Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Black Star's Relic (3)
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*Thud! Thud!*
Each time the giant, composed of black slime, took a step, a heavy tremor echoed throughout the cavern.
Dozens of tentacles sprouting from the giant's back writhed menacingly.
‘No way.’
Oh-jin stared at the slime giant with trembling eyes.
‘What is this all of a sudden?’
Of all the times for this to happen, it had to be right after I got greedy over the relic and started posturing. What kind of insane situation is this?
‘Now I can’t even run…!’
He turned his head and glanced at Vega.
The goddess floated in the air, arms crossed leisurely.
Her golden eyes sparkled as if in anticipation of how he would deal with this monster.
‘What am I supposed to do with that thing?’
Biting his lip, he turned back to the slime giant.
It was about five meters tall.
Its slime body was bulked up with muscles as if it had taken a lethal dose of steroids like some gym rat.
It looked like the monster from a movie poster he’d once seen on the street, called Venom.
‘It looks fucking strong.’
No joke, if I took just one of those punches, I'd become a flying Kwon Oh-jin and get launched all the way back to the cave entrance.
“Hoo.”
Forcibly pushing down the fear consuming him, he gripped his spear.
He’d already run his mouth, so he couldn’t just turn tail and bolt.
‘If I can’t run.’
Then I have to fight and kill it.
‘It’s not like I have no chance of winning.’
It might look like a monster straight out of Norse mythology, but it probably wasn’t as strong as it appeared.
‘The black slimes themselves were all weaklings to begin with.’
It wasn’t like it was Exodia or something; just because it stuck its arms, legs, and torso together didn’t mean it was suddenly reborn as some invincible monster.
‘Let’s do this.’
If it really seems impossible, I can always run then.
“Grrrrrrr.”
The slime giant let out a guttural, phlegmy sound and lowered its body.
*Crack!*
The giant’s back split open, and dozens of black tentacles shot out.
Just as the black tentacles took aim at Oh-jin and were about to launch—
“Eat this, you bastard!!”
Oh-jin pulled a small pistol from his pocket and pulled the trigger.
Of course, what was inside the pistol wasn’t a bullet.
-Flash!
“Grrrrrr?!”
A flare, emitting an intense light, illuminated the dark cave.
A storm of light, as if the sun had risen inside the cavern.
The giant, accustomed to the darkness, winced and stepped back.
‘Now!’
*Thump!*
While the giant was momentarily staggered,
Oh-jin kicked off the ground and sprinted across the cavern at full speed.
“Hah, hah!”
He had one chance.
A surprise trick like a flashbang wouldn’t work multiple times, so he had to bet everything on this one attempt.
The distance was closing.
The staggering giant regained its footing and took a step forward.
‘Five meters.’
He gripped his spear.
*Bzzzzzt!!*
Blue lightning blazed.
The Stigma radiated light as if it were on fire.
‘Three meters.’
He aimed for the giant’s waist.
Its head was too high a target, making it difficult to land a decisive blow even with a spear.
He would land the strongest possible strike over the widest possible area.
‘One meter.’
*Tap!*
He kicked off the ground, squeezing out the mana from his Stigma.
Changnoe.
He prepared the powerful single strike that had made Vega gasp in admiration.
And then—
“Grk?”
“Haaaaaaah!!!”
He slammed the full-force blow right into it!
-Bzzzzzzzzzt!!!!
“Grooooooaaaaar!!!”
The strike landed squarely on its spine.
The slime giant twisted its body, flailing its arms.
Though the movements were crude, almost like a desperate struggle, they contained enough power to separate bone from flesh.
A single graze would mean death.
“Grrrrrrr!!”
*Thud!!*
The giant, convulsing as lightning coursed through its body, dropped to one knee.
Its arms swung futilely through the air.
However.
-Swoooooosh!!
The dozens of tentacles that had shot from its back were, even in this situation, still aimed precisely at Oh-jin.
“Heup!”
Taking a short breath, he let go of the spear embedded in the giant’s waist.
‘So one hit wasn’t enough.’
Well, of course.
It was a monster the size of a tactical armored vehicle.
Even if an Awakened was a superhuman who had transcended humanity, felling a beast of that size with a single blow was next to impossible.
