Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: The Divine Bird, Raum
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# 85
The number of Players remaining in the tower was 78.
The number of Players currently in battle on the sixth floor was 39.
The Demonic Beast Oriax was dead, and the Demonic Beast Vapula was cornered.
The Demonic Beast Raum had appeared, but numerically, the Players still held the advantage.
But despite this, the Players felt a profound sense of despair at Raum's arrival. It wasn't just because seven Players had been killed in an instant before their very eyes.
It was the presence exuded by the Demonic Beast Raum herself.
An overwhelming pressure that surpassed the despair and fear felt by those who had faced the Demonic Beast Oriax.
She was a beautiful, fair-skinned woman. Her body, draped in a blue dress, was utterly captivating, and the pair of wings extending from her back looked like blue flames spreading through the air.
But that very beauty transformed into another kind of terror. Facing the brightly smiling Demonic Beast Raum, the Players felt as if their thoughts had momentarily frozen.
The ones who first broke the spell were those fighting the Demonic Beast Vapula.
"Finish it!"
The red-haired man—Captain of the Seven Sword Knights, Park Chang-ho—commanded urgently. If Raum were to rescue Vapula, things would go awry.
The structured organization proved its strength in an unexpected way. Thanks to the 'command', the Seven Sword Knights were able to shake off the aura Raum exuded and press their attack on Vapula with all their might.
Vapula, with the head of a lion, screamed in agony. And just then, the Demonic Beast Raum took flight.
The Demonic Beast Raum's epithet was the Divine Bird, Raum.
One who could cross immense distances with a single flap of her wings.
The Players thought.
Raum would save Vapula. She would cross the sixth floor and attack the Seven Sword Knights.
It was a reasonable assumption. But reason did not always translate into reality.
The preconceptions that form during battle.
Assuming things will happen as they should.
She struck at that gap.
The Demonic Beast Raum abandoned Vapula. Ignoring Vapula's screams, she approached the Players who had defeated Oriax.
Raum was fast.
Their preconceptions slowed the Players' perception, if only by a fraction.
And the price for that was a cruel fate.
The heads of two mage Players, who had been supporting the party with various buffs, flew into the air. Before their heads could even hit the ground, Raum flew towards a new victim.
The heavy-armored Player who had flanked the Demonic Beast Oriax.
He noticed Raum's approach. He quickly raised his shield to block Raum's frontal assault.
Raum paid it no mind. She swung the long nails of her right hand, sharp as blades, with a flourish. A red line was drawn across the heavy-armored warrior's body and shield, splitting him in two.
An absolute sharpness that surpassed even the finest of swords.
That was the power of the Divine Bird, Raum.
The heavy-armored warrior's body, sliced apart along with his armor, fell to the floor. The surreal sight once again captivated the Players' attention.
It was beautiful.
The arc drawn by red blood in the air, and Raum's form dancing within it.
Raum kicked off the ground again. There was no sound, no presence. The flap of her wings cut through the air. In an instant, Raum stood before her next target.
Choi Yu-ra.
Possessing reflexes that ranked among the best of the nine thousand Players, she immediately pulled the trigger of her anti-materiel sniper rifle.
The bullet grazed Raum's cheek. The sharp, burning pain only made Raum smile wider.
Diagonally, from bottom to top.
Raum swung her nails. A red arc once again spread through the air.
*CLANG!*
The line did not connect. The beautiful arc was cut short.
A jet-black sword.
The blade of the Black Sword Durandal and Raum's nails clashed in mid-air. Raum's nails, which could tear through heavy armor like paper, could not damage Durandal's blade.
The unbreakable sword, Durandal.
Among the Thirty-Seven Star Swords recognized by the White God Cult, it was no exaggeration to call it the very best in terms of 'hardness'!
Beyond the jet-black sword and red nails, Kang-seok's and Raum's gazes collided. Kang-seok, who had barely managed to throw himself forward to protect Choi Yu-ra, parried Raum's strike with all his might.
*CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG!*
They clashed immediately after. At incredible speed, Durandal and Raum's nails met and parted in the air again and again.
A different kind of smile appeared on Raum's face. Kang-seok gritted his teeth, resisting her.
A humanoid enemy.
Using only her right hand.
That meant there was a limit to the trajectories she could create. No matter how fast or sharp the attack, it was, in essence, a single line.
As long as the hand was attached to the wrist, and the arm to the shoulder, he could predict its path. And every one of Kang-seok's techniques was specialized for humanoid enemies, not monsters.
