Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Slaying the Flame Demon King
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"Ah! Now it's edible! Delicious!"
'No way, what is this...'
The situation was simple. My pay-to-win funds had decreased, and the songpyeon had materialized.
"This actually works..."
It was what I'd hoped for, but at the same time, utterly absurd. It defied physics, ether studies—everything.
But thinking about it, my ability had always been beyond all common sense from the start.
'No, but still.'
Suddenly, I felt wronged.
'Not even hero-grade or rare-grade... Just one plate of premium songpyeon costs 260,000 won from my pay-to-win funds?'
It wasn't incomprehensible since it wasn't ordinary food, but if a premium-grade consumable cost this much, imagining the price of higher-grade items was terrifying.
"Huh? What's this? Teacher! My wounds are healing!"
"Nothing visible to you?"
"Visible?"
It seemed she couldn't see the system messages. But the item itself worked fine, so that was a relief.
"Then, no problem."
I summoned three more plates of songpyeon.
"Everyone, eat one plate each and take turns resting! I'll hold the line for now! Oh, and."
While I was at it, I summoned a wild boar hind leg.
And I thought.
It'd be great if others could eat this too.
(85,352,790 won)
Clunk.
(85,271,780 won)
'No. This is expensive too.'
A sigh escaped me naturally, but considering it was a 15-kilogram wild boar hind leg, the price wasn't incomprehensible.
"Grill this and eat."
"No, where did the raw meat come fr—"
As Olya took the meat in stunned disbelief, monsters broke through the ice wall and arrived.
Seeing them, I issued orders to the group.
"Lea, assist me! The fight's going long, so everyone else, grab songpyeon and rest!"
Clang!
I blocked the charging death knight's sword.
The group looked like they had a lot to say, but without argument, they took the songpyeon and retreated into the flower carriage. They were probably too exhausted for questions.
"I'll amplify your front!"
"Please do."
Lea still had plenty of stamina and mana left. As the battle dragged on, she'd limited attack spells to focus on amplifying Seongjae.
Confirming she was chanting, I unleashed Ice Slash Strike straight ahead.
Boom!
I felt the frontal chill and sword energy amplify.
"Oh! This effect is great!"
I couldn't gauge how much stronger Seongjae's magic had become, but for my well-known technique, it was different. I could precisely measure the boosted power!
But Lea's expression darkened.
"The amplification is only 1.7 times. The energy is too complex..."
Unlike my thoughts, she felt the synergy was poor. Staring ahead, I replied.
"No need to force amplification. Assist as you see fit."
With that, I held the sword from the treasure chest at mid-guard.
It was flashy like a prop for filming, but designed for real combat, it had solid performance and enchanted magic.
"The heavens crumble and the earth splits! You all shall die and writhe in eternal torment!"
"Ah, that guy's so noisy."
Bang!
Using Land Breaker's power, I rooted my legs like an ancient tree and met the screeching charge head-on.
"Th-the song of de-deaaath...!?"
I seized the charging knight's throat. Thick armor encircled his neck, but before transcendent strength that could uproot buildings, it was mere paper.
Crack! Crunch!
I tore the armor and crushed the bones inside. As the pitch-black bones shattered, the death energy clinging to them scattered everywhere.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
The enemy didn't go down easy. The dispersing darkness turned to thorns, piercing my body!
My flesh could shrug off bullets, but it couldn't withstand a death knight's death-infused assault.
"Urk!"
I raised my left arm to guard heart and face. My body was drenched in blood, but it didn't matter.
"Login."
I entered Ardania, ate songpyeon, and rested fully. Forming hand seals to open chakras and circulate inner energy, I returned at peak condition.
"Logout."
Then I swung the sword.
Ice Slash Strike & Land Breaker.
Crackle!
The storm of chill and sword energy tore and froze the foes again. Some froze solid from the aftermath alone.
"Good lord... Jaeyeon? What in the world."
I saw Lea panicking. With the group withdrawn and me alone, not only was defense unbroken—the enemies were getting swept away.
