Chapter 325
Chapter 325
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 325
Chapter Title: Wish
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Crackle! Zzzzt!
Damn, it's heavy.
This is the power forged from squeezing every last drop of life out of a single person. A force on the same level as the power to halt time or slice through space.
I never thought it would be something I could block easily from the start.
“……Don’t.”
Yang Seoho’s voice drifts from behind me.
Infinitely fragile, small, faint.
“Don’t…… block it.”
What a worthless thing to say.
No, actually, I don’t even have the breath to respond.
Crackle! Zzzzt!
Magic circles of every shape bloom and fade at tremendous speed.
This isn’t the kind of magic you block in the first place.
It’s not even a projectile. You can’t deflect it physically, bounce it back, or cut it down.
And that’s the first problem I’m facing.
[System: Penalty trait ‘Sacrifice of the Banquet’ activates.]
Gigantic hands surging in from all directions.
The targets aren’t just me. The golden hairpin Yang Seoho had been guarding.
Squirming, writhing, slithering—they charge toward the golden hairpin at astonishing speed, those beautiful hands.
Ah, now just looking at human hands is gonna make me nauseous.
Anyway, that’s the second problem.
And the third one is the real kicker—
[System: ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ activates.]
“Don’t block it…… Just leave me alone.”
Ah, this is driving me insane.
Honestly, I wasn’t even expecting a thank you.
I’ve been dealing with madness and delusions nonstop myself, so I figured whatever Yang Seoho said to me didn’t matter.
Ah, but that might be misleading—I’m not saying this because she’s asking me to let her die.
She’s not the passive type.
I’d suggested three times already that she stop what she was doing.
She’d held back a lot, from her perspective.
But Yang Seoho finally decided she’d had enough and launched her attack to force her will through.
Vwooooom—
‘Damn it, you bureaucrat!’
No time to talk.
I’m just one guy, and three dire crises are closing in from all sides, needing resolution between 0.1 and 2 seconds.
‘So, priorities? The crackling death in front? The horrific Yang Seoho barreling in from behind? Or those hands sneaking toward the golden hairpin behind her?’
Beyond the three game-over-on-failure problems, there are a few more fine-print challenges.
The hands flying at me.
And the hands pilfering the [Soul Shackles] from Shin Woojin’s corpse…… No, they already got it. Damn! Talk about thorough.
No time.
So either I find one divine move to solve everything at once—
Or I buy time.
‘Wait, divine move?’
Crunch! Zzzzt!
The shockwave from Yang Seoho’s charge slams into my body.
‘You rotten bureaucrat—’
I turned my head to look at Yang Seoho charging straight at me.
‘Uh……’
Her face a tangle of sorrow, rage, confusion, emptiness, madness, ecstasy, pain, despair.
What can you even call that expression……?
‘Damn. Can’t even curse her out properly.’
Rumble!
I maneuvered the mana stones orbiting me to form a vacuum wave that canceled out Yang Seoho’s shockwave—
And at the same time—
[ᛇ (Eihwaz; Iwaz; Protection)]
[ᚈ (Tiwaz; Tinne; Protection)]
[彈 (弹)]
I forcibly manifested several mismatched symbolic spells on the mana stone embedded in my left hand to block the attack.
Boom!
“Ah—”
An exclamation from Yang Seoho’s lips.
She halts, face stunned.
No idea what shocked her, but I’ve bought time!
A few items lift from my embrace.
[Sain Chamjeong Sword], [Butcher’s Hook]. And the [Incarnation Stone] imbued with the power of [Predator of the Mountains].
Whirrr—
An enormous number of magic circles blooming without cease.
[Protection], [Distortion], [Illusion], [Binding], [Control], [Absorption], [Conversion], [Restraint]…….
[SSS-grade Weapon Sain Chamjeong Sword (Green Lord)’s unique function, ‘Mark of the Four-Eyed,’ activates.
// Mark of the Four-Eyed: All damage from attacks targeting good or righteous subjects increases by 400%.]
[S-grade Weapon ‘Butcher’s Hook’’s unique function, ‘Proof of Slaughter,’ activates.
// Proof of Slaughter: Necromancy-line magic power increases by 100%.]
[Resonance], [Control] via [Sword of Souls].
[Weakening], [Corrosion] via the power of the [Sain Chamjeong Sword].
And I moved the [Butcher’s Hook], which stores necromantic power—not a ritual this time, but pure magic.
Will this work? Really?
[Absorption]
Shrrrr—
The exact same method I’d used to seal Heo Ji-hyun in a mana stone before.
This isn’t a simple soul, but controlling abyssal-infused mana is making me sick of it.
Shrrrr—
‘It’s working.’
To absorb mana this refined, you need a powerful magic tool or high-capacity mana stone. [Sword of the Flesh] and [Sain Chamjeong Sword] lack that function, and [Butcher’s Hook] is too low-grade.
But luckily—
I have the [Incarnation Stone], which can hold even the power of abyssal entities.
With no other choice, I shoved this thick, potent death-mana into the [Incarnation Stone]—and fused it with my left hand.
Crackle! Zzzzt!
Sparks erupting from my left hand.
“Ugh.”
I gripped it down with my right hand……
“Damn…… This is totally that, isn’t it?”
A few jokes about a [Left Hand Infused With Uncontrollable Death Power] popped into my head, but I could tell this wasn’t the time.
“Stop it! Yang Seoho! This isn’t the time!”
“I don’t know.”
“Ah, what don’t you know now.”
“I don’t know if I’m even alive. If I could die, I could confirm I’d been alive. You ruined that.”
