Chapter 231 – Catastrophe (3)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
When a powerful attack was combined with a powerful weapon, it would become a nightmare for the person who had to face it.
Kim Woo-jin who had experienced such scenes before, knew exactly how terrifying this nightmare could be.
‘This isn’t a good sword for me.’
In other words, this wasn’t a very good skill for Kim Woo-jin, who didn’t have any powerful attack skills.
It would be better for him to just rely on Percival’s Spear, the ability of which could be strengthened by King Arthur’s Ring, or the Ganjang and Makya.
Soon after, Kim Woo-jin pulled the sheath from its position at the waist of Miyazaki Sakura, and returned the sword to its sheath.
Tsung!
When he heard the sound of the sword entering the sheath, Lee Jin-ah, who was watching the scene from the back couldn’t help but exclaim.
“That sword and sheath are pretty amazing. And that helmet is even more special. If I had that then a women’s bathho… n-, no, I mean I could fight monsters more effectively. Definitely. I’m definitely not a man who would enter a women’s bathhouse if he had the chance to become invisible.”
It was then.
Puht!
Kim Woo-jin threw the Heavenly Cloud Sword in his hand to Lee Jin-ah.
“U-, uh!”
Surprised, Lee Jin-ah stretched both hands to catch the Heavenly Cloud Sword.
Then he turned to look at Kim Woo-jin with wide eyes. He was so surprised that he didn’t even know what to say.
Kim Woo-jin spoke to him.
“It’ll be more useful to you than me. Learn to use it on your own.”
When he heard that it was being given to him, Lee Jin-ah’s eyes widened further before they became a bit shadowed.
“You probably want me to use this like that Battery Heavenly Dragon Sword, don’t you? Hey, you already fooled me once, would I let you fool me twice? Wait, is this the third time? Even the stupidest man in the world wouldn’t fall for the same trick three times!”
Kim Woo-jin didn’t respond to Lee Jin-ah’s words.
Instead, he cut off Miyazaki Sakura’s ankles and removed the shoes on her feet.
[Hermes’ Boots]
– Rating: Legendary
– Required Level: Level 1 or higher
– Description: Boots that contain the power of Hermes. Allows you to walk without stepping on the ground.
– +30% movement speed
– +30% jumping ability
– Allows the user to move without touching the ground.
These boots were also thrown to Lee Jin-ah.
“Uhuk!”
Lee Jin-ah looked greatly frightened as he received these boots together with the Heavenly Cloud Sword.
“Wha-, what do you want?”
To Lee Jin-ah, who asked this question in a trembling voice, Kim Woo-jin simply took off the Cap of Invisibility and placed it on top of the Heavenly Cloud Sword and Hermes’ Boots.
When he saw this, Lee Jin-ah looked like he wanted to run away as fast as he could at that moment.
“This time you’ll use them.”
Then Kim Woo-jin finally gave him an answer.
“These are really for me?”
And he nodded to the following question without saying anything.
After that, Lee Jin-ah’s blank and slightly frightened expression changed to one of surprise.
“Kuh! You finally acknowledge my worth. Yes, a real man should have items like these.”
Even so, the fact that he’d been given three legendary items was quite shocking.
He couldn’t help but feel delighted.
“Come on, you can ask for anything!”
Then with great momentum, he continued.
“Right now I could even hunt that ugly Sphinx b.a.s.t.a.r.d…”
He stopped there.
“…ah.”
Was that the reason Kim Woo-jin had given him these items? And what did he mean by saying he could use them this time?
While Lee Jin-ah’s shoulders dropped as he realised what he’d walked into, Kim Woo-jin picked up Miyazaki Sakura’s severed head.
[Anubis’ Eyes have opened.]
‘I’m curious as to what you were planning.’
Now it was time for him to get the most valuable reward since entering this dungeon.
…
“I guess you’re done.”
Rattle!
Johann Georg called out as he led a hundred or so skeletons over to Kim Woo-jin and Lee Jin-ah with a bright smile.
The bodies of every skeleton with him had the traces of battle.
“The other ten have been cleaned up.”
These were the traces left after removing his ten subordinates.
This wasn’t something Kim Woo-jin had asked for.
“I did it at my own discretion because I thought that was the best way to handle everything neatly. Their power wouldn’t have contributed much to the Sphinx hunt anyway. I brought you their heads so you can check for yourself, just in case.”
It was his own decision and action.
An action that stemmed from the judgement that if they stir up trouble, it might affect his own plans.
