Chapter 130
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Overthrowing the Game Board
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kang Seol watched the figure clashing with Finn and felt certain it was Toki.
It was a miracle that had arrived in the Harvester's season.
Though little time had passed since they parted ways, the gulf between them was as vast as the divide between life and death.
Kwagoogoogoogwa-!
Trial: The Beast's Season arrives.
Gale-force winds rage across the battlefield.
Trial: The Knight's Season arrives.
Swords occasionally fall upon the battlefield.
The Beast's Season and the Knight's Season arrived simultaneously.
'Dangerous!'
A chill ran up the back of Kang Seol's neck.
Every being on the battlefield hunkered down, resisting the wind.
Whooooong-!
Kwajiiiiiik!
"Kiyaaaaak!"
Karen's duplicate was pierced through by a sword dropping from a pitch-black rift in space.
Whoooong...
But as it connected to the red thread from Finn, it recovered almost instantly.
'In the end, I have to take out Finn.'
It had been impossible before, but now it was feasible.
Kang Seol eyed Toki's puppet, crouched low. Even without facial features, it somehow felt like he was grinning.
Whooooong-!
A sword influenced by the wind slashed down diagonally toward Toki's puppet.
"No!"
The sword slammed into the direction of Toki's puppet.
Kwaaaaaang!
Thanks to the wind, the dust settled in an instant, allowing Kang Seol to assess the situation.
To cut to the chase, Toki was unharmed. But one of his arms had been shattered.
'Damn it! Before we even get started...'
Swooooosh...
As the wind died down, Toki stood.
Kirik, kirik...
Toki swapped in an arm from another puppet in place of the broken one. He was still the trickster, pulling off moves that left Kang Seol stunned.
"Glad I kept it gripped between my feet."
"Toki!"
"You ready, kid?"
"Rea... dy?"
Kikigik...
"Ready to get out of here, I mean."
With those words from Toki, their roles fell into place.
Park Chang-sik was too injured to continue fighting. Instead, Toki would take over the role he'd played before.
Pat-!
Pat-!
Seizing the gap as the seasons shifted, Kang Seol and Toki moved in unison.
The same movements meant the same thoughts.
As the two charged at nearly identical speeds, Finn's puppet visibly panicked.
Finn's puppet tried rejecting Kang Seol, just like before.
Paaaaang-!
And that was a mistake.
Toki slid across the ground to dodge the blood spear, then snapped his waist up, launching himself skyward.
Soul Puppet: Toki uses Pure Fist.
20% of damage applied as fixed damage.
Whoosh!
Jiiing-
Pain Chronicle: Finn Modria uses Blood Veil.
Nullifies 75% of physical damage.
Pabababak!
Toki's attack inflicted 80% physical damage plus 20% fixed damage. Finn's puppet shuddered, rendering the Blood Veil pointless.
Chwaaaaaak! Cha aaaak!
Blood spears formed from all directions, all to pry Toki away.
Toki startled and rolled along the ground.
Kwagagaga!
Blood spears swept the floor. And charging from beyond them was Kang Seol.
Whoooong-!
Kwaaaaaang!
Kikigik...
Finn staggered back from the shock transmitted through the barrier. Kang Seol glanced at Toki, who had sprung back up.
No gaze or voice passed between them, yet somehow Kang Seol knew exactly how Toki would move next.
He had a certain ability for situations like this.
-How do you know when the strong ones fall?
-When they're tired?
-No, when they take an attack that could fell them.
-...Isn't that obvious?
-Exactly. So I'll teach you the obvious attacks from now on.
Toki's movements turned feral.
Soul Puppet: Toki's Ruffian's Movement activates.
Evasion +10%, Hit Rate +5%.
Kang Seol moved in sync with him.
Ruffian's Movement activates.
Evasion +10%, Hit Rate +5%.
Kang Seol in front of the puppet, Toki behind it.
Kwaang! Kwaaaang!
As Kang Seol hammered the front, Toki unleashed his ability.
Soul Puppet: Toki uses Chimney Breaker.
Ignores 40% of Defense.
Kwajijik!
Kwajijijik!
Kwajik! Kwajik! Kwajik!
A barrage of blows in a split second.
Finn's puppet, caught between Kang Seol and Toki, tried to position them on opposite sides rather than front and back.
Seizing the chance, Finn extended both arms.
Pain Chronicle: Finn Modria uses Secret Skill: Emergency Transfusion.
