Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: ACT.8 ???(EX) (6)
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*Swoooosh...*
The King of Waves' corpse vanished, and the downpour slowly subsided.
A cloudless sky peeked out as if it had never rained at all.
With the King of Waves, the very source of the downpour, now dead, this was an expected outcome.
"...A clear sky is nice, after all."
Though it's a sky that would quickly turn black if a gate went berserk.
A clear sky I wouldn't get to see much of in the future.
I took in the sight for a long moment before turning my gaze to where Emptus's body had disappeared.
Just like Shapiros, Emptus had also left something behind.
[Surging Ocean Crystal]
A crystal in which the power of the sea is condensed.
It contains a considerable amount of magic. It seems it would fetch a high price.
A crystal used to enhance specific items or traded as a valuable gem.
But it was basically treated as a junk item.
Suddenly, the Silver Sea Crystal I'd obtained from killing Shapiros came to mind.
The two basically had similar properties.
Then maybe, I could use the Surging Ocean Crystal in place of the Silver Sea Crystal for what I had planned.
'It's worth a try.'
I placed the crystal in my inventory and started walking.
The destination was some distance away.
My mind felt cluttered, perhaps because so many things had suddenly come up for consideration.
Let's take it step by step. One thing at a time.
'To think I'd be fighting a boss-level entity before Chapter 5 even started.'
What Emptus said was bothering me.
The Han River.
A place I couldn't go to yet, as I had too many other things to do.
Considering the next chapter was set in all of Seoul, it could develop into a major variable.
Why it was injured was also a mystery.
In truth, it was unlikely that Leviathan had made a move.
It was more plausible that a powerful new demonic force, strong enough to drive out Emptus and the other fishmen, had established itself near the Han River.
'...This is difficult.'
A few possibilities came to mind, but none of them seemed highly likely.
After all, a force of that magnitude would have no reason to come all the way to a 'river'.
I cracked my neck in frustration and shifted my thoughts to another matter.
Playable Character.
An all-purpose power that allows one to use a portion of another's abilities.
This alone explained why my unique ability was EX-rank.
But a question arises.
Why are achievements related to my unique ability?
Does it mean I only qualify if I know enough to get everything there is to get?
Since it's a unique ability gained as a clear reward, that interpretation does make sense.
*Splash.*
The sound of stepping in a puddle broke me from my thoughts.
Before I knew it, my destination was right in front of me.
I entered the small cave with a sense of familiarity.
"Damn."
Did they say variables always appear when you least expect them?
I clicked my tongue at the sight before me.
The inside of the cave was mostly submerged due to overflowing water.
It was filthy water, mixed with all sorts of mud from the downpour.
No, it wasn't ordinary muddy water.
It was water that had been completely contaminated by some kind of power.
I had a fleeting feeling that it was similar to the contamination Shapiros had.
'It was never revealed how Shapiros became contaminated, but...'
I narrowed my eyes and used Extreme Eye to survey the area.
That flower should have been here.
After scanning for about ten seconds, I found a flower that was barely poking a few leaves out of the water.
Naturally, its condition was far from normal, having been submerged in the contaminated water.
The Saingeom trembled slightly.
As if telling me something.
I dug deep into the ground next to where the flower was growing.
Soon, I discovered the source of the contamination entangled in its roots.
"So it really is a flower that grows by feeding on contamination."
I seemed to have grasped the general situation.
This was acting as a barrier preventing the contamination, but it wasn't perfect.
The contamination was leaking out little by little, and Shapiros must have come into contact with it through some route, leading to its condition.
This much was the story revealed in the original game.
This time, because Emptus had appeared, the water had flooded and invaded this place. The flower was damaged and could no longer do its job, causing the contamination to overflow. That seemed to be the right explanation.
The problem was that I needed to use this flower, but now I couldn't.
I tried bringing the Ocean Crystal close, and then the Silver Sea Crystal, but nothing happened.
As expected, there was no solution without first restoring the damaged flower.
But how?
'A flower that grows by feeding on contamination...'
It won't grow no matter what else you give it.
The only condition for its growth is contamination.
For a moment, my thoughts turned to an item I possessed.
The Saingeom.
The reason the herb was damaged was that it had absorbed 'too much contamination' at once.
So, what if I used the power of the Saingeom to drive out the contamination and then let the flower absorb it little by little?
The thought didn't last long.
I immediately drew the Saingeom and brought it close to the herb.
*Shaaaa...*
A faint glow emanated from the Saingeom, and the withered flower began to recover, bit by bit.
The leaves, which had developed black spots as if diseased, became healthy again, and the drooping stem straightened.
Just as I thought.
When I first learned about this flower, I had already concluded that the route of forgoing the Saingeom was better, and since the flower had never been damaged like this before, this was a first.
But combining the information I knew, finding a solution wasn't difficult.
"Done."
The flower had already regained its complete form.
It grew by absorbing contamination, and if it absorbed too much, I'd use the Saingeom's power to push the contamination away.
I only repeated this for a few minutes, but the flower had grown much more than before.
An unbloomed flower bud, as if something was still missing.
This is the last step.
I brought the Surging Ocean Crystal towards the flower bud.
[The 'Light-Calling Flower' absorbs magic.]
[A much larger amount of magic than the minimum requirement has been absorbed!]
A large amount of energy flowed out of the Ocean Crystal and was absorbed into the flower bud.
The small, ripened bud slowly began to open.
The moment the flower fully bloomed, a beautiful silver-blue radiance captured my vision.
[You have acquired the 'Fruit of the Fully Bloomed Light-Calling Flower'.]
