Chapter 672
Screeeeeech!
The Divine Seedling’s scream tore up into the sky.
Then, at that moment.
A purple flash slammed into the ground.
Heh heh heh…
“She’s really lost it.”
Kang Jinhyuk shook his head at Clemence, as if dumbfounded.
To think she would sacrifice herself to fully awaken the Divine Seedling.
When he heard the Divine Seedling had been moved from Azathoth’s Palace to this canyon, he couldn’t understand how they planned to awaken it in such a short period of time.
But if he’d accurately grasped Clemence’s tendencies and predicted she’d go this far, it made sense.
‘I can’t keep using Ranger abilities without a coronation.’
Right now, he wasn’t using job advancement skills, but relying purely on past experience and intuition in his fighting style.
It was fortunate he had Billy the Kid’s Pistol – X Model and [Unique Holy Spear – ‘Outlaw of the Wilds’]. Otherwise, his power would’ve dropped to a fraction.
In other words, the longer he dragged it out, the easier it would be for the opponent to read his patterns.
Besides, it was annoying that Clemence had become one with the Divine Seedling, but what really got on his nerves was Livolt, who had completely lost his mind.
Crackle!
Black and white light flickered again.
[Livolt activates Unique Holy Spear – ‘Judgment of Light’!]
A white streak of light spread along the ground.
A circle roughly a hundred meters wide fell under Livolt’s area of effect.
Boom!
Jinhyuk used [Demonic Heavenly Army’s Advent] to launch himself away, barely escaping the danger zone.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Almost simultaneously, a massive beam of light evaporated the area where Jinhyuk had been standing.
A terrifying attack.
If he’d been even a little late, he might’ve had to use [1 Second Invincible].
At least in terms of attack power, Livolt was famous for being the strongest among the Spirit Kings.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
KRAKOOOM!
Streaks of light kept falling in succession.
Jinhyuk leveled his pistol.
‘But I have to end this before I get used to this body.’
He had about one second to focus.
His pupils shifted like a beast’s, and sharp Mana gathered.
[Unique Holy Spear – ‘Outlaw of the Wilds’ activates ‘End of Sunset’!]
Bang!
A sharp flash pierced the air.
Pfft-pfft-pfft!
The bullet punched clean through the shields and vines, then struck Clemence in the face.
…Direct hit.
Fragments shattered and scattered in all directions.
But.
“Heh heh…!”
A bitter chuckle spilled from Clemence’s mouth, half her face gone.
As if she didn’t care about the bodily fluids dripping down, she flaunted her still-intact Mana and gathered even more vines.
Her head also regained its shape in an instant.
[The hybrid ‘Nameless Great Mage’ manifests!]
Heh heh heh…
The purple wave surged.
An archmage who possessed power comparable to a main god on her own. When Clemence was absorbed into the Divine Seedling, she came to wield power approaching that of an ancient Divinity.
‘This is troublesome.’
Jinhyuk licked his lower lip.
The power of an ancient Divinity, but the intelligence of a cunning archmage.
The canyon raid, which he’d come to with a half-picnic mood, had turned into hell.
Slish-slish-slish!
First Blade split apart and lengthened.
Jinhyuk completed his transformation into the Serpent Sword, then held his pistol in one hand and his blade in the other.
If she could regenerate that perfectly even after her head was destroyed, it meant she had a separate weakness. [Eye of Gluttony] sharply scanned Clemence.
“It’s no use rolling that cursed eyeball. The way I feel right now… haaa. It’s the best.”
Clemence’s pupils were half-lidded.
[Pain is converted into Mana.]
[Special stat ‘Ancient Blessing’ stacks by +20.]
Vines erupted like a downpour.
KRAKOOOM!
KABOOOM!
“Keuk!”
“You have to dodge. If you get hit, the critical hit chance is 100%. Yeah.”
Alice and Frey had sensed something was off as well.
As they said, wherever the vines touched, the ground was stained a blackish-purple. The soil and stones shifted color, and even the vibrant grass withered on the spot.
But the vines were threatening for more than just that.
“Roaaargh!”
“SKREEE!”
A hideous mouth appeared on the armor of a Holy Empire knight who’d been grazed by the vines.
“Meeee…!”
A goat’s bleat spilled from the mouth that had appeared.
It was the authority of Shub-Niggurath.
Boom!
The holy knight’s longsword immediately clashed with Jinhyuk’s dagger.
A heavy shock traveled straight to the bone.
[Holy Empire Swordsmanship ‘Leizell’s Sword’ is activated!]
[Ancient Swordsmanship merges.]
[‘Sword of Interstice’ unfolds!]
Ancient power was grafted onto existing swordsmanship.
Clack-clack-clack!
The sword path twisted grotesquely.
Speed, power, technique—everything entered a realm that couldn’t be compared to before. And the synchronized combined attacks, as if measured with a ruler, were enough to make even a sword master shake their head.
But.
[Unique Ability ‘Grave of Swords’ is activated!]
An even darker, more terrifying energy burst out.
Ominous, eerie Mana.
The undead monsters flinched at Jinhyuk’s murderous intent. Like hyenas before a lion, they couldn’t recklessly pounce.
But only for a moment.
It was impossible to stop the undead, who had already smelled blood, with fear alone.
