Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Kneeling Viscount
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“Bullshit. Who said they’d let you go?”
Even after glimpsing a fragment of Go Yohan’s power, there was nothing to be done.
It was family, after all.
Heh.
And it was just as Go Yohan had expected.
“In the end, it comes to this.”
It was something he’d even hoped for.
“Make it clear.”
Kim Dayeon’s reaction was utterly unlike her earlier terror-stricken one. In fact, it felt refreshingly novel to him.
Most who witnessed such immense power either trembled in fear or groveled in awe.
“Man, how the hell did someone like this end up as my big sis?”
“What?”
“It’ll be fast. Get used to the speed.”
The moment Go Yohan’s hand touched Go Minji.
[Zealot’s Blessing descends upon you.]
[???’s Blessing descends upon you.]
[Knight’s Grace descends upon you.]
[All stats...]
Whoosh!
It felt like Go Minji’s world was accelerating.
...dramatically increase.]
“Huhk!”
Go Minji exhaled sharply.
The Player, Go Yohan, had received the goddess’s grace, but he hadn’t leveled up through gate clears to nurture those abilities.
No matter what gate he cleared, his level wouldn’t rise.
He had already “comprehended” the Player’s power.
Which meant he could temporarily amplify another’s abilities with his own strength.
Whoosh.
Just like this.
With a light step forward, Go Minji shot ahead.
She too was a Player who had surpassed her limits, but the world she now perceived was something else entirely.
“W-What is this?”
“Remember this sensation well. It won’t all fade away.”
He had mountains of things he wanted to say.
Nod.
But now Go Minji held her tongue and focused.
She was a Player too, and she realized that nagging or questioning him would only hinder him.
“Move.”
Crack!
The ground split with fissures.
Grab.
At the same moment Go Yohan seized Go Minji’s wrist.
Screeech!
A deafening roar like air being shredded by blades.
Under the sudden pressure, Go Minji nearly activated Berserker without thinking.
“...!”
Then she spotted the pack of Hell Wolves. As she raised her greatsword with her free hand.
Splash!
Their headless corpses tumbled across the ground.
She didn’t even have time to process what had happened.
Flash!
Her vision shifted once more.
“Hahk, hahk.”
By the time they reached their destination, Go Minji was expelling the pressure through ragged breaths.
“How was it?”
“...Insane. This is.”
She couldn’t comprehend it, but she had no choice but to acknowledge it.
That Go Yohan possessed abilities beyond her common sense.
And also.
“Captain.”
A crowd of people had gathered there.
Among them, a woman whose face seemed oddly familiar—someone even prettier than Kim Sehyun, whom Go Minji had once thought the most beautiful she’d seen—and who seemed to hold the edge.
“Minji!”
The delighted Kim Dayeon.
“Cheonsang?”
Even Cheonsang Guild, which ranked at the bottom of the top ten guilds.
Her surprise at the strange group was short-lived.
“...”
Their awkward atmosphere stood out.
They feared the woman standing with them—the one Go Yohan called Captain.
“...Kim Dayeon.”
They seemed to fear Go Yohan, standing beside her, too.
Go Minji approached Kim Dayeon with a hardened expression.
“Am I seeing this wrong? If so, tell me now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can’t understand why you’re looking at my little sister like that.”
Kim Dayeon froze.
“Hand it over.”
At the same time, she reclaimed the cross item she’d given Kim Dayeon.
An item Kim Sehyun had once obtained, which had saved Go Minji’s life multiple times in the past.
“...Sorry. Let’s talk outside.”
“Explain properly. Keep your eyes open and don’t look at my sister like that.”
“Got it.”
That was when the brief commotion died down.
Boom!
The ground began to shake.
Rumble!
A massive structure began rising.
A castle that looked like ruins. No one needed to say it.
‘Boss Room.’
The end of the gate, called the Boss Room or Boss Zone.
*
*
*
“I’ll protect everyone.”
You had to enter the Boss Room all at once.
To avoid monster attacks while the boss fell and the gate dissipated.
Yun Seung-ah stepped forward and declared it.
“I’ll help too.”
Go Minji stepped up as well.
Nod.
Yun Seung-ah, who treated Cheonsang Guild like underlings and barely glanced at Kim Dayeon’s group, seemed to show Go Minji a measure of respect.
“Let’s go in.”
Go Yohan led the way into the castle.
As the Players followed.
[You have entered Viscount Taran Hill’s Castle.]
System messages echoed in everyone’s minds.
[All stats decrease due to the Demon’s Sin.]
[Some skills are sealed by the Demon’s Sin.]
[You are gradually eroded by the Demon’s Sin.]
Thud, thud.
