Chapter 304: Passage to Luoyang (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 304: Passage to Luoyang (2)
Thump! Thump! Thump!
He had waited for so long.
It felt like decades had passed while waiting for this weapon to be completed.
'Finally... I can check it.'
Conveniently, Ma Hye-ryang wasn't around either.
Judging by his presence, it would take him quite a while to return.
In that case...
Jinhyuk pulled out the greatsword he had received from Orun.
Hummmm!
As the subdimensional gate opened...
...a dazzling blade revealed itself.
[Multiple items have been used as materials for enhancement!]
[The relic that slew the Demonic Dragon awakens!]
[Dragon-Slaying Sword, 'Balmung' - Purple Grade]
Attack Power: 321,700
Weight: 105kg
Durability: 550,000 / 550,000
Description: One of the strongest offensive weapons among the relics existing below the 49th floor. It can slice through Dragon Scales in a single strike, and simply holding it increases all stats by 10%. (Mana consumption is increased.)
[Special Active 'Recreation of Myth': Allows the user to channel the power of the legendary hero, Siegfried. However, the power recreated varies depending on the caster's abilities and growth, and all remaining mana is consumed immediately upon use.]
There were a few changes to the repaired Balmung.
First, as its durability was fully restored, its weight increased from 37kg to 105kg.
Grip...
A heavy sensation traveled up his hands.
Even with a Strength stat of 109, a weight of 105kg was still quite hefty to wield.
'No, maybe I'm feeling it heavier because of the sheer pressure of it being a top-tier relic.'
One thing was certain.
This was a very pleasant weight.
Furthermore, the special skill attached to the weapon itself held the power to recreate the life of the hero when he was alive.
A truly broken effect.
Although he knew better than anyone that he shouldn't...
'I can't resist...'
His fingers itched.
He wanted to test it out right this second.
"Wow... That is seriously cool. Even I've never seen anything like this before."
Even Alice let out an exclamation of awe, her eyes wide.
Indeed. She had probably never seen a weapon of this caliber.
The sheer amount of materials poured into making this was beyond imagination.
When he first went to obtain Balmung, he had amplified the 'Collapse Accelerator' he bought from the Coin Exchange using a 'Medium Purification Stone' and 'Whisper of Steel'.
With that, he had finished the groundwork for enhancing Balmung.
Then, Orun had used all his craftsmanship to sacrifice 'Armor Breaker' and 'Gray Heart' as offerings.
Though he didn't know the exact details, Orun must have overworked himself, barely sleeping for days, to elevate it from Indigo Grade to Purple Grade.
"How does it look? Pretty good?"
"Yeah."
Alice nodded with a serious expression.
"Give it to me."
"...What?"
"It's a pretty sword. I think it would go perfectly with my collection."
They say you go speechless when you hear something utterly absurd, and that was exactly the case here.
Even a golden retriever would do a backflip if it heard that.
Hmm.
"I think this is more than enough for you."
Orun had sent the leftover scraps of Armor Breaker along with it, and it was a good thing Jinhyuk hadn't thrown them away.
A scrawny, branch-shaped piece of wire was firmly placed into Alice's hand.
"...Huh?"
And while Alice stared blankly at the wire branch, Jinhyuk activated his personal status window.
Ding!
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Name: Kang Jinhyuk
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Level: 122
Strength: 109 | Agility: 58 | Stamina: 67 | Mana: 273 | Gap: 100 | Luck: 10 | Adaptive Stat: 78 | Essence: 82.55
Stat Points Available: 21
Coins: 10,562,377
Class: Ruler of Runes
Unique Abilities: 'Fusion', 'Grave of Swords', 'Blessing of the Stars', 'Judgment of Anubis', 'Blood Demon Qi', 'Mandala', '1-Second Invincibility', 'Thousand Poisons', 'White Beast', 'Universal Sharing', 'Sanctuary of the Sun', 'Black Heaven Demonic Emperor Art', 'Triple Magic', 'Colossus Strike', 'Fire Dragon's Breath', 'High-Speed Sword', 'Tombgrave's Right Arm', 'Berserker', 'Domain of Wind', 'Shadow Extreme Kill', 'Blood Explosion', 'Black Tears', 'Tombgrave's Leg', 'Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits', 'Core of the Legion', 'Ancient Barrier'
Skills: Too many to display; switched to summarized view.