The desired item fell onto my cupped palm with a soft *thud*, and the flower lost its light.
Fully bloomed, huh.
I never thought there'd be a better method than the one I knew.
[Achievement, 'The Flower That Blooms by Eating Filth' has been completed.]
[You have been awarded 2000 Coins as a reward.]
The achievement was the same one I knew.
A hidden, better method that couldn't be known from the achievement alone.
A strange thrill washed over me at the thought that there might be more hidden things that even I didn't know about.
I grinned and quickly tossed the fruit into my mouth.
[You have consumed the fruit of the Light-Calling Flower.]
[Your Magic stat has increased by 4.]
As its name implies, it's most effective when you have a light-related trait, but it's better than nothing.
With this, my Magic stat is 50. Including bonus stats, it's 66.
No, wait. My 'Accustomed to Battle' trait became B-rank, increasing all stats by another 2, so it should be 68 including bonuses.
Most unique abilities or traits gain additional special powers whenever a specific stat surpasses a certain threshold.
For example, the Lord of Darkness trait gains a supplementary function when the total Magic stat exceeds 70.
I'm short by exactly 2.
'The amount of Coins needed increases drastically once the purely invested stat goes over 50.'
From 51 to 60, it costs a whopping 1100 Coins to raise a stat by 1 point.
The problem is that a total stat of 70 is just the minimum requirement to use the supplementary function; to use it properly, there's an additional condition.
The Magic stat raised purely with Coins must also be 60 or higher.
In other words, I have 11,500 Coins right now, so I'll have to use almost all of them to meet both conditions.
'But.'
[You have used 11,000 Coins.]
[Magic 50 -> 60]
The difference between having this function and not is huge.
And I don't even have to pay a usage fee.
I can always earn more Coins, so there was no need to hesitate.
[A supplementary function of the trait, 'Lord of Darkness,' has been unlocked.]
[Supplementary Effect, 'Army of Darkness,' has been unlocked.]
[Army of Darkness]
Consumes mana to summon soldiers of darkness.
The rank of the summoned entity is random, but the probability varies depending on your possessed Magic.
When performing a special summon that can store the summoned entity, a certain amount of Magic is permanently lost. The probability of summoning a higher-ranked entity increases in proportion to the number of Magic stat points paid.
Darkness itself possesses powerful functions.
The most representative is 'Annihilation', and depending on the situation, it can even have abilities like 'Absorption' or 'Stealth'.
If you could summon intangible troops on top of that, it would be incredibly tricky for the enemy.
"...I suffered from it a lot myself."
I recalled the past with a bitter smile.
The reason I changed my strategy to ensure I obtained the Lord of Darkness trait.
It was only after struggling terribly against an NPC who had this trait that I decided I had to take it for myself to prevent anyone else from getting it.
"Well then, let's try it."
*Swoosh.*
I felt something leave my body, and a short distance away, the figures of two soldiers clad in full black armor rose up.
Two regular soldiers, even after consuming half my mana?
It might not be very cost-effective yet.
"I saw that bastard go this way! This way!"
"Are you sure he's alone!?"
Men's shouts echoed from outside the cave.
The soldiers instantly turned towards the sound and assumed a defensive stance.
Soon after, a group of about ten people appeared.
"Hey, what the hell? You said he was alone."
"H-He was definitely alone...?"
"Then what are those things!?"
I narrowed my eyes and observed the uninvited guests.
Faces that seemed familiar, yet not.
...Ah, I remember now.
"Yang Gyu-hyeok's men?"
"Yeah, you bastard! What the hell did you do!? Where did Yang Gyu-hyeok-nim go!?"
"Hey, be careful. Cheon Nam-gi-nim said that guy was super strong."
"So what? He's probably just a bit stronger than us. Shit. No one can win against a mob."
Come to think of it, what happened to Cheon Nam-gi?
I think I heard him say he was going east.
He said he'd manage his men, but it looks like he failed to manage all of them.
I used Extreme Eye just in case, but there was no one worth my attention.
They must be the ones who broke away from Cheon Nam-gi's group to chase after me.
"We'll get a ton of Coins if we kill you! Right!?"
"Let's divide the manpower. Five on that bastard Kim Se-hyeon. Three on each of the heavily armored guys next to him."
"Sounds good."
Heh.
I laughed in disbelief and turned my eyes to the soldiers of darkness.
I wasn't ready to perform a special summon yet.
It wasn't even guaranteed to produce a top-tier entity, and a single summon would permanently erase a significant number of Magic stat points.
For the time being, I had to be satisfied with these grunts.
Well, they were more than enough to deal with guys like these.
"Handle it."
I gestured with my chin, and the soldiers instantly unleashed their killing intent and entered a combat stance.
They might be the lowest-ranking soldiers, but each one possessed the strength to fight on par with a Death Worm.
Naturally, they were no match for the intruders.
The proof was that their bodies froze under the killing intent radiating from the two soldiers, unable to react even as I walked right past them.
"W-What the? These guys... they're intangible..."
"Gyaaaaaaah!!"
A scream erupted the moment I left the cave behind.
I don't know what happened. And I didn't want to know.
I didn't order them to kill, but since I told them to handle it, who knows.
They were beings who were blindly loyal to their master.
I chuckled lightly and headed in the direction my companions had gone.
[The 'Angel of Benevolence' sighs and prays.]
[The 'Holy Judge' remains silent regarding your actions.]
[The 'Devil Who Mocks the Heavens' chuckles lightly and rests his chin on his hand.]