Chapter 214
Chapter 214
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: Act 41. Angra Mainyu (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘This is my chance.’
When he first heard Kim Se-hyeon's words, Seon Woo-jin had felt a thrill of joy.
He had acted as if he were trembling in fear, deliberately trying to hide that emotion.
‘If I secure this crucial strategy point, I can expect a considerable amount of coins.’
That was the real reason Seon Woo-jin was trembling.
To be entrusted with a part that would let him earn such a huge contribution score on his own.
Once he became stronger, not even Liang Xi or Bonghwang...
And not even that detestable Kim Se-hyeon.
He wouldn't have to live like this, constantly on edge, racking his brain to borrow power from others.
The one with power is the law!
‘Stay calm. But keep showing that you're trembling.’
Kim Se-hyeon hadn't noticed.
His acting was that perfect, his reaction that natural.
At least, that's what Seon Woo-jin had thought.
So when Kim Se-hyeon had shouted his name, giving the signal.
He had dashed out faster than he ever had in his entire life.
If he hadn't, he felt like the twitching on his face would be exposed.
‘But what is this.’
Seon Woo-jin stared at his arm with wavering eyes.
Something.
An unknowable something felt like it was devouring him.
It was strange.
This hadn't happened when Kim Se-hyeon destroyed the first core, so why now.
At that moment, Seon Woo-jin saw Kim Se-hyeon, the corners of his mouth stretched into a wide grin.
Seon Woo-jin had no choice but to realize.
That he had been played by that bastard again.
“Kim Se-hyeoooon!!!”
***
*Swoooosh!*
A scream that tore through the air was instantly swallowed.
Seon Woo-jin's body was absorbed into the pierced core, and that core sank back into the disaster's body.
At that moment, the darkness I had attached to Seon Woo-jin's body began to act.
*Fssshhh...*
It encroached.
Slowly eating away at the disaster's body from the inside.
The disaster's form, writhing in agony, began to slowly crumble and transform into an even stranger shape.
"Without a Sa-in-cham-sa-geom or Sa-jin-cham-sa-geom, there's practically no way to deal with the 'drag-you-down' pattern."
Hwang Chan-jin said nonchalantly as he watched it transition to the next phase.
Hwang Chan-jin hadn't been particularly fond of Seon Woo-jin either.
Then again, if you knew anything about the game, it was impossible to like Seon Woo-jin.
"If Seon Woo-jin hadn't stepped up like that, how were you planning to get past this?"
"It would've cost a few coins, but it's not impossible. I was planning to use that."
"...I've been wondering for a while, but where in the world do you get all those coins? Are you secretly getting some kind of special privilege?"
I flinched but managed to suppress it.
His intuition is sharp.
"You seem relaxed, making small talk. The disaster isn't dead yet."
Xiè chided.
"Attacking it while it's transforming is pointless anyway. All we can do is watch, like a villain waiting for a hero to finish their transformation sequence."
...Even so, something feels off.
It's subtly different from what I know.
After the 'drag-you-down' pattern, it enters the final phase and temporarily returns to its true form.
It should shed that massive body of mud, leaving only a humanoid figure.
‘It stopped crumbling midway...?’
That was exactly what it felt like.
Like a zombie with only parts of its body rotted away.
In some places, the mud had peeled off, leaving a skeletal frame, while in others, even more of the original mud was caked on.
"Kim Se-hyeon. Doesn't its condition seem strange?"
"You think so too?"
"That fake body should have collapsed long ago. Especially if you mixed in Encroachment, it should have fallen apart even faster. But that thing..."
Hwang Chan-jin narrowed his eyes.
"It feels like it's forcibly holding onto something that should be dead."
Suddenly, I thought of a golem.
A fantasy creature that can endlessly repair itself as long as its core is intact.
What if such a golem's regeneration was obstructed?
Wouldn't it maintain a state of being neither here nor there, with regeneration and regeneration failure happening simultaneously?
The current Angra Mainyu was in exactly that state.
‘In other words.’
Normally, after that last move, there shouldn't be any more cores forming its muddy body, but something still remains inside it.
"Hey, Xiè. Is this your doing too?"
"I know what you're getting at, but we don't have that kind of technology! Besides, the Disaster of Apostasy is a creature that appears without a gate!"
That's true.
Gates are phenomena that appear only when extraterrestrial beings invade.
Angra Mainyu, a being originally from Earth, has no reason to appear through a gate.
So it couldn't have been enhanced with a dimension stone like the Disaster of Verdure or the goblins...
"...Xiè. I'll ask one last time. Are you absolutely sure you didn't mess with the disaster using a dimension stone?"
"Dimension stone? What's that?"
Just after Xiè replied with a frown, I shot forward like an arrow.
"Dammit."
I can't believe I didn't realize something so simple.
For things that appeared through gates, you just had to throw it into the gate.
So, would that be impossible for the Disaster of Apostasy, which doesn't appear through a gate?
No.
The Disaster of Apostasy gains its physical form by transforming the seawater of the West Coast into black mud using profane energy.
In other words.
‘If someone threw a dimension stone into the middle of the West Coast, the disaster, which creates its body by turning seawater into mud, would absorb it and be automatically enhanced...!’
Dimension stones were never Salvatio's domain in the first place.
The dimension stone that Geumeumdal had was originally given to them by the Order.
‘If someone from the Order took the opportunity to plant a dimension stone in the West Coast when they handed over the temple to Tarwi, it would make sense.’
*Kwagwagwa!*
Mud surged up, trying to engulf me from all sides.
From its skeletal wings, sharply compressed mud flew like a volley of hwacha arrows.
I dodged and cut through it all, closing in on the disaster.
And then, I swung my sword at a point visible through my Extreme Eye.
