Chapter 335: Spirit of Darkness
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 335: Spirit of Darkness
A transformation of the mental world.
An ability that shattered existing laws to force a Battlefield Selection advantageous to the caster was incredibly rare, even within the Tower of Trials.
Let alone...
"...! This is absurd. To think he materialized a power rivaling an actual skill... just by mimicking it?"
Nietzsche's pupils shook violently.
Until now, Nihilism had exerted overwhelming power against both players and residents alike.
Hadn't his ability made even Hyacinth and Exencion flinch?
And yet.
All of those certainties.
Were crumbling.
Starting from this very moment.
['The World of Players' unfolds.]
Bzzt...
The massive royal palace lined with pillars vanished, replaced by a familiar landscape.
The place inside the Corridor of the Fallen where they had first fought over the 'Frozen Tear'.
The very spot where the two had first clashed swords after the Tower of Trials manifested in reality.
Jinhyuk briefly scanned his surroundings.
Cheon Yu-seong also pressed his lips into a thin line, as if reminiscing about the past.
Of course, it was only for a fleeting moment.
"We have to end this in one shot. There won't be a second chance."
Because he had forced the activation of 'Battlefield Selection', he could feel a severe strain taking a toll on his body.
Throb! Throb! Throb!
His veins burned, and his lips went dry.
His overloaded muscles and bones felt as if they were screaming.
A minute at most.
That was likely the limit this world could be maintained.
"Don't worry. Even if you didn't say it, I plan to finish this with a single strike."
Cheon Yu-seong extended his sword forward.
At the same time.
Jinhyuk also smoothly drew his sword.
[Unique Ability...]
Two sword paths...
[Unique Ability...]
...merge into one.
[False 'Song of the Sword' is activated.]
Two different players.
Naturally, there was absolutely no connection between them; they were complete strangers.
But.
The Soul-Chasing Sword Dance.
The scattering tips of their blades.
Even without mana.
Even without abilities.
The Eleventh Form.
The form is realized.
As if it were only natural, an incredibly fluid line marked the end.
Dual Sword Unity.
This was their sword.
Something that could only be forged because they were the ultimate rivals, each understanding the other's sword path better than anyone else.
It was a pinnacle that transcended the system itself.
Crashhhhh!
The two swords crossed.
The afterimages of the blades vanished completely.
"This is impossible... This can't be happening. How could this..."
Nietzsche shrieked, casting shield after shield in rapid succession.
Yet.
The multiple layers of shields forged from black magic shattered the instant they touched the blades.
Slash!
Even space itself was sliced clean through.
* * *
Sssssss!
Thick smoke billowed up from the ground.
Because the single strike had been so devastatingly powerful, even the mental world created by Battlefield Selection could not properly withstand the impact.
Right then.
Tring!
[Warning! Immense shock has been inflicted upon the players' bodies.]
['Battlefield Selection' is dispelled.]
[All incomplete abilities vanish.]
Crack!
Shatter...
Cracks spread across the air, and the scenery shattered like shards of glass.
The mental world, which had been barely holding on, finally collapsed.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
"Haaaa..."
Only their ragged breathing told the tale of how reckless the previous battle had been.
However.
"Tch..."
Cheon Yu-seong clicked his tongue, his face twisted in irritation.
There was no sensation.
The heavy feedback that should have reverberated through his hands was missing.
"Did he... neutralize it in that split second?"
Jinhyuk also frowned.
At the final moment, something had interposed itself between Nietzsche and their sword strikes.
They had sliced through the shields, but failed to cut down the target himself.
Nietzsche was... still perfectly fine.
As if to prove that point.
"Not bad... Honestly, even I was in danger just now. I never expected I'd have to pull this out."
Nietzsche walked out of the smoke.
He was completely unscathed and pristine.
And beside him...
"Hehehe. I blocked it. I blocked it. Did I do good? Huh?"
There was something enveloped in a dark gas.
A creature with odd-colored eyes—one yellow, one blue—giggled incessantly.
'That is...'
Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
It wasn't an ordinary monster or summon.
A spirit creature.
And not just any spirit belonging to the five major elements, but a dark-attribute spirit.
This... another monstrous thing had appeared.
'It's just one obstacle after another.'
To think he would encounter such a troublesome foe at a time like this.
Having poured out everything, he didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.
He couldn't ask the others for help either.
Loki and Thor were also fully occupied dealing with the high-ranking demon and the countless magic beasts following her.
Not to mention Alice.
"Damn it. Don't you have some kind of clever trick up your sleeve?"
"...I'm sorry, but not right now."
Jinhyuk quietly shook his head.
"If even you are saying that... then things really are at their worst."
For Jinhyuk, who always acted slyly and came up with a solution, to react like this...
It meant their chances of winning were close to zero percent.
"I finally see despair on your face."
A sinister smile played on Nietzsche's lips.
Nietzsche was also at his limit, but it didn't matter as long as he had enough strength left to command the spirit.
After all, delivering the final blow was the spirit's job.
"I must see their entire bodies rot away. If possible, start from their fingers or toes and drag it out as long as you can."
"Hehehe! Okay, got it. I'll make sure they die in the most painful way possible."
[The forgotten elemental spirit 'Blackness' activates 'Whip of the Dead'!]
Long whips materialized on both sides of the gaseous body.
Cracklet!
Black sparks flew in all directions.
