Chapter 280
Chapter 280
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 280
Chapter Title: Gaokan (1)
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The guy whose face turned beet red at Rokan's provocation trembled with rage as he followed behind them.
He desperately wanted to slam an attack into Rokan's unguarded back, but the Lion King at his side was too terrifying for that. If he accidentally provoked that madman's temper, the heavenly realm could turn into a wasteland.
But he wasn't scared.
Last time, he hadn't grasped Rokan's intentions and had given away his divine beast while allowing an escape, but now—right now—he was confident he could smash Rokan without mercy.
"Alright, this should be good enough, right?"
Rokan brimmed with confidence too.
He was still only a High Master, but he had something to rely on.
"I'll yield the first strike. Come at me!"
His confidence exploded. Even in a disadvantageous matchup, he was handing over the initiative completely.
"You bastard! Don't expect mercy!"
Hirael lost it at the sight of Rokan casually settling into position and taunting him.
He hadn't even declared a duel—he'd just launched a one-sided PK.
To someone he saw as a mortal enemy, a duel was unnecessary anyway.
But it didn't take long to realize that was a mistake, exactly as Rokan had planned.
[You have attacked someone under the Heavenly God's interest.]
[Heavenly God's Wrath! Your power as a celestial weakens.]
"......!"
His surging power weakened in an instant. Even so, Rokan had secured the Heavenly God's arrangement, gathered the hearts of demons, and restored his fallen reputation.
The celestials, including Hirael, still saw him as an enemy, but the system didn't recognize that.
Instead, as punishment for attacking Rokan—who was under the Heavenly God's interest—it stripped away some of his power.
Clang!
In the midst of it, the weakened spear thrust collided with Rokan's battle axe.
Rokan didn't yield an inch and instead unleashed his full strength.
"Is that all you've got? Storm Incarnation, Full Body Invincibility, Soul Awakening!"
"Oh?"
A massive counterattack.
Unable to adapt to his sharply declined stats, Hirael couldn't respond properly and scrambled to defend.
The Lion King watched the scene with great interest.
Wasn't that power exactly what he'd wielded in the past?
The weapon and techniques were different, but the aura of the golden lion from Soul Awakening felt incredibly familiar and dear.
He watched the fight with a pleased smile, as if it were his own battle.
"Heavenly God's Judgment!"
Rumble.
The fight was unexpectedly one-sided.
Part of it was the Heavenly God stripping his power, but Hirael fundamentally wasn't a close-combat specialist.
If anything, he was a spearman. Or a hybrid.
In the worst terms, a half-baked jack-of-all-trades.
His shrunken holy spells did little damage to Rokan, who boasted immense resistance, and he was hopelessly outmatched in close-quarters skill and strength.
If not for his self-buffs, he might not have lasted at all.
Knowing that, perhaps, he tried something else.
"Heavenly God's Shield! Holy Bind!"
He summoned holy power to shield his body and bind Rokan's. He created distance and activated a master skill.
"Valkyrie Summon!"
He called forth a being to fight in his place.
[Heavenly God's Valkyrie][Lv 430]
A Grand Master-level warrior appeared before Rokan.
Along with her came a furious barrage of attacks!
A relentless spear thrust—like a rain of blades—pummeled Rokan's body.
"Got you, you pest."
But that was it.
She lacked the power to pierce his overwhelming defense, and Rokan advanced through her attacks with his body.
"Slaughter Strike."
Thud!
He countered with a heavy blow.
Already gripping the spear shaft from her attack, evasion was impossible.
All that remained was one-sided violence!
Rokan's battle axe sliced through the Valkyrie's arms and legs, then shattered her head.
She scattered into light before she could even use her strength properly.
"Pathetic."
What could you expect from a summoner like him?
He didn't know if the summon had a master skill, but he ended it before she could use it and grabbed Hirael.
Another Holy Bind flying at him? Rokan broke it easily with Concentration of Blood.
He lost more HP than from her attacks, but that sacrifice was trivial to decide the fight.
He seized Hirael's head in a crushing grip and drove a heavy blow into his solar plexus.
"Destruction Strike."
Crack!
That single hit pulverized his ribs, causing fractures too severe to heal quickly even with recovery skills.
And what remained?
Murder.
Thus, one of the Heavenly God's High Priests met his end.
"You dare... to a Heavenly God's High Priest...!"
The celestials who'd followed him shouted, but they were just barking dogs. Rokan's grin alone nearly made them piss themselves.