And.
‘—In that case!’
That was a fact Oh-jin himself was well aware of.
-Tap!!
Using the spear embedded in the giant’s waist as a foothold, he jumped into the air.
*Swoosh!!*
The tentacles instantly changed direction and shot towards Oh-jin, who was now airborne.
“Keuk!!”
From here on, it was a gamble.
Oh-jin threw the rope he had prepared towards the cave ceiling.
The hook tied to the end of the rope caught on a protruding stalactite.
‘Please!’
If the stalactite couldn’t bear his weight and shattered, it was all over.
He would be swatted by the tentacles, sent flying, and have no choice but to beg Vega to save his life.
“Heup!”
He pulled the rope with all his might.
-Scraaaape!!
A metallic screech echoed as the hook scraped against the stalactite.
He felt his body lift into the air and saw dozens of tentacles pass beneath his feet.
“Yes!”
Thankfully, the stalactite didn’t break.
As the tentacles that had missed their mark turned and shot towards him again,
-Thwip!
He let go of the rope.
His body fell rapidly, pulled by gravity.
Spreading his arms like wings, he dropped directly onto the giant’s head.
“Die, you bastard!!!”
“Grrrrrrr!!”
*CRUNCH!*
He thrust both hands into the giant’s soccer-ball-sized eyeballs.
*Squelch.* As his hands crushed the eyeballs, black slime poured out.
The sticky slime clung to him.
“Hehehe!”
The corners of Oh-jin’s mouth twisted into a grin.
*Bzt, Bzzzzzt!!*
The Stigma shone brilliantly as blue lightning blazed fiercely.
“One million volts, you son of a bitch!!!!”
He focused the lightning covering his entire body into the hands that had crushed the eyeballs and released it all at once!
“Pikaaaa—chuuuuuuuuu!!!!!”
*KRA-KRA-KRA-KRAK!!!*
“Graaaaaaaaargh!!!!”
The giant’s head exploded, and its massive body staggered.
He leaped off the falling giant’s body and landed.
“Hahk, hahk!”
Was it because he had used Changnoe twice in a row? He was completely out of breath.
It felt like he’d just run twenty 100-meter dashes back-to-back.
His vision swam, and his stomach churned.
Forget the relic; he just wanted to lie down right there and sleep.
‘Still.’
He had succeeded in taking down a monster he thought was impossible to defeat—
[It is dangerous!!!]
“What?”
*WHOOOOSH!*
Simultaneously with Vega’s cry, he heard something massive tear through the air.
“Keuk!”
He hastily turned towards the sound and crossed his arms.
-CRAAAAAACK!!
“Keo-heok!!!”
A heavy impact, like being struck by a battering ram, shook his body.
He was launched nearly ten meters into the air and sent flying backward.
-Crash!!
“Keohk! Kgh! Cough! Cough!”
[Oh, Oh-jin! Are you alright?!]
Vega approached, her face pale.
Oh-jin clutched his arms, which were screaming in agony, and crawled on the floor.
“What… the?”
He barely managed to lift his head to see what had hit him.
—A headless monster.
He saw the slime giant, with only its neck remaining, moving around perfectly fine.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
It didn’t die from that?
‘Dammit.’
A complete miscalculation.
‘My arms… thankfully, they’re not broken.’
Was this the power of the Lyra Stigma?
Even after taking a blow that would have instantly killed a normal 2-Star Awakened, not even a bone was broken.
‘But.’
He assessed his body with cold eyes.
Legs trembling uncontrollably.
His arms still throbbing with terrible pain, and he was bare-handed, without even a weapon.
‘…This is the worst.’
There was no other way now.
“Vega.”
He called out to her, forgetting to even use honorifics.
“Grant me your blessing.”
[I understand.]
As if she had been waiting, Vega raised her hand.
A brilliant silver light poured out.
-Bzt!
[Urk…!]
As if the laws of constraint had begun, Vega’s face contorted in pain.
The silver radiance emanating from her settled into his body—
[Vega has bestowed upon you the Blessing of the Stars.]
[The proficiency of the ‘Lyra Stigma’ is temporarily increased!]
A mighty power began to boil throughout his entire body.
-Bzzzzzzzzzt!!!!
