Chapter 214
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: The Ruler of Steel - 1
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- From now on, I'll take it from here.
At that moment, everyone looked up at the sky.
"Wh-what is that..."
It was 3 p.m., a time when the sun was still beating down strongly... Countless objects floated in the sky, blocking the sunlight and casting a multitude of shadows upon the ground...
Humm— Humm—
They were swords, spears, arrows—no, they were all manner of sharp, bladed instruments, weapons forged from metal.
And this strange phenomenon meant only one thing.
"...It's Stellain. He's here."
He had arrived, and his power was beginning to blanket the area.
"Hahaha— We're saved now!"
"Kuh— The hero has come to slay the demon lord!"
The Players nearby erupted in cheers, while Inferno and Han Ju-hwa, who had been preparing for their final stand, simply stared blankly at the scene.
"......."
Lee Hyun-wook. He had given her the strength to wash away her nightmare.
But just now, as the power he gave her reached its limit and the nightmare was about to repeat itself... he had appeared in person.
'…A man like that… he could probably protect everyone.'
He had uttered only a few words upon his arrival, yet his voice was laced with a profound, cold composure...
'It's as if... he sees right through this entire situation.'
For some reason, hearing his voice calmed Han Ju-hwa's trembling heart. It was a sense of security she hadn't felt in a very long time.
"Hoo......."
She let out a hot breath, cooled her head, and looked not at Lee Hyun-wook, but at the enemies.
"Right. What I need to do... is not fight a glorious battle, but a smart one."
She suppressed her feeling of helplessness and prepared for a battle aimed at victory.
Meanwhile, Ahn Min-tae's team, who had taken refuge down the stairs of a subway entrance, launched a mana drone to check the situation outside before hastily rushing out.
"Ah, Team Leader Ahn! He... He's here again!"
Ahn Min-tae let out a disbelieving chuckle.
"Ha, then and now, his timing is always so..."
An innumerable number of metal weapons hung in the sky.
They shifted and slowly rotated with the slightest of movements, like the horses of a cavalry unit snorting before a charge.
The moment the rider's hand fell, they would surge forward, shattering and piercing everything in their path.
"Huh, something's strange..."
However, as Ahn Min-tae slowly examined them, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dissonance.
The prelude to this steel rain felt distinctly different from before.
He soon pinpointed what was so strange.
"...What the! Why are those so big?"
"Sir? What do you mean?"
"Look closely at those swords. They're massive!"
He realized that the objects adorning the sky, preparing to attack, were not a cavalry unit... but a tank division.
"Ah, I get it. Hah, those are all Moglays."
They were all greatswords, hundreds of them.
"...Good heavens, is that even possible? Huh? It's real!"
"Damn it, the worst Steel Rain in history is about to fall."
Stellain, or as he was known, Steel Rain... the nickname originated from Lee Hyun-wook's powerful use of his skills.
A technique where he would float hundreds, thousands of steel weapons in the sky and rain them down like a deluge, delivering punishment over a vast area... And among them, the mere four Moglays mixed in had been of overwhelming power.
Each one could be called a 'mass weapon', and as far as the world knew, there were only four in total.
The fact that there were four was a terror to his enemies, but it was also a relief that there were no more.
But what in the world was this scene?
"Whoa, shit— if all of those come down, we're in big trouble..."
Even as allies, they couldn't just stand there in awe. Ahn Min-tae immediately turned to his team and shouted.
"All units, brace for impact!"
"Sir?"
"Get the magic barriers up right now! Prepare for the shockwave!"
Soon, the world would be turned upside down.
Just then, the rider's hand—Lee Hyun-wook's hand—tilted forward.
"—It's starting!"
The tips of the vertically poised Moglays slowly angled down, taking aim at the Sulfur Patchwork Golem—
And in the next instant, the greatswords began to launch, creating a gale in their wake.
WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—
A fierce wind followed their trajectory, pushing back the heat and black smoke rising from the ground.
Like a carpet bombing from a squadron of bombers, the long, thick masses of metal were pulled by gravity, cascading down in a torrent.
But unlike a carpet bombing, they weren't just randomly crashing down to obliterate a wide area; they could all be precisely targeted at a single point.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!
Impact— Despite crashing into the squishy flesh of the Sulfur Patchwork Golem, thunderous explosions roared as blood and pus burst out—splat—splat. With each hit, the massive creature staggered backward, unable to withstand the force.
To keep from falling, it spread its six arms to the sides and grabbed onto buildings, crushing their outer walls.
Groooaaar—!
'As expected, even at 10%, a Moglay is still a Moglay.'
Lee Hyun-wook was quite satisfied.
Just before arriving, he had used the 'Replication' function of his newly acquired skill, <Lord of Skills>, to repeatedly clone the 50-ton, hero-grade Moglay.
