Chapter 149: You Know (3)

You Know (3)

Another scythe blade sprang from the tip of the scythe that Kang Shin-hyuk swung. At the end of that one, another appeared, and then another. Dozens of blades appeared instantly, making it look more like a sharp bladed whip rather than a scythe.

[Growing Scythe]

[SS+Rank]

[Special Abilities: Growth, Amplification, Capture, Split]

*Growth: Speeds up the growth of crops. All abilities increase by 30%.

*Amplification: Increases the yield of crops. All abilities increase by 30%.

*Capture: Never misses the target it has set.

*Split: Can divide into several pieces to increase work efficiency.

The growing scythe that was forged by Anvil for Halo. It was the scythe that Halo cherished and had a number of abilities that strengthened itself, but at the forefront was the Split ability. Perhaps it was originally intended to create multiple sickles to increase the speed of harvest, but the result was instead this. It created dozens of blades connected to its body. They could be connected or separated, but they were all empowered by Shin-hyuk's golden dragon trait and spiritual power.

-Koaaaaahhhh...!

It was a magical sight. Kang Shin-hyuk only swung the scythe in place, and the giant blade stuck into the boss's abdomen. A moaning sound flowed out from his mouth as the power that could not be released was now welling inside of it.

-It is a poisonous creature. It seems to be bursting from the inside, causing damage to itself. 1,000HP bonus for your quick response!

"It's a real monster to be able to breathe poison..." Toxic smoke was rushing up through its throat from its stomach. Had it not been for Kang Shin-hyuk lodging the scythe blade in its side, that powerful toxin would have spread throughout the venue in the blink of an eye.

"Fuck, watch out for that! Who knows what else will come."

"Shin Eun-hyuk! Was that his original ability?"

"It's an artifact!"

-Not yet...

"Kh!" It was a powerful surprise attack, but it alone was insufficient to finish him off. Making that judgment quickly, Kang Shin-hyuk kicked off the floor and rushed the monster with both scythes. Dozens more of scythe blades flashed out as he swung the growing scythe once more, wrapping around the giant's body.

-This energy...

The monster's twisted voice assaulted his eardrums. Kang Shin-hyuk instinctively felt it wouldn't be good to let it talk. Which meant he had to kill it as soon as possible. No, with one more blow.

'Is there enough...yes, it will be enough.' He pulled on the growing scythe, tightening the blade against the giant's torso, then swung the falling scythe with his other hand. It drew a black crescent through the air, cutting right through the monster's neck.

-You have subdued a monster that was harmful to the order of things! Bonus based on membership level! You received 1,500,000HP! As a VIP bonus, you received additional HP equal to 50% of the reward, for a total of 2,250,000HP!

"One blow?!"

"Is he human?" A tremor ran through everywhere the moment the giant's neck sailed through the air. It was difficult to keep fighting the dwarves, but now that the boss was dead, would they be able to resist the superhumans?

"A high-ranker..."

"No, a top-ranker among the high-rankers." There was a bit of an error in their perception. Kang Shin-hyuk couldn't have normally fired off such a strong blow. It had required a bit of luck and time to set it up.

[Falling Scythe]

[SS-rank]

[Special ability: Harvesting, Fall Harvest, Earth communication]

* Harvesting: The chance of a critical hit is extremely high when harvesting a target. With each repetition, the weapon's performance and effectiveness are permanently amplified.

*Fall Harvest: Movement speed and attack speed are increased by 30% when holding this weapon—the effect doubles in autumn.

* Earth communication: It is possible to share energy with the earth. This effect strengthens when you are stepping on the ground.

The growing scythe focused on maximizing the power of the weapon itself, whereas the falling scythe focused on setting up the perfect blow to take an enemy's life. It also had an added bonus that came into use when dealing with erosive gates.

'Now I can share my energy...' The moment the erosive gate broke out, Kang Shin-hyuk had placed the scythe to the ground. It was something he learned in Mirotoz, that he could imbue his spiritual power into the land.

'At first, I had thought that the energy just made living things grow faster.' No, perhaps that was correct at the core, but it did more than just that. The energy of the land, which was different from magical power and even spiritual power, was converted into a powerful destructive force when raised with the scythe. Of course, it took time to harvest that power, and the less polluted the land was by others, the more nutritious that energy would be, and the faster it would be to raise up. The land of the gate where nothing existed except for monsters, however, was very rich in energy.

