Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: The Third Upgrade (2)
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Suuuuh—
The acrid heat of the battlefield soaked into his lungs.
Shwaaaaa—
A barrage of arrows poured down like a torrential downpour.
Without slowing his speed, he spun the blood-drenched spear like a windmill.
Clangclangclang!
No sooner had he deflected the shower of arrows than—
Moooo!
A cow-like beast charged forward, swinging a massive axe the size of its torso.
Lan Qiang (Blocking Spear).
Kim Gunja's spinning spear shaft elegantly deflected the giant axe to the left.
Na Qiang (Seizing Spear).
He smacked down the thrusting spear tip from the right, pinning it to the ground. At the same time—
Cha Qiang (Thrusting Spear).
Puuuk—
He punched a hole through the neck of the cow-headed wielder of the giant axe.
Lan-Na-Cha (Block-Seize-Thrust).
It was the most basic spear technique, seamlessly blending offense and defense in a single breath.
"Huuuuh…."
Only then did the sticky heat that had seeped into his lungs spew back out.
Before he could steady his breathing again, a fresh volley of weapons and grotesque monsters assaulted him.
But he had no intention of tangling with every last one of them.
Whiiinny—!
Having already carved an escape route, Kim Gunja urged his warhorse into ghostly maneuvers, breaking through the enemy lines.
Not annihilation, but pursuit.
That was his true objective.
Mooo—?
The monsters, who had thrown themselves at him with murderous intent, bellowed in confusion as he suddenly pulled away.
Whatever.
Kim Gunja's eyes, fixed on his mount, were locked on the sky.
Abel showed no signs of tiring.
He kept pouring out brainpower relentlessly, descending upon the next battlefield.
Kuwaaaaaang—!
A earth-shaking roar.
Too far to see clearly, but the devastation ripping through the enemy ranks was vivid in his mind.
'…What a monster. For real.'
He was a being on an entirely different level.
Had he used the Thunder Dragon Star Spear in that clash earlier, breaking through would have been a breeze.
But Kim Gunja hadn't.
Or more precisely, he couldn't.
'I'm not like Abel, with infinite stamina and mana.'
At first, he'd chased after Abel like his tail was on fire. But as the pattern repeated, Kim Gunja sensed something off.
Fighting spirit.
The trial's criterion was clearly fighting spirit.
But could endless pursuit like this really test that?
Kim Gunja judged not.
Abel hadn't shown the slightest interest in him since their initial eye contact.
So there was only one answer.
Preliminaries.
This chase was just a warm-up for Abel.
'The real trial begins where Abel's advance halts.'
And that place was likely the fiercest bloodbath of the Demon-Human Great War.
Abel was saying as much.
No need to bother with anyone who couldn't keep up that far.
From the moment he realized it, Kim Gunja had been conserving his strength as much as possible.
For that moment.
And his judgment was spot on.
Signs confirming it were appearing one by one.
The gaps between units were narrowing.
Most of all—
Beings with utterly alien auras, unlike the regular monsters, were starting to emerge.
The demonkin, commander-class entities leading the monsters.
"Hoh? Besides Abel, there's someone else bold enough to charge in?"
A figure with a grotesque horn on one side of its head stared down at Kim Gunja racing on his warhorse.
"Let's see… what you've got."
With a gesture infused with demonic power, the ground right in front of the warhorse erupted into a spike.
But—
Whiiinny—!
The warhorse leaped nimbly, easily dodging the pillar.
He'd only been holding back on stamina and mana.
With his domain open, Kim Gunja couldn't miss the shift in mana flow ahead.
He glanced at the demonkin but didn't veer off, charging straight ahead.
'…This feels bad.'
No matter how he sliced it, this trial was worlds apart from the last ones.
Not a confined space, but an open field. Not facing investors, but other entities.
'Maybe….'
Unlike before, a single death might mean instant failure.
That thought was starting to creep in.
Obviously, dying would create an unbridgeable gap with Abel.
