Chapter 256 - Rain and the Fox (4)
-Kugaga!
The dragon made of lightning made a creepy sound as it swept through the outer surface of that armor. Kang Shin-hyuk laughed a little as he watched it.
‘It works too.’
-It would’ve been better if you had created an artifact to capture this energy.
[Tsu, if you wanted to make a weapon amplified by an energy that isn’t yours, you would have to use this orb as a material. I’m very happy to see the true face of Anvil, smelting weapons on the fly.]
Shin Eunah’s magical power showed the greatest efficiency when it was converted into a weapon. It was natural, given her other trait was based on lightning. With it, Kang Shin-hyuk took that high-purity lightning, put Golden Dragon Fighter at its core, and framed it with spiritual power. Thus, it was reborn as a weapon with strong destructive power. It was an ignorant waste of energy, but the effect was strong. It was evident just by seeing the armored monster beaten back by the Golden Thunder Dragon.
-Already...
His attitude grew more serious as part of his armor got scorched. But a moment after, he realized something felt off. That was because some of the enormous power the armor granted to him was lost.
-Surely... Did you erase the power of the armor?
“I said this would be fun!”
It was an object that he made himself in his past life; how could he not grasp the artifact’s structure? And if he knew the structure, it was natural to know how to lower its performance temporarily!
‘The influence of that armor is a factor for his breaking through the current limit. So, if I can disable the armor like this...!’
Kang Shin-hyuk wrapped the scattered form of the dragon around his body and charged in a straight line. His speed wasn’t much lower than the monsters.
-But that’s the human limit!
“Ha!”
The monster calmly struck with his greatsword. The greatsword broke through the current limit, and he couldn’t read its trajectory with his own eyes. It also had just as much power, creating a hole several meters deep as it hit the ground and caused red lava to rise.
‘Well?’
Kang Shin-hyuk could hardly believe it. As if he knew in advance, he instinctively turned his body to the side to avoid the path of the sword that cut through the area he had just been. His avoidance was so fast that the enemy didn’t make any follow-up attacks, thinking that he had cut through him by hitting his afterimage. He felt a slight sense of incongruity at that moment, but he thought it was the effect of his reflexes from Golden Dragon Fighter, and he punched the undefended stomach in front of him.
-Bang!
The fist wrapped in Golden Dragon energy and spiritual power broke through the armor, and the Thunder Dragon soared through his arm again to concentrate the blow inside of it. Only then, realizing that he hadn’t cut Kang Shin-hyuk, did he twist his sword around. And, again, Kang Shin-hyuk evaded his attack. He realized how he was able to avoid it this time.
It was because he knew it in advance.
“Somehow, I felt it was a movement that I knew. Really...”
-Khaaahah!
This time, it was his turn to fight back. Lava rose from his greatsword, forming a sword ten meters in length, and it swept in front of him, giving Kang Shin-hyuk no chance to escape. Dodging it, even by leaping into the air, would invite an even more deadly blow. Kang Shin-hyuk, who concluded it couldn’t be avoided, took it head-on.
-Kwaah!
At the moment of collision, his arms were wrapped around with a blazing white flame! It was aflame created by the power of Light and Fire Mastery. It contained some of the power of the Orb of Nephritis in his hand, and even if it collided with the lava greatsword, it could overcome the heat. Moreover, because he had grasped the sword’s path in advance, it was possible to mitigate the shock. Of course, it couldn’t be completely overcome, so his body was pushed back, and his arm broken. He clenched his jaw.
“Kh!”
The flame exploded and swallowed the sword. Kang Shin-hyuk broke through the gap and turned the Thunder Dragon into a long spear, which he threw with all his might at his foe’s stomach.
-Khh!
The monster’s whole body turned into lava. Perhaps it could transform its body based on certain conditions.
-Kagaaaaahhh!
As the thunderbolt pierced the middle of the lava, a groan erupted out from him. Perhaps it was because of the spiritual power wrapped around the thunderbolt. With Tsukuyo’s advice, Kang Shin-hyuk put spiritual power into each of his attacks. Whether it turned into lava or air, the attacks he threw had the power to stab through it.
“It’s my son that doesn’t know of spiritual power...”
-Father, hey!
-Member!
At the same moment, a message came from the administrator that demanded his attention. Soon after, lava gushed out around his feet and swallowed up his lower body.
“Huh?!”
The reason that he didn’t lose his legs was that the message had come in just in time, and he had been protecting his whole body with spiritual power. He moved away with space coordination as naturally as breathing.
-Spatial Coordination (SSS) skill proficiency has grown to C-rank!
“Hak, ha-ah...!
-Wow!
But even so, the damage couldn’t be completely avoided. The equipment and clothes protecting his lower body were completely burnt away, and his skin was also scorched. There was no abnormality in his bones, but he could feel the poison from the lava in his muscles. If it weren’t for his soul poison skill, he wouldn’t be able to overcome the poison contained in the lava, and his muscles would’ve broken down right away. Kang Shin-hyuk immediately activated his slot function, summoning other equipment onto his lower body.
‘I was blocking it, but in one strike...’
[How dare you hurt Anvil’s body?! Whoo, whoo, whoo. I want to tear him up myself...!]
