Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: Holy Citadel
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A pressure like a mountain collapsing bore down, filling his mind with the image of his entire body being crushed flat like thin paper.
But in this moment, he was filled with more certainty than ever before.
‘I’ll block it.’
And then.
Kwaaaaang!
An impact that could split the earth came crashing down.
Kududuk!
His skin burst open under the pressure, unable to withstand it, and his bones crumbled.
The right foot he had planted for footing sank deep into the solid ground up to his calf.
“Keuk!”
His organs ruptured, filling his mouth with blood and viscera that burst forth, and burst blood vessels clouded his vision.
Yet he knew.
‘I survived.’
That he had survived a strike he thought impossible to block.
[Knight Privilege: Body Change activates.]
And then, what had been severed.
Chwarururu!
Began filling back up in an instant.
In the vision he regained first, what came into sharp focus was the now-familiar grotesque greatsword.
It was Ograk’s twin sword, also Go Minji’s cherished weapon.
Beyond it, the hideous face of its original owner, Kartul, came into view.
Buwoong.
Kartul raised the greatsword again, as if he had no intention of letting this chance slip.
‘Not yet…!’
Though he couldn’t believe his shattered body was regenerating in this situation, the recovery wasn’t complete.
The massive mountain bore down once more.
But there was no more hesitation.
“I’ll block it…!”
He would block it.
“I’ll block it no matter what!”
To protect Go Minji, collapsed behind him.
To protect Go Yohan behind her.
Behind them, behind them, behind them.
[Body Change is complete.]
Hoping to become a bulwark that could protect it all.
[With Body Change, the Wall Knight-exclusive skill activates.]
Kuwoong!
More than anything.
‘I’ll become unbreakable!’
[Fortress activates.]
Kwaaaaaang!
The attack like a tsunami crashed down again.
He could swear to it.
‘If Yohan hadn’t been here, the world would already be doomed.’
By this orc monster, Kartul.
And one more thing.
Burruru.
He could tell it was different from before.
The skin that had burst healed and tightened, and the shattered bones knit together, hardening.
If before he couldn’t endure, now.
“I can endure—!”
He had blocked it in a form close to perfection.
Between Kartul and Go Woojin.
Stood a massive wall.
Kwaaang! Kwaang! Kwaaaaang!
The enraged Kartul swung Ograk’s twin sword wildly at Go Woojin, but the wall protecting him showed no sign of breaking.
Go Woojin had no weapon.
Even if he did, he doubted it could pierce Kartul.
‘I don’t even hope for that.’
For now, he was just grateful he could protect Go Minji.
And one step further.
Kung!
The moment the massive wall pushed Kartul back.
“If I can’t bring it down.”
He understood the concept of a wall.
“I’ll trap it.”
And then.
[The Wall Knight’s unique conviction activates.]
Shwaaaa!
As if representing Go Woojin, once called the Golden Knight, a golden radiance began emanating from his body.
Soon, it.
Kuwoong!
Took form and began descending from the sky.
Kung!
Finally surrounding Kartul.
[Holy Citadel]
A conviction named Holy Citadel.
It was, so to speak, an ultimate skill.
“Huhk, huhk….”
Go Woojin backed away, staring at the massive golden fortress.
Kwang! Kwaang! Kwang!
The enraged Kartul’s rampage echoed from within, but the golden citadel showed no sign of shattering.
Pushing aside the intoxicating sense of accomplishment swelling within him.
“Minji!”
Go Woojin ran toward Go Minji.
With Kartul sealed away, now to save her.
And protect her.
Then someday, Go Yohan would come.
‘Please!’
Not too late.
It was the moment Go Woojin, dashing forward with that thought, finally scooped up Go Minji.
“……?”
An alien sensation, one he hadn’t felt before, prickled his skin like goosebumps.
[The 50th floor trial is complete.]
The system messages rang out once more.
“Oppa, that was kinda touching?”
There, Go Minji—covered in blood—stood smiling brightly.
“What is this?”
*
*
*
Thud. Go Woojin collapsed to his knees, letting out a dazed “Huh.”
He was smart enough to understand the situation, and it was plain as day.
Sssk.
Go Minji, covered in wounds but smiling.
And Ograk’s twin swords—one stuck in the ground, the other slung over her shoulder.
An aura utterly transformed from when they’d parted on the 49th floor.
Even her appearance seemed different.
Somehow sharper, more feral.
