Chapter 204
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: Fall of the Sword King
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Lee Hwarang's breath was cut short.
You have slain the Incarnation of a Transcendent.
You gain 30,000,000 experience from the Transcendent due to the contractor's death.
Your level has increased.
All stats 1.
Bonus stat 1 granted.
Title Adversary of Incarnations Lv.1 acquired.
Sa Jae-hyeok's eyes widened at the sight.
"When did he get this strong...?!"
He couldn't read his movements at all.
Even if his level had gone up, could he change this much?
"You're next."
Jeong Hoon looked at Sa Jae-hyeok and curled his lips.
Killing a human, not a monster.
It was the first time since his regression.
In-game, kills just meant logout, but after it became reality, they were actual deaths.
'I didn't want to kill if I could avoid it.'
In the game, he killed without mercy, but he planned to end it by shutting down the game as revenge.
That was why he held back even when Lee Hwarang provoked him.
But if he didn't deal with them here, they'd become obstacles.
There was no reason to hesitate anymore.
The same went for the incarnations before him.
Celestial Aura activates.
Celestial Aura enveloped Jeong Hoon's body.
A starry aura bloomed from him, wrapping him warmly.
Attack power and defense increased by 20.
Attack power and defense of targets within range decreased by 10.
The targets were all the incarnations.
Leviathan was already in Jeong Hoon's hand.
"What?!"
Sa Jae-hyeok freaked out at the Celestial Aura.
His strength drained away while Jeong Hoon's presence grew even fiercer.
'Damn! It's not just a level up!'
The last place he met Jeong Hoon was during the siege.
He lost there, but he had a rough gauge of his skill.
The Jeong Hoon now was completely different.
While Sa Jae-hyeok was lost in confusion, Jeong Hoon unleashed Celestial Steps toward him and swung Leviathan.
First Form: Entry Stance activates.
As the sharp sword strikes poured down, Sa Jae-hyeok panicked and deployed his Sword Realm.
But the Sword Realm crumbled in an instant, and Jeong Hoon's blade headed for his neck.
Ting!
He was moments from losing his life helplessly.
Something wrapped a protective barrier around Sa Jae-hyeok's body, preventing his head from flying off.
'Guide of the Fallen Star' makes a proposal.
'A proposal?'
Sa Jae-hyeok read the message with trembling eyes.
Jeong Hoon frowned at the sight.
'A Transcendent intervened.'
The Guide of the Fallen Star was the Transcendent contracted with Sa Jae-hyeok.
The name might suggest Baal, but it was an Apostle-level Transcendent.
Stars weren't just one.
The stars that followed the brilliantly shining one.
In other words, this Apostle-level Transcendent was one of Baal's minions.
'Right. Baal wouldn't just block Transcendent intervention so easily.'
He enjoyed the bets.
Not just the outcome, but the entire process.
Seeing Jeong Hoon's advantage solidify with Celestial Aura, Baal switched to allowing intervention.
At that moment, Sa Jae-hyeok's eyes lost focus and soon turned red.
'Sa Jae-hyeok, you finally sold your soul.'
For an Apostle-level Transcendent to intervene directly, they needed a contractor.
To wield even greater power, they required an equivalent price from the incarnation.
Just now, Sa Jae-hyeok offered his soul, allowing strong intervention.
"I'll kill you no matter what."
Sa Jae-hyeok's lips curled up as he said that.
He seemed extremely pleased with the power gained.
'Is that what the famed Sword King has come to?'
It was an uglier end than before regression.
The old Sa Jae-hyeok contributed greatly to Earth's downfall, but at least he didn't sell his soul.
Black Field activates.
All ability scores corrected by 1.5x.
All ability scores of monsters invading the Black Field drop by 10.
Debuff not applied to target 'Sa Jae-hyeok'.
He quickly added Black Field.
All ability scores boosted by 1.5x.
First Form: Entry Stance activates.
Jeong Hoon's Entry Stance rushed at Sa Jae-hyeok.
Sa Jae-hyeok manifested Sword Path to counter the strikes.
'I can see it even in his space!'
What he couldn't read before was now clear!
'Guide of the Fallen Star' says 'All Senses: Transcendent (Temporary)' has been granted. But side effects will appear after the time limit.
Also granted 'All Ability Scores Explosive Increase (Temporary)', 'All Skills Grade Up One Level (Temporary)', 'Absolute Defense Against All Status Ailments (Temporary)'.
Temporarily, Sa Jae-hyeok's abilities reached the heavens.
'Guide of the Fallen Star' says it can use the same abilities as the human before you.
'I see. So that's the level he reached.'
His blood boiled with excitement.
Sa Jae-hyeok wrapped himself in Celestial Aura.
It was inferior in every way to Jeong Hoon's, but it was enough.
'Stormblade.'
The skill he failed to unleash properly in panic at first.
Sparks flew from his blue sword aura, small whirlwinds rising.
They grew larger, reinforcing the Sword King's Sword Path.
Area reinforcement, one of Stormblade's options.
His senses sharpened further as he swung his sword.
Fierce sword winds accompanied the strikes, engulfing Jeong Hoon.
"Hup!"
Jeong Hoon inhaled deeply and deployed Erosion.
Second Form: Erosion activates.
Clang! Clang!
Leviathan clashed with the Black Dragon Sword.
Vortices bounced off with each clash, sweeping over the nearby incarnations.
