Chapter 190
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: The Final Crossroads - 3
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Lee Hyun-wook's left hand pointed at the Necromancer.
Immediately after, a gale blew in from the distant sky, and a streak of light shot fiercely toward him.
Whoooosh—!
100 tons, legendary, dragon slayer, holy sword... It was a strike imbued with all sorts of ultimate options.
He had gone through a sufficient warm-up process for this single blow.
Clearing away all the undead that protected him and relentlessly attacking to shatter half of his magic barrier was all for this moment.
'He won't be able to dodge it now.'
Though Lee Hyun-wook thought this, he focused with all his might to counter the Necromancer's resistance.
But the Necromancer... unexpectedly flailed about, simply covering his face with both hands.
It was as if he had completely lost the will to fight.
Such a sight was quite surprising, even for Lee Hyun-wook. To think that the great Necromancer would become so frail after facing a single failure...
'But it's not like I don't understand.'
Lee Hyun-wook knew of the wretched boy hidden behind the dreadful name of Necromancer.
A living weapon created by villains, not of his own will... Therefore, this might be the true face of the puppet Necromancer, one that could never be revealed because he had never known defeat.
'And that... will be his last.'
Still, he felt no pity for him.
However, just before Moglei could strike him—
Shhhhwak—!
"Gah!"
A massive hand shot out from behind him.
"—Huh?"
The moment the giant palm opened, a dozen magic circles bloomed like mushrooms, twisting space itself.
Thus, it deflected Moglei not with physical force, but by bending space—
Crack—!
Missing the Necromancer's head by a hair's breadth, it only grazed his bone mask before slamming into the ground.
'What kind of magic is that?'
Still, immense energy coursed through the ground, tearing it apart and sending the Necromancer flying.
As he pushed himself up from the ground, his bone mask split in two and fell away, revealing his face.
"Hk— Hh......."
It was a youthful face, not yet shed of its boyishness.
His appearance made it hard to believe he had driven a world to ruin; he looked fragile, his eyes bloodshot as if he were about to burst into tears.
With a completely defeated look in his eyes, he glanced at Lee Hyun-wook and—
"I, I really... can't do this alone."
He spoke again to someone, as if pleading.
"Yes..."
Then, as if listening to someone's reply, he even nodded his head.
'...Who in the world is he talking to?'
Lee Hyun-wook felt a sense of foreboding at that and moved Moglei again.
'Please, let it just be schizophrenia.'
But then—
"Aaaaaah—!"
He let out a piercing scream, and blood burst— from the nape of his neck.
Something long broke through his skin and began to squirm.
Sshhhk—
'...A tentacle?'
It was a strange tube that could be called as such.
At its tip was a red eyeball.
Gurgle— Gurgle—
It looked up at Lee Hyun-wook.
At its disgusting gaze, he instinctively scowled.
'What is that thing...'
And in Lee Hyun-wook's eyes, its information appeared.
- Quasi-Transcendent (Demon King transformation in progress)
This time, too, it was a 'Quasi-Transcendent'.
Meaning, it was in the same category as the 'Dimensional Travelers' that had appeared before.
'Then it must be a Player, at least...'
But no matter how he looked at it, it didn't have a human form.
Nor did it seem like a polymorph or body modification.
It just felt like a bizarre monster.
Another strange thing was that instead of a level, the words 'Demon King transformation in progress' were written.
Lee Hyun-wook couldn't quite grasp its meaning.
'From now on, this is beyond my experience. Things I don't know will appear. ...I need to stay on guard.'
Then—
「My, I didn't intend to make an appearance so soon... This world is truly strangely twisted.」
It spoke in a strange voice, and a moment of silence followed.
Everyone present, unable to comprehend what that thing was, could only stare at each other without a word.
"...What are you?"
The one who asked was Lee Seong-yoon, his voice echoing low through amplification magic.
The tentacle's eyeball snapped around to look at Lee Seong-yoon.
「Ah— my old friend, Seong-yoon! I didn't expect we'd meet again so soon. It's good to see you.」
"What? A friend... are you talking about me?"
The tentacle's eyeball let out a chuckle, as if it were a joke.
However, that one peculiar greeting tossed out so casually became a huge hint for Lee Hyun-wook.
