Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: The Divine Artifacts of the Four Great Gods
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A thousand years ago, a great flood arose and submerged the world.
To protect Elder from this global catastrophe, the Four Great Gods performed countless miracles, among them the miracle of the Red God.
The Red God of Earth and Technology.
When Small Tree, Elder's greatest artisan and the High Priest of the Red God, wielded the Divine Artifact Thunderclap, the very earth responded to his will.
Land surged upwards in all directions, forming a natural barrier that shielded Elder from the flood.
This was not legend or myth, but truth. Actual history.
And now, the time had come once more for the miracle of the Red God.
***
A barrier was out of the question. It was impossible to raise a wall that could block that tidal wave.
Even from a rough estimate of several hundred meters away, the distance between the sea monster and the island of Sicily was vast.
Yet even from that distance, the tidal wave was already immense. If it were allowed to fully form, a tsunami of cinematic proportions would crash down upon the island.
A tidal wave was not a simple wave. It was an assault by the raised sea level itself, and its power was incomparable to that of a single, crashing breaker. It was dozens, even hundreds of times more powerful.
What kind of barrier could possibly stop such a force? Its height and thickness were unimaginable.
“That tidal wave is unnatural. It’s more like a mass of water formed by magically gathering the surrounding seawater to forcibly create a tsunami-like effect. Otherwise, a wave of that shape couldn’t exist.”
Kang-seok was no expert on tsunamis, but even with a bit of common sense, it was clear that the wave Sea Emperor Vepar was creating was abnormal.
It was too narrow. Although it was continuously growing, its width at the moment seemed to be less than a hundred meters. Considering its height was already over ten meters, that was narrow indeed.
“Building a barrier to block the tsunami is too difficult. So, we’ll dismantle the tsunami itself.”
Prevent the wave from ever fully forming. Eliminate the very possibility of that wall of water sweeping over Sicily.
Seong Yu-jin looked at Kang-seok, her face slightly flushed with excitement.
“Uplift. You mean to create land beneath Vepar and sever its connection to the sea, right?”
Vepar was the source of the magic.
Therefore, they would stop Vepar from completing the spell.
Kang-seok nodded. Kim Kang-san and Park Han-yeong were speechless at the absurdity of the plan, while Oh Ha-na’s lips parted and closed several times before she finally managed to speak.
“But, but will that be enough to break the spell? I mean, of course, since the giant sea monster is casting the spell from within the water, just forcing it out of the sea could disrupt the magical ritual… Ah, I don’t know. What am I even saying?”
Choi Yu-ra grinned and wrapped an arm around Oh Ha-na’s neck. She looked at Kang-seok and said,
“Alright, let’s do it. We have to. It’s not like we have any other good ideas, right?”
High Priest Small Tree had created the island of Sicily itself.
They didn’t need a miracle of that magnitude. Just enough force to push up a sea monster dozens of meters in diameter would be sufficient.
Sekhmet let out a hollow laugh. Not because the situation was amusing, but because it was the most basic human reaction to something so utterly preposterous.
Sekhmet thought of Tehenut, the Pope of the Yellow God Cult. She felt she was beginning to understand why she had chosen Kang-seok, and why she had sent her here.
“The legends say Small Tree swung his hammer to unleash the artifact’s power. Is that all it takes to activate it?”
Kang-seok asked Sekhmet. She looked up at him and tilted her head slightly, a gentle smile gracing her lips, similar to one Tehenut often wore.
It was different from the Witch of the Lake, Vivian.
A natural smile, as if embracing a part of the world itself.
It was not a smile Sekhmet had made.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, a marvel occurred. The Morning Glory fastened to Sekhmet’s arm erupted in a brilliant light.
The golden light flowed to Kang-seok’s left arm, where it soon reformed into its original shape.
And that was not the end of it.
Something was approaching.
Kang-seok was not the only one who felt it.
An immense presence.
A power that could only be described as divine.
