Chapter 242
There were differences between items even if they came from the same type of box. I was aware that the inventory system could only hold a maximum of fifty items, so I took the time to choose the best A-class items I would bring into the stage from the outside. That was why I had filled my backpack with relatively small accessories other than my few main items and clothing. My main set was…
[Item - Skeletal Dragon that even the Living Worship (S), Ra's Sun Sword (S), Adonis' Sacred Pitch (S), Deva King’s Protective Gloves (A), Attis’ Ring (A), Minerva’s Ring (A), Frigg’s Feather (A), Eos’ Reflector (A), Loki's Treasure (A), Hariti’s Armor (A)]
[Total Physical Defense: 74500]
[Total Magic Defense: 76400]
Furthermore, Ra’s Sun Sword could be converted into a cape, and I could replace the usage of its sword form by using the S-class Victory Sword of the Baclan Arena that I had obtained from a Moong Awakened.
However, there were two reasons as to why I only pulled out the dragon right now. One was because I couldn’t afford to wait for the accessories I took from the two women to charge up to their full potential. The other reason was that I was trying to only use my main set and hold the other twenty-eight items in reserve in case I encountered the king or had an unexpected crisis-inducing setback. Therefore, I was planning to go as far as I could by only relying on my skills, traits, and main set. Then I would only use my reserved items and activate the Man Who Overcomes Adversity after luring out the King.
***
Thud-!
There was a loud roar in the spot where the dragon struck. The creatures underneath my mount’s gigantic bones were instantly killed. I only had to deal with the remaining dozen or so that had bounced off.
[The battle has begun.]
[Passion has been activated. (Level One)]
[The rate of injury regeneration has significantly increased.]
I ignored the notification message and sent out streaks of lightning to cover all that I could see. The lightning bolts wriggled as they moved, so they resembled dangerous vipers rushing toward their prey instead of soulless arrows.
After my loyal blue vipers crisscrossed in the air, I could hear the cries of Baclans everywhere. The stench of their burning flesh stank to high heaven. Despite that, the Baclans continued to jump toward my dragon. In response, my creature flapped its wings, wagged its tail, slightly lifted its upper body before smacking the ground with both its front legs, and ripped their heads off before chewing.
Kuaaaaaaaak-
When my dragon bawled, the Baclans noticeably slowed down. Now, it was my job to sever their necks.
[You have used Devi’s Sword.]
I drew a curved elliptical trajectory with the sword and swept the area surrounding the dragon. More than thirty heads fell off at once, and the decapitated bodies collapsed down with blood gushing out like a fountain. Their blood circulation was so strong that some of the liquid even splattered on me.
“Wooh! Wooh! Wooh-”
The Baclans jumped over the corpses of their fellows, quickly filling up the empty space on the ground. While their blood spurted up and rained down, the skeletal dragon dashed toward the sky. We flew back into the air, and my mount violently shook its body to shake off any Baclans that were clinging tenaciously on. I threw myself at one monster that was still grimly holding on.
Pook.
I slammed my right fist into its head, punching so hard that my entire arm up to my elbow had ended up inside before I pulled back out. A part of its cerebral cortex that was drenched with lukewarm blood was in my hand. The remaining white matter in its head cavity resembled smushed tofu.
We continued destroying them after I returned to my seat on my dragon’s neck. With the dragon’s ferocity and my skills, we slaughtered low-class Baclans continuously. The land became devastated. The bodies and blood of the Baclans lay in pits that had been created when the dragon slammed down, and their blackened ashes mixed with their blood, creating a gruesome muck. Streaks of lightning and flames flashed by.
However, their capital was vast, and we were only in a part of the outskirts. I could see more Baclans creating formations in the distance. This kind of scene could be only witnessed in S-class dungeons or B or higher-classed gate battles. The low-class soldiers were leaving the formation.
For now, I escaped from their attack range. I didn’t go in deeper because I was certain the King would have a mount comparable to my dragon. I needed to keep the dragon and items intact until I encountered the King!
Baaaaang-!
As soon as the dragon hit the ground, I jumped down from its back. Then, the troops flying from afar caught my attention.
[Warning: The Skeletal Dragon that even the Living Worship can be imbued with madness. Please board before that happens.]
[Remaining time until the dragon becomes mad: 30 seconds]
It was an unnecessary warning.
[The Skeletal Dragon that even the Living Worship has been added to your inventory.]
When the dragon disappeared, I saw an intimidating sight. The sky was full of Baclans. On land, there were the Baclan Wyvern Riders, which was an elite unit formed only with warriors who won in their arena. Senior sorcerers that used various attack spells and wide-area buffs were also forming several units on the ground. In the past, I had only seen this many Baclans once before. It was on the first day that the S-class gate door opened, which was when Doom Caso’s incarnation descended.
