Chapter 143 – Celestial Castle (４)

‘Invincibility Pattern.’

Gijun, of course, knew exactly what pattern was coming.

‘This is the place that drove the Crusader guild to despair.’

According to Martin, no matter what they did, they couldn’t inflict any damage on the thing.

Not the strongest Skills, not holy magic, not cooperation.

All useless in the face of its Invincibility Pattern.

It dealt a near-catastrophic blow to the Crusader guild’s fighting strength, he’d said.

‘The Invincibility Pattern lasts ten minutes.’

Meaning the Crusader guild was utterly wrecked in those ten minutes.

‘Because it wasn’t just simple invincibility.’

Strictly speaking, its Invincibility Pattern wasn’t about becoming indestructible.

Rather, ‘overwhelmingly’ powerful was the more accurate description.

Martin said it was as if the creature turned into a different being in an instant.

‘He said it was like it summoned some kind of soul.’

Exactly that.

Martin had put it just that way.

He said he was struck by the illusion that some other entity had possessed that Boss Monster.

No—it wasn’t an illusion.

Martin only realized after the fight ended.

The creature had truly summoned its ‘monarch’s’ soul.

And that monarch’s soul made the thing several times stronger.

‘So… I can do this.’

That was Gijun’s thought.

If it wasn’t using some kind of invincibility magic.

Then he could handle that state of the creature.

‘The new ability added to the Sain-geom.’

That was his weapon for conquering this pattern.

When the Monarch’s Soul Stone merged with the Sain-geom, the blade gained a new special effect: a Sword That Cuts Souls.

He didn’t know the exact nature of the ability yet, but if it was a sword that cut souls, it should be enough.

Gijun was certain he could pull off that miracle—clearing this pattern without any damage—with his own hands.

That was when.

Kwahkwahkwa!

A crimson aura began erupting around the creature’s body.

“…It’s started.”

Martin’s voice came from behind.

His voice was trembling slightly.

The terror of his past experience still seemed to linger.

[Krrr… Krrrrrr…!]

And then the Boss Monster’s massive eyes began to bloodshot red.

[Kaaaaaah!]

It let out a roar, a pained howl.

“Krrk…!”

“The terror…!”

The Player’s who’d retreated a good distance from the Beast’s roar were now locked in terror.

[So it’s you.]

Then came a voice.

‘…!’

No one around reacted—it seemed the voice was meant for Gijun alone.

[Did you enjoy your little playdate with Liberta?]

‘…A Monarch.’

Liberta.

The name of the Monarch Gijun had felled.

The moment that name surfaced here, Gijun knew the identity of the entity possessing the Boss before him.

‘Another Monarch.’

No doubt about it.

The being possessing the Boss right now was another Monarch.

‘So you’ve opened your eyes.’

Those words meant the sleeping Monarch of the Underworld had awakened.

And that he was waiting for Gijun.

[Not that you’ll ever get the chance.]

The creature said.

[Soon, that body of yours will belong to my master.]

It was already certain of its victory.

[No matter how hard you struggle, nothing will change. Kuhuhu… Before you even reach my liege, you won’t make it past this point.]

‘You don’t seem to know something.’

And now, with the Monarch’s words just reaching him, Gijun was certain.

The bastard had no idea about the new ability added to Gijun’s Sain-geom.

‘Of course… I’m not sure about it myself yet.’

Whether the Sain-geom’s new power could actually break through this deadlock—he had no way of knowing.

But he could feel it.

The Sain-geom in his hand was trembling, faintly.

‘…It’s like it’s asking me to use it.’

An ability whose use and purpose he couldn’t grasp.

And yet, the Sain-geom was speaking to him.

Telling him to cut down that bastard ranting up ahead, right now.

[That aside….]

The bastard’s voice came again.

[Are you saying you’ll face me alone?]

As he’d said, every other Player had fallen back.

Now it was just the Boss Monster and Gijun, squared off one-on-one.

Watching this, the Monarch seemed utterly incredulous.

[You think it’s possible? Truly… brave. No—this is reckless folly. Just because you managed to strike down Liberta, you think you can stand against me?!]

The moment his roar erupted.

The crimson aura blazing around him began to devour the space itself—

—a crackling conflagration of hunger and rage.

“I-It’s starting!”

Behind him, Martin’s urgent shout reached his ears.

Gijun could feel it too.

A crushing pressure was coiling around his throat, beginning to envelop his entire body.

In that moment, Gijun slowly raised his sword.

A low hum thrummed through the air.

The Sain-geom began to vibrate faintly, bathed in a corona of pure white light.

[Let us go.]

Libre’s voice cut through the moment.

Gijun slammed his foot down.

Flash—

Right where Gijun had been standing.

CRACK!

An explosion erupted, violent enough to feel like it might erase everything from existence.

*

‘What the hell is he planning?’

Martin kept on thinking, lost in his own head.

It was about just what kind of ace Gijun had up his sleeve.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Gijun.

No, he definitely trusted him.

But he couldn’t help being curious.

What kind of weapon could let a single man crush an opponent that the strongest force of an entire giant guild couldn’t even touch?

“Curious, are you?”

Then came Hera’s voice.

“Yes. Just how does he plan to take down that monster of a bastard…”

Martin turned to look at Hera.

“Do you happen to know?”

Maybe Gijun had tipped her off beforehand.

Just like he’d done earlier.

But Hera shook her head.

“No. I don’t know either.”

“I see.”

And yet her eyes, fixed on Gijun, held not a single tremor.

“It’s starting now. All we have to do is watch and wait for the right moment.”

Gijun had told them just moments ago.

