Chapter 76
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 76
The change brought about by there being two of us instead of one was significant.
We defeated the golems far more easily and reached the summit of the rocky mountain quickly.
But if even this factor had been reflected in the trial to raise its difficulty.
Then the final boss's bulk-up also fell within a somewhat understandable range.
He had followed me because he was worried about sending me three months early, but in the end, it had only become a poison.
"It's an opponent so strong that I can't guarantee victory even at full strength."
Amid all this, Baek Sa-young, perhaps with his characteristic competitive spirit kicking in, wore a faint smile.
In contrast, my expression remained rigidly hardened.
It was something that had happened unavoidably, but I absolutely had to obtain the Armament before leaving.
But since it was a golem I had never seen before, I couldn't get a sense of how strong it was.
While I was racking my brain for a moment.
Suddenly the view ahead wavered, and I hurriedly raised my head.
[Inter Quest]
[Objective: Defeat the Intermediate Elemental Golem]
[Reward: 10 days added to Remaining Time, 30 SP provided]
[Name: Elemental Golem (Combined Form)]
[Attribute: ???]
[Description: As befits a combined version of intermediate golems, each part has a different attribute, making it extremely tricky to deal with. Its pure combat power is outstanding enough to approach that of a Grade 4 Monster.]
What the hell, this isn't some sci-fi animation.
The moment I realized it had actually combined, I briefly wore a dumbfounded expression.
On top of that, a Grade 4 Monster was not an easy opponent even for the two of us.
"This isn't the time."
But soon I began to pull myself together.
In the end, if we just took down that thing, it would be a happy ending for both of us.
I would get the quest reward, and Baek Sa-young would get the Armament, so it was a win-win for both of us.
I read the message again.
First, I had guessed from the words "an aggregate of golems" that there would be some kind of peculiarity.
But I judged that there was no method more certain than seeing it with my own eyes.
"Wait a moment."
I crept forward with my body lowered as much as possible.
The summit of the rocky mountain was a sunken terrain like Baekdu Mountain, so I could approach without being detected.
I took in the creature's appearance from closer up.
Looking closely, its overall height was nearly 6 meters, and the black rock composing its body was smooth, making it look like black armor.
But what I wanted to find was something that couldn't be grasped with the naked eye.
So what choice did I have? I had no option but to purchase a paid item.
[Changing the settings of 'Clairvoyant Eye'.]
[Allows you to see inside living creatures for 5 seconds.]
[Required SP: 20]
20?
For a mere 5 seconds, this was an outrageous rip-off, but I had no choice.
Rather than recklessly charging in and making an irreversible mistake, I needed to find a certain method.
The moment I decided, I began the Enhancement.
Soon, a distinct blue pigment seeped into my vision—
Tzzzt.
A searing pain as if my optic nerves were burning up flared, but I opened my eyes even wider instead.
I pushed the clairvoyance that activated for only 5 seconds to its limit and peered into every corner of the creature.
Ah.
Its interior came clearly into view, but because it was all rock, there was nothing remarkable to see.
It was at that moment, amid scenery that looked entirely black like a night sky, that I discovered one light glinting conspicuously.
"Found it."
I clenched both fists and glared at a spot about 50 centimeters below the exact center of its chest.
I had hypothesized from the word "combined" that there might be a core power source serving as the focal point.
As expected, a fist-sized gem was pulsing like a heart.
But it seemed difficult to pierce through in one go.
It was because of the hazy membrane surrounding the gem.
The defensive barrier, composed of two layers in total, was engraved with unusual patterns, and even if I manifested an Armament and attacked, it didn't seem like it could be broken easily.
As if telling us not to use a shortcut like destroying the core, it had established a thoroughly ironclad defense system.
"Hm."
But so what.
I wasn't some blood relative of this place, and I was someone who had gotten entangled by accident, so I had no intention of following along obediently.
Moreover, since I was someone who preferred shortcuts over normal methods, seeing something like that just made me want to mess with it for no reason.
