Chapter 273
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Swoosh!
On the eastern coast of the planet colonization map dozens of identical elves stood on top of the seawater shooting into the sky.
"So the remnants of the elves were in the sea..."
"Did you tell Seong Jihan?"
"Yeah. Let's retreat first!"
Not only the High Elves with green hair but also regular elves, the players who were swept away without hesitation did not intend to confront the elves bringing the tidal wave.
And unlike the retreating human players,
"They're not high elves."
Arriving at the coast at full speed, Seong Jihan took a deep breath as he looked at the elves.
I thought they had summoned the ancient elf by completing the Altar of Descent, but it seems that's not the case yet.
"Still, can't let my guard down. They wouldn't have attacked so blatantly without proper preparation."
The elves who had been hunted by Seong Jihan wouldn't make such a ruckus without reason.
He took out the eclipse sword.
Fundamental Divine Art, Triad of Martial Mastery -Total Annihilation Horizontal Sweep
As the seawater shooting into the sky split in an instant.
The elves above it flew towards Seong Jihan together.
Even rushing towards someone who could easily slice high elves was akin to courting death, but
Swish...
'That is...'
As the faces of the charging elves were covered with identical white masks, their speed changed completely.
Faster than even the High Elves, their movements became even faster.
The elves wielding swords quickly surrounded Seong Jihan from all directions.
"Leave only the neck."
Sshh!
The group of elves fiercely charged at Seong Jihan as soon as the words left their mouths.
'The masks have strengthened them considerably compared to high elves.'
Seong Jihan, who could easily slice apart even high elves, now struggled to even resist them.
Rather than the Ancient elf directly descending, had he imparted strength to the elves instead?
As Seong Jihan tried to counter the elves' fierce offensive,
[You are an existence that does not follow the way.]
[The "Void Enforcer" title effect is triggered. The power of the void is greatly amplified.]
'Oh?'
The Void Enforcer title, which hadn't activated despite facing countless enemies, Now showed its effect as he battled the masked elves.
'For them to be considered existences that do not follow the way... they must be quite strong. Well then, time to use the Crimson Divine Arts...'
Swish...
As the purple energy arising from Seong Jihan's body became more prominent,
"Ugh...!"
The attacking elves instinctively shrank back for a moment.
Not missing that opening, his sword and spear stretched out.
With the overflowing energy of resentment imbued even into normal attacks,
Shhk!
In an instant, half of the elves were burnt to a crisp without a shred of flesh left.
One.
Two.
The masks the elves wore, which didn't burn away, fell to the ground unharmed.
The elves' infinite regenerative ability was powerless before the red lightning.
Yet the masks that bore the brunt showed no signs of damage.
Swoosh...
The masks floated by themselves and gathered together in one place.
And the mouth of the mask moved.
[As expected, you guys are unworthy. Become my sacrifices.]
As the voice of the ancient elf flowed out from it,
"Ugh...!"
"P-Please give us another chance...!"
Boom!
Ignoring their pleas, the elves exploded.
Slowly...
And the shattered fragments of their bodies soon gathered in one place.
Forming a new body.
Unlike the elves who originally had identical appearance and bodies, this one was different. He had a slightly taller stature, with a muscular male physique. However, while his limbs and torso were fully formed, his headspace was completely empty
Instead...
'There's the energy of the void...'
Slap!
Before the mask flew in to fill the headspace,
In that fleeting moment, the energy of the void powerfully burst out.
And
[You are an entity defying fate.]
[The "Void Enforcer" title effect is triggered. The power of the void is greatly amplified.]
[As you defy the way and instigate it, If you annihilate your opponent, the 'Void Enforcer' title will be upgraded by the 'Will of the Void.']
The Void Enforcer title strongly reacted to the entity emitting the void.
Seong Jihan, upon seeing the message, launched a barrage of attacks with his crimson thunder, but...
Zzzztt...
"Useless resistance. Now that I have descended, it's over."
The mask absorbed Seong Jihan's attack and moved its mