Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: To Surpass (2)
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“Wh-what is that?”
The Awakened fighting the monsters stared, jaws agape, at Choi Jong-cheol, who had transformed into a monster.
A monster with a grotesque mouth split into eight parts, the arms of a mantis, and the lower body of a snake.
Its body wasn't particularly large, but it radiated a violent, chilling aura incomparable to the other monsters.
“Ugh! A-a person turned into a monster!”
“What is this!!”
The Awakened grimaced, raising their weapons.
They surrounded Choi Jong-cheol in a circle.
“Get that bastard first!!”
“He must be the boss!”
The Awakened charged toward the monstrous Choi Jong-cheol.
They were all skilled and experienced Awakened, having joined the subjugation mission, but...
“Interfere? You? Want to?”
Choi Jong-cheol's gaze turned to the Awakened.
-CRACK!!!
“Aaaaargh!!”
The snake tail extended tens of meters and swept around like a whip.
An Awakened struck by the tail screamed as he was sent flying.
“Interfere? Don't? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?”
*Crunch!*
The tail snatched the body of the flying Awakened.
The tip of the snake tail pierced the Awakened's left chest.
“Keuk! Gack!”
“Me? Help? You will? Huh? That bastard? I have to kill him?”
The corners of Choi Jong-cheol's mouth twisted.
*Vwoooom!*
The black energy coiling around his body flowed through the tail and into the Awakened.
“Keoheok! Kahak! Grrrrl!!”
The Awakened's body swelled like a balloon, and soon, awl-like thorns began to sprout all over his body.
“Krrk! Kraaaaaah!!”
Not even ten seconds passed.
The Awakened captured by Choi Jong-cheol had turned into a monster.
“Uwaaaaaaah!!!”
“Wh-what the!!! H-how could this...!”
The Awakened trembled, their faces filled with horror.
A monster that turns people into monsters.
It was a bizarre phenomenon they had never heard of.
“Kraaaaaaaah!!”
“M-Min-cheol!! Get a hold of yourself!!”
The Awakened who had become a monster attacked another.
It seemed they knew each other.
The attacked Awakened panicked, not knowing what to do.
-CRUNCH!!
“Keuk! Gack!!”
A fountain of blood spurted.
A horrifying scream echoed.
“C-crazy!”
“D-dodge!! Don't get caught by that tail!!”
The Awakened shouted urgently.
But.
*SWIIISH!!*
The snake tail split into five branches, targeting the Awakened.
As time passed, the number of Awakened captured by Choi Jong-cheol's tail gradually increased.
One, then two.
The number of Awakened decreased, and the number of monsters increased.
‘Dammit.’
Watching the growing number of monsters, Oh-jin bit his lip.
‘This isn't good.’
If this continues, the number of monsters will become uncontrollable.
I have to kill Choi Jong-cheol as soon as possible.
But.
“…Damn it all.”
Oh-jin looked down at his body, the blessing now gone.
He no longer felt the transcendent sense of omnipotence from before.
“Hoo.”
Still, running away wasn't an option.
No. Considering that thing's mobility, even if I ran, I'd be caught in an instant.
Choi Jong-cheol was after him in the first place.
‘I have to kill him here.’
But how?
“……”
Oh-jin's eyes glinted sharply as he observed Choi Jong-cheol, who was cornering the other Awakened.
More precisely, the black energy flowing from his body.
‘It's not just from that black orb.’
He turned his head to look at the city center, where the black pillar had shot up.
From the city center, the heart of the collapse, a black haze was slowly rising.
And the black energy rising from there...
‘Is flowing into Choi Jong-cheol.’
Others might not be able to tell.
But to him, who could feel the power of the Black Stars, he could see the energy from the city center flowing into Choi Jong-cheol.
‘In that case.’
Oh-jin gripped his spear tightly.
“O-Oh-jin!”
Ha-eun's urgent cry rang out.
“We have to kill that bastard quickly…!”
“Ha-eun.”
He grabbed her shoulder as she was about to charge at Choi Jong-cheol.
“I have a favor to ask you.”
“What? A favor, in this situation!”
Ha-eun anxiously bit her lip.
“See that black haze over there? I need you to go there right now and destroy whatever is emitting it.”
“…What about you, Oh-jin?”
“I have to hold him off.”
Oh-jin said, looking at the savagely rampaging Choi Jong-cheol.
Choi Jong-cheol was after him anyway.