Blue lightning blazed brilliantly.
Was it because he had grown stronger since the last time he received the blessing?
The effect of the blessing also felt incomparably stronger than before.
‘Which means the burden on Vega must be greater.’
It couldn’t be helped.
Without the blessing, there was no way to defeat that slime monster.
“Hoo.”
He steadied his ragged breath.
Bending down, he placed both hands on the ground and extended his legs back.
*Bzt, Bzzzzzt!!*
Blue lightning gathered in his legs.
He focused the power surging through his body into his legs, and,
-BOOM!!
He kicked off the ground violently!
“Gr… grr… Grk.”
He shot like an arrow towards the giant, which couldn’t even let out a proper roar with its head gone.
*Swoooooosh!*
Bundles of black tentacles rained down from all directions.
‘This much is…’
To him, now blessed, it wasn’t even a threat.
“Heup!”
*Bzzzzzzzt!!!*
With a light swing of his fist, blue lightning spread out in a fan shape, sweeping across the area in front of him.
One Changnoe per punch.
He advanced towards the slime giant, savagely swinging his clenched fists.
“Haa, haa!”
His breathing grew ragged.
Using Changnoe with every punch, he could feel the mana of his Stigma burning away at a rapid pace.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
He had more than enough mana to spare anyway.
‘No.’
Simply saying he ‘had a lot of mana’ didn’t seem right.
‘What—is this?’
He didn’t know why.
He couldn’t even begin to guess, but.
The more he used the Stigma’s mana, the more his mana seemed to increase.
“Kugh!!”
Like rain pouring from a sky full of dark clouds.
A torrent of mana, replenishing faster than it was being depleted, shook his entire body.
His body felt like it would burst, like a balloon inflated to its limit with expanding mana.
“Haaaaaaah!!!”
-Bzt!! Bzt!! Bzzzzzzzzzt!!!
He roared like a beast, swinging his fists without rest.
Dozens, hundreds of Changnoe strikes swept over the slime giant’s body.
The giant’s corpse was already reduced to ashes, not a trace to be found.
He fired a torrent of blue lightning with enough force to obliterate even those ashes.
‘A little more.’
His head felt scorching hot.
Slightly.
His vision darkened, as if covered by black clouds.
‘Just a little more.’
A burning sense of euphoria.
A thrilling jolt spread through him.
If he went just a little further.
It felt like he could grasp something—
[—Enough.]
With the goddess’s clear, echoing voice, his slightly darkened vision became clear again.
[It is already dead.]
“Haa, haa!”
He gasped for breath and collapsed onto the floor.
‘What was that just now…?’
That sense of euphoria, as if his body was on fire.
Along with the explosive increase in mana, he had felt an unknown sensation.
As he focused his mind to recall that feeling, which was now gone without a trace,
-Wooooong!!
“Kugh!!”
The Stigma engraved on his left chest flared with a bright light.
[This is… D-Don’t tell me!]
Vega’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Ah, ugh. Aaaaaargh!!”
*Bzt! Bzzzzzt!!*
Blue lightning flashed, and another stroke was added to the Stigma engraved on his left chest.
With this, the Stigma on his chest now had a total of three strokes.
-Ding!
[The ‘Lyra Stigma’ has been upgraded to 3-Star!]
[Skill 《Noejeon Lv2》 has been upgraded to 《Noejeon Lv3》!]
[Skill 《Changnoe Lv1》 has been upgraded to 《Changnoe Lv2》!]
The faint sound of a clear bell rang in his ears.
[To reach 3-Star in not even a month.]
Vega, too, couldn’t hide her astonishment, even stuttering.
This wasn’t the Stigma of some ordinary constellation, but that of the North Star.
Even for the Star of Revolution, this rate of growth was absurd.
It was as if he was racing on a motorcycle while everyone else was running a marathon.
[What in the world are you….]
She looked down at Oh-jin, who was lying on the floor, with a stunned expression.
[Hm?]
He wasn’t moving at all.
[My child?]
She reached out and poked Oh-jin’s cheek.
But his tightly shut eyes did not open.
[G-Get a hold of yourself!]
In the vast cavern,
the goddess’s forlorn voice echoed in solitude.