Chapter 65
“Hup!” Seong-Hwi grunted.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Ace of Pentacles]
[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]
Seong-Hwi used his skills as he jumped backward. A golden coin the size of his body with a pentacle engraving appeared before him. A dark red aura was also enveloping it.
“Die!” the bald man shouted.
[Ace of Pentacles destroyed.]
[Unavailable for 72 hours.]
The Ace of Pentacles blocked the man’s silver right arm for a moment, but was destroyed soon after. However, Seong-Hwi had been aiming for what came next.
“Hm?” the man expressed as he stared at his right fist, covered in red rust. “What a cheap trick!”
He thought, A rust skill, huh? I just have to drive it away with more mana than the amount it’s supplied!
The man infused his right arm with mana of his B-rank Magic, stopping the rust from spreading. However, that was all.
Why is it not disappearing?
The man’s eyes widened. He was certain his enemy’s Magic stat was in the low C-rank. There was no way he couldn’t drive the skill effect away.
“You must’ve gotten lucky in your cube pulls!” the man shouted, realizing the intruder possessed a difficult skill to deal with and that direct contact was dangerous. He enveloped his right arm with blue mana and shouted, “But it’s useless without direct contact!”
The man swung his fist at Seong-Hwi’s solar plexus. Seong-Hwi embodied the Four of Swords and fused them to block the attack.
“Urgh!”
Seong-Hwi lost the battle of strength and was blown back.
My Strength stat is too low! He has at least B-rank Strength! In that case—!
Seong-Hwi realized he did not stand a chance in a head-on battle and ran to the back. The man quickly chased him, thinking Seong-Hwi was retreating.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Ace of Wands]
[Two of Wands]
[Three of Wands]
[Four of Wands]
Four cards came out of the Tarot Deck of Destiny with a golden sheen and were embodied simultaneously. Ten wands appeared, and each emitted a fireball.
“Son of a bitch!” the bald man shouted as he extended his right arm.
Four ribs sprouted from the arm like a cross, and blue mana filled the spaces between them, taking the shape of an umbrella. The fireballs exploded as they collided with the umbrella-like shield, but the bald man endured them and charged forward.
“You’re tough!” Seong-Hwi shouted as he waved his hand, fusing the ten wands.
The product of the fused wands turned blue and became a spear spitting blue flames. However, the spear did not fly at the man but at the female fairy coughing on the ground.
“I don’t fight tough! I fight to win!” Seong-Hwi said.
“Dirty motherfucker!” The bald man quickly stopped as he was chasing Seong-Hwi and ran toward the female fairy.
He immediately reached the fairy and punched the spear enveloped in blue flames. However, the spear only caused a tiny spark like a toy fireworks and vanished.
“What the hell?” the man questioned as he felt the mana on his fingertips.
The attack had been far weaker than he had expected.
It’s a trick! the bald man thought as he quickly turned around.
He saw Seong-Hwi pulling the bowstring of the Chasing Bow with the Penetrating Spear nocked as the arrow. Rust of Ruin also enveloped the tip of the spear.
“With this, the fairy is right behind you. You can dodge if you want!” Seong-Hwi shouted as he let the spear loose.
The bald man grimaced as he stared at the Penetrating Spear flying at him. He had been in the palm of his enemy’s hand. The man lured him to this position by using a skill that only looked powerful. He could feel his enemy’s intention of settling the fight with ranged attacks.
The Penetrating Spear collided with the bald man. As Seong-Hwi expected, the man did not dodge. He did not stop there; he continued to fire black arrows infused with Rust of Ruin.
“Kurghhh!” Seong-Hwi grunted as his muscles tore and his bones creaked.
Blood ran down from his nose, his vision flickered, and his ears rang. His body was being overloaded.
“Hurgh! Huff! Huff!’
Seong-Hwi stopped the shower of arrows once his body reached its limit and stared at the thick dust cloud, his eyes shaking.
He should have suffered at least some serious damage—
However, a sudden gust blew the dust cloud away to interrupt Seong-Hwi’s thoughts and revealed the bald man. His right hand was spinning the Penetrating Spear like a propeller, and the black arrows Seong-Hwi had fired were on the ground before him. However, the man’s hand was not attached to his wrist but floating in the air.
The man raised his handless right wrist in silence. A silver blade about a meter long sprouted from it.
“A... prosthetic arm?” Seong-Hwi muttered.
It wasn’t a gauntlet? he thought.
“That must be your D Weapon,” Seong-Hwi mumbled.
“Correct. This right arm is my D Weapon, Prosthetic Arm of Sin.”
The man sliced the Penetrating Spear with the blade.
[Penetrating Spear destroyed.]
[Unavailable for 72 hours.]
“I’m shocked. Enhancement, emission, conjuration, and manipulation... how can you use all those styles so freely?” the bald man asked.
Although the intruder was undoubtedly weaker than him, he had driven him this far with versatile skills and exceptional battle sense. If done poorly, such a battle style could easily turn one into a master of none, but the enemy’s masterful control over his skills was the epitome of a jack of all trades.
The man stared at his right hand, which was floating in the air. The joints could barely move because the whole hand was covered in red rust.
“You have a lot of tricky skills,” the man remarked.
“Thanks for the compliment. Where did you sell your right arm to get that hideous thing?” Seong-Hwi taunted.
The bald man chuckled and replied, “I sold it for cheap to clear my sins.”
