Chapter 106
The northern wall was shattered in an instant by a gigantic hand made of black iron.
Seong Jihan had seen it before.
'It's the iron hand I saw in the 10 towers. Was it called the Black Hand?'
Apostle of Destruction, 'Black Hand'.
He hadn't encountered this monster in his previous life.
The beings called apostles varied greatly in power.
Some were as moderate as the Count Naseed of the Valley of the End map, and others as mighty as the Apostle of the Apocalypse capable of destroying nations.
'It probably isn't as strong as the Apostle of the Apocalypse.'
Seong Jihan, wielding his Phoenix's Arrow, charged straight towards the broken wall.
And there,
Ariel was already confronting the gigantic Black Hand.
[Heh-heh-heh-heh! Why is a Shadow Elf here?]
"Quiet."
In the center of the Black Hand's palm,
There was a set of lips, the size of a human head, shining bright crimson.
It seemed moisturized and glossy as if lipstick had been applied.
[Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh! I should be louder!]
The voice that came from there was as grating as nails on a chalkboard, and so insufferably arrogant that it instantly induced a strong aversion.
[Heh-heh-heh! Heh-heh-heh!]
Swoosh!
The gigantic palm came down to squash Ariel like a bug.
Bang!
Ariel couldn't dodge the fast-approaching hand and was pinned down.
But the Black Hand, having captured her, let out a disappointed noise.
[Argh... a true Shadow Elf! Annoying!]
No wonder,
When the Black Hand raised its hand again, the shadow that had spread on the ground rose and took Ariel's form once more.
For Ariel, who could transform her body into a shadow, the Black Hand's physical attacks were ineffective.
However,
The same was true for Ariel's attacks on the Black Hand.
The shadow of the Black Hand rose and transformed into a sword, piercing through it, but...
"So hard..."
Clang!
The Black Hand was incredibly hard, Ariel's shadow sword couldn't even scratch it, as they both shared the same dark nature.
Neither could harm the other.
To break this deadlock, outside intervention was necessary.
And then,
"He's here."
Zzzzzap!
Lightning rained down on the back of the Black Hand.
The thunder spread rapidly across the entire iron hand.
It was the Thunderbolt Strike unleashed from Seong Jihan's Phoenix's Arrow.
[Eeek! Eeeeeek...!]
The Black Hand, which showed no reaction to Ariel's shadow sword, now groaned in pain.
The peculiar sound coming from its red lips was so unique that the commentators mentioned it.
- Uh. Christopher! That sound is truly one of a kind!
- It's like nails on a chalkboard! It's giving me goosebumps!
- I can't imagine the hardship of the players who have to hear it directly.
- That hand... While its body is made of iron, its mouth seems quite vulnerable! I wish it would keep quiet!
[This power... Hah. Hah.]
Swish!
The Black Hand, whose lips were trembling, briefly turned transparent and then returned to its iron form.
Then, the lips on its palm shifted to the back of the hand, facing Seong Jihan who had struck from behind.
[That is... heh-heh-heh... someone surpassing a king!]
The Black Hand let out an exclamation, sensing the energy from the Thunderbolt Strike of the Phoenix's Arrow.
It seemed to recognize the power of the thunderbolt.
[Catch him before he grows stronger!]
Swish!
The Black Hand turned transparent again.
From Seong Jihan's keen senses, the iron hand had completely vanished.
'...How did it do that?'
'Could it be a kind of transparent magic?'
Thinking so, Seong Jihan scattered thunder into the air, but nothing caught on.
And a moment later.
Swish!
[Grrrr... Come with me!]
The hand that had been invisible suddenly sprung out, trying to grip Seong Jihan's body tightly.
The Black Hand that disappeared in an instant, leaping freely through space.
It seemed nothing could obstruct it.
However.
[Grr, Grrr...! What is this power!?]
Before fully gripping Seong Jihan, the hand's movement halted.
The Black Hand seemed blocked by something in the air.
The black fingers curled, unable to get any closer to Seong Jihan.
