Chapter 44
Chapter 44
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Fight, Win, Subjugate (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The time it took for everyone on the rooftop to prepare for battle was a mere five minutes.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In the meantime, the Black Wheel's spawn had all been killed, and the Herald of the Dawn's minions arrived at the supermarket, smashing through the barricade at the entrance and forcing their way inside.
First, they, led by Priest Park Ki-hoon's warning from the God of Order, realized that the Black Wheel was an enemy summon. They also figured out that their presence had already been exposed to the enemy the moment their summon died.
Thus, they abandoned their initial plan of a surprise attack and charged in without restraint.
To give the enemy no time to react.
"Up! They're up there!"
Park Ki-hoon shouted as he illuminated the dark interior of the supermarket with light.
For some reason, all the lights in the supermarket were out.
"Block the back again."
At Kang Chan-seok's command, the three remaining Believers quickly re-erected the collapsed barricade, sealing the entrance.
If zombies were to swarm them from behind, it would turn into a real chaotic battle. That was the last thing they wanted.
They had already lost one person to the Wheel, reducing their number to seven, and they had confirmed that the enemy could even use zombies.
They had all witnessed the shocking scene of the Black Wheel laying its eggs inside a zombie's belly, after all.
They wanted to minimize variables. They didn't know what other monsters might be lurking inside the supermarket, and if they had to deal with zombies pushing in from behind, they might end up in a pincer attack.
After blocking the entrance again, they quickly cast buffs on themselves and jumped up.
Meanwhile, Jo-jun, who was descending to the lower floor from the rooftop, tried to summon the Black Wheel once more.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The summon has died. It can be re-summoned after 24 hours. "There's a penalty..."
Unfortunately, re-summoning the Black Wheel was not possible right away.
'It's a good thing I knew they were coming in advance. If I hadn't gotten Indicron's warning, I might have let them get the drop on me.'
Thinking about what would have happened if he had been attacked while sleeping made a chill run down Jo-jun's spine.
The fact that the Herald of the Dawn's minions had shown up the very next day after he received Indicron's warning was spine-chilling from his perspective.
"Ha-rin."
"Yes. Seven of them."
"Hmm... Not that many."
The moment Jo-jun spoke, Ha-rin, who was already prepared to answer, informed him of the number of enemies. It was thanks to her Heartbeat Tracking.
'Seven in total. There are over ten Awakened here...'
Jo-jun had left the Non-Awakened on the rooftop.
In a battle where skills flew around and Awakened possessed stats that surpassed human limits, Non-Awakened were difficult to use for anything more than simple labor. Unless they were holding guns. Rather, they were more likely to die if they got caught up in the fighting.
'If the enemies have firearms... I should be able to dodge them to some extent. The others would have a hard time.'
Thanks to the secondary effects of Magic Power Increase, his physical abilities had enhanced, so Jo-jun even had the audacity to think he might be able to dodge bullets if he tried hard enough. But the others weren't like him.
'Honestly, if they come in with guns... I'll have to resist with Twisted Carapace and wait for them to run out of ammo.'
He could also pull a car with a tentacle to create a shield. For now, Jo-jun had roughly figured out how to counter the appearance of firearms. If that didn't work, he thought about using Abyssal Pillar to waste their bullets.
"Ugh... Disgusting smell... Revolting."
At that moment, Kang Hwa-young, who was sniffing the air, frowned deeply and drew her blood-red dagger. She muttered over and over again that the smell was foul.
"Light... Light."
As they descended to the third floor, light shone in from the second floor.
And so, the battle began on the third-floor parking lot.
Eun-ji immediately hid in the shadows, and Ha-rin, who had followed her, and the other slaves began to prepare to fight the intruders.
In an instant, Kim Ye-won, who was running at the forefront of the Herald of the Dawn's minions, used Seeker of Light's Radiance on Jo-jun.
"O Light!!"
She raised her mace high towards Jo-jun, finished her prepared incantation, and shot out a beam of light. Three beams of light flew towards the spot where Jo-jun had just been standing.
At the same time the woman with the mace appeared, the other players from the Herald of the Dawn's side stepped onto the third floor.
"Laciera!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Jo-jun immediately used Twisted Carapace to deploy a carapace-like defensive wall, and the beams of light crashed into the wall, sending shockwaves rippling outwards.
"Kugh!!"