Some civilians collapsed, unable to withstand it. Others rolled their eyes back and fainted.
Even the Players fared only slightly better.
But Go Yohan and Yun Seung-ah.
“...”
Only Go Minji remained unscathed.
[The Great Sin protects you.]
[The Great Sin blesses you.]
[All stats dramatically increase.]
[Skill power is enhanced.]
[...]
A massive buff washed over them, among other effects.
Everyone knew the source was Go Yohan without being told.
Ssssh.
As Yun Seung-ah’s magic unfurled, the others slowly regained their color.
Boom!
A vibration shook the entire castle.
Along with it.
Boom!
A colossal slash bore down on the group.
Just as the strike that tore the castle floor threatened to engulf them all.
Flash!
Centered on the leading Go Yohan, the slash split apart, veering to both sides.
Gulp.
The Players swallowed, piecing together what had happened.
The deep gouges in the floor—if not for Go Yohan.
“...Insane. This.”
They all would have been wiped out by that single blow.
And then.
Boom! Boom!
The culprit behind the slash revealed itself.
“So it is you, after all.”
A massive figure clad in full plate armor like a medieval knight, three horns protruding from the helmet.
[The Triangle Demon, Viscount Taran Hill, appears.]
[All stats decrease due to Viscount Taran Hill’s Sin.]
[Viscount Taran Hill’s Curse, Frenzy, activates.]
Eyes staining blood-red.
“Urgh... Urrrgh!”
As they groaned under the sudden urge to slaughter.
[Frenzy is canceled due to the Hierarchy of Supremacy.]
*
*
*
“So it is you, after all.”
The gate boss who appeared, Taran Hill, said.
The three horns signified the Triangle Demon.
“...!”
Without words, the Players realized it was a monster in the 500-level range.
The current world rank 1 had just broken past level 400.
Considering the common knowledge that same-level boss monsters were twice as strong as Players.
Gulp.
Hunting that thing might require dozens, maybe hundreds, of rank 1s.
Tremble.
Their bodies shook involuntarily; they wanted to abandon everything and flee.
“I couldn’t believe it.”
But they could remain because the monster wasn’t attacking—it was speaking.
Not in Earth’s language, yet it lodged in their minds, comprehensible.
“That you would be here in this land.”
“Who are you?”
At Go Yohan’s question.
Swoosh.
Taran Hill removed his helmet.
“...”
Go Yohan’s eyes darkened at the sight.
“Valiant Knight, do you remember me?”
“Orc Great Warrior.”
“Correct.”
Taran Hill even smiled, pleased that Go Yohan remembered him.
“The Great Demons have taken notice of you. After relentlessly pursuing the one who interferes and slays even demons.”
Fourteen years—if they hadn’t noticed, that would’ve been strange.
“The invasion has begun. Great Knight. Will it be different this time?”
“Why have you become a demon?”
“Pfft.”
Taran Hill chuckled awkwardly and moved slowly.
Yun Seung-ah and Go Minji tensed to act, but Go Yohan raised a hand to stop them.
“You wouldn’t know. Knight of cruel fate.”
Boom!
“You will once more cast aside everything for an illusion.”
Boom!
“Please...”
Taran Hill was now right before Go Yohan’s nose.
The sight of Go Yohan locking eyes with the massive Taran Hill without flinching stirred strange emotions in the onlookers.
“I hope it’s different this time.”
Boom!
The unbelievable happened.
“That is the only revenge I can exact against the Great Demons. Only you can grant this defeated warrior his final end.”
The gate’s boss monster.
“...!”
Knelt before Go Yohan.
Aside from the initial slash, there’d been no clash—yet it recognized the gap and abandoned combat in this unprecedented situation.
“What use is crossing blades? I couldn’t even withstand a single strike from you. No...”
Pfft. Taran Hill laughed.
“I wouldn’t even merit drawing your sword. Grant me peace.”
And with that.
Boom!
Like a condemned prisoner awaiting the axe, he dropped his head to the ground.
“Stand.”
Go Yohan said.
“I’ll give you a death befitting you.”
“...To the end...”
Taran Hill rose without further protest.
His huge frame cast a shadow, yet somehow Go Yohan felt several times larger.
Then, Go Yohan raised his hand.
It held nothing, yet it looked as if he gripped a sword.
“The Great Chieftain lives.”
Taran Hill said.
“And the Demon God’s revival is near.”
“Thank you.”
With those words.
Slice.
Taran Hill’s massive body began to crumble.
No one but Yun Seung-ah understood what had transpired.
But one thing was clear.
[Viscount Taran Hill’s Domain is destroyed.]
They had survived.
The gate’s interior collapsed in a vortex.