Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Tower of Wrath (5)
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Ashen clouds blanketed the entire world, accompanied by roaring crimson lightning. A barren volcano stretched endlessly, hidden by the clouds, its peak unknown, while scarlet lava flowed down its slopes.
The vista of the final volcano—Tartarus—evoked the image of a ruined world rune.
"...Chilling."
Lee Sang-hyun instinctively sensed danger. And that danger emanated from the final volcano—Tartarus.
"...A Titan, perhaps."
He couldn't be 100% certain... but Tartarus itself seemed to be a colossal monster Titan.
Thump...! Thump...!
"...I'm afraid, but it's not an opponent I can't beat. It's not bigger than the demon Charybdis."
Though shrouded by the gloomy gray clouds, Lee Sang-hyun pierced through to the truth. Tartarus's height was not greater than that of the demon Charybdis.
Of course, whether it was 10 km or 9 km, it might not make much difference. Still, it was definitively smaller.
"...Let's go."
Harboring both fear and an unyielding resolve to win, Lee Sang-hyun pressed forward.
"?!!"
But then the system presented a choice.
"Sanctuary—Necropolis?"
Lee Sang-hyun had heard of the Sanctuary—Acropolis—built in Italy, but Necropolis was new to him.
He was momentarily bewildered, but soon realized: attacking Agni now meant he could also strike Death Lord Arhim.
"That's... perfect."
There was no need to say it aloud—it was an opportunity too good to pass up.
The number of civilians mobilized by Arhim to construct the Sanctuary—Necropolis—was a staggering 10 million.
Not to mention 10,000 players sacrificed, along with artifacts towering to the heavens and nectar offered as tribute.
The construction had taken a full two years. Including preparation time, it was over six years.
Even after dominating Brazil and the entire South American continent, they hadn't begun a second Necropolis due to the immense cost and time required...
Rumble!!
"Ark!! We must stop the Sanctuary's collapse!!"
Arhim shot to his feet and urgently called upon his constellation, the Ark of Death.
"If this continues, the Necropolis will collapse!! We must prevent it at any cost!!"
The collapse of Sanctuary—Necropolis—was a catastrophe that demanded sacrificing all of Brazil to avert.
Arhim was prepared to pay any price.
But the Ark of Death's response was negative.
「Impossible.」
"What... did you say...?"
「Preventing the Necropolis's collapse is impossible. Only a transcendent god could achieve it.」
"There must be some way! Even if it means sacrificing tens of millions...!!"
「It is decreed by the system. We must accept it.」
"Then what am I supposed to do?! Just watch as the Necropolis crumbles?! "
「...Yes.」
At the Ark of Death's reply, Arhim's rage exploded.
"···············································································································································································································!!!"
The murderous fury swept away everyone waiting nearby. Not a single survivor remained. All crumbled into skeletons.
Arhim's face twisted like a malevolent demon upon losing the Sanctuary—Necropolis—overnight.
But the misfortune wasn't over. In fact, this was just the beginning.
「...The Necropolis is collapsing because someone has ascended to the 3rd floor of the Tower of Wrath.」
"...What?"
「We don't know who, but they've clearly climbed the Tower of Wrath. And awakened Giant—Agni—.」
「The aftermath is causing the Necropolis to collapse.」
"Who...!! Who dares...?! Find them!! Find them now!! I'll kill them with my own hands!!"
The Ark of Death peered into the Tower of Wrath after receiving an enormous 'price' from Arhim.
And it identified the culprit on the 3rd floor.
「...That monkey bastard.」
"...What?"
Arhim blinked, thinking he'd misheard. But he hadn't. It was an unfortunate truth.
「The monkey bastard you mentioned...」
「Has awakened Giant—Agni—.」
Crack!!
Those words were enough to make Arhim's eyes roll back from overwhelming rage and stress.
"Uwaaaah...!!"
Death Lord Arhim. The merciless demon who plunged South America into terror was still human, after all.
Tremble!!
A massive crack began from the ground, racing up the final volcano—Tartarus—and piercing into the ashen clouds.
Crack! Craaaack!!
Krunch!!
The single enormous fissure seemed poised to split the world in two.
"...It looks like something hatching from a giant egg."
At least, that's how it felt to Lee Sang-hyun. Like a giant breaking free from its shell.
「O... Oo... Oooo... Ooooooo...!!!」
Agni's eyes and mouth, emerging from the gray clouds, brimmed with eternally burning lava.
Its left arm burst through the volcanic ridge, triggering an earthquake that hurled rock masses far away.
Booom...!!
Its right arm erupted with hot lava and thick volcanic ash, signaling that both arms had regained full freedom.
"...Not yet."
Lee Sang-hyun held back from acting rashly. Agni's body was still embedded in the volcano, but more importantly, he wasn't ready to attack.
