Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: The Smiling One (4)
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Cheongho’s corpse crumpled to the floor. Rotting brain matter and blood spilled across the ground.
And Jang Hyun-deok… well, he wasn’t Jang Hyun-deok anymore.
****
[Living Altar]: Increases the efficiency of possession, channeling, descent, etc., by 1200%. Minimizes penalties from possession, channeling, descent, etc. Ignores most restrictions on possession, channeling, descent.
// You are a natural-born medium with innate talent. Less a human with free will, more a living altar.
****
It was the same sight as before. The Living Altar trait manifested the full extent of [The Smiling One]’s power in the mortal realm.
Where Jang Hyun-deok’s face should have been, a grotesque skull took its place, with a bluish orb of light flickering inside it.
A cloak formed from gathered cold mist and the darkness of night. And within that cloak, horrifying skulls revealed themselves.
[The Smiling One] let out a massive laugh through Jang Hyun-deok’s mouth.
“□□□□□!!!”
Groooaaarrrr!!!
It was no longer a laugh humans could comprehend—a colossal explosion of force.
The underground bunker—no, the entire mountain—shook with tremendous energy. Unable to withstand the shock, part of the bunker’s inner wall split open with a horrific screech.
Through the gaping crack, a hazy glimpse of the void beyond flickered.
‘Pulling out all the stops, huh.’
Was it thrilled now that its turn had come?
“He’s fully possessed. Is this the end?”
Artificial darkness and pitch-black mist poured from [The Smiling One]’s body.
Its influence was expanding. The five streams of flame that had cornered [The Smiling One] until now lost their momentum and retreated.
Bones rolled out. Threatening magical energies, distant laughter, beastly roars, mist, the aura of death.
“Indeed, wizard. It’s over now.”
This time, it spoke in Jang Hyun-deok’s voice. Seemed it lacked a distinct personality of its own.
Catering to Cheongho’s childish tastes had been a chore, but now he had to deal with Jang Hyun-deok? Painful.
“A favor: while you’re possessing him, could you just shut up? Nothing but stupid shit comes out of that mouth.”
“Bear with it a little longer. Soon, you’ll become one with us. Become a servant for the hollow laughter that will spread across the universe.”
No. He was the asshole for even hoping Jang Hyun-deok would shut up.
Better to force it. He drew the Four Saints Subjugating Sword and aimed it at Jang Hyun-deok and [The Smiling One].
“Pathetic! Wizard, what can you do with that beastly power? Will you fan these flames borrowed from the abyss to strike me down?”
Gguuuuuguuu….
“□□□□□!!!”
Another massive laugh erupted.
The darkness expanded further. Skulls poured forth. Darkness, skulls, and laughter intertwined.
No need for special forms anymore. The sheer numbers alone could crush by weight.
A colossal tidal wave of bones, darkness, and hollow laughter surged forward. This wasn’t an attack you could block. No weapon could stop a crashing tsunami or storm.
Standing right before the oncoming wave, he held his single sword and spoke to [The Smiling One].
“Too bad. You picked the wrong vessel.”
[The SSS-grade Weapon Four Saints Subjugating Sword (Verdant Sovereign)’s unique function, ‘Sima’s Emblem,’ activates.
// Sima’s Emblem: All attack damage against virtuous or righteous targets increases by 400%.]
He’d tested this plenty already.
[The Smiling One] had no concept of good or evil, but the Four Saints Subjugating Sword recognized Jang Hyun-deok as righteous.
[Chains of Dominion]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximized]
[Spell Enhancement: Power Boost]
[Spell Enhancement: Range Extension]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-Cast]
Chaaaaring!
Dozens of chains of mana whipped through the dark underground chamber, emitting deafening noise and golden radiance.
Pumped with mana to the limit and enhanced, these Chains of Dominion were leagues beyond his usual casts.
“Kyahahahaha! Foolish wizard! You think that spell will work?”
Guuuuwoooong!
A black wave pulsed out, repelling the golden chains.
