Chapter 1385

Chapter 1385

The commentators shouted in excitement as they watched Minhyuk turn to ashes scattered by the wind.

[Minhyuk was able to hold on for 42 seconds in the Pillar’s Endurance!]

[If we’re talking about the duration, then it can be considered short. But honestly speaking, it’s not a short time at all!]

[What’s even more surprising is the fact that Minhyuk was able to kill two Pillars in this endurance game.]

The commentators relished in the afterglow of the splendid fight as they discussed what had happened. And of course, the same was true for the viewers.

[Kghkk. I almost wet my pants there...]

[42 seconds...]

[Lololol. 42 seconds. What bs. 42 seconds is less than a minute. Wth are these people? You’re already amazed by that? Lmao.]

[Bullshit? Not at all. An ordinary player will not even be able to last a second against them.]

[I think we’ll probably die the moment we get summoned...?]

[Guys. I haven’t played Athenae before.]

Although it was a very short time, the impression it left behind for many was intense and thrilling.

[The Pillar’s Endurance’s second participant will be The Maker Hephaestus.]

[Maybe if Hephaestus strengthens his artifacts, then...]

At that moment, Hephaestus declared, “I give up.”

[Hephaestus abstains from participating in the Pillar’s Endurance.]

In the sky above, where the contestants gathered, everyone looked at Hephaestus in surprise.

[It seems like Hephaestus felt an overwhelming amount of stress and pressure.]

[Perhaps this is the smartest choice.]

[Just because he gave up doesn’t mean he won’t participate any longer. This just means that he gave up on being the defender. He can continue to participate as an attacker.]

Many people grew disappointed when they saw Hephaestus abstaining. The commentators assumed and provided their reasons, when in fact, there was only one reason why Hephaestus chose not to participate.

‘This is a competition between Minhyuk and Obren.’

He and the two others just could not find a place in that competition.

[Obren, the third contestant, will soon take his turn.]

[Just like before, the other Pillars have gathered and begun their meeting.]

Minhyuk and the rest of the Pillars gathered together for a discussion.

“He will use the Evil God’s Books the moment we appear.”

The most frightening thing about Obren was his Evil God’s Books.

Activating the Evil God’s Books alone required an astronomical amount of mana. Even if ordinary people got their hands on the Evil God’s Books, they would never be able to use them at all. Alas, that was not the case for Obren. After all, the mana that he possessed completely went beyond common sense.

The Evil God’s Books had endless volumes and skills that Minhyuk was not even aware of. It was proof that it possessed power beyond anyone’s imagination.

“I’ll try to block it. I have a book called Book of Skills. If it goes well, then I might be able to use this Book of Skills to stop the Evil God’s Books for one minute.”

“After the Evil God’s Books have been blocked, I will use my Blacksmith’s Order, the same skill that I used on you earlier, to weaken Obren further.”

Then, The Persistent Beladon said, “Among us, Minhyuk is the one who can maximize the use of my power. When the Repetitive Effort that I applied to Obren earlier meets the power of your Destruction, then you might be able to obtain a force that can go beyond common sense. Perhaps it might help you kill Obren.”

Although they were only given a very short moment, they were able to discuss many things. They were even able to discuss other variables and the scenarios that would occur if these variables were to materialize.

[The Pillar’s Endurance will start in 2 seconds.]

With a flash of light, they appeared around Obren. Every single one of them carried a tense expression as they looked at the Evil God.

[The Pillar’s Endurance will now begin.]

The moment the game started, Master of Life and Death Louis immediately bit his fingertips and took out the Book of Skills. He wrote Obren’s name with the blood that flowed down his fingers. But then...

[In front of the Evil God’s name.]

[No power will work in front of the Evil God’s great and sacred name.]

The moment Obren’s power was activated, Louis stopped writing his name in blood. He just stared at the Evil God and took a step back. Hephaestus, who was preparing to use the Blacksmith’s Order, also took a step back and just stared at him warily. Even Beladon stopped preparing his skill for Minhyuk, his gaze blank as he looked at Obren.

[You have fallen into a state of extreme terror for five seconds.]

[You cannot use any skills.]

Skills needed time to be activated. As for Obren, he was able to activate his skills much faster than anybody else.

Obren scanned his surroundings with his cold and dark stare.

[Everyone is equal in front of me.]

Whether they were humans, gods, or Pillars, they were all equal in front of him.

‘It was our arrogance.’

The Evil God had already made a move before they could even make theirs. They were left with nothing to do.

