Chapter 332
Chapter 332
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 332
Chapter Title: Treasure Hunt (11)
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A sword as white as a snowfield.
The blade, extending in an elegant curve, was so beautiful it could elicit an unconscious gasp of admiration. Its surface was engraved with delicate snowflake patterns, as if crafted by a master artisan.
A masterwork that needed no explanation.
No, even the term ‘masterwork’ felt too modest for this white sword.
‘A divine artifact.’
A sword forged not by human hands, but by a god’s.
Merely being drawn from its scabbard, a biting chill seeped into the body like poison.
Every exhaled breath scattered as a pale frost, and the muscles throughout his body tensed as if submerged in icy water.
‘I never thought I’d feel this kind of cold inside a volcano.’
If he had known, he would have brought a vest with cold resistance instead of fire resistance.
Oh-jin studied the white sword in Deimos’s hand with sharp eyes.
‘How is that thing square in any way?’
He couldn’t tell if it was light or not without holding it, but at the very least, the description ‘square’ didn’t fit the sword at all.
-My treasure! Give it back!
Baek Mu-gang shouted from within the crystal ball.
Deimos turned his head toward the voice, a low exclamation escaping his lips.
“I see, so that’s how it is.”
A bitter smirk appeared on Deimos’s lips.
“So, ‘Deneb’s Holy Sword’ was your goal from the start.”
Deimos lightly raised the white sword in his hand.
Deneb’s Holy Sword was the most valuable among the thousands, tens of thousands of treasures he possessed.
How much he had struggled to obtain this sword.
It was a holy sword he had painstakingly acquired by seeking out Deneb’s first Apostle, even while enduring the constraints of the Law.
No matter how much he whined for it back, there was no way he would return it.
“Persistent bastard.”
Deimos glared at Baek Mu-gang through the crystal ball, looking thoroughly fed up.
No matter how many times he shook him off or pushed him to the brink of death, that crazed old man never gave up and continued to pursue him.
‘If I’d known he was this tenacious, I would’ve killed him long ago.’
He had refrained from killing him only to avoid Deneb’s wrath.
But seeing Baek Mu-gang chase him all the way to his domain, an unbearable killing intent boiled within him.
“This works out perfectly. I’ve been wanting to kill you with my own hands someday.”
Deimos glared at the crystal ball, his eyes filled with thick killing intent.
He hadn’t been able to kill him before because of Deneb, but the situation had changed.
‘When He awakens, all the Constellations will be devoured.’
Radiating a dense killing intent, he raised the holy sword.
Before killing Baek Mu-gang, he planned to deal with the human who appeared to be his accomplice first.
“Deneb’s Holy Sword…”
Oh-jin muttered under his breath, raising his spear to match Deimos.
He knew at a glance it was no ordinary sword, but he never imagined it was one personally forged by Deneb.
‘No wonder he was searching for it so desperately.’
It was an item so precious that even the word ‘treasure’ felt inadequate.
It wasn’t just valuable; if it was an item that proved his qualification as Deneb’s ‘first Apostle,’ his obsession was all the more understandable.
‘But something’s…’
A strange sense of incongruity, like gears not meshing.
Oh-jin, who had been furrowing his brow in thought, soon shook his head.
‘Later.’
There was no time for useless thoughts.
Oh-jin tightened his grip on the spear and drew upon the mana of his Stigma.
The Stigma of Lyra on his left chest glowed, and a vast amount of mana spread throughout his body.
“Hup!”
*CRASH!*
As if they had timed it together, Oh-jin and Deimos kicked off the ground simultaneously.
Blue lightning and white flames intersected.
A powerful shockwave swept through the golden treasury.
“Ughhh.”
Deimos looked at the treasures scattered on the floor with a sorrowful expression, as if he might burst into tears at any moment, but.
This time, he didn’t throw his body in the way to protect them.
“You bastard…!”
He simply continued his fierce assault on Oh-jin with eyes full of hatred.
“Kuhk!”
The white flames danced.
Each time the holy sword was swung, fierce flames blazed as if to swallow Oh-jin whole.
“Hah, hah!”
Every time the pure white flames touched him, his skin became necrotic, and a dizzying chill pierced his body.
‘He’s ridiculously strong.’
I guess they don’t call him a ‘Grand Duke’ for nothing.
Deimos’s power was so immense that even Oh-jin, who had reached the level of a high-ranking Awakened, couldn’t match him.
“Die.”
White flames erupted from the holy sword and poured toward Oh-jin.
He hastily threw his body to the side to dodge, but.
‘Dammit!’
White frost, which had already covered his ankles, hindered his movement.
Just as the fierce white flames were about to swallow Oh-jin.
“Give me back my treasure!”
*KWAAANG!*
With a harsh roar, Baek Mu-gang flew into the treasury.
Wielding a rusty iron sword, Baek Mu-gang stepped in front of Oh-jin and swung his weapon.
The Stigma of Cygnus blazed brightly.
White frost erupted from the iron sword and mingled with the white flames.
*CR-CR-CRACKLE!*
A chill spread in all directions.
The inside of the golden treasury, which had been maintained at an optimal temperature to preserve hundreds, thousands of treasures, froze over like a cold storage warehouse.
“Mr. Oh-jin!”
“Oh-jin! We’re here!”
[Are you all right!]
Ha-eun, Isabella, and Vega arrived right after.
The three women approached Oh-jin, their expressions hardening as they looked at his skin, which had turned a dark, necrotic color.
“That dried squid-looking bastard… how dare he do this to our Oh-jin…!”
Isn’t ‘dried squid’ a bit much?
“Stay still for a moment.”
Isabella took a potion from her handbag and poured it over the necrotic skin.