Almost in unison, the entire party turned their heads. Everyone saw it, except for Sekhmet, who was smiling at Kang-seok, and Kang-seok, whose eyes were locked with hers.
Kang-seok reached his hand toward the window. In response to his utterly natural motion, another natural force answered. A red hammer shot through the air with terrifying speed and landed in Kang-seok’s grasp.
It was plain.
A red hammer with a metal handle, unremarkable in every other way.
But everyone knew.
The sacred artifact of the Red God, Thunderclap.
Kang-seok looked at Thunderclap, then at the Morning Glory on his left arm.
Sekhmet placed a hand on Kang-seok’s cheek. She spoke in a soft, sweet whisper.
“Do it, child from another world.”
Sekhmet blinked. Her eyes darted left and right, and then she gasped, snatching her hand away from Kang-seok’s cheek. She even took a step back before she could look at him again.
“Thunderclap?!”
The object held in Kang-seok’s hand.
Her startled voice snapped everyone back to reality. The faces of Seong Yu-jin and Choi Yu-ra flushed with excitement.
Kang-seok nodded. He gave a slight grin.
“When they push you this hard, you don’t have much of a choice, do you?”
The smile he had seen, the voice he had heard through Sekhmet.
“Let’s make it happen. A miracle.”
The Red God’s divine artifact, Thunderclap.
The Yellow God’s divine artifact, Morning Glory.
As if in response to Kang-seok, the two artifacts each began to emit their own light.
***
“According to the legend, Lord Small Tree struck the surface of the sea to create the island of Sicily. It’s also said that when he made the barrier to stop the flood, he struck the ground that was to rise,” Sekhmet said quickly.
Choi Yu-ra frowned.
“So you’re saying Kang-seok has to get right next to that monster and hit the water?”
“Ugh, yes.”
Even though this was a situation that could be considered nothing short of a divine revelation from the Four Great Gods, they couldn’t afford to be complacent.
There was no guarantee he could create a massive island like Small Tree, so he had to get as close as possible to strike the sea’s surface.
[That’s reckless!]
Diving into a sea of unknown depth to strike its surface was crazy enough, but there was a sea monster right next to it.
Iris’s voice was fraught with anxiety, but there was no other way. Even she knew that.
[Time remaining until the tsunami hits: 19 minutes 02 seconds]
Kang-seok took a deep breath. He looked around at everyone and said,
“Even if we succeed and the magic is stopped, the water that’s already gathered is going to create quite a chaotic situation. So we need to hurry. Let’s start right away.”
He was speaking not only to Seong Yu-jin and Choi Yu-ra, but to himself as well.
The battle on the ground was only intensifying. They couldn’t hope for any support from that front.
First, stop the tsunami. Think about the rest later.
It was a reckless idea, but Kang-seok had made up his mind. He grabbed the communicator and shouted.
“Jun-gyu, go!”
Yang Jun-gyu answered with action. The Black Dragon banked, turning its nose toward the sea monster.
***
Allocen watched the Black Dragon. Even in the heat of battle, he couldn’t afford to look away.
He had to stop it.
His warrior’s intuition told him so. His instinct, honed by a lifetime of pursuing victory, screamed at him to stop the Black Dragon.
But he couldn’t. Just glancing away for a moment was all he could manage.
A delicate balance.
He wasn’t wrong. The five Demonic Beasts and thousands of monsters were perfectly matched against the fifteen hundred marines and five hundred Players. Neither side could spare a single hand.
“Where are you looking?”
By the time he heard the voice, it was too late. Allocen hastily swung his arms and tried to pull back, but his opponent was faster.
As if drawn by a magnet, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor flawlessly tracked Allocen’s movement and placed his palm on the silver armor protecting his chest.
Normal attacks were useless against the silver armor. Even Durandal hadn’t been able to scratch it.
So he would give up on attacking it from the outside.
What he intended was an internal strike.
An instinctual sense of danger made Allocen erupt in a fierce golden flame, but it was too late. An immense force blasted out from the Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s palm.
Penetrating Fist.
