Chapter 196 High Ranker (1)

「Due to the influence of the ancient monarch’s eyes, you will fall into a dark state.」

「The distance of thorns is reduced by half.」

「Due to the influence of the ancient monarch’s eyes, you will fall into a weakened state.」

「The amount of damage incurred increases by five times.」

From the moment he entered the palace, he kept taking on irregular afflictions. Paralysis, Derangement, Addiction.. if his body was bound or the affliction leaned more toward the mental or elemental type, it was immediately lifted, and others could be purified with Light of Purification.

「By Light of Purification, the abnormality states are lifted.」

What Yoon-seok felt bothered about was something else. Although the penalty was halved due to Environmental Adaptation, his stats were considerably reduced. In addition, teleportation-type skills were completely disrupted, and all recovery effects had been halved. And in the meantime..

“Protection of Sea God.”

“Absolute Barrier.”

About thirty challengers gathered. They, who were called Guardians by the ordinary knights, prepared in advance to protect only one person.

‘Now, this is annoying.’

Yoon-seok quietly clicked his tongue. Even if it was the Empire, he didn’t know there were this many powerful people. From the energy alone, no one could compete with him one to one, but the number was overwhelming, and they looked skilled in working together. Even if he endured and knocked all of them down, it would take a considerable amount of time.

Besides, the Crown Prince wouldn’t stay and watch comfortably. Of course, it wasn’t that there was no other way.

‘Demonify.’

He didn’t know if Lee Su-yeon would be surprised if she heard it, but in fact, Yoon-seok didn’t come here to have a head-to-head contest. However, if he could only kill one person, his purpose would be as good as achieved. Luckily, his conceited prey marched directly in front of him. It didn’t take long.

It took just a single second, to break through the guards and reach the Crown Prince.

Dudududududu-!

While Yoon-seok’s bones and muscles expanded, wings and tail sprouted from his back. The palace shook, and stones began to fall. It was a scene as if the end of the world had arrived.

“..”

No one ran away or trembled. However, everyone grew nervous as Yoon-seok’s magic exploded out. At that moment, Yoon-seok reached out and slowly clenched his fist.

It was only that. But..

Creakkkkkkkkk-!

The shields created by the guards broke into pieces.

“Your Highness, please hurry up and escape!”

Several of the closest guards surrounded the Crown Prince and led him off. The relaxed Crown Prince no longer insisted on remaining and followed them. But Yoon-seok never thought of letting him go.

‘I bet no one in the palace can use teleportation.’

Yoon-seok smiled, recalling the information Lee Su-yeon told him.

“Stop him!”

As soon as he stepped forward, the Guardians moved to Yoon-seok with a common mission.

‘Traverse.’

With Judgment Sword in hand, Yoon-seok rose Spatial Control to the limit.

Creakkkkkkkkkk-!

However, the opponents weren’t easy. When the space collapsed, those swallowed quickly escaped either by their efforts or with the help of their colleagues. When Yoon-seok’s sword descended to their necks, skills flooded in to block him.

“Divine Aura!”

“Soul of Steel!”

“Neutralize!”

Seeing they weren’t commands from the store, all of them must be Unique Skills or Powers.

“Resuscitation Zone!”

Even though they suffered fatal injuries through those various defenses, the Guardians recovered quickly and persistently aimed for Yoon-seok. It would have taken a very long time if he had been fighting in his normal state.

Boom-!

The best defense was attacking. Yoon-seok didn’t avoid the attacks. Instead, he launched indiscriminate attacks to check them and continued to step forward.

Boom-!

Several left wounds on Yoon-seok, but it didn’t mean much. No matter what wounds he incurred, he could heal them with Skywrath Energy. In other words, just as in Cheonma-dong previously, as long as he wasn’t instantly killed, he was invincible.

Boom-!

Covering his body with his wings and pushing the enemies away with his tail, he made steady progress. Yoon-seok chased after the Crown Prince.

“W-why? Why can’t we stop him!”

Some of the Guardians wavered. They were powerful people gathered from all continents or even other dimensions. However, they couldn’t block one person. Rather, they were pushed aside.

“Damn it! Stop him! Stop him now!”

The Guardians caught trying to protect the Crown Prince began screaming and running. If they could reach outside where they could teleport.. no, they only had to reach the sanctuary inside the palace. Then, the Crown Prince could be saved. But the problem was..

It wasn’t easy. They were sprinting without any interference, but the distance was still gradually narrowing.

‘Who the hell is that guy!’

When they first heard the news that the devil had attacked the palace, they snorted, but now they couldn’t scoff. Hadn’t he arrived straight from hell? It was a monster that couldn’t be stopped by human power.

“We’ll buy you time no matter what. Please go, Your Highness.”

Soon, the man running behind the Crown Prince stopped and dropped him, drawing his weapon.

