Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Luciel's Fall
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One of my skeleton soldiers charged forward at lightning speed, swinging its axe toward Luciel's head.
Whoosh-
Thwack!
He blocked it effortlessly, then turned his head toward me.
“Kim Cheonjae.”
“Luciel, you're uglier than I expected.”
“Still as bold as ever.”
“Bold? Nah, confident.”
“……”
At my gesture, Ma Jeongwoo shouted at the angels.
“Everyone out of this room! Retreat with Michael!”
The angels, hearing his cry, carried the battered Michael out of the room.
Luciel didn't stop them.
There were demons swarming outside the barrier anyway—no place to run—and chasing down stragglers was less appealing than fighting me.
Once everyone had left the room, Luciel said to me,
“Shall we begin?”
“Sounds good. Ready to die?”
“That's my line.”
I shrugged with an irritating smirk.
“Well, we're both dying to say it.”
“……Come here.”
Luciel crooked a finger at me. I wiped my nose with a grin.
“Alright.”
At my signal, the skeleton soldiers rushed at him.
Luciel yawned and flicked one soldier's skull to pieces with a snap.
As the second skeleton soldier approached, he slapped its cheek, crumbling it like a cracker.
The moment the third arrived, he twisted his body lightly and shattered it with a kick.
‘……As expected.’
The strongest being in this game—stronger than Gabriel before fusing with Lucifer, capable of battles on another level entirely.
But he had a fatal weakness.
The difference between Luciel and Lucifer.
Just one, but the only thing that made it impossible for him to beat me.
“……Luciel! How long are you planning to play with my skeleton soldiers?”
At my taunt, Luciel looked puzzled. And for good reason—as long as he didn't break through the skeleton soldiers to reach here,
attacking me was impossible.
With my boosted mana recovery, I could raise near-infinite skeleton soldiers,
and he had to plow through them. Even if he took one down per hit, reaching me would drain him massively.
“You think these puny skeleton soldiers can take me down?!”
I glanced at Luciel's health bar. It hadn't budged an inch. I knew that. Skeleton soldiers couldn't deal significant damage to him.
Still,
they could chip away.
Every hit landed some damage.
“I can take you. Don't underestimate my soldiers.”
-Kieeeek!
Using the skeletons that fell to Luciel as mediums, I chanted the summon spell again.
[Skeleton Summon]
This was why I could definitely beat him. Lucifer had AoE skills, but Luciel only had single-target attacks.
Something normal players wouldn't know, but I learned it from Jeongwoo's uncle.
I'd fought him during the beta test.
He'd asked for help creating a monster stronger than Lucifer.
Of course, I'd beaten him back then with the same strategy. It took a while to figure it out, but once you pave the way, following it is a breeze.
Luciel, veins bulging on his forehead, yelled at me.
“You damn bastard! I'll kill you for sure.”
“Heh heh… Enough talk—try killing me. Do you even know how long we've been at this? Over thirty minutes. And I'm still right here.”
My taunt enraged him further.
As if struck by an idea, he gathered aura around his body and charged at the skeleton soldiers.
His stance was like a rugby player barreling toward the opponent's end zone with the ball.
Thud! Crash-crash-crash!
‘Ho ho.’
He bulldozed straight through the skeleton horde toward me. I spun my scythe lightly and chanted.
“Iron Maiden.”
Transparent spikes flew up and lunged at his body. Against other monsters, they'd stick like glue, but
they bounced off Luciel—curses didn't work on him.
For a split second, he swung his hand to block my curse.
I didn't miss the opening, diving into the skeleton swarm.
“Hey! Catch me if you can!”
Luciel whipped his head toward my voice.
“I'll crush you.”
“Give it a shot!”
I kept spawning skeleton soldiers. For every one he smashed, I made another—no chance of getting caught. To find me, he'd have to smash that many,
and every smash brought a new one to block his path.
Had it been about three hours since we started fighting? Luciel's health bar had dropped more than expected.
Roughly a third gone—if this kept up, I could take him down in ten hours.
Panting, Luciel backed off from the skeletons. Knowing this was endless, he made a sudden offer.
“Hoo-. Kim Cheonjae. Join me now, and I'll spare your life.”
“……Pass.”
“I'll make you a Grand Demon and grant you power to match.”
“Why not use that power to kill me if you can? Try catching me with it.”
Taunting an ego like his was the best way to rattle him.
“……Smartass.”
* * * * *
Exactly ten hours since the battle began.
The kind of fight impossible in-game due to fatigue.
But of course, the winner was decided from the start.
After so long, Luciel showed signs of exhaustion. His health, whittled down like fine dust, hit rock bottom.
Thin enough that collapsing any second wouldn't be surprising.
