Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Nial's Last Stand
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Shin Yu-hyun clashed fiercely with Nial in a brutal exchange of blows.
This was the first time he'd faced a mage-type opponent since his regression.
And she was leagues beyond any Earth mage.
She unleashed a barrage of four-circle spells from multiple attributes— all without incantation.
Because of that, Shin Yu-hyun was struggling hard just to keep up with her.
Boom boom boom boom!
The four-circle spell Fire Lance that Nial hurled grazed past Shin Yu-hyun, detonating in a massive explosion.
Right on its heels came another four-circle spell, Ice Lance, surging straight at him.
A two-meter ice spear hurtled toward him with enough force to impale him clean through.
"Bone Shield!"
Shatter shatter!
Three Bone Shields, cast and activated through split-thought processing, materialized in front of Shin Yu-hyun.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
But the Ice Lance punched right through all three with ease.
The silver lining was that its momentum had slowed considerably.
Standing before it, Shin Yu-hyun hoisted Demon Sword Ignis high overhead.
Whoosh!
Black flames—Dark Soul Blaze—began billowing from Demon Sword Ignis.
Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship.
First Form: Nameless.
Screeech!
Demon Sword Ignis slashed downward like lightning, cleaving the incoming Ice Lance in half.
The bisected Ice Lance split vertically into two pieces and streaked past Shin Yu-hyun's sides.
"Bro. Aren't you being a bit too stubborn? How about just turning your back to me?"
Nial said with a laugh.
Shin Yu-hyun shook his head firmly, his expression resolute.
"That'll never happen."
Nial's skill allowed her to instantly close any distance and seize an opponent's back the moment they turned away.
This skill is way too dangerous.
Unique Skill Back Attack was dangerous in multiple ways.
For one, there was no escaping Nial.
The instant you showed your back, she'd be on you in a blink.
If one of Getia's members— like the God of the Hunt, Barbatos— had this skill, it would send chills down your spine.
"Then let's wrap this up... Gah!"
Nial, who had been toying with him so casually, suddenly vomited blood.
"W-What?"
She grimaced, her face twisted in confusion.
But Shin Yu-hyun, seeing this, curled his lips into a smile.
"Looks like the effects are finally kicking in."
"What? What do you...?"
"Debuff magic."
"What?"
Nial's eyes widened in shock.
Before the fight began, Shin Yu-hyun had cast Poison, Disease, and Decay on her.
Spells that inflicted ongoing damage through virulent poison, debilitating illness, and rotting decay.
They were hard to land against high magic resistance or recovery abilities, but in prolonged battles, they shone.
The longer the fight dragged on, the more inevitable exhaustion became.
That was when the debuffs truly asserted themselves.
And indeed, Nial was worn out from the extended clash with Shin Yu-hyun.
Especially after spamming spells, her mana depletion—and the resulting stamina drain— had been massive.
But not Shin Yu-hyun.
He had the A-rank skill Super Regeneration, rewarded from the Incheon Dungeon Stampede.
That gap had finally shown itself.
"Guh! Cough cough!"
Nial kept hacking up blood until she dropped to one knee.
Once her condition started deteriorating, it snowballed uncontrollably. Falling stamina meant falling resistance.
"Damn it! To think I'd lose to some lowly human!"
"Finally showing your true colors, huh?"
Shin Yu-hyun sneered at Nial, who glared at him with bloodshot eyes and screamed.
"Shut up!"
Nial spun her mana circles furiously, preparing her next attack spell.
But with damage already stacking up, her condition plummeted rapidly.
Still, she stubbornly kept her circles turning.
Shhh!
"I wonder if you can block this one?"
Nial squeezed out her remaining mana for one final spell.
Fire Lances and Ice Lances began materializing above her head.
Over fifteen of each— more than thirty two-meter spears of dual elements in total.
"Die!"
At last, the Fire Lances and Ice Lances rocketed toward Shin Yu-hyun like artillery shells.
But Shin Yu-hyun had already drawn mana from his first to third circles in preparation.
A skill that compressed remaining mana to push physical abilities to their absolute limits.
It granted insane acceleration.
In Shin Yu-hyun's eyes, the massively fast Fire Lances and Ice Lances looked frozen in place.
Weaving between them, he swung Demon Sword Ignis, wreathed in black flame.
Slash! Slash slash slash!
Demon Sword Ignis carved countless black arcs through the air, shattering the lances into pieces.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Moments later, a colossal explosion erupted.
White steam burst outward, followed by crimson flames scattering in all directions.
"My victory."
Nial had no doubt she'd won.
In her eyes, Shin Yu-hyun had been engulfed and obliterated by the massive blast between the lances.
But.
Thud!
Shin Yu-hyun burst out from the white steam and red flames.
"Gasp?"
