Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Disrupting Lucifer's Revival
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A shimmering magic circle gleamed right beneath my feet.
No, should I call it a summoning array?
The red runes left behind where they had flown off were still glowing.
In other words, the spell to resurrect Lucifer into this world hadn’t been completed yet.
[Lucifer's Revival Progress: 67.2%]
I stepped to the center of the array.
“Lucifer. Sorry, but we’ll have to postpone this meeting.”
“……What do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean? This.”
I slammed my fist into the ground.
Boom!
The earth caved in deeply, matching the shape of my fist. Cracks spiderwebbed out beside it.
A vein bulged on Lucifer’s forehead as he emerged from the gate.
“You bastard…”
“Oh ho, judging by your reaction, this method seems to be working.”
“Don’t dodge it.”
“Dodge? No. I’m not dodging you—I’m facing you head-on. If you feel wronged, come out and say it to my face.”
I swung my fist again.
Thud!
The cracks widened.
Red liquid oozed from within. A sour stench assaulted my nose. It must have been the blood of those used in Kabata’s ritual.
[*System Anomaly Detected]
[Player ‘Kim Cheonjae’s’ unexpected action has shocked the ‘Land of Ruin’ server.]
[Error preventing system from functioning normally.]
‘Huh? Not quite?’
Lucifer’s reaction made it seem like this was definitely the way.
I hesitated for a moment while checking the system window.
Thud.
Spotting Lucifer’s foot emerging from the gate, I resumed my assault.
“Kim Cheonjae. You’re too late.”
An evil aura poured from Lucifer’s body. I wanted to show it to the Elf Queen. This was what a true villain’s presence felt like.
Unlike the wave-like black aura rippling from the Death Knight’s armor, his was razor-sharp, stabbing toward the heavens.
Same color, but completely different in nature.
If I had to put it into words, it was the difference between pure malice and death.
I flipped Lucifer off.
“Bullshit, I’m not late.”
[Lucifer's Revival Progress: 78.9%]
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The skeleton soldiers followed my lead, smashing the ground. Like miners in a quarry, they hammered away with their blades.
The shattered earth shifted bit by bit, distorting the summoning array’s form.
I put my all into pounding the ground as well.
The earth cracked incrementally.
The faster it broke, the quicker Lucifer advanced through the gate.
“Just one leg left now.”
“……”
Shatter!
Thud!
I kept slamming the ground while watching Lucifer warily. My armor might hold, but the fist inside kept accumulating damage.
Skin tore.
Blood droplets trickled.
Yet I felt no pain. Or rather, I couldn’t feel it. Every nerve was focused solely on demolishing the floor.
“Please!”
Boom!
“Break already!”
Rumble—.
[Lucifer's Revival Progress: 91.5%]
The higher his revival progress climbed, the faster my heart raced.
If Lucifer succeeded in reviving, I’d be the first to die.
Thud!
How could I destroy this array in one go? At this rate of chipping away, his body would emerge first.
It felt urgent, like someone was rushing me from the side.
A glance showed his remaining leg past the knee, shin emerging.
Revival imminent.
“……”
In that moment of crisis.
A scene from a childhood documentary flashed in my mind.
A middle-aged man out in a valley with chopsticks and a small hammer, effortlessly splitting a rock.
He had said,
“Everything has a weak point! See—insert the chopsticks into this crevice, then strike like this!”
Crack!
“And the rock splits in half, right?”
The middle-aged man had cleaved the rock clean in two, simple as that.
Back then, I thought it was like that uncle’s drawing class on TV—easy to say, hard to do.
Now, it became my last hope.
I knew the weak point of something with similar hardness, and I had substitutes for the chopsticks and hammer.
‘……There’s still a chance.’
[Lucifer's Revival Progress: 97.1%]
I wedged the staff of the dead orc chieftain, ‘Kabata,’ into a crack in the floor.
‘This’ll be the chopsticks.’
Crack!
Then, just like in the documentary. Fist as hammer, I struck the end of the staff.
Whoosh—
“This is the hammer!”
Thud!
The staff sank deep.
The ground didn’t shatter.
On second thought, rocks have limited size from top to bottom.
This floor? Unless I punched through the mantle to the other side of the Earth, its thickness was debatable.
“Ah….”
Can’t split the Earth.
Damn it.
What the hell had I done?
Despair dominated my mind.
A genius pulling off something this stupid.
And at a time when every minute, every second counted.
If I’d known, I would’ve asked Jeongwoo for an epitaph in advance.
[Kim Cheonjae, died at 23 to Lucifer and rests here.]
Something like that.
No, probably no tombstone. If he got me, my body would be torn to shreds, no trace left.
I stared silently at Lucifer. His body was almost fully out.
No choice now but to fight…
Or so I thought when—
Crunch—Crack!
Was it luck or skill?
Call it heavenly fortune, or that I’d aimed perfectly.