"Everyone stay on the lookout because we don't know where they'll appear!" As everyone's gaze fell on him, Kang Shin-hyuk shouted out in English. The people silently looking at him nodded and turned their eyes away. Thanks to that, he was able to automatically route the body of the giant into his inventory with minimal notice.

-That was the SS-rank monster Poison Keeper. Each one is treated on the level of a named elite. As Jormungand's elite soldiers, the fact that they have appeared here means that they came in with the determination to eradicate everything.

"Are there more?"

-Probably.

It was a good thing Claire and Shin Eunah had advised him to learn to resist poison first. No doubt that was because they knew of Jormungand's tactics. Hopefully, those two would be fine...

"Well, if I look at it, the fourteenth floor is the most dangerous..."

-She was expecting her rank to be updated today, so she should be on the fourteenth floor.

Kang Shin-hyuk gently bit his lip. He decided he would head to the fourteenth-floor gate as soon as he found a way out of this place. Shin Eunah was strong enough to protect herself from any attack, and Claire also had some great abilities. However, Claire's combat power wasn't that high, so he couldn't help but worry. No, rather, there was no excuse. He just felt a need to protect her.

"I've no choice but to break the gate."

-If so, then focus on wielding that scythe. Condensing a lot of energy can destroy the gate.

"I know." Kang Shin-hyuk placed the falling scythe back on the ground and duplicated the growing scythe to dual wield it.

-Our earth...!

"They're here!"

"Attack them!"

-I can feel the fresh air.

As if they had waited for his preparations, more poison keepers appeared around them. Thanks to his warning, the others were able to react quickly. Baek In-ha, faster than anyone else, burst forward like lightning to kick one of them in the stomach. In the meanwhile, Kang Shin-hyuk was killing the dwarves pouring out from the gate. He began to notice that with each one that died, the mana in the area was thickening.

'Is it acting as a catalyst to summon those poison keepers?' Thanks to his ability to sense energy, he could grasp the flow of energy around him. His eyes flashed golden as he began to read the flow of mana. He was sure of it. The dwarves weren't supposed to win since the beginning. Rather, they were sacrifices to call out the poison keepers. With each one that died, the erosion rate of the area increased.

'If so...' Kang Shin-hyuk pulled out an orb that emitted a bright purple color from his inventory. It was the Great Heavenly Spirit, which could absorb all energy.

"I'll drain you all dry then!" Dozens of scythes sprouted out from the sickle, dazzling ally and foe alike. Kang Shin-hyuk manipulated wind around the blades to cut down the dwarves all at once.

-Wind Mastery (S) skill proficiency has increased to A+ rank. Your dominance over the wind has strengthened.

A welcome message appeared before him, proof of his intense concentration when dealing with the wind. He followed up the wind with his scythes. The dwarves were unable to resist his offensive. No, they died without resistance. Yet, before their energy could bring to fruition their plans, it was locked away inside of the orb that he tossed.

-Well?

-It is being disturbed by that.

-Catch it!

The automatic routing function had a function that automatically retrieved objects thrown by him. The moment the energy was collected inside of it, it was pulled back into his inventory along with the dwarves' corpses.

-That guy!

Only

-I see it now; he is also taking the energy of the ground.

-Stop him!

Kang Shin-hyuk felt something in the words of one of his foes, something that couldn't be overlooked. It was an imperfect idea, but it was compelling.

"It's possible." Kang Shin-hyuk activated his Wind Mastery once more, creating a shield of blades to protect himself. He rotated the shield with him at its center, forcing the attacking monsters back.

"Okay, let's do it." Kang Shin-hyuk set down the growing scythe and pulled out the falling scythe from the ground. In his other hand, he took out the Great Heavenly Spirit. The orb, which had absorbed all of the energy, and the falling scythe, which shared in the power of the earth. He had a simple and spontaneous idea to combine the two's abilities.

'I have to do it.' Kang Shin-hyuk acted on that flash of inspiration. The falling scythe synchronized with the Great Heavenly Spirit and began to exude purplish energy.

All of the gate's energy began to be pulled towards the scythe.