Under the impact, the cars next to them were pushed aside, the defensive wall shattered, and the other allies who had been heading towards the enemies faltered, their stances breaking.
Jo-jun, who was right in front, rolled to the side and fired Abyssal Summon at Kim Ye-won.
The abyssal shadow that extended from his hand gathered beside Kim Ye-won's right shoulder, where she held her mace, and opened its jaws wide to rip her arm off.
"Not on my watch!!"
The moment the abyssal maw was about to take Kim Ye-won's right arm, a man cloaked in white light rushed out from beside her and cut the abyss down with a sword blazing with holy fire.
The light emanating from the man's body gave him the strength to cleave through the abyss. The moment Jo-jun saw that light, he felt an intense revulsion, hatred, and fear.
'It got cut...? And so easily.'
At the unexpected turn of events, Jo-jun launched tentacles to probe the man.
He also grabbed a car and threw it to block those who were approaching.
The car flew and crashed, shaking the building to its foundations. A repulsive sound echoed as a large crack spread across the outer wall. The Herald of the Dawn's minions quickly retreated to avoid the attack.
'If the building collapses, it's game over... But that swordsman. He's the perfect counter to me. That light of his is especially dangerous. It feels like a power that sits in the exact opposite position to the abyss.'
As Jo-jun was on guard against the light blooming from the man's body, Indicron, who was watching, muttered softly.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Hah. It's the light of that goddamn optimist's whore. "That optimist's whore..?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Right. To put it simply, she's the Goddess of Hope. She stands at the polar opposite of me. Though it's just futile hope. Despair's master, Indicron, whispered further with a sneer that clearly held mockery.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Capture that bastard and corrupt him. I want to see that bitch goddess's weeping face. "Uh, I'll try my best for now."
Jo-jun answered vaguely and thought to himself.
Even if Indicron was his master, if he tried to capture a guy like that and ended up getting his head chopped off instead, it was all over. So, he decided to see the situation and either capture him or kill him if it didn't work out.
At that moment, the tentacle that was flying towards the bald man's fist was deflected.
'The bald man and the woman with the mace, and that madman with his body on fire, and the man in the torn suit... a pastor? The other three are similar to normal Awakened. But those guys are considerable forces.'
Jo-jun judged that it wasn't to the point where he couldn't kill them. He figured that if he could just block the man cloaked in light, the others could be dealt with by his other companions.
"Hoo..."
As he let out a sigh before the real battle began, he felt Indicron's thick desire being casually thrown at him. The pressure from Kaxnax also increased, and Jo-jun frowned.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ That one... looks delicious. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Mine. Get lost, Kaxnax. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Huh... I'm hungry... The mad gods were fighting each other, saying they wanted to devour that guy.
Listening to the insane voices of the evil gods, Jo-jun felt both a sense of futility and fell into deep thought.
'Should I summon it right now?'
He was debating whether to summon Abyssal Pillar.
'The gods of the dawn might be watching. Is it right to summon it now?'
The reason for his hesitation was simple. Just as Indicron and Kaxnax were watching this battle, the gods of the dawn would surely be watching this place as well.
So, he wondered if it was right to show them all the power he had right now.
'I don't think I'll lose this battle. But...'
The problem was the ones who would come next. The attacks from the gods of the dawn wouldn't end with just this one time. The gods of the dawn might continue to send their minions until the day Jo-jun died.
'If I bring out Abyssal Pillar right now, the battle will probably end immediately.'
Abyssal Pillar was a monster that, if it weren't for the favor of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons, would have required a possession level of 50 and 1000 Magic Power. It would undoubtedly serve as a perfect joker in the current situation.
It was a monster so powerful that the moment he called it out, the players of the Dawn's faction would likely lose all will to fight.
'It's truly a hidden card. It doesn't look like any of those guys have reached level 20 yet. Bringing out Abyssal Pillar right now would be overkill...'
It was important to fight with all his might, but he also needed to save it for the future. With that thought in mind, Jo-jun faced the man who was approaching him.
"Found you hiding here."
"Hiding? I was waiting for you, you moron."
The man had ignored all the others and was rushing straight for Jo-jun alone.
Paladin Lee Han-seok. Jo-jun locked eyes with him. He could see intense fighting spirit and longing in his eyes.
"Tch. It's disgusting how a guy like you is so popular."
"Shut the hell up and die."
"You die first! Laciera!"
