Dark Fantasy Guide for the Summoner - Chapter 7

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 7.
The Armand Express Ⅶ
In PorOp, cooperation with companion NPCs is essential, and naturally, managing their Affinity is of critical importance.
There are many methods.
Giving gifts.
Sharing conversations regularly.
Completing Fate Events that occasionally occur, and so forth.
You want to know which method I preferred most?
Obviously, the easiest and most intuitive one in PorOp.
Cooperative Combat.
Fighting together, that is.
* * *
I bolted toward the shattered wall.
The wolf, which had rolled across the ground with tremendous force more than a dozen times over, stood up with far less damage than I’d anticipated.
Lick.
The beast casually licked its matted fur while keeping its gaze fixed on me.
Why?
A mere Beast—yet mockery glinted in its eyes.
As though saying, ‘Idiot. Did you really think I’d move as you wished?’
[Your exceptional instinct allowed you to divine the Beast’s true thoughts accurately.]
[The Beast’s Hostility has decreased.]
[Information about the “Silver-Maned Wolf” has been added.]
Silver-Maned Wolf
Holds humans in contempt.
Damned cur.
Absurdity nearly swallowed my rage, but this was no time for a prolonged staring contest.
“K-Kaindel!”
I spun at the desperate cry to find absolute chaos unfolding behind me.
“Tch.”
Dark tentacles unfurled in all directions, indiscriminately devouring everything around them.
How was I supposed to stop that?
This was the last car—nowhere left to retreat.
And throwing myself out of the window like the wolf wasn’t an option either.
I ground my teeth and shouted.
“Light!”
“Y-yes?”
“When I signal, use Light! Right in the creature’s face!”
I couldn’t tell if Cria understood my intent, but there was no time to explain further.
I immediately snatched up the Key rolling across the floor and jammed it into the lock of our cage.
Click.
The moment the lock disengaged and the metal cage swung open, I squeezed my eyes shut and bellowed.
“Now!”
“L-Light…!”
The Spirit User’s voice rang out, and even with my eyes closed, I felt the radiance detonate right before my face.
“Shriek!”
The Beast howled and bolted past us, toward escape.
[Lv.21 ‘Crimson Half-Moon Bear’]
With the flash detonating so close, its vision would take time to recover.
In that window, the startled Beast surged past me and, driven by instinct, charged toward the loudest sound—
Roaaarrr!
—straight toward the shadow tentacles.
The Crimson Half-Moon Bear whipped its massive forelimbs in a sweeping arc.
The sound of air being rent was crisp and clear.
A fully grown man struck squarely would’ve been sent flying, upper body and all.
Huh?
But the opponent was shadow, and worse, slime coated the tentacles, making their surface slippery.
The forelimbs skidded across the tentacles, and in that instant, the bear’s entire body was ensnared.
Crack.
Was this real?
It was only Level 20 class, yet it couldn’t last five seconds before being obliterated.
Of course, I had no confidence I could hold out even a second, so I kept unlocking the cages indiscriminately.
“Light! Light! Light……!”
Each time a new Beast broke free, the Spirit User shouted Light in rapid succession.
As various Beasts were released, most of them charged toward the tentacles, but not all of them.
Some Beasts that had lost their sense of direction smashed their heads into the walls, while others bolted straight toward the hole the wolf had torn open and fell right through.
Screech!
Of course, with their low Levels and no preparation for the fall, the end of such a Beast was pathetic.
‘This is the best I can do for now……!’
Will this really be enough?
An inexplicable unease wells up inside me.
It’s true that as the number of freed Beasts increases, the shadow’s offensive grows steadily slower.
SCREEEEEEEEE―!
At some point, a cry erupted from the shadow itself.
The mantis Beast had slashed one of its forelimbs, and the tentacles were severed.
Black blood poured out through the severed tentacles, but the mantis was torn apart by the descending tentacles in return.
‘Damn it.’
That mantis was the most valuable of them all.
Does that shadow thing learn as well?
It was prioritizing the Beasts that posed a threat to it.
The moment it changed tactics, the delicate balance of the battlefield collapsed in an instant, and the Beasts began dying off rapidly.
‘How many remain…….’
Five are still fighting…….
Three left in our cages.
That’s barely eight in total?
Even if I mobilize them all, I won’t be able to buy much time, but there’s no other option right now.
I reach to open the next cage…….
“K, Kaindel. W, wait…….”
“What now?”
“M, my mana is depleted…… Blech!”
The Spirit User said as much, then retched violently, his face gone pale.
