Solo Max-Level Newbie - Chapter 411. The Rules of the Veteran Corporation (3)

‘Boom! Crash!’

A massive fist relentlessly pounded the ground.

The Sin of Gluttony.

The ultimate evil, which transcended all realms, should unquestionably have been in the most dominant position.

It should have been that way—without a doubt.

“You rat-like pests…!”

But why?

The enemies before him were proving to be extraordinarily difficult to shake off.

Unlike the foes whose skulls he could crush with a single blow, these ones were fundamentally different.

‘Whoosh!’

Once again, a fist sliced through the air.

“To your left.”

“Clack! Got it!”

A blue-haired homunculus and a skeletal knight of Death Knight-class caliber.

In particular, the blue-haired girl wielding a slender lance that resembled a chopstick continued to deflect attacks and even counterattack, steadily accumulating damage on his body.

…How irritating.

Pride and everything else aside, all he wanted now was to crush those arrogant beings into the ground.

>[The Sin of Gluttony activates the unique ability, ‘Ether Devourer’!]

‘Vwoom!’

A navy-colored line carved through space, almost like a barrier.

An area of about 20 square meters was entirely engulfed within Gluttony’s sphere of influence.

“…!?”

“Cl-clack?”

It was a few seconds later that Frey and T-Bone noticed something unusual.

Their bodies wouldn’t move as they wanted.

More accurately, the mana flowing within them was rapidly draining at an alarming rate, unlike before.

“I was annoyed at having to deal with pests flitting around. Now, this hunt should become much easier.”

The mana that had vanished was entirely absorbed by Gluttony.

His body swelled, becoming even more massive.

Naturally, the gap in power between them grew exponentially.

Gluttony extended his razor-sharp fingers.

A potent surge of mana concentrated in his legs.

He was coming.

“Head-on attack.”

Frey crossed her lance in front of her.

‘Thud!’

With a deafening impact, Frey’s body was sent flying mercilessly.

She only stopped after slamming into the edge of the barrier.

Her body, now in shambles after a single hit.

“….”

Frey looked down at her broken arm.

Her expression remained unchanged, but her left arm was no longer usable.

However, there was no time to catch her breath.

A colossal fist was already descending toward the back of her head.

‘Crash!’

T-Bone intercepted the strike with his aura-imbued sword.

‘Crack!’

The blade absorbed the impact, but the force traveled through, leaving fractures on T-Bone’s arm and rib bones.

Even just blocking an attack caused catastrophic damage.

At this rate, the fight would be decided in fewer than ten exchanges.

“As you can see, you lot stand no chance. Continuing will only lead to an obvious outcome. However, if you tuck your tails between your legs and flee now, I won’t bother pursuing you. Even though I’ve drained your mana, you should still be able to move. Consider this your chance to save your pitiful lives.”

Gluttony deliberately left them an escape route.

Activating a unique ability over such a large area strained even his own body, and he urgently needed to get to Remia.

His gaze shifted toward the opposite direction.

‘What is this ominous mana?’

Though he couldn’t discern the details due to the distance…

A few dozen seconds ago, an unimaginable demonic energy had swallowed the surrounding area.

It wasn’t Remia’s.

This was something else—something of Demon Lord-level magnitude that had manifested in the temple.

Even a fool could tell that every second counted in that situation.

And yet.

Frey and T-Bone, who should have fled immediately, were still standing their ground.

Gathering the last remnants of their mana, they prepared for another assault.

“Clack. Even if I’m half-destroyed, as long as my head remains intact, Master can repair me. I’ll offer my body to the cause.”

T-Bone mounted his phantom steed.

With his mana nearly depleted, the spectral horse staggered as if it might collapse at any moment.

“If it’s my turn to attack… fine. The success rate is below 3%.”

Frey grasped her lance tightly with her one remaining arm.

Offense and defense.

Using their own bodies as bait, they intended to deliver a final strike.

“You fools are truly absurd. What could you possibly accomplish with such battered bodies… Hmm?”

Gluttony clicked his tongue in disbelief but then inhaled sharply.

‘Crack!’

A surge of powerful mana erupted from both T-Bone and Frey.

In a situation where mana supply was restricted by a unique ability, there was only one explanation for this.

They were burning their vital essence.

The very core of their life force.

Not only would this shorten their lifespans, but exceeding the critical limit would reduce them to nothing more than a handful of dust.

“To think a puppet and an undead would… go to such lengths.”

Gluttony couldn’t comprehend it.

To sacrifice one’s life for loyalty was utterly illogical.

“If it weren’t for Master, I would have been a worthless skeleton discarded long ago. What future could a skeleton, easily made anywhere, possibly have? Yet, only Master saw my worth and kept me by his side.”

The glow in the phantom steed’s eyes grew more intense.

The aura on T-Bone’s sword deepened into a pitch-black hue.

“For Master’s sake, I don’t care if this body is ground to dust.”

“It’s not like we have a choice. If we flee now, who knows what kind of punishment we’d face later? Rather than endure his torture, I’d rather be obliterated cleanly here.”

At Frey’s words, T-Bone jolted in shock.

