Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: The Demonic Sword Hyperion
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The moment I wondered what was happening.
Flash!
Hyperion's sword vanished.
"......?"
Before I could grasp the situation, blood gushed from the wound where the sword had disappeared.
Splatter!
"Blood...!"
"What the hell? Why isn't it regenerating?"
"I'll pull back."
As Taeseok, who had been hanging on my back casting various buffs, spoke, we shifted to base camp. A man dashed through the legs of the Giggas units relentlessly firing barrages.
Unexpectedly, it was a familiar face.
"Thomas... Lieutenant?"
"It's been over a year since I was discharged. What the hell happened in that time for you to advance to the point of clashing with qi energy?"
Vmmm!
Psychokinesis precisely reconnected the severed muscles and nerves. Even in that state, Thomas poured healing magic to dispel the aftermath of the qi energy and restore the injury.
Watching the wound slowly heal, Thomas's eyes widened in surprise.
"No way, qi energy wounds healing this fast? And you're basically a troll to begin with."
"Why a troll of all things? Giantkin or divine races have way better stuff."
"Don't discriminate against trolls. In the civilization where I lived, trolls were sapient beings too."
We exchanged pointless banter while waiting for the wound to heal.
Once sensation gradually returned to my arm.
"Log in."
I entered Ardania.
"Phew...."
[You didn't get hurt this time.]
"Oh, did I say that out loud?"
I leaned back in the cockpit. A faint pain lingered in my severed shoulder muscles, but with no bleeding, it would recover with time.
[No one's around to clean up now. Don't dirty my mind.]
"Your mind? What...."
Grumbling, I opened my inventory and pulled out the thing I was most curious about.
[Demonic Sword. Hyperion (Lv. 22)]
Physical Coefficient: 6.2
Mana Coefficient: 7.3
[Zodiac 12 Palaces (Epic)]
[Demonic Sword Soul (Epic)]
[Empty]. [Empty]. [Empty]. [Empty]. [Empty].
"Whoa, for real...."
Blade & Magic has no such thing as weapon attack power. Instead, there's coefficients—physical coefficient of 6.2 means physical damage increases sixfold compared to strength.
That's insane enough on its own.
"Whoa, two Epic traits and five sockets...."
Truth be told, Hyperion isn't a drop item.
To be precise, skill-based godgame Blade & Magic doesn't have drops at all.
'Because Blade & Magic is an AOS—Aeon of Strife—game.'
You buy items with gold or merits earned in combat, so no expecting monster drops. Especially since this demonic sword is a sort of signature weapon used by the story mode's final boss?
Yet I obtained it like this....
'This is no different from a Mythic-grade weapon. Maybe even beyond.'
I checked Hyperion's traits.
[Zodiac 12 Palaces (Epic)]
Each time you kill an enemy champion (1), elite (0.1), or boss (0.5), a constellation activates.
[Demonic Sword Soul (Epic)]
On attack, a demonic sword soul manifests behind you to defend or strike.
Not exactly intuitive abilities.
Blade & Magic trait descriptions are more detailed, probably because it's a monster-exclusive item.
'Well, Epic traits are bound to be overpowered anyway. And since it uses skills in-game, it'll be implemented properly.'
The key isn't the measly two traits.
It's the five sockets.
"Let's see."
I reached into my inventory and drew Hyperion.
And in that instant.
I was in darkness.
[Ahahaha! Foolish and stupid! Why can't pathetic mortals ever overcome their lust for power?]
A little girl in a dress was doubled over laughing in front of me. I jolted in surprise.
"What? Did I fall for some mental ability?"
My trash-tier mana aptitude was a truly cursed shackle, but if I had to find upsides, they weren't entirely absent.
Ignorant ghosts can't recognize talismans.
I was nearly immune to spiritual stimuli or interference. Like a blind man unaffected by a flashbang—the same reason I survived the magic of Bram Wizard, the 8th-class Dreamwalker Sect leader.
[You're awfully calm? Haven't figured it out?]
"Not a complicated situation to grasp. Just surprised you managed this much. Direct contact enabling it, maybe...."
[What?]
But "nearly immune" doesn't mean completely.
In other civilizations, I'd never awaken spiritual powers, but through 34th Earth's massive facilities, I could handle beginner-level inner energy.
The Golden Dragon God's "theme song" that turned national MC Kang Boram into a magical girl registered with me too.
"Nothing impressive. Just dragged into an inner world, right? Hyperion?"
[......]
The girl in the dress stared blankly at me for a moment before her face twisted at an unnatural angle.
[Ah, ahahaha! Ahahaha! Kekeke!]
The petite girl's form expanded in an instant.
[You worm of a mortal, flapping your mouth without knowing your place! Even Hyeokjun, who reached Sword Saint realm, didn't dare act cocky here—!]
Ruuuuumble!
A monster vast as the sky roared in fury.
I could only snort.
"If this is your 'here,' it's still just an inner world, right?"
And inner worlds.
Are the foundation of chakra users.
Whoosh!
I returned to reality. Contrary to her confident demeanor, Hyperion couldn't stop it.
"Good grief, well... it's a demonic sword, after all."
A 1.6-meter bastard sword usable with one or both hands. From blade to hilt, perfect black without any other hue, its exquisite balance and artwork-like form drew involuntary admiration.
Swish! Whoosh! Bang!
Swinging it a few times produced a chilling sound of air splitting.
No scabbard was a shame, but inventory storage solved that. As I examined the sword, a panicked voice rang out.
[What is this? Where am I? What's going on?]
"Oh, right—so voices can transmit. Mute for now.... Need to crank the time dilation. 1,000x... no good. 133x is the limit, huh."
