Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: The Ruler of Fire Awakens
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- Do you want to kill that monster?
- I do. I want to kill it!
- As you wish.
In the next moment, Jihee realized who the owner of that voice was.
It was the fire itself.
Roarrrrr—
A massive pillar of flame erupted from beneath the four-legged behemoth that had been advancing step by step toward Jihee's mother.
It was more than enough firepower to incinerate the creature down to its core in an instant.
The problem was,
- Mom!
Jihee's mother, who had been right next to the monster, got caught up in the pillar of fire as well.
Unlike the monster, which at least left behind a charred corpse, her frail, ordinary mother didn't even have bones remaining.
- Why... why...?
Jihee stared blankly at the spot where the pillar of fire had vanished.
Wasn't the voice's owner supposed to be a good person?
But it asked if I wanted to be saved.
Someone who saves people is a good person, right?
- Because the Ruler wished for it to be killed.
- What I wanted to kill was...
Jihee couldn't say anything, neither outwardly nor inwardly. Her legs simply gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
At that moment, one of the First Hunters spotted Jihee.
- Kid, where are your parents? Are you alone?
- ...
- Can't talk? Sigh... Come with me for now, uncle will take you somewhere safe. You can't stay here.
The First Hunter scooped Jihee up under his arm in a hurry and dashed toward the safe zone.
Even after that, the fire kept speaking to Jihee endlessly, and she lived in fear of unknowingly responding to it.
Even a mere glimpse of fire by chance vividly revived the memories of that day.
The memory of the day her trait burned her mother.
So she didn't speak.
For a very long time.
Clang— Clang—
Before she knew it, Jihee had risen to her feet.
How much time had passed?
Jeong-hyeon was still locked in a precarious battle with the Lizardman Warrior Chief.
'I have to help.'
Jihee quickly checked the ember.
She had used her trait too much since entering the gate.
The embers were raging fiercely, even though the Trait Stabilizer's effect shouldn't have worn off yet.
Jihee hesitated for a moment.
Would it be okay?
She hadn't spoken to it once since that day.
- Can you save that person? No, can you save these people?
- ...
- Can you save them!?
There was no response.
Maybe her voice was too small to hear.
Jihee swallowed once and pulled out a Trait Stabilizer from her pocket.
'Should I take it?'
From the third pill onward, it could act like a suppressor and cause side effects.
Jihee glanced briefly toward Jeong-hyeon.
He was barely enduring each of Ashurek's attacks.
He would probably tell her this:
Whether it works or not, it's best to at least try.
Jihee tossed the stabilizer into her mouth.
The pill melted smoothly the moment it touched her tongue.
The effect was immediate.
But not in the way she wanted.
The embers vanished completely.
- ...
The embers, which had flickered weakly for a moment, disappeared entirely.
It was just like when a trait suppressor took effect.
The embers neither burned nor responded to her words.
'It's over...'
She had heard countless times that from the third pill, there could be a side effect suppressing the trait, but it was only a possibility, right?
For her trait to vanish in such a dire situation was utterly cruel.
Clang— Clang—
Jeong-hyeon was still facing off against Ashurek.
But now, the tide had fully turned against him.
Even a three-year-old child could see that Jeong-hyeon was at a disadvantage.
He was somehow blocking the attacks, but he was being dragged along by Ashurek's rhythm, unable to dictate his own pace.
At that instant.
Ashurek hooked his claymore into the inner T-section of the pickaxe with a cunning maneuver.
Then he yanked it outward with force.
Clang—
Compared to the previous thunderous clashes, it was a somewhat anticlimactic sound, and Jeong-hyeon's pickaxe flew into the sky.
The expression on Jeong-hyeon's face when he lost his weapon was perfectly clear in Jihee's eyes.
It was one of despair.
"That's too much..."
A murmur escaped Jihee's slightly parted lips.
Even after all she'd been through, she had never blamed the world.
She had lived with the mindset that since it was her choice, whom could she blame?
But this situation was different.
If all this was the result of her choices...
'Why are the ones getting hurt and dying other people?'
Jihee felt a burning heat rising in her chest.
It wasn't the embers that had always smoldered inside her since 13 years ago rekindling.
This was purely her own temperature.
[The proficiency level of the S-rank trait 「Ruler of Fire」 has risen from 4 to 5.]
The proficiency level, which hadn't budged for so long, finally reached 5.
She didn't know the reason.
It didn't matter.
What had seized all of Jihee's senses and mind right now was something else entirely.
Roar—
The emptiness in Jihee's heart, forged alone in the void.
The embers reigniting within it.
Embers larger and hotter than before.
- ...Convey... command...
It wasn't clear, but the embers were definitely speaking to Jihee.
Was it asking her to give some kind of order?
Until now, Jihee had ignored the embers' voice out of distrust in herself, but now was different.
What she wanted was clear.
- Save everyone!
- ...As you... wish...
The embers, which had shrunk back at Jihee's command, soon blazed brilliantly.
The change wasn't happening only within her.
Roarrrrr—
Flames sprouted and coiled around Jihee's body, soon forming a pillar that shot skyward.
High enough to pierce even the ash-gray clouds blanketing the heavens.
"Kee-?"
Even Ashurek, who had been swinging his claymore with enough force to bisect Jeong-hyeon at any moment, halted his assault in the face of that overwhelming presence.
He turned his head to look behind him.
There, a fire burned that no one in this place had ever witnessed before.
