Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 221

221. When the Star Casts a Shadow (6)

Itrwal stopped dead in her tracks.

The Lich itself posed no threat to her. But if a member of the Wailing Star, Berde, was present, it was a different story.

An Apostle might be watching her from somewhere.

The goblins had disappeared while Itrwal was frozen in place.

But Itrwal no longer cared about them.

‘Let’s see…’

The Lich remained motionless, its hand raised towards the sky, as she watched it for a while.

Itrwal cautiously moved her body.

Her flexible, massive body snaked out of the tunnel and began to coil around the subway station.

Itrwal’s body was more like a lizard than a human.

A forked tongue flicked incessantly from her huge mouth, which was torn to her ears.

She was trying to absorb scent molecules in the air to identify even the invisible.

‘Only corpses. As expected.’

Old corpses crunched and crumbled under Itrwal’s feet.

Itrwal concluded that there were no Apostles, or at least none nearby.

Itrwal cautiously circled the area, then suddenly pounced on the Lich without warning.

The Lich, which had been frozen in place, was instantly smashed and scattered. As the Lich crumbled and disappeared so futilely, Itrwal felt confused.

It was already dead.

Due to the nature of the undead, it was difficult to distinguish between the dead and the living, but she realized it only after smashing it.

‘What is it?’

It was then that Itrwal discovered a strange object planted beneath the Lich’s spine. It was like a purplish-black crystal moss.

It was a crystal stone that absorbed negative mana and appeared when undead spawned in large numbers. The moment she saw it, Itrwal realized she had made a mistake.

Before she could react, the crystal stone emitted a dark light all at once, permeating the surrounding corpses.

Groooooan.

The undead, piled up like garbage in a landfill, began to rise all at once.

It was an undead swarm.

The moment they opened their eyes, they immediately swung their swords and claws at Itrwal, who was nearby.

Itrwal screamed and instantly smashed a corner of the undead swarm.

But the undead didn’t scream; instead, they stabbed wildly at Itrwal’s hands.

There was nothing more boring than undead who didn’t scream or feel pain.

Itrwal thrashed and attacked the undead swarm.

But as she felt the floor writhing, she realized something was going wrong.

The corpses that had been piling up for a long time, since who knows when, were all rising and moving at once.

“Is this a trap!”

The abilities of an undead swarm varied greatly depending on the number and quality of the undead it had absorbed.

The tunnel she had entered was already blocked by corpses.

Itrwal chuckled in disbelief.

“Hehe, okay. Fine. Let’s play even if it’s boring.”

Itrwal was convinced that this was a trap set by the Wailing Star. Or perhaps Hyun-mu had already sided with the Wailing Star.

If it was the latter, they were already too late, but if it was a trap by the Wailing Star, she found it ridiculous that they had set such a pathetic trap.

Itrwal contracted her body tightly.

Her massive frame instantly shrank to the size of a small child.

Surrounded by enemies like this, a large physique would only expose weaknesses.

As her body condensed, the increased weight crushed the undead swarm.

Itrwal burst into laughter and thrashed madly.

Just by running and kicking, the undead swarm was smashed and scattered in all directions with each touch.

“Hehehe! I wonder how it feels to die twice, but these guys can’t talk, can they?”

Amidst Itrwal’s mad laughter, it took less than ten minutes for half of the undead swarm to turn to dust and scatter.

The undead swarm, which had filled the subway station, was now halved, split to both sides, and writhing.

The undead swarm, having lost nearly half of its body, was no longer a threat.

Itrwal greatly expanded her body and crushed the remaining stragglers.

“To play such a pathetic trick, the Wailing Star has no talent for games.”

Itrwal felt slightly puzzled.

It was too elaborate to target her subordinates, and too weak to kill an Apostle.

Of course, Itrwal’s body wasn’t unscathed either. Her entire body was covered in wounds from her thrashing.

Itrwal tried to heal the wounds by licking them, but soon her eyes filled with doubt.

‘Did they put poison on it?’

The wounds were slightly sore, and recovery was slow.

