Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: How the Rank 1 Hero Saves the World
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The slashed monster fell back unceremoniously.
Its splendid armor had been sliced like paper before my sword and crumpled to the ground.
The eyes visible through the helmet remained filled with shock until the very end.
“How... how...?”
Of course, that was to be expected.
I grinned and flipped off the boss monster sprawled on the ground.
“You don't need to know.”
What I'd just triggered was the 'Return from Death' skill.
The activation condition for this skill was a moment of crisis, when your last thread of life was about to snap—yet you refused to yield, determined to push your will through.
An unyielding resolve... no, perhaps a burning desire... that kept your eyes open, your legs planted, refusing to lose anything even in the instant of death.
It was a perfect match for my trait, 'Piercing Talon.'
However, this skill didn't activate just because I wanted it to.
It only triggered when the System judged that the user was facing physical death.
The effect of Return from Death nullified the single, decisive attack that would have caused that physical death.
So, if the lord had struck multiple effective blows with magic instead of piercing my throat with his scepter, even if the skill had activated, I would have died.
That's why I'd deliberately let his magic hit me without countering it.
I figured a type swollen with pride in their own strength would want to confirm their superiority once they thought I'd been completely neutralized.
And that prediction had played out perfectly.
It was still a gamble, though.
If Ariadne had seen it, she'd have smacked me a few times. Lucas would have nagged me about lacking dignity.
But honestly, with those two around, I would've gotten actually killed before even using Return from Death. They both hated seeing me pull that skill.
But right now, neither of them was by my side.
That's why I could pull stunts like this.
“Anyway, trash like you is everywhere, acting the exact same way.”
The type that, once they see someone as weak, goes out of their way to humiliate and crush them completely.
I'd encountered plenty like that in Tartarus, so my Return from Death skill had maxed out long ago.
I planted my foot on the armored corpse and glanced up at the empty air first, checking for any messages.
I'd assumed a message would pop up acknowledging the boss monster's defeat or confirming it was fully dead.
“...Huh?”
But even after some time passed, the message I was waiting for didn't appear.
Why not?
I looked down at the boss monster's body and severed head at my feet.
Twitch.
I felt the body under my foot still moving.
The instant I sensed that movement, chills ran down my spine.
“Damn it!”
I readjusted my grip on my sword, pointing it downward. Its head was off, and it was still alive?
As expected of an SS-rank monster. Maybe it had a skill like mine.
If so, I'd have to keep slashing until it cleared. This time, aiming for the heart, I thrust down.
- Due to ■■ limits, cannot deplete player's life ∑■
- ■■'s ■■ opposition...... cannot be canceled midway
A garbled message appeared.
Before I could even parse it, instinct drove me to put more force into my downward thrust.
Whatever—kill it first!
- Warning! Your health is critically low. Please rest and recover.
- You cannot attack enemies until a certain amount of health is restored.
- Minimum stabilization time remaining: 00:05:00
But the moment the System message popped up, my limbs froze. It was like I'd been stunned, or bound head to toe in chains.
I stared at my sword. It hovered just barely above the enemy's torso.
A hollow laugh escaped me. Stabilization time?
I could swear on my sword.
I'd never seen a message like this in the past ten years.
“Let me go right now!”
No matter how much I yelled at the empty air, the System message didn't budge.
Its usual indifference, unchanged.
I ground my teeth.
Ever since returning to Earth, I'd been seeing these bizarre, unfamiliar messages.
Something was clearly off, but I had no idea what, which made it all the more frustrating.
It felt like the whole world was conspiring to choke me out.
“What the hell am I supposed to do in this situation!”
With the boss monster right in front of me, I gnashed my teeth.
The mystery of the System message was one thing, but right now, these five minutes were life-threatening. Without a clear message, I was still smack in the middle of enemy territory!
Sure enough, the surrounding soldiers began to stir as they grasped the situation. The king's decapitation had dispelled the magic, snapping them out of it.
The first to rush over were knights in full ceremonial garb. One shouted in a desperate voice.
“Your Majesty!”
“How dare they touch His Majesty's sacred body!”
“We should tear them apart!”
“Is that something you should say? I could rip that sacred body apart right now. Oh, wait—I already sliced it.”
“How dare you!”
The knight closest to me raised his sword toward me but didn't swing. He just stood there grinding his teeth, unable to approach.
I was bluffing hard, but cold sweat trickled down my back. How long would this corpse hostage stunt hold?
Maintaining my pose thrusting toward the corpse's heart, I smirked at the swords aimed my way.
Bluffing like this hurt my cheeks.
“Take one more step. I'll shred your king right here.”
As I spoke, I snuck a glance at my status window.
Player Name: Wandering Pilgrim (Status: Possession)
LV.79 (LV.22)
Trait: Piercing Talon (Honorable Warrior)
Class: Hero (Knight)
Health: 440 (+350)
Strength: 385 (+300)
Agility: 325 (+200)
Mana: 750 (+100)
Skills: Flame of Annihilation (Unavailable), Return from Death (Unavailable), Indomitable Will - On
Skills: After using Return from Death, health decreases sharply for a set period.
The pre-battle Hero class buffs stood out first, but they still weren't enough to punch through ten thousand soldiers.
Plus, two skills were unavailable.
Return from Death normally couldn't be used again on the same field once activated.
And as an overpowered skill, it came with a nerf afterward.
Truth be told, I felt like collapsing right then.
The Cloak Honoring the Hero's activation time had also ended.
