Chapter 186
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: The Second Clash - 4
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“...As long as the Saintess is sealed, Steel Rain can never defeat the Necromancer.”
The speaker was a skeleton standing at the center of the Flower of Death—a High Lich, one of the Necromancer's vassals and an agent of death.
"With this, my life will once again find meaning in this world. I will be recorded as the one who brought about the end of that cunning hero."
He laughed with pleasure, the sound of his fleshless jaw clacking together.
His real name was Juan Alvarez. He was once ranked ninth among Mexico's Players and was a master of the rare 'Summoning Magic' attribute.
However, four years ago, during a gate raid in the Amazon, he was ambushed by the very Players who had entered with him, meeting an inexplicable death.
That was the end of his life.
His name was forgotten by the world.
Or, it should have been.
But then, something strange happened.
It was about a year ago.
Trapped in darkness, in a black, nameless space, he felt a strange sensation, as if someone were pulling him up. He soon awoke in a cellar.
Like this, in a body of bone...
His current master, the Necromancer, had wielded the authority of death to resurrect him as a Lich.
- (!) You are the vassal of a specific Player. Disobedience to his commands will result in your annihilation.
From then on, he served as the chief strategist for the Necromancer's Legion of Death.
The Necromancer had placed him in this key role because he had been the leader of a raid team that boasted a 100% dungeon clear rate in his past life, and he had experience commanding numerous summons.
As the second-in-command of the Legion of Death, he had conquered countless dungeons and, in recognition of his merits, was now entrusted with the operation to take down Steel Rain.
'...No matter how thoroughly that bastard has prepared, he cannot be more perfect than us. Because we have focused all our power solely on defeating him.'
Until now, the Villains had attempted to assassinate Steel Rain several times, and all had failed.
But in truth, all of those were merely tests, a form of reconnaissance.
'It was all to grasp what kind of weapons that bastard possessed, to formulate the perfect strategy for the final moment. All those sacrifices have ultimately become the foundation for our victory!'
He chuckled, surveying the battlefield as it shifted in their favor.
The current situation was flowing very favorably.
The biggest nuisance, the Saintess, had fallen under Grigori Azazel's curse, and consequently, the Necromancer's legions were escaping from the sacred flood.
Furthermore, the zombie swordsman—Okita Kaito—was rushing across the Giant's Fortress to finish off the weakened Saintess.
He had been the greatest swordsman in life, but upon becoming a zombie, he had transformed into an undying monster who wielded four swords with four arms.
'Soon, the Saintess's head will fly at the hands of that man's swords.'
Juan Alvarez eagerly awaited the scene, his gaze leisurely fixed in that direction.
But at that moment, wasn't Steel Rain landing on the Giant's Fortress, standing face-to-face with Okita Kaito?
"Huh?"
The meaning of that scene was simple.
"Ah—right, right. Since you can't stop him by futilely throwing weapons from a distance, are you trying to stop him by throwing your own body this time?"
Steel Rain had defeated Okita Kaito once before, but the situation now was completely different.
"Go on, break him as much as you want, uhuhu— In the end, he will rise again to cut you down before taking the Saintess's head."
That monstrous swordsman would no longer fall with a single blow.
Crack—!
Just then, the greatsword swung by Steel Rain split Okita Kaito in half, and he collapsed.
"Oh—"
But he would be restored in a matter of seconds anyway. After a few more clashes, the swordsman's attribute contained within Okita Kaito's body would find his opponent's weakness.
In other words, even someone like Steel Rain would eventually take a hit in the prolonged fight.
However...
Sizzzle—
Strangely, instead of reassembling, the shattered pieces of Okita Kaito's body began to sizzle and burn away in an azure flame.
"...Huh?"
That was a phenomenon that occurred when the power of death was extinguished by holy power.
And...
- The 'Zombie Warrior Blessed by Death' under your proxy control returns to eternal death.
"…Huh? What, what's happening?!"
He spoke without realizing it, his flustered voice echoing through the amplification magic.
Lee Hyun-wook casually stomped on the head—the skull—of the defeated Okita Kaito, crushing it with a crunch.
The moment he raised his head and looked this way, toward the Flower of Death, Juan Alvarez felt a phantom chill run down his nonexistent spine.
"H-How— How do you possess such holy power, Steel Rain..."
This was not part of his plan.
No, it was a situation he could never have imagined.
The sky tearing open and holy water pouring down was an equally unforeseeable phenomenon, but that was a problem that could be solved by neutralizing the Saintess.
But this... He had certainly paralyzed the strongest source of holy power, the Saintess, so how could there be an even more potent holy power?
It was, quite literally, an unprecedented phenomenon.
"...Dammit, Steel Rain, what kind of ridiculous trick are you pulling now?"
