Chapter 185
Chapter 185
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: Godam (3)
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"Hmm...."
I wore a puzzled expression.
Bong Jae-young.
He was a bit dense, but he was still a ranker from Korea.
A fairly high-level ranker at that.
For someone like him to be reduced to emitting those red glowing eyes just from the Malignant Poison?
I looked around.
Around the flashy Iron Fist were a total of four rankers.
Maxi, Im Soo-jin, Gi So-yul, and Floa.
"W-What do we do?"
Kwon So-ye was the first to furrow her brow.
"What do you mean, what do we do?!"
A venomous voice rang out immediately.
It was Floa, world rank 80, the Thunderclap.
"In war, hesitation is poison! Kill anything that doesn't look like an ally!"
Pazzzik!
Floa, her entire body dyed yellow, kicked off the ground with all her might.
"Hraaap!"
As if to show why she was called Thunderclap.
With an enormous explosive boom, the moment Floa's body connected with Iron Fist.
The area around them turned white.
At the same time.
- Kieeeaaah!
A roar that could never come from a human erupted from Iron Fist's mouth.
"Ugh!"
"My ears!"
The left flank, centered on Kaden, fell into chaos.
The troops charging in with battle cries clutched their eyes and ears.
They had taken massive shock just from the clash of enormous energies.
"Damn it."
Floa spat a curse, looking stunned.
"That monster bastard. Wasn't he originally rank 101? Why's he this strong?"
She shook her hands as if they were numb from the punch.
I could tell just from the feel.
That last attack hadn't landed properly.
"Don't just stand there gawking—attack! Non-rankers, evade on your own! There's plenty of prey over there! Use your heads and move aggressively!"
As expected of a high ranker.
Floa's charisma instantly quelled the troops' confusion.
"Y-Yeah, right! Let's evade!"
"Let's support the right flank instead!"
"Leave the tough ones to the rankers!"
They bellowed and moved swiftly.
"......"
I, watching them.
Taat!
Kicked off the ground.
If even Floa was struggling, I needed to lend my strength.
"Hmm."
The old man following behind me muttered.
"That must've been the energy I sensed earlier from that guy. Peak level, sure, but tsk, using power like that will burn through his life force in no time."
The Malignant Poison draws power by sucking the host's life force.
'A cruel method.'
"Cruel if you call it cruel. Dang Hwi-pyeong didn't get ranked #2 on the world's all-time villains list for nothing."
'All-time villains ranking...?'
Something like that existed?
'Then who's #1?'
"......#1?"
A moment of silence.
The old man's face flushed slightly.
"You brat! What good does knowing that do? It's a world long forgotten after death anyway."
Huh?
'......No way, Elder, were you a villain?'
"You brat! What do you take your master for? Khum! Ahem."
He was getting unnecessarily agitated.
It seemed spot on...
"Focus! Look! We're almost in close range now!"
'Ah.'
Fwoosh!
I gripped the spear shaft that formed in my hand tightly.
Shook my head.
'Get it together.'
Whether the Elder had a notorious past or not didn't matter.
It was all in the past.
Hoo, hoo!
As I focused with my breathing, my blood boiled.
An indescribable emotion dyed my heart.
'What is this feeling...?'
Normally.
War should be something to fear.
Especially against villains with hordes of rankers.
But.
My blood was boiling from the tips of my toes.
Fear?
Honestly, not even 0.1% of it.
Just.
'I want to fight.'
Fighting spirit.
I fully felt the emotion consuming my chest.
How much had I trained?
How much hardship had I endured in those trials?
Now, finally, I could verify the results of that growth.
Against them.
Pour my power freely into the world.
"Heh heh, you're pumped."
The old man following laughed.
"Good, now you finally look human, but you're still just a greenhorn who's barely gained power. So."
The old man nodded.
"Go ahead and unleash whatever your emotions dictate. It's all experience."
'Yes, Elder.'
To them.
I'll show you.
The greatness of All Arts.
* * *
"Hraaap! You bastard!"
Swaeeeek!
Floa barely dodged the insanely fast punch, then twisted her waist immediately.
Pazzzik!
A counter using the opponent's charging momentum to inflict greater damage!
A clean roundhouse kick unfolded from her leg.
Kwaaaang!
A deafening roar shook the heavens.
Caught off guard by the impact, Bong Jae-young was flung back, rolling dozens of times across the ground.
Such was the force that the hard ground was worn and cratered.
"Whew."
Floa whistled after landing one strike with tremendous results.
"Now my body's finally warming up?"
Pazzzik!
She showed no intention of stopping after one hit.
She charged straight in, slamming a soccer kick into the downed Iron Fist's face.
Then threw her body into a 360-degree spin onto his nape, driving down with her elbow.
Kwang! Kwaaaang!
Im Soo-jin, watching the brutal fistfight, gasped in awe.
"C-Crazy! So cool!"
With a face that made it clear why Kwon So-ye was a fan of Thunderclap.
"Electric wrestler!"
"Hey! Don't give me weird nicknames!"
Floa, having heard it all, shouted as she rose and prepared another punch.
- Krurrk!
The downed Bong Jae-young grabbed her ankle.
"What the hell?"
Stunned by the sudden move, Floa tried to yank her foot free swiftly, but.
His iron-hard grip didn't budge.
"You monster bastard!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
She stomped his forehead viciously with her other foot.
But soon, an overwhelming force spun her body into the air.
Then.
Bong Jae-young shot to his feet and swung with all his might at the airborne target.
"Damn it..."