“Sir Lenid, I will not forget this grace.”

Had humility been naturally engraved in his bones as he watched Yoon-seok chase after him? The Crown Prince ran down the hallway alone without resisting the loyalty of his aides. He was also quite agile as a challenger.

“That’s enough. Your goal will never come true..!”

The man called Sir Lenid blocked the hallway with his companions.

‘They look capable of taking one attack.’

There was amusement in Yoon-seok’s eyes. Among the energy felt, that man’s was the most outstanding. But..

‘But still, there’s not much of a difference?’

It wasn’t a significant gap. Everyone was equal in the b Demonify} state.

“The Judge’s Orders.”

“Fighting Spirit Amplification.”

“Dragon Slayer Sword Energy.”

The Guardian’s magic swelled like a typhoon, but Yoon-seok didn’t slow. It might take a long time to kill them, but it wasn’t that difficult to slip past.

Booooom-!

He just had to endure. Yoon-seok passed over their heads and accepted their attacks. Now, his distance from the Crown Prince was about 200m.

‘Time flies.’

Yoon-seok shot forward like an arrow. There were three seconds left before b Demonify} was lifted. He might be able to finish everything before then..

‘Huh?’

Clench-!

“Do you think I’ll let you off..!”

Suddenly, the knight named Lenid caught Yoon-seok’s ankle. Lenid was different from those who had been attacking while securing their safety. He risked his life and earned an extra second. Yoon-seok’s body stopped. His sword came down, cutting off the hand holding onto him, but..

「Unique Skill {Demonify} will be lifted.」

At the same time, {Demonify} ended, and his body returned to its original form. He could no longer break through the path ignorantly as he had, but..

It wasn’t a big deal. There was no one blocking him anymore, and the Crown Prince was just around the corner.

‘Is it time to end this?’

Leaving the knight staring at him and groaning as he clutched his bloodied arm, Yoon-seok kicked off the ground. The distance between him and the Crown Prince, who abandoned his dignity and ran away, quickly narrowed.

And it was then.

“I came because something happened, but I’m glad I did.”

Suddenly, a young voice came from behind him. It was small, but Yoon-seok heard it, and for some reason, a chill ran down his spine. Even with the Crown Prince in front of him, Yoon-seok instinctively turned around.

A boy who looked about in his early teens was staring at Yoon-seok. As soon as their eyes met, he felt goosebumps on the back of his neck.

“What kind of presence..’

Not just a ranker. He detected something powerful and violent belonging to an absolute person. Yoon-seok immediately noticed he wasn’t someone below him. In other words, he was a top ranker on par with Cheon-ma, King of Steel, and the Heavenly Buddha.

“That’s enough, right? If the Crown Prince dies here, my position will be a little awkward.”

b Demonify} was finished. If he battled against such an opponent here, he would have to risk his life. Nevertheless, Yoon-seok pondered a moment. Aside from his promise to the Princess, he also wanted to kill the Crown Prince for b Predation}.

And {Predation} was a Unique Skill that increased the reward as the risk grew.

‘What does he have?’

He had a hunch that he would get an incomparable reward from this man. His heart pounded with curiosity. However, Yoon-seok made a thoroughly rational choice.

‘I can’t do it here.’

This was a beast with unknown claws. He would have to fight for his life, but he just used one of his main weapons, b Demonify}. Also, even if he somehow won, it would be difficult to leave the palace safely if he returned with an injury.

‘You never know when another monster like this will appear.’

Yoon-seok jumped toward the Crown Prince again. And that moment-

“You don’t understand what I’m saying.”

The distance with the monster narrowed in a beat. At the same time, he felt dangerous energy. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew it would be lethal if it hit.

‘Not yet..’

Was he a speed-oriented fighter? Even though he was doing his best, the monster drew closer. Yoon-seok calmed down his impatient mind.

‘About 100 meters from the Crown Prince..’

Yoon-seok waited until he was sure. He felt a sense of crisis that the monster’s claws would be stuck in his back, but not yet. Closer..

‘Now.’

Boooooooooom-!historical

The moment he was sure, hot energy grazed his back. It didn’t feel like he was melting or burning, but part of him was disappearing entirely. Yoon-seok activated the power he had been waiting for.

‘Light of End.’

The effect was simple.

「Ignore all damage within the radius.」

「Time within the radius flows 20 times slower.」

「If all enemies are killed within the radius during the duration, the reuse waiting time is reset.」

No one could leave the barrier of light set at a 100m radius. The Crown Prince nearly ran into the boundary.

‘Did it work?’

Well, the threatening enemy was also there, but now he didn’t have to care. For at least ten seconds, the barrier was maintained.

Boooooooom-!

