Chapter 499
A deafening roar shook the earth.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAAAAANG!
KRAAAANG!
The terrain changed.
The endless downpour of light pierced through everything in sight.
“Gyaaaaah!”
Angela screamed until her throat gave out, but the beams of light showed no sign of weakening.
Flesh was torn apart. Bones shattered.
It lasted barely 30 seconds, yet the bombardment—akin to a carpet strike—completely destroyed Angela’s [Unique Ability].
Even her time-distorting [Unique Holy Spear] couldn’t disrupt Jinhyuk’s attack.
SSSSSSSS—
Thick smoke rose along the ground.
Still, she hadn’t died.
Angela was strong enough to be ranked in the top 5.
Barely alive, but alive nonetheless.
“Ughhh…”
She barely managed to stand, her body in tatters.
She still resembled a human, but medically speaking, it was hard to say she was even clinging to life.
“Kiiiii…”
The ghost too writhed in agony, most of its arms torn away.
Yet not all its fangs had been broken.
She hadn’t abandoned hope of survival either.
Angela gathered the last of her mana.
‘He’s going to come up close to finish me off.’
Given how he had acted so far, he wouldn’t kill her from a distance.
He would do it with his own hands.
That meant there was still a chance.
Step.
As expected, Jinhyuk closed the distance.
“Ugh…”
Angela moaned louder on purpose.
Step.
They were now less than 5 meters apart.
Just a little closer, just a bit more…
When their hands could almost touch—
“You thought I was finished, didn’t you?!”
The few remaining arms of the ghost raised their swords.
[Angela activates Unique Ability – ‘Dance of Death: Black Lotus Barrage’!]
FWOOSH!
Black flames gathered at the tips of the blades.
Mana equal to that of a dragon’s breath focused at a single point.
No matter how much of a monster he was, taking that attack at point-blank range wouldn’t leave him unscathed.
But—
Before the [Black Lotus Barrage] could land, another force consumed the space.
[Lv??? ‘Trigger React’ – ‘Gravity Black Hole’ is activated!]
DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG!
Five lights lit up beneath the ghost.
Five pentagrams, each etched with different sigils.
Ancient runic spells. Even a glance showed how powerful they were.
“No way someone like the Old Guard would go down so easily. I knew you’d try something.”
A ranger isn’t just someone who’s good with guns.
Search and reconnaissance—
And predicting an enemy’s movement range to lay traps—
These too are part of a ranger’s job.
WUUUUUNG!
Mana far beyond that of the Black Lotus Barrage gathered.
Then—
A 10-meter wide black sphere appeared above the ghost’s head.
Among all the abilities Jinhyuk had used in the past, this [Trigger React] ranked among the strongest.
An immense gravitational force manifested within the pentagrams.
“KIIIIIEEEEEE!”
The black hole sucked in everything.
Even light and mana couldn’t escape it.
The ghost’s massive body twisted as it was pulled upward into the black hole.
Even the half-formed Black Lotus Barrage couldn’t resist.
CRUNCH!
CRACK!
Limbs bent grotesquely.
In mere seconds—
The long-haired avatar vanished completely.
Tremble.
Now truly alone, Angela’s body trembled like a leaf in the wind.
“If you kill me… it’ll be really bad. The top 5 of the Old Guard… if I die, Nyarlathotep won’t just sit back…”
“Still begging for your life? Pathetic. Grasping at rotten straws.”
“A-A Primordial Being… a rotten straw?”
Angela stammered.
Who dared speak that way about them?
The deities who ruled the upper floors of the Tower.
The supreme beings to whom even high-ranking administrators bowed their heads.
Before the sacred barrier of the 50th floor, all were humbled.
To everyone, they were like natural disasters—best avoided, never opposed.
But this man was different.
‘He’s not afraid.’
It wasn’t arrogance born of ignorance.
It was composure born from experience—
From someone who had faced it all, and overcome.
A realm of resignation and transcendence—
The realm of an absolute being.
CLACK!
The hammer clicked back.
“W-Wait! Maybe there’s another way we—”
BANG!
A clean gunshot rang out, and a hole tore through Angela’s heart.
“Kuh… khhk! Cough…!”
Air wheezed from her lips in hollow gasps.
But only for a moment.
Even the strongest monster couldn’t live without a heart.
FZZZZZT!
The coronation image flared even brighter.
About 30 seconds remained.
It had taken just under 3 minutes to eliminate three members of the Old Guard.
Jinhyuk quickly rushed to where Alice lay.
“……”
Her face was pale, her body cold.
She was on the edge—just before her warmth would vanish.
‘She’s still breathing.’
Faint—but not gone.
Jinhyuk poured every last drop of mana he had used for battle into the unconscious Alice.
FWOOSH!
The remnants of his mana were sucked into Alice’s shoulder.
