Chapter 349. 17 Years (3)

Chapter 349. 17 Years (3)

Bang! Baaang!

Every time the special entities’ feet hit the ground, broken pieces of earth would fly into the air. Their bodies seemed to stretch like rubber bands, appearing before the three of them in an instant.

Mio watched them quietly, and her face grew shocked. “The white one… looks like a woman.”

As she said, the white special entity resembled a human woman. Meanwhile, the black special entity looked like a man with huge biceps.

“Huh. Their appearance really grosses me out,” Rahmadat remarked.

“Don’t let their appearances shake you,” Seo Jun-Ho said. He observed the two special entities.

‘They’re fast.’ If they seemed fast even to him, how would they seem to other Players? Even though those on the 4th floor were veteran Players, it would still be hard for them to keep up with those monsters’ movements.

‘Now that I’m seeing them up close, I’m sure of it now. We can’t let them reach the city.’

Unless Kim Woo-Joong, Shin Sung-Hyun, Wei Chun-Hak, and other powerful Players somehow quickly joined together to fight the monsters, a huge catastrophe was inevitable.

Seo Jun-Ho stirred his magic energy as he said, “From now on, we’ll call the black one Black and the white one White.”

“I like that. It’s easy to remember,” Rahmadat commented.

The three of them were now ready for battle, and an overwhelming amount of magic energy poured out of them. The special entities were flying at them at what seemed like the speed of light, but they suddenly slowed down.

Paaah!

They came to a complete stop ten-something meters away, and their antennae twitched suspiciously.

‘Are they… exchanging signals or something?’

This meant they were intelligent enough to exchange opinions.

Seo Jun-Ho stepped forward without hesitation.

“Jun-Ho!” Mio cried out. She was worried about his defenseless state.

Rahmadat grinned, showing teeth. “He’s not the one you should be worried about.”

Before he even finished his sentence, the white one’s hand shot out and reached for Jun-Ho’s throat.

‘I see. Is that it?’

Their judgment and decision-making speed were decent, and they were skilled enough not to miss an opening if they found one.

However…

‘They’re similar to Janabi.’

Compared to their hardware, their software, or their battle experience, in other words, was insufficient.

Crack!

Seo Jun-Ho broke White’s wrist and unsheathed the Sword of Ambition.

Slice!

He stabbed White’s heart, but she casually severed her injured hand and jumped back.

“Their anatomy is different from a human’s. They don’t have a heart.” Seo Jun-Ho pointed out.

“That means we must aim for their heads,” Mio concluded.

White looked at Black in a daze with her antennae twitching. At that moment, a red line appeared between them, connecting the two.

‘A line of magic? What kind of technique is that?’

Bang! Bang!

As if to say that he wouldn’t give them time to think about it, Black confidently stepped forward.

“Ooh, I like the confidence. You must be pretty good. Leave that guy to me.” Rahmadat stepped forward as well, looking pleased. Without further ado, he swung his fist. Black crossed his arms into an X-shape and protected his head.

Crack!

Rahmadat broke right through his crossed arms and struck Black’s chin, making his head spin. “Ahahaha! You’re not dead? You’re pretty sturdy!”

Rahmadat lowered his stance and started swinging his arms and legs in earnest.

Bam! Babam! Bam!

Black flailed as he received the one-sided attack, but White stopped[1] and simply watched.

‘Something’s off...’

No matter how little their experience in battle was, they were still special entities Erebo had created. As such, why was White just standing there and watching as her comrade was being pummeled?

‘They’re even less intelligent than normal cockroaches.’

However, there was no way the crafty Erebo would have given power to such halfwits.

“Jun-Ho… something is strange,” Mio said.

“I was just thinking the same thing.” Just as he started to feel a sense of foreboding, there was a loud crack akin to a boulder striking another boulder.

Seo Jun-Ho quickly turned around and saw that Rahmadat’s head was turned.

“Ptoo!” Rahmadat spat a mouthful of bloody saliva and scowled.

“Did you get careless?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“No, well… I think his movements are a little…” Rahmadat was at a loss for words. Black kicked his stomach, and Rahmadat was sent flying backward.

“...!”

Seo Jun-Ho and Mio were astonished.

Black was moving fast—he was moving so fast even Seo Jun-Ho missed his movements for just a moment.

“Ugh, ptoo! Shiiiit!” Rahmadat stumbled to his feet like a zombie. “I’m sure of it. This bastard gets stronger over time.”

At that, Seo Jun-Ho looked at the line connecting White and Black.