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Seven levels gained from taking down Abigail...
As expected of a family head, the experience points she yielded were massive.
Even though his level was already in the triple digits, he had jumped seven levels at once.
"I'll dump all of them into Mana."
Considering Balmung's mana consumption, he needed to pay a bit more attention to his Mana stat.
[Mana increases from 273 to 294!]
[Additionally, there are new items stored in your subdimensional inventory.]
[Would you like to check them?]
On top of that, the items he had obtained right before losing his memory were all formidable.
The one that caught his eye the most was, of course, the weapon Abigail had used.
The strongest magical relic symbolizing the Revisita family.
'Scythe of the Ghost Tree'.
It was a relic that boasted overwhelming power not only for close-range attacks but also for casting Blood-Realm Magic.
He couldn't even begin to imagine the incredible synergy it would have when used alongside Alice's abilities through Universal Sharing.
'I thought the drop rate was 0%, not just abysmal... The Monopoly skill is truly broken.'
Thanks to the effect that guaranteed the best drop, he had obtained a relic he could only dream of in the past.
But just as Jinhyuk was about to inspect the scythe...
"...!"
Jinhyuk's senses picked up Ma Hye-ryang returning at a rapid pace.
'I'll have to check the rest of the items later.'
Jinhyuk closed his status window.
Not long after, Ma Hye-ryang, having finished his business, approached from ahead.
"There were a few dangerous things, but I've taken care of them."
His good-natured, beaming smile was truly detestable.
Even more so because Jinhyuk knew exactly what he was up to.
Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
Inside Ma Hye-ryang's sleeve, something was faintly wriggling.
A creature feared even among the martial artists of the Murim.
It was none other than 'Gu Poison'.
'As expected, he was trying to obtain the Gu poison that nests in this passage.'
Yin Gu and Yang Gu.
This pair of parasites operated on a rather unique mechanism: if the Yang Gu was fed to a victim, it would immediately nest inside their brain.
'If they disobey orders or betray their master, it instantly releases an unbearable neurotoxin.'
This wasn't something that could be endured through sheer human willpower.
After all, the power of this Gu poison was enough to force even martial artists who had trained their entire lives to betray their own sects.
Furthermore, a Gu poison freshly caught in this place, heavily saturated with Yin energy, would be far more potent.
Ma Hye-ryang's intention was to guide them here on purpose and force them to ingest the Gu poison.
* * *
'Hehehe. He might be quite skilled, but once he stepped foot in here, he became nothing more than my prey. Just thinking about that brat trembling in fear gets me excited.'
Ma Hye-ryang suppressed a sinister smile.
This passage was originally designed to evacuate the imperial family in the event of an enemy invasion of the Imperial Palace.
In emergencies, the traps would be deactivated so the imperial family could pass safely, but during normal times like now, a multitude of lethal traps were active.
This was to prevent anyone with ill intentions from entering.
Of course, Ma Hye-ryang knew every single trap here like the back of his hand.
'No matter how high and mighty he is, if I strike when he's busy dodging a trap, he'll have no choice but to fall victim to the Gu poison.'
A double trap, so to speak.
Through this method, he had already subjugated over ten top-tier experts into the ranks of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
'But why is the Great Lord putting so much effort into a single guy from outside the Tower?'
After pondering for a moment, Ma Hye-ryang shook his head.
There was no need for subordinates to know such details.
His mission was strictly key figure recruitment and internal sabotage.
Ma Hye-ryang knew from long experience that the secret to longevity was to do what he was told without questioning the work.
And before they knew it, the three of them arrived at the location of the first trap.
Ma Hye-ryang feigned ignorance and subtly slowed his pace.
Exactly half a step behind.
He had to target the exact moment the trap was triggered.
'—He stepped on it!'
He saw Jinhyuk step right onto the spot where iron spikes would shoot up from beneath.
Swoosh.
Ma Hye-ryang barely stopped himself from instinctively leaping back.
"W-What...?"
The trap didn't trigger.
Watching Jinhyuk walk forward with utter nonchalance, an unbelieving gasp escaped Ma Hye-ryang's mouth.
Did something go wrong?
That shouldn't be possible...