The result was 154 'Moglays (Mass-Produced Model)' weighing 5 tons each.
Of course, as befitting the 'mass-produced' label, passive skills that boosted abilities like 'Iron Bones' were removed, and the active skills had only 10% of their original efficacy.
However...
Thud— Thud—
"Wh-what... It's not falling!"
"Wow, it's taking all that and still walking toward us?"
Despite significant damage to its body, the 50-meter-tall behemoth began to advance again as if nothing had happened.
The haphazardly stitched-together flesh rippled like liquid... and began to push the deeply embedded Moglays out of its body with sickening lurches.
Ahn Min-tae's team members, who were watching, clicked their tongues.
"Holy shit, that thing's a true zombie!"
"If it's immune to fire and doesn't die even after getting hit like that..."
Just then, Ahn Min-tae raised a hand to silence them.
"Hey, don't overreact. That's not all."
Lee Hyun-wook's left hand, which had been aimed at the creature, slowly clenched into a fist. What that meant was—
"...Shockwave—"
With that one word as a trigger, all 89 Moglays embedded in the creature's body unleashed their shockwaves at once.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!
A total of 89 shockwaves erupted simultaneously from a single point, causing the creature's body to swell like a balloon before bursting.
Its flesh scattered for hundreds of meters—no, some pieces flew for kilometers before raining down like hail.
Plop—plop—plop—plop...
A massive crater was gouged into the ground, and the buildings on either side were swept up into the air like sandcastles in a gale.
"Ugh!"
At that moment, Ahn Min-tae's team dove back down the subway entrance stairs and quickly activated their magic barriers.
The pavement on the surface was torn up, and rubble came pouring down the stairs, hammering against the magic barrier.
Thud—thud—thud—thud—
If they had been a single step slower, they would have been caught in a stone avalanche.
"Holy crap, did he really just blow it away in one shot?"
"...Inferno was amazing, but Stellain is on another level!"
"If we just kill that pig zombie, it's all over, right?"
Ahn Min-tae also cheered, shouting that it was the end.
But Lee Hyun-wook himself was not yet at ease.
'...It's not over yet.'
He scanned the pieces of the corpse scattered on the ground.
Gurgle...
They were writhing and moving like grubs, already starting to tangle together again to form larger clumps.
It was a sign that they would soon reassemble.
He used the full extent of Hugin and Munin's senses to quickly scan the scattered pieces of the Patchwork Golem's flesh.
'I have to find it before it's too late.'
And...
'—Found it.'
He flicked the index finger of his left hand. In response, a single Moglay floating near his right side flew in a curve toward the spot his gaze had landed on.
Thwack—!
It plunged into a rather large chunk of flesh... and at that moment, all the scattered pieces of flesh began to tremble as if in agony. It was a good sign.
"Good, that's it."
Looking closely, he saw that this piece of flesh looked quite different, covered in a shroud of black smoke.
'That's its core.'
It was protected by a powerful black magic spell to prevent it from being destroyed by ordinary attacks. But Moglay was imbued with the 'Holy Sword' effect...
Ssssss—
With a single strike, it crumbled into ash and vanished. The writhing piles of flesh stopped moving and began to turn to dust.
Lee Hyun-wook extended his hand and retrieved the Moglays.
'This is how you deal with a Patchwork Golem.'
Typically, when a normal undead monster is touched by holy power, the death energy within that part is extinguished, and it loses its characteristic regenerative ability.
Therefore, 'holy power' is known as the most perfect way to deal with the undead.
However, for a Patchwork Golem born from the highest-grade necromancy, its thick flesh is merely an outer shell. It protects its core by concentrating the death energy within. That was why it couldn't be easily destroyed with holy power, and countless paladins had been sacrificed to this creature.
'In other words, you have to blow it to pieces, find the core, and land a proper hit before it can reassemble.'
Without knowing this method, one would struggle to deal with a Patchwork Golem, going through much trial and error...
'In my past life, I spent a long time studying the Necromancer.'
So he knew almost all of the creature's skills inside and out.
Of course, in the end, he had been defeated due to a lack of absolute power...
'...Not anymore.'
Multiple victories had given him certainty.
'In every aspect, I am superior to him.'
Lee Hyun-wook scanned his surroundings with the eyes of Hugin and Munin.
He soon spotted a 'zombie hippogriff' perched on the roof of a building, and upon it, a figure hiding its presence... It was none other than the Necromancer.
The creature's signature skull mask hid its face, but he was sure it wore a bewildered expression.
'You're nothing but a puppet...'
The Necromancer Lee Hyun-wook had known in his past life, the image of that ruthless commander of the death legion, had all been a sham. In the end, he was just a subordinate of Gordon Price.
