Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Dazzlingly Brilliant Talent
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Kim Byung-han had heard Lee Hyuk-soo refer to that man as the "self-proclaimed prophet."
And everyone gathered there had witnessed the "prophet" unleashing his miracles.
The moment he summoned the "Reaper" and slew Andariel.
The thrill from that day still lingered vividly in his memory.
But he'd never seen the prophet wield raw physical power on his own.
'Because Lee Hyuk-soo handled everything by himself.'
The deadly booking he'd experienced in the first night's Abyss, at the "Water-Loving Nightclub."
In that game where the monsters grew stronger with each stage, the prophet had stood back with his arms crossed, not taking a single step forward.
Only Lee Hyuk-soo had swung his sword with all his might.
Drenched in sweat, he'd more than earned his keep as the bus driver.
So it was only natural to harbor doubts about the power of this prophet clad in demonic armor.
A reasonable skepticism that the prophet himself might be utterly feeble.
"……."
But those "doubts" were utterly and completely dispelled in this very moment.
It wasn't just Kim Byung-han.
The charging crowd halted in unison, as if someone had hit the pause button on a remote.
The instant Park Chan-woo's mouth opened.
The "magic" manifesting from the tip of his staff had reshaped the world.
"Wh-what the...?"
"What... is this...?"
The people looked around them.
They couldn't trust their own eyes.
…Thorns had erupted across every inch of the area.
Sharp spikes jutted up, turning the world upside down.
Dense and unyielding, leaving no room to move.
Floors, buildings—everything in sight was crammed full of them.
It was a true hell of thorns.
"Don't move."
At that moment.
The sudden voice drew everyone's gaze.
The grand mage responsible for it all, Park Chan-woo.
The world was a sea of thorns, yet none encroached on his surroundings.
"Touch them rashly, and you'll die."
"Gasp...!"
His words sent shivers through the crowd.
Even without his warning, they couldn't move anyway.
The thorns hadn't merely invaded the space.
They had grown long, already enveloping their entire bodies.
Lips pursed, fingers twisted just slightly—they were that close to being pierced.
Breathing was all they could manage.
"Stay like that for the next two hours. Consider it the price for charging in without knowing your place."
Park Chan-woo sentenced them to the thorns' punishment.
The cost of their reckless assault, ignorant of their betters.
Rushing in shouting before even gauging the opponent's strength was tantamount to begging for death.
Yet he didn't kill them. He merely imprisoned them.
Park Chan-woo had shown them mercy.
'Ignorance is a grave sin in the Abyss—one that can cost lives.'
Ignorance.
Not knowing is a sin in itself.
But the greatest sin of all was refusing to seek knowledge.
Just like these people now.
The rules had suddenly changed, adding one more foe to slay.
Shouldn't the first step be a cool assessment of the situation and the new opponent?
Figuring out why the creators altered the rules, why an extra person appeared out of nowhere—that context was priority one.
Thus, Park Chan-woo meted out punishment to teach them a lesson.
One they'd never repeat.
An invaluable experience they'd never forget.
'Impressive domain magic, though. King of the Thorn Hell—Andariel's rank might surpass that of a greater demon.'
Simply activating it had blanketed the Abyss in thorns.
Domain magic of this caliber was exceedingly rare.
Domain magic was an advanced spell unique to master-class mages.
It referred to a mage's personal realm, preloaded with the formulas and mana for ultra-high-grade spells to cast them more easily.
Ultra-high-grade magic demanded vast formulas and unfathomable mana, but domain magic stored them in advance.
Hence, battles between master mages often hinged on who deployed their domain first.
And this "King of the Thorn Hell" was Andariel's exclusive world and domain.
No ordinary greater demon could possess such a thing.
"Ugh... it hurts..."
"Aaaah..."
After about ten minutes, pained groans echoed.
Complete immobility.
Holding an awkward pose for two hours was torture beyond imagination.
All while rigid with tension?
Cries for mercy came naturally.
But Park Chan-woo paid no heed.
Sitting cross-legged, he gazed at the night sky.
"Ow, it stings!"
"It hurts! It hurts so much!"
"Aaaagh!"
Screams rang out from all sides.
As time passed, they could no longer support themselves, impaling on thorns one after another.
Skin tore, blood flowed.
They desperately readjusted, but it was maddening.
'It hurts!'
'This pain is unbearable!'
'When will it end?'
Time seemed frozen.
It felt like hours had passed, yet the clock showed only thirty minutes gone.
"Serves... you right, you bastards..."
Kim Byung-han sneered at them.
Seeing his attackers suffer felt gratifying.
What did years of sharing a pot matter?
Humans were destined to betray.
And the world ahead would only polarize further.
Unless you grew strong or backed yourself with the powerful, survival was impossible.
'I survived.'
Kim Byung-han glanced at the prophet—Park Chan-woo, moon-gazing.
He seemed stronger than Lee Hyuk-soo, who felled the Dragon God General in one blow.
Magic that thorned the entire world!
A monster who wielded such power.
No harm in getting friendly.
They'd even struck a "deal."
Wasn't he already aligned?
"Um... Prophet, sir. Could you heal me?"
Kim Byung-han asked, face ashen.
He'd dodged vitals, but two arrows pierced him.
He felt on the brink of death.
Park Chan-woo eyed him briefly before replying.
"Why should I?"
"Pardon...?"
"Why would I heal you?"
"B-but earlier, you said you'd spare me..."
"Not killing you is sparing you, isn't it?"
"……?"
What kind of nonsense was this?
Was not killing him the same as saving him?
Strictly speaking, it wasn't wrong.
If he could kill but chose not to, that was mercy.
"I said I'd spare you, not heal you."
