novelraw Chapter 40 : Louvre Museum (4)
Chapter 40 : Louvre Museum (4)
Chapter 40: Louvre Museum (4)
[You have destroyed the eagle upon the statue of ‘The Bringer of Fire’!]
Kwaaang!
With a thunderous crash, the statue shattered.
The part of the eagle that had been pecking at Prometheus’s liver vanished completely.
[The statue of Prometheus expresses its gratitude.]
[‘The First Flame’ blesses humanity’s new path.]
Fwoosh!
The First Flame was absorbed into the ‘Ring of Crimson Lotus’.
Although this was a virtual space materialized by the Sacred Relic and not the real flame of Prometheus, the fire was hot enough to heat the Ring of Crimson Lotus.
‘That should be about 3%. It’ll hold for now.’
It was enough fire to give to Sambok as well.
And it would surely come in handy later when using various flame-based abilities.
Yohan nodded in satisfaction.
If his memory served right, there was something else here that was useful.
Step.
He walked forward, searching for what he wanted.
His eyes moved rapidly.
Then suddenly, his gaze stopped on one painting.
‘The Plague of Ashdod’ by Nicolas Poussin.
However—
‘What’s this?’
The painting should have been filled with corpses whose bodies had turned pitch black, victims of the plague.
Yet only people with peaceful faces were leisurely walking down the streets.
Someone had already taken the Opportunity ahead of him.
‘Not bad.’
Yohan’s eyes narrowed.
The Trait [Black Death].
So someone actually knew how to obtain it.
It had to be the same one who gave the Broken Axe Tribe the ‘Projector that Recreates Fantasies’.
But they only knew half the story.
Obtaining that recklessly without countermeasures would come with severe side effects.
More importantly, they had poured everything into acquiring the Black Death and missed the real prize.
Because the true treasure here wasn’t that.
[You use the item ‘Starlight Tracking Scroll’!]
[Searching for the spot where the strongest magic power lies dormant!]
Yohan unfolded the scroll he obtained from Running Rabbit.
Then—
Wuuuuum!
A bright beam of light streaked through the relics.
It stopped before a massive painting.
A piece so famous that anyone would have heard its name at least once.
[‘The Last Supper’ reacts to the energy of the stars.]
[The Twelve Apostles respond to the call of the constellations.]
Flash!
A tremendous wave of light surged forth, and from within it, a single book appeared.
[You have acquired a Mid-grade ‘Skill Book (Unidentified)’.]
A reward appeared.
It appeared—but…
“……!?”
Yohan’s pupils shook violently upon seeing it.
What the hell.
He had thought, at best, it would be a Low-grade—or if lucky, perhaps a Lower-grade Skill Book.
But for a Mid-grade Skill Book to drop…!
His heart ached from holding back the urge to cheer.
Barely suppressing his excitement, Yohan carefully stored the Mid-grade Skill Book in his subspace inventory—gently, ever so carefully, as though it might bruise.
But the dreamlike moment ended as abruptly as it came.
“Uwaaaah!”
“Run! Get out of here!”
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Screams tore through the air first.
Then—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Kuwaaaah!”
A thunderous roar, powerful enough to freeze one’s body in terror, echoed through the hall.
A 12-Star Boss, ‘Fossil of the Tyrannosaurus’.
A creature equivalent to a boss of a lower-ranked dungeon was charging straight toward them.
“Yohan-nim!”
“It’s fine. It hasn’t noticed us yet, so if we just hide here…”
He was about to say they should wait for it to pass when—
“This way! I’ll assist you!”
Seo Changhee shouted as he burst out from hiding.
Damn that spirituality of his.
If there was a fire before him, the guy would still rush in to save people—shaved ice dripping off his head.
Worse, his left hand was gripping a flashing light stick.
“I’ll take care of that thing! In movies, T-Rexes love this kind of stuff!”
Yeah, they do die for it.
Not the T-Rex—the human.
Because of that fooling scientist with the same toy, the lawyer on the toilet ended up meeting his maker.
Yohan could only hope there wasn’t someone here about to play the part of that lawyer.
“We—we’re alive!”
“Please, help us!”
The Hunters sprinted toward where Seo Changhee stood.
In contrast, Seo Changhee charged past them, straight toward the massive fossil.
Whirrr!
