Chapter 69. Final Battle with Joker (3)

-BOOM!

Almost as if his body was a bomb, he exploded.

The impact was strong enough to not only destroy the floor, but all the walls of the battlefield.

After the explosion, I looked far worse off than the battlefield.

My left arm, as well as my body that I turned away were ripped in half and blown away from the explosion.

The Lizardmen Gauntlet was sprawled out on the floor.

historical

On top of that, the nape of my neck was branded with an unknown symbol.

‘Damn it....’

It was a special ability from the executioner’s class that Joker possessed, known as ‘Isolation’.

Unlike what I heard from Jin, I was anxious because he wasn’t using his ability.

I was even looking down on him because I thought his attacks only reached at this level even with the ability.

But who knew he’d select his target for the ability like this.

Isolation, an ability that increased damage taken by the target. It was an ability that shined even more during 1v1s.

There aren’t many who could receive this kind of explosion and his attacks with the ability.

A massive ringing filled my ears.

Also.

“Urrgh!”

A pain filled moan came out naturally.

In my vision, now filled with splatters of red, Joker was slowly regenerating himself.

His form that had exploded was slowly coming back together, similar to the liquid human from terminator.

I had my Mana Shield, with 2 ranking shields casted on top of them.

It could’ve been a skill beyond ranking, but the self-destruct could only be explained by the passive he had.

It happened while I was casting heal on myself.

Perhaps he had recovered fully already, he began to mock me in a smug tone.

“Kuha! To think I’d have to use Isolation.”

“Urgh! I really stepped on sheet this time.”

“It looks like you’re in a lot of pain. Yes.. that expression. That expression is the one that suits you the best!”

“..ugh, ur..”

‘Just a few fingers blown off.. I can recover using Status Denial after I beat him down and leave.. For now, let’s focus on recovering. No, first I have to prepare against his attacks.’

Continuing to cast Heal, I picked up the gauntlet and Banwol Jincheon that fell to the floor.

The bleeding nearly stopped, but the damage would take a long time to heal with a recovery skill that was of low ranking like Heal.

Even during the fight against Park Hyun where my stomach was cut open from an attack by Jin, it didn’t take this long to recover.

Perhaps it was due to the attack being used with his ability?

The gauntlet that I put my hand back in was giving off an emerald hue, mixing with the blood that was still smearing out.

-Drip. Drip.

Pain continued from the hand that held the sword.

Think about it. Despite not realizing the importance of it, just how much you’d be distracted even from a small papercut.

Now you know how important it is.

However, right now my fingers weren’t cut or ripped off, but blown off.

The overwhelming pain was enough to break my concentration.

-Stomp. Stomp.

Joker was walking towards me with his dual swords pulled out.

It’s already been a while ago since the cuts on his neck and shoulder were gone without a trace.

Even the damage from the Formless Sword Aura that he took with his whole body was gone.

I needed to buy time to recover.

Since he was going to attack again, I needed to get away from him.

If I could disappear from his sight completely so I can buy time to heal my wounds, there would be another chance.

A skill that’s perfect for this situation exists.

‘Mass Stealth Jutsu.’

Instantly, I disappeared from view.

Quickly, I casted Flash and hid myself in a corner of the ruined battlefield.

I even used Silent to hide the sound of my breathing.

Mana Shield and Reflect Shield.

I used one hand for Heal while keeping a lookout for him.

Looking at the spot where I was before, he mumbled to himself.

“Stealth.. and he covered up the sound he makes.”

“Ugh.”

“At this rate, it would be difficult to find him. But..”

Joker had a smile on his face.

Almost like a predator that found its prey drinking water by the pond without any suspicion.

Once more, red smoke began to rise from his body.

Then closing his eyes, he spoke.

“But you know. Guess you don’t have any skills to cover up this heavy scent of blood. Oraa!”

-SLICE!

He turned his body towards the exact location I was stealthed at, throwing both the twin swords at me.

As the swords left his hands, it was covered in dark red flames, flying straight towards me.

It didn’t have any spin and it didn’t shake in the slightest, as the throw had an incredible amount of speed and power.

At this rate, it was going to skewer me before I had time to even prepare to react.

It would be over in a moment.

Both of his twin swords arrived right in front of my eyes.

Looking at the swords, I froze.

Even my eyes that should’ve automatically closed due to reflex stayed open.

There’s a saying that before you die, the life you lived comes all back to you in a flash.

I realized that it was true.

It was a short life of 18 years, but all the memories I lived began to pass me right before my eyes.

All the way up until the last film of a movie projector.

It was vivid, almost as if I was viewing from the sidelines.

As I returned to the present hoping that my situation had changed, I felt more hopeless than before.

Almost as if it was a slow motion video, Joker’s swords clashed with my shields.

Who would have known that this weak looking weapon toss skill would be a skill beyond ranking.

Without being able to resist at all, my Mana Shield crumpled.

Almost as if fighting to be the first, both twin swords came in at the same time.

And finally.

“....”

Without realizing, I had closed my eyes, thinking that this was the end. However, much time had passed.

One thing that consoled me was that the swords impaling my head would hurt less than my fingers did right now, but I had to accept that this was death.

Guess it’s true about what they say, that death’s door closes the slowest.

I heard a noise from where Joker was at.

“URRRK!”

‘Is that his disgusting laugh again? I had to kill him at least before dying..’

