historical

Chapter 128 Rank S (2)

Was this supposed to happen when a Unique Skill reached Rank S or was {Divine Ultimatum} special? He didn’t know, but the available options were like choosing the characteristics of a general skill.

“..”

Yoon-seok carefully read the explanations.

*Paradox – One time, go back to a point in the past of your choice and change history for 30 minutes.

The first choice was an ability similar to Retrogression. The difference was that he could return to the selected past, but it wasn’t permanent. If he understood it correctly, the future that he returned to would change depending on his wrought changes.

‘There’s no reason to choose this.’

Yoon-seok could say it with certainty. Even though he had many regrets in his life, he didn’t have anything he desperately wanted to change through this opportunity. Yoon-seok quickly turned to the next candidate.

*Truth – One time, you can learn the answer to three questions.

As the explanation was concise, it was easy to understand. What was the final trial, who made this Tower, and with what intention? If he chose this ability, he would get those long-awaited answers. He couldn’t deny that it was quite appealing, but Yoon-seok went on to check the next option.

*Sky Breaking – You can kill those who do not die.

An ability with the impression that it was like a sequel to breaking the unbreakable of Rank B. Unlike the previous two, he couldn’t easily understand it. However, if Rank B targeted the system, this phrase felt as if it was aimed at a specific person in terms of nuance.

Yoon-seok rubbed his chin without realizing it. Aside from the fact that it wasn’t a combat-related ability as he expected..

‘What do you mean by Sky Breaking..’

Breaking the sky, that name was given to the ability to kill immortals.

‘This can’t be a coincidence.’

Perhaps ‘immortal’ was to describe a person of the Tower’s system. For example, the creator of the Tower. An enormous being equivalent to that.

‘I can kill someone like that?’

Yoon-seok recalled the entity he met in heaven during his exploration trial. He was a god of a dimension and possessed omniscient power. But, even such an existence as that was recreated by the Tower. At that time, Yoon-seok had no choice but to admit it.

He became this strong, but he was merely a challenger. In the end, he was an infinitely small existence in terms of the Tower’s standards.

“..”

The most tempting one was Truth. First of all, he thought it would be good to find out the contents of the final trial through this and use up the remaining two in critical moments. But..

‘We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.’

In contradiction, what he needed to prepare for an uncertain future was not information but weapons.

「A new ability will be given to Unique Skill {Divine Ultimatum}.」

The absolute being who made the Tower? He didn’t know who it was or if they even existed. And the desire to compete with that kind of person? There was no such thing. Rather, Yoon-seok was grateful for them. The Tower gave him power and allowed him to dream about escaping the chains he was bound by.

‘But.. I should have insurance.’

If such a being turned against him, he didn’t want to be helpless. He was tired of going through outrageous things with the excuse that he was powerless. He knew that it was close to an obsession, but he didn’t want to feel that way again.

So, when the decisive moment arrived, he would need a weapon to protect himself.

{Divine Ultimatum}

Rank S – You can kill those who do not die.

Finally, after reading the phrase one more time, Yoon-seok moved on to the next thing. It was an ability earned by investing many points, but to be honest, he hoped that the moment would not come when he needed this ability. That was probably for the best.

“..”

Afterward, Yoon-seok opened the challenger information page to check the results of the last training. Strength S-, Agility A+, Durability A, Magic S-. After focusing on weight training, his strength stat caught up with magic. Well, it was just a superficial figure in the information window. It wouldn’t be comparable if additional corrections were added.

‘Come to think of it; there is no skill that only corrects strength.’

Excluding magic, he had durability +2 from b Immortality}, and agility +4 from b Decapitation}. And in the case of magic, the sum of b Divine Ultimatum} and Dragonian Ring increased it by +9. As a result, the strength he worked so hard for was still in the middle of the list.

If he worked harder next time, it was a problem that time would eventually be solved.

‘Should I synthesize some skills?’

b Predation}, b Divine Ultimatum}, b Non-verbal magic}, b Immortality}, b Decapitation} and b Metallurgy}. In addition to these Unique Skills that could no longer be touched, he had five more. Yoon-seok checked the contents of the skills one more time before synthesizing. Starting from Sand Beckyria’s b Chivalry}, which showed a firm will.

‘It’s not bad just reading the explanation..’

b Chivalry} was a Unique Skill that increased efficiency whenever a fair act was performed. He thought he might keep it. However, he changed his mind when he saw that the accumulation, which started at 0, turned negative after the duel with the beast-man.

‘I’m just going to recycle it.’

However, if he synthesized it with whatever, nothing attractive would come out. The synergy between skills should be examined in detail. Then, what went well with b Chivalry}?

‘First of all, I don’t think it’s b Great Wizard} or b Revenge}.’

There was nothing more to see because b Great Wizard} was a magic-related skill, and the same went for b Revenge} obtained from the assassin. If he wanted something that went well with it, maybe {Intelligence} or b Leader} would do.

「Please select a skill to synthesize.」

「It is possible to synthesize up to 3 skills, and all ranks must be the same.」

As always, the moment when skills were placed on the operation table was as thrilling as when he saw his stats had upgraded.

