Episode 4: The Great Colonizing Age / Chapter 65: Demon King (6)
TL: emptycube
Editor: Obelisk
{T/N} Because Retribution is a stat rather than points, I switched Retribution Points into Retribution.
"But the guardian is a healer?"
Lee Jinhee raised a question. As a healer, Bae Jinman"s karma was fixed at the "Heal" trait. Like how the karma trait shop didn"t sell the "Heal" trait, Bae Jinman couldn"t change his karma trait as well. He would improve their state simply by using his trait. So how would Bae Jinman make the Berserkers even madder?
However, Baek Seoin only stared at Bae Jinman as if he couldn"t hear Lee Jinhee"s question. Bae Jinman rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before replying.
"… I"ll try it."
"What? You can do it?"
Lee Jinhee asked in surprise. However, this time Bae Jinman was in deep thought and didn"t reply. Instead, Baek Seoin replied for him.
"There"s only a paper-thin margin between medicine and poison. They both have similarities in their influence on the body. Depending on when or how you use it, poison can turn into medicine and medicine into poison… I thought that healing and buffs were the same."
"Really?"
Lee Jinhee, who had only believed that the more medicine she ate, the healthier she would get, widened her eyes at this new information.
At this time, Bae Jinman finished conceiving a plan. He released his karma with a changed version of "Get Up". Increase vitality, enhance the mind, and strengthen sympathy. Bae Jinman especially worked hard on "strengthen sympathy".
Normally, it would be a useful buff, however, now it would add oil to the flames known as madness. Increase vitality would support the Stamina they had consumed due to madness, and enhance the mind would make those who had fallen into a state of futility and numbness become even more intensely enraged and sorrowful. Also, above all, "strengthen sympathy" would make the Berserkers sympathize with each other"s pain and rage. Simply put, it made all the Berserkers clearly sense each other"s pain. Like how Jung Minji felt…
Berserkers, who were burdened with their own pain, were flooded with the indiscriminate pain of others.
The result was a more severe madness.
The sudden change came remarkably. Even Choi Hyuk, who was fighting by himself in the distance, could sense this change.
The noise of the battlefield. The rhythm had changed. A rain shower had turned into a hail storm. Tennis b.a.l.l.s grew to baseb.a.l.l.s. The formation of monsters, that would occasionally endure or occasionally get penetrated, started shatter like gla.s.s.
Choi Hyuk nodded his head. Due to the Berserkers, the pressure, from the countless number of monsters that blocked his way, lessened.
He now didn"t need to be concerned with the battlefield and could fight the boss to his heart"s content.
"Then, is it my turn now?"
With the monsters" commanders, the "eyeless observers", in front of him, Choi Hyuk slowly stretched his shoulders. He threw the Flaming Devil in a corner. The Flaming Devil, whose other leg had burned off on the way here, was pitifully writhing on the ground.
There were only trails of flame, and the ashes of the monsters that had been burnt black, behind him.
He pretended to be composed, but he didn"t find his current situation very lax. "Flaming Wing Dance" was a skill that consumed a lot of Stamina, and Choi Hyuk"s Stamina was only at 3-star with 366 (3★) points. It was very low compared to his Power, Speed, Control, and Retribution which were all over 4-star, meaning he couldn"t maintain Flaming Wing Dance for a long time.
"Hooo…"
He let out a big breath and drank down a special karma recovery potion in one shot.
"Keu… It"s not enough to send a message to my liver."
This was a temporary method… And he obtained the strength to fight once more.
The moment he tossed the empty bottle behind him.
Blaze!
Flames violently erupted once again.
In front of him were around 100 eyeless observers. Each one was stronger than the Wyvern of Destruction. They were 4-star rank monsters. The real enemy of the mission this time wasn"t the hundreds of thousands of monsters but the hundred eyeless observers.
{Kyahh!}
Feeling threatened, the eyeless observers let out a cry.
"You"re too late."
By the time they cried, Chio Hyuk"s sword had already sliced through the front most monster.
A geyser of flames.
The flames that sprouted from its wounded chest spread to its four limbs and its face. The eyeless observer twisted its body, and its long flesh that covered its eye brilliantly dispersed as it burned.
As expected of the Flaming Wing Dance that possessed power beyond that of 4-stars. It burned up an observer with a single strike. Yet, Choi Hyuk"s expression was serious.