“KUUUHHH!”

‘He’s being really lou.. Wait! That’s not the sound of laughter?’

After accepting my end and letting everything go, now I gathered my resolve once more.

The pain I felt through the end of my hand. And the vivid sounds of his screams.

Opening my eyes, what I saw was enough to surprise me.

Both his twin swords had pierced his chest, straight through his heart.

With his face contorted, I saw Joker screaming as he tried to pull out the swords.

Each time he pulled at the hooked swords, sticky blood spurted out like a fountain.

It was a stupid thought, but just a moment ago, I thought I was dead for sure.

But how did it come to this.

Suddenly an idea came to me.

That was it.

“Reflect Shield....”

That’s right. The skill he used on me was blocked by the counter effect from the Reflect Shield.

The attack had flown back towards him.

Since it was a level 200 Reflect Shield, the reflection chance was 50%.

The reflected damage was 70%.

He probably attacked me while using his Isolation ability, so the attack did twice the damage.

Not knowing that it would come back to him, that is.

It didn’t matter how this situation came to be, because it was my chance.

The pain from my fingers? Pain from my charred blown up body?

I didn’t feel anything from these petty injuries.

Another chance had found me.

Firstly, I had to finish off Joker, who was critically wounded.

“Oraaa!”

I cast an attack buff.

Due to the attack I received, Louver’s Bracelet was fully charged for an empowered skill.

Dashing towards him, I began to throw out my Formless Sword Aura.

Pulling out his swords from his body, Joker began to swing his swords wildly.

Due to the extended fight, it appeared that he was running out of mana.

He wasn’t even using the most basic executioner class skill that strengthened his body.

He was only swinging his swords with just his bare strength.

I wasn’t sure if it was only due to chance, but he was blocking few of the invisible Formless Sword Aura attacks.

Each time he moved though, Joker was bleeding out more and more.

Some time passed like that.

“Huff.. Huff. You dare! Someone like you!”

His breathing was heavy.

I wasn’t sure if he was screaming or roaring, but his loud voice filled the battlefield.

He had already received several Formless Sword Aura attacks with his body.

Blood leaked out from in between his grey armor, forming a pool on the floor.

His eyes were already unfocused and body limp, and he was no longer capable of combat.

Despite all that, he still held his sword and continued to stumble towards me.

-slice!

In one swing, I cut his arm that held the twin swords.

His arm, as well as the sword that was held, clattered to the floor.

Joker was trying to put his remaining arm into his armor.

Was it his last attempt? It looked as though he was trying to find something.

“Tenacious bastard.”

“Ku.. Kuuk.. I, to be defeated by the likes of you..”

“A class and ability that are specialized in killing people. I shouldn’t stay alive.”

“It’s not over y..”

-slice!

-thud

The crescent Banwol Jincheon cleanly separated his head from his body.

Blood spilled forth from his neck, and the head had a twisted expression as it collided on the ground.

There was no information I needed from him.

To be honest, he probably had lots of information.

But I didn’t want to hear anything from him anymore.

The rage I felt against him suddenly blew up.

And that’s how Joker died.

****

I covered Joker’s corpse with Fire Shock.

It was to make sure that no evidence remained.

Even if this was a restricted area that no longer gets visitors, it didn’t hurt to be thorough.

Meteor gave out very powerful flames, but no skill can compare to this one when it comes to incinerating things to oblivion.

“Whew..”

After getting rid of the evidence, I focused solely on recovery.

Perhaps due to the injury I received being quite serious, a few levels of the Heal spell rose during the process.

The corpse was incinerated without a trace left, with only the grey armor and sword remaining.

The weapon and armor could withstand the fierce flames of Fire Shock.

I was sure that it was worth a vast fortune.

“I’ll take care of them well, Joker.”

It happened when I lifted his armor.

-clang.

Something that was in the armor fell to the floor.

The size was similar to an Awakened Essence, but the shape and color was completely different.

A transparent pearl that was perfectly spherical.

I remembered that Joker was trying to find something with his amputated arm before he died.

I couldn’t help but think that this was what he was looking for.

Since I didn’t know what ability this pearl possessed, I carelessly shoved it into my pocket.

With that, I gathered all the items and exited the association building.

****

“81 missed calls? People would believe it if I told them that this was my lover.”

-riiiiing. riiiiiing.

Even in that short span of time, another call came.

Just as I thought, it was Jong Ho.

“Hel..”

“Hey you! Are you okay?”

“Of course. I’m fine.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Hm.. Status Denial. Can I get it immediately through the midget?”

“What. Is it serious? Where and how is the injury!”

“It’s not that serious. Don’t worry.”

“When will you come back? What about Joker? What happened with Joker?”

“I killed him. In about 10 minutes, I’ll take Warp to get to the midget’s office. I’ll see you there, hyung.”

“Ok. I’ll head there right now and wait for you. You have to come straight away, okay?”

“Yes.”

Ending the call, I was engrossed in my thoughts.

I only survived this battle with pure luck.

It was also pure luck that I won this battle.

A 50% chance to reflect.

If Reflect Shield wasn’t able to successfully counter?

Obviously the role of the winner and loser in this battle would be swapped.

“Luck.. I can’t depend on luck for my life.”

I couldn’t hope to get lucky every time.

I needed to obtain more power for the days ahead.