He wouldn't chase her even if she left.
“……”
Ha-eun clenched her fists tightly.
Conflict flickered in her dragon eyes.
Her heart probably didn't want to leave him alone and go somewhere else.
But if it was her.
The woman he knew as Song Ha-eun.
“Alright.”
Right.
That's the Ha-eun I know.
“I'm counting on you.”
In terms of raw firepower, Song Ha-eun was overwhelmingly superior to him now that the blessing was gone.
If she couldn't get rid of that black haze, it was safe to assume no one could.
“You remember our promise, right? If you break it this time, I'll be really mad!”
Ha-eun turned and moved away.
“A promise, huh.”
Yeah.
It's a promise I made with her, of all people. I have to keep it.
Oh-jin let out a small laugh and walked slowly toward Choi Jong-cheol.
“Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?”
*Creeak.*
Choi Jong-cheol's gaze fixed on him.
A gruesome killing intent sent a chill down his spine.
“What's with all the questions?”
He provoked Choi Jong-cheol by raising his middle finger.
“Even your mother probably doesn't know why she gave birth to you. How would I know?”
“Ah, aah. Aaaaaaaah!!”
*BOOM!*
Choi Jong-cheol kicked off the ground and flew toward him.
The snake tail stretched out, lashing like a whip.
‘Faint, but his intelligence remains.’
If his mind was completely gone, he wouldn't have reacted to the taunt.
-Swish!
The pointed tip of the tail aimed for his head like a spear.
He barely managed to duck his head and avoid the tail.
‘Fast.’
Choi Jong-cheol's attacks were so fast and menacing they were hard to follow with the eyes.
‘But.’
‘Compared to Riak, this is a joke.’
-KRAAAANG!
The snake tail slammed into the ground.
Shards of stone flew everywhere.
Oh-jin focused mana into his legs.
*Crackle! Sizzle!*
Blue lightning coiled around him from his calves to his toes.
“Hup!”
He took a short breath. He dashed forward, sliding low to the ground.
The distance closed.
The tail that had struck the ground shot toward his back. He dodged it with a forward roll, then slammed his spear shaft down to vault into the air.
In an instant, he was behind Choi Jong-cheol, thrusting the sharp tip of his spear at his back.
-CLANG!
‘Dammit.’
The spear tip failed to pierce the exoskeleton and bounced off.
A sharp pain shot through his palm.
*SWOOSH!*
Choi Jong-cheol's arm, shaped like a giant scythe, came down like a pickaxe.
‘I can't block this.’
Oh-jin's expression hardened.
He'd focused his mana on his legs and had no time to spare for his arms.
If he took it head-on, he'd be overpowered.
-Fzzt!
“Kuhk!!”
He detonated a Poknoe right in front of him.
The recoil from the explosion sent his body flying back.
“Again? Running? Away? Are? You?”
Choi Jong-cheol closed in at a terrifying speed.
Before his recoiling body could even land, the eight-way split mouth opened wide and lunged for Oh-jin.
“Shit!”
He cursed harshly and stretched out his hand.
*TWANG!*
Using a wire shooter, he narrowly avoided the snapping maw.
“No? Use? It's?”
*WHOOSH!*
The snake tail struck his body as it was pulled by the wire.
-WHAM!
“Keoheok!!”
A dizzying impact shook his entire body.
In the blink of an eye, the snake tail coiled around him.
‘Poknoe!!’
The moment the tail wrapped around him, he focused mana into both arms and used Poknoe.
*FZZZZZZT!!*
“Kyahaaaaaak!!”
While Choi Jong-cheol writhed, he slipped out of the loosened coil.
“Hah! Hah!”
His breathing grew ragged.
‘My attacks are useless.’
He showed signs of pain, but that was it.
Choi Jong-cheol's exoskeleton, which had taken a direct hit from Poknoe, didn't even have a scratch.
“It? Hurts? You? Know?”
Choi Jong-cheol's eyes glittered fiercely.
“It? Hurts? I? Saaaaaid!!”
*SWISH! SWISH!*
He swung both arms as if throwing a tantrum.
His arms, once giant scythes, split into dozens of blades and rained down on Oh-jin.
‘So not just his tail, but his arms can transform too!’
Oh-jin used Noeik, sending them toward the splintered scythes.
*Ting-ting-ting-ting!*
The feathers made of lightning deflected the incoming blades.
However.
“Ugh!”
Oh-jin hastily rolled away.
