Chapter 239
Chapter 239
‘What the h.e.l.l happened?’
As if time had come to a stop, everyone came to s standstill .
Sungyoon"s comrades, the demonic monster, and the ambushers all stared at Sungyoon . Sungyoon had no idea what was going on, and everyone else felt the same .
As Sungyoon took a firmer grip on his sword, he felt his sword seemed more reliable than ever . The electricity flowing across the surface of the sword went into a frenzy as if it were celebrating .
Sungyoon looked at the demonic monster .
Previously, it had been on a rampage . However, in stark contrast, it was now quiet and expressed a human reaction, surprise .
“Whew!”
Sungyoon let out a deep sigh . He was in front of the demonic monster, yet his heart was tranquil . The fear in the depth of his heart had vanished, and his legs no longer felt rooted to the ground .
He could laugh in the face of the demonic monster now .
‘What caused this change?’
This was a favorable situation for Sungyoon since the fear was gone .
Moreover, he still heard the heartbeat, and that was why his lightning had been so fierce .
‘Still, something feels off . ’
The fear was gone, but the heartbeat felt unpleasant . Sungyoon placed his hand on his left chest, at the brooch type Device, and remembered that he had put the newly-acquired Gem on this Device .
This Gem had consumed all the magical energy inside Sungyoon .
Using a newly-acquired Gem with an unknown ability might be forgivable in a desperate situation, but it was a disservice to use it when cooperating with other Connectors . It might ruin the balance between the Connectors, and so, Sungyoon hadn’t been using it when he had arrived at the battle .
However, he didn’t have the luxury to think about such consequences during a life-threatening situation . As a last-ditch effort, he had pushed his magical energy into all his Gems, and he had been proven right for trying this move . He had found the right answer .
At the very least, Sungyoon had escaped the fear . His body felt refreshed, and he was sure the reason behind it was the influence of this new Gem .
Despite the positives, Sungyoon felt fl.u.s.tered .
‘I can’t find out its ability . ’
Sungyoon had used many Gems before, but this was the first time he couldn’t find out the ability of a Gem . The information about the ability would usually appear in his head, but right now, he felt as if his mind was clouded with white fog .
- You… .
The demonic monster opened its mouth .
It was an odd situation . The monster wasn’t speaking Korean, yet everyone could understand what it was saying .
- How do you have that power . . .
Kevil, who sounded a bit lost, flinched .
***
Kevil felt its strength drain away at serious speed . It hadn’t thought about the consequences before using its power, so it had to suffer the side effect of its rash actions now .
‘s.h.i.+t!’
It inwardly cussed, but cursing wouldn’t change the situation .
‘If it wasn’t for them . . . ’
As Kevil glared at the ambushers, a strange idea suddenly came to his mind . It looked between Sungyoon and the Connectors .
‘They don’t seem friendly with each other . No . I’m sure they are enemies . ’
Kevil’s eyes headed toward the ambushers .
‘Their king’s token . . . ’
Its gaze then fell on Sungyoon .
‘He has it?’
However, Kevil couldn’t speculate any further due to the danger it was in . It looked at its target, the 1st Gen Connector lying on the ground behind Sungyoon .
It ground its teeth once and spread its wings . It flew into the air, but this was the first time it had suffered a defeat . Its immense pride wouldn’t allow it to just leave this place without a retort .
- When I meet you next—
Kevil abruptly stopped . Like a snapshot . Sungyoon’s wings unfurled . He flew straight at Kevil .
Sungyoon instantly reached Kevil and swung his halberd . Kevil quickly flapped its wings in order to back out, but the spear blade of the halberd pierced through its chest .
-Koo-ahhhhhhhhhk!
Bright blue blood sprayed into the air as Kevil clutched at its chest .
-You son of a b.i.t.c.hhhhhhh!
It used one of its hands to stem the blood and furiously swung the other .
Kevil’s attack was fierce . Since Sungyoon couldn’t dodge midair, he brought up his s.h.i.+eld .
Boom!
Kevil’s long fingernails struck the s.h.i.+eld and pushed Sungyoon back . However, Sungyoon didn’t suffer any damage . Even as he was sent flying backward, he threw his ax .
The ax spun in the air and pierced Kevil’s arm .
“Ahhhhhhhhk!!”
Kevil let out an unsightly and ugly scream . It pulled out the ax and threw it aside .
A large wound opened up on its arm, and blue blood flowed down its forearm . However, Kevil soon realized that something insidious had entered its body, something more dangerous than the wound .
‘Poison?’
The poison started to spread through its body .
Kevil felt fear . Normally, it could"ve burned the poison out of its body, but its power was bottoming out right now, and this wasn’t a normal poison either . Kevil used its remaining power to create a flame sword, and without hesitating, it cut off its arm .
Kwah-doo-dook!
The sharp and hot flame sword crushed its scales and sliced through flesh . Kevil’s severed arm fell to the ground .
Kevil desperately turned its body around . This was its first failure and also its first loss . It tried to keep down its anger and resentment as it ran away for its survival . The escape was a desperate, unsightly, and pathetic one .
Boom!
Sungyoon’s feet touched the ground .
He turned his head upward and saw the demonic monster flying away in the distance . Sungyoon summoned his halberd, reversed his grip, and a.s.sumed a throwing stance .
However, he gave up on that idea .
