Chapter 17 – Midpoint

“It’s a trap.”

Shadow threads formed from shadow substance were spread across the floor, walls, and ceiling of the passage.

It was the Awakening Skill 《Spider Web》 of the Three-Star Beast Shadow Spider.

“Right now, there are no Shadow Spiders nearby, but if we touch the spider web, they’ll use their second Awakening Skill 《Return》 to appear instantly.”

Judging by the range of the spider web, it wasn’t just one or two—dozens would appear at once.

The front was blocked by a trap, and hordes of rats were swarming from the other five directions.

It was truly a dilemma between advancing and retreating.

Clunk!

Fortunately, after moving briefly, it felt like the passage had risen one level, as if some balance had been restored, but it was still tilted lower than the other passage.

“We still shouldn’t kill more, right?”

“Yeah. But the Big Rats shouldn’t touch the spider web either. Even if they kill each other, the weight of death will accumulate.”

“Then, we have no choice but to block it here. Aura, Turtle Ship!”

Thud!

As Park Seongcheol’s <Ghost Ship Sortie> unfolded, a Turtle Ship appeared, blocking the passage in the wide space created by the sweeping “One Swing Sweeps.”

It was a structure sufficient to serve as a defensive wall and fortress to buy time until the balance between the two passages was restored.

“Inside!”

The cat carrying Lee Hanseong and Park Seongcheol quickly entered the Turtle Ship.

The Turtle Ship summoned by <Ghost Ship Sortie> was closer to a materialized mana summon rather than a physical entity, so entering it wasn’t difficult.

There was no need to go all the way to the entrance; simply reverting the outer hull to an Illusory Form for a moment allowed them to enter the ship directly.

Thump!

As soon as they entered the ship, the re-materialized outer hull blocked the pursuing Big Rats.

However, the Big Rats’ Awakening Skill Rat Hole possessed the power to easily pierce even the dungeon’s passage walls.

Screech!

Drrrrrrt!

Along with the sound of something hard being scraped, holes began to appear all over the Turtle Ship’s outer hull.

In fact, it was impossible to block an Awakening Skill with the Rare Skill <Ghost Ship Sortie>.

“If this continues, they’ll break through soon!”

“No! It’s still okay for now.”

Watching the holes grow from the size of a fingernail to the size of a fist, Park Seongcheol slammed his Three-Foot Sword into the Turtle Ship’s deck.

Whoosh!

The Aura of the Three-Foot Sword spread throughout the Turtle Ship and began repairing the areas where holes had formed.

This repair was possible because it utilized the characteristic of a summon that continuously consumes mana while being maintained, not just a one-time summon.

Screech!

Scrape… scrape… scrape… scrape…

Just as the creation of Rat Holes slowed when exposed to the Light of Purification, the holes trying to form on the Turtle Ship also slowed in their growth.

But it wasn’t without cost.

Wobble.

Perhaps his legs gave way due to the rapidly depleting mana, Park Seongcheol staggered.

Thanks to using the Three-Foot Sword embedded in the deck as a cane, he didn’t fall, but it looked difficult.

It seemed he couldn’t hold out much longer.

“How much longer do you think you can hold on?”

“Originally, the summon maintenance time without doing anything was about 5 minutes… Considering the continuous repairs now, maybe 1 minute? No, 30 seconds?”

“Hmm. That should be enough.”

Since Jin Yuseong’s team, having assessed the situation on this side, was diligently hunting in the opposite passage, there was no need to hold out for long.

Clunk!

Around the time there were about 10 seconds left until the Turtle Ship’s summon was released.

The passage rose again.

The balance between the two passages was finally restored.

“From now on, let’s match the hunting speed with them.”

“Okay.”

“You focus solely on defense as much as possible.”

“Will do.”

“One Swing Sweeps” is sealed for now.

Using it would break the balance too quickly.

Poof!

Finally, the Turtle Ship’s time limit expired, and it dispersed into particles of starlight.

Simultaneously, the Big Rats that the Turtle Ship had been blocking began pouring out like a tidal wave.

The first to reach them were the ones that had clung to the Turtle Ship’s ceiling and then fell.

Sway. Tap! Tap!

After the cat used a two-step Leap using the shadows of the Black Shadow Manipulation Art draped in the air as footholds.

Swishswishswishswishswishswishswish!

Lee Hanseong, riding on top, slashed the defenselessly falling Big Rats with his demon sword.

Crunchcrunchcrunchcrunch…

Since Gluttony swallowed the corpses on its own, there was no chance of colliding with them.

Of course, the rat horde pouring in from all sides immediately rushed at them.

Pababababak!

The cat stretched the shadows of the Black Shadow Manipulation Art like spider webs in the air and bounced around on them like a tightrope walker, truly moving freely in all directions.

“Meowmeowmeowmeowmeow!”

[The Nameless Constellation goes wild, intoxicated by the hunting instinct.]

Primitive hunting unfolded—clawing with front paws and biting with teeth.

Moreover, as the hunting continued, the cat’s level was gradually rising.

