Chapter 585

‘This is tougher than I thought…’

It had already been an hour and a half since Jinhyuk penetrated the heart of the enemy camp.

Firing off wide-area skills every minute and second, he frowned.

Their defenses were sturdier than expected, and the fortress-based resistance made everything that much more difficult.

“Kekeke! What’s wrong, tired already?”

“Take it slow. We’ve got all the time in the world.”

Drip… drip…

The Flesh Eaters, drooling greedily, gripped their twisted blades.

Disgusting bastards.

Their minds had been stripped of fear entirely—no matter how hard you crushed them, they didn’t flinch.

In fact, they seemed ‘excited’ that they had fewer mouths to feed.

Talking to them was pointless.

Worse yet, among them weren’t just mindless cannibals—some actually had proper combat ability.

He needed to thin their numbers.

At least a dozen or so had to die before a viable route would open.

Jinhyuk reversed his grip on his daggers.

[Shadowstep : Mortal Slash is activating!]

Slice!

“Kik…?”

The heart of one on the outer perimeter vanished without a sound.

In the next step, another’s throat burst into a spray of blood.

Starting with those of middling strength—neither strong nor weak.

Destroy the middle layer, and the link between the weak and strong collapses.

[Unique Ability ‘Grave of Swords’ is activating!]

[‘Phase 2’ is activating!]

A wave of black aura swept through the cannibals.

Wherever the sword passed, a storm of blood followed.

But—

CLANG!

Everything has an end.

Eventually, a real fighter—not some half-rate—stepped forward.

Twinge!

A sharp pain danced across his nerves.

Even though the attack had been perfectly neutralized, he still ‘felt’ it—there was a reason why.

Every Flesh Eater possessed the passive skill [Flesh Decomposition].

In close combat, just coming into contact caused mutual damage—essentially a self-destruct mechanic.

“Doesn’t that hurt? Your flesh is splitting like that.”

“It’s a delightful… pain! Kyahaha! Bleed for me—lots and lots!”

Great. He got stuck with the ‘real’ degenerates.

But even they weren’t the most annoying part.

Jinhyuk’s gaze turned upward.

‘Tap.’

‘Tack…!’

On top of the walls, ninjas were gauging the gaps.

Flitting around like flies, they preserved their elite forces even while losing cannon fodder.

They were playing a slow guerrilla game—wearing down stamina over time.

‘Unlike the brainless cannibals, they’re efficient and precise.’

Worst-case, they’d tail him for weeks—maybe longer.

Until the great barrier was triggered, these leeches weren’t going anywhere.

“Can’t we just ignore them and press forward?!”

Alice was clearly irritated now.

“If we do, their net will close tighter and tighter. We either shake them off completely or wipe them out.”

CLANG CLANG CLANG!

Even as he spoke, Jinhyuk parried flying shuriken and hidden weapons.

When he tried to retaliate, their figures had already vanished.

“Wait a thousand years. Our chance will come.”

“Yes.”

The ninjas faded back into the darkness.

They weren’t low-tier either—these were the elites, and their senses were sharp.

They coordinated well even with the brute-force Flesh Eaters.

To make things worse, the green mist was thickening.

[The omen of the Apocalypse intensifies.]

In just ten minutes, the situation had grown drastically worse.

Even carving out a safe route became difficult.

No matter which way he turned, there was no easy path.

‘Been a while since I had this kind of persistent tail during a time-attack situation.’

Jinhyuk licked his lips.

No matter how he calculated, it didn’t seem possible to reach the objective before the omen fully manifested.

“Don’t hold back on mana. Focus your attacks on the enemies I marked with the ice shards.”

“So it’s a forceful push after all.”

“Yeah. They’re deliberately trying to stall for time, so we’ve got to take the risk. We’ll chew our way through them instead.”

Jinhyuk wasn’t fond of coin-flip gambles.

But—

If they wanted a mud-slinging brawl, then so be it.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

KAAAANG!

A much fiercer chase than before erupted.

The clash between those breaking through and those trying to block turned into a massacre. Dozens of hermits fell.

The difference in strength was obvious to anyone watching.

No matter how strong or numerous the ninjas and Flesh Eaters were, they couldn’t surpass the Jinhyuk-Alice combo.

The issue was time.

Grains of sand in the hourglass fell quickly, forcing Jinhyuk to take greater and greater risks.

And finally—

A large opening was created.

While he unleashed wide-area skills, a gap appeared between him and Alice.

And of course, the ninjas didn’t miss it.

“Now!”

“Strike all at once!”

Fast and ruthless.

The elite among the ninjas surged in like lightning.

Even if they all died, just landing a single blow would be worth it.

A barrage of illusion and ninjutsu exploded forth.

But just then—

‘Tap!’

‘Tack!’

Shadows clashed midair.

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG!

Invisible blades and throwing weapons collided.

Perfect interception with not an inch of wasted motion.

“They’re… matching our moves?!”

“Who the hell are they?!”

The ninjas shouted in rage at the sudden interference.

So close to victory—and now this?

“You made it just in time.”

Jinhyuk’s lips curled into a smile.

Reinforcements had arrived at the perfect moment.