Even though she had been bitten by rusty swords and bacteria-infested teeth, it shouldn’t have been a problem for the Famished Star’s subordinates, who lived in dirty environments.

Moreover, Apostles had resistance to the point where ordinary poisons wouldn’t work.

Still, the wounds themselves weren’t something to worry about. Thinking they would heal soon, Itrwal quickly forgot about the wounds.

‘I need to resume the search.’

She flicked her tongue, trying to gauge where the goblins had escaped.

However, her tongue first tasted the scent of something else.

The smell of burning.

The smell of rotting meat being grilled. The smell of sulfur and molten metal boiling.

“The Conquering Star?”

Kwaaaaack!

No sooner had Itrwal muttered than flames erupted, piercing through the undead swarm on the opposite side.

The undead swarm instantly turned to ashes, making bizarre screams and flailing, but was soon trampled and scattered by a giant iron-shod foot.

“What, is the Wailing Star already here?”

A voice like grinding metal. It was definitely Rampel, the Apostle of the Conquering Star.

The two soon locked eyes. Rampel’s burning helmet split open, and the flames at his mouth burned even more fiercely. Like a smile.

“Maggot bastards! I was bored catching only the uninteresting ones, but this is perfect!”

“You reek of war, war maniacs.”

Itrwal and Rampel glared at each other with contempt. But unlike Rampel, Itrwal didn’t particularly want to fight.

The Familiars of the Conquering Star might all be war maniacs obsessed with fighting, but the Famished Star was different.

Among them, Itrwal was the type who enjoyed playing with and tormenting those weaker than herself like toys.

‘I need to inform Kawaro-sama that the Conquering Star has arrived.’

She thought of a suitable excuse and looked for a chance to escape.

At that moment, Itrwal spotted the goblins she had missed, loitering on the opposite side of the tunnel.

The goblins raised their middle fingers at Itrwal and then pressed something like a switch.

“What?”

At the same time, a deafening roar echoed. The subway tunnel instantly collapsed.

The goblins’ figures disappeared, blocked by dust clouds and debris.

Itrwal watched in disbelief as the only tunnel exit was blocked.

She might be able to find a way out if she looked, but right in front of her was a war maniac who would not be easy to deal with.

Rampel muttered as he watched the collapsing tunnel.

“What is it? Shoddy construction?”

Moreover, the opponent seemed too stupid to be reasoned with. Itrwal felt something was going wrong and began to prepare to fight.

“…Come to think of it, what kind of screams does scrap metal make?”

***

With each roar and explosion echoing from the ceiling, dust trickled down from the ceiling. But Hyun-mu wasn’t too worried.

Unlike the makeshift burrows hastily built by Hyun-mu’s Familiars, he was in a huge underground reservoir.

Although it was somewhat distant from the crossroads, the Apostles of the Stars had no choice but to head this way, even if at an angle.

And as they came, they would inevitably collide with each other in the ever-narrowing passages.

“The Apostle of the Conquering Star and the Apostle of the Famished Star have collided.”

Ha-hyun muttered with her eyes closed.

Throughout the dungeon, small spiders, parts of her body, were hiding and watching the situation.

Ha-hyun had heard about the appearances of each Apostle through Kirson’s reports.

She had been living a life close to farming, leisurely catching and eating prey from her web with the Widow Queen Spider.

Thanks to that, she didn’t know as much as Kirson.

As Kirson said, maybe the weak should at least know a lot.

“As expected, it’s good to outsource dangerous roles like heroes or monsters.”

“…Is this really a situation to joke about?”

“From the role of the hero invading the dungeon to the role of the monster, they take care of it themselves, how can I not be happy?”

Is this what they call *yujeol* [a flexible or adaptable approach]?

It’s a shame that I can’t see the fight directly, but the fight will come here even if I don’t go looking for it.

“I thought the undead swarm would be able to deal quite a blow to that Apostle Itrwal, but I didn’t expect them to die so easily.”

Ha-hyun muttered, sounding disappointed.

The undead swarm was created using pseudo-crystal stones that Xiaojie had hidden during the Northern Expedition.

