The Mountain Flattens
Mt. Baekdu’s odds were exactly 5:5. In plain terms, it was the same as a fifty-fifty chance of dying. Right now Rona had staked her body on that fifty-percent probability while squaring off against the lava giant.
‘Damn it, this is insanely hot…!’
The moment the magma blade and the dragon’s fang collided, a massive shower of sparks exploded outward. He wasn’t called the Fire Demon Surt for nothing. When the lava beside her surged toward her, Rona widened the distance to dodge and naturally wiped away the sweat streaming down both cheeks.
‘How many years has it been since I last sweated…?’
Even with her dragon scales, enduring magma that exceeded 1,300℃ was no easy feat. Without those scales, she would have been burned from head to toe in an instant.
‘Breath doesn’t work either…!’
Normally, even Awakeners with fire resistance couldn’t withstand a dragon’s breath, yet the Fire Demon Surt had endured it completely.
「Human. Splendid.」
Clap, clap, clap!Surt set his sword aside for a moment and applauded Rona.
“……”
「Among all those I have fought until now, you are the first to merely sweat.」
Everyone who stood before him turned to ash. To meet an opponent who could last this long against him was an absolute stroke of good fortune. He gripped his sword once more.
「I shall face you with my full strength!」
“……”
「That is the final courtesy I can show a strong opponent!」
‘I don’t need that kind of courtesy, you idiot!’
Unfortunately, her inner scream didn’t reach him. Surt wrapped his blade in magma and attacked again. Rona met the blow head-on once more. At a time like this, she couldn’t help resenting Seong-a for abandoning her and running off alone.
Mt. Baekdu’s summit.
Seong-a was climbing toward the peak on legs that wouldn’t stop shaking.
‘Huff…! This is freaking exhausting…’
It was so cold she wrapped both arms around herself. She had used a stamina-enhancement talisman and a warming talisman, but that couldn’t fix everything. Still, she was almost there.
With trembling legs, I pushed onward toward the mountain’s summit. When I finally reached the top of Mt. Baekdu, the sight before me made me gasp.
“Whoa…”
Countless skulls and rotting corpses littered the ground. Not a single blade of grass could grow here. And right in the middle of Cheonji Lake stood a black knight gripping a massive greatsword.
All that painful climbing had been worth it. I turned my gaze toward the knight clad in black armor. He must have sensed my presence, because he slowly turned his head in my direction.
“Hiii~?”
I gave a little wave, trying to lower his guard.
「…….」
He simply stared at me in silence.
“What’s your name?”
「…….」
No answer. Still, I slowly approached him. The closer I got, the thicker the aura of death became.
“First off, sorry. I’m planning to cut off your head and take it to my aunt.”
「…….」
According to Rona, my aunt had been pulling all-nighters for weeks because of a contract ruined by Chun-deok. The penalty fee was supposedly over a hundred billion won. She was apparently taking every overseas request she could get just to cover it. That was probably why she’d sent Ha-im off to Japan too. With Rona causing trouble on top of that, my aunt must be on the verge of losing her mind. Plus, I’d already taken three hundred million from my grandfather, so I planned to kill this guy and credit the kill to Rona. The strongest one, of course. That way Hae-yeon’s stock would skyrocket and my aunt could finally breathe easier.
Of course, it wouldn’t be free. In exchange for taking this guy down, I’d ask her to put in a good word about me.
“So just hand over your head and let’s wrap this up quick.”
「…….」
The knight silently raised his greatsword. Looked like he had no intention of handing it over. “Just asking, but is your body feeling heavy or uncomfortable—?”
Before I could finish, he swung a vertical slash at me.
「…….」
He was definitely slower than the monsters I’d faced before. The formation I’d set up on the mountain ridge before climbing must have activated properly. ‘Well, it probably won’t do much against a brute who only knows raw power.’
The knight kept attacking with a greatsword steeped in the aura of death, but it seemed useless. I dodged right, then left, ducked under a swing, and finally jumped! After I evaded every strike perfectly, the knight swung even faster, but it was still pointless. Then he quietly shifted his stance and tried to slam the sword into the ground.
‘Hmm, an area-of-effect attack this time?’
How annoying. Area attacks were like meteors—you knew they were coming, but you couldn’t avoid them. At least, that was how it felt for third-rate fighters. Real pros could dodge meteors with pure luck.
Clang!
The instant the knight tried to drive his sword into the earth, the blade suddenly shattered into millions of tiny fragments.
“How’s that?”
「…….」
He recreated the sword from the aura of death and tried the area attack again, but it failed every single time. The reason was simple: the red camellia flower pinned to my chest—today’s lucky item.
