Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Shadow Dance Under the Night Sky
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Eastern Continent.
The night sky was pouring down.
It was the literal meaning. A dark night under the moonlight.
Black arrows blanketing that night.
'What the hell is this?'
Volkan stared at Han Yuseong in utter bewilderment.
From the moment the arrows were loosed, he knew they weren't just a simple feint aimed at him.
However.
As the arrows flew, something like an illusion emerged from behind him.
'And then the arrows were fired.'
A total of three arrows.
And those split into countless more.
Volkan had heard Han Yuseong quietly murmur just before loosing them.
"Shadow Dance · Phantasm. Penetration, Explosion, Split." Shadow Dance, Phantasm.
And penetration, explosion, and split.
He'd harbored a faint hope it wasn't so.
This wasn't the power of a mere level 5.
'No way all those arrows...'
Carry the concepts of penetration and explosion?
An unbelievable notion.
But if the one behind it was Han Yuseong, that changed everything.
He wouldn't buy it from anyone else.
But if it was that guy's doing, there was a strange faith in it.
That every single one of those arrows held the concepts of penetration and explosion.
As the things filling the night sky came pouring down, Volkan's response was simple.
He let out a bizarrely booming laugh.
And drew the greatsword he carried.
The arrows filling the night sky descended right up to him.
Volkan truly felt the illusion of the night sky itself crashing down on him.
However.
Thud!
He swung the greatsword lightly.
'Still a bit rough around the edges.'
Not every arrow's trajectory was perfect.
The night sky descending meant, literally, there weren't that many aimed directly at him.
The greatsword cleaved the sky. Simply from top to bottom.
The wind enveloping the blade turned into gusts of pressure, and the arrows around it got caught in the wind, wobbling.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Countless arrows veered away from Volkan.
But Volkan's eyebrow twitched slightly.
'Strange.'
By his calculations, the wind should have swept up a much larger area.
Yet they withstood the sword-generated wind pressure somehow.
'Penetration... huh.'
In a single clash, Volkan grasped the nature of what Han Yuseong had just unleashed.
But it didn't end there. Volkan tensed his legs.
Explosion, he'd said.
Having confirmed penetration and split, now came the explosion.
All the arrows embedded in the ground began to vibrate.
'This bastard.'
The arrows stuck in the ground emanated an ominous aura.
Immense mana swelled and expanded within them.
He'd half-expected it.
But the omens were far from ordinary.
At the edge of Volkan's vision.
Han Yuseong was forming some strange hand seal.
"Dragon Poison Art." He roughly read the lip movements.
'No, did that guy learn poison arts too?'
At the same time, purple mist began encroaching from all sides. His body felt a touch heavier.
Volkan was largely immune to most poisons.
Which only proved how absurdly potent this one was.
'...An elf's brewing prowess.'
His antidotes and potions were already renowned.
When monsters had invaded the Cradle before, his antidotes had saved many lives and even melted the beasts away.
But it didn't end there.
Han Yuseong raised one hand toward the sky.
"Extreme Lightning God."
A purple lightning spear formed in his hand.
Poison smeared on the arrowheads.
Mana swollen to the bursting point, ready to explode.
And purple lightning striking down upon it.
"Ha."
Volkan let out an incredulous laugh.
Rumble!!
The explosion, poison dust, and lightning blast engulfed everything around them.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'Was that a bit much?'
⚙ Holy Sword ⚙ That wasn't just a bit much. 'But it's Volkan.'
This wasn't even a serious attack.
Shadow Dance... wasn't a technique meant for taking down people to begin with.
'Though it's not like I can use it that way anyway.'
This time, properly unleashing Shadow Dance had revealed one new fact to me.
'It's more like attaching three instances of a single concept, rather than just penetration, explosion, split.'
I'd wanted to test it out.
But not possible right now.
I kept my eyes fixed on the spot where thick smoke billowed.
"Rookie."
Volkan emerged from it.
Towering height, clothes slightly singed. Less gracefully aged, more like a bandit chief.
Red glow emanated from his eyes.
Traces of his Poison Gate Divine Art and Blazing Flower Divine Art.
At the same time, his sword began to blaze red.
Flickering flames.
"That was pretty fun."
A subtle anger laced his voice.
Seemed he was fairly pissed.
'No visible injuries, as expected.'
Regardless, I calmly assessed his status.
Coming here, and after leveling up, I'd sensed it.
Volkan was a monster.
An absolute monster.
No way something like this would leave a mark.
'Even so.'
I had to land a wound.
To prove the time Volkan invested in me wasn't wasted.
I drew my sword.
Still hadn't gathered all the metals, so it was the Thunder Dragon Sword—a bit regrettable.
'But this is a fine blade too.'
And gripped the Holy Sword in my other hand.
⚙ Holy Sword ⚙ Hmm? The Holy Sword looked utterly ordinary at a glance. No standout features.
