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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Before the monsters attacked, Arthur had received two requests from Lee Yu-jin.
The first was to conserve her mana as much as possible until Yu-jin gave her a signal.
The second was to unleash ‘Heavenly Fortress’ with all her might when that signal came.
Arthur had wanted to question those requests.
How did Yu-jin even know the name of his skill? Why should she conserve mana when every ounce of power was crucial?
These questions welled up inside her, but she held her tongue.
She simply nodded and agreed to Yu-jin’s requests.
Yu-jin was a man who always strived for the best possible outcome.
And now…
“Unbelievable…”
Yu-jin had rewarded her trust.
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The light faded, and darkness returned.
However, the monsters and Fallen that had filled that darkness were gone.
They had been obliterated by the holy light that had briefly blazed, leaving only one Fallen standing.
But even that lone survivor wasn’t unscathed.
Sizzle…
Black smoke rose from her charred body.
She stood with her two arms and two tentacles crossed, suggesting she had resisted the explosion with all her might.
Thud.
He heard someone collapse.
He turned his head to see Arthur kneeling, her face pale as she gasped for breath.
“Arthur, you can deactivate your skill now.”
Only after those words did Arthur release Heavenly Fortress.
The golden barrier, on the verge of collapse, faded away.
“Take a Spirit Energy Pill and rest for a bit, alright?”
Arthur nodded weakly, opening her mouth.
After placing a Spirit Energy Pill in Arthur’s mouth, Yu-jin climbed onto the barrier.
Click.
He raised his gun and aimed it at Enchantress’s forehead, now frozen like a statue.
Rumble, BANG!
The distinctive thunderclap of Thunderbolt reverberated.
A lightning-infused bullet, tracing a blue trajectory, flew towards its target.
Just as the bullet was about to strike Enchantress’s forehead, her black eyes flashed.
Simultaneously, a third tentacle, sprouted from her tailbone, flicked out and deflected the bullet.
Crackle, crackle.
Cracks began to appear on Enchantress’s body.
Her charred skin flaked off like dead scales, revealing a layer of pale violet beneath, replacing the milky white from before.
‘…It seems the explosion did deal significant damage.’
Enchantress possessed immense power, but her physical strength was somewhat lacking.
As damage accumulated, her skin gradually turned the same color as her demonic energy, a sign of her defenses weakening.
And those weakened areas couldn’t be regenerated by the Fallen’s unique regenerative ability.
To heal them, she needed to absorb demonic energy from a rift brimming with it, like the “Plague” who had fought against Kang Cheol-su, or spend a long time absorbing it in the Land of Death.
From between her swaying tentacles, Enchantress’s heterochromatic eyes glared at him, brimming with murderous intent.
Yu-jin responded to that intent by taking out a holy grenade.
He pulled the pin and transferred it right in front of Enchantress.
KABOOM!
The holy grenade’s characteristic explosion erupted.
Dust and debris showered down.
However, as it wasn’t a chain explosion, the blast was blocked by Enchantress’s demonic energy barrier, failing to inflict any damage.
He couldn’t cause an explosion like the previous one.
Arthur’s mana was depleted, so Heavenly Fortress was unavailable.
‘Park Ga-ram’s barrier is sturdy, but…’
Park Ga-ram’s condition wasn’t good.
She had been maintaining the barrier for a long time, draining both her mana and mental strength.
She wouldn’t be able to withstand a chain explosion of holy grenades and crucially, Yu-jin had only 30% of his mana remaining.
Of course, he could replenish it by consuming a Spirit Energy Pill.
However, the pill only increased mana recovery speed, not instantly restoring it.
He wouldn’t see immediate results.
‘Who can fight Enchantress right now…?’
Firstly, himself and Seo-yeon… and, and that was it.
Noah couldn’t move from his spot as he was channeling holy power into the Holy Spear.
Arthur and Park Ga-ram’s mana was depleted.