Everyone had their own lucky item, and it reset every twenty-four hours. Sometimes it was something hard to obtain; other times it was a random object lying on the side of the road. Most people just walked right past theirs without realizing.
I had found mine by chance while climbing Mt. Baekdu. The moment you discovered your lucky item, your fortune surged into Great Luck. To put it simply, in Great Luck state your luck was so good you could pull full duplicates and full refines on a thirteen-step gacha banner. On two different characters at once.
So it was only natural that the sword would break—whether from age, a manufacturing flaw, or some other probability-based mishap.
「…….」
The knight planted his sword in the ground and took a martial arts stance. Since the blade was useless, he must have decided to switch to hand-to-hand combat. He charged at blinding speed and threw a punch, but I dodged it easily again.
‘He’ll probably come from behind about now…’
「Hiiiiiiing!」
From behind me came the clatter of hooves and an unidentified cry. A huge shadow fell over me. From its shape, it was unmistakably a horse.
「Hiiiiing!」
The horse lifted a massive foreleg, trying to stomp me flat. I summoned my pipe and put it in my mouth.
Boom!
The horse slammed its hoof down with all its strength, but all that remained was a horseshoe-shaped crater. The pipe smoke reformed into human shape, and I reappeared—only for the black knight to dash behind me and launch a kick.
Boom!
When the pipe clashed with the thick armor, it sent out a tremendous shockwave.
「…….」
‘Even here it’s proving useful.’
The materials for this pipe were a branch from the World Tree and the legendary ore adamant. I’d pestered the dwarf chieftain into making it for me. All the trouble I’d caused in the elf kingdom and dwarf city had been worth it. Seeing cigarette smoke slip inside his helmet made me grin.
“But is it okay to breathe that in? Secondhand smoke is bad for you, you know~?”
「…….」
Since he’d inhaled the smoke, he should be seeing hundreds of me right now. And no, you can’t just ignore illusions. As I’ve said before, a true master must be able to create all five senses, not just sight.
「…….」
Mounted on his horse, the knight swung his sword at the hundred-plus versions of me. Watching from a distance, I thought, ‘Is he stupid?’ He could have just waited it out, yet here he was wasting all that energy. While he was busy exhausting himself, I used the twigs scattered around to draw another formation. My plan was to keep draining his stamina and then finish him with a surprise attack.
Flutter, flutter.
Just then, a single butterfly appeared in my vision against the pitch-black night sky. But it didn’t last long. Its wingbeats grew weaker and weaker until it finally fell beside me.
‘Even bugs die just by being near this place.’
I looked at the greatsword radiating an aura of death. According to my reading, even a graze from that blade carried an instant death effect. Possessing such an overpowered weapon was exactly why it was ranked 1st-class.
When I turned my head, I saw skulls strewn all across Cheonji Lake on Mt. Baekdu.
‘Hmm. Are these all the corpses of Awakeners?’
Curious, I closed my eyes and divined information about the dead.
“……”
The result left me speechless. These skeletons belonged to the Awakeners China had sent seven years ago. This was an era where population was power. The country that had gained overwhelming military strength through Awakeners wasn’t America—it was China. They simply had more people. And with more people came more high-rankers.
Back then, the arrogant Chinese forces had challenged the black knight who had been quietly sitting on Mt. Baekdu. It was like poking a sleeping lion in the nose. The result was catastrophic: thirty S-class and a thousand A-class Awakeners dead. Even so, people still smiled and said China had made a huge contribution to maintaining world peace.
After finishing the formation, I stretched.
‘Ugh! Time to wrap this up.’
Rona should be finishing her fight around now, so I needed to end mine too. Once the formation was complete, I performed the unique hand signs. To be honest, this was my first time using this technique. But I had no choice. Although I was loaded with utility skills, I had strangely zero talent for offensive techniques. That was why my master had told me to learn this one, saying even the Eastern Heavenly Demon would fall in a single strike. There was a price to pay, of course, but I wasn’t in any position to worry about that right now.
‘Here he comes.’
The effect must have worn off, because the knight charged at me, swinging his greatsword. But it was already too late. I thrust my hand toward the sky. Ten blue circular formations appeared, stacking like an hourglass around Mt. Baekdu. Then, among the countless stars decorating the night sky, one shone with an especially vivid blue light.
The star delivered blue judgment upon an existence that should not radiate the aura of death. It looked like a god handing down punishment to a trivial being—like a blue pillar connecting heaven and earth.
That day, Mt. Baekdu—the tallest mountain on the Korean peninsula—was flattened into a perfectly level plain in an instant.