Chapter 264 – The Hoarder (4)

Kwang!

Kookookoo—

Above in the sky where the explosion soared up, there was a thick column of black smoke. The mountains shook, and then an avalanche startled rumbling down.

The shock had been so great that the castle walls trembled.

Each of the players on the castle walls had stiff faces. Even though they wanted to rest, they couldn’t because of their nerves.

“…..S***. What just happened?”

The continuous attacks of the snow monsters always exhausted players.

They were monsters that continued to pour out no matter how many you killed. They didn’t feel pain and only knew to run at you. No matter how much of an advantage you had being on the defending side, you would be exhausted if they kept on pouring out.

Also, they didn’t care about stepping on their comrades or using them as tools. Under the castle walls, there were piles of monster corpses. It was all a stepping stool for them.

Sometimes, they shot the corpses of monsters using a cannon. It was a method they came up to decrease the amount of players in any way possible, because the body of the corpse would break like ice when it crashed into something.

Until the sun rose at 6, the players had to continue to fight without rest.

No matter how much fire-type magic the magicians used, the warriors pushed away the monsters from the castle walls, or the priests prayed for blessings, the continued attacks didn’t let up.

Thankfully, the monsters were now almost gone since it was nearly daybreak, but the players weren’t able to sleep easily because they were too breathless from the battle.

However, a new nervousness was being added to that.

On the snowy mountains far away, explosions repetitively burst again and again.

Each time that happened, the forces at the base were reminded of the snow monsters arriving.

They even felt scared that the monsters who had been sleeping would wake up.

They knew who was doing it. The Hoarder. After he jumped down from the castle walls like a psycho, it had continued to be like that.

He didn’t seem to have any plans to return because as time went on, the smoke moved further away from the castle walls. Still, the trembling they felt from the ground was the same, so it meant that the explosions were getting stronger.

Despite there being an exorbitant amount of snow monsters, not a single monster appeared from where the Hoarder had been.

Thanks to that, the players all watched that area, their Adam’s apples bobbing up and down. What was the Hoarder doing? How long would the guy that was more monster-like than the snow monsters keep it up?

Just then, a few players exchanged looks and moved quietly to a shaded area.

* * *

“Die, human!”

Yeon-woo stretched his head to the right to avoid the blade and swung Vigrid in that direction.

Black Aura split the air. Fire spewed from its trajectory. It didn’t just cut the monster’s arm, but it also burnt 5 monsters around it to a crisp.

However, the one with its arm cut spun to the left and brought its mace down as if it didn’t feel anything.

It was threatening because it had a 3-meter-long body and emitted a cold air with every step.

Yeon-woo spread his wings of fire apart, barely avoiding the mace, and twisted his body, raising Vigrid up.

Pat!

Another black trajectory was drawn in the area, and half of the snow monster’s head was blown away.

Kwang—

“Keangggg!”

Still, the monster didn’t stop breathing. Boom. Boom. Boom. It was only pushed back three steps, then it got ready to step on Yeon-woo after catching its balance. Other monsters were crushed in its path, but it didn’t seem to care.

However, before it could completely stand straight again, Yeon-woo used Blink and released the Eight Extreme Swords on its face.

Shishishi-

Every time Vigrid was swung, black wounds were engraved on the snow monster’s body. The stain on its body melted with a red light and waited to burn its body.

The mace that had been stopping the Black Aura slowed down, and eventually, it crumbled, unable to endure against the continuous attacks.

Clang!

Virgrid passed through the snow monster’s throat.

“Krrk…..”

It glared at Yeon-woo with a painful face and vanished after being swept away by the fire.

[You have succeeded in toppling the 3rd Commander, Cordune.]

[The 3rd Squadron is heavily shocked from losing their leader. They are in a state of fear and panic.]

Yeon-woo was breathless, but he didn’t forget to finish it.

[The 3rd Spirit]

The moment he used his Authority, the souls in his collection all appeared in a whirlwind.

The monsters that had become weaker were perfect prey for the souls. This place was pretty much a buffet for them.

The souls possessed the monsters to raise their panicked state and made them see illusions. Then, the monsters began to fight themselves.

Shanon and Hanryeong moved around the monsters and killed them off one by one, and the Monster Portents that he didn’t leave back at the castle walls ran around to their hearts’ content. They became more violent every time they absorbed a soul.

All around them was black smoke, the smell of burning, and the monsters screaming to death.

[A god of ‘Malak,’ Azrael, is extremely satisfied by the pandemonium you have caused!]

[Azrael laughs. He is complimenting you for leading death.]

[Agares shouts something at Azrael. Azrael ignores it with a snort.]

[Azrael has blessed the Authority he gave you, ‘The 3rd Soul.’ From now on, you are able to carry out more accomplishments.]

[Many gods related to death have begun to observe you.]

[Many demons close to death have revealed a desire for you.]

How many monsters had he caught just in that day?

He didn’t count it, but he had probably crushed about 6 squadrons.

Yeon-woo went deeper into the snowy mountain without rest, and he was met with stronger monsters the more he moved to the north.

Yeon-woo cut monsters again and again with his Aura. Of course, even though he used explosions at the same time, there were so many monsters that it wasn’t that noticeable when a few were gone.

The occasional monster commanders he met were strong. They were at least at the level of a ranker. They were at a difficulty that multiple players on the 26th floor would have to fight together.

Of course, Yeon-woo wouldn’t easily lose to them with his 3rd Step Awakening, but because of the endless magic power he had used, he was tired.

The 3rd Commander that he had just dealt with was on a different level than those before it.

The 3rd Commander had lasted long. It even fought back. If Yeon-woo didn’t have his Extrasensory Perception raised, he might’ve lost an arm.

