Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: I Know Rakrak Is a Godslayer
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'I know that Rakrak is a godslayer too?'
AR1026 Ambong used the teleportation skill.
A high-cost skill that moved hundreds of meters without any trace or delay.
But AR1026 had to admit that he wasn't gifted at this kind of control.
'...The hole is pretty big.'
AR1026 checked his wound, hoping it wouldn't enter Rakrak's sight.
There was pain, but feeling pain in an avatar's body was simply necessary to gauge the opponent's attack.
It didn't cause any secondary issues with other sensations.
The piercing wound at his waist existed simply as a hole, but it began to slowly fill in.
Thanks to the black thorns skill that was being used almost automatically.
The absorption skill usually referred to absorbing faith resources, but of course, it also served as recovery.
'Still, ...it's hard to call this good.'
He had anticipated a tough fight.
To begin with, with Runda turning away and Jangwan leaving, it was tough even just looking at the numbers.
But he had assumed he could at least draw out Runda's avatar, if not Nebula's.
'Rakrak is stronger than I thought.'
The advantage and drawback of an avatar was that the player had to control it directly.
'Or maybe I'm weaker than I thought.'
Lost World played out automatically in many ways.
If you weren't obsessed with victory, you could just start the game, pick a race, and do nothing, and the game would progress on its own.
AR1026 had heard stories of people using that for game streaming or gambling on who would win with currency exclusive to those streams.
AR1026 wasn't particularly fast-handed, so he liked that Lost World playstyle.
Of course, faster hands allowed more multitasking, so theoretically, the faster the better, but at least in AR1026's ranking bracket, you could maintain a decent win rate with operations alone even without top physical skills.
'Of course, that was the limit of my abilities.'
The problem was the avatar.
The avatar had to be controlled directly by the player, and now he had to move his own body.
A slow-handed person couldn't expect their body to be fast either.
The price for failing to predict that properly was the wound from Rakrak.
'I can't get discouraged like this. Thinking pessimistically leads to negative results.'
But the current situation wasn't one he could call good, even without trying to see it pessimistically.
Some of the golden-eyed soldiers seemed to have escaped properly, but others returned upon seeing their god appear.
This wasn't AR1026's mistake.
Sacrifices were needed to maintain faith, and the enemy soldiers alone weren't enough.
However, while focusing on Rakrak's battle, he had let quite a few enemy soldiers slip away too.
The golden-eyed camp currently held some soldiers from both sides hiding to avoid the black thorns, AR1026 and Krampus moving their massive bodies to fight regardless, and Nebula and Runda's created beings.
'Better to change tactics.'
AR1026 decided to give up on Rakrak.
If he were better at handling his avatar, it might have been a fight worth attempting, but not right now.
No matter the help from created beings, Nebula and Runda had them too.
And long-term, with Krampus having already consumed many created beings and AR1026 only able to summon low-maintenance ones due to the avatar skill, he couldn't match Nebula and Runda's in quality or quantity.
'Shameless, but let's retreat alive. But I can't go back after nearly depleting faith resources with no gains...'
AR1026 floated into the air and looked toward Runda in the distance.
More precisely, at the priest Renar whom Runda had possessed.
Beating an apostle with an avatar might be hard, but killing a possessed Renar priest seemed doable.
Not as bad as avatar death, but dying while possessed still caused a level down.
Killing Runda alone would recover much of today's losses.
'Showing up possessed means they don't think they need an avatar for me, right? I'll make them regret it.'
And it would heal his wounded pride quite a bit too.
—┼
Rakrak noticed the moment Ambong vanished.
'Shallow.'
He had planned to thrust then immediately slash toward the chest, but Ambong's disappearance broke the motion.
Anaksa, flung back, flapped its rather meaningless wings in the air as it charged at Rakrak.
Rakrak mounted Anaksa while scanning the surroundings.
'Not attacking right away. Recovering from the wound?'
That was a good sign.
He had felt it fighting evil gods in the past too, but gods were different from beasts or people—unclear where or how to stab to kill them.
Less because Rakrak didn't know, and more like they just didn't have such vulnerabilities.
'That's what gods are.'
But Rakrak knew quite a bit about gods, so he could read Ambong's actions.
'Ambong is furious at Purity's betrayal. So naturally, he'll head for the Purity-possessed Renar priest. If he's not attacking me, that is.'
The Purity-possessed Renar priest seemed to be searching for Ambong too, looking around from atop a tall tree.
Unclear if intentional, but a good choice.