In the shifting situation, Kim Gunja heightened his focus and spurred his warhorse faster.
'I-is this a dream or reality…?'
Hannam-dong's top high-end Korean restaurant.
The owner couldn't believe the scene unfolding before his eyes.
Hero Guild's White Flame, Baek Jincheon.
Infinite Guild's Mountain King, Hong Gyuhyeon.
One was a single-number rank no one in the world dared touch.
The other was a living legend of the hunter world.
'Those two meeting…!'
With trembling hands, the owner carefully served the dishes one by one before bowing out.
Breaking the pin-drop silence was Hong Gyuhyeon.
"…You've changed a lot."
Hong Gyuhyeon's voice was surprisingly gentle.
"Do I seem that way?"
Baek Jincheon replied calmly.
The content was anything but gentle.
"…That day…."
"Enough."
Baek Jincheon cut him off.
"You didn't ask to meet just to say that, did you?"
"…No."
A bitter expression crossed Hong Gyuhyeon's wrinkled face.
Whatever the reasons, the fact remained: his choice had killed Baek Jincheon's family.
"I don't resent you."
Hong Gyuhyeon looked shocked at the unexpected words.
"Thanks to you, I realized something."
Baek Jincheon smiled faintly and continued.
"That in this world, those with power are justice."
"……Ugh."
A pained groan escaped Hong Gyuhyeon's lips at Baek Jincheon's words.
"That's… a mistaken view."
"Mistaken?"
"Power is just a means in the end. What you achieve through force alone becomes an empty shell."
Baek Jincheon's smile deepened.
"Maybe. But from what I've seen, there's not much difference. Right?"
"……."
Hong Gyuhyeon couldn't respond.
He knew exactly what Baek Jincheon meant.
The outcome of Pentagram's choices on Bloody Day.
'…What a tragedy.'
Truly, a coincidence of coincidences that led to those deaths.
Afterward, Baek Jincheon had changed completely.
"You can always make up justifications after seizing power. That's the way of the world."
Baek Jincheon was declaring.
In the end, those with power hold the right to choose everything.
Twisted. Utterly twisted.
Hong Gyuhyeon sighed in frustration.
'…This is tough.'
He'd thought it was the last chance.
To turn Baek Jincheon around.
But that was just wishful thinking.
Baek Jincheon had already solidified his warped beliefs.
'That's why he's committing those atrocities now.'
Recalling the data from Kim Gunja, Hong Gyuhyeon's eyes twitched.
No hope, he thought.
But still—
"…Fine. Then let me say why I arranged this meeting."
He'd do what he set out to do.
"Won't you stop your arbitrary, selfish actions? Devote yourself to leading the hunter world in a positive direction. Promise me that, and as Infinite Guild's master until I die, I'll support Hero Guild's growth."
Hong Gyuhyeon spoke his true feelings to Baek Jincheon.
But—
"Is that all?"
Baek Jincheon just smiled faintly.
"Not a very efficient proposal. Let's tweak the terms a bit."
Baek Jincheon met Hong Gyuhyeon's gaze and spoke.
"Infinite Guild joins under Hero Guild first. How about it?"
"…What?"
"Think about it. If those words from your mouth were sincere, not pretense."
Looking at Baek Jincheon's cold smile, Hong Gyuhyeon had to admit it.
Baek Jincheon would never change.
Conserving strength was a good idea.
But finding the right approach didn't make the trial any easier.
Puk, zzzt—!
"……Krrk."
Only after grilling the heart of one particularly persistent demonkin targeting his own heart—
"Huu…."
Could Kim Gunja finally catch his breath.
The area around the fiercest battleground of the Demon-Human Great War was a hellscape of corpses and blood.
'How much time has passed…?'
Kim Gunja looked to the sky.
The crimson heavens knew no day or night.
Making it impossible to track time.
Subjectively, over a day.
But even that wasn't precise.
His mind wasn't working right.