The light stick spun in wide circles through the air.
The Tyrannosaurus’s gaze flickered toward the dancing light.
And at that instant—
Srrrng.
A sword was drawn.
The faith to protect the worldline took form.
[Seo Changhee activates Lv1 ‘Aether Blade’!]
A sword strike, swift as lightning.
The pure-white radiance blazing along the blade pierced straight through the Tyrannosaurus’s skull.
Crack, crack…! KWAANG!
“Grooaaaar!”
The Tyrannosaurus, its skull half-blown away, let out a piercing roar.
“Oh!”
“It worked!”
The Hunters shouted in triumph.
But only for a moment.
Crack—
Crunch….
New bones rapidly formed where the missing part had been, and in an instant, the skull was restored to its original state.
Tsk.
Yohan clicked his tongue.
‘They’ve already embedded [Amber] in it.’
A yellow mineral gleamed near the Tyrannosaurus’s heart—
A fossil-type monster item that granted stubborn regenerative power.
Without that, the Tyrannosaurus would never be able to stand against Seo Changhee, no matter how many there were.
However, as long as that amber existed, its regeneration would be horrifyingly relentless.
‘Watching that spirituality struggle is amusing in its own way…’
But if he intended to use him again against the Broken Axe Tribe, he couldn’t afford to overwork him here.
Then—
Pzzzt.
Black mana gathered at Yohan’s fingertips.
A 30cm-wide magic circle constructed through complex calculations.
The wavering black current embodied the Void itself.
A chill ran down his spine.
He could feel it again—the ominous sense that this power could one day devour the world itself.
‘Focus.’
Yohan tightened the magical structure to keep it from scattering.
And then—
“In the name of spirituality, I will never let you pass!”
As Seo Changhee’s second slash followed—
“Devour it.”
He released the magic circle he had been holding.
[Void Magic Lv1 ‘Black Devourer’ activates!]
Crack!
A massive bite mark appeared on the amber.
And at the same time—
Kwooooom!
The charging Tyrannosaurus fossil slammed straight into the corridor wall.
＊＊＊
Falling debris mercilessly pelted the fossilized Tyrannosaurus.
“Ugh…”
Yohan groaned, biting his lip.
“Yo… Yohan-nim? Are you alright?”
Scarlett asked with a worried look.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Despite what he said, the strain on his body was considerable.
Of his total mana—thirty-five in all—more than half had been drained in an instant.
As powerful as the spell was, its recoil was equally immense.
He would definitely need to strengthen his base stats before using it again. Overusing it now, his heart would never endure.
“…Did we get it?”
Seo Changhee murmured from the front.
Damn it.
Why’d he have to say that?
Even an SSS-grade resurrection spell that could revive a Demon King whose heart and head were blown apart would be useless against what was coming now.
But the situation turned out far worse than expected.
[The ‘Ashen Grace’ engraved within the Amber activates!]
Thick gray mist poured out from the yellow amber, swallowing the space where the Tyrannosaurus and the Hunters stood.
Crack!
The marble floor began to split like a spiderweb.
And at that very moment—
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!
The ground beneath their feet completely collapsed.
What followed was a plunge under gravity’s pull.
＊＊＊
Thud—
A sensation as if their hearts dropped struck through their bodies.
A dizzying free fall followed.
“Ugh!”
“What the hell is this—!”
“Uwaaah! Below! Look below!”
At someone’s shout, everyone’s eyes turned downward.
Gurgle—
A pool of boiling black liquid churned below them.
It was a mass of curses, a mix of countless malicious thoughts.
That was dangerous—far too dangerous.
Without at least [Purification], or better yet, a Trait or Skill of [Area Purification], they’d melt away instantly.
‘Even I can’t withstand that.’
Naturally, the others had no chance of surviving either.
Damn it. Guess I have no choice.
Yohan pulled out a magnificent sword from his subspace.
Then, without hesitation, hurled it straight into the center of the pool.
Thwack!
The blade pierced the sticky black liquid dead center.
[‘Sword of Charlemagne’ released.]
[Durandal’s special ability ‘Area Purification’ activates!]
Wuuuum!
A radiant light enveloped the entire pool.
The boiling curse turned into vapor and vanished.
Since it was a replica rather than the genuine article, the sword itself shattered after a single use.