Normally? Almost impossible—no, completely impossible. Burning or striking might work, but casting this kind of spell on a high-order mental entity fully manifested was out of the question.
But would he cast a spell he knew would fail?
Keeeeeeng….
The mana emanating from inside Jang Hyun-deok’s body—possessed by [The Smiling One]—resonated with his magic. Mana he’d poured into him over a long period.
“W-What?!”
“Oh, the classic villain reaction. Perfect.”
The mana pouring from Jang Hyun-deok’s body linked with his Chains of Dominion….
Zzzt-crackle!!
A sharp resistance. Mental barrier? Much weaker than [The Yellow King’s]. Calculations flashed in an instant. Disabling it.
Bizarre, surreal mana structure. Simpler than [The One Who Comes from Darkness]. He adjusted his own mana structure to counter.
Disabled, analyzed, connected.
Zzzt-crackle!!
“Ugh, still not enough on its own.”
Output insufficient.
To maximize the Chains of Dominion, he layered on a new spell.
[Voice of Dominion]
[Spell Enhancement: Power Boost]
Another spell that controlled a designated target.
Normally, it couldn’t dominate [The Smiling One], a far superior being. But the moment it entered Jang Hyun-deok’s body, it became a metaphysical entity of lower order.
Thus, the spell’s target… wasn’t [The Smiling One].
It was Jang Hyun-deok.
『Jang Hyun-deok, stay still.』
Sudden silence.
Not even a groan or gasp. As if time had stopped.
But time hadn’t stopped.
[The Smiling One]’s power had.
“Phew, that was tough to hold back.”
The encroaching skulls, darkness, laughter—and Jang Hyun-deok at the center of it all—froze.
He raised both hands briefly in a mocking gesture at [The Smiling One], then drew up his mana.
He infused the cowering five flames with mana, granting them new properties. Transmute, reconstruct, preserve attributes but shift the theme.
No more childish games like rock-paper-scissors. Converge into one point and strike the enemy.
These weren’t flames he’d summoned himself, so they were a bit stiff. But obey me! Move! He raised the Four Saints Subjugating Sword, directing the living flames’ mana.
[The SSS-grade Weapon Four Saints Subjugating Sword (Verdant Sovereign)’s unique function, ‘Heavenly Flame Emblem,’ activates.
// Heavenly Flame Emblem: Effects of all flame-based magic increase by 100%.]
The flames, spreading in all directions, twisted into a fiercely rotating wheel of fire.
Fwooooosh!!!
“Fun while it lasted? Now get lost!”
The multicolored flame wheel smashed into [The Smiling One].
Kwaaaang! Fwoooosh!!
『Kuhuhuhuhu!! Kehehehehehehe!!!』
Flames made from mana borrowed from an abyssal being. [The Smiling One] spewed a bizarre noise—scream or laugh, impossible to tell.
“Oh, right. Can’t just burn it up like that.”
If he’d wanted to incinerate it outright, he’d have done so ages ago.
Theme shift again.
“Coagulate, entwine, tangle. And bind it tight.”
Magic circles bloomed everywhere. Mana sources glowing in every color, shapes, runes, words of power, hand seals, incantations.
He’d done this barehanded before. Now? Even easier.
[System: Hidden trait ‘Heir of the Corpse Pile’ activates.]
The trait he’d stolen from Heo Joo. Exerted powerful binding on spirits or mental entities.
“Something you can’t do in games, but I keep pulling it off.”
Craaaack!!
The five flames bound with immense force, ripping [The Smiling One] from the midst of the massive darkness and skulls.
It was an ancient book bound in weathered leather. The cover bore red letters—like etched in blood—spelling an alien tongue.
‘A book after all. An avatar.’
A book. A book. The source of all this chaos: a book.
It had rampaged as if [The Smiling One] itself had appeared, but even this was merely an avatar.
“Well, catching this much is something.”
The five flames now rotated at fixed intervals, stabilizing.
Mana threads extended from them, forming a pentagram that bound the newly revealed book.
Temporary seal complete.
“Roughly done?”
