Chapter 148: A Brief Pause (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 148: A Brief Pause (1)
Rumble!
The size of the massive crater gouged into the ground was extraordinary.
A skill known as the 'Ring of Fire'.
Although it inflicted fatal damage on the user upon activation, it possessed a lethal power capable of turning anyone caught in its wake into ashes.
Swept up at such close range, not even a cockroach could survive.
"Pant, pant... H-he's finally dead. That persistent bastard...!"
Michael let out a sigh of relief, as if a thousand-year-old weight had finally been lifted from his chest.
Truly, he had never faced such a stubborn opponent.
Even when he took the trial to earn the title of 'Black Wing', he hadn't struggled this much.
But still.
He had finally succeeded in killing his opponent.
The flames gradually cooled.
The near-cyan hue quickly reverted to its natural crimson.
"Hehe..."
He couldn't help the smirk that twitched on his lips.
Alice was out of the equation, as she could be killed with the effort it took to twist a chicken's neck.
Now, all that was left was to deal with the Ice Trolls targeting the golems, rally the forces at the Gate, and prepare for the prelude to the Great War.
Everything had wrapped up smoothly.
Surely, that was how it should have ended...
Right then.
A presence stirred within the blazing fire.
It was absolutely impossible—no, it was something that must not happen.
For there was no living creature that could survive that calamity fire.
But as the footsteps grew louder with each passing second, Michael had no choice but to accept reality.
Crackle.
Finely crushed ice powder scattered into the air.
Emerging from the scattering powder was none other than Jinhyuk.
"H-how are you... No, this makes no sense! This is impossible! It's absolutely impossible!"
He was completely unscathed, without a single scratch.
Even Michael had sustained heavy damage, exhausting most of his health and mana.
So how on earth...
...was his opponent so perfectly fine?
At the near-screaming question, Jinhyuk shrugged.
"I get why you're flustered."
It only lasts for a single second, but...
"I happen to have an ultimate shield of my own."
The ability he obtained after defeating the 10th-floor boss monster, the Rock Giant.
'1-Second Invincibility'.
This was the final card he had prepared for this battle.
"Aaaaargh!"
Michael roared.
Rumble!
A dark red energy instantly enveloped his entire hand.
Rather than an attempt to kill his enemy, it was closer to a desperate instinct to protect himself out of sheer terror.
But it was already too late.
Jinhyuk was not about to be hit by an attack that had lost all its precision.
Whoosh!
Swish!
Lightly dodging the claws slicing through the air, Jinhyuk channeled mana into Fang.
The green-tinted blade began to blaze brilliantly.
At the same time, the surrounding air shifted drastically.
'Demon Soul Sword Dance'.
A secret technique passed down only to the patriarchs of the Demonic Cult.
Therefore, the one who wielded this sword was the master of the Demonic Cult, and only the master of the Demonic Cult could unleash its ultimate form.
'First Form'.
This was the first form of that sword technique.
Though notorious for being incredibly complex, the talent of the Sword Demon manifested through the 'Grave of Swords' bypassed all those tedious steps.
A tyrannical and arrogant mana pulsed from him.
"T-this is absurd..."
Michael's pupils shook violently.
The survival instinct that had kept him alive for thousands of years screamed at him to run.
With his mana depleted, he knew that if he took this strike, he would never recover.
But his body refused to move as he wanted.
The aura gathered to its absolute limit roared even more savagely.
Rumble!
It felt as if Mount Tai itself had been compressed into a single line.
Right then, as if announcing the completion of the form, the mana was unleashed all at once.
'Demonic Heaven Single Flash'.
The strongest sword technique of the Demonic Cult, which transcended floors to prove absolute strength, was now, at this very moment, being recreated by the hands of a single player.
Slash!
A cut that required no modifiers.
An unwavering line sliced horizontally.
* * *
"..."
Michael stared blankly down at his own body.
His upper torso was slowly sliding off.
Spurt!
Splat!
Torrents of blood sprayed in all directions.
He barely managed to keep his balance, but it was nothing more than the death throes of a dying man.
"To avoid instant death even in that state... You really do deserve to be called the direct subordinate of a patriarch."
"Cough... Ugh... Cough! Don't get too... cocky just because you won now. Since you've... crossed us, you're as good as dead."
Michael chuckled, spitting up bloody foam.
Seriously, why did guys like this always try to act so tough until the very end?
"Hide well... that's the only way you'll survive even a day longer. Hehe. Of course, it's pointless anyway, since the patriarchs are watching everything through my eyes."
Just as he thought.
'I heard some of the direct guards have a shared vision ability. He must be one of them.'
This was actually perfect.
Since multiple people were watching and listening from the other side, he wouldn't have to go around looking for them to deliver his message.
"I have no intention of hiding. In fact, you don't even have to fret—I'll be paying you a visit myself soon enough."
"What... did you say?"
Michael asked back, but Jinhyuk calmly continued.
"Every single member of the clan who betrayed Alice... and even the patriarchs sitting on those hollow thrones. Get ready. The next time we meet, I will be taking back the seat of the Ataraxia patriarch."
This was a declaration of war.
A warning of what was to come.
I'll make you regret baring your fangs at us to your very bones.
[The Nobles of the Night are infuriated.]
[Several patriarchs express strong hostility toward you.]
