Chapter 86
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: The Temple (3)
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Ji-han was in a foul mood.
His plan had been to kill Eun-young and then call out Kang Han-gyeol.
Ji-han had experienced all sorts of things, but he could never forget the one-sided beating he’d taken from Han-gyeol.
That bastard had ruined everything.
Ji-han was the one who should be furious, not the thing before him.
[Child, foolish. You cannot win. In my world.]
The thousands of scattered pieces merged into one.
The mouth of the formless giant stretched into a wide gash.
[You, who interfere, will die.]
The moment the words ended, Ji-han swung his sword in a long arc.
A massive arm followed the sword’s path, severed and tumbling to the ground.
“Be my guest.”
Gripping his sword with one hand, Ji-han charged toward Jeong Hyun-seong, who was controlling the giant.
Eun-young, watching from a short distance, froze mid-step.
Her mind was in turmoil.
‘Can I even help?’
It was a sense of powerlessness she had never felt since becoming a Hunter.
Perhaps the problem ran even deeper than that.
Even a demigod was still a god.
She had never imagined fighting a god, not a monster.
Ji-han was strong.
Knowing it in her head was one thing, but seeing it with her own eyes was something else entirely.
He dodged the relentless barrage of attacks with minimal movement, never missing a chance to counter.
Each casual swing of his sword carried an immense power that Eun-young could feel even from afar.
This wasn’t the kind of skill you could develop overnight.
It was something only a man who had danced on the line between life and death hundreds, if not thousands, of times could achieve.
His abilities, his talent, his experience—everything was on a different level.
What he’d shown at the amusement park wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg.
‘How did Han-gyeol manage to subdue him?’
The more she thought about it, the more questions she had.
Aside from his strength, Ji-han’s personality was anything but easygoing.
She had learned that much from their brief encounter.
This guy was a relentless viper.
After cleaving the giant’s body vertically, Ji-han did a backflip and landed in front of Eun-young.
The bisected giant changed its form and lunged again.
It was like clay.
When cut, it divided, only to merge again and reshape itself.
“This is endless.”
Ji-han muttered, lowering his sword.
He needed something to break this stalemate.
After another backflip, Ji-han landed lightly in front of Eun-young.
Looking at his back, Eun-young spoke.
“Hey, can’t we try talking to it?”
“Are you insane?”
Ji-han swung his sword to the side.
A violet slash collided with an incoming attack, exploding and vanishing in mid-air.
Without looking back, Ji-han tightened his grip on his sword.
“If this thing was capable of conversation, do you think I’d be doing this?”
“You attacked him without a word, too.”
When you considered the cause of the fight, it had started when Ji-han cut off the arm of the demigod Jeong Hyun-seong.
Anyone would be furious if you started by lopping off their arm.
“So what?”
“Well, the arm…”
“You think losing an arm is a serious injury to that thing?”
Hyun-seong’s severed arm had already regenerated.
“Still… you’re being too reckless.”
Eun-young couldn’t understand Ji-han’s attitude.
Wasn’t it strange to make assumptions without even trying to listen to what the other party had to say?
Ji-han swung his sword in a wide arc upward.
A massive explosion erupted where the blade had passed.
“You can tell just by looking.”
“Are you just going to keep fighting?”
Instead of answering, Ji-han twisted his body and pointed the tip of his sword into the empty air.
A line appeared in space, and a massive arm shot out from the gap.
Monsters began to emerge from the rift.
There wasn’t just one or two.
“What the—! Why are monsters coming from here?”
“A dungeon without a boss.”
“What?”
“It seems this was his doing all along.”
He watched as the monsters appeared one after another.
Most of them were boss-level monsters.
A shower of arrows rained down on Eun-young and Ji-han.
Eun-young used Blessing’s Wings to fly up.
Ji-han had already moved far away, his sword aimed at the demigod Jeong Hyun-seong.
As Eun-young looked down, a large tail whipped toward her.
“Agh! What is this!”
She instinctively blocked the tail with one hand.
The monster that had swung its tail was an Iron Worm, a boss monster from a C-rank dungeon.
Eun-young grabbed the Iron Worm’s tail with both arms.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Clutching the tail, she spun around and hurled it at the surrounding monsters.
As she channeled mana into the Ring of Ishtar, a sacred flame flickered at her feet.
She twisted slightly and kicked downward.
The moment she landed, a massive blaze erupted within the temple.
“This… is insane.”
The surviving monsters swarmed around Eun-young.
She clenched the fist wearing the ring.
While Ji-han dealt with Jeong Hyun-seong, Eun-young took care of the monsters.
Most were D or C-rank bosses, but a boss was still a boss.
There were many of them, with a few higher-level monsters mixed in.
Eun-young flicked her finger, and a great wall of fire rose before her feet.
Though she wasn’t used to it, it felt just like using magic.
The Ring of Ishtar was a mythic-grade item that allowed her to control sacred flames at will, as long as her mana held out.
Eun-young, whose combat sense was second to none, quickly learned how to use the ring.
*Swoosh.*
“Huh?”
Something darted past Eun-young after she killed a monster.
After kicking the head off a Giant Orc, Eun-young rubbed her eyes.
A hazy figure.
It wasn't a monster.
“A g-ghost… It can’t be, right?”
Looking closer, she saw it was a woman.
She wore a white dress, her long black hair flowing freely.
The woman, who had slipped through the monsters, was pointing at something.
But it was just an empty, black floor.
“Woman! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Ji-han’s voice came from above.