「Skill has been synthesized.」

「Acquired b Holy Knight}.」

The moment the skill was completed, he shuddered as if he had been struck by lightning. It wasn’t enough to describe how the magic was flowing as if it were sprouting thorns through his body.

Crack-!

At the top of the left chest, he heard something like a cracking sound. For some reason, it felt like his heart exploded.

“Coughhhhhh!”

He could tell that it wasn’t his imagination as blood spewed out of him. Skywrath Energy hurriedly began to heal the injuries, but the speed of physical damage was faster by at least a dozen times.

“..”

Unfortunately, it was still a little far from the healing effect of the waiting room, which repeated every 10 minutes. He thought he must do something, but his head couldn’t move thanks easily to the 20 times enhanced pain from b Torture Technician}. Yoon-seok desperately reached out, and the moment he clicked to check the synthesized information of b Holy Knight}.

「You suffered damage pushing you close to death.」

「Freeze for 10 seconds and ignore all damage.」

As b Immortality} was activated, his body froze. If he could move his body, he would have laughed out loud. His first activation of the skill was in the empty waiting room?

‘Damn you..’

It was too bad to be a joke. If he stayed like this, he might die in the waiting room and be forced to use the pocket watch to rewind to 5 minutes ago. Yoon-seok hurriedly looked at the tablet. The answer to why this was happening would be in {Holy Knight}.

{Holy Knight}.

Rank A – The impact of holy attributes increases by 25x.

Rank B – Complete defense with a 1/4 chance of being attacked.

Rank C – Receives an additional correction of 15x on all healing activities when holy attributes are used.

Rank D – All equipment worn is granted the holy attribute.

Rank E- Magic increased by +2.

Rank F – Magic is granted the holy attributes and heals the body regularly. The amount of healing is proportional to the challenger’s magic stats.

Even at a glance, it was a very good ability. Above all, it was a Unique Skill that increased his magic. It was perfect, except for that damned holy attribute.

‘This can become like this..?’

It was the Rank F ability. His magic was given the holy attribute and healed his body regularly, proportional to his magic stat. What if the healing overlapped with b Immortality} and the penalty was amplified by the Rank C? It seemed like an absurd leap, but Yoon-seok was already convinced.

‘This crazy..’

How could this exist? But now wasn’t the time to grumble like this. The effect of b Immortality}, which ignored all the damage, was over.

「Frozen state has been lifted.」

The pain began again. He didn’t die right away because he hurriedly healed his body with Skywrath Energy, but if he hadn’t reacted fast enough, he would’ve been forced to use the pocket watch this time.

‘Do I have to choose one from the two again..?’

The answer was really simple. Get rid of b Holy Knight}, or b Immortality}.

「Please select a skill to synthesize.」

「It is possible to synthesize up to 3 skills, and all ranks must be the same.」

It was a little awkward. The current situation wasn’t contemplating what skill to obtain but what skill to eliminate, but he had to decide quickly.

“Coughhh!”

While vomiting blood, Yoon-seok considered the gains and losses of the choice as much as possible and made a quick decision.

‘I don’t know what will come out, but I definitely won’t touch b Immortality}.’

Yoon-seok put two Unique Skills on the operation table along with b Holy Knight}. He just needed to get rid of the holy attributes, so why two? He was worried the concept of b Holy Knight} wouldn’t change completely. Therefore, b Revenge} and b Great Magician} relied on these two, which were the complete opposite.

「Skill has been synthesized.」

「Acquired b Dark Knight}.」

All he could do was laugh.

The moment b Holy Knight} disappeared, the pain vanished from his body. Thanks to that, Yoon-seok was able to regain his composure. Thinking about it again, it was ridiculous that he experienced the biggest crisis in his life like this.

“Whoo..”

Yoon-seok, catching his breath, reached out to the tablet and checked the b Dark Knight} skill. He thought the concept was too extreme, but fortunately, it wasn’t that bad. No, it was a very good Unique Skill.

{Dark Knight}

Rank A – Open the door of the spiritual realm and summon all the murdered souls to act as your subordinates for 10 minutes.

Rank B – If magic stat differs by more than one level, holy attribute damage is ignored.

Rank C – If a magic attack is received, half of the magic users will be restored.

Rank D – Upon killing an opponent directly, revive them for 30 minutes to act as your subordinate. The subordinates’ ability is fixed at 30% of when they are alive, lacking reason.

Rank E – Enemy feels extreme fear when exposed to magic, and in severe cases, they fall into mental confusion and cannot distinguish between enemies.

Rank F – Magic is given the demonic attribute, and the power of all attacks using magic increases by 4x.

The holy attribute, his only weakness, had now been suppressed, and his attacks had been strengthened. Everything was good.

Yet.

Swaaaaaaaaaaa-!

What was this ominous black haze rising from all over his body? Yoon-seok lowered his head sullenly. b Demonify} and b Immortality} too.. even Purity turned black. So when b Holy Knight} came out, he wondered if it was about time to have something like this.

‘Why are they only giving me things like this?’

What made the Tower think that he wanted to become the Devil?