Chapter 52

Siheung 8 Dungeon (5)

I killed the last chimera of stage three and got the dungeon key and extra compensation ready for the first place as a contributor.

I was quite far away from Nicole and the portal.

Han-Seol told me by telepathy. Nicole’s on the verge of a Mana shock, so she can’t use her [All-Seeing Light] for a while, so to just stand-by where I was. She said that she would follow Mana’s string created by [Battlefield Command] to pick me up.

‘I was going to target Han-Seol right after the Clear anyways.’

Han-Seol would have similar thoughts if she were targeting me.

Nicole really could be in bad shape because of Mana consumption, or Han-Seol could already hold her down.

She must be coming to me since she’s sure that she can avoid Nicole’s eyes.

‘I don’t necessarily have to fight on this outskirts.’

Instead of waiting as I was, I quickly moved in the direction of Han-Seol along the string of Mana that I could see.

Either way, whether Nicole was naturally incapacitated or Han-Seol incapacitated her by her hands, Han-Seol would be coming from where Nicole is, which is near the portal.

In preparation for the possibility of being isolated in the fog immediately after the battle with Han-Seol, I decided that it would be advantageous to fight with the portal as near as possible.

So Han-Seol would have met me much earlier than she had expected.

After such encounters, I couldn’t help but think of someone when I saw the madness in the eyes of Han-Seol.

‘It’s similar to Park Chang-Hee’s.’

Park Chang-Hee showed irrational hatred beyond my comprehension.

Han-Seol showed me distorted possessiveness beyond the normal level.

Though the types of emotions are different, the common thing is that both of them have an obsession close to madness towards me.

‘Was Han-Seol not the source of the curse, but Han-Seol is also under the curse?’

I couldn’t understand.

‘What the hell is the curse for?

And why does everyone get obsessed with a person called Seo Jin-Wook?

This makes Seo Gyu-Cheol almost certain, too.’

I remembered what happened to the seeds that appeared after killing Park Chang-Hee.

Will the same thing happen if I kill Han-Seol? Will the seed hiding in Han-Seol’s heart appear, and will it try to leech on me instead of the dead host, but it fails to and instead dies to my curse?

I wasn’t sure yet.

Swish!

As I rushed in, I saw Mana patterns flashing all over Han-Seol’s body. The analysis of what equipment she has already that defend against magic and state attacks are clearly visible.

All you need to do with a shield is to break it with a greater force.

I activate a few skills on my body.

[Haste!]

[Physical Strengthening!]

[Body Strengthening!]

[Enhanced Sense of Battle!]

Woooong!

The devil’s sword cried.

The storm of Mana, which rides the sword, burns with purple sword energy.

[Artha’s Sword Dance!]

The movements unfolded, and Han-Seol’s eyes widened.

Spark!

The opponent did not wait as she just looked.

The five-stranded sword energy stretched out from Han-Seol’s sword, tears the fog like lightning.

The flashes that threatened me intertwined and made a whirlwind.

Goooong!

Collision.

The confrontation of power did not last long.

Soon, with a heavy sword noise, a purple storm swept away the sword energy of Han-Seol and then swarmed toward the hidden body behind it.

Han-Seol’s expression was very distorted as if she saw a scene that she couldn’t believe.

“Ugh!”

Han-Seol blocks the purple storm with her sword and barely dodges it.

A purple fang tore the Earth sharply behind her back.

“No way!”

a voice shrieked.

Han Seol’s hand shivered as she bounced off my sword energy. It was the aftershock of overcoming the anti-elastic force.

Three months ago, I was surprised when I first saw the core of Han-Seol. She, who was known as an A-list Hunter in this era, actually had a Mana equivalent to a high-ranking SS Hunter.

But then.

‘You’re not the only one hiding!’

If the sword amplifies my Mana five times, it is like inflating my Mana capacity five times.

Swish!

I threw my body at the speed of light. Following the sword cut horizontally, I drew a half-moon orbit. Han-Seol’s face turned pale after dodging it.

The magic sword, as it sprinkled an arc of light while being swung, it completed a wave of sword energy.

The sword energy left in the air like a remnant should have vanished.

Weing!

But now, along with the place I cut with my sword, the purple lines of arc remained afloat in the air.

The afterimage became real.

“What…. what!”

A wave of sword energy crossed the border between static and dynamic power.

I knew it was a possible attack when one perfectly masters [Artha’s Sword Dance] unfolded in front of Han-Seol’s nose.

‘It’s not the end even if you avoid it.’

Every time our swords struck each other, a storm broke out. The Earth was cut off, and the fog faded for a while. The cold sweat of Han-Seol twinkled in the mist and disappeared. I could see that she couldn’t pull herself together. It’s a situation where even if she concentrates all her senses on finding a chance to attack, and being wary of the sword energy that remained after I swung my sword wasn’t helping her. The number of purple flashes surrounding us increased.