And upon realizing that fact, the reverence he had once felt for the creature vanished, and it now seemed like nothing more than a foolish piece of prey.
'Today, I hunt you.'
Lee Hyun-wook prepared to give chase.
***
"...I-I failed."
The being who had driven a world to ruin, the Necromancer, was trembling in fear. He had never been so overwhelmingly outmatched before.
At that, the Demon King issued another command.
『...It can't be helped. Open the 'Gate of the Underworld' now.』
The Necromancer was somewhat surprised by those words.
"Uh, that... Do we not need to hide it anymore? The plan was to use it suddenly to bind him and then kill him in one blow with Mistilteinn."
『We no longer have the luxury of hiding it.』
"Ah..."
The 'Final Potential Break' skill that a Player obtains upon reaching their peak—naturally, the Necromancer possessed such a thing as well.
"...I've only used it once before. It seems the time has come to use it again."
『Indeed. And the last time you used it was the moment you killed the Steel Great Emperor... The current Steel Great Emperor... no, Stellain, is several times stronger than he was then, but it should still be effective.』
The Necromancer nodded in agreement.
"Yes, that man cannot block this skill."
『Of course, the Saintess is nearby, but unless that woman has obtained her own final potential skill, she won't be able to close the Gate of the Underworld. When we first arrived in this dimension, the Saintess managed to stop the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons... but the Gate of the Underworld is on a different level.』
"Yes, even if ten Saintesses came, they wouldn't be able to catch all of my ghosts."
The Necromancer took a deep breath and slowly raised his black scythe—Scythe. His eyes began to burn with a green flame... He was beginning to prepare a powerful skill.
『But remember, the Divine Tree will soon arrive with Laputa.』
The Demon King's eyes were fixed on Laputa, which was slowly approaching in the distance.
The sky was still sealed by the 'Sky Castration', bound by red chains, so a massive flying object like Laputa had to break through them with electrical attacks as it advanced.
For that reason, it seemed it would still take a considerable amount of time to reach the battlefield.
『Before that, your goal is to take as many lives as possible. You must not overextend yourself trying to kill him.』
"...I understand."
At that moment, a green, key-shaped object materialized above the Scythe the Necromancer held.
He laid it flat and thrust it into the empty air, then slowly turned it to the right.
A loud *click—* echoed...
BOOM—!
A massive, rectangular green portal opened at that spot.
- Warning! The 'Gate of the Underworld' is opening in this area.
And...
Waaaaaaiiiiillll—
A chorus of wails began to flow out from within.
Kyaaaa—ah—ah—ah—ah—
Ah—ah—ah—ah—ah—
The cries of women, men, children, and the elderly—the sounds of a countless multitude—mixed together in a chaotic cacophony that began to engulf Seoul.
In the next moment, an incredible number of purple ghosts began to pour out from inside the gate, like a waterfall.
From a distance, it looked as if a purple fog was beginning to cover the sky. But upon closer inspection, one could see that they were tangled human figures, swimming through the air.
Kyaaaa—ah—ah—ah—ah—
Ah—ah—ah—ah—ah—
It was a scene as if a slice of hell had flooded onto the surface... Following the Necromancer's control, they began to swallow the city like a tidal wave.
"You can't stop this!"
He shouted, glaring at Stellain in the distance.
They were all 'Ghost-type' monsters, which could not be damaged by physical attacks. They could only be eliminated with 'Light' type magic among the holy powers.
In other words, they were a perfect counter to Stellain, as all the weapons he possessed were fundamentally based on physical force.
And just as expected, Stellain's response was to simply extend his left hand and begin firing Moglays.
That was the best attack he could muster.
"Haha— That won't work!"
The Moglays and ghosts soon collided—
Whoosh—
As expected, the greatswords passed harmlessly through the empty air.
『Tie up Stellain with those, and in the meantime, turn the undead legion to destroy the shelters and take as much life force as possible. Do not forget that is why we came here.』
Clatter— Clatter—
Following the Demon King's instructions, he advanced the ghost army while simultaneously turning his undead legion to attack shelters in another direction.
It seemed he would be able to breach several shelters soon.
『Good, press the attack.』
In response, Stellain hastily revised his plan and began sending Moglays toward the Necromancer, who was hiding a fair distance away.
Like all enemies who had faced the Necromancer before, finding himself unable to deal with the army, he had decided to strike at the main body.
In other words, it was a very familiar reaction to the Necromancer.
"If you attack so obviously, I won't just stand by!"
However, several hundred undead positioned around the Necromancer disintegrated, their essence absorbed into him, and his body turned into black smoke.
Wooooo—
This was an movement technique called 'Twilight Form', which temporarily rendered the Necromancer's body incorporeal.
In other words, he could not be harmed by physical attacks.
