Chapter 69
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Chapter 69
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: The Old Crone (4)
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The sinister old crone felt a pain as if her entire body was being torn to shreds.
'Damn it!'
The price of forcibly twisting her sorcery. It manifested immediately as agony.
It wasn't just her flesh that suffered.
She could feel her very soul shaking violently as well.
Sorcery was a mystic art built on equivalent exchange.
Thus, she had to pay the proper price to the entity that lent her its power.
Normally, she would substitute another sacrifice in her place, but just moments ago, she had skipped that step entirely.
The situation had been that desperate.
So this pain was something she had to endure.
'That bastard!'
She sensed the mystic gaze upon her—more precisely, the Outer God of Ou—watching her intently.
It was just a gaze, nothing more. Yet even that alone felt like it would rip her flesh and soul to pieces.
And in that horrific stare lurked mockery.
What a foul-tempered outer god.
Sneering at the suffering of an old hag on the verge of death.
'But...'
Even so, she had resolved the biggest problem.
The unexpected mage. He was said to be only fifth circle, but the mana he wielded was far from ordinary.
She never fought with unknowns left in play.
Still, something nagged at her.
The fact that he seemed to know a thing or two about sorcery.
Given how he'd sensed the flow of her spells and fired magic from beneath her staff...
Could he possibly escape her spiritual dimension?
'Tch. Lately everything's gone wrong, and now I'm overthinking. Ridiculous.'
No human had ever survived her Forest of Annihilation and returned alive.
He would wander endlessly within it, until the skeletons tore his limbs apart and ended him.
It was a sorcery born from absorbing the overflowing deathly energy of this land over long years.
The number of souls it had devoured numbered in the thousands, even tens of thousands. No mere fifth-circle mage could overcome it.
Nearly a hundred skeletons lay powerless on the ground.
Flames roared around them, but as Jun cut off his mana, the fire died out in an instant.
Gazing at the scene, Jun desperately craved a sip of beer.
His chest surged with overwhelming emotion.
"Power farming. What a beautiful term."
He had just unleashed a barrage of spells for the first time in ages.
Starting with [Fireball], then [Flame Burst], [Fire Wall], and more.
He'd pulled out every spell from the grimoire he'd stolen from the Volcanic Mage Tower, testing them all.
Such indulgence was impossible outside.
Fires could spread to the fields, and if anyone saw, they might mistake it for terrorism.
Finding suitable targets for spell practice was hard enough, but here the skeletons served perfectly.
"Hm. Fire magic really is easy to control."
Fire spells boasted top-tier power and range, but they demanded mastery in control.
Flames didn't distinguish between friend and foe.
Thus, battlefields required efficient fire magic or exceptional control over the element.
'Someday I should detach fire from my circles. But learning this feel now will help a lot.'
He wanted to linger here, experimenting more on the skeletons.
But with the situation outside, he couldn't afford the luxury.
"Let's see. Now I need to move to the next area."
As the skeletons fell, four doors materialized.
Each swirled with ominous black energy, foreboding danger.
"Hm?"
Examining them, Jun tilted his head.
Normally, one chose from four doors to proceed.
But three were traps.
Only one led to the next area—the path of life.
Enter a wrong door?
'The process repeats, but upgraded.'
The curse of the Forest of Annihilation intensified, skeletons grew stronger, and their numbers doubled. Truly layered peril.
'The key is finding the path of life.'
Jun knew how.
Special artifacts or knowledgeable NPC allies versed in sorcery.
This time, the latter. As a regressor with sorcery knowledge, now at fifth circle, he recalled it precisely.
'The path where the energy flows strongest.'
Sensing the sorcery's flow was key.
Just as he'd read the crone's energy earlier.
"But what's this?"
Three of the four doors were half-melted.
More precisely, traces of melting by something.
And oddly, he sensed his own mana in those traces.
"Ah."
Then it hit him: the Forest of Annihilation wasn't fully formed.
"My magic damaged the medium, so this happened."
Only one door remained.
The path of life.
"Didn't expect it to go this smoothly."
Scratching his head, Jun patted the golem's head.
"Let's go, Golem."
Guuuung—
The bone-constructed golem lumbered toward the door.
Bern thrust his shield at the charging slaughter monk.
Kwaaaang—!
A heavy impact slammed the shield.
But reinforced by divine power and infused with aura, the shield held firm against the fist.
"Hmph!"
The slaughter monk knew it too.
This punch alone wouldn't breach it.
So make it stronger. Difficult, but easy for him.
Tattoos across his body glowed.
Red light seeped into his skin, turning it fully crimson.
Kwaaaang—!
After a brief exchange, the fist struck again.
Far heavier than before.
Yet Bern endured.
'Close call.'
Without Eleanor's dispel of the sorceress's curse, his stance might have crumbled.
Still, no panic on the monk's face.
"Against strong power..."
Kwak—
Gripping his prayer beads, he continued.
"Simply overwhelm with even greater power, patron."
"Well said."
Tattoos flared again.
[Blood Slaughter Cycle]
Strengthens the body with accumulated karma of slaughter
The slaughter monk's skill, [Blood Slaughter Cycle].
A skill that grew stronger the more killing karma accumulated.
In other words, murder boosted abilities.
Sounds impressive, but problematic.
Killing karma required human targets, not monsters.
Players gaining it faced growth restrictions.
Moreover, each use drained mental strength massively, demanding mental defense skills.
As karma built, higher defenses were needed, making maintenance tough.
Pause killing, and power waned.
