The Devouring Monarch's Counterstrike
By the time most of the Chinese players had been taken down, Thousand Eyes sensed a strange aura.
A black aura that stained the surrounding area pitch dark.
At its center stood Ping Lei.
Truly hideous. A sight that offends the eyes.
“You can say that again.”
I nodded in agreement.
Veins bulging like ropes, eyes rolled back completely white. Drool spilled from the corner of his mouth, soaking the ground. His muscles had swollen to twice—no, three times their normal size, writhing and twitching. It didn’t look impressive like a bodybuilder. It just looked grotesque.
“Ugh. Master, is he going to be okay?”
“It’s the side effect of demonic arts.”
“Demonic arts?”
“You know, like the Demonic Cult that always shows up in murim novels. That kind of martial art.”
“Wow, Master, you really know a lot.”
“You pick it up if you read enough.”
I gave Jiyoung a vague answer, but the truth was I knew exactly what technique Ping Lei had learned.
Absorbing Great Law.
It was the demonic art that, along with Seth’s blessing, had allowed him to dominate the Chinese underworld. A vicious technique that stole a portion of another person’s internal energy and stats.
To think he’d already mastered it.
It was a shame I couldn’t destroy his dantian since we were inside the Tower.
“Kuaaaaaah!!”
Ping Lei charged forward with his eyes completely rolled back.
Unique Ability - Clone
Ping Lei split into five. Because he had reversed the flow of his internal energy, his clones had grown stronger as well.
That one looks dangerously unstable.
“He won’t last long.”
Reverse Blood Energy Technique was a twisted method that reversed the flow of qi and blood to amplify power. It was a forbidden art that boosted physical and internal energy at the cost of destroying the body. The aftereffects were severe, but since damage taken inside a mission didn’t carry over to reality, he was using it without hesitation.
“He’ll self-destruct in about two minutes.”
Yet you have no intention of waiting it out, do you?
“You know me too well.”
The Constellations remained silent.
Still, it was strange that they weren’t watching the first clash between the two nations’ rising stars.
That was exactly why I had to crush him here.
If Ping Lei suffered a pathetic defeat, the chances of him becoming Seth’s subordinate would plummet.
If I wanted to face him head-on, I’d have to match his weight class.
Demon's Rage has been activated.
Strength and Agility increased by 200%.
All stun and rigidity effects are ignored.
Upon striking an opponent, absorb 10% of the damage dealt as health.
Duration: 60 seconds.
Sixty seconds was more than enough.
I immediately used Furious Charge. The distance closed in an instant, and one of the clones vanished in a burst of light.
“Grrrrrr!”
“Can’t even speak properly. Looks like your mastery of the Absorbing Great Law is still pretty low.”
“Grrrr?!”
“Why so surprised? Did you think I wouldn’t recognize it?”
The reason Ping Lei would one day be called Death’s Hand in the distant future. It was a title he earned by devouring the internal energy of countless martial artists using that very technique.
“Grrrrrrrr!”
“This is no fun if you can’t even talk back.”
With the perfect harmony between my sixth sense and Thousand Eyes, I ignored the weaker clones’ attacks using Thorn Carapace and Stone Skin, then relentlessly pressured the main body with my sharp claws and the Blood Claw Technique.
Although the Blood Claw Technique was only third-rate, my claws—reinforced by the Blessing of Greed—allowed me to hold my ground even in direct clashes.
All that remained was pure spec and combat sense.
“Grrrrrrrr!!”
Ping Lei’s body was drenched in blood.
He must have raised his stats by consuming all sorts of spiritual herbs, but I had eaten things like the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng and Moonview Stone as well. On top of that, I had been steadily using Devour, so my stats had long since surpassed my level.
My specs were higher than a level 100 player.
Shuk! A blade pierced through my carapace and left a long gash on my shoulder. I ignored the pain and returned a similar wound to Ping Lei with the Blood Claw Technique.
Sluuurp. My claws drank his blood.
It was the life drain effect granted by Demon’s Rage.
“Grrrrrr!!”
Suddenly, Ping Lei kicked off the ground and swung both swords in a wide arc. His stance was full of openings. Like a cornered rat biting a cat, it seemed he was going for a mutual kill.
A desperate charge at close range.
I could have dodged it with Cloud Flow Steps, but I chose to meet him head-on.
Splat!
Ping Lei’s blade sank into my chest.
At the same time, my elongated claws carved a deep trench across his throat.
“Grr….”
Ping Lei smiled with a satisfied expression.
“You think this is a draw?”
Ring of Plunder - Embedded Skill: Life Drain has been activated.
Absorbing the life force of the contacted target.
I snatched one of the nearby clones and drained its life force completely. Fresh flesh regenerated as I pushed the blade out of my chest.
“See you later.”
Ping Lei glared at me with eyes full of resentment before crumbling into dust.
Cleaning up the remaining Chinese players didn’t take long.
“Can we head back now?”
“Head back? We still have one more meal to eat.”
There were two more monster nests in the Chinese sector. The one at the 2 o’clock position near the Laos battlefield would be difficult to reach, but the nest at the 10 o’clock position wasn’t far from our own territory. We might as well devour it before leaving.
“Ugh, Master, seriously…”
With Jiyoung’s whining as background music, we headed toward the next monster nest.
Korean Team – Player Yu Jinho has acquired the Crystal of the Grand Mole B Nest.
Upon returning the Crystal of Dominion, the defense of all minions will permanently increase by 10%.
After destroying the second village, we headed toward the main battlefield—the canyon.
“This is strange.”
“What is?”
“We’ve been rampaging around, but the Chinese side hasn’t reacted at all.”
