Chapter 364
Chapter 364
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 364
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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Kang Seol had boldly declared it to Shin Yu, but in truth, it stung quite a bit.
‘The gap is this wide… Has he gotten even stronger?’
No, actually, Shin Yu’s skill level might have stayed the same.
It was just that the standard of comparison had shifted from the other Shin brothers to himself, now a half-baked summoner.
‘I couldn’t even see what happened.’
Spatial awareness, mental strength, and Foresight failed to process the given information properly.
If he had blocked Shin Yu’s attack head-on, it might have been different, but his strikes felt like mere flashes of light passing by like scenery.
Of course, that didn’t mean Kang Seol was spiraling into despair.
‘Defense is the issue.’
Even with his monstrous regenerative power, having the defense of a water balloon that popped with a poke made him nothing more than Shin Yu’s plaything.
In fact, his Night Beasts had burst apart under even Iri’s strikes.
The Night Beasts fought each other with missiles in hand.
They exchanged blows powerful enough to completely crush their bodies if even one landed.
Against the Iri, it had been faster to let them burst once and then recover rather than block such attacks, but that tactic was useless against stronger foes.
“Here goes…”
To check just how soft the Night Beast’s flesh was, Kang Seol wrapped his hand in mana and thrust it into the creature’s body.
Squelch…
“…”
His hand slipped in without any resistance.
It felt just like plunging his hand into a swamp.
- Welcome~
- Kinda like marshmallow lololol
- High-pass crazy lol
Kang Seol grimaced.
He’d expected at least some firmness, but it went in far too easily.
‘Even a graze would be fatal.’
With constant critical hits, recovery meant nothing.
In the end, acquiring a baseline level of defense was the new challenge.
‘Defense… defense, huh…’
Creating that from nothing would be incredibly tricky, so he needed materials.
Kang Seol wasn’t the Immortal, the lord of his creations, so he had no choice.
‘Hmm… Means pulling from what I already have?’
Defense equated to hardness.
As he racked his brain for hardness-related traits, relevant abilities came to mind.
Jamad’s earth sorcery, Karen’s ultimate Incomplete Combustion.
And finally, Progenitor’s Bone.
Jamad couldn’t be summoned, so that was out, and same for Karen. Plus, her ability was an ultimate, so he didn’t even know how to use it.
“Back to Progenitor’s Bone, then.”
With the defense offered by Progenitor’s Bone, it could deliver the performance Kang Seol wanted.
It might look a bit bulky, but few abilities could match it in raw defense.
- We’ll find the answer, just like always.
- Nah, it’s this guy ㅎ
- Do we even need to step in?
Fortunately, Kang Seol was quite adept at handling Progenitor’s Bone.
Was it because it had awakened alongside Karuna’s super-sensory Asura? It felt as familiar as a bird’s wings slicing through the sky—an instinct born of self-preservation, more than a single ability.
‘I need to implant that instinct into this guy.’
Up close, the mid-sized Night Raven was massive enough to draw gasps.
‘…Into a beast like this?’
Kang Seol was about the size of a small Night Beast, like a rabbit.
Just as finding big sizes for the same clothing design gets tough beyond a certain point, wrapping Progenitor’s Bone around this thing promised immense difficulty.
‘In the end, I have to form Progenitor’s Bone over a vast surface area…’
Not easy. Hell, it was questionable if it was even possible.
Snap-!
‘Well, gotta try and see.’
If he didn’t know, smashing his head against it and rethinking afterward was a solid decision process.
Pondering alone wouldn’t yield answers anyway.
For the next month, Kang Seol threw himself into mastering Progenitor’s Bone.
His first step: forcibly transplanting it.
Unlike with Progenitor’s Blood, he was confident in forming bone, so he figured direct transfer would work.
But.
Crack, crackle…
“…”
The bone failed to properly harden and shattered easily.
Since that method clearly wasn’t the answer, he moved to the next phase.
‘For Progenitor’s Bone to form…’
If he couldn’t hand it over directly, what about making the Night Beast generate its own bones?
Kang Seol thought so and acted immediately.
The principle behind Progenitor’s Bone formation was simple.