But there was no time to ponder the reason for this mysterious event.
The greatsword, imbued with that potent holy power, had left Steel Rain's hand and was now flying this way, like a ballistic missile.
"Whoa—"
Its first target was the sixteen Crimson Bone Wyverns floating in the sky... and the considerable number of undead clinging to their bodies.
There seemed to be no way to intercept it.
***
Lee Hyun-wook extended his left hand, guiding the 100-ton holy sword as he thought.
'...I was lucky.'
There was no other way to describe the current situation.
As he and the Villains' side traded moves back and forth, an unexpected result had emerged from the complex situation.
'A holy sword...'
This wasn't a move Lee Hyun-wook had prepared, but its chance activation had created a situation akin to checkmate.
As they say, it was as if the goddess of victory had smiled upon him.
- What, what is that? That's not the power I gave you...
Emilia Müller, also sensing the power of the holy sword, asked in a surprised voice.
"I'm not sure myself, but it's a blessing."
A blessing. A very fitting description.
But he couldn't just stand by and feel relieved.
The game wasn't over yet...
'I can only win if I know how to properly exploit this fortunate variable.'
Lee Hyun-wook immediately focused his metal control on the holy sword—Morglay—and sent it hurtling toward the enemy lines.
Whoosh—!
It shot through the air, and the swarm of Bone Wyverns in its path scattered in all directions.
But the massive flying monsters, weighed down by the other undead clinging to them, were not fast enough to dodge the greatsword flying at subsonic speed.
Cra-ack—!
The greatsword pierced through a Bone Wyvern, its bone fragments scattering in all directions.
It was a refreshing yet destructive scene, like the feathers of a bird hit by a bullet.
The Bone Wyverns flapped their wings frantically, trying to evade the sword's tip, but with a single gesture from Lee Hyun-wook, the greatsword maneuvered freely, skewering them one after another.
Boom—boom—boom—boom—!
White bone fragments and dark red flesh rained down into the lake of holy water. Some of it evaporated in an azure flame even before hitting the surface.
'Now, they won't reassemble.'
From the enemy's perspective, it must have felt like helplessly facing an unstoppable runaway train.
Thus, it was a single weapon, but the holy power it contained was of the highest level. A single weapon, yet its impact on the battlefield was supreme.
And furthermore...
"This is a weapon that can hunt the Necromancer."
Hunt. He could say so boldly, as its performance was the worst possible matchup for a Necromancer.
Lee Hyun-wook slowly exhaled, feeling a sense of fulfillment more intense than at any other moment since his return.
He had made countless efforts to change the failures of his past life, but he had always felt that it wasn't enough.
But now, it felt as if he had found the answer, a weight lifted from his chest.
With this much power...
'...I can not only surpass the current Necromancer, but I could even face the Necromancer from my past life, should he cross dimensions.'
That's how optimal the holy sword option attached to the 100-ton Morglay was for facing the Necromancer.
Soon, the sky over the battlefield was filled with scattering bone fragments, and the only thing left floating under its own power was the 'Flower of Death'.
The cleanup was complete.
"..."
The High Lich, who had been chattering away with amplification magic just a moment ago, was now silent.
He was probably asking his master, the Necromancer, what to do. And if they hadn't prepared another card...
'...He'll try to flee.'
Lee Hyun-wook had no intention of letting that happen.
'In the first battle, I barely managed to drive him off, but now I can be the one to devour him.'
If he let him escape here and it led to a third battle, the situation would be completely different, and the risk would be great.
'So I have to finish this for certain, now that I have the chance.'
He brought an AD-2 closer and took out the black helmet, 'Kynee', from within.
As he put it on—
Woong—
Lee Hyun-wook's form vanished without a trace. The High Lich, Juan Alvarez, who had been watching him intently, looked around with a bewildered expression.
"...Huh? What! Where did he go again?"
"Brother, for now, we just need to be wary of that sword. The strange holy power seems to be confined to that one weapon," a Death Knight standing beside him said.
He was the only one of the four Death Knights who currently possessed a sense of self, and he was controlling the other three.
Whoooosh—
At those words, Juan Alvarez glared at Morglay as it soared through the sky toward them.
"...Samuel, I will open a portal for us to escape this place. You must stop that thing, no matter what."
Stopping that greatsword with its overwhelming power was practically impossible. It was like trying to stop a locomotive with bare hands.
Even with multiple layers of magical barriers, it would inevitably break through.
But for the undead, they could be bold like this because they would regenerate even if their bodies were crushed by it.
Now, however, the tables had completely turned.
A mere graze from that thing meant instant death, total annihilation.
