novelraw Chapter 155 : The Master of Wishes (4)
Chapter 155 : The Master of Wishes (4)
The Master of Wishes (4)
"Man-manager Park-nim?"
Ahn Tae-seok looked at me with eyes full of utter disbelief.
PD Do simply stood with his mouth wide open, staring at the strange being that had just burst through the wall and flown away.
'Damn.'
I was just as flustered as they were.
'I was so shocked I reacted without thinking...'
Focusing entirely on Ah-yeon, I hadn't noticed the monster's presence at all.
Of course, even if I had noticed, I wouldn't have expected it to break through the wall and attack like that.
"I already thought so after seeing you fight back in Taean, but you really are an Awakener, aren't you?"
"Yes, something like that."
PD Do, having seen me fight the monster in Taean before, accepted it more readily than the others.
Though, it seemed he was still surprised by my strength, which was far greater than he had expected.
"N-no, just looking at the power you showed just now... You must be at least A-rank Awakener... right? Then why on earth...?"
Why on earth are you doing manager work? – his eyes seemed to ask me.
"Hunting work doesn't really suit my temperament."
"I-I see..."
"But that's not the important thing right now, is it? For now, let's focus on chasing down that creature."
"Yes, understood."
He still looked entirely unconvinced, but since this wasn't something that called for further questions, Ahn Tae-seok reluctantly agreed.
"That bastard ran away."
Ah-yeon had already chased after the monster sent flying by my punch and came back, grinding her teeth.
"The way it disappeared instantly, it must have used an artifact."
At Ah-yeon's words, Ahn Tae-seok furrowed his brow as if it was hard to understand.
"But why would it attack so suddenly? And why Manager Park-nim, of all people?"
"Maybe because it got beat up back in Taean?"
"I wish it were such a simple reason... But the murderous intent was too strong, and it looked like a spontaneous attack."
Ahn Tae-seok was correct.
Even though it had suddenly attacked me, it was too unprepared for a real ambush.
It wasn't our first encounter, and we had already fought once, hadn't we?
"Let's keep pursuing in the direction it came from. There's bound to be something there. PD Do, be ready to fall back at any moment."
"Yes, I understand. Even so..."
When he first entered the dungeon, PD Do had been tense, but now there was a faint smile on his lips.
Apparently, having found the monster less formidable than expected, he had calmed down.
'If we capture this well, it could create even more of a buzz than the variety show we planned.'
Which wasn't a bad thing for me, either.
It would raise the recognition of both Ah-yeon and Alencia, and serve as a chance to show the public that real threats existed in this world.
That way, tracking down the demons would become even easier.
"That thing must also have noticed we're close, so it won't stay still any longer. It will try to ambush us again, just like before."
Feeling the intense demonic energy spreading from my heart, I steadied my breath.
I'd let it slip away twice, but there wouldn't be a third time.
The next encounter would be its last.
***
'How should I kill that guy?'
Mikhail stood on a high hill, gazing down at the mountain, deep in thought.
He'd planned to enter the dungeon immediately, but with Shin Ah-yeon and the others going in, it became difficult.
'More than anything, I haven't fully figured out what abilities he has.'
He'd heard about the divine arts, but chances were high he had other powers as well.
'With Shin Ah-yeon here, he'll have to reveal whatever ace he's hiding.'
The youngest S-rank, and a great mage.
Most people denied Shin Ah-yeon's achievements, but Mikhail thought they were definitely possible.
After all, even the "one" considered the leader of UnderStellar had shown Mikhail skills that rivaled Shin Ah-yeon's on several occasions.
"So I should strike while he and Shin Ah-yeon are fighting. If I time it right..."
Maybe he could kill both the monster and Shin Ah-yeon at once.
Their leader had said to whittle down the number of S-rank in Unique as much as possible, so this was the perfect chance.
'Hm?'
While keeping watch over the dungeon, Mikhail sensed someone nearby and looked over.
He spotted a suspicious figure holding something metallic, waving it in the air toward the sky.
"... Alencia Walker?"
What on earth is she doing there?
Mikhail hid in the woods and observed Alencia.
Alencia, holding a long metallic, unidentifiable object, circled the area, waving it at the sky.
He couldn't find any rationale for such bizarre behavior.
Was it some ritual?
Or was she just crazy, doing something random like that?
'Alencia Walker recharges her magic power with electricity.'
He'd heard something like that.
If so, maybe...
'Is she using that metal stick to call lightning?'
Maybe she had an artifact like that.
Surely, she wouldn't be randomly swinging a stick around for no reason.
'This is the perfect timing.'
Alencia was also a hunter affiliated with Unique.
She, too, was someone who needed to be dealt with.
And now, while she was completely off-guard, he could take her out in one strike.
"I didn't want to use this if possible, but..."
Mikhail took out another dagger from inside his garments.
The dagger he'd lost earlier was an artifact mainly used for escape, but the one he now held was used to kill enemies at a distance in a single blow.
When the dagger hit and lodged into the target's body, the blade would explode, ensuring the kill—an artifact designed for assassination.
Because it left little room to toy with the target, Mikhail was reluctant to use it.
'But against an S-rank Awakener, I can't take half-measures.'
Mikhail threw his dagger at Alencia, who was swinging her stick at the sky.
Its speed was practically supersonic.
For an ordinary human, just being hit by it would leave not even a complete corpse.
That very dagger flew straight at Alencia's head, aiming for her most vulnerable spot—her eye.
KKAANG!
"Aagh!"
'... Aagh?'
Didn't it just hit her in the eye?