The tension in Lee Jin-ah’s eyes reduced slightly at Johann Georg’s words.
‘Isn’t this b.a.s.t.a.r.d too dangerous?’
Lee Jin-ah’s instincts were beginning to tell him that Johann Georg was not a simple character.
On the other hand, Kim Woo-jin didn’t react to Johann Georg’s appearance.
Instead, as if he’d expected Johann Georg to do so, he didn’t even ask any questions.
“It’s time to hunt the Sphinx.”
Instead, he just gave an order.
Lee Jin-ah and Johann Georg nodded.
After all, it wasn’t like they could disagree.
“As fast as possible.”
Then Kim Woo-jin added another condition.
“Eliminate the Sphinx as fast as possible and leave the dungeon.”
The reason he added this condition was because of something he’d learned from Miyazaki Sakura.
-On September 1, the Messiah Guild will commence its second 7 Floor dungeon attack. And on the next day, there will be a terrorist attack in Korea. This will drive the world to its last days so that the Saviour can appear.
‘It’s finally starting.’
The Messiah Guild was finally moving to create the Messiah.
…
-Humans as calculating. While living peacefully, the Saviour is just something for them to use conveniently However, if their situation was to be pushed to the extreme, they would truly serve the Saviour.
-It should be clear to the world that Lee Se-jun and the Messiah Guild are the strongest saviours in the world. Therefore, in such a situation, the world will cry out to them.
-Originally, we had no intention of doing this. We intended to use Park Yong-wan to ignite the emotions between the Korean Peninsula and our Great j.a.pan, and then use it as an excuse. But the situation became twisted.
-Above all, Isaac Ivanov’s growth is too twisted. He is the biggest obstacle to our plan. The Saviour should never have a subst.i.tute candidate. Therefore, we have to get rid of him.
-This is the Heavenly Cloud Sword. Cut Isaac Ivanov’s head off with this. Cut the bud that dares to stand in the way of our Great j.a.pan.
The memories of Miyazaki Sakura’s conversations with the Sword Saint were shocking in many ways.
However, it wasn’t very shocking to Kim Woo-jin.
‘As expected.’
Instead, he already expected this to happen.
No, he had already experienced it.
He had already experienced the Messiah Guild playing its tricks in order to become the perfect saviours, and had even fallen victim to it.
-The Messiah Guild’s best forces, including Lee Se-jun, will take part in the 7 Floor dungeon attack. There will be a terrorist attack right after that.
‘In the end, they took out the card called terrorism.’
Now, the screenplay has been changed a bit, but the content of the play remains the same.
-The Messiah Guild’s headquarters will collapse.
-It depends on the situation, but there are two main options. Either a hijacked plane hits the HQ building, or the building is taken over by terrorists and the people inside are held hostage.
-The airplane attack will have a shorter, more intense reaction, while the hostage play would have a longer, lingering effect.
‘It’s the most disastrous scenario one could expect.’
Of course, the scale was slightly larger than he expected, but it was still within the scope of his a.s.sumptions.
Frankly, this wasn’t very inspiring news.
‘It’s horrible, just as I expected.’
Nevertheless, as he recalled the information he learned, Kim Woo-jin couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous.
The vengeful spirit, which might have died down in others by now, burned even bigger and hotter, completely drying and burning Kim Woo-jin’s throat.
Such vengeance made it hard for him to keep his cool.
‘I have to be patient.’
Because of this, Kim Woo-jin forced himself to make rational decisions now more than ever.
He demanded cool reason from himself.
‘There is still work to be done.’
Work that required only judgment and action backed by cold reason.
A huge shadow appeared above Kim Woo-jin’s head as he was lost in his emotional turmoil.
[The Sphinx’s Fear overwhelms you.]
It was the body of the Sphinx, which was falling to the ground as a result of losing its right wing.
Boom!
Eventually, the Sphinx crashed into the ground, creating a huge explosion, followed by a typhoon of wind and an earthquake.
Kim Woo-jin came to his senses.
“Begin the hunt.”
…
The Sphinx.
A mythological creature that had the body of a lion, the tail of a snake, the face of a human, and a pair of wings.
“The Sphinx is amazing.”
Of course, this was an expression that could be used when describing mythological creatures.
“The important thing is its abilities.”
Different explanations were needed when expressing a Sphinx’s appearance in a dungeon.
“As you may have experienced, it has an ability similar to Dragons’ Fear.”
First, the Sphinx’s that appeared in dungeons had an ability called Sphinx’s Roar.
