Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Kiyo the Phoenix
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Grand Cross.
This was one of the attack skills that Joo-hyuk, who wielded dual swords, frequently used.
But Joo-hyuk's attacks didn't simply end with Grand Cross.
The Phoenix, known as one of the powerful ones among fire-attribute monsters.
With this skill alone, even a single Phoenix could be handled without much trouble.
Hae-jin unleashed Grand Cross, sending his dual swords flying in a cross shape.
But it didn't stop there—a golden holy energy began enveloping Hae-jin's entire body.
‘Shadow Cross.’
Shadow Cross, an attack skill of the Lord of Chaos that harnessed shadows.
Layering it on top fused the golden and black cross energies.
Joo-hyuk called this technique ‘Chaos Cross.’
Light and shadow.
Their union was the true ‘chaos,’ he claimed.
This was the signature move Joo-hyuk relied on.
Even in the late stages of the Trials' Arena, it could one-shot enemies.
Hae-jin crashed into the Phoenix hurtling toward him in its blazing firebird pattern.
The moment they collided, the Phoenix's agonized screech rang out.
[Kyaaak-!]
The Phoenix struck by Chaos Cross lost its roaring golden flames.
The golden feathers gradually turned ash-gray.
It had no choice.
Hae-jin's Chaos Cross had just shredded its body into a cross shape.
At that moment, Hae-jin spotted it.
Roar-!
The Phoenix's corpse, split in a cross pattern.
Inside burned an egg wreathed in golden flames.
This egg was no item like the Sea Serpent's egg.
‘You can't let it revive.’
That egg was the medium for the Phoenix's signature trait: revival.
A Phoenix revives even after death.
But upon dying, it becomes an egg cradling golden flames and flies off to a random spot.
If it stays put as an egg at the death site, the shell shatters.
So Hae-jin ended it before the egg could escape.
"Time to finish it."
Well aware of this, Hae-jin pursued the fleeing Phoenix egg and swiftly cleaved it in half with his blade.
Crunch-!
The split egg lost its golden flames one final time.
Once the egg vanished, loot poured out.
But right then.
Among the Phoenix drops, Hae-jin noticed something striking.
"Huh? This drops?"
[Item! You have acquired 'Phoenix's Egg.']
Phoenix's Egg.
What was a Phoenix?
One of the mightiest giant fire-attribute beasts.
Even ordinary monster eggs had abysmal drop rates—to say nothing of Sea Serpent-grade ones, rarer than winning the lottery.
A Phoenix's Egg was even less likely.
Yet here it was.
Granted, with an even lower drop rate than a Sea Serpent's egg, its hatch rate was slimmer too.
But that was just the norm.
"Grow Up."
Crunch-.
Hae-jin triggered Grow Up to hatch the Phoenix egg on the spot.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the egg in his grasp.
Then a long, pointed beak burst forth.
Peck peck peck-.
The Sea Serpent chick had a sharp blue lizard snout; this Phoenix hatchling shattered the shell with a bright yellow beak.
The vivid yellow beak hammered away diligently.
The instant the Phoenix emerged, a system window popped up before Hae-jin's eyes.
[Pet! You have acquired 'Phoenix.']
[Please set a name.]
[Name: ]
With the Phoenix now his pet, the naming interface appeared.
"A name, huh..."
Caught off guard by the sudden prompt, Hae-jin pondered his choice.
[Kiyo?]
The chick Phoenix tilted its head at him.
"Kiyo?? Kiyo, Kyoo. Kiyo fits better. Yeah, 'Kiyo' it is."
True to his hopelessly straightforward naming sense, Hae-jin locked it in.
Another system window followed.
[Pet! Setting 'Phoenix's name to 'Kiyo.']
[Pet! Intimacy with 'Kiyo' has increased by 10%.]
Named at last, the Phoenix perked up.
[Kiyo!]
Pleased with 'Kiyo,' it chirped brightly.
Hae-jin chuckled at the sight and stroked its head.
That's when Q lunged, snatched Kiyo in its jaws, and flung it backward.
[Kyung!]
Having tossed Kiyo aside, Q shoved its own head forward, demanding pets.
Hae-jin chuckled again.
"Jealous, are we?"
[Kyung!]
Q whined affirmatively.
Hae-jin scolded it.
"You're still like the firstborn, and Kiyo's the little sib—you gotta look out for it. Right, Q?"
[Qwoong...]
Reprimanded, Q wilted.
Then it nudged the discarded Kiyo back toward Hae-jin with its head.
Hae-jin petted Kiyo's head.
[Kiyong.]
Thrilled to be back and stroked, Kiyo cooed.
At the same time, Hae-jin ruffled Q's head with his other hand.
"Two hands means pets for both—no need to get jealous, Q."
