Chapter 214: A Single Serpent

Boom!

The serpent’s head collided with the ground, causing a massive explosion. The scattering debris and cascading rumble gave the illusion as if the sky itself had collapsed. From the midst of the flying debris, Lee Jun-Kyeong appeared with a groan.

“

Ugh!

”

He dragged a body in each hand. They lay limp as he quickly escaped from the center of the chaos and landed nearby.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he put the two people, Heracles and Odysseus, down.

On one hand, Heracles was still seemingly passed out as if he had lost unconsciousness, while on the other, Odysseus, awake, muttered to himself haphazardly as if he couldn’t comprehend what he had just seen, “What the hell is this…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong put his hand on Heracles' body, and with a bright light, Heracles’ complexion began to get better.

“He’ll come to his senses soon.”

The magic he had learned from Merlin was really becoming more and more useful.

Odysseus then called out to Lee Jun-Kyeong, who had already turned back as if to leave, “Are you really going to deal with that?”

Tremble.

The serpent that had only had one head had suddenly come back to life with seven more, and the pressure that had already been overwhelming when it had only had one head had now become so all-encompassing that the Hunter couldn’t control his body properly.

Odysseus could feel it. That serpent was a monster, and it was a monster that couldn’t be compared to anything he had ever faced.

Almost…

It was almost like a dragon brought about to herald the end of the world.

“There’s no other choice, is there?”

However, even in front of such an enemy, Lee Jun-Kyeong spoke calmly.

“

Geughhh

.”

“H… Heracles?”

With a small moaning sound, Odysseus’ focus shifted, asking another question, “Are you okay?”

Heracles' condition was critical. Madness was a power that would consume its user, and Heracles had completely unleashed all the Madness within him in order to deal with an unmatchable foe. The effects of his decision were easy to see.

Ssssss.

Just from the level of red light almost bursting from his body was enough to guess at his condition. As soon as the Hunter woke up, the Madness he had unleashed had begun to devour him. With every rattling breath, more and more red light began to be emitted.

Flicker!

However, a vast mana emanated from Lee Jun-Kyeong and swept over the Hunter.

“Hu…huh…?”

Heracles stretched out his hands in surprise.

Although Heracles and Odysseus may not have known it, Lee Jun-Kyeong also had Madness. Not only did he have Madness that he had obtained from the red ore, but he also had the demonic mana possessed by Muspel’s Spear.

Lee Jun-Kyeong, who had grown to more and more increasing heights, had reached a level that transcended fully manipulating his own Madness. He was now able to even affect Madness within others. However, that didn’t mean that everything was okay.

He commented, “The Madness within you is greater than I thought, Heracles. You have about an hour with which you can hold your sanity together…any more than that, and you might not be able to come back.”

If Heracles ever got completely consumed by Madness, then he would become a berserker, just like the Heracles of Lee Jun-Kyeong’s past. That man had become a berserker and even killed his partner, Odysseus.

He would be crossing a river of no return.[1]

“How nice.”

Still, Heracles seemed satisfied enough with the result. He had amplified his Madness, but he had nevertheless been able to conserve his sanity. Moreover, it had even seemed like he could take things further.

“Can you really say something like that with that

thing

right in front of you?” Odysseus said, seemingly scolding the Hunter as he stood up and lifted his bow.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been on a raid,” he continued to Lee Jun-Kyeong.

It had been a really long while since he had been on a raid to take down a boss within a gate, let alone a boss with this much power.

“Fine. Let’s try killing that crazy serpent bastard.”

“I mean…there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to?” Lee Jun-Kyeong remarked, now feeling Hyeon-Mu and even Hel approaching from afar.

They seemed to have finished off their enemies at this point and were returning to join them. All of their cards had gathered on the table.

–ROAR!!!!!

–ROARR!!!!!!!

Eight heads howled and glared at the party, exuding a mighty aura.

“Does anyone know what Yashin’s title was?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

Yashin was a Hero who had been secretly raised in Japan. That was why he had been unfamiliar even when Lee Jun-Kyeong had seen him in Egypt. His title was also shrouded in secrecy, and Lee Jun-Kyeong had no knowledge of what it could be.

However, it seemed that it wasn’t the same for Olympus.

“Orochi.”

“According to the information we had gathered, his title is Orochi.”

