Chapter 296
Chapter 296
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 296
Chapter Title: God's Atlantis
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I raised my fist rippling with qi toward the mummies in front of me.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art: Dragon Fist.
The Heavenly Demon qi shot straight forward. The mummies it touched lost parts of their bodies and collapsed to the floor. I stepped on the fallen mummy as I headed for the river.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art: Heavenly Demon Step.
Countless mummies reached out toward me, but they couldn't catch me as I moved swiftly with my footwork. Even if they occasionally grabbed my shoulder or body, it didn't matter. When I swung my fist with full power, the mummy flew off like lightweight styrofoam.
'Still, there are too many.'
I couldn't just wildly attack the mummies blocking my path. Even if I did, they would regenerate and rise again after some time. In contrast, my mana was limited. Considering the battle with Anubis afterward, I needed to conserve it.
Something caught my senses. I glanced back slightly.
A blazing fireball was flying toward me.
But the fireball didn't hit me—it struck the mummy right in front of me.
Flames ignited on the mummies' bodies. The fire then spread in all directions, leaping from one densely packed mummy to another.
'It's not just any flame! It's Kasha's fire!'
The firepower was so intense that the mummies quickly turned into charred lumps and fell to the ground. Thanks to Kasha's support, I could head toward the river more easily. Of course, mummies were still emerging from the river.
"Stop right there!"
A man was chasing after me from behind. A man with a scruffy beard on his chin—the deputy leader.
I furrowed my brow.
"Why are you following me?!"
The place I was heading was a deathtrap. That was why Amad, who hated me, wasn't pursuing. In Amad's eyes, it must look like I was heading off to die.
"I realized it while tracking you. You know more about this pyramid than anyone! You saw through all the traps and monsters inside!"
"...And so?"
The deputy leader extended his left hand toward me. Iron chains shot out from his left hand toward me. It was probably a skill or unique trait.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art: Heavenly Demon Step.
I slipped away like gliding, dodging the chains. The chains vanished without a trace the moment I evaded them. Then they shot out again from the deputy leader's left hand.
"You opened the main gate yourself, and when you saw the tens of thousands of mummies coming from the river, you didn't panic at all! You knew about this situation too! You lured us here to use as bait and scatter the mummies!"
I realized the deputy leader was pretty smart. But that made it even harder to understand.
"You're not trying to die with me, are you... Do you want to kill me that badly?"
"Yes. I want to kill you! I'll kill you and take what you're after! You're not going to die. You're heading to claim something worth risking your life for. Or maybe not an item—power, perhaps!"
The deputy leader laughed.
I shook my head at that greed-filled smile.
"Do whatever you want, idiot."
I'd thought he was pretty clever, but apparently, I was wrong. The deputy leader was blinded by greed.
"Don't get in my way."
I warned him while dodging the chains. I wasn't killing the deputy leader because fighting him would waste time.
I headed to a part of the river with no mummies.
Splash! Splash!
I stepped into the black river water and entered the river.
"In the river?! Something's in the river! I'll kill you and take it!"
Chains flew from behind and wrapped around my left wrist with a clank. My feet got tangled by mummies rising from below, so I couldn't dodge.
The deputy leader yanked the chain.
'No time to untangle or cut the chain.'
Instead, I pulled on the chain and dove deeper into the river.
"Wha—what?!"
The deputy leader panicked as he was dragged along. This confirmed it. I was stronger than the deputy leader. My physical strength stat was definitely higher. Plus, I had the Heavenly Demon Body (A).
"Damn it! You think I'll let go?!"
The deputy leader didn't release the chain to the end. Instead, he gripped it and leaped toward me.
I entered the black river water. I didn't feel suffocated. I could breathe. [Blessing of Water] was working perfectly.
'Feels gross. It's clearly water, but it clings to my whole body like mud.'
The black river water was so dark I couldn't see an inch ahead. But something emitting a golden light was a short distance away.
I swam toward the golden light. The deeper I went, the worse the feeling got. This river water itself harbored malice.
'It's not poison, so I'll endure.'
According to the original info, it was fine as long as you didn't stay too long or drink it.
Something brushed past me. I knew it was the chain. It seemed he wasn't limited to throwing it with just his left hand.
The chain wrapped around the golden light. The golden light was coming this way quickly. As it got closer, I could clearly see its shape.
It was a sarcophagus.
A stone-carved sarcophagus was emitting golden light.
'Got it!'
I reached out my right hand toward the sarcophagus. But the chain around my left arm jerked me sideways. My right hand missed the sarcophagus.
'...Damn.'
The chain on my left arm vanished. The golden sarcophagus grew farther away. Frowning, I swam quickly toward the receding sarcophagus.
Splash!
When I surfaced from the river, the deputy leader was opening the sarcophagus. The stone coffin, now out of the water, no longer glowed golden.
I walked toward the deputy leader, step by step.
The deputy leader pulled out the mummy from inside the sarcophagus. That mummy wore a golden mask.
The deputy leader grabbed the golden mask with his hand and tore it off the mummy's head. His mouth tore into a grin.