Coagulation of blood was key to creating it.
‘Blood pools and forms bone.’
Like thin cement hardening later, Progenitor’s Bone followed the same process.
The issue: how to induce that coagulation.
Kang Seol first focused on the Night Beast’s blood vessels, modeled after his own.
‘I’ll use these.’
Blood had to leak out from under the skin to form Progenitor’s Bone, so he began crafting new vessels connected to the skin.
These vessels linked not to the heart but to pre-made blood pouches, which stored coagulated blood and fired it through the vessels as needed.
Then, regulating the vessels to cause congestion, triggering explosive force to form Progenitor’s Bone at will.
The explanation sounded elaborate, but sensation overrode theory by half.
Whoooosh…
Blood spurted out, forming Progenitor’s…
Crack, crackle…
“…”
The bone crumbled away.
The congestion hadn’t been sufficient for full formation.
Kang Seol believed this was the right path and stuck with it for a while.
And that effort bore fruit.
“Success!”
[An organ based on the blood pouch fuses with the Night Beast.]
[The Night Beast can now synthesize Progenitor’s Bone from its own body.]
[Progenitor’s Bone defense scales with progenitor realm.]
…
A Night Beast clad in splendid armor.
Kang Seol wanted to test this power right away, but it wasn’t night yet.
When night fell, they’d make perfect opponents for the new strength.
Twitch… twitch…
He tried to stay still, but he couldn’t help the grin creeping up.
- Why’s he like this?
- Got new shoes and it’s the night before math trip lol
- Yeah, that tracks.
He wasn’t just watched by viewers.
Shin Lip and Shin Hyun observed his training from afar, careful not to interfere.
“How’s it looking?”
“Still a ways off, but it’s entertaining to watch…”
“…He only learns through experience, so same as always.”
Just then.
Grrrrowl…
Night fell, and Night Beasts’ cries echoed from the forest.
“They’re here.”
The moment Kang Seol had awaited.
* * *
Whoosh…
Claaang-!
An Iri confronted him in a wide clearing.
“Hahaha!”
Whoosh…
Claaang-!
Whoosh…
Claaaang-!
All its attacks were nullified by the Progenitor’s Bone encasing the Night Beast.
“Success… a grand success.”
It felt like utter domination over the Iri.
“Now, take it down.”
Whoosh…
Boom-!
The Night Beast’s fist slammed into the Iri, shattering it.
Whoooosh…
[The Night Beast gathers darkness.]
[Darkness accumulates just a tiny bit.]
…
Thoroughly satisfying results.
At this rate, fights would end before he could even feel the boosted recovery.
Now, the most crucial task remained.
Perhaps the very goal for the first gateway using the Night Beast.
‘Surviving the night.’
If the Night Beast could safely endure a full night without him, it’d mark a true new realm.
Meaning he’d no longer be bound to night hunts.
Could the Night Beast pull this off without Kang Seol watching?
Clap-!
‘…Begin!’
Thud… thud…
The Night Beast lumbered off into the forest.
As a being inheriting Kang Seol’s blood, its location and status transmitted to the progenitor.
An hour later…
“…What?”
The Night Beast had fallen.
Flash-!
Kang Seol raced to the site like lightning.
Kablooey-!
Kablooey-!
The Night Beast was being trampled by an Iri.
Up close, attacks had struck unprotected areas.
“…”
Slash-!
Kang Seol summoned a new Night Beast to finish the Iri.
Craaaack!
The Iri staggered and collapsed.
But his anger didn’t subside.
Kang Seol observed the fallen Night Beast regenerating.
Progenitor’s Bone couldn’t cover the whole body, so strikes to weak spots inevitably downed it.
He closed his eyes, imagining Shin Yu as the foe.
‘…Impossible. Wouldn’t stand a chance.’
Shin Yu could topple it with one hand.
Kang Seol touched the intact Progenitor’s Bone amid the ruin, pondering.
‘…Way too inefficient.’
Excessive defense concentrated in limited areas.
This setup blocked localized criticals but nothing more.
He returned and dove back into research.
Swish-!
Swish-!
He summoned two identical Night Beasts: one for defense only, one for attack only.
