Chapter 287: Interlude
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 287: Interlude
“Bleeeargh!”
Dark red blood mixed with bits of internal organs splattered to the ground.
The amount of blood was alarming at a glance, and it continued to pour out endlessly, staining the floor.
Tsssss—
The blood hit the floor with a vicious sizzle, melting the stones and gravel. Kang Hyun-woo, his face pale, caught his breath.
“Haa, haa... I really thought I was going to die...”
That wasn't a joke.
If I'd been five minutes—no, even just three minutes—later in cutting off Wang Chwiong's head, I would have been the one lying on the floor.
Throughout the battle, my mana circle had worked nonstop to detoxify my body, and my rosary had purified the poison to the point of being damaged.
But the amount of poison being absorbed still outpaced the rate of detoxification, so I had no choice but to use my Black Flame to burn away the poison instead of for combat.
Of course, that was the only reason I'd been able to hold on.
But "holding on" and "being completely detoxified" are two very different things.
Even now, poison was mixed in with the blood trickling from my lips. My hands and feet were trembling, and I could feel the senses throughout my body starting to go haywire.
I was certain I was standing on the line between life and death.
I immediately took out all the holy water I had in my inventory.
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
I chugged the holy water and dragged my battered body out of the cavern. Only after reaching a passage untouched by the poison could I relax and sit down in the lotus position.
‘...This is insane.’
My original plan was to use the power of the holy water combined with my Vajra Qi to expel the poison.
But detoxification wasn't the only problem I had to deal with.
My internal organs were shredded from taking Wang Chwiong's attacks, my left eye was half-ruined from repeated use of the Magic Eye, and muscles all over my body were torn.
It was harder to find a part of me that wasn't injured.
‘Grrrgh!!’
I gritted my teeth and began circulating my qi.
Excruciating pain flooded through my tattered meridians.
My brain felt like it was smoking, overloaded from using Thought Transcendence repeatedly, but I had no choice but to force myself to move to keep my slowly dying body from giving out.
‘...First, I have to deal with the poison.’
Wang Chwiong's poison not only hindered the flow of my internal energy and magic power, but it was also slowly destroying the cells throughout my body.
At this rate, my organs were going to melt.
The only silver lining was that the high-grade holy water was rapidly purifying the poison. The rosary was also emitting a brilliant light, cleansing the toxic energy.
But the question was how long my body could hold out.
Already at its limit, my body felt like it could stop breathing at any moment. I had no choice but to endure the pain and forcibly draw out my magic power.
Fwoosh!!
The Black Flame began to course through my mana circuits and meridians, incinerating the poison.
Perhaps because I had left the cavern, the poison seemed to be subsiding quickly. I let out a sigh of relief and focused all my attention on expelling the poison for a long while.
Of course, the process was anything but smooth.
The poison was so potent that it fought back until the very end, leaving wounds all over my body.
‘...Did I underestimate him?’
Honestly, I had taken Wang Chwiong lightly.
Having defeated Ma Paeseon, an elder of the Heavenly Demonic Cult, I thought I could easily handle one stooped old man.
But that was a misjudgment, an act of arrogance.
Wang Chwiong easily surpassed my expectations.
I had to enhance my body with Extreme Blood and support magic, use Thought Transcendence and the Magic Eye to dodge his attacks, and use the ability of Tam to prevent his Aura from corroding me.
It was a battle so fierce it was desperate on my part.
I didn't even have the leeway to use the spells I had stored with Memorize.
Even the magic power I would have allocated for barriers was used to drive out the poison, so I essentially received almost no help from magic.
‘If we had fought on the surface, it would have been a bit easier.’
The confined space, which caused the poison to linger instead of dissipating, was a problem, but there were other restrictions as well.
Using fire magic underground risked burning up the remaining oxygen, and I couldn't rule out the possibility of the flames reacting with the poison to cause a massive explosion.
Furthermore, high-level lightning magic is heavily restricted in places without an open sky.
In essence, I started the fight having been robbed of any locational advantage.
‘If I had been proficient with curse magic, would it have been a little better?’
