Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: Last Boss
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Of course it was. At least Shin Chae-yeon thought so.
She ignored the bewildered cries echoing from the darkness. Right now, she couldn't react to anything.
Every time she swung her sword, it left a blue trail in its wake. Following the path of the blade, the monster's flesh split open.
Its body tore into ragged shreds. Any ordinary creature would have died and vanished by now, but the monster wouldn't stop regenerating.
So Shin Chae-yeon didn't stop either. She kept swinging her sword relentlessly. Until it died. Until it fell.
There was no reason to stop, and she didn't. It was a primal method, but against an opponent that defied all logic, nothing worked better.
Tear. Heal. Slash. Regrow. The endless cycle continued. The monster couldn't even counterattack, too busy recovering from the onslaught.
Shin Chae-yeon's fierce assault pressed on. The blue trails grew sharper. Now, they felt less like afterimages and more like solid blue lines etched in place.
─But you've gotten stronger too.
Stronger. Far beyond when she'd first arrived at this school. But it hadn't always been that way.
She'd only grown stronger after meeting that one man.
─Do you know about Spirit Breathing?
She'd learned about spirits.
─Your focus isn't swordsmanship.
She'd received guidance.
─Your swordsmanship is perfect. You know that better than anyone.
For the first time, someone had affirmed her life of constant rejection.
So losing here would go against everything she stood for as a person. After receiving so much.
Losing here was unacceptable. She gripped her sword tighter.
She didn't change her stance. Didn't alter her swordsmanship. Didn't tweak the spirit technique already in play.
There was only one thing she changed. The flow of mana circulating through her body, reinforcing her flesh.
She forcibly severed it and twisted something new into the gap.
What?
'Spirit mana.'
Something no ordinary person could do. Even renowned spirit mages feared the backlash and never attempted it.
But Shin Chae-yeon pulled it off effortlessly. She cut off the mana flow and inserted spirit mana in its place.
A method that had flashed into her mind, executed flawlessly. This was something only she could do.
The mana control honed by her swordsmanship talent. Her innate gift as a spirit mage.
The miracle born from their synergy. Sparked by a single offhand comment from Lee Seong-hoon.
The severed mana returned. It clashed with the spirit mana filling the void and fused together.
The spirit mana merged with her mana. The result could be summed up in one word.
「GUOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!!」
Her physical abilities skyrocketed.
The monster's roars from moments ago turned to screams.
The body that had seemed impenetrable now chunked off in massive pieces. Like slicing soft meat, each swing sent black clumps flying, cluttering her vision.
Still, she didn't stop. Even with her sight obscured, swinging her sword posed no issue. After hundreds, thousands of swings, it wouldn't veer off just because her eyes were blocked.
The balance between recovery and attack shattered. Regeneration couldn't keep up.
That massive frame shrank with every swing. Her momentum overwhelmed it; her strikes were ruthless.
Plunging to the core was child's play.
'The core.'
A black gem radiating immense power, practically screaming, "I'm the core!" Shin Chae-yeon swung at it the instant she spotted it.
She paused her assault briefly, adding centrifugal force for a one-shot shatter—but
Kaang—!!!
It stopped. A crack formed, but it didn't break. She couldn't help but falter at the unimaginable hardness. The chunks that had cleaved off so easily before seemed laughable now.
But it wasn't unbreakable.
She had to act fast. Regeneration had already begun the moment she halted. Just as she prepared to finish it—
A voice rang out.
"Good job."
With the voice came a man with black hair tinged blue, entering her blurred vision.
The gem froze the instant he reached out. It shattered effortlessly, defying the hardness from before.
Watching the scene, Shin Chae-yeon thought.
'I cornered it, and I even cracked it.'
Why does he get to land the finishing blow and act all cool?
She couldn't understand it.
Shin Chae-yeon collapsed. She'd forcibly jammed spirit mana into her mana circuits, so it was only natural.
That the aftermath only left her muscles unresponsive was a miracle in itself.
So now she lay on the floor, unable to move a muscle. She heard people approaching from afar but couldn't even stir.
The sounds from the darkness had vanished at some point, and Kim Tae-hyun had chased after them.
With no threats left, she lay there alone.
"I won."
Had she won recently? Since entering this school, there were so many powerhouses she'd lost track.
A white-haired monster, black-haired guys. Even mindless monsters had beaten her every time.
─Think of this monster as a fusion of the 11th island's shadow and the 6th island's ancient spirit.
