Chapter 182
Chapter 182
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 182
Chapter Title: The Fourth
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Ki Sua was the being she had tried to protect with her clumsy excuses and acting.
- What exactly is a Guardian Divine Beast?
Nathani el appeared above Gonghyeok's head, sitting cross-legged.
In his incorporeal state, he had no weight and was invisible to others.
"It's a legendary existence passed down in the Beastman Wuxia Realm."
Gonghyeok spoke with the angel riding on his head.
"When crisis befalls the beastkin, they appear. Incarnations of gods who are benevolent to all and stronger than anyone else. They are called Guardian Divine Beasts."
- Hmm...
Nathani el pondered silently for a long while before speaking.
- So, they're the gods of the Beastman Wuxia Realm?
"Something like that. Though not anymore."
- Why not?
Gonghyeok, with the face of a wolf, smirked.
"Because the beastkin killed their own gods."
- ...Why?
"Who knows. Maybe they wanted to get stronger, or perhaps just..."
‘Because they could kill them.’ 『Hybrid Geo』 answered.
= They might have killed them because they could, because they thought they could win.
"Yeah, something like that."
Ju Gonghyeok shrugged.
"But honestly, that's not the point. When I first saw it, I was flabbergasted..."
The little kid who had just been scolded by Ki Sua and hidden in the attic on the second floor.
He too had memories of death.
It was from his fourth life.
‘Precisely the fourth... floor 58, I think.’
* * *
There was no chance of victory.
The death of the ‘beastkin’ was all but certain.
Demon Archduke Valbarus and his 100,000 demons.
The Machine God tribe led by Machine God Kigallo Makina.
Steel Revenants following Ju Gonghyeok, hunters, and humanity's three legions obtained as rewards from floors 41, 43, and 45.
All of them had their spears aimed at the beastkin.
In contrast, the beastkin had their four clan leaders, including the Dragon God, under a severe handicap.
‘Human tribe mission reward – Seven Steps Soul Severance’
The Dragon God and clan leaders who had failed the mission were bound by a ‘law’ that would kill them after taking seven steps.
Any acceleration, including aerial maneuvers, consumed their lives.
‘If we had lost, we would've gotten the 「Armament Disassembly」 penalty, losing all items and gear.’
Ju Gonghyeok thought as he moved his massive frame.
Craaack—
The ground cratered deeply with each step.
It was only natural.
Ju Gonghyeok weighed 380 tons and stood 23 meters tall.
Not quite a 2,000-ton, 80-meter titan, but a heavyweight dreadnought-class body.
Alloy armor in place of flesh, steam and lubricant oil in place of blood.
That was why, in this life, Ju Gonghyeok was called a ‘Steel Revenant.’
‘No matter how much they modify it, to that extent...’
‘At that point, you can't tell if it's human or machine.’
By normal standards, Ju Gonghyeok was an insane freak beyond common sense.
Not some cartoon hero piloting a giant robot.
No cockpit or controls—just a cyborg prosthetic amplifying the brain's electrical signals inside a crystal organ.
‘Out of 380 tons, just 2 kilograms...’
Ju Gonghyeok mocked himself.
Of the 380 tons, what remained of the original Ju Gonghyeok—brain and partial spine—was about 2 kilograms.
In percentage terms, 0.0005%.
‘Even the shrimp in shrimp crackers is 0.006%. Heh heh.’
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it ‘Ju Gonghyeok-flavored robot.’
Though the shrimp content in shrimp crackers was over ten times higher.
Ju Gonghyeok's content was pitiful by comparison.
‘Sigh...’
Psssh—
No lungs or lips, so coolant steam vented in place of a sigh.
He felt utterly pathetic.
‘Well, to kill that bastard, I'd do anything.’
His camera lenses whirred in place of eyes, locking onto the Dragon God.
The Dragon God stood proudly, blue scales gleaming, undaunted by the crisis.
Ju Gonghyeok activated his unfamiliar speaker function and bellowed.
"1 hour and 47 minutes until the dimension closes. Think you can hold out with seven steps?"
The Dragon God coldly surveyed the surroundings.
Enemies everywhere, whether sky or ground.
Yet he drew his crescent blade from his back without a care.
Ready to swing.
"You lot are mere warm-ups for me."
With that, the Dragon God leaped, shattering the earth.
He plunged into the demons blackening the sky.
Then, a flash. A shockwave.
A sharp white arc stretched to the heavens.
"Graaaargh!"
Demon corpses rained down as one-armed Archduke Valbarus howled in rage.
"Crazy strong, damn it."
Jeong Hyeondo muttered beside him, voicing Ju Gonghyeok's own thoughts.
Boom!
The Dragon God landed amid a storm of blood rain.
He addressed the enemies strewn across the ground.
"This is my first step."
Six steps left before Seven Steps Soul Severance claimed him.
Humans and demons alike retreated from him.
"Urk!"
"Gahhh!"
But the screams continued.
A single kick from the Horse God swept away hundreds of hunters; the Ox God's hammer strike turned a dreadnought-class Machine God into scrap.
"Hmm, looks like I'll have to end it before seven steps."
"Holding back will just get us massacred. We must break through."
Emboldened by the Dragon God's first step, the beastkin began to move.
They formed their familiar beastkin-exclusive formations, well-known to the hunters.
"Four of us per beastkin! Elites handle the Twelve Evils!"
"Fall back from clan leader-class—they won't even move..."
The Dragon God's crescent blade, swung from his spot, diagonally bisected the shouting hunter's face.
Dragon God, Ox God, Horse God, Monkey God.
The four clan leaders were monsters who pulverized foes a hundred paces away without moving.