"Still, if the four of us give it our all, we should be able to deflect at least one blow. Of course, all four of us will be annihilated, but we will try."
"Good. While you hold it off, I will open a short-range warp to the Advent of Death that's open in the water below, secure as many bones as possible, and return."
"Yes, the crimson bones are our master's precious assets."
The Death Knights, still in a daze, tracked Morglay flying through the sky with vacant eyes, raised their shields, and a black magic circle began to form.
Their performance was at least reliable, so Juan Alvarez decided to trust them and began to chant a spell, pressing his palms together.
Wooooo—
Black smoke began to spread from Juan Alvarez's hands.
Once this spell was complete, it would be able to pull all the bones in the area tainted with the power of death and return to the Necromancer's domain, the Temple of Death.
But—
Crack—
'Huh?'
He heard a shattering sound.
It was right in front of him.
He paused his chant and raised his head...
"Hah!"
Steel Rain. He was standing on the Flower of Death, cutting off the head of a Death Knight.
In his hand was 'Balisardo', the sword Okita Kaito had been using until moments ago.
And Juan Alvarez could feel a more repulsive aura than anything else emanating from that sword.
It meant the holy sword effect had transferred from Morglay to Balisardo.
'Is that even possible?'
As Lee Hyun-wook swung the sword, a sacred silver light scattered along its trajectory, and every being of death it touched vanished in a blue flame.
The Death Knights were no exception.
They were beings of at least level 155, with defenses that wouldn't lose to any existing knight-class Player, yet their bodies were ravaged by a single blow.
"Kuaargh—"
If that sword hadn't been a holy sword, the Death Knights, with their characteristic tenacious vitality and overwhelming offensive power, would have easily gained the upper hand by relentlessly pushing forward.
But since it was a holy sword, a single strike was enough to leave a Death Knight on the verge of death.
Even a single blow caused their armor to crumple like cheap plastic and their bodies to cave in like tofu.
And above all, Steel Rain's swordsmanship was formidable.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Crack—
As if to prove that defeating the so-called Sword Saint, Okita Kaito, several times was no fluke, he weaved through the Death Knights with overwhelming movements and took down two of them in an instant.
Crunch—
Now, only two remained.
"Dammit, stop him somehow!"
At Juan Alvarez's cry, the two Death Knights blocked Lee Hyun-wook's path, and the Lich quickly began to chant another spell.
Gooooo—
Black energy flowed from the Flower of Death and gathered in his palms.
"Just twenty seconds! With this one shot, even he won't be able to withstand it."
Still, even with a holy sword, a Death Knight was once a top-tier knight-class Player. Facing two at once was bound to be difficult.
The reason the other two had been taken down so quickly was because he had approached them in stealth and launched a surprise attack.
As if aware of this, Lee Hyun-wook also stood at the edge of the Flower of Death, slowly retracting his sword as if to bide his time.
He opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry, but the reason this Argetlam's holy sword enchantment is so good is..."
Shiiii—
Just then, an item materialized from the sigil on his right wrist.
"Because it can bestow the holy sword effect on things that aren't necessarily swords."
He could switch the holy sword effect between any number of weapons.
What Lee Hyun-wook pulled out was a shotgun—the Black Rhino.
The two Death Knights, who had been preparing for close combat, momentarily stared at each other in a daze before hastily raising their shields, but—
KABOOM—! KABOOM—!
Two explosions shattered and melted the Death Knights' shields. Two more explosions sent them flying like empty cans.
Sizzzle— Azure smoke rose from various spots on their bodies.
KABOOM—! KABOOM—!
Lee Hyun-wook quickly approached and fired the shotgun into each of their helmets one more time, taking them out of the fight.
Juan Alvarez, who had yet to complete his decisive blow, stumbled backward.
"Sadly, all your many friends have disappeared."
The moment Lee Hyun-wook raised the muzzle of his gun with a smirk, two Pale Notes flew from somewhere and simultaneously severed both of the Lich's wrists.
Snap! Snap!
"...Kuh, even if you do something to me, the march of death will never end. A greater death will eventually consume you."
"Hmm, march of death? Aren't you a little too into your skeleton role-play? I doubt you used words like that when you were alive... And you're not dying right now."
"What?"
"I need you to guide me."
Lee Hyun-wook pressed the gun's muzzle to the Lich's forehead with both hands and used his metal control to pull out a Mana Messenger from his pocket.
Click—
"—Spirit King, I'd like you to open the way now."
At his words, the lake of holy water that had covered the ground parted like the Red Sea.
Swoooosh—
The ground beneath was still the sticky, black mire of the 'Advent of Death'.
As Lee Hyun-wook looked down at it, Juan Alvarez smiled wryly, as if he had guessed his intentions.
