Chapter 289
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 289
Chapter Title: Saveiro Knights' Survival
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As the barrier shattered, the monsters prowling outside all turned their gazes toward them at once.
Lv. 505 Dark Teros
Lv. 511 Blood Teros
The beasts, which looked like a bear and a tiger mashed together, gleamed with a fierce light in their eyes.
"We're in big trouble! We have to hold them off! It absolutely cannot be breached!"
Ziron turned pale and shouted urgently, drawing his sword as he tried to rush forward.
Jeong Hoon raised a hand to stop him.
"Hold on a moment."
"What? Why? We don't have time for this!"
An exclamation mark blinked above Ziron's head.
It meant the search quest was complete.
You have completed the quest.
You have gained 10,000,000 EXP.
You can now undertake the next quest.
The next quest.
Episode Quest: Saveiro Knights' Survival
-Restriction: Complete search of Delphos Archduchy barrier
-Reward: Proceed to next quest EXP
-Description: Protect the Saveiro Knights from the monsters. If the knights' forces drop below 50, the quest fails.
It was to protect the knights.
To do that, they had to exterminate all the monsters right in front of them.
Jeong Hoon accepted the quest.
"I'll handle it."
"Ho, by yourself?"
"No."
Jeong Hoon signaled to Ha-jin and Bong-gu behind him.
"Okay!"
"Bro, ready!"
Ha-jin and Bong-gu dashed forward.
Yeo Min-ji and Yeo Sun-woo joined them as well.
"I'll leave the cover fire to you."
"Got it."
As always, his mother took position at the rear for support.
"The barrier is gone."
"Now we can finally eat some humans!"
And with those chilling words, the monsters came pouring down.
'Time to get started.'
Having reached the ultimate power, he wanted to test this strength.
Jeong Hoon stepped into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon and charged ahead.
In his hand was the Shadow King's Spear.
True to its Ultimate grade, this spear was specialized for sweeping away enemies.
Activating Shadow Moonblade.
Jeong Hoon swung the spear broadly from left to right, triggering the shadow option, Shadow Moonblade.
A black afterimage trailed where the spear passed, with a small flash of light sparkling.
It created the illusion that the afterimage itself had sliced through the monsters.
"Kreeeek!"
"Krack!"
In an instant, eighteen monsters had their upper bodies severed and collapsed limply.
No matter that they were over level 500, they couldn't withstand Jeong Hoon's spear strikes.
"Kill it!"
"Kill the human!"
The monsters attacked Jeong Hoon all at once.
Jeong Hoon raised his spear not to counterattack, but to start absorbing all their assaults.
The reason was simple.
-Special Ability (1): Absorb attacks from designated targets to activate one of the spear's five abilities.
It was to activate the spear's special ability.
The target wasn't limited to one; he could designate multiple.
So he designated every monster attacking him and absorbed their strikes.
Then he triggered the special ability.
The Shadow King's Spear's unique ability is activated.
The unique ability of the Shadow King's Spear.
Attack power increases by 20.
The first one boosted his attack power by 20.
At Jeong Hoon's current level, with double damage applied, adding another 20 made its destructive force beyond imagination.
Jeong Hoon swung the spear upward in a massive diagonal arc.
Activating Shadow Moonblade.
With the 15-second cooldown over, Shadow Moonblade triggered again.
Another eighteen monsters fell as Shadow Moonblade activated.
Jeong Hoon twirled the spear with his wrist to deflect the monsters' attacks, created some distance, and cleaved off their heads.
"We have to kill that human first!"
"Take down that human!"
The Dark Teros and Blood Teros targeted Jeong Hoon.
But the others weren't slouches either.
Ha-jin was using dark soldiers to drive back the monsters, and those soldiers were all clad in glowing red armor.
'That's the ancient relic.'
A Legendary-grade ancient relic.
Originally, Kaneda Shun was supposed to take it and use it to great effect, but now the Dark Lord was Ha-jin.
So it was right for Ha-jin to claim this karmic encounter too.
Bong-gu fought using his Legendary-grade daggers and the Unique-grade Shadow Cloak he'd handed over earlier.
Of course, facing monsters over level 500 made it precarious, but Yeo Sun-woo and Yeo Min-ji supported him as they moved together.
His mother blocked the Teros from approaching easily with support fire from the rear, keeping things steady.
Thanks to that, Jeong Hoon could focus on exterminating the Teros.
Slash.
Activating Shadow Moonblade.
He actively used Shadow Moonblade to carve through the Teros.
When the number of Teros felled by Jeong Hoon's hand surpassed 1,000,
The horde finally started to thin noticeably.
"...This can't be real."
The Saveiro Knights, who had only watched from afar,
Were especially stunned, with Knight Commander Ziron unable to close his gaping mouth.
'Commander, what happens to us if the barrier falls?'
The conversation they'd had just before returning.
'We fight to the end.'
Ziron had no choice but to say that, knowing it meant death.
If they didn't hold, countless territory residents in this archduchy would die.
'Their levels are too high... If they swarm us, we're all dead.'
