Chapter 154
Chapter 154 – Great Plains of Barrastan (5)
“Besgoro, Frenzy”
Soon, Besgoro’s eyes on Sungjin’s helmet shone with a crimson light and Sungjin began to slice through the enemies rapidly. Sungjin was naturally fast, but his arms became even faster.
Moon Specter and Artemio ceaselessly sliced through the approaching enemies. At first, the demons pompously charged at Sungjin, but as the cutting rate of Sungjin’s swords began to increase, the demons started to shout in fear.
“Ahhh… Ahhhhhhhh?”
In the end, the demons at the front closest to Sungjin began to show their backs and flee.
“Sa… Save me!”
However, when they ran away, a sharp voice could be heard from behind them.
“Kill them!”
This command was not directed at Sungjin, but instead at the demons that fled from him. The demons who were waiting in the back mercilessly stabbed the demons who fled from the front to death. This was what Besgoro had spoken of in the past.
‘I didn’t kill only my enemies, but my allies as well… I killed many of those who deserted the army, or fled.’
This was exactly what had happened. The demons who fled could only helplessly bite the bullet and charge at Sungjin. However, this did not mean that Sungjin’s accelerated sword swings would show mercy to them. Sungjin sliced the approaching demons again and again. While he was cutting the demons expertly, Besgoro spoke up and told Sungjin that the duration of the skill had nearly ended.
‘5 seconds remaining, Kei.’
Even as Sungjin swung his swords, he said,
“Moon Specter, prepare yourself.”
‘Yes, Master.’
When Besgoro’s Frenzy was over, Sungjin was surrounded by corpses of the demons. Sungjin placed Moon Specter in her sheath. Surprisingly, he was out of breath.
“Haah, haah…”
Whether it was Besgoro’s Frenzy or Yanhurat’s Zealot, they both shared the same side-effect; Exhaustion. Sungjin already possessed an inhuman endurance and stamina, but even he could not help but become fatigued after swinging his swords so quickly.
“Haah, haah…”
Sungjin’s shoulders rose and fell to the rhythm of his breathing as he caught his breath. The surviving demons from the front line looked at each other.
‘Attack? Or no?’
At that moment, the sharp voice from before could be heard.
“The enemy is tired! Attack now!”
The demons charged again at Sungjin once they heard those words.
“Haah, haah…”
Even as Sungjin gasped for air, when those demons were right in front of him, he took out Moon Specter and said,
“Deathly Wail.”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaak!”
The form of Moon Specter appeared and shrieked. The demons were gripped by an irrepressible terror and fled backwards en masse.
“Kill them!”
Then, as expected, they were pierced by the blades of their fellow demons and died. If there was something different from the previous time, it was that they fled from Moon Specter’s shriek even though they knew that they would die doing so.
Having become a Unique Legendary, there was something about the sound of Moon Specter’s shriek that created some kind of primitive terror. Sungjin and Besgoro were a little scared themselves as they watched Moon Specter trailing behind the demons as she shrieked.
‘That lady… She’s kind of scary when she’s like that…’
Regardless, thanks to her actions, Sungjin had been able to recover his depleted stamina and was now able to take care of the remaining enemies by himself. Once the vanguard had all died, the main force arrived. At the same time, the Operator’s voice could be heard.
[Warning!]
[Boss monster ‘Zeratar’ has appeared!]
Sungjin looked at the main encampment. In the distance, a demon whose height reached 2.5 meters (8 feet 2 inches) stood out. This was the very demon that had pierced him with his horn. Sungjin clenched his teeth and prepared to fight against him.
“Rather impressive for a human.”
Sungjin wordlessly glared at the demon.
“But, still powerless before my power, and my army.”
‘Powerless, my ass…’
In truth, if he desired, he could choose one or two from ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, Yanhurat, or the Ring of the Great Sage and quickly cut out the bastard’s throat. However, if he used those now, then it would be more difficult to fight the hidden boss who came after this guy. Zeratar said vigorously,
“Go forth! I will give a special promotion to the one who brings back his head!”
Soon, the heavily armed demons began to run at Sungjin. Sungjin ordered Besgoro to use Blizzard.
“All-freezing winds! Razor sharp ice! Blizzard Storm!”
The bodies of the approaching demons briefly paused in the gust of ice, and in that moment, Sungjin clenched his teeth as he forced his way between them. A bloody massacre began once more.
What was different was that the speed with which he cut his enemies had decreased considerably from before. Not only was Sungjin’s stamina depleted, but the demons that he was fighting now were stronger than those from the vanguard. There was no doubt that the demons that were near Zeratar were elites stronger than the others.
Not only did Sungjin have to focus on attack, but he also had to dedicate his attention to defense. If he did not, then it was obvious that he would be hurt.
‘These bastards…’
However, it was at that moment that a sharp purplish spear came flying towards Sungjin.
‘Whiiz!’
It was flying at an incredibly fast speed. Sungjin had been countering almost all attacks, but he could not perfectly avoid something like this.
The tip of the sharp spear grazed the nape of Sungjin’s neck. Sungjin saw his own blood for the first time in a long while; so long that he did not remember when the last time was.
‘Kuu!’
‘Hey Kei’
‘Master, are you okay?’
The two phantoms worried over Sungjin. However, he did not have the time to reply. Once more, that spear came flying towards him. Sungjin blocked the attack by crossing his two swords into an x-shape. In an instant, a numb feeling crept over his hands. At that moment, Moon Specter shouted urgently,
‘Behind you!’
Sungjin ducked without even looking backwards.
‘Riiiiiip’
The sound of something cutting his mantle could be heard. Sungjin thought,
‘This is dangerous. I have to escape from their encirclement.’