***
Jeong-hyeon had been ready to give up on Jihee just moments ago, as she trembled and rose.
Even if she could properly use magic, the odds were stacked against them. If she was unstable like before, there was no need to even consider it.
But what Jihee did next shocked even Jeong-hyeon.
'A Trait Stabilizer?'
After glancing around briefly, Jihee pulled out another Trait Stabilizer and swallowed it.
Since side effects could kick in from the third pill, he had planned to end it before then, but with things turning out this way, she must have judged there was no choice.
It was a highly dangerous move, though.
If side effects hit, even if the suppression was brief, she'd be no better than a normal person during that time.
'Well, it's all or nothing anyway.'
He was startled for a moment, but Jeong-hyeon understood soon enough.
Even when Ashurek had attacked her earlier, Jihee hadn't been able to do much.
The result was Su-chan and Yeon-hee collapsed beside her.
Whether side effects came or not, right now, they had no choice but to gamble.
But as Jeong-hyeon kept watching Jihee's reaction, he learned the outcome of the gamble.
'It's not working.'
Truthfully, no one knew the state of Jeong-hyeon's body better than he did.
Surviving this long was already a miracle.
He had planned to somehow recover his strength if Jihee bought him more time, but even that was no longer an option.
Swish—
As Jeong-hyeon's judgment wavered for an instant.
Ashurek's greatsword clashed toward the pickaxe but twisted like a serpent at the last moment, slipping inward.
'My body? No, this is—'
At first, he thought it was aiming to bypass the pickaxe and strike him directly, but it didn't look that way.
The trajectory would be blocked by the handle.
Jeong-hyeon failed to read Ashurek's intent in time.
That proved fatal.
Clang—
The claymore dug into the junction where the pickaxe's blade met the handle.
It cunningly entwined matching Jeong-hyeon's swing, locking firmly in place for a split second.
Ashurek then flicked the claymore, wrenching the pickaxe from Jeong-hyeon's grasp.
It happened in an instant, before he could react.
Now, Jeong-hyeon had no weapon left in his hands.
"Kerr—"
Ashurek let out a satisfied growl.
He instinctively knew it was time to end this long fight.
'I can't go down without a fight!'
But Jeong-hyeon didn't yield easily.
He had never given up in front of a monster.
Even if he died, he'd land one solid hit first!
Jeong-hyeon drew a dagger from his pocket.
He wouldn't block the next attack.
Instead, he'd stab for the eye.
As the human and the lizardman braced for their final clash.
Roarrrrr—
Something no one could have anticipated occurred.
An overwhelming aura suddenly erupted from Jihee, whom even Jeong-hyeon had stopped paying attention to.
'What the hell is that?'
"Kee-?"
Even Ashurek, who had raised his claymore to claim Jeong-hyeon's life, voiced his doubt and turned his head.
Where all eyes turned was a pillar of pure white flame raging fiercely, with Jihee standing at its center, eyes closed.
Beautiful. Overbearing.
At least, that's how it appeared to Jeong-hyeon.
But Ashurek seemed to sense an instinctive threat beyond mere impressions.
"Keeeeek!"
The beast roared a wary screech and gripped his claymore tightly.
His intent was to quickly finish Jeong-hyeon first, no matter what.
With his pickaxe flung far away, Jeong-hyeon had no means left to block the greatsword.
However, Ashurek failed to achieve his goal.
Boom—
"Kiit!"
A fireball detached from the pillar and struck the side of the swinging claymore aimed at Jeong-hyeon with perfect precision.
Thud—
The greatsword's path veered wildly off course, embedding harmlessly into the ground far from Jeong-hyeon.
And it didn't end there.
Fireballs continued to burst from the pillar one after another.
Pure white flames, just like the pillar itself.
Even Ashurek, empowered beyond compare after activating the power of nature, found each one burdensome.
He desperately cast water-attribute magic on his body and sword, straining to minimize the damage.
Boom— Boom—
"Kieeek!"
But it wasn't enough.
Each time a fireball he couldn't slice with his greatsword slammed into him, Ashurek staggered his massive frame and screamed in agony.
'That has limits too.'
But Jeong-hyeon didn't miss the changes in the pillar with every fireball it released.
The pillar was gradually fading.
Perhaps to completely pin down Ashurek's movements, it was attacking at a rapid pace, but it would likely vanish soon.
He had no idea how it was projecting such overwhelming firepower, but whether it could maintain that power after the pillar disappeared was questionable.
In the worst case, he had to prepare for the possibility of it losing all strength and withdrawing from the fight.
In a sense, this was rampage too.
Moreover, even if Ashurek was taking massive damage, it didn't seem like these fireballs alone could kill him before the pillar vanished.
He'd recover in a flash once the assault ended.
In the end, a finishing blow would need to come separately.
Jeong-hyeon bit his lower lip.
'I have to do something before then...'
His mind raced.
But no ideas came.
Hadn't he already tried everything he could?
No matter how many traits Jeong-hyeon had or how he combined them to exceed his specs on paper, this opponent was simply too strong.
He had picked the absolute wrong matchup.
At that moment, a system alert window popped up unexpectedly before Jeong-hyeon.
[Excessive gate difficulty adjustment due to entry of EX-rank trait. Report received.
Judging whether to readjust difficulty.
Abnormal difficulty application confirmed.
For fairness, temporarily unlocking EX-rank trait 「Trait Shop」.]
'What the hell?'