Chapter 329: 11 Hours Before the Gate Opens (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 329: 11 Hours Before the Gate Opens (4)
The Calamity Fire tore across in a straight line, completely incinerating the trees.
KRA-BOOM!
Though it couldn't compare to a Dragon's Breath, the power of the condensed stream of fire was beyond imagination.
"Aaargh!"
"Groooar!"
Naturally, the Water Dragon tribe and the Armored Drakes behind them couldn't escape the attack either.
Before their screams could even fade, the flames engulfed their entire bodies, vaporizing them down to the bone.
"M-My goodness..."
"Was a Salamander always a spirit with such incredible power?"
"I've met rankers with the Spiritist class before... but their limit was fighting monsters in the early 10th floors at best."
The players of the Ssaulabi Guild swallowed hard.
Yoo Jin-ah, in particular, looked back and forth between Jinhyuk and the Salamander with a completely different expression than before.
[Yoo Jin-ah's affinity has increased by +30.]
[Exerting such immense power means the bond between the Tamer and the summon is that deep. Yoo Jin-ah changes her judgment of you.]
[Total Affinity: 20]
Watching the wildly surging flames, Jinhyuk scratched his chin, looking a bit troubled.
Hmm.
Was that too flashy?
It was all well and good to use his abilities to his heart's content to raise her affinity, but things had gotten a bit out of hand.
Putting on a fireworks display of this scale was practically advertising that there was an intruder here.
Well, Cheon Yu-seong is drawing all the attention anyway, so it should be fine.
Currently, most of the mana signatures in the vicinity were heading toward the coast.
By the time they realized what was happening here and sent troops, he would have already penetrated much deeper inside.
But right then...
Ding!
['Slave No. 2' has requested a video call.]
[Do you wish to accept?]
Slave No. 2... that was Melena, whom he had planted in the Demonic Human Association.
He had told her to report immediately if anything important came up, but contact had been sparse lately because the Demonic Humans had been quiet.
However, attempting to make contact at this exact moment meant...
"I'll accept."
Jinhyuk activated the video chat.
[1 High-Grade Magic Stone in the opponent's possession and the Sichuan Tang Clan's 'Blood-Spirit Crane's-Crest Red Poison' in your possession have been consumed.]
[The 'Third Communication Network' has been established.]
Melena, with her long red hair cascading down, appeared on the screen.
"I wanted to contact you sooner... but surveillance was so tight that I only just managed to find a gap."
"It's fine. More importantly, what's going on?"
"You're on that island in the East Sea right now, aren't you? You went there to stop that Shub-Niggurath thing or whatever, right?"
As expected, Melena was privy to top-secret information shared only by the Association and the top guilds.
"So it's not just the High Managers... but the Demonic Human Association is involved as well."
"...Yes. And the Vampires are involved too. They possess terrifying mana, and they're likely high-ranking species equivalent to Lord-class."
Twitch.
Braham's Ring on Jinhyuk's finger vibrated.
Alice had reacted to the word 'Lord'.
"Did anyone else from the Demonic Human Association come besides you? For an event of this scale, there should be at least one member of the Round Table here."
"Yeah. I was actually about to tell you. His codename is Arthur, but he's more commonly called by his real name, Nietzsche. I know you're strong, but you have to be extremely careful with this old man. Even before the Tower appeared, he was dangerous enough to be at the top of the wanted lists of agencies worldwide."
Nietzsche...
It was the exact same name as the famous philosopher.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, if even Melena was trembling with fear, he wasn't someone to be taken lightly.
"Any additional information on Nietzsche?"
"He uses the power of Nihility. Once you enter a certain range, all your unique abilities and skills are sealed, so to speak. In other words, you have to fight purely with physical abilities. On top of that, he'll have Vampires guarding him, so he'll be quite tricky to deal with."
A combination of a Vampire Lord and a player who seals abilities.
It was certainly... troublesome.
"If you want, I can dig deeper into what their plans are. The risk will go up, but I'll do it if necessary."