The subject that was exposed to this ability which was comparable to Dragon Fear, if they were still alive, would tremble in horror and collapse.
“After a few experiments, it is clear that its hide is much tougher than the Hatchlings.”
At the same time, the Sphinx’s hide was incredibly tough and had a high resistance to magic.
“And it’s regeneration ability is also amazing. It is comparable to a h.e.l.lhound.”
In addition, it was impossible to talk about damage over time caused by small wounds since it’s regenerative ability was outstanding.
“Among its abilities, the most troubling one is definitely its ability to fly, which we’ve already experienced.”
However, among its myriad abilities, the most troublesome one was its ability to fly.
“If it starts flying, its speed and ability to turn rapidly are ridiculous.”
Disregarding the laws of physics, the Sphinx was able to fly up into the sky with one flap of its wings, and its speed and maneuverability were all mind boggling.
“It is on an entirely different level from the Hatchling.”
Naturally, it was different from the Hatchling.
“First of all, unlike the Hatchling, its wings aren’t easily cut. During the fight with the Hatchling, we were able to disable its wings by cutting the skin, but the Sphinx’s wings are similar to those of a bird. So you’ll have to cut the bone.”
Even the difficulty of cutting the wings was not on the same level.
“The most obvious thing is that it’s impossible to catch that guy if he’s flying.”
Nevertheless, without cutting its wings, it was virtually impossible to slay the Sphinx.
That was why.
“We were lucky in that sense. If you wear the Hermes Boots and Cap of Invisibility, you’ll be able to stick to the Sphinx unnoticed. And with the Heavenly cloud Sword, you can cut through its wings easily.”
Kim Woo-jin had given Lee Jin-ah the three items.
“s.h.i.+baaaa!”
And that was also the reason why Lee Jin-ah was currently falling to the ground together with the Sphinx.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the Sphinx, which had lost its wing crashed against the floor. Then, with a loud sound, Lee Jin-ah bounced off of it and rolled to the ground.
And he continued rolling like a ball of dung being rolled by a dung beetle.
This wasn’t something that happened because of physical shock, instead, this was deliberate.
Rather than forcing himself to stop, Lee Jin-ah was defusing his body’s momentum by continuing to roll.
Soon after he stopped rolling, Lee Jin-ah stood to his feet, covered in small wounds but not seriously injured.
It was the moment he’d learned how to fall.
“s.h.i.+ba.” (TL: I’m not sure if this is intentionally ‘??’ of if the author wanted to used ‘??’ at this moment, seems more like a ‘??’ moment to me.)
It was also a moment when he really wanted to curse badly.
It wasn’t just the curse.
‘Dammit, do I really have to live like this?’
At that moment, Lee Jin-ah began to seriously agonize over his treatment.
‘It’s not that I want to rebel, but look at this treatment? Should I really go on strike?’
Lee Jin-ah tried to calculate it properly to see if it was worth trying.
And surprisingly, he found that it actually might be worth it.
‘From the looks of it, I wouldn’t die even if my head is cut off, right?’
Since his Blessing of River Styx skill had reached transcendent rank, he wouldn’t ‘die even if his head and all of his limbs were cut off.
Literally, even if the Grim Reaper himself came for him, there wasn’t a guarantee that he’d die.
Encouraged by that fact, the look in Lee Jin-ah’s eyes changed.
‘Should I try it?’
Lee Jin-ah’s eyes turned to the sword in his hand.
The Heavenly Cloud Sword.
The power of this sword, that even the Sword Saint was willing to take as one of his treasured swords, was much greater than Lee Jin-ah had initially expected.
It had definitely shown its power against the Sphinx when it easily cut through the wings that other legendary swords would have struggled to.
It was like the difference between cutting sas.h.i.+mi with just an ordinary knife and then with a sas.h.i.+mi knife.
And even now, Lee Jin-ah was wearing Hermes’ Boots.
These boots, which allowed the user to run faster than a horse and gave the mysterious ability to walk on any flat surface, including water, could guarantee Lee Jin-ah’s mobility at any moment.
‘If it’s this…’
Lee Jin-ah now had the confidence to try since he had such an amazing set of items on his person.
‘Right, how much should a man endure?’
It was then.
Kyaha!
The eerie cry of a Skeleton Knight filled Lee Jin-ah’s ears.
It was the sound of a Skeleton Knight who was heading towards the Sphinx that had fallen due to Lee Jin-ah’s attack.
Kyaha!
And starting with the first one, Skeleton Knights began appearing one after another.