A skill for murderers only.
But its performance was unmatched, tempting many players—though most failed.
Not for the slaughter monk.
His name wasn't "slaughter" for nothing.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Each fist's impact numbed Bern's arm holding the shield.
His rooted stance slowly pushed back.
"How much killing karma have you amassed?!"
As a skilled holy knight, Bern recognized it instantly.
Roaring, he tilted the shield slightly.
The monk adjusted his fist's path.
Bern twisted with a step.
Thung!
The force scattered, disrupting the monk's stance, exposing a gap.
Kwaaaa—!
Battle hammer swung at his head.
But the monk was already retreating.
He'd anticipated the counter from the shield twist.
An exchange in under a second.
Both acknowledged the other's prowess.
The fight's outcome would hinge on time.
And time favored the monk.
[Kill with a Borrowed Knife]
[Two Peaches Kill Three Warriors]
[Masterless Wandering Soul]
[Soul Spirit Residual Power]
Her face still etched with pain, but with more freedom of movement now, the sinister old crone slammed her totem into the ground and chanted sorceries relentlessly.
Eleanor reacted instantly, invoking holy magic.
[Light of Life]
A golden curtain of [Light of Life] shielded Bern from the barrage of curses.
It blocked two, but one hit Bern, another the monk.
[Two Peaches Kill Three Warriors].
Three greedy phantom warriors appeared, swinging swords at Bern.
Illusions born of sorcery, yet their strikes would wound flesh identically.
The curse on the monk was [Soul Spirit Residual Power].
It wrung out soul energy from the sorcery, bolstering the target's body.
"Kirruk...!"
The crone who invoked it laughed with a creepy cackle.
She and the monk paired perfectly.
For him needing killing karma, her sorcery-supplied karma fueled him ideally.
Sure enough, his next punch sent Bern reeling back.
Behind him, the three phantom warriors targeted his neck.
Eleanor gripped her staff tightly.
Tatat—
Decision swift, action immediate.
As three blades arced toward Bern's exposed back, Eleanor threw herself between them.
Aiden and Maya could only watch Bern and the monk's evenly matched duel.
Instinct told them:
Interfering would only hinder.
A level 70 clash made their past fights seem like child's play.
No openings anywhere.
"...Damn it."
Maya spat curses in her tribal tongue.
She'd eyed intervention timings several times.
————!!!
But ancestral spirits screamed each time, blocking her.
Death awaited if she moved.
With prior coordination, Bern might have created gaps for them.
But he couldn't fully trust them, choosing to shoulder it alone.
No room for them.
Even as Eleanor dashed to block curses, they drowned in helplessness.
Battles continued beyond the path of life.
A massive bone golem rose from corpse piles.
Jun's golem eagerly clashed fists.
Time to ditch the mount and face a worthy foe.
But.
"Not your turn yet."
Jun shattered it with [Flare] in one blow.
Guuuung...
The golem's shoulders slumped dejectedly.
As if to reward it anyway.
Kugugugung—
New bone golems emerged around the melted remains.
"Numbers increased here too."
In-game, max three.
Now over ten.
"Varied by party size. Or my mana?"
Recalling: monster counts shifted by two or three based on party strength.
Probably his [Demon God Body].
"Tch."
Too many for one go.
"Good thing it's mage-friendly turf."
Normal golems resisted magic heavily.
These were sorcery-born: soul and energy fused, no physical form.
Very vulnerable to magic.
"Give it your all."
Guung!
This time, borrow the golem's power.
It slammed fists: kakak, kakak.
Descending, Jun felt the [Drought] curse sap his strength again.
'Fine. I'm not fighting directly.'
Perhaps from long taming with his mana via [Teya's Tear].
His golem dwarfed others by 1.5 times.
Its mana-forged frame tougher than steel.
Entrusting foes to it, Jun began chanting.
[High-Speed Chant]
Too many at once. Not like skeletons felled by flames.
Bind their feet instead.
[Ice Break]
Minimal imagery, maximal mana.
Narrow range, heightened potency.
Altered pattern, invoked.
Saaaa—
Perfect: ground soaked in black-energy tainted water.
Golems' feet froze solid at invocation point, rooted.
"Handle those, please."
Five bone golems charged his.
His golem scoffed, bull-rushed their center.
Its massive fists pulverized two heads.
Then stomped forward—
Kwaaang—!
Kicked the front one, severing upper and lower halves.
"Whew."
Rarely saw it fight beyond guarding.
Quite powerful.
Jun eyed the frozen ones.
"Farewell."
[Earth Burst]
Ice-laden earth erupted like fireworks.
Three doors appeared.
Two melting.
One intact.
"Two more to go."
The final gate neared.
"Kirruk!"
The crone cackled sinisterly at the battle's shift.
A few curses tilted the balance.
Eleanor took some hits bodily, leaving Bern unscathed but the priestess combat-ineffective.
'Still, massive losses this fight.'
Those curses demanded heavy prices.
Normally mitigated with main forces, but prior forced Forest activation left no spare will.
'But... if I claim those souls and bodies.'
Offer to the outer god.
Gain the vessel, reap rewards from the Heavenly Fate Cult.
Might shatter the growth wall.
'Especially that mage's body and soul... Urk?!'
Kirraaaak!
Forgetting bodily torment from the price, she screamed.
Five minutes since battle start.
The mage's hazy, noise-glitched form regained shape.
What did that mean?
"He's... escaping my Forest of Annihilation...?"
Another variable emerged.
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