Chapter 754

Kwaaaah!

Ultra-high-temperature heat incinerated the air, vaporizing the water molecules as it advanced.

A single streak of flame fell like a meteor. Leviathan’s eyes went wide as it twisted its massive body, forgetting even the pain it had suffered earlier.

Screech!

Hot. The spearblade that sliced through scales capable of shrugging off missiles in a single strike sheared away dozens of kilograms of flesh with only a graze.

No—it incinerated it.

Sssssssss!

Overwhelmed by the searing agony, Leviathan let out a silent scream.

From the day it first opened its eyes until now, for this mythical monster that had always reigned as a calamity of the sea, pain caused by fire was still an unfamiliar sensation.

Just like the human attacking it at lightning speed at this very moment.

Swish, swish, swish!

It didn’t know when or how they were launched.

But five streaks of flame shot out with sharp piercing sounds, and a red warning light flared inside Leviathan’s mind.

‘Danger!’

Its massive body, stiffened by pain, twisted urgently.

Leviathan narrowly avoided the flame-wreathed spears and stirred its Magical Power.

Gu-gu-goong!

A crushing force pressed down from all directions.

Though its wounds hadn’t healed, the quality and quantity of its Magical Power were incomparable to the day before.

The surging wave, swollen with Magical Power, advanced without wind, responding to Leviathan’s will.

Toward the lone human who dared challenge the ruler of the sea.

And toward the traitor who struck even his own kin, cloaked in the skin of a mere human.

Kwaaaaaah!

A gigantic shadow spanning hundreds of meters. Within the dark wave where even the faintest light couldn’t penetrate, Magical Power swirled.

“Damn it, I told you I’m not tasty…”

The moment Skeleton King muttered in disbelief—

“Disappear.”

A low voice slipped through clenched teeth. At the same time, Jin Taekyung drove forward a fist engulfed in flames.

Fwoom!

Flame Extinguishing Divine Fist.

Bluish-white flame that shattered the void ripped straight through the heart of the wave.

Through the collapsing spray, a small human figure surged forward. Leviathan roared with furious rage.

Grooooooowl!

Swoooosh!

Water jets erupted from all directions, shooting toward Jin Taekyung’s entire body.

Each carried enough force to pierce an aircraft carrier. A mere human wasn’t even worth mentioning.

If the opponent were truly just a mere human.

Swoosh.

The air vanished. The wind split.

From the tip of a silver spearblade—distinctly different from the ones fired at Leviathan earlier—flames bloomed.

Whoosh, screech!

A blue line was drawn across the black sea.

The bluish-white flame advanced smoothly like a dragon’s tail, incinerating the water jets that stabbed forward like awls.

Stepping on the void once more and accelerating, Jin Taekyung steadied his breathing in the slowed time.

‘My body…’

It wasn’t like usual.

His limbs felt heavy, his speed was off, and his Internal Energy was being consumed far faster than he’d anticipated.

‘Damn debuff.’

The impact of [Ravaged Body] on combat was immense.

If it had been like this from the start, it might have been different, but with all stats except intelligence drastically lowered, a huge gap had opened up. His body wasn’t properly carrying out the commands from his mind.

Just like now.

Thud!

A dull impact and his body jolted, but Jin Taekyung swallowed the groan and dodged the follow-up.

Puh-puh-puh-poom!

Hundreds of water spheres surged in, swallowing his vision.

They resembled the spell mages called Water Ball, but Jin Taekyung knew better than anyone that the power packed into those things was nothing like a mere Water Ball.

And he also knew that the moment he retreated from here, he could lose sight of the monster again.

Whooong.

The spear shaft, white to the point of transparency, trembled. The flames that looked ready to die surged violently, roaring their presence.

Jin Taekyung angled the Divine Weapon, drew it back to its limit, and brought it down.

Fire Dragon Divine Spear: First Form — Heavenly Strike.

Fwoooosh!

A dazzling flash soon split the darkness that had smothered the area.

The karmic fire fell as it vaporized the water spheres filling the surroundings, staining the monster’s gigantic pupils crimson.

How dare, how dare a mere human…!

With a scream-like bellow, Leviathan hauled up all its Magical Power.

Grrrrrrrrr.

The sea churned, and the dark clouds looming overhead spat out a rumbling roar.

The moment the spearblade touched the Magic Barrier wrapped around Leviathan like a shield, a blinding flash flickered in the blackened sky.

Toward the lone human who dared defy myth.

Fwoosh!

Within the slowed world, dozens of streaks of lightning fell from the distant sky.

At first there were dozens, but in the end they fused into one. That destructive force of nature, as if pulled by something, was sucked toward a single point.

Zzzzzzzzt!

“Gyaaaaaaaah!”

In an instant, countless flashes dyed the sea, and a scream packed with unbearable pain rang out.

Leviathan, blocking the spearblade with all its Magical Power, felt joy swell inside.

‘As expected!’

It was a voltage reaching billions of volts.

No matter how strong a human the opponent was, they couldn’t stay intact after being struck head-on by that fused pillar of lightning—

‘What?’

Leviathan’s gigantic pupils blinked.

Beyond the fading glare, the human who should have been charred flesh and shattered bone was staring back—perfectly fine.

And even now, he spoke with an awkward look.

“Well, he’s always been easily scared.”

— .9

“Hey, cut it out already. You won’t die from that.”

What?

Leviathan tilted its head without realizing it. Over Jin Taekyung’s shoulder, a being letting out a scream painful just to hear was reflected in its pupils.

“Gyaaaaaaaah…”

A scream that was steadily weakening.

Skeleton King glanced down at his own body, steam billowing off him, then lowered the sword in his hand with an awkward expression.

“Ah, right. I’m a skeleton.”

“Perfect timing. The lightning rod strategy. Nice.”

“This was just to help… no, you accurately grasped my strategy after all. Not bad.”

What the hell are these bastards?

Leviathan couldn’t process it all. For a moment, its mind went blank.

And that momentary lapse was enough to tangle the flow of Magical Power that had been solid to the point of perfection.

Crack!

A tiny crack compared to the whole.

But it was the gap Jin Taekyung wanted more than anything, and the flame dwelling in the spearblade shattered the wavering Magical Power and plunged into its target.

Plunge!

From the spear tip, scales burst apart. Amid the agony of flesh and bone burning, Leviathan thrashed on instinct.

Kyaaaaaaaah!

Goo-goong. Kwaaaaaah!

Its gigantic body bucked wildly.

But Jin Taekyung didn’t stop there. Grabbing the small horns scattered across the monster’s skin, he tightened his grip and drove the spear forward.

The shaft—two full meters long—bored into Leviathan’s forehead.

Its massive head kept it from dying outright, but the mythical monster, body and mind drowned in pain it had never experienced or even imagined, let out a monstrous roar.

Groooooooowl!

Swoooooosh!

A terrifying Fear spread outward from Leviathan.

Deep-sea life rolled their eyes and floated up, and countless birds that had been fleeing far away fell from the sky.

At this very moment, Leviathan was angrier than ever.

‘I’ll kill them. Definitely!’

It would tear them apart until nothing recognizable remained.

It would give the most miserable death to that human bastard who had inflicted this pain, and to the traitor who had betrayed his own kin.

But within the pain and rage dominating Leviathan, fear abruptly reared its head.

‘But how?’

They were the ones who had not only wounded it grievously a day ago, but also deceived its eyes and ears to lure it into a trap.

Especially that human. That tiny creature who had dared drive a weapon into its head wielded power beyond comprehension.

‘He’s strong. Stronger than any human I’ve seen until now.’

Even during the Great Cataclysm, it would have been unthinkable.

Leviathan had roamed the five oceans, sending countless lives to the depths, and even the humans hailed as the strongest had failed again and again to hunt it.

No—the hunter had always been Leviathan.

It was born a ruler and lived as a predator.

In this vast sea, it had always been the predator, and humans were prey not even worth a bite.

Looking back on its long life, only one being had ever subdued Leviathan.

The master it had sworn loyalty to.

The Demon King Asmodeus.

Leviathan’s eyes, stained with pain and rage, widened.

‘Could it be… this bastard?’

It had definitely heard of it.

A certain human who opposed its master—so powerful.

Though it had never encountered him, that human had proven his power by defeating countless monsters, and finally, the Demon King Asmodeus himself.

‘If that’s true, then this human really is…’

It had to be. There couldn’t be two humans this strong.

Leviathan’s misunderstanding swelled into terror.

At some point, the rage vanished, leaving only one thought.

‘I have to run. As far as possible. To avoid this bastard!’

Rage? Fighting spirit?

None of that mattered. If he had defeated the Demon King Asmodeus, whom Leviathan had served as master, then Leviathan’s fate was decided as well.

Graaaaaah!

Leviathan roared and shook its body.

That thrashing—no longer pain, but a struggle for survival—was more violent than ever, but it meant nothing to someone who had already made a nest on its body.

“Shut up. Shut up. Won’t you shut up?”

Whack! Whack! Whack!

Blood burst and flesh collapsed. Incredibly tough scales were ripped out like radishes under monstrous grip strength, and the flames wrapped around the fist shattered flesh and bone alike.

Thud, crack!

Keuh. Heuk.

Under the relentless pain, Leviathan felt like it might black out.

A power unimaginable for a mere human.

In the end, only one path remained.

The deep sea.

The place Leviathan had first opened its eyes. The deep, unknown realm of the ocean that no enemy could invade.

If it reached there, even this tenacious, terrifying human would have to fall away.

Gulp!

A waterspout surged. Leaving the shallow depths behind, Leviathan shot into the open sea and dove.

And the next moment—seeing the human’s smiling face—it realized its assumption was wrong.

“Now you’re finally fighting together with me.”

What?

A thin thread of doubt flickered through its mind.

Swoooooosh!

From the depths of the dark seawater like an abyss, countless somethings fused into one and blocked Leviathan’s path.

Bones.

They were bones.