Chapter 71
The sun of the next day rose. Seong-Hwi walked through the thickets near the Shadow Fairy Queen’s territory with Shadowless Plum Blossom Branch and Hermit’s Robe active.
Last time, she detected my presence from roughly a kilometer away, Seong-Hwi thought.
Not only was the Shadow Fairy Queen a Natural Uluhatu Chaos, but she was also a dungeon boss. Hence, she couldn’t be treated like other Uluhatu-rank Chaos.
I’ll move as if she were nearly Hispar-rank.
It was impossible to deceive the senses of such a being with Seong-Hwi’s current stats and skills. Hence, there was only one way: a diversion.
I’m just a little over a kilometer away.
Seong-Hwi pulled out a card from the Tarot Deck of Destiny. The card showed a woman in white with a rose wreath on her head, petting a terrifying black lion as if it were a puppy.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Dauntless Black Lion, one of the symbols of No.8 Strength]
A black lion, as large as an SUV, with black fur, yellow eyes, and wriggling muscles, was embodied before Seong-Hwi. He usually embodied it when using a transformation ability, but he embodied it for a different reason.
“Go! Draw as much attention as possible!” Seong-Hwi shouted.
Growl!
The Dauntless Black Lion ran through the thickets without hesitation. Seong-Hwi observed the Chaos’ movements with the Observer’s Earring.
And I’ll use this chance to approach from the east.
Seong-Hwi ran to get into position.
***
“My queen! We have an intruder in the west!” an Adora-rank knight shouted.
The Shadow Fairy Queen frowned at the report and asked, “Is it the human?”
“No, it is... a giant black beast.”
“A beast?” She stared at her knight irritably and continued, “Kill it. It’ll scare my baby fairies.”
“Yes, my queen!” the knight answered and disappeared.
The Shadow Fairy Queen looked to the west and activated a skill.
[Activating Race Skill: Chaos Fairy Eyes.]
Her eyes were dyed with Chaos Mana, and as her knight had reported, she saw the black beast running through the forest.
What is that beast? Is it a new Chaos? she wondered.
It might have been born from negative emotions like she had, meaning her mother had created yet another Chaos.
“Ahhh! Mother, you couldn’t wait and created yet another—Wait!”
The Shadow Fairy Queen quickly turned to the east, belatedly noticing a new presence. Her grey eyes detected an invisible human jumping through the forest, about to land directly above the cradles from where the baby fairies would be born.
“NO!” she screamed as she activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Dry Thorn Rampage.]
Grey briars surged toward the sky.
***
Seong-Hwi perfectly aimed for the chance the Dauntless Black Lion created for him. He jumped straight into the center of the enemy’s territory once their attention was focused on the west. He looked down from above and saw around a thousand dry leaf cradles.
Grey briars sprouted from the ground toward Seong-Hwi like spears. It did not seem like Seong-Hwi had anywhere to dodge since he was in midair, but he calmly activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Ace of Pentacles]
[Two of Pentacles]
[Three of Pentacles]
[Four of Pentacles]
Ten golden pentacles appeared in midair. Seong-Hwi normally used the pentacles, imbued with the earth element, for defense, but not now. He jumped from one pentacle to another like a pinball to travel in the air. He had named this technique pentacle moving for air battles.
“STOP!” the Shadow Fairy Queen shouted at the human who dodged the grey briars and descended even quicker.
Just then, Seong-Hwi received an Akasha Message.
[Dauntless Black Lion destroyed.]
[Unavailable for 72 hours.]
I have no time! Seong-Hwi shouted inwardly.
Since the Dauntless Black Lion, acting as a diversion, had disappeared, the Chaos gathered in the west would return to the center.
Seong-Hwi landed on the ground and immediately activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]
[Unabomber]
The destiny of Iljimae, maintaining the Shadowless Plum Blossom Branch, disappeared, and Seong-Hwi appeared. However, unlike Iljimae’s severe lack of presence, the madness of the insane genius terrorist filled Seong-Hwi’s eyes.
“Hup!” Seong-Hwi grunted, drawing out mana of his C-rank Magic to activate the Unabomber’s exclusive skill, the ability to turn any substance of nature into a bomb.
[Activating Exclusive Skill: Nature’s Judgment.]
Seong-Hwi ran between the dry leaf cradles, grazing them with his fingertips. The wave from his finger immediately transferred to the cradles.
Kik! Kigik!
Gyagyak!
The Pirupikos that returned from the west discovered the human running between the cradles and charged at him.
“NO!” the Shadow Fairy Queen shouted, attacking the Briar Pirupikos and destroying their os. “DON’T HARM THE CRADLES!”
She couldn’t attack the human because she feared her attacks would damage the cradles.
“GET AWAY FROM MY BABIES!”
Seong-Hwi became certain his plan would succeed once he saw the Shadow Fairy Queen’s reaction.
“I have a gift for you!” he shouted as he activated the Unabomber’s only symbol.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Unabomb]
A rectangular wooden box was embodied in Seong-Hwi’s hand. He threw it at the cluster of dry leaf cradles and quickly retreated.
“CAPTURE HIM!” the Shadow Fairy Queen commanded to her subordinates.
