Chapter 219
Chapter 219
Chapter 219: Blood-Red Abyss (2)
Translation: godtl
A brief silence.
And what shattered it was—
"What the hell are you spouting, you bastard?!"
A four-meter-tall muscular woman.
"Nice to meet you?! A king?! Hey, Princess! Were you acquainted with this human?"
Her face, initially frozen in shock, gradually twisted with rage.
"So that's it...! That's why you didn't heal Shirane right away and kept spouting that nonsense—"
Hiss—
Even among the Giant Race, she was special—an Awakened Giant.
Despite being submerged in the ocean, the steam unique to Jotun seeped from her entire body.
But.
-But is it wise to exchange greetings so openly? If I recall, Your Majesty was broadcasting earlier.
"Ah, no need to worry about that. I've temporarily cut off all transmissions except for sound effects."
-Self-censorship, is it? Well, the broadcasting system is one of the Arena's few redeeming features.
As if the Giant woman was beneath their notice,
Si-mun and Ashaz only had eyes for each other.
-But isn't this a bit reckless? We have Shirane over there, and the Jotun Nnid here as well.
"Haha! You think I'd leave the broadcast on while moving in secret like this, ignoring the Promotion Match?"
-......Just moments ago, I acknowledged your sharp wit, and now you spout nonsense. Truly fitting for a king.
They continued their conversation as if no one else was present.
And so.
"These damn bastards are unbelievable!"
Nnid the Jotun's eyes burned with fury.
Hiiisss—
White steam billowed from her body like exhaust fumes.
"I'll crush you both until not even your bones remain!"
Grrrrrr—
In an instant, her body swelled.
Nearly ten meters tall.
Yet even as the Jotun underwent Gigantification,
"Hmm."
-Hehe.
Si-mun and Ashaz didn't so much as flinch.
In particular,
"She's smaller than Ingmar."
Si-mun found himself looking down at Nnid, whose size now rivaled a building.
And why wouldn't he?
'The Hidden Boss I fought in the Spirit King's Cradle, Ingmar, was even bigger than this Jotun.'
Chief Researcher Ingmar.
Clad in a white lab coat that clashed absurdly with his massive frame, he had easily surpassed twelve meters in height.
'She's about ten meters, give or take?'
The Jotun Nnid before him was smaller—likely no more than ten meters.
'Among the Giant Race, regardless of gender, power is determined by their base size...'
Considering that the Giant Race's strength is directly proportional to their natural stature,
This Jotun, Nnid—
'She's weaker than Ingmar.'
Could only mean she was inferior to the Hidden Boss Ingmar that Si-mun had faced.
A smirk tugged at Si-mun's lips.
Though his mocking grin should have provoked fury,
"You! What the hell did you just say?!"
Something else had caught Nnid's attention.
"Ingmar? Did you say Ingmar?!"
It was the name Si-mun had uttered.
Then—
"N-No way!"
Nnid's eyes bulged.
"Were you... the one who ruined the experiment in the Spirit King's Cradle?!"
Was it because she was a Jotun?
Nnid was well-informed about the research conducted in the Spirit Realm.
Not that it was any secret.
In fact, Si-mun was more surprised that she hadn't recognized him.
"What, you didn't know it was me?"
Naturally, he shot a questioning glance at the Naga Princess Ashaz.
-Ah. Regarding that matter, we never properly informed the Giant Race.
Ashaz shrugged nonchalantly, reading his unspoken question.
-The Second Dragon Emperor insisted on maximum secrecy. And really, was there any reason to explain the truth to those muscle-brained oafs?
In other words—
"So even after joining hands, you weren't allies?"
Despite collaborating on that massive experiment,
They weren't just not close—they weren't even in an alliance.
As if to prove it,
-Hoho! Your Majesty, your wit is truly unmatched. An alliance with those ignorant fools?
Ashaz burst into laughter unlike anything Si-mun had seen before.
-We merely clasped hands for a shared goal.