They hurriedly backed away, keeping their distance.
"Get too close and we're dead..."
"In the world... to think Asia had powerhouses like that..."
The two had reached a realm untouchable by others.
"Yeah! C-can't we get that kind of power too?"
"Right! Give us strength too!"
But there was no response from the Transcendent.
The battle dragged on.
At a glance, they seemed evenly matched, but Sa Jae-hyeok was using every skill to block Jeong Hoon's attacks.
Jeong Hoon's face, meanwhile, was full of leisure.
Sa Jae-hyeok grew increasingly anxious.
'Guide of the Fallen Star' says time is running out.
'Shut up! I know that much!'
The buffs from his soul were ending soon.
If this continued, he'd die to the guy in front of him, and his soul would go to that Transcendent.
He didn't care about the latter, but not the former.
'Price! I'll pay more!'
'Guide of the Fallen Star' says that's impossible. You have nothing of value left.
'You bastard!'
No further response from the Transcendent.
"What's wrong? Hitting your limit?"
Jeong Hoon's lips curled as their swords clashed.
"Shut your crap!"
Clang!
Damn it!
Sa Jae-hyeok bit his lip.
Every attack was blocked.
"Time to end this."
With Jeong Hoon's words, countless sword auras burst from Leviathan, filling the air.
Hundred Blades Storm activates.
Hundred Blades Storm, now usable after a set number of swings via Annihilation Sword.
"Wh-what?!"
Sa Jae-hyeok shuddered under the pressure of Hundred Blades Storm.
Third Form: Annihilation activates.
Jeong Hoon raised his sword, thrusting at Sa Jae-hyeok's neck with Annihilation.
'Crazy!'
Sa Jae-hyeok realized too late he'd exposed an opening and hurriedly raised his sword to defend.
Clang!
He disrupted the Sword Path with a swing and dodged to the side.
He spun, swinging once more at Jeong Hoon's side.
Clang!
But it wasn't Jeong Hoon who blocked Sa Jae-hyeok's strike.
'What...?'
Sa Jae-hyeok's eyes widened.
The Black Dragon Sword was stopped by countless sword auras.
"You're done, I said."
Jeong Hoon grinned.
In that instant, the myriad sword auras swirled, engulfing Sa Jae-hyeok.
His body ignited where they struck.
"Arghhh!"
Sa Jae-hyeok screamed at the unimaginable heat.
"Does it hurt?"
Jeong Hoon watched him writhe and asked.
"U, arghhh!"
Sa Jae-hyeok couldn't even answer amid the agony of his body burning.
"If you hadn't gotten in the way, I wouldn't have killed you."
Jeong Hoon muttered as he quietly watched Sa Jae-hyeok burn.
Soon, the thrashing stopped, and he went completely still.
It's over.
'Yeah. Whatever trick he pulled mid-fight, it was impressive.'
The power from his soul exceeded imagination.
He'd fought nearly evenly with Jeong Hoon at heavenly heights.
Jeong Hoon approached and pierced his throat to ensure he was dead.
You have slain the Incarnation of a Transcendent.
You gain 30,000,000 experience from the Transcendent due to the contractor's death.
Your level has increased.
All stats 1.
Bonus stat 1 granted.
Title Adversary of Incarnations grows to Lv.2.
"You're next."
Jeong Hoon's gaze turned to the distant incarnations.
They too were among the first to disrupt the world.
Obstacles to ending the game and bringing peacethey had to be eliminated.
"Sp-spare us!"
"We were wrong!"
Having seen Sa Jae-hyeok and Lee Hwarang die, the incarnations quickly knelt.
But Jeong Hoon mercilessly began slaying them.
After slaying all the incarnations, Jeong Hoon's level reached 342.
...To think you'd really wipe them out.
A rift opened in the air, revealing red eyes once more.
"Weren't you supposed to prevent Transcendent intervention?"
I said not to intervene, but I don't recall including it in the bet?
Demons gonna demon.
He prioritized entertainment above all.
He never expected the demon to keep his word anyway.
'This works out better.'
Even with Transcendent intervention, Jeong Hoon eliminated them all.
Baal's interest could only grow, not wane.
"Fine? Anyway, I won, so prepare the reward properly."
Kukuku, what an entertaining guy. Let's see how long that arrogance lasts.
Baal's eyes vanished again.
Demon's Deal activates.
Quest difficulty increases.
A new quest appeared.
2. Demon's Call
-Hunt 2 demons.
-Time limit: 60 minutes
-Failure: Death.
Two demons.
Lv.??? Baron
Lv.??? Bayuda
Named demons whose levels were unknown.
Despite hard difficulty, the quest upped the ante with a second named demon.
Hard mode with named demons, seriously.
That Baal bastard.
Must be sweating bullets.
Of course, to Jeong Hoon, named demons were manageable.
Demon Slayer
-Type: Title
-Grade: Legendary
-Attack power 20 when hunting demon monsters
-Damage 10 when hunting demon monsters
-'Passive Purifying Gaze' auto-activates
-'Passive Hammer of Justice' auto-activates
Demon Slayer, acquired after slaying Racandra before.
A Legendary title with cheat-level effects.
Purifying Gaze helped counter named demon patterns, and Hammer of Justice ignored them at low probability.
'No invincibility phases, huh.'
The patterns of the named demons under Racandra.
Fortunately, no invincibility.
Jeong Hoon unleashed Celestial Steps.