‘Useless wretch.’
How small is his mana pool anyway?
Light is the lowest mana-consumption spell among all of PorOp’s magic.
Even by the standard of a freshly promoted player character, it should be castable dozens of times without breaking a sweat.
‘What do I do?’
Even as I hesitate, the Beasts keep dying one by one.
A suffocating pressure, as if my lifeline—the coins—were diminishing one by one.
“Hhh…….”
I fought to cool my overheated mind.
Throwing myself into action out of impatience would only hasten my death.
No matter the moment, I must not move my body until I’ve established at least a minimum strategy.
I peered beyond the shattered wall.
‘We’ve already left the Lake behind.’
What we’re running through now is some nameless Grassland.
……How much further to the Forest of Eternity?
If I know that, I can sketch out a rough battle plan.
“The scent of the forest…….”
The Spirit User spoke up.
“What?”
When I turned my gaze toward him, the Spirit User flinched and brushed back his bangs.
“W, we’ll reach the forest in ten minutes.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Sylph told me…….”
The Whisper of the Wind?
If so, I can trust it.
Besides, once we enter the forest, the train will derail soon enough.
‘……Damn it.’
No matter how I think about it, there’s only one way to turn this situation around.
“Your name was Cria, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Could I ask you to support from the rear?”
“…….”
I hadn’t harbored any great hopes when I made the request.
At best, a single low-rank spirit might lend aid, but it wouldn’t bring about any meaningful change.
It was in that moment that I felt a faint breeze.
[Whisper of the Wind settles upon you.]
[Your body grows lighter.]
This effect was Haste.
I was somewhat startled.
It’s a difficult skill for a low-rank spirit to develop.
Could I actually expect support worth the name at this level?
‘There’s no way.’
I dismissed the thought with a hollow laugh.
Unexpected as the aid was, this was far from the moment to let my guard down or feel relieved.
I gripped my spear and watched for the right moment before joining the fray.
‘There must be a weakness.’
Though it wasn’t clearly visible, there had to be a main body beyond those writhing tentacles.
Given that the creature’s name contained “octopus,” it might well be shaped like an octopus’s head.
Striking that would likely be the key to victory, but……
Screech!
‘Damn.’
There were too many tentacles to find any opening to approach.
Even thrusting with my spear from a safe distance, the blade kept glancing off.
‘Rot.’
Was it a lack of physical ability on my part?
Perhaps, but the weapon itself was hastily cobbled together with poor balance and durability.
I didn’t want to blame the equipment, but had I possessed a proper weapon, the situation might have been different.
In the end, I abandoned direct attacks and responded defensively.
‘What if I fought by protecting the beasts?’
Since these creatures possessed far superior offensive power compared to me, it might not be a poor strategy.
“……!”
Immediately after, I twisted my head at the sharp sensation coming from my left.
It wasn’t the direction where the tentacles lurked, so I nearly failed to react in time.
Before I could wonder what it was, the crocodile beast I’d been fighting alongside lashed its tail at me.
‘This wretched thing.’
Anger flared in me even as a chill ran down my spine.
If not for the Haste the Spirit User had granted me, I wouldn’t have dodged that attack.
I wanted nothing more than to thrust my spear into this crocodile right then, but this wasn’t the moment to act on emotion.
‘In the end……’
Was cooperative combat with these beasts truly impossible?
‘No.’
I rejected the thought, gritting my teeth.
This wasn’t a game anymore—it was reality.
And in reality, nothing is truly impossible.
With my life as the stakes, my options had expanded to nearly infinite.
‘I just need to force myself to match this crocodile’s movements.’
I fought against a threat to my life while endlessly tracking another danger from the corner of my eye.
My limbs grew clumsy and my head felt ready to split, but if I couldn’t pull this off, I’d die anyway.
[You have accurately predicted the beast’s movements through keen observation.]
[The Cold-Blooded One’s hostility decreases.]
[Information on the Black-Scaled Crocodile is added.]
Black-Scaled Crocodile
Dislikes having someone stand to its right.
To its right?
Inspired by that information, I shifted my position slightly farther away.
Immediately, the crocodile’s wariness toward me, which had been so pronounced, dimmed considerably.
It wasn’t a racial trait but something unique to this individual.
Perhaps it had experienced some past incident.
‘Betrayed by a companion who once stood on its right, perhaps.’
That wasn’t something to dwell on now.
Hope bloomed again, fragile but genuine.
If I could maintain this distance, I could fight alongside the Beast and—
Crash!
A tendril lashed out and struck the crocodile with devastating force.