'Wait, a Villain, controlling the Necromancer, and calling Lee Seong-yoon a friend...'
As far as Lee Hyun-wook knew, only one Player fit all those conditions.
'...Could it be? Gordon Price, that bastard?'
Did he exploit the Necromancer to the point where he finally started parasitizing him?
'But this is just a shallow guess.'
It was a bit of a stretch to project Gordon Price onto such a grotesque figure.
Woooong—
Then, the pupil of the tentacle's eye dilated, and the two massive hands that had bloomed from the Necromancer's back emitted red beams of light.
They split into dozens of streams and scattered across the sky.
Kwa-a-a-a-a—!
"—Tch!"
Everyone floating in the air, including Lee Hyun-wook, hastily dodged.
The beams shot straight up, churning the dark clouds filling the sky like whipped cream.
「This is truly... stranger than anything I've ever experienced. Who could have predicted this timeline would resist so stubbornly? I can't understand it. What variable could have caused this? Ah— is this why William Bernard died an hour after crossing over?」
Muttering quite garrulously, the creature continued to fire its beams.
「Well, it doesn't matter anyway.」
Kwa-a-a-a-a—!
The renewed barrage of beams shot down the AD-2s floating in the sky.
'Damn it, there are too many beams.'
They were so powerful that even Lee Hyun-wook had to focus on dodging rather than counterattacking.
And for Lee Hyun-wook, who needed to control the air, it was the worst possible offense.
However, Lee Hyun-wook felt that it was more of a diversionary tactic than a means of attack.
It felt like it was firing indiscriminately to push back those who had surrounded it.
In other words, the assault would eventually have to stop, just like running out of bullets.
'It'll try to escape before that happens.'
And just as he expected—
「You, your world will be consumed as nutrients for my transcendence the moment I obtain my full power.」
With those words, two overlapping red magic circles bloomed beneath their feet.
Wooooo—
"That's spatial teleportation magic!"
The one who noticed was Lee Seong-yoon.
As the pinnacle of mages, he could read the flow of mana.
At that, Kang Seo-yoon drew her bowstring and shouted.
"That bastard is running away! He'll be defenseless while casting, so give him everything you've got—!"
Twang—twang—twang—twang—
The arrows she fired and the weapons Lee Hyun-wook threw were blocked by some kind of black barrier and disintegrated.
"...What? He's using two high-level spells at once?"
Typically, long-distance spatial teleportation spells were extremely difficult techniques.
An A-rank mage Player would have to pour all their mana into it.
That's why 'World Bridge', which opened a 'White Hole', was so overpowered.
And that was only possible by borrowing the power of Yggdrasil.
Furthermore, the casting time was so long that it was difficult to use for emergency escapes, and the caster was completely vulnerable to attacks during the incantation.
That was only natural.
Otherwise, it would be what's commonly known as game-breaking...
A scene that completely shattered common sense about such wide-area movement skills unfolded before their eyes.
To cast a long-distance teleport while simultaneously shrouded in a massive, sturdy magic barrier...
Woooong—
Soon, a pillar of black light rose from the ground, enveloped the Necromancer, and shot into the sky.
"......."
After it vanished, a deep silence fell over the world for a few seconds.
"N-No way, what the hell was that! Does that even make sense?"
Even the top Players present wore expressions of disbelief.
But Lee Hyun-wook knew why such 'dual casting' was possible.
'...He probably imbued two different Dragon Hearts with separate spells and activated them.'
And in his past life, countless dragons were hunted, leaving behind their Dragon Hearts.
They were scattered all over, but the final victor would have monopolized them.
In other words, like Lee Hyun-wook who had monopolized the items of this world, that being possessed an unconventional power beyond common sense.
Lee Hyun-wook let out a sigh.
It was a failure he hadn't tasted in a long time.
'Damn it, I thought the fight here would be the last...'
But an unexpected variable had left him with one more battle to fight.
'Against an opponent I don't know... and one who's stronger than me, no less.'
In essence, the engine that had allowed Lee Hyun-wook to charge ahead like a runaway train was now gone.
But Lee Hyun-wook wasn't afraid or worried.
His strength didn't come solely from his regression.
Even before he had the privilege of regression, he possessed a talent superior to anyone else's.
He exhaled slowly and raised his head, surveying the chaotic battlefield.