In the space now free of skulls, darkness, and laughter, Jang Hyun-deok’s form emerged. Pale-faced, he stared at him, expression blank with confusion.
“Wi… wizard?”
“Sigh. Let me be clear: this isn’t why I brought you along.”
“Huh…?”
With that, Jang Hyun-deok lost consciousness and collapsed.
Just tidy up now? But one thing still yapping at him remained.
“Uh, uh, uh….”
The mouth of Cheongho’s corpse twitched, a voice leaking out.
No way dead Cheongho was talking. Some remnant of [The Smiling One]’s influence forcibly animating the body.
“How’d I do it? Or how’d I know?”
“Uh, uh, uh….”
“You think I’d drag around a medium with top-tier specs but no self-defense, no safeguards?”
It had targeted Jang Hyun-deok from the start. Maybe even outside the bunker?
The crow caws from beyond the bunker, black shadows, and Jang Hyun-deok’s nonsense that foreshadowed something.
‘Mumbled something about a grave site.’
It had deliberately engineered a situation where he had no choice but to bring Jang Hyun-deok inside.
Then stimulated his mind to halt him, separating them.
‘Tch. Honestly, not entirely unexpected.’
He’d anticipated it to some degree. That’s why he’d brought him inside rather than leaving him out.
And so—
“I prepared ways to control whatever might possess him.”
That’s why he’d forced himself to look at Jang Hyun-deok’s face periodically.
What if something weird possessed him without him knowing? If it picked a fight, fine. But if it hid and started some cult? No dealing with that.
So he’d kept Jang Hyun-deok close, infusing his own influence.
‘Didn’t plan to use him as bait, though.’
All that long, endless babble he’d endured….
Ah, this bastard. Thinking about it pissed him off.
He surged his mana and swung the Butcher’s Hook, forcibly ripping the lingering spirit from Cheongho’s body.
Kaaaaaaaagh!!
The Butcher’s Hook indeed. Its amplification of necromantic magic made it devastating against insubstantial spirits.
He eyed the pitch-black spirit impaled on the hook. It resembled a human head or a page of paper inscribed with bizarre patterns—a strange entity.
- Kaaaaaaaagh!! Stop! Stop it! Stop!!
It could talk, as expected. Unlike the metaphysical, abstract [The Smiling One], which couldn’t communicate directly with humans.
Like how abyssal beings create avatars to manifest will, this was [The Smiling One]’s personality construct for metaphysical interaction.
“Aww, does it hurt? Hang on. I’ll make it worse.”
[System: Hidden trait ‘Heir of the Corpse Pile’ activates.]
Pzzzt-crackle!!
- Kaaaaaaaagh!!
“Strength and wisdom my ass? Who do you think you’re pissing off?”
Now it was just venting.
- Kaaaaaaaagh!! Why! Why! This sensation! This alien sensation? What is this!!
“Wondering why it hurts in spirit form? Oh, you’ve never even felt pain before, huh?”
Using the Heir of the Corpse Pile trait, he injected a specific concept into the spirit.
Like doodling in a book to alter its contents.
The concept: pain.
The sensation of hurt, agony, torment—a mind-shattering horror.
- E-Even if… Even if…!
“Yeah, even if this is just a fragment, it won’t affect the main body?”
Spot on.
This was part of the sealed book, sure—but just a torn page.
Doodling here wouldn’t change the original. Like burning cut hair does nothing to the owner.
And even that book wasn’t [The Smiling One]’s true form. In short, this yapping spirit was a fragment of a fragment. Disposable trash.
Beating it wouldn’t help his mood much.
- Yes! Vent on this tiny shard all you want! You stupid human! My true body is eternal! I’ve existed in this universe for times you can’t fathom. The time you can inflict pain on me is a mere blink compared to the endless cosmos—
Mixed with Cheongho, maybe? For a clone from such a being, the intelligence was low, the dignity lacking.
“Don’t worry. I can repair books too.”
- …What?
“You can guess, right? Enjoy eternal companionship with the sensation of pain.”
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