"No, that's enough. If you dig any deeper, your identity might be exposed."
If he had been caught off guard without knowing, it certainly could have been dangerous.
However, since he had secured the information in advance, he had time to prepare for it.
"Thank you, it couldn't have been easy. This is a huge help."
"I didn't have much of a choice since I'm branded. Besides, siding with you seemed to give me a better chance of survival."
True. As long as she bore the Brand of the Flame Soul, Melena had no other options.
It was literally like having a bomb strapped to her neck.
"I'll remove the brand on your body someday, too."
"...Really?"
For the first time, a strange emotion flickered across Melena's face.
At the thought that she might one day escape this suffocating pressure, a small bud of hope began to bloom.
"Yeah. So don't think too gloomily. I don't plan on exploiting you forever."
It wasn't as if there was no way.
If he ever reached the top of the Tower, he would surely find a way to lift the restriction.
Of course, there was still a long way to go before reaching the top of the Tower.
Until then...
"Let's just focus on today and hang in there. Got it?"
He fully intended to exploit her to the absolute limit.
* * *
The raid team, led by the Ssaulabi Guild, advanced deeper into the island.
They encountered more of the Water Dragon tribe and Armored Drakes along the way, but the Ssaulabi Guild calmly maintained their formation and dealt with them.
Crash! Boom!
"Groooar!"
A heavy foot slammed into a shield.
An immense weight could be felt in every single blow, enough to gouge deep craters into the ground.
"Raise shields!"
"Don't let even one of them through!"
"Hyung! Two more coming from the flank!"
The vanguard tanks drew the aggro of the medium-sized Armored Drakes.
"Kugh! Ignore the humans in front and aim for the back!"
"Avoid the ones clad in iron! No matter how much you hit them, they won't die!"
The Water Dragon tribe members riding on the backs of the Armored Drakes bellowed orders.
They knew they had to bypass the tanks and eliminate the damage dealers and healers in the rear.
However...
[An AoE Taunt Skill is activated!]
The raid team wasn't about to just stand by and watch.
Under the influence of the taunt skill, the Armored Drakes' pupils slit into thin lines.
"Graaaar!"
"Groooar!"
With the sole intent of crushing the tanks, they slammed their entire bodies forward.
"Fools! This is why low intelligence is a problem!"
"We must step in."
The Water Dragon tribe members pulled their tridents back far over their shoulders.
A ranged throw would easily pierce through the humans.
But once again, they failed to achieve their goal.
Thud.
Before they knew it, players had leaped onto the backs of the Armored Drakes, drawing their swords and spears.
"You didn't think we'd just stand here and watch, did you?"
"Protecting the ranged damage dealers is our job."
Clang!
Swords deflected the tridents.
Immediately after, a bloody battle of flesh and steel unfolded.
I don't even need to step in.
Jinhyuk leisurely watched the battle from the rear.
Since everyone had vehemently insisted he save his mana, he was able to enjoy such a comfortable raid.
The balance has already tipped...
Even with just the Ssaulabi Guild's strength, they were clearing out the enemies without taking any casualties.
If they pushed just a little further, the enemy's formation would completely collapse.
But at that exact moment...
Crackle!
Yellow sparks erupted from the center of the Water Dragon tribe.
"It's lightning magic!"
Sensing an unusual surge of mana, Yoo Jin-ah shouted.
Multiple streaks of light burst forth.
[High Mage 'Phesaktu']
A named monster.
And not just a melee elite, but an entity capable of using magic and sorcery.
"Insolent humans! How dare you set foot here, knowing where this is? I shall take your lives as payment for defiling this sacred land."
Phesaktu let out a roar of fury.
"Di Er Ta Orginak!"
As the unique language of the Water Dragon tribe ended...
KRA-BOOM!
A massive bolt of lightning crashed down upon the damage dealers.
It happened in a split second, too fast for the tanks to even react.
