Chapter 237: The World of Players (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 237: The World of Players (2)
Stars and the moon embroidered the night sky.
And pierced above them were the swords of the Sword Saint.
This was no longer the Demon World shrouded in deep darkness.
It was a sanctuary solely for the players climbing the Tower—for those who lived only to see the end of this world.
[All stats of players increase by 30%!]
[All stats of hostile monsters decrease by 30%!]
Along with the blue-tinted status windows, a gentle breeze heralded a new beginning.
"T-this is impossible... How on earth..."
Antrad's voice trembled violently.
To interfere with the world of a higher being and completely rewrite it?
Wasn't this a domain permitted only to Demon Kings or deities?
"If I were alone, it would have been impossible. A single world could never surpass yours."
But if there were two...
If two worlds could interfere with a single domain, then even the most perfect mental imagery would develop a flaw.
Jinhyuk pointed his sword forward.
[Unique Ability...]
A faint blue Aura spread along the blade.
At the same time, Cheon Yu-seong, standing on the opposite side, also pointed his sword forward.
[Unique Ability...]
Two different players.
Naturally, they were complete strangers with absolutely nothing in common.
And yet...
[...'Song of the Sword' is activated!]
There was not a single hint of discordance in the abilities manifested by the two swords.
The swords began to sing, humming a melody more beautiful than ever before.
* * *
Boom!
Clang! Clang!
A storm of sword strikes clashed.
Antrad swung his sword frantically, parrying Cheon Yu-seong's attacks.
"Urgh!"
The tide of battle had completely turned.
The density of the mana infused into the swords, and the precision and ferocity of their forms, were incomparable to before.
Consequently, Antrad was reduced to desperately defending himself.
"Damn it! This makes no sense! This can't be happening!"
Screaming in rage, Antrad swung his sword in a wide arc.
It was too large a movement.
Cheon Yu-seong lightly deflected the blade and launched a counterattack.
However, this time, Antrad willingly took the hit.
Slash!
His left arm was cleanly severed.
A chilling shiver ran down the spine.
It was bait.
He could feel Antrad's sheer obsession—his willingness to sacrifice an arm just to take his opponent's life.
In that split second, the Sword of Blazing Heat thrust straight toward Cheon Yu-seong's neck.
Because the attack was launched from a posture that completely abandoned defense, it caught Cheon Yu-seong off guard by half a beat.
At this rate, he would surely be hit.
Clang!
But the decisive blow was thwarted.
Just before the blade could touch Yu-seong's neck, Jinhyuk swung Fang, slightly deflecting its trajectory.
"That was a close one."
When one attacked, the other defended.
Their roles shifted as fluidly as running water depending on the situation, leaving not even the slightest gap in their coordination.
"Damn it... Damn it all!"
Antrad hastily backed away.
Even though he had sacrificed an arm, their combined attack formation remained unbroken.
"How... How can mere humans, mere insects like you...!"
They perfectly read each other's sword paths.
They knew exactly where the other would attack and where they would move.
But did that even make sense?
To understand another person as well as oneself?
Antrad's mind was clouded with confusion, but he had no time to find the answer.
Before he knew it, Jinhyuk and Cheon Yu-seong had closed the distance and unleashed the final form of the Soul-Chasing Sword.
Crackle!
The Soul-Chasing Sword, inherited from the Soul-Chasing Shadow, wove its first form.
'Soul-Chasing Sword Dance.'
The tips of their swords blurred.
Afterimages begot afterimages, creating gentle ripples of soft curves.
'Eleventh Form.'
And then, Jinhyuk's sword overlapped with Yu-seong's.
The only form that could be used by the two who had inherited the Soul-Chasing Sword.
'Dual Sword Unity.'
The ripples of the swords vanished completely.
A realm of nothingness, where not even a speck of mana could be felt.
At that moment...
Slice!
Antrad's heart was split in half.
The final form was on such a different level that the victim only reacted several seconds later.
"Aaargh!"
Red smoke gushed out.
Antrad desperately tried to scoop up his escaping life force with his hands.
But it was futile.
No matter how powerful a demon was, they could never survive once the source of their power was destroyed.
"S-save me, Lord Guntaper. Your servant... is dying."
Antrad flailed his hands in the air.
It seemed begging miserably for one's life was a common trait among all living things.
"It's no use. That guy isn't exactly the merciful type. He probably won't even spare a glance at your begging."
"What... what do you know about him to speak so boldly?! He would never abandon me. Never!"
"I don't know. You don't sound very convinced for someone saying that."
"...T-that's..."
The light in Antrad's eyes slowly faded.
He must have realized by now that he had been abandoned.
In truth, because the barrier of Tangrasil, the White Tree, had been reactivated, higher deities could not peer into this place.
'There's no reason to tell him that, though.'
It was better to let him misunderstand.
All the better to throw the final bait.
"...It is all over. How futile."
The realization that thousands of years of loyalty had been in vain made Antrad let go of his last thread of hope.
Good.
This was perfect.
Jinhyuk lightly reached out his hand.
"Don't waste your loyalty on a useless bastard. Give that heart to me."
"My heart...? Why should I do something that would make you smile?"
Because...
"I'll send Guntaper, who abandoned you, to join you soon."
