Chapter 156
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: 15th Floor - Lv. 3211 War Incarnation (3)
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Right after our next clash, I dove into the abyss to recover from the physical shock, but that's when I realized something was off.
'No, isn't this a bit weird?'
The time it took for my crushed arm to regenerate was quick enough.
But the incarnation didn't just boost stats—it provided powerful divine protection from a god's holy power.
Yet that body of mine had been smashed to pieces.
'The timing wasn't that far off.'
I couldn't always nail a perfect just guard, but I was confident I could always keep it within acceptable limits.
Even so, the state of the arm that had momentarily withstood that brutish hammer blow—no, nearly half my body—was a total mess.
At this rate, it would turn into a disadvantageous war of attrition.
My original plan had been to minimize damage, shift into a war of attrition, and wait for their incarnation to run out first.
Since the incarnation buff was sustained by the holy power bestowed by the god itself, the more damage it took under that protection, the shorter its duration became.
I'd thought I could pretend to go for an all-out brawl while dragging things out.
Even responding with near-physical immunity wasn't enough—their attack power surpassed it entirely.
The goddess calmly calculated the difference in our abilities.
「He looks like a bit of a flashy berserker, but that troll seems around level 1500. Factoring in his god stats, add another 1500 on top. Ours has about 4000 from the incarnation, and another 4000 from doping... even so, what troll ever pumps intelligence? We'd crush him in total stats, but he'd have us beat in strength and agility.」
That sounded about right.
And that didn't even factor in skills, so the actual gap was even wider.
If I could fully wield the goddess's skills, things might be different, but incarnating into a mage-based body left me no choice.
The only unique skill I had was [Blood Lord].
It was summoner-class, so my main body was even weaker than other mage lines.
But I could guess their skills now.
'That guy's got [Primal Power], right?'
「That's what it seems like.」
'And he's gone all-in on it, without mixing in anything else.'
「When he was my believer, his agility was only two digits. You can imagine.」
'Intelligence probably two digits too.'
That explained the damage output.
Strength stats had a close-combat 'attack power' bonus.
No matter how minor stats seemed, for a troll species with overwhelming numbers, it changed everything.
'Lucky I have time to stop time and analyze. Honestly, I've never fought a god head-on in a situation like this.'
「Physically impossible before.」
'This is still just the tutorial, after all.'
Farming, nothing—some systems weren't even unlocked yet.
'Ha, back in game days, that would've been total trash tier.'
「If reality buffs some things, it has to nerf others for fairness.」
The goddess chuckled as she said it, watching with clear amusement.
Come on, Great Warrior, figure something out quick.
It felt like I was hearing that voice.
「Come on, Great Warrior, figure something out quick.」
Not my imagination?
She had full faith in me.
'The answer's magic, in the end.'
The only edge I had over their incarnation was magical ability.
In a melee warrior duel, agility superiority wasn't meaningless, but it wasn't decisive either.
It mattered when strength was comparable or when skill gaps allowed technique to shine.
Against overwhelming power, it was irrelevant. Their incarnation exemplified that.
Skills-wise, the goddess's passives focused on offense, stacked without much regard for power struggles.
In other words, she didn't know defense.
No matter how I looked, her skills screamed "ignore hits and swing wildly," just like I'd said...
She must've peeked into my thoughts on that.
「By any chance, could you see the god's mind map when incarnating?」
'Just a lucky guess. Still, this should let me land a few criticals on him.'
「Remember, he's a troll.」
What they called critical might not be fatal.
Fortunately, both the War God and Great Warrior relied on regeneration over tanky hardening.
Trolls were built to take hits and heal, after all.
The sensation in my hands felt normal again.
I could feel the opponent's body crunching under my blows.
Vampire regeneration outpaced trolls while [Blood Spring] lasted, but it was consumable regen all the same.
I didn't know how they'd achieved near-physical immunity already, but if harder hits were penetrating, we were good.
I'd kill him.
The War God was nearly certain of victory now.
His opponent exploited split-second clashes to pierce thick divine protection and damage the incarnation body.
It caused gradual consumption—not physical, but in incarnation duration.
But the same went for his foe.
Without a one-shot means, the first to burn out lost.
But he couldn't let it end so tamely.
That wasn't befitting a War God, exemplar for warriors.
With his feral suffix, he was a pure physical specialist among war gods.
One strike.
Just one proper hit.
Even a 10,000-year dragon would perish.
Warriors trusted their power.
They crushed foes' skulls relentlessly.
He dashed across empty space, aided by skills.
Every blow carried killing intent, full force.
He swung the raised hammer sideways.
They'd parry with the spear again, but for how long?
That thought made him hesitate when Chaos Incarnation charged aggressively.
Some scheme?
It vaguely echoed the destructive spear thrusts from countless challenges against the Goddess of Chaos.
His hesitation didn't sap power.
The War God poured full might into the weapon to the end.
Once more, space rippled around them.
The sensation was there, but...
"Keurgh."
Half his body vanished too.
[Song of Annihilation]'s passive flowed through him.
But incompletely activated, it wasn't fully lethal.
If active, his body would've powdered.
Troll regen swiftly restored the damage.
Still, the shock drew a scream.
This weight...!
"Goddess!"
'Unique skills pack their punch in the active, but I'm stuck on passive, so the power's meh.'
「What was that just now? Looked like my spear thrust. Where'd you learn it?」
'The most efficient destruction boils down to one motion, eventually.'
I spoke and escaped to the abyss again.
The War God yelling "Goddess!" seemed mistaken.