Lee Jin-ah looked at the Skeleton Knights while calculating.
‘If it’s this much, I should be fine even if I fight against the Skeleton Knights…’
Fight against the Skeleton Knights.
Kyaha!
In the meantime, a new Skeleton Knight was added, and Lee Jin-ah naturally added it to the simulation fight in his head.
One, two, three, four…
The number of Skeleton Knights soon reached ten.
‘Eleven?’
Even so, the number of Skeleton Knights continued to increase with no sign of stopping.
‘Huh…?’
As he watched the number of Skeleton Knights quickly approach twenty, Lee Jin-ah’s eyes widened with fright.
‘Wha-, what’s going on?’
The number of Skeleton Knights Kim Woo-jin could summon was ten, but now the number that appeared was double that?
‘Ah, Hades’ Ring!’
The secret to this was definitely the Hades Ring.
Theoretically, if there are two players with the summon skeleton skills and the Hades Ring, the number of skeletons they could possess would be infinite.
One person summons the skeletons while the other uses the Hades Ring to take control of them.
Of course, this was only theoretical. After all, one still needed to have enough magical power to maintain the skeletons they stole.
In any case, even with that limitation, it was still an amazing item for those who used undead summons.
And the item belonged to Johann Georg.
However, from the movements of these Skeleton Knights, it was clear that it was currently in Kim Woo-jin’s hands.
This meant that Johann Georg had handed the Hades Ring over to Kim Woo-jin.
‘Johann Georg waved his white flag.’
In other words, Johann Georg had completely surrendered to Isaac Ivanov.
In fact, Kim Woo-jin had already told Lee Jin-ah about this plan.
After killing Miyazaki Sakura, he would ask for the Hades Ring, and if Johann Georg refused, he would take it as a sign of betrayal and get rid of him.
But from the looks of it, Johann Georg had given it up without any hesitation.
‘That strong willed guy.’
Lee Jin-ah was shocked by the fact that Johann Georg was willing to risk his life to save it.
‘And Kim Woo-jin managed to make that strong willed guy into a sheep…’
On the other hand, when Lee Jin-ah recalled the fact that Kim Woo-jin was able to make Johann Georg make such a choice without any worries, he swallowed down the little determination he’d built up with a gulp.
‘Let’s not do anything just yet.’
While Lee Jin-ah was trying to control his emotions, Kim Woo-jin appeared behind him.
Kim Woo-jin then stuck his hand out.
“The Cap of Invisibility and Hermes Boots.”
At those short words, Lee Jin-ah showed his determination.
“Here you go!”
He quickly took off the helmet and placed it on Kim Woo-jin’s hand before starting to take off his shoes.
In the meanwhile, the Skeleton Knights and Soldiers began their battle against the Sphinx who’d lost its wing.
Rattle!
This sight was similar to ants attacking a large rodent.
Kehung!
The Sphinx roared loudly because of that, but the effects of fear did not apply to undead.
For pure undead monsters, the fear effect was absolutely useless.
Of course, this a.s.sault went just as well as one would expect.
The offensive abilities of the Skeleton Soldiers and Knights were naturally terrifying, but the Sphinx was immensely large, its regeneration abilities were ridiculous, and its resistances were too high.
Boom!
Even the fireb.a.l.l.s from the Skeleton Wizards were unable to do much damage to the Sphinx.
It was like a drizzle.
It might wet the body a little, but it could never compare to rain.
The drizzle was just annoying.
Kehung!
Lee Jin-ah, who was looking at this scene couldn’t help but say.
“This isn’t going to be easy. It’s like we’re just scratching it, isn’t it?”
Kim Woo-jin didn’t refute his words.
“Right, it’s just a scratch.”
At that moment, Kim Woo-jin, who had already put on Hermes’ Boots, put the Cap of Invisibility on his head, causing his figure to vanish.
After disappearing, Kim Woo-jin shot towards the Sphinx’s location like an arrow out of a bow.
Kehung!
The Sphinx didn’t notice Kim Woo-jin’s approach, now would it care.
The Sphinx was defenseless and could not move, so Kim Woo-jin immediately climbed onto its body without hesitation.
After he got on, Kim Woo-jin put his hand into a wound, created by a Skeleton Knight, that was just beginning to heal.
Puk!
“Bloodsucking.”
Then, he used the Bloodsucking skill and began to absorb its blood.
At the same time, blood began to flow from a wound on Kim Woo-jin’s body.
This blood immediately became mist-like.
[Blood Fog spreads.]