The effect of the Transcendence potion remained, causing him to recover quickly, but for now, it was difficult for him to maneuver at high speeds. Space coordination could replace that, but the danger of a counterattack was too great if he used it near the enemy. If so...!
“Can’t end it with your disgusting swordsmanship?!”
Kang Shin-hyuk launched a Thunder Dragon containing poison as he cried out. In order not to repeat his previous mistake, he tried to turn his whole body into lava and scatter it. But, the dragon hit the space he had moved to, causing a magnificent explosion!
-Kahak!
With a pained scream, he attempted to send the lava under Kang Shin-hyuk’s feet again, but he wasn’t foolish enough to be hit by the same technique twice. He activated his spatial movement ability he had prepared in advance and soared into the air. Below him, he saw the huge greatsword growing. The lava that rose from the ground was gathering together to make it even more massive.
‘The whole body is a greatsword...?’
-It’s fun, this one.
It was Oh Joo-young’s voice that came to him as he was thinking that. Soon after, it shot in a straight line right at him in the air. Obviously, traces of Oh Joo-young were clear in the attack, but there was also clear traces of the Godslayer’s sword dance.
“You son of a bitch...!”
It was rare when he did, but Kang Shin-hyuk swore as he swung the Thunder Dragon at him. Why did he suddenly feel so dirty and irritable? It was because of the possibility he wanted to deny.
“Using the Godslayer sword dance like that...!”
The Thunder Dragon, which contained the pure spiritual power of Kang Shin-hyuk, struck the lava sword and emitted a roar and flash of light.
“Don’t use it!”
The moment the dragon, created with all the energy contained within the Great Heavenly Spirit, touched the lava greatsword, cut it in half. The thunderbolt continued down the greatsword and smashed through its wielder. The moment it happened, a message appeared before his eyes.
-Golden Dragon Fighter (SS+) skill proficiency has increased significantly and will grow to SS-rank!
-Spiritual power has grown to SS+ rank. Strength has grown to SS+ rank.
-Fire Mastery (SSS) skill proficiency has increased to S+ rank.
-Soul Poison (SSS) skill proficiency has increased to SS-rank.
-You’ve subdued part of a huge being that is immensely harmful to the order of things! Bonus based on membership level! You received 320,000,000HP! As a VIP bonus, you received an additional amount of HP equivalent to 50% of the reward, for a total of 480,500,000HP!
It was the moment that proved the achievement of a fierce battle could grow someone in an instant. Kang Shin-hyuk confirmed with Tsukuyo that he had cleared the enemy’s soul as he had been advised.
“How about this?”
[Very well done, Anvil. You are also the one I love.]
-Exile... No, member!
[So please leave the rest to me now.]
“Huh?”
Tsukuyo jumped from his shoulders and turned around in the air, transforming from a fox into the beauty she was. At the same time, a small gate opened where the lava greatsword had been broken, and he saw someone walk out of it. Kang Shin-hyuk’s eyes went wide as he noticed what he was holding in his hand, but the next moment the landscape around them changed to a dark and bloody space where sacrifices had been made.
“...Eun-hyuk?!”
“Puppeteer, the Zeus guys!”
“As soon as the superhumans left the camp...!”
Those who found him had relief plain on their faces. Only then did Kang Shin-hyuk realize that he was entering a certain gate. He knew that the Korean base camp was swallowed up by a gate. The alter ego created by Tsukuyo was made to move him into it from the start. To protect him from the ‘real’ enemies.
“How...? You, surely...”
The voice of Zeus’s submaster, Lee Kang-yul, tapped on his ears, and he turned his head to look at him. He was covered in thick magic armor that could be called a power suit. Moreover, there were wriggling half bodies everywhere, but most of them were eroded by dark mana and seemed to have no proper consciousness left—the situation was much worse than he had imagined.
“...How long have you been here?”
“Tw-twenty minutes.”
Jinseok Lee responded weakly. Fortunately, Yoo Hye-na and Jo Woon-hyung were still safe, but a third of the Gunners were lying on the floor.
‘Tsukuyo...’
He belatedly realized the differences in their standards. For her, the safety of other humans wasn’t so important. It seemed she had paid special attention to only the three important to Kang Shin-hyuk. From start to finish of this dimensional quest, she was taking care of him thoroughly. This terrible humiliation, however, was the most irresistible to her.
“I thought you couldn’t enter this gate... Well, it can’t be helped.”
Yoo Jun-man, who exuded deeper energy that Lee Kang-yul, spoke with a cold smile.
“He promised to subdue you, but we’ve no choice but for me to do it with our own hands.”
“He’s this... You know well.”
“Oh, did you two meet? But how did you escape?”
Kang Shin-hyuk just laughed. While he confronted Zeus’s executives, the surviving mercenaries gathered around him. The Zeus members were still, seemingly thinking that the first to move would be the target.
“Well, they use magic and another kind of energy.”
Jinseok Lee whispered in Kang Shin-hyuk’s ear.
“Fuck, it’s terrible. This gate is also strange. It’s best to destroy it somehow.”
“Alright.”
Dismissing his friend’s worrisome suggestion, Kang Shin-hyuk readied Phoibos. At the same time, the Zeus guild moved.
The situation ended the moment the bullet filled with light was fired, so it was pointless.
Follow current novℯls on f(r)eewebnov𝒆l