Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Old Tree Hag
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Ha-ryeong's sudden search for her mother was a mystery, but that wasn't what Yuri needed to focus on right now. Ha-ryeong's mother could wait.
Yuri narrowed his eyes and looked up at the Old Tree Hag. The bishop overseeing the heretics in this district. A 6th Tier mage.
"So that's the magic she uses..."
The ghostly wails accompanying the spell and the death mask. An ominous chill creeping out, eroding the space. Just looking at it caused headaches and stinging eyes. Beyond the pain, unease and fear bubbled up from the depths of his chest, making his stomach churn.
In game terms, this was a mental debuff attack. Mages who specialized in such eerie spells weren't all that common in this world.
"Rise!"
The Old Tree Hag bellowed. The building rubble shuddered, and the mangled corpses beneath began crawling out.
Blood bubbled and flesh twitched. Whoosh! Gray mist swirling around the Old Tree Hag poured into the corpses.
The corpses didn't stand. Things emerged from the corpses. Shattered bones fused together into various monsters, sticky blood clumped into slimes, and chunks of flesh merged into wriggling meat blobs.
Kaaaaaaa!
Ghosts wailed. Countless souls bound by the Old Tree Hag's magic let out horrific screams. Hundreds of monsters spawned from dozens of corpses.
"This is..."
Mental attacks combined with soul manipulation necromancy, and corpse manipulation that twisted bodies into other monsters. Only one magic tower handled that kind of summoning sorcery.
"Ludelra Magic Tower, huh."
In the game, if you polled the shittiest mages, Ludelra's tower lord, Corpse Spirit Lord Herein Ludelra, took first place with overwhelming votes—beating out peak Arsen, who boasted top-level difficulty among mages, and Heavenly Thunder Orca, who casually nullified physical attacks.
The reason she topped the shittiest mage list was simple.
Corpse Spirit Lord was the mid-boss you inevitably faced before meeting the Heavenly Demon.
The Heavenly Demon, once thought to be the final boss before hidden bosses appeared, wasn't easy to reach. The Demonic Cult field, the game's most hellish zone, crawled with high-level NPCs and monsters.
But the real pain in the Demonic Cult were the accompanying Ludelra Magic Tower mages.
They only appeared in the Demonic Cult field, debuffing players while buffing Demonic Cult NPCs. If you didn't kill them cleanly, they'd heal; if you barely managed it, they'd spew poison, curses, or even self-destruct.
Bad enough, but the worst was the tower lord herself, Corpse Spirit Lord Herein Ludelra. She blocked the boss room door to the Heavenly Demon, and no tricks let you skip her. You had to kill her to proceed.
First off, Herein Ludelra summoned every NPC corpse you'd killed on the way, turning them into meat shields. Then she'd extract their souls for defense-ignoring spells. When her HP or MP ran low, she'd devour souls to full recover—dragging fights out while debuffing and cursing you, steadily lowering your stats.
Killing her instantly teleported you to the boss room for the Heavenly Demon fight, so retreating after dealing with her was impossible.
She made sniping the Heavenly Demon and building around it impossible. Skipping her easily made the Heavenly Demon too hard. At least the Heavenly Demon fight started with him healing you, or it'd be unbeatable.
"Why is a Ludelra Magic Tower mage serving as a heretic bishop?'
Ludelra Magic Tower allied with the Demonic Cult. Did that mean the Demonic Cult had joined hands with the heretics? The situation screamed misunderstanding.
"Ludelra Magic Tower!"
The Sword Dragon wasn't ignorant. He glared alternately at the abominations approaching him and the Old Tree Hag shrouded in ominous energy, grinding his teeth.
"Has the Demonic Cult allied with the heretics? You vile, horrific things scheming together to defile Orsia’s territory!"
"That's not it."
Bi-yeon, glaring at the Old Tree Hag, quickly replied.
"That old hag... she was once from Ludelra Magic Tower, but that was ten years ago."
"What?"
"She defected from Ludelra ten years ago. She's no longer tied to them—or the Divine Cult, obviously."
Divine Cult? The Sword Dragon's eyebrow twitched. Only the Demonic Cult and Ludelra Magic Tower called the Demonic Cult "Divine Cult" in this world.
"You..."
Before the Sword Dragon could ask more, pitch-black energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art enveloped Bi-yeon. In that instant, he sensed intense demonic energy. No need for further questions. That ferocious aura was proof of demonic arts.
Bi-yeon ignored the Sword Dragon's reaction. The situation was baffling but not complicated. Her task remained singular.
