Chapter 97
Chapter 97
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: The Ninth Heart
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bloodied Kukri.
High bleed proc rate.
A single-edged blade, excellent for slashing.
Bleed effect that doesn't fade until treated once.
Yet the reason this rare weapon was only Tier 3 was simple.
The bleed damage from the Kukri.
It was underwhelming.
That's why most thieves preferred daggers with high single-hit damage.
Why?
To profit off that meager bleed damage, you'd need to stack it dozens—no, hundreds of times.
Combat rarely dragged on that long in the first place, and landing that many hits on an enemy was incredibly tough.
Who would even dream of it?
Stacking Kukri bleeds hundreds of times on a single foe.
But.
Pshuk!
Pshushuk!
Luke could do it.
No, he didn't just manage it—he actually succeeded.
Against the revolution army's leader.
Draudor.
'If they hadn't bought me time up front, even I couldn't have stacked the bleeds this high.'
That's right.
They drew its attention from the front.
And acted as shields, tanking hits in his place.
Thanks to them, he'd stacked bleeds effortlessly from the left mid-rear with almost no interference.
'Ugh, yeah. That's exactly why I deliberately bought this Tier 3 weapon.'
Shadow's Grudge.
Essence of Poison.
Backed by high attack speed and Agility.
And overwhelming physical prowess.
If the situation was right, he could stack bleeds dozens or hundreds of times with these.
-Grraaahhh!
Luke looked down at the agonized Drauder.
Now, the bleed damage was covering the required output to expose its heart.
All that remained was destroying the rest of the hearts in the shrinking window.
That's why he'd climbed right onto its head.
Nine hearts in total.
Each with their own durability.
In truth, sniping hearts from the rear was less effective than striking them up close like this.
But he'd held off until now because it was too risky.
This time, though, it was worth trying.
No, it was still dangerous, but he could pull it off.
"Hey, stick close!"
"Cover Iron Mask, even if it costs your lives!"
Perfect timing—players and NPCs were rushing in to protect him.
'Chant it with me: You're done for.'
His wrist tensed.
Target: the massive heart protruding from its palm.
Luke kicked off between its eight upward-stretched arms and leaped high.
A flash of blade.
A trajectory filling the space.
Blood erupted from every spot it passed.
Slashes and punctures multiplied in an instant.
Even amid the spraying blood, his eyes locked solely on the heart.
The clenched palm.
Luke forced open its blackened fingers.
And then.
Pshuk!
Serak!
Pajijik!
The merciless blade overwhelmed it.
Whirling like a typhoon.
A relentless blade storm poured down.
He could see it.
The heart tearing under the carpet-bombing assault.
The widening cracks in the heart visible straight down.
Poof!
Five down.
The number etched in his mind as wind stirred behind him.
"Danger...!"
Someone's urgent shout.
But no need to worry.
It was a foreseen change.
This shaking vision.
The black hands lunging from within.
All anticipated.
Thus, he wouldn't fall.
Won't be grabbed.
Instead, he kicked its face and dropped down.
-Grraaahhh!
"Bullshit."
His spinning form in midair.
Like an acrobat, his movements flowed seamlessly, eyes flashing.
And the blade hidden in calm ripples bared its ferocity.
Pshuk! Pshushuk!
Pshushushuk-!
Ravaging it.
A massive vortex.
Slamming into the ground, shredding the demon.
Powder scattering into the air.
Within, a beast tore the demon apart like a top.
"M-My god."
"Those movements are possible?"
Even his watching allies were stunned speechless.
Unbelievable.
Impossible to accept despite seeing it.
Was that even human movement?
It was like watching a wild beast prowling mountains for years.
But that was just the beginning.
Shuk! Once.
Shuuk! Twice.
Kwaaaang! Dozens in succession.
His body reacted before the foe.
Never missing a motion, preempting attacks with perfect reaction speed.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible movements.
Yet Luke was achieving the impossible.
Thud!
Another knee to the face.
-Graaaah!
Furious, Drauder tried snatching him midair, but it failed again.
'These half-assed humanoid mobs are trickier than most...'
But Luke had already overcome that.
Through countless encounters with Drauder, he'd pinpointed every pattern's origin.
Via trial and error.
'No matter the pattern, the starting point is limited.'
Breathing, stance, gaze—these were the tells.
Even near-infinite variations shared the same origin.
Diverse patterns.
Fixed rules right before initiation.
Luke predicted Drauder's moves through them.
'Not used to mob fights, but...'
He felt those gaps filling.
