Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Tower of Wrath (4)
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Arhim was obsessively monitoring Jack Roar's movements, and in turn, Jack Roar was keeping tabs on Arhim.
"Hm?"
Jack Roar, who had just emerged from conquering a massive drake—a subspecies of dragon—received a report from his sidekick that Arhim in Brazil had made a move.
"Has his destination been confirmed?"
「Unfortunately, we couldn't track that far. He seems to have used some kind of special teleportation like last time, and we lost him. Even mobilizing satellites was useless. The watchers shook their heads too.」
"Any suspicions?"
「We're guessing he's checking out those red towers that collapsed suddenly. There's no other reason for Arhim to move like that.」
"Red towers... Understood for now. Keep searching for where Arhim went."
「Yes, sir.」
Once the report ended.
Jack Roar pondered Arhim.
'Not the red towers... Seems like there's another reason. Did Justice find the breeding grounds?'
Death Lord Arhim's breeding grounds.
The U.S. had learned of their existence six months ago. But they still didn't know their location, when they were built, or what was being bred there.
Discovering the breeding grounds had been pure luck. If that player—lord—who escaped from Brazil hadn't mentioned them before dying, they might never have known.
Justice had crossed into Brazil precisely to verify the breeding grounds' existence.
'...We'll see soon enough.'
Jack Roar's eyes grew cold. If the breeding grounds turned out to be real...
Then Brazil—Death Lord Arhim included—would have to be wiped from the face of the Earth.
The second floor of the Tower of Wrath wasn't combat. It was a trial.
Rumble-crack-boom!!
Divine wrath was thunderbolts.
The thunderbolts unleashed by Kaguya Hime, transformed into Yamata no Orochi, were the trial of the second floor.
"......"
Lee Sang-hyun stared up at the sky packed with dark thunderclouds, lost in thought.
'If divine wrath can't be avoided... what if I dispel these thunderclouds to neutralize it?'
It was a cheap trick, but it seemed feasible. Nothing said he couldn't remove the clouds.
And Nameless wasn't saying a word. If it were forbidden, it would have told him. Silence meant permission.
"......"
Rumble-crack-boom!
'...Leaving it to me, huh.'
Lee Sang-hyun interpreted Nameless's silence that way. He felt he had to endure divine wrath properly.
'For the future... Overcoming thunderbolts isn't bad. Might help someday.'
Lee Sang-hyun made up his mind. No tricks—just face the trial head-on.
"I'll challenge the trial."
The moment he accepted.
Thunderbolts crashed from the black sky.
Rumble-crack-boom!!!
A single bolt left a massive afterimage. And it didn't end there.
Boom-crack-boom!!!
It struck again and again without respite.
The stinging sensation piercing his body was excruciating. Muscles twisted, feeling like a red-hot iron rod shoved down his throat.
Crackle-sizzle!!
Survival instincts screamed nonstop. Super Regeneration couldn't keep up with skin charring black—it barely protected internals.
'...En...dur...ing...!!'
His body trembled!!
Yet Lee Sang-hyun didn't budge. Feet planted firm, he endured.
Honestly, he still had some leeway.
If he couldn't afford to endure, he wouldn't think he could leisurely.
Rumble-crack-boom!!
'...Ngh... ugh...!!'
As time passed, thunderbolts grew fiercer. Previously every 20-30 seconds, now every 20.
Regeneration lagged. Protecting brain and heart was all he could manage.
Crunch!!
Lee Sang-hyun poured everything into Super Regeneration. The immediate overhead threat outweighed potential ones, so he retracted Super Sense.
Thump...! Thump...! Thump...!
Wounds healed rapidly, blocking further damage.
Rumble-crack-boom!!
Of course, it was barely holding—not improving. Endurance was best he could do.
Sizzle-crackle!!
How long had he endured?
Suddenly, Lee Sang-hyun sensed a change.
'...Adap...ting...?'
Not illusion or delusion. A tangible fact.
Rumble-crack-boom!!
According to posts on HunterNet, the world's largest player network, repeated long-term exposure to harsh environments grants resistance.
But conditions were so harsh—months to years—that few acquired it.
It wasn't worth enduring agony for years. Artifacts solved it easily.
Still, attribute resistances were real.
Like polar dwellers toughening to cold, prolonged exposure to water, fire, ice, poison built tolerance.
The trial of the Tower of Wrath's second floor.
Even Lee Sang-hyun, challenging Heavenly Punishment, gained resistance.
Crackle-sizzle!!
In a mere 30 minutes, lightning resistance emerged.
Rumble-crack-boom!!!
Of course, enduring 3-6 bolts per minute wasn't a massive reward.
Even the Thousand Knights or Strongest 7 might falter at such peril... It just meant lightning resistance—nothing extraordinary.
Sizzle-crackle!!
'...Can... hold... on...'
Adapting to thunderbolts, Lee Sang-hyun regained leeway. Eyes still unhealed, but otherwise normal.