"Kgh."
Anyway, when the enhancement ended, I let out a short groan.
As the surroundings spun and a pain like my eyes would pop out hit me, I hastily pressed down on my eyelids.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. More importantly."
Once I had calmed down to some extent, I opened my mouth again.
I told him that because each body part had a different attribute, there was no point continuing an attribute battle.
Then I moved on to its sole weakness.
I told him about the existence of the core and asked him to draw its attention and break through the first defensive wall.
Then I said I would break through the second defensive barrier, but that I needed time to prepare.
It was because the second defensive barrier was thicker than the first.
"Got it. I'll try somehow."
As if we had made a promise, we exchanged glances.
But was it because I had already experienced the mountain called Han Soo-hyeok once?
"I just thought of a decent idea. Trust me."
Baek Sa-young, wearing a smile that was somewhat relaxed for the situation, flew like a flying tiger and landed in front of the creature.
Then the head of the combined robot—no, the roughly 6-meter Elemental Golem—turned toward Baek Sa-young with an unnatural creak.
Its eyes flashed as if its system had switched from standby to combat mode, and it charged forward with ground-shaking thuds.
Without exaggeration, a fist nearly the size of a wild boar hurtled toward Baek Sa-young.
I naturally assumed he would dodge.
A direct hit looked strong enough to send him straight to the grave.
Bzzzzzt—
But Baek Sa-young's choice was the opposite.
In an instant, his heavy sword bent as if about to break and met the golem's fist head-on.
Baek Sa-young, gritting his teeth, did not pull his sword away even as he was gradually pushed back.
The question was answered the moment Baek Sa-young's sword began to transform rapidly.
Even while being pushed back to the limit, Baek Sa-young's sword blazed red, then was wreathed in a rough gust, then shimmered with blue light, changing moment by moment.
The intent was too obvious for me not to notice.
"That crazy bastard."
He was deliberately doing that to find an attribute that would create a compatibility advantage.
It was novel and groundbreaking—and every bit as reckless.
It was an action the Baek Sa-young I knew would never have taken, but the effect was unmistakable.
The moment Baek Sa-young's sword was dyed yellow, a deep wound was carved into the demonic fist.
This was earth overcoming water.
It was proof that the creature's right fist was of the water attribute.
Ptui—
Baek Sa-young spat out a mouthful of blood and pushed the earth attribute to its limit.
Before long, he drove the deeply embedded sword in even deeper, slicing off half of the fist, and immediately after, he brought his sword up again against the left fist flying in from the other side.
Bzzzzzt—
And the pattern was the same as before.
The color of the transforming sword became especially vivid when it held a bluish energy.
Its particular weakness to water meant it was fire-aspected.
After confirming the result, Baek Sa-young stepped back this time and pulled out his sword.
He ducked under the kick flying in from behind, sprang up like a butterfly, closed on the left fist again, and stung like a bee.
As he descended and drove his sword straight in, the golem's two eyes flashed.
Immediately after, it shook its left hand roughly as if dusting off dirt, but Baek Sa-young held on stubbornly.
In the end, only after the left hand was completely split apart did he land and straighten his posture again.
I was more shocked than I expected, so I just stared blankly for a moment.
I had drawn Baek Sa-young's battle scenes hundreds of times up until now.
I could swear this was the first time he had ever pressed an attack so boldly and decisively.
I soon learned what had changed Baek Sa-young so roughly.
"Sometimes you have to know how to break things too. Right?"
Baek Sa-young, battered all over, wore a fierce grin I had never seen on him before.
Apparently, it went back to that mana sphere from before.
It seemed he had attempted a pattern change after seeing me cut it apart out of ignorance about swords.
A genius had done a genius thing.
Or should I say Baek Sa-young had done a Baek Sa-young thing.
It had only been a week since he received the evaluation that his sword was boring.
It was astonishing that he had changed a preconception that some people never shed in their entire lives so easily and so appropriately.