The acquisition of Achievement through slaughter increased the influence the Constellation could exert externally.

Matching the hunting speed of Jin Yuseong’s team, the gap between the cat and the rats was so overwhelming that they could leisurely kill the Big Rats one by one.

Bounce- Bounce-

Since the physical force that could be imparted by the Black Shadow Manipulation Art also included elasticity, the cat’s movement, bouncing between shadows, gradually sped up.

Lee Hanseong also joined the hunt, keeping up with the increasing hunting speed.

Each time he brushed past the Big Rats, the demon sword he subtly extended harvested them one by one, like moths drawn to the Aura of the Three-Foot Sword.

How long did that dazzling time of slaughter last?

“Whoo…”

Perhaps all the nearby Big Rats had been dealt with, as no new Big Rats appeared anymore.

But the number of surviving rats in the two passages wasn’t the same.

“No matter how I look at it, there are more Big Rats in our passage than in Yuseong’s side.”

“Well, for now, we just need to move according to their progress.”

Even after Jin Yuseong’s team dealt with the Big Rats they encountered, the number of Big Rats surrounding us was still not small.

Since the other side was aware of this situation, Jin Yuseong’s team moved quickly to find the next hunting target.

Tap. Tap.

While Lee Hanseong paused hunting briefly to observe the situation on the other side, the cat was tapping and playing with the rats without killing them.

“They’ve also reached the trap section now.”

A spider web trap where touching dozens of connected spider webs would mean facing dozens of Three-Star Beasts.

Jin Yuseong simply disarmed the trap using the Black Shadow Manipulation Art.

Smoothly.

He carefully separated just one spider web from the cluster of dozens of connected spider webs.

It was possible because both the Shadow Spider’s threads and the Black Shadow Manipulation Art used shadows in the same way.

Poof!

When he shook the completely separated spider web, its owner jumped out.

A pitch-black spider about the same size as a Big Rat.

Kishit!

The Shadow Spider tried to capture Yuseong’s team by manipulating the shadows forming the spider web spread on the floor, but.

Its spider web was already under the control of Jin Yuseong’s Black Shadow Manipulation Art.

Kishit?

The spider looked around, seeking help, but soon realized it was alone and hurriedly moved toward another spider web.

But that action was too late.

Whoosh-!

Yu Sehee’s lantern was already being swung toward the Shadow Spider.

Crunch!

Perhaps due to the compatibility between light and shadow, the Shadow Spider, hit by the lantern, died instantly as its head shattered.

Meanwhile, Jin Yuseong had already separated another spider web.

Separating spider webs, summoning Shadow Spiders, hunting.

These three steps meshed like gears, rapidly increasing the monster kill count.

Matching that, Lee Hanseong’s team finished off the remaining Big Rats.

Drrrr… Clunk!

With another rising sensation, the passage tilted.

This time, the balance tipped toward Jin Yuseong’s team.

“We definitely matched the kill count, right?”

“Could it be… the weight of blood is calculated differently for Three-Star Beasts and 2-Star Monsters!”

A hypothesis that suddenly came to mind, but it was persuasive.

The moment the balance tilted, Jin Yuseong’s team’s hunting had temporarily stopped.

In that gap, we continued to deal with the remaining Big Rats.

“I roughly get the difference now.”

The death of ten 2-Star Monsters was equivalent to the death of one Three-Star Beast.

This also matched the future theory that vitality increases tenfold with each star level.

‘If we think like this, we need to be careful when killing the 4-Star dungeon boss.’

The weight of blood required to tilt the passage one level was roughly equivalent to three Three-Star Beasts.

When it tilted two levels initially, it was after killing over 60 Big Rats with “One Swing Sweeps,” so that seemed about right.

But a 4-Star dungeon boss alone is equivalent to the lives of 100 Big Rats, so if killed carelessly, the passage could tilt three levels at once.

And considering that such stages usually consist of 3 to 5 levels, a single mistake could cause the tilt to exceed the limit, leading to the complete collapse of one passage.

Keeping that danger in mind, Lee Hanseong finished off all the remaining Big Rats.

To restore the balance, he hurriedly approached the spider web trap discovered earlier.

Smoothly.

Recalling what Jin Yuseong had done, he used the Black Shadow Manipulation Art to separate a spider web.

Perhaps because Jin Yuseong’s Proficiency in Black Shadow Manipulation Art was higher, the separation speed was a bit slower on this side.

But on the other side, there was only one user of the Black Shadow Manipulation Art, while here there were two.

‘Still, since the Lord of the Throne is helping, it won’t be too slow.’

It seemed that with a bit more familiarity, they could quickly catch up to Jin Yuseong’s speed.

“Ha… Do you have two minds or something? No, considering the Overmind Skill, it’s not entirely impossible, is it?”

However, to Park Seongcheol, who was unaware of the Constellation’s existence, it seemed as if all the trap-disarming work done by him and the cat was accomplished through his own computational power, eliciting admiration.

Pat! Slash!

After summoning the owner of the separated spider web, Park Seongcheol dealt with the spider.

Drrrr… Clunk!