Drains HP from grabbed target.
"Dodge!"
With Kang Seol's shout, red waves burst from Finn's arms.
Kwaaaang-!
Kang Seol and Toki fell back in perfect sync, escaping the attack range.
And regrettably, their assault ended there.
Trial: The Knight's Season arrives.
Swords occasionally fall upon the battlefield.
Trial: The Mage's Season arrives.
Interconnected portals form across the battlefield.
Using the seasonal shift, Finn's puppet recovered its health.
Chwaaaak-!
Pain Chronicle: Finn Modria uses Fresh Flesh.
Recovers 70% of recently lost HP at high speed.
In the end, Finn recovered the minor damage he'd taken beyond the barrier.
"...Creepy."
"Agreed."
"Let's go again."
"...I'll take the lead!"
Pat-!
Kang Seol realized he was smiling.
Why was he smiling?
The thrill of battle itself. The reliable ally at his back. Or the certainty of victory.
Kang Seol mimicked Toki's movements perfectly to bait Finn.
Paaaaang-!
The fight kicked off once more with Finn's rejection.
Kang Seol steadied himself to avoid being blown back and glanced at Toki's back.
Toki swung his arm high.
Soul Puppet: Toki uses Debris Scatter.
Hit by debris: Vision blurs.
The cheap tactic that had made Kang Seol chuckle before.
Finn startled and leaped back from Toki's attack.
Whoooong-!
Kwajiiiiiik!
A sword from the sky struck Finn.
Pain Chronicle: Finn Modria uses Blood Veil.
Nullifies 75% of physical damage.
Finn's puppet hadn't fully absorbed the impact. Toki kicked off the ground and closed in.
Pat-!
That movement.
The move he'd seen endlessly over the past time.
A motion too hard to imitate.
A technique Kang Seol still hadn't mastered.
-Puhup... What was that just now?
-Didn't name it. Up or down?
-I just got hit by a nameless move?
-Sky Kick, Ground Kick it is.
-You just made that up!
-Don't act smart out there. They'll get jealous.
"Hah!"
Soul Puppet: Toki uses Sky Kick, Ground Kick.
One of the two abilities activates.
Finn tried to defend, but unable to predict Toki's target, he got swept up.
Kwajiiik!
Toki targeted Finn's lower body.
As Finn staggered back, Kang Seol burst from a nearby portal.
A spinning kick in mid-air.
The Sky Kick move Toki would have used.
Kwajijijik!
"Excellent!"
Toki shouted, seeing Kang Seol's growth.
Kujik...
Kujijik...
Chiiiiiik...
Finn flew back and clawed at the ground.
But Kang Seol and Toki couldn't finish him off. Swords rained down, blocking their path.
Whoooong...
Jiiing-
Kwajijik!
'Swords pass through portals.'
He could predict their direction somewhat, but not fast enough to reach Finn.
Finn's puppet recovered its health, as if mocking them.
Pain Chronicle: Finn Modria uses Fresh Flesh.
Recovers 70% of recently lost HP at high speed.
Proof that the Labyrinth and Pain Puppets were one and the same.
As Finn recovered, the seasons shifted again.
Trial: The Beast's Season arrives.
Gale-force winds rage across the battlefield.
Trial: The Shepherd's Season arrives.
A Hymn of Glory echoes for you.
The Penitent is affected by Hymn of Glory.
The Penitent's stats increase by 35%.
"Keuk..."
The Beast's Season made movement difficult for everyone.
The ever-shifting winds threatened to throw them off balance and send them plummeting.
But having endured the perilous Soul Requiem, it wasn't an unfair setback.
Amid it all, a message appeared.
The Whimsical Season ends.
After 2 more season changes, the Death's Season arrives.
Death's Season reaps all life on the battlefield.
'Damn... Instant-death pattern...'
Not just in the Labyrinth, but a staple instant-death trigger scattered throughout the Eternal World.
It activated when certain conditions weren't met.
'We dragged it out too long...'
He had to end it next season.
Otherwise, Death's Season would arrive, wiping out all life on the battlefield—including his own.
Kang Seol looked to Toki to mention it.
But he couldn't speak.
Toki already knew the end was near.
And instead of Kang Seol's words, Toki's came through.
"Kid."
"......"
"Don't give up till the end."
"Toki..."
"And while you're alive, try doing some good deeds now and then."
The seasons shifted again, ushering in the final one before Death's.
