Chapter 62
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: They Repeat the Same Mistake.
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Rumble—
The massive die tilted a full 90 degrees, transforming the ground beneath Ju Gonghyeok's feet into a sheer vertical cliff.
The layer of soil crumbled away in cascades, revealing the stark white texture of the stone beneath.
The area once dubbed the sand pit now exposed a concave red die face as the sand and smaller dice tumbled into it.
The hunters clung desperately to their precarious handholds, battered by the recoil of the die's rotation.
"Nathaniel! Opposite direction! You rolled it wrong!"
- Huh? Did I?
"The face we were originally standing on was '4,' so the top now should be '1'!"
- Possession throws off my sense of direction...
As Nathaniel's voice trailed off with a hint of amusement, the die wobbled unsteadily.
Sa—
ve—
me—
plea—
se!
The vertical cliff tilted further to 120 degrees.
Faced with the threat of being flattened, the hunters spewed forth their desperate pleas for survival.
"Nathaniel, the other way, like I said. Tilt it just a bit more our way, or we're all goners."
- What if this is your last chance to take me out?
Something in that conflicted tone made Gonghyeok's expression turn serious.
"I've never particularly valued you in the past. Let's negotiate."
- Don't possess me when you're eating.
"I swear."
- Ahaha, a dignified victory for the angel!
Thud! Thud!
The die rolled two faces in the opposite direction, its top now showing a 6.
- Truth be told, there aren't many angels as capable as me. Manipulating a holy relic this size would be impossible for a regular eighth-rank angel. I may not have reached archangel status, but as someone who climbed to dominion angel...
"Yeah, yeah. Impressive."
Gonghyeok praised the disembodied Nathaniel half-heartedly in his mind.
'You were better than Liguelle in the corner of the second floor or Martielle under the third floor's sea, so I picked you up.'
-Got it? You need to start valuing me more.
"Possession released."
Nathaniel detached from the die and vanished back into the summoning realm.
"Value you..."
- Hey, I didn't catch that last bit?
"It's an omission meant to stir your frightening imagination."
- ...
"Use the die's holy power to restore the holy water damaged last time."
- It has an enormous reserve, so even a little use should restore it in about two hours.
"Good. Then..."
As Gonghyeok spoke, a bullet-like jet of water whistled past his ear.
Water Jet (C), a skill that pressurized water to cut through steel.
Looking down, he saw six hunters glaring up at him with murderous intent.
"Thanks to you guys, I learned something good. I'll roll it once more."
"You know we started the final battle royale way earlier, right?"
Gonghyeok scratched his head at their demeanor.
"Sorry, but I can use skills now too."
[Ignition Booster 20-round loadout]
[Mana cost: 80, Remaining mana: 221/301]
"Bluffing with just 1% damage? Your attacks are..."
Boom—!
A deafening explosion rang out, filling their ears with tinnitus.
Gonghyeok's spell hadn't targeted them—it struck the die wall where their handholds were attached.
The wall they clung to sheared off entirely in the blast.
"I didn't actually attack you guys, you know?"
"You bastard!"
Lacking flight skills, they plummeted with the inverted wall. Gonghyeok waved goodbye.
"Bye-bye."
Their falling screams echoed into the distance.
[Tree of Sephiroth - Angel's Wings activated]
Currently operating in Ju Gonghyeok's body.
He refrained from using demonic wings or Ra-Djehuty, opting instead to spread angelic wings.
He then casually addressed the surrenderers he'd all but forgotten.
"Climb up the wall slowly. I'll be waiting at the top."
[High-Speed Flight (B) activated]
[0-to-100 in 4.3 seconds estimated. Accelerating.]
Watching him zip away alone, Diego muttered.
"Slowly?"
Diego and his friends staunched the blood from their wounds, staring in despair at the endless kilometers of cliff stretching out before them.
＊ ＊ ＊
Gonghyeok quickly crested the cliff and stepped onto level ground.
A calm voice reached him.
It was the giant angel, Sandalphon.
"I should have been the one to roll it, but you did it alone."
- Sorry. This human is just incorrigible...
Gonghyeok pressed down firmly on Nathaniel's head as she popped out from his inner pocket to apologize, then spoke.
"Well, the result is what matters—you rolled it, and now I'm standing alone up here, right? Isn't that what counts?"
Sandalphon, gazing down at him, slowly closed his eyes.
His surreal face, like mountains reflected in a lake, faded, replaced by a sturdy, muscular angel with a resolute visage.
"To conquer the summit, we need someone aggressive and proactive. That's my view."
Finding it amusing that he, ever the stickler for rules, had reached such a conclusion, Sandalphon addressed the reward.
"I shall grant you a holy beast befitting the rank of an archangel's die."
[Unbelievable feat! Achieved 'The One Who Rolled the Archangel's Die']
[Achievement completion: 200%. Reward: Choice of one of six holy beasts]
[Bonus reward: 120 indigo coins, 6 blue coins]
[Please select one of the following holy beasts:
1. Serpent of Paradise.
2. Praised Desert Cat.
3. Azure Dragon of the East Sea.
4. Beast King Kirin.
5. Righteous Beast Haetae.
6. Griffin of the Skies]
- They all look great. For you, something support-oriented like the Serpent of Paradise or Desert Cat would be perfect?
Even as the little angel egged him on, Gonghyeok scratched his cheek impassively.
