Chapter 29: Come at Me. Bring It!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 29: Come at Me. Bring It!
After pitting his enemies against each other, Seo-un ran as if pouring every ounce of Internal Power into his legs. He didn't look back. Soon, the pitch-black fissure he had spotted earlier came into view.
‘It’s bigger than I thought.’
Looking at the dark gorge, which spanned at least a hundred meters wide, an instinctive fear welled up inside him. It was a massive abyss that looked as if no human should ever set foot in it—a void whose depths seemed infinite.
He began to slow down about two hundred meters from the edge when he felt a powerful surge of mana.
He glanced back. A small bird of flames was streaking toward him, its size ballooning at a terrifying rate. In the blink of an eye, the Flame Bird grew to a monstrous size as it closed the distance, intent on swallowing him whole. Even with a significant gap still between them, he could feel the searing heat scorching his back.
‘This is dangerous.’
He couldn't pinpoint the player’s exact location, but there was no time to hesitate. Gritting his teeth in desperation, Seo-un lunged forward and threw himself into the dark gorge without a second thought.
— Kieeeeeeeek!
Missing Seo-un by a hair’s breadth, the Flame Bird let out a piercing screech and dissipated into the air.
The appearance of a new enemy had put him in a desperate spot. He had jumped blindly into the abyss to escape the ominous magic and the unknown foe, but he wasn't yet sure if throwing himself into this bottomless crevice was the right move.
— Thud!
A dull impact sent a jolt of agony through his chest. Clenching his teeth, he grabbed onto whatever he could reach. However, the jagged, irregular rocks only sent sharp stabs of pain through his palms; they couldn't stop his body from being sucked down by gravity.
‘Damn it!’
Feeling the sticky, warm blood flowing from his hands, he thrust both feet out with all his might. If he fell like this, even a body tempered by martial arts wouldn't survive the impact.
Fortunately, his toes caught a ledge on the cliffside. He immediately braced his legs and pushed off the wall with everything he had, propelling his body toward the opposite side.
Channeling the Cloud Soaring Step to its absolute limit, he slammed his fist into the facing wall. The momentum of his fall combined with the force of his kick lent incredible power to his lightened body, and his fist punched straight into the rock.
— Crunch!
The sound of the wall shattering mingled with the sickening crack of his arm breaking.
“Urgh!”
A scream threatened to burst from his throat, but he clamped his jaw shut and endured it.
“Ngh...!”
He grabbed a protruding rock with his good hand to support himself and tried to pull his arm out of the wall, but an unimaginable pain flared up. His broken arm felt soft and was swelling rapidly; he had to get it out quickly.
Once he finally wrenched his arm free, his vision blurred, and he nearly lost his grip with his supporting hand.
“Haah… Haah…”
His heart hammered against his ribs, and his breath came in ragged gasps. He couldn't move his broken arm at all. The slightest twitch sent a wave of agony through him, making it feel as if the limb were about to fall off.
But his enemies wouldn't wait for him to recover. He fumbled with his feet to find a foothold, and once he was as stable as possible, he carefully let go with his hand. If he lost his balance even slightly, he would tumble backward into the bottomless abyss.
Slowly reaching toward his broken arm, he opened his Subspace and pulled out a Recovery Scroll. He turned his head and gripped the scroll with his teeth. The prompt [Would you like to use it?] that appeared before his eyes had never looked so annoying.
Pressing his body tight against the jagged cliff, he confirmed the command. The pain that had been tormenting him instantly eased. He cautiously moved his injured arm; it was functional. A lingering ache remained, as if it were merely sprained, but the broken bone had knitted back together properly.
From there, he began to crawl down the cliff, feeling his way with his hands and feet.
— Rip!
— Tear!
The sound of his clothes snagging and tearing on the rocks echoed, and his skin was scraped raw by the rough stone, but he didn't have the luxury to worry about minor wounds. He had to get down quickly and prepare for the enemies who would surely pursue him.
‘Once I get down… you’re all dead.’
In broad daylight, the Cloak of Stealth was nothing more than a fragile piece of cloth. However, its true power was revealed in the darkness. And though it was day, this deep gorge provided more than enough shadow to unleash that power.
— Vroooom!
A sound like the vigorous buzzing of a hornet’s wings echoed from above.
“Huh?”
He reflexively looked up. Small orbs of light were forming one by one and dropping down like depth charges.
‘Son of a…!’
Seo-un swallowed the curse rising to his lips and moved his limbs faster. Fortunately, he had drifted quite a distance from his original jump point as he fell, so the light orbs illuminated the wrong areas as they passed.
However, since he didn't know when he might be unluckily spotted, his movements became more frantic.
It was then.
[The third location is revealed.]
‘Does it have to be… right now?’
— Whoosh!
Ignoring his desperate silent plea, a pillar of red light shot up into the sky from directly above his head. Simultaneously, he saw several fireballs growing in size as they rained down from the rim.
“To hell with this.”
Spitting out the short curse, he let go of the cliff.