"As expected, wide area damage doesn"t work."
Normal monsters would turn to ash once they came into contact with the flames he emitted. Without wielding his sword, the majority of monsters would burn to ash and disappear.
However, the eyeless observers were different.
Tssss…
{Kii.}
Although it looked like it was burnt, he wasn"t able to completely burn it before the flames died out. The burn wounds quickly recovered. To properly burn them, he would have to cut each one with his sword, but he couldn"t endure that with his Stamina.
It wasn"t easy. When Choi Hyuk thought this, a smile hung on his lips.
"Yeah. It needs to be like this."
Pssft-
Choi Hyuk immediately gave up on the Flaming Wing Dance. The flames that had engulfed his body died down. The Flaming Wing Dance was an area attack; it wasn"t very effective in this situation where he had to kill each one individually.
As the flames died down, the pitch-black sword that shined within, the Predator"s Blade, was revealed.
{Tyrannical Predator"s Blade}
Rank: B (Unique, Growth-type)
Sharp and st.u.r.dy. The more blood it absorbs of strong foes, the stronger it will get. It has almost reached the limit to its growth.
Blood Drain: Absorbs the blood of enemies to replenish its owner"s karma and heal their wounds. Able to absorb 1L of blood per second.
*Second Blade: Sacrifice the Evolution stat to imbue karma into the blade. No extra karma consumption.
Durability: 98,573/100,000
Evolution: 11/1,000
The driving force behind how he was able to endure up until now with only 3-star Stamina was due to the Predator"s Blade. He was able to recover small amounts of Stamina with its absorption ability and reduce his karma consumption with its outstanding cutting force.
The Predator"s Blade had evolved once more during this time. Since it was a B rank weapon, if enough force was added, it was able to penetrate through 4-star Endurance. On top of that, if he reinforced its cutting force with the Second Blade, it was able to rip through most protective skills.
"Second Blade."
{Evolution: "11" à "6"}
Choi Hyuk resolutely invested its Evolution stat to activate its Second Blade.
Swish.
A frightening sound of an enormous snake slithering. The Predator"s Blade was imbued with black karma. It was a different color from Choi Hyuk"s deep blue karma. It was a Karma Blade that the Predator"s Blade created itself.
"Let"s fight."
Choi Hyuk began to only utilize his karma inside his body. He used the "karma pathways" that extended to all four limbs from his dantian, where the Karma Heart was located. The heart and the "karma pathways" became new muscles and tendons for Choi Hyuk and moved his body faster and stronger.
This was how Choi Hyuk was able to minimize his Stamina consumption.
{Kuahh!}
The eyeless observers swung their hands at Choi Hyuk. Their hands were especially large. They were about three times as large as a person"s head. Their skin was white like limestone, and they possessed tough claws.
Choi Hyuk walked naturally as he avoided their attacks and cut one.
"One."
Choi Hyuk"s movements became more and more efficient and simple.
He looked at his opponent"s next step and their shoulders. He stepped forward before his opponent took another step and slashed out.
"Two."
As their skin, which was as white as limestone, was cut, their sticky blood, which was as black as oil, burst out.
{Kekiehhh!!}
"Three."
Choi Hyuk"s eyes tinged blue. Using his right foot as a pivot, he rotated his body to evade an attack from his blind spot. Using the momentum of his evasion, he slashed out again.
"Four… No, three-and-a-half."
It was a bit shallow. It was difficult to kill them while maintaining his maneuverability. He couldn"t stab them or block their attacks. He used his "Mind"s Eye" to find the shortest path for his Karma Blade to traverse between the monsters.
Swish! Swish! Slice! Slice!
As if he were a child who was hiking while swinging a wooden stick, Choi Hyuk simply walked as the eyeless observers were critically wounded and fell to the ground. Their black blood stained their white skin.
They were all 4-star monsters. However, they weren"t a match for him.
There were cases where martial artists with similar physical abilities would knock each other out with one blow. Precise strikes had that sort of power. Choi Hyuk had much higher karma stats than normal eyeless observers. They were in the early stage of 4-star while he was in the mid-late stage. If Choi Hyuk"s senses, which allowed him to hit precise strikes, were added on top of that, it was difficult for even 4-star monsters to endure a single sword. Since this wasn"t a game, if a sword pierced through, and if it was a fatal area, no matter how strong the opponent was, it would end with a single sword.