*Chwaaak!*
The mud scattered, revealing what was inside.
A massive body, but hollow on the inside.
"...Ha."
Within it, a large dimension stone revealed itself, as if it belonged there all along.
***
"A Saintess... you say?"
Before the previous situation was even resolved, this new piece of information arrived, and Seong Woo-hyeon clutched his throbbing forehead.
He didn't know how many hours had passed, fending off the undead without a break.
Fortunately, the number of undead had suddenly plummeted, so the situation had improved enough for the players to rest in shifts.
Seong Woo-hyeon himself was just about to take a break.
Until a player, looking bewildered, reported that a Saintess had arrived.
"If it's the Saintess..."
"I've heard of her."
Lee Min-hwa muttered, cupping her hand over her mouth, and Seong Woo-hyeon nodded.
Before the virus spread, during the few days of stability.
There was a name that often came up when they were assessing the situation in other countries.
'Saintess' Emiliaana.
A world on the brink of ruin. And an overwhelming being of light who appeared just in time, as if to save it.
The question of 'why' was meaningless.
The question was 'how' the Saintess had come here.
Seong Woo-hyeon pondered for a moment before nodding.
"We'll have to speak with her."
Not even a few minutes later, a woman with jaw-droppingly beautiful features entered the office.
The kind of person who captivated one's gaze, yet radiated a noble aura so pure it was impossible to have any other thoughts.
However, amidst that aura, Seong Woo-hyeon felt an inexplicable chill.
The kind of feeling that was all the more unsettling because he couldn't pinpoint the reason.
"Hello. My name is Emiliaana. I am unworthy, but people call me the Saintess."
The woman who introduced herself as the Saintess offered a smile that put anyone who saw it at ease.
To an unsuspecting person, it was the kind of smile that would make them instantly decide she was trustworthy.
"That monster only appeared a few hours ago. How did you manage to get here so quickly from so far away?"
Lee Min-hwa asked sharply.
"Because I can sense profane energy."
Emiliaana replied with a gentle smile.
It was a smile so beautiful that the players in the room, who were stealing glances while doing other work, admired it as the smile of a goddess.
After a moment of silence, Seong Woo-hyeon spoke.
"What kind of help can you offer?"
"Let's see. Hmm. I suppose I should show you my wares to entice you into a deal, shouldn't I?"
"Wares... you say?"
"You'll see."
Emiliaana stood up from her seat and opened the window.
Although the total number of undead had decreased, the high-ranking ones that still appeared within the residential area were a threat.
Beings that couldn't die, yet retained their mortal strength and even used skills as they charged.
That was why the players were using tactics like evasion and luring to stall for time, rather than confronting them head-on.
Emiliaana gave a strange smile and stretched out her hands as if in prayer.
"Turn Undead."
*Fwoooosh!*
A pure white light erupted throughout the entire residential area, and the rampaging undead instantly turned to ash and vanished.
The undead, with their attribute of immortality that made them impossible to kill, had been annihilated by Emiliaana with just a slight, seemingly effortless exertion of her power.
Seong Woo-hyeon's eyes widened. He shot up from his seat and muttered unconsciously.
"W-What in the..."
"Shall we talk now?"
As Emiliaana turned back with a gentle smile, Lee Min-hwa spoke in a low voice from behind Seong Woo-hyeon.
"I still have a bad feeling. About that woman, the Saintess."
"...To be honest, I was just thinking the same thing."
It wasn't that they doubted Emiliaana was a Saintess.
She had clearly demonstrated the power of a Saintess.
The sacred light was powerful enough to envelop the entire residential area and erase even immortality; they couldn't deny what they had seen with their own eyes.
"As I just demonstrated, I will eliminate all the undead that have appeared near Seoul and Incheon. Furthermore, I will identify and resolve the cause of this entire phenomenon... In other words, I will take care of that monster on the West Coast for you."
"I assume this isn't volunteer work."
"Oh, my. Of course not. For me to expend so much power here means I cannot care for and help those of lesser means elsewhere. Shouldn't I receive a corresponding price for that?"
Emiliaana laughed, covering her mouth.
*What a wicked woman.*
Lee Min-hwa thought to herself, barely swallowing the curse on her lips.
"For now, how about this amount of coins and cash?"
"..."
As Seong Woo-hyeon read the paper Emiliaana handed him, his face gradually hardened.
The demanded amount was so exorbitant that the words 'outrageous conditions' came to mind.
An amount of coins with more than seven digits, and a cash sum with so many zeros he couldn't count them.
If they accepted this demand, they might be able to stop the disaster, but the economically ruined Korean players would surely have no future.
There were still places where cash was definitely used, after all.
‘No, more importantly...’
This many coins would be difficult to gather even if all the major guilds pooled their resources.
They would have to squeeze every last coin from every single player.
And after they paid?
There would surely be those among them who couldn't pay the 'maintenance fee'.
If that happened, the consequences wouldn't end at a simple economic level.
They would lose their strength to fight against the demonic beasts.
"We can't accept this."
Lee Min-hwa snatched the paper from Seong Woo-hyeon.
As the pristine paper crumpled in Lee Min-hwa's hand, Emiliaana's eyes narrowed subtly.
So slightly that only someone standing very close would have noticed.
"Please don't think so poorly of it. I'd like you to consider it a donation to help those whose very survival is uncertain."
"How can you say that...!"
"You'll have to accept it anyway, won't you?"
"...That's quite the confidence. How can you be so certain?"
In response to Seong Woo-hyeon's question, Emiliaana gave a deep smile, as if she had been waiting for it.
"Because, you see, no one but me can defeat that monster. Yes. No matter how strong those people fighting it now are, it's absolutely impossible."