novelraw Chapter 174 : Almighty - (2)
Chapter 174 : Almighty - (2)
Chapter 174: Almighty - (2)
The duration of the shock state was one second.
At first glance, it seemed short, but if it was intended for a combo from the start, it was an extremely long time.
In other words, if one got hit once by the Thunderbolt Sword and got electrocuted, the hell that followed was obvious.
He wanted to test the power of the Thunderbolt Sword right away, but unfortunately, he was still at home.
There was plenty of time until the next gate raid, so he planned to test it after getting some sleep.
『Silver Moon』
■ Skill Level: Stage 5 (0.0%)
■ Skill Description: Releases a sharp, X-shaped sword energy.
The farther the sword energy travels from the caster, the more its power increases rapidly. (See detailed tooltip)
There is no limit to mana consumption, and the more mana is used, the stronger the Silver Moon’s sword energy becomes.
“This is definitely a finisher.”
It was clearly structured as a finishing move.
If the Sword of Ruin was a close-range piercing finisher—
Silver Moon was a long-range finisher. It even had the advantage of increased range.
Normally, when kinetic energy is lost, the original power weakens—that was common sense, but Silver Moon defied that.
He could truly feel how significant it was to go against the natural order just by this alone.
“It feels like I'm becoming a complete being.”
It was a word too heavy to use lightly, but Sanghyun dared to use it.
In fact, swordsmen players often hit a wall when they get taken down by long-range players.
It's when they get toyed with repeatedly, like a dog chasing chickens looking up at a roof, again and again.
Getting such an explosive stat upgrade right when he was preparing to go overseas was truly a blessing.
Sanghyun planned to finish a few raids in Korea and Japan before heading abroad.
The bigger the stage, the better.
The more famous players gathered, the more there was to gain and grow.
“Now, the last one.”
Sanghyun turned his gaze to the final skill at the bottom.
『Extreme Mana』
■ Skill Level: Stage 5 (0.0%)
■ Skill Description: Absorbs and nullifies the enemy’s magic skill, then immediately restores mana.
Unless the skill consumes more than 2,000 mana, absorption and nullification are guaranteed.
50% of the mana used for the absorbed skill is restored, and it costs 50 mana to use.
Cooldown time: 30 seconds.
“This is insane.”
A series of surprises.
All the skills were structured in a way that could deal deadly blows to the enemy.
Anyone could say, “This is broken!” without hesitation.
Of course, just the name “Almighty” alone sufficiently justified this overpowered composition.
“With this, people could even call me an anti-mage. I can definitely go head-to-head with most mages now.”
Despite being a swordsman—
He could now perform ranged checks with Thunderbolt Sword and Silver Moon, and counter ranged attacks using Extreme Mana.
The part that usually bothered him the most as a swordsman had disappeared. It wouldn’t be wrong to say his weakness was gone.
The full inspection of the Nameless Sword was complete.
There were so many options built into it that checking them all had taken a lot of time.
And the rewards didn’t end there.
He also received all the pre-rewards obtained from clearing Blood Tower Areas 1, 2, and 3.
All his stats increased by 110.
He acquired ‘Pitch Black’, a skill that blocks vision. It was a conditional skill that required status effects as a prerequisite, but that made the blocking effect much longer.
He could now also assign a skill for direct skill training.
His stamina increased by an additional 200, and he secured five Full Recovery Potions.
The result of monopolizing the opportunity.
It was an unimaginably massive upheaval.
In his past life, Valentin had monopolized this incredible opportunity, so his rapid growth had been inevitable.
During the Blood Tower raid, his level, which had been 200, was now already 210.
A level-up speed that was no longer surprising.
For Sanghyun, it happened so often it was almost routine.
[The God of Storms is pleased.]
“Hmph.”
The reaction of a constellation appeared.
Though it was a restrained response, that made it all the more meaningful. The very phrase “pleased” was an expression of great satisfaction.
[The constellation who had been silently watching—Solitary Philosopher—has named you the most interesting player.]
[The Dark Hunter claims the intervention of constellations in your rapid growth is excessive and raises an objection.]
[The Flame Emperor subtly glances at you, saying you’re more attractive than the constellation he contracted with.]
“A new constellation is watching me. A contracted one from another player is eyeing me too. This is happiness.”
Sanghyun smiled.
Solitary Philosopher was a constellation he had never seen before. Just from the name, he seemed strict, but it felt good to receive his attention.
Besides, wasn’t the Flame Emperor the one contracted with Lee Sehwa? Seems like someone else’s cake looks bigger.
Right then—
[The ‘Divine Power’ possessed by the Goddess of Luck has been greatly enhanced!]
[The Goddess of Luck has reached the status of ‘Candidate Deity’ by achieving the strictly-set dimensional divine power threshold!]
[The Goddess of Luck repeatedly asks if the name mentioned in this message is really hers.]
[The Goddess of Luck’s eyes have rolled back halfway. The God of Study says there’s a 91.3% chance she’ll faint.]
“Huh…?”
Something unexpected had happened.
A great change had occurred for the Goddess of Luck.
In the hierarchy of the dimensional group, constellations and deities had a clear superior-inferior structure.
The gap had been wide for so long that making a change was thought to be virtually impossible.
But a gap had opened.
