Chapter 187
Chapter 187
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: Drakenstein's Night
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The hunters, accustomed to the Necromancer King's darkness, shouted.
“This is that thing again!”
“Necromancer King, Omer Ashk!”
Amid the sudden emergence of the enemy and the darkness blanketing everything, Myosin grumbled.
“What’s this? I can’t see a thing, and the smells are gone too? I can barely hear anything.”
“You’ve got to leave some sounds behind.”
Mona perked up her ears at the unfamiliar voice.
“Or how else are you gonna lure out those kitten bastards and scram?”
Paang!
A back kick sliced through the air like a flash of light.
Myosin’s black pupils narrowed to needle points.
“Over there?”
Paaang—!
A beast’s paw, made of fur and double-jointed limbs, shot up toward Ju Gonghyeok’s chin.
Myosin lightly leaped back into a combo.
The springy, agile kicks targeted Ju Gonghyeok precisely in the darkness.
Ju Gonghyeok dodged Myosin’s kicks by the width of a single sheet of paper.
‘But that single sheet is the problem.’
Claws sprang from Myosin’s plump toes.
The sharp talons grazed his Adam’s apple.
“Nyaong~”
Myosin landed lightly.
She licked the blood from Ju Gonghyeok off her claws.
“What’s this~? Dodging my kicks four times~? You’re not even from the human main force under that male servant. What’s a powerhouse like you doing here?”
“You killing people just now was kinda bothering me.”
A sinister mask emerged from the murky darkness.
A blood-soaked cape reeked of rotten entrails, and the air around it grew thick with sticky murderous intent.
“I haven’t taken the quest yet. Y’know, ‘slay Myosin’ or whatever.”
“……Thanks a bunch~”
“I’ll give you ten seconds.”
Black fingers emerged from the cape, counting them off.
“If you’re not gone by then, feel free to look forward to what quest I might take.”
The unidentified enemy’s overbearing threat.
“Sorry~ Nyaong’s heading out now~”
Even so, Myosin replied brightly.
She had assessed the situation.
‘Too strong to fight without prior intel~’
It was just a quick ambush, treating it like a brief encounter anyway.
Dragging it out any longer would obviously delay her original goal of linking up with the Dragon God.
“Nyaaaaaaaaaooooong~~~”
A piercing cat yowl echoed out.
“Hunt’s over~ Time to run, kids~”
The beastkin raced toward the sound of her cry.
Even within the Ancestor’s ability 「Drakenstein’s Night」, the cat tribe withdrew in perfect order.
“Anyway~ Whoever you are, I’m rooting for you~ Give those rat bastards and dog bastards hell~~”
The cat tribe’s roots were feline.
They were mortal enemies with the rat-descended Rat Tribe and the wolf-descended Dog Tribe.
So, a powerhouse like Ju Gonghyeok targeting the power plant guarded by those two clans? It was popcorn-worthy for her.
Myosin vanished with a cheerful laugh. Ju Gonghyeok touched the wound on his neck while watching Mona.
“Stay a bit longer, and you’ll be archduke-class demon level.”
Myosin’s strength surpassed your average Celestial Knight.
Elite of elites, classified as reserve archduke: Celestial Knight Forty-Four Spears or higher.
‘Right now, below archduke-class, top ten Celestial Knights or so.’
Not just her—the cat tribe’s heirs were also warriors surpassing or approaching Celestial Knights.
Ju Gonghyeok’s stats only slightly exceeded archduke-class.
He knew their martial arts and weaknesses inside out, but if Myosin and ten heirs had charged him, even he wouldn’t have had it easy.
[The Ancestor (SS----)’s third ability 「Drakenstein’s Night」 is deactivated.]
The darkness enveloping everything was sucked back into the Ancestor.
The hunters, tense in the standoff, snapped to attention as their vision cleared.
“The beastkin are gone.”
“Really?”
In the spot where the cat tribe had withdrawn stood a single monster.
The mass murderer they knew all too well.
“It’s the Necromancer King.”
One hunter raised his sword warily.
“No way they retreated because of that guy?”
“Why’d he show up here?”
“Niflheim of the Layered Cities isn’t participating. Did the Giant City guys summon him?”
“Hope so. Hope he ignores us and leaves.”