The remnants of having shattered the seemingly insurmountable wall of the Necromancer were scattered there.
Now, he had no regrets like the ones he held in his past life.
He was ready to give it his all.
'I'll make you regret ever coming to this place, no matter what it takes...'
Just then, a system message appeared before everyone's eyes.
- (!) A quest has arrived.
"Huh? What's this, a quest all of a sudden..."
[World Quest]
- The Demon King, seed of a great catastrophe from an unknown world...
Many have witnessed the being who will come to be called the Demon King.
Fortunately, the Demon King has not yet obtained his full power.
If you do not find and eliminate him, this world may fall to ruin.
1) Select a 'Hero' to lead the subjugation of the Demon King. (In Progress)
2) Conquer the 'Demon King's Castle' that will appear somewhere in this world. (In Progress)
3) Defeat the final boss monster, the 'Demon King'. (In Progress)
* Reward: Distributed according to contribution in the Demon King's subjugation.
- Warning! Failure to complete objective '3' will result in a 'World Game Over'.
"What, a Demon King? You're saying that thing just now was a Demon King like in the comics?"
"...But what's a 'World Quest'? Has anyone heard of this before?"
"Hmm... I've done all sorts of quests, but this is a first."
They all looked at Lee Hyun-wook with puzzled expressions.
"...This is the first I'm seeing it as well."
This wasn't a lie.
It was something he had never seen in either of his two lives.
'A World Quest... does that literally mean a quest given to the entire world simultaneously?'
But what bothered him more was the rather familiar term 'Demon King (魔王)'.
Demon King, a somewhat childish term often used to refer to the final boss in fantasy worlds.
But now that the world had literally become a fantasy game, the weight of the word was bound to be different.
And experts had often joked that a Demon King might one day appear.
With orcs, ogres, demons, and even dragons appearing, it wasn't a strange thing to say in context.
And then, another word just as familiar as Demon King appeared before his eyes...
- (!) You can apply to be a 'Hero Candidate'.
* The selection will be made through a 'vote' by all Players worldwide.
'I don't know what this is, but I'll need it when I face that thing.'
But a vote by all Players worldwide...
There was a high risk that this crucial issue would turn into a political arena.
Just then, Emilia Müller came up beside him.
"That kid, are we saving him?"
Where she pointed, a boy lay between the White Tree Guards.
He was deathly pale and emaciated, as if he had never seen the sun...
It was impossible to know how long he had been trapped inside that capsule.
"He's the one who controlled the undead army, right?"
"...It doesn't seem like it was of his own free will."
But leaving him alive, there was no telling what kind of threat he might become.
"So, are we saving him or not? He's dying right now. He'll be dead soon."
Lee Hyun-wook thought for a moment.
'He might know something I don't.'
Therefore, he had to let him regain consciousness and interrogate him first.
'...If I imprison him within Yggdrasil's divine power, he won't be able to run rampant.'
Lee Hyun-wook looked at Emilia Müller and nodded.
"He wields the power of death, so he can only recover by exploiting someone's life force."
"...Ah, now that you mention it, healing would be like poison to him. Isn't it impossible to save him?"
"Not exactly. I can just purify all the power of death first, then heal him."
Lee Hyun-wook had never heard of such a thing being possible, but it was a different story for the Saintess.
"Then his powers will be greatly weakened."
"Well, you could say he's being effectively castrated."
Lee Hyun-wook thought it was for the best and asked her to begin the resuscitation.
A moment later, Emilia Müller infused the Necromancer's body with divine power.
"—Gack!"
On the verge of death, he spewed fresh blood from every orifice.
But after about five minutes, Emilia Müller spoke in a somewhat flustered voice.
"Uh, huh...? How is this happening?"
"What's wrong? Did something go wrong?"
When Lee Hyun-wook asked, she stared blankly at the Necromancer, then tilted her head.
"Um... well, the domain of death isn't necessarily a power of darkness, right?"
"Huh?"
"For example, some souls can be good, not evil."
Lee Hyun-wook still couldn't quite grasp what she was trying to say.
"I don't know why I thought a Necromancer had to wield the evil power of death..."
"So, what are you trying to say right now?"
She let out a small laugh and pointed to the area around the Necromancer's heart.
"This kid absorbed the divine power and started accumulating it."