Chapter 18
Kim Byung-han had once heard Lee Hyuk-soo refer to that man as the “self-proclaimed Prophet.”
And everyone gathered there had seen the “Prophet” perform a miracle.
When he summoned the “Reaper” to kill Andariel.
The thrill of that moment still hadn’t faded.
However, he had never actually seen the Prophet demonstrate physical [strength] by himself.
‘Lee Hyuk-soo did all the fighting alone.’
During the first Night of the Abyss, at Pretty Faces Nightclub, they all experienced what was called as “death booking”.
In that game, where the monsters grew stronger with each stage, the Prophet stood with his hands behind his back and didn’t move a single step.
Only Lee Hyuk-soo swung his sword with all his might.
He broke out in a sweat, playing the role of the bus driver to the fullest.
So, it was only natural for doubts to arise regarding the Prophet’s strength in that demonic armor.
A reasonable doubt, wondering if the Prophet himself was just weak.
“……”
But now, that “doubt” was being completely and utterly crushed.
Not just for Kim Byung-han.
Everyone who had charged forward came to an abrupt halt, as if the pause button on a remote had been pressed.
At the moment Park Chan-woo opened his mouth—
The [magic] that manifested from the tip of his staff changed the entire world.
“Wh-what the…?”
“What is this…?”
People looked around them.
They couldn’t believe their eyes.
…In every direction, [thorns] had risen.
The sharp, towering thorns had overturned the world.
So dense, one couldn’t even move.
The ground, the buildings, every visible space was filled to the brim.
It had become a literal hell of thorns.
“Do not move.”
It was then.
At the sudden voice, all eyes turned.
The Great Mage who had caused all of this—Park Chan-woo.
Though the world was now covered in thorns, there were none around him.
“If you recklessly touch the thorns, you will die.”
“Gasp…!”
At Park Chan-woo’s words, people trembled.
Even without his warning, they were already unable to move.
Because the thorns hadn’t merely overtaken the area.
They had grown long enough to completely envelop their bodies.
A situation so close that even a slight pout of the lips or twitch of a finger would result in being pierced.
They could do nothing but breathe.
“Remain like that for the next two hours. That is the price for overestimating yourselves.”
Park Chan-woo had sentenced them to a punishment of thorns.
A penalty for charging in blindly, not knowing their place.
To recklessly scream and rush in before understanding the opponent’s level was no different than asking to be killed.
Yet he didn’t kill them—he only imprisoned them.
Park Chan-woo had shown them mercy.
‘Ignorance is a deadly sin in the Abyss.’
Ignorance.
Not knowing was a sin.
But the greatest sin of all was “not even trying to understand.”
Just like these people.
The rules had suddenly changed, and a new enemy appeared—one that had to be defeated.
In such a case, shouldn’t the first step be to calmly assess the situation and understand the opponent?
Why had the Creator suddenly changed the rules? Why had an extra enemy appeared out of nowhere? Understanding the reason and context should be the priority.
So, Park Chan-woo decided to deliver a lesson in the form of punishment.
To ensure they never repeated the same mistake again.
For them, this would become an unforgettable, invaluable experience.
‘Still… that’s quite a powerful domain magic. The Queen of the Thorn Hell—Andariel’s rank might be above a high-ranking demon.’
Just by using it, the Abyss was covered in thorns.
Such “domain magic” was rare.
[Domain magic] was a unique magic only top-tier mages could use.
It referred to a mage’s personal space where ultra-high-level spells were pre-stored to make them easier to cast.
To cast such high-level spells usually required an enormous amount of incantations and an unimaginable amount of mana—but with domain magic, it could be prepared in advance.
As such, battles between top-tier mages often hinged on who could deploy their [domain magic] first.
And this “Queen of the Thorn Hell” was a world and domain created by Andariel herself.
Naturally, not something an average high-ranking demon could possess.
“S-so hard…”
“Aaah…”
After about ten minutes, people began to groan in pain.
They couldn’t move at all.
Holding an awkward pose for two hours was a torture beyond imagination.
And to stay frozen with tension?
It made one beg for death.
But Park Chan-woo didn’t care.
He sat cross-legged, gazing up at the night sky.
“Ow! That hurts!”
“It hurts! I said it hurts!”
“Aaaagh!”
Screams rang out from every direction.
As time passed, people began losing strength and got pierced by the thorns.
Their skin tore. Blood flowed.
They desperately tried to regain posture—but it drove them mad.
‘It hurts!’
‘This is unbearable!’
