novelraw Chapter 169 : Blood Tower - (5)
Chapter 169 : Blood Tower - (5)
Chapter 169: Blood Tower - (5)
In an instant, Sanghyun entered a hyper-focused state and launched a fierce assault on Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara.
Every strike of Sanghyun’s dual-edged sword was painfully sharp enough to chill Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara to the bone.
“Grrk! Ugh!”
Despite appearing to be made of steel, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s body was more vulnerable to the greatsword than expected.
Of course, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara didn’t just take the beating.
Slash! Swoosh! Slice!
“Urgh.”
Whenever Sanghyun landed two blows, he received three in return—a relentless exchange.
He never intended to fight fair from the start. All he cared about was seizing the initiative.
Even if his stamina depleted, he could recover with Over Psychedelic.
He also planned to enter Overdrive or a Frenzied state, so it didn’t matter.
Whether stamina drained or replenished, he had plans for every scenario.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“D-Damn it!”
As Sanghyun charged in with ferocity, like someone who lived only for today, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s expression hardened.
To be precise, he didn’t even realize what kind of expression he was making, because Sanghyun’s onslaught was that intense.
But aggressive offense always created openings in equal proportion.
Creeeeak!
Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara quietly moved two of the arms attached to his back.
They weren’t his primary arms, but they clearly held swords, which meant they could be used as weapons.
Then.
Sshhhhh.
He distorted space to create a new link and suddenly went for Sanghyun’s side in a surprise attack.
『Perfect Sword』
Claaang!
Thanks to the immediate activation of Perfect Sword and full invincibility, Sanghyun’s body didn’t suffer a single scratch.
He had already anticipated the attack.
There was no way an enemy with a variable-generating ability wouldn’t use it.
And it wasn’t even hard to predict.
He simply thought from the enemy’s perspective.
If Sanghyun had been Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara, he would have seen this as the perfect moment to create a variable.
So he expected it. And his prediction hit the mark. Though it must’ve been absurd from the enemy’s point of view.
Of course.
It didn’t end with just being absurd. Sanghyun had already been in motion the moment he blocked the attack.
Swoooosh!
“Grah?!”
Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara saw Sanghyun already in front of his nose the moment the invincibility triggered.
They were so close that it felt inappropriate to be this close—even that thought briefly crossed his mind.
A truly foolish thought.
Sanghyun, who had already rushed into Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s space, infused his momentum into his sword and slashed with the Sword of Ruin.
He aimed for Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s arms.
Specifically, the two on the left side of the four primary arms.
Slice. Thud.
“Aaaaagh!”
The severed arms fell helplessly to the ground along with the swords.
Sanghyun immediately retreated.
He could’ve continued the offensive, but he already anticipated Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s next move.
Crrrack.
‘Knew it.’
Groaning in pain, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara created a spatial distortion at the spot where Sanghyun had stood.
It was a trap.
He faked agony to catch Sanghyun off guard—it was a calculated move.
But it failed.
Spectacularly, too.
‘Now it’s my turn.’
The initiative had changed hands.
His opponent not only lost two arms but also wasted his trump card. There would be no next time.
Especially since spatial distortion required intense concentration, it necessitated a recovery period afterward.
That downtime was only about 0.5 seconds, but to Sanghyun, that wasn’t short at all.
『Death Touch』
A complete summoning system triggered with 500 mana all at once!
Even if the real Buddha himself descended, he wouldn’t be able to avoid the perfect summon—it was that effective.
“Urk!”
With his scheme failed, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara was dragged helplessly before Sanghyun.
Sanghyun, having already prepared with the Sage’s Whisper, immediately followed up with the Sword of Ruin.
He aimed for the abdomen.
The impact of the thrust from the Sword of Ruin and the speed from the summoning combined in perfect synergy.
Stab.
A clean pierce!
Though it was a deeply satisfying blow, Sanghyun didn’t let his guard down.
A mid-boss monster like Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara wouldn’t die just from a single stab wound.
There had to be a system in place for internal regeneration or restoration.
And if not, then at least a way to stall for time and survive. That was a commonly overlooked variable.
Ssshhlllk!
So Sanghyun, without hesitation, withdrew the Sword of Ruin from inside Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s body.
He deliberately yanked it downward with force, inflicting a massive internal wound.
Spluuurt!
A stream of crimson blood spilled out.
‘Just as I thought.’
Upon checking, Sanghyun saw the wound starting to rapidly heal. A recovery mechanism.
Usually, seeing a foe recover quickly might induce panic.
‘But it only scatters their focus.’
Sanghyun knew the weakness.
All of the opponent’s abilities would be focused on healing, naturally reducing attention to everything else.
In other words, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara couldn’t keep up with Sanghyun’s movements and patterns anymore.
『Descending Air Current』
BOOM! BOOOM! BBAAAM!
With Descending Air Current, he struck Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara relentlessly.
As expected, unable to catch the timing to react, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara was slammed into the ground.
The forceful pressure of gravity wasn’t something a humanoid body could withstand.
The only right answer was to flee the area, but Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara didn’t know the answer sheet.
“Groooaaar.”
Even while pinned to the ground, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara tried to lift his body using several arms.
