Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Final Radiance
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Curtain Call’s habit of telegraphing her attacks probably stems from some bizarre obsession of hers. Even so, she maintains her reputation as a promising fixer because anyone who half-asses a block against her ends up sliced clean in two.
Curtain Call demonstrated an astonishing feat by vertically cleaving Je Mu-kyeong’s brutish hammer with her blade.
But Je Mu-kyeong seized the sawing hammer with both hands and swung it wildly, twisting aside Curtain Call’s strike. Then, with his remaining two arms to spare, he lashed out at her.
“Hrahhh!”
Letting out an odd kiai in midair, Curtain Call curled into a ball, slammed her demonic blade into the floor, and yanked it to propel both herself and the weapon forward. It was an unnatural maneuver made possible by her disproportionately small frame and weight compared to her overwhelming strength.
For a very brief moment, the clash between the two monsters continued.
Curtain Call zipped around in every direction, exploiting her petite build and monstrous power—like a tiny whirlwind topped with a massive blade.
Slash! Kraaang!!
Je Mu-kyeong raised his iron chains to block her assault, but the attack wasn’t over. Curtain Call spun around and hammered the chains repeatedly. Her demonic blade whipped not like a sword slashing, but like a blacksmith’s hammer pounding an anvil, sparking ominously on impact.
“Die, die, die, die!!! Spit out all the blood in your body and drop dead!!”
But their tangle didn’t last long. Je Mu-kyeong’s arsenal wasn’t limited to raw strength and four freely moving arms.
At some point, his form blurred—then vanished entirely.
Curtain Call, whose center of gravity was skewed toward her blade, lost her balance mid-swing and crumpled.
Je Mu-kyeong reappeared from the shadows, hammer already in hand, and swung the massive weapon down at her.
Damn it. Stop, you bastard!
[Fireball]
To shield Curtain Call, I hurled a fireball at Je Mu-kyeong. The human-skin sackcloth granted him incredible magical resistance, but it couldn’t block every impact.
KABOOM!!
Worried about damaging the USB he might have on him, I contained the blast’s radius. It only spread to around his head—nowhere near enough for a fatal blow.
“Looks like squeezing info out of him through talk is off the table.”
I’d been an idiot to even try conversing. Wasted effort for nothing. Time to drop it, clear the quest, and find another way.
But how? His sackcloth’s magic resistance was still holding strong, and until I snatched the USB, I couldn’t roast, grill, or burn him.
One slip-up, and I’d end up like the researchers littering this hallway—chopped into bits.
‘Oh, body parts?’
There was a simpler way.
...I’d rather not resort to this, but no choice.
I channeled mana to create temporary telekinesis, pulling an artifact from my backpack while drawing a magic circle.
Dozens of purple magic circles infused with sinister otherworldly mana appeared, spreading a gloomy mist in all directions.
Shiiiiek...
[Plea of the Starving Dead]
The acrid stench of sulfur. The chime of bells like auditory hallucinations.
Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling.
The corpses strewn across the hallway began to twitch.
The artifact I’d empowered with my mana—the Silver Bell of the Underworld—defied the laws of the netherworld, raising the dead around it.
You who died harboring grudges, sate your hunger.
- Grraaah...
- Groooar...
Most of the bodies in the corridor started moving.
The lunatics had hacked them up so badly that only a few had enough limbs left to stand.
This wasn’t the classic zombie spell people imagine.
Creating undead that obeyed my will like zombies required far more conditions.
These only sought vengeance against their killers—nothing else.
Plus, it guzzled mana inefficiently, and the duration was pitifully short.
‘Whatever. Mana’s not the issue right now.’
[S-grade Magic Tool ‘Silver Bell of the Underworld’ unique function ‘Madness of Pure Silver’ activates.
// Madness of Pure Silver: Grants summons ‘Madness - Violence,’ boosting attack power by 100%.]
The forcibly raised corpses lunged at Je Mu-kyeong to slake their massive grudges and hunger.
Legless ones crawled, armless ones led with teeth and heads. Those missing all limbs wriggled like maggots toward him.
A cool-headed fighter would ignore them and target me, the caster...
“Those stripped of skin cannot rise!”
True to his madness, Je Mu-kyeong spouted nonsense and began destroying everything closing in.
Claaang!
The hook-chained irons danced.
Skin touching the chains tore away; anything snagged by the hooks—heads or arms—ripped free in an instant.
Whiiir—
It was like a grotesque storm of blood and flesh.
But the fearless dead charged into the horrific grinder like moths to flame.
Crunch, crrrunch!!
The chainsaw in one hand flashed menacingly, shredding incoming corpses.
Spluuurt!!
Unarmed bodies weren’t harmless. A corpse’s head crushed in his grip.
Splat!