Endless combat had long since soaked his brain in adrenaline.
Anyone would be the same.
Well, except for the freakish monster rampaging even more fiercely in contrast.
Ku-ku-ku-kwang!
"Hahaha! Ha!"
Abel was still bellowing thunderously, turning demonkin to ash as he dominated the battlefield.
'What the….'
He couldn't tell.
Abel seemed not to be taking a trial, but enjoying the chaos itself.
To the point where it felt like he was venting pent-up frustration he couldn't release since becoming an investor.
He showed zero interest in Kim Gunja.
'How long do I have to hold out to clear this?'
He'd managed efficiently so far, but prolonged fighting was draining his stamina and mana.
Without Yeuiboju pushing him short of S-rank, he'd have collapsed ages ago.
If he didn't find the key to clearing soon, failure was likely.
Kim Gunja refocused on "fighting spirit."
'The will to overcome or defeat a target….'
Abel had said his was lacking.
He'd faithfully followed Abel, fought relentlessly without fleeing nearby.
Yet no clear alarm.
Did he need to go berserk on the war itself like Abel?
Honestly, that was impossible—
Wuuuuuung—
When a massive vibration shook the battlefield, Kim Gunja looked up.
The red sky grew redder.
And a gigantic portal began forming.
Seeing it, Kim Gunja's pupils quivered slightly.
'……No way?'
He knew this phenomenon all too well.
The gate phenomenon that opened only in the sky, causing catastrophe twice in his world.
"…Bloody Gate?"
Now he understood the sky's endless crimson.
This wasn't a problem from Abel's world.
It was one of Bloody Gate's harbingers.
As the blood-red gate yawned open, a swarm of black butterflies emerged.
The wave of dark butterflies against the red sky was a spectacular sight.
'Gates… aren't exclusive to my world?'
Stunned by the revelation—
A colossal being began descending from the Bloody Gate.
Not even fully revealed yet—
The immense mana seeping through made his skin prickle.
"Ugh…!"
"Krrrk…!"
It halted the holy knights and monsters alike, forcing them to their knees—an absolute presence.
Kim Gunja would have knelt too, without summoning his sacred brainpower.
Even the mighty Abel couldn't guarantee victory against this vast, dark mana roiling across the field.
Unwinnable.
The thought hit instinctively.
Primal terror.
As that fear gripped his body—
His eyes met the one standing aloof amid the battlefield.
Abel.
Unlike before, he stood calmly, as if his role was done.
A glint of expectation in his eyes.
Show me something, it urged.
'…So that's it.'
Now he got it.
What Abel truly wanted.
It was all just buildup.
The long chase and chaotic battles to exhaust him.
'He wants fighting spirit that doesn't yield even in the extremes.'
No matter the foe—even one called the Demon God that defeated Abel himself.
Realizing this, Kim Gunja squeezed every last drop of power.
Efficiency and endurance no longer mattered.
For this one moment, he unleashed everything.
Sacred brainpower, dark mana, and Heaven-Shattering Divine Art.
The three energies synergized, working another miracle on his body.
The terror rising across his body from the absolute being's arrival began to fade.
In its place burned fierce fighting spirit: he'd conquer this damned trial no matter what.
A smile bloomed on Abel's lips for the first time.
Having wrung out every ounce of power, Kim Gunja didn't hesitate and stomped the ground.
Kuwaaaang!
Leaving a massive footprint, his figure shot forth like lightning.
Toward the entity descending to the earth.
Thunder Dragon Star Spear, Divine Fiend Style: God-Slaying Spear
Thunder Dragon Star Spear (Divine Fiend Style)
God-Slaying Spear
The golden spear clashed head-on with the Demon God's hand.
Kaaaaang!
An unprecedented blaze of white light erupted, dyeing the entire battlefield in blinding radiance.
Everything swallowed by the light began dissolving like a mirage.
And to Kim Gunja, who had thrust his spear at the unassailable Demon God—
A cheerful alarm rang out.