Pfft!
BOOM!
If one fell, two came.
If two fell, four came.
If that still wasn’t enough, eight came.
The overwhelming number of undead troops only grew more intense as time went on.
Tap.
Jinhyuk dipped low, then raised his pistol straight up. The muzzle pressed precisely into the gap between the helmet and armor.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
Black blood sprayed over his head.
Whooom!
As one of his allies was attacked, a chill ran up his spine. Jinhyuk extended the Serpent Sword and unfolded a sword barrier.
The blades rang out in a beautiful melody.
A spectacle like a movie.
Just watching swordsmanship at its peak collide with swordsmanship was enough to make your skin crawl.
Flames spewed from the muzzle.
In the meantime, Livolt’s wide-area magic and Clemence’s black magic continued to threaten Jinhyuk.
‘There’s no end to it.’
Jinhyuk widened the distance and took a breath. He’d been fighting without a break, and maintaining the Mana for Alice, who was fighting at her peak, wasn’t easy either.
With numbers like this, breaking through with only a small elite force wasn’t going to be easy.
Then…
It was finally time to use the newly acquired ability.
“T-Bone!”
“Clatter!”
At Jinhyuk’s call, the skeleton knight who had been waiting in subspace rushed out.
“Don’t overdo it. Lure those disgusting corpses, just keep them from sticking to me as much as possible.”
“Understood, Master.”
T-Bone, astride the Specter Warhorse with the black Death Blade fully drawn, plunged into the knights.
The goal was only one.
Buy time.
At the same time, Jinhyuk opened the Infinite Library.
He selected the ability he’d just obtained from Clemence and the two abilities he already possessed.
As the book was pulled free, its contents unfolded as they were.
[Unique Holy Spear – ‘Forgotten Empire’, skill ‘Undead Creation’, and Unique Ability ‘Triple Magic’ are fused!]
Uuuung!
Different lights harmonized as the abilities began to merge.
Fusing abilities at the Unique Holy Spear level demanded tremendous concentration.
At a time like this, the know-how and experience gained through countless repetitions shone.
[Successfully fused Unique Holy Spear – ‘Entrance to the Valhalla’!]
[Entrance to the Valhalla]
Difficulty of acquisition: Unmeasurable
Contents: You can revive past enemies in their prime. However, the range and number of people that can be revived are limited depending on the proficiency of the ability. (The items used when fighting those enemies at that time can also be used depending on the proficiency.)
Normally, the enemies brought in through Entrance to the Valhalla weren’t easy to handle.
Of course.
At one time, they’d fought him with their lives on the line, for their own reasons and purposes.
‘The moment they’re resurrected, there’s a high chance their blades will point at me.’
A double-edged sword.
Reviving them with memories and reason could maximize each individual’s combat ability, but the risk above came attached all the same.
So.
He needed as many safety devices as possible to reduce that probability.
[Unique Ability ‘Ancient Barrier’ is activated!]
[Unique Ability ‘Sanctuary of the Sun’ is activated!]
[Unique Ability ‘Mantra Taming’ is activated!]
[Skill ‘Communion’ and ‘Brand of Fiery Loyalty’ are activated!]
[Luck stat works to the maximum!]
As Osiris’ Unique Ability manifested, a massive barrier unfolded around Jinhyuk. Gentle energy collided head-on with ancient energy.
Good.
At this rate…
Jinhyuk looked at the several names written on the black bookmark.
A grimoire of death—names of countless people he’d fought and defeated since the Tower of Trials first appeared.
Flip.
The pages turned quickly.
He’d already decided.
[You have selected ‘Muhon’ on the 3rd floor of the Tower of Trials.]
[You have selected ‘Pendariel’ on the 4th floor of the Tower of Trials.]
Enemies he’d fought on the lower floors.
He vaguely remembered the hardships he’d endured.
Of course, right now, these people wouldn’t be a great force, but…
‘It doesn’t matter.’
Quantity over quality.
All he needed was for them to create an opening.
—
Whoooosh!
A gust of wind brushed past his cheek.
“This is….”
Muhon murmured blankly as he looked at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
Not the familiar temple he knew, but a canyon. And on top of that, enemies with Mana on a completely different level from the 3rd floor.
“…Me. Am I… alive again?”
Pendariel slowly ran a hand over his own body as if he couldn’t believe it.
The last scene of his futile death flashed through his mind, and his entire body trembled.
Then, as if recognizing each other’s presence, the two raised their brows.
There was no way they wouldn’t know.
Even if they were on distant floors, the boss monsters stationed on adjacent floors were always at the forefront of territorial disputes.
“Muhon….”
“Pendariel.”
Flinch.
Both boss monsters instinctively tried to draw their weapons.
Right then.
[Hostility is reduced by 30% due to ‘Mantra Taming’ and ‘Communion’.]
[Attacks on the ability user are restricted for about 3 seconds due to ‘Ancient Barrier’.]
“Keuk!?”
“What… is it?”
Muhon and Pendariel frowned.
Their bodies, poised to lash out, refused to move the way they wanted.
…Now was the time.
Jinhyuk slowly opened his mouth.
“I’ll give you better terms than beating me to death. Calm down and listen for a moment.”
Now it was a contest of how well he could work his snake tongue.