The creature flipped clean onto its back and rocketed through the cavern wall, leaving a gaping hole.
‘Damn it.’
I pivoted toward the next Beast.
[Lv.22 ‘Yellow-Faced Monkey’]
[Lv.19 ‘Blade Weasel’]
[Lv.15 ‘Giant-Clawed Rat’]
The creatures I’d been using as shields fell one by one.
Struck by tendrils, crushed, pulped into oblivion.
“Hah… haah…”
And when breath filled my chest to its breaking point, I realized the last Beast had died.
Hell. No wonder I felt like my body was tearing apart.
But I wasn’t the only one exhausted.
Screeeech…
The shadow creature was soaked in blood.
Of the dozens of tendrils it had possessed, it had lost more than half…
And I’d found a weak point.
A place where tendrils clustered especially thick.
Every few dozen seconds, that spot would open, and I could see something like breath escape.
That must be its blowhole… damn. I wish I’d noticed sooner.
How much time had passed now?
“Five minutes…!”
Only halfway through.
I wanted to laugh bitterly.
It felt like thirty minutes had crawled by.
‘Five minutes.’
My vision darkened.
…How was I supposed to endure five more minutes like this?
And now all the Beasts were dead.
If I’d known it would come to this, I should have released them all whether it attacked us or not.
Screech!
In that instant, a fox creature burst from the right.
This one had been caged with us—wasn’t it?
“Kaindel!”
The Spirit User’s voice cut through the chaos.
A Key in his hands, blood streaming from his shoulder.
He’d executed the exact plan I’d just thought of, and gotten wounded in the process.
“Use this!”
But the Spirit User wasn’t finished there.
I looked over, curious, and—
His hand gripped what looked like a wickedly sharp sickle.
‘What…?’
A closer look: it wasn’t a sickle at all.
It was the foreleg of the praying mantis Beast that had been crushed to death beneath the shadow creature.
Had he affixed it to the end of some piece of farm equipment, rolling across the floor?
In that split second?
“Take it! The binding is weak, but—”
“It’ll do!”
Anything was better than this decrepit spear.
And I wasn’t about to waste it either.
I drew in a breath, and the moment the octopus’s blowhole opened, I hurled the makeshift weapon straight through it.
[Critical Hit!]
Shrieeeeeeeeeeek—!
A tearing wail erupted from the creature.
The impact felt clean. Did Cria burst?
Ideally it would have died right there from a single strike, but life was rarely so convenient.
‘Still, I must have torn through a good amount of its health.’
In the brief window, I quickly inspected the state of the new weapon.
‘This is good.’
It looked like a sickle with a mantis foreleg attached to its tip, but unlike the Spirit User’s warning, the binding didn’t seem weak at all.
It was incomparably superior to the spear I’d clumsily fashioned.
How he’d made something like this in such a short time was a mystery.
Swoosh!
The feel in my hand was excellent too.
Even swung carelessly, the tentacles sliced cleanly like tofu and blood wept from the wounds—this mantis really was the key to conquering this thing.
“Cria! How much time?”
“Three minutes…!”
Three minutes left now.
Three Beasts remaining.
[Your sharp instincts allowed you to quickly grasp the Beast’s movements.]
[The Hostility of the beast-type decreases.]
[Information on ‘Blue-Eyed Fox’ has been added.]
Blue-Eyed Fox
Dislikes filth.
Cooperative Combat with the Beast was becoming gradually familiar.
A thought bloomed in my mind that perhaps I could even defeat this shadow before entering the Forest of Eternity.
‘…And after that?’
Defeating the shadow won’t be the end.
I have to think beyond that moment.
For instance, my relationship with these Beasts I’m currently using.
For safety’s sake, I should probably dispose of them.
But was I thinking too far ahead?
Splurt!
Something erupted from the suckers on the tentacle.
“Tch…!”
The moment I reflexively shut my eyes, something thick and foul-smelling engulfed my face.
Could it be ink?
I stumbled backward, rubbing my face frantically, but the viscous substance wouldn’t come off easily, and my eyes burned as though they were about to be torn from their sockets.
Aaaaargh!
With a clattering sound, the Beasts’ cries followed. The moment I withdrew, the line collapsed rapidly.
A thought flickered in that instant—the Water Bottle I’d collected from the pile of corpses.
I fumbled in my pocket and yanked it out, then immediately splashed it across my face.
Only then did the ink, which had clung with stubborn persistence, flow away as it mixed with the water.
‘What’s the situation?’
