Chapter 277
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 277
Chapter Title: Castle of the Shadow of Ruin
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Nothings visible.
She couldnt tell where this place was or exactly where she was standing. Nothing was visible, so there was no way to know.
Thick darkness blankets the area, blocking your vision.
Ah, so thats what it was.
If it was a debuff, she could just dispel it.
Dispel is used.
Dispel cannot be used.
But Dispel had no effect.
In that case, what about Holy Orb of Glory?
Holy Orb of Glory is activated.
Activating Holy Orb of Glory finally lit up the surroundings.
The darkness-attribute debuff shattered upon clashing with the light-attribute Holy Orb of Glory.
Thanks to the title, huh.
As her Realm had grown higher, the effects of her skills had strengthened as well.
With the surroundings now illuminated, Jeong Hoon realized he was standing at the entrance to a castle.
Guarding the gate were knights dyed pitch black.
Lv.650 Shadow Sentry A
A mere sentry was level 650.
The absurd number drew a hollow laugh from him.
This is insane.
It suddenly made perfect sense why the condition to start the Ultimate Path (2) was achieving 60 Ultimate Energy.
The difficulty here was incomparable to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
To pass through the castle gate, all monsters must be eliminated.
He even had to clear those monsters directly to force his way in, not through some quest.
Which meant the hunting would continue even after entry.
If Id had to hunt those things with my vision blocked, it wouldve been a nightmare.
Jeong Hoon stepped into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon.
True to level 650, the sentries didnt panic at his approach and assumed combat stances.
Intruder!
Eliminate the intruder!
Perhaps signaling with their shouts, the castle gate opened, and soldiers poured out.
By rough estimate, at least a hundred or more.
A tough fight was expected from the start, but Jeong Hoon charged at them without hesitation and unleashed Heavenly Demon Fist Technique.
Pow!
Jeong Hoons fist smashed into the helmet of the sentry in front of him.
With a heavy thud, the sentrys head snapped to the side, and Jeong Hoon swiftly drove three punches into its abdomen.
These things are really level 650?
Jeong Hoon felt a sharp pain in his fist and couldnt hide his bewilderment.
The aura of the 1st stage Heavenly Demon Fist Technique enveloped in his fist.
The fact that damage was getting through despite that aura meant...
Its confirmed now. Baal, that bastard interfered.
There was no other explanation.
He must not have included a no-interference clause when starting the bet, and the bastard had exploited that gap.
He wants me to fail no matter what.
That way, he could form a contract with him.
But what to do about it.
If anything, Jeong Hoon was grateful.
The corners of his mouth curved up sharply.
He hadnt mentioned the difficulty on purpose because he was curious how much power the title would exert.
From level 5 onward, this was his first time, pre- or post-regression, so he needed to test the exact level.
That way, when acquiring the ultimate power, he could calculate with a bit more precision.
And the higher the difficulty, the greater the rewards.
That was a universal law.
If the difficulty had been raised, the rewards obtainable here would naturally have been upgraded as well.
Whoosh
Such thoughts were brief.
Countless sword strikes rained down on Jeong Hoon.
I can see them.
Every single one exceeded level 650.
Yet Jeong Hoon dodged the strikes by twisting his body this way and that, without using a single buff skill.
And with the absolute minimum movements.
Thanks to that, his posture stayed balanced, allowing an immediate counterattack.
Thwack!
His fist smashed into the helmet of the sentry in front once more.
The sentry staggered from the helmet blow.
Jeong Hoon kicked upward into the vital spot between its legs while it was like that.
Gahk!
The sentry curled up and collapsed on the spot after the precise hit to its weak point.
Because of that, the six sentries charging at Jeong Hoon crashed into its body and lost their balance.
Come at me all you want. Ill clear you all.
Difficulty adjustment was Hariels authority.
So there had to be a limit to how much she could raise it.
Ill shatter that limit myself.
Jeong Hoon stepped into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon and thrust his fist into the solar plexus of the sentry to his left.
Two hours had passed since the battle began.
The sentries that had poured out from the castle gate lay as corpses scattered across the ground.
All monsters have been eliminated.
The castle gate opens.
The gate finally opened.
It had been a grueling fight, but he couldnt stop here.
The Ultimate Path (2) was just beginning.
Jeong Hoon recovered his stamina with holy power and entered through the gate.
But contrary to expectations, no monsters ambushed him.
This is weird. They couldnt have missed the commotion outside.
Hed assumed they were fully prepared, just waiting for him to enter.
At that moment, a single pitch-black shadow slowly approached Jeong Hoon.
Jeong Hoon prepared to step into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon but hesitated.
A quest?
A question mark blinked above the shadow.
Meaning it wasnt a monster, but an NPC.
Thats why no monsters attacked.
It all fit perfectly.
NPC Information
-Nickname: Nameless Shadow A
-Level: 700
-Job: None
A whopping level 700 Nameless Shadow A.
No job.
A guy who lost his role.
No job meant it had lost its original role.