The demonic monster had used its remaining flames like a propellant and became a shooting star in the distant sky . Sungyoon could easily throw his halberd that far, but accuracy would be a problem .
In the end, Kevil disappeared into the distant sky .
However, the battle had yet to end .
Sungyoon lowered his gaze and caught sight of the ambushers, who looked like hedgehogs with their quills raised . He still feel the heartbeat, so he took a step toward them .
The ambushers flinched as they took a step back . At that moment, someone stepped forward from the group of ambushers .
It was the archer .
He yelled at Sungyoon, but Sungyoon couldn’t understand what he was saying . However, by the tone of the voice, Sungyoon could tell the archer wasn’t speaking kind words .
The archer angrily drew back his bow .
Sungyoon raised his sword . Kevil had left, and Sungyoon didn’t know when the sound of the heartbeat would stop . He had to kill the archer while he had this power .
The black-armored man also stepped forward . Sungyoon became tense as he thought the black-armored man would join the archer .
Boom!
However, the black-armored man ruthlessly struck the head of the archer with the broad side of his greatsword .
The explosive sound was so loud it made everyone flinch .
Even if the archer had a helmet on, he would have taken significant damage from the attack . As expected, the archer fell to the ground, and it almost made all of them wonder if the archer was dead .
The other ambushers were stunned into standing still .
The black-armored man calmly picked up the archer . He put the archer on his shoulder and signaled his group . Two of the ambushers quickly raised their staffs .
‘I won’t let you!’
Lightning erupted from Sungyoon’s sword . His body was still overflowing with power, and he had no intention of letting the ambushers escape .
However, the activation speed of the ambushers" spells was too fast .
Puh-uhng!
Earth shot up from the ground, and a gust of wind erupted in the surroundings .
In an instant, dust obstructed everyone’s vision . Even if Connectors possessed extraordinary vision, it was useless in front of this dust storm .
Sungyoon swung his sword .
Kwah-roo-roong!
The lightning rang out and ripped through the winds . The dirt was flung aside, and the winds screamed while dying out .
Even Sungyoon was surprised by the extent of his own power .
However, the disappointment that came when his sight was cleared overwhelmed whatever he felt about the increase in his power .
‘They are gone?’
In just a couple of seconds, the ambushers had vanished .
Sungyoon looked at his surroundings, and then, up at the sky . But the only thing that greeted him was empty air .
Kwah-jeek!
He wondered if they had hidden underground and stomped his foot, but his foot only crushed the blameless dry hay .
‘It"s the same as when I lost them in the labyrinth . ’
Sungyoon"s suspicions grew . The ambushers had some special way of transporting themselves . However, Sungyoon could only flex his fingers as he came up with empty conjectures .
“Hoo-ooh~!”
He took a deep breath and squeezed out the air from the deepest parts of his lungs .
‘It can’t be helped . ’
Sungyoon let go of any lingering emotions and turned around . The explosive power within him started to dissipate .
The other Connectors gathered their injured comrades as they moved their heads to look for the missing ambushers . With a regretful expression, Sungyoon rejoined his group as he stared at the spot where the ambushers had disappeared .
***
Sungyoon received incredible amounts of praise . He had defeated the scary demonic monster and pushed back the ambushers who had attacked Armstrong city’s research team .
After receiving the report of the battle, the admin gushed with praise about the Knight . He gus.h.i.+ng about how the Knight’s reputation and fame would soar once again . When the admin moved to send out his report, Sungyoon took the opportunity to return to his standby room .
After taking a shower to wash off all the grime, Sungyoon lay on the bed .
He was mentally exhausted, and he wanted to sleep for a very long time . However, he had to check something before that .
‘What the h.e.l.l is this?’
Sungyoon observed the Gold Gem he had acquired a short while ago .
There was no mistaking its golden light . It was indeed a Jewel rank Gem .
However, considering what had happened today, Sungyoon was sure this an unordinary Gold Gem . He kept staring at the Gem until he felt his eyes would pop out .
‘Huh?’
Sungyoon tilted the Gem a little bit . Was it because of how the Gem was cut? Its color changed a little bit .
It was still gold, so Sungyoon wondered if he was seeing things . He wondered if the faint red light flas.h.i.+ng between the gold light was a figment of his imagination .
***
The archer felt that someone had struck his head with a large hammer as a head-splitting pain engulfed him . His memory was fuzzy . He got up and reflexively shook his head while gripping it .
“Are you awake, Aruwan-nim?”
His subordinate, who had served his forefathers and his family, approached him .
Many of his people ignored his bloodline, yet this man had remained always loyal to him . This subordinate was admirable for his dedication .
“What happened? Why am I lying here?”
“That"s . . . ”
The subordinate hesitated .
Aruwan furrowed his brows . His subordinate always gave prompt answers to his questions, and the only time he hesitated was when it involved that person .
As expected, Aruwan heard her voice .
“I hit you on the back of the head and brought you here . ”
Plu-El spoke .
‘Back of the head?’
Did it have something to do with his splitting headache? Aruwan searched his mind to piece together his memories . As he remembered everything, he stood up .
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
He strode toward Plu-El and stood in front of her . His face was red from the anger, but Plu-El’s expression remained the same .
“You"re the one at fault for blindly charging forward . ”
She spoke in a calm manner .
“Its effect was weak, but he did activate the Royal Gem . ”
Aruwan’s face hardened .