Chapter 246
Chapter 246
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 246
Chapter Title: War God (3)
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After the world went dark.
I couldn't hear a thing.
No pain, no smells.
Just like that time in the final stage of Delaila's trial, when every sensation in my body had been cut off.
But instinctively, I knew.
I was burning, locked in a life-or-death duel with the War God.
'Ah.'
A faint smell wafted in.
It wasn't artificial.
Not the kind where molecules in the air touch your nasal membranes.
'This is...'
Right.
The smell of death.
They say when it's your time to die, your life flashes before your eyes like a montage.
Like light rewinding backward, in that moment, I was reflecting on myself.
Me.
Joo Dong-hoon.
When I was ten, the world I knew ended.
Dungeons popped up all over the land and mountains.
Dungeon breaks unleashed monsters.
It was pure pandemonium back then.
Of course it was.
Monsters humanity had never seen before were slaughtering the powerless.
[Nostradamus's Prophecy Hits the Mark: "Is This Really the End of the Earth?"]
[Changed Earth: Special Abilities Discovered in Adult Men and Women.]
[Biotech Experts Worldwide: Phenomena Beyond Current Human Understanding!]
The world was in chaos.
The economy shattered overnight, countless corporations and small businesses shut down.
Kids who should have been cradled in their parents' arms became orphans in an instant.
I was one of them.
'Of course.'
My mom had already abandoned the family when I was nine.
'......'
Childhood memories flooded back vividly.
My dad, on leave at the time, took me to a nearby subway shelter.
He went out to fend off approaching monsters using the "Unique Ability" adults had gained, and never came back.
'But why.'
Now.
In these final moments, why were these memories surfacing?
Ten years scraping by in the shelter, doing every dirty job.
The "Cursed Necromancer" Unique Ability I got when I turned adult.
Then three years later.
Meeting the old man.
Meeting Seoul's Five Stars.
Meeting Kim Jin-ah.
Meeting Delaila.
Forming the Dragon Slayer team.
Building Byulcheonji.
In less than a year, rising to high ranker status recognized worldwide.
I'd achieved the dream I'd always chased.
And now.
Was I dying here?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, my chest ignited, boiling as if it would burn away.
"Grk, grrrk."
At the same time, inevitably.
Unbearable pain and agony crashed over me.
Muscles tearing, organs scorching.
Every cell in my body screaming.
"Graaaaaah!"
It felt like thousands of needles stabbing from my soles to my crown.
The pain was so intense.
I'd rather endure the old man's massages for life.
It was as if my "Pain Resistance" (S-Grade) skill had vanished.
In that instant.
"Hm."
My eyes cracked open slightly.
In a white world that looked like incontinence, I saw my opponent.
The War God's face as he took hit after hit.
...Ah.
I'm still fighting.
Just as the essences warned, paying the price for borrowing their power.
'But.'
The feeling was strange.
Immense pain clouding my mind.
'Me, beating a constellation?'
Even every high ranker on Earth couldn't scratch this unbreakable constellation, the War God—and I was pummeling him with my own hands...
Strength surged.
Right.
When else would I ever wield power like this?
Even with my shredded muscles, I clenched my fist tight.
'What matters is an unyielding spirit.'
Instinct told me.
Endure.
If you break here, you'll fail to claim the constellation and collapse.
Vanish without a trace in the vast cosmos.
Crunch!
I felt my teeth grinding.
Fine.
Doesn't matter if I can't see.
Doesn't matter if only pain registers.
Fighting with all five senses shut down!
Something I'd drilled endlessly in the trial!
The next moment.
Roooar!
My fist, infused with essence power, slammed into the War God with a deafening roar.
The feedback in my hand confirmed the damage landing true.
"Graaah...!"
The arrogant War God's scream was music to my ears.
Amid the searing pain, I swung wildly.
How much time passed like that?
[Ding!]
[Processing 'War God.']
[Constellation defeated.]
[Great feat accomplished.]
[Congratulations!]
[Rewards incoming!]
The alert that the War God was dead popped up.
He exploded in a burst of light.
And at the same instant.
"Cough, kuhuk!"
Feeling blood surging up my throat.
Thud!
I lost balance and collapsed.
Then.
Snap!
My mind went blank.
* * *
Fragments of a shattered planet.
Amid debris swept away by the explosion.
"Professor!"
Eloise Arin gritted her teeth, casting magic.
Levitation spells, binding spells.
Wooong!
Her left hand swung the staff, channeling energy.
Her right gripped tight between debris chunks.
"Pull yourself together!"
The summoned Arin was frantic.
The world itself was already wrecked—no solid ground.
Constellation explosion aftermath hurling wreckage everywhere.
Screeeeech!
So fast, probably faster than bullets.
"Professor!"
Joo Dong-hoon was out cold, naturally.
His body a total rag.
Skin lacerated, pierced, slashed everywhere.
Most of it charred black.
The silver lining?
Instinctively summoning his subordinates before blacking out?
Arin glanced around.