Asuka’s talent control wasn’t perfect yet, so she was out.
As for Lim Da-hee and their other classmates… they had no means to resist Enchantress’s charm, so they would only be a hindrance.
This left only Seo-yeon as a viable combatant.
As befitting a main character, she possessed extremely high mental defenses.
“Seo-yeon.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“…?”
Wait, how did she know what he was going to say?
“You want me to fight with you, right?”
“…Yeah.”
How did she know?
Was she really reading his mind?
“Not reading, more like deducing from the situation, your expression, and your actions.”
“…Really?”
But wouldn’t that require careful observation?
As soon as he thought this, Seo-yeon nodded.
“You’re right, deep observation is necessary.”
Seo-yeon said, gazing intently at him as if demanding that he acknowledge her interest.
Avoiding her burdensome stare, Yu-jin asked Noah, who was below the barrier.
“Noah, how long can you use the Holy Spear?”
“… If I use all of the holy power I have now, I can use it for about 30 minutes.”
“30 minutes… That means we have to kill Enchantress within 20 minutes at most.”
They couldn’t allow Noah to use up all his holy power on the Holy Spear.
Even if they defeated Enchantress, everyone except Yu-jin would die from the rift’s demonic energy without Noah’s holy barrier.
If this had been a regular rift, he wouldn’t have worried so much.
The demonic energy was concentrated around the sub-core and main core locations.
But this was a Special High-Risk rift, where every area was contaminated with demonic energy, even those far from the core.
Therefore, unless you were immune to demonic energy like Yu-jin, or had already reached a high enough class, Noah’s holy barrier was absolutely essential for survival.
“Haa…”
He let out a deep sigh.
As he muttered, “Damn time limit,” under his breath…
Ding!
A Great Achievement Quest appeared.
It wasn’t a regular event quest with the “Great Achievement” tag, but a genuine Great Achievement Quest.
But… the title of the quest was strange.
‘What? Run?’
Damn it, System, are you crazy?
No, judging by the content, it wasn’t the System.
‘Hey, Developer. Are you nuts? You want me to run alone?’
And abandon everyone here?
‘I’d rather die than abandon everyone.’
So if you’re going to give me a quest like that, screw you!
He inwardly raged, closing the quest window.
Or rather, he tried to, but…
Crackle!
The quest details changed.
‘Now that’s more like it.’
Give me this kind of quest instead of that idiotic one from before, it motivates me to survive.
‘Reinforcements will arrive in 20 minutes…’
Perfect timing.
He wasn’t planning on holding out for more than 20 minutes anyway.
“Haa…”
He exhaled a tense breath, closing the quest window.
He gripped Thunderbolt in both hands and leaped over the barrier.
Seo-yeon followed him, grasping the hilt of her sword.
Ssst…
Her exclusive weapon, the Blood Demon Sword, “Dainsleif”, slid out of its sheath with a clear ring.
Wooong.
Dainsleif hummed.
Crimson mana, characteristic of Seo-yeon, surged, forming sword energy.
At the same time, Seo-yeon charged forward.
Yu-jin followed close behind.
Slash!
Seo-yeon, reaching Enchantress in the blink of an eye, swung her sword.
Swoosh─!
Her blade, tracing a crimson arc, slashed towards Enchantress’s neck.
One of Enchantress’s tentacles whipped out like a lash, deflecting the blow.
Clang─!
Sparks flew as tentacle and sword clashed.
It marked the beginning of an intense exchange between Seo-yeon’s blade and Enchantress’s tentacles.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang─!
Seo-yeon’s sharp eyes tracked the tentacles’ movements.
Her sword, following the path of Quick Sword and Changing Sword techniques, aimed for Enchantress’s vital points.
Her footwork, swift and unpredictable, confused and disoriented Enchantress.
It was truly a storm of attacks.
However, Seo-yeon was at a disadvantage.
