Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Act 26. Corrupted Flame (2)
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*Fwoosh!*
Hwang Chan-jin shot past me and swung his sword at Ignis, who was floundering in the darkness.
A crimson cape, the likes of which I had never seen on him before, fluttered in the air.
My eyes widened at the unexpected item.
‘The Cape of the Firebird?’
Looks like he picked that up somewhere.
Its base fire resistance is lower than the Salamander's Breastplate I'm currently wearing, but it has an effect that once a day, greatly reduces the damage taken from a fire-attribute attack.
It was tantamount to being able to ignore one of Ignis's high-damage patterns.
“Ice Demon Sword!”
*Kwoooar!*
Hwang Chan-jin poured his mana out unstintingly, dealing damage to Ignis.
I had noticed his peculiar obsession with being ‘number one’ since Chapter 11, but seeing this, I couldn't help but think it was bordering on fanatical.
As if something was shackling him.
“I can’t lose either.”
The rewards for defeating Ignis were absolutely essential.
I couldn't afford to fall behind Hwang Chan-jin.
I had to keep the Army of Darkness hidden, so I wouldn't use it, but Hwang Chan-jin was more than capable of filling that gap.
[Groooaaaar!!]
After being jointly attacked by me and Hwang Chan-jin for a while, Ignis suddenly let out a roar.
Flames of a murky light surged forth.
Since its main body was corrupted, it was only natural that the power it wielded would be corrupted as well.
I naturally raised my Sa-in-geom to block the flames that were pouring down on me.
*Crack!*
‘Damn.’
But perhaps the Sa-in-geom had reached its limit.
Just after blocking most of Ignis’s attack, a crack appeared on the surface of the Sa-in-geom, and it became unusable.
“You can’t even manage your own sword properly! This is what happens when you rush to defeat it without proper preparation!”
My eyes fell on the sword in Hwang Chan-jin’s hand as he sharply criticized me.
It was a different sword from the one I knew.
Similar to the Sa-in-geom, but different, with a yellow dragon inscribed on it.
The year of the dragon. The month of the dragon. The day of the dragon. The hour of the dragon.
A sword said to be forged once in a lifetime by the greatest master craftsman.
The Sa-jin-cham-sa-geom.
A step above the Sa-in-geom, it was undeniably one of the greatest swords in our country's history.
I remember it being an A-rank weapon.
He must have gotten his hands on that somewhere too.
While I was busy solving all sorts of side incidents, he was out there farming good items for himself.
“It's the other way around.”
I chuckled and slowly drew the sword that had been hanging from the other side of my waist.
“I did this precisely because I was already fully prepared.”
The blade, gleaming darkly even in the shadows, revealed itself.
This was only the second time I was drawing it, but as expected, the word ‘masterpiece’ didn't do it justice.
“What is that sword…?”
Hwang Chan-jin’s eyes widened in disbelief.
His reaction was just as I expected, and I let out a small laugh.
‘I may have made it, but it’s truly an unbelievable piece. I doubt anything like it will ever be created again.’
‘I haven’t even held it yet, but I get that feeling.’
‘What will you name the sword?’
‘Are you leaving it to me?’
‘Of course. It’s a weapon of that caliber, and it belongs solely to you. A sword is more likely to take a liking to its master if the one who wields it gives it a name.’
‘…’
‘But there’s no need to ponder it so deeply… Hmm. Usually, a name that befits its appearance is chosen. A sword that creates the illusion that even the moon in a starless night sky has been dyed black. That’s the feeling I get.’
‘What’s with the angsty teenage sentiment?’
‘Ah, it’s just an expression. You’re going to pick on that?’
‘…Black Moon Divine Sword.’
‘Hmm?’
‘Let’s go with Black Moon Divine Sword.’
‘Black Moon Divine Sword. Hah. That’s good. Not bad. But to call it a Divine Sword… honestly, I think that’s a bit much.’
‘No, sir. It’s a sword that fully deserves the title.’
An S-rank weapon, no less.
It raised all stats by 8 and amplified the effects of darkness-related traits and skills by 50%.