*CRASH!*
A storm of blades created by Ji-han rained down over Eun-young’s head.
The sharp illusions pierced through the heads of the monsters surrounding her.
Eun-young quickly snapped back to her senses.
A massive pincer filled her vision.
*Slaaash.*
The monster, split in two by Ji-han’s sword, collapsed to the side.
“Th-thanks.”
Eun-young replied hesitantly.
Ji-han flicked the blood from his sword and looked in the direction Eun-young had been staring.
To him, it seemed as if she was bewitched.
“What’s over there?”
“There was a woman.”
“A woman?”
“A woman with black hair in a white dress. It looked like she was pointing at something over there.”
“Hold on a moment.”
Ji-han quickly turned his back.
Seeing the black statue before her, along with the monsters, Eun-young’s face went pale.
“Hey! What am I supposed to do about this!”
As a giant fist approached, Eun-young stretched out her hand and poured all her remaining mana into the Ring of Ishtar.
A swirling shield of fire barely managed to block the fist.
While Eun-young felt like she was dying, Ji-han was poking the floor with the tip of his sword.
The sword in his hand vanished, replaced by another.
“What are you doing?”
Before Eun-young could finish her question, Ji-han drew a line on the floor.
A rift, similar to the one the monsters had been summoned from, appeared along the cleanly cut surface.
The space beyond the opening shimmered with light.
“Wait, ugh. I can’t hold on much longer… Hey!!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Ji-han threw himself into the rift.
Couldn’t he at least tell her to follow him!
Eun-young, on the verge of mana exhaustion, threw herself into the closing rift.
*BOOM!*
The massive fist completely crushed the flames Eun-young had created.
When the fire and smoke cleared, there was nothing left.
* * *
Eun-young was falling.
She couldn’t see anything, but she felt the sensation of falling.
So she must have been falling.
A light appeared below her feet.
The light, once a mere dot, grew larger.
Ji-han looked up, and his eyes met Eun-young’s.
“Catch m—”
*Thud.*
Ji-han, having spotted something, moved aside, causing Eun-young to slam her head straight into the floor.
Thankfully, the impact wasn’t too severe.
Bright indoor lights flooded her vision.
“Ow, ow, that hurts.”
Sitting dazedly on the white floor, Eun-young voiced her complaint to Ji-han.
“Hey! You’ve gone too far! Would it kill you to even pretend to catch me… huh?”
Eun-young looked around.
It was an ordinary-looking private office.
A woman, the same one Eun-young had seen before, was perched on the desk in the middle of the office.
She wasn’t in a white dress, but in plain jeans and a purplish shirt.
Eun-young stared at the woman, mesmerized.
Even without any particular effort, her face seemed to radiate light.
She was less “pretty” and more “elegant.”
Ji-han pointed his sword at the woman.
“Who are you?”
“That, that has to be a habit.”
Eun-young clicked her tongue as she watched Ji-han aim his sword.
She had no idea where he’d learned the habit of pointing a sword at everyone he met.
Eun-young dusted herself off and stood up.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry. I think he’s ridiculously strong, but it seems he traded his personality for it. Please try to understand.”
“The first thing I’m doing when we get out is killing you.”
Hearing Eun-young’s words, Ji-han’s eyes blazed.
At first, it had been a little scary, but now… what could she say?
A part of her was starting to think, ‘whatever happens, happens.’
Eun-young raised her hands and sighed.
“Go on, kill me!”
“I really will kill you!”
“Right! You’ll really kill me. You wouldn’t fake kill me, would you? Kill me, spare me, do whatever you want!”
“As if you’d meekly let me kill you.”
At Ji-han’s mutter, Eun-young inwardly suppressed a laugh.
“I said to kill me, not that I’d let you.”
“Damn it, why are all of Soter’s followers like this?”
Kang Han-gyeol was strange, but Song Eun-young was no ordinary person either.
Ji-han was oblivious to the fact that he was describing himself.
When Ji-han sheathed his sword, the weapon at his waist vanished instantly.
“I’m so jealous of that ability.”
Ji-han could summon weapons and items at will.
It seemed convenient, and for an opponent, it was unnerving not knowing how many weapons he carried.
It was exactly what you’d imagine an inventory system from a game would be like in reality.
As if her words weren’t worth a reply, Ji-han shut his mouth and turned his head away.
The woman simply watched them, remaining silent.
Something flashed through Eun-young’s mind.
Eun-young poked Ji-han in the side.
“Hey.”
“What.”
“You said you’d kill me first when we get out of here, right?”
“Want me to do it now?”
“Does that mean this isn’t ‘outside’?”
Ji-han nodded.
At the same time, the large window turned pitch black.
It was a darkness as if someone had taped black construction paper over the glass.
“Of course.”
“Then where are we?”
“A crevice.”
“A crevice?”
“Yes. It’s not uncommon.”
Ji-han took a step forward.
This was the Temple of Veritas.
‘I don’t know what his taboo is, but he broke it.’
As far as Ji-han could remember, there was only one follower of Veritas who could create a crevice within a corrupted temple.
The sole S-rank Hunter among Veritas’s followers, and a Transcendent.
“Are you Yoo Chae-young?”
“Yoo Chae-young? You mean the Hunter who died during the Great Cataclysm?”
“So you know of her.”
“It’s not that I know of her, I… never mind. More importantly, Yoo Chae-young? What’s going on?”
Eun-young looked up at the woman Ji-han had called Yoo Chae-young.