She generously poured the highest-grade potion, but the once-necrotic skin didn’t heal easily.
“How dare he… to my Mr. Oh-jin…”
*Grit.*
She glared at Deimos with lifeless eyes, grinding her teeth ominously.
“It’s fine now.”
Oh-jin shook his head and gripped his spear again.
The wounds from the white flames were nearly impossible to heal anyway.
It would be better to use this time to combine their strength and attack Deimos.
“Hmm. Am I too late?”
Deimos looked at Oh-jin’s party and clicked his tongue.
He had wanted to deal with Oh-jin before his companions arrived, but he failed due to unexpectedly fierce resistance.
“In that case.”
Deimos pulled a golden plaque from his robes.
A golden plaque engraved with the crest of a horned demon.
“Come forth, my knights.”
*WOOOOONG!*
As he raised the plaque high, a brilliant golden light, like a rising sun, radiated in all directions.
From within the golden halo, Majin clad in golden armor emerged.
About a hundred knights spread out and formed ranks within the golden treasury.
Oh-jin furrowed his brow as he looked at the assembled knights.
‘I was wondering why he came alone without his knights.’
To think he had a holy relic that could summon them.
“Tsk.”
Their numbers were fewer than the Majin they had faced in the Dragonian Kingdom, but their quality was on a completely different level.
‘And it looks like there are a few executive-level ones mixed in.’
Deimos raised his holy sword and spoke softly.
“Kill these rats who dared to sneak in and covet my treasures.”
““Glory to the gold!””
The golden knights charged toward Oh-jin’s party.
“Nunna, I’m counting on you to handle them.”
“You got it. I’ll roast them whole.”
When it came to facing a large number of Majin, there was no one better suited than Ha-eun.
Ha-eun took a cigarette from its pack and bared her teeth fiercely.
“Bella, you protect Nunna.”
“I’d rather…”
“Please.”
“…Yes.”
For Ha-eun to unleash her attacks without holding back, she needed a solid vanguard to hold the front line.
Of course, Oh-jin could have taken the vanguard while Isabella faced Deimos, but.
‘I can’t just take a beating and back down.’
Oh-jin glanced down at his necrotic skin and raised his spear.
Besides, he wasn’t facing Deimos alone like before.
[I shall support you from the rear!]
Not just Vega.
“Treasure! I have to find my treasure!”
There was also Baek Mu-gang, who was stomping his feet with an anxious expression.
“Let’s go, Elder.”
“Okay! I’ll punish the bad man!”
As soon as Oh-jin gave the word, Baek Mu-gang rushed toward Deimos.
Sword clashed against sword, and a loud metallic clang echoed.
“Give me my treasure!”
Baek Mu-gang pressed Deimos with fluid, flowing sword strikes.
However.
“Still a noisy one, I see.”
*CRACK!*
The rusty iron sword in Baek Mu-gang’s hand shattered into pieces.
“Huh? Wh-what?”
Baek Mu-gang stared at the broken sword in bewilderment.
“Use this!”
Oh-jin grabbed a sword and threw it to Baek Mu-gang.
It was just a sword lying nearby, but it was a masterwork incomparable to the rusty iron sword he had been using.
“This one… I’m not used to it.”
“You have to use it, even if you’re not used to it.”
He couldn’t face Deimos with his bare hands, after all.
“Hup!”
The engagement with Deimos resumed.
Vega, having taken to the air, appropriately pressured Deimos with her lightning, and Baek Mu-gang, wielding his new sword, added his strength.
“Kughhh!”
Deimos grunted and took a step back.
‘This is much more manageable.’
It was difficult to face Deimos alone, but with Vega and Baek Mu-gang joining the fray, things became much easier.
‘If I can just find the right moment to use Noeshinche.’
If he could use a proper Noeshinche, not a simplified version, he was sure he could land a solid blow.
“Buy me some time!”
[Understood!]
“Okay! I’ll listen to the nice person!”
Baek Mu-gang stepped forward, pressuring Deimos.
Oh-jin fell back and focused mana into his right arm.
‘Charge, charge, charge.’
Overlapping more than ten times.
A dizzying amount of mana began to condense in his right arm.
His right arm, condensed with mana, swelled as if it would burst.
Excruciating pain shot through his arm, but.
“Charge.”
*CR-CR-CRACKLE!*
His right arm exploded, and an arm made of lightning was formed.
“Get out of the way!”
He rushed past Baek Mu-gang and swung the arm of the Thunder God.
*RUUUUMBLE!*
A tsunami of blue lightning engulfed Deimos.
“Kuaaaaaaaah!”
Deimos’s eyes rolled back as he let out a scream of agony.
“Ah, ugh, ah.”
Deimos collapsed, drool trickling from his mouth.
“My, my treasure. My, gold.”
He crawled on all fours toward the gold that had been swept away by the torrent of lightning.
Most of the gold caught in the torrent of lightning had been miserably shattered.
“Ah, ahh.”
Deimos clutched a handful of the shattered gold and curled up.
And then.
*Crunch, munch, munch.*
He greedily shoved the handful of gold into his mouth.
“No one…”
His eyes, glittering with madness, turned to Oh-jin.
“No one can take my treasure.”
*CRUNCH! MUNCH MUNCH!*
The more gold he ate, the more Deimos’s body, which had been like a dry twig, swelled up like a steroid-fueled gym rat.
“What the hell is that…”
Oh-jin’s jaw dropped as he watched Deimos grow larger with every bite of gold.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if he only grew in size.
But the mana radiating from Deimos also amplified exponentially each time he devoured gold.
I thought things were going too smoothly. I can’t believe he powers up by eating gold.
‘Why does every bastard I fight have a second phase?’
Is this Dark Souls?