Spear-like tentacles shot from Jo-jun's both hands, aiming for the man.
BOOM!!!
The man dodged one and cut down the other with his sword. Jo-jun immediately unleashed a barrage of skills, continuously pressing the man.
'Before my Magic Power drops below 500...'
If he couldn't subdue the man before then, he planned to summon Abyssal Pillar right away.
His stats were overwhelmingly higher, but that flame was too irritating. Jo-jun thought there was no need to get close to an enemy wreathed in such an ominous flame.
"Kraaah!!!"
Lee Han-seok let out a roar that was somewhere between a scream and a battle cry.
He was flustered as he faced the skills flying at him without pause.
'Just how... high is his Magic Power?'
It looked as if he was just firing skills indiscriminately without any consideration for Magic Power consumption.
The problem was that this was incredibly fatal.
'Damn it... If the holy fire goes out... there's no way to block his attacks.'
Lee Han-seok roared and pushed forward, getting closer to Jo-jun.
He couldn't back down now.
Because she was waiting for him in that dark, suffocating house.
"Hee-seon...!" Whispering the name of his beloved woman, he dodged the tentacles with almost god-like skill and charged forward.
"Hup!!"
As he got right in front of Jo-jun, he swung his sword to aim for his neck.
"What..?"
And he was taken aback.
He saw Jo-jun flapping his wings and flying up into the air.
"Guh...!"
Jo-jun, who had used an incomplete membrane, let out a painful scream as his back was torn open and wings sprouted out.
'Crazy... I didn't think it would hurt this much...!'
For some reason, Jo-jun was in more pain from using his own skill than from being attacked by the enemy.
But he had no time to waste being in pain. Jo-jun immediately attacked Lee Han-seok.
"Damn it!!!"
Meanwhile, Lee Han-seok, despite being struck by tentacles, didn't stop moving.
He dodged the volley of tentacles flying at him from the air and threw the daggers he had in his possession one after another.
Furthermore, he used the 'Holy Bomb', a reward he had received for an achievement, and set it on fire with his holy fire before throwing it at Jo-jun.
The Holy Bomb was an item that inflicted critical damage to the followers of evil gods or the minions of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.
It was a special reward he had acquired for this battle. If it hit Jo-jun directly, even he would have a hard time coming out unscathed.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ That. Dangerous. "Not a chance!!!"
At Kaxnax's warning, Jo-jun's eyes widened, and he grabbed the bomb with a tentacle before it could get any closer.
Jo-jun didn't even have time to block the daggers as he focused all his attention on the round bomb flying at him.
"Kugh..!"
A dagger grazed Jo-jun's shoulder and leg. If it had been coated in poison, it would have been a disaster, but Jo-jun didn't have the presence of mind to think about that.
The moment his expression twisted from the pain of the daggers, the bomb, which had been stuck and wrapped around his tentacle, exploded.
"Guhuk..! Laciera!"
A hastily deployed defensive wall blocked the wave of holy power that flew at him.
KWACHANG!!!
But it shattered. The power of the Holy Bomb, a reward for an achievement, was immense.
"Ugh..."
Jo-jun, pushed back by the impact, had his membrane wings dispelled and fell to the ground.
"Keugh..."
Jo-jun, who had fallen to the ground, wasn't moving. He was only letting out pained groans.
Lee Han-seok, seeing Jo-jun writhing on the ground, approached with a triumphant smile.
He finally thought that Jang Jo-jun's Magic Power had run out. He reasoned that after using several powerful skills in a row, his Magic Power was bound to be depleted.
Soon, the holy fire clinging to Lee Han-seok's body went out. It was Lee Han-seok whose Magic Power had nearly run out.
"Hah..."
Lee Han-seok, with a smile of victory, was about to plunge his sword into the heart of the fallen Jo-jun.
That was how he made a mistake that should never be made in a world on the brink of ruin.
"You're laughable... you moron."
It was 'letting his guard down'.
"What?"
Lee Han-seok foolishly asked back, taken aback by Jo-jun, who was suddenly laughing out loud.
In an instant, Jo-jun kicked his leg and immediately got to his feet.
At the same time, he reached out his hand towards Lee Han-seok, whose stance had been broken.
CHIIIIIK!!!!
"Kraaaah!!!!"
Jo-jun had consumed Black Snake's Inner Core and Twisted Inner Core, and thanks to his increased Magic Power stat, his other stats had also risen overall.