It selects a hero, then unleashes its true power once the seal is broken.
Right now, it was just an exceptionally sturdy blade.
'Hoo.'
I focused.
The opponent before me was Volkan.
A man I could test everything on.
To be honest.
'I've still got a lot I can't handle properly.'
Plenty of shortcomings.
Couldn't be helped.
Less than a year since I fell into this world.
Getting this accustomed already was practically a miracle.
Swords in both hands, I advanced.
Anything goes.
Volkan could handle whatever I threw at him.
Whoooosh!
The things called inner arts raged fiercely inside me.
Fused with Extreme Lightning God, but remnants remained: Lightning Surge Art, Purple Flower Divine Art, and Blazing Flower Divine Art.
"Your eyes are alive, brat."
I took one step forward.
Swinging the sword in my right hand.
The blade traced an arc, instantly completing a sword technique.
'Dark Moon.'
Darkness settled in.
At the same time, another sword technique executed in tandem.
'Black Sea.'
The settled darkness cleaved apart.
Two Dark Moons and slashing waves born simultaneously.
"Ho?"
Volkan watched with interest.
Clang!
He casually swung his sword to deflect the slashes.
Krunch!
The deflected slashes tore through the ruined landscape.
"You adapted that orc hero's swordsmanship quite well."
The power was impressive, but wounding Volkan was another story.
Dark Moon settled the darkness. Volkan grinned at the sight of two moons.
"This one's decent."
But the two moons shattered.
Volkan's eyes turned to me. As if asking if that was all.
'What kind of monster is that guy?'
Two Moons was my ace. At least twice as strong as Sword Cloud.
Tsk. I clicked my tongue and flipped the sword.
"Hm?"
From beneath Volkan, the shattered moons began to rise again.
The two moons merged into one sun.
Roooar!!
"Sun Heaven."
The sun rose, bearing down on Volkan.
"This one's pretty good too."
Volkan smiled in satisfaction, stepping forward and swinging his sword.
Slash.
Sun Heaven was bisected.
"......"
"What? That face full of dissatisfaction."
"You said it was good, but one swing."
"The level gap between you and me. For you to even scratch..."
Squelch.
As he spoke and approached, Volkan's foot sank into the ground.
Oh, he fell for that one nicely.
"......What the hell is this."
"Just a little trap I made out of boredom."
"......"
Volkan's face twisted oddly. As if he hadn't even registered stepping into such a trap.
⚙ Holy Sword ⚙ What the hell is that? 'A trap made with my Thief Hero gift.'
Honestly, I hadn't expected him to trigger it.
But since I was going all out, I'd set it up with everything I had.
'This might actually be useful.'
Unlike the others.
Maybe because they say it's entering the realm of gods.
A simple trap, yet Volkan fell in.
"This one's decent. But if it had any real killing intent, no way I'd step in."
Splat.
"......"
"......"
No, is that even possible?
I stared at Volkan in a daze.
Volkan had triggered another trap.
'That one felt more serious.'
⚙ Holy Sword ⚙ Bounce! ⚙ Holy Sword ⚙ His pride's definitely hurt now. 'Ah, right.'
I nodded in agreement.
Time to run...
As I prepared to flee.
A terrifying sound came from behind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hoo..."
But I got caught in the end.
Couldn't be helped.
What was I supposed to do against a level 9?
Dangling from Volkan's grip like a trophy, I returned to base.
"......But what was that?"
"What?"
"The arrows you shot."
Ermé asked, eyes sparkling.
"Oh, it's a skill called Shadow Dance."
"Shadow Dance?"
"Yeah, I upgraded my old Charging Shot however I wanted."
"......That one?"
"It didn't work because it was me, but against most folks, it'd land first for sure."
"It wasn't even complete. Lots of rough spots."
"......And that?"
"Yeah. But I can refine it decently now, so I won't go down that easy next time."
"......No way. You mean stacking multiple instances of a concept into one?"
"Yeah, something like that..."
For example, stacking penetration three times.
Could probably kill most warriors.
'Or try using mana differently.'
Fortunately, my mana reserves were ridiculously vast.
The hero's orthodox inner arts.
Learning them and various others, my mana grew day by day.
'Stat-wise, it's increasing by at least 1 per day.'
As I pondered this, presences approached at terrifying speed.
"We were attacked!? Who the hell came?!"
"A tenth of the forest is gone—what kind of battle was this...?"
Everyone in a panic.
Ah, right, I hadn't explained.
I said just one truth, no more.
"Old man Volkan offered to guide me, so we sparred once."
"......You turned the forest into that with one spar?"
The crown prince's gaze turned to Volkan. Eyes like an interrogation.
Volkan protested, feeling wronged.
"No, you burned the forest, brat!"
Volkan spoke the plain truth.
What a shame.