Jiyoung tilted her head.
“Because a hole has been punched in their forces.”
Out of their total of one hundred players, ten of them were now unable to move for an hour. Numerically that was only ten percent, but considering Ping Lei’s importance, the actual damage was far greater.
Still, it is strange. Their numbers are greater, so even if they have to leave the canyon temporarily, wouldn’t it make sense for them to target you?
“Only if they knew how many of us there are.”
Once you received a death judgment in a mission, you had to wait in a separate space for sixty minutes. Information sharing was also impossible. The Chinese players probably had no idea how many Koreans had crossed over.
“Master, do you really think China will just let us go like this?”
“Of course not.”
“But they still haven’t reacted.”
“They’ve probably stationed most of their remaining forces inside the canyon.”
Compared to Korea and China, Laos had relatively lower-level players. They would have placed the bare minimum of troops on the right-side canyon and concentrated the rest on the one facing the Korean team.
“If they prevent us from entering the canyon, they can receive support from the turrets and minions.”
Oh-ho. A strategy that prevents dispersion of forces while fully utilizing the defender’s advantage.
“Well, maybe not.”
Even though I said that, I was certain the Chinese players had moved exactly that way.
China never tolerated one-sided losses. There was no way they would simply let us go just because they didn’t know our exact numbers.
“If Master is right, then this is the most dangerous moment.”
“If we time it right, we might be able to link up with our allies, but…”
I let my words trail off.
Since I had moved without planning any coordination from the start, it was unrealistic to expect the Korean players to adjust to my actions.
“Don’t worry too much. It’ll work out somehow.”
“Yes. I’ll trust only in you, Master.”
I am quite looking forward to seeing how you will break through this difficulty.
We moved along the foot of the long mountain ridge and soon reached the vicinity of the canyon.
Clang! Clang!
The sharp sound of weapons clashing echoed from afar. It seemed a fierce battle was already underway inside the canyon.
“Your prediction was correct, Master.”
Jiyoung frowned.
At the entrance of the canyon, Chinese players were swarming like ants. Roughly twenty of them. Including those fighting inside, there were probably fifty to sixty in total.
That is no small number.
“Passing through them is easy enough.”
However…
Nyx glanced behind us.
With both Thorn Carapace and Stone Skin active, I wouldn’t take damage from ordinary attacks. Using Cloud Flow Steps and Full Sprint together would also make it easy to shake off pursuers.
But protecting your disciple at the same time would be impossible.
Nyx lowered her voice.
What a considerate goddess.
However—
“Just leave me behind.”
It seemed Jiyoung had the same thought, since she spoke up even though Nyx had lowered her voice.
Do not say such things. Is it not worth trying to break through together?
“I’m fine. I can rejoin the mission after sixty minutes anyway.”
Jiyoung spoke with a resolute expression.
“What are you talking about?”
I shook my head.
“We’ll just break through head-on.”
“There are only two of us! You might end up getting killed too, Master!”
“Why do you think that?”
If I had planned to sacrifice Jiyoung, I wouldn’t have brought her in the first place.
“If all of us make it back alive, won’t that mess with the Chinese players’ heads even more?”
Jiyoung stared at me with a dazed expression.
“Uh…”
That is exactly what I expect from the contractor of Greed!
On the other hand, Nyx clenched her tiny fist in excitement.
“Jiyoung, can you hold out for one minute?”
“One minute?”
“If it’s too hard, just say so.”
“I can block their attacks for exactly one minute.”
“I’m counting on you.”
In that case, we’d go with Plan A—the straightforward approach.
As we emerged from the bushes onto the path leading into the canyon, the Chinese players’ gazes turned toward us one by one.
“The ppang-jeu have shown up.”
“Only two of them?”
“There must be more hiding behind them. Watch out for an ambush.”
The Chinese players spread out in a crescent formation and surrounded me.
Even with an overwhelming numerical advantage, they didn’t rush in immediately.
While China certainly had the numbers, we had one advantage as well.
Lack of information.
Would they really believe that just the two of us had taken down ten players, including Ping Lei?
Not unless they had examined the battlefield and seen the traces of combat left behind.
They couldn’t even imagine such a thing.
The moment they hesitated out of caution—
Demonic Power has been activated.
That brief opening was the perfect chance to tear through their encirclement.
I poured the amplified mana into the ring.
A fireball twice as large as before fell into the middle of the Chinese players and—
BOOOOOOM—!
A massive explosion erupted. The player standing at the center of the blast was instantly vaporized. The rest of the Chinese players were sent flying in every direction, unable to withstand the shockwave.
“Now it begins.”
Earth Spike has been activated.
Stone pillars several times larger than usual surged forward. Although the tank line had stepped forward, the player who took the spike head-on turned gray and was eliminated instantly. Even though several of them tried to block it, I poured in additional mana, causing the spikes to churn through the ground once more and advance.
The Chinese formation that had been meticulously arranged was shattered.
Flame Bit
Wind Cutter
White Fang
The mage-type players fired off low-cooldown spells. Since they were wary of our main force that might be hiding somewhere, they couldn’t afford to use any big techniques.
Shwaaaaak!
Even though the spells were weak individually, their sheer number—over ten at once—made them threatening.
The moment the barrage of fireballs, wind blades, and various other elemental spells came flying in—
Vibration Barrier x 3
Hexagonal tiles wrapped around my head and front, completely blocking every single Chinese magical attack.
“Just trust me, Master!”
Jiyoung shouted with a determined expression as she deployed the Vibration Barrier.
That’s right. Let’s see just how good the Wailing Wall really is.