Victory over something like that. What a valuable triumph.
And that wasn't all. Her understanding of spirits had deepened. She'd found a path to even greater strength.
"Ah."
Shin Chae-yeon gazed at the sky. Where the crow that had perched on her shoulder until moments ago now flew.
"I won."
For some reason, she felt good. A smile crept onto her face, one she never usually wore. It was thanks to that crow. She wanted to at least say thanks, but it was gone.
'I'll tell it when I see it at school.'
There would be plenty of chances. Shin Chae-yeon simply surrendered to the relief washing over her.
Caw—!!
The crow soared away, a purple-glowing gem clutched in its beak. Its destination, naturally, a certain dorm.
There, it landed on a man's shoulder and handed over the gem.
The man, resting his chin on his hand with legs crossed, grinned sadistically at the gem.
Like a villain who'd just seized his prize—
"Seong-hoon oppa. Why are you posing like that?"
"Don't talk to me while I'm striking a pose."
"Oppa. You're such an idiot."
"What? You were supposed to say 'cool'! I totally looked like the last boss just now, right?! Code name: 'Lee Seong-hoon, stripped of his humanity'!!"
"Huh? Oh, that's the one I came up with!! You still remember?! How impressive!!"
[Daddy. Good job.]
"......."
The two blondes petting the black-haired man's head brought the idiot's performance to an end.
"What's got you so thrilled about that?"
"A stone that can delay the apocalypse."
"Saying it like that makes it sound really cool."
Right? You think so too? See, I wasn't posing for nothing when I got this stone.
But poses always crumble eventually. Just look at me now.
I was playing last boss a minute ago? Now I'm just a dad watching his kid draw on his lap.
The picture of domesticity, huh. Yeah. As I stroked her head, Leviathan beamed and squirmed happily, continuing her scribbles.
Sometime yesterday, she must've seen kids drawing on TV. Ever since, this had been her thing. Leviathan drawing meant Sion followed suit, naturally.
Raphael and I watching from the side was only natural too. But hey, our little family huddled around the table drawing wasn't half bad.
"Seriously, though, what is it?"
"Exactly what I said."
"Huh? For real? I thought you'd gone full chuunibyou again."
Shut up. I shoved down Raphael's head, who was giving me that "I know everything" look. She knew not to resist hard anymore and went down easily.
Good, obedient girl.
"In short, it's a magic item that lets you procrastinate vacation homework as long as possible."
For real. This stone plays a huge role later in the story—think of it as the centerpiece of the demon plans. And if I have it?
I can delay their plans to the max! Pretty great, right? Solving problems without lifting a finger.
I nodded contentedly, and Raphael poked her face in.
"Give it to me."
"We don't have vacation homework. You in elementary school or what?!"
"No."
"Then no."
"I can use it for something useful later."
I could see it coming. She hated work that much? Obviously, she was scheming to slack off in Heaven.
"Do your work. Work. Don't rely on items. Anyway, it's not like Michael or Heaven has anyone else to boss around."
"Huh? Not for Heaven."
Huh? Then what for?
As if answering, Raphael declared boldly. Even Sion in her arms stared in disbelief.
"I'm gonna use it to procrastinate housework!!"
"...What?"
We have Lily, though? I couldn't grasp her logic, but soon figured it out. This girl—
"Sometimes you even drag Lily out with you. So when I'm home alone, I'll delay everything to the limit and dump it all on Lily!!"
What a rotten angel. I'd thought she was improving lately, but some natures never change.
I'd figured Heaven came first. Back when she arrived, she sang Heaven's praises nonstop. Now she grinned at me, plotting to slack on chores.
Was this good or bad? Hard to tell.
Well, good is good. I patted Raphael's smiling head twice and turned back to Leviathan's drawing.
She puffed her cheeks and scribbled furiously, but it was still abstract nonsense.
"Leviathan. Is drawing fun?"
[Yeah!!]
So fun she answered without looking up. We only had A4 paper and pencils at home, but she loved it anyway.
Sion was happily drawing too, of course.
"Hm."
I gazed at the two kids quietly, then pulled out my phone and opened online shopping.
Maybe some crayons would make them happy. Imagining Leviathan and Sion's joy, I hit purchase.
[Insufficient balance. Unable to process payment.]
"Huh?"
A message of despair greeted me.
"........."
It looked like it was time to make some money.
"What's that ominous sound?"
The quick-witted angel chimed in.