Chapter 72
Gilder quickly assessed the situation and shouted, “We can’t let her get close to the cradles! Let’s move the fight somewhere else!” He turned to Dryas and said, “Stay here, Dryas!”
“B-but—”
“Seong-Hwi! Let’s go! We’ll attack her first! I don’t know how she found this place, but... It’s better for us. This place is overflowing with Harmony Force, so we have the upper hand. We’ll settle this once and for all today!”
Gilder quickly ran to the source of the Chaos Mana. Seong-Hwi watched him from behind and turned to Dryas, quietly asking, “Can you activate the skill once I recover your wings?”
“The skill?” Dryas asked in confusion.
However, she understood what he meant once she saw Seong-Hwi’s serene sunken eyes. Her body was already on the verge of collapse. She could temporarily exert her full power once she recovered her wings, but the consequences were obvious.
Dryas stared solemnly at the running Gilder’s back and answered Seong-Hwi, “Yes, I can.”
***
“AAAAAHHHHH!”
The Shadow Fairy Queen approached, destroying everything in her path with multiple grey briars. It was partly because she was in a fit of rage after her cradles exploded, but it was also to destroy the Harmony Force-filled environment.
“Gilder, since it’s just us two, forget setting a detailed Paulo formation. I’ll be a support and a ranged attacker. You’ll be the tank and melee attacker,” Seong-Hwi said.
“Okay! You’d better cover me well!” Gilder concisely replied and charged at the Shadow Fairy Queen without hesitation.
A rocket nozzle appeared from the elbow region of his D Weapon, Prosthetic Arm of Sin.
[Activating Unique Skill: Joint Rocket.]
Blue mana surged from the nozzle, propelling Gilder. He instantly reached the Shadow Fairy Queen.
“HUMAN!”
“Haaah!”
Gilder’s fist collided with the Shadow Fairy Queen’s grey briars. Gilder’s silver fist broke through the dry briars.
“You’re certainly weaker!” he shouted.
“Arrogant bastard!”
[Activating Race Skill: Chaos Scales.]
The Shadow Fairy Queen flapped her ten pairs of wings, scattering tiny, grey scales. Grass, trees, insects, and birds melted once the scales touched them.
“Gilder! Dodge!” Seong-Hwi shouted as he activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Ace of Wands]
[Two of Wands]
[Three of Wands]
[Four of Wands]
The ten wands rapidly fired fireballs in all directions. The scales melted once they touched the fireballs, and the explosions blew away the remaining scales.
“Alright!”
[Activating Unique Skill: Hand Action.]
[Activating Unique Skill: Arm Sword.]
Gilder’s right hand detached from his wrist, and a blade shot out from where the hand was. He slashed the grey briars with the Arm Sword, and the detached fist flung at the Shadow Fairy Queen using the momentum from the Joint Rocket.
“No, you don’t!” the Shadow Fairy Queen shouted.
[Activating Unique Skill: Dry Seed.]
A wilted flower sprouted from the ground under the Shadow Fairy Queen’s foot. It raised its head and fired seeds like bullets.
“Leave them to me!” Seong-Hwi shouted.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Chasing Bow, one of the symbols of No.3 The Hunter]
[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]
Seong-Hwi grabbed the Chasing Bow and fired arrows infused with Rust of Ruin to raise their attack one after another, shooting down every seed. Thanks to Seong-Hwi’s support, Gilder’s right fist smashed into the Shadow Fairy Queen’s abdomen, sending her flying.
“We make a great team!” Gilder shouted.
“We’re only getting started!” Seong-Hwi replied.
The Shadow Fairy Queen flew upward from the dust cloud roughly a hundred meters away. Her grey eyes fixed on something.
“I see. That’s where Mother’s cradles are!” she shouted as her ten pairs of wings flashed iridescently.
Understanding what that meant from experience, Seong-Hwi shouted, “She’s about to teleport!”
He rapidly fired arrows using the Chasing Bow, but the Shadow Fairy Queen was so far away that the power of each arrow was significantly lowered.
“I won’t let her!” Gilder shouted as his right upper arm detached from his torso and a gun barrel sprouted from his shoulder.
[Activating Unique Skill: Shoulder Gun.]
The Shoulder Gun fired bullets at the Shadow Fairy Queen, forcing her to cancel her teleport skill and dodge the bullets.
“Annoying insects!” she shouted.
“Gilder! Do you have a burst skill?!” Seong-Hwi asked.
“I have one, but it needs time to charge!” Gilder responded.
“How long?”
“Three minutes!”
“Okay. Let’s change roles for three minutes. I’ll be the tank, you’re the nuker!”
A burst skill was a one-shot-one-kill ability. Seong-Hwi judged that Gilder was better suited for the role since he possessed B-rank Magic.
Seong-Hwi charged at the Shadow Fairy Queen and examined his Karma.
[Karma: 190,205]
He had accumulated 190,000 Karma from destroying over a thousand dry leaf cradles and clearing hidden and trait quests. He usually thought long and hard when opening cubes to maintain balance between his stats, but he was in the middle of combat. He needed to open stat cubes for the most important stats at this moment.