At last, the Demonic Beast Vapula fell. But no one could spare it any attention. Every Player on the sixth floor was focused on the clash between Raum and Kang-seok.
They couldn't intervene. Providing covering fire in such a high-speed battle was impossible.
But they weren't just standing by idly. Choi Yu-ra retreated a good distance, trying to aim her rifle at Raum, while Seong Yu-jin stuck close to her, shield raised. She focused on the fight, ready to throw her own body in the way to protect Kang-seok if needed.
Go Min-gu began to sing again.
Kang-seok was exhausted. The Demonic Beast Raum was surely tired too, having fought over two hundred Players on the lower floors, but their levels of fatigue couldn't be easily compared.
Among the Players who fought Oriax, Go Min-gu was now the only one capable of providing buffs. The rest were either dead or unconscious.
Go Min-gu sang a song of vitality. A choice meant to somehow maintain Kang-seok's concentration. And to that was added the support of the Seven Sword Knights.
The Seven Sword Knights' best healer, Hoshino Asuka, targeted Kang-seok and chanted a stamina recovery spell. The other members of the Seven Sword Knights guarded Asuka while looking for any opening to attack Raum.
The air screamed. The ferocious clash between Raum and Kang-seok was a brutal festival of strikes.
Raum draws an arc.
Kang-seok cuts that arc.
A repetition of that.
Raum acknowledged Kang-seok. And so, she presented a very simple solution to break the stalemate.
*BOOM!*
A roar incomparable to anything before echoed out. The powerful collision caused an equally massive shockwave; as the air vibrated from the point of impact, Kang-seok gritted his teeth. Amidst the tingling numbness that threatened to make him drop Durandal, he stared straight at Raum.
And Raum smiled at him, then flapped her wings.
Disengagement.
She wouldn't fight Kang-seok.
The wind from her wings slapped Kang-seok's cheek. Raum's captivating body instantly moved away from Kang-seok.
The place Raum was heading.
Kang-seok shouted, almost screaming.
"Ha-neul!"
The reason for her choice was simple.
A Player located far from Kang-seok. That was all.
Keeping her eyes on Kang-seok, Raum moved as if taking a large step back, then spun in mid-air. As if scattering something, she swung the nails of her right hand, drawing a red arc in the air.
And at that moment, a card laid out in front of Kim Ha-neul began to glow.
Trap Card, activate.
Prison of Light.
A spell that seals the enemy before you in a prison made of light.
But before the spell could even activate, the arc split Kim Ha-neul's body. By the time the Prison of Light enveloped Raum's body, red blood was already gushing from Kim Ha-neul's chest.
It was shallow. So she wasn't cut in two. But bone and flesh were torn. Her organs had already been ripped apart.
"Uh… ah?"
Kim Ha-neul let out a dazed voice. She stared at the blood staining her palm with hazy eyes, then collapsed.
"Mom."
That was her last word. Kim Ha-neul plunged her head into the pool of her own blood. Soon, she turned into light and vanished.
"Fire!"
Choi Yu-ra roared. She pulled the trigger repeatedly, and the other Players didn't miss the opening Kim Ha-neul had created before her death.
And the same was true for Kang-seok.
First Movement: Overdrive.
The 10-second miracle!
A barrage of fire covered Raum. Kang-seok kicked off the ground.
10 seconds.
Raum desperately twisted her body. She wrapped her body with her two blue wings, protecting herself from the barrage.
9 seconds.
The barrage hammered Raum. Raum's slender body shook violently. But her wings did not break. Instead, blue flames erupted from them.
Kang-seok reached the Prison of Light.
8 seconds.
Raum's wings unfolded. They tore apart the Prison of Light along with the barrage.
Durandal drew a black arc. It cut through the blue flames rising from her wings.
7 seconds.
He didn't stop. Kang-seok slashed at Raum continuously. Laevateinn, now drawn in his left hand, added its strength.
Arcs drawn by two swords. Hacking and slashing. Blue blood leaking from Raum's body stained the air.
6 seconds.
The blue flames flared even more intensely.
Blue will-o'-the-wisps ignited in Raum's eyes.
Transformation.
Kang-seok ignored it. He unleashed a storm of consecutive attacks.
5 seconds.
Raum's blood blurred Kang-seok's vision. The blue dress covering Raum's body was torn to shreds, and her captivating form was covered in countless sword wounds.
But Raum did not scream. She extended long, red nails not just from her right hand but also her left, and swung them at Kang-seok.
4 seconds.
They intertwined. Attack against attack, a black and red arc against a pair of red arcs.
Kang-seok's heart pounded.