“Orochi…”

The moment Lee Jun-Kyeong said Yashin’s title, a voice rang out.

[ faces the Eight-Headed Serpent head-on.]

It called out to the Eight-Headed Serpent.

[...]

Then soon, what followed was something completely unexpected.

[The true name of the Eight-Headed Serpent is forcibly revealed.]

"What?"

“Forcibly reveal its true name?”

[New Mission]

Simultaneously, the Sponsors of Heracles and Odysseus also requested the same from the two of them as The Sky of the Apocalypse did for Lee Jun-Kyeong.

[Subdue Yamata no Orochi.]

The group looked at each other. Not a single person had been given a mission since the advent of the Cataclysm, but now, a mission was suddenly taking place. The gigantic monster that had appeared before them, Yashin, which possessed the power of a ruler, was now…

“Is that… That’s supposed to be a Sponsor, right…?”

“It’s most likely not the main body of a Sponsor.”

“Then is it a Sponsor that descended through Yashin’s body…”

The three shook their heads at the same time. Although it was a series of unbelievable events, they were still used to at least this much by this point.

“Let’s try.” Lee Jun-Kyeong stepped forward and said, “The Yamata no Orochi Raid.”

Then, as he advanced forward, his eyes stared straight into an empty plot of space for a moment. He didn’t miss it.

‘Set is here.’

There must have been a reason that Set–no, the Demon King had ordered Yashin to incarnate his Sponsor.

Flicker.

A burning spear flew toward the white serpent.

***

“Concentrate!”

Heracles’ cry rang through the air. Although he was engulfed in Madness, still in control of his sanity, Heracles was barely able to hold onto himself. Since Lee Jun-Kyeong had helped him control his Madness, the hunter was now fighting like a godly warrior.

Boom! Boom! Pow!

Madness was numbing his pain and enhancing his instincts. With a savage instinct for blood, Heracles had now become a monster that held onto his sanity. Every time his fist shot forward, Orochi let out a scream.

“Its regeneration is too fast!”

Odysseus was also shooting arrows nonstop.

The special arrows he had saved in his inventory poured out through his bow as if he had been saving them all for this day. The collaborative power of Heracles and Odysseus had been powerful enough to take out another head of the serpent once more.

–ROAR!!!

“Concentrate!”

“Please focus!”

However, the two of them shouted at Lee Jun-Kyeong as the Hunter looked forward.

Swoosh!

A white head ripped through space and flicked forward like a whip.

Boom!

Crash!

Although Lee Jun-Kyeong blocked it with Muspel’s Spear, it was still inevitable that he was thrown to the ground from the force of the blow.

As he stood up, Heracles shouted as he approached the Hunter, “What the hell are you doing?!”

Orochi was running wild.

"Something…” Lee Jun-Kyeong cautiously opened his mouth. “...is strange.”

But there was something weird about the serpent. Everything seemed weird.

“And what the hell is that supposed to be?”

There were five remaining serpent heads.

Heracles and Odysseus had dealt with one.

Lee Jun-Kyeong with another.

–Hisss!!!

Hyeon-Mu and Hel, who had joined later, had also taken on another and brought it crashing down. The heads of the serpent didn’t regenerate as Lee Jun-Kyeong had torched the necks of the heads as they cut them off, the flames still clinging to the cleaved stumps and burning them.

Although everything was going in the party's favor, it had been too easy. For Lee Jun-Kyeong, that was a problem.

Orochi was the Incarnation of a Sponsor. It was a monster that actively used a Ruler’s power and whose body was as large as a landmark built in Jamsil.[2]

But that was all there was to it. It didn’t use any powers, magic, or even any skills. All it could do was passively resist against the party with its sturdy body.

“...!”

Even now, as they were in a precarious position where there was a gap in the party’s defense, Orochi was leaving them alone.

–ROAR!!!

Although Hyeon-Mu’s soldiers and Hel were doing their best to hold the monster in check, there were still five heads left. Even if there was to be a big attack that was to fall, it should have fallen on them already. No, this was too easy.

Lee Jun-Kyeong said, “It’s almost as if it’s fighting.”

“Of course it’s fighting, it’s fighting us…!”

“That’s not what he means.”

Odysseus also seemed to have noticed the oddity.

"It's like it’s resisting something we can't see."