Even though they used more than half of the crystal stones they had obtained at that time, they couldn’t even kill one Apostle.

But Hyun-mu already expected it.

“If you can kill even one Apostle with traps or snares, you’re incredibly lucky. No, it’s impossible, right?”

Hyun-mu said, looking at Al-Hugin, who was tightly wrapped next to him.

Even now, he was constantly inflicting wounds and pouring poisonous blood to prevent Al-Hugin from moving.

Even so, Al-Hugin was still alive. Although it was difficult to recognize his original form.

“It’s almost impossible to kill the Apostles unless I step in myself.”

Hyun-mu once again thanked his luck that he had been able to face Al-Hugin before starting this fight.

Thanks to that, he was able to gauge the limits and abilities of the Apostles even a little. And to what extent he could kill them.

“Couldn’t the Apostles kill each other?”

Ha-hyun said expectantly.

Since Rampel and Itrwal were fighting now, one of them might die and come out.

“That would be the best possible outcome.”

Hyun-mu replied with a bitter smile.

“Unfortunately, they don’t have the motivation to chase and kill each other even if they escape. Especially those who survived Difficulty: Hell are the worst of the worst. They’re experts at surviving, and of course, the one who’s left won’t try to kill the other by overdoing it.”

Those who are too cruel don’t live long. They know each other well because they have lived long, and they know well not to overdo it.

Unless one side was in a very one-sided situation, he didn’t think they would kill each other.

“You’ve thought a lot about it.”

“It would be a problem if I died even once this time.”

The Apostles weren’t coming to kill Hyun-mu. They were coming to capture him. The crisis of death can be seen as the crisis of capture.

And not to mention the birth of the cursed one due to the ordeal.

It was a more difficult situation than ever before.

Hyun-mu was being as careful as possible and trying not to underestimate them.

“Right now, they’re fighting each other because they think I’m nothing. The moment they think I’m a threat, it’ll be different. That’s when the real thing starts.”

“Hmm… so you’re sending out the monsters?”

Throughout the dungeon, many of Hyun-mu’s monsters were also falling.

Each had a role to play, such as bait or luring, but most of them were dying unilaterally and meaninglessly.

“Because I have to pretend to be getting beaten as much as possible.”

Hyun-mu was just a monster, and unless they were his Familiars, he didn’t feel any pity for being beaten.

Still, he was concerned about the goblins because they were Kirson’s tribe.

Hyun-mu continued, as if making an excuse.

“Still, Kirson on the front line is commanding the monsters on the front line, right?”

“…You thought it would be better than dying by your orders?”

“Wouldn’t it be better than becoming my experience points?”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

Ha-hyun nodded as if reluctantly convinced. Hyun-mu didn’t understand her subtle attitude.

Ha-hyun was a top predator from the start. She must have caught and eaten quite a few goblins.

In Difficulty: Hell, cherishing Familiars is like a spider pitying a fly.

Ha-hyun looked at Hyun-mu cautiously and carefully opened her mouth.

“Um, Hyun-mu. Actually, the Whispering Star sent me something.”

“Monstrill?”

Hyun-mu asked, puzzled.

What was she doing, sending it without even telling him?

Then Ha-hyun looked a little restless. The subtle reaction that had been seen since the story of driving the monsters to their deaths was intensifying.

“What, did she send you something weird?”

“Uh-huh, no, it’s not weird… um, you wouldn’t treat me badly even if I’m not a Familiar, would you?”

“…Tell me quickly because I’m anxious. What is it?”

Ha-hyun hesitated, then cut open her stomach. It was a grotesque sight, but there was no blood or internal organs.

Only a white cocoon the size of a face appeared.

Hyun-mu immediately recognized what it was.

It was a cocoon based on the mask of Sang-hyun, Ha-hyun’s sister, whom he had killed while performing Monstrill’s Trial, the quest to kill the Widow Queen Spider.

At that time, she said there was no guarantee she would be reborn. But the fact that Ha-hyun was taking this out now clearly meant something.

“No way.”

“Um, the Whispering Star gave me the authority again. She said she would divide my body a little and allow me to be reborn.”