Ignoring their stares, Ju Gonghyeok surveyed the surroundings.
Dismembered bodies and crushed torsos littered the ground.
‘Quite a few died in that short time.’
He turned his gaze to the power plant.
The siege was so intense they couldn’t afford to worry about the cat tribe’s ambush.
Chiiiiik—!
The blue barrier of the power plant blocked the beam attacks fired by the airborne Machine God Tribe.
A barrier specialized in particle scattering and heat reduction.
To shatter it, dozens of Dreadnoughts readied mass drivers.
[Machine God Tribe Type 2 barrage weapon ‘Electromagnetic Field Accelerator Cannon’ unlocked.]
[Conquistadores Cluster produced, ‘Bunker Smasher’ loaded.]
The ranged Titan and senior Machine God Tribe officer, Arcabucero No. 4, shouldered a massive cannon and signaled.
[Bunker Smasher, 32 guns, fire.]
Kwaaaaaang——!
Smoke and steam erupted as metal shells weighing hundreds of tons were launched.
Photon engines at full power generated electromagnetic fields.
The accelerated shells reached the fortress in an instant.
“Tut tut.”
But just before hitting the power plant, the shells split in two.
Peeking through the split shells was the Rat God Elder.
He brushed off the smoldering tips of his shoes, scorched by friction heat.
Then the Twelve Heirs charged in, ignoring the incoming barrage.
Thung!
The heavy mass-driver shells, boosted by acceleration, bounced off harmlessly.
The power plant remained impregnable despite the Machine God Tribe’s bombardment.
All that was left was old-school close-quarters combat.
“Elder! Incoming!”
“Tut tut, you can see that, can’t you?”
Puhwak!
The moment the Elder clicked his tongue, a black dragon burst through the thick smoke.
The dragon’s true nature: the avatar of the ‘Demonic Sword’ Shakh Tar, 『Nidhogg (S)』.
“Hey! Rat bastards! You filming Rata Tutu or something?”
“Ugh, look at those big-headed freaks. Rat skulls are gross as hell.”
Hunters taunted the Rat Tribe as they leaped from the dragon’s back.
The master of the black dragon Nidhogg and a Deus executive.
‘Demonic Sword’ Shakh Tar, bearer of one of the glorious Mothers Rosario Four Stars, drew his blade menacingly.
“Hamster shits, let’s see how tough you are.”
Pujik.
“What’s that pipsqueak yapping about?”
The Rat God drove his bloodied staff into the ground.
The prized demonic sword Dainsleif (S++) fell from Shakh Tar’s hand.
All four fingers meant to grip it had been severed clean off.
“Ugh!”
Pain stabbing into his brain and the sight of his fingers thudding to the ground made Shakh Tar’s eyes twitch wildly.
“Fuck! Eat this too!”
[Avatar 『Nidhogg (S)』 final ability 「World Corrosion」 acti…… ]
Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!
The staff battered Shakh Tar’s skull and body relentlessly.
“Shut up, hairless monkey.”
Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!
It wasn’t Rat God technique or Rat Tribe martial arts.
Just an old man’s staff-beating turned Shakh Tar into a ragdoll.
“Old timer, better quit while you’re ahead.”
One hunter flanked the Elder.
The hunter’s name was Kourosh, a powerhouse who had fought Ju Gonghyeok and a rising hero of humanity.
“Brat……”
The Elder narrowed his eyes to needle points.
“You mimicked our Rat Tribe martial arts?”
“Might have, might not.”
Kourosh smirked as he threw a punch.
He was an artificial beastman, grafted with beastkin physiology.
Part of the Elder’s own body was inside him.
Unaware of that, a inexplicable unease twisted the Elder’s wrinkles.
“You’re one creepy kid.”
Rat God Technique Sudden Assault: Formless Life-Taker.
Kwaduk!
The Rat God’s staff struck from an utterly unexpected angle.
Kourosh’s body, hit square on the head, burrowed into the ground.
He felt his neck vertebrae severely misaligned.
‘Without the reinforcements, I’d be dead.’
The Rat God scowled down at Kourosh.
“You hairless ones can survive even with your head shoved inside your body?”
Kourosh bubbled blood from his mouth as he replied.
‘Not really.’
“You’re creepy. I’ll end you myself.”
As the Rat God raised his staff again.