Obren injected nearly half of his mana into the Evil God’s Books.

Fwish!

White smoke rose from the pages of the Evil God’s Books as they burned the mana that he had injected.

[The Evil God’s Books have been strengthened.]

[The Evil God’s Books have been strengthened.]

Boom!

A lightning bolt fell and devoured Hephaestus. Then, as if on cue, a rain of lightning fell. Thirty-two lightning bolts struck Hephaestus per second, turning him into nothing but ashes in a blink.

This time, the rain of lightning fell upon The Persistent Beladon.

Crackle, crackle!

The never-ending downpour of lightning made Beladon lose his will to fight. In the end, he just meekly accepted the baptism of lightning.

Meanwhile, Master of Life and Death Louis took out his Book of Extinction, which could allow him to unleash his own Pillar’s Disaster. However, the fear that almost devoured him made him forget that he could not use his Book of Extinction.

Rumble!

The crazy downpour of lightning killed Louis in an instant, turning him into a handful of ashes that scattered with the wind.

The entire process took only four seconds. The core of the game was supposed to be Obren enduring and holding out from their attacks, not the other way around. However, Obren completely ignored the rules of the game.

An evil smile appeared on Obren’s face as he made eye contact with

him.

The state of extreme fear and terror that Minhyuk was inflicted with had forced the primal fear that was deeply embedded in his being to surface.

In that moment, Minhyuk gained a fleeting moment of clarity. In that split-second moment, he could have applied the Absolute Defense on himself. However, he could not help but doubt himself. He wondered if he could truly win. Why? Because right now, Obren looked like a steep mountain that he could not dare to climb.

[Do you remember the talk that we had before?]

Obren raised his hands. His fingers were poised to snap, ready to attack Minhyuk. Minhyuk, who saw this scene, bowed in fear. He looked just like a scared puppy. But then, a memory of the past flashed in his head.

***

One fine day.

Obren, who was lying on a tree branch, asked Minhyuk...

[Is there something that you want to do after you have established yourself as the Pillar of the Gourmands and become the Master of the West?]

“Yeah! I will eat more delicious dishes!”

[Idiot. Is your head only filled with thoughts of food?]

Minhyuk pondered over the question for a very long time. What did he want to do? What could it be, and could he do it? Although what he wanted might seem impossible to achieve for others, it was something that he truly wanted to obtain.

“If there’s one... then maybe winning against the Evil God?”

Obren smiled wryly.

[I am the Evil God. The Evil God is an existence that can make you freeze and lose your mind with just a simple eye contact.]

[I am a being who drags out the man’s greatest fear out in the open. The Evil God can be said to be the Pillar of Fear.]

“That’s right. You’re the Pillar of Fear. Nonetheless, one day, I want to be able to overcome that fear and beat you.”

Minhyuk declared that he would beat Obren. He could not help but chuckle. That was also what he wanted.

‘It has to be him. Only he has the qualifications to knock me down and beat me.’

“It will probably happen someday, no?”

With a kind and sweet voice, Obren answered...

[That day will come.]

***

Minhyuk slowly raised his head. Gone was the scared puppy as the fear that wrapped around his entire body melted away and disappeared.

Extreme fear and terror were merely an abnormal state within the game. Since it was a status that was related to fear and terror, he could overcome it as long as he overcame his fear of the true Evil God.

A blue barrier appeared around Minhyuk.

“Today’s the day that I will win against you.”

Obren also recalled the conversation that they had that day. He smiled.

[I give up.]

[Evil God Obren abstains from participating in the Pillar’s Endurance.]

Regardless, their competition was not yet over. It was just that they knew that there was no need to endure and hold out any longer. This was no longer about the competition. It was now about the true fight between Minhyuk and Obren.

[An unexpected situation occurs! The Evil God has withdrawn from the game!]

[However, Obren has not disappeared even after giving up.]

[This competition is going in a very unexpected direction.]

[Based on the flow of events, we can see that there’s no point in Obren doing the Pillar’s Endurance any longer.]

[You can see it in his gaze. He wants something else, not just some competition determined by holding out and enduring.]

[From what we can see, Player Minhyuk also wants the same thing.]

The quick-witted President Kang Taehoon began to issue urgent orders.

The entire world was watching Obren and Minhyuk with bated breath. Even the commentators were staring at the two of them. They all gulped dryly as they waited for whatever would unfold from this situation.

[The Pillar Great War: Special Battle will now begin.]

