Chapter 372: Cult of Specters Leader, 'Sloth' (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 372: Cult of Specters Leader, 'Sloth' (2)
News that the master of the Gray Forest had changed caused a massive uproar on the 20th Floor.
This was because Crayveratis possessed a formidable force, and his personal strength was second to none compared to other major factions.
The one who was most enraged was Sloth, the Cult Leader of the Cult of Specters.
"We have received reports that the Saintess has joined an organization called the Veteran Corporation."
It was a bolt from the blue. A target they absolutely had to secure had fallen into the hands of some random upstarts.
"You mean the faction led by that human, Kang Jinhyuk?"
"Yes, that is correct. Our scouts are currently trying to pinpoint their exact location, but they are being blocked by a strange barrier, preventing them from making progress."
Even with the authority bestowed by the Demon King, detection was no easy task. This meant the opponent had prepared a countermeasure of their own.
"Furthermore, as we began to move, other factions have started taking action as well."
"The Black Hill Tribe as well?"
"Yes... We just received an urgent report that an Orc army occupied one of our temples at dawn today."
At the news of losing a temple, Sloth's eyebrows furrowed deeply. He couldn't help it.
The Cult of Specters held a total of seven temples on the 20th Floor. To expand the Demon World's influence under Guntaper's orders in the future, they absolutely had to maintain control over every single temple.
"Which temple?"
"The one on the northernmost outskirts... the 'Hideout of Deadly Sins'."
Of all places, they had lost the most difficult one to reclaim. The enemy must have perfectly anticipated the Cult's movements to catch them off guard.
"Those filthy Orc bastards are being a nuisance."
Black skin and yellow eyes. The Orcs of the Black Hill Tribe possessed a distinct appearance and power that set them apart from ordinary Orcs.
Not only was their individual combat prowess outstanding, but their intelligence was also remarkably high. Consequently, they were counted among the largest factions on the 20th Floor.
"What are your orders?"
"……."
Sloth's gaze shifted back and forth between the Gray Forest and the direction of the temple. His hesitation did not last long.
As long as the Saintess remained on the 20th Floor, they could capture her at any time. However, if a temple was lost for more than twelve hours, they would lose the faith of their believers.
"We withdraw."
Sloth bit his lip hard. Of course, he did not forget to glare into the forest with burning eyes.
"You got lucky, brat."
The next time they met, he would skin him alive and hang him in the center of the temple. Along with everyone else belonging to the Veteran Corporation.
But just as the Cult of Specters was about to withdraw—
Rustle.
The bushes parted, and someone emerged.
"Pant... pant... huh?"
A man on the verge of total collapse. It was none other than Payden, the raid leader of the Olympus Guild.
"H-how can this be... Why are the Cult bastards on the opposite side of the forest...?"
Payden's face was painted with despair. In his current physical state, he wasn't even confident he could handle a single ordinary cultist.
On the other hand, Sloth burst into a fit of mad laughter, unable to contain himself.
"Keke... Kuhahaha!"
This man was undoubtedly the leader who had guided the massive horde of humans.
...The raid leader!
"Capture him alive!"
* * *
Day 2 of entering the Gray Forest.
While heavily reinforcing the forest, Jinhyuk closely monitored the movements of the other factions. After all, the most crucial task on the 20th Floor was figuring out how to bring down the top three factions.
First, let's take care of some pending matters.
He had been so busy that he hadn't even allocated his stat points. To be precise, it was because of a few people who clung to him like leeches.
Alice... seems to have gone to catch some strange insects again.
Having developed a taste for hunting, she was sweeping through the entire area, dragging Bellus and Ophelia along with her. Ms. Teresa and Frey also seemed busy with their own tasks.
Finally, he had some time to himself.
"Whew..."
Exhaling a soft sigh, Jinhyuk activated his personal status window.
Tring!
——————————————————
Name: Kang Jinhyuk
Gender: Male
Level: 156
Strength: 109 | Agility: 121 | Stamina: 67 | Mana: 402 | Gap: 100 | Luck: 10 | Adaptive: 78 | Essence: 108.39
Available Stat Points: 6
Available Coins: 11,451,129
Class: Ruler of Runes
Unique Sacred Chant: Wheel of Defying Heaven
Unique Abilities: 'Fusion', 'Grave of Swords', 'Blessing of the Stars', "Judgment of Anubis", 'Blood Demon Qi', 'Mandala', '1-Second Invincibility', 'Thousand Poisons', 'White Beast', 'All-Share', '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', 'Primordial Flame', 'Blood Explosion', 'Black Tears', "Tombgrave's Leg", 'Superhuman Strength and Chaotic Gods', 'Core of the Legion', 'Ancient Barrier', 'Heavenly Demonic Divine Art', 'Mentra Taming', 'Nihilism', 'Heaven-Destroying Myriad Poison'
Skills: Too many skills to display. Switched to 'Collapsed' mode.
——————————————————
He had 6 unallocated stat points. His level had reached 156 before he knew it.
My Essence is steadily rising, and my growth is overwhelming.
The stats he had meticulously hoarded since his early days in the Tower of Trials, including the Gap, were playing their parts perfectly.
[Stamina has increased from 67 → 73!]
He invested them into Stamina. To move past the middle floors and climb to the upper floors of the Tower, he needed to start balancing his stats. Compared to his steadily increased Mana, his Stamina was relatively low.