[Qwoong!]
Q barked in agreement.
Hae-jin spoke up.
"Alright, let's head to floor 91."
[Kyung!]
[Kiyo!]
Hae-jin arrived on floor 91.
The sky was dark.
Ahead lay a ruined cathedral, ringed by countless graves.
Hae-jin thought:
‘Undead?’
His guess hit the mark.
Bony hands suddenly erupted from the graves.
Hae-jin remarked:
"No way—floor 91 and it's just skeletons?"
Right then.
Hiiiing-!
Horse neighs echoed from all around.
Skeletal steeds burst from the ground and converged on the undead.
Only then did Hae-jin nod in realization.
"Ah, Dullahans?"
Dullahan.
Top-tier among warrior skeletons.
Former knights beheaded in life, reforged as undead—one of the strongest, barring the absolute elites.
But the next moment.
"Not Dullahans, huh?"
Hae-jin had assumed Dullahans from the horses.
Yet the rising skeletons had intact heads firmly on their necks.
True Dullahans manifested with heads detached; this horde's were all properly attached.
Meaning these weren't Dullahans.
That left one option.
"Ah, Death Knights then. Yeah, that's more like it."
Death Knight.
The virtual pinnacle of warrior undead.
"Virtual" because true apex predators existed separately.
One was dragonbone-forged dragon riders; the other, undead made from lifetime powerhouse warriors.
The latter weren't strictly skeletons, so among pure warrior skeletons, Death Knights reigned supreme—save dragonbone variants, which were Death Knights regardless.
But that wasn't all.
[Who dares invade my territory?]
"Huh?"
A lich's voice boomed from behind the summoned Death Knights.
There, Hae-jin spotted one.
He quipped:
"Terry?"
Just a casual jab at the lich.
But it reacted.
[Who... Gasp? Human, how are you here?]
"Huh?"
Hae-jin's throwaway joke had struck a nerve with 'Terry.'
It even recoiled at the sight of him.
Totally unforeseen.
From the reaction, no doubt.
"Terry Prisoner?"
Naming it fully, the lich panicked.
[Aaack! Why's that bastard here?! Kill him!!!]
Terry Prisoner commanded his undead to slay Hae-jin.
Hae-jin smirked.
"Still clueless. Well, undead are perfect for Kiyo. Q, Kiyo—take 'em out. I'll buff you up."
He showered Q and Kiyo with full buffs.
"Combat Orders, Hyper Body, Sharp Eyes, Meditation, Wind Booster, Combo Barrier, Magic Shield, Magic Resistance, Full Aura, Haste, Strength, Holy Symbol, Striking, Bless, Holy Enchant, Divine Enchant, Fire Enchant, Flame Enchant, Clairvoyance..."
And so on.
Undead foes meant layering holy power with fire enchants atop their buffs.
Q would power up massively, while Kiyo—already a sacred flame incarnate—got only a modest boost.
A Phoenix's golden flames embodied both holy and fire attributes natively.
Felling undead was child's play.
[Kiyooo-!]
Flap flap-!
Still tiny, Kiyo's wingbeats sounded feeble.
From those flaps, dagger-sized golden flames streaked toward the undead.
Plain-looking embers at a glance.
With full buffs, though, they'd deal solid damage—or so Hae-jin figured.
Wrong.
Rooaaar-!
[Kikikik-!]
Undead ignited on contact, writhing in torment.
Hae-jin commented:
"This is why attribute matchups matter."
Kiyo fluttered over, head cocked.
[Kiyo?]
"Good job."
He stroked its head.
[Kiyo!]
Delighted by the praise, Kiyo chirped happily.
Q geared up to shine, but shockingly, the undead crumpled without a fight—before Q could even try.
Q pondered its role.
‘At least snag that escaped skull guy!’
Q bolted forward.
Hae-jin blinked.
"Huh? Q? Where to?"
Ignoring him, Q pursued the fleeing lich, Terry Prisoner.
Reading the move, Hae-jin got it.
"After Terry, huh. Let's go, Kiyo."
[Kiyo!]
Hae-jin and Kiyo gave chase.
A bizarre sight awaited.
Q stood frozen before some entrance.
Hae-jin gawked at it too.
"What the...?"
No wonder.
It was unmistakably the path to floor 92.
Why was it open?
The Tower of Job Change required clearing all monsters per floor to proceed.
Yet Terry had escaped uncaptured, and here was the next-floor gate ajar.
Hae-jin shrugged.
"Beats me, but climbing up should explain it."
He ascended from 91 to 92.
To uncover this odd setup.
Floor 92 brought the same nonsense.
[Eeeek! Quit chasing me! Minions, attack!]
There, Terry Prisoner—summoning Death Knights twice the prior size—bolted again.