth field was located and cast an ominous shadow.
That is the Labyrinth field.
Once inside this labyrinth field, black walls will obstruct the path in every direction, and the hunting team must navigate the labyrinth to reach the center.
This is when the keys come in.
The key I currently held.
Each path in the labyrinth is blocked by a gate, and these gates require a key to open.
And if the key opens the gate?
You are given the chance to battle a ‘gatekeeper’ and must defeat it to proceed.
By gradually opening gates one by one and reaching the center, the ultimate goal is to slay the boss named Kumus ‘Baba’ to clear the gate.
“Still, it’s fascinating. These gates.”
So far, I’ve ventured through quite a few gates. Countless hunts and a few complete clearances on behalf of Yggdrasil have brought me to this point.
However, even after all this exploration, a lingering question remains unresolved.
“What exactly is the purpose of these gates?”
Who created them is no mystery. We already know the answer—this must have involved a ‘Divine Being’; more precisely, a god from this dimension, since a project of this scale could not have been accomplished otherwise.
How can I be sure?
Because each gate has its own ‘laws.’
They can be as simple as the flow of time or as complex as unyielding, absolute universal laws unique to that space.
To illustrate, take the labyrinth field over there. That labyrinth cannot be broken.
Physical attacks? Magic? Immune to all. The question “why?” is meaningless; it’s simply a law of this space.
Each gate has these somewhat similar yet individual ‘laws.’
Another interpretation might be that…
“It’s similar to the truth.”
Only the gods can create the truth.
Returning to the point, the gate is a work of art crafted by a ‘god.’
Then why did they create this? As a magic user chasing after the truth, it’s only natural to question this.
This is also the reason I’ve excessively ventured through gates. An entirely new method of truth that doesn’t exist in the empire—ignoring such a concept would disqualify me as a mage.
So, what are the results so far?
Honestly, I don’t know.
It’s embarrassing to admit, but I don’t even have a general feeling about it yet.
In this sense, it’s quite intriguing…
“It’s interesting in so many ways, right, Yuri?”
“Caught me…?”
“From behind the tent. If you wanted to hide, do it properly. And by the way, your concealment spell sequence was wrong.”
“No way!”
“Of course. Come here.”
Jin Yu-ri promptly sat next to me.
It’s amusing.
The gates, this world, even her.
What will next bring me joy?
Smiling, I closed my eyes.
On day 3 of the expedition.
The hunting team was still in the adaptation phase with the Kumus monsters.
“Dealers, be sure to maintain debuffs rather than offensive magic.”
“Watch out for attacks from the arms; the range is huge.”
“It’s about to run… There it comes!!”
“Block! No thinking about casting magic, just shove with the golem!”
On day 5 of the expedition.
After observing enough, the team had become familiar with the patterns of the Kumus. Hunting without triggering the ‘escape’ pattern became possible.
It was from here that Park Ki-hyuk began approaching the labyrinth field.
“Is this what a labyrinth is?”
Bang! Bang! Crash-!!
“… It’s loud, Ki-hyuk. It won’t break, I told you. How many times do I have to repeat it?”
“Just trying it, you know. But really, it won’t break ever… Hang on, move aside for a second.”
“Wait, Ki-hyuk! What’s Apocalypse doing all of a sudden? Calm down! Calm down, I said!!”
On day 7 of the expedition.
Having concluded that the labyrinth would not break, Park Ki-hyuk steadily gathered keys to penetrate the labyrinth.
When exactly 12 gates were opened, he finally came to understand why the Fat-Bellied Maze was rated as a Level 5 gate.
“We have to circle back? Another gate?”
“How many gates are there, really?”
“Yuri, how many keys are left?”
“None. They’re all used.”
“We’ll have to hunt again then.”
“XX… Such a pain!!…”
On day 10 of the expedition.
In most mazes, the crucial focus is finding the exit in the twisted web of paths. However, the Fat-Bellied Maze operates differently.
The focus isn’t about the paths.
It’s about the gates.
And not just a few; the maze has a lot—very, very many gates.
For a successful expedition, enough keys must be gathered to open all the gates.
This simple premise is enough to drive someone mad.
You could expend an entire day chasing after Kumus’s bulbous rear ends to gather only three keys. That’s with good luck. Meanwhile, the gates continued to pile up endlessly in front of the hunting team.
It’s a race without end, with no foreseeable endpoint.
To complicate matters further, the pathways created within the labyrinth kept adding distance from the grasslands. Now even traveling back and forth took a significant chunk out of the day’s schedule.
Park Ki-hyuk realized the current method wasn’t sustainable.
Eventually, he took decisive action.
“Let’s split up. Can you guys handle hunting on your own?”
“What about you? You’re going solo?”
“Ki-hyuk, can you handle that by yourself?”
“I’ll come too.”
“Okay, I’d prefer not to go solo, but we can’t keep wasting so much time. Mary, you take command. I think you’re capable. And Yuri Jin, stay a bit away.”
Day 11 of the expedition.
Thus, Park Ki-hyuk split from the expedition team to confront the Kumus alone.
*
“Some situations make even me want to avoid solo action, but I don’t have much of a choice this time.”
Standing in front of the Kumus under a biting wind, I was completely alone.
No Jun-woo, no nagging Mary, no clingy Jin Yu-ri.
Only me.
A battlefield of solitude.
Honestly, I prefer it this way. To be candid, I find solitude much more comfortable.
Many things have changed since I arrived in this world.
I have a family now, friends, and I’ve even experienced leisure.
It was good.
Sometimes, it surprises me to see how much I’ve changed, but on the other hand, it reassures me to think that this reflects emotions normal to humans—and that makes me happy.
But even so…
The core has not changed.
“Come to me.”
A veil of darkness descends around me.
From the darkness, fiery lights resembling crimson bl**d ignite, and then the Skeleton army emerges through the dark curtain.
“You too.”
At the same time my voice fades, the void fractures, and the presence of Baphomet and Asura becomes apparent. For now, they’re only heads, but the aura of Great Demons suffuses the air around.
Now that all has been summoned,
“Let your right arm command the ones to the right and your left arm the ones to the left.”
Ordinarily, I’d do this myself, but perhaps it’s time I feel the sensation of combat too. Sliding the Great Sword over my shoulder, I stepped forward.
“Let’s go.”
The Skeletons rush ahead in a frenzied charge.
A white wave of d*ath engulfs all.
There is no hesitation, no fear.
Only the king’s duty to extinguish his enemies burns in the hearts of the d*ath army as they leap forward toward the opposition.
And as always, at the very forefront of the d*ath army,
Me—standing there.
The Demon Lord.
