Chapter 26
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Infinite Monarch
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Boom, boom-boom, kwarrrrng!
Fireballs swirling through the empty air plummeted one after another, pillars of flame erupting like bamboo shoots after rain.
Towering infernos, each one capable of incinerating a building or two whole, blanketed the surroundings in blue fire in an instant.
It was a veritable explosive hellscape.
A realm of death where even a body forged from iron would turn to ash in a heartbeat.
Yet Rimon didn't have a single hair singed.
Because he'd already slipped beyond the flames' reach with nimble footwork before the fireballs could even drop.
An obvious result.
No matter how powerful the attacks, Rimon wasn't the type to just stand there dumbfounded against such predictable strikes.
But Lee Cheongi's onslaught wasn't over.
No, it hadn't even truly started.
As if to prove the point.
Lee Cheongi lightly snapped his fingers once more and murmured lowly.
Flame Torrent
Whoosh!
Do you believe fire is alive?
Even the staunchest unbeliever here would embrace the faith.
The flames blanketing everything writhed of their own accord, surging upstream across the ground like a river to engulf Rimon. It was life incarnate.
"Didn't your mom tell you playing with fire means wetting the bed at night?"
Rimon didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow.
He just snorted derisively, slammed his sword deep into the ground, and launched off it.
A move that should have merely scattered dirt.
But the Sword Master's finesse transformed that simple act into turning himself into a human trebuchet.
Boom!
A massive crater formed where the sword had plunged, and a house-sized dirt clod rocketed through the river of flames toward Lee Cheongi.
A gigantic mass engulfed in fire, plummeting like a meteor.
Crude compared to modern armaments, yet brimming with primal savagery.
Weapon Manifestation
Kwang!
Thankfully, the fruits of civilization weren't wasted.
A self-propelled gun rose behind Lee Cheongi and spat fire, shattering the primitive menace into mere dirt.
A feat that would draw unanimous praise from firepower zealots, scientists, and military otakus alike.
And Lee Cheongi poured fuel on the fire.
Snap!
Tanks, cannons, missiles, heavy machine guns—a whole arsenal materialized with a flick of his fingers.
With firepower rivaling an entire army arrayed behind him, the great monarch murmured softly.
Accuracy Boost
Low-Level Magic Bullets
Armor Penetration
Power Enhancement
Launch Acceleration
Halos of light enveloped the weapons with each incantation.
Layering into a rainbow sheen across the arsenal, Lee Cheongi swept one hand down gracefully, like a conductor before his orchestra.
Concentrated Fire
Kwarrrrng!
What erupted in unison was the art of barrage.
Advanced weapons of diverse specs aiding one another perfectly, unleashing without a single deviation toward their target.
Precision the Aegis system could study!
Moreover, bolstered by countless skills, each projectile's power far surpassed modern munitions.
"Hmm."
Facing this hail of death, Rimon didn't fall back.
Instead, he appraised the incoming shells, bullets, and missiles sweeping toward him at a glance.
And once his assessment ended.
What Rimon did was a mere three sword strokes.
He angled his blade tip against the lead bullets like a slide, then whipped it in a circle to double their momentum and velocity, hurling them back.
Ting-ting!
The spectacle was mantis versus chariot.
Three bullets' foolhardy assault against an uncountable storm of shells.
But people misunderstand.
"Mantis stopping the chariot" doesn't mock folly.
It stems from the mantis's valor charging a cart, compelling Duke Jang of Qi to turn his chariot in awe.
And right now.
Three bullets slamming into a single missile at once recreated that miracle.
Boom! Kwarrrrng!
Power surged by skills.
Astoundingly precise and dense bullet curtain.
What should have been a strength turned fatal as the central missile detonated.
Like a precision machine failing from one loose screw.
The chain reaction from that missile dragged the rest into fiery oblivion, embroidering the sky in flames.
Tat!
The instant a gap tore through the barrage.
Rimon hurled himself through it.
Even with most shells self-destructing, half the volley remained.
No trace of hesitation or fear in his golden pupils.
Only the relentless focus of a predator lunging at prey.
Lee Cheongi didn't avert his gaze.
Instead, he snapped his fingers anew.
Gravity Manipulation
Crushing weight of dozens of tons
Ice Storm Rain
Freezing rain upon all
Dream Labyrinth
Curse swallowing all in dreams
Eightfold Barrier
Eight layers tougher than a bunker
Each one a supreme skill worthy of a high-level player's ace.