"Hahahahahaha! An SSS-rank treasure! To think I'd obtain such a treasure!"
"Put down the sarcophagus and hand that over. You won't be able to handle it anyway. Don't do something you'll regret—give it to me."
"Regret?! It's already in my hands! It's mine! You'll be the one regretting!"
The deputy leader put the golden mask on his head.
I kicked away a charging mummy from the side and walked toward him.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
The deputy leader laughed. The joy of gaining great power, no doubt.
But it didn't take long for that laughter to turn into a scream.
"Gaa aaaaa aaaaa aah!"
The deputy leader flailed his arms. Trying to remove the golden mask. But the golden mask wouldn't come off. And his body began to wither and twist. All the moisture in his body was vanishing somewhere.
And so, the deputy leader died.
"I told you to put it down."
I removed the golden mask and held it in my hand. The surrounding mummies didn't charge at me.
The reason the deputy leader died was simple. Just as the info said, his mind was destroyed.
The deputy leader was blinded by greed and overestimated himself. If his mental strength was strong enough, he could withstand the golden mask's mind destruction. But not everyone has that level of mental fortitude.
'Humans can't endure it. Not without at least S-rank mental defense traits, skills, or items.'
In the original, Kang Myung-jin had a mental defense item, so he could use the golden mask.
'I have the Mental Resistance trait from the Playful Life app.'
Mental Resistance Lv. 5
I wasn't sure of the exact level, but I was confident it was at least SS-rank.
Divine Seat, Golden Mask.
Tutankhamun.
This golden mask's true master was anticipating my downfall.
'And Anubis is anticipating my downfall too.'
The King of the Demonic Heavens and the Lord of the Skies remained silent. They knew. My mind wouldn't be bound here. Their lack of reaction gave me confidence.
I lifted the golden mask high above my head and declared to the mummies swarming around me.
"I... will become the Lich King!"
I put on the golden mask.
Death brushed past me.
Death tried to swallow me. But it couldn't approach me.
The golden mask's original master was shocked.
I raised my right hand. All the mummies in this space prostrated before me.
The mummies attacking Kasha, Amad, and the thieves, and even those continuously emerging from the black river—all bowed to the ground toward me without exception.
The mummies' control was now mine, not Anubis's.
'My heart isn't beating.'
As per the golden mask's effect, I had become one of the dead.
I looked up at Anubis atop the pyramid. Then I pointed my right index finger at Anubis.
"Kill him!"
The army of 70,000 mummies marched toward Anubis.
Anubis's body grew even larger. It was already over 6 meters tall.
Anubis slammed his correspondingly enlarged staff into the ground.
Purple flames erupted around the pyramid. The flames burned the mummies.
'...The mummies aren't regenerating. Not ordinary flames.'
Anubis now aimed his staff at me.
The effect of the golden mask. While wearing it, no curses affect me. Unless a Divine Seat manifests personally to curse me.
Anubis's body grew even bigger.
I furrowed my brow. Anubis had already surpassed 10 meters.
Realizing curses didn't work, Anubis moved directly. Each time his massive foot stepped on the pyramid, it cracked and crumbled.
12 meters.
A four-story building was striding toward me. The flames died out, and mummies clung to the gigantic Anubis. But when Anubis swung his staff, they scattered like fallen leaves.
The mummies couldn't halt Anubis's footsteps for even a second. I was horrified. In the original, Anubis died to the mummies, but the one before me was growing even larger.
"What the hell is that! This is cheating! System, what are you doing! Hey!?"
"Damn it."
The face inside the mask rotted away.
Origin power.
The power that allows a god to be a god, its very existence.
Using origin power meant it was going all out to kill me.
'The system was doing its job properly.'
The system was blocking the manifestation of the Cycle of Life and Death, even using origin power. If it had manifested, I'd already be dead.
I snapped my head up. Only a Divine Seat could oppose a Divine Seat.
"Lord of the Skies! Help me!"
I realized the Lord of the Skies didn't see this as a crisis.
'I can guess why. To Zeus, the Cycle of Life and Death is no different from a neighborhood mutt.'
Zeus was utterly ignoring the Divine Seat Cycle of Life and Death. He thought I should handle this much on my own.
I changed targets.
"King of the Demonic Heavens!"
"I overcame your shitty trial! You know the reward for that trial is ridiculously stingy, right? Pay up right now! The mental trauma I suffered back then... Give me that reward now!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It was getting closer. Anubis had already reached 20 meters.
"Fuck! Before I ditch Heavenly Demon and all that bullshit, help me!"
I have two status windows.
Brainless Killer and Heavenly Demon.
Which one I choose is up to me. I could abandon Heavenly Demon entirely and live as Brainless Killer. Then the King of the Demonic Heavens would be out.
"Lord of the Skies! I'm ready to ditch that Ma-cheon crap and follow only you!"
"Fuck! I'm giving you 3 seconds! Exactly 3 seconds—if you don't help, even if I survive, I won't do Heavenly Demon shit!"