On top of that, it reduced base mana consumption by 50%.
This meant I could use my abilities freely without the risk of mana overflow, like what happened to Jo Min-ah before.
Considering how hard it was for even guild masters to obtain S-rank items, this was a huge gain.
*Kwoooar!*
I imbued the Black Moon Divine Sword with mana and swung it with all my might.
The vortex of flames that had been flying at me in second and third waves was split in half, vanishing without a trace.
It was more powerful than I had imagined.
Even with my stats being quite high, I hadn't expected to be able to nullify an S-rank monster’s attack so easily.
“Where did you get a sword like that…!”
“You don’t need to know. I’m about to deliver the finishing blow. What about you?”
“You don’t even need to ask!”
*Kwaang!*
As if we had planned it, we moved at the same time.
The Black Flame, with its power of annihilation minimized, and ice, with its freezing power minimized.
When the two collided in mid-air, a dense water vapor formed, completely obscuring Ignis’s vision.
A tactic to ambush the boss from its blind spot, rendering it unable to move or confirm our positions.
And in such situations, one usually uses a finishing move.
‘With my current stats, it’s possible.’
I stomped my foot hard and shot up into the air.
Though the area was still shrouded in mist, using Extreme Eye clearly revealed Ignis’s location.
*Sssk.*
One layer of darkness, then two, continuously wrapped around the sword.
The already black blade was completely hidden in the darkness of the night.
If the Red Zone was a place that devoured those unworthy…
Then there was no greater proof of worth than to penetrate that Red Zone and eliminate the monster that created it.
“White Snowflake Cleave!”
Hwang Chan-jin, having gathered enough mana to turn his sword pure white, unleashed his ultimate strike.
In sync with him, I also unleashed the darkness and thrust my sword forward.
“Shattering Moon.”
*Kwaaaaaaah!!*
The moonlight coalesced on the jet-black blade shattered.
The instantaneously discharged mana became a single streak of light that struck Ignis’s back and slammed it to the ground.
[Kyaaaaaaak!!]
Ignis, whose attention was completely focused on Hwang Chan-jin’s preceding attack, couldn’t defend against my strike at all and took the full force of it.
Shattering Moon.
It was a skill Alpha had learned, but ‘imparting’ could also work in reverse.
I could impart skills to Alpha, and conversely, I could use skills that Alpha had learned.
‘I had him learn it with the intention of using it myself from the start.’
It was the easiest way to acquire this skill, which ranked among the top in terms of raw attack power.
There were many other good skills, but I needed a powerful single strike, so I made the decision to get Shattering Moon first.
*Tiririring.*
The contribution points displayed in the corner of my vision fluctuated wildly.
Contribution points were earned based on the damage dealt to Ignis.
With this single attack, I earned 7,000 points.
The total contribution points available until Ignis was defeated were 20,000, which meant I had earned nearly half the total points in a single blow.
“What in the…?!”
Hwang Chan-jin had also gained a large number of points with the skill he just used, but his total was only around 6,000.
I could understand his shock, seeing as I had surpassed his total with just one use of Shattering Moon.
‘Looking at the contribution points… its remaining HP is about 25%.’
Perhaps from channeling too much mana at once, a pain flared up in the side of my head.
Because of it, I almost failed to dodge the attack of the writhing Ignis, but I managed to evade it by a hair's breadth.
Even with the Black Moon Divine Sword drastically reducing mana consumption, it was still this taxing.
As expected of a top-tier skill. It was not to be underestimated.
‘My lack of proficiency must be a factor too.’
As I caught my breath, my condition quickly improved.
Chapter 12 would not begin until everyone who had been expelled due to the mission’s penalty was dead.
Usually, those who failed to collect enough emblems wouldn't last 30 seconds, so it wasn't a significant factor.
*Kwaaaang!*
But the story changes if someone who can survive even within the Red Zone, like me, is expelled.
This means that Chapter 12 will not start.
Not forever, a few days at most, but a lot can be done in that amount of time.
