Chapter 52
Chapter 52
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Chapter 1 - Part 2 (16)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I gazed at the massive greatsword wielded by the gatekeeper, recalling the information I'd seen on the community boards.
That was unmistakably sword qi.
It matched perfectly with the details shared by the Sword King and other swordsmen.
Sword qi was one of the first job skills for swordsmen.
But according to the Sword King, it wasn't an active skill—it was passive.
So, had this gatekeeper bastard reached that level by channeling his internal mana into his sword, just like I infused my demi-god power?
It had to be seen less as a skill and more as a technique he'd mastered on his own.
That was sword qi.
The technique I often used, infusing demi-god power into my sword, was different from the clean sword qi the gatekeeper had displayed. It was clumsy and hard to maintain.
I needed to aim for that level of pristine sword qi maintenance.
As the gatekeeper properly gripped his greatsword now shimmering with sword qi, I braced myself a little. Facing sword qi was a first for me.
Then,
the gatekeeper shattered the stone pavement in front of the castle gates and charged ferociously.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
His strength was immense; the ground trembled around us.
I didn't dodge. Instead, I slowly raised my magic sword.
I stood my ground, but his speed closed the distance in an instant.
My magic sword and his greatsword clashed without hesitation.
Claaang!!!
The shockwave from the colliding blades was nearly explosive in power.
The surrounding ground cracked like a spiderweb, and my feet sank into the earth.
The gatekeeper, my opponent, was pushed back, exposing an opening.
In that moment,
I leveraged my Agility stat to launch a precise strike against him.
Kicking off the ground with my embedded foot, I launched into the air.
My blade twisted toward his neck in the perfect angle,
and the attempt succeeded.
Slash!
My magic sword sliced through empty air, cleanly severing the gatekeeper's neck bone.
His head tumbled across the ground, and I immediately checked my rewards.
Elite monsters gave exactly three times the EXP and gold of regular ones.
Since elites gave ten times that of normals, this reward felt reasonable.
I turned my gaze to the remaining gatekeeper.
As one turned to dust under my power,
the survivor seemed enraged, its empty eye sockets flashing as it rushed toward the bell hanging on the castle gate.
The distance was too close, and I couldn't stop its swift action.
Ding—! Ding—! Ding—!
The high, clear tone echoed around the castle.
Calling for reinforcements from inside? I thought.
Then, from deep within the castle, a massive horn blast responded.
Bwoooong—!!
A deafening horn call.
Loud enough to reach anywhere in the territory.
Everyone could hear it? Then...
As I'd predicted,
it was a clear alert signal and muster order.
From the four other canyon paths—not the one I'd come from—hordes of skeletons stirred up dust as they swarmed toward the castle.
Like swarming ants, they assembled in perfect order.
The groups merged,
and their numbers had already surpassed a hundred.
And they kept growing.
At some point,
the massive skeleton horde finally advanced toward me to eliminate the intruder.
The sight was like a grand army from a fantasy tale. As I prepared to face the skeletons, I thought,
'Looks like attacking the castle before clearing the path skeletons leads to this.'
Yet, even on the verge of being engulfed by the vast horde, I wore a faint smile.
'No need to hunt them down separately... this is actually a gain.'
They all had to die anyway. If they came to me, it saved hunting time.
For an ordinary party, this would be a wipeout crisis.
But in this Transcendence world, where stat gaps rendered the weak irrelevant,
I leaped joyfully into the wave of oncoming skulls.
What followed was a one-sided massacre that made fighting hundreds at once feel trivial.
Grasp Complete applied at maximum to every skeleton type.
Their bone fragments piled up endlessly, and the massive dust clouds from their deaths shrouded the battlefield.
The remaining gatekeeper joined in, but it was no different from the rest to me.
As I pulverized bones from at least hundreds of skeletons for quite some time—right then—
Level 35 achieved.
I leveled up in the heart of the battlefield.
During combat, the usual dizzying level-up sensation was absent as expected, but this time was different.
'...Of all times, awakening now. Damn it.'
Reaching level 35 had triggered awakenings in Agility and Stamina.
One thing left to do: immerse myself in the awakening state.
To do that, I needed a quiet spot to focus, leaving my body still.
But there was nowhere to run. The castle grounds were wide open on all sides.
Fleeing far away risked interruption mid-awakening by pursuing skeletons.
No one knew what that would cause.
Permanent side effects? Or something worse.
...One option: wipe these skeletons now.
Fortunately, a few minutes ago,
skeletons had stopped emerging from the paths. Probably all gathered by now.
I targeted the densest cluster of skeletons and activated my skill without hesitation.
"Divine Charge."
With explosive acceleration, my body became a golden meteor piercing their formation.
Krraaaash—!!
Every skeleton in my path crumbled to bone dust.
I controlled the charge distance and wheeled back immediately.
Still over half the skeletons remained.
In that interval, I didn't miss the brief amplification state post-charge.
Immensely amplified demi-god power enveloped my body. I poured it straight into my magic sword.
With the magic sword brimming with overwhelming demi-god power,
I swung three times toward the sky.