An internal energy technique. A skill that passed through the matter blocking its path to strike what lay beyond.
Allocen’s body shuddered violently. For the first time since the battle began, he staggered, coughing up blood.
The Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s gaze never left Allocen. He launched his second attack.
***
“Anchors deployed! Siege mode!”
Unlike before, Choi Yu-ra’s Gigantes landed relatively stably on the Black Dragon, aided by parachutes and deceleration devices. Several anchors shot out from its lower body, tearing into the deck of the ship to secure the mecha in place.
It was necessary for Kang-seok’s plan.
Piloting the Gigantes for the first time in a long while, Choi Yu-ra’s hands moved swiftly. She activated the equipment she had splurged on after leveling up from the conquest of Raum’s tower.
Plasma Siege Cannon.
Kang-seok and Kim Kang-san weren’t the only ones who felt the guild was lacking in firepower. Choi Yu-ra had decided it was better to use the Gigantes as an artillery platform rather than a frontline assault machine.
Sacrifice mobility, concentrate on firepower.
The enormous cannon mounted on the Gigantes’s left shoulder swiveled to face forward. Choi Yu-ra yelled,
“Ready to fire! Any time!”
[You’re really crazy! All of you! If something goes wrong, you’ll have me to answer to!]
At the stern of the Black Dragon, in front of the drop ramp.
Kang-seok grinned at Iris’s petulant outburst and double-checked the rope tied around his waist.
Kim Kang-san gave a wry smile.
“I’m starting to think suggesting we build this was a bad idea.”
“If you hadn’t, I’d have to be jumping from the deck. You did good.”
He replied jokingly, but Kang-seok’s own lips were dry.
The plan was simple.
The Black Dragon and the Gigantes would unleash their firepower to draw the sea monster’s attention, and in that opening, Kang-seok would descend. He would get right in front of the sea monster and strike the water’s surface with Thunderclap.
“If you die, I’ll never forgive you.”
Seong Yu-jin spoke with emphasis and threw her arms around Kang-seok in a tight hug. Kang-seok hugged her back just as tightly, then took a few steps back. Just as Choi Yu-ra had, he shouted,
“Ready over here! Any time!”
“Aaaargh! Black Dragon! Let’s go!”
Alone in the cockpit, Yang Jun-gyu pulled back hard on the controls. The Black Dragon, which had only ever flown upward, banked sharply and began a near-freefall dive toward the sea.
A storm raged. A fierce wind blew, and the sea churned. With every flash of white lightning, thunder shook the world.
It wouldn’t have been strange to be struck by lightning.
Yang Jun-gyu charged toward the sea monster.
Through her scope, Choi Yu-ra saw the beast.
The sea monster, its body half-emerged from the water, was hideous. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of tentacles, a massive body that was either squid or octopus, and layers of scales and shells that formed a kind of armor.
And at its very peak, something incongruously protruded.
The upper body of a beautiful woman. Blue hair, the color of the sea.
Choi Yu-ra didn’t hesitate. She aimed the Plasma Siege Cannon at the woman and roared,
“Fire!”
The Plasma Siege Cannon spat blue fire. Yang Jun-gyu also pulled the trigger. A crimson-black trajectory shot out from the main cannon running through the center of the Black Dragon.
The sea monster—Sea Emperor Vepar—parted her beautiful lips. She let out a great cry, and an invisible barrier unfurled, enveloping the creature’s massive form.
Kang-seok didn’t see the impact. Kim Kang-san opened the ramp, and after a final exchange of glances with Seong Yu-jin, Kang-seok leaped out.
A furious wind blew. The blue and crimson-black projectiles slammed into the invisible barrier, shaking the world.
The Black Dragon banked sharply once more. Kang-seok kicked off the air, using the momentum of his fall to pierce through the wind.
Jets of water shot up from the sea’s surface. They rocketed toward the Black Dragon at tremendous speed, and Oh Ha-na frantically typed on a keyboard of light.
“I’m sorry!”