“C-clack! What nonsense are you spouting? My loyalty to Master is pure…!”

“38 hours, 25 minutes, and 13 seconds ago… you wrote, ‘I want to fill that bastard’s nostrils with bone powder while he sleeps. Why can’t a hero defeat this villainous Demon King for us?’ And 45 hours, 39 minutes, and 10 seconds ago….”

“Eek?! That—that’s from my diary! No, wait, it’s slander! It must’ve been written by Goguma!”

Their bickering grew louder.

“You’re stalling on purpose. Was this part of Kang Jinhyuk’s calculations as well?”

Gluttony’s voice turned icy.

It was clear they were desperately trying to buy time.

It was clear that they were trying to delay him from reaching Remia.

“This nonsense ends here. If you have no intention of running away, I’ll end this with one strike.”

Gluttony’s claws extended to nearly twice their original length.

“Clack. Looks like that brute has caught on. Are you ready?”

“Yes. Push the speed to the max.”

‘Thud, thud, thud!’

The spectral steed charged straight toward a single point.

—

‘Swish, swish, swish!’

The whip lashed out in unpredictable trajectories.

Was it going left? No, to the right?

Jinhyuk swung Kishan.

The spear struck the side of the whip.

However, the rebounding whip grazed the ground again, aiming for Jinhyuk’s ankle.

“Huhu! Why don’t you act as arrogantly as you did before?”

The whip, leveraging its unique elasticity, accelerated past the speed of sound.

‘Slash!’

As the blade attached to the whip coiled around a pillar, it sliced cleanly through the marble structure.

“That’s quite annoying.”

Fast and threatening.

But…

That’s all.

Standing in place, Jinhyuk calmly observed the whip’s movements.

Its chaotic and irregular slashes seemed impossible to predict.

Left, then from below to the left, and then to the right again.

…Now!

‘Grab!’

Jinhyuk seized the upward-slashing whip with his bare hand.

At the same time, Kishan pierced through Remia’s abdomen like a bolt of lightning.

“Aaaagh!”

The wound quickly turned black.

No matter how exceptional Remia’s regenerative abilities were, she couldn’t escape the curse of the black spear’s demonic energy.

“You… you read its trajectory?”

“Your patterns are quite varied, but as long as I figure out where the final strike will land, I can easily see through all your feints leading up to it.”

“You… monster. Are you even a real player? How can someone possess such absurd power…?”

Remia’s body began to collapse.

As her center of gravity leaned forward, she ended up so close to Jinhyuk that their breaths mingled.

Crimson eyes like blood. Pale white skin.

And lips even redder than her eyes.

At that very moment—

>[Remia activates her unique ability, ‘Succubus’s Oath’!]

A faint breath slipped into Jinhyuk’s mouth.

A sweet, soothing lethargy seeped into his mind.

His balance faltered.

The black armor encasing his body trembled violently.

>[You are afflicted by an ‘absolute-grade status effect’!]

Although the transmission wasn’t direct, the effects were still present.

Even a shred of desire or a single moment of weakness would leave him susceptible to Remia’s charm.

And as a succubus, her very nature specialized in captivating others—even women were not immune to her allure.

“Huhu! Foolish men like you always fall for me when you get close! Not a single one has resisted my charm!”

Remia let out a triumphant cry, her laughter echoing throughout the altar.

But then—

“What…?”

Succubus’s Oath failed to fully activate.

Thanks to his passive trait, Heart of Cold, and the temperament of a seasoned veteran…

No matter how alluring the succubus, his heart didn’t waver.

“I’m barely keeping it together climbing this tower. Why on earth would I waste time falling for someone like you?”

He had maintained that distance for a reason—to copy her ability.

He was confident he could resist Succubus’s Oath.

‘Ding!’

A golden status window appeared at that moment.

>[You have successfully copied the unique ability, ‘Succubus’s Oath’!]

[Succubus’s Oath]
Acquisition Difficulty: SS
Details: The unique ability of the succubus Remia allows you to completely captivate the target of your choice. If your intimacy level with the target is high, the ability’s effect increases. Direct physical contact doubles the effect.

>[The copied ability has been stored in the ‘Memory of the World.’]

Good.

With this, there was no longer any reason to spare Remia.

‘Grab!’

Jinhyuk’s free hand clamped around Remia’s neck.

Even if other parts of her body could regenerate, her head could not.

“W-wait!”

Remia cried out in panic.

Desperation filled her crimson eyes, the will to survive palpable.

“If you kill me… Guntafer won’t stand idly by. You’ll face the Demon King’s wrath head-on!”

“Really? Let him come.”

If he were afraid of Guntafer, he wouldn’t have started this in the first place.

Besides, dealing with Demon Kings was something he had already done long ago.

‘Crack…’

Jinhyuk tightened his grip.

Remia’s voice grew even more desperate.

“Urk! G-gah! The gate… after it’s activated… what’s your plan for the other side? Do you even have a countermeasure?”

The strength in his hand loosened slightly.

Finally, something worth discussing.

“I’ll give you a chance to talk. But just so you know, if I don’t like what you say, you’ll wish you’d just died.”

Jinhyuk smiled coldly.