Chapter 214
Chapter 214
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 214
>Chapter Title: Descent of the Black Thunder Dragon
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The first time he used Darken on Thunder Dragon Descent was quite a while ago.
It was when he had tried Darken on Fireball.
Having gotten a taste for the massively enhanced power, he was firing off Fireballs left and right when a sudden thought crossed his mind.
'Huh? If it works on magic... then maybe it works on Thunder Dragon Descent too?'
Strictly speaking, it was a martial arts skill, not magic, but Thunder Dragon Descent borrowed the power of the Thunder Dragon itself.
Especially the first activation, where the descending Thunder Dragon boasted effects and performance that could easily be called magic.
So wouldn't Darken apply to it as well?
-The Thunder Dragon... is black? Then it's a Black Dragon...?
-Li... za?
-M-Master. Try it quick. Ah, I can't hold back!
-Black Dragon my ass... Fine, fine. Stop flailing around.
It was just like Jihad, who from their first meeting had spouted cringeworthy lines that seemed like they would awaken the Black Flame Dragon.
Uncharacteristically eager, he urged Do-hyun on, but Do-hyun was just as curious, so he activated the skill without hesitation.
Then, something astonishing happened.
[Warning!]
[Accessing the Black Dragon's power through an abnormal route.]
'...Huh?'
Unlike when he wrapped Fireball or Thousand Transformations in darkness, where it just shaved off some defense and silenced the noise,
A strange message popped up repeatedly, contrary to his expectations.
'Black Dragon? What Black Dragon?'
Abnormal route? Black Dragon's power?
Before he could even understand what it meant, the skill activated—and what emerged was not Thunder Dragon Descent.
It was Thunder Dragon Descent that literally borrowed the Black Dragon's power.
A completely new skill, entirely different from the original Thunder Dragon Descent.
'Crazy...'
'Whoa... So cool, Master...'
Do-hyun couldn't help but marvel at the newly manifested Thunder Dragon Descent, and for a while after, he suffered Jihad's relentless begging to let him try it too...
Pzzzt—Crackle—
That skill, which he hadn't been able to use due to mana issues, now revealed itself once more.
His hair, dyed black like lightning. Black sparks dancing around him.
A heterogeneous aura unlike any Thunder Dragon Descent he'd seen before, and an even more menacing, ominous energy.
"Urk, what the hell is this...? What is that form! I've never heard of a skill like that!"
Berje pushed off his knee and rose, shouting.
He simply couldn't accept this situation.
That was Thunder Dragon Descent?
He had spent a year and eight months in Godose, but he'd never seen Thunder Dragon Descent like that.
No, a skill like that didn't even exist to begin with.
So what the hell was this guy?
'A guy who hasn't even Transcended shouldn't be able to do this.'
Even Transcendence might make some sense, but this defied all common sense.
Half indignant, half baffled, Berje somehow clung to his sanity.
[HP below 40%.]
'Damn... I got careless.'
The situation wasn't good.
He had taken over 20% HP in an instant from a direct lightning hit.
Berje cautiously activated his unique ability.
[Unique ability 'Piercing Gaze' activated.]
[Assessing gap with target.]
[Lower tier opponent. Victory predicted.]
'...Was I worrying over nothing? Well, even if it's different, it's still just Thunder Dragon Descent in the end. No single skill can bridge this gap.'
Unlike before, "easily" was missing, but it still predicted victory.
On top of that, the opponent's HP had to be scraping bottom.
With 40% still left on his side, he held the overwhelming advantage.
'Advantage is mine. For now, just watch...!?'
He was about to observe cautiously just in case—
Berje's eyes widened.
Crackle.
The sparks around the guy grew, then became a single bolt of lightning.
It wasn't Lightning Teleport.
The Kaiser, turned into black lightning, flashed—and in the split second he realized it, it had already pierced through his body.
[Used Black Thunderbolt.]
[Move swiftly as lightning, piercing everything you touch.]
[Remaining uses: 1]
It was the power of Lightning Teleport, enhanced by the Black Dragon's energy.
'What nonsense is this...!'
Lightning Teleport passing through a living being was shocking enough, but the damage was insane.
He could see his HP visibly draining.
Damage that didn't feel like a mere movement skill at all.
No, Lightning Teleport wasn't supposed to deal damage in the first place—why had it pierced him?
But what happened next was even crazier.
"Hup...!"
The Kaiser, who had stopped behind him, drew in a breath.
[Thousand Transformations becomes 'Assassin's Dagger.']
Stab! Stab! Stab!
Stab! Stab!
"Kuhk...!?"
Dozens of thrusts shot out in an instant, stabbing his organs and vitals.
[HP below 30%.]
[Be careful.]
'What the...!'
The massive damage chunks made his mind reel.
It definitely hadn't been doing that much damage earlier. Something was off. The damage was absurd, like the guy had become a different person.
Before his dazed mind could recover, more messages appeared.
[Afflicted with status 'Exhaustion.']
[Mind exhausted; all stats reduced.]
[Afflicted with status 'Confusion.']
[Mind confused; senses distorted. Sense of direction severely impaired.]
Debuffs from Luidra's earrings and bracelet.
And the debuffs didn't end there.
[Exposed to Frost Stream; movement slowed.]
[Afflicted with status 'Slow.']
[Exposed to heterogeneous energy.]
Slow from Frost Stream, plus a message type he'd never seen before.
Berje had a gut feeling. That last line was the cause of this abnormal damage.
It was an excellent guess.
[Existing Thunder Dragon Descent gains additional effects due to heterogeneous energy.]
[Physical abilities greatly enhanced.]
[Inflicting damage exposes target to unstable energy. Attacks on exposed foes partially ignore defense.]
[Stacks possible; damage increases proportionally to stacks.]