[Dexterity D(10) obtained.]
[Dexterity E(99) → Dexterity D(10)]
[Sense D(11) obtained.]
[Sense E(99) → Sense D(11)]
[Tarot Deck of Destiny D(15) obtained.]
[Tarot Deck of Destiny D(9) obtained.]
...
[Tarot Deck of Destiny C(9) obtained.]
[Tarot Deck of Destiny D(13) → Tarot Deck of Destiny C(9)]
Seong-Hwi first used twenty thousand Karma to raise his Dexterity and Sense stats, which were useful in combat, to D-rank. Next, he poured the remaining 170,000 Karma into raising his D Weapon stat to C-rank to boost the power of his skills. A normal person would have required time to adjust to the changes in stats, but Seong-Hwi immediately activated his skills.
“Hup!”
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Penetrating Spear, one of the symbols of No.7 The Chariot]
[Rose Wreath of Strength, one of the symbols of No.8 Strength]
[Strength D(53) → Strength D(99)]
A two-meter-long spear appeared in Seong-Hwi’s hand, and a rose wreath appeared on his head.
“IT’S YOU!” the Shadow Fairy Queen shouted, realizing Seong-Hwi was the one who destroyed her cradles.
She quickly flew downward, enveloped in grey Chaos Mana. Seong-Hwi and the Shadow Fairy Queen collided.
***
Gilder reattached the parts of his right arm and focused mana into it while Seong-Hwi clashed against the Shadow Fairy Queen.
“Kurgh!”
Blood vessels repeatedly pulsed under his bald head. The scorpion tattoo on his head wriggled as if it were alive.
Gilder was preparing the burst skill, Mana Explosion Punch, which one could obtain from B-rank skill cubes, and he had also raised it to B-rank. The skill was a standout burst skill with B-rank potential, but it was rarely used by anyone because it was like the four-stroke cycle of a piston engine: intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust.
The skill took in as much mana as possible, compressed it, and used the power generated from its combustion to destroy the enemy. The only problem was that the user’s arm acted as the piston engine’s cylinder; one mistake could blow the user’s arm off. Hence, the skill wasn’t recommended for those without high Health stats.
However, Gilder was an exception. His D Weapon, Prosthetic Arm of Sin, acted as the cylinder, so the risk was much lower.
The Prosthetic Arm of Sin had taken in enough mana and entered its compression phase. Gilder sweated buckets as he observed the battlefield. The Shadow Fairy Queen was utterly overpowering Seong-Hwi.
Hold on! Gilder shouted inwardly.
There were two minutes left.
***
“I’LL TEAR YOU APART!” the Shadow Fairy Queen shouted as she tried to grab Seong-Hwi’s shoulder with her hand covered in grey Chaos Mana.
Seong-Hwi quickly intercepted the attack by twisting the Shadow Fairy Queen’s hand and thrusting his spear at her os. However, the Penetrating Spear did not live up to its name and failed to penetrate her Chaos Mana.
Dammit! I should’ve borrowed Li Shuwen’s destiny in advance! he shouted inwardly.
God Spear Li Shuwen was a four-card destiny of a martial artist, unparalleled in his skills with a spear. Having his destiny would have boosted Seong-Hwi’s chances in close combat.
This was the flaw of Borrowing Destiny. Like going to a library to borrow a book, Seong-Hwi had to visit the memory palace to borrow a destiny. However, there was no such leeway during combat. Seong-Hwi had to borrow destinies in advance according to his needs, but borrowing too much corrupted his psyche.
If only I had some ayahuasca!
The psychoactive drug ayahuasca supplemented Borrowing Destiny’s dilemma, but Seong-Hwi did not have any right now. Hence, he had to make do with the destinies he possessed.
He rolled backward and observed the grass. The Shadow Fairy Queen quickly chased after him, but the ground suddenly glowed red.
“This is—”
The grass exploded before the Shadow Fairy Queen could finish her sentence. Seong-Hwi had set up Nature’s Judgment during his retreat. The Shadow Fairy Queen remembered the skill that destroyed her cradles. Her eyes rolled backward, and her Chaos Mana surged.
“DIE!” she screamed.
[Activating Unique Skill: Dry Thorn Punishment.]
The terrain was instantly covered in briars, and their thorns suddenly extended to stab Seong-Hwi.
“Kurgh!” he grunted as a card flew out of the Tarot Deck of Destiny.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Indomitable Armor, one of the symbols of No.4 The Emperor]
A steel armor appeared around Seong-Hwi. However, the gap between him and the Shadow Fairy Queen was clear despite raising his D Weapon stat to C-rank. Two thorns penetrated the Indomitable Armor and the Barbed Snake Brigandine, stabbing his abdomen.
“Urgh!”
[Indomitable Armor destroyed.]
[Unavailable for 72 hours.]
Is he still not ready? Seong-Hwi wondered as he clenched his bleeding abdomen and glanced backward.