Isn't that a pretty good deal?
Knowing that the master who discarded you like a chess piece will meet the exact same end?
"Since you're going to die anyway, why not give your master a nice middle finger? I'll make sure to mention your name when he meets his end."
"..."
A brief silence hung in the air at Jinhyuk's nonchalant words.
"Hahaha! Indeed, you are as arrogant as any human. But yes, that would certainly ease my grudge a little."
What followed was a satisfied, mad laugh.
"Very well, human. Take it. My halved heart."
Rip!
Antrad pulled out his own split heart.
At that moment, the light in his eyes went completely dark.
[You have acquired the Sacred Relic 'Antrad's Heart (Half)'!]
[The intermediate demon 'Antrad' has perished!]
[You have achieved an astonishing feat! Today's achievement will be listed on the 'Hall of Fame' all day tomorrow.]
[Numerous factions are paying attention to what you and Player Cheon Yu-seong have accomplished.]
[The mega-faction of the upper floors, the 'Demon World', harbors strong hostility toward you!]
A flurry of status windows appeared one after another.
Except for one.
The status window announcing a level-up.
'This is just as I expected.'
Due to Guntaper's unique nature, the experience points from the mid-level managers under his command did not count.
It was a bit of a shame, but not a major issue.
After all, this raid was less about experience points and more about the massive rewards and obtaining this guy's unique ability.
'I'm about to receive the most spectacular rewards I've ever gotten.'
Jinhyuk's gaze shifted forward once again.
[You have fulfilled the additional requirements for the copying condition.]
[The target's unique ability is copied.]
[Due to the effect of the unique ability 'Fusion', you have acquired a 'higher version' of the ability.]
[Primordial Flame]
Acquisition Difficulty: Unmeasurable
Description: The flame that served as the origin of all fires, existing on an unknown floor of the Tower. All unique abilities and skills related to fire originate from this flame. It is a unique ability with infinite potential for growth depending on the user's proficiency.
[The Fire Element is replaced by the Primordial Flame.]
[The level is inherited as is.]
[The copied ability is stored in the 'Memory of the World'.]
'Holy shit...'
Jinhyuk barely managed to swallow the cheer threatening to burst from his throat.
As expected.
The reward that popped up far exceeded his wildest expectations.
Not only did he copy a top-tier unique ability, but he could also inherit the level of his existing 'Fire Element'.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart beat uncontrollably fast.
Acquiring such an absurdly miraculous opportunity was a first since receiving the personal reward for being the 'First to Conquer the Tower'.
Glancing to his side, he saw Cheon Yu-seong also frantically scanning his status window.
He, too, seemed completely dazed by the unusual rewards.
'But not as much as me.'
Thanks to obtaining the final heart, Jinhyuk had secured the highest contribution points.
Now, next...
He spotted glittering artifacts on Antrad's corpse.
'Fox Bead'.
'Sword of Blazing Heat'.
'1,009 Recipes for a Glutton'.
'Spring of Oblivion'.
All of them were hidden pieces with an acquisition difficulty of S-rank or higher.
Moreover, the last one, the 'Spring of Oblivion', was an item he had never seen before...
Glance.
Jinhyuk peeked at Cheon Yu-seong once more.
He was still completely engrossed in his status window.
Gulp.
With the sound of swallowing dry saliva, his hands moved faster than the eye could see.
[All 4 items have been stored in the Subspace Inventory.]
It was a life-threatening gamble, but fortunately, Cheon Yu-seong didn't notice.
In their place, Jinhyuk left a smooth piece of bone.
It was a 'premium bone treat embedded with magic crystals' that he had stashed away as a snack for Goguma.
And it was right after he finished the swap.
"I've finished checking my rewards. Now, let's divide the loot... Hm?"
Cheon Yu-seong, who was walking over after closing his status window, narrowed his eyes.
His face was filled with suspicion and distrust.
It was only natural, considering they had just defeated an unimaginably powerful boss-class demon, and all that remained was a single bone.
"Ah... this? I guess that guy was broke because he was practically naked. He was completely penniless. All show and no substance, sigh."
Jinhyuk scratched his head awkwardly.
He picked up the bone from the ground and handed it over.
Please...
"But hey, it looks like a pretty high-quality bone. Do you want it? I'll specially let you have it, considering how hard you worked."
Hoping he would fall for it.
Of course, earnest prayers rarely come true.
"If you don't want to die, you'd better hand over everything you hid. No matter how good the items are, they aren't worth more than your life, are they?"
Cheon Yu-seong approached, drawing his sword.
His murderous intent was so chilling, it felt like looking at Alice when she was forced to eat mint chocolate.
"Ah, okay, okay! I'll give them to you. We'll split them. But... is your leg okay?"
Perhaps injured during the fight earlier, his right ankle looked uncomfortable.
He was limping slightly, and his sense of balance seemed completely off.
"Hmph. It hurts a bit, but it'll be fine after a day or two of rest. There's no need for you to worry about that."
Two days to recover, huh...
"Is that so? Then it won't be easy for you to run fast right now."
"What... did you say?"
"Thanks for everything today."
Jinhyuk flashed his brightest smile.
It was time to make a run for it.