‘It’s yellow...’

He was sure it had been orange just a moment ago when Rahmadat had excitedly punched Black. First, it had been red, and then it became orange, then yellow. Naturally, Seo Jun-Ho thought of the rainbow.

“I think they get stronger every time that line changes color,” he concluded.

“A rainbow line… Brahams and Jennifer?” Mio said.

“Do you know them?”

Mio shook her head. “I am not acquainted with them, but they’re famous Players and a married couple. While fighting cockroaches, Jennifer was dragged away by them, and Brahams went off the deep end and chased after them. I heard that neither of them managed to come back.”

Had Erebo captured them and turned them into special entities?

“What are their skills?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“It is the same...”

“What? What are you talking about?

Mio’s smooth forehead wrinkled. “When we arrived at the city, people called them the miracle couple. Because it is rare enough for two Players to awaken the same skill, but the stars aligned, and they even got to marry each other.”

“Wait, then that means…”

“Yes. That magic rope is not one-sided. It strengthens them both.”

These two special entities would become stronger as time passed. In addition, Erebo had bestowed power upon them, so they were far stronger than when they were humans.

Seo Jun-Ho started to feel rushed.

‘The Players’ auras in the city are quickly disappearing…’

This meant that more and more of them were being killed by the cockroaches, or more and more of them were returning to Earth.

- Guoooooo!

Moreover, Erebo was also a problem. It seemed that Skaya couldn’t hold down Erebo’s real body on her own because Erebo had completely absorbed the troublesome magic circle in the sky, and he was now marching toward the city once again.

‘Dammit, what should i do?’

Seo Jun-Ho gnashed his teeth and pondered.

“Go, Jun-Ho…” Mio interrupted, placing her hand on the sheath of her sword.

“What? But if I go—”

“Goodness, don’t tell me you think that we will be defeated?”

“...”

Rahmadat and Mio were strong enough, so they didn’t need his help. Despite knowing that; however, Seo Jun-Ho’s feet didn’t readily move. It was all because he felt like he would be throwing them away if he moved.

“I heard the news—the news that my fool of an older brother led his Guild members back to Earth,” Mio said. Her long eyelashes slightly fluttered downward as she weakly laughed. “If you happen to regress again, please tell me that right away.”

“What will change if I do?”

“I will stop him.” Mio looked at the city. “If possible, I do not wish to clash with my one and only family. But to protect my friends, I will.”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho nodded quietly. “I promise. I promise I’ll do that.”

“That puts my mind at ease,” Mio replied with a bright smile and unsheathed her katana.

As Seo Jun-Ho watched her walk forward under the cold moonlight, Seo Jun-Ho’s hands squeezed into fists.

‘I’ll trust them.’

Even if the three of them fought those two monsters together, it would still take them some time to defeat those monsters. In the meantime, Erebo would have already reached the city and massacred the Players.

Seo Jun-Ho greatly hoped that Rahmadat and Mio would win as he started sprinting toward Erebo’s real body.

***

Bang! Baang!

Erebo’s footsteps were heavy, and he was so enormous it seemed that no one would ever be able to stop him.

- Hm?

However, one man made him pause. He was standing all alone on the desolate two-lane road in the desert, holding a single spear, waiting for Erebo.

- So it is a human. How happy I am to see one, however naive you are.”

Erebo stopped and slowly lowered his head. Unlike the other parts of his body, it was the only place that wasn’t completely covered with tree bark.

- My condolences. You have lost even before you had a proper fight.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho slowly closed his eyes.

They were fading.

Just twelve hours before, there had been thirty thousand magic signatures filling the city to the brim, but now, there weren’t even a thousand of them left.

‘There’s just one reason we failed.’

There were many powerful Players, including Kim Woo-Joong, Shin Sung-Hyun, Wei Chun-Hak, and Gong Ju-Ha. But one man could not defeat a hundred. They had lost because too many Players had retreated.

‘It seems like they’re still holding out just fine…’

However, they couldn’t do anything else other than holding out. He couldn’t count on them to come and help him.

- You dared to commit the sin of standing against a god. You will pay with your life.

Seo Jun-Ho’s breath was knocked out of him when Erebo released his energy. The same thing had happened when he was far off in the city, but now, it was right under his nose. His hands holding the spear trembled violently.

‘Guh, why am I trembling against a monster?’

Seo Jun-Ho laughed. This desperate situation was no laughing matter, but he laughed even more cheerfully.

- Your laugh is fake and twisted.