“Good Bye, Commander.”
Two fighter jets threw themselves into the path of the water jets. They were instantly shattered and scattered. The Black Dragon soared upward, and Choi Yu-ra prepared to fire the Plasma Siege Cannon again.
Kang-seok ran. He sprinted through the air, stepping on force fields and firing shockwaves to increase his speed.
The stormy sea was terrifying. Leaping into it while swinging a hammer was even more so.
But Kang-seok tightened his grip on Thunderclap. An immense divine power radiated from the red hammer, and Sea Emperor Vepar, whose attention had been entirely on the Black Dragon, whipped her head around toward him.
Choi Yu-ra fired a second shot. The gale-force winds shook the Black Dragon, making her aim unsteady, but she literally erased dozens of the sea monster’s tentacles from existence.
Sea Emperor Vepar screamed. And Kang-seok finally reached the surface of the sea. He activated his Force Shield, creating a barrier. Protecting his front, he swung Thunderclap.
“Aaaaaaaaargh!”
The hammer and the sea collided. A red energy exploded. The power that spread out in an instant calmed the raging waters.
A red light was emitted. And Kang-seok saw.
A small, frail man holding hands with a brown-skinned woman.
He was smiling. The fierce-looking woman also wore a reluctant smile.
And beyond the two of them.
A man holding a massive black sword turned around. He looked at Kang-seok.
*KRRRRRRRRRRRRRACK!*
A deafening roar erupted.
The shock of the immense collision instantly obliterated his force shield, and for a moment, Kang-seok lost consciousness from the impact.
The sea exploded. That was the only way to describe it. From beneath the surface, where not a single stone had existed, a massive rock formed. The rock soon became an island, and it lifted Sea Emperor Vepar’s colossal body out of the water as if by magic.
Vepar’s connection to the sea was severed. The magic shattered, and the water Vepar had gathered until now dispersed all at once, sweeping away everything in its path.
[Quest Cleared]
[Quest: Stop Sea Emperor Vepar’s Tsunami.]
[Quest MVP: Choi Kang-seok (Male)]
[Mr. Kang-seok?! Mr. Kang-seok!]
Iris called out desperately, but Kang-seok couldn’t hear her. There was nothing he could do in the deep sea. The rope connecting him to the Black Dragon couldn’t withstand the second storm that had erupted beneath the surface and snapped.
[Wake up! You can’t die! Don’t die!]
He could hear Iris’s wails, but he couldn’t process them. He couldn’t tell up from down.
All he could feel was the cold.
Kang-seok closed his eyes. And then, someone wrapped their arms around his neck, pressing their lips to his and sharing their breath.
A white bikini, a sight he hadn’t seen in a very long time.
Platinum blonde hair, clearly visible even in the depths of the sea.
Guided by the Morning Glory, Seong Yu-jin embraced Kang-seok. But she didn’t stop there. Wings of light unfurled from her back.
She had reached the level for her 2nd Job Advancement the moment they cleared the quest to stop Vepar’s tsunami.
This was what she could do now.
Transformation, another proud feature of Exa Online, which emphasized graphics above all else!
The special item that allowed not only freedom of breath but also smooth movement underwater—the pure white bikini Seong Yu-jin had worn when she first entered the Labyrinthos dungeon—was now sustaining both her life and Kang-seok’s.
And the pure white wings of light unleashed their power. Cradling Kang-seok in her arms, Seong Yu-jin shot up toward the surface of the sea.
A stormy sea.
A small island that had risen above the waves.
And upon it, a giant sea monster letting out a piercing shriek.
Kang-seok barely managed to regain consciousness. He gasped for breath, held in the arms of Seong Yu-jin, who had transformed into an angel with wings of light.
[Quest: Defeat Sea Emperor Vepar]
[Number of participants in quest: 461/531]
The letters of light faded.
And Kang-seok saw.
The sea monster had poured the power it had been using to create the tsunami into its own transformation.
The wrath of Sea Emperor Vepar shook the very sea.