The blood absorbed through Bloodsucking was then spilled and transformed into Blood Fog.
This Blood Fog was influenced by Kim Woo-jin’s Blood Poison skill and had a frighteningly high toxicity.
[Blood Poison has no effect on the Sphinx.]
Of course, in front of the Sphinx’s poison resistance, Kim Woo-jin’s Blood Poison’s effect was negligible.
Having known this already, Kim Woo-jin didn’t pay much attention to it.
[A Blood Golem has been summoned.]
[The Blood Golem absorbs the Blood Fog.]
In the first place, Kim Woo-jin’s goal had just been to fatten the Blood Golem.
[The Blood Golem’s stats has increased.]
[The Blood Golem’s toxicity has increased.]
The Blood Golem continued to absorb the Blood Fog from Kim Woo-jin’s body, and as time pa.s.sed, the Blood Golem, which was dark red in color, steadily became black.
[The Blood Golem can no longer grow stronger.]
As soon as he heard the notification that the Blood Golem could no longer be strengthened, Kim Woo-jin stabbed Percival’s Spear, which was in his other hand, into the Sphinx’s body.
Kehung!
The Sphinx let out a loud roar at the deep wound.
It was the same as being hit by a piece of hail while standing in a drizzle. Naturally, the Sphinx’s complete attention turned to the place where the Percival Spear stabbed it as a result.
Before long, the Sphinx turned to look at its back.
And the angry Sphinx immediately spotted Kim Woo-jin, who was no longer being hidden by the Cap of Invisibility since he’d made an attack.
[The Sphinx’s rage boils over.]
At the same time, the Sphinx’s eyes began to s.h.i.+ne. Then, pure white rays shot out of them.
Chik!
These rays burned through the Sphinx’s hide, and were even strong enough to boil its flesh.
But that was all.
The Sphinx had only managed to hurt itself with its attack.
‘Hoo.’
Because Kim Woo-jin had already leapt off its back.
‘It went in.’
And the Blood Golem had already entered the Sphinx’s body through the wound left by Percival’s Spear.
[The Sphinx has been poisoned by black blood.]
Then Kim Woo-jin heard the notification he was waiting for.
‘I got it.’
In fact, this notification basically marked the countdown to the end of the battle.
…
Two days later.
[You have slain the Sphinx.]
[Earned Achievement ‘Sphinx Hunter’.]
[Your level has increased.]
[The Emissary of the Underworld’s focus is only on you.]
[Earned Achievement ‘The One backed by a Halo’.]
[You have cleared the dungeon.]
[As a reward for clearing the dungeon, gained ‘Seal Breaker’]
To be precise, it took 49 hours and 33 minutes.
That was how long it took the Sphinx to die after the Blood Golem entered its bloodstream.
It was not a quite two days.
The scene created by the Sphinx inflicted with the poison during these two days was similar to if a huge tornado ripped through the area.
Rattle!
Even the number of skeletons that Kim Woo-jin had left wasn’t high.
Kyaha!
Out of the Skeleton Knights, the number of which had reached twenty two, only seven survived.
“It was a disaster.” (TL: Seeing this now makes me feel like ‘disaster would have been a better chapter name, since it’s the same word ‘??’. Cons of not reading ahead I suppose.)
At these words, Kim Woo-jin, who was wearing Isaac Ivanov’s mask, spoke in a cold tone.
“The real disaster is only just beginning.”
As he said this, Kim Woo-jin’s eyes were locked onto the Sphinx’s corpse.
Then he saw it.
[Eighth Tail of the Nine Tailed Fox]
– Rating: Legendary
– Required Level: Level 1 or higher
– Description: The eighth tail of the Nine Tailed Fox. It contains mysterious power. If you collect all of them, you will be able to use the powers of the Nine Tailed Fox.
– +5% to all stats
– rapidly heals any injury it touches
‘Now there’s just one left.’
And the power to fight against this disaster was within arms reach.
(Note:
[Bloodsucking]
– Conditions: Emissary of the Underworld
– Required Level: Level 20 or higher
– Effect: Absorb the blood of the target to recover your own. As the skill rank increases, the ratio of amount absorbed from the target and amount recovered increases.)
(TL: I’m sure that most of you have noticed that the chapter length average has increased. This is because for the past few novel chapters, I’ve been following the episode cuts in an effort to not stretch the ending of the novel too far. This means that we’ll occasionally get monstrosities like this one, which is almost double the length of the new chapter average (roughly 2000 words). For you guys, this is only good news, but boy did this chapter take a lot of me)
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