As they scanned the battlefield, they roared.
"Find Ju Gonghyeok, who burned our city!"
"Even if we all fall here, we must capture him!"
The Ju Gonghyeok they sought was in the rear, exchanging photonic communications.
A map of floor 58 appeared in his view, showing formations.
[41st floor Dawn Legion, 43rd floor Dusk Legion, 45th floor Dawn Legion charging to collapse the lines.]
[41 titans, 988 dreadnoughts deployed.]
[Additional firepower armaments deployed.]
[27,582 Machine Gods, all firepower projection ready.]
[5th floor sub-space link established.]
[Ju Gonghyeok exclusive: Armament containers en route.]
‘Just wait a bit.’
A few deaths up front didn't matter.
The flurry of reports proved the stage for his performance was being set.
Kwang!
A thunderous boom as the Machine Gods before Ju Gonghyeok were crushed.
"With four steps left, it seems I'll eradicate you hairless monkeys and scrap heaps."
The Dragon God, coated in oil after stomping a Machine God, spun his crescent blade.
"It's hunting day. Hand over Ju Gonghyeok. Where is he?"
Ju Gonghyeok slyly backed away and activated his speaker.
"Eyes going bad? He's right in front of you."
"Hm?"
The Dragon God frowned, scrutinizing the steel giant before him.
"What are you? I sensed Ju Gonghyeok's aura, but... what is this form? Metal? Human? What half-assed monster crawled out of where?"
Gonghyeok felt pathetic and turned on his speaker.
"You ignoring me too? Know why I ended up in this hunk of junk?"
Whiiirrr!
Three photonic reactors in his chest spun furiously, emitting light.
Output surged as his internal armaments primed.
"Too many bastards to kill in this world."
From the Four Heavenly Kings to the Demon King, he'd obtained this avatar and body to slaughter every annoyance.
"Starting with you."
A massive silhouette appeared behind Ju Gonghyeok's steel frame.
Not Machine God Kigallo Makina, but another ‘Machine God.’
The avatar Ju Gonghyeok had newly acquired in his fourth life.
Gonghyeok called its name.
"Come forth. Overlord of Chu."
= Dominate.
A red-bodied Machine God with dozens of turrets on its back materialized.
The ultra-high-output, high-performance war Machine God that once conquered half the Machine God realm.
The Overlord of Chu opened its eyes.
[Avatar 『Cannonfire Machine God Overlord of Chu』 manifested!]
[5th floor sub-space opened!]
Massive containers plummeted from the sky.
Dozens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...
Whiiirrr!
Anchors shot from Ju Gonghyeok and the Overlord of Chu's backs, linking the containers.
[9,999 Quantum Thunderbolts loaded.]
[Antimatter missile containers 1 through 999 linked.]
[Tachyon pulse lasers 1 through 20 at 100% output.]
[20,000 Photonic high-speed bits wide-area deployed...]
[Charged particle lances 1 through 800...]
[Gauss cannons...]
The sheer volume prepared by the Machine Gods for the Machine God, Overlord of Chu.
One container alone could wipe out half the beastkin here.
= Align.
The containers raining from the sky aligned in unison at the Overlord of Chu's command.
[All armaments now under Machine God Overlord of Chu control.]
"Hup."
Ju Gonghyeok blasted boosters from his feet, instantly widening the gap with the Dragon God.
The Dragon God eyed the containers lining the sky.
"What are those? That wall stretching across the heavens?"
The beastkin didn't understand, but the hunters and demons gaped at the astronomical firepower.
"What the hell..."
"As promised, behind the Machine Gods..."
Whirr—
Firing struts extended from his thighs, planting into the ground.
"Kigallo Makina!"
At Ju Gonghyeok's shout, the Overlord of Chu and Kigallo Makina signaled.
[Ally. Ju Gonghyeok.]
[Barrage ready.]
[Top priority target – Dragon God.]
Ju Gonghyeok's synthesized voice pounded their eardrums.
"Blow that damn bastard away! Overlord of Chu!"
= Annihilate.
The containers filling the sky glowed red and opened.
[『Cannonfire Machine God Overlord of Chu (SSS)』 ultimate ability activated!]
[「Barrage – Force-Exploding Mountain, World of Flames」.]
The beastkin charged in ignorance.
Some bravely fought humans; others leaped to destroy the sky-wall containers.
Then they all vanished.
Flames erupted anew amid the beastkin ashes.
Firepower upon firepower, bombing upon bombing.
Places left without even dust meaningless repeated the annihilation.
Tachyon laser flashes tore the earth; quantum thunderbolts warped the air, shaking the dimension.
The Cannonfire Machine God Overlord of Chu's wide-area barrage guaranteed victory in any battle by erasing the field.
Ju Gonghyeok's order followed via photonic comms to all Machine Gods.
Hundreds of thousands of weapons unleashed furious salvos.
The beastkin burned without screams or traces.
Even dimension-slicing superhumans struggled against such brute force.
Struggled—meaning someone might cope.
[Unnatural space distortion, firepower nullification zone detected!]
At the report, Ju Gonghyeok's body tilted.
[Warning: Neutron barrier breached!]
[Foreign material lower body 2 armor attached!]
‘Barrier breach? No way?’
Whirr.
Camera 3 captured the Dragon God perched on Ju Gonghyeok's frame.
His superior pickup amid the barrage caught the Dragon God's vocal vibrations.
"You who ravaged our homeland—I will kill you no matter what."
As the Dragon God's burning right arm moved, the camera severed.
"Aaahhhhhhh!"
A chill from a nonexistent nape as speakers and comms filled with Ju Gonghyeok's screams.