'We have to. We're the Saveiro Knights. The knights who protect this proud archduchy.'
They'd had no choice but to contemplate the worst-case scenario.
And Ziron had been prepared to stake his life defending the archduchy.
But then this outsider appeared and effortlessly slaughtered monsters over level 500.
To Ziron, it all felt like a dream.
Bang!
The last remaining Teros crumpled with the sound of a gunshot.
It wasn't dead yet, writhing and screaming in agony.
Jeong Hoon approached and finished it off with a downward spear thrust.
"Looks like we've taken care of all the ones outside."
"Uh... Good work. You saved our lives."
Ziron awkwardly expressed his gratitude.
"Yes. Now it's time to deal with that dungeon. If we don't, more monsters will keep pouring out."
"...Can you do it?"
"Yes. It's possible."
The title Jeong Hoon possessed: 'One Who Transcends Humanity.'
With that title's power, he could permanently delete the dungeon.
At level 10 Ultimate grade, erasing a level 500 dungeon was no big deal.
Of course, he'd have to clear it first.
"Then, could I ask you to?"
An exclamation mark blinked above Ziron's head.
You have completed the quest.
You have gained 10,000,000 EXP.
You can now undertake the next quest.
The next quest.
Episode Quest: Darkness over the Archduchy
-Restriction: Complete Saveiro Knights' Survival
-Reward: Proceed to next quest EXP
-Description: Clear the dungeon to eliminate the monsters. (Success at 70 clear rate)
Jeong Hoon accepted the quest.
'Wait here.'
The outsider left those words and entered the dungeon.
"Commander... are we really just going to stand here and watch?"
At that moment, Vice Commander Jest asked cautiously.
"Do you think going in now would help?"
"Yes?"
"We couldn't even touch the monsters that poured out."
"...."
The Saveiro Knights, defenders of the archduchy, were ashamed at how utterly useless they'd been.
All they'd done was gawk.
How could they even talk about helping in that situation?
Ziron had no choice but to nod at the outsider's order to wait.
"So for now, waiting is the right call."
The outsider's prowess was a supreme realm Ziron could never reach, no matter how hard he trained his whole life.
The sight of level 500 Teros being swept away with every spear swing was seared into his mind, unforgettable.
"Understood...."
Jest couldn't come up with any rebuttal either.
He too had long been captivated by the outsider's spearmanship.
In all his life, he'd never seen or heard of a knight stronger than Ziron.
Ziron was one of the empire's rare Sword Masters, after all.
Yet even he was reduced to an ordinary man.
If he stepped up, this archduchy would surely be safe.
The other knights felt much the same as Jest.
Most were even glad deep down.
Relieved they didn't have to fight to the death, hopeful they could protect their familiessome knights prayed fervently to the gods for the outsider's success.
'Please... protect this archduchy.'
Ziron was one such knight praying desperately to the gods.
You can permanently annihilate this dungeon. Annihilate it?
The message before Jeong Hoon's eyes.
"Annihilate it."
The dungeon is annihilated.
With annihilation, the dungeon began crumbling.
That made fourteen dungeons permanently deleted.
This should complete the episode quest.
Jeong Hoon exited the dungeon and found Ziron.
Ziron had faithfully followed the order to wait.
"Truly, thank you! Good work!"
As Jeong Hoon emerged, the flickering portal vanished.
It meant he'd succeeded in destroying the dungeon.
Ziron and the Saveiro Knights had witnessed it all clearly.
How could they not rejoice?
An exclamation mark blinked above his head.
You have completed the quest.
You have gained 10,000,000 EXP.
You can now undertake the next quest.
"It was just what needed to be done."
"What needed to be done... Do you owe the archduchy something?"
"No."
"Then it wasn't just what needed doing. Thank you for protecting the archduchy!"
Ziron thanked him repeatedly.
"Instead of this, how about reporting to His Grace the Archduke? Say a hero helped put out the urgent fire."
Vice Commander Jest cautiously suggested.
"Oh, of course. Will you come back to the castle with us?"
The quest wasn't over yet.
Now he needed to meet the Archduke with the Saveiro Knights to receive the next quest.
But Jeong Hoon had no intention of returning yet.
'Can't head there during the quests.'
There were fourteen dungeons assigned by the quests.
He had to clear all fourteen and complete them before he could visit other dungeons.
"I still have things to do. You go ahead."
"Hm? Things left to do?"
"We put out the urgent fire, but dungeons remain. I'll close those too before heading back."
"Hmm... You sure you'll be okay?"
"Yes. Just report that we're closing the dungeons."
"Got it. Take care."
Ziron led the knights back to the castle without further argument.
"Alright, now let's head to the karmic encounter."
The dungeon hiding the karmic encounter.
Jeong Hoon passed the still-flickering portal and stopped at one spot.
A portal hidden quite deep.
Enter Lv. 520 Serion Bearing Intense Grudge?
This was it.
'Soon I'll see it.'
It wouldn't be long before he and the others encountered the karmic encounter that would upgrade them all to the next level.