Rumble!!
Then bolts stopped, as if the trial ended. Thunder roared, but no strikes.
'Stopped suddenly? Then...'
An ill omen hit. These pauses often meant spiked difficulty.
Sure enough.
Red lightning struck.
Boom-crack-boom!!!
Scarlet Thunder wasn't ordinary. It embodied wrathful hostility—a magic form.
Sizzle-sputter!!
Viciously malevolent. Normal bolts would ground through feet; this roamed the body.
'Ngh... ugh... ahh...!!'
It targeted vitals like brain and heart relentlessly.
Crackle-sizzle-crackle!!
Lightning resistance proved useless.
Tremble... tremble... shudder...!!
Small mercy: unlike regular thunder, strikes were rarer—one or two per minute.
Rumble...!!
Huff! Huff! Huff!
Lee Sang-hyun focused on recovery amid ragged breaths. Super Regeneration expelled lightning, regenerating flesh.
Rumble-crack-boom!!
A scarlet bolt from dark clouds was true divine wrath.
Sputter-sizzle-sizzle!!!
Yet Lee Sang-hyun held. He'd endured worse often.
'...Damn...!!'
How did he overcome Berserker's curse? Pure willpower for 5 days.
Night and day, no minute's rest, battling slaughter urges.
Not just that—he purified a filthy cesspool lake over a year.
The fight with little giant Steno was a death march. Hesitation meant death.
Tremble... tremble...!!
Compared to those, this was nothing. Just an hour.
Not a day or two—an hour.
No reason to falter.
Sizzle-sizzle-sizzle!!!
Lee Sang-hyun endured and endured. No naive thoughts of "it'll end soon."
Crunch...!!
Focusing solely on pain, growing fiercer with blood like a true Berserker, he adapted.
'...En...dur...ing...!!'
Rumble!!
Death Lord Arhim received the report with a bug-crushed grimace.
"...Speak."
[Urgent report!! Jack Roar is heading toward Mexico!!]
Arhim ground his teeth—crunch!!—black eyes blazing fury at the frantic voice.
"...Reason for movement?"
[Officially, to conquer a tower whose erosion has hit critical levels!!]
"...Chance he caught my movement?"
[99... No, 100%. Every time you leave Brasilia, he heads to Mexico or Panama. He's definitely tracking somehow.]
He knew Jack Roar likely knew, but it grated.
Truly infuriated, killing intent seeped from Arhim entirely.
"...Report new intel immediately."
[Y-yes, sir!!]
Connection cut.
Arhim weighed priorities.
"......"
Kill the damned monkey from the East... or face Jack Roar?
'...Withdraw first. Can't face Jack Roar without Necropolis.'
Arhim's wrath-filled decision was coldly rational.
Killing an unknown Eastern monkey could wait.
But Jack Roar... No room for carelessness.
So Arhim returned to Brasilia, kingdom of death and sanctuary Necropolis.
'Show yourself anytime... That instant, I'll tear you to shreds.'
Beneath cool judgment burned eternal vengeance.
Arhim: as cold as he was tenacious.
Rumble...
Relentless scarlet thunder vanished.
The long-awaited quiet felt like world peace. Sky still dark and gloomy.
But divine wrath subsided—no more bolts.
"......"
The charred lump was Lee Sang-hyun. Seemingly dead, but thump! thump! thump! heart beat.
Enduring scarlet thunder, he exhaled raggedly.
Cough! Cough!
Black smoke billowed from scorched throat. Eyes nonfunctional, eardrums long melted.
But blood-fueled Berserker regenerated swiftly.
Thump...! Thump...!
Time to restore original form: barely 3 minutes.
Absurdly short for scarlet thunder's ferocity.
'...It's over.'
Lee Sang-hyun was certain the Tower of Wrath second floor trial—Heavenly Punishment—had ended.
Moments later, system's voice confirmed.
Whoosh...
Dark clouds parted, translucent stairs descending from blue sky.
"......"
Lee Sang-hyun moved to climb. But Nameless blocked.
Nameless's instruction was simple.
'...Absorb the thunderclouds?'
Didn't make sense post-trial. But too drained for complaints, he obeyed, absorbing clouds.
Whoooosh!!
'This...?'
As expected of Nameless. An unforeseen surge of immense power.
Thump!! Thump-thump!!
Unknown force welled from heart's depths...
Filling it, then flooding body, soothing exhaustion.
Thump...!!
'Like receiving water's origin from Tethys.'
Different scale, but similar phenomenon.
'...Nameless planned this from start? Who knows. Doesn't matter. Body's recovered—that's key.'
Lee Sang-hyun kept it simple, clenching fist.
Squeeze!
From charred lump moments ago to near-perfect state. Maybe even better.
'Let's go.'
He ascended stairs boldly, reaching the Tower of Wrath's third floor: final volcano—Tartarus.
Groooowl...!!