Unless the divine power rose significantly, it was an event that could never have occurred.
To compare with a player, it felt like someone had jumped from level 200 to the 300s in an instant.
It wasn’t strange that the Goddess of Luck was about to faint.
After that, Sanghyun was able to receive attention from a total of seven new constellations.
As none of the names had ever been seen before, he could clearly recognize them as new constellations.
After enough time had passed.
The Goddess of Luck, who had nearly fainted from learning she’d become a Candidate Deity, came to her senses.
The first thing she did afterward was to open a private channel to speak with Sanghyun.
Sanghyun gladly accepted the conversation with her.
“Congratulations, Goddess.”
“What I did, honestly, was nothing at all. It’s thanks to my outstanding contractor that a lacking constellation like me received such undeserved treatment.”
Sanghyun’s congratulations.
However, the Goddess of Luck firmly shook her head and redirected the congratulations back to him.
It was something fortunate for both of them.
Now, the weight of her words would become absurdly more powerful than before.
There would likely be some delay, but the benefits she could provide as a constellation would also increase.
That’s because the relationship between a constellation and their contractor was always complementary in that way.
She spoke.
“I have a power specialized in communion and communication.”
“If you want, I can even possess a body on the surface.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, there’s no need to go through the trouble of opening a channel and holding long-distance communication like this—if I have a body to borrow.”
It was an interesting story.
She was saying that by borrowing a human body, they could communicate in real-time at any moment.
He had never heard of such a thing in his past life, so this was likely a realm only accessible to those at the level of a candidate deity or higher.
The Late Bloomer Model Student constellation, unfortunately, had never reached the rank of candidate deity, even until his final day.
“To think I can talk directly with a constellation.”
“Amazing, right? But I can’t just take over any body recklessly, so I’m thinking of finding another method.”
“That sounds just like something you would say, Goddess.”
Indeed, the Goddess of Luck always had compassion and understanding embedded in her way of thinking.
If communion was her only goal, she could have easily possessed any random human woman.
But it seemed she didn’t want to erase someone’s life like that. She was thoughtful.
“There might even be a way for me to become a fairy.”
“There are beings living such lives hidden within the Earth’s dimension, you know?”
“Really?”
“Hoho. The visible world isn’t everything. What we see is actually only a tiny part of it.”
It was news he had never heard before.
He had always imagined that perhaps there were hidden worlds.
For example, underwater civilizations or civilizations living in different spaces yet sharing the same Earth.
But he had never considered fairies.
“I feel like I’d be much stronger if you were closer to me, Goddess.”
Sanghyun spoke honestly.
Being able to be with a supporter who always watched over and cheered for only him was something to be happy about.
If she were always by his side, she could become a great advisor when he was shaken or struggling.
“The only reason I was able to reach the rank of candidate deity was 100% because of you.”
“I had no part in it.”
“You don’t need to say that.”
“No, I do. I say it because I truly want to.
Thank you, really, and I’m grateful too.
A lacking constellation like me was able to enjoy such fortune by meeting the best contractor.
And I feel a deep sense of responsibility too.”
“I’m grateful to you as well, Goddess.
And to my deity and all the constellations who have been watching over me.”
Sanghyun bowed his head.
It wasn’t a thoughtless gesture, but a sincere expression of gratitude.
“I’ll be by your side soon.”
Those few words from the goddess—
They were enough.
With a dazzling future and many trials awaiting him—
It felt great to have gained the best ally. It would be a tremendous source of strength.
Two days later.
After taking sufficient rest.
After thoroughly completing a pre-briefing with Do Kyunghye.
And after confirming the newly gained skills and unique effects of the Nameless Sword at his private training ground—
Sanghyun headed to the promised location.
At 3 a.m., on a desolate outer road, rain was falling quietly and steadily—it felt chilling to the bone.
It wouldn’t have been strange if a ghost in mourning garb suddenly appeared in the direction of his headlights.
The weather was worsening.
And the timing wasn’t favorable either, but the reason Sanghyun was on the move was clear.
‘Constellation Devourers.’
It was to lure them out.
He had already noticed their existence back during the Blood Tower quest, through Do Kyunghye’s necklace.
Having approached this closely, he assumed they must have thoroughly prepared a plan to target him.
Naturally, they would have their own information-gathering network within Korea.
And there was surely an insider at the Player Union.
It would be foolish to think otherwise.
So Sanghyun pretended to move covertly, but in truth, he had boldly exposed all the information for the enemy to see.
That moment was now.
He had shown himself sneaking off quietly, evading the press, to clear a gate.
It was a situation that could only look like a golden opportunity to anyone watching.
‘What seems like an opportunity to everyone is, in truth, not an opportunity precisely because everyone sees it as one.’
That’s what Sanghyun believed.
But the enemies, blinded by their hunger to devour, did not deviate from expectations and took the bait he had thrown.
‘This battlefield won’t be bad.
If Do Kyunghye comes according to our promise, she’ll arrive much later anyway.’
He had already made all preparations.
He had preemptively prevented the possibility of Do Kyunghye getting caught up in an unwanted battle.
The officially reported gate raid time to the Union was 4 a.m., but the time he had promised her was 6 a.m.
Two hours.
Whether he died or they did.
It was more than enough time to settle everything.