High-class holy beasts starting at base level 100.
They held the potential to easily reach divine beast status later on.
If a hunter with an S-rank avatar possessed even one of these?
They could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a tenth demon lord or four heavenly kings alongside a partner grown to divine beast level.
An irresistibly tempting reward for any hunter... but...
"Pass."
Gonghyeok waved it off dismissively.
"Sandalphon. You know I'm a spirit summoner."
Those were undoubtedly top-tier summons predestined for divine beast fates.
Sure, they'd be useful to Gonghyeok right now.
But once he reached floors 60 and beyond, where these beasts truly shone, a spirit summoner like him could summon and command divine beasts of comparable caliber.
"I see. They would be less useful to you as a spirit summoner."
Sandalphon nodded slowly.
In truth, he'd heard all about his personality and habits from Azazel. He'd anticipated a rejection of this sort of reward.
"What about this?"
Sandalphon clenched and unclenched his hand, manifesting a plain white die atop it.
[Dice of Descent (SSS+)]
[Can summon one of the seven archangels.
- Limited to a single use.
- Duration and power scale with the die roll.
- A roll of 6 summons at 60% power for 60 minutes.
- Archangel influence cannot extend beyond one mission or one floor.]
Gonghyeok snatched the die from his hand at light speed.
"Deal done. Thanks."
- He was totally waiting for it... Hey! Don't scratch my chin! I'm not a cat!
He ignored her indignant swat and kept scratching under her chin, promptly allocating the bonus indigo coins to agility and mana.
Sandalphon, watching, cracked a rare faint smile.
"Nathaniel. I expect you to assist him well and yield good results."
- Oh, Senior Sandalphon.
Freed momentarily from Gonghyeok's grasp, Nathaniel whispered to him.
- He seems to think you're satisfied, but watch out. Give this guy one, and he'll demand two; give two, and he'll want three before he's content.
"Thanks for the advice. I'll keep it in mind."
He wondered how much torment at human hands could instill such deep-seated distrust.
It reminded him that human greed knew no bounds, drawing a wry smile.
But unlike Azazel, he had clear principles and sound judgment.
As the executor of law and order, he wouldn't be swayed by a mere human.
Brushing off his junior's warning, Sandalphon traced a finger through the air.
A portal opened to the 'Recruitment Plaza' where the hunters had originally gathered.
"The survivors have already been moved to Lilianne's room. Your mission rewards are complete—head out."
"Yes. Thank you for your efforts."
With a light farewell at the dismissal, Gonghyeok stepped toward the portal.
"Spirit, holy artifact—recall."
- Ah. As expected...
As Nathaniel vanished with a sigh, the die beneath his feet shuddered violently.
It sank into the ground like quicksand, losing its balance.
"This! Stop!"
Sandalphon froze the die, which was being steadily swallowed by the floor, and shouted.
"You can't take this!"
"It said acquisition into inventory impossible—not that it can't be taken."
Gonghyeok shot back curtly, leaving Sandalphon stunned.
"How..."
"Well, spirit summoners store holy spirits, holy beasts, and holy knights in sub-space, right?"
He gave a simple explanation to the bewildered angel.
"It's not going into inventory space. As my possession—a 'holy artifact' or 'holy weapon'—it's entering the spirit summoner's sub-space."
"Hmm..."
"That space can hold holy beasts kilometers long, so theoretically, no issue with this. Explanation over. Release the space lock."
"This isn't a reward item."
"It's an item dropped in the field, isn't it? I'm just picking it up—what's the problem?"
"If you take it... It's equipment that can't be taken..."
A human sigh echoed: 'Hoo~.'
"Any other conditions like non-possessable or non-acquirable outside inventory?"
"..."
Angels seemed to fall silent often in his presence.
"Sandalphon. I want to get along smoothly with you, so don't make me say harsh things."
"Hear me out a moment, human. If you take this, the demons will..."
"That's on you for not setting the rules properly."
"...True. However..."
"Like you said earlier, rules are rules. Let's stick to that."
Gonghyeok shrugged and ticked off his points on his fingers to the angel.
"No reason to lose an item acquired in the field.
Angels and demons can't interfere with hunters without cause.
Can't store in inventory, but spirit summoners can store holy artifacts, holy beasts, and holy knights in sub-space.
And a tiny die lacks style, so I'll take this big one."
- Ugh...
Ignoring Nathaniel's pitying look, he raised an eyebrow.
"Any of this violate the rules?"
It was unmistakably a mocking, cheeky grin.
Sandalphon, avoiding eye contact and staring downward, turned away.
Whumm—
The die shook once more and submerged into the vast sub-space spread across the floor.
"Thanks for understanding. Take care."
Business concluded.
Sticking around would only make things awkward.
Gonghyeok swiftly spread his wings and slipped through the portal Sandalphon had opened.
The recalled Nathaniel forced her way out of the space to perch on his shoulder.
Worried about her senior angel, who'd been caught off-guard.
Sure enough, Sandalphon's once broad, sturdy back now looked frail, wings drooping.
- Sob...
From her twin sister Metatron to the surrounding angels, how much grief would he face?
Feeling the shared plight, she wiped away tears.
Yes.
Human greed knows no end.
And angels repeat the same mistake.
[Chapter 62 - They Repeat the Same Mistake.] End