Burst of monstrous strength!
Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s body tried to withstand the pressure of Descending Air Current by drawing out all its latent power.
But.
『Scheming Tactics』
Sanghyun used the Scheming Tactics skill to extend the unique status effect of Descending Air Current—enhanced gravitational pressure.
BBAAAM!
“Gahh!”
A devastating blow landed.
The delicate balance that had barely been maintained completely collapsed with another surge of pressure.
Thrown off balance, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara slammed face-first into the ground in a disgraceful fashion.
It was such an unexpected turn of events that he even dropped several of the swords held by his auxiliary arms.
Sanghyun had the words, “You’re finished,” on the tip of his tongue, but swallowed them back. It wasn’t over until it was truly over.
Instead, to make the end more certain, Sanghyun proceeded with his next planned step.
KRRRSHHH! SLASH!
“Aaaaaagh!”
It was to completely dismantle the arms of the fallen Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara.
Flattened like a squid on the ground, he was the perfect target to strike down with a sword.
After severing all the arms on Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s left side, Sanghyun moved to the right.
Even without using a fatal combo, taking the arms of a defenseless enemy like this was easy.
Sanghyun possessed that much destructive power. Especially with his high Luck stat, his critical damage was significantly boosted.
SPLASH! SLASH! SPLURT!
“Aaaaargh!”
This scream was real.
It had a depth only heard from someone consumed by terror, fear, and dread.
Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s whole body trembled. Even the mouth that had once smiled slyly now clicked helplessly.
A one-sided dismantling.
With countless arms being sliced away nonstop, blood sprayed in all directions.
『Mortal’s Wrath』
Sanghyun’s chain of attacks was relentless.
All the accumulated damage over the past five seconds had been stored within Mortal’s Wrath.
That overwhelming power!
SHLUK!
“Guaaah!”
He drove it straight into the waist of the collapsed Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara, concentrating all the firepower.
Like a piece of meat skewered on an iron rod, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara flailed helplessly, pierced through the center by the Sword of Ruin.
“Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara. Do your best till the end. I won’t let my guard down either.”
Sanghyun pulled the Sword of Ruin, stuck in the waist, straight back like pulling a lever.
As a result, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s body, now acting as the fulcrum, began to tear apart under its own weight.
“GuuuuAAAAAAAAAH!”
A gruesome scream.
Without a change in expression, Sanghyun rapidly drained the enemy’s life force.
Was this his final struggle?
As Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara trembled violently, a violet aura erupted from him, and the surrounding environment changed.
‘Figures, always with the cheap ending.’
A self-destruction technique.
A final blast that distorts not just the user, but the surrounding space—erasing everything in one strike!
『Acceleration』
『Illusion Arbitration』
Sanghyun reacted like lightning.
With Acceleration activated, he used the Illusion Arbitration skill, and the resulting illusion dashed forward at incredible speed.
Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara, riding the express train toward death, turned to look at Sanghyun.
In his eyes, filled with rage, there was also resentment.
Resentment toward Sanghyun, who had humiliated him—someone who had never once imagined death.
In other words, he had earned the enemy’s recognition. The resentment was proof of the gap he had made his foe feel.
CRACK! SNAP! KRRACK!
The entire 10-meter radius around Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara twisted and crumpled like a crushed can, then returned to normal—repeating the cycle.
As if one round wasn’t enough, he twisted the space again and again, squeezing it like wringing out a wet rag in a final burst of desperation.
“What’s he trying to do?”
But Sanghyun had already escaped the blast radius the moment he activated Arbitration and calmly observed from afar.
Thanks to the combination of Acceleration and Illusion Arbitration, he escaped—otherwise, he would’ve been helplessly torn to shreds.
He would’ve died screaming, his entire body mutilated by the spatial distortion.
“Grrrgh...”
Having exhausted all his strength, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara began foaming at the mouth as he died.
Sanghyun had no intention of dragging it out any longer.
He calmly walked over and stabbed his sword right into the back of Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s head.
“Guh.”
Having lost both the ability and will to defend, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara died—never to return.
“No need for Vampiric Grasp after all. I guess I’ll need it for the boss monster ‘Nameless’ instead.”
Sanghyun folded his arms and waited for the Artifact reward to activate from Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s corpse.
And as expected—
[The Epic-grade Artifact guarantee from Title 777 has been activated!]
[The Diamond-grade Artifact ‘Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s Anguish’ dropped from the target has been upgraded to an Epic-grade Artifact!]
[All internal components and options are being replaced. New stats and skills befitting the rank are being installed.]
[All processes are complete. Please claim the activated reward.]
“Finally.”
He had just received the first special privilege of the Title.
The terrifying part of the 777 Title was that the next reward would be Legendary, and after that, an Almighty-grade reward was guaranteed.
Today was just the beginning.
With a trembling heart, Sanghyun lifted Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s bracelet. What kind of options would it have?
「Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara’s Anguish」
■ Artifact Grade: Epic
■ Artifact Description: A bracelet that helps you find answers within your deepest anguish.
Through the process of unraveling complex thoughts, the bracelet provides enlightenment, increasing Mana by 300.
“Simple, but insane.”
It was a single stat boost, but the amount was no joke right from the start.