Chapter 318
Chapter 318
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 318
Chapter Title: Forced Intervention
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Yang Seoho ripped something off Akiyama's face and tossed it to the floor.
Splat—
“Grrrraaah!”
An unpleasant groan leaked from the fresh hole punched into Akiyama's face.
It wasn't even worthy of being called a hole.
Most of his face had been torn away. Even the back of his head. The gaping void went straight through, clear enough to see the opposite wall on the other side.
“And it turns out you’re not even human.”
There was no trace of human anatomy inside the hole, not even anything resembling a living creature. No veins or bones.
Instead, the exposed interior of his skull was filled with writhing, grotesque pink flesh.
“Hweeeoooooo!”
Despite the massive hole in his face, Akiyama inflated his entire body and flailed his limbs wildly.
[System: Penalty trait ‘Feast’s Sacrifice’ has activated. An abyssal being bestows abyssal power upon its offspring.]
“Die!”
Black smoke and rumbling thunder lashed out at Yang Seoho.
KABOOM!
Immense monstrous strength.
Struck directly by the attack, Yang Seoho was flung back, smashing through the wall—and vanishing beyond this space that could no longer be called a room.
“Grrraaah! Hweeeooo—”
Akiyama let out eerie sounds as he repaired his face—then completed the mutation already underway without pause.
A monkey-like head. A tanuki’s torso. Tiger legs. Massive bird wings.
“Chirrraaah—”
And a snake’s head at the tip of its tail.
“It’s a Nue! That’s the exact shape-shifting yokai from Japan that this bastard was after!”
Seo Cheonseul’s shout.
A chimera mixing features from every beast, a monster from The Tale of the Heike.
No—known as the Nue, it was a yokai that had terrorized Japan for nearly a thousand years in that grotesque form, but its true nature was...
“Grrraaah! Kim Shinhwa! Where are [Flesh Blade] and [Soul Shackle]!”
“Oh, those?”
[Flesh Blade] was inside the barrier device of the Cull Van, and [Soul Shackle] was still embedded in the body of one page from [The Smiler].
Neither was in a place they could retrieve right now.
“More importantly, you should worry about Yang Seoho.”
“What?”
Rumble—
Yang Seoho strode back in, crumbling the wall.
Less struck by Akiyama’s attack and more pushed back by sheer weight difference.
Yang Seoho spoke slowly, unharmed in every way.
“An illegal immigrant using forged identity, a cultist, a nonhuman.”
Yang Seoho hated foreigners. Despised cultists. Loathed nonhumans.
She harbored a pathological hatred for [abyssal beings] that destroyed this country, harmed its people, ruined its future—and their byproducts.
Because that was the only way she could earn recognition from those she loved.
Akiyama had been downgraded from [a being with Korean permanent residency that couldn’t be attacked freely under the law] to [an illegal, alien enemy from the outside world that deserved rejection and execution].
“You have no right to set foot on this land.”
Crunch!
Yang Seoho’s fist pierced straight through Akiyama’s massive torso.
BOOM!!
A shockwave barely trailing her fist inflicted massive damage across Akiyama’s entire body.
A huge hole gaped in Akiyama’s body. But—
Shlorp—
The shattered parts flowed fluidly—and Akiyama’s body repaired itself in an instant.
Right.
That thing wasn’t just some mutant or yokai tangled up from animal traits.
It was the most ideal offspring form that [Source of Life] could create, a monster from the [Cthulhu Mythos] capable of replicating the traits of every creature that walked, flew, swam, or crawled this world.
“Tekeli-li!”
The signature cry pouring from Akiyama’s mouth.
“Yang Seoho! You can’t kill it with blows!”
That bastard was a shoggoth evolved to mimic human form and cognition.
Smaller than the one we’d met on Seoraksan, but it possessed the same cheat-like traits granted to all shoggoths.
That’s why it emerged unscathed from the epicenter of that horrific explosion.