It's true that I've neglected my research on curse magic. There was a lot to study, but also, in a fierce battle like the one just now, where dozens of blows are exchanged in an instant, long-casting curse magic isn't very efficient.
But that didn't mean I had given up on it completely.
Lelia's Little Key.
An Epic-grade grimoire I obtained from the shop, its very existence was proof of the potential of curse magic.
Iris was convinced that the mage who wrote Lelia's Little Key was an 8th Circle Archmage, just like her.
And one who had reached that level with curse magic alone.
With such an excellent textbook, I had no reason to give up on curse magic. It was just a bit lower on my priority list.
‘Multi-elemental magic, all sorts of martial arts, and now curses. I'm a total jack-of-all-trades, a hybrid build.’
A dry laugh escaped me.
Anyone would call it crazy. There's a reason mages specialize in one field.
But being a jack-of-all-trades had its own advantages.
‘There's no ceiling on my potential.’
Crack, pop.
I got up, stretched my body a bit, and headed for the exit.
I've put out the most urgent fire, so now I should head back to my room and get some sleep.
“Haa... No matter how I think about it, this whole thing wasn't worth it, was it?”
Fighting an absolute master of the Flower Realm in exchange for just a duel was ridiculous enough, but I couldn't even absorb his internal energy because of the poison.
It was basically pro bono work.
I sighed lightly and took an item out of my inventory.
[Weapon Synthesis Ticket
Grade: ??
You can synthesize two weapons to create a new one.
The performance of the weapon depends on the materials used.
※Warning! Synthesized materials cannot be restored.]
I used the Black Killing Mad Demon Sword in this battle.
The Mad Demon Sword explosively increased the power of my demonic energy, but it also clashed with my Vajra Qi.
Of course, in terms of the sword's performance alone, the Mad Demon Sword was superior to Gilenium.
However, Gilenium had auxiliary effects related to magic.
It was the difference between a sword specialized for swordsmanship and a hybrid type.
‘I feel like my weapons are starting to fall behind...’
Of course, the Mad Demon Sword's new ability, Tam, was better than I could have imagined. But I felt its other performance aspects were somewhat lacking.
To put it bluntly, the quality of my weapons was falling behind my current level.
Even 5th Circle mages carried staves or wands that cost more than a decent-sized building.
‘Didn't someone say the staff that Grandma Choi Young-ok uses costs more than the annual budget of some European kingdom?’
It was the same for Choi Hyena's exclusive staff and various artifacts.
Considering all that, you could say I was quite frugal.
‘Hmm, what should I do...’
I rubbed my aching neck and fell into thought for a moment.
I was anxious that the ability of Tam might disappear if I synthesized the weapons.
Just as I was walking toward the exit, mulling it over.
Riiip—
[You have used the Weapon Synthesis Ticket.]
“It's all or nothing. If it fails, I can just go back to Earth and get another weapon.”
I had the ability and the financial means to do so.
Even if I get an undesirable result, I can't move forward if I'm afraid of failure.
[Synthesis Targets
1. Gilenium
2. Black Killing Mad Demon Sword (黑殺狂魔劍)]
[Warning, synthesized materials cannot be restored.]
[Y/N]
I didn't hesitate.
[Y]
Fwaaaah!!
In that moment, a tremendous beam of light shot out in all directions.
But strangely, it wasn't blinding.
When the light slowly faded, a single sword was floating silently in the air where it had been.
[Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword (霸天魔劍)
Grade: Unique
A peerless treasured sword that cleaves the heavens.
It pierces through laws.
It absorbs the master's energy to increase the cutting power of its Aura.
A fragment of Tam (貪) is sealed within.]
[Tam (貪)
The authority of Tam, which swallows all of creation.
Absorbs the target's energy.
Absorbs a portion of the target's memories.
Perfectly digests what it has absorbed.]
I stared blankly at the sword.
The dark red blade had a gloomy luster, like molten iron that had drunk blood, and a faint chill emanated from its sharp edge. It felt less like a simple weapon and more like a living, breathing creature that had consumed vast amounts of blood.