Shwaaaak—! Shwaaaak—! Shwaaaak—!
Once, twice, thrice.
Three massive golden sword qi arcs fanned out.
The consecutive sword qi blasts reduced all remaining skeletons to ash.
The practiced combo of Divine Charge and sword qi.
This pairing now rivaled Domain skill in area annihilation.
Against mid-20s skeletons, maybe Domain alone would suffice, but these were mid-20s at best—no, Domain alone wouldn't kill them reliably, so I skipped it.
And clearing this many with just Domain shockwaves would've taken longer.
Confirming the area cleared amid the dust storm, I entered awakening immersion.
Truth be told, with other stats already past 40, this awakening wasn't as intense as before.
I calmly accepted the flow, waiting for the power to stabilize.
Post-awakening, the stat balance resolved,
I entered the castle with an unprecedented lightness.
The castle interior was in full combat readiness.
Skeleton knights waiting in the hall, and behind them, skeleton mages with glowing blue eyes.
The moment I entered the hall, the mages raised their staves in unison.
Ice spears, fireballs, mana arrows— a barrage of varied spells rained down on me.
Simultaneously, knights charged with sword qi-clad swords.
'All using sword qi. Magic looks flashier and stronger, but sword qi has weaker defense.'
I began breaking through their defensive line head-on.
Plowing through the mages' flames, ice, and lightning, parrying knights' sword qi with my magic sword, I advanced.
Slicing skeleton mages mid-spell, I dodged most attacks. Unavoidable knight strikes were tanked by my Defense.
Their assaults were threatening, but meaningless against my body, with all stats past 40.
......
Among them were skeletons wielding heavy maces or massive axes—unique armaments—but all fell to my blade.
Suddenly, a wall beside me crumbled, and a gigantic mace swung down.
Boom!
I reflexively blocked with my sword, but the heavy impact made my body sway slightly.
An impressive ambush.
The castle felt like a living organism, endlessly spawning new threats.
Like a series of small stages.
I bypassed various castle facilities, relentlessly climbing upward.
Elite forces waited in corridors and halls everywhere.
All upper-tier monsters like the gatekeepers, around level 30 strength. Similar to the gatekeepers.
Upper monsters didn't drop item materials. Probably like elites, low chance for complete items.
Climbing further, a completely different space appeared.
A cold, vast prison exuding overwhelming pressure.
Several massive iron-barred cells arranged in a circle, housing grotesque bone beasts.
At the center, before a huge mechanism, stood a skeleton in a robe etched with skull motifs.
Spotting me, it clattered its jaw mockingly and pulled the lever.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Three of the eight cell doors swung open simultaneously, releasing bone beasts.
A winged creature like bat and pterosaur fused, a sleek leopard-like quadruped, and a massive crocodile-shaped one.
These weren't mere bones.
My high Agility intuited dark mana infused in every bone.
Take out the winged one first.
Wall-run and strike?
No, better way.
I focused mana into the red crystal ring.
The crystal shard shot toward the darting beast.
Adjusting its trajectory, it struck the head precisely.
It plummeted to the floor.
Even that swift one was helpless against the ring's corrections.
Unlike previous monsters, it didn't penetrate—died on impact. Tough bastard.
In that instant, as my eyes lingered on the shattered skeleton bird, the leopard-like one lunged at my back.
I turned as if expecting it, blocking its claws with my magic sword.
Bang!!
The castle stone floor cracked underfoot, shaking the entire prison.
The leopard skeleton packed late-30s Strength. Probably an elite.
Parrying their attacks, I pierced the crocodile skeleton's thick skull with my magic sword.
Dealing with these three beasts didn't take long.
I closed in on the lever-operating skeleton next. It offered no resistance before its neck was severed.
That one was upper-tier, beasts elites.
The beasts were the real threats.
With the controller dead, all cell doors opened.
......
I cleared all the beast skeletons here.
The most dangerous was the snake-like one.
Its tail ended in a razor-sharp blade bone,
and its sheer speed combined with serpentine unpredictability nearly got me—had my Agility been lower.
Even if hit, no injury, but Defense would've taken a hit.
No items dropped despite the kills. Shame.
I was blasting through the castle swiftly.
The summit drew nearer.
......
A long, dark corridor ended at a massive door. Boss room for sure.
Before it stood two enormous skeletons, akin to the gatekeepers but far larger.
At least three meters tall.
Spotting me, they silently raised their greatswords.
Like the castle knights, they infused sword qi—but the result was utterly different.
The sword qi didn't just envelop the blade; it formed a second massive sword atop it.
A tangible blade of pure mana.
They charged simultaneously, stomping the ground.
Unlike the gatekeepers.
I faced two giant sword qi greatswords at once.
Trusting my stat superiority, I broke their pincer head-on.
Fortunately, no other abilities.
Powerhouses knocking on the 40-stat wall,
but I dispatched them easily and stood before the boss room door.
As I approached, a system message appeared.
[Warning] Entering the boss room prevents exit until the boss is defeated.
Proceed?
A warning... First time for this.
But I accepted without hesitation.