Chapter 1074

Chapter 1074

Ruba had been an evaluator for more than thousands of years. The only person he had ever knelt to, including before he was appointed, was him. The first reason was that he was strong, and the second was that he came to power and grew more influential after becoming an evaluator.

Yes, many Pillar Candidates in the past had the power to overwhelm the evaluators, but they had treated them courteously.

Thud–!

Ruba, who had received the attacks of someone who had yet to be acknowledged and accepted as a true Pillar Candidate, could not withstand the impact and was forced to kneel on one knee.

Ruba’s mind went blank. ‘W-what is this?’

He was so confused that he barely registered how the situation happened. Still in a daze, he looked up and met the cold, arrogant gaze of the man, who was pointing his sword at Ruba.

Snap–

Ruba’s final string of reason broke then, and anger clouded his mind. This was a bizarre feeling for him. It was the first time that he felt so angry at someone that he wanted to kill them, causing him to do what he was not supposed to.

One of the lines engraved on his arms disappeared once again. Minhyuk’s pupils shook. The first time, it increased his level by 50. This time, it increased by 60 levels.

At the same time, Ruba’s killing intent burst out and covered the entire area. It brought immense pressure that almost suffocated the ordinary knights and soldiers in the vicinity. The others hurriedly ordered them to escape.

“BASTARD!” Ruba shouted, his eyes bloodshot as he charged at Minhyuk, his speed much faster than before.

“Captain!”

“If you release the se-second seal, then...!”

The other evaluators shouted at him in worry, but Ruba was deaf to their voices.

Clang–

An unbelievably loud sound erupted when his sword made contact with Minhyuk’s armor.

‘The Mad Hound.’

The power that bit Minhyuk was twice as strong as the power before.

“Kghhk!” For the first time, a groan escaped Minhyuk’s lips.

Ruba did not stop there. He charged at Minhyuk rapidly and did not give him any room to breathe. However, Minhyuk was currently in a state of Transcendence and was 1.5x stronger than usual. Besides, now that Ruba had lost his temper and reasoning, it was not difficult to land attacks on him.

“Sword of Carnage.”

Stab, stab, stab–!

Despite the blood constantly flowing down his body, Ruba continued to attack Minhyuk, looking like a mad hound. Then, Ruba released another powerful attack.

“Hound Finding Prey.”

Bang–!

The moment his sword stabbed Minhyuk, it caused tremendous damage. Minhyuk felt as if something was twisting and crushing his organs in the area where he was stabbed.

“Urk!”

Blood dripped down Minhyuk’s mouth. Even though he was being pushed back, Minhyuk did not back down. He used Like the Wind and appeared right in front of Ruba.

Bang–!

Boom–!

Minhyuk, while still under the effects of Transcendence, could deal damage beyond one’s imagination. On top of the Sword of Carnage that slashed and hacked at Ruba earlier, this attack made the evaluator fall to his knees again.

“Eeeeeeeek!” Ruba shouted, his expression growing uglier and more grotesque as his anger soared to new heights.

Shwaaaa–

At that moment, the Transcendence that wrapped around Minhyuk was lifted.

“Hound’s Hunt.”

Sword lights, much bigger and stronger than Brod’s Wolf’s Death, shot out from Ruba’s sword and pierced through Minhyuk.

“Ugh!”

The attack sent Minhyuk flying back. It also depleted almost 30% of Minhyuk’s HP in one go.

‘With the effects of Transcendence gone, I can only last for at most two minutes against him.’

It sounded harsh, but this was the reality of the matter.

The furious Ruba stomped toward Minhyuk and the group of people. They looked at Minhyuk in worry as they savored their bungeo-ppang by eating it in little bites. Part of the reason why Ruba was so angry was also because of them.

“How dare you! How dare you ignore me, you f*cking bastards! How dare you treat an evaluator like me this way!”

The group of people eating the bungeo-ppang was worried about Minhyuk. But they knew that they could not charge in and interrupt without his orders. So, they continued to eat and relish their bungeo-ppangs while watching from the sidelines.