A bit of a waste.
Still, that was exactly what he had brought it for—so it had served its purpose well.
“That was… close.”
Scarlett let out a sigh of relief.
They barely managed to avoid the worst.
However, the situation itself was far from good.
The Requiem Cult.
Yohan had expected that Kim Geunsik wouldn’t just sit around and wait quietly…
But he hadn’t expected that he would have tampered with the amber embedded in the Tyrannosaurus’s body.
And thanks to his precise calculation of both timing and location, they had fallen into the worst possible spot.
The place they were now in was the first basement floor—‘Prehistoric Hall’.
The very heart of the Louvre Museum where the Broken Axe Tribe resided.
Once Kim Geunsik sensed that the trap he set had been triggered, he would surely send the Orc warriors.
Their Plan A for a surprise attack was now completely ruined.
‘At this rate, we might end up being hunted instead.’
Yohan’s eyes narrowed.
He quickly unfolded the ‘Louvre Museum Guide Pamphlet’.
Just as expected.
Numerous Orcs were marked on the map, moving rapidly toward their location.
They weren’t far away.
At most, three minutes until they arrived.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Grrroooar!”
The sound of drums and the war cries of warriors echoed, as if they could burst in at any moment.
“Damn it! How many of these damn traps are there? I’ve had enough! Forget the rewards—I'm done!”
“I’m out too! What’s the point if we die here?”
“Wait! Splitting up is even more dangerous—don’t you get that?”
Some wanted to give up, others tried to stop them.
The situation quickly descended into chaos.
At that moment—
“Um, I… I have something that might help.”
One of the Hunters stepped forward quietly.
She had pale skin and a youthful face, looking to be in her very early twenties.
A cute appearance—she seemed like the type who would be quite popular anywhere she went.
‘She looks familiar… but where did I see her before?’
One thing was certain—she wasn’t a major figure.
If she had been, she would have made an appearance during at least one of the 999 runs.
The girl took out a totem from her subspace.
That was…
Yohan checked the totem.
[Apache Totem (Consumable Item – 4/5 Uses)]
Acquisition Difficulty: B
Description: Creates a divine barrier that repels calamity. Approaching enemies cannot see you. However, it can only be used by those whose Holy Rank has reached at least 11 Stars.
“Mister… you’re strong, right? I saw it earlier—when that oppa swung his sword, you used a kind of magic I’d never seen before.”
Oh ho.
She had quite the sharp eyes.
But something about that bothered him.
“Why is Seo Changhee an ‘oppa’ and I’m a ‘mister’?”
Sure, to a twenty-year-old, anyone twenty-five might look like an old man…
But Seo Changhee was twenty-six.
In fact, he was a year older!
He’d like to hear her logically explain how the younger one here was a ‘mister’ while the older one got to be ‘oppa’.
“Well… that oppa’s handsome.”
“…….”
“Pfft!”
Scarlett, who was beside them, burst into laughter.
When Yohan glared, she quickly cleared her throat and composed herself.
“Hm. I don’t really understand human standards, but personally, I think Yohan-nim is more handsome.”
“It’s already too late.”
Anyway.
Since they had it, might as well make good use of it.
[The Cursed Item ‘Apache Totem’ activates!]
[Remaining Uses: 3]
Wuuuum!
A faint veil spread outward.
Moments later—
A display case of fossils and the surrounding wall appeared in front of them.
A kind of ‘camouflage veil’.
The scene blended perfectly with the surroundings, leaving no trace of unnaturalness.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect—it didn’t block sound.
So they would all have to stay silent until the Orcs passed.
“Squeak! I’m sure I heard something here…”
“They must’ve fled elsewhere. Move quickly! Don’t let a single one live!”
The Orcs inspected the collapsed ceiling, then soon left for another area.
“We… we’re alive.”
“Thank goodness.”
The Hunters, who had been drowning in despair moments ago, sighed in relief.
Truly a bunch that rode the highs and lows like no one else.
No wonder their Holy Ranks were all so average.
“Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Lee Saerom. And you, mister—no, oppa?”
“Kang Yohan.”
“Aw, are you sulking because I called you mister? Fine, I’ll call you oppa then, okay?”
With a bright smile and playful tone, she drew closer.
That smile and that voice…
No way.
He remembered now.