Chapter 209: 38th Floor: Giant Guild Party (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 209: 38th Floor: Giant Guild Party (4)
'Fuck.'
The curse burst out in my mind.
Honestly, I didn't think I could take that hit and walk away unscathed, no matter what I did.
Right, I can't let it hit me. As long as it doesn't hit me... I'll be fine!
'That thing... what was the counter for it again?'
It was a sword I remembered.
I recalled the time I obtained that sword.
*
The Ohsung Guild Master.
He was, of course, the Ohsung Guild Master back then, too.
His name was Oh Kang-mu.
My past self called out to him.
"Hey, Kang-mu. That fucking thing... how do you block it?"
"Huh? Hyung-nim, why are you even thinking about blocking it? You just have to kill them or dodge before they use it. They become a complete scarecrow while casting it, you know? Can't move a muscle."
Was this around the mid-to-late 50th Floor?
My memory's a bit hazy, but back then, he was a pretty magnanimous and slick guy.
"Still, there might be times when you have no choice but to face it head-on."
"Hmm... Can't you just avoid getting into that situation in the first place?"
"Haa... Forget it. Let's test it ourselves."
"What, are you crazy? You got a death wish or something?"
And so, I nearly died several times to his sword, Silence, before I finally found a way to counter it.
"To think the answer was the same element: Void."
A power that turns everything to void.
To overcome it, you just had to surround yourself with void.
Just as you can't make zero into zero, shrouding myself in the Void attribute negated all damage.
I had only one skill with the Void attribute.
[Void Javelin]
The final secret technique from the [SS-rank Karios Deirn's Javelin Secret Manual].
I learned Meteor Fall, Sky Breaker, and Meteor Spear all from this very manual.
But the final technique was a bit questionable.
It was described as the ultimate secret art, but when I actually used it, it was pathetic.
A spear imbued with the Void attribute moved sluggishly forward, making it useless for anything other than trying to destroy the stationary Tower to summon the Administrator. The Administrator's panicked appearance guaranteed its power, but its narrow range made it a half-assed skill that could pierce a building but not destroy it.
That was what blocked Silence's technique. No, it wasn't so much blocking it as it was staying behind the slowly moving Void Javelin to avoid getting caught up in the attack.
However, escaping that void space was a bit difficult.
"Tsk... This doesn't really count as blocking it, does it?"
My body, which had been nearly disintegrated by the Void attribute that gnawed away at everything without exception—even the caster—began to regenerate.
"Heh heh, high risk, high return, isn't it?"
"It's OP as hell. Nerf it."
"No can do! Hahahaha!!!"
Oh Kang-mu was laughing good-naturedly.
*
Back to the present.
'I remember now. Void Javelin! Come to think of it, Demon King Liliana appeared to stop me when I tried to destroy the Tower with this on the 17th Floor.'
The magic circle wasn't the problem anymore.
The void, filling all of space, was approaching.
The Pukteu tribesmen at the very front were swept up in the void and vanished.
[Void Javelin]
The spear of destruction that turns everything to void.
As befitting the final technique of an SS-rank javelin manual, it required considerable skill and had a long casting time. That's why I hadn't used it since the 17th Floor, where my stats had been inflated.
'Please, work!!'
The spear in my hand began to vibrate.
Its form grew faint as a dark violet aura enveloped it.
Vrrrrrrrr...
The spear trembled, and so did I.
"Uwaaah...!!"
With crisis right before me, a strange feeling made an odd sound escape my lips. It was the fucking feeling that I would simply cease to exist if I so much as touched this thing.
I reinforced my hand with Divine Power and cast Divine Shield.
And just as the enemy's void wave was about to wash over me, I unleashed the technique I had barely managed to complete.
[Void Javelin]
I threw the spear with all my might, but it flew forward with excruciating slowness. I walked out behind it.
Fwoooosh—!
In an instant, my surroundings were engulfed in endless darkness, in void. It deleted everything without a sound.
'Am I the only one who survived...?'
I happened to glance back, and...
"Let's go togetherrrr!!"
Ilbon-do, looking like he was about to die, ran up and hugged me from behind.
"M-me too... O-o...! Oof!!"
Dotamuk tried to join us, but he was a little too late. He let out a strange noise as he was swept into the void and annihilated.
"......"
"Do-hee-nim! Forward! Kuaaaargh!!"
Urged on by Ilbon-do, I walked, following the slowly flying Void Javelin.
And then we entered the space of nothingness created by the void.
"Hey, now be caref— Hup...!"
A space with no oxygen, no light.
Darkness.