Also, perhaps it was because they possessed a special mental attack ability, but the Endurance and Recovery stats of the eyeless observers were low. Being Choi Hyuk"s opponents, this was a fatal weakness.
{Kiiyahhhh!}
As more than thirty observers fell at Choi Hyuk"s hand, the largest monster at the back, the king of the observers, wailed. The mood abruptly changed.
"Hmm?"
Choi Hyuk, who was wielding his sword in a trance, halted.
All the observers followed their king and wailed.
{Keahhh!}
Following their king that seemed to have shouted a command, their long, tattered skin, which covered their eyes like torn fabric, molted. Single eyes, red as blood, were revealed.
Their sclerae were red, and their pupils were redder. Their eyes rolled and all stared at Choi Hyuk at the same time.
Kiiiing!
Choi Hyuk felt dizzy.
"Would you look at that."
Their ferocious karma shot out of their eyes, through the air, and into Choi Hyuk"s head. Around 70 observers carried out this simultaneous mental attack.
Choi Hyuk smiled.
"You want to enter my mind?"
His whole body tinged blue. His karma trait went beyond "Mind"s Eye" and reached "Identical Mind", which could engage with anything. It tightly wrapped around the observers" karma, preventing them from escaping.
"Although you can enter whenever you want, you can"t leave."
His mind boiled. The observers" ferocious karma ran amok inside his head. However-
"There is something worse inside."
Choi Hyuk recalled.
The moment his mother died.
He recalled.
The {You have no choice. Get angry. Kill. Only then can you kill.} message from those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.
And… the delight he felt when he fought and killed his opponents.
Like a monitor screen that exploded with a blast, as if a pitch-darkness lurked inside, Choi Hyuk"s vision was blown away. His insides, beginning with his stomach, boiled black. It surged. Madness filled his head and swallowed his brain. He felt an unbearable thirst. He didn"t endure it.
There was no need to.
{Kiyaahhhh!}
As if they saw something, the observers screamed. Black blood flowed from their red eyes.
Kiiing!
Dark red blood dripped from Choi Hyuk"s nose. However, the smile on his lips didn"t fade.
He mumbled.
"Get angry…"
"Get angry…"
He mumbled as he stepped forward. While the observers were unable to move, crying b.l.o.o.d.y tears, Choi Hyuk slowly tottered forward.
"Kill."
He raised his sword.
"Only then can you kill."
His sword stabbed out.
{Kekk… kekk…}
One observer trembled its body before collapsing.
"Get angry…"
Choi Hyuk moved towards his next target. His mind had already flown away. He couldn"t see properly. Since it wasn"t possible to block the mental attack of 70 observers. Choi Hyuk"s mind with greater rage instead of blocking their attack. With the despair he felt when his mother, who was his only sanctuary, died, and the rage he had towards the ones who created this game. With his cruel instinct he had avoided his whole life, his love of fighting.
The observers invaded his mind to destroy and control it, but the place they invaded was already h.e.l.l. They weren"t able to escape due to Choi Hyuk"s karma, and they could only sorrowfully scream.
"Ah…"
Choi Hyuk, who was staggering forward, abruptly changed his direction and grabbed the Flaming Devil.
{Kuaahhh!!}
{Kiyahhh!!}
The screams of the devil and the observers mixed together terrifyingly.
Choi Hyuk dragged the devil by its throat as he stabbed each observer that was pleading due to pain.
"How good to hear… good to hear… hehe."
Choi Hyuk, who had already lost his reasoning, simply enjoyed their screams. He dragged the Flaming Devil as he walked towards the observers, which were screaming sweetly, and stabbed them with his sword.
As if harvesting screaming reeds, he stabbed, cut, and then repeated. White corpses lay on the ground, flowing with black blood.
The large-bodied king of the observers was no exception. They may have had a chance if they had attacked him physically instead. Unfortunately, they had invaded Choi Hyuk"s mind, which was a h.e.l.lhole, and futilely lost their lives, suffering in pain.
"Ah… Is it over?"
Only after he killed the king of the observers, and popped out and threw the Flaming Devil"s head did Choi Hyuk return to his senses.
{Obtained the Dimensional Isolation Release Code. Releasing the isolated dimension.}
The message was heard as if from a dream, and the dome that covered the sky faded away.