‘When is this going to end?’
It felt like time had stopped.
It felt like hours had passed, but only thirty minutes had gone by.
“Serves… you right. Bastards…”
Watching them, Kim Byung-han smirked.
The people who had attacked him without hesitation were now suffering—it was satisfying.
What did it matter that they’d shared meals for over a decade?
In the end, humans betray each other.
And the world to come would become even more extreme.
Unless you got stronger or had a powerful backer, you wouldn’t survive.
‘I survived.’
Kim Byung-han looked at the Prophet—at Park Chan-woo, who was gazing at the moon.
He felt the Prophet was even stronger than Lee Hyuk-soo, who had taken down the Dragon God General with one blow.
A magic that blanketed the entire world in thorns!
He was a monster capable of such a spell.
There was no downside to getting close to someone like that.
Especially now that they’d already made a “deal.”
Wasn’t it as good as having already secured a powerful connection?
“Um… Prophet-nim. Could you please heal me…?”
Kim Byung-han spoke, his face pale.
Though he had avoided a vital spot, two arrows had pierced through him.
He truly felt like he was going to die.
Park Chan-woo looked at him for a moment before answering.
“Why should I?”
“Pardon…?”
“Why should I heal you?”
“Y-you said you’d spare me earlier…”
“Didn’t I spare you by not killing you?”
“……?”
What kind of absurd logic was that?
Was he saying that not killing him was no different from saving him?
Technically speaking, it wasn’t wrong.
If you could kill someone but didn’t, then yes, that would count as saving them.
“I said I’d spare you, not heal you.”
“Ah…”
Kim Byung-han thought to himself.
‘I’m screwed!’
It seemed the Prophet had thought Kim Byung-han was trying to cozy up to him on his own.
Kim Byung-han grew desperate.
If he didn’t get treatment, he might actually die.
Even if he survived, the chance of permanent disability was high.
But there was no way.
In this world filled with thorns, he didn’t have the strength to move.
And in that moment, Kim Byung-han realized.
His situation was no different from the others who had attacked him.
And so, time passed.
[The allotted time has ended.]
[The ‘Death Knight’ has appeared at the center of the Abyss!]
[The ‘Death Knight’ will slaughter all living humans.]
[Survive for one hour while avoiding the ‘Death Knight’ to complete the Abyss.]
Park Chan-woo slowly stood up.
At last, the one he’d been waiting for had arrived.
The Death Knight.
A knight made of corpses, who had once been a great hero in life.
Boom!
It stomped the ground, soared through the sky, and appeared before Park Chan-woo in an instant.
―The Queen has given her command. All humans in this place must be wiped out. Especially you—your eradication is to be absolute.
With a chilling voice, it delivered death.
Clad in armor as dark as shadow.
Its eyes shining through the helmet gleamed like a bottomless abyss.
The magic leaking from its sword made one shudder instinctively.
‘Sword Qi.’
A manifestation of martial essence only achievable by swordsmen who completed the 4th limit break and reached level 41.
That was [Sword Qi].
In other words, the Death Knight’s minimum level was 41 or higher.
Park Chan-woo’s level was -96—a gap too vast to even measure.
Even if there were a million Park Chan-woos, they couldn’t defeat a single Death Knight.
No—once there’s a level gap of over 30, no number of people can close that difference.
Therefore—
‘Running away is the best option.’
Hadn’t the system said so?
Survive by escaping for one hour.
The premise was that this enemy couldn’t be defeated.
There was no such possibility.
―False mage. This is not your magic. You cannot defeat me using magic that is not yours.
Even the Death Knight knew.
This [domain] did not belong to Park Chan-woo.
[Domain Magic] was meant to be a preparation ground for casting [super-high-grade magic].
Unless one was Andariel herself, wielding this domain was impossible.
Furthermore, the “class” the Death Knight felt from Park Chan-woo was nowhere near Andariel’s level.
―Accept your death quietly, false mage.
The Death Knight raised its sword.
It took its stance and stomped the ground.
Whoooosh—
Fwoooosh!
The moment it struck the ground, the Death Knight vanished.
It charged at Park Chan-woo with a speed akin to folding space itself.
Park Chan-woo raised his staff.
Shrrrrrk!
Thorns burst up from the ground, forming a shield in front of him.
Slash!
The Death Knight effortlessly cut through the blocking thorns.
However, more thorns sprang up endlessly.
―Petty tricks!
They were nothing more than stalling tactics.
Besides, this wasn’t even his magic.