Instinctual fear took root in their hearts.
Clap, clap, clap.
Then, the Lion King stepped forward, clapping in satisfaction as if he'd enjoyed the show.
His presence silenced even the yapping celestials.
He glanced at them dismissively and spoke irritably.
"What are you doing? Can't you see it's over? If you're not charging in, shut up and scram!"
"Eek!"
The celestials were furious but powerless.
If even a High Priest had been butchered so brutally, what chance did they have?
For now, they could only swallow their rage and flee.
Soon, the area cleared.
"Impressive. Collecting my old gear is one thing, but even acquiring Soul Awakening? You might be stronger than me at my peak."
Only Rokan and Gaokan remained.
"Luck was on my side."
Even Rokan couldn't act cocky before him.
Gaokan beamed with praise as Rokan grinned sheepishly, and the flattery session dragged on.
"I heard you're called the Lion King here too. How did that happen?"
Then, as if it had just occurred to him, Rokan asked the question he'd been curious about.
"Ah, that? You'll learn when you hit Grand Master, but that's when skill creation becomes possible."
"Skill creation?"
Valuable info.
He had details up to High Master, but nothing beyond.
Knowing Grand Master perks in advance would help immensely when he reached that level himself.
Just like how he'd created the top-tier skill Storm Incarnation right after becoming a Master.
"Yeah. You can recreate or modify techniques you remember or have a strong image of. You can even add restrictions for more power. I started with familiar ones myself."
He got the gist.
But some parts didn't click.
If it was just recreating known techniques, wouldn't there be limits?
Sure, modification or new images were possible too.
And something felt off in his words.
"What about now?"
"Heh, guess? That's a secret!"
It had changed.
Gaokan's new creation skill—enough to earn him the Lion King title even in the heavens—sparked great curiosity.
'Should I ask for a spar?'
He wanted to spar that badly.
It had to be stronger than the golden lion's power, so it'd inspire his own creations later.
'No.'
But he dismissed the thought.
He was using Soul Awakening and the Lion King's remnants out of necessity against Grand Masters now, but he couldn't rely on them forever.
Seeing Gaokan's new technique might unconsciously make him mimic it.
The Lion King and Storm—he had to surpass them someday, not just chase.
"Oh, right. Do you know anything about Storm? It might not be a proper name, more like a nickname..."
"Storm? Storm... Ah, come to think of it, I have heard something."
The random question got an astonishing response.
He'd tossed it out without expectation since no one even knew Storm existed, but he got a positive reply.
He might complete the quest "Storm's Footsteps."
And maybe unlock the true power of his Sealed Storm Battle Axe, still mighty even sealed.
"Really? Do you... know where he is now?"
"More or less."
"Where? No, who is he?"
"Heh, for free?"
But Gaokan just grinned mischievously.
What did he want? A figure like him wouldn't care about pocket change from a newbie like Rokan in the heavens.
The mystery solved itself soon.
"Wanna spar? No master skills, though."
"Heh heh, deal."
Their personalities matched.
Rokan welcomed no master or creation skills.
'And he didn't say no to Berserk.'
With that, could Berserk alone bridge the level gap?
Confident in his control, excitement and competitive fire surged naturally.
Soon after, as Storm Incarnation's aftereffects faded, their spar began.
* * *
"Cough, isn't this cheating?"
"Heh, I didn't say no other skills."
The result was Rokan’s crushing defeat. At first, he held his own decently.
He'd fought Gaokan once before, after all.
He couldn't claim full understanding, but the style was familiar.
But the moment Gaokan used a certain skill, it turned one-sided.
Berserk.
Shockingly, it was the same Berserk Rokan used.
He wasn't even a berserker class, yet he widened the power gap overwhelmingly with it.
Not just that—Gaokan used buffs, debuffs, and binding spells galore.
Calling it cheating wasn't wrong, but technically, it wasn't.
"Grand Masters aren't called transcendents for nothing."
It was just one of Gaokan's normal skills.
Grand Masters, also known as transcendents.
Rokan learned another fact: at Grand Master, you could learn skills from any class.
Special restricted skills were off-limits, and proficiency capped low, so skill levels stayed weak—but the sheer variety was insane.
As proven by his humiliating loss.
"Urgh, anyway, spill it now."
"Fine. I'm not sure if it's the same Storm guy, but from the stories, it sounds like it. He..."
The spar ended, and they returned to the main topic.
Storm's existence.
Gaokan's guess about him was truly astonishing.