The damage dealers also tried to raise their shields belatedly, but there was far too little time to gather proper mana.
They were doomed.
Just when they thought that...
['Glacial Shaping', 'Shield of the Sky' is activated!]
Crack-crack-crack!
A massive wall of ice blocked the path between the lightning and the players.
The lightning magic shattered and dispersed against the ice wall.
"To block my magic... impressive."
"I'm a bit surprised too. The power is more decent than I expected."
At Jinhyuk's words, Phesaktu's mouth contorted in rage.
"A mere human dares to evaluate my level? I am Phesaktu, a mage of the tribe who has trained in magic for hundreds of years!"
"Hmm. If that's all you've got after hundreds of years of training, you must have slacked off a lot."
Even if you only trained for thirty minutes a day and slacked off the rest of the time...
you really should be stronger than this.
"...I will make sure to hear you beg for your life. I might turn your arms and legs into charcoal, but if you can endure for even ten minutes, I will spare your life."
Phesaktu drew a staff made of red wood.
An ominous energy surged from the red staff.
Shhh.
Jinhyuk also pulled out the Scythe of the Ghost Tree.
As he donned the black Archmage's Robe, it created the illusion that an archmage who had lived for thousands of years had manifested right there.
"Kieeeeeeeek!"
The giant eyeball embedded in the scythe darted around rapidly.
Ruuuumble!
An immense amount of mana flowed through the two items.
"You seem quite confident in your magic..."
Snap.
Jinhyuk snapped his fingers.
"Let's see how many times you can endure."
Spears of ice created by Glacial Shaping materialized.
"Krashaktar. Be Atema!"
Phesaktu immediately countered with a spear made of lightning.
Crash!
The two spears clashed in midair.
At the same time, Jinhyuk fired the spears made of Glacial Shaping one by one.
The spears flying through the air collided with the ones Phesaktu created once more.
Boom! Bang! Pop! Crash!
"You're holding up better than I thought."
"Don't... pretend to be relaxed! Every magic must have a limit to its activation!"
A limit...
As if to refute those words, the number of ice spears multiplied to twenty.
Incomparably more spears than before revealed themselves.
"T-There should be... a limit... to activation... No, there has to be..."
Phesaktu's voice trembled violently.
Muttering as if in denial of reality, he looked completely out of his mind.
"From now on, I'll multiply the number by five."
[Unique Ability 'Fire Dragon's Breath' is activated!]
All the spears were engulfed in flames.
"I'll raise the power of the spears to the same level as well."
[Unique Ability 'Black Tears' is activated!]
From the tips of the other spears, a black liquid dripped.
"Didn't you say earlier that you'd spare my life if I endured for ten minutes?"
Jinhyuk smiled coldly.
"I'll spare you if you can endure for just one minute."
Go ahead, if you can endure...
Try to endure.
If you can, that is.
All the spears vanished simultaneously.
KRA-BOOM!
Immediately after, dozens, hundreds of spears swept forward like a tempest.
Phesaktu frantically spammed his magic, but he could barely block even a fraction of the spears Jinhyuk unleashed.
An overwhelming difference in power.
The spears shredded the ground to tatters, completely obliterating the entire area where Phesaktu had been standing.
* * *
Jinhyuk slowly walked over to the ruined site.
"Oh. You didn't die even through all that?"
"Kugh..."
Thanks to the timely use of Shield and Blink, Phesaktu had barely managed to survive.
However, because he had squeezed out every last drop of his mana, his internal state was completely ruined.
"Since you endured for a minute, I'd like to spare you as promised, but you're going to die from mana overload anyway. I might as well give you a clean end."
"Not yet... It's not over yet."
A sinister smile played on Phesaktu's lips.
"I will make you... regret setting foot here."
No sooner had he spoken than Phesaktu drew a dagger and plunged it into his own heart.
Stab!
Blood gushed out like a waterfall, soaking the ground.
The blood was rapidly absorbed through the soil.
And at that exact moment...
Thump!
The ground throbbed.