My final blow caused the ground to collapse.
Like a sinkhole from the news, the center of the summoning array caved in.
Rumble!
The light pouring from the array halted.
The runes twisted, light flickering out bit by bit.
The swirling gate slowed, freezing Lucifer’s movement.
“Gahhh!”
Fortunately, it was just before his full body emerged. His ankle caught precariously on the gate’s edge.
[Lucifer's Revival Progress: 99.8%]
‘……I’m alive.’
I let out a sigh of relief.
Then, gazing at Lucifer, I murmured lowly.
“What now? Things went my way again this time.”
Bluff.
A bluff to calm myself.
My heart pounded like it would burst, but I forced a nonchalant expression for Lucifer.
“……Damn it.”
Lucifer sighed, scanning the room. I clutched my stomach, mocking his appearance.
“You seemed to prepare a long time to cross over here.”
“……”
“Failed, but good effort. Now get lost.”
[An unknown error occurred during ‘Main Story’ progress.]
So it viewed what happened here not as a personal quest, but main story?
In the fifth round, with at least dozens of players gathered?
“……Fucking kills me.”
A thought slipped out aloud.
Lucifer heard, shouting in an agitated voice.
“You damned bastard! I was so close—just a little longer, and I’d have been out!!!”
The black leather encasing Lucifer’s body began melting into liquid.
Flesh dissolved, bones separating and clattering to the ground. He groaned, resisting.
Futile.
Soon, his arms and legs detached. Powerless ribs splayed like wings, spilling organs.
Plop plop.
The mediums used to summon him.
Finally, Lucifer’s face lay sideways on the ground, mad eyes glaring at me.
“Next time, it won’t end this easily.”
I nodded mockingly.
“Yeah, it better not.”
“I’ll make your days more agonizing than anyone’s.”
“Do as you please.”
“There are plenty waiting for you here, so you won’t be bored.”
“……Do as you please. Now please get lost!”
Dragon Fang flashed.
Crack! The sharp edge pierced Lucifer’s skull.
Steam billowed like a boiling kettle. Matte black paint turning to gas and dissipating.
“Kim Cheonjae…. Someday…”
He couldn’t finish his last words. His form vanished.
Tension released in an instant; my legs buckled, strength draining. Pupils shook, dry swallow automatic.
“……Is it over?”
I prodded Lucifer’s head this way and that. Finally, I smashed the unresponsive skull.
Just in case it revived.
“Phew….”
It’s really over.
* * * * *
No new system message despite quest completion.
Does ending it this way mean no rewards? Or was it the ‘server shock’ earlier messing with the system?
As I led my skeleton soldiers out of the tent, a red window appeared.
[*Auto-Recovery System Activated.]
Space warped like a distortion, surroundings swirling.
[Server admin apologizes to users for the unexpected error.]
After about 10 seconds, everything normalized, restoring to original state.
[Server now operating normally; all rounds’ story progress enabled.]
“……What about me?”
[System Message]
[1 staff member is watching you.]
[Confirming fallen Lucifer and tent interior…….]
They missed the middle part?
[Staff expresses surprise at your actions.]
I grinned.
[1-player challenger soloing Lucifer deemed impossible; judged as bug player.]
“What? Check properly before you speak. What bug did I even use?”
[Staff checking your log activity.]
[Attack, attack, attack, attack again]
[Over 100 attack instances confirmed.]
[Staff asks if you really soloed Lucifer.]
[YES/NO]
Logs don’t record how I fought—just the actions.
I answered confidently.
“……YES. I soloed him.”
No lie.
I faced him alone.
Whether my actions were legit, I don’t know. But no intentional exploit or malfunction, so calling it ‘bug player’ like the system did is a stretch.
‘If they push it, no choice.’
The weak position, I awaited staff’s response quietly.
But this was our last exchange.
“……”
A blue window appeared.
Typing sounds accompanied letters materializing one by one.
[Congratulations to player ‘Kim Cheonjae’ on soloing the Kabata tent challenge.]
[Reward: Radar to locate site where ‘Ancient Relic’ slumbers.]
Beep. A holographic radar materialized. Intricate, like from an aircraft carrier.
Then an excited male voice rang in my ears.
[Challenger ‘Kim Cheonjae,’ who turned impossible into possible—your feat broadcasts to the entire server!]
Cringe-worthy line. Still, it lifted my mood sky-high.
Turning impossible to possible meant no one had succeeded this challenge yet.
Same thrill as that day I first cleared a hidden quest in ‘Land of Ruin.’
Ecstasy.
Thrill.
Euphoria.
The three words lined up in my head, heralding my era’s arrival.
[Acquired title: ‘From now on, I am the strongest Necromancer!’]
[Summon Level +1!]
[Summon Level ‘7’ Achieved]
[Subordinates’ attack power, defense, and health slightly increased.]
“……Yeah, now that’s Last Game.”
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