“Die? Don’t talk nonsense! Don’t give up at this half-assed timing! You damn bureaucrat!”
We’ve been pulling every trick to survive and escape this world, and now this crap pisses me off.
“Is this really reality? What if it’s all just illusion or delusion? Nothing touches me. Nothing I can touch. Is this world really real?”
Yang Seoho still hasn’t shaken off her delirium.
“Ah, yeah?”
Nothing can touch you?
As I drew in that power, I condensed the [Incarnation Stone]’s force in my left hand—with [Predator of the Mountains], [Source of Life]. And the mana from Shin Woojin’s soul—no, not just that.
[Conversion] [Restraint] [Distortion]—
Rumble—
Stripped of its toxic compulsion to kill or whatever, converted to pure mana—and unleashed toward Yang Seoho—
And toward the massive number of hands approaching the golden hairpin behind her.
[Surge of Power]
Crunch! Zzzzt!!
A massive burst of power with blinding white light.
Yang Seoho took it head-on, no defenses—
The tremendous force didn’t just smack her back—
It obliterated everything in a straight line.
Ruuuumble!!
Good thing I aimed south.
The power I unleashed pierced through the gigantic hands enveloping the Cure Medical Care site and kept going south—
Annihilating Sirang Mountain below and flying into the sea.
Rumble! Crash! Ruuuumble!!
The aftermath shock creates a massive storm and sparks.
“Insane……”
And amid the long canyon-like scar left by the destruction, I spot Yang Seoho.
Lying on pulverized concrete turned to sand, staring up at the sky.
She slowly opens her mouth.
“It hurts.”
* * *
Rumble—
The mana I unleashed flew into the sea, where I’d planted seeds beforehand.
“Didn’t expect them to combine like that.”
[ᛕ (Kenaz; Kenaz; Fire)]
[ᚦ (Thurisaz; Thurisaz; Change)]
[ᛊ (Sowilo; Sowilo; Sun)]
Three runes I’d sent into the sea.
They were forming intense heat, transformation, lightning, force, sun, atmosphere, ascent, convection, violence in all directions.
Boiling moisture surging toward the sky.
Rumbling clouds gathering.
Immense low pressure.
Localized vortex.
That heat fused with my [Surge of Power] to form several spells—
[Great Tidal Wave]
[Explosive Lightning]
[Whirling Gale]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximized]
The spells naturally intertwined and merged, triggering localized changes.
Whoooosh—
[Weather Change: Storm]
A gigantic storm rapidly growing by devouring my mana, seawater, and heat in an instant.
Rumble—
Not an ordinary storm.
A massive vortex confined to this restricted area around Cure Medical Care, spewing hail, lightning, and flames.
Ruuuumble!! Groooowl—Ruuuumble!!
“Perfect timing.”
Omnidirectional area attacks raining down without aim.
Gigantic hands shattering under the onslaught.
“Ah, almost done now.”
Free from the [Source of Life]’s interference, I can prepare for the next phase.
“Did you summon this storm?”
“Yeah, you batshit crazy bureaucrat. Gonna beat the guy trying to help you to death?”
“Hey, no-ID punk. Watch your mouth.”
“……Yes. Officer, I summoned it. I saved your near-death ass, and I smacked your crazy self awake. Aren’t you grateful?”
“Thanks.”
Among all the spells I’ve made, this had the highest single-target destructive power.
No, calling it a spell is a stretch.
It was just the [Source of Life] kneading Shin Woojin’s soul-mana, shifting its nature from death to destruction, and re-releasing it.
But the power was immense—had Yang Seoho not been the target, we might’ve needed to redraw the maps.
Even so, the damage she took……
“Feels like some bones are broken.”
Yang Seoho grimaces, prodding her ribs.
“Hey, officer. Normally, you’d be dead.”
“How long does ‘normally’ take?”
“For what?”
“Time for bones to heal.”
Well, maybe she’s never broken a bone in her life.
“……About a month?”
Hearing me, Yang Seoho brushes off her charred black hands and grumbles.
“Too long.”
“Not over yet.”
I said that and extended my mana toward the golden hairpin floating in the air.
[Chains of Dominion]
Clank—
I pulled in the golden hairpin while thinking.
The [Source of Life] hasn’t vanished yet. But no interference.
Sure, I’m suppressing it with this storm, but it shouldn’t be this quiet.
Unexpected situation? Plotting its next move?
Hell, I’d thought I was pretty much cornered myself.
“Is Woojin dead?”
Yang Seoho’s question.
“……”
Not asking out of ignorance. She’s staring down at Shin Woojin’s body right now.
Her hand twitches, unable to touch him, hovering awkwardly.
“Touch him.”
“What?”
“Touch him. Feel if his heart’s beating. Pulse or whatever. You can tell, right?”
I looked at Yang Seoho’s face for a moment, then said.
“He’s dead.”
“Touch him.”
“I said he’s dead.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why is he dead?”
“That ability kills the user.”
“What ability?”
“One that kills the target.”
“Then why didn’t I die?”
“Because I blocked it.”
“You blocked it, so why did Woojin die?”
“Woojin’s life was the cost. Can’t block the payment.”
“Cost.”
“Yeah.”
“Sold cheap.”
“……”
“Come to think of it, he said he’d grant my wish.”
“You got played.”
“Why try to grant my wish instead of his own?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“What did he think my wish was?”
“What is your wish?”
“Don’t know. Don’t have one.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Not anymore.”
“I see.”
“Kim Shinhwa.”
“Yeah?”
“What now?”
“Told you. Not over yet.”
“You’re gonna fight this thing?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Business as usual.”