“Haa, haa.”

Yeon-woo stood still and caught his breath. The hot air that escaped from his mouth was visible in the cold air.

The Philosopher’s Stone spun rapidly. His magic power quickly replenished, and his health came back as he activated his Regeneration skill.

If he didn’t rest like this, he would’ve already fainted.

It definitely wasn’t easy to pierce through tens of thousands of monsters.

Just then, the sound of the last monster falling over could be heard. It wasn’t that loud because there were only monster corpses around it.

[The 3rd Squadron has been defeated.]

[You have achieved an accomplishment that has not easily been achieved. Additional Karma will be rewarded.]

[You have earned 10,000 Karma.]

[You have earned an additional 15,000 Karma.]

[Azrael smiles proudly, nodding. He suggests you become his apostle once again.]

[Agares grinds his teeth at Azrael.]

Yeon-woo confirmed the messages and began to move again. There weren’t many snow mountains left anymore. Far away, he could see a wide plain.

Tundra. It was where Apophis’s shedding resided. It was also the mountain range where the snow monsters were created.

Crunch.

Crunch.

When he began to move again, Shanon and Hanryeong quietly stood next to him, finished with their work.

The Monster Portents faded into his shadow again, and the souls created an ashy fog, following him like a tail.

「You must be happy running around like this after a while. You look like you’re so happy you can die. We’re just suffering here.」

At Shanon’s complaints, Yeon-woo paused in his steps, looking back at him. His Inferno Sight was flaming under his helmet.

「What?」

“No. It’s nothing.”

Yeon-woo shook his head and moved again.

Shanon looked at Yeon-woo’s back and slowly followed him.

However, Yeon-woo was rubbing his chin under his mask.

‘I…..smiled?’

* * *

“Are you human? Human.”

The nest was easier to find than expected. Everything around him was covered with snow, so he thought it would be difficult to find, but he was able to find the way after following the energy source.

He was among about a thousand monsters. With a huge body that looked like it touched the sky, it released a threatening aura.

The shedding of Apophis.

The real magical creature, Apophis, couldn’t remain on the stage, so this was a body made for the trial.

Even if it was false, the aura it exuded wasn’t something he could take easily.

Its threatening aura approached him scarily in a violent manner.

“You seem to be scared, human. Yes. Just being here is impressive for a human. However, you’ll only die by being arrogant.”

Apophis’s shedding snickered seeing Yeon-woo standing straight. There were few players who came to him through this forest of monsters during his entire lifetime. They all fought confidently, but in front of him, their reactions were all the same.

They were scared. Their shoulders were hunched.

A part of the reason was because they were pressed down by the threatening aura, but it was also because their levels were different.

The shedding of a god’s existence could be called the center of the stage, so it couldn’t be compared to a normal player’s.

Even if they were strong, they would be pressed down in front of him.

Apophis’s shedding thought Yeon-woo would be like that as well. Although he had killed six commanders himself and entered the tundra, it seemed that was as far he went.

No, rather, the energy he felt from him felt so weak.

He wondered how such a person had come all the way here. He was so small and pathetic. The shedding snorted and ordered his children to eat that guy up.

He had birthed these children, and he needed a barrier to defend his body. They were all equal to the commanders, so they would be able to rip a human like that up easily.

Yeon-woo thought as he watched the snow monsters run at him. Actually, his thoughts were convoluted since Shanon said that he looked like he was having a good time.

‘I’m scared? No, that’s not it.’

But after seeing Apophis’s shedding, he realized what the emotion he was feeling was.

Disappointment.

‘I see.’

Yeon-woo laughed in disbelief unintentionally.

It seemed he had been looking forward to this too much.

Although he set up Consciousness, created Aura, and completed the Wave of Fire, he had never used his full force.

His health and magic power had run out on the way here, but that was only to raise the difficulty for himself. If he caught his breath just for a little while, his health would come back, and he was always overflowing with magic power. More than anything, pushing his body to the extreme was his specialty.

He was planning on doing that this time as well, but things were amusing since the moment he turned the Wave of Fire into Aura.

Still, he had thought that Apophis’s shedding would be different, and he was only disappointed when he saw it himself.

Of course, the shedding was strong. He was threatening and fearful. Those things were great. But that was it.

It was worse than the sheddings that Yeon-woo had seen so far. The shedding of the Monkey King and Mother Earth’s shedding, Vieira Dune, were too strong. However, Apophis’s shedding wasn’t like that. There were differences although they were all sheddings.

The gap in their levels?

It was hilarious. Yeon-woo’s level had already risen as he absorbed the Summer Queen’s soul, and all he could do was snort.

And so, Yeon-woo opened all his Authorities that he hadn’t released to finish the stage quickly since he was already here, ignoring his disappointment.

“Domain Declaration.”

[Dragon Body Awakening (3rd Step)]

[Goddess’s Stigmata]

[Hyoongshin Acksal]

Crack—

Scales continued to grow on his skin. Wings of fire and his dragon wings combined, and above it, Athena’s Grace fell.

The Hyoongshin Acksal combined with Demonic Magic to sweep away Apophis’s shedding.

“N……!”

Apophis tried to scream, realizing that something was wrong, but it was too late.

Kwakwakwang!

Vigrid cleanly swept everything away, even the ice in the tundra.

* * *

[Would you like to register your name in the hall of fame?]

[You have denied registration.]

[However, your accomplishments will be recorded in the Tower even if you don’t register, and you can change your mind anytime.]

……

With the sound of the stage being cleared, Shanon suddenly shouted.

「Hey! Master! What about hidden piece fang you were talking about?」

“……Oh.”