Once he broke through this pattern, they were to launch a full assault immediately.

Hera spoke to Klaim, who stood behind her.

“Get ready for battle.”

“…Understood.”

Gijun had only just begun to move.

Yet Hera was already ordering battle preparations.

She seemed certain this fight would end soon.

‘…That movement is unbelievable.’

Gijun was weaving left, right, up, and down without pause, closing in on the Boss Monster.

It was clearly no easy task.

As if determined to keep him from even approaching, spells burst out from all directions, aimed at Gijun without respite.

But he allowed not a single hit, advancing bit by bit, closer and closer to the Boss Monster.

‘Unbelievable.’

Martin found himself letting out a bitter laugh.

‘He’s dodging every single pattern perfectly?’

He recalled the memory of the last Raid and shuddered.

It had truly been a horrific memory.

Of course, the Crusader guild itself wasn’t built around combat.

As such, their individual physical ability was inevitably lacking compared to normal guilds like Saint.

Even so, it wasn’t to the point where you’d call a regular raid party’s physical ability weak.

It was just slightly lacking compared to the main raid teams of top-tier guilds.

And yet, even the main raid members of Crusader had been thrown into chaos by these vicious patterns.

Attacks so terrible that blocking them was a struggle and dodging them seemed outright impossible.

“What the hell is that…”

“How does he react to that?”

“Could you do that?”

“…Not easy.”

“I can’t.”

Just from the murmurs of the Saint guild players behind him, it was easy to tell how vicious the Boss Monster’s current patterns were.

To make things worse, patterns they’d never even seen before had even appeared this time.

The Boss Monster’s scales scattered in every direction, surging endlessly to strike at Gijun.

Crimson beams rained down from empty air without warning, with no trace of a presence behind them.

‘…If we’d fought harder last time, the damage might have been worse.’

Martin couldn’t help but feel genuine shock.

In that instant, Martin made his own resolve.

“….”

After a moment of silence, Martin spoke to Yujin.

“…Let’s start our battle preparations too.”

He too had just become certain.

Certain that this pattern would end soon.

Shing-

Martin instinctively drew his sword.

To spearhead the next full assault.

Boom! Bang-bang-bang-crash!

Even in that moment, explosions roared without pause.

Now even Gijun’s form was barely visible, blurred in the chaos.

*

‘…This bastard….’

The second Monarch of the Underworld.

The most cunning darkness.

He was slightly unsettled.

‘Fast. Damnably fast….’

The Seeker advancing toward him was quicker than he’d anticipated.

He couldn’t so much as touch a single hair on the Seeker’s head.

Still, he held his composure.

‘But for all that, you can do nothing.’

There was still plenty of time left.

‘The time granted to me is ten minutes.’

That was how long his Authority let him possess the colossal beast ‘Ramaha’s’ body.

Barely three minutes had passed.

‘What can you possibly do?’

The Seeker hadn’t even closed the distance yet, let alone dealt any damage.

‘One hit.’

If he allowed even a single strike, that Seeker would turn to dust on the spot.

Next would come those annoying humans scurrying in the back.

Then the humans’ offensive would crumble to nothing, and they’d all be routed.

Of course, they’d revive and challenge Celestial Castle again, but by then it would be meaningless.

By then, the Authority of ‘Evil’ would have spread across the entire continent, and every Outsider’s body would be his.

‘Heh, heh-heh….’

Not much longer now.

Just take down that Seeker.

Then everything would be resolved.

Still, they were a nuisance.

‘Those bastards….’

The Players in the back.

‘I can’t afford to be careless either.’

And then.

A fleeting sense of unease brushed past him.

Unease over why this Seeker was acting so recklessly.

He couldn’t be just a mindless moth diving into the flame.

In that moment.

‘…No way.’

Only now did he notice the sword in the Seeker’s hand.

A sword radiating a faint, gentle glow.

And a sword that exuded an inexplicable repulsion, a deeply nauseating sensation.

‘I see.’

He thought he understood.

That sword must hold a mysterious power.

A formidable force capable of dealing a fatal blow to this Ramaha.

‘Ridiculous.’

He sneered.

‘It changes nothing. You can do nothing.’

“Right.”

“That sword—no matter how great a blade it is—means nothing.”

“Because one or two strikes won’t be enough to do anything to this Ramaha.”

“In fact, it’s better that way.”

“If he closes in and swings that sword…”

Then…

“It’s over.”

“Because I have a weapon that can erase him in a single blow.”

“Then so be it.”

He decided to offer an opening.

A small gap—just enough to goad the bastard into charging headlong into the trap.

“Ending the fight quickly benefits me too…”

At that instant—

A sharp crack split the air.

The Seeker moved.

“Just so.”

A Seeker, diving into the small gap he himself created, not missing a beat.

‘Fool.’

Is this how a moth that doesn’t know it’s leaping into a blazing flame behaves?

It was truly laughable, the sight of him charging in excitedly, not realizing it was a trap.

And then, the moment that Seeker approached him.

‘Farewell.’

He readied a spell meant to erase the Seeker from existence.

The Seeker’s Sword swung toward him.

The magic would take a moment to cast, but that didn’t matter.

He was prepared to trade flesh for bone.

And in that instant, his eyes met the Seeker’s.

The Seeker was smiling.

At the same time, he spoke.

“Do I look like an idiot to you?”

What the hell was that supposed to mean.

Shunk!

The moment the Seeker’s Sword embedded itself into Ramaha’s flesh.

[Kyaaaaaaaah!]

A scream tore from him as agonizing pain clamped down on his entire body.

At the same time, he sensed something was going horribly wrong.