Her gaze slid dismissively toward Nnid, who was trembling so violently that bubbles frothed across her body.
Of course.
"You damn Dragonkin bastards!!"
Nnid, exploding with rage, raised a fist the size of a house.
And then—
"Trash like you lot aren't even worth associating with!"
Her fist came crashing down with a furious roar.
From her fist and arm—
Hiss—
White steam billowed ceaselessly, even underwater.
A phenomenon that manifested when a Jotun activated their innate abilities.
But—
Hoho.
Despite the colossal strike of the Jotun hurtling toward her—
Ashaz let slip a faint laugh.
With movements as fluid as a sea serpent, she effortlessly dodged the massive fist.
But that was all.
"You rat-faced bitch!"
Even as Nnid's attacks poured down relentlessly—
Ashaz evaded them leisurely, not even attempting to counter.
Naturally, Nnid, her fury boiling over, screamed—
"Eek! A princess like you dares mock me like this?! Stop running and fight!"
Alternating between Hardening and Softening, she unleashed unpredictable attacks—
Yet Ashaz dodged every single one with ease, as if she possessed Odin's Eye itself.
'What's going on?'
Watching this, Si-mun tilted his head in confusion.
'Why is she only dodging? If it's Ashaz, she should be able to handle Nnid easily.'
Naga Princess Ashaz.
Though their first meeting had been during his Gold Debut Match—some time ago now—
Back then, Ashaz had been a Naga so powerful that even the Death Eye couldn't affect her.
And that assessment hadn't changed much since.
'Now, the Death Eye can affect her, but in terms of pure combat ability, even I can't be certain.'
Even in his past life,
An eight-armed Naga had been on par with a high-ranker.
But for Ashaz to only evade without even the slightest counterattack?
'She's not the type to enjoy toying with her prey...'
Si-mun's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then—
"Ah."
He let out a small sigh of realization.
'I see. She's in a situation where she can't kill anyone.'
The reason was obvious.
'If she uses her full strength or kills a Player, she'll face sanctions from the Galaxy Arena.'
The dozen or so Naga they'd dealt with earlier had been strong, befitting Upper-level Dragonkin—
But they hadn't been powerful enough to overwhelm a Diamond Promotion Match, had they?
Meaning they must have barely slipped past the 'Barrier of Rank' the Galaxy Arena had erected.
"Then I'll have to handle it myself."
Having made his decision, Si-mun immediately stomped the ground.
Hoho. As expected.
Seeing this, Ashaz, wearing a satisfied smile, finally stopped her leisurely evasion.
"That's right! You're in a situation where you can't use your full strength!"
Nnid, her lips curling into a vicious sneer, raised her fist high.
"Then just die quietly!"
The moment her fist descended—
Vwoom—
With a fierce resonance—
CRACK!
Nnid's fist, brimming with the power of Hardening, was torn apart.
And not just her fist.
CRRRRACK!
Her wrist, forearm, and even her shoulder—
Her entire right arm, mid-swing, was completely obliterated.
"AAAAAGH!"
Screaming in agony from the intense pain—
"Y-You! You used a technique like that earlier, and now you still have this much power?!"
Nnid stared in horror at the one who had just annihilated her right arm.
But Si-mun didn't even bother answering.
Vwoom—
Once more, he wrapped his fist in the violent black miasma of Demonic Energy.
Then—
Wait, Your Majesty.
A mesmerizing voice halted Si-mun's Tyrant Emperor Break.
You must not kill Nnid now. To break the seal, the blood of a demigod is essential.
"The blood of a demigod?"
Si-mun tilted his head briefly before realizing—
"Ah. You mean the blood of a Jotun."
Indeed. Moreover, Nnid likely holds a Death Prevention Ticket. If you kill her now, the only thing that will happen is the Giant Race gaining intel on you.
At this point, he was practically a cosmic superstar among the Dragonkin.