Ma Hye-ryang approached the spot Jinhyuk had just walked over.
And carefully applied weight with his foot.
Clank...!
Along with the sound of a trigger shifting, he felt it beneath his sole.
The trap was working perfectly.
'Dangerous...!'
He had to dodge immediately.
However,
"What are you doing? Aren't you coming?"
Jinhyuk suddenly grabbed Ma Hye-ryang's shoulder.
And of all times, right when he needed to escape.
Squelch!
Red blood sprayed as the spikes pierced straight through the top of his foot.
"Aaaaargh!"
A scream tore from Ma Hye-ryang's throat.
"Whoa, what is this now? Are you okay? Why didn't you dodge and just take it head-on?"
"You... damn it all! You—no, brother... you were holding my shoulder! How was I supposed to dodge?!"
"Ah, well, you said you took care of the traps, so I naturally assumed it was safe. Oh dear. Your foot is completely shredded. I feel so bad for you."
Jinhyuk clicked his tongue, looking genuinely apologetic.
Covered in blood, he looked like he could barely walk, no matter how one sliced it.
"Ugh. Forget it. Let's just get moving."
"Want me to support you?"
"I said I don't need it!"
Ma Hye-ryang barked.
His thread of reason seemed to have snapped entirely from anger.
'The first time might have been luck, but there won't be a second.'
Next time, he would definitely finish the job.
Ma Hye-ryang limped forward.
Moving a bit deeper, they reached the location of the second trap.
Nine in total.
Passages branching out like an anthill greeted them.
Talismans painted in the exact color of the dirt were also subtly hidden from view.
"There are so many passages. Do you know which way to go?"
"Anywhere is fine. I can smell sweet blood coming from beyond, and it's hard to resist."
"Hey."
"...I mean, oh my. These dark passages are so scary. Husband, you'll protect me, right?"
Alice clung to Jinhyuk's arm, making a huge fuss.
Her squealing was so absurd it left him speechless.
Note to self: never let this girl act again.
"I know the way. But since my leg is like this, I can't lead. Why don't you go ahead, brother? If you follow the third passage straight, we'll reach Luoyang soon."
"Sure, why not."
Jinhyuk took the lead.
Heading straight toward the passage with the Abyss Formation.
And Alice followed closely behind him.
'Finally, he fell for it.'
'This time, I can definitely create an opening.'
'No matter how skilled he is, there's no way he can protect both his fragile fiancée and himself at the same time.'
Ma Hye-ryang gritted his teeth and prepared to draw the Gu poison once more.
When the target lost his balance and clung to the cliff, that would be the perfect opportunity to feed him the Gu poison.
However,
Step.
Once again, Jinhyuk stopped right before the formation could trigger.
Just a little more.
Just one more inch (3cm) would have done it.
But as if by some miracle, he stopped right before it.
"Aren't you... going?"
"Hold on. My legs are a bit sore after walking so much."
"...We must hurry if we want to arrive before sunrise."
"My brain gets it, but my legs aren't listening. What's that? You'll go on strike if I take even one more step?"
'I have no choice.'
'While he's spouting this nonsense, I'll just have to push him from behind.'
Ma Hye-ryang slowly crept up behind Jinhyuk, who was currently conversing with his own legs.
And without hesitation, he thrust both hands forward.
But right before his palms could make contact with Jinhyuk's back...
Jinhyuk vanished.
"Ah, my back. Let me just sit down for a bit... Wait, why are you down there?"
"Aaaaaargh!"
Crash!
Having plummeted down the abyss, Ma Hye-ryang writhed on the ground.
Fortunately, he survived.
It was only because of his deep internal energy that he lived; an ordinary person would have been reduced to dust.
However, there was no escaping the agonizing pain racking his entire body.
"Ugh... Argh..."
A deep groan escaped Ma Hye-ryang's lips.
How could anyone be this incredibly unlucky?
Something was seriously, terribly wrong.
"Are you okay? You look like you're in a lot of pain... You're not seriously hurt, right?"
"Do I... look okay to you, you bastard... Huh?"
A sudden thought flashed through Ma Hye-ryang's mind.
Looking up at Jinhyuk, who wore a deeply worried expression...
...he looked, for some reason, like he was faintly smiling.