"Ha— Looks like he's panicking, doing something so predictable."
『Still, do not let your guard down. Don't forget you were caught by him before while trying to retreat in Twilight Form.』
Yes, when he first arrived here and clashed with Stellain, the Necromancer had attempted to escape using 'Twilight Form'.
However, Mjolnir, imbued with the Holy Sword effect, had unleashed 'Wrath of the Thunder God'. The lightning had formed a net, and he had been captured in mid-air.
"Hmm... But the sky is sealed now, so he won't be able to use that lightning skill. And without that electric user, he can't make a net to chase me. Also, I don't feel any powerful holy energy nearby."
He was right.
Right now, there was certainly nothing that could stop his Twilight Form.
Whoosh—
He moved between the buildings in his Twilight Form, directing the ghosts and undead.
All of Seoul began to be ravaged by the power of death.
***
Lee Hyun-wook recalled an old memory.
In his past life, it was a desperate moment when the Necromancer's army of death had conquered Busan and was advancing north toward Seoul.
He and his comrades prepared for the final battle in Seoul.
Days earlier, even as Busan fell, they had withheld reinforcements to prepare for the final battle, fortifying Seoul with all the items they had gathered and all the surviving Players.
And finally, they had faced the army of death south of the Han River... He had summoned all his strength and brought down a final Steel Rain. It was mixed with all sorts of high-grade items, so he believed it would deal a heavy blow.
However...
'That's when the Gate of the Underworld opened.'
Ghost-type monsters that covered the entire world...
Lee Hyun-wook's attack had passed harmlessly through the air.
And the ghosts had swarmed his allies...
'...A crushing defeat.'
That was the battle that had occurred right before Lee Hyun-wook's death.
That scene was now replaying itself.
Purple ghosts covering the entire world...
They detected the life force of living beings and were swarming toward them like bees.
"Wh-what are those things! Fire! Fire anything!"
But the Players' attacks were mostly unable to damage them.
"—R-run away!"
"Damn it, we need holy power!"
The most reliable way to defeat them was 'Holy Light', but... as always, in the face of the Necromancer's immense power of death, the available holy power was hopelessly insufficient.
"Ugh! My... mind... feels like it's going to... break..."
Just being near the ghosts caused Players to fall into abnormal states, starting to lose their combat effectiveness.
At this rate, they would be routed before Laputa arrived, and the shelters would fall defenselessly, leading to countless casualties.
And the Demon King, having gathered sufficient life force, could open another portal and escape.
But...
'Yes, I was waiting for you to use that.'
A faint smile touched Lee Hyun-wook's lips.
He had perfectly predicted that the Necromancer would use the Gate of the Underworld and then use Twilight Form to evade his attacks.
Because he knew that they, too, were aware that there was no way to stop Twilight Form here and now.
No, to be precise, Lee Hyun-wook had intentionally hidden it.
Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh—
He fired all his metal weapons to chase after the Necromancer in his Twilight Form. Of course, his weapons could not damage the incorporeal creature.
If he could make a single Holy Sword touch it, he could damage the Twilight Form, but it would only flicker for a moment before quickly changing direction and fleeing.
Even so, Lee Hyun-wook persistently dispersed his metal weapons to herd the creature.
'Good, just a little more— just a little more—'
And among those metal weapons, there was a metal item that was not a weapon...
It was...
[Item Information]
- Name: Room of Solitude (Special)
- Effect: Unknown
'A Pocket Space.'
Lee Hyun-wook had mixed it in among the Moglays and brought it close to the Necromancer's Twilight Form.
Voom—
And finally, when it was close enough to the creature— Lee Hyun-wook infused it with mana.
Then—
Craaaack—
A white light burst forth from within.
Simultaneously, dozens of white chains shot out...
Ch-ch-ch-ch—
They flew like snakes, ensnaring the Necromancer in his Twilight Form.
And they were not physical chains, but chains forged from holy light—
"Guhk—!"
The Twilight Form, entangled in them, flickered erratically, and soon, the Necromancer, bound in white chains, was pulled out from within.
And from inside the white light, a voice was heard.
"Shit— I'm not a Pokémon, what is this!"
The woman who appeared amidst a brilliant white light, spitting out such a coarse complaint... was the Saintess, Emilia Müller.
Following behind her, Peter Clark and the rest of the White Tree Guard emerged, landing on the roof of a nearby building—they began scattering Holy Light in all directions, pushing back the ghosts.
"All units, maintain vigilance and secure the Saintess's safety!"
Emilia Müller then slammed the being bound in her chains, the Necromancer, onto the rooftop floor.
THUD—
Then she strode forward and stomped on the back of his neck.
"You son of a bitch... I finally got you."
CRACK—!
Her foot slammed into the Necromancer's face, and his skull mask shattered.