‘This is the last bungeo-ppang. I’ll save it... huh?’

At that moment, Bender saw his bungeo–ppang cut in half and slowly fall to the ground.

Flop–

“...”

Nekk’s cold gaze scanned Royer from head to toe. “Defensive power is at 1,900. All stats will increase by 26%. Not bad for an armor.”

He could see through the armor on Royer’s body with just one glance. This feat was only possible if someone reached a certain level. Using the foreigner’s terms, it should be at around Level 1,000.

Of course, Royer could also do the same. Before his powers were sealed, he had already reached a level beyond Level 1,000.

Thump–

Then, Nekk grabbed Royer’s hand and put it on his armor. At the same time, the armor information appeared in Royer’s head.

“...!”

Royer was beyond shocked. The armor on the man, Nekk’s body, was wonderfully made. He had to admit that it would be hard for him to make something like this himself.

‘He’s at the level of Jack-of-all-Trades Rocado...?’

That was the only way that Royer could explain it.

Nekk laughed and said, “You failed.”

“...!”

“...!”

“Someone far worse than me is calling himself an evaluator?”

Royer’s face was flushed with anger. He stretched his hand out and said, “Ho? You speak as if you know anything about that.”

Nekk looked at him in interest. What Royer did was extend his hand to challenge him in arm wrestling. In the past, those with outstanding levels of dexterity would often play this game to determine who had the higher skill.

The level they achieved, their achievements, their hard work, and various other things would be made clear through this game. This was a game where the victory or defeat of the players would be determined by their dexterity alone.

Nekk grabbed Royer’s hand.

The air turned tense as everyone turned to look at them. The Dexterity Evaluator and Nekk, who said that he would evaluate him, began their power struggle.

Nekk looked at him coldly. “Not bad. However, do you think you can evaluate someone when you’re at this level?”

At that moment, the veins in Nekk’s muscles bulged. And just like that, the arm wrestling that put everyone in a tense state ended with Royer on the ground.

Bang–!

Nekk looked at Royer once again and chuckled. “You failed.”

“...!”

“...!”

Before they could even register their surprise, a woman appeared before Arshad. She was none other than Bernie, the Transcendental of Mental Abilities. She was the youngest out of all the Transcendentals. Of course, just like them, she felt thrilled eating the bungeo-ppang.

Bernie’s lips twisted into a smile as she said, “Let’s start the evaluation.”

“...!”

Arshad’s eyes behind his round glasses grew wide.

“Come on, do it. Read what’s in my head. You will either drive me crazy or...” She raised a dainty finger and poked him in the head as she taunted him. “...you will tremble in fear.”

A white light burst from Arshad’s glasses as he used all of his strength.

‘I can’t see anything.’

Even after giving it his all, he could not see through her past. He was not even close to seeing anything about her. Of course, the same was true for inflicting abnormal statuses. This only meant one thing. Her mental powers were much higher than his own.

Crack, crack–

“Then, I’ll do it this time,” Bernie said as she touched Arshad’s forehead with the tip of her finger.

At that moment, a strange feeling washed over Arshad. He realized that she was reading through his memories!

“Ho? So, this is how you became an evaluator?”

Goosebumps rose all over Arshad’s body.

Bernie chuckled lightly and gracefully. Then, she said, “Don’t worry, I don’t intend to tell anyone this.”

The smile suddenly disappeared from her face.

“Instead...”

Arshad started to tremble. He broke into a cold sweat as the human’s primal fear dragged him into the depths of the cold and dark abyss. Abnormal statuses, such as fear, terror, and darkness, caused this. These three were the only things that filled Arshad’s head now.

“A-aaaaaaaah!!!” Arshad screamed.

Bernie just looked at him coldly and said, “Failed. You definitely failed.”

Ruba, who saw the entire situation unfold, did not understand what was happening.

Thud–

Bender, the man who gritted his teeth in anger when he saw Ruba trample on his bungeo-ppang, grabbed him by the neck and spat coldly, “Your evaluation will now begin.”