Furthermore, the sword energy did not stay in one place every time. It slipped to an exquisite position to interfere with Han-Seol’s movements while not interrupting my path.

Like setting a trap, I scattered shrapnel of sharp sword energy around me, but I predicted that I could not swing the sword energy for forever.

‘That’s enough!’

I drew in the trajectory of the sword energy that wrapped around me.

Following the suction created with the Mana, a group of purple stars floating in the fog tilted a blunt force in one direction.

[Suction!]

At the same time, a purple rain shower fell. It was rain against the flow of gravity. A fierce sword energy 360 degrees around Han-Seol, pouring towards her body.

At that moment, Mana flashed in Han-Seol’s heart.

Boosh!

Subsequent vibrations shook the spine and the bones.

Boo-boo-boo-boom!

Hundreds of sword energies collided with Han-Seol at the center and sprayed light.

Dust storms caused by shock waves pushed the fog away, after a while, in the place where even the dust was settled.

“Huff…. Huff….!”

Han-Seol was ragged but stood still, hacked by the sword energy.

In front of her were thin curtains of light like the aurora, countlessly overlapped and softly flowing as it made waves.

It was a shield that had stopped the attack just now.

That was also disposable, as was the [Mirage Shield].

‘There’s no next time.’

The attack now was of a destructive force that did not have to be stopped by using that item.

Being in the defensive position, she had no choice but to mobilize it urgently, and I went easy on spending Mana as I knew she would block the attack once anyway.

Poof!

I kicked the ground.

With the shock wave, I rushed to Han-Seol.

When she was dodging and making a distance from me, I sensed something approaching me at an alarming rate.

I was a little slow to notice it because of the fog.

‘Damn it!’

It stopped about 10 meters from us.

Han-Seol has not yet recognized its existence, but my eyes grew more prominent when I saw the thing swaying beyond the fog.

Whooooong!

A red Mana soared up in the fog.

I couldn’t believe my eyes, but it was unfolding in front of me.

I’d seen that skill.

Not in this era, but in my previous life as Choi Seung-Hyun!

‘Is this it? The connection!’

My assumption was wrong.

‘Was the connection was made here?’

Feeling like my heart was about to explode, I changed the sword’s path that I swung as if it were attacking Han-Seol and sent the sword energy into the fog.

The skill that someone beyond the fog was preparing was halted.

Then, through the fog, some cognition permeated my mind.

It was telepathy that anyone within a specific range could hear.

– You’re quick to sense. I thought you wouldn’t be able to see me if I was this far because of the fog.

Han-Seol and I faced each other.

And some being that has sent telepathy to us, away in the fog.

The situation entered an unexpected area.

It was not telepathy that shot an opponent specifically, but a will that was scattered within a certain range like a wave of sound, and the magic sword which listened to it too told me.

‘Uh… huh? Wait a minute…. I’ve heard of this telepathy somewhere, didn’t I?’

The being, hidden in the fog, revealed itself.

Han-Seol looked at her in dismay.

Then, the magic sword suddenly burst out.

‘Oh, I get it! This wave is ··· Immortal! Immortal! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Hey, we need to run now. If that uses a skill once, we’ll all end with that. Come on! No, or just ‘accept’ my offer! We’re all going to be finished here!’

Han-Seol’s eyes were fixated on the combat uniform the opponent was wearing. It’s Nicole’s clothes.

On the other hand, my eyes were fixated on her face.

My voice squeezed out through my teeth.

“Angelica!”

*

The sword pecked at me like it was convulsing.

‘Hurry up! You should be glad the monster doesn’t know the language yet, so it uses telepathy; I wouldn’t recognize it if it imitated a human! Run! Run! Am I not telling you to run away? Immortals can manipulate all beings and take out their memories. Are you not hearing me? Whatever happens, don’t give my handle to that monster! No!’

Then, in the fog, Angelica suddenly triggered the skill again. At a much faster pace than before.

The red Mana was woven long and clumped together in the form of hands and arms.

One of the two hands rushed to Han-Seol and the other to me.

Spark!

– Skills [The Successor’s Eyes (Rank: EX)] Resists this skill [Dominating Touch (Rank: SSS, Active)].

The moment the red hand touched my body, the spark popped.

It’s the same as then.

The message continues since I had contacted the skill effect.

[Dominating Touch (Rank: SSS)]

Skill Effect: Able to freely control nearby targets during the time the skill is cast.

Passively, the subject’s memory can be read, and simple memory manipulation and suggestive injection are possible. Manipulated memories or infused hints are maintained even after the skill’s casting time is over.