I decided on a simple explanation.
"You heard I took down an 8th-class mage?"
"Ah, yes. I heard something like that..."
"Think of it as a hidden authority. It has heavy backlash, so I didn't want to use it... but circumstances force my hand."
"Wow! Like Demonbane or Red Cookie!"
"...Who?"
At my question, Lea widened her eyes.
"Huh? Demonbane's a half-celestial singer-songwriter, and Red Cookie's an actress from pureblood lineage. You don't know them? They don't perform much, but their backgrounds make them famous."
"..."
Their unexpected identities left me speechless.
'No wonder entertainment has all kinds. Seriously.'
Stunned, I raised my sword into guard.
Boom!
Blocking the 5-meter corpse giant's fist, I thought.
'I need to get serious.'
I'd fought properly so far. Giant-surpassing strength to parry attacks, sword energy to sever necks, unlimited chakra.
When needed, I'd landed crits to leverage Shadow Twice and such.
However.
Fighting properly didn't mean full power.
'Cameras make me hesitate a bit, but...'
A cat-shaped smart pet sat atop the flower carriage. Looking up, bird-shaped smart pets flew around the island.
But... I'd already killed 8th-class mage Bram on camera.
With one here, I could've held them off easily—hiding power now was pointless.
"Login."
To Ardania, forming seals and circulating energy.
"Logout."
Unleashing on Earth.
"Login."
"Logout."
"Login."
"Logout."
Repeating endlessly, the surrounding temperature plummeted terrifyingly.
Undead aren't chill-resistant.
Their already cold blood and flesh froze easily. Even if they didn't die frozen solid, immobility made it irrelevant.
"Hii, hii... So cold! The temperature, wha? Negative 107 degrees!?"
Lea, supporting with magic, screamed. Glancing back, ice covered the flower carriage. Fortunately, ultimate magic shielded it from the cold.
"Lea, get inside."
"Haa... haa... Y-yes!"
She fled inside like she'd been waiting. Sighing, I gripped the magic sword.
"Ah, even inside the carriage, it's in Heaven-Earth Sword range..."
"Graaah!"
"C-cold! Frost! No end can be stopped... Gah!?"
"Shut up. Login."
Repeat.
"Logout."
Pour chill continuously.
"Login."
Shuttle between Earth and Ardania nonstop.
'This takes time.'
Time dilation favored Ardania overwhelmingly. Seal-forming and rest took nearly 20 minutes there, versus instants unleashing strikes.
Even accounting for stance or steps, Earth's 1 second neared 2 hours in Ardania.
Naturally, issues arose. Ardania was in upheaval.
[A siege has been declared on your castle!]
[Target: Storm Castle]
[Must start siege within 6 hours max!]
[A siege has been declared on your castle!]
[Target: World Tree Castle]
[Must start siege within 6 hours max!]
"Ah, these bastards."
Like honey on my castles, sieges nonstop. I'd slaughtered every wave, yet they persisted.
Makes sense—respawning foes had no reason to stop.
Even Ice Queen sent endless chill monsters to drop dungeon temps.
"Ah, need to earn money fast for castle defenses! Station troops! Ah, everything's ruined. For real!"
No quick real-world resolution meant hurdles piling for earning pay-to-win funds.
'No, worse than that.'
In crisis, I'd realized using pay-to-win to manifest Ardania items on Earth.
But funds weren't growing—they were draining.
'Time to change plans.'
Originally, tour continent, claim all branches except Cheonwon.
At current growth, even without Cheonwon, 8 branches would push chakra to Infinite Layers' Ninth—transcendent realm.
'But like gaining transcendent realm without becoming transcendent... it won't make me one.'
Chakra especially defies specs alone.
Even Ninth Layers, shallow element mastery limits power.
Still, overall boost was certain, so I'd pursued.
'Now useless.'
Plan hinged on claiming branches in Ardania while earning Earth money. No money meant undefendable castles atop claimed branches—pure risk.
Losing a claimed node brought unavoidable rebound; losing chakra-boosting branches? Unimaginable.