He wouldn’t be able to fully wield the mana stored in that ring either.
Forcing someone else’s magic and mana—his nerves would soon rupture, his mana circuits collapse, and his entire body would be consumed in flames.
Moreover, thorns couldn’t stop a great knight like him.
[Swift Blade Cuts Through Chaos].
The Death Knight’s sword moved so fast it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye.
Soon, he had cut through every thorn and reached Park Chan-woo’s position.
―Die, human.
Black energy surged around the Death Knight’s blade.
With all its might, it swung the sword.
Shlkk!
Park Chan-woo’s body was cut in half.
……But the Death Knight instantly sensed something was wrong.
―A fake?
It made no sense.
He had definitely just cut through a figure that looked exactly like Park Chan-woo, but it turned out to be a thorn.
A decoy made of thorns.
―Then where’s the real body…?
Stab!
It happened then.
A thorn vine shot from behind and pierced the Death Knight’s chest.
Something that would normally be impossible.
But a moment of carelessness.
An opening as brief as the blink of an eye, used to launch a sneak attack from the rear.
Stab! Stabstabstabstab!
Thorns pierced him from every direction.
Smaller tendrils wove together, transforming into a massive tree-like structure that held the Death Knight in place, immobilizing him.
The Death Knight couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
―What are you? How can you wield someone else’s magic like it’s your own?
This [domain magic], Queen of the Thorn Hell, belonged to Andariel.
The only being capable of fully controlling it was, of course, Andariel herself.
Yet that mage was wielding it as if it were truly his own.
…Yes. The word “wield” was accurate.
Like a servant or slave—he stood above the magic and commanded it.
It defied all logic.
It ignored every conventional concept and norm.
It had been wrong from the start.
He’d been sitting calmly, gazing at the moon—and somehow created a thorn decoy to draw the Death Knight’s guard down.
Had the Death Knight not let his guard down, he wouldn’t have ended up pinned by the thorns.
―Since when? Since when were you over there?
The Death Knight’s eyes turned forward.
Before he knew it, Park Chan-woo was standing right in front of him.
Despite being struck, he was unharmed.
And not only that—
“Since the beginning.”
Park Chan-woo held his staff.
Above it, overwhelming [mana] had gathered.
The Death Knight realized it at once.
That [mana] was his own.
Mana that had gathered due to his own attack!
It was [Reflection Magic].
However, [Reflection Magic] was only supposed to apply to a single entity.
And the Death Knight had only struck thorns.
Not just a single thorn, but many—he had cut down several.
Yet the [mana] was now concentrated on the staff.
How was that possible?
No—what exactly happened?
Soon, the Death Knight spoke in disbelief, his voice shaken with shock.
―You… did you apply [Reflection Magic] to a [Domain Spell]…?
Even as he said it, the thought seemed ridiculous.
Because that was impossible.
Layering one spell onto another simply couldn’t be done.
And it wasn’t even his own [Domain Magic] to begin with!
If one could wield another’s magic as their own and stack spells on top of each other to evolve them into a higher tier—
Then even the weakest magic could become the strongest.
…And if that was truly possible, then this one wasn’t just some ordinary mage.
―You… could you be one of the Great Species…!
The Great Species.
The Dragonkin!
A being at least on par with an elder dragon or higher.
They were the sovereigns of magic—the only ones capable of commanding it.
But—
“I’m human.”
Park Chan-woo replied indifferently.
―Don’t lie! There’s no way a human could possess such dazzling magical talent…!
The Death Knight couldn’t accept it.
The limits of humans were clear.
A pitiful race that could never reach the ultimate.
Of course, possessing such blinding magical talent should have been impossible.
Yet, the Death Knight couldn’t finish his sentence.
Tap.
The [World Tree Staff] touched the Death Knight’s forehead.
The [mana] gathered on the staff began to writhe violently—
BOOOOOOOOM!
With a massive explosion—
…The Death Knight’s entire body was vaporized on the spot.
[The ‘Death Knight’ has been defeated!]
[Estimated survival rate after ‘Death Knight’ appeared: 0%]
[You have defied all odds and achieved 100% survival.]
[Heaven-shaking and earth-shattering. You have overcome a dimensionally different disparity, astonishing and incomprehensible.]
[All survivors receive a ‘Gold Box (★★)’.]
[Your level has increased.]
[You have gained (1) Class Level Point.]
[A ‘Platinum Box (★★★)’ and a ‘Potential Awakening Scroll’ have been additionally awarded.]