Skeletons clutching flying debris.
Taeyangchang, Eldrin, Kaden, Drimir, Dana, Mugak.
Seven Skeleton Kings total.
"Dana!"
Arin urgently sought Dana.
"Get over here and heal him! No response! Hell, it doesn't look like he's even breathing!"
Her hands shook.
No.
The professor can't die like this.
Can't go without even the memory of her giving her all to protect him.
Arin checked Joo Dong-hoon's pulse.
Good—his heart was beating.
"Hand him over!"
Dana shouted.
"The wind's too strong for me to cross alone!"
Whiiiish!
No air in space, but a constellation-scale blast was different.
Compressed atmosphere bursting outward—they could still hear each other.
"And in that state, even my abilities are useless! No healing, not even recovery works!"
"My shamanism won't cut it either."
Dana and Eldrin shook their bony heads creakily.
Boom! Crash!
Taeyangchang battered away incoming debris even now.
['Kaden' uses skill, 'Unyielding Shield' (Lv.5).]
Kaden deployed a wide-area barrier around his master.
And.
"...How."
Another skeleton riding the void like debris on ice.
None other than Mugak.
"Did he take down the War God?"
He knew his master was extraordinary.
In that short time, he'd surpassed the lifelong achievements of Mugak and his sworn brother with feet and fists—undeniable genius.
'But.'
Defeating a constellation was another level.
Mugak, whose life's goal was earning the War God's recognition, didn't know how to process this.
The world.
Not recognition—victory.
That alone proved his master's worthiness.
'Hmm.'
Mugak eyed his hand.
No longer a soul, but true bone.
[Name: Mugak]
[Vitality: 600/600]
[Unique Ability: Skeleton King]
[Class: Martial Artist]
[Grade: S]
[Strength: 80] [Agility: 80] [Vitality: 80] [Mana: 80] [Technique: 80]
[Held Skills]
-'Advanced Martial Arts' (Lv.1)
-'Chanda' (Lv.Max)
-'Minda' (Lv.Max)
-'Chikda' (Lv.Max)
-'Mujin' (Lv.1)
-'Skeleton Summon' (Lv.Max)
No longer a soul summoned to the War God realm.
A true subordinate of the Skeleton Emperor.
"Hey, newbie!"
Someone shouted beside Mugak then.
Kaden, hefting a massive shield.
"What're you spacing out for? Clear that debris and protect the master! Hurry!"
"...Master."
Mugak gazed at the man who'd just pummeled the War God.
Ashen face frozen, complexion ghostly pale.
Now, as his master's subordinate, he had to guard that life.
'Following the master.'
There'd be plenty of battles ahead.
* * *
Drift, drift.
They tumbled endlessly like lost in space.
Past the blast site, gravity vanished.
No friction, so no whipping winds like before.
Still hurtling at insane speeds, though.
Space is brutally cold.
So Arin kept body-warmth spells on the professor.
"Hm, what now."
Drimir asked from atop a passing asteroid.
Right.
The bony absolutes had spotted a settleable asteroid mid-flight.
Arin worked hard corralling them together.
"No answers, huh."
Taeyangchang nodded.
"Normally, we'd head back to Earth by now... but we can only wait for master to wake."
On the asteroid.
Master in the center, subordinates debating.
"As I said last time, master's condition is dire."
Dana murmured sadly.
"How much hell did he endure."
Dana was heartbroken.
She was Joo Dong-hoon's apostle.
To her, he was godlike.
Master had nearly exhausted his innate essence.
And damaged essence couldn't be restored by any magic or technique.
"Still, try something! You're better at healing than me!"
Arin bit her nails anxiously.
"I've done all I can. My feelings for master are no less than yours."
Dana clasped her hands again.
And prayed.
Toward her unconscious master.
* * *
Flutter!
Drimir Workshop conference room.
Kim Jin-ah flipped through the documents.
"Hm?"
Ultra-elite staff hired at top pay had sifted the most vital intel.
Even high-grade stuff from World Association, Russia, Magic Tower, US gov, Korean Association, guides, etc.
Thanks to info pacts with orgs recognizing her intel prowess.
"Huh?"
Two phrases caught her eye.
[Rank 90, Hellhound Secret Entry to Korea.]
[Rank 12, Goddess of the Sea Secret Entry to Korea.]
"...Hellhound?"
She remembered.
A ranker who'd fled after clashing with one of Seoul's Five Stars, Divine Bow Ki Pa-rang.
He'd targeted their guild master back then.
Kim Jin-ah had already blacklisted him in Byulcheonji.
And now.
Sneaking into Korea?
'Something's off.'
Kim Jin-ah licked her lips.
Her keen instincts and insight screamed unease.
Bad vibes, back aching too.
[Kim Jin-ah: All rankers.]
[Kim Jin-ah: Finish missions and assemble in conference room.]
[Kim Jin-ah: Emergency.]
So.
She summoned every Byulcheonji ranker to Apgujeong.
Instinctive call.