Gilder looked like he needed a little more time. The three minutes felt like three hours.
“IT’S OVER! THIS IS REVENGE FOR MY BABIES!” the Shadow Fairy Queen shouted as she outstretched her arms.
Enough Chaos Mana to distort the space gathered before her. Just then, a grey rainbow that looked like a pencil drawing appeared.
That’s... Seong-Hwi trailed off in his thoughts.
He recalled Dryas using a similar skill. However, unlike Dryas’s rainbow, the Shadow Fairy Queen’s grey rainbow sent chills down Seong-Hwi’s spine.
[Activating Race Skill: Disharmony Rainbow.]
The skill was exclusively preserved for the queen of fairies. The Shadow Fairy Queen grabbed the Disharmony Rainbow like a sword, and her wings shone brightly.
That’s dangerous! Seong-Hwi thought as he jumped backward and activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Ace of Pentacles]
[Two of Pentacles]
[Three of Pentacles]
[Four of Pentacles]
Seong-Hwi embodied ten pentacles and fused them to create a shield large enough to cover his entire body. The star engraving in the center flashed. However, the Shadow Fairy Queen instantly reached Seong-Hwi and sliced the pentacle like tofu with the Disharmony Rainbow.
[Pentacles destroyed.]
[Unavailable for 72 hours.]
The Shadow Fairy Queen had intended to split her mortal enemy in two along with the golden shield, but a wooden box was where Seong-Hwi had been. It was the Unabomb Seong-Hwi had embodied before she had realized it.
The Unabomb exploded, not to damage the Shadow Fairy Queen, but a genius idea by Seong-Hwi to use the explosion to escape.
“Your struggles are pointless!” the Shadow Queen shouted.
She stared at Seong-Hwi tumbling across the ground at a distance, and her wings flashed iridescently again. She leaped through space as if teleporting and raised the Disharmony Rainbow. However, she felt a chilling presence from behind her. It was Gilder, whose arm was shining white after completing his preparations.
Gilder shouted at the collapsed Seong-Hwi, “Bind her!”
Seong-Hwi reached behind him before Gilder finished his sentence. He threw the Ackher Ring Dagger and wrapped her with the Longus String tied to the ring pommel on the dagger.
“It’s futile!” the Shadow Fairy Queen yelled.
She exuded more grey Chaos Mana, breaking the Longus String like cooked spaghetti. However, that minuscule delay was enough time for one punch.
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!” Gilder roared as he outstretched his arm, combusting the mana he had taken in and compressed.
[Activating Skill: Mana Explosion Punch.]
A ten-meter-tall white pillar of mana shot forth in the direction of the punch, tearing apart everything in its path like a bladed tornado.
“KYAAAAAAAAAAH!” the Shadow Fairy Queen screamed.
Not even Chaos Mana, which allowed the Shadow Fairy Queen to block every skill until now because of its superiority over mana, could protect her from the devastating power of the Mana Explosion Punch. She collapsed as she vomited black blood.
Gilder landed amidst the dust cloud, panting, “Huff! Huff! Urgh!”
The Prosthetic Arm of Sin, dented in various areas like an aluminum can, exhausted fumes. Gilder’s eyes were fixed on the pit where the Shadow Fairy Queen had collapsed.
“Is she dead?” Gilder said.
However, an explosion drove the dust cloud away, revealing the standing Shadow Fairy Queen.
“Urgh... Argh!” she groaned.
She was standing, but did not look normal. Her grey hair was disheveled, and she was bleeding from cuts everywhere on her body. She held a half-destroyed Disharmony Rainbow. It seemed she had reflexively blocked the attack but failed to endure the full brunt of it.
“Let’s keep pouring her with attacks, Seong-Hwi! She’s tired!”
“Huff! Huff! Okay. I’ll be the ranged attacker again—”
Just as Seong-Hwi and Gilder prepared for combat again, the Shadow Fairy Queen acted erratically. She stuck her hand into her abdomen under her belly button and pulled out her black os.
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!” she roared.
A jet-black aura enveloped the Shadow Fairy Queen like a pupa undergoing metamorphosis.
“That can’t be!”
“NO!”
Seong-Hwi quickly threw the Penetrating Spear, but the jet-black aura crushed the spear like a black hole.
“It’s her secondary transformation!” Gilder shouted.
It was the decisive difference between a Uluhatu Chaos and all Chaos ranks below it. Chaos, whether Invasive or Natural, underwent a primary transformation to become Chaos. However, Uluhatu-rank Chaos and above underwent another transformation, similar to Mirror World residents heightening their caliber.
The black shell cracked and opened like a blooming flower, revealing the Shadow Fairy Queen, who had grown ten centimeters taller to 170 cm. Her skin and hair had turned black, and only her eyes shone grey. Her ten pairs of wings had also been dyed black, and a grey crown was on her head.
The Shadow Fairy Queen looked down in silence and suddenly disappeared.
“W-what? Where did she—don’t tell me!” Gilder shouted as he turned to where Dryas was.