"Ah..."
Kim Byung-han realized.
'I'm screwed!'
He'd thought he'd secured the connection solo.
Desperation set in.
Without treatment, death loomed.
Even if he survived, permanent damage was likely.
But he was powerless here.
No room to move in this thorn-choked world.
And in that moment, Kim Byung-han understood.
His plight was no different from his attackers'.
Thus, time dragged on.
Park Chan-woo rose slowly.
The one he'd been waiting for had finally arrived.
The Death Knight.
A knight forged from corpses, once a great hero in life.
Thud!
Kicking off the ground, leaping the sky, it appeared before Park Chan-woo in an instant.
―The Queen commands it. Wipe out all humans here. Especially you—she orders your utter annihilation.
A voice dripping with menace proclaimed death.
Clad in pitch-black armor.
Its helmet's glowing eyes were bottomless abysses.
Mana seeping from its sword raised chills unbidden.
'Sword aura.'
The essence of martial might, achievable only after breaking the fourth limit as a swordsman class and reaching level 41.
That was sword aura.
Meaning the Death Knight's minimum level was 41 or higher.
Park Chan-woo's level was -96—a yawning, incalculable gap.
Even a million current Park Chan-woos couldn't defeat one Death Knight.
No, the consensus was that a 30+ level difference couldn't be bridged by numbers alone.
Thus.
'Running is the wisest choice.'
The system had said as much.
Survive an hour by fleeing.
Victory was never an option from the start.
No such possibility existed.
―False mage. This is not your magic. You cannot defeat me with magic that is not yours.
The Death Knight knew.
This "domain" wasn't Park Chan-woo's.
Domain magic was a staging ground for ultra-high-grade spells.
Only Andariel himself could wield it freely.
Moreover, the "aura" Park Chan-woo emanated fell far short of Andariel's to the Death Knight.
―Accept your death meekly, false mage.
The Death Knight raised its sword.
Took stance, kicked the ground.
Whoosh—
Boom!
The instant it pushed off, the Death Knight vanished.
It surged toward Park Chan-woo at speeds rivaling space-folding dashes.
Park Chan-woo lifted his staff.
Whoosh!
Thorns erupted from the ground, shielding him like a wall.
Slice!
The Death Knight cleaved the obstructing thorns effortlessly.
Yet more surged endlessly.
―Petty tricks!
Mere stalling.
It wasn't even his magic.
He couldn't fully control the mana stored in that ring either.
Forcing another's magic and mana would soon rupture nerves, shatter mana circuits, and incinerate his body.
Trifling thorns couldn't halt a great knight like him.
Lightning-swift blade amid chaos.
The Death Knight's sword moved too fast for the naked eye.
Soon, it shredded all thorns and reached Park Chan-woo's position.
―Die, human.
Black energy surged along the Death Knight's blade.
With all its might, it swung.
Splatter!
Park Chan-woo's body was bisected.
…But the Death Knight instantly sensed something amiss.
―A fake?
Incomprehensible.
He'd surely struck Park Chan-woo's form, yet it was merely thorns.
A fake crafted from thorns.
―Then where is the real body...?
Stab!
In that instant.
A ferocious thorn vine lanced from behind, piercing the Death Knight's chest.
Impossible under normal circumstances.
A split-second lapse.
It had exploited the merest blink to strike from the rear.
Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!
Thorns assailed from all directions.
Soon, the tendrils intertwined, forming a massive tree that pinned the Death Knight immobile.
The Death Knight couldn't comprehend it.
―What are you? How do you wield another's magic as your own?
This domain magic, King of the Thorn Hell, belonged to Andariel.
Only Andariel should control it perfectly.
Yet this mage commanded it as if innate.
…Yes, "commanded" was apt.
Not as servant or slave, but lording over the magic from above.
It defied common sense.
Ignored all conventional concepts.
It hadn't made sense from the start.
He'd been sitting moon-gazing, yet somehow crafted a thorn doppelganger and baited the Death Knight's carelessness.
Without that lapse, no ensnarement by thorns.
―Since when? How long were you there?
The Death Knight's eyes fixed ahead.
There stood Park Chan-woo.
Cleaved, yet unscathed.
And more.
"From the beginning."
Park Chan-woo's staff.
A terrifying mana gathered atop it.
The Death Knight knew at a glance.
That mana was its own.
Drawn by its own attack!
Reflection magic.
But "reflection magic" applied to a single target.
And it had struck only thorns.
Multiple thorns, in fact.
Yet the mana coalesced on the staff.
How?
What sorcery was this?
Soon, the Death Knight spoke in disbelieving horror.
―You... applied reflection magic to the domain magic...?
Ludicrous even as he said it.
Impossible.
Layering magic upon magic was unthinkable.
This wasn't even his domain!
Wielding it as his own, stacking spells to evolve it to a higher tier?
If possible, the weakest magic could birth the strongest.
…And if he could, this wasn't some mere mage.
―You... surely one of the great races...!
The great races.
Dragonkin!
No doubt rivaling ancient dragons or beyond.
They were magic's progenitors, the sole true wielders.
But.
"I'm human."
Park Chan-woo replied indifferently.
―Lies! No human could possess such radiant magical talent...!
The Death Knight couldn't accept it.
Human limits were clear.
A pitiful race, reaching no pinnacle.
Such dazzling arcane genius was impossible.
But it couldn't continue.
Tap.
The World Tree Staff touched its forehead.
The gathered mana writhed violently.
Boom!
A massive explosion.
…Vaporizing the Death Knight's entire body.
+ Class Level Points (1) acquired.
+ 'Platinum Box (★★★)' and 'Latent Ability Grant Scroll' additionally granted.