Next was...
Jinhyuk calmed his racing heart.
The Random Skill Box [?]
He had never imagined he would obtain this from defeating Crayveratis.
The method to dismantle it is so damn tricky that even I messed it up several times in the past.
The '?' rank existed for a reason. If one failed to handle it properly, it could turn into trash worse than an F-rank. Conversely, if one successfully dismantled it to the very end, it could yield a top-tier skill reaching SSS-rank.
"Undine."
Jinhyuk summoned the water spirit.
"Y-Yes, M-Master? Did you call?"
"I have a favor to ask. But why are you so terrified?"
"Terrified? I'm completely fine! Look, I'm overflowing with confidence right now!"
"You're stuttering, though."
"I am n-not..."
"And you're avoiding eye contact."
"A-Am I?"
As Jinhyuk tilted his head, a memory suddenly flashed through his mind.
Come to think of it... when he was eating that bizarre, monstrous food earlier, this little punk had been giggling and enjoying herself. He remembered her rolling on the ground, clutching her stomach in laughter.
Crackle!
A streak of pure white frost shot up from Jinhyuk's fingertips.
"Hieeeek! You remembered, Master?"
"Of course I did. Vividly."
Thanks to her reaction, he remembered it with absolute clarity.
"I'm sorry! I must have lost my mind back then... Never, never again! I promise it won't happen again!"
Undine begged on her hands and knees. But it was already too late.
"From now on, I think you'll be a sewage spirit instead of a water spirit."
He mixed 'Heaven-Destroying Myriad Poison' and 'Blood Demon Qi' into his Glacial Shaping. When he added the ten-year-aged sand lance extract he had been saving to feed Alice, a highly convincing toxic concoction was complete.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I've committed a mortal sin!"
"If you've committed a mortal sin, then you should die."
However...
"Guard this tent so that absolutely no one can enter until I say so. If you do, I might forgive you."
"I-I'll guard it with my life! Absolutely no one will get past me, so just trust me, Master!"
Undine confidently declared, taking up her post as guard.
* * *
Having prevented any potential variables, Jinhyuk examined the front and back of the iron box.
Looking at its appearance, it seems to be of Dark Elf make...
...Could it be?
Characters of the Dark Elf language were engraved on it, no larger than a pinky nail.
There was no mistake. It was crafted by the 'Ingtalimun' tribe, known to be the most skilled artifact creators among the Dark Elves.
This is something I know very well.
Jinhyuk quickly injected mana into the cube-like box.
Then—
Click!
The latch released. At the same time, the shape of the box began to shift.
[The F-Rank Random Box has been unlocked.]
[Accepting the reward will grant a random F-rank skill.]
It's simple at first.
The mana circuits were structured in powers of two. At stage zero, he only needed to decode a single type of circuit, but the difficulty spiked exponentially as he progressed.
1, 2, 4, 8, 16...
512, 1024, 2048...
And finally, he had to crack 4,096 circuits simultaneously—the power of twelve, which the Dark Elves held sacred.
Focusing his mind, Jinhyuk began to manipulate the mana circuits.
Click!
Click!
[The E-Rank Random Box has been unlocked.]
[The D-Rank Random Box has been unlo...]
[The C-Rank...]
As the latches clicked open, the potential rewards changed. Now, past B-rank, he could see skills corresponding to A-rank.
Drip, drip...
Sweat drenched his forehead. It felt less like a fierce battle and more like pushing past his absolute limits.
Creak!
...!
That was a close call. The mana distribution to the top three circuits among the 1,024 had just slipped out of alignment.
That was tight. Of course they wouldn't make it easy.
But he didn't panic. He had seized what he wanted under far harsher conditions than this.
He lost track of how much time had passed. By the time the sun, once high in the sky, began to set—
Click!
The final latch released.
"Y-Yes! I did it!"
Jinhyuk cheered. The golden, glowing box finally revealed what had been hidden inside.
[Three SSS-Rank Random Skill Cards have been unlocked.]
[Please select your desired skill.]
Three skill cards adorned with intricate patterns.
He had to choose one of them.
"Which one on earth should I pick?"
He hesitated to reach out, as even a glance told him none of them were ordinary.
It would have been nice if he could at least check what kind of skills they were, but the overarching premise of 'random' allowed no peeking. Even 'Gluttony's Eye' couldn't identify the individual skill cards.
I have to trust my Luck stat of 10 and leave the rest to fate.
Just as Jinhyuk's dilemma was deepening—
Crash!
A commotion erupted outside the tent.
"What is wrong with this water idiot?! I'm just trying to see my contractor, so why is she making such a fuss?!"
Alice's voice pierced his eardrums.
"N-No! If you go in, Master will turn me into a sewage spirit...!"
Undine desperately tried to stop her, but there was no stopping Alice.
"Just who are you giggling with that you're blocking me from entering... Huh?"
Alice, practically blowing the tent away, looked back and forth between Jinhyuk and the three golden cards. Then, she tilted her small head.
"What are those strange cards?"
"I didn't want anyone coming in because I thought it might startle them. Well, it's a type of reward, but I guess it might look a bit strange to residents."
"No, not that. I'm asking why the card on the far right has the seal that's only given to bosses engraved on it."
"What?"
Jinhyuk's eyes widened.
Clearly, the cards looked identical. He couldn't feel any seal or foreign mana from them.
Which meant...
Can only Alice see it?