Chapter 333: War of the Apocalypse (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 333: War of the Apocalypse (2)
Whoosh!
Cheon Yu-seong's sword sliced through the air.
Having already reached the realm of freely manipulating sword qi, and having acquired the insights of the 'Soul-Chasing Sword' from the Soul-Chasing Shadow, Cheon Yu-seong's current level was one that even the Residents could not easily look down upon.
"Aaargh!"
"B-Block him!"
"Our Blood-Realm Magic isn't working! What kind of human is he?!"
"At least five of you team up! That's the only way we can stop him!"
Groans erupted from the members of the Blood Clan.
Dealing with Cheon Yu-seong as he swept through their ranks was no easy task.
However, Cheon Yu-seong was also drenched in sweat from being dragged into this sudden battle.
Dragging this out would only put him in danger.
'I'll take out the leader.'
Thud, thud, thud!
Subduing three of them in an instant, Cheon Yu-seong immediately lunged toward the leader of the Blood Clan.
"In your dreams."
Anton.
The muscular, hulking vampire swung a sword that was easily twice the size of a normal rapier.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sword and rapier clashed head-on.
Blinding sparks flew, illuminating their faces.
In this current situation, they had no choice but to push themselves to their absolute limits.
Yes.
"This is all..."
"This is all..."
Anton and Cheon Yu-seong gritted their teeth at the same time.
Squeezing out the curses rising from deep within, they shouted in unison:
"Because of Kang Jinhyuk!"
Their voices merged into one.
* * *
'Hmm.'
Jinhyuk scratched the inside of his ear.
Even in the midst of this fierce battle, why did he feel this way?
The strange sensation that someone was talking about him a lot.
Right then.
"Graaaah!"
Jinhyuk slashed the throat of a Blood Clan member who had lunged right in front of him.
Just as a thin spray of blood was about to scatter into the air...
Tap.
The muzzle of Kruger touched the vampire's forehead.
"A gun? A mere toy like that won't even tickle."
"Well, I think mine might sting a bit."
Bang!
The bullet, enhanced by the 'Blessing of the Stars' and 'Mandala', pierced straight through the vampire's head.
Despite the vampire's extreme regenerative abilities, the wound showed no signs of healing.
"D-Divine Power!"
"Right. That human... they said he could use that filthy power too."
"Only seven high-ranking vampires need to handle the swordsman! The rest of you, focus entirely on that human! The important one right now isn't the swordsman, it's him!"
The purebloods leading the Blood Clan roared at the top of their lungs.
The combination of Kruger and Fang was nothing short of a disaster for the vampires.
It was only natural.
Mid-range combat using a sword and a gun was the specialty of Jinhyuk, who had once prided himself on being the strongest.
At this rate, no matter how many of the Blood Clan there were, every single one of them would end up with a hole in their head.
But at that moment...
The Divine Power in the bullets subtly faded.
"..."
Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
There was no mistake.
It was the 'ability sealing' Melena had mentioned.
In other words, Nietzsche, the leader of the Demonic Human Association, was here.
Jinhyuk stopped his attacks and backed away to create some distance.
"Come out. Stop hiding."
Jinhyuk gestured with the muzzle of his gun toward the darkness.
Then,
A dull thud echoed from a spot hidden from view.
Thud!
An old man holding a staff appeared.
"Heh heh. I was planning to seal your abilities bit by bit, but you noticed? Your ability to sense mana truly transcends imagination. No wonder my subordinates and even the family heads fell to you."
Even without him introducing himself, Jinhyuk knew who he was.
Nietzsche.
The leader of the demonic humans, and the player occupying the position of 'King Arthur', the final destination of the Round Table.
He was a player with the most anomalous unique ability of all.
Jinhyuk quickly activated 'Gluttony's Eye'.
*
Name: Nietzsche
Gender: Male
Age: ???
Level: 105
Strength: 33 Agility: 35 Stamina: 32 Mana: 95 Chaos: 332
Stat Points Available: 0
Class: Abyssal Apostle
Unique Ability: Nihilism (Purple)
Skills: 'Psychokinesis' Lv27, 'Blade of Darkness' Lv26, 'Absolute Obedience' Lv24, 'Another's Oath' Lv23, 'Black Magic' Lv22
*
[Copy Conditions: A paranoid nihilist. A sociopath. All of these descriptors point to this man. To copy his unique ability, you must satisfy two conditions:
The rank of the copied ability will vary depending on how perfectly you fulfill the copy conditions.
The Black Apostle was considered a dependent of the Demon King.
However, Nietzsche, the head of the Demonic Human Association, had already completed his class advancement to 'Abyssal Apostle', a class superior to the Black Apostle.
'He advanced to a pretty troublesome class.'
While a Black Apostle received the Demon King's blessing, drastically boosting all stats and abilities, the higher-tier 'Abyssal Apostle' didn't just boost stats—it raised the rank of the unique ability itself.
This meant that Nihilism, which was already an S-rank ability, would exert power far beyond that under the Demon King's blessing.
But what caught his eye even more was...
'I had my doubts when I heard it from Melena, but to think someone actually obtained that unique ability in its complete form.'
To be honest, he couldn't help but be surprised.
The purple-grade Nihilism.
A unique ability that governed nothingness in its complete form, rather than as a fragment, had acquisition conditions just as demanding as 'Fusion'.
Yet, he was now facing a monster who had met all of those conditions right before his eyes.
'He shouldn't even be considered a player anymore. He's practically a mid-to-high-ranking demon.'