Trial: The Mage's Season arrives.
Interconnected portals form across the battlefield.
Trial: The Harvester's Season arrives.
Soul Puppets spawn across the battlefield.
Souls from the lantern's top descend upon the battlefield.
Slrrr...
Before the soul puppets could fully spawn.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Toki charged ferociously. Naturally, he ate a rejection.
But.
Chwaaaak!
Soul Puppet: Toki uses Debris Scatter.
Hit by debris: Vision blurs.
Finn's puppet, wary of the trick, retreated farther this time.
"......"
When he scanned the battlefield again, Toki was gone. His flashy maneuver had shockingly drawn Finn's puppet's eyes.
Pat-!
Finn's puppet braced for the incoming impact. But what came wasn't a blow—it was restraint.
Warak-!
Toki's puppet grabbed both arms from behind and yelled.
"Now...!"
Paaaaang-!
Contrary to Finn's intent to shake him off with rejection, Toki's puppet clung like a cicada.
"Hey...!"
The final season.
Everything had to end now.
Pain Chronicle: Finn Modria uses Secret Skill: Emergency Transfusion.
Drains HP from grabbed target.
"Kuaaaaaaaaah!"
Toki screamed as he was grabbed, but refused to let go of Finn.
Finn flailed, bracing for Kang Seol's follow-up.
Rejection already used on Toki.
Jiiing-
Pain Chronicle: Finn Modria uses Blood Veil.
Nullifies 75% of physical damage.
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!"
Kang Seol's roar.
Had there ever been a moment this desperate?
He'd endured so much for this one instant.
Unconsciously venting all he'd bottled up, he charged at Finn.
And in that moment, Finn's puppet spoke.
"It's over... this pain too..."
For a split second, the veil around Finn's puppet contracted.
Paat-!
Pain Chronicle: Finn Modria uses Combo: Umbrella Fold.
Blood Spear of same rank as Blood Veil activates.
During Umbrella Fold cooldown, Blood Veil cannot be used.
Finn's puppet had been waiting for this exact moment—the one where his foes let victory lull them into carelessness.
Thweeeeeek-!
The blood spear missed. It hadn't been aimed straight at Kang Seol, but at a strange angle.
Yet.
Jiiing-
Puhwaaaaaak-!
A spray of blood erupted before Kang Seol's eyes.
And with it, an overwhelming emptiness.
Loss. Freedom.
Or pain.
Countless words could describe it.
Toki shouted.
"No!"
The blood spear had passed through a portal to target Kang Seol's right arm. His entire right arm was gone.
Soon, excruciating pain and torment washed over Kang Seol.
Finn's puppet was satisfied. Like escaping its shell to bite the enemy's throat, just as planned.
But the aftermath felt off. Kang Seol rolled on the ground without panic after the hit, then charged again.
Painful, shocking as it must be. Why wouldn't he stop?
"Got you at last! You turtle bastard!"
Finn's puppet jolted and unleashed maximum power.
Kwaaa...
His immobile legs finally moved. If he could just escape a little, that would be enough. Enough to beat that man.
But it was mere wishful thinking.
Kang Seol grimaced in pain, yet his mouth smiled. The expression of assured victory.
"Still..."
as cowardly as ever.
"Predictable."
Hwaruruk!
Switching to Volcano Stance.
Flames cling to all attacks.
Explosions occur at impact points.
Duration: Clinging Flames applied.
Duration: Heat and Warmth applied.
Wudududuk-!
From Kang Seol's severed right arm stump, black shadows bristled wildly.
They formed a massive arm and shot forward.
Night Raven: Uses Iron Fist Rule.
Shadow Hand Duration: Affected by Clinging Flames.
Shadow Hand Duration: Affected by Heat and Warmth.
Kang Seol's design overlaid Finn's scripted battle flow.
He'd charged knowing he'd lose his right arm from the start.
Retreating here meant no second chance. A moment's hesitation in pain, and it was over.
As the black fist filled his vision, engulfing the world, Toki laughed.
"Looks like I'm not last."
The massive fist smashed Finn and the clinging Toki.
Kwajijijijijijik!
Puppet shards scattered everywhere.
With this, Kang Seol shattered his old, outdated self.
At the end of the Whimsical Season, it was finally over.
Where his black fist swept, only deep gouges remained—nothing else.
Trial: Death's Season arri
The message cut off before completing.
In its place, another message filled his vision.