Chapter 234: Antrad, Kin of Guntaper (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 234: Antrad, Kin of Guntaper (1)
[Battlefield Selection has been deactivated.]
As the mental world shattered, the two figures inside were revealed.
Though one of them was wearing an outfit that defied all imagination.
"..."
Cheon Yu-seong stared down at the floor, his face contorted with shame.
To think this ice-cold guy would be wearing a high-end French maid outfit covered in lace.
And to think the day would come when he would see it with his own eyes.
"Pfft!"
"Shut up!"
"No, sorry. But seriously... pfft!"
"You... motherfucker. Show your teeth one more time and I'll kill you!"
"Okay, okay. I get it. I'll seriously stop laughing now. Look, deadpan face. I'm 100% serious right now... Pwahahaha! No, seriously. Holy shit, is this for real?"
Jinhyuk turned his head, unable to hold back his laughter.
Shring.
His face flushed red, Cheon Yu-seong drew his sword halfway.
The atmosphere felt like it could shatter the hard-won reconciliation in a single instant.
No, was that all?
He'd be lucky not to get his head chopped off by that blade.
Walking down dark alleys at night might be terrifying from now on, but...
'Still, this is going to pull in some serious ViewTube views.'
This bastard might have a prickly personality, but...
Since he was naturally good-looking, he actually had a pretty solid fanbase.
To the point where most idols couldn't even compare.
Thanks to that, the value of such premium footage was beyond measure.
'Man. I need to upload this first.'
With things like this, being the first to upload was crucial.
Keeping an eye on Yu-seong, Jinhyuk carefully activated the broadcasting system and uploaded the video.
[The Sword Star's Secret Hobby (Feat. Crossdressing / Secret Private Life / Idiot)]
He could feel his survival instincts screaming at him at maximum volume.
But at the same time, his instincts as a streamer writhed within him.
Even if Cheon Yu-seong came banging on his front door with a sword, he wouldn't be a true streamer if he didn't upload this.
'Yeah, even if I regret it, that's a problem for future me.'
Jinhyuk nodded.
And right on cue.
[Successfully copied the unique ability 'Shadow Extreme Kill'.]
[Successfully copied the skill 'Battlefield Selection'.]
[The copied abilities have been stored in 'Memory of the World'.]
Status windows announcing the successful copies popped up one after another.
Jinhyuk barely managed to swallow the cheer rising up his throat.
Battlefield Selection.
Although he hadn't copied it before because 'Song of the Sword' took priority...
It was a skill he had coveted ever since he first met Cheon Yu-seong in the Corridor.
'Since this is a unique barrier, it's something I can't replicate even with my abilities as a Barrierist.'
Since he had to save the last slot for when Yu-seong acquired that skill later, he had achieved everything he wanted for now.
Great.
Now, all that was left was to deal with the giant skeleton running amok in the garden.
"Calm down and listen carefully. I'm going to tell you how we're going to clean up this mess."
Jinhyuk leaned in and whispered something into the ear of the still-fuming Yu-seong.
As the explanation went on, Yu-seong's expression changed dramatically.
"...You're insane. Are you serious?"
It was a natural reaction.
What Jinhyuk was proposing was nothing short of a suicide mission.
And yet.
"It's possible."
Jinhyuk was smiling.
As if probability or risk didn't matter to him in the slightest.
* * *
Rumble, rumble!
A castle wall crumbled with a single wave of a hand.
Crimson flames erupted from the eyes and mouth of the flame skeleton.
"Ugh..."
"To think such a monster existed..."
"The... the giants were nothing compared to this."
The Empire's knights and the Murim warriors gathered here were all experts capable of manipulating qi.
This meant that with Sword Qi or an Aura Blade, they could easily wound high-ranking demonic beasts.
But that was only if they could get within striking distance.
No one had been able to even get close to the flame skeleton, which was shrouded in layers of Calamity Fire.
'So weak.'
The flame skeleton looked down upon them.
Trembling, terrified insects.
And trampling those bugs was the sole mission he had been summoned here to fulfill.
Whoosh!
"Aaargh!"
"Argh!"
Caught in the heat radiating from its body, a nearby Titan and a knight were engulfed in flames.
The intense heat melted the iron armor, fusing it to their skin.
Sizzle!
The horrific stench of burning flesh turned everyone's faces pale.
"D-Damn it! Fall back!"
"Close combat is impossible! We're just throwing our lives away!"
"The mages... we need to request reinforcements from the mages!"
The forces retreated in hesitation.
The flame skeleton watched this, finding it only natural.
It was only natural for prey to tremble in fear before its predator.
And yet.
"...?"
Even as everyone else turned their backs, two humans were walking toward him.
It would be understandable if they were so paralyzed by fear that they couldn't act rationally.
Perhaps they simply wished for this nightmare to end quickly.
But.
There wasn't a shred of tension on the face of the human slowly closing the distance.
Instead, his relaxed smile grated on the flame skeleton's nerves.
Especially the bastard standing at the very front, holding a dagger.
"...Smiling? Have you gone mad with fear?"
"Sorry, but it's been a really long time since I've felt anything like that."
Jinhyuk shrugged.
"Insolent human..."
The flame skeleton slowly rose.
Along with surging torrents of lava.
Massive fissures tore through the ground as nearly half of its entire body emerged above the surface.
An overwhelming heat washed over the area.