Only darkness lay before me. A place where I couldn't feel any sense of direction, let alone the flow of time.
I quickly reached out and grabbed the spear.
'Fuck!!! Aaaaargh!!!!'
The void energy clinging to the spear felt like it was disintegrating my hand. More than pain, the bizarre sensation of being erased felt like it would drive me mad. But if I didn't follow the direction the spear was flying, I'd never get out.
I couldn't see anything.
A space of void where the concept of space itself, and even time, had vanished.
All I could feel was my slowly disappearing hand and the guy, Ilbon-do, clinging to me tightly from behind as if terrified.
It seemed like he was screaming, but I couldn't hear him.
'Fuck, how much time has passed? Wait, are we even moving forward?'
The strange sensation in my hand and Ilbon-do's body heat were the only things telling me I was still alive.
'This guy... yeah, he probably won't die from holding his breath for a bit.'
He seemed anxious, pressing his upper body right against my ass and clinging to me like a cicada.
We crossed the endless void. No, I didn't even know if we were crossing it, but I assumed we were slowly moving forward.
Tap... tap... tap...
Ilbon-do, still hugging my waist, slowly tapped my side with his finger.
Time.
He was counting time.
Suddenly, it felt like the flow of time had returned.
Yeah, in this space that felt like it could drive you insane, at least I had a comrade with me.
As we flew through the void, I felt a strange sensation in my hand and switched the spear from my right hand to my left.
When I rubbed my right hand against my leg, I realized everything above the wrist was gone.
'Whoa... I was almost fucked.'
If I had let go of the spear, I would have become lost in the void.
The thought alone was terrifying. Of course, I'd be moved to the waiting room after the 30-minute match time was up, but until then, I'd be dying in a place with no sense of time.
How far had we gone? Judging by Ilbon-do's hand-watch-tapping, maybe another minute?
But is this bastard really tapping every second? What if he's tapping every 0.1 seconds? Would that mean only 6 seconds have passed?
'If my left hand disappears too, I'll really be lost...'
A lost child of the void. How horrible.
Just as I was thinking that,
Finally...
I could see light!!
'Oh!!'
The light grew larger, welcoming us brightly.
*
Meanwhile,
Ivan and Kwon Han-jun were waiting outside.
"Why... isn't it over?"
It was quiet, even though Silence's Void Silence skill had been used.
Nothing could be seen ahead.
There was no way for the other three to escape. The magic circle had broken, so their bindings might have loosened, but that didn't mean there was any space to dodge.
"Are they dying slowly?"
He figured that was possible, since Lee Do-hee had high defense, and looked in the direction where she had been.
The 180-degree space opposite of where Kwon Han-jun stood had completely vanished. It was like seeing a planet split in half.
Is this what a veil of void would feel like?
"A terrifying technique, no matter how many times I see it."
The fear that welled up just from looking at it made him back away.
[Prepare for the possibility that they make it out alive.]
The voice of his master, Baek Do-hyeon, rang out.
He couldn't ignore the words of the Guild Alliance Master, so he followed the order, checking his remaining skills and getting ready. But honestly, he didn't think they'd come out alive.
'This is a technique that would send even the Guild Masters to their graves. There's no way some bitch who's only just reached the 38th Floor could possibly counter it.'
He inwardly thought that Baek Do-hyeon-nim was a bit of a worrywart and prepared half-heartedly, his mind wandering.
'I wonder how good that so-called America's Super Rookie is. Still, he'd be no match for us, right? What kind of trait will I get this time?'
He was lost in happy delusions, as if he'd already reached the finals, no, as if he'd already won. Ivan, next to him, was no different.
They were the words of his master, who was like the heavens to him, but he just wanted to lie down in bed.
His leg had been healed by attaching an undead's leg, but a stinging pain still lingered. As his tension eased, exhaustion washed over him.
It was then.
Something... shot out from the veil of void?
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
Fwoosh!!!
"Fuckers! You're all dead!!!"
Lee Do-hee, both her hands gone, burst out, holding her spear with her forearms. Her left hand had vanished near the end, so she'd barely managed to make it out, gripping the spear with just her arms!
"Pfft! What can you do with those arms!!"
"If we're lucky, we can capture her alive..."
They tensed for a moment, but upon seeing Lee Do-hee's condition, they relaxed again.
And in that instant.
Something flashed behind Lee Do-hee.
Kwon Han-jun's neck flashed as well.
"......?"
There was no time to register it.
Overwhelming speed.
Slice—
A thin red line appeared on Kwon Han-jun's neck.
"Ah...?"
"Huh?"
