Chapter 155
Chapter 155
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Decisive Battle with Cluesti (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“What the hell is supposed to be here?”
At the edge of the deep blue grassland on the 39th floor.
A single angel wandered there.
Her name was Azazel.
“There’s supposed to be an avatar here? I know all the registered avatars on the 39th floor!”
Azazel grumbled as she kicked a stone at her feet.
The stone flew out of the grassland and vanished into the endless void beyond the dimension.
The 39th floor was shaped like a flat disc.
An endlessly vast expanse of grassland that transcended the concept of distance.
A world consisting of nothing else.
If Azazel hadn’t been an administrator, she never would have reached this far.
“That damn Ju Gonghyeok. Doesn’t know gratitude from an angel and just bosses me around!”
She had come to the far edge of the 39th floor on Ju Gonghyeok’s word.
The ‘reward’ he wanted was supposedly here.
“Haa~”
Azazel let out a deep sigh.
She had been waiting for five hours.
She had already kicked hundreds of stones into the dimensional void.
“Maybe I should just leave… The mission ends in one hour. What am I even doing here?”
She kicked another stone.
As the hapless pebble met its fate swimming through the dimensional rift for the 422nd time—
Plunk!
The stone that crossed the dimensional boundary bounced back.
“Huh?”
Startled by the impossible phenomenon, she jumped up and peered beyond the dimension.
At the edge of the dimension, the black space rippled faintly.
= Grraaaaaah
The wall stretched thickly.
A hand emerged first, followed by the head, torso, and legs in imprecise forms.
It was the process of an external dimensional being tearing through the wall into the 39th floor dimension.
Riiip!
Azazel swallowed hard.
Six terrifying glowing eyes turned toward her.
= Metatron’s angel, where is Cluesti?
“W-Who are you?”
Azazel knew as well.
Even after their dimensions perished—like the Great Sage of Heaven in Ju Gonghyeok’s hands or Poseidon who fell gloriously on the 3rd floor—there were gods who hadn’t been absorbed into Babel.
They were the beings the demons called ‘traitors.’
* * *
A hunter whose entire body was scorched to a crisp barely managed to utter a word.
“Wh-What… Are you really human?”
Corpses charred by electricity littered the area around him.
They hadn’t been targeting the Necromancer King.
The S++ grade tracking item ‘Observer of Dark Souls’ could pursue other special coin holders even if it wasn’t the Necromancer King.
They were representatives from the giant city Titanomachia.
They figured they could handle anyone as long as it wasn’t freakish beings like the Necromancer King or Ju Gonghyeok.
But the hooded figure before them hadn’t moved a single step and had wiped them all out.
“Sorry.”
He pushed back his black hood.
Two twisted horns protruded from his head.
“I’m not human.”
The man holding the third coin was a demon.
Thousand Knight Zoroaster.
He was a being on the level of a hidden boss on the 39th floor.
[Elapsed time: 5 hours 55 minutes.]
[5 minutes until mission end.]
The sound announcing the mission’s conclusion rang out.
‘Still not coming, huh.’
Lost in thought, Cluesti suddenly glanced at the horizon.
Two men were approaching him directly.
Finally, Zoroaster spoke to the arrivals.
“I’ve been waiting.”
“Yeah.”
The protagonist gave the courteous demon a curt reply. Naturally, it was Ju Gonghyeok.
Beside him was a young boy—the master of the just-annihilated Titanomachia, ‘Frost Giant Ymir.’
“Ju Gonghyeok, will you leave Babel?”
Zoroaster took out Cluesti’s coin from his breast pocket.
“Lady Cluesti commanded me to give it to you without any price.”
“Don’t need it.”
“I will give it to you.”
“I said I don’t need it. More importantly…”
Ju Gonghyeok scratched his head and asked.
“What’s your name again?”
“Thousand Knight 926th, Zoroaster.”
“I thought Lilianne was at the bottom. Guess you’re the lowest.”
“I only became a Thousand Knight a few days ago.”
“Makes sense. GM, remember that.”
[Understood.]
Ju Gonghyeok knew around five hundred Thousand Knights.
There were at least tens of billions of demons residing in Babel.
Zoroaster was a Thousand Knight Ju Gonghyeok hadn’t seen before, but since dozens of new ones he hadn’t encountered appeared with every regression, it wasn’t particularly strange.
“Let me ask once more from my side. You truly don’t need it?”
Zoroaster spun the coin on his finger.
The coin Kawashima had was for 3 days, and Ju Gonghyeok’s was for a week.
The one Zoroaster held now was the true coin for escaping Babel.
“Yes, Ju Gonghyeok.”
Cluesti appeared at some point, wearing a black silk top hat.
“This is your last chance to leave Babel. Do you really have no intention of leaving? You’re the one who truly deserves that right. Ahh~ How much have you accomplished? The Company, the Knights, the alliance settlement of three Illibatus cities! Deus and Nirvana are steadily gathering under your banner.”
Cluesti tapped the dirt ground with his cane, and an image floated in the air.
“And that’s not all? You colonized hundreds of dungeons to enable stable hunter level-ups, personally advanced munitions and reinforcement tech to realize monster organ transplants and all sorts of cutting-edge weapons one by one. Saving Deserto and the Company—your achievements are too numerous to list! So…”
Cluesti smiled brightly.
“Why not call it here and return to Earth? You’ve done more than enough.”
“Yeah, fuck off.”
“…….”
The atmosphere cooled rapidly.
Ju Gonghyeok patted Ymir’s head and sneered.
“Why the hell would I leave here?”
[Holly Beast Summoner: Maximum space expansion.]
[Summoning ‘Archangel’s Dice.’]
Vrooooom!
A space belonging to the Holy Beast Summoner opened in the sky.