His right arm changed form again. His forearm detached from his upper arm and became a sword, while his upper arm detached from his shoulder and became a two-meter silver javelin. A silver gun muzzle also sprouted from the shoulder portion of the prosthetic arm, from where the upper arm had detached. The man grabbed the sword with his left hand, and the javelin floated around him.
“I can’t say I’m as good as you, but I’m pretty confident in manipulation and emission,” the man remarked, baring his teeth.
Seong-Hwi stared at him in silence and thought, A manipulation D Weapon. No, even without that, the gap between our basic stats is too big!
The man had at least B-rank Strength and Magic. Seong-Hwi’s Magic stat was barely C-rank, but he couldn’t even use it properly due to the burden it put on him.
I’m sure he spent at least a few years here.
If the bald man were the vanished prisoner Thumper talked about, he would have earned Karma in this dungeon for years. Seong-Hwi understood why the dungeon world remained intact for so long despite the large rank difference between the Fairy Queen’s Knight and the Shadow Fairy Queen’s Knight quests. The fact that Larayu Cradle was hidden must have played a part, but the main reason was likely because this man was helping the Fairy Queen.
“I don’t like your guts. Did you side with the Shadow Fairy Queen because the dungeon corruption quest is easier?” the man asked as he fired a silver bullet from his shoulder.
Seong-Hwi stepped to the side to dodge the bullet by a hair and answered, “All I need is that woman’s wings. The quest comes later.”
“So... you’re after Dryas.”
The bald man’s brown eyes gleamed with bloodlust.
I can’t defeat that man head-on, Seong-Hwi thought as he turned to the female fairy.
Anyone could see she was unwell from how much she was coughing. She was much slower compared to the man.
I’ll wait for the opportunity to slice her wings off and run!
Seong-Hwi hardened his mind.
[Activating Trait: Underdog.]
[Activating Trait: Hundred-Man Killer.]
AHHH—!
The spiteful desire of the weak to devour the strong from the trait Underdog boosted Seong-Hwi’s confidence, and the trait Hundred-Man Killer confronted the bald man’s bloodlust.
Recovery comes first.
His depleting mana was a problem, but his broken body was an even bigger issue. A card came out of the Tarot Deck of Destiny. A beautiful woman in a blue veil wore a crown engraved with the lunar phases. She held an old scroll in one hand and sat on a chair between a black pillar and a white pillar. It was the card No.2 The High Priestess, symbolizing regeneration, healing, reversal, and the like.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Regenerating Crown, one of the symbols of No.2 The High Priestess]
The Regenerating Crown, engraved with the lunar phases, symbolized regeneration. White steam rose from Seong-Hwi once the crown appeared on his head. The torn muscles were reattached, his nosebleed stopped, and the scratches made on his skin during combat closed.
“A healing skill?” the man said in shock as he was about to fire another bullet.
How does he have control over so many mana patterns? No, forget that! If he has a healing skill, then...
The man turned back to glance at Dryas on the ground, coughing with her mouth covered. Blood trickled down her pale forearm.
The bald man pointed the muzzle away from Seong-Hwi and reattached the parts of his prosthetic arm.
“What are you doing?” asked Seong-Hwi, preparing his next skill, with a frown.
“Must you carry out the Shadow Fairy Queen’s Knight quest?” the man asked.
“As I’ve told you, I only need the Fairy Queen’s wings. The quest comes later.”
“The wings, huh? Then we have room for negotiation.”
“What?” Seong-Hwi said as he snorted.
Negotiation was impossible unless the man was willing to rip off the wings of the fairy behind him.
“From your actions until now, you’ll continue to avoid fighting me head-on and aim for Dryas. Although it will be impossible, let me save you the trouble and tell you that you won’t get what you want even if you get the wings.”
Seong-Hwi remained silent. He thought, What is he talking about? Is he telling the truth? Or is it just a bluff?
The man continued, “Just listen to me. If you accept my proposal, it’ll be a win-win for us both.”
***
About forty people were gathered in the banquet hall on the hundredth floor of the Empire State Building. It was on 34th Street in Manhattan, copied to the New York streets of West Earth. The large hall was decorated with extravagant chandeliers, but the space felt tiny due to the overpowering presence of the people filling it.
“Is this everyone? Even if we exclude the Dark Humans, we should have more, right?” said a handsome Italian man with hair slicked back and a cleanly shaven face.
He wore a white suit and tie, brown shoes, a scarf, a handkerchief, and cuffs. He was Nino Manfredi, the number ten High Ranker with the alias Titan.
“The pioneering faction Rankers aren’t here yet. How can they be the last to arrive for the emergency meeting that’s being held because of them?” said an Asian man with four swords on his waist and six on his back.
He was Gao Weiguang, the leader of Clan Seven Swords and the number seven High Ranker.
“They’re finally here,” mumbled an elderly man in his eighties with his eyes closed in the middle of the hall.
He was the number three High Ranker, Lee Bong-Seong, who called for the emergency meeting.
The hall door opened, and three people walked in. They were Tortoise Emperor Lee Kang-San, Maestro Remy Martin, and Doom Sniper Evgeny Lazarev.
Kang-San tickled the shell of the Black Tortoise on his shoulder and said leisurely, “Are we late? I feel so bad for making all you busy Rankers wait.”
“Don’t say what you don’t mean, cheeky brat,” Bong-Seong remarked.
“Oh, you’re here too, Sir Bong-Seong? The elderly should go to bed early.”
“Enough. Let us get straight to the point. Are you... truly planning on picking a fight with Abyete of Humilitas?”
Unlike Bong-Seong with a hardened expression, Kang-San smiled even wider and answered, “Of course.”