Squinting to see ahead, I watched a small tentacle pierce straight through the fox’s body.
Even as the fox shrieked, it clawed at the tentacle with its front legs, and the octopus seemed to take offense—it flailed its tentacles wildly in response.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With its body impaled, the fox’s head was driven into the ceiling, then smashed against the floor.
After repeating this several times, the fox lay dead—nothing but a mangled corpse.
“Two, two minutes…!”
At last, all the Beasts were annihilated.
I could expect no help from the Spirit User or Kaindel.
‘Alone.’
I would have to face that monster entirely by myself.
“…”
There was no choice.
Clutching the sickle, I faced the shadow.
The longer this standoff lasted, the better it would be for me.
Aaaaaaaargh!
The creature, seeming utterly enraged, immediately extended all of its tentacles toward me.
‘Seven, eight, nine!’
Tentacles surging forward.
Each tentacle had a different shape—thick ones, thin ones, pointed ones, blunt ones…
I tracked the incoming tentacles with my eyes, batting some away and dodging others.
Rolling my eyes, I thought.
There was no way through like this. I couldn’t pierce that creature’s tentacle barrier from the front and reach its core at all.
So then, perhaps…
Crack!
A tentacle caught me square in the chest.
“Hack—”
Like being hit by a truck.
My body flew backward, and a system message flickered past my vision.
[Loose Leather Armor has been destroyed.]
[Shabby Wrist Guard has been destroyed.]
If I’d taken that blow unarmored, I’d be dead.
The world blurred past in streaks of color—then suddenly the ground vanished beneath my feet.
The tentacle had driven me straight toward the wall the wolf cub had torn through.
I went flying into oblivion at eighty kilometers an hour.
“Kaindel!”
—Just as I’d hoped.
The moment the cool wind rushed in, I thrust the sickle skyward and brought it down like an axe.
Thunk!
The blade bit deep into the cargo car’s roof.
My body, driven by the tentacle’s momentum, swung counterclockwise around the lodged sickle.
By the time the spin finished, I’d completed a half rotation and landed on the roof—the train’s top—in a crouch.
‘Damn.’
My body trembled.
If my physical stats had been just one tier higher, this would’ve been cleaner.
‘One wrong second of timing…’
I’d have fallen under the train and died right there.
Swallowing the curse on my lips, I sprinted across the roof.
The wind howled.
The gale was vicious and my body was pushing its limits, but this wasn’t the moment to hesitate.
Tap.
I finally reached the connector and dropped down onto the platform between cars.
I yanked the door open and re-entered car sixteen in one motion. The shadow creature’s back was exposed.
Defenseless, just as I’d predicted.
“You’re finished,” I hissed.
I swung the sickle in a wild, relentless barrage.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!
I wasn’t thinking about counterattacks anymore—pure offense. Not that it mattered; the thing couldn’t do anything back.
Its body was too massive to turn.
An agonized shriek tore through the air.
The octopus-thing thrashed in frustration.
Gr-gr-gr-gr-ck…!
How insanely strong was this creature?
Every convulsion shook the entire car. Even the roof rattled from the impact.
I’d thought I had the advantage—but now I realized it could destroy the whole train.
‘Now.’
It had to end now.
I poured everything into the sickle.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!
Tentacle, flesh, and blood sprayed in all directions.
Chunks of the vile shadow splattered across my body, my face, even into my mouth—but I didn’t care.
There was only one thought: kill it.
[Sickle proficiency has reached a threshold.]
[You have acquired the skill: Sickle Mastery.]
The messages barely registered in my mind.
The octopus’s movements were finally slowing.
“The forest—!” Cria’s voice cut through the noise.
I reacted on pure instinct.
“Hold on to something!”
I drove the sickle deeper into the creature’s body and braced for impact.
And then.
Boom—!
A deafening explosion. The world inverted.

[You have defeated the Shadow, ‘Octopus of Binding Devastation’.]
[Your Level increases.]
[Your Level increases.]
[Your Level increases…….]
⁝
[You have achieved an impossible feat in the tutorial stage.]
[You are awarded 10,000 Achievement Points.]
[You have achieved the Achievement “Octopus Hunt”.]
⁝
[You have successfully conducted Cooperative Combat with a Beast—Beast Type.]
[The Hostility of all Beast Types decreases significantly.]
[There is no more Hostility to decrease.]
[From now on, most Beast Types will feel affection toward you.]
⁝
[A certain Beast God takes interest in you.]
[Specific conditions are met.]
[A hidden Job is unlocked.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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