Kill the Old Tree Hag. The Sword Dragon swallowed words aimed at Bi-yeon's leaping back. She was undeniably Demonic Cult. Why she was here was unknown. But right now, slaying the evil god's bishop mattered most.
Rumble! Golden sword aura cloaked the Sword Dragon's blade. He spun, slashing wide and sweeping everything. Golden light flashed, bisecting the corpse-spawned monsters.
"Are you alright?"
Yuri first checked on Ha-ryeong. Since the ghostly wails began, her body had tensed subtly. She stuck close to him and answered.
"I'm fine."
She thought it sounded casually normal, but not to Yuri's ears.
"No, you're an assassin—scared of ghosts?"
"When did I say I was scared?"
Ha-ryeong whipped her head to glare at him. Even so, she swiftly hurled a hidden weapon. The creeping flesh monster exploded with a pop after being pierced.
"You seem scared."
"Assassins kill the living, not the dead."
Ha-ryeong said quickly.
"That's all there is to it. I'm not scared of ghosts."
Once an assassin, always an assassin—Marine Corps-style talk, yet ghosts were off-limits? Yuri found it absurd, but it made some sense. Even he felt chills from the corpse monsters and summoned souls.
'Who the hell is she?'
More interest went to the suddenly separated Bi-yeon than the already-present Sword Dragon. A masked woman whose name he didn't know.
'Demonic Cult.'
Her uttered "Divine Cult" and emanating demonic energy made it easy to guess.
His eyes went to her martial art.
Pitch-black aura cloaked her body and poured out in attacks, like spilled ink.
The color of emitted internal energy varied by heart method. Yuri could see her black aura even dominating surrounding qi. Supreme under heaven, unique and peerless. Her energy subjugated and ruled all nearby qi.
'Heavenly Demon Divine Art...?'
Impossible to obtain in-game. The Heavenly Demon Divine Art didn't exist as a learnable art.
But he knew how bullshit the Heavenly Demon's arts were.
No matchup advantage against him, magic or martial.
Worse, spells or attacks in pattern gaps probabilistically reflected.
After time, unavoidable instant-death ougi smashed through guards, dodges, anything.
Rare invincibility skills were useless. Instant-death was fixed pattern; repeating invincibility still killed you endlessly.
Hard to perfectly match her subjugating energy to the Heavenly Demon's, but at pinnacle "domination," couldn't it control even foreign magic or aura-based qi like limbs?
Just suspicion, of course. But her Demonic Cult origin and impossible qi-subjugating divine art sufficed to suggest she might be the Heavenly Demon's disciple, the Demonic Cult's young cult leader, shrouded in mystery.
'Different from Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art.'
The Blood Evil Ghost, felled by Holy Flame Force Emission, had called Yuri's art Heavenly Demon Divine Art. But to Yuri, her art differed greatly from his.
Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art didn't subjugate or dominate.
It devoured like firewood, burning to flames.
'Possessor?'
Nothing concrete known about the young cult leader.
Man or woman? Age? Some said noble from Subduing Demon Hall, others a devotedly raised orphan, others a possessor.
Unknowable if she truly was young cult leader or possessor. But Demonic Cult affiliation made her Yuri's worst matchup. No probing transmission like with Ji Sib-hwa asking if possessor.
Rumor had it the Demonic Cult had horrific pill-refining that ground possessors into elixirs.
'Can't use Holy Flame Force Emission.'
The Blood Evil Ghost, once Seven Evils ten years ago, hadn't associated "Heavenly Demon Divine Art" with Yuri's aura from Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art.
He looked up.
Black and gold auras clashed wildly.
The Sword Dragon, deemed strongest late 5th Tier successor, and her—if young cult leader, at least his equal.
Yuri, watching directly, agreed. Their arts differed vastly, but skill seemed evenly matched.
The Old Tree Hag held against both without faltering much. Ludelra magic dominated corpses and souls. Mage power scaled with quality and quantity of corpses and souls held.
This mage, nicknamed Old Tree Hag, had lived long. Ten years defected from Ludelra, wandering, collecting corpses and souls. Settled in Chaos Church, rising to bishop through deeds.
Church priests onward wielded divine power granted by the evil god.
Kaaaak!
The souls' screams she unleashed evidenced countless deaths and chaos she'd wrought. White hair whipping, she laughed maniacally in sync with their wails.
"I see! You! That art!"
The Old Tree Hag recognized Bi-yeon's art.
"You're the Heavenly Demon's disciple everyone's buzzing about! Kahaha! I was never famous or valuable in Ludelra—why come yourself?!"
Heavenly Demon's disciple! The Sword Dragon gaped at Bi-yeon, but no time to pry. Rumble! A rampaging soul tormented him.