Whoosh...!!
"...A half-hearted strike would only provoke it further. I need a decisive blow, not pointless harassment."
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Lee Sang-hyun calmly gathered his power. Meanwhile, the massive fissure widened relentlessly.
Krunchkraaack!!
Scarlet lava surged from the tens-of-meters-wide gap. It was chilling, like beholding the veins of a giant... of the world itself.
「Oo... Ooooo... Oooooo...!!」
Giant—Agni—'s roar grew vaster and more ferocious with time.
It seemed like fury toward the world that had imprisoned it in the volcano.
Groooan! Groooaaaan!!
Graaaaw!!
Finally, Giant—Agni—'s upper body broke free completely.
Rumblecrash!!
Terrified crimson lightning screamed, while fearsome fireballs scattered like fleeing prey, slamming into the barren ground.
Cracks spiderwebbed in all directions, spewing black gas. Nowhere was safe anymore.
It was as if witnessing the world's end...
Lee Sang-hyun's eyes flashed.
"...Now."
Weeeeng!!
It was a portal. Positioned right atop Giant—Agni—'s head.
Ilbern Swordsmanship.
Third Form—Burst.
The power to slay demons struck.
The ambush attack achieved only partial success, regrettably.
「U... Oooo... Ooo...!!」
Unlike humans, who die from a shattered head, the giant endured. Though its head exploded, destroying its right eye and that side, it lived on. Its massive heart still pounded.
Thoom...!! Thooom...!!
Lee Sang-hyun prepared a second strike but leaped atop the gray clouds instead.
Agni's body boiled with immense heat, crimson lightning crashed from the clouds, and above all—a sky-engulfing hand approached at terrifying speed.
"...Should I destroy the heart?"
Landing on the gray clouds, Lee Sang-hyun frowned. The damage was less than expected... but he kept his composure, staying cool-headed.
「Uo... Ooooo... Oooooo...!!!」
Crimson flames reminiscent of hellfire and unknowable black smoke rose from Giant—Agni—'s body.
Rumblecrash!!
Hundreds, thousands of crimson lightning bolts echoed Agni's voice.
This was an explosion.
One that would blanket the world in ashes.
The beginning of the apocalypse.
"Damn!"
Lee Sang-hyun dodged the massive hand flying toward the gray clouds and dropped to the ground.
Whoooosh!!!
The giant hand erased the gray clouds with its mere presence, scattering thousands of fireballs across the world.
"...Terrifying."
Giant—Agni—'s very existence was a calamity. A moving disaster that warped the laws of the world.
It seemed impossible to fell with puny human strength. Just gazing upon it inspired awe.
Thump. Thump...
"...Come to think of it, it wasn't me who defeated Charybdis—it was the tree."
He had delivered the finishing blow with Ilbern Swordsmanship, but the lead-up was all the tree's doing. Without it, he'd have just trimmed a few whiskers.
"...Can I beat Agni?"
If the first strike had killed it, maybe. But how to topple Giant—Agni—, now even freeing its legs?
Krummmble...!!
Lee Sang-hyun's expression darkened by the moment.
Yet he neither yielded nor gave up. Calmly, he recalled Ilbern Swordsmanship's Fourth Form.
Following First Form—Sever (slash), Second Form—Pierce (thrust), Third Form—Burst (explode), came Fourth Form—Unity.
"...Dragging this out only favors it. This will end it."
Fourth Form—Unity—was a 'charge' that merged sword and body into one.
Its destructive power was unquestionable, but as a body-slam technique, it was exceedingly dangerous.
Success or failure, the body shattered, and the immense energy drain threatened life itself. Merging with the sword meant that.
Nevertheless, Lee Sang-hyun resolved to use Unity. In this parched, blazing world, it was the only way to fell Giant—Agni—.
Thump! Thump...!
Thump...!!
Giant—Agni—, long imprisoned in the final volcano—Tartarus—, shattered its eternal seal and roared.
「Uooo... Ooooo... Oooooo... Ooooooo... Oooooooo...!!!」
The sky-rending roar was wrath toward the world. Resentment and an indelible curse against those who dared imprison it in the volcano.
Giant—Agni—'s sole desire was destruction. Thoroughly razing the world to vent its pent-up rage—that was its only purpose, its everything.
Thus, nothing could be spared...
Flinch?!!
A blue light appeared. A vivid azure glow flickered below like a free breeze.
「How... dare... you...!!!」
Roooar...!!
Giant—Agni—, finding it utterly repulsive and unbearable, clenched its fist and slammed down with full force.
Thus, piercing the gray clouds.
A colossal fist plummeted from sky to earth.
......
If people witnessed this scene, they would all say the same.
"The Wrath of God."