‘The moment Chapter 12 starts, Ignis becomes impossible to find.’
Therein lies the problem.
Since it's impossible to hunt Ignis right as Chapter 12 begins, one would have to proceed with the chapter's content as intended, which means going through the step-by-step process of weakening Ignis.
That would make Ignis relatively easier to defeat, but the final rewards would be diminished.
To get the rewards I want, I have to defeat it without weakening it even once.
And the only way to defeat it without a single weakening phase is this.
‘Most importantly, the key is to save time by skipping several chapters entirely.’
By defeating Ignis, the main boss of Chapter 12, here and now, I could skip all the way to Chapter 14 and, after some time, start from Chapter 15.
This wasn't something that went against the law of causality; it was designed to be possible from the start.
If one could handle the difficulty, there was no reason not to take this route.
*Fwoosh!*
Enraged flames thrashed wildly all around.
The fact that they weren't aimed at a specific target but were random, wide-ranged, and numerous made them trickier to dodge.
With its legs severed, Ignis couldn't move properly, so it resorted to bombarding the area from its spot.
“If you’re just going to sit there like a turret, you won’t be needing your other leg either.”
*Kwaang!*
As I shattered its last remaining left hind leg, Ignis, now just a torso, let out a mournful cry.
Not only was its mobility gone, but most of the patterns Ignis used were now rendered unusable.
Ignis, enraged to its very core, lunged at me with its flame-wreathed teeth, but by shrouding my Black Moon Divine Sword in Black Flame and swinging, I shattered its fangs instead.
A clumsy attack driven by emotion only proves to be poison.
‘As expected of an S-rank weapon.’
Black Flame is both fire and darkness.
The Black Moon Divine Sword greatly amplified its darkness attribute, and since the Red Zone itself was a region engulfed in heat, the flame attribute was naturally boosted as well.
It was as if the Black Flame was receiving a double enhancement.
No matter if Ignis was an incarnation of fire, Black Flame was a top-tier element of a completely different nature.
There was no way it could withstand it so easily.
“*Pant, pant.*”
Sweat was pouring down Hwang Chan-jin’s face like rain.
Of course.
This heat wasn't something he could endure with just the Cape of the Firebird and a fire resistance potion.
Even if Hwang Chan-jin’s unique ability, Cold Heart, had some inherent fire resistance.
It seemed he had been forcibly suppressing the heat using his own ice powers, but that had its limits.
As the battle dragged on, his mana was being rapidly depleted from attacking and blocking the heat simultaneously.
“How… are you… so… perfectly fine.”
“I got myself expelled on purpose. Like you said, would I have done something like that if I wasn't properly prepared?”
The fact that the remaining emblems converted into a certain percentage of fire resistance was all part of the calculation.
Besides, there was a significant difference in resistance between the Cape of the Firebird and the Salamander's Breastplate.
The Cape of the Firebird was more suited for fighting in the Red Zone after weakening Ignis as much as possible.
It was given as a reward for use in that scenario.
In the current situation, where Ignis was at its peak power and the Red Zone was emitting immense heat, it wasn't of much help.
Though the fact that the Salamander’s Breastplate was too expensive to buy was also a factor.
“You, on the other hand, seem unprepared because you rushed to follow me.”
“…Hmph.”
Unable to deny it, Hwang Chan-jin let out a low groan.
How flustered must he have been?
He must have been in the middle of planning his strategy for the corrupted Ignis when I was suddenly expelled to the Red Zone.
If it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have cared.
But it was me.
Me, who had acquired so many emblems that I even sold a large number of them to others.
Hwang Chan-jin must have immediately concluded that I had gotten myself expelled on purpose to hunt Ignis and hastily used his reward to get the Shunpo-like skill and rushed over.
“If you hadn’t used such a reckless method, I wouldn’t have had any reason to rush!”
“Reckless? If the conditions are met, there’s no better method than this. Just because you’re not in a position to do it, does that mean I shouldn’t?”
I snorted, and Hwang Chan-jin glared at me, grinding his teeth.
Whatever.