'Black thorns have a progression direction. They start closest to Ambong's body and gradually extend outward.'
That meant Ambong would expose his direction when targeting Purity—putting Purity in an easy-to-attack position.
'Where could it be.'
Rakrak rode Anaksa, running while guessing where he would attack if he were Ambong.
Then Seong-un spoke from afar.
-Rakrak.
Rakrak replied.
-My lord Wild Heaven, have you called for me?
Seong-un sounded baffled.
-What? Why are you talking like that?
-Is there anything surprising?
-Did you learn that from Eldar... the Dancing Shadow?
Rakrak just smirked without answering that part.
Eldar was an amusing god.
A good conversation partner too.
After Wild Heaven's afterlife, the primal plains, came the Origin Forest.
The Origin Forest was where elves who believed in Eldar and other races arrived after death, and Eldar's figure could often be seen there.
Seong-un rarely appeared, though.
So Rakrak often chatted with Eldar.
Rakrak said.
-What is it?
-No need to target Ambong anymore.
-Then Purity will be in danger.
-Eh, Purity can fend for herself, doesn't matter.
Rakrak narrowed his eyes at his god.
Seong-un added unnecessarily.
-I mean, overall war situation-wise, it doesn't matter.
-So we're abandoning him?
-Not quite. To help Purity, target something other than Ambong.
Rakrak knew a good idea had struck his god.
And his god never failed those expectations, so he was pleased.
-How?
—┼
-Why are you only chasing me!
Runda leaped over a tree using his priest's body.
A possessed divine body wasn't weak in raw power.
It even displayed wondrous strength at times.
One leap could cross a river, or hurl a house-sized boulder overhead.
But it was a different issue from the mighty skills of an avatar.
A sharp thorn finally pierced his shoulder.
Runda immediately smacked and snapped the thorn, rolled on the ground, then pulled it out.
Then he stood up.
Impressively quick even for the eyes to follow, but Runda sensed it.
'Too late.'
AR1026's avatar appeared right before him.
'Teleport!'
AR1026 grabbed Runda's throat.
Runda gripped AR1026's wrist with steel-crushing strength, but it didn't budge.
Though possessed, AR1026's avatar had superior bonuses from more subdomains.
Runda said.
-A, AR...
-Speak.
-Shall we... make peace?
-You're joking, right?
AR1026 slammed Runda into the ground in satisfaction.
-Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out, as if Runda's body had burst.
But Runda's sturdy possessed body withstood the impact.
Just, his left wrist dangled, likely from a broken bone.
AR1026 stomped on Runda's chest.
-Crunch!
Runda screamed in agony, barely opening his right eye wide as he said.
-Wouldn't targeting Rakrak be better than me?
-He's too tough, you see.
AR1026 pressed harder on the chest.
He had no hobby of tormenting others, but the pleasure of revenge was real.
-AR...
-Don't worry. I'm timing your possession skill release too. I'll end it before then.
-I think you made a mistake...
AR1026 picked Runda up again.
Matching eye level, Renar's possessed body dangled in the air.
-What do you mean?
-Why do you think Rakrak isn't interfering? Because I'm useless?
AR1026 said.
-Because our created beings are blocking your apostle...
-Doesn't seem like it?
AR1026's gaze shifted.
As if the sky was covered in light, a pillar of light massive enough to blanket the mountain peak engulfed the created beings.
—┼
Fierce winds blew from the expanded air mass.
So violent that AR1026's thorns snapped like twigs, golden-eyed tents soared into the air, and trees broke.
Amid it, Rakrak breathed a bit heavily from the difficult attack, and at his feet, AR1026 and Krampus's created beings—struck directly by massive lightning—collapsed, spewing white steam.
Blood gushed from eye and mouth holes, massive lightning scars burst and tore, boiling blood vessels spurting gore.
Seong-un thought.
'Even with such good mobility, can't avoid damage when laden with so much baggage.'
Skills required divinity levels.
But maintaining divinity meant not losing your own.
Exposing too many cards essentially revealed many weaknesses.
'The created beings brought to "help" were that weakness.'
Seong-un gauged the created beings' stats and levels, confirming how much exp AR1026 would lose if they died.
'At least 6 levels down.'
AR1026 at level 19 dropping to 13.
'Can't use avatar skill.'
Level down didn't auto-cancel skills.
But max faith resources decreased.
Ultimately, the avatar's vaunted skills became useless.
Just god-like appearance, no abilities.
Seong-un called his apostle.
-Rakrak!
Rakrak was already charging.