She wielded only one sword, while Enchantress had three tentacles.
Flick!
A shallow cut appeared on Seo-yeon’s arm.
And as the fight continued, more and more wounds appeared on her body.
She was starting to lose ground.
Seeing this, Yu-jin raised both pistols and activated ‘Live Focus’.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang…!
The flow of time slowed down with the skill’s effect, stretching out the sounds.
Seo-yeon’s sword and Enchantress’s tentacles, previously blurs, slowed, becoming easier to react to.
Of course… even slowed down, their movements were still incredibly fast.
But not so fast that he couldn’t react.
Click…
He pulled the trigger.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, BANG!
A drawn-out thunderclap echoed.
Lightning-infused bullets flew towards Enchantress’s vital points.
Enchantress, who had been focused on Seo-yeon, shifted her gaze to Yu-jin.
Clang!
A bullet was deflected.
Simultaneously, one of the three tentacles shot out towards him.
He fired at the approaching tentacle.
The tentacle, struck by the bullet, recoiled.
This time, two tentacles shot out.
They too were repelled by his bullets.
But the tentacles, instantly recovering, targeted him once again.
Without pause, thunder roared from his pistols, unleashing blue flashes.
He didn’t reload.
He continuously replenished his ammunition using Transfer.
Their combined assault continued for a while, but…
Throb.
His head began to ache.
It was a sign that his mental strength was nearly depleted.
‘…My mana is fine thanks to the Spirit Energy Pill, but…’
His mental strength couldn’t keep up.
Gritting his teeth, he prepared for Dead Shot.
Judging by the increasing intensity of his headache, Live Focus would end in about a minute.
It was better to use Dead Shot and end it himself than be forced out.
As he fired continuously, he glanced at Enchantress.
‘As expected of a top-rank.’
Enchantress was currently frozen like a statue, focusing on recovering her wounds.
Yet, she was effortlessly repelling his and Seo-yeon’s combined assault.
‘…Time to prepare.’
He transferred a holy grenade behind Enchantress’s head.
“…!”
Seo-yeon, noticing the grenade, swiped at a tentacle and moved back.
Seeing her reaction, he immediately fired at the grenade.
The bullet, unobstructed, flew towards its target.
It seemed Enchantress had mistaken it for a stray shot.
Unaware of her own mistake…
KABOOM!
Only after the grenade exploded did Enchantress realize there had been a grenade behind her.
As Yu-jin raised his gun above her head again, one of the two tentacles targeting him shot upwards.
It seemed she was anticipating another grenade.
‘So she’s not immune to holy grenades after all. It does hurt, doesn’t it?’
But what could she do?
This time, he wasn’t aiming for a grenade.
He smirked at Enchantress’s misjudgment and activated Live Focus’s derived skill.
‘Dead Shot.’
───!
A silent gunshot echoed.
A blue flash shot out of Thunderbolt’s muzzle.
Enchantress, finally realizing his true target, hastily retracted all her tentacles.
Or rather, she tried to.
Enchantress cursed for the first time.
It was understandable.
If she retracted all three tentacles, her body would be riddled with Seo-yeon’s sword and his bullets.
But if she ignored the Dead Shot bullet, it would pierce her forehead.
In the end, Enchantress chose…
Crackle, crackle!
…to abandon her recovery and move.
However, the bullet enhanced by Dead Shot had more than doubled its speed.
Enchantress couldn’t completely evade it.
Bang─!
The bullet tore through Enchantress’s cheek.
Her already grotesque face became even more distorted.
Yu-jin purposely pretended to gag, looking at her mangled visage.
“Ugh, so ugly.”
Enchantress’s killing intent and demonic energy exploded.
The provocation had worked.
She had abandoned all pretense of composure.
Yu-jin glanced at the remaining time on the quest window.
15 minutes left.
He scratched his head with the tip of his gun and grinned at Enchantress.
“15 minutes? We can hold out for that long.”
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