Orochi wasn’t only dealing with their party. There was something else. The monster was fighting against something invisible, an enemy hidden from them. That was why it was only dealing with them with its physical prowess, avoiding using any mana.

“...!’

It made sense.

But, who then? Who was helping them in the battle against Orochi? Moreover, even to do so secretly, out of sight…

Then, the answer hit Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“Set…”

It was only then that Lee Jun-Kyeong noticed.

“You have to kill it!”

"What?"

"Hurry!"

Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly kicked off the ground and soared high into the sky. Although he had been holding power in reserve in order to keep Set in check, he couldn’t afford to do so any longer. Flames began seething from Lee Jun-Kyeong, and as if he had become the sun, a blazing light and heat began to consume the surroundings.

Hel and Hyeon-Mu noticed the changes and started to retreat, as did Heracles and Odysseus.

"What's going on?!"

Of course, although Heracles seemed dissatisfied with this situation, Lee jun-Kyeong’s momentum had grown too far for him to interfere.

As if he was trying to destroy the entire place, Lee Jun-Kyeong was emitting power that they had never seen before.

–ROAR!!!!

Belatedly, Orochi's heads began to move. The remaining five heads began to attack Lee Jun-Kyeong at the same time. The heads moved quickly as if they were bending, shooting forward, holding him back.

–ROAR!!!!

As if it had lost its clam, the serpent finally started to use the skills it had been avoiding until now. One head opened its huge mouth, the gathering mana spinning fiercely as if it meant to sweep everything away. The form of something began to materialize.

If Lee Jun-Kyeong had become the sun, then what had begun to materialize in Orochi’s jaws could also be considered a sun, a black, purple sun. The two suns glared at each other, and the other heads approaching the Hunter started to attack Lee Jun-Kyeong violently.

Boom!

–ROAR!!!!!!!

The head that had flicked forward like a whip melted in the high heat before it could even reach close.

–KEUGAHHHHH!!!!

Another head tried to pierce Lee Jun-Kyeong like a spear and collided with the Hunter, but was left in pieces in the collision.

The other two remaining heads approached his body as if they were swords, swinging down with a sharp aura.

“

Ha-a-eup!

”

Lee Jun-Kyeong radiated his mana to the best of his ability and the sun surrounding Lee Jun-Kyeong’s body began to split apart. Faced with the cleaved sun, Orochi’s two heads exploded.

BOOM!

“...!”

It was all in an instant.

Four of the heads that they had to struggle to cut down with such difficulty had disappeared at once. Lee Jun-Kyeong was emitting enough mana and power that it had been easily possible.

Opposingly, that meant that he was overdoing it to that point in order for that to happen. Like a protagonist in a myth that emerged from an egg, Lee Jun-Kyeong emerged from the cracked sun, his whole body stained red and his shin covered with dragon-like scales.

Muspel’s Spear was no longer a spear, but instead, it seemed to have become a terrifying dragon’s claw.

Rumble.

The mana that had been lingering in Orochi's mouth finally began to stabilize, and as time seemed to slow down to a crawl, the black sun began to flow out from Orochi’s mouth.

Bang!

Without hesitation, Lee Jun-Kyeong rushed forward to the remaining head. The black sun, which had been moving ever so slowly, accelerated in an instant, colliding with Lee Jun-Kyeong, who was running almost at the speed of light.

“

Ugh!

”

“H…hold onto something!”

The resulting explosion gave off a shockwave that shook all of Tokyo, a storm of mana that left all unable to even open their eyes properly.

“...!”

Still, Heracles saw how the explosion unfolded. Lee Jun-Kyeong had been about to cut off Orochi’s last remaining head. However, the moment he collided with Orochi, the pillar of darkness consumed the two once more.

Zztt!!

However, this time, the pillars of darkness didn’t spring up from the ground like during the ritual. This time, it descended from the heavens.

“Underdog—!!!”

Descending, the pillar swallowed Lee Jun-Kyeong and Orochi.

1. Reference to the movie, River of No Return, with Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe. Became wildly popular in Korea as the first Marilyn Monroe movie to come out after her visit to Korea in 1954 on her honeymoon. The actual river is the Salmon River in Idaho, USA. 👈

2. Jamil is famous for its large buildings and arenas, some of which are considered landmarks in Korea for how big they are and the events they host. 👈