So even if the Giant Race learned of him, it wasn't particularly threatening to Si-mun—
'There's no need to go out of my way to make more enemies.'
It wasn't something that would bring him any particular benefit.
"Understood."
Si-mun nodded and immediately unleashed the Tyrant Emperor Break.
Of course, his target wasn't the heart as initially intended.
Crunch.
It was Nnid's massive abdomen and entire lower body.
True to her Jotun nature, Nnid—who had been rapidly regenerating her destroyed right arm—
"Gyaaaaaah!!"
—let out another scream as half her body was obliterated.
-And if you have the capacity... I'd like you to spare Shirane as well.
"Of course."
Si-mun didn't even ask why.
It was proof of how much he trusted Ashaz.
-Hehe. Thank you.
Ashaz smiled faintly and gestured toward a place where an unusually thick crimson energy was flowing.
Ssshh—
Using the Staff of Asclepius, Si-mun revived the dying Shirane.
Of course.
"W-what kind of absurd act is this?! Why aren't you healing my arms?!"
He didn't restore her four destroyed arms.
True to her Jotun nature—
Crunch.
"Kyaaaaah!"
—Si-mun delivered another Tyrant Emperor Break to Nnid's regenerating half-body, which had already restored most of itself through her vicious regenerative abilities.
Once Si-mun had secured both Shirane and Nnid and arrived at his destination,
-Place Nnid here. Fix Shirane in place over there.
Ashaz pointed to the source of the crimson energy—
A circular stone slab engraved with mysterious patterns.
Thud.
Si-mun, having liquefied the surrounding ground,
"Agh!"
"Kuhhk!"
—pierced Shirane and Nnid with sharp stakes, pinning them onto the stone slab.
Naturally,
Crunch.
"Gyaaah! You bastard, worse than any Devil!!"
He didn't forget to trim Nnid's regenerating half-body once more.
Perhaps pleased by his thoroughness,
[Constellation Baal nods approvingly at you with a solemn expression.]
[Constellations Black Goat and Heavenly Demon applaud enthusiastically.]
The demonic Constellations expressed immense satisfaction.
-Hmm. Originally, more sacrifices would have been required...
Ashaz sighed, sounding somewhat regretful.
Si-mun immediately grasped the reason for her lament.
"You're short on sacrifices?"
-Indeed.
Nnid and Shirane, fixed onto the stone slabs.
Aside from Nnid, who was pinned to the largest slab,
Around Shirane—secured on a moderately sized slab—there were about ten more slabs of similar size.
-The seal requires a total of twelve sacrifices.
At her words, Si-mun recalled the dozen or so Nagas he had defeated earlier.
"Then the Nagas who came with them..."
-As sharp as ever. Yes. They were all chosen as sacrifices.
"I see..."
Si-mun's brow furrowed slightly.
-To be precise, they were 'selected.' Under the pretense of loyalty to their queen.
Ashaz smiled bitterly.
-Calling it 'selection' is just a euphemism. They were discarded, plain and simple. You fought them, so you must have noticed—for four-armed Nagas, they weren't particularly strong, were they?
"True. They weren't."
Si-mun nodded slowly.
'Even though they blocked my Dragonoid form with their Formation, it only worked once. They were quickly overwhelmed by consecutive strikes.'
Not just in terms of numbers forming the Formation.
Normally, four-armed Nagas would be classified as high-tier Diamonds.
Yet the dozen Nagas Si-mun fought were barely mid-tier Diamond level, weren't they?
Practically no different from the weakest two-armed Nagas.
But Si-mun's frown didn't ease.
And for good reason.
"But their resolve was anything but lacking."
Shirane, the strongest among them, had fled without looking back when the situation turned against her, hadn't she?
Even throwing those dozen Nagas at him as a distraction.
In contrast,
Those dozen Nagas had faced Si-mun without retreating an inch.
Even though they knew it was a fight they couldn't win.
In fact,
Though he hadn't used it due to Kkyu-ung's sudden appearance,
His activated Death Eye had vividly sensed the emotions of those Nagas.