I clicked my tongue at him.
Even in this situation, standing his ground like that wasn't easy,
yet he kept facing the skeleton soldiers.
Finally checking his health bar, Luciel began chanting a heal spell with one hand.
‘Not on my watch.’
I kept my soldiers pressing him, harassing so he couldn't finish the cast.
Every time he tried chanting, they closed in to interrupt.
-Stop! Stop!!
He clutched his head, letting out pained groans.
As things went off-script, he asked me,
“You… knew my abilities from the start?”
“Knew 'em. That's why I challenged you one-on-one.”
“……”
“How's it feel? Losing to me.”
“……Like shit.”
Soon, his health bar turned gray.
Death.
Or close to it.
To others, maybe not, but to me, Luciel didn't seem done—just reborn in another form.
-Kraaaagh!
The moment his health hit 0%.
Crack, crunch-crunch.
His skin cracked bit by bit, like a jar shattering.
Rage-filled Luciel roared at me.
“Kim Cheonjae! I'll rip you limb from limb, you bastard!”
I smiled at him.
“Your limbs are the ones getting ripped.”
['Luciel''s body begins to collapse.]
Even as his limbs crumbled, he staggered slowly toward me.
Skeleton soldiers' attacks landed true. His desperate attempts to reach me looked pathetic.
‘Just like back then.’
I gathered aura on my scythe and aimed. The skeletons halted their attacks, parting the way on purpose.
“Come on.”
“Kraaaagh!”
When the distance between Luciel and me shrank to about a meter,
I swung my scythe lightly.
['Death's Scythe' activates]
[Instantly reaps the life of enemies with health below 15%.]
Slash-
My attack sliced vertically down Luciel's body. Unlike other demons, his was too tough to cleave apart.
But the hit connected.
All that was left was for him to vanish.
Luciel dropped to his knees.
I looked down at him.
“Good job.”
“Urgh….”
[The Watchers send praise to Kim Cheonjae for his strategy!]
Everyone outside, watching the fight, was speechless.
As a single entity, he was stronger than Lucifer—the game's pinnacle.
Though that fatal flaw made beating me impossible.
Michael muttered in disbelief.
“Unbelievable….”
Jeongwoo monologued loud enough for him to hear.
“A guy who pulls off the unbelievable.”
Confirming Luciel's state, everyone reentered the room.
I held up a hand to them.
“Hold on, it's not over yet.”
“……?”
A faint light twinkled from Luciel's split-open chest.
Worried he might revive, everyone froze.
[Two souls are separating. Players, please wait.]
‘Soul separation?’
Suddenly, fog filled my vision.
My body floated weightlessly, as if gravity vanished, drifting in the air.
Another story cutscene?
“……Hoo.”
[Top-tier rewards for Kim Cheonjae's group, who succeeded in the Gabriel Unsealing Plan!]
[All acquire 'Sky Walk (PASSIVE)' skill.]
System messages faintly reached my ears.
[Congratulations on succeeding in the Eleventh Round!]
[The new story arc concludes cleanly and is recorded in Kim Cheonjae's group's Book of the Dead.]
‘Ah…… So Luciel ends up recorded like this.’
My head grew hazy, like I was drunk.
My eyes slowly closed.
It felt less like a cutscene and more like my mind drifting away.
-Kim Cheonjae! Kim Cheonjae!! Kim Cheonjae!!!
It happened before, too.
Back in Mechania, viewing personal story flows—time froze for me alone, while others moved normally.
I closed my eyes naturally.
Somehow, I felt nothing bad would happen. Luciel was dealt with, and Gabriel, lord of life, would revive anyway.
['Archangel Gabriel''s revival is imminent.]
[All, welcome the holy light!]
Even with eyes shut, the light was blindingly intense.
My body warmed.
A distant voice echoed in my ears.
[A 'New World' bathed in holy power arrives.]
[The angels praise Kim Cheonjae, savior of this world!]
* * * * *
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a dark, damp room.
Turning my head slightly, Yoo Sora was beside me, eyes closed in worry.
Where'd everyone else go?
“Ugh….”
As I tried sitting up, Yoo Sora startled and said,
“Ah?! Cheonjae! You're awake? How's your body?”
“……Yeah. What happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“I… fell asleep, right? What came after?”
“……Cheonjae, what do you remember?”
Her question triggered a throbbing headache, like it was telling me not to think.
Clutching my head, I answered her slowly.
“Ugh…. Fought… Luciel….”
“Fought?”
“Beat him, then Gabriel revived….”
What next?
My mind went blank white—memories gone.
“And then?”
“……Can't remember.”
“Then this?”
“What?”
Yoo Sora swallowed hard and told me.
“Lucifer absorbed Beelzebub.”
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