Please, don’t let it be too late…
He hadn’t fulfilled the promises they made—
He couldn’t lose her like this.
Sweating coldly, Jinhyuk focused entirely on reviving her consciousness.
How much time had passed?
“…Mmm.”
Alice’s eyelids trembled slightly.
Finally—
She had come to.
Jinhyuk exhaled a long, heavy breath.
“You feeling a little better?”
“C-Contractor…? I was sure… I got stabbed. How did…?”
Alice’s eyes opened wide.
The last thing she remembered was being struck by a powerful divine relic.
Unable to fight the drowsiness, she had closed her eyes—and thought she had died.
Alice had survived to see her contractor’s face again.
“I’ll explain everything once this is over. We’re only halfway there.”
Jinhyuk glanced down at the charred and torn drawing.
[Napoleon’s Coronation]
Damage: 98.2%
Restoration is impossible unless through the craftsmanship of a master artisan or a miracle that defies logic.
He could no longer draw upon its power.
At least, not for now.
“I’m sorry, Contractor. You went through so much just to get that. All because of me…”
“It’s fine. As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”
Jinhyuk pulled Alice tightly into his arms and patted her back.
Even as he held her, his mind was busy calculating the various costs spent during this ordeal—
And how he would recoup them.
“……”
Alice, unaware of any of that, quietly accepted Jinhyuk’s touch.
“Hehe… So warm.”
She closed her eyes, a blissful smile blooming like she had gained the whole world.
‘The real problem starts now…’
Jinhyuk licked his lower lip.
To be honest, he didn’t even have the strength to swing a sword anymore.
Having used nearly all his remaining mana to heal Alice, this marked the turning point in the battle.
⁕ ⁕ ⁕
“……”
“……!”
While Alice was being treated, Excension and Tamia finally snapped out of it.
It still didn’t feel real.
The pounding in their chests, the shivers crawling across their bodies—it was all too much.
“You saw that, right?”
Tamia broke the silence.
“I didn’t think he’d been hiding that kind of power…”
Excension was just as shocked.
Now free from the system’s restraints and able to wield the full extent of their tiered powers—
He had believed no human could pose a threat.
But it had been a grave miscalculation.
Angela, ranked high even among the Old Guard, had been wiped out before she could even truly resist.
‘At least the source of that power is gone.’
An old, ornate painting.
That’s when everything had changed.
But now the picture was burnt and torn.
Which meant there was a high chance he couldn’t use that same power again.
And even if he could to some extent—
‘It doesn’t matter.’
Stored in his subspace was the most powerful divine relic.
Undoing the system’s restriction hadn’t been the only plan in place to hunt down the “Veteran Corporation.”
“We’ll stick to the plan. They don’t have any cards left.”
“Can you really be sure? If he isn’t actually spent, then not even ancient dragon bones will save us.”
“No. He used all his remaining mana healing Alice. Plus…”
Excension briefly glanced upward.
Hastings—the one who orchestrated this entire event—was watching closely.
Running away had never been an option to begin with.
“Shit. Then we’ll start by sending in the centipedes to probe. At least that’ll show if he’s really drained or not.”
“…Agreed. Minimizing risk isn’t a bad idea. Might as well suck some blood from a few of them while we’re at it.”
They reached a consensus.
Excension scanned for another Black Kaiser nearby.
He was thinking of draining the one with the most mana this time.
“You plan to sacrifice my children again?”
Rear Queen voiced her displeasure.
“Sacrifice is necessary to win, isn’t it? Hundreds already died lifting our restraints—what’s a few more?”
“That’s just… your opinion! If we’re allies, you should at least—”
But then—
CRAAASH!
Part of the wall crumbled.
“Damn it, am I late?”
Dolswe—no, Chun Yoosung—appeared.
“Yoosung!”
Jinhyuk called out with relief.
But Chun Yoosung barely spared him a glance, already searching for his target.
He hadn’t come here for some caste-based nonsense or to secure a job at a bunny-themed club.
“I see you!”
Yoosung launched himself straight at Rear Queen.
Whoever secured the Queen first would claim victory—
The objective was already decided.
And everyone else had been too focused on Jinhyuk to respond in time.
“W-What?! Who are you?!”
Rear Queen summoned a long scythe and swung it.
FWOOOOOSH!
The blade howled as it sliced through the air toward Yoosung’s head.
But such a clumsy swing, made in panic, wasn’t enough to catch him off guard.
[Chun Yoosung activates Unique Ability – ‘Song of the Sword’!]
Without giving her a chance to react, he struck.
A surprise attack—at the shortest range and fastest speed.
Yoosung, drawing out his sword energy, slashed the scythe cleanly.
CLAAANG!
The scythe spun helplessly into the air.
“This ends my damn slave life once and for all!”
And it really would have ended that way—
CLANG!
If someone hadn’t interfered.
Yoosung’s sword was knocked aside by a dagger.