[Beings from the upper floors of the Tower of Trials begin to watch you.]
Trivial threats followed.
Of course, if he were the type to be scared of such things, he wouldn't have started this in the first place.
Deciding it wasn't even worth listening to anymore, Jinhyuk swung his sword once more.
Slash!
That was the end of it.
Michael's headless body collapsed to the ground.
The battle was finally over.
And as if to prove it,
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
A cascade of rewards, more spectacular than anything he had ever experienced, began to pop up.
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled u...]
[...]
[...You have leveled up!]
A whopping ten-level jump.
Considering how exponentially the required EXP increased with each level, the experience points Michael provided were truly beyond imagination.
'All that hard work paid off.'
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled up in satisfaction.
Indeed, the sweet rewards that followed a life-or-death struggle had a way of making him forget all his accumulated fatigue.
On top of that, since he had met the copying conditions for Michael, he could now leisurely shop for a new skill to copy.
'Hmm. What should I choose?'
Jinhyuk lightly massaged his neck.
[The copiable skills are as follows:]
['Moon-Shrouding Claw', 'Dark Aura', 'Shared Vision', 'Ring of Fire', 'Bat Transformation', 'Mid-Grade Familiar'...]
As expected of a direct bloodline member, Michael's skills were all extraordinary.
Having fought him firsthand, Jinhyuk knew this better than anyone.
'No matter what I copy, it'll come in handy.'
Above all, since he could combine them with other unique abilities and skills he would acquire later to fuse them into higher-tier skills, their versatility was practically guaranteed.
"..."
After pondering for a moment, Jinhyuk selected one of the skills.
Yes.
This was the best choice.
[You have successfully copied the skill 'Moon-Shrouding Claw (SSS)'!]
[The copied skill has been stored in 'Memory of the World'.]
Next, it was time to distribute his stat points.
Jinhyuk immediately opened his status window.
markdown
[Name: Kang Jinhyuk]
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Level: 55
Strength: 22 | Agility: 22 | Stamina: 31 | Mana: 80 | Gap: 100 | Luck: 10 | Adaptive Stat: 78 | Essence: 7.79
Stat Points Available: 39
Coins: 373,675
Class: Rune Interpreter
Unique Abilities: 'Fusion', 'Grave of Swords', 'Blessing of the Stars', 'Judgment of Anubis', 'Blood Demon Qi', 'Mandala', '1-Second Invincibility', 'Thousand Poisons'
Skills: Lv8 'Fire Element', Lv8 'Gluttony's Eye', Lv6 'Communion', Lv6 'Brand of the Flame Soul', Lv5 'Monopolize', Lv5 'Shallow Breathing', Lv10 'Glacial Shaping', Lv7 'Daylight', Lv4 "Giant's Grasp", Lv6 'Soul-Chasing Sword', Lv1 'Double Agent', Lv5 'True Grand Purity Hwarang Heart Method', Lv6 'Sword Demon Emperor Stepss', Lv1 'Faint Body Scent', Lv4 'Mental Barrier', Lv3 'Heavenly Melody', Lv3 'Isekai Restaurant', Lv3 'Crimson Magic Bullet', Lv2 'Heaven and Earth Net', Lv1 'Soul Vampirism', Lv1 'Demon Soul Sword', Lv1 'Moon-Shrouding Claw'
Barriers: The number of learned barriers is too high; they have been set to 'Collapsed' mode.
He had accumulated a whopping 39 stat points.
Looking over his robust list of abilities, he felt a warm swell of pride.
'Haha. This is seriously insane.'
What other player in the world could possibly possess this many abilities?
And every single one of them was a skill that rankers or boss-tier monsters would use as their main weapon.
'It doesn't matter if the Tower of Trials has manifested in reality and introduced more variables.'
He didn't care about any of that.
Unlike in the past, he was also armed with far better opportunities and hidden pieces now.
On top of that, didn't he have the optimal route to minimize trial and error, along with the special privileges he received for being the first to conquer the top of the Tower?
If he lacked confidence with this level of setup and conditions, he wouldn't deserve to call himself a veteran.
Although he hadn't even reached the middle floors of the Tower yet, Jinhyuk could already picture his future clearly.
'As for stats... I'll focus mostly on Mana and distribute three points to each of the others.'
[Strength increases from 22 to 25.]
[Agility increases from 22 to 25.]
[Stamina increases from 31 to 34.]
[Mana increases from 80 to 110.]
The moment he raised his stats, he could feel a noticeable difference.
Especially in his mana.
'Is it because I raised it by 30 all at once? The difference is night and day.'
He was even more certain of this because he was currently using the 'True Grand Purity Hwarang Heart Method' to heal his wounds.
He could feel the mana circulating smoothly through every corner of his blood vessels.
He could now operate the heart method as naturally as breathing.
Finally, there was the item left behind by Michael.
Jinhyuk's gaze drifted downward.
A black necklace with a unique pattern engraved on a large ruby in the center.
'I've never seen a pattern like this before.'
Perhaps it was a rare drop, as it was an item he had never encountered during his previous climb of the Tower.
Jinhyuk picked up the black necklace.
But the moment he checked the details of the necklace through 'Gluttony's Eye'...
"Huh?"
Jinhyuk's pupils dilated rapidly.
He couldn't help but be shocked.
For one of the details written on the necklace was utterly mind-blowing.