Chapter 16: Astral Relic of the Black Stars (3)

Thud! Thud!

Each step from the towering black slime sent a deep rumble through the chamber. Dozens of slick tentacles unfurled from its back, writhing menacingly.

Kwon Oh-Jin trembled as he stared at the giant.

Where the hell did this thing come from?

Just when he had gotten excited and smug over the Astral Relic, some insane shit went down.

He glanced over at Vega who was floating leisurely and watching him with her arms crossed. Her golden eyes gleamed with anticipation, eager to see how he’d handle the monstrous threat.

I can’t even run away now!

What am I supposed to do?

He bit his lip and turned back to the giant slime. Towering at five meters, its bloated, muscular body looked like it had been pumped full of deadly steroids, much like the monster on that Vemon movie poster he’d once seen.

It looks way too OP.

A single punch from that thing could turn Kwon Oh-Jin into a flying disc hurling all the way to the cave entrance.

“Haa.”

Kwon Oh-Jin suppressed the fear that crept up and gripped his spear tightly. He had already told Vega he would take care of it.

If I can’t run, I’ll have to fight and kill it. It’s not entirely impossible.

The beast that looked like it came straight out of Norse mythology probably wasn’t as strong as it seemed.

After all, the black slimes themselves were weak as hell.

They wouldn't have suddenly merged into an invincible monster; this wasn’t Eggsoda's revival in Yu-Gi-Bo.

Alright, let’s do this. If things get rough, I can always bail.

“Krrr.”

The slime giant growled, lowering its body. Its back split open, and dozens of black tentacles shot out.

Squelch!

In the blink of an eye, the tentacles lunged toward Kwon Oh-Jin. Just as they were about to crash into him—

“Take this, you bastard!”

He yanked a small pistol from his pocket and squeezed the trigger. But instead of bullets, something else shot out.

“Krrr?!”

A blinding flare as bright as the sun lit up the dark cave. Accustomed to the darkness, the slime giant flinched and staggered backward, squinting in discomfort.

Now!

Kwon Oh-Jin launched himself forward at full speed across the chamber.

“Huff, huff!”

A trick like that would only work once. He had to make this opportunity count; this was his only shot.

As Kwon Oh-Jin closed the distance, the giant regained its composure and stepped forward.

Five meters.

Kwon Oh-Jin tightened his grip on his spear, and blue lightning crackled around his blazing Stigma.

Three meters.

Its head was too high up to guarantee a solid hit. He needed to strike a wide area with the strongest blow he could muster, so he decided to target its waist.

One meter.

Crack!

He squeezed every ounce of mana from his Stigma.

“Krr?”

“Haaa!”

He unleashed the mightiest skill in his arsenal—Azure Lightning!

Sizzle!

“Kraaaarrrgh!”

He had perfectly hit its spine. The giant twisted in agony, wildly flailing its arms.

Even though Kwon Oh-Jin’s strike was clumsy and desperate, it hit hard enough to blow chunks off. A single strike should’ve killed it.

“Krrrrrr!”

Thud!

The giant, convulsing from the electric shock, dropped to one knee. Its massive arms slashed through the air in vain.

However, the fight didn't end there. Dozens of tentacles shot out from the giant’s back, aiming precisely at Kwon Oh-Jin even amidst the chaos.

Whoosh!

Kwon Oh-Jin inhaled sharply and let go of the spear embedded into the giant's waist.

“Hup!”

Is one hit really not enough?

This creature, as massive as an armored car, couldn't be brought down with a single strike, not even by superhuman Awakeners. Kwon Oh-Jin was well aware of this.

If that's how things are...!

Using the spear lodged in the giant’s waist as a foothold, he propelled himself into the air.

Whoosh!

The tentacles quickly adjusted their trajectory, shooting upwards toward him.

“Ugh!”

From here on out, it was all a gamble. Kwon Oh-Jin hurled the rope he'd prepared toward the cave ceiling; the hook at its end caught onto a stalactite.

Please!

It would be game over for him if the stalactite couldn’t bear his weight and broke. He would get swatted by the tentacles, and then he’d have no choice but to beg Vega to save him.

“Hup!”

He pulled on the rope with all his strength.

Screech!

The hook scraped against the stalactite as Kwon Oh-Jin yanked himself into the air. Below, the tentacles lashed out, barely missing him.

“Fuck yeah!”

The stalactite luckily hadn’t broken. As the tentacles regrouped and shot back toward him, he let go of the rope and plummeted downward, arms spread wide like wings. He landed straight on the giant’s head.

“Die, you bastard!”

“Krrrrrr!”

He shoved both hands into the giant’s soccer ball-sized eye.

Squish!

A sickening squelch echoed as he crushed its eye, followed by a torrent of sticky black goo oozing out. His lips twisted into a wild grin.

“Hehehe!”

Crackle!

His Stigma flared up brilliantly, and blue lightning surged violently through him. He concentrated the intense electricity into his hands, which were still buried in the giant's crushed eye.

“A million volts, motherfucker!

Gigaaa... chuuu

!”

Crackle! Crackle!

“Kraahhh!”

The giant's head finally exploded. Kwon Oh-Jin leaped off the giant as it swayed and then toppled to the ground.

“Haa... Haa...!”