She quickly flew toward the wooden box the human had thrown, arriving immediately as if teleporting once her ten pairs of wings flashed iridescently. An unsettling ticking noise continuously echoed from the box.
“Oh no!” the Shadow Fairy Queen shouted.
The mana inside the wooden box also became more unstable as the sound became higher-pitched.
[Activating Unique Skill: Dry Leaf.]
A giant dry leaf appeared once the Shadow Fairy Queen activated her skill, wrapping the wooden box in several layers. The Unabomb exploded soon after but did not cause damage; it only shook the dry leaf enveloping it.
“Phew. Are you safe, my—” The Shadow Fairy Queen’s face crumpled instantly as she looked around at the cradles in relief, thinking she had stopped the explosion.
Most of the dry leaf cradles turned red and simultaneously exploded. Over a thousand dry leaf cradles had become ash in a few seconds. The ash fell on the ground like black snow.
“Ah! Ahhh! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” the Shadow Fairy Queen, covered in black ash, screamed in disbelief, clenching her head. “NO! NO! MY BABIES!!!”
She did not suffer any physical damage from the explosions, but was hit by severe psychological shock from witnessing her dry leaf cradles turning into ash.
“THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! I’VE SPENT A MILLENNIUM WAITING!”
The Shadow Fairy Queen grabbed the pieces of the dry leaf cradles sprawled on the ground, but her touch only turned them into smaller pieces. She gritted her teeth, and her wings flashed simultaneously.
“I’LL KILL YOU!!!” she screamed, vanishing from where she was standing and chasing after Seong-Hwi.
***
[54 Karma obtained.]
[62 Karma obtained.]
[59 Karma obtained.]
...
[Minor purification merits obtained.]
[Minor purification merits obtained.]
...
[Hidden Quest: Mass Slaughter, complete.]
...
[Trait Quest: Slaughtering the Weak, complete.]
[Unlocking Trait: Scorn for the Weak.]
...
“Huff! Huff!” Seong-Hwi panted heavily as he sprinted through the forest, with no time to read the Akasha Messages.
He had Shadowless Plum Blossom Branch and Hermit’s Robe active, but the Shadow Fairy Queen was accurately chasing him.
Can you even call this luring?! Seong-Hwi shouted inwardly.
He planned to blow up the dry leaf cradles that the Shadow Fairy Queen cared deeply for and lure her to Larayu Cradle. However, forget luring—she would instantly catch up to him if he wasn’t sprinting with all his might.
“YOU BASTARD!” the Shadow Fairy Queen screamed.
The back of Seong-Hwi’s head felt itchy.
“Hup!” he grunted as he quickly changed direction.
The rocks and trees in the direction he had been running were ground to pieces by a spinning briar as if put in a blender.
“I’LL KILL YOU!”
The Shadow Fairy Queen was about to activate another skill, but Seong-Hwi quickly lifted the dry leaf cradle he was carrying.
“Then I’ll kill this!” he shouted.
“NO! STOP!”
The Shadow Fairy Queen canceled her skill, and Seong-Hwi used that chance to run even faster.
“COWARDLY RAT!”
She chased after the fleeing Seong-Hwi and arrived at a large rock.
“Where did he—huh?” The Shadow Fairy Queen noticed half of a footstep outside the rock as she looked around for Seong-Hwi, who suddenly vanished. “Could this be?”
She stuck her head into the rock and saw a different world before her.
“So, this is where you were hiding, Mother!”
She finally discovered why she had been unable to find the remaining cradles, her mother, and the human who was assisting her until now. They had been in a separate space this whole time. Just then, she felt stifled as if she were in an alpine region.
“Harmony Force!” the Shadow Fairy Queen shouted.
The space was filled with the secondary force of fairies. The Shadow Fairy Queen regained her composure and calmly assessed the situation. Her elite troops couldn’t reach her since she had been the only one who could see through Seong-Hwi’s stealth and chase him.
“Was I lured here?” she wondered.
She was sure of it. The human had thought they stood a chance if they lured her to this space overflowing with Harmony Force.
“What a cheap trick. Oh!”
The Shadow Fairy Queen was about to pull her head out of the rock when she discovered a dry leaf cradle under a tree. It was the last cradle remaining after everything else was reduced to ashes. However, even this cradle was slowly dyed red before her eyes.
The Shadow Fairy Queen turned pale and shouted, “N—”
The last dry leaf cradle exploded, turning to ash and scattering before she could finish her scream. Something snapped inside the Shadow Fairy Queen’s head.
***
Dryas and Gilder were startled by the explosion, turning toward the source.
“What was that?” Dryas asked.
“It came from the entrance!” Gilder shouted as he clenched his right hand and stood in front of Dryas.
“Huff! Huff!”
Just then, Seong-Hwi canceled his skill in midair and tumbled across the ground.
“Seong-Hwi! What happened?!”
“Huff! Huff! The Shadow Fairy Queen... found this place!”
“What kind of bullshit is—” Gilder said but an approaching unsettling energy interrupted him.
His expression crumpled as he noticed the destructive aura as if light and darkness were clashing. The fear stimulated his survival instincts.
“Chaos Mana...” Gilder trailed off.
“Only one person in this dungeon can exude such powerful Chaos Mana in Larayu Cradle!”
“Oh my God!”