The Animagus: From Hunter to Monster-Chapter 81: Dangerous Dungeons: Wyrm’s Awakening

As the group of hunters entered the dungeon, a suffocating silence settled over the place. The air was thick with mana, affecting the hunters with an invisible pressing down force. The cavern walls pulsed with golden veins of energy, serving illuminous to the massive chamber.

Buji exhaled, searching the surrounding with his eyes. The dungeon was unnatural—its sheer size, ominous atmosphere, and the amount of magical pressure in the air were not like his previous encounters. They were really in for the worst as Mr. Zin had said back then.

A thought however came to his mind. ’If I had performed with an S+ rating ability during that solo raid, then I should have a feat for this.’

Then, it moved—

A low, bone-rattling growl filled through the cavern. Some shadows near the far wall in their front shifted, coalescing into something massive.

Gradually coming into light, glowing crimson eyes snapped open, glaring at them with this intensity that sent shivers down their spines.

Except Buji of course. Somehow, he wasn’t afraid of this creature no matter how it appears to look.

"Oh, by the gods..." one of the A-Rannk hunters whispered.

"What the—" another hunter muttered. "A Wyrm?!"

The Wyrm stood before them.

Buji focused his gaze on it, and an orange screen appeared immediately above its head.

[Dictator-Ranked Wyrm!]

’Wonderful,’ he thought. Following was the system notification screen which appeared before him.

<Immediate Quest Activated!>

[Quest: Defeat the Wyrm]

[Time remaining- 00:30:00]

[This is your chance!]

’Huh, 30 minutes to defeat this thing? And what does it mean by telling him this was his chance.’

Anyway, as expected by Buji, the system was surely going to give him a quest. And this was the reason he head being eager all this while, it was "his chance to level up, higher levelling up".

The screen disappeared allowing Buji to focus his attention on the monster before them.

Of course, it was collosal. At least, thirty meters tall, it’s obsidian-black scales reflecting the dungeon light like polished armor. Sharp protrusions that were bone-like lined its spine, and each of its claws was the size of a grown man (not exaggerating).

The size of this monster in general blocked their sight forward—they couldn’t see to know if it was guiding or protecting anything. The only way to find out was defeating it.

Radiating from its form was a suffocating aura of raw destruction, making even the most seasoned A-rank hunters to instinctively take a step back.

"A name from legend. A creature of extinction. A being that shouldn’t exist outside of the forgotten history books," he said, and noticing Raven shot him a book he added. "I remembered the lines from a Monster book I read."

"The hell is that thing doing here?!" Raven cursed upon listening to Buji.

A female hunter standing by Buji left side narrowed her eyes. "This wasn’t in the briefing."

Buji turned to her direction, and noticed she was ravishing in beauty.

"Name?" he asked.

"Lily," the girl answered. "But I don’t think that should be important now."

"Lily, such a nice name," Buji blatantly commented, but was immediately distracted by the immediate roar.

The dictator Wyrm’s body tensed as mana swirled violently around it. Then, it roared.

The force of the sound of its roar, sent shockwaves through the cavern, knocking several hunters off their feet. The ground shook violently, cracks formed beneath them as the dungeon itself seemed to react to the great power possessed by this monster.

And then, it attacked.

A blur, a black one at that, too fast for something its size surged forward. The Wyrm’s tail lashes out like a whip, aiming for the nearest group of hunters.

"Move!" someone shouted.

They barely reacted in time. The tail struck the cavern floor, obliterating everything in a twenty-meter radius. Dust and debris shot into the air as hunters close by flew off their feet, landing against the cavern walls..

"Damn it! It’s too fast!" Mr. Zin acknowledged.

’I hope you lead well,’ Buji thought, shooting Mr. Zin a glance.

Buji remained still, observing. His instincts kicked in, analyzing the Wyrm’s movements. It was powerful, but it wasn’t fighting mindlessly. There was calculation in its strikes.

"This thing is thinking," Buji murmured.

Mr. Zin barked orders. "Focus your attacks! We need to test its defenses!"

At this order, a squad of A-Rank hunters from the second group moved first since those from the first group were recovering from the force of the creature’s first attack. Their attacks were swift and precise—blades imbued with mana, lightning spears launched from mid-air, fire magic swirling toward the monster.

’Fire Magic? Oh, mages.’

Buji’s shock got the better of him, the Wyrm didn’t dodge that malevolent attack.

