Chapter 349
Chapter 349
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 349
Chapter Title: Land of Sorcery (5)
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# 349
Clang!
Even though I'd laid out the conditions, as expected, the bastard didn't just stand there and take it.
He raised his only remaining arm to block Rokan's battle axe, and as if anticipating the overwhelming force, he leaped back slightly to create some distance. He'd deliberately bounced away.
"I'll bury you right into the ground!"
If that was how he wanted to play it, then I'd make sure he had nowhere to dodge. Rokan leaped forward once more and launched himself into the air.
A near-vertical overhead smash like that was impossible to block or deflect.
But the enemy had been waiting for exactly this, and he bellowed out.
"Attack!"
In that instant, a massive surge of energy erupted from the surroundings.
Taken individually, none of it was lethal, but with hundreds of transcendents unleashing their spells all at once, how could it not be a threat?
On top of that, Rokan's body was still hanging in midair. Without using his wings, evasion would be no easy task. Especially since those high-damage spells had the power to warp space itself.
"Ultimate Assault, Blink."
But Rokan had seen this coming. A smirk crept across his face as he triggered his skill.
By layering Blink onto the devastating overhead strike, he closed the gap in the blink of an eye, materializing right in front of the enemy.
The violently rising spells smashed harmlessly into the empty sky where he'd been, while Rokan swung straight for the bastard's head.
"Krk!"
Gordan jolted in surprise and threw up his sword, but his body was slammed into the dirt.
The teleport had skipped the mid-range distance, dialing back the power just a touch, but it was still more than enough to deal a mortal blow.
Gordan rolled across the ground to evade.
Rokan swung his battle axe in a flash, but things didn't go quite as planned. The enemy's magic swordsman familiars under his command charged in to intercept.
"Blade Spirit!"
"Flame Sword!"
"Explosion Sword!"
Every single one was a sword strike infused with potent magic.
Rokan couldn't afford to take them lightly and had to parry them all.
These were beings over level 400, after all—a single lapse in focus, and he'd have no one to blame but himself if his head came off.
"Tch."
Boom!
But the difference in raw power was undeniable. Not even magic sword arts could stand up to that overwhelming physical might; they were flung aside.
There was some damage from the clashes, but it only fueled Rokan's strength.
[Title: Unyielding Will effect activates. All stats increase by 100%.]
HP dropped the same for both sides, but Rokan powered up instead.
While his foes floundered, struggling to adapt to the sudden shift in power, Rokan tore into them with abandon. The familiars who'd grown complacent, thinking they could block or deflect, inevitably left openings—and Rokan's battle instincts never missed a beat.
He carved through the swarm of magic swordsmen that had rushed in to cover for Gordan, who had scampered off on all fours to put some distance between them.
"Kyaaak! I'll kill you!"
Moments later, Gordan regained his footing and unleashed his creation skill.
Magic Sword: Elemental Sword.
It looked similar to what the other magic swordsmen wielded, but a unique energy pulsed along his blade.
Crackle. Whoosh!
Multiple attributes coexisted within it.
Not merely switching between them rapidly—he'd fused several attributes into the blade simultaneously.
When he swung it, he'd no doubt exploit their mutual repulsion to unleash a massive burst of energy.
It had to put a serious strain on the user, but he'd used the perks of his creation skill to mitigate that backlash.
"Heh heh heh, come on!"
Rokan welcomed the enemy's awakening with delight.
The magic swordsmen surrounding him had tapped into similar creation skills, but the aura radiating from Gordan's blade dwarfed theirs by far.
For a battle junkie like Rokan, how could he not be intrigued?
'Difference in the number of attributes?'
His mind stayed ice-cold. The surrounding enemies' magic swords held just two attributes apiece.
Gordan's? At least three, without a doubt.
He had no idea exactly how much of a boost multiple attributes provided, but he could easily imagine the bone-shattering shock that would ripple through his arms the moment their blades met.
"Quadra Elemental!"
Sure enough, the bastard came charging in, shouting the skill's flashy name. A sure-kill strike blending no less than four attributes!
Had he foreseen the fallout? The other magic swordsmen pulled back at the same time.
"Full-Body Assault!"
In a one-on-one? Rokan had all the confidence in the world!
He charged right back without hesitation.
But at the moment of impact, he threw in a twist.
"Cancel, Back Grab!"
"......!"
Gordan's eyes bulged wide, expecting a head-on clash. Rokan's form flickered and vanished, leaving the four-attribute sword to whistle through empty air.
"Eek!"
He whipped around in a panic, but it was too late. The ferocious momentum of his charge made his body creak, and with one arm already gone, even keeping his balance was a struggle.
"Rising Dragon Kick!"
Thwack!
Rokan's kick connected squarely with the bastard's jaw.
His body flipped end over end into the air like a somersault, and Rokan seized the opening.
"Rampage Slash!"
A merciless barrage of slashes hurtled in to sever the enemy's breath.
"Explosive Demon Sword!"
Gordan gritted his teeth in defiance. Realizing he couldn't block the combo in his current stance, he abandoned his gathered power.
He detonated the energy in his blade all at once, obliterating the space around them.
Boom!
A massive explosion engulfed them both.
Rokan swung his battle axe without a care, but nothing was there to hit.
Gordan had let the blast's recoil hurl him backward.
"Ughhh!"