He booted a crawling corpse’s head; it rocketed like a cannonball, smashing another’s torso.
Gloop... gloop...
Decapitated necks oozed putrid blood.
I hadn’t expected these makeshift corpses to stop him anyway.
[Coiling Rope]
[Spell Enhancement: Power Boost]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-cast]
Slaaash!!
A simple rope-manipulation spell, but enhanced for power... and if power fell short, quantity would cover it!
The corpses Je Mu-kyeong had scattered still held my infused mana.
Viscera bundles erupted from their bodies, slithering like snakes.
The onslaught of chains began snaring on dozens of gut strands.
Claaank!
Damn, his iron hook was flying at me.
No need to block—Curtain Call was already moving.
“Heaaaad!!!”
Where’s the head on that hook? Anyway, Curtain Call’s lightning-fast demonic blade smacked the incoming hook aside, and I completed my prepared spell.
“Grahhh!”
Dozens, hundreds of gut strands fully entwined Je Mu-kyeong’s body.
Even powered up, it’d hold him for 10 seconds? Nah, not even 5. Fresh-caught fish couldn’t thrash harder.
Before he broke free... Found it!
One gut creeping over him spotted the USB in his pocket.
I yanked it free with the viscera.
Perfect. No more fragile cargo.
“Hey, had fun so far?”
My turn.
The restraining guts started snapping.
But who cares about guts now.
[Cold Burst]
Shiiiiek! Crunch!
A wave of mana-chilled force exploded outward.
Blood and fluids from the corpses flash-froze into crimson blades.
Crrrack!
“I’ll strip your wisdom, your soul!”
Ugh, seriously? Still after my skin?
My freezing spell devoured his spurting blood, turning it to red ice blades. They stabbed and sliced into him, but Je Mu-kyeong’s charge didn’t falter.
True madman’s rush.
I didn’t stop either, building a new magic circle. A searing crimson one scripted in scarlet runes.
[S-grade Accessory ‘Ring of Corrupted Flame’ unique functions ‘Crimson Element Focus’ and ‘Flame Knowledge Inheritance’ activate.
// Crimson Element Focus: Boosts all fire-type magic effects by 50%.
// Flame Knowledge Inheritance: Increases proficiency with ‘fire-type magic.’]
[Hellfire]
Fwoooosh!!!
Flames roared like a dragon’s breath, twisting into a massive vortex that surged at him.
Bwoom!
But he batted the heat storm aside with his four arms.
Damn, that magic resistance!
[Ice Spear]
Kraaang!
A blood-ice spear erupted from his feet. Je Mu-kyeong shattered the rising spear with a kick, but simultaneously...
[Lightning Bolt]
A bolt of white lightning arced bizarrely toward him.
Zzzzap! Tssststst!!
He couldn’t dodge the sudden strike.
“Grk...”
A split-second stun—fatal opening.
[Invisible Hand]
The telekinetic hand hurled its hidden payload.
Balusua’s Blue Elixir.
Whiiir!
The vial rocketed to his head, and I timed my spell.
[Arrow of Ruin]
Clink!
The otherworldly energy shattered the vial effortlessly.
Splaash—
[Balusua’s Blue Elixir (S-grade Catalyst): One of the elixirs used by ancient serpentfolk. A lethally potent corrosive poison—dangerous without refinement.]
The flesh-melting acid poured onto him.
Sizzleeee—
His enveloping skin sackcloth dissolved.
“Gaaaah! No! Stop! Don’t! My skin! I can’t lose my skin!”
Madness, confusion, terror, despair filled his eyes.
Any sane person would rip off the poisoned skin.
The venom was seeping through to his body, but he didn’t.
Somehow, it felt bitter.
‘I could end up like that too.’
This madness and obsession can’t be controlled.
The human-skin mask covering Je Mu-kyeong’s face was gone.
Bared without mask or sackcloth, I still couldn’t see his true face.
The acid had half-melted it too.
Anyway, his protective artifacts were toast.
[Burning Spear]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-cast]
Shiiiiek—
Four condensed flame spears flew.
That instant, I saw it.
His eyes changed.
“Uh... Aaaah!”
Krrunch!!
Je Mu-kyeong roared, taking the flame spears.
He smacked two aside with saw and arms, twisted past another—but not perfectly.
Crunch.
The last spear pierced his body.
The hand that blocked spears wasn’t unscathed. Bare-handed deflection cost him most of one hand’s fingers.
Pausing in that state, Je Mu-kyeong’s mouth slowly opened.
“Heh... Impressive.”
His speech completely changed. Voice and tone utterly different.
Like listening to another person.
Final radiance? Losing his skin—the source of his madness—cornered, he overcame the delirium and regained sanity?
But it changed nothing. I still held the advantage.