Instead, it absorbed the attacks.

A dark crackle rippled across its scales, swallowing the incoming energy before redirecting it outward in a devastating shockwave.

BOOM!

The counterattack was instantaneous. Three of the hunters were sent flying, their bodies slamming into the cavern walls with bone-crushing force.

"I hope they will be able to get up," Buji commented.

The remaining hunters hesitated.

"It absorbs magic?!" someone shouted.

’It’s worse than that,’ Buji muttered in his mind, stepping forward. ’It feeds on it.’

The instant the hunters had launched their attack, Buji noticed that after absorbing the the energy, its form improved a bit.

’Guess it’s time I come into action, time is against me,’ he said, before averting his gaze to Mr. Zin. ’Before we leave here, you will surely die. At least it will help seal whatever was going to happened in this dungeon.’

He summoned the weapon he wished to be using. A silver-colored cord metal affixed to a wooden handle, and he murmured to the weapon. "It’s been a long time old friend."

The Wyrm detected his sound, so, it turned its gaze toward him. A deep, guttural sound rumbled from its chest, almost as if it had recognized Buji as a threat.

"Let’s go."

As if the monster understood what Buji said, it lunged.

The entire battle area blurred as the monster moved. Buji was prepared to attack, yet, barely had time to react. He had planned on lunging first, but the monster did. He only found himself twisting his body just in time to avoid the massive claws that crashed down where he stood. The force of the impact sent shockwaves through the air, carving a crater into the cavern floor.

Buji landed several meters away, steadying his breathing.

"He’s fast," Lily attributed, leaving Buji with a proud smile that she had acknowledged him.

"Maybe after this—" he whispered, cut short by Raven’s voice.

"You planning to just dodge all day?"

Buji smirked. "Of course, no."

As immediately as Buji had replied, he turned his gaze back to the monster, and muttered. "Infernal Awakening."

[Skill— Infernal Awakening activated.]

"Good."

He clenched his fists, mana from the skill activation surging through his body. The air around him shifted, the density of his energy warping the space around him.

This only left the other hunters bewildered with amazement, but they only watched.

Then, Buji moved.

In an instant, he closed the distance between himself and the dictator Wyrm. His fist, wreathed in crackling energy, slammed into the monster’s armored hide with enough force to cause a small explosion.

The impact sent a ripple through the cavern. Dust diffused from the ground, debris swirled. The effect yielded by that single strike was massive.

For the first time since the battle began, the dictator Wyrm staggered.

The hunters watching from a distance widened their eyes.

"Did he just—"

"He made it flinch?!"

The Wyrm’s crimson eyes burned with fury. It reared back, opening its massive jaws as a vortex of dark energy began forming within, swirling with constant stir.

Buji’s expression hardened. He had seen this before, but where? During the attack with the boss bat. It seemed dragons, wyverns, and powerful dungeon bosses used similar abilities. But he was sure this monster is not the boss, probably the gatekeeper or so.

’So, if it could wield such energy as the other dungeons bosses—" Buji smirked.

"It’s about to unleash a Breath Attack," Mr. Zin roared from the distance. "Scatter!"

The hunters broke formation, dashing in different directions just as the Wyrm released its attack.

A beam of pure destruction shot forward, obliterating everything that blocked its path. The floor melted into molten rock where the blast struck, and an ear-splitting explosion followed as the energy collided with the dungeon walls, causing massive chunks of debris to fall from the ceiling.

Buji barely managed to dodge. He rolled to the side just as a massive chunk of stone crashed into the ground where he had been standing.

"I guessed right. You aren’t just strong, but intelligent too."

To the other hunters, they might think the monster was attacking randomly, but to Buji, it wasn’t. It was adapting.

"If we keep fighting like this, we are all dead," a hunter muttered.

"It’s attacks are random, meaning we can get a chance against it."

’Wrong,’ Buji thought. ’Besides, it will be dead off before you get a chance. I will exterminate it now.’

"We should stop holding back," Raven suggested, attributing to what the other hunters had said.

"Then, recover formation," Mr. Zin ordered.

’What a leader,’ Buji grumped.

He clenched his fists, stepped forward as he made the other hunters feel inferior from the mana surging around him.

He was yet to use the cord-like weapon, but he, however, dismissed it and summoned the Phantom Fang Blade. And also, activated the skill.

"Phantom Step!"

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