***
The attack range of the senior sorcerers was about the same as Kali’s Sword’s range. Therefore, the moment they casted spells from the escort forces, I fired Kali’s Sword, which was one of Devi’s Sword conversion forms. When the dark brown energy poured down like a clutter of meteors, the energy I shot out stretched vertically. My attack hit them first.
Kwang!
Baclans were swept into the explosion, and a message popped up when their struggling shadows were fluttering in the flames.
[You have caused a great amount of damage.]
That message was the start of the domino effect.
[Sensitive has been activated.]
[Your Sense has been upgraded. Change: S → SS]
[Gifted has been activated.]
[Your traits have been upgraded.]
[Change: Man Who Overcomes Adversity, Strongman, Explorer, Interdiction, Forerunner, Gifted, Sensitive, Collector. A → S]
[Change: Passion. B → A]
Having SS-class Sense and other upgraded traits were amazing in other ways than having SS-class Agility. It happened instantaneously, but the entire world around me changed. I could feel the presence of thousands of Baclans with pinpoint accuracy. Their stench, breath and murderous intent was getting stronger and pouring into me. The spells that sorcerers shot at me were rushing at me like typhoons.
Therefore, the feeling I received at the moment was clear. The whole world was rejecting me and hoping for my death. With their current forces, it wasn’t surprising that they were overconfident. I avoided and destroyed as many as possible, but it was impossible to escape from hundreds of simultaneous attacks all at once. They had an overwhelming advantage in numbers, and they flew in from everywhere.
Bang!
When I felt the impact on my back, I bent forward involuntarily. It was obvious that a few more had smacked me in a row as my vision became jumbled. In the end, the earth seemed to soar toward me, and I could taste dirt in my mouth.
Thud!
I heard a monster roaring next to me right as I was bouncing away after getting hit. In the meantime, I felt a tingle with my upgraded Sense.
Are they trying to get revenge and by attempting to chop me the way the skeletal dragon did to them?
The wyvern riders were storming in. I quickly twisted my body around while I was falling down to the ground, then their huge claws filled my sight.
But you guys aren’t the only ones with claws!
[You have used Seth’s Nail.]
Sheek. Sheek. Sheek. Sheeeeeek-
Five straight lines going across instantly appeared. The wyverns immediately started wailing, and the pieces of their bloody flesh and intestines fell from the sky. One Baclan jumped towards me with an ax in hand as if it wanted to cut me in half. On top of that, all the beasts were lunging toward me with bloodshot eyes and ferocious claws. I kept rolling around to avoid them, but they were falling everywhere around me. I barely managed to dodge each attack.
Then, I widened my eyes.
“Keuk!”
I felt an extreme pain in my back. When I resisted the power that tried to crush me and managed to straighten my back, the Baclan sorcerers had completed a trap on me. It was unbearably itchy at one point but soon it turned into intolerable pain that felt like my flesh was tearing apart. The agony often provoked my sensitive Sense.
At that time, I could finally see the heads of the wyverns. They were drooling with their vicious jaws open, and their tentacle-like tongues slithered around. Some of the heads were jabbing in as if they were competing to see who could get at me first. I avoided those that weren’t in my line of sight by relying on my Sense. Without the warning from my transcended Sense, I would have haplessly rolled around on the ground.
Crush!
I dropped the Baclans who were trying to chop me with their axes, then removed them one by one. I had already made the earth glow red with the Road of the King of Hell, and Hanuman’s Tail was burning the surrounding area. However, their protective shields and regenerative abilities were outstanding. Moreover, they had had their attack range increased by a sorcerer after winning in their brutal competition arena.
This had become a painful battle for both the Baclans and myself. While those who were mortally wounded were still acting wild due to being influenced by the sorcerer’s spell, I was also shaking off my injuries quickly. It was no different from having a high-class healer beside me. Level one of Passion significantly increased the rate of my recovery, and activating the Punishment of the Moong Water God greatly healed my injuries at a rapid rate. The synergy between the skill and trait didn’t let me fall into a critical situation where I would have to activate the Man Who Overcomes Adversity.
It took a lot out of me to catch them one by one, so I activated Devi’s Sword and my water whirlpool, making them sweep across the sky. The riders suddenly surged up with the wyverns and collapsed at once. At that exact moment, my trait Forerunner finally activated itself.
[Forerunner has been activated.]
[Your Agility has been upgraded. Change: S → SS]
Within the blink of an eye, everything felt slow. The speed of the water vortex as it spun in the air felt slow. The pace of the recovery of my wound, where the ribs were slightly exposed, also felt like it had slowed down.The flood of sorcerer’s spells, blood that poured in like a shower, the cry of winged beasts, axes falling from the sky, flaming tails, and lightning streaks that were spread around like spider webs were slow. All of these slowed movements were combined with my fully upgraded Sense.
No one in the past could have believed the current situation where I was fighting against the S-class Baclan Corps alone using only my main set of items and without relying on the Man Who Overcomes Adversity…
While the wyverns crashed down, a thought ran through my mind.
I have become a monster too.