Unleashed in a single breath—that display transcended awe into divinity.
A nightmarishly flawless skill chain no one else could imitate, possible only because he was Infinite Monarch Lee Cheongi.
Still, Rimon showed no perturbation.
He simply advanced three steps toward Lee Cheongi.
When even wheeling about to flee would be too late, striding straight ahead was folly incarnate.
But the outcome stunned.
One step.
Evading gravity and icy deluge.
Two steps.
Leaping barriers and seals.
Three steps.
Thrusting his sword at Lee Cheongi.
A sight transcending superhuman feats.
A killing blow that would impale unprepared.
Space Transfer → Free Flight
Yet that thrust pierced only empty air.
As if he'd seen it coming.
Before Rimon's third step landed, Lee Cheongi sliced through space and vanished.
Reappearing in distant sky beyond sword's reach, he clicked his tongue at the seemingly regretful Rimon and spoke evenly.
"Impressive. Without using skills yourself—how?"
"Trade secret, punk."
Not exceptionally swift.
No time stop.
No space leap.
Yet piercing every skill in three steps to reach him—what secret lay there?
To the steadily inquiring Lee Cheongi, Rimon snapped back curtly before countering.
"How'd you predict it? Most can't dodge on first sight."
"I've been hit by it before."
An answer that made no sense.
But Rimon got it.
"Hah. Precognition."
Among prophetic skills, the most combat-useful—yet rarest and trickiest.
Eying Lee Cheongi who'd foreseen and evaded the stab, Rimon prodded mockingly.
"Just how many skills do you have anyway?"
A dozen-plus used in this fight alone.
Many potent enough to crown a high-level player.
Wielding dozens so freely—blatantly abnormal even by elite standards.
"Couldn't say precisely."
Lee Cheongi absorbed the sarcasm with composure.
Then, facing Rimon squarely, his tone turned from even to icy as he revealed the reason.
The Unique Skill only he possessed. Why he was deemed the most unfathomable among the Ten Great Lords.
Skill Replication
Over 3,000 replicated skills... stopped counting.
People often say it.
Common Skills: convenient power.
Rare Skills: reality-transcending power.
Unique Skills: miraculous power.
Of course, not absolute truth.
Rarer skills tend stronger, but rarity doesn't guarantee might.
Yet for the Ten Lords at least.
No one questioned the logic.
Even fellow Unique Skill holders dubbed theirs specially for the Lords.
Absolute Skills.
Or Cheat Skills.
Lords' powers were cheats transcending miracles.
And among the Ten Lords, the ultimate cheat was Infinite Lord's Unique Skill: Skill Replication.
Truth be told, upon first awakening as a Player.
Lee Cheongi faced heavy underestimation.
Back then, Skill Replication allowed only Common copies once every ten days.
Many mocked him for drawing such a dud despite a Lord constellation pact.
But Lee Cheongi endured.
Copied skills, delved dungeons, steadily leveled.
Surpassing ten skills, he began to shine.
Over fifty, his detractors fell silent.
Over a hundred, cooldown vanished—he founded Infinity Guild.
Over a thousand, Rare Skills copyable—he ascended to Lord.
Skill Replication was that overpowered.
Now, even he had lost count.
People whispered.
The day he replicates Uniques.
Ten Lords end. One Absolute rises.
Thus, Infinite Monarch.
The Lord wielding infinite skills, hailed for boundless potential among Lords—the strongest Player.
And in this instant.
He unveiled that infinite potential against Rimon.
Binding Chains
Wave Cannon
Poison Insect Summon
Space Slash
Slicing sudden ankle chains revealed intangible waves incoming, swarms of venomous bugs amid a space ripping apart wholesale.
Barely evading every one by a hair, Rimon bellowed.
"Hey, take a breath between skills! You don't even get winded?"
"Didn't you know? Skin Breathing plus Oxygen Generation means no need."
"How the hell would I know, punk!"
Rimon clicked his tongue inwardly.
As a PAB agent, he'd faced every skill under the sun.
But in this brief clash, he'd encountered more than in his entire life.
'How many is this bastard running simultaneously?'
Not just attacks.
Thinking aids like Parallel Thought or High-Speed Thought, prophetic like Precognition, supports including Free Flight, and more.
Confirmed active: over a dozen.
Sustaining that many constantly while spamming offense.
Even Rimon, who considered himself beyond human limits, wondered if the guy was human at all.