To a level that a mere level 15 could not even approach.
Jo-jun kicked the leg of the victorious Lee Han-seok, who had let his guard down, and grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the sword, melting it away with Profane Touch.
He had actually been waiting. For the holy fire to go out.
And the moment the ominous holy fire finally went out, Jo-jun instinctively knew he had won. Lee Han-seok had been completely fooled by Jo-jun's act of struggling.
In fact, Jo-jun had been thinking that if Lee Han-seok had persisted and tried to attack him with all his might while using his skills without extinguishing the holy fire, he would have considered bringing out Abyssal Pillar.
"You should have been more careful."
Lee Han-seok, too late to dodge and trying to activate a skill, lost his balance when Jo-jun’s rapidly following punches struck him square in the chin.
Jo-jun quickly stomped on his crotch, crushing it halfway. As Lee Han-seok knelt down in excruciating pain, Jo-jun grabbed his left elbow and, without hesitation, rotted and melted it away.
"Did I win?"
Thinking that this way, the gods wouldn't have figured out the existence of Abyssal Pillar yet, Jo-jun smiled.
As he thought, the gods of the dawn had not yet discerned the existence of Abyssal Pillar, which had not appeared in this battle. They had only confirmed that he could summon beings from the abyss.
The gods of the dawn were already thinking that for the next time, they would exclude all the riff-raff and challenge him with the strongest possible combination, now that they were prepared for the Black Wheel.
That's right. Even the gods of the dawn, the moment they realized Lee Han-seok's defeat, had already concluded that with the remaining members, they could never defeat that monstrous being.
Soon, the gods, who had been watching the battlefield through their minions' eyes, quickly withdrew.
Only the Goddess of Hope, clinging to her thin hope, was left weeping as she watched Lee Han-seok fall.
Indicron was laughing. As if she was immensely enjoying it. Her favorability was rising naturally. How could she not be pleased that her rival's minion was being beaten to a pulp by her own servant.
"Kraaaah!!!"
"Huh. Your arm's been ripped off, and you still won't submit?"
"Kraaah!!!! Damn it!!!!"
Perhaps having heard something from the gods,
Lee Han-seok, even in the midst of excruciating pain, with the capillaries in his eyes all burst, refused to yield.
"My, my."
It was a superhuman level of mental strength in a way.
The fact that he wouldn't submit even while enduring such pain meant that it would be difficult to corrupt him.
'What on earth made that guy so stubborn?'
Jo-jun didn't yet know that he was fighting so desperately for his precious wife. That's why he couldn't understand his desperate resistance.
Jo-jun threw the arm that had been torn off behind him in an instant and healed the bleeding stump with Surging Flesh.
"Guhgeuk!!! Uwaaaaah!!!!!!"
"Hey. Surrender. Submit."
"Kurook..."
He still hung his head, drooling bloody saliva, but he wouldn't submit. Seeing him like that, Jo-jun frowned. Then he stuck the fingers of the hand he had used Profane Touch into his thigh.
"Guhuuup....!!!!!"
"Hey. I know how to use healing arts. I could torture you all day. Just surrender nicely."
"Th-that's enough... please..."
In the end, humans become infinitely powerless in the face of pain.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The opponent has submitted to you. The moment he submitted, Lee Han-seok immediately passed out.
Jo-jun immediately stamped a Slave Mark on his forehead.
Then, he slapped the unconscious Lee Han-seok across the face until he woke up.
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
"Ugh..."
"Hey. Listen well to my commands..."
At Jo-jun's commands—self-harm prohibition, betrayal prohibition, prohibition on infighting or attacking teammates—Lee Han-seok nodded blankly.
Seeing this, the Goddess of Hope abandoned the last remaining hope and left his side.
"Hey. And you guys killed one man."
"I... a man...?"
"Yeah. Han Tae-yang. You guys killed Han Tae-yang. Got it? Answer me well when I bring it up later."
"Ugh... I... understand..."
After that, Lee Han-seok completely passed out. Then, Indicron spoke to him in a very satisfied and gentle voice.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Hah. Truly splendid. But it's still not enough. You know that, right? "I know, Indicron-nim."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Good. I have high expectations, my child. Break that fool completely. "Yes. I understand."
Jo-jun nodded.
He was contemplating how to completely break the man named Lee Han-seok.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