That Face Is the Problem - Chapter 73.2
“Jeong Jae-gyeong!!”
The eyes of Da-sol, who had been performing wide heals, widened. Abandoning Yi-hyeon, he began to run. From here, he couldn’t even see where Jae-gyeong had fallen. Even so, Da-sol ran blindly.
“Mr. Jeong-eon, I’ll trap it in a water barrier, so please give a word-power command!”
Instead of going to check on Jae-gyeong, Hee-ro trapped the house-sized head of the Murder Tiger inside a water barrier. Inside the water bubble enveloping its head, the boss monster—momentarily flustered and screaming mutely—shook its entire body as if brushing itself off. Then, shockingly, Hee-ro’s water barrier burst and scattered all at once.
Hee-ro’s plan to temporarily hold down the boss had fallen apart instantly. However, without shaking, Jeong-eon spoke clearly through the robotic bird.
“[Murder Tiger, stop moving.]”
Fortunately, Jeong-eon’s word-power command worked straight away. The massive Murder Tiger, which had been baring its teeth with its fur bristling, suddenly stiffened and entered a state of temporary pause.
“Arrows aren’t piercing it!”
Ri-na shouted, panting heavily. Just as Jae-gyeong’s bullets had been useless, it seemed Ri-na’s arrows also failed to pierce the Murder Tiger’s hide.
“Ms. Ye-jin, cast a shrink spell!” Hee-ro shouted.
No matter how strong Jeong-eon’s word-power command was, since this was an S-rank boss monster, there was no telling how long that command would last. If the Murder Tiger succeeded in resisting, Jeong-eon would have to load an immense amount of magical energy again to cast another word-power command, which would put him in danger.
“[Minuo]!”
Along with Ye-jin’s loud shout, a light shot out from the tip of her wand. But unfortunately, the A-rank mage’s spell did not exert a great effect on the S-rank boss monster. Though the tiger’s body size became a bit smaller, far from shrinking down to a miniature size that Hee-ro likely wanted, its build was still three times larger than a regular tiger.
“Shall I cast it one more time?” Ye-jin asked urgently.
However, as she asked that, blood was trickling and flowing from her nose. Hee-ro shook his head and drew streams of water from both hands.
“I’ll try it!”
In the end, this world was a place where the limitations of rank could not be ignored. Ye-jin, who had been standing as if supporting herself by leaning her wand against the ground, collapsed with a thud. Yi-hyeon, who had been left frozen after being abandoned by Da-sol and didn’t know what to do, quickly caught Ye-jin.
“I’ll aim for the eyeballs and inside the mouth!”
Ri-na shouted as she ran toward the Murder Tiger’s head. Meanwhile, Hee-ro wrapped a long, thick stream of water around the Murder Tiger’s neck and choked it tightly.
[Grrr…]
A growling sound began to emerge from the neck of the tiger, which had been frozen with its mouth open. Jeong-eon’s word-power command was slowly wearing off.
Hee-ro spread both hands wider and poured in his magical energy.
[Grr-uuugh…!]
The water streams grew even thicker and longer, wrapping around and squeezing the Murder Tiger’s entire body. Its tough fur and hide could be seen bulging out through the spaces between the water streams. Hee-ro’s water had changed its properties to become rigid, succeeding in compressing the body of the seemingly invincible monster.
“Please just dieee!!”
Ri-na screamed at the top of her lungs as she showered arrows into the tiger’s gaped maw. Thwack-thwack-thwack, the arrows made of magical energy embedded themselves inside the tiger’s mouth, throat, and tongue.
[Graaaaaaar!]
Having finally broken free from the word-power command, the Murder Tiger shrieked as it writhed in agony. At that shriek, the surrounding trees were uprooted, and the hunters were blown far away.
At that exact time, Da-sol was holding Jae-gyeong, who had slammed into the ground with his legs completely twisted out of shape.
“Jeong Jae-gyeong!”
“Mr. Da-sol, just enough so I won’t feel the pain… please give me a heal…!”
As if his internal organs were damaged, Jae-gyeong seemed to have thrown up blood several times. His ribs also appeared to be broken, and his horrifyingly twisted legs were in a state that absolutely had to be healed right away.
“You can’t move right now!”
No matter if there was a healer and an Awakened hospital, if he missed the timing for treatment, he could end up with a disability. On top of that, Jae-gyeong’s magical energy was currently almost completely depleted. To the eyes of Da-sol, the healer, all of that was entirely visible.
“If you go now, you’ll die. First, your legs—”
[Groaaaaar!!]
Roaring once more, the Murder Tiger’s gaze swung toward Jae-gyeong and Da-sol. It snapped its maw shut, chewing and snapping all the arrows embedded inside its mouth. Then, it began to stagger and walk toward Jae-gyeong and Da-sol.
Based on its mood, it looked as though it wanted to rush over and bite them to pieces right away, but Hee-ro’s water streams were still restrictively binding the monster’s body.
“[Murder Tiger, open your mouth and lie flat on the ground!]”
Jeong-eon’s word-power command echoed out through the mouth of the robotic bird floating high up in the sky. It seemed that Jeong-eon, who had been blown far away with the other team members earlier, had regained consciousness and cast a new word-power command.
The mouth of the Murder Tiger, which had been glaring at Jae-gyeong with smoldering eyes, opened wide, and its body naturally pinned itself flat against the ground.
Confirming that sight, Jae-gyeong swiftly spread his wings and took flight. Hanging onto his broken bones and twisted legs just as they were.
“No, Jeong Jae-gyeong!”
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