Fwoooosh~!
The wind blew a beat later.
His neck began to part, the red line widening.
"Uh, uh... Uwaaaargh...! Gyaaaack!!!"
Finally realizing what had happened, Kwon Han-jun tried to grab his neck, but it slid off with a shhhlick.
Thud...!
His head rolled to the ground.
His body collapsed, his neck spraying a fountain of blood into the air.
He died pathetically, trying to reattach his own severed head.
Behind them, Ilbon-do was striking a cool pose, sheathing his sword. He had cut them down as he passed by at an imperceptible speed.
He posed dramatically and said,
"This is the 'Draw Sword Technique'."
[Lunar Draw]
A super-high-speed draw technique where the wound opens up after a delay, like a waxing moon, killing the target. It was the ultimate skill Ilbon-do had been hiding.
About three hours ago, during our private training session with the cameras off.
We had even argued about the Draw Sword Technique for about ten minutes because of this.
'Just swing the damn sword...'
[Do you not understand the true power of the Draw Sword Technique?]
'If you start talking about friction, I'll kill you.'
[......]
'Right, there's no way a guy with a katana wouldn't have a draw technique... I expected as much. You're sure it's powerful, right?'
[Of course.]
---
He was a little weird, but in any case, his speed was so incredible that even I had trouble following it.
Ilbon-do looked back with an arrogant expression.
'This... this is the same guy who was trembling and begging for his life while clinging to my waist...'
The only problem was that he was paralyzed before and after using it.
He was fine when he used it because he was behind me, but the aftermath was the issue.
Ivan, momentarily stunned, backed away, but then realized Ilbon-do wasn't moving.
"You bastard, you've become a scarecrow!!"
Figuring he only needed to take care of that guy since I had no hands, he unleashed a torrent of black magic.
[Dark Spear]
[Decimate]
Spears of darkness rained down on him, and a giant demonic arm emerged from the air to crush him.
'Ugh, that idiot.'
I moved in front of Ilbon-do, who was still standing there blankly due to the skill's side effect.
The immense leg strength erupting from my huge ass and sturdy thighs. I kicked away all the black spears, then pushed Ilbon-do's body with my leg, using the reaction to propel myself away from the spot.
CRASH!!
Behind me, a giant demonic hand the size of a house slammed down.
My target was Ivan.
I kept running.
But someone stood in my way...
"Wh-what the."
It was none other than the headless Kwon Han-jun.
No, to be precise, he was holding his head in his left arm, tucked under his side.
A Dullahan.
That crazy black magician had turned his friend's corpse into a Dullahan before it could disappear upon retirement!!
Fwoosh!!
I barely dodged the Dullahan's horizontal slash by leaning my torso back.
Its stats, higher than when it was human, pressured me.
A sword swung viciously, with the sole intent to kill.
With my hands completely gone, a normal response was impossible.
But that didn't mean I couldn't fight.
'In my past life, I fought without arms more than once or twice.'
I summoned the Dildo Weapon in mid-air.
This weapon's greatest advantage was its ability to freely change its shape.
I changed the summoned Dildo Weapon into a spear.
Then I kicked it hard, launching it like a javelin.
Not expecting a counterattack from me, the Dullahan took a step back as it parried the spear.
'This should be enough time.'
Ilbon-do sprang out from behind me.
"Your stalling. It was... quite useful."
As he spouted cringey lines, his flashy skills began to unfold.
"Ore no!!! Tatakai wa korekara da!!!" [My fight starts now!!!]
He began to rampage like a colt with its reins cut loose.
White lines were drawn in the air as Ilbon-do's figure moved rapidly, leaving afterimages.
'Fuck, this is so embarrassing!'
I had no idea why he was saying such things, but the power behind his attacks was nothing to be ashamed of.
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!!!
A flurry of attacks from all directions.
A rapid-fire combo, impossible to follow, rained down.
But,
"Kuaaaaargh!!!"
The Dullahan, now stronger than Kwon Han-jun in his past life, took all the hits and was still fine.
Its head was already severed, so it had no vital spots, and its sturdy armor couldn't be pierced.
'Not this guy. I have to get the black magician.'
Ivan, who was buffing the Dullahan from the rear.
I charged toward him.
"Haha, to walk willingly to your own death!!"
"Who's walking to whose?"
I retrieved the spear in mid-air and kicked it forward.
Swiiish—!
BOOM!!
"Crazy bitch!"
The black veil was pierced, and the spear was blocked by a shield.
'What the, why is this so strong?'
The power from my sturdy thighs was stronger than I thought. It felt like it had five times the force of my usual thrusts.
