NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 68
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A strangely deformed finger pointed at Baek So-yul.
“If you give it to me, I’ll let you go.”
With a bizarre laugh, language flowed from the mouth of the broken finger. Of course, it made sense. You can’t sit in a high-ranking position in an organization if you’re not intelligent. Baek So-yul sucked in a breath, her trembling body betraying her fear.
Instead of replying, I locked eyes with the Fairy Dragon that obscured her view. A small nod from me made it flap its wings, as if it understood.
“Wait…!”
The Fairy Dragon swiftly took Baek So-yul away to the Fantasy World, leaving her desperate words behind. —There was no need to worry. Even if I fell apart here, the witch’s calamity would not occur.
The broken finger tilted its head in confusion, then stared at me intently. Though it didn’t ask, I could feel the question of where they had vanished. Instead of answering, I conjured a gust of wind. The creature, already enveloped in the aura, cocked its head.
‘Don’t give it an opening.’
Agility 574 meant just that. It’s a misunderstanding if you think it was me who escaped from the Earth Serpent with an agility of 513. If the speed is such that you can’t even react to an attack, it’s meaningless. I focused all my nerves and glared solely at it.
It tugged at its lips with its oddly deformed finger, pulling them wide open. For a moment, its eyes showed a green madness. It grinned sinisterly, then smiled innocently like before.
In an instant, it vanished from sight. I could sense its movement even without seeing it. It had already shifted behind me, thrusting an arm through the black fire. Even amidst the flames, it remained calm. I responded in anticipation of the enormous claw approaching me. It was faster than I had thought, or even more so.
‘It’s not hesitating at all.’
As it beheld its arm ablaze with transformation, a look of amusement passed over its face. It swung its arms wildly in the air, cloaked in magic. Yet the black flames that wouldn’t die down only served to fluster it.
“……?!”
The spreading flames consumed its initially relaxed demeanor. It ripped away the blackened arm from its shoulder and devoured the flesh—once belonging to someone’s head. Then, that arm grew back. When the newly-grown arm checked its senses, it mumbled in displeasure.
“I’m full, but I ended up eating again because of you…?”
‘…False immortality.’
It was the B-grade skill it possessed. A skill that encouraged the consumption of others’ blood and flesh as its own—perfectly fitting for the creature created as a chimera based on the Ghoul. Looking at the five heads hanging from its waist, I felt relieved.
‘Thank goodness.’
—It was said there was no chance of winning.
That only someone like Gu Jin-ha could defeat it. Right. It would have been like that under normal circumstances. If people hadn’t evacuated during this chaos, there would have been no chance left. No matter how many times I struck it down, it would endlessly regenerate by devouring humans.
If I lacked the means to chase after it, it would be like fighting an immortal.
But right now. While people had evacuated amidst the chaos— the stock of false immortality were those five heads hanging from its waist.
“You said you’d spare me… Did you ignore my words?”
It sneered, revealing bloodstained teeth. A vicious aura radiated from it, promising instant death.
“I’ll kill you…!”
A cold chill that made my heart race—was endlessly wrapped in a malevolent energy.
‘You’re not the only one who’s furious.’
The corpses of the living in this city had risen. The unfinished product of a fake elixir—who knows how many fell victim to it? When I saw the student bodies sprawled out like trash, I had to suppress the raging emotions boiling within me.
—Right. I had been holding back. Trying to maintain my composure. I had to push down the feeling of my stomach about to overturn. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to stop the witch’s calamity. I wouldn’t be able to save Baek So-yul—but now the Fairy Dragon and Baek So-yul were no longer here.
—What I had to protect had vanished.
So, there was no need to hold back anymore.
Finally, the Wolf began to rampage.
***
The Wolf was the first to move.
The broken finger was taken aback. Black flames cloaked it, and a red glow lingered like an afterimage. But its surprise was momentary—it simply hadn’t expected the Wolf to charge first.
It was lethargic, almost too slow. At the moment I thought it could dodge, from somewhere a shadow pierced its paw.
“……?!”
The broken finger was not without pain, but it lacked the sense of touch itself. Because of that, it couldn’t grasp when the shadow had struck it.
‘What the!’
By the time it pushed back, the Wolf was already close. A wild wind surged as black flames engulfed the broken finger. Even amidst the spreading fire, it showed no signs of panic.
Because there was no pain. Because it could regenerate. Instead, it faced the Wolf head-on and tore at its foreleg—at the moment it thought that, only a wriggling tentacle remained in its hand.
‘What?’
Too late, the Wolf bit at its shoulder.
Having feasted on the previously regenerated shoulder, the flames ignited between its teeth. Once again, it tore off its own arm and devoured its head.
Two heads remained. Cleverly, it ignited the fire, incinerating its stock as well.
“You…!”
The broken finger realized too late that showing its powers had been a mistake. However… the feeling of hair and flesh caught between its claws calmed its heart a little.
It had bitten at its shoulder, but the other hand had already split the Wolf’s belly. That’s why the Wolf had no choice but to retreat.
The outcome was already decided. Poisonous claws. The potent venom coated the tips of its claws, ready to devour the creature. Even though it wasn’t human, the sight of being able to eat a monster never seen before made the broken finger smile wildly.
“You thought you’d win?”
The deformed hand swung out fiercely.
