Chapter 227 500 years (3)

Dum-! Dum-! Dum-!

The sound of drums resonated throughout the cemetery. Given that the sound was filled with magic, it must be an area-wide boost for all allies.

“..”

Yoon-seok looked to the approaching army, tens of thousands strong with more pouring through the rift. Suddenly, he wondered how Rick and the Queen were able to gather such a force, but at a glance, he could tell it wouldn’t be in some mundane way.

Dum-! Dum-!

Humans, horses, fairies, beast-people. No life was felt in the eyes of the diverse races. Instead, he felt a strange power from each of them. It was the power to twist the rules, which Cheon-ma called Upper Daejeon.

‘To be exact, is it the power of destruction Rick received from the Queen..’

Well, since it’d been this long, things like invading the Tower were possible. While he was watching the army from afar-

“I’ll help you.”

The soul keeper standing behind Yoon-seok extended his hand and stopped the approaching army with an invisible barrier.

“For your information, it won’t last long. There are holes here and there. I believe you know why.”

Yoon-seok smiled at the soul keeper. Just as he heard from Lee Su-yeon, originally, they were supposed to buy time until each dimension’s reinforcements arrived.

‘Well, I don’t think this part was made to be done alone..’

One of the thirteen challengers died in the first half of the mission, and the rest were divided into three groups at the mid-mission crossroads. Then, the first person to arrive here was Yoon-seok.

So, Yoon-seok would work alone on what was supposed to be a group assignment. Of course, it wasn’t anything new. So far, Yoon-seok had overcome almost all the missions on his own.

‘Should I try it?’

Yoon-seok put strength into his grip around the Judgment Sword. It had been a while since he brandished only one sword, so it was a bit awkward, but it was inevitable since the Harmonious Sword was smashed in the battle against Asnat. Saint of Ruin, whose form changed according to its attributes, was inefficient in a normal battle.

“Sura, you should pay for your meal now.”

“Grr!”

Yoon-seok decided to let him fight too. Asura’s stats had increased considerably, so it was fine to let him handle it. Plus, Asura often hinted that he wanted to fight together.

“Growl!”

“I’ll help you, too.”

As Asura drew his sword and stood next to Yoon-seok, Elle approached as she couldn’t stand and watch. Yoon-seok permitted her to do so. She was a former duel ranker and also a concerned party. The biggest reason was that he was curious about how Elle fought when she was a challenger.

“I’ll take care of the rest, so just you two, please take care of that side.”

“..Got it.”

Elle and Asura teamed up to block the left, and Yoon-seok decided to take charge of the rest. The battle immediately began once their position was set.

Slashhh-! Whoosh!

Yoon-seok cut down the invading enemies and continued to check on Elle and Asura.

‘As expected, was it magic?’

He guessed it from the powers he owned, but as soon as the battle began, Elle took out a long cane from her subspace. But though she used magic, it was different from the usual sorcerer’s fighting method.

Booooooom-!

She used magic to assist in close combat based on brilliant movements with Enhanced Speed after constructing the field-effect Lady’s Commandment.

‘Did Lady’s Commandment eliminate the cooldown of teleportation skills?’

He wasn’t sure, but her strength stat must be quite high to smash in heads like they were watermelons. Contrary to Cheon-ma’s concerns that she might be dull, her movements were agile..

“I’m sorry..!”

Her golden touch bore no mercy despite her cries.

Crack-! Crack-!

Was it because it was a complete 180 from the Elle he was familiar with? Or was it because he saw Elle use the same powers he had in a completely different way? Yoon-seok had a weird feeling.

‘Asura is doing a great job anyway, so let’s stop and focus.’

Yoon-seok, who had been looking at them from time to time afraid that something might happen, soon let his attention drift away. Something was rapidly approaching.

‘..She did say he was going to come out at the end.’

Boom-!

Blocking the unexpected attack, Yoon-seok smiled. The final boss, who should have appeared only in the final mission, appeared now on his own in front of Yoon-seok.

“Rick Gerssey.”

“..You know me?”

“Of course.”

He wore a mask and covered his body with a large cape, but Yoon-seok could recognize Rick instantly. There was no way he could forget the unusual swordsmanship he saw in his past life.

“No way, I didn’t know you’d bring her all the way here.. maybe I should’ve finished her back then.”

Yoon-seok thought the presence he felt since the first mission was Rick. Rick clicked his tongue.

“What has he done..”

“He? If you’re talking about James Hambledon, he’s already dead. I was asking about you, and he suddenly committed suicide..!”

Boooooooooooom-!

Yoon-seok kindly told him that he had committed suicide, but Rick’s eyes lit up as if he had met an enemy.

‘..Is his strength stat above mine? It’s heavy.’

Taking Rick’s attack, Yoon-seok eased the shock by gently stepping back. Even if he was the final boss, his skill was unbelievably high for the 22nd-floor mission. It was protocol for the Tower to achieve a balance by reconstructing the mission, so he must be even more powerful in reality.

‘Well, he’s better than the Queen.’

“Who are you?”

Yoon-seok did not answer. Even if he told him honestly that he was his next life, Rick wouldn’t believe it.

“Why did you approach that kid? How do you know me?”

“Well, how do I know?”

Did he think Yoon-seok was provoking him? Rick bit his lip.

“It doesn’t matter. After today, everything will be meaningless.”

“Meaningless? What does that mean?”

“Well, what does it mean?”

What goes around comes around. Rick disappeared from Yoon-seok’s sight.

‘..Behind me?’

Yoon-seok quickly turned. But, there was no one. Ignoring Yoon-seok, Rick flew elsewhere.

‘He wasn’t aiming for me?’