In that brief moment, countless thoughts flashed through his mind—scenes of judo breakfalls he’d seen on TV, or the absurd idea of using an umbrella like a parachute. In the midst of those useless thoughts, he instinctively pushed his Cloud Soaring Step to the maximum. It was a primal judgment: reducing his weight even slightly would minimize the impact damage.
After falling for about three seconds, he thought, ‘This is it.’
After four seconds, he thought, ‘Maybe I’m still okay.’
After five seconds, he wondered, ‘Will the remaining scrolls be enough to heal me?’
And then, finally, the sensation of floating ended.
— Splash!
The moment his body hit the water, an indescribable agony surged through him. Because he had used his movement technique and protected his body with Internal Power, it ended with mere agony rather than instant death.
The pain spread through his body like a lightning strike, making it difficult to move. But he couldn't just stay still while he was suffocating. He flailed his limbs as best he could to stay afloat, while the sound of explosions and hissing steam filled the air around him.
— Pop! Bang! Sssssss!
The fireballs plunged into the water relentlessly. The sound of them extinguishing was like a taunt, telling him to stop struggling, die quickly, and hand over his items.
Spurred by spite, he moved his aching limbs even faster, cutting through the water. After swimming for a while, his fingertips touched the bottom, and he was able to scramble onto the bank.
As soon as he emerged, he pulled out the Cloak of Stealth and a Recovery Scroll. Only after donning the cloak and tearing two Recovery Scrolls did his body feel somewhat restored. Considering he had been coughing up blood while swimming, his condition had been dire.
“Phew.”
Watching the fireballs still occasionally hitting the water in the distance, Seo-un let out a long sigh.
— Crack! Snap!
His newly healed body felt stiff; he cracked his neck, his eyes gleaming with a cold light.
“You’re all dead. Come on, bring it! You…”
His voice grew louder with excitement, so he swallowed the rest of his words. Dozens of white light orbs were falling from above, but as he stepped back a few paces, his figure merged with the darkness, moving away from the light.
The barrage of magic eventually quieted down. It made sense; the scale of the gorge was simply too vast. It would take a long time to find him even if they came down themselves; trying to kill him with blind magic from above was a futile effort.
[The fourth location is revealed.]
— Whoosh!
Another pillar of light shot up, but Seo-un’s heart remained calm and steady. Magic flew toward him as soon as the light appeared, but he dodged it easily. Magic fired from such a distance was nothing special. He could avoid it just by putting some distance between himself and the beacon.
‘Come down if you think you can.’
*
“It would be best to withdraw at this point.”
At the Mage’s words, the Knight, who was trailing his Chainsword on the ground, shook his head.
“You mean to give up after coming all this way?”
The Mage felt a headache coming on at the Knight’s stubbornness, but he tried to persuade him calmly.
“We won't be the only ones who saw that guy’s location and are rushing here. If we get greedy, we might end up having to face all of them at once.”
“I am not afraid.”
Only then did the Mage realize he was taking the wrong approach. These damn martial types were idiots who didn't know how to use their heads. He had forgotten that they were a race that praised their own ignorance as honor and courage.
“Then what do you suggest? I don't have the means to get down to the bottom of this gorge.”
The Mage made a show of sitting down on the ground as if giving up, and the Knight spoke cautiously.
“Well… I heard that 5th Circle Mages know how to use magic to fly through the sky.”
Of course, he had learned the Fly spell. However, among the many mages out there, almost none actually used it.
The Suicide Spell.
That was the slang mages used for the Fly spell. Once you used Fly, no matter how great your casting speed was, you couldn't use Double Casting. It meant you were locked into a single spell: Fly.
That meant a mage, who was already physically weak, would be left completely exposed to danger. It was a spell used for escaping only in the most dire, life-threatening situations. Even then, one used Fly with the mindset of 'do or die.'
It let you fly, but it wasn't fast, making you an easy target for even low-circle magic. It was a spell that looked impressive but was practically a death trap. That was Fly.
“Are you telling me to go die right now?”
“Ahem! It’s pitch black down there anyway. How would the enemy even recognize us to attack?”
“That may be true… but what if he does? We’d die without even being able to lift a finger.”
“Would a guy like that really have such an ability?”
Mages are naturally a breed that enjoys the play of the mind. As a result, they are experts at deep thinking and calculation. Therefore, the Mage’s reason was telling him that now was the time to retreat.
However, his reason was paralyzed by the Knight’s next words.
“Given all that commotion, he must have some great items. Who knows? Maybe a legendary grimoire will turn up. Even I managed to get this fine blade from a Dwarf’s house.”
The Knight held up his Chainsword. It was certainly shocking to the Mage that a Magic Weapon imbued with high-level magic was just lying around in a house. If the Knight had found such a good item, the Mage was sure there would be something for him too.
That greed finally swayed the Mage’s heart.
“Fine. I can go down using Fly, but…”
“Oh, don't worry about me. I’ll climb down.”
“In that heavy armor?”
“Of course not.”
Having said that, the Knight stripped off his armor, shoved it into his Subspace, and laughed boisterously, standing there in nothing but his white undergarments and a shirt.