'Thankfully, it can't penetrate the Force's Absolute Domain.'
The Absolute Domain of the Force.
This expanded realm, growing with the power level, didn't easily get pushed by the Black Hand.
'Still, I was almost caught.'
How did it completely erase its presence?
Seong Jihan decided he must restrain it with all his might now that it has shown itself.
Nameless Divine Arts, Divine Thunder Decree - Lightning Body
Zzzt!
Seong Jihan's body began to turn transparent, with lightning rising all over.
The Lightning Body, aligning with the energy of lightning.
To utilize the other martial arts of the Divine Thunder Decree more powerfully, one must be in the state of Lightning Body.
[Grr... Huh? What. What. What! Already doing that?]
Seeing Seong Jihan in his Lightning Body, the Black Hand panicked.
[Grrrr! Must~ catch you! Awaken, Kings!]
On the third finger of the iron Black Hand, a pure white cloud began to form.
No, upon closer inspection, it wasn't a cloud but a collection of spirits.
The swirling spirits inside had twisted faces.
All of them wore crowns.
[You'll join them here. Grrrr!]
Whoosh!
The third finger dispersed.
When gathered, the spirits didn't seem like much.
But when spread out, each of them showed their extraordinary presence.
After all, if they were 'Kings' acknowledged by Kill the King,
They would all be significant figures.
'They're still losers. No need to pay them any mind.'
Without blinking an eye, Seong Jihan focused solely on the Black Hand's mouth, releasing lightning.
Nameless Divine Arts, Divine Thunder Decree - Striking Thunderbolt
[Grr... Grrraack...!]
The Lightning Body's Striking Thunderbolt.
It was different in magnitude.
The Black Hand's massive mouth was entirely blocked by the white lightning.
And then.
Zzzz!
[Ow. Ow. Ow! Why keep shooting...!]
This time, the Striking Thunderbolt was continuous.
Lightning continuously emitted through the end of the Phoenix's Arrow combined with the fundamental flames, scorching and burning the Black Hand's mouth.
[Grrraack... Block it! Kings!]
The spirits trying to ambush Seong Jihan quickly latched onto the lightning following the Black Hand's command.
Whoosh!
When the undead met the superior lightning, the extraordinary spirits couldn't hold on for long and disappeared.
[Grr. Grrr... Fine. Wait!]
Perhaps finding a brief moment of opportunity due to that,
The Black Hand turned transparent again.
Seong Jihan's Striking Thunderbolt aimed for the mouth again, but...
Zap!
The lightning just missed, brushing past the void.
"Tsk!"
Seong Jihan clicked his tongue.
'How on earth does he disappear?'
Throughout his past life's experiences, he had faced countless enemies.
But none had ever erased their presence so perfectly, only to reappear.
It's as if he went to another world and came back.
'...That guy too, right? He was an Apostle, wasn't he?'
Compared to Count Naseed, who was easily captured by Seong Jihan, Black Hand was quite the headache.
For a moment, he thought about the commonality between the two, then his mind wandered to the item he obtained from Count Naseed.
'The Veil of the Void. It seems to have a similar effect as what that guy uses...'
Of course, its effect wears off when you move, and although Black Hand's stealth was more effective compared to the Veil of the Void which allows the user to evade SSS-grade attacks,
'Let's try using it.'
Since in this current situation, he had nothing to lose.
Seong Jihan took out the Veil of the Void from his inventory and used it.
And then,
"Now... This time..."
From the world inside the veil, Seong Jihan was able to spot a figure wearing a black robe.
The Black hand, who made peculiar noises and was unpredictably cunning.
His laugh was eerily strange and it was clear he wasn't an ordinary opponent.
'At first glance, he seems more normal than expected. A human species perhaps?'
Though much of his features were concealed by the robe and one couldn't get a clear view, the size was similar to a human.
Only the edges of his face were visible, extremely pale, with no distinct facial features in sight.
"Well, let's go back then..."
Muttering to himself, he played with an iron glove on his white hand and tilted his head.
"Where did this guy go?"