Nial's face filled with shock.
And toward the stunned Nial, Shin Yu-hyun swung Demon Sword Ignis at blinding speed.
Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship.
Fourth Form: Flash.
Flash! Scriiiish!
Like a streak of light, Demon Sword Ignis gleamed as it grazed past Nial.
Thud.
"Huh?"
Nial stared in bewilderment.
Her head horn had been severed and fallen to the ground.
"Gaaahhh!"
They said pain comes after realization.
Confirming her horn on the floor, Nial screamed and collapsed in place.
"My horn! My hooorn!!"
To Nial, her horn was life itself.
She controlled her magic through it.
Now, without it, her mana began to run rampant.
Dark red sparks of mana erupted from her body.
"Gaaahhh!"
Nial shrieked in agony.
She glared at Shin Yu-hyun with murderous intent.
"F-Fine! If this is how it ends, we'll go together!"
Belching intense mana sparks, Nial charged at Shin Yu-hyun.
Desperate now that defeat loomed, she'd chosen the extreme path.
Suicide bomb?
Seeing Nial rush him, Shin Yu-hyun swiftly retreated.
He could feel the enormous mana surging from her body, like she'd hit critical mass.
She'd blow any second now.
The good news: with Limit Mana Overdrive active, his acceleration let him escape her grasp.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Nial screamed, spewing massive mana.
Right then, system messages scrolled before Shin Yu-hyun's eyes.
"What the hell?"
Confirming the messages linked through his Commander's Eye, Shin Yu-hyun was floored.
The Creeping Chaos boosting Nial with All-Out Will to trigger Back Attack?
What did that even mean?
Nial grinned wickedly at Shin Yu-hyun.
The next instant, she vanished.
"Tch!"
As Nial disappeared, Shin Yu-hyun gritted his teeth and whipped around.
There she was, grinning madly behind him.
Nial flashed a twisted smile at him and left her final words.
"Let's see that back, bro."
Right after.
Boom boom boom boom!
An enormous explosion rocked Shin Yu-hyun's back.
Nial's body burst apart, flesh chunks flying everywhere as dark red mana shockwaves erupted like flames.
Moments later, the dark red flesh and mana shockwaves from the epicenter cleared, revealing the blast site.
No Nial. No Shin Yu-hyun.
Just a two-meter crater.
"Thought I was done for."
Then, a few meters from the crater, Shin Yu-hyun pushed himself up.
He'd been flung away by the shockwave.
Before Nial detonated.
To escape her, Shin Yu-hyun had leaped forward.
Limit Mana Overdrive active, he'd covered some distance in that split second.
He'd even conjured three Bone Shields to blunt the blast.
And DF Coat's spatial distortion field deflected most of the incoming flesh shards that pierced them.
But the shockwave itself? Unblockable. Hence the flight.
He'd taken some damage regardless.
Super Regeneration really is broken.
No matter how much he'd dodged and blocked, he'd never have walked away unscathed.
Not from a point-blank suicide blast.
Two broken ribs, full-body bruises— injuries that should've sidelined him for a while.
But Super Regeneration healed him fast.
Pat pat.
Standing, Shin Yu-hyun brushed dust and dirt from his DF Coat and the shattered ground.
Then, casually eyed the exit at the room's far end, where Nial had been waiting.
"Time to head to the next room."
With his body mostly recovered, Shin Yu-hyun started walking again.
Leaving Nial's room, Shin Yu-hyun traversed a long corridor and stopped before a white door etched with ornate patterns.
The final room?
Creeeak.
He pushed open the large, heavy door and stepped inside.
The chamber was vast.
And murals adorned the walls.
"This is..."
Shin Yu-hyun paused to study the wall paintings.
There, a figure resembling the Immortal King from his visions waged war against magic beasts.
The Immortal King's forces included the Seven Arcs and undead legions, with a massive fortress floating behind them.
It had a sleek, mechanical look straight out of sci-fi— almost like a battleship.
Opposing them: magic beasts of every size and shape.
Beyond the beasts loomed planets, dwarfed by inconceivably colossal entities.
One coiled tentacles around a planet; another devoured one like a black hole.
All grotesquely formless.
What does this mean?
Having scanned the murals, Shin Yu-hyun's mind reeled.
They depicted the Immortal King's war with the magic beasts.
And the implication was clear: their battles spanned not just planets, but dimensions and the cosmos.
So the magic beasts aren't just after Earth?
After circling the murals, Shin Yu-hyun's head throbbed.
What exactly were the magic beasts?
Luckily, something here could answer that.
Shin Yu-hyun silently regarded the chamber's center.
A massive blue crystal stood there, sealing a beautiful woman inside.
One of the Seven Arcs: Shub Ranigdu, Ruler of the Black Goat Citadel.