Suppressing the unsettling feeling in my chest, I gripped the sword.
Vrooooom!!
The moment I did, the sword began to vibrate violently and glow.
Watching the sword thrash as if in defiance, I instinctively drew upon my energy.
At that, my Vajra Qi and demonic energy began to be absorbed directly into the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword. My already depleted dantian dried up in an instant.
Even so, the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword continued to crave and devour my energy as if it wasn't enough.
“Ha, fine. Let's see just how much you can eat.”
I collapsed to the floor and immediately entered a state of meditation.
Whoooosh—
The natural mana in the air began to be absorbed at a tremendous rate. The mana was quickly converted into magic power, filling my mana circle to the brim.
It was a speed that would have horrified other mages.
As soon as my circle filled with magic power, I poured it all into the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword. But no matter how long I continued, it felt like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
My tattered mana circuits screamed in protest, but I didn't give up and kept pushing magic power into it.
How much time passed like that?
Ting—
[The Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword (霸天魔劍) acknowledges you as its master.]
Thud.
I collapsed onto the floor, lying flat on my back as I stared at the screen that had appeared before me. My entire body was drenched in a cold sweat.
I don't know how long it's been since I've wrung out my magic power like this.
“Haa... It's like a mana-guzzling pig...”
But at the same time, I couldn't stop smiling.
Kiiiiing!
A golden Aura bloomed from the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword, illuminating the surroundings. Unlike the Mad Demon Sword, it didn't clash with my Vajra Qi; in fact, it made it burn even more fiercely.
On top of that, the ability of Tam was passed down intact.
No, it had actually evolved.
“By the way, this means I'll have to get a staff or a wand, won't I?”
There was a downside, though.
All the magic-related bonus effects that Gilenium had were gone.
Of course, I could still use magic without those extra functions, but just as no gamer forgoes equipment simply because their base stats are high, a quality weapon was essential.
“Umm... Artifacts are hard to come by even with money... Should I ask Hyena for help?”
A family like the Seongbuk Choi clan should be able to acquire artifacts related to mages.
But the problem was the price.
Mages are generally wealthy, and artifacts related to them are extremely rare.
To get a high-quality item, even emptying out my entire fortune wouldn't be enough.
But asking the Seongbuk Choi clan for a handout felt wrong.
‘Being a kept man is really not my style...’
In that case, the only remaining option was to find a master craftsman and commission a custom piece.
There are many skilled artisans in Korea, but when it came to staves and wands, there was one country that boasted overwhelming skill on a global scale.
It was England, the place where the First Tower Lord established the Magic Tower, also known as the homeland of magic.
*
“England, huh...”
It goes without saying, but I'd never been to England.
I'd never even been to nearby Japan, let alone Jeju Island. England was a whole other story.
If I had my way, I'd fly to England as soon as this matching was over, but there were quite a few things I needed to wrap up first.
‘Well... it's not urgent, so there's no need to rush.’
For now, I was satisfied just with obtaining the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword.
Thanks to that, even though my whole body was creaking and I was plagued by constant headaches, my steps felt much lighter.
Before long, I reached the exit and saw a strange sight.
“Hyun-woo!”
Thump-thump-thump!
Seeing me, Cheon Yeo-hwa immediately ran over.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
She cupped my cheeks, her hands roaming as she checked me over. Her pupils were trembling slightly, revealing her sincere worry.
“I'm fine, so you don't have to worry so much.”
I chuckled and pulled her into a hug.
‘Inhale, exhale...’
I buried my face in the crook of Cheon Yeo-hwa's neck and took a deep breath of her scent.
Thanks to that, the body that had been screaming in pain just moments ago suddenly calmed down. It was like I'd been given a painkiller.
Feeling much more comfortable, I looked toward the exit while still holding Cheon Yeo-hwa.
“But what's that over there?”
Where I was looking, Mujin was kneeling with both hands in the air.
“Little brother!”
Mujin called out to me, his voice thick with tears.
Seeing a man who was almost thirty blubbering and calling my name made me feel strangely uncomfortable.
My gaze naturally shifted to the man and woman standing on either side of Mujin.