On top of that, there was Cerberus, the gatekeeper of the Underworld.
The situation was unfolding far more seriously than expected.
Alice was also too busy fighting fiercely against Hyacinth to offer any help.
Right then,
With a soft thud,
Cheon Yu-seong's back pressed against Jinhyuk's.
"That ability is incredibly annoying. Is there no way around it?"
Cheon Yu-seong panted, gripping his sword with both hands.
His sword, which had been singing so beautifully, had lost its movement before he knew it.
Because his abilities had been sealed, he had been pushed back further and further until he ended up here.
"Looks like you're struggling too, huh? Whining like that just because you can't use the Song of the Sword or the Soul-Chasing Sword."
"Damn it. What on earth do you take me for? I'm not immortal either."
"Really? You always charge in so fearlessly, I thought you'd acquired some kind of invincibility skill."
"...Say just one more word, and I might cut you down first."
Jinhyuk and Cheon Yu-seong bickered.
Watching them, Nietzsche clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"Hmm. Still cracking petty jokes at a time like this. It seems you haven't properly grasped the situation yet."
[Nietzsche activates Lv27 'Psychokinesis'!]
In an instant, a sharp ringing pierced their eardrums.
Kiiiiing!
"Is this...? Hey! Idiot Sword Saint!"
"I know!"
Jinhyuk and Cheon Yu-seong snapped their index fingers at the same time.
With a sharp sting of pain, the timing of their bodies being bound was thrown off.
Thanks to that, the stone spikes failed to impale them.
Boom!
The ground shattered into pieces, sending debris flying in all directions.
"Oh?"
The corners of Nietzsche's mouth twitched slightly.
As if he had witnessed something intriguing.
"You saw through my ability just from the very first circulation of my mana? And to think you even know a workaround, temporary as it may be. I was surprised at first, but this is becoming more of a spectacle the more I watch."
Normally, anyone would panic upon finding their skills sealed.
However, Jinhyuk and Cheon Yu-seong responded with absolute perfection, as if they were well-accustomed to such situations.
"We've been through our fair share of battles, you see."
"Well, it's a battle against time anyway. A single mistake, and it's over. Shall we see how many minutes you can hold out?"
Nietzsche gathered his mana once more.
Time distorted, and their physical freedom was bound.
And with that, it began.
Crash!
Boom!
The binding of Psychokinesis followed by a long-range attack.
It was a basic combo, but for opponents whose unique abilities and skills were sealed, it was an absurdly dangerous sequence.
Stab!
Jinhyuk stabbed his thigh with the tip of Fang.
"..."
Thanks to the sharp pain, he could at least counter the 'binding' aspect.
At the very least, it bought him a brief window to escape right before receiving a fatal blow.
Well,
Even that was a mere fraction of a second—about 0.67 seconds.
As Jinhyuk and Cheon Yu-seong slipped away from his attacks like slippery eels, Nietzsche burst into mad laughter.
"Hahaha! Impressive! Let's see you dodge this one as well!"
[Nietzsche activates Lv22 'Black Magic'!]
Ruuumble!
Purple smoke billowed up from the shattered rocks.
It was a curse-type skill created by gathering grudges.
"Kieeeek..."
"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts!"
"K-Kill me, please!"
Horrific screams erupted from hollow eyes and widely torn mouths.
These grudges, born from those who died in extreme pain and terror, were specialized in shattering the minds of anyone they touched.
On top of that, they were accompanied by physical chain explosions.
Needless to say, touching them meant instant death.
Jinhyuk instinctively swung his sword.
However,
Kaboom!
There was no way a dagger devoid of Divine Power could cut through a grudge.
A massive explosion erupted.
Smoke billowed, and the surroundings were instantly engulfed in purple flames.
Of course,
Nietzsche was not one to stop there.
Whoooosh...
Boom! Boom!
Dozens of grudges began to lay waste to the entire area where the explosion had occurred.
It was a merciless bombardment that left absolutely no openings, as if determined to erase even the slightest sliver of hope.
"Groooar!"
With the addition of Cerberus's Calamity Fire, the scene truly resembled a living hell.
"What a... monstrous human."
"No wonder the Family Head summoned him personally. Those annoying humans can't even budge."
"At this rate, we won't even be able to find their corpses. Not even ashes will remain."
The watching members of the Blood Clan chimed in one after another.
* * *
Crimson flames surged from the massive crater.
Whoosh!
Nietzsche stared blankly at the blazing heat before turning around.
There was no way any living creature could survive in that.
...Or so he thought.
At that exact moment, two familiar shadows leaped out from behind Nietzsche's back.
Though singed and covered in dust, a brilliant light still gleamed in the eyes of Jinhyuk and Cheon Yu-seong.
Without a sound, without a trace.
Swiftly and lightly.
Two sword paths sliced toward Nietzsche's neck.
Or rather,
Clang!
They thought they had sliced it.
"As expected. I figured you bastards would survive even that attack."
Nietzsche slowly turned his head.
"And naturally, I knew you would try to launch a surprise attack, aiming for a moment of carelessness."
[Blade of Darkness is activated!]
A blade on a completely different level from the stone shapes he had molded earlier.
The demonic qi of a demon completely enveloped the blade.
"I will show you that no matter how much you struggle, there is a gap in our levels that can never be bridged."
However,
Just as the blade was about to rush forward...
[A deity intervenes in the battlefield.]
A new variable had entered the fray.