Chapter 39: Round Two

Chapter 39: Round Two

Escape? From what? Run? To where? Fight? With whom?

Dancers who were made from gold and shining brighter than the precious metal itself, maintained a precise distance from one another as they executed a synchronized and dazzling dance. Each grand movement of their limbs caused the golden silk wrapped around their bodies to billow dramatically.

The rocks that came into contact with the silk they seemed to be sliced as if by a blade and fell away.

To the eye, it appeared merely as silk fluttering in the wind, but it possessed a magical, spiritual, surreal power, akin to a blade that cuts through everything it touches. The nature of the fluttering fabric mattered little.

The dance itself was a dance of death, brimming with madness and killing intent. Is that why I should escape this dance? Is he telling me to run away from this dance? Is it okay to fight this dance?

The golden whirlwind, swirling with the dance of death, approaches us, moving either slowly or at breakneck speed.

I may not know, but at least Jang Hyeon-deok is going to get caught up in this dance very soon and his body will be torn apart. Haha, that guys about to meet his end.

|No, destroy the number 13. Use magic. Just activate some kind of spell, anything!|

Aaah! Yes! Yes! Yes! The dance itself doesnt matter! Its not the dance thats the issue, its the number of dancers performing it. Why such an ominous and unlucky number? My hands are shaking. I must deal with this! This! Escape! Run! No, fight! Yes, lets destroy it! Use magic; activate the magic! Ill scatter them using magic!

[The unique feature of the S-rank accessory Ring of Corrupted Flame has been activated. Red Element Concentration and Legacy of Fire Knowledge are triggered.

// Red Element Concentration: Increases the effectiveness of all fire-type spells by 50%.

// Legacy of Fire Knowledge: Enhances understanding of fire-type magic.]

[Flame Eruption], [Fireball], [Lightning], [Protective Circle], [Crush], [Burning Spear], [Ignite], [Ember], [Rope Manipulation], [Body Manipulation: Specific Itching], [Ice Blast], [Gale], [Veil], [Leap], [Seed of Life], [Sparkling Dust], [Invisible Hand], [Creation: Raisin], [Ghastly Stare].

Boom! Crack! Whoosh! Fizz! Snap! Roar!

From my fingertips, all sorts of spells were unleashed in all sorts of ways and at the same time. Most of the activated spells either did not trigger properly or failed to trigger at all due to the lack of suitable targets.

Amidst this chaos, the few spells that did manage to activate caused everything within sight to flash, shake, burn, freeze, and explode! Everything was destroyed! Shattered! Annihilated! Everyone was dying!!!Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

Spinning, spinning around. Stars are visible. Am I looking up at the sky? Or am I lying on the ground? The world is spinning dizzyingly. Hahaha! My mind is reeling and my body feels unsteady. Whos there? Where am I?

Through the acrid smoke rising into the sky (perhaps from the fire I started?), a dancer wearing a golden mask emerged. In his (her?) hand, he (she?) held a sharp sword that emitted a deadly radiance.

Ding.

|Snap out of it! Get your bearings! Dodge!|

Ah, first telling me to fight, and now to dodge, what exactly am I supposed to do? I cant perform any action anyway. Ive activated too many spells at once. My legs feel like theyre attached to my shoulders, and my arms feel like theyre stuck to my hips.

The blade was too close. Suddenly, the golden dancers eerie mask was right before my nose. And the cold gleam of the blade in its hand flew towards my neck.

Somehow, I felt like bursting into laughter.

[The unique effect of the L-rank accessory Carcosas Mask, Dreamy Blur, has been activated.

// Dreamy Blur: Automatically casts Blink spell]

Although the golden dancers blade was aimed precisely between my head and body, the moment the blade was about to touch me, the magic imbued in the mask activated.

With a bizarre sensation that felt like being pulled by the mask, my position shifted from where I originally stood to a spot five steps behind.

[Blink completed. Cooldown time: 864,000 seconds]

Ugh, damn it. I thought I was a goner!

Rough breathing, a rising urge to vomit, dizziness, and a severe headache made it feel like both my head and lungs were about to burst. It was a dreadful situation where not a single part of my body, head, mind, or soul seemed intact, but the worst was yet to come

Ugh whats this?

All the fingers on both hands were in a terrible state. The health +2 gloves I had spent a fortune on were rendered useless and destroyed, leaving my fingers completely exposed.

The skin was scorched black, and all the fingernails were shattered, with bright red blood oozing out. There were abnormal inflammations and swellings here and there Ugh, fu*k. Some were even broken. I tried to remove the gloves with my trembling fingers, but they were too damaged. I managed to take off the gloves using my chin and teeth instead.

The golden dancer clearly had a body that resembled a human, but it looked at me while making strange noises that could never be pronounced with human vocal structures.

It tilted its head slightly to the left while wearing a three-eyed beast mask that resembled the Mask of Carcosa I was wearing. One might describe it as a curious tilt, though it was uncertain if the golden dancer harbored any real thoughts in its head.

It was impossible to understand what it was thinking anyway. It was an entity with a thought process fundamentally alien to any intelligence known on Earth.

But one thing was clear. This bastard wanted me dead.

Rhaaarrrr rhigh!!

The golden dancer lifted one foot in a peculiar motion as if assuming the arabesque position of ballet. Then, while leaving behind a trail of golden afterimages, it surged towards me with relentless force.

Dingle, clatter, ding!

The jewels and ornaments dangling from the dancers body clinked against its golden scales, creating a clamorous noise.

It possessed movements of transcendent beauty and exquisite grace, but the swords in its hands and the billowing silk around its body were not. Just brushing against either side would be a fatal attack.

[Protective Circle]

[Spell Enhancement: Multicasting]

It was an attack that couldnt simply be blocked.

I shaped the activated protective circle not as a wide barrier but as thin pillars, weaving them through the air to intersect the golden dancers trajectory.

An invisible fence then materialized in the air. The dancer felt danger not through sight but through its instincts, and it attempted to change its course mid-air, but it was already too late.

Crackle!

I rapidly formed hand signs with my blackened hands, from which all my nails had been torn, and began to chant.

It shall be the hammer of thunder that pounds hot iron.

The wasted magical power and scattered mental strength that happened to me during the distortion prevented the proper activation of [Casting Omission] and [Sign Omission] traits. So I had to do them.

The moment the signs and incantations that were engraved in my mind were completed, blue sparks began to erupt from the bleeding tips of my fingers. These sparks soon transformed into a pulsating, writhing, huge bolt of lightning.

Fzzzzzzzzt!

[Thunderstorm]

Rumbleeee!

With a fierce crackling sound, the lightning tore through the air, grazing the ground and shattering the stones in its path.

It then poured its bursting energy towards the dancer who was entangled in invisible pillars and struggling.

Zzzzzzzt!!!

Khaarrrr! fhteii, rhurrrrgh!

Wail, spew forth. Your screams shall be an offering to the Lord of the night sky, the Lord of Fomalhaut.

Ah, I only realized how annoying this was when the traits were being omitted. But as the signs and incantations were completed, a sinister rumble began to emanate from beneath the ground.

[Firestorm]

As the ground beneath the golden dancer split open, flames erupted with the force of a volcanic explosion, shooting upwards in a brilliant red inferno.

Boooom!

The blast was deafening as if it could burst eardrums, and a dazzling pillar of flame engulfed the dancers alien body made of gold.

The fire magic, whose power was amplified by the concentration of red elements, pierced through its body. It was not a spell that could be withstood by mere resilience.