I retrieved the spear again and repeated the kick.
BOOM! BOOM!!!
KABOOOM!!
My legs spread into a somewhat embarrassing position, but there's no room for that in a fight.
Worrying about your dignity in a fight will get you killed.
A real battle isn't a fair duel where you stand still and use skills at the same time.
I will fight to survive, even if it means being unsightly, even if it means being dirty and vulgar.
Swiiish!!
BOOM!!!!
But just launching the spear with my feet wasn't enough to break through his black veils. Once he started layering two at a time, my attacks were blocked consistently.
'One chance. I'll kill him.'
I slowly closed the distance.
*
"D-don't come any closer!!!"
Ivan was quite flustered by Lee Do-hee's advance.
At first, he thought she was just stalling for time, but that wasn't it.
That murderous look in her eyes.
She was clearly approaching with the intent to kill him.
He hastily unleashed Magic Bullets and various dark skills, but she relentlessly closed the distance, taking the hits she could and dodging or parrying the dangerous ones. He knew he was safe from the javelin kicks she launched intermittently, but they still sent a chill down his spine.
She was getting closer.
Her murderous gaze was fixed on him.
He felt like a herbivore standing before a predator.
Why.
She had no hands, and his side had the clear advantage in power.
His opponent was only making half-assed attacks that couldn't even properly pierce a single black veil,
so why did he feel such fear?
Just then,
[Ivan, use the Descent.]
The voice of his master, Baek Do-hyeon, rang out.
Descent.
Among the items Baek Do-hyeon had given him was one with a skill that could make an evil god descend into his body.
However, it required sacrificing his own soul as a tribute.
The moment he summoned it, his soul would be devoured.
Would the System really restore even his soul?
No, it wouldn't.
How could it bring back someone whose soul had already been dragged to the demon world?
But... he had to do it.
'I-if it's my master's command!!'
However, that brief moment of hesitation sealed his fate.
The slight opening created as he took the Demon God's Heart needed for the Descent from his item window, hesitating before his final choice.
Lee Do-hee charged, aiming her spear!
'Wh-what? She has hands?'
*
The moment he took out the Demon God's Heart, I recognized what it was.
This was the moment I had been waiting for.
That brief instant when, under pressure, the opponent creates an opening to use some big, ultimate move.
'Hoo...'
I took a short breath and summoned the spear in mid-air.
But this time, its shape was a little different.
A round cover wrapped broadly around my wrist, and a sharp, short spear extended from it. It looked as if the spear was growing out of my hand.
In fact, it looked less like I was holding a spear and more like a fencer's weapon.
The Dildo Weapon, capable of transforming into any form of weapon.
I wondered if this would be possible, and when I tried it, it actually worked.
Just as his assault lessened, I put all the strength into my legs and charged.
'In one go, I have to pierce all seven layers. No, even the shield beyond them!!'
The first form of the Moon God Spear Manual.
[Straight Heart One Spear]
It was the same technique I used every day, but a little different.
I remembered what Irene had said in the past.
[If you pour in more Divine Power than you can control, your body will go boom and explode.]
That's why I'd only ever used 100 to 200 Divine Power until now.
But now, I poured in much more.
'Right, I don't care if it breaks.'
The Divine Power I had left after all my use.
About 2000.
I poured all of it in.
For this one single breakthrough!!!!
"Haaaaaaaaap!!!!"
A deep pink light radiated from my hand as the spear shot forward. Maybe because my arm and the spear were connected, I truly felt like I had become one with it.
Seven black veils automatically lined up to block the spear.
BOOM!!!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!!
BOOM!!!!
All the black veils were pierced.
"Keuk..."
The last thing standing was the shield lent to him by the Ohsung Guild Master.
The sturdy shield that had flawlessly blocked all enemy attacks even on the 70th floors...
I pierced it!!!
KABOOOOOOOM!!!!
"......"
"Ah... Hahahahaha!!! Right, there's no way you could pierce this!!"
The shield was pierced.
But the spear stopped, just barely before reaching his heart.
"No, there's still one shot left."
"Hm?"
My hand bulged and swelled.
Yes, the price for imbuing it with uncontrollable Divine Power.
My arm... exploded.
BOOOOOOM!!!
And from that recoil,
CRUNCH!!!
The spear shot forward, piercing straight through Ivan's heart.
He looked down at his heart in disbelief, but there was a clean hole right through it.
"Ah..."
He could see the Demon God's Heart that had fallen before him.
'I'm sorry, Master...'
And with that, he closed his eyes.
[The winner is Team 3.]