Facing Drauder-like foes filled experiences absent from his PK days.
-G-Graaaah!
Draudor clutched its head in agony again.
No wonder.
250 stacks.
No, even more now, bleeds ticking nonstop.
Thus, damage windows kept coming.
Very frequently.
All that was left: destroy hearts in those windows.
Poof!
And finally, the eighth heart shattered under Luke's hand.
Suddenly, a massive sphere surged above its chest.
The blackened heart throbbed violently.
The ninth and final heart.
Its position revealed.
"You filthy bastard, time to end this."
Seeing it, Luke sprang up without hesitation.
His line fixed on one point.
His twin blades gleamed, aimed precisely at its chest.
That instant.
"...?!"
Its blood-red eyes twitched.
The crimson aura faded briefly.
Simultaneously, Draudor's eyes returned to normal.
-I am...
Confused gaze.
As if regaining sanity late, it muttered blankly.
Then, grasping the situation, it twisted away urgently.
-I will not die.
"Crazy bastard!"
-I will survive... Survive and right the nation. That is my destiny... Until I achieve it, I... I!
"You little...!"
-I wiiiiillll-!
Its voice echoed through the room.
Desperate, Drauder flung itself at the opposite wall.
Messages flooded his view.
The red field on the floor and its boundary vanished simultaneously.
Boss fleeing.
Shifting to a pursuit phase.
Thud!
The temporary mountain fort's wall crumbled.
Draudor leaped out with immense force.
Its mutated body granting tremendous jump power.
"N-No, it's escaping!"
"Fuck, after all we've been through!"
"Block it, block it somehow!"
"No, chase it first, you idiots!"
They had to pursue.
The players knew it best, but two issues.
The fort's top floor was too high.
And they couldn't match Draudor's leap.
The massive form distancing rapidly.
Too late for stairs.
Then.
"Barrier!"
Luke bellowed at Baek-eun.
"Huh?"
"Barrier, horizontal orientation!"
"No way, you're...?"
"Hurry!"
Baek-eun flustered.
But briefly.
He nodded, pouring all remaining holy power.
Thud!
Holy barrier placed precisely at the hole's edge.
Meant to block attacks, now a platform.
"Roxy!"
"Y-Yes?"
"Attack, please."
Luke stood back-to the platform's edge, blade raised.
Defensive stance.
Roxy, dazed, quickly realized.
Insufficient distance.
Her explosion's recoil.
Recalling both, she charged with resolve.
Luke turned and leaped simultaneously.
Roxy didn't miss it.
Poof!
Spring Dash.
Her propelled form shot forward.
She shoved Luke midair, then swung her fist without pause.
Target: Luke's raised blade.
Crimson Flame Gauntlet slammed into it.
Pooong-!
Frontal explosion.
Recoil launched their forms oppositely.
"Finish it off, then."
With that, Roxy vanished back inside.
'Of course I'll finish it. After all the hell to catch that thing.'
Hidden quest.
Self-made quest.
Del Mark's secret map.
Top-grade return stone, etc.
All within reach.
High level meant massive EXP too.
Thinking that, Luke's eyes gleamed downward.
Draudor falling ahead.
Thankfully, explosion closed the gap significantly.
Now, just destroy the falling Draudor.
Its final chest heart.
"I'll catch you for sure!"
Blade weighted with his full body.
Luke didn't stop—cast a skill.
[Muksal activated!]
[Impossible!]
[Opponent's abilities not treated as skills currently!]
[No silencing skills available!]
[...]
As expected.
Silence failed, like before.
But this time, not to cancel skills.
He aimed for Muksal's ambush dash into the foe.
Puk!
-...?!
Braincleaver plunged into its nape.
Only then did Drauder notice Luke.
-Y-You bastard?!
"Where do you think you're going, you fucker!"
-Kuh... I can't die here...
"Just die already!"
Luke gripped the Braincleaver in its nape, locking position.
Panicked, Drauder tried shaking him off, but mid-fall, it could only flail.
Trembling eyes.
Luke, position secured, raised his other hand.
Death.
It would die soon.
Sensing it instinctively, Drauder tried covering its chest—too late.
"Diiiiie-!"
Blade shredding the heart.
Luke swung the Kukri with all his might.
And.
-Ah, no...
Poof!
Finally, the end.
The enveloping darkness receded from its body.
Nine hearts.
All gone, its mutated form reverted.
Death.
Finally, Drauder slain.
"Fuck, finally..."
But that moment.
The black energy fading from Draudor's body latched onto nearby Luke.