A scythe that the lightning feathers failed to deflect grazed him.
*Slice!*
His side, grazed by the scythe, split open, and blood flowed out.
‘Not enough firepower.’
A head-on clash means certain defeat.
Even if I somehow dodged his attacks and aimed for a vital spot, I couldn't deal any significant damage.
‘With the amount of mana I can use at once, there's no way to kill that bastard.’
There's no room to breathe, but the total amount of mana I have left is still quite large.
The problem is that it's impossible to use all that mana at once.
It's like trying to draw water from a massive tank through a thin hose; of course the output is weak.
‘What should I do...’
His mind was a mess.
-KWAAANG!!
“What? Thoughts? So? Deep? Are? You?”
“Kuuuh!”
A barrage of attacks.
The attacks rained down so fast he couldn't even think straight.
“Dammit!!”
Dodging was all he could manage.
He couldn't match Choi Jong-cheol in either strength or speed.
‘If only I still had the blessing!’
‘I wouldn't be getting beaten so helplessly—’
“……”
As the thought continued, Oh-jin flinched.
‘Since when did I start thinking such pathetic bullshit?’
To think the first thing I do when cornered is rely on someone else's power.
How utterly pathetic.
“Ha.”
A dry laugh escaped him.
‘Don't hope for miracles.’
I already knew that.
From a distant past I can't even remember.
I've felt it to my very bones.
‘Focus.’
He thought about what he could do, what he had to do, right now.
“Hee? Heehee? Is it? The? Limit?”
He could hear Choi Jong-cheol's mockery.
Ignore it.
“Haaah.”
He exhaled a ragged breath.
‘The amount of mana I can release at once is limited.’
It won't increase unless I raise the Star-rank of my Stigma.
‘In this state, the only way to increase the power of my mana is—’
Think.
“Ah.”
A short gasp.
Oh-jin's eyes sparkled.
If the pressure of the water coming from the hose isn't enough.
‘Just narrow the opening of the hose.’
If I forcibly constrict the mana circuits to increase the pressure, I can release mana with greater force, even with the same amount.
Forcibly constricting mana circuits.
Any other Awakened would be horrified, calling it insane.
‘Since when have I cared about things like that?’
*Smirk.* He raised the corners of his mouth.
“Hoo.”
He took a deep breath.
*Crackle! Fzzzzzt!!*
He wrapped lightning around his left chest, where his mana circuits were concentrated.
He forcibly compressed the mana circuits, as if narrowing the opening of a hose.
-THUMP!!
“Keoheok!”
It felt like being struck in the chest with a giant blunt weapon.
His back arched like a shrimp's, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
“Ugh! Uweeaaargh!!!”
Mind-numbing agony.
He twisted, vomiting a dark red clump of blood.
‘It hurts.’
It hurts.
Is this what it would feel like to have my flesh torn open, a thick hose shoved inside, and the tap turned on full blast?
The sensation of scalding hot oil, not blood, tearing through my body.
The horrific pain burned his mind white.
‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!’
It hurt so much he felt like he was going to lose his mind.
Pain many times more excruciating than when he'd experienced dozens of consecutive deaths fighting Riak.
But.
“Cough! Keok! Kuuuh!”
He endures.
He doesn't stop.
The ache can be ignored.
The pain can be tolerated.
If it's a problem that can be solved by enduring.
Then it's nothing at all.
‘Until now.’
‘My life has been full of things that couldn't be solved no matter how much I endured.’
-Fzzt! FZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!!
He adds more pressure to his heart.
‘Not enough.’
Focusing pressure on just one area will throw off the balance.
‘Not just the heart, but the entire body.’
He constricts every mana circuit flowing through his body.
The mana, accelerated through the narrow circuits, rampages like a wild beast.
“What? What? Again? What?”
Choi Jong-cheol flinched and took a step back.
“Cough! Cough!”
Vomiting blood, he gripped his spear.
His consciousness flickered, on the verge of fading.
The horrific agony didn't stop, only intensified.
But.
-Fzzzt!
One more step.
Forward.
-Ding!
[You have acquired 《Exceed Lv1》.]
[Warning! Your current physical level is not suitable for using Exceed!]
[You have entered the 'Overload' state.]
[Ceasing use of the skill is recommended!]
A red warning window popped up before his eyes.
*Grin.*
Oh-jin smiled brightly.
“Fuck off.”
A torrent of blue lightning swept through the area.