Following set procedures, of course.
Claaaang-!
Not striking skin directly, but the Progenitor’s Bone cloaking the Dark Flesh body.
“Again.”
Claaaang-!
“Again.”
Claaang-!
Just repeating the motions, but Kang Seol sought optimal defense.
Tough enough not to shatter in one hit—exactly that level.
With freakish recovery, it’d suffice.
Claaaang-!
“Again.”
Each “again,” he shaved down the bone’s defense bit by bit.
Progenitor’s Bone lost much of its initial grandeur.
Claaaang-!
“Again.”
Shave it down.
It had to function precisely.
For a main force substitute, perfection was non-negotiable.
Claaaang-!
Claang-!
Claaaang-!
Again.
Again.
Again.
- Old man carving Night Beasts…
- Life hack master: Night Beast edition.
- One million twenty-one… one million twenty-two…
- Intangible cultural asset? What’s with that tenacity.
Claang…
Claaaang…
Clang!
“…Hm?”
Kang Seol paused, hand raised.
‘The sound changed?’
The bone, whittled down extensively.
Even its armor shape had faded.
Looking closely, the last hit had dented it.
‘This is it!’
He’d found the tipping point.
Kang Seol prepared immediately.
Too risky to apply to the Night Beast yet—his first rough prototype.
“Phew…”
He’d test changes on himself first. Clinical trial, essentially.
Far smaller than the Night Beast, with superior adaptability.
Whoooosh…
Craaackle…
Progenitor’s Bone enveloped Kang Seol.
Hard bone shielded him from the outside.
‘Now…’
He had to abandon Progenitor’s Bone’s key advantage.
Unyielding defense.
‘It can bend. No, it must.’
Like a rigid tree snapping in a storm, the armor needed flexibility to suit the pliable Night Beast body—bending and denting just right.
Chain mail over plate armor.
‘Focus…’
He imagined sinking into a mud swamp.
A sensation of sticky mucus coating his body.
He fragmented Progenitor’s Bone finely, spreading it across his entire form.
Craaackle…
“Ugh…”
Oppressive pressure choked his breath.
Like undergoing torture.
‘A bit looser than this…’
Emerging from mud, walking a field. The clinging mud soon hardens.
That feeling.
‘Yes… that feeling…’
Kang Seol’s face softened into serene sleepiness. This was a chain of enlightenments.
The Black Labyrinth’s growth boon.
States where abilities like Single-Mindedness aided insight.
Absolutely, the time spent seemed long, but considering how it elevated his lagging summoning realm, it wasn’t excessive.
No— he was stacking realms at an alarmingly rapid pace.
Rustle…
Kang Seol half-opened his eyes.
[Progenitor’s Bone changes to a different form.]
[This is transformation, not enhancement.]
[Not a normal evolution process.]
[Total power preserved.]
[Enlightenment! Awakening new ability.]
[Awakening Progenitor’s Hide.]
[Progenitor’s Hide is born!]
…
Kang Seol checked the loose hide now draping his body.
‘…Perfect.’
He hadn’t aimed beyond this.
Just the needed defense—exactly that much.
“Come here.”
Crunch…
The Night Beast knelt on one knee.
At his will, it extended a palm forward.
Stroke…
Kang Seol clapped his palm to it.
Clap-!
That instant.
Whoooosh…
The Progenitor’s Hide around Kang Seol’s body began transferring to the Night Beast.
More precisely, the Night Beast was reading the info left on Kang Seol’s body.
Whoooosh…
Composed of darkness, the Night Beast boasted exceptional base abilities.
Top among them: absorption and mimicry. It was a sponge. It watched, learned, imitated, absorbed.
Darkness crumbles repeatedly, mimicking light.
Finally, new material layered onto the Night Beast’s body.
[The Night Beast awakens Progenitor’s Hide.]
[The Night Beast can synthesize Progenitor’s Hide using blood pouches.]
[Night Beast summoning reaches realm.]
…
Satisfying results.
But messages kept coming.
[Enlightenment! Awakening new ability.]
[Ultimate: Awakening Dark Flesh.]
[Ultimate: Dark Flesh is born!]
…