Not that her beauty, enough to shake Korea, shone any brighter—instead, it carried a decadent air….
“Ha.”
Only then did he realize.
That his tension had completely melted away.
“You’d better protect me even better from now on.”
“Huh?”
“…Put some proper clothes on.”
Her garments torn as if from fierce battle.
They were alone here now, just the two of them, but soon….
“Huh?”
Turning at the strange feeling, Go Woojin swallowed dryly again.
They weren’t alone.
“No way…. Am I the last one….”
The church’s founding members, the Sanctuary Alliance, and even that man Park Dong-uk.
Kwaaang!
A massive boom echoed from behind.
“You’re not the last.”
Go Minji, who had approached, said.
“There’s still some left.”
Go Woojin rose, following Go Minji’s gaze.
As if the battle moments ago had all been a lie, his body felt light, without a single wound.
But he didn’t think the battle had been fake.
‘An effect of the 50th floor?’
It felt as if the entire floor had come alive, moving to aid his recovery.
‘That monster, Kartul, must be a dummy created by the World Tree and Yohan.’
A fake, not the real thing.
Yet a monster that demanded his all to face.
Thud.
As Go Woojin stepped forward.
Kwaaaang!
Explosions continued before his eyes.
A massive blaze roared, and within it, two people coordinated their attacks, battling Kartul.
“…You saw everything?”
Go Woojin said to Go Minji.
“Not everything.”
An isolated world, like a massive glass wall separated this space from that one.
Visible from here, but not from there.
Yet it didn’t feel like the two spaces were completely separate.
‘What kind of principle is this?’
He couldn’t even guess, but he knew.
“My knighthood is walls… or something? I nearly died and came back too.”
“…….”
“Hey, oppa’s ears are red?”
“G, Goldian’s last, huh. Good thing.”
Go Minji gave a sly smile at the sight.
Juruk.
Kartul’s massive body was melting away.
Watching Richard and Samuel, who had accomplished that feat for Goldian, he realized.
‘Everyone who made it here has become knights.’
Knights.
Kwaak.
The massive power surging within him felt indescribable even now.
But judging from that overwhelming might, it was a force close to a miracle.
“Huu…. Huu….”
“Krgh!”
Rough breaths came from right ahead.
With Goldian last.
“Wh…ere?”
All trials had ended.
“Congratulations, everyone. You’ve all become knights.”
Then Go Yohan’s figure and voice appeared.
*
*
*
D-1 until the Magic Tower’s major announcement.
The quiet world suddenly grew boisterous, starting from an article by a certain scholar warning of gate resource depletion.
-Gates provided vast resources that birthed new eras alongside danger, but humanity chose consumption over stockpiling for survival.
-Fortunately, gate resources seemed inexhaustible, so no one felt the need to stockpile.
-An era hoping for threats to persist has arrived.
A conspiracy-like tale that would normally draw little attention.
-China, Korea, and Japan accounted for 60% of global gate resources, with China alone producing 40%.
-But after the Magic Tower’s emergence and Korea’s lockdown, gate occurrences in Asia ceased.
-It’s certain.
A balance seemingly maintained somehow.
-Stockpiled gate resources won’t last a year, leading the world to another apocalypse-like disaster.
-Gate resources are already deeply embedded in our lives.
That seemed poised to shake things up.
Nations reacted, and voices of concern spread.
Amid it all.
-The Magic Tower will make a major announcement.
News came from the Magic Tower, which had only shown itself to stay silent until now.
A massive announcement was coming.
Everyone perked up at the news echoing from Korea, now as closed-off as North Korea once was.
Whatever it was, it was sure to impact the entire world.
-Mom worries about you a lot, so at least call.
Go Yohan smirked at the message on his phone screen.
“Really. Doesn’t change.”
Go Minji had endured all that and been reborn, yet nothing had changed.
-Oh, and make time after this announcement.
-Learned a new skill, it seems.
The 50th floor trial had felt like over three months to them, but reality differed.
-The time axis adjustment is nearly complete.
Go Yohan nodded at Yoo Se-hwa’s voice.
The tower’s time axis was set differently from reality, so what they’d experienced was less than a month.
-Like before? You know it’s not possible anymore, right?
Of course, it had only been possible that one time back then.
Now Yoo Se-hwa was working to reset the time axis to normal.
That was when.
“Captain.”
Go Yohan smiled at the welcome voice.