Finally, as if the balance was restored, both passages returned to their original state.

From then on, the users of the Black Shadow Manipulation Art on both sides took on the roles of separating and summoning spider webs, respectively, to control the hunting pace.

But Jin Yuseong, as if showing off his skill with the Black Shadow Manipulation Art, always finished separation one beat earlier and waited for this side to finish.

‘Is he telling us to keep up?’

He didn’t explicitly convey words or intent, but his actions hinted at Jin Yuseong’s intention.

Perhaps the Constellation sensed it too.

“Meowaaah!”

[The Nameless Constellation, refusing to lose, spurs on the manipulation of the Black Shadow Manipulation Art.]

The Black Shadow Manipulation Art deployed by the cat sped up a bit.

Lee Hanseong also focused on the Black Shadow Manipulation Art to keep up with Jin Yuseong’s spider web separation speed.

Since the Constellation was teaching the proper method right beside him, it was a situation where he just had to follow along.

Smoothly!

‘The Proficiency…’

With each spider web separated, the Proficiency in the Black Shadow Manipulation Art also rose steeply.

Gradually, the time Jin Yuseong had to wait decreased.

They continued like that, dealing with spider webs one by one for a while.

Smooth!

Finally, by the time they reached the last spider web, Lee Hanseong and the cat could separate spider webs at the same speed as Jin Yuseong.

Though two, they were ultimately one, meaning Lee Hanseong’s Proficiency in the Black Shadow Manipulation Art had reached a level equal to Jin Yuseong, who was 20% Synchronized with the Mountain Hermit.

It was an unprecedented steep growth.

Pat. Slash!

And after dealing with the last Shadow Spider, Park Seongcheol’s Three-Foot Sword turned crimson red.

Ready to unleash “One Swing Sweeps” at any moment.

Step step.

After passing through the spider web trap section, it was quiet for a while.

A passage where both Big Rats and Shadow Spider webs had vanished.

At its end, a cavern of similar width to the starting point awaited.

* * *

“Is this the destination?”

“No, it seems like a kind of midpoint.”

Lee Hanseong said, noticing a passage similar to the one they came from extending from the other side of the cavern.

Though firmly closed now, it seemed that meeting certain conditions here would open the door, allowing them to proceed to the next area.

From the other passage, Jin Yuseong’s team had also entered a similar cavern.

“A temple…?”

The first thing that caught their eye was the structure located at the center of the cavern.

Stone pillars arranged in a rectangular shape resembled a Greek temple.

“Usually, midpoints have formidable enemies or rewards. Let’s check inside.”

Nod.

Lee Hanseong’s team moved their steps into the temple and soon could see the interior.

“That’s…!”

And the two couldn’t help but be surprised by what they saw inside the temple.

In the place where a giant divine statue would normally be, a stone statue carved in the likeness of the Sun Star King, Earth’s first Apostle and famous as an Apostle of the Sun Constellation, stood tall.

“Why is the Sun Star King’s stone statue here?”

Considering that dungeons originated from the Otherworld, it was very strange for the likeness of an Earth-side Apostle to be here.

At the foot of the statue, there was an altar as if making offerings to him, and on the altar rested a treasure chest adorned with splendid decorations.

Approaching closer, ancient Otherworld characters engraved on the side of the altar came into view.

“The Apostle chosen by the Sun Constellation to cross over to a new world… Taking the first step on the Crossroads of Ascension using world collision.”

“…Crossroads of Ascension?”

“It seems related to the Crossroads of the Scales dungeon.”

Suddenly having a guess, he turned his consciousness toward Jin Yuseong’s team.

They had also entered a temple similar to this one, and the temple’s structure was mostly similar.

Since they were examining the altar below the statue, Jin Yuseong was highlighting the Otherworld characters in the surface consciousness.

-‘This seems similar to the characters we saw earlier. Can you interpret it?’

As the ancient Otherworld language written on the altar was shared through the connected consciousness, Ancient Knowledge in Lee Hanseong’s mind interpreted its content.

“…The Apostle of the Epicenter Throne left in the origin world. Awaiting the time for the completion of the Crossroads of Ascension, preparing for the beginning of world collision.”

“Crossroads of Ascension and world collision… Since the same terms appeared in both passages, they seem important.”

Park Seongcheol muttered after hearing the interpretations of the phrases engraved on both altars.

But Lee Hanseong’s attention was entirely focused on the mention of the Apostle of the Epicenter Throne.

The appearance of the statue that Jin Yuseong and Yu Sehee happened to look up at was transmitted through Overmind.

Since it was an Otherworld Apostle unknown on Earth, the two merely admired the statue’s beauty, but.

‘……!’

Upon recognizing that face, Lee Hanseong felt his blood run cold.

It was an unforgettable face.

In the future before the Regression, not the present, the owner of that face was famous as an existence that shocked the entire world.

The Apostle of the Epicenter Throne standing at the pinnacle of all vampires.

The 12-Star True Ancestor and progenitor, Prometheus.

The face of the enemy who assassinated the Sun Star King in the Great War ten years later was there.