The ground could be seen burning away.
The 4th floor of the Tower.
It was an ability with an effect similar to the 'Black Death' used by Pendariel.
In their current situation where their abilities were sealed, a power that rotted skin upon mere contact was bound to be extremely troublesome.
They couldn't afford to let even a single hit land.
Jinhyuk and Cheon Yu-seong each took their stances.
It was coming.
"It's heading your way!"
Whoosh... Boom!
"Kugh!"
Cheon Yu-seong, targeted by the opening attack, barely managed to deflect it.
With absurd speed backed by heavy weight, even deflecting it was no easy task.
It was a stroke of luck that the Flower-Dance Plum-Blossom Sword was a divine weapon of the Mount Hua Sect. Had it been an ordinary sword, it would have been corroded by that ominous energy.
"Hehehe! Not bad! Want to block this too? How about this? And this?"
Clang! Crash! Clang! Clang!
The whips lashed out like a tempest.
Cheon Yu-seong broke into a cold sweat as he threw his body left and right to dodge.
And, seizing the opening while Cheon Yu-seong was frantically defending—
Jinhyuk lunged forward.
Though his speed was embarrassingly slow to be called a gap-closer...
...his timing was absolutely perfect.
He had precisely penetrated the blind spot created when the two whips crossed.
His careful observation of how Wolyeong usually moved during Shadow Extreme Kill paid off handsomely.
However.
Thud!
A third whip tightly bound Fang.
Even the surprise attack he thought was perfect had been neutralized.
"Hehehe! You call that a surprise attack? I actually had some expectations since there are two of you, but this is a total disappointment. Yep, yep."
With that, their last hope vanished.
Crash!
"Aaargh!"
Cheon Yu-seong tumbled pathetically across the dirt floor once again.
Perhaps he had failed to redirect the weight; that single blow had shattered his right shoulder bone.
"That's one down. Next is..."
Blackness's gaze turned toward Jinhyuk.
Boom!
The whip slammed down onto the Twin Dragon Sword.
"...!"
This was no longer a matter of reacting to what he saw, but responding purely through anticipation and experience.
Jinhyuk squeezed out every last drop of his strength to swing his sword.
Of course.
It was nothing but a futile struggle.
No matter how outstanding one's willpower was, transcending physical limitations was impossible.
"Now, I'll finish you both."
Blackness giggled, gathering mana.
The whips seemed to soar high into the sky all at once, before immediately hurtling down toward Jinhyuk and Cheon Yu-seong.
Rumble!
The battered and bruised pair had absolutely no strength left to dodge.
But at that very moment.
Whirrrr!
Multiple gates began to manifest before their eyes.
* * *
"What is this now?"
Nietzsche, who had been certain of victory, reacted to the unexpected anomaly.
He couldn't help but be flustered.
There was absolutely no reason for gates to appear in this situation.
[Multiple spirits respond to their master's crisis.]
There was no mana connection.
Without a supply of mana, the spirits naturally had no reason to cross over to the mortal realm.
For them, a contract was merely a means to experience a new world through the medium of mana.
And yet.
The gates glowed with rapidly intensifying light.
As if they were about to burst open at any second.
At that exact moment.
Someone emerged from beyond the gates.
"How dare you... lay your filthy hands on him?"
The first to step out of the gate was the water spirit, Undine.
Her small, cute appearance was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, a woman with a fully mature body extended her slender finger forward.
Ruuuumble!
Dozens of water droplets swirled frantically like a vortex, baring their hostility toward Nietzsche and Blackness, who had dared to lay hands on Jinhyuk.
The terrifying aura radiating from them wasn't simply because of the powerful mana infused within the droplets.
It was rage toward those who had harmed Jinhyuk.
Only that single emotion dominated the air.
"We... will protect Master."
"Graaaah!"
Sylphid, who had manifested two pairs of wings, and Salamander, whose entire body was covered in crimson scales, cast different types of magic.
As the wind met the flames,
Whoooooosh!
a scorching wind akin to hellfire swept through.
"Groooar!"
"Everyone, quiet down. You're giving me a headache."
Spells of the five major elements were cast simultaneously.
"E-even spirit summoners can't contract with this many spirit creatures! Let alone... summoning their true bodies directly! You... just what... what on earth are you?!"
Nietzsche screamed, the veins in his neck bulging.
Every time he was certain of victory, an anomaly occurred.
And each one was of an absurd scale, capable of completely turning the tide of battle.
He could no longer make heads or tails of it.
Every single move he was confident would be a sure-kill was being thwarted.
'No matter how... powerful Blackness is among the elemental attributes, it can't fight against their true bodies.'
And it wasn't as if Blackness would summon its true body for him either.
Their relationship was strictly business, bound purely by the terms of the contract.
In that case...
"Tristan! Melena!"
Nietzsche shouted toward the two who were waiting a short distance away.
If the two demons bought him some time, he would easily be able to escape.
Regrouping and fighting again was his only option.
However.
The two who received the command did not make a single move.
"What are you doing?! Why aren't you fighting them?!"
Nietzsche urged them, but the response he received was cold.
"Sorry."
"Unfortunately, your orders aren't our top priority."
"If my orders, as the leader of the demons, aren't the top priority, then whose orders could possibly come first?!"
At Nietzsche's roar—
"Mine, of course."
Jinhyuk brushed off the dust and stepped forward.