“Apologies for the delay, my lord.”

From the opposite wall, a dozen shadow-clad assassins bowed deeply.

“45 warriors from the Umbral Division. Joining the battle under the lord’s command.”

Masters from the Moonshade and Umbral Division had arrived.

—

“Tch. Not a single peaceful day.”

Chun Yoosung clicked his tongue.

He’d known things had gone south the moment the ominous explosion rang out earlier.

Ever since getting tied up with ‘that’ damned guy, he hadn’t had a moment of rest.

At this point, a calm day felt more suspicious than a chaotic one.

But still—

Wasn’t this going too far?

The entire area was lined with grotesque corpses that had clearly been tortured.

On one side stood massive sculptures—’made from people’.

He’d been through all kinds of hells in the Tower, but this scene was on another level.

“Kik! Kik!”

“Welcome, fresh meat!”

Creepy hermits wearing human skin waved sickles and bizarrely shaped blades.

CLANG CLANG!

The first form of the ‘Chuhon Sword’ scattered flaming sparks across the air.

Yoosung immediately dove in and decapitated the lead Torture Cultist.

SLASH!

With a clean cut, a long jet of blood sprayed out.

‘Their attacks aren’t that sharp.’

No tricky footwork or complex forms.

What made them so terrifying was the madness they carried.

[A debuff curse has been applied due to the notoriety gap!]

[Weakness and Fear: Movement and attack speed reduced by 3%.]

[Divine Power and Light-element abilities reduced by 10%.]

Their power came from the overwhelming volume of atrocities they’d committed.

In this village, that meant a massive stat boost.

Meanwhile, those witnessing this carnage felt their morale drop.

“Oh Lord… how could they commit such evil…”

Teresa couldn’t bear it—she turned away.

“I’ll never forgive them.”

Andrea bared her fangs and growled.

Their emotions surged, their minds flooded with fury and disgust.

WHIRRRR!

Divine power and fox spirit energy merged together.

[Special Skills: ‘Archangel’s Hymn’ & ‘Spirit Rite’ are activating!]

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Light and fire exploded, dyeing everything in white.

Even with their stats reduced, the overwhelming power of Teresa and Andrea could not be denied.

What followed was a storm that shook heaven and earth.

BOOOOM!

“KYAAARGH!”

“AAAGH!”

The Torture Cultists caught in the blast vanished on the spot.

Over a hundred died instantly.

And still, the combined skills threatened to pierce even deeper into the cult’s stronghold.

But then—

[The torture device ‘Demon’s Claw’ is activating!]

A massive black claw shot out of the air.

It sucked in the flames between its claws—then hurled them back toward Teresa and Andrea.

FWOOSH!

BOOM!

The redirected fire rampaged uncontrollably.

“Kh…!”

“What the…?!”

Teresa and Andrea dodged wildly.

Had they been even a second slower, they could’ve been burned by their own flames.

They quickly turned their eyes to where the claw had come from.

Only one person could’ve used such a skill—

“What did you do to my children?!”

A booming roar followed.

A nauseating stench of blood and rotting corpses surged through the air.

A thin, gray-haired woman with a skeletal frame stepped forward.

[Epidemic Demon, ‘Katran’.]

Leader of the Torture Cult.

A monster who had tortured more than anyone else in history.

Her body was covered in surgical stitches, as if from major operations—but no one would ever mistake her for weak.

…Terrifying.

Just imagining being captured alive by her was horrifying enough.

“Don’t die quickly. I’ll make sure you experience every ounce of agony—slowly!”

Katran vanished like smoke on the spot.

Not invisibility—more like short-range teleportation using smoke.

Teresa unleashed divine power to track her presence.

[Teresa activates Lv29 ‘Blessing of Eden’!]

WHIRRRR!

A golden cross shot up.

It purified harmful energies and revealed the positions of approaching enemies.

…Left!

Teresa sensed the surge of mana and immediately raised her shield.

BOOM!

A heavy shock rang from her fingertips to her shoulder.

Katran’s massive scythe crashed down again and again.

BOOM!

SMASH! SMASH! CRACK BOOM!

It felt like her whole body might be pulverized shield and all.

It looked like a scythe, but the weight behind it—due to the massive metal block at the back—was closer to a battering ram.

Still, Teresa didn’t falter.

She absorbed each hit and waited for an opening.

Once… twice… then, finally—

She saw it.

In the gap between attacks, Teresa struck.

“Your blows are heavy… but way too slow.”

She thrust her blade forward from behind her shield.

But this time—Katran moved differently.

It was as if she had ‘expected’ the counter.

A counter to the counter.

Katran got behind Teresa.

“Light-chasing bugs deserve to be crushed.”

[Katran activates Unique Ability ‘Torture Materialization’!]

[‘Head Crusher’ has appeared!]

A metal torture device clamped down on Teresa’s head.

‘TICK!’ ‘TICK!’

The timer on the skull-crushing ‘Head Crusher’ ticked rapidly.

[10, 9, 8….]

“I… I can’t break it…”

Even as she poured divine power into it, the torture device showed no signs of cracking.

In fact, the countdown only accelerated.