Green flames appeared from the smoke.
[Target ‘Rat God Elder’—destroy.]
A mechanical voice rang out, and four green plasma swords burned through the smoke, tracing bizarre trajectories.
The Rat God frowned.
“What’s with this sloppy swordplay?”
The Rat God’s phantom image burrowed toward the plasma swords’ roots.
He saw the massive mechanical arms equipped with them.
The Rat God kicked off the ground and leaped.
Kwang!
One fierce kick crumpled the metal arm holding the plasma sword, sending it flying upward.
Kwang kwang kwang!
The soaring arm collided chain-reaction style with the others, tangling the four plasma swords into a mess.
[Left auxiliary arms 4: function degraded.]
[Plasma cutter ‘Sulfur Flame’ damaged, output reduced.]
The smoke cleared, revealing the Machine God Tribe’s true form.
A vast shadow cast over the ground.
Three Titan-class machines deployed for the power plant assault.
The 87-meter tall, 2,600-ton close-combat Titan Rodelero No. 7 prepared its next attack.
[Machine God Tribe Type 2 melee weapon ‘Gauss Power Fist’ unlocked.]
[Right auxiliary arms 4: Conquistadores Cluster produced, ‘Oiled Meteor’ equipped.]
Gaunt auxiliary arms hefted massive iron fists before the Rat God.
The Rat God prodded the house-sized iron fists with his staff.
“What’s this now?”
Pusshiiik—
Hydraulic pistons contracted wildly like wild horses, blue lightning crackling along the cylinders and iron fists.
“Hmm~?”
The Rat God tilted his head curiously.
Then the hydraulics exploded before him.
The house-sized iron fist transformed into a meteor.
Kwakwakwa kwang!
The electromagnetically accelerated Power Fist, ‘Oiled Meteor’, hammered the Rat God relentlessly.
Dozens of craters overlapped, gouging into the earth.
10 meters, 20 meters, 30 meters……
Kkiiik—
The auxiliary arms hoisted the tattered Power Fist.
Rodelero No. 7 stated the result flatly.
[Target ‘Rat God Elder’—destruction failed.]
“Hah~ Fucking scrap heap……”
The dust-covered Rat God set down his staff, which had shredded the Power Fist.
Blood streamed from his forehead to his chin, soaking his coarse fur.
“For a scrap heap that knows no martial way……not bad weight on it……”
Rodelero No. 7 immediately opened its chest armor.
[Machine God Tribe Type 1 combat weapon ‘Chest Photon Cannon’ unlocked.]
[Photon reactor conversion—photon shell synthesis…… ]
The Rat God closed his eyes and swung his staff.
“One cow-head copy’s hammer weighs more.”
Grrrgrrr—
Rodelero’s upper body slid diagonally.
The light from its power source, the photon reactor, faded away with it.
‘The Rat God’s power is about this much.’
Kourosh, still embedded in the ground, made his judgment.
‘Me and that Titan are both stronger than average Celestial Knights, but we can’t touch him. Without the Ruin Giant Surtr or Justice King Edgar joining in, we won’t take him down.’
By Kourosh’s estimate, among the 20,000 hunters assaulting the power plant, only those two could match the Rat God.
But Kourosh deliberately didn’t call for those two hunters.
They were both critical commander-level talents who absolutely couldn’t afford to lose……
And if history repeated, ‘he’ was due to appear next.
Clap— clap— clap—
Applause echoed from somewhere.
‘He’s finally here.’
Kourosh ground his teeth and painfully turned his head.
Just as in the historical scene, one man stood there.
A man in a fierce hound mask and ragged cape walked forward, clapping.
“Very impressive, Rat-Head Elder.”
The monster’s appearance froze the Elder’s body.
He entered combat stance.
The sharp blood scent assaulting his nose and the desolate aura making his fur bristle.
The monster belonged to a different world from the hairless monkey chattering earlier or the giant scrap heap.
The Rat God sharpened his senses and asked.
“Who are you?”
“Someone like this.”
Tuduk—
The heads of three heirs rolled across the ground.
Through the mask’s slits, Ju Gonghyeok’s eyes curved in a smile.
The Elder’s eyes chilled upon meeting his.
“I see very well.”
The words rang out, but the Rat God’s form was already gone.