'Good I didn't claim lower-left branch, then.'
Not that I'd just leave.
"Landworm. Where you headed now?"
[Where? Still below you.]
"Hm? You're moving."
[Just wriggling below.]
"Why suddenly make an underground great labyrinth..."
Absurd laugh, then order.
"Up."
[Yeah! Time for chow.]
Rumble rumble boom!
Deep down, so long climb—Landworm shattered surface erupting.
And.
"What is this."
Dazed, I looked down at thousands of monsters staring blankly at Landworm. Amid them, a burning giant lounged arrogantly; atop piled kindling, a brown-haired girl hung bound.
Flame Demon King's lore: flame demon.
They'd planned human bonfire.
"Landworm. To that altar side."
[Got it.]
Groooan!
As Landworm neared, encircling monsters recoiled in terror.
Even savage demons wouldn't defy building-sized worm.
Whirr.
I leaped through opening scales to ground.
Crunch!
"...Well now."
Unnoticed before: ground piled mountain-high with charred skulls.
Thousands. No, perhaps... tens of thousands humans burned alive.
'Worst yet...'
Bitter smile, I gripped girl's chains.
Clang! Clang!
Snapped easily, caught collapsing girl. Brutal beating left bruises everywhere, yet undeniable beauty shone.
"You..."
"Normally return scroll, but it'd send to monster-held Storm Castle now."
Light kick off ground, back to Landworm cockpit. Placed her there, gave songpyeon and potions.
"Finish up, then eat and drink."
At my words, girl stared blankly up, then spoke.
"You... an angel?"
"Angel? Nah, not me."
"But... wings on your back?"
"......!"
Stifled scream, feigned calm.
'Ah, damn. Lucky Angel Wing Suit...'
No choice. Hunting monsters now—can't ditch luck gear. Performance fiend like me won't sacrifice options.
"...Wings don't make angels. Close Landworm hatch."
Said so, leaped out again. My pet Landworm excluded from attacks; inside safe from AoE.
Thud.
On ground, didn't head straight for Flame Demon King.
'Key: find weakest foe.'
One too dull to notice my attacks, no defenses. Ideal if brainless enough to ignore my seals and energy gathering upfront.
"Grur... Human? Burn...!"
As it lunged screeching.
Rabbit Foot Hammer launched like shell.
Stacks full. Hoarded plenty on Earth.
[Heavenly Sword - Hundred Man Slash] & [Heaven-Splitting Sword]
Land Breaker.
Slice.
Noisy plain plunged silent. Tens of thousands monsters stood headless.
Then.
Collapsed together.
Rumble!
"Ah, yes! This is it!"
Used so often lately, forgot—but this combo insanely broken.
Couldn't use on Earth; felt suffocated.
Whoosh!
Then, amid fallen corpses, inferno erupted.
"Grah! Graaaah! Greeeeh!"
Flame giant rose, spewing fire like blood.
"You, yooou! Human! What did yo—!"
Slice!
Flame Demon King's screeching head snapped back, collapsing.
Long time since checking skill desc.
[Shadow Twice (Legendary) (Passive)]
On crit, guaranteed hit, max damage, counter, or status attack success (stun, blind, silence, burn, slow etc.), same damage hits 1 sec later.
Then 3 sec after, double both hits' damage strikes again.
"Mm~ Good. Very refreshing."
Fwoooosh!
Pillar of fire surged. Flame Demon King ballooned, roaring.
-Mere mortal—! I! Yet live!
Ignored, pulled premium-grade blunt from inventory: parasol.
Flutter!
Clang clang clang!
Raining items bounced off opened parasol, scattering.
Amid downpour, eyed Flame Demon King.
"Yeah. You haven't died yet."
Nodded.
"But now you will."
With words.
Slice!
Shadow Twice finale landed. Edward the lightbug maybe, but attack-focused Flame Demon King couldn't tank.
And.
[Congratulations! One guild has defeated the Flame Demon King!]
[Top Contribution: Han Jaeyeon.]
Battle over.