Thud—Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam!
Despite my warning, Yang Seoho’s attacks didn’t stop.
“What are you doing? Listen to peo—”
Boom! Crunch! Rrrrip! Slash! Splat! Boom! Babababababam!
“Huh—Mr. Kim... Is that really Mr. Kim?”
Even the goblin Seo Cheonseul recoiled from the brutality.
Rumble rumble! Crackle crackle! Zzzzzzap!
The friction from the onslaught churned the room’s air endlessly—and massive bolts of lightning erupted in all directions.
To reiterate, Akiyama was a shoggoth disguised as a human.
And every shoggoth had cheat traits: [50% fire and lightning resistance], [50% all magic resistance], [ignores all physical damage], [hyper-regeneration], [top-tier mutation ability].
Shlorp—
Akiyama began reconstructing his body in an instant.
“Tut—”
Yang Seoho’s short sigh.
Despite unleashing attacks brutal enough to demand roars or battle cries, her demeanor was like doing mildly annoying dishwashing.
She spread her hand—and swung a massive downward arc.
Whooooom—
The surreal wind pressure from her palm sent the scattered debris on the floor flying upward all at once.
Shatter shatter shatter bam!
“Kraaaah—!”
Akiyama finally got a chance to groan.
Crunch.
Foreign objects embedded in his body.
He tried to expel them and restore himself, but Yang Seoho didn’t pause for even a second, pressing the assault.
Fists—fists—fists—attacks—attacks—attacks pouring endlessly at insane speed.
Relentless combos too fast for the eye to follow. Whirlwind shockwaves exploding outward.
Kagagagagagagboom!
“Gaaack! S-stop!”
“Shut up.”
Boom! Crackle!
Concrete chunks shoved into his gaping mouth.
Merciless.
Ironically, Yang Seoho’s penalty preventing full strength and Akiyama’s infinite regeneration prolonged this horrific torment endlessly.
20 seconds.
The time it took for Akiyama’s grotesque body to turn into a massive ball clumped from shards, blood, and meat.
Yet Yang Seoho didn’t stop.
Crunch crunch! Rrrrip! Thud! Crack!
Endless pressure. Foreign objects relentlessly jammed into Akiyama’s body.
Crackle—Sizzle—
The stone and metal shards, denatured by excessive pressure and compression heat, had long since ‘welded’ onto Akiyama’s meatball form.
“Wait... Are you seriously trying to seal it with punches?”
The Yang Seoho in reality could make choices beyond what the game NPC Yang Seoho could—and this was the result.
“Wait 5 seconds. Kim Shinhwa. Run, and I’ll kill you.”
With that, the direction of Yang Seoho’s fists changed.
KABOOM!
From above to below.
KABOOOOOM!
To the floor.
KABOOOOOOOM!
Into the ground.
Akiyama, shell of metamorphosed stone and metal intact, slammed into the floor.
KABOOOOOOOOOOM!
Each punch from Yang Seoho drove deeper underground. The floor yielded as easily as poking a sponge cake with a finger.
3 seconds to reach this point.
Pop!
Leaping from the fresh hole, Yang Seoho crammed every nearby fixture and shard into the pit she’d made—
BOOMgagagagag!!
And crushed it down with surreal monstrous force—
Boom!
Filling her own hole level with the ground in an instant.
2 seconds for the job.
Total: 5 seconds.
“Whew—”
Letting out a long sigh, Yang Seoho turned to me with a pristine expression—not like someone who’d accomplished some grand feat or fight, but like she’d just handled mildly tedious busywork.
“Shall we resume our chat now? Kim Shinhwa.”
“I—”
I’d prepared a fitting response, something to draw her attention.
“—Gack!?”
But Seo Cheonseul yanked me back (nearly snapping my neck), cutting me off mid-sentence.
“Hey! Thousand Gold Captain!”
Ignoring my protests, Seo Cheonseul blocked between me and Yang Seoho.