'Defense ignore plus damage amp...'
On top of Thunder Dragon Descent's speed boost, now enhanced physicals.
Since it wasn't replacing Thunder Dragon Descent's effects but adding the Black Dragon's power, it was flawless in every way.
Thanks to that, he could wield specs incomparable to before.
'Who knew the skill had an Easter egg like this? Amazing.'
As far as Do-hyun knew, the Black Dragon's existence wasn't known in Godose yet.
No one even knew if the Thunder Dragon existed, so it was natural.
There was no info beyond the skill description hinting it was a skill from martial artists who worshipped the Thunder Dragon.
'Is Darken connected to the Black Dragon's power?'
Or maybe some other condition.
It was ambiguous since other skills, weapons, and targets showed no reaction.
Either way, it was a condition no user could know.
No other user but Do-hyun could use Darken on Thunder Dragon Descent.
'Maybe other skills have hidden stuff too.'
Conditions only the all-master Do-hyun could uncover.
But now was time to focus on the fight.
He could fight Berje on equal terms thanks to the Black Dragon's power, but sadly, there was a time limit.
[Power obtained through abnormal route.]
[Penalty applied.]
[Mana consumption increased by 666%; exhaustion and blindness after use.]
[Power of God's Tear weakening.]
[Power fades in 30 seconds.]
'30 seconds... Settle it within that.'
Without God's Tear, even 10 seconds would be impossible with that cheat-level mana drain.
Combined with other skills, not even 5 seconds.
So Do-hyun had only one thing to do now.
Ta-at! Whirr—
Boom! KABOOM!
"Urk..., Kaiser!!"
Overwhelm relentlessly.
Before Berje could think of anything else, keep pressing to end it.
Boom! KABOOM!!
The scythe wrapped in black lightning clashed with the sword wreathed in flames of will, sparking dazzling effects.
Sparks flew, flames spread, heavy booms echoed.
Attacks collided madly.
Dozens of sword strikes per second rang out; the two fighters, lost in their duel, saw only each other.
Ta-tat.
When Berje was pushed back, Do-hyun followed, swinging his scythe.
Stab!
When Berje fell, he mounted and stabbed with Thousand Transformations as a dagger.
When distance opened, he thrust as a spear.
When Berje swung his sword to ignite flames, Do-hyun vanished into a back grab; as if anticipating it, Berje swung behind, clashing weapons.
"Ugh!"
"F-Fall back more!"
"You're caught in it, hurry!"
Even as they tumbled into the encircling guild members, they didn't stop their strikes.
It was fierce, but for some reason,
The guild members couldn't utter a word. No cheers escaped.
Boom! KABOOM!
"Urk..."
Now even they could see it.
Who was being pushed.
Berje was gradually yielding, until suddenly he couldn't even graze Kaiser's toes.
Pushed in speed, skill, everything.
Stagger—Stab!
"Kuhk..."
What started as a fierce fight now looked desperate.
Even stumbling, Berje kept swinging his sword.
But unlike Berje's desperate flailing, Do-hyun's expression grew calmer.
Berje was losing.
Chin.
Berje, barely steadying himself, glared with eyes blurred by debuffs.
He could barely see now.
Multiple overlapping Kaisers—he couldn't tell which was real.
'Me... I'm losing? Like this?'
To that guy barely over level 70?
He thought he could win here, at least now.
Yet he couldn't even touch the guy?
Had it been a pipe dream from the start?
"Why...! Why can't I reach you! Kaiser!!!"
He refused to accept it.
It didn't make sense.
Since wrapping in that weird black lightning, the guy had become insanely strong, like a different person...
"But I'm still stronger. I have the advantage. So why am I losing!"
No way the guy was stronger than him.
The gap between them was overwhelming.
Piercing Gaze had confirmed it!
"Because I'm stronger."
"No way... The message says..."
"You're too obsessed with numbers in this game. If that's your thing, play an idle RPG, not VR."
"Wha...?"
Berje's dazed eyes widened.
That instant.
Peeing—!
Berje's sword, struck by Do-hyun's blue blade, flew away pathetically.
The fallen sword's fierce flames were gone, reduced to a pitiful campfire glow.
[HP below 1%.]
'Ah...'
It felt just like himself, Berje thought.
Thud—
Do-hyun approached the kneeling Berje, black sparks scattering, and tossed out casually.
"Numbers give you the edge? Higher stats? Who cares."
"......"
"In the end, the one still standing is the stronger. That's why we play this game."
As Do-hyun spoke calmly, the raging sparks around him vanished.
His hair returned to normal, and silence fell.
The stage, as grand as its show, now lay in cold stillness.
Stab—!
Only the sound of a cold blade piercing the nape echoed.
'Ah... So this is how it ends...'
Berje's closed eyes trembled faintly.
Dreams of a brilliant future, memories of cornering that man multiple times, faded like a mirage.
When he opened his eyes again, only a gray screen greeted him.
[Player 'Berje' has died.]
Forced logout upon death.
Thud. Berje's body crumpled limply, and a heavy silence lingered for seconds.
"...Fuck."
"Insane."
"The Master lost just now?"
"Th-Then what about us?"
Muttered voices gave way to guild members grasping the situation, screaming in horrified shock.
-Fuck, insane! Fucking insane!!
-Where are those punks saying Berje wins for sure, betting reverse? I memorized your nicks, come out!
-Oy oy, I believed!!
-Wow!! Fuck!!!
-Charging solo into a Top 100 guild HQ right after entering the Empire and wrecking it all?
-Kaiser, he's a god! Kaiser, he's a god! Kaiser, he's a god!
-God, he's Kaiser! God, he's Kaiser! God, he's Kaiser!!!!
The chat exploded.