He didn’t know what Rick wanted. But, Yoon-seok’s body immediately followed, leaving Asura and Elle to fend for themselves. He didn’t want to, but he felt instinctive if he didn’t go after him now, something bad would happen.

Whoosh-!

As b Divine Ultimatum} was raised to the limit, Yoon-seok flashed by. Nevertheless, the distance wasn’t easily narrowed. However, Yoon-seok was able to realize quickly what Rick was aiming for.

‘No way..!’

The soul keeper. Yoon-seok became anxious. If the barrier disappeared when he died, they would have to face thousands upon thousands of enemies alone. That would make it difficult for their incoming reinforcements to enter. No, above everything else..

‘If he dies, I won’t find out what happens at the end!’

The soul keeper was still hiding secrets.

「By Lady Commandment, all spatial movement in the area will increase by 15x.」

‘Enhanced Speed.’

Yoon-seok applied the technique demonstrated by Elle. At the same time, the distance narrowed at once, and Rick’s back was now right in front of him. Yoon-seok reached out to grab his nape.

But at that moment-

Plorkk-!

Yoon-seok could see the soul keeper drop helplessly, still about 500m away. Just as Yoon-seok leaped this far in one go, this man had a method to kill his enemy at a distance.

‘Damn it.. why can’t he avoid that?’

Yoon-seok bit his lip. Certainly, it was an attack even Yoon-seok couldn’t see coming.

‘Don’t tell me he isn’t dead..?’ historical

Yoon-seok pulled on Rick’s neck and used the rebound to reach the soul keeper. Then, he instilled Skywrath Energy, wasting no time in checking if he was alive. But, it was useless.

Szzz. Szzzzzzzzzz.

As if to laugh at Yoon-seok’s efforts, the soul keeper’s body turned into powder and began to scatter.

「The guardian of the cemetery has died.」

「The time it takes for the dimensional switchgear to be fixed increases by 2x.」

Yoon-seok couldn’t believe it. However, the barrier placed over the cemetery disappeared right then and there.

“G-grr!”

Elle and Asura ran backward, disconcerted by the sudden surge of enemies pouring in from all sides.

「Group mission (9/15).」

「Protect the cemetery that has been made defenseless by the death of the soul keeper until reinforcements arrive. If the number of souls destroyed by the enemies exceeds 70%, the mission will fail.」

「Current destruction rate: 0.39%.」

「00:19:47 until the dimensional switchgear turns back to normal.」

The contents of the 9th mission changed. This was supposed to start after the reinforcements arrived, but the failure was triggered by the soul keeper’s death. Reinforcements wouldn’t appear until twenty minutes later.

In other words, Yoon-seok, Cheon-ma, and Lee Su-yeon had to protect the cemetery alone. Otherwise, all the challengers participating in this mission would die.

“..Did he screw it up on purpose?”

Yoon-seok clenched his teeth and glared at the spot the soul keeper had fallen. Honestly, he could only think that was the case. When the army of destruction arrived during their conversation, Rick suddenly ignored the plot’s order and appeared. Everything was so suspicious.

But he didn’t have time to ponder over this problem.

「Current destruction rate, 0.45%.」

「Current destruction rate, 0.58%.」

「Current destruction rate, 0.79%.」

Wasn’t his life at stake now?

“G-grr!”

“Yoon-seok! What should we do now?”

Elle screamed. The army of destruction cut a swath of destruction as they chased the two. Yoon-seok rushed to join them. Then, he pulled out his magic and thrust his sword forward.

Swaaaaaaaaaa-!

The first technique, Heavenly Reign. Thousands were swept away by the tsunami that covered the cemetery. As long as Rick, who disappeared somewhere, didn’t reappear and intervene, they could wipe out the enemy.

As he was momentarily relieved-

「Current destruction rate, 6.71%.」

Yoon-seok stiffened at the sudden surge in destruction rate. He wondered what this was about, but the ruined tombstones among the slaughtered bodies quickly came into Yoon-seok’s view. Sadly, it wasn’t just the enemies who were swept away by the tsunami.

“..”

He felt like cursing. The three of them had to deal with these thousands of enemies, but they couldn’t use a field-effect skill? That was seriously too much.

‘..In this case, is Lynn going to be useless?’

Yoon-seok eliminated Lynn as an option. Under the current circumstances, the nuclear ray wouldn’t be that helpful. Then, what should he do?

‘Dark Knight.’

Yoon-seok opened the door of the underworld and summoned his troops. But in the end, this, too, was not the solution. They were no match even if they were conquered by numbers. Yoon-seok’s military power was mainly composed of ordinary soldiers slaughtered on the 14th floor, with some exceptions.

Slash-! Slash-! Boooooooom-!

The summoned dead turned into powder every time they came into contact with the army of destruction. Yoon-seok was heartbroken because the armies summoned with b Dark Knight} could not be revived once they were slain.

「Current destruction rate, 6.98%.」

「Current destruction rate, 7.07%.」

「Current destruction rate, 7.12%.」

Of course, thanks to them, the rate of destruction had slowed significantly. On the contrary, didn’t it mean that the undead was being smashed instead of those figures? Before that, he had to hurry up and take other measures.

「 To Lady’s Commandment, the waiting time for the reuse of teleportation power disappears within the realm.」

“Wait a minute..”

Yoon-seok, who was thinking hard and cutting down his enemies without a break, was surprised by the phrase that suddenly appeared. He turned to Elle.

“..?”

Elle, working hard shifting around and smashing brains, tilted her head as if asking why he was looking at her. On the other hand, Yoon-seok’s mouth opened with a sudden revelation. Come to think of it, Elle was here.

‘So there are two Lady’s Commandments?’

Suddenly, a new fraudulent method was created in Yoon-seok’s head.