It was the exact same Calamity Fire that had melted the Empire's knights alive just moments ago.
[Lv. 11 'Glacial Shaping' has been activated.]
Crushed ice particles formed a transparent barrier.
"Ho. Impressive. A normal human's lungs would have burned to ash the moment they took a breath."
An exclamation of admiration escaped the flame skeleton's mouth.
Then, as if realizing something, its body froze.
"Come to think of it... this mana. Yes. It is you. The brat who shot an arrow at me from the window."
A ranged magic attack condensing three different attributes.
Although it had failed to wound him, its sheer power was comparable to that of any demon.
"Bullseye. I wanted to pierce your skull in one shot, but it was surprisingly tough. You must have been getting plenty of calcium."
"..."
A brief silence fell at the incredibly provocative sneer.
But it lasted only a moment.
"Indeed. You only spout such nonsense because you do not know who I am. If you knew of me, if you knew even a fraction of the floor to which I belong, you would regret your words and fall into despair."
"You're way too full of yourself. Honestly, I probably know a lot more about this tower and this world than you do."
"Do not boast with the meager knowledge of an insect. Your entire lifespan does not even amount to a speck of dust compared to the eons we have lived."
"Well, I'll have to disagree with that. Mr. Flame Skeleton... Or should I call you Andrat, Flame of the Black Valley?"
Andrat.
A kin of Guntaper, one of the commanders of the Demon World, and a member of the vanguard attempting to expand their influence to the lower floors of the tower through the Demonic Human Association.
That was his true identity.
"H-How... do you know my true name? You! Who on earth are you?!"
"I told you. I'm a human who knows a lot more about the tower than you."
"To the very end! Do you honestly think I would believe such nonsense?!"
Rumble!
Mana laced with fury began to overflow.
The scorching heat eroded the ground, gathering momentum.
And finally.
Andrat pulled himself completely out of the ground.
The giants had been massive, but this creature possessed a build nearly twice their size.
His head easily towered over the outer walls of the fortress.
Fighting an opponent from the upper floors...
'To be honest, I'm a little tense.'
The stage was perfectly set.
This was more than enough provocation.
Now, it was time to begin.
"Cheon Yu-seong!"
Jinhyuk signaled to Yu-seong beside him.
"Damn it! I am not your bait!"
Yu-seong grumbled, but he didn't forget his role.
Tap!
Lightly kicking off the ground, Yu-seong dashed in a wide clockwise arc.
His target was not Andrat, but the smaller demonic beasts that had begun pouring out as the giant rose.
[Cheon Yu-seong activates his unique ability, 'Song of the Sword'!]
[The profound principles of the Soul-Chasing Sword are replicated through the hands of the Sword Star.]
A dazzling flash of sword light scattered, and like a wild beast, he plunged into the midst of the demonic beasts.
Slash!
"Keeeeeek!"
A three-headed female monster lost all of her heads to a single strike.
"Aaargh!"
The Cyclops standing behind her also lost its single eye, screaming in agony.
"This bite-sized piece of meat...!"
"Heheh. Since it's a woman, the meat must be tender. I'll swallow her whole."
"That's not a woman. It's a man. Look closely. His outfit is just weird, but he's a guy."
"It's not spoiled meat, is it?"
The demonic beasts looked back and forth between Yu-seong's clothes and his face, each chiming in.
"If anyone mentions my clothes one more time, I will consider them the same as Kang Jinhyuk and slaughter them first."
It felt like there was a highly dangerous statement mixed in there, but...
Even though Yu-seong always seemed like a pushover around Jinhyuk,
he was a monster whose collar most people couldn't even graze.
And as if to prove it.
"Are you Colonel Teemo? You're Colonel Teemo too. You too! And you!"
Yu-seong began sweeping through the demonic beasts at a terrifying speed.
The desperate cries of the Sword Star, who had lost all of his pride, echoed through the battlefield.
* * *
"Just what... are you plotting?"
Andrat tilted his head in confusion.
But only for a moment.
Andrat's gaze shifted to Yu-seong's hands.
He saw Yu-seong collecting black gems from the corpses after slaying the minor beasts.
Those were...
Without a doubt.
Artifacts that crystallized the demonic energy of the beasts.
Demonic Jades.
Just as a sudden realization flashed through his mind—
Boom!
A sharply sculpted block of ice struck the back of his head.
It didn't deal any real damage, but the attack was powerful enough to be highly annoying.
"Hey now. Where are you looking? You have such a handsome date right in front of you."
Jinhyuk filled the air with spears created through Glacial Shaping.
With this, he should be able to buy at least a little time for Yu-seong to do his work.
Or so he thought.
But Andrat, who should have been flying into a rage, was surprisingly calm.
No, it went beyond just being calm.
"You plan to use the Demonic Jades and demonic energy to summon a powerful beast to eliminate me. Indeed, you are quite a clever human."
"...!"
The plan had been seen through.
Contrary to the expectation that he would be blinded by arrogance and pride, Andrat had calmly deduced the truth from just a few small clues.
However, the worst was only just beginning.
"No matter what plans you have laid out, you are merely dancing in the palms of their hands, human."
An ice-cold voice flowed from Antrad's mouth.
At that moment.
Hummmmm!
Pillars of light could be seen shooting up from far in the distance.
There was only one reason for this phenomenon to occur.
"You..."
Jinhyuk bit his lip.
This was highly unusual.