"Good grief."
Perhaps he had already grown regardless of the Armament.
So.
The original plan had been simple:
I judged that the plan in which Baek Sa-young opened the way and I finished things off should also be changed.
That was the role that suited each of us better.
No.
"Because it's what the original Baek Sa-young should do."
Zing—
I activated Manifestation and created the Chungyongwi Warrior's Dagger.
I engraved and compressed the Latent Heat formula into the blade, then bound it with Cheonjam Thread.
Tap-tap—
To show a slightly different side from the Special Mission Taskforce, I kicked off the ground and ran toward the golem.
Baek Sa-young, who had by then cut all the way up to the golem's shoulder, was staggering and seemed to have reached his limit, but since I had decided to trust him, I resolved to trust him to the end.
When I reached an appropriate distance, I shouted to Baek Sa-young.
"Change of plans. I'll break the first defensive barrier, so you finish it."
"What? So suddenly? I'm already at my limit."
"Sometimes you have to know how to go beyond your limits too. Right?"
"Wow. You."
Baek Sa-young seemed dumbfounded and couldn't continue speaking, but I lightly ignored him and hurled the dagger.
The golem was roughly 5 meters away.
Because it was at close range, the dagger embedded itself in its abdomen almost the instant it was thrown, and the moment the latent heat activated, violent sparks surged and the golem staggered.
"Now!"
I gave the signal to Baek Sa-young, but he had already launched himself forward.
He seemed to have condensed every bit of his mana into the weapon—not as much as Cheon Seo-yoon could, perhaps, but still an enormous amount.
Gripping a great sword nearly 3 meters long, he charged with single-minded focus.
Advancing with the sole determination to pierce his target, he drove the sword in.
Schk—
The spot was exactly where my dagger had been embedded.
"......."
Unlike when the first defensive barrier had been broken, there was no omen of any kind, and through a stretch filled only with silence—
Thoom—
The golem collapsed.
Its eyes gradually darkened like charcoal whose embers had gone out.
* * *
[You have successfully completed the Inter Quest.]
[You have defeated the Elemental Golem.]
[As a reward, 10 days are added to your Remaining Time.]
[You acquire 30 SP for a development that showcased camaraderie.]
After finishing the final trial, we entered the shrine.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"No. I feel like I'm dying."
Baek Sa-young was nearly exhausted, staggering in a state not much different from when he had been beaten by Han Soo-hyeok.
But perhaps because there was a carrot called a reward, he forced his feet to move and approached the end of the shrine.
And at last.
"Ah."
"Wow, what is this."
The chamber was so bright that an exclamation escaped me.
As we stepped into the hall where warm light had settled, we could see a single sword planted in the center like the owner of the place.
It was the Heavenly Sword.
Right now it was only Rare (Upper), so its edge was dull and it might look like a club, but as its seals were released one by one, it would eventually become a protagonist-exclusive Mythic-grade Armament surpassing Hero-grade.
Only Yoo So-young knew its proper name, so it was simply called the Heavenly Sword, but it was clearly an incredible weapon.
"Ah."
Baek Sa-young, unable to find words, simply stared endlessly at the sword.
Had it recognized its master?
The Heavenly Sword was also responding with a resonant hum.
Without any lingering attachment whatsoever, I said to Baek Sa-young.
"It looks like a good sword. You take it."
"Me? But still, we came together......."
"We got here thanks to you. I just tagged along. Besides, I'm in the Sorcery Track, remember?"
Baek Sa-young chewed his lip as if deliberating, then finally nodded.
"I'll ask my senior once."
Dragging that damn Special Mission Taskforce into it again.
But that sight wasn't awkward either, so I nodded silently.
"Then."
Baek Sa-young carefully approached the Heavenly Sword.
He reached out a trembling hand to grasp the sword's hilt.
But.
"Huh?"
His hand stopped short for a moment.
When I looked at him questioningly, Baek Sa-young continued.
"Ha-yul, there's another Armament here."