Chapter 101

Swish!

Ganas’s tail shot up high once more.

That tail, tipped with a deadly wedge, hovered in the air for a moment, seeking its prey, then plunged straight down towards the ground.

Whoosh!

Its speed was truly terrifying!

Even Hunters, whose eyesight and reaction speed had transcended human limits after awakening their Chakra Force, hadn’t noticed the tail descending—its speed was simply that formidable.

Boom!

Moreover, the destructive power of the tail striking the ground was beyond imagination.

Even a Hunter clad in sturdy armor would have their body instantly pierced, their corpse shattered to pieces…

But this time, too, the tail’s target was Gil Hyeok-jun.

Gil Hyeok-jun had been singled out as the most dangerous and threatening enemy.

Clang!

Gil Hyeok-jun once again fended off the tail’s immensely powerful attack, using his greatsword as a shield.

Thwack—

Yet, Ganas’s strength was undeniably immense.

Even Gil Hyeok-jun, who would yield to no one when it came to ‘strength’, was flung backward the moment he received the tail’s blow.

He wasn’t completely overwhelmed, but the deep frown on his face indicated he had certainly taken a hit.

It was fortunate that it was Gil Hyeok-jun; any other Hunter would have been crushed along with their weapon by now.

But even in that moment, Kang Yuseong was peering into Ganas’s mind.

The terrifying enmity and boiling rage, snippets of which were conveyed, clearly showed Ganas’s uncontrolled emotions.

The creature was incredibly enraged and agitated.

It wanted to tear, smash, and utterly destroy everything in its sight.

As if to prove it, the images flashing through its mind raced by at a dizzying speed.

‘This time…!’

At that instant, Kang Yuseong felt Ganas suddenly concentrate its consciousness on its belly.

In a flash, a hazy dust erupted from its belly, and he saw all the surrounding Hunters caught in the explosion, dying.

‘Dust Explosion!’

Kang Yuseong’s eyes widened at the sight.

‘No, this is…!’

It wasn’t just a Dust Explosion.

This was a colossal slaughter technique, known as a Super Dust Explosion!

A Super Dust Explosion occurred very rarely, but if the creature unleashed it, everything within a fifty-meter radius would simply evaporate.

Only someone like Gil Hyeok-jun might barely avoid instant death, but even he would likely suffer at least severe injuries. Hunters and monsters below that level had a very high chance of being reduced to dust in the air.

Hiss—

He felt power gathering in the creature’s special organ located in its belly.

A Super Dust Explosion couldn’t be detonated instantly; it took approximately 15 seconds for the specially modified dust to be emitted from its belly.

But once those 15 seconds passed…

‘I have to stop it!’

Once the dust began to transform, there was no stopping it without instantly killing the creature.

Even crushing its brain wouldn’t work.

He had to either destroy the organ deep within its belly or make the creature stop the dust transformation. It was one or the other.

Crrrack!

The bigger problem was that all of its carapace hardened significantly during those 15 seconds.

After Ganas initiated a Super Dust Explosion, it, too, suffered a massive blow.

All of its carapace would shatter, and its flesh would sometimes tear.

It was practically a suicidal attack.

That’s why it happened so rarely, but it seemed the Ganas that Kang Yuseong was clinging to had chosen this last resort.

‘Damn it!’

Kang Yuseong gritted his teeth.

He could protect himself with his steel armor and avoid significant harm, but the problem was the Hunters below. Surrounded by countless monsters, it was already too late for them to escape.

The same was true for Gil Hyeok-jun.

‘Consciousness! I have to delve into its consciousness!’

At that moment, a thought flashed through Kang Yuseong’s mind.

Brain Chain!

‘It definitely said it could control the opponent’s consciousness!’

He wasn’t sure what would happen.

But there was no other way.

A fifty-meter radius meant everyone in this hall could be caught in the explosion.

He remembered that one way to stop a Super Dust Explosion was for the creature itself to cancel it, and Brain Chain had the ability to forcibly induce that.

Crackle!

Having made up his mind, Kang Yuseong focused on the creature’s consciousness.

Thump!

The veins on Kang Yuseong’s forehead bulged as if they would burst.

Concentrating his consciousness.

It demanded extreme mental fortitude, pushing beyond the limits of the physical body.

Sizzle!

The surroundings plunged into darkness in an instant.

At that moment, Kang Yuseong instinctively realized he had entered Ganas’s consciousness.

Whoosh!

Snap!

‘Ugh!’

Countless fragments of Ganas’s consciousness flew wildly from all directions, trying to tear Kang Yuseong’s consciousness apart.

To them, Kang Yuseong’s consciousness was like an invading virus.

Thus, in an unconscious movement, Ganas’s consciousness tried to engulf and eradicate Kang Yuseong’s.

Sizzzlle!

The blood vessels on Kang Yuseong’s face, clinging to Ganas’s head, all stood out. The tiny capillaries in his eyes burst, staining them crimson.

His breathing grew ragged, and all the muscles in his body tightened rigidly.

His heart pounded as if it would explode, and his brain drew all the blood from his entire body towards itself to generate immense energy.

If the body couldn’t endure, neither could the consciousness.

The side effect of Brain Chain.

As two brains were connected, it was natural for both bodies to experience an enormous strain.