[Special Battle: Obren vs. Minhyuk!]

The entire world, including countless commentators, cheered.

[The winner of the battle will be given the

Title

: Athenae’s Strongest.]

Fwooosh!

Smoke rose from the pages of the Evil God’s Books once again.

[The Evil God’s Books’ mana has dispersed.]

[The Evil God’s Books have grown 20% weaker.]

This was the penalty that Obren incurred after taking down four Pillars all at once. However, that did not mean that he had grown truly weak.

A black current of energy shot out from the Evil God’s Books and seeped through Minhyuk’s skin.

[You cannot use the Absolute Defense stored in your Save skill.]

Obren had been hit by this once; he would never allow it to happen again.

[The time that you have a given advantage over me is only ten seconds.]

[Can you do it in that short amount of time?]

Ten seconds, that was the duration of the Absolute Defense that Minhyuk had triggered at this moment. It was truly a short amount of time.

Ten seconds.

The ground shook beneath Minhyuk’s feet. It split apart and tried to devour him whole. Minhyuk flew using Hermes’ Shoes.

Nine seconds.

At that moment, the Evil God’s Shield, a shield shining with black light, was formed in front of Obren.

Eight seconds.

Gulp!

Minhyuk swallowed the Gourmands’ Five Stars’ Star of Stamina and Star of Agility at the same time.

Seven seconds.

Destruction appeared on the blade of Minhyuk’s sword as the power of the Star of Skill and Star of Strength seeped into him.

Six seconds.

With both hands holding a sword, Minhyuk hacked at the Evil God’s Shield with all his might.

Bang, bang, bang!

Almost a hundred lightning bolts carrying immense destructive power rained down upon the Evil God’s Shield. As the lightning wreaked havoc, cracks appeared on the surface of the shield that spread out like a spider’s web. Not long after, the shield broke apart like fragile glass hit with slight force.

Five seconds.

A powerful force shot out from the Evil God’s fingertips and created an intense explosion that blocked Minhyuk’s eyesight.

BANG!

Four seconds.

[God of Lightning.]

[The God of Lightning has a 1.3% chance of being triggered. Upon activation, it will double your attack speed and triple your movement speed for three seconds.]

With the power of the Star of Agility seeping into the God of Lightning, Minhyuk became almost four times faster than usual. He used this speed to attack the Evil God from all directions. But each strike was met with the Evil God’s Shield. It persistently appeared to protect Obren from all of his attacks.

Three seconds.

At that moment, the Supreme Blade, an artifact created by Obren and the other three Pillars, resonated as it unleashed the power contained within its blade.

[Simultaneous Activation.]

[The Sword of Carnage, the Supreme Overlord’s Technique, and Crazy have been activated at the same time.]

Two seconds.

Minhyuk tried to swing his sword at the Evil God, his blade bearing the symbol of Crazy. However, each strike was blocked by the Evil God’s Shield. Thankfully, the power of Crazy was finally able to break through the defenses of the black shield.

Clank!

Obren tried to recreate the shattered shield, but it failed to respond to his activation. At that moment, the faster and stronger Supreme Overlord’s Technique and Sword of Carnage hit him straight in the gut. Obren hurriedly tried to widen the distance between him and Minhyuk despite the blazing flames that wanted to devour him whole.

One second.

“Transcendence.”

A black stream of energy gathered above Minhyuk’s head. Unfortunately, the blue barrier of the Absolute Defense that protected Minhyuk disappeared completely.

Zero.

[It’s over.]

Evil God Obren smiled. The ten seconds that Minhyuk had an advantage over Obren were finally over. Obren’s expression clearly implied that he had already won.

The power of the Evil God gathered in the sky above them and threatened to fall at any given moment.

But... Minhyuk was not yet done.

Another

zero.

However, the lifting of Absolute Defense did not necessarily mean that he had lost.

Rumble!

Minhyuk looked at the huge lightning bolt that was coming at him fast. He hurriedly pulled out a frying pan from his inventory and swung it with all his might.

Another zero.

Obren was stunned. He could only stare at Minhyuk, who held the frying pan with both hands.

CLANG!

Evil God Obren fell.

[Ugh!]

Bang!

A thick cloud of dust rose as Obren landed heavily on the ground.

Another zero.

Minhyuk hurriedly approached him. He looked at Obren and growled, “Who are you to decide when I have lost?”

Minhyuk’s cold gaze landed upon Obren, whose blood was gushing out of his mouth.