This left me... with no options.
One wrong move, and I'd die for real this time.
- Time until stabilization: 00:03:22
The world's longest five minutes ticked away. About three minutes left, just like that.
Could I hold out?
If this so-called stabilization stun ended, I could make it back to the castle and regroup somehow.
But in this situation, it seemed impossible.
The encircling knights eyed me warily and crept closer bit by bit, so I bellowed louder.
“Didn't I tell you not to approach? You okay with me mangling the corpse?”
“Insolent to the end!”
“Foul follower of ■■!”
“The gods will punish you!”
I felt ridiculous holding the corpse hostage, but I had no choice.
Then, someone shoved through the approaching knights in a panic. He had a scholar's face, draped in a robe trailing to the ground.
A mage? He held something wand-shaped.
High-ranking, apparently—he raised a hand as he arrived, and the knights froze.
He barked at me.
“Remove that foot at once!”
“If that's what you want, pull back your troops. Simple condition, right?”
I'd expected some hesitation since I held their lord's corpse hostage, but the mage spoke without a flicker.
“Impossible. This is a holy war.”
“Holy war?”
Time left: 1 minute 50 seconds. I had to stall somehow.
Pretending interest in the conversation, I eyed the mage. His hair was streaked with gray as he raised his wand with a resolute face.
“This is the final rite of worship in this era. Divine punishment upon those who dare defy the gods.”
He spoke with such fanatic zeal that, even knowing the System would block info, I had to ask.
“So, you're not withdrawing because you want to punish us?”
“Of course! Repulsive creature! Still borrowing the gods' power—how fitting!”
“Honestly, I don't know the full story.”
Time left: barely 30 seconds.
I focused on my fingers while timing it, feeling the restraints loosen gradually.
“This isn't divine punishment.”
Tremble.
The sword pressing down began to shake. One knight shouted and lunged, but I ignored him.
Yeah, I didn't know the details, but one thing was clear.
The repeatedly reconstructed field. The looped wars and one-sided slaughters twisting the original history. All of it...
“It was you doing this.”
So cut the divine punishment crap.
The pressed-down sword began to move slowly. I felt it pierce flesh through my hand.
- Time until stabilization: 00:00:07
“Your Majesty!”
But the sword didn't reach the heart.
Before I could grasp what happened, a kick sent me tumbling across the ground.
“Guh!”
Before I could lift my head, someone stomped my back. Looking up, I saw... Ha, I let out a hollow laugh.
“No way.”
Even so, this was too much. I decapitated it, and both sides come back to life? Wasn't this unfair?
Or after a full loop, was it fair now?
The king's head had reattached. With a subordinate's support, he rose, gripping the scepter once more.
His revived arrogant gaze fixed on me.
“Foolish. Did you think the Final Lord would truly die by the likes of you?”
- Strategy Tip: To defeat the lord eroded by truth, eliminate 30% or more of its minions first.
“You crazy bullshit System!”
Seeing the message, something boiled up from my gut for the first time in ages.
Rage.
If there was a condition like that, it should've spat it out sooner! Just die already!
No, damn it—this was my mistake. As an SS-rank monster, I should've assumed resurrection skills.
But no time for cursing. The knight on my back drew his sword and aimed it at me.
“Your Majesty! Don't dirty your hands!”
“I'll do it!”
Gathering knights lunged with swords drawn, but the lord roared, holding them back.
“No one approach! I'll handle this myself!”
“Ooh, full of grudges.”
“You still have that mouth on you.”
I looked up at the boss mob approaching with the scepter. The king, who had lost all composure after decapitation, thrust the pointed end down at me again.
Thud!
The staff plunged into the earth, kicking up dirt and stone as it was yanked free. I gritted my teeth and rolled, dodging the digging strike once more.
“Urk!”
This was no longer magic or swordplay. It was a street brawl thug fight.
Yet the king's scepter swings carried fury and hatred, and I fought desperately to survive.
Crunch!
The deeply embedded scepter supported him as he dropped to one knee.
“Tenacious. I'll grant you that much for your fighting spirit.”
“Hah... hah.”
“But that's the end.”
I felt it too. Mana gathering in the scepter.
Skills unavailable.
Items on cooldown.
No power left to counter the boss's magic due to Return from Death's aftereffects.
This was it.
“Now die.”
With blurring vision, I gazed toward the castle walls. The people there were just black dots.
I'd promised to grant their wish. Sorry about that.
I closed my eyes.
“Don't close your eyes. It's too soon for that between us, right?”
A teasing voice wormed into my ear. With it came scorching heat on my skin.
Opening my eyes, I saw... a blue inferno hellscape.
Flames erupted across the field, devouring all life on the plain in greedy licks.
The field transformed into hell in an instant.
But lifting my head, the first thing I saw was massive wings blotting out the sun.
A single feather drifted down gracefully from their beat, touching my forehead and melting away.
- Detecting player Lee Pil-yeon. Vision restriction lifted.
The angel manifesting hell on earth landed lightly before me.
Lee Woo-yeon slowly turned his head toward me.
Our eyes met.
His clear black pupils still held suspicion, but the sword he wielded pointed clearly.
Not at me—at the lord.
Lee Woo-yeon extended a hand to me with a smile.
“So get up, Kang Ye-na.”
Letting out a deep breath, I realized I'd been holding it.
......There are moments like this.
Moments that feel destined to etch eternally into my soul, becoming part of it.
I grasped Lee Woo-yeon's hand and rose.