There wasn't much time left.
3 seconds.
2 seconds.
1 second.
*CRASH!*
A tremendous roar erupted from Durandal as it came down from above, as if to cleave the world in two. In the end, it failed to slice through Raum's body. It was blocked by Raum's front paws, which had transformed to resemble those of a beast, and the talons that sprouted from their tips.
Kang-seok looked at Raum. Raum looked at Kang-seok.
And the 10-second miracle ended. The cruelly harsh price of the miracle assaulted Kang-seok's body.
His vision swam. The strength drained from his arms. Raum was exhausted too. But she was different from Kang-seok.
She roughly pushed Durandal away. She spread her two wings wide.
Seong Yu-jin ran.
Choi Yu-ra desperately re-aimed.
Kim Kang-san and Park Han-yeong charged, letting out roars.
But they couldn't reach him.
It was too late.
A red arc.
Manifesting as a thrust, it pierced through Kang-seok's chest.
***
He staggered. He swayed. He took a step back and collapsed. Blood gushed from the hole in his chest. His pierced heart could no longer function.
He heard Seong Yu-jin's scream.
Choi Yu-ra's wail rang in his ears.
Christian charged at Raum, swinging his war hammer.
But the war hammer couldn't withstand Raum's nails. As a red arc swept past, it split in two as if it were tofu. Christian's left arm, severed along with his war hammer, flew through the air.
Kang-seok had fallen.
After Christian, Seong Yu-jin lunged at Raum. Hoshino Asuka desperately poured healing magic into Kang-seok. Choi Yu-ra, having lost her senses, roughly tore off her dog tags. She summoned Gigantes, not even knowing if it could break through the tower's outer wall.
Kang-seok saw Seong Yu-jin's back. He also saw the red arc Raum was drawing.
And right after, a golden flash enveloped Kang-seok.
***
Raum, about to embroider the air with a red arc as if mocking the shield-raising Seong Yu-jin, was stunned by the golden light that filled her vision. Forgetting her intent to cut down Seong Yu-jin, she hastily beat her wings and flew up.
Hoshino Asuka, who had been pouring healing into Kang-seok, screamed and collapsed to the floor.
Such overwhelming power.
A colossal life force, incomparable to Hoshino Asuka's healing, enveloped Kang-seok. Unable to withstand even the backlash, the fallen Asuka gaped unconsciously.
The Gigantes summoned by Choi Yu-ra slammed into the tower's outer wall. The entire tower shook, and the outer wall shattered. Half-destroyed by the impact, the Gigantes tumbled chaotically, breaking the floor.
Seong Yu-jin quickly turned around. The golden light erupting from Kang-seok's chest colored her tear-streaked vision. A golden locket necklace, which had shot out from under his clothes and floated into the air, levitating Kang-seok's very body, captured her gaze.
For the first time since reaching the sixth floor, Raum let out a voice filled with astonishment.
The golden light surrounding Kang-seok's body.
The power of the Yellow God, one of the Four Great Gods who could be called the masters of this world, who presided over love and life!
The necklace worn by the nameless hero who took down the Demonic Beast Barbatos with him in the lowest level of the Dungeon Labyrinthos.
A treasured heirloom passed down through the bloodline of an ancient warrior, the first holy knight of the Yellow God.
In a trance, Kang-seok saw.
A burly, bearded man who somehow resembled a bear laughed heartily. A fair, beautiful woman standing beside him smiled quietly.
And beyond them, the magnificent back of a man gripping a large, black sword.
A benevolent golden light colored Kang-seok's vision. A soft, sweet voice lingered in his ear.
Raum roared. She changed direction in mid-air and, forgetting all her previous composure, charged at Kang-seok.
Seong Yu-jin did not stand by and watch. She raised her shield against the torrent of red arcs. She stood in front of Kang-seok, prepared to be torn apart like paper.
*BOOM!*
Impact.
The red arc failed to cut through Seong Yu-jin.
The jet-black sword once again blocked the red arc.
Choi Yu-ra cried out. Seong Yu-jin shed tears of joy.
The Hero's Necklace lost its light. Having used its power once for the nameless hero in the Dungeon Labyrinthos, and now for Kang-seok, the necklace had exhausted all its energy and could no longer emit the light of life. But this was more than enough.
Beyond Durandal, staring into Raum's blue will-o'-the-wisps, Kang-seok muttered the activation words.
"Roar, O Dragon of Black Flame."
Second Movement: Black Flame Dragon.
As if to counter Raum's blue flames, a jet-black flame erupted.