"Uhuhu— Just because we came out of the Advent of Death, you think you can enter? That passage can never be entered by the living."
"That's why I need you."
"...What?"
The Advent of Death, a massive two-way portal that summoned the Necromancer's undead army.
Lee Hyun-wook knew how to open the two-way portal of that vast Advent of Death.
Among the black mire, the spot that glowed with a distinct red light was the entrance to the 'portal'. From the outside, one could not enter without the Necromancer's approval.
But for a being like this High Lich, who had been delegated administrative authority by the Necromancer, it was a different story.
'They tried to get to the Necromancer this way a few times.'
Just as the easiest way to stop Lee Hyun-wook was to assassinate him, stopping the Necromancer required assassination, not a head-on clash.
For that purpose, the Guardian in his past life had researched how to breach the Necromancer's Advent of Death.
Although they were never able to properly use the results of that research because it was difficult to even get close to the Advent of Death, thanks to it, Lee Hyun-wook knew how to take him down.
Thwack—
Lee Hyun-wook struck the Lich's neck with a regular Morglay, not the holy sword, and as the Lich's skull flew into the air, he wrapped it tightly in metal.
Then he stabbed the rest of the body with the holy sword, and it vanished into dust.
"Aaargh— W-what are you going to do with just my head?"
"That's not a head anymore. It's a key."
"What is that supposed to..."
Whoosh—
Lee Hyun-wook leaped from the Flower of Death. Simultaneously, the holy-enchanted Morglay plunged down, splitting the bizarre flying structure in half.
Thud—
Lee Hyun-wook landed on the ground and looked up at the sky.
Fwoosh—
The 'Flower of Death', which would later be called the Laputa of Death and become one of the worst nuisances, was turning to ash and disappearing.
Click—
"Ah, this is Lee Hyun-wook. Please bring in my soldiers now."
A few dozen seconds after he spoke, the sky filled with a thunderous roar.
Dudududu—
Four large ROK A.M.T. transport helicopters appeared over the Giant's Fortress, flying overhead and dropping a series of objects.
They descended slowly, suspended from parachutes.
Thud— Thud— Thud— Thud—
They were none other than Living Armors.
Fifty-five in total.
When Lee Hyun-wook imbued them with mana, his master authority was established, and the mana circuits on the armors' surfaces lit up.
Next, a rectangular object was spotted moving slowly in the distant sky.
It was the orbital drop device 'War Box', from which something was detaching and falling.
Whoooosh—
There were ten in total, metal boxes about five meters in size, which decelerated using reverse thrusters just before hitting the ground.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
They slammed into the ground and simultaneously split open in four directions, revealing weapons inside.
Clank— Clank—
The Living Armors moved in perfect unison, picking up their weapons and becoming fully armed.
Lee Hyun-wook also stretched his hand toward them—
Woong—
A black, spherical object flew toward him.
Clack—
It opened to reveal it was full of 'Iron Golem Cores'. But they were slightly different; something like a tooth was embedded in the center of each.
[Item Information]
- Name: Dragon Tooth Iron Golem Core (Artisan)
- Effect: When infused with mana, it attracts surrounding metal to become a 'Golem'.
That's right.
This was the Dragon Tooth Soldier that Kang Hee-seol had said she would try to make.
Literally a soldier made from a dragon's tooth, it had been upgraded slightly by combining it with an Iron Golem Core.
'Twelve in total.'
When Lee Hyun-wook infused them with mana, they began to absorb the adamantite weapon boxes dropped from the War Box and take shape.
Krrrrk—
Iron Golems, about 2.8 meters tall with reptilian heads and sleek bodies, were formed.
Grrrrr—
"A-all of these are..."
Juan Alvarez's head, witnessing the scene, clacked its teeth in astonishment.
"Your master isn't the only one who can command an army."
Lee Hyun-wook's vassals were now lined up above the Advent of Death.
Their number was small compared to the undead legion, but their quality was considerably superior.
The Advent of Death was slowly beginning to fade. He had to move before it was too late.
"Now, it's your turn to open the way."
"You think I would do such a thing? Just destroy me—it'll be quicker!"
"No, you just need to shut up."
Lee Hyun-wook thrust Juan Alvarez's head into the reddish part of the Advent of Death.
Plop—
"Gack— What are you doing! D-don't tell me..."
The Lich let out a panicked voice, as if he truly hadn't expected this.
Whoooosh—
But it was too late.
The black mire squirmed, and black hands shot out from within it.
It looked repulsive at first glance, but if one jumped in, one could cross to the other side.
"...For this very moment, I too have prepared an army."
As Lee Hyun-wook raised his left hand, his steel legion, armed with holiness, charged into the enemy's domain.
The counter-invasion had begun.