He'd heard that Alencia's body was pretty sturdy.
That was why he'd aimed for her eye—but "ouch"?
Was that something you could call simply being sturdy?
"Who's there?"
Alencia rubbed her eye as if a hair had gotten in it, looking around for whatever had just flown at her.
Her eyes were slightly teary, but not really bloodshot.
"A dagger?"
Did someone just throw that at her?
She looked around in a hurry, but there was no sign of anyone.
"Did the wind blow the dagger here?"
Well, that could happen, she thought.
Turning the dagger this way and that to examine it after it had hit her eye, she decided to keep it.
'Lucky me.'
It looked like an artifact—who would've thought she'd just pick one up for free like this?
She'd have to ask Jung-woo to appraise it later to find out what kind of artifact it was.
'... Hah.'
Watching this, Mikhail lost his nerve and stayed hidden.
What could he do against Alencia, who hadn't even scratched from a dagger he'd thrown at full force?
'Is this even possible...?'
Thus, Mikhail ended up losing another one of his precious artifacts.
***
From the moment she arrived at Gwehyeoldo, for some reason, Ah-yeon didn't feel well.
She had a headache, and her body felt heated.
At first, she wondered if she'd caught a cold, but it was fundamentally different.
The repulsive, unpleasant air filling the island.
The disgusting sensation.
Nothing here sat well with her.
It wasn't like this when she first boarded the boat.
"Shin Ah-yeon."
Right then, Jung-woo called to Ah-yeon.
"You don't look so good. Are you alright?"
Normally, when other people were around, Jung-woo always called her 'Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim' with full formality.
That he spoke differently now meant he was clearly worried.
'Do I really look that bad?'
She was annoyed and feeling crappy, but she hadn't realized it showed that much.
"I'm fine."
"If we run into that thing, you don't have to fight yourself, so if you're tired, you can fall back."
"No."
She couldn't allow that.
She wanted to see the face of the freak who made this dungeon with her own eyes.
Besides, even if Jung-woo was strong, since she didn't know what burdens he bore when using his power, this was something she had to handle herself.
He was the manager, and she was the hunter.
So, she continued walking along the path guided by PD Do and Ahn Tae-seok.
At some point, the path they took began to give her the impression of leading somewhere, as if it was deliberately guiding them.
She probably wasn't the only one who felt this way.
「... So bitter.」
And then, now.
Before them stood a mountain of corpses.
"H-here we are."
It was the same place they'd visited once before, with Alencia and the other hunters.
But now, the number of corpses was far greater and the air was far thicker with darkness.
「Why is this? Why...?」
At the center of the corpses, the monster knelt, his body half-collapsed, muttering something under his breath.
It was a language of another world—no one but Jung-woo could understand.
「Why am I not the one beside God? Why does God know nothing?」
The monster's gaze turned to Ah-yeon.
Ah-yeon's eyes narrowed at the madness in his.
「Oh Goddess, answer me.」
"What the hell is he babbling about?"
Ah-yeon aimed her staff at the monster.
Three magic arrays appeared in front of her, spinning rapidly and discharging fierce light.
KWAANG!!
The monster dodged to the side and avoided the barrage of light, but one arm was ripped off and flew away.
However, the torn-off right arm regenerated instantly.
No, 'regenerated' was not the right word.
Flesh and bone fragments from the surrounding corpses flew over and became the monster's new arm.
「You are not the Goddess. You are not worthy to bear the power of the Goddess.」
The fleeing monster brought his hands together and slammed them to the ground, causing the piled corpses around him to surge upward.
A red magic array, previously hidden by corpses, lit up and dyed the dark space crimson.
It was the continuation of all the countless runes and engravings they had seen on the way here.
"Ugh!"
Jung-woo grabbed Ahn Tae-soo and PD Do, hurriedly carrying them outside.
'The power he can unleash isn't just from the corpses gathered here.'
He realized it the moment he saw the magic array.
The traces of the 'countless lives' here.
It wasn't just Benadic who crossed through the rift.
All the souls Benadic had gathered in that world, and the souls of every human present when he was being chased and the rift opened, were gathered here.
All of that, Benadic used to amplify the divine art inscribed in the temple—the power of wishes—and focus it on himself.
To gather the force of thousands of souls and mimic the most omnipotent authority.
「If I obtain your body and recover the bracelet...」
As the red light from the magic array intensified, the flesh and bones of the corpses began to fly at the monster and stick to him.
「I will become the new miracle. I will become the most omnipotent being.」
He no longer retained even a human form.
A giant of flesh, stitched together from countless lives.
Those red eyes turned to Ah-yeon.
At that sight, her vision was swallowed by darkness.
That strange sensation she'd once felt on Jeju Island.
A faint, distant sense of her consciousness fading and snapping.
But now, it was different from then.
Maybe because of the unpleasant energy smothering the surroundings.
Or maybe it was because of the hot sensation burning up her body.
So, when her darkened vision cleared, it wasn't because everything had ended.
Instead—
"Saintess Estella."
It was raining.
But now, Ah-yeon was not on the stormy island.
She was in a completely different world, under the light of two moons.
"As promised, I have come to fetch you."
Countless beings welcomed her in the rain.
Demons—there could be no doubt.
She couldn't tell if this was reality, or an illusion.
Ah-yeon, dazed, lifted her arm.
On her own arm was a familiar item.
The Saintess' bracelet.
"Isn't this what you wanted?"
The demon at the front spoke to Ah-yeon.
"The moment of revenge against the humans who imprisoned you for a thousand years."
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
What did Estella do?
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】