Baang!

Erebo stomped one of his feet into the ground, and when he did, a blade-like gale shot toward Seo Jun-Ho.

“Frost!”

“Leave it to me!”

She had been on standby, and the Frost Queen lifted her two hands in response.

The incoming gale was frozen, and an ice pillar shot out of the ground where Seo Jun-Ho was standing.

- ...

Erebo’s large, wicked eyes could see that the ice pillar was tens of meters tall. Seo Jun-Ho met his eyes and pulled back the spear in his hand in a typical javelin-throwing stance.

‘One shot, one kill.’

He split all the magic energy in his body into two. One half was infused with Watchguard of Darkness, and the rest was infused with Frost.

‘And combine them!’

The principle was similar to Moon Eye. However, Moon Eye was a technique that maintained a ratio of energies his body could handle. This technique didn’t involve such a thing.

‘It’s fine if my body can’t handle it.’

If he could just kill the bastard with this move, he would willingly laugh even if his body was broken.

He pushed all the energy he had into the tip of his spear.

- ...!

Just like how Erebo’s magic energy had stolen his breath, Erebo flinched at Seo Jun-Ho’s aura as well.

- S-something of this caliber… What a shame! What a shame!

If Erbo made a special entity out of a dead organism, then that dead organism’s performance would be less than one-tenth the original. Erebo let out a small sigh. The horns on his forehead started to run rampant with the same energy he was exuding.

“Die.”

Seo Jun-Ho hurled his spear.

A powerful beam shot out of Erebo’s forehead and flew toward him, but his spear cut right through it and buried itself into Erebo’s skull.

- ...!

Erebo let out a vicious roar that rang throughout the land. As the mountain of a monster writhed and danced in pain, the earth shook and the night clouds dissipated.

“Contractor!”

The Frost Queen summoned ice golems, which caught Seo Jun-Ho in mid-air. She looked panicked as she said, “It was a critical blow, but it was too shallow. It did not kill him!”

“...Dammit.”

After wailing and cursing while rolling on the ground, Erebo shot up just then.

- Humaaaaaan!

He let out a resonating lion’s roar, and just like that, it uprooted trees and shattered the windows of the buildings in the city. Erebo had no intentions of forgiving the human who had made him experience such intense pain.

- So you dared to attack me in the very end! I should not have been so merciful!

Enraged, Erebo released all his magic energy without delay.

- Un millón de espinas![2]

Thorns shot out of the enormous monster and rained down on the earth down below.

“W-what an unfathomable…” The Frost Queen trembled as she watched with a stupefied look. “Contractor!”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho stood up. He had used up all his magic power, and he didn’t have an ounce of strength left in him, but still he stood.

And he lifted his sword.

‘Erebo, is this all you can do?’

Seo Jun-Ho stood upright and narrowed his eyes at the flying thorns with his sword in hand.

‘There are one million thorns.’

He tried to cut through the incoming thorns, but it wasn’t an attack he could handle without any magic energy. A thorn pierced through his abdomen, and it was quickly followed by another thorn that pierced through his shoulder.

“Bleghhh…!”

He spat blood because the thorns had punctured both of his thighs and the side of his torso.

The Frost Queen bit down hard on her lower lip as she stared at the bleeding and impaled Seo Jun-Ho. “...Contractor…”

- You little insect. You will never be able to defeat me, human.

Was it because of Erebo’s chilling proclamation? Seo Jun-Ho’s body grew as cold as ice.

Seo Jun-Ho lifted his head with great effort and asked, “If…I fought you one more time… What do you think would happen?”

- That will never happen, but the results would be the same.

“And then… If I fought you again after that?”

- It would be the same.

“And if I fought you again and again?”

- That is a meaningless presumption. Even if you fought me a few, tens, hundreds of times, the result will always be the same.

“Do you… really think so?”

Why did Erebo suddenly feel nervous? Why couldn’t he answer readily?

“...Heh.”

It was ironic, but the dying Seo Jun-Ho was the one who was laughing, even though he was dying.

Erebo watched the human die, full of disgust.

‘...’

Seo Jun-Ho settled somewhere deep down in his consciousness. The ringing in his ears grew louder, and his eyes felt heavy.

Once more, he carved a resolution into his soul.

‘I will kill you.’

This was the ambitious promise he had made when he entered the 4th floor thirteen years ago.

1. The literal phrase was ‘let go of his hand’ but we translated the meaning instead ☜

2. This is what was written in the raws. Spanish for ‘one million thorns’ ☜