'Those Naga... they knew they'd been abandoned.'
By their queen, and by Shirane.
They knew they'd been discarded.
And yet.
'They threw themselves at me with nothing but loyalty, their lives be damned.'
Those ten-odd Naga had followed Shirane's attack orders to the bitter end, burning their very lives away.
As if reading Si-mun's expression—
They were never even Players. To the queen, they were nothing but defective goods.
—Ashaz's bitter smile deepened.
She measures even her own subjects by their worth. As a princess, I can only feel shame.
Though it wasn't her fault.
Even without the Death Eye, her self-reproach bled through that smile.
"Ashaz."
Si-mun looked at her with pained eyes.
Then—
This too is the karma of our failure to prevent the past.
Shaking her head, she brushed off some inexplicable regret and turned to the two fixed offerings.
Regardless. Even if we offered not just half-blood but our entire beings, the number of sacrifices would still fall short.
"Then we'll have to capture other Players."
Though he'd swept through the area with Ars Magna,
Si-mun's kill count only reached 500.
With a thousand Participants in this Promotion Match, moving quickly could secure another dozen or so.
But—
No. My king need not trouble himself with such labor. Nor should he.
Ashaz immediately shook her head.
Si-mun's briefly puzzled expression soon gave way to a nod.
"Ah. This must be a secret others mustn't uncover?"
Indeed. In Arena terms, you might call it a hidden piece.
Ashaz affirmed.
What lies beyond the Blood-red Abyss is a secret passed down solely among Naga royalty—not even our kin who roam Azshita may know.
Ashaz moved past Nnid,
hovering over the immobilized Shirane.
Thus, we must resolve the seal amongst ourselves. This sacrificial rite offers no death protection either.
Like Ammit summoned from the Desert on the Scales.
'So it carries a Certain Death Judgment.'
Si-mun tilted his head and asked,
"There's another way?"
Naturally.
Ashaz spread all eight arms wide.
With utter serenity, she declared:
As Naga royalty, I am quite valuable. My king need only sever my arms and place them upon the altar.
She demanded the amputation of her own limbs.
Rather than startled,
"Hmm. A sacrifice for the seal, and a pretext to allay the Naga Queen's suspicions?"
Si-mun calmly deduced her intent.
Fufu. Such brilliance. A true pleasure to work with you.
Ashaz smiled in satisfaction.
"Alright then."
Si-mun nodded silently, recalling the Peerless Slash Ma-suk had used in the Guild War.
Channeling Demonic Energy to match,
Whoom—
A sharp edge of dark energy coalesced along his hand.
'Not five-star perfection, but clean enough for the task.'
It'd spare her pain too.
As if to prove it,
[Constellation Heavenly Demon laughs uproariously:"Hah! Well I'll be!"]
The Constellation's reaction surfaced.
Then—
"Here I go."
Proceed.
In an instant, Si-mun flashed past Ashaz, her eight arms spread wide.
Shhk—!
Eight severed limbs. Ink-black blood pooling outward.
Yet she showed no pain—
Now place the severed arms upon the altar.
—calmly observing her own dismemberment.
Briefly debating whether to heal her, Si-mun chuckled and laid each arm upon the stone slabs.
Then—
Kugugugugug—!
True to its name,
the Blood-red Abyss convulsed violently.
The blank space ahead—was it always a door?
Sssss—
Crimson energy seeped through the cracks, outlining a blood-red doorframe.
I knew my king was extraordinary, but please—take care.
Ashaz issued a grave warning.
What's sealed beyond harbors Demonic Energy beyond mortal endurance.
Yet her warning meant nothing.
For a simple reason:
[Constellation Baal jolts upright:"What?!"]
[Constellation Heavenly Demon gasps:"No! It was here all along?!"]
The Constellations' reactions aside—
Her warning...
Kiiiiing—!
'Th-that's—!!'
...simply didn't apply to Si-mun.