With my chakra realm at the 9th layer, I could control my inner world more diversely and perfectly.
'Closing my eyes for inner world, opening for reality—and she kidnaps me into it....'
Hyperion, an absolute master, thought it was her domain once freed from my hand.
But no amount of mental strength from an absolute master measures up to a 9th-layer chakra practitioner in the mental world.
"Sockets first. Ah... hope Ardania items work too."
I rummaged my inventory and pulled out an item.
[Aren's Staff (Rare)+9]
A law-type staff that activates special effect Soul Collect (Advanced) at +9 reinforcement.
I brought it to Hyperion.
Click.
A fitting sound, and the staff vanished.
[Soul Collector (Advanced)], [Empty], [Empty], [Empty], [Empty]
"...It works."
Item socket.
A system to insert lower items into sockets and apply their traits. In Blade & Magic, you recycled items with no higher upgrades into sockets. Though unlikely, socketing Hyperion into another item would transfer one of [Zodiac 12 Palaces] or [Demonic Sword Soul].
"Pick the right kinds, and it'd be balance-breaking...."
Blade & Magic balanced item traits assuming socketing. Powerful combos exist, but absurd ones don't!
However, Ardania item traits—activated only after massive resources for +9 reinforcement—are different.
'No wonder Sword-Blade Unity on blade master class is called utter bullshit. Multiple main weapon special effects stacking....'
I paused mid-thought.
"...Huh?"
[What's up? Oh, wolf pack ahead.]
Glancing forward, a pack of wolves the size of small cars appeared. Gigantic Wolves with rocky fur.
They froze, unable to even flee from the landworm charging at 200 km/h.
"Just cut through."
[Massacre?]
"Nah, that far. Let any survivors go."
As I spoke, I manipulated the system UI to check active buffs.
......[Golden Stack], [Golden Stack], [Golden Stack]. [Soul Collector (Advanced)], [Soul Collector (Advanced)] ......
Golden Stack is the special effect from +9 legendary luck gear. Doubles legendary drop rate—ace effect for special bosses dropping legendaries.
My current top, bottom, hat, gloves, shoes—all +9 legendary luck sets—so multiple stacks made sense.
But Soul Collector was different.
"Whoa, seriously."
I couldn't help but marvel.
"It actually applies?"
[Sword-Blade Unity]
Attack power increases by the equipped sword's attack power. Equipped sword's additional effects also apply additionally. (Some effects may not apply.)
Revenge ranking 1, Blade Master Magic Earth Lord—upon getting blade master class, he prioritized mythic weapon over mythic skills or pets.
What next?
'A mythic weapon for other purposes.'
Blade master class is heavily influenced by held weapon. Sword-Blade Unity is so broken that sword effects rival all other gear combined!
And the most crucial [effects] are +9 special effects.
'But five of them?'
Hyperion lacks raw attack power, but the buff window differed.
[Physical Coefficient: 12.4]
[Mana Coefficient: 14.6]
'Coefficients recognized as [additional effects] and stacked?'
Utter madness.
"Whoa.... With this Hyperion, I could solo her for 10 minutes easy?"
Good combos might stretch to 20.
If I somehow socket five mythic weapons.
No joke.
This sword could rival [Transcendent Weapon], cosmic-grade gear.
[Uwaaaah—!]
"Hm?"
I halted at the sudden scream.
The voice faded quickly, but it was unmistakably Hyperion's.
I closed my eyes.
[Come out! I said come out! I'll kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you!]
"Still full of energy, huh."
[You! You! You filthy worm....]
"Isolate."
I partitioned my inner world, erasing her presence.
Once impossible, now as easy as breathing at 9th layer.
"Let's see.... Whoa, this thing was no joke."
Brief meditation revealed Hyperion had consumed half my chakra resources in that instant.
A transcendent demonic sword like Hyperion infiltrating an inner world would overwhelm even the sturdiest mind, seizing control in moments!
But a boundless 9th-layer inner world is too vast and fortified... even for Hyperion.
'Wait. Does that make Hyperion a chakra practitioner weapon?'
No, not really.
Though a frenzy of power output, she devoured half a 9th-layer's chakra resources in a blink, breaking silence's seal.
A chakra transcendent wielding it would seal half—or more—of their chakra, crippling combat power as much as gained.
'But for me... doesn't matter.'
Thanks to my anchor, chakra capacity overflowed even at layers 1-2. At 9, it's barely 0.1%.
"For now, let Hyperion drain dry."
Taming her unlocks full Epic trait [Demonic Sword Soul], but one Epic isn't priority.
"What to socket?"
Stacking [Irresistible Might] specials would make single strikes insane.
[Combat Stance] or [Combat Acceleration] for never lagging speed against transcendents.
[Adamantine Body] or [Wailing Wall] to maybe tank a qi blast.
Mid-deliberation, I noticed my hand glowing.
Not new—always does. My hands wore [Radiant Luck Gloves +9 (Legendary)].
"......"
Looked at Hyperion.
"......"
Looked at glowing gloves.
Thus, I filled all sockets.
"Log out."
Back to Earth.
Boom boom boom!
Bang!
"Fire! Keep firing! No telling when it'll respawn! Finish it now!"
"Heal Flower-nim's injury!"
"Can't approach!"
Rising amid the clamor, Thomas startled.
"What, up already? Rest a few days!"
"Not the situation."
Really not.
Because... Phantom Dragon Replie still lived.
'I... will kill it!'
Hyperion's sockets ended like this.
[Golden Stack], [Golden Stack], [Golden Stack], [Golden Stack], [Golden Stack].
Today.
I'd farm 10+ legendaries usable in reality.