Due to Seong Jihan's use of the Veil of the Void, he couldn't find him.
Confused, he looked around several times and clicked his tongue.
"It's inconvenient not being able to use my abilities... Hey, you, bring me your soul."
From his pale hand, smoke began to emerge.
A ghost appeared.
Initially small, the ghost grew as the smoke gathered, and Seong Jihan recognized it.
'It's the Conqueror from the Conqueror's Mausoleum.'
A giant man riding a horse with a beard.
He didn't look as majestic as when Seong Jihan saw him in the Conqueror's Mausoleum.
[...Understood.]
Rather, his demeanor seemed rather subdued towards the figure in the robe.
'Wasn't the mission objective to protect the soul of the Conqueror? But he's already there, isn't he?'
Had the Conqueror's soul already been captured by Kill the King?
Then why did they come here?
Seong Jihan pondered as he watched the disappearing soul of the Conqueror.
Soon after the Conqueror's soul disappeared,
Another identical soul appeared, and he silently observed the situation.
[Black Magician. Can you revive me?]
This newly appeared soul of the Conqueror, unlike the one who brought him, was full of confidence.
He referred to the robed figure as the Black Magician and asked confidently.
"Ah, yes. Do you want to live again? You've already conquered the continent. You left the world too early."
[It's not for such a trivial reason that I want to be revived.]
"Then what?"
[My empire is crumbling. I need to set it right.]
"You justify with even more trivial reasons. Look at the ghost you brought here."
The robed figure casually pointed to the side.
The newly arrived soul of the Conqueror turned and looked surprised.
[What, why... why am I there?]
"You from the original world have already been consumed by me. This is a fictional world recreating that moment. You are... yeah, a fake."
[That's impossible...!]
"And your real soul here told me his true intentions. Hey, want to say it?"
When the robed figure pointed at the real soul, he slowly opened his mouth with a dark expression.
[...You're right. I simply wanted to live longer. My will to live never faded, which is why I existed as a spirit in the tomb.]
[You...! How dare you, a fake, belittle me!]
[Being deceived by the promise of revival and coming here. Even if it's me, it's really foolish. Eventually, you'll be absorbed into me.]
[Ha! Did you really think I was fooled and came here?]
The newly arrived spirit of the Conqueror raised his bow in anger.
[I had already suspected it was a trap. I merely played along to crush the intruder with my own hands!]
Fwoosh!
The spirit of the new Conqueror flared up in a blinding white.
The White Flames, which were also recorded in the Phoenix's Arrow, were erupting endlessly.
The power that seemed like it could burn this alternate world at any moment.
However, the robed figure remained calm.
"Hey, he seems pretty strong, doesn't he? Does the fake seem stronger?"
[There are no system constraints in this world.]
"Just play with that guy. I need you to buy time until I catch that other one."
Seong Jihan deduced that the 'other one' the robed figure was referring to was himself.
After all, this place was inside the BattleNet game.
Even if he was captured and died here, it naturally had nothing to do with his real self.
'But for some reason, it doesn't feel like it would end just like that if I were caught right now.'
This opponent felt distinctly different from the NPCs he had encountered before.
He was similar to Ariel, aware that this was BattleNet.
"Where is the guy who used lightning earlier?"
The robed figure fumbled with his gloves, seeming irritated.
Beside him, two identical spirits were pulling up white flames and engaging in an intense battle.
[For a fake, you harness quite a bit of power!]
[Huh... Who's the fake here? All talk.]
And as their battle intensified,
Inside the Veil of the void, the Phoenix's Arrow held by Seong Jihan started to gradually heat up.
'What's this...'
Seeing this, his eyes sparkled.
'I can make use of this.'
[Notes: There has an error in the translation of Dark Elves. To be exact, the species Ariel belongs to. Previously, it was mentioned Ariel is a Dark Elf as we thought that only 2 species of Elves were present, the fairer ones and the dark ones but after further details being uncovered in Chapter 101, Ariel should belong to the third species: The Shadow Elves.]