As the smoke cleared, Gordan staggered to his feet, vomiting a mouthful of blood. The reckless power usage had damaged him from the inside out.
"No way that's the end, right?"
But it wasn't over. True murderous intent burned in the eyes glaring back at the taunting Rokan.
"Triple Elemental."
The bastard had downgraded his power. Figuring Rokan wouldn't commit to trading blows with that ultimate move again, he'd switched to something easier to handle.
Of course, it was still far from weak. Milder than before, sure, but the blade still thrummed with ferocious energy that would be a nightmare to block.
"Tch, you picked the wrong opponent."
Rokan, though, was utterly at ease. He trusted his resistance pushed to the absolute limit, backed by his immortality.
And he didn't think his control was inferior, either.
"Path of the Wind!"
Gordan amplified his speed with wind energy, hurtling toward Rokan like he was riding a tailwind.
"Back Grab."
"Hmph!"
Rokan instantly circled behind, but as if he'd anticipated it, Gordan had swung for his back from the start.
Swoosh!
The sword cleaved empty air.
Before Gordan could react, Rokan chained another Back Grab to return to his spot and drove a fist into the enemy's chest.
"Strike of Ruin!"
"Ghk!"
The attributes swirling around Gordan auto-formed a barrier, but Rokan's punch pierced straight through defenses.
He spewed blood again as his body flew back, flipping in midair. Teeth clenched, he charged Rokan once more.
"Lightning Flash!"
Rumble.
With a thunderclap roar, his sword erupted explosively. Handling Triple Elemental while chanting another spell on top—the assault was fierce, but Rokan had similar tricks.
"Lightning Burst!"
Crackle!
Their bolts canceled each other out, yielding nothing. All that remained was a clash of sword and battle axe!
Even so, Gordan swung with confidence, but Rokan trusted his own control.
Scree.
A piercing thrust like lightning itself. It targeted the battle axe's weakness—forcing wide swings, it went for the heart with pinpoint speed.
Rokan grinned savagely.
Clang!
Rokan gripped the axe two-handed for reach. Instead of the blade, he used the haft to smack the flat of Gordan's sword aside.
The overwhelming force warped the sword's trajectory. His stance crumbled, body closing in fast.
Thud!
Rokan countered the onrushing foe with a thrust of his own. He pulled the axe haft to his chest, then rammed it forward.
Axes weren't built for thrusting by nature, but that applied to normal wielders.
For someone with Rokan's freakish strength, who could toy with the weapon at will, a polearm stab was plenty lethal.
"Urk!"
Gordan's body flipped as the axe's head smashed into him.
Like taking a bludgeon to the face, teeth scattered, focus shattered.
His soul must have been rattled right out of him.
Rokan kicked Gordan's falling body airborne, forcing him upright.
"Where do you think you're collapsing?"
Splurt!
A slaughtering strike ripped open the enemy's chest. A geyser of blood bathed Rokan from head to toe.
[Absorbing the blood of Phantom Magic Swordsman Gordan.]
His DNA seeped into Rokan's body, bolstering the Blood Awakening.
From Gordan's perspective, Rokan had just become an even tougher matchup.
Not that he'd have to face him anymore, of course.
"S-Save the lord!"
Ruthless violence. The one-sided beatdown was almost poetic.
The familiars who'd been staring slack-jawed finally stirred, but Gordan was already a mangled wreck.
Even if they rescued him now, could he ever regain his sanity? His mind had crumbled just as thoroughly.
Clunk.
As they rushed in for the save, Rokan coldly severed the bastard's head.
He etched into their minds exactly who they were messing with.
"Krraaaah!"
One man's madness had conquered an entire city.
The charging foes froze mid-stride; some collapsed, legs giving out.
The ghost army had taken heavy losses, but hundreds remained—and now even their lord, their superior in every way, lay dead.
Worse, their foe was the monster suspected of toppling a nearby metropolis. Terror filled their eyes, bodies trembling.
"Heh heh heh, what's the holdup? Let's play!"
The beast that devoured their lord had no intention of backing down. He brushed off their magic like swatting flies, whipping up bloodbaths wherever he struck.
Before that crushing violence, even the stoutest soldiers' wills shattered.
Kikikikikiki!
The chaos only emboldened the ghosts further.
Up until now, one ghost could control a single familiar at most. Now, each could dominate two or three.
The city's destruction and the troops' annihilation accelerated.
Another major city safeguarding the Land of Sorcery crumbled.
"That about do it?"
After demolishing the second metropolis and retreating to a safe distance, Rokan paused to think.
He recalled his pact with Azar and their discussions.
Azar's initial goal had been to invade exactly two major cities and slay their lords.
Sure, massacring troops would suffice if that failed, but even just looking at the points per entity revealed his intent.
Roughly speaking: regular familiar soldiers = 1 point; elite wall defenders = 3 points; inner citadel magic artillery and magic sword units = 5 points; city lord = 1,000 points.
In other words, even if he killed zero grunts, offing the lord alone would satisfy him.
Rokan had wiped them all out regardless.
At any rate, Azar wanted those two heads. He'd even hinted that succeeding would trigger something interesting.
What exactly happened when these lords died?
"I have my guesses, but......"
He had suspicions, of course. But they came with a big question mark.
Was this really what the King of Illusions, Azar, truly desired?
Rokan recovered from the aftermath and headed to the Land of Phantom Dreams to claim his rewards.
He came face-to-face with Azar once more.