Just in case, I cast [Time Stop] on the War Incarnation.
In frozen time, he turned glowing divine eyes toward me.
"Not her! Seeing your petty tricks, you're no goddess!"
The goddess clicked her tongue.
「What, does he think I'm an idiot? I could've used magic if I wanted, but chose not to...」
She's plenty familiar with [Time Stop]. Can't use that.
No time to hear her gripe fully.
The War God charged; I repeated the prior move.
Mana flowed separately from the Chaos divinity empowering the spear.
Neither bothered defending.
So the spear tip easily reached his body. The mountain-sized frame offered plenty of targets.
There, my intelligence of 2000 plus mana passives bloated the magic explosion from my body.
Separate from the goddess's agility-warrior incarnation buffs, my overall specs had ballooned.
For me, who'd suppressed output and versatility due to specs, it was a huge boon.
And why the War God character was trash tier?
"Kraaaagh!"
Two-digit intelligence? Ah, so no magic resistance from stats or passives?
Spear through the body protected by holy power and minimal mana operation, then blast magical damage from the tip.
Pre-godhood, gear supplemented magic resistance; post-godhood, holy power did.
But you're incarnated now?
Let's test elements.
Prior was physical. Lacked punch, as expected.
[Hell Fire]
The troll clawed at his flesh in agony. Blazing red divinity wrapped the wound, regenerating it.
「No, to me, you look like trash too.」
The woes of a jack-of-all-trades. She spoke of the hybrid mage's plight.
'Goddess of Chaos, know the real reason all-rounders suck?'
「What?」
'The users just suck.'
The goddess paused blankly, then replied.
「I'm starting to dislike you.」
'Hahaha.'
Magic was one of few fields less efficient without direct skill implementation.
Other class skills overflowed with nonsense, but magic was plain magic.
If magic itself was nonsense, fair enough—but in the labyrinth, it was real power.
That's why late-game magic got treated as utility.
With skill, you could mind-map mostly warrior and still cast magic freely.
Even a unique [Hero] skill specialized that way.
"Dieeeee!"
Watching my mangled half-body regenerate, the War God roared again.
Another bullheaded charge. Brainless, but scary for it.
This time, though, he attacked defensively.
Even just passives, the goddess's unique skills layered on the spear thrust.
It pierced burning War divinity, hit troll flesh, then delivered magical impact.
He could crush my body, but kept missing the heart.
I teleported it away. Holy power couldn't suppress my magic on equal incarnation footing.
Warriors were inherently weak to mages.
And as long as the heart lived, my Blood Spring had slack—vampire lord regenerated.
If low, distant blood beasts returned to heal.
I saw the giant War Incarnation grinding its teeth.
Troll fangs, sharp and jagged, regrew after self-crushing.
The attrition had flipped again.
Anything left up his sleeve?
Old warriors inevitably picked up ways to parry.
Not skills or stats.
Fighting as one accumulated experience, forging a true warrior.
The War God could thrash kingdom rankers barehanded, skills stripped.
Strength-mad fool, but that reached unique techniques.
Space—in the outer world, who knew.
But strikable with force.
Not like swordmasters aura-flaring without skills—equally hard, intricate knack needed.
Learned beating incorporeal ghosts.
Honed alone from his throne.
For Chaos.
Knack alone didn't suffice for anyone.
Even casual swings rippled space with power.
This just made it trickier, deadlier.
Time to get trickier.
The War Incarnation didn't charge suddenly.
I cast illusion magic, hiding myself.
Then teleported behind.
Before space warped, the hammer sensed and swung at the spot.
But a feint.
True attack: frontal magic barrage.
Light painted the void.
Wouldn't pierce War divinity, but blinded vision.
Cast teleport again.
Could he catch all rippling space around him simultaneously?
Then space shattered.
Opening portals tore, backlash surged.
Knowing what happened, I dodged swiftly, saving myself.
Even then, wove spells to neutralize mana reflux.
The goddess was stunned.
「That's no skill.」
'Whoa, this run's god-tier is high-level. Never seen it? It's space-striking knack.'
「Tried once or twice, but not that well. Guess why he charged me again—he trained for it.」
Why the proud mentor vibe? You're about to die, Great Warrior.
「You're overdoing the jokes. You, dying?」
If not dying, you wouldn't have squatted here 97 years.
Meanwhile, the refocused War Incarnation swung its hammer.
It caught midway.
Dull shock spread everywhere.
Purely magical strike, also ranged.
Back to attrition disadvantage for me. Their stamina was inherently higher.
Advanced physical might equals magic. Fact. Someone reached it.
Couldn't mimic with my stats.
Time to brace for death.
I threw myself forward.
Space ripples hurt bad, but regenerable.
Vampire perk: defend only the heart.
Hammer aimed for my head, naturally.
Layered teleports to evade, but it tracked my presence.
Similar to before, but different.
I burrowed inward despite crushing, heart unhidden.
Brutal shock pierced hundreds of mana barriers over the heart, but halted at the thick purple Chaos veil.
Meanwhile, I cast.
Very far-range teleport.
The party member, expecting distant fireworks, panicked at the sudden raid.
But this floor wasn't easy.
Not counted as combatant due to VIP status, the Girl dashed out swiftly to meet foes.
And faltered in shock.
One enemy—an orc with surprising elegance—wielded a sword in each hand.
Dual-wield? Seen on floor 9. Labyrinth's mad environs made it familiar.
But... dual chainsaws?
The Jeong Family taught counters to myriad monsters and weapons.
Dual chainsaws? No clue.
What to do?