‘Ugh!’

Kang Yuseong’s consciousness, inside Ganas’s mind, could distinctly feel how his own body was reacting.

But here, neither Chakra Force nor physical enhancement was of any use.

Only one thing could sustain him here.

His mental strength. That alone!

‘Focus!’

Kang Yuseong gritted his teeth and endured the agony of his consciousness being repeatedly slashed and torn within the storm of Ganas’s consciousness that assailed him from all sides.

If he couldn’t overcome this, everyone would die.

‘Time!’

Fortunately, time within the consciousness seemed to pass much slower than outside.

Swish!

A fragment of Ganas’s consciousness, with sharp claws leading the way, lunged at him and slashed fiercely. Kang Yuseong’s shoulder was drenched in blood, but he trembled his fists and pushed forward.

Countless monsters Ganas had killed, changing their forms, bit at Kang Yuseong, pierced him with their claws, and tore him apart. It seemed Ganas’s memories were attacking Kang Yuseong.

Kang Yuseong’s consciousness became increasingly tattered with time, but the piercing light emanating from his eyes grew stronger.

‘Light!’

At that moment, he discovered a bright light radiating in the distance.

Kang Yuseong’s eyes gleamed as he turned his head to look in that direction.

‘There… that’s it!’

Fragments of recent memories were flying towards that spot.

Kang Yuseong squeezed out all his strength and propelled himself forward, as if swimming through the air towards it.

—Kwoooarrr!

Crunch!

One monster violently bit and tore at his other shoulder.

—Diiieee!

And a Hunter, with blood tears streaming from his eyes, caught in a fierce current of consciousness and flung away, still brought his sword down on Kang Yuseong.

‘Agh!’

Kang Yuseong writhed in the vivid pain of his arm being severed.

It was truly a living hell, but he could not give up.

He had noticed that the Hunter was wearing armor emblazoned with the emblem of the Phoenix Guild. That meant Kang Yuseong was approaching Ganas’s most recent memories.

Following that, fragments of a shattered building flew in.

And then…

Something flew towards Kang Yuseong’s consciousness at a terrifying speed.

Kang Yuseong’s eyes shot open.

It was Kang Yuseong himself.

His own figure, wielding a dazzlingly bright sword and lunging towards him, instilled an immense sense of dread, like an evil spirit.

—Haaah!

‘Ugh!’

As the consciousness fragment in Kang Yuseong’s form lunged, Kang Yuseong twisted his body wildly, trying to dodge it.

Swish!

Suddenly, a chilling sensation swept across his shoulder again, and he saw another arm fall away.

‘Ugh!’

The fragment of consciousness instantly flew far away, but Kang Yuseong felt his vision violently shake.

This time, he seemed to have taken a proper critical hit.

His eyes kept blinking, and his consciousness repeatedly blurred and then recovered.

Meanwhile, Kang Yuseong kept flailing, feeling as if his consciousness was being sucked away somewhere.

Kang Yuseong bit his lower lip so hard it bled.

Splatter!

Blood gushed, and an intense pain washed over him.

But at that moment, his fading consciousness snapped back into focus.

Light.

It was right before him now.

Within that light, Ganas’s belly was visible, and the sight of crimson dust seeping out from it appeared. The creature’s most concentrated thought at the moment surfaced in fragments.

Kang Yuseong instinctively felt he had to destroy it.

‘My arm… my arm!’

But with both shoulders gone, Kang Yuseong could only grit his teeth, staring at the light before him.

‘If only, if only I had an arm!’

He screamed frantically.

If only he had an arm, he could grasp that light and shatter it!

Just one arm!

As Kang Yuseong gnashed his teeth at the light, he suddenly felt an insane itch on his right shoulder.

‘Aaaargh!’

It was maddeningly itchy, so itchy he wanted to die, but without a way to scratch it, it was even more unbearable. Kang Yuseong screamed into the air and writhed.

It was then.

Flash!

Crack—

Thrust—

An arm began to sprout from his severed shoulder in a grotesque manner.

It wasn’t quite a proper arm, but it did have five digits that could barely be called fingers.

Kang Yuseong tried to move it.

Looking at the scene reflected in the light now, Ganas’s belly was glowing crimson.

It meant the Super Dust Explosion was about to begin.

‘Ugh!’

Kang Yuseong moved the arm.

Grrrind!

It felt bizarre, like moving a prosthetic limb, but he managed to raise his arm.

Clunk!

And with that arm, he seized the light.

Crunch!

Kang Yuseong gnashed his teeth, gripping it with the five claw-like digits on his arm.

Snap!

He couldn’t exert enough force.

Snap!

The veins bulging on his forehead seemed ready to burst, and blood seeped from between his clenched teeth.

“Ugh…!”

A guttural groan escaped his throat.

Crack-crack!

“Kuaaaah!”

Shatter!

He poured all his body’s strength into his arm, and the moment he felt that explosive power transfer to his arm, the light grasped in his hand completely shattered and dispersed.

Boom—

And an unknown, colossal explosion erupted, and Kang Yuseong’s consciousness, caught in that blast, was being sucked away somewhere.

“Aaaaargh!”

Soon, his vision seemed to fade, then it was painted black.

Shhhwww—

And silence enveloped everything.