Using Azure Lightning twice in a row left him completely winded. He felt like he had just finished a hundred-meter sprint twenty times straight. His vision blurred, and nausea rushed over him. At that moment, he didn’t care about the Astral Relic or anything else; he merely wished to fall asleep right there and then.

Still, I actually managed to take down that unbeatable monster—

“Watch out!” Vega shouted.

“What?”

A massive object tore through the air.

Whoosh!

He instinctively turned toward the sound and crossed his arms in defense.

“Damn it!”

Bam!

A massive blow like that of a battering ram shook him from head to toe and sent him flying nearly ten meters into the air.

“Argh!”

Crash!

“Ugh! Cough! Cough!”

“Oh-Jin! Are you alright?!”

Vega rushed over, her face pale with worry.

Kwon Oh-Jin supported each arm with the other and dragged himself across the ground. He barely managed to lift his head to look at the creature that had struck him—a headless monster.

“W-What the hell?”

The giant, now nothing but a formless mass of black slime, was still moving.

It didn't fucking die? Damn it.

He realized his calculations had been way off.

At least I didn't break my arms.

He had to thank the Stigma of Lyra for that. It was a blow that would’ve killed any ordinary two-star Awakener on the spot, but he hadn’t even broken a bone. However, it wasn't all good news.

He cast a cold glance at himself. His legs shook violently, his arms pulsed with searing pain, and his hands were empty, weaponless.

This is the worst.

He had no other options left.

“Vega,” he called out, forgetting all formalities. “Grant me your blessing.”

“Alright.”

Vega raised her hand as if she had been waiting for this moment. A brilliant silver light enveloped him completely.

Crackle!

“Agh!”

Vega made a pained expression, likely from the law’s restrictions setting in.

[Vega has bestowed the Blessing of the Stars upon Kwon Oh-Jin.]

[The proficiency of the Stigma of Lyra has temporarily increased!]

A tremendous surge of power coursed through him.

Crackle!

The blue lightning that enveloped him blazed even brighter than before. Perhaps it was because he had grown stronger since the last time he'd received the blessing, but it felt far more potent now.

This must be hard on Vega, but there's no way around it.

Without her blessing, he couldn't take down the giant slime monster.

He steadied his ragged breathing and bent down, planting both hands firmly on the ground and stretching his legs behind him.

Crackle!

He focused the overwhelming power into his legs and launched himself off the ground with explosive force, shooting out toward the giant like an arrow.

Boom!

“K-Krr... Krr.”

The monster couldn't even let out a proper roar but extended dozens of black tentacles in all directions.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

This, however, posed no threat to Kwon Oh-Jin while he made use of the blessing.

“Hmph!”

Crackle!

With a simple swing of his fist, blue lightning fanned out, sweeping across his field of view. He continued to throw punches at the giant as he closed the distance.

“Haa... Haa...!”

His breathing grew more strained. Each punch unleashed a burst of Azure Lightning, so the mana of his Stigma drained rapidly.

It doesn’t matter.

He had more than enough mana to spare. Actually, that was an understatement.

What is this?

He couldn’t explain it, but the more he used his mana, the more it increased.

“Argh!”

Like rain pouring from endless clouds in the sky, his mana refilled faster than it drained. The overwhelming power threatened to tear him apart the way a balloon would pop from too much air.

He roared like a wild beast, throwing punch after punch without stopping.

“Ahhhhh!”

Crackle!

Hundreds of Azure Lightning strikes ravaged the slime giant, leaving nothing but charred remains. Yet it seemed that even its ashes would be eradicated by the violent blue lightning continuing to pour out.

A little more...

Kwon Oh-Jin felt like his head was on fire. His vision began to darken as though black clouds were closing in.

Just a little more.

The intoxicating thrill surging through him sent chills down his spine. Just a bit more, and he felt like he could grasp something—

“Stop.”

The goddess’s clear voice rang through, snapping him out of his delirium and returning his vision to normal.

“It’s already dead.”

Kwon Oh-Jin collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.

“Ha... Ha...”

What was that just now?

The exhilarating, burning sensation still lingered in his body. Along with the explosive increase in mana, he'd experienced a strange feeling he had never felt before.

As he tried to focus on that bygone sensation—

Wooong!

“Argh!”

The Stigma on his chest started to glow brightly.

Vega’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"There's no way...!”

“A-Argh. Arggghhhh!”

Crackle!

Blue lightning flickered around as another stroke was added to his Stigma. Now, there were three distinct strokes on his chest.

Ring!

[The Stigma of Lyra has been promoted to three stars.]

[Thunderbolt has reached Lv3.]

[Azure Lightning has reached Lv2.]

“I-I can’t believe it took you less than a month to reach three stars,” Vega stuttered, unable to hide her shock.

This wasn’t just any ordinary Stigma but that of a North Star Celestial. Even though Kwon Oh-Jin was a Heaven-Defying Star, his growth didn’t make sense. It was like he was riding a motorcycle in a marathon.

“Who are you really...?”

She stared down at him.

“Hmm?”

Kwon Oh-Jin was lying on the ground, motionless.

“My child?”

Vega bent down and poked Kwon Oh-Jin’s cheek, but his eyes remained shut.

“W-Wake up!”

Her voice echoed through the large cavern.