Just as when he activated b Demonify} and chased after the Crown Prince, Yoon-seok sprinted toward his target while ignoring all the attacks hitting him from behind. Was this unexpected? The young voice took on a tinge of panic.

“Hey, hey! Stop it, fuck! You crazy bastard! Don’t do it! You punk! This is an invincible skill, is it? I know it’ll be over soon. Huh? Just finish this! I’ll kill you. I’m going to kill you! So don’t do it!”

Was it because of his voice? The threats only sounded cute. When he finally stood in front of the Crown Prince, the noble spoke.

“Uh, I-I think it’s better to listen to him..?”

Yoon-seok smiled. According to Lee Su-yeon’s notebook, the Crown Prince was an exploration challenger. So this would be a good experience.

「Get ready. The duel will begin soon.」

Well, it was a pity that this would be his first and last time.

「Victory.」

「Acquired Unique Skill b Thunder Sword}.」

「Looted Thunder God’s Necklace (Rank S-).」

「Absorbed magic stat.」

He couldn’t call the battle with the Crown Prince a duel. The noble wasn’t his opponent in the first place. The real challenge was next.

Yoon-seok, returning with his reward, quickly checked his surroundings. The boy in his early teens, who had lost his mind when the Crown Prince scattered into dust, caught his eyes.

“Y-you prick, w-what did you..”

Yoon-seok drew his sword silently. Time didn’t flow in the duel. Thanks to this, the Light of End was still active.

‘There must be some time left. Shall we check it out?’

The remaining time was about 9 seconds. Yoon-seok first registered his name on the list with the intuition that they would meet again someday.

「Aren」

Aren. No last name. When he checked the additional information, he was a 21st-floor duel challenger as expected, and his nickname was Transcendent, and he resided in Seheranbad. However, there was something unusual.

‘An artificial creature made in Katlan Empire 500 years ago?’

The exact name was Homunculus. He was not a human but a creature akin to a weapon. He was called to the Tower and became a challenger? It was somewhat fascinating, but that was enough personal information.

Yoon-seok decided to check something more important.

“Then, shall we fight?”

His name was Aren? Unlike his youthful appearance, he was a monster that had lived for more than 500 years.

Yoon-seok used all his might from the start. He was flustered for a moment while fighting using invincibility, but Aren began to fight back.

‘Can his class be considered as a type of battlemage?’

‘His form is similar to magic, but Judgment Sword doesn’t work.’

‘He’s decent at fighting..’

‘I don’t know what Unique Skill he has, but I think he leans more toward the style of using stats and skills.’

After exchanging a dozen attacks in a second, Yoon-seok gained a lot of information. He seemed to have noticed Yoon-seok’s intention.

“You punk..! You’ll see! If, if this ends, you’ll really..!”

He had no choice but to get caught in the middle of this even though he knew. He had to desperately fight back to prevent Yoon-seok from killing him while his buff was active.

「Maintenance time for Light of End has ended.」

The barrier of light vanished. Now the time he had been waiting for arrived, Aren’s eyes glinted.

‘Was this all I can get?’

Yoon-seok smacked his lips. As the situation reached an extreme level, he couldn’t find Lee Su-yeon. Perhaps she had already escaped. Instead, dozens of powerful people waiting on stand-by were now approaching Yoon-seok.

‘Demonify.’

Yoon-seok once again used b Demonify}. While not on the scale of Light of End, this was also one of Yoon-seok’s great invincible weapons. Aren murmured blankly.

“..Wasn’t that skill still waiting for reuse?”

He didn’t know the details, but apparently, he could see his opponent’s cooldown time. Yoon-seok shrugged. He’d found out a lot through their few seconds of battle, so he could let him know this.

“Oh, it was out from the cooldown.”

“..Cooldown?”

He didn’t seem to know what that was, but he was under no obligation to explain. Yoon-seok spread his wings and smashed through the roof, soaring up.

“Do you think I’ll let you run away?!”

Aren, angered, followed Yoon-seok immediately.

The view from above was indeed spectacular. He could see the undead army still fighting enemies and smashing things.

“Have you given up already?”

Aren caught up and mocked him.

“You can never run away from me at that speed.”

He couldn’t do it at that speed? That was right. As he felt earlier, he was faster. However, that wasn’t the reason why he stopped and looked down. Yoon-seok was envious of Lee Su-yeon, who had a lot of utility-type skills when his abilities were all for battle.

“See you next time.”

When he searched, he also had them too. It was a teleportation skill that could be much more useful than Lee Su-yeon’s Base Movement.

Swish-!

Looking at the crimson list that soon appeared, Yoon-seok pressed the name he found quickly.

「Orlene Versiace Katlan.」

「Moving behind the target registered on the list.」

「The unavoidable characteristic will be given to your first attack.」

This was Yoon-seok’s teleportation skill.