Sungjin urgently threw the Mapae located on his belt into the air.
“Hihihihiin~!”
The phantom horse, Shadowrun, appeared and gave a long neigh. All the demons were slightly surprised by the sudden appearance of Shadowrun, except for one.
’Stab!’
Commander Zeratar’s spear pierced through Shadowrun’s neck, and Shadowrun turned into ashes that drifted away. Sungjin apologized immediately
‘I’m sorry, Shadowrun.’
Even though he had probably returned to the stables at ‘Ninety Nine Nights’. Anyhow, thanks to Shadowrun, Sungjin had been able to catch his breath. And again, for the first time in a very long time, he turned his back to the enemy and ran. Zeratar’s voice could be heard saying,
“Catch him!”
As Sungjin ran, he asked Moon Specter,
“Moon Specter, let me know when the enemy commander reaches the very front.”
‘Yes, Master.’
Sungjin continued to run. Zeratar became overconfident once he saw Sungjin run after being wounded by his spear. This was exactly what Sungjin had hoped for.
The demons chased after Sungjin without any need for orders, but Zeratar was the fastest of them all. He was originally stuck between his subordinates, but then he began to chase after Sungjin faster than them.
‘Master, the enemy commander is at the very front.’
The phantom Moon Specter explained the situation to Sungjin, who was running while only looking in front of him. At that moment, Sungjin turned behind and swung Artemio twice.
“Expel Magic! Expel Magic!”
The two dark spears that he had absorbed in the fight before went flying towards Zeratar. Zeratar avoided the spears, as expected of the commander, but the two demons behind him could not.
“Kwaak!”
“Kwaaahk!”
From the beginning, this was what Sungjin was aiming for: to get rid of two demons in the group that was following the enemy commander. On using both magic expels, Sungjin threw Artemio as if he were throwing an empty can after he finished drinking it.
“Pa!”
Zeratar brought up his spear and hit Artemio away.
‘Clang!’
Artemio went spinning into the sky after being hit by Zeratar’s spear.
‘Piiiiiing’
As Zeratar saw this, he muttered,
“Resorting to dirty tricks…”
He prepared to keep chasing after Sungjin, but for some reason instead, Sungjin came running towards him. The two soon collided. Sungjin swung down with Moon Specter in one hand while Zeratar simultaneously stabbed at Sungjin with his purplish spear.
‘Stab’
There were two blades that had flown through the air, but only one made a sound of impact.
“Kuhuhuhu.”
Zeratar laughed in satisfaction. This was because the moment Sungjin’s Moon Specter swung past Zeratar, Zeratar’s spear had stabbed Sungjin in the side.
However, at that moment, a second sword appeared in Sungjin’s empty hand, a crimson sword that was dyed in blood. Zeratar urgently tried to pull his spear out from Sungjin.
“Snake Eye”
But in that very instant, the eye on the pendant that Sungjin was wearing opened and froze Zeratar; Zeratar became immobilized while he was trying to pull out his spear. At this instant, Sungjin used Blood Vengeance, which had stored enough of his blood, to slit Zeratar’s throat. Everything was decided in one strike.
[Congratulations.]
[Boss monster ‘Zeratar’ Cleared]
As Sungjin heard the congratulations of the Operator, he knocked away the headless body of Zeratar and pulled out the spear. At the same time, Sungjin let out a groan.
“Kuuh!”
‘Are you okay?’
Moon Specter asked Sungjin. Sungjin nodded his head as he urgently canceled Blood Vengeance’s Active Skill.
“Baptism of Blood”
[HP is below half.]
The Operator’s alarm rang out the moment he said those words. In truth, Sungjin had screamed, not because of Zeratar’s spear, but because of Blood Vengeance’s Baptism of Blood.
Sungjin had immediately grasped Blood Vengeance’s handle after he threw Artemio at Zeratar, and had quietly said, “Baptism of Blood.” back then
He had used this trick in order to finish it off at once before the other demons could surround him. Afterwards, he had purposefully missed with Moon Specter and been hit by the spear.
Zeratar’s spear itself was okay. This was because, truthfully, Sungjin’s health points were higher than most tanks, and he was wearing the armor made from dragon scales.
The bigger problem was Blood Vengeance, which was now a Unique Legendary. The performance of this monster that now stole several times more of Sungjin’s blood every second was incredible, but it simply stole Sungjin’s blood just as quickly.
Though, it was thanks to this that he was able to kill the boss of the 10 man raid in one hit. Sungjin looked at the enemies while bleeding, the demons that had been scared of Sungjin from the beginning.
Once their commander died, the demons began to hesitate unconsciously. They soon began to rout as there was no one left to lead them.
‘Kill them.’ said Besgoro.
Sungjin watched their figures and then sat down without chasing them.
‘What, aren’t you going to go after them?’
Sungjin answered Besgoro’s question.
“Those guys, well… It’s just a little bit of contribution… First, I want to see the face of the Hidden Boss. I’m also a bit worried about the other Chosen Ones.”
‘Hrm…’
As he watched the fleeing soldiers, Sungjin briefly thought about the ‘Chosen Ones’. This raid definitely had some difficulty to it. It occurred to him that it could be dangerous if you had bad luck and a bad party, regardless of if there were 10 people. Sungjin called out the cube and took out the Star of the Nameless.
“Rename to Treasure Hunter”
It had been a long time since he had changed titles to Treasure Hunter. This was because he did not know the location of the raid’s Hidden Piece or the Hidden Boss.
[You have been renamed.]
Sungjin immediately asked the Operator,
“Operator, tell me the location of the Hidden Piece.”