"No way! The tower lord! Did Corpse Spirit Lord mark me for capture?! She wants me dead?!"
Young cult leader status—best kept quiet. Bi-yeon grimaced under her mask and spat.
"Corpse Spirit Lord said..."
Earsplitting ghost wails cut off. The Old Tree Hag stared expectantly.
"The reason she didn't kill you was it was too much hassle."
"What...?"
"Not worth chasing some big prize, so she let you be out of laziness."
The Old Tree Hag's eyes trembled.
"I'm here to kill you because..."
"Kaaaaaaa!"
The Old Tree Hag screamed without hearing more. Her robe ballooned like wind-filled. Boom boom boom! Countless souls burst from her body.
Not just souls rampaging. Sword Dragon-slashed and Ha-ryeong-blasted corpse monsters creaked and rose unsteadily. Ha-ryeong shrugged slightly, glancing at Yuri.
"Should we just run?"
Ha-ryeong half-meant it, but Yuri ignored her.
"Two years ago or now, no talk of running."
Ha-ryeong sighed deeply, shaking her head.
"I'll stay below—go on alone, little brother."
"Scared?"
"Seriously."
Dodging her glare, she leaped upward.
Full Moon Night Play, Orca, Flame Bead flew skyward as if natural.
But Sword Dragon and Bi-yeon lacked such skills. They'd trained pure martial arts. Lightweight arts had heavenly steps or skywalking, freely traversing skies—but top realms needed 7th Tier, surpassing human limits.
"Huh...?!"
Sword Dragon, leaping by kicking air, walls, floors, gasped in surprise unwittingly. Bi-yeon, flailing limbs to extend airtime, yelped similarly.
"Air... air steps?"
The man below rocketed skyward. Not leaping. Truly flying.
"A 7th Tier master...?!"
The Sword Dragon yelled in panic. Bi-yeon gulped.
"What bullshit...?"
High above, dominating magic, the Old Tree Hag muttered with a twisted dry face.
"Air steps? 7th Tier master? Muscle-headed idiots, brains all meat too...? That's just levitation magic!"
Levitation magic usable at 3rd Tier. Height, speed, duration varied wildly by magic realm and soul power, but it was magic, not lightweight art.
"Ignorant fools! Pathetic worms who can't even fly properly!"
The Old Tree Hag spat curses, raising her staff high. Rumble! Dozens of floating souls merged into gray-white orbs.
"Arrogant worm! Martial artist daring to mimic a mage?!"
Screams and curses swirled inside the orbs. Ominous attacks rained down. Bi-yeon and Sword Dragon hastily raised protective auras but plummeted, unable to stay airborne.
"Whoa."
Ha-ryeong, darting groundward to handle corpse monsters, yelped in surprise. She retreated from the attack, looking skyward.
"Huh."
Yuri didn't fall. Not fast, but steadily approaching the Old Tree Hag.
Using martial arts and magic simultaneously. Even same tier, never easy. Methods and senses differed fundamentally. Quick spell grasp didn't mean fast martial insight, and vice versa.
Similar for Yuri. He'd comprehended spells from books before proper mana entry. Maintaining levitation while using martial arts wasn't even awkward.
"You too, fall!"
The Old Tree Hag screeched hoarsely, pointing at Yuri. Souls infused with mana became living bombs. Eeeee! Chilling wails shook minds as souls charged.
Yuri didn't dodge—instead lifted his foot. Air without footing felt freer than ground.
Clouds drift skies, after all.
His slow foot sliced air. Flames roared, red aura tracing the path.
'What?'
The Old Tree Hag questioned first. Kick aside, aura? No surprise. She'd faced Sword Emperor's disciple Sword Dragon and Heavenly Demon's young cult leader.
5th Tier, yet their auras disrupted her magic—but nothing this sinister.
'Fire...?'
From churning red aura, she sensed raging flames.
No real heat.
It wasn't hot.
High-tier martial artists or mages felt no pain from flames bare-skinned. She was 6th Tier. Flames meant nothing undefended; normal ones couldn't burn her.
But 'fire' mustn't be approached. Innate human instinct. Fire hot, dangerous—close and burn, attach and ash.
Not flames.
Unordinary. Knowing otherwise, she still sensed fire in that crimson aura.
Kaaaaak!
The soul didn't explode. Touching flames, the binding curse burned away.
Purification by fire. Chills prickled as she hastily retreated.
'Purification? Divine power? No, different. Just... burning it away..!'
This unknown's art was violently arrogant differently from Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Where that subjugated and dominated, this incinerated qi itself to ash.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The Old Tree Hag screamed.