Just when it thought it was over. It saw the black ghost.
***
[Weak Poison Resistance (E) Lv.1 has reached maximum proficiency. Weak Poison Resistance (E) Lv.1 → Weak Poison Resistance (E) Lv.2]
The deadly poison mitigated all damage and poison resistance. It wasn’t without damage, but the issue came from the torn belly that had been shredded by the claws. Even when using Hardening, it was torn apart by the overwhelming strength. If it had gone just a bit deeper, it might have died right there.
‘—That’s why.’
I maximized the transformation. Quickly, even faster. Answering that wish, my malevolent energy flared up. The figure of the revealed ghost grinned menacingly, uttering wails of anguish.
[Transformation (C) Lv.3 has reached maximum proficiency. Transformation (C) Lv.3 → Transformation (C) Lv.4]
The flickering shadows merged with the black ghost, turning even darker. In the depths of darkness, it was still clearly visible.
“……!”
Despite the transformation reaching its limits, it showed no signs of stopping. Instead, it opened its mouth wide, pre-emptively consuming the stock. Under its overwhelming magic, it suppressed both tentacles and shadows before charging in one fell swoop.
‘Only one remains.’
I sprang back, creating a gust. Because of that, the wounds that had just begun to heal burst open again.
Enveloped by the black ghost, it continued to display tenacity, seemingly unconcerned. In the blink of an eye, it dove into the shadow, evading its gaze.
“……?”
Already, the area was cloaked in energy. As it searched for me, I leaped out from under its shadow and bit at its ankle.
“You… were there!”
At the moment our gazes met between the flames, its eyes shone. I understood. The bewitching gaze it possessed. Eyes that distort the mind and disrupt concentration.
‘—I was waiting for this.’
I had tasted worse illusions before. When I recalled the imitation world created by a certain mage, its beguiling eyes shattered miserably. ㅡIts gaze was magic-based. It acted not on the body, but on the spirit. Just as I, being a Slime, felt mental exhaustion, so too did it cup its eyes in agony from the recoil of magic.
“―――!”
Not feeling pain signifies an unfamiliarity with it. Taking advantage of its moment of despair, countless tentacles pierced toward it just before—
A tempest of magic swept me away.
‘Damn.’
It wasn’t going to be easy. With magic over 500, when unleashed, its power was comparable to considerable magic. All tentacles were annihilated without a trace, and I too was sent reeling. Merely caught in the aftermath, along with the earlier poison, I found my regeneration speed struggling to keep up.
An overwhelming status differential that couldn’t be overcome by skill or strategy.
“Grrr—”
The low growl of the Wolf pierced through the ears of the broken finger. In an instant, it felt the Wolf pressing down on it, the two rolling across the scorched earth several times. During this, the broken finger opened its jaws and bit into the Wolf’s shoulder. Originally, it aimed for its neck, but the fierce resistance prevented it.
Just as the broken finger raised its arm again, the Wolf belatedly opened its mouth wide. The deformed hands had more than enough strength to crush the Wolf’s head.
“Die…!”
The madness in its green glow radiated. Overwhelming agility illustrated an unreasonable difference. At such close distances, predictions were meaningless. No matter how much it tried to read its moves, it only shredded further ahead of the Wolf’s legs. In other words, the Wolf had no retreat.
Thus— the Wolf surged forward.
Receiving the incoming brute force head-on. It opened its mouth and bit down hard on its hand. The deformed hand, biting down on the Wolf’s teeth, clamped down on its maw. It looked as though the Wolf’s head would be half-smashed, but shadows and tentacles clung to its arms. The decisive blow ripped the Wolf’s mouth open completely, just shy of piercing its brain.
The low growls of the beast and the menacing wails were a cruel mockery to the broken finger. The enraged creature’s gripping hand succumbed to the Wolf’s jaws that consumed downward through its throat. And then—the magic that had laid bare the ground surged forth.
“……!”
The clash of immense magic impacted head-on. Surprisingly, the magic exuded by the Wolf didn’t lose to the broken finger’s magic. The great tempest of energy clashed, and the swirling black flames mercilessly engulfed only the broken finger.
‘Consumption.’
A C-grade skill that temporarily siphoned the stamina and mana of the devoured target. The magic that collided wasn’t mine but belonged to it. Thanks to that, I was able to hold my ground in a magic duel. Exhaling, I gauged the distance between us. As it engulfed its own magic, the creature snagged a head at its waist once more, restoring the broken finger’s injuries.
‘It’s starting now.’
Now, it no longer smiled. Having used the last of the stock it had tucked away, it also had no retreat left.
I had come this far because I knew its tricks. Conversely, it did not know me.
Now, we both knew each other.
‘—This is just the beginning.’
It was real.
It would move seriously now, but— my residual magic had already shown signs of depletion. To even keep up with its footfalls, I had been forcing my magic to rise every time.
On the contrary, its magic was far from depletion; it hadn’t even tapped half of its reserves.
251. And 545. A simple numeric difference of over twice the amount of magic. This overwhelming disparity in magic was the greatest wall between the two of us.
‘That’s why.’
[Acquired the skill Great Magic (B) Lv.1]
[Remaining Skill Points 20 → 4]
—It was time to use everything I had accumulated to surmount that wall.
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