Kwaaaaang!
Like a grenade exploding, a eardrum-shattering whoosh followed as Iron Fist's fists hammered into her body in succession.
Kwang! Kwaang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
"Gh, guh!"
As she curled up, enduring the churning agony inside.
"Floa!"
I arrived.
Upon arrival, I thrust my right hand's spear straight out.
Swaeeeek!
Along with my aching right shoulder.
Kwaaaang!
A dull impact.
But I felt it connect solidly.
Of course.
This.
Isn't an ordinary weapon—it's a Godslayer-grade weapon.
- Kieeeaaah!
But the flung-back Iron Fist rose again as if unscathed.
Like a zombie that felt no pain.
"Huh, that thing's nearly indestructible. You gonna be okay?"
'Indestructible?'
"Similar vibe to your Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity. It means a state as hard as diamond, where blades or water can't pierce the flesh."
'......'
"Well, your weapon surpasses blades, so no issue."
As expected.
I charged like a gale once more.
A flurry of strikes at the guy alongside the recovered Floa.
My spearmanship isn't rigid.
- Swing and thrust in the coolest, most comfortable stance you can imagine.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
I gave the sturdy bastard no room to move.
- At the base of those actions lie the concepts you've experienced and felt in life.
Spearmanship infused with all my past experiences.
My eyes widened.
'Spear?'
Does it have to be a spear?
All Arts doesn't handle only spearmanship.
My body moved even more fluidly.
When he closed in, the spear became a sword.
When his movements were unreadable, I mixed kicks and punches.
- Yes, your All Arts contains your entire life.
The master's teachings that always echoed.
Erupted against the monsterized Iron Fist.
- Kiii! Kieeeaaah!
Iron Fist roared in frustration, but.
He couldn't do much.
Just get pummeled by me.
"......Crazy."
Im Soo-jin gaped.
"......That's a necromancer?"
"Yay! Awesome! As expected of my lord!"
Floa forgot her pain and cheered excitedly.
At that moment.
"Hey."
An abruptly displeased voice rang in my ear.
A voice I'd never heard.
"You're getting too cocky, aren't you?"
At the same time, pitch-black formless energy surged from all directions.
Like massive hands rising from the ground to seize me.
'What the.'
I furrowed my brow at the spine-chilling destructive power and quickly stepped on the shadow.
Sususuk!
The attack I barely evaded collided with a kwaduduk! and vanished into the earth.
'This technique...'
I'd heard of it.
The one who attacks with moves like demons dragging from hell.
World rank 79, The Ruthless Ji Ma's technique.
"Whew, what? Even Thunderclap's here?"
A random Russian youth muttered with hands in his pockets.
"So, ranks 78, 79, and 80 are all gathered?"
Behind him were five more figures.
Each one an upper ranker just from their auras.
"......"
I stopped attacking and stood beside Floa.
'Good.'
Better this way.
I'd wanted many rankers focused on me anyway.
'Plus.'
Whoosh!
I spun the spear instinctively and leveled it at him.
'Rank 79?'
A bit disappointing he's below me, but.
Time to show.
Why rankings exist.
* * *
Center of the battlefield.
Vladimir closely examined the holograms Kapu had projected.
The Guide's ability truly shone on the battlefield.
He could monitor every situation from one spot via screens.
"Hmm."
Vladimir groaned lowly.
"War's at a stalemate?"
"No, precisely, we're slightly at a disadvantage."
Kapu, arms crossed beside him, shook his head.
The two were controlling all troops from the center rather than fighting.
"Hoon's skeletons are covering those mystery monsters decently, letting us hold. We're losing everywhere else."
Comparing forces of Yidam and Godam.
First, Yidam.
[6,660 minion skeletons.]
[6 lord-grade skeletons.]
[Five rankers 500-1,000.]
[Kapu, Olena, Judgment Spear, One Cat, Maxi, Vladimir.]
[7,000 B~S-grade Yidam hunters.]
[Gi So-yul, Kwon So-ye, Im Soo-jin.]
Finally.
[Joo Dong-hoon and Floa.]
Conversely, Godam.
[Transformed Iron Fist.]
[Transformed monsters, roughly 10,000.]
[Lei Bu Ti Ma and ten rankers 100-500.]
[Five rankers 500-1,000.]
And high rankers.
[Andrei and Ji Ma.]
Seemed balanced, but.
Objectively, Godam held a slight edge.
More rankers.
Skeletons belonged to Joo Dong-hoon himself.
Kapu chewed his lips anxiously.
"Godam's ten rankers 100-500 are wild cards too. No intel on their unique abilities."
"Hmm."
Vladimir eyed Kapu.
His gaze held firm conviction.
"But, Kapu."
"Yeah."
"You know as well as I do. Ultimately, this war's outcome boils down to one thing."
"......"
"The high rankers' battle."
Precisely.
Joo Dong-hoon + Floa vs Andrei + Ji Ma.
"Well, yeah..."
Kapu admitted.
He had to.
High rankers were that kind of existence in this era.
"And don't forget? The opponent's our team leader."
Vladimir grinned.
To him, the team leader was godlike.
The unprecedented hunter who slew dragons and cleared all trials.
That's when.
"Look there, Vlad."
Kapu pointed at the hologram.
"Ji Ma's joined Team Leader and Thunderclap. Five rankers behind him. All top 100 or 200."
"Andrei'll join soon?"
"Looks like it from the situation."
"Hmm."
"Probably the hotspot."
"Okay."
Vladimir nodded.
"Then let's concentrate our forces there too."