A massive structure 40km by 40km, rivaling mountains or terrain features.
It was the ‘Archangel’s Dice’ he had seized from Sandalphon on the 5th floor.
“Huh?”
“What’s that?”
Hunters gawked up at the suddenly appearing, utterly unrealistic boulder.
Soon, Ju Gonghyeok’s roar overwhelmed their eardrums.
“Warning to all hunters on the 39th floor! This is Ju Gonghyeok! I’m about to split Cluesti’s head open starting now! If you don’t want to get caught in it and die, survive on your own!”
“What?”
Regaining their senses, the hunters looked up at the sky again.
They could see the boulder gradually approaching, asserting its immense weight.
“Run!”
“Uwaaak! What the hell is that thing!?”
KABOOOM!
The die crashed into the ground, kicking up a nuclear bomb-like dust storm.
Even hunters comparable to jet fighters barely avoided being crushed beneath the die.
Zoroaster subtly slipped away as well.
Beneath it remained only three.
Ju Gonghyeok, Ymir, and the Four Heavenly Kings’ Cluesti.
Viiing!
Radiance shone from the holy beasts positioned in all four directions around the die.
An unrated special item. It was the Four Holy Beasts barrier formation mediated by the Archangel’s Dice.
“Keehee.”
Cluesti’s laughter echoed from within the rock.
KABOOOM!
A massive chunk of rock erupted from the ceiling of the giant die like a fountain.
Rocks melted red like lava surged outward.
A vast cavity formed inside the die.
Cluesti, who had carved out the interior, covered his smiling mouth with his hand.
“What’s this? You didn’t need to dig a trap from the start, did you?”
“Never planned to just let you go, you loudmouth.”
“Amusing. I dug my own trap in my own way.”
Ping!
Cluesti flicked the coin.
Ju Gonghyeok caught the flying coin.
“Ju Gonghyeok, if you had chosen to leave Babel, I, Cluesti, would have come out grandly to greet you with congratulations. If not…”
Lightning crackled from the coin in Ju Gonghyeok’s hand.
[Collected 3 of Cluesti’s coins.]
[Special buff ‘Lightning Clown’ upgrades to ‘Cluesti’s Incarnation.’]
[‘Thunderlight Crystal (S)’ reacts to Cluesti’s power.]
Bang!
The gem in the Thunderlight Crystal shattered, spewing forth streaks of blue lightning serpents.
Guided by homing instinct, they flew toward their power’s master, Cluesti.
Crackle!
Sparks flew, blackening Cluesti’s white glove.
It looked to anyone like he had been attacked by Ju Gonghyeok.
“This way, I could step in under the excuse of being attacked by you.”
“And you’re still petty as ever, lugging around Four Heavenly Kings titles.”
“Heh heh, and you, hailed as savior, are rotten to the core yourself? Tit for tat. Hup!”
Cluesti took a deep breath as if inhaling fresh air.
Air molecules thick with holy power scorched the great demon’s lungs.
“Indeed, inside here, my stats drop a rank each. Except agility, that is.”
As Cluesti spoke, the GM displayed a window.
[Estimating Four Heavenly King Cluesti’s stats.]
Strength SA (1060).
Agility SSS~EX (1299~?).
Technique SS (1130).
Endurance SA (1001).
Will SS (1107).
Mind SA (1080).
Mana SS (1145).
Key Traits – ‘Divine Speed (EX)’ ‘Master of Thunderlight (SSS)’ ‘Foremost of Four Heavenly Kings (SSS)’ ‘Babel Demon King Army’s Greatest Warrior (SSS)’….
It seemed barely different from Ju Gonghyeok, whose stats were all fixed at 1,001.
But the traits listed below made the stat gap substantial.
If the grade difference between low levels was like 100,000 won versus 300,000 won, at high levels it was 10 billion versus 30 billion—a three-fold gap that stood out even more starkly.
“What a grotesque gap.”
“The gap between you and other humans is pretty grotesque too. How about putting yourself in my shoes?”
“Rather than that, I came prepared to twist your limbs.”
Ju Gonghyeok shouted toward the sky.
“Azazel! Mission’s done! Bring out the reward!”
“Oh ho, what reward has Miss Azazel prepared?”
Cluesti shook his shoulders leisurely.
No matter what Ju Gonghyeok had prepared, he was confident he could escape.
As long as he had the authority granted by the Demon King: ‘Divine Speed.’
‘Pretty cocky, aren’t you?’
But he wouldn’t have picked a fight if he lacked confidence.
This was his 11th battle with Cluesti.
He knew how to counter ‘Divine Speed’ better than anyone in the world.
“Cluesti, there’s only one reason you’ll lose to me.”
“Oh ho! Do tell!”
Ju Gonghyeok pointed at Cluesti with his finger.
“You’re getting careless right now—and that’s how you die.”
Rumble!
Dark storm clouds gathered over the 39th floor.
Azazel, her small frame laden with dozens of weapons on her back, raised her spear.
“Lord God! Energy fully charged—come out!”
= Thank you. It’s been a millennium since I’ve been in such prime condition.
“No need to thank me! It’s the reward that human asked for!”
Azazel swung her arm once.
“Have at it!”
= So I shall!
The storm clouds tore open, revealing six eyes.
A giant’s body dozens of times a human’s size.
Three heads and eight arms, passed down in myths.
The lord of Asuras, who burned his life solely for combat.
[God-level Avatar! Asura King (SS) manifests!]
[Perfect full-health state thanks to the angel’s assistance!]
Cluesti felt cold sweat beading on his forehead for the first time in ages.
“Asura King Vepacitti, is it?”
= Thunderlight’s Four Heavenly King. I’ve come to finish the battle from fifteen hundred years ago.
The six fierce eyes pierced Cluesti like spears.