Restrictions: 1) The number of objects that can be manipulated once activated is limited to four. 2) If the manipulated memory or suggestion is extremely different from the target’s common sense, values, or deeply desired goal, the memory and suggestion will be nullified after the skill ends. However, this penalty does not apply during the casting of the skill.

Han-Seol twisted and turned in great agony.

“Grr….Aghhh!”

– Hmm? Why is it so resistant? ··· Did someone touch it first?

As if it was delightful, it was followed by shady telepathy.

Communication through the medium of consciousness, not sound, took place at the same speed as light.

– Still, it’s only a matter of time. Now, come on. Stop resisting…. and open everything. Tell me everything about you, about your kind, and everything about the world.

Soon, it whispered joyfully.

It seemed to read the memory of Han-Seol.

Oh! Future prophecy? All right. That’s a rare ability. I’ll take you.

Taking her?

Hahaha! That’s a catch. Don’t worry; you must have been unable to control it properly even though it was your unique skill. I’ll teach you how. You can put away the unconscious fear that you might lose your mind.

My head was spinning. I think at the speed of light as if time had slowed down.

I heard a notification that the boundaries of the third stage of the dungeon had collapsed.

Hunters at different levels or people left on Earth did not hear of it.

And the being that must have come through by going over the stage three boundary

was an opponent in Nicole’s clothes and Angelica’s face.

And it was taking Han-Seol?

‘Now, I get it.’

On what transpired in this era:

The three, who entered the third stage in their previous lives, were the original Seo Jin-Wook, who was considered the greatest geniuses of all time, Nicole with a unique, specialized skill, and Han-Seol, the leader of the expedition.

The stage three portal, which was opened only once then, would have led to the same dungeon as it was now.

In the end, they succeeded in Clear, but none of the three returned to the second stage. In the end, the only thing the latecomers could see was evidence of Clear not far from the portal and the key to the dungeon.

‘People judged those three to be dead.’

Seventeen survivors returned to the first stage with the key, where they were told strange things by the hunters who were waiting there.

The message on the portal showed that there were 18 entrants in the second stage.

But only 17 people were back.

Likewise, there was one more person in what the Earth’s gate indicated.

However, they could not keep the ‘very unstable’ dungeon open because of one unidentified person. Because they only got the key to close the gate and the possibility of the dungeon break has not yet disappeared.

The government had returned all hunters and soon confirmed that the gate entrants changed to zero.

And they shut the gate relentlessly.

A mystery that had never been solved.

Now, the scene in front of me is combined with future historical records to create a story.

‘The number of entrants in the system message doesn’t count to the number of people who didn’t enter through the portal.’

In other words, the message does not count alien races that cross the border.

The gap between 18 and 17 people meant that the one unidentified being was a human Hunter.

What if one of them came back with another survivor?

Stage 3 to stage 2, then to stage 1 ··· and finally to Earth.

Probably in a state similar to Stealth, being suppressed by someone else.

Hmm?

And, only then was Angelica interested in me.

What are you? This isn’t resistance. What is this reaction?

I could see what would happen if it stayed like this.

Han-Seol is gradually collapsing.

Angelica concentrates on her skill from afar but no longer approaches.

Can’t she move during a skill activation?

There was definitely a penalty that does not entirely reveal in the system messages.

Then, at this window!

“G….rr!”

She was struggling as if in great pain, but Han-Seol did not take her gaze off me even in the midst of pain.

It was great resistance, unlike how even my former colleagues were manipulated at once.

However, it only took time, but the red Mana was slowly dyeing the brain of Han-Seol.

I could see that she wasn’t far. In the end, Han-Seol will kneel.

“Jin… Wook! If I can’t have you, I’d rather… with my own hands!”

It took only a few seconds for all of this to be recognized and determined.

If Han-Seol could be brainwashed.

Before the enemy, who had already tried to kill me, attacks me under its domination.

I aimed first for the incapacitated enemy who was closer to me.

I started with a definite reduction in the number of enemies.

Crush!

As I focused my attention, [The Successor’s Eyes] crushed the red hand on my head.

– What?!

At that moment, I threw my body. The other red hand was still connected to Han-Seol.

The skill was active, and Angelica was still standing there.

As I ran away from the grip of the hand’s domination, the magic sword then murmured as if it had realized it.

‘Perfect, mental type immunity?’

But before Angelica could respond from afar, I, much closer to Han-Seol, concentrated Mana on my hand and thrust her into her heart!

Crush!

“Keugh!”

Like Park Chang-Hee, Han-Seol was alive for a while even though her heart was penetrated.

‘I’m not handing over Han-Seol to Angelica!’

I activated the skill in that manner.

[Mana Drain!]