“Stay back, Mr. Kim. Or whatever you are—Thousand Gold Captain commands you. Stay back.”
“Thousand Gold Captain?”
Yang Seoho tilted her head slightly, gazing at Seo Cheonseul.
A pensive expression.
Not like she was mulling over his words. Was she pondering ways to kill a goblin?
* * *
It seems you’re about to begin similar actions toward your offspring soon.
Kim Shinhwa appears to have something to say, but comically, a servant of the [Old Dream] prevents a proper declaration.
Thus, [Life] secures priority.
[L!U!C!A! : Blub—blubblub—]
No.
Your offspring cannot move at present.
If you desire an overcoming judgment, exert influence or pay resources.
[L!U!C!A! : Blub—blubblub—]
That declaration is improper.
[L!U!C!A! : Blub—blubblub—]
Incorrect.
The ability wasn’t triggered on a lawful target, so the declaration is voided.
[L!U!C!A! : Blub—blubblub—]
It can activate against that target.
[L!U!C!A! : Blub—blubblub—]
Confirmed.
That action requires judgment.
Sending a singularity to an external dimension for judgment. Results vary by singularity form.
As you know, higher numbers yield better outcomes.
* * *
“Huh? What?”
Park Kwangrim opened his eyes at Jang Hyundeok’s voice. What was that?
We’d gotten in the car and fled earlier—and then an explosion...
“Ugh—”
He barely parted his lips, but only a parched groan escaped. His mouth was bone-dry. Sticky liquid trickled from his forehead. Had all the fluid in his mouth poured out?
Park Kwangrim dimly realized he’d been unconscious, bleeding from his head.
Explosion. Right. There was a blast earlier. Then impact—and he blacked out?
Peering at the passenger window, Park Kwangrim realized the car glass was utterly shattered.
Something had flown into the vehicle.
‘An enemy attack?’
Didn’t they say there was a barrier device? It pierced the barrier? Why didn’t Sae warn them?
‘What the hell happened?’
Paju’s top detective though he fancied himself, Park Kwangrim could only reconstruct half of what truly occurred.
The explosion was real.
A fragment Kim Shinhwa and Yang Seoho failed to block—a golden shard infused with deep-sea poison and [Source of Life]’s magic—pierced surreal odds and shot through the Cull Van’s passenger window driven by Jang Hyundeok, grazing Park Kwangrim’s head.
An absurd coincidence?
Hardly.
The explosion was mere setup for this very scene.
None of us thought that blast could take out Kim Shinhwa or Yang Seoho.
“Ugh—H-Hyundeok...”
Park Kwangrim calls to Jang Hyundeok. Such a good man. He barely turns his head... Yes, just so.
Park Kwangrim barely turns to look at Jang Hyundeok.
“!?”
He’s startled. Ah, goosebumps rising on his skin. Correction: Park Kwangrim now feels terror.
Ah, I should mention Jang Hyundeok’s state too.
Jang Hyundeok is bleeding like Park Kwangrim.
Oh dear, this is bad.
Unlike Park Kwangrim’s mere graze, Jang Hyundeok gushes blood from a head wound.
“Hyun...deok... What...”
That much blood loss is usually fatal, right?
A mortal wound, it seems.
Yet Jang Hyundeok smiles as he spills blood laced with golden glow.
Jang Hyundeok will soon realize what he must do. Ah, I should tell him.
Hurry. Terrible things are happening to the wizard.
“The wizard’s in... danger?”
He mutters rapidly, eyes fixed on empty air somewhere.
Vroom—
Yes. Ignition now. If the wizard’s in danger, we must help.
“...Ugh.”
But Jang Hyundeok weakens, hand pausing, head drooping.
Troublesome. I’ll nudge more.
Hyundeok oppa. Hang in there. Move! Save the wizard!
“Yeah... Got it... Hyeonji. Let’s go help the wizard...”