Ultimate Path (1): Nameless Shadow A
-Restriction: Enter the Castle of the Shadow of Ruin
-Reward: ??
-Description: You are currently an intruder. However, Nameless Shadow A welcomes you. Please fulfill his wish.
It seemed to have some unfinished business.
Jeong Hoon accepted the quest.
Nameless Shadow A reached out toward Jeong Hoon.
At the same time, a voice echoed in his head.
Can you hear me? You should be able to...
Jeong Hoon nodded.
Yeah. I can hear you.
Really?!
He couldnt read its expression since it was a shadow, but the voice tone conveyed pure joy.
More importantly, why did you approach me?
I have a favor to ask.
A favor?
Yeah. There was a commotion outside, right? I blocked all of it. Arent you grateful? Huh? Dont you want to repay the favor?
......
Why arent you saying anything? Wanna see me go crazy?
This guy wasnt right in the head.
Jeong Hoon let out a quiet sigh and spoke.
What do you need help with?
As expected, youre not the type to ignore a favor!
Spit it out.
Im sick and tired of this life now. So I want you to end it for me.
End it?
Yeah.
It was a truly novel request.
Who wouldve thought death was its wish.
Jeong Hoon toyed with Leviathan in his inventory as he spoke.
If thats what it wanted, hed cut its breath short without pain.
Kill you, you mean?
But Nameless Shadow A shook its head.
If it were that simple, I wouldnt be like this...
Then what do I do?
Find my corpse.
Find your corpse?
Yeah. Unfortunately, I cant leave this 1st floor. My corpse is definitely somewhere else. If you lift the curse on it, Ill be free.
The castle was enormous, easily over 20 floors.
It was a quest to find the corpse somewhere in the castle.
Got it. Ill look for it.
Thanks! Then Ill keep the shadows on the 1st floor from attacking!
Theres no corpse on the 1st floor, you said.
I mean Ill block them while you go up to the 2nd floor.
Jeong Hoon nodded.
Sure enough, with the quest in progress, no shadows attacked.
However, instead of heading to the 2nd floor, Jeong Hoon began meticulously searching the 1st floor.
Its not divided into floors for nothing. There might be something.
Especially since the difficulty had been adjusted, the chances of extra rewards were even higher.
He wouldnt overlook a single thing.
Found it.
The corners of Jeong Hoons mouth curved up.
An armory in the corner of the castle.
Several broken pieces of equipment inside were the rewards.
Shattered Greatsword (15)
-Type: One-Handed Sword
-Grade: Celestial
-Attack Power: 0
-Critical Hit Rate: 0
-Remaining Durability: 15
-Special Ability (1): X
-Special Ability (2): X
At a glance, it was junk equipment too broken to use.
Yet the corners of Jeong Hoons mouth stayed lifted in a grin.
Extract it for reinforcement stones.
The reinforcement value on the shattered equipment.
Extracting it would yield reinforcement stones equivalent to at least half the successful reinforcements.
In other words, this piece alone was worth 7-8 Celestial reinforcement stones.
And it wasnt just this one.
Shattered Dagger (7)
-Type: Dagger
-Grade: Celestial
-Attack Power: 0
-Critical Hit Rate: 0
-Remaining Durability: 22
-Special Ability (1): X
-Special Ability (2): X
This was a Celestial-grade dagger too.
Reinforcement level 7.
Extraction would give 3-4 Celestial reinforcement stones.
Essential materials for reinforcing Celestial equipment.
Jeong Hoon stuffed all the equipment into his inventory.
In the process, one piece caught his eye.
It was broken like the others, but unlike them, it faintly glowed.
Shattered Bow (10)
-Type: Bow
-Grade: Ultimate
-Attack Power: 0
-Critical Hit Rate: 0
-Remaining Durability: 36
-Special Ability (1): X
-Special Ability (2): X
Ultimate!
He never expected to get Ultimate-grade equipment too.
His heart pounded.
Every time equipment was newly upgraded, reinforcement had to start over with stones of that grade.
And Ultimate, no less.
That meant his equipment could be upgraded to Celestial or higher.
Jackpot.
Jeong Hoon quickly grabbed that piece too and left the armory.
Nameless Shadow A waited in front of the armory.
Whyd you take broken junk?
Irritation dripped from the shadows voice.
Hed said hed grant the favor, but instead of going up to the 2nd floor, hed poked around every corner of the 1st floor. It had been frustrating.
I was just about to go anyway.
Really?
Yeah.
Having searched the armory, there was nothing left on the 1st floor.
Time to head to the 2nd floor.
The way up was the central staircase.
A portal shimmered atop the stairs, and he had to use it to reach the 2nd floor.
This was the method for each floor.
Jeong Hoon entered the portal.
All monsters have been subjugated.
Will you proceed to the 2nd floor?
Subjugation of all 1st-floor monsters.
Now I get why the 1st floor was empty.
Blocking attacks? Hardly.
Hed simply wiped them all out beforehand, so there were no monsters left to attack.
Lets go up for now.
Proceeding to the 2nd floor.
Jeong Hoons body was sucked into the portal.