Chapter 354
Chapter 354
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 354
Chapter Title: Joint Training (3)
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Whoosh!
Amid the sharp attacks closing in from my subordinates.
Fwoosh!
I silently swung my sword. I thrust with the spear and shot arrows.
“…….”
If the foundation of the Myriad Arts was laying the groundwork for all techniques,
Then the path to intermediate level didn’t require using every single one.
The weapon you liked best.
Whoosh!
For example, swinging just a single spear was enough.
Because the subtleties contained in that thrust were all different.
If the basics involved learning everything broadly, then the intermediate stage could be seen as the process of gathering it all into one.
I consolidated it into three weapons.
Sword, spear, bow.
The sword was easy to handle, the spear felt great,
And the bow made it easy to check distant opponents.
Kwa-gagag!
As I parried the Sun Flame Strike of Sun Spear with my sword.
Ping! Piiing!
I knocked away the arrows shot by Eldrin with my own arrows.
Destruction Dragon Arrow (SS-grade)?
Such a thing…… was neutralized the moment it touched my arrows.
That was only natural.
Since the grade of my arrows was God-Slaying.
To be precise, it was disintegrating them with overwhelming essence power before they could explode, but anyway.
“Hap!”
As I blocked Mugak’s fists and kicks and dodged Kaden, I thrust my spear toward Sun Spear.
Kugu-gagaga!
I had already pierced Sun Spear’s chest several times with this spear.
“Hyup!”
My flesh had also burned from the flames Sun Spear exhaled.
Wuuung!
But Dana’s healing pouring in from the side neutralized all of it.
In other words.
Neither of us feared death.
Sun Spear was undead anyway, so there was no reason to fear dying.
And I was fighting with death excluded thanks to Dana.
However, the emotion I felt was.
‘You guys want to get stronger too.’
Sun Spear.
Eldrin.
Kaden.
Mugak.
It was clear they each felt something amid their desire to grow.
The evidence was that their attacks were growing sharper and their defenses sturdier.
‘Good!’
Though we were skeletons with no breathing, our hearts burned hot.
We clashed weapons and bodies, ceaselessly stimulating each other.
Another week passed.
“Kehkeh. Good. We should thank that Boneil fellow too.”
The old man tossed those words as he passed by.
‘Right.’
Boneil, that guy in his true form.
He was chillingly strong yet steadfastly just sitting there, which stimulated us more.
On top of that, he told us to train but didn’t even attack.
‘Thanks.’
While we trained,
Arin was handling mana and researching this and that.
Yuisa had gone somewhere else entirely to communicate with the Spirit Kings.
It seemed like she was letting her experience every corner of this cave world.
Just that was said to raise her spirit affinity?
And so another week passed like that.
Fwoosh!
Sun Spear’s sharp spear arts blazed hot, just like the sun itself.
Swoosh! Swish swish! Kwaaaang!
Eldrin’s movements grew swifter with each passing day, and her shooting speed became as nimble and precise as the wind. She didn’t miss anymore.
Thud!
Kaden’s shield grew even heavier and more solid.
Hitting it felt like striking a thick iron wall.
His defensive arts were like an impregnable fortress impossible to breach.
And Mugak.
His hand movements, once masterful only in kicks, now rivaled true fist arts.
The harmony of kicks and fists.
It was like seeing the movements of the ‘War God’ (SSS-grade) I had fought before.
‘Yeah, that’s it.’
Talent was important, of course.
But effort was just as crucial as talent.
Look.
Just do it!
They were clearly improving!
Kugu-gagaga!
We kept fighting.
We moved in complete immersion, no longer even recognizing each other.
Swords swung without thought, spears thrust instinctively, arrows loosed on reflex.
We forgot each other.
We forgot what “each other” even meant, forgot ourselves.
The embodiment of self-forgetfulness!
Hasera’s goal of reaching the Transcendent Demon realm.
And our desire and will to stand at the Constellation stage drove our bodies.
It was nothing difficult.
Effort, after all.
Was something we’d been doing nonstop since turning twenty.
Moving purely on instinct without reason.
Unconsciously parrying subordinates’ attacks and thrusting swords.
It was possible because we’d repeated it mechanically until it was ingrained in our bodies.
“……!”
And then.
At some point.
Hasera’s eyes widened.
‘What?’
Joo Dong-hoon and his subordinates realized something was off.
She too had been dragging her weary body to keep participating in their training.
‘No way?’
Their pupils lacked focus.
Yet their movements were confident. Unhesitating.
‘……This is?’
How could she not know!
She had experienced it when she ascended to the Entering Demon realm!
Perfect unity!
The state where mind and action fully merged into one!
Ah, yes.
This was the gateway to becoming a Constellation.
The stage right before glimpsing the pinnacle of something.
Hasera was surprised but didn’t stop moving.
Kugu-gagaga!
If anything, she swung her sword even harder.
She couldn’t disrupt their movements.
Like flowing water.
Naturally.
She had to help them internalize their enlightenment.
It was a promise.
Hasera too had clearly gained something from fighting them nonstop.
Just having opponents of matching level accumulated tremendous experience, and she had personally awakened to the subtleties held by absolute beings from various worlds.
‘And.’
The stronger they became.
The stronger the training partners she would have!
Ta-at!
She kicked off the ground and soared elegantly into the sky.
Her figure, hair fluttering with her sword, was majestic like an Eastern dragon piercing the heavens.
And then.
The barrage of Hasera’s sword strikes poured down!
Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Heaven-Splitting Asura Sword.
Heavenly Demon Great Annihilation Tribulation.
Kugu-gagaga!
In that instant, a demonic storm devouring everything fell in the shape of a massive character.
Techniques that were awe-inspiring no matter how many times seen!
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!
Like a carpet bombing, the surging demonic energy struck Joo Dong-hoon’s subordinates.
‘Endure it.’
Even a small butterfly endures patiently until it breaks free of its cocoon?
‘And then it flies.’
The greater the pain.
The more effort repeated.
The sweeter the spring day that awaits would be.
They would savor the sweet fruit of Constellation even more richly.
“Haaap!”
Hasera’s sword strikes, fueled by an inner shout, were exceptionally sharp.
* * *
It was a time when even counting the passage of time had been forgotten.
‘Huh?’
I hadn’t noticed.
Before I knew it, messages floated in my vision.
Not just one, but several.
‘What?’
No, before that.
How long had we been doing this?
Kwa-gagaga!
I was still swinging my sword.
My subordinates were still resisting it.
“……!”
Ta-at!
After knocking away Sun Spear’s spear, I kicked off the ground and retreated backward.
And as I rolled my eyes to check the topmost message.
[Congratulations.]
[‘Sun Spear’ awakens ‘Power of the Sun’ (SSS-grade).]
[‘Sun Spear’s’ energy increases by 500!]
[‘Sun Spear’s’ grade rises to SSS-grade!]
[‘Sun Spear’s’ all stats increase by 20!]
“W-Wait!”
I immediately shouted in all directions.
“Everyone, stop!”
Crazy?
For real?
Did Sun Spear really become a Constellation?
‘No.’
It wasn’t just Sun Spear.
[Congratulations.]
[‘Eldrin’ awakens ‘Will of Nature’ (SSS-grade).]
[‘Eldrin’s’ energy increases by 450!]
[‘Eldrin’s’ grade rises to SSS-grade!]
[‘Eldrin’s’ all stats increase by 20!]
Eldrin too.
[Congratulations.]
[‘Kaden’ awakens ‘Impregnable’ (SSS-grade).]
[‘Kaden’s’ energy increases by 450!]
[‘Kaden’s’ grade rises to SSS-grade!]
[‘Kaden’s’ all stats increase by 20!]
Kaden too.
[Congratulations.]
[‘Mugak’ awakens ‘War God’ (SSS-grade).]
[‘Mugak’s’ energy increases by 500!]
[‘Mugak’s’ grade rises to SSS-grade!]
[‘Mugak’s’ all stats increase by 20!]
Mugak too.
All of them who had faced me, Hasera, and Dana had ‘already’ become Constellations.
‘When the hell?’
It felt like waking from a long dream.
All I remembered was wildly swinging my arms and flying around.
Only one thing lingered in my mind.
The thought of wanting to grow, over and over.
Before I knew it.
Everyone had stopped moving.
Then they blankly examined their own states.
“I-Is this…… for real?”
Sun Spear stammered without realizing it.
The first moment since becoming undead that he surpassed his living self!
“Ahh, the sun of the ancient desert world…… The power of that sun I could only behold at the moment of my birth now resides in my chest.”
If.
Sun Spear could shed tears.
Wouldn’t droplets have fallen?
‘Yeah, kid.’
A man sheds tears only when his dream comes true.
“Ahh, my body feels light. Master.”
Eldrin with her yellow hair lightly frolicked around.
“I feel like I’ve truly awakened to what nature and the forest are.”
Bouncing and fluttering.
It was so profound, so natural, it was hard to catch with the eyes.
‘Will of Nature’ (SSS-grade), was it.
Quite a grandiose name.
Nature was the universe itself.
And the universe was vast beyond measure.
As Arin had explained.
Nebula-grade, galaxy-grade, and so on.
If Eldrin could keep growing, her potential might be top-tier?
“Master.”
Thud!
‘This guy…….’
Even after becoming a Constellation.
He still hadn’t fixed that habit of slamming his shield down.
“With just this shield, it feels like I could block a dragon’s breath.”
Oh.
Even a dragon’s breath?
“I can protect Master even more safely now. I, Kaden, am overjoyed.”
As expected of Kaden.
He was like a massive boulder.
So reliable and reassuring to have by your side.
“Krahat!”
In contrast, Mugak was so lighthearted.
“Master! Finally! Finally, I’ve ascended to War God! I’ve achieved the dream I couldn’t even in life, together with Master!”
I liked that lightness too.
Light things were nimbler and faster than heavy ones anyway.
Mugak had a bouncy charm.
And he was just as sharp and strong as that charm.
Honestly.
My ribs and abdomen where he hit still throbbed.
‘Anyway.’
My subordinates! My summons!
They had finally ascended to Constellations!
They were happy, sure, but I was the happiest.
How could I not be, now that I could wield Constellations freely!
My heart felt refreshed and clear.
I appreciated Hasera nodding as if understanding me.
And Dana praying with a somewhat wistful expression.
“Everyone.”
Hoo, I exhaled upward and murmured.
“You’ve worked hard. Really.”
It was the moment I comforted and encouraged my subordinates at once.
[Sun Spear has become a Constellation illuminating the universe.]
[Eldrin has become a Constellation illuminating the universe.]
[Kaden has become a Constellation illuminating the universe.]
[Mugak has become a Constellation illuminating the universe.]
“Huh?”
My eyes went wide.
Why.
What else?
The system messages weren’t appearing unchanged……
[Sun Spear, Eldrin, Kaden, Demir, Mugak, Yuisa.]
[Over half of the ten skeletons you can command have become Constellations.]
[You can no longer be called Emperor for wielding multiple Constellations.]
[A loftier name is more fitting.]
[The system searches for a name more suited to the current situation.]
Skeleton Emperor.
My moniker and unique ability!
Now the system was gifting me a new name?
[You are a being who receives the loyalty of multiple Constellations.]
[You are ‘Skeleton Master’.]