Chapter 295. The Lost Language (1)
The wife of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
The Goddess of Black Plenty.
The Black Goat who birthed Madness.
These are some of the many titles adorning one of the most powerful deities in the Cthulhu Mythos.
‘Shub-Niggurath.’
“……”
Branches bristling with countless teeth reached beyond the tower.
For eons.
She has floated on the 50th floor of the tower, observing the rise and fall of each level.
Many forces climbed the tower. Many fell into ruin.
However.
Hundreds, thousands of powerful beings and those who transcended them.
Even those who possessed the ‘Crown.’
None met her expectations.
Boring.
Lacking.
Thus, this time, she decided to descend lightly to the lower floors to relieve the deep-rooted boredom.
Yes. This was merely amusement.
An omnipotent being trampling on the insignificant creatures below.
Yet.
“……”
One by one, the thoughtforms she had sent after partially opening the gate ceased to signal.
Never did she imagine there would be someone capable of opposing the Black Goat below.
Especially not among those outside the tower.
“Keter de Kasbaya.”
An unspoken language flowed from her mouth.
Then.
“Urgh… That… is…”
Hastings, standing beside her, bowed his head with a pained expression.
Even the slight discomfort she showed caused the world to twist.
“Doom! Arvaya Cr Kimasha.”
“Kang… Jinhyuk. Yes, it is him… That human is interfering with your grand plan and aiming for the top of the tower.”
Kang Jinhyuk.
From Hastings, she learned the name behind this disturbance.
Crack!
Crack!
The teeth gnashed, emitting a chilling sound.
‘…He dares to oppose me?’
That was…
Amusing.
For the first time in ages, she felt a sense of interest.
Then let’s have a little more fun.
For this occasion, she had already contacted the vampire families and the left-hand guardian of the Heavenly Demon Cult, Samaja.
It would still take more time for her to be fully released.
“Kaidero Fe Maybach.”
“Right now?”
“Feirak Tr Sordractus.”
“Yes, understood. I will inform everyone.”
Shub-Niggurath gave a short command.
To start the war in the middle floors.
＊＊＊
Within the barrier activated by the Sanctuary of the Sun.
The queen, hiding in the sand, couldn’t comprehend the current situation.
‘How is it that they keep pinpointing my location so precisely, even though I’m hiding so deep?’
She was moving at high speed 10 meters below the sand, but somehow, the enemy was pursuing her with uncanny accuracy.
Thud!
A vent opened in the sand.
The precision of the gunfire grew sharper.
She had to escape.
Farther.
Deeper.
She needed to buy time so that everything the enemy cherished would collapse.
But just then.
[Lv14 ‘Glacial Formation’ is activated!]
Crackle!
The sand froze rapidly.
The queen’s movements through the sand visibly slowed.
“Got you.”
Jinhyuk’s lips curled upward.
As expected, the queen chose to flee rather than fight.
‘It’s not hard to track your location through Heaven’s Net.’
By sensing the minute vibrations of the sand, he could predict where she would head next.
And with both conditions met, it wasn’t difficult to immobilize her with Glacial Formation.
In the cold, frozen sand, even the queen wouldn’t move easily.
[Unique Ability ‘Core of the Legion’]
[Acquisition Difficulty: S]
[Copy Condition: A queen who commands a swarm is always guarded by many offspring. If you can kill her while imposing ‘solitude’ upon her, you can copy one of her unique abilities or skills.]
‘Core of the Legion’ is a special ability possessed by only a few hive-mind bosses.
It not only boosts the stats of contracted summons by 10%, but also allows maintaining contracts at half the usual mana cost—a ridiculously advantageous trait.
Considering the eventual creation of undead and the use of elemental spirits and other summons, mana optimization was a crucial issue.
‘I’m gaining a lot here.’
Recreating the desert through the Sanctuary of the Sun and cornering the queen into a dead end were all to meet the copy condition and acquire the unique ability.
‘Now it’s time to finish this.’
Jinhyuk gathered all his remaining mana.
There was no need to conserve it any longer, having reached the endgame.
Vroom!
Different lights glowed in each of the two gun barrels.
A bullet enhanced through ‘Daylight’ opened the path first.
Immediately following, a bullet empowered with ‘Blood Magic’ struck the queen’s back.
Bang!
“Graah!”
Even though a critical hit landed, she didn’t die in one shot.
Her outer shell cracked, but she continued to resist fiercely.
As expected of a ruler of a floor, she wouldn’t go down easily.
But no matter how hard she fought, the outcome wouldn’t change.
It would only prolong her suffering.
Bang! Thud! Bang!
A storm of lights of various colors rained down.
“Grr… argh…”
As the attacks intensified, the screams gradually subsided.
And at that moment.
Ding!
With a blinding flash, numerous status windows appeared.
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level…]
[…has increased!]
[You have successfully copied the unique ability ‘Core of the Legion’!]
[The copied ability is stored in ‘Memory of the World.’]
[You have acquired ‘Dusky Blade (Yellow Grade – Material)’!]
Including the level-up from defeating Mrusieli, his level increased by 7.
Additionally, he obtained a material item used to enhance bladed weapons.
An item rated as Yellow Grade.
‘This is… a complete jackpot?’
Jinhyuk swallowed hard.
The rewards from defeating Mrusieli had been disappointing, so he hadn’t expected much from this floor.
Instead, he got the best possible item from the queen.
The sharpest and hardest part of her exoskeleton.
Not as a weapon but as a material that could be used to enhance other necessary items.
‘It would be great for the fangs or the Twin Dragons Sword… or even the Taesan Sword obtained from the Yacha.’
The possibilities were endless.
Great.
Next…
Jinhyuk activated his personal status window.
—
Name: Kang Jinhyuk
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Level: 115
Strength: 109 Agility: 47 Health: 57 Mana: 273 Gap: 100 Luck: 10 Adaptability: 78 Stamina: 78.25
Available Stat Points: 21
Coins Owned: 9,253,137
Job: Rune Interpreter
Unique Abilities: ‘Fusion’, ‘Grave of Swords’, ‘Blessing of the Stars’, ‘Judgment of Anubis’, ‘Blood Magic’, ‘Mandala’, ‘1-Second Invincibility’, ‘Thousand Poisons’, ‘White Beast’, ‘Universal Sharing’, ‘Sanctuary of the Sun’, ‘Black Heavenly Demon Art’, ‘Triple Magic’, ‘Strike of the Colossus’, ‘Breath of the Fire Dragon’, ‘Speed Sword’, ‘Tombgrave’s Right Arm’, ‘Berserker’, ‘Domain of Wind’, ‘Shadow Assassination’, ‘Blood Explosion’, ‘Black Tears’, ‘Tombgrave’s Leg’, ‘Supernatural Strength’
Skills: Too many skills, converted to ‘Hidden State.’
Barriers: Too many barriers learned, converted to ‘Hidden State.’
—
His level had reached 115.
If the situation wasn’t so urgent, he would have taken a moment to reflect…
Jinhyuk shook his head, smiling wryly.
Now wasn’t the time for such thoughts.
‘With the Core of the Legion acquired, I can put off increasing my mana stats for now.’
[Agility has increased from 47 → 58.]
[Health has increased from 57 → 67.]
He invested evenly in Agility and Health.
He needed to maintain balance now.
Just then.
[You have passed the trial ‘Conquer the 16th floor within 24 hours!’]
[A gift has arrived from the higher administrator ‘Bendibia.’]
[Stone of Longing]
[When using a unique ability, skill, or something similar, it allows the effect to surpass the target’s potential.]
He had secured the ‘Stone of Longing,’ the last card he needed from this place.
‘I can leave the clean-up to the Titan Guild.’
With the queen dead, the remaining bugs would lose control.
But someone like Aidan or Mei Ling should be able to handle them.
If three S-Ranks couldn’t manage a bunch of mass-produced bugs, they might as well bite their tongues and die.
Now, there was only one thing left.
Jinhyuk retrieved the reward obtained from dealing with one of the Primordial Ancients, Amulam, from his subspace inventory.
The painting in the frame, ‘The Place Where Silence Seeps In.’
A location with 12 towering black pillars.
By learning the lost language…
…and recreating the ancient barrier.
This was humanity’s only chance to survive Shub-Niggurath.
[You used the ‘Mirror that Breaks Boundaries.’]
Vwoom!
A green gate appeared before Jinhyuk.
A door that allowed free movement between floors.
His destination was already decided.
“30th floor. To the Hill of Stars.”
＊＊＊
Countless stars embedded in the night sky.
This place, holding indescribable mystery and beauty, was the only peaceful area on the blood-soaked
30th floor.
A meteor shower fell.
Watching it made Jinhyuk’s heart tingle for some reason.
Step.
Jinhyuk began walking upwards along the familiar path.
The 12 towering black pillars stood on the vast meadow.
Though he had visited this place in the past, he hadn’t known it was where the lost language could be learned.
He had only thought it was a place with beautiful scenery.
But thanks to the painting obtained from Amulam, he could now uncover its true significance.
Jinhyuk carefully examined the painting.
Sure enough, the pillars in the painting had different runes engraved at their centers.
But on the actual pillars, the runes were faintly visible, mostly eroded away.
‘It means I need to restore this.’
It required a very high level of difficulty.
Not merely restoring the runes on the pillars but completing a synthesis ritual that encompassed all 12 runes.
Naturally, there was no room for mistakes.
Calmly. Steadily.
He had to perform the precise work.
Mana gathered at his fingertips, moving along the air.
The first rune and the barrier began to form in the sky.
[3-Star Barrier ‘Mana Synchronization’ is activated!]
[4-Star Barrier ‘Memory Restoration’ is activated!]
[6-Star Barrier ‘Prime Substitution’ is activated!]
Crackle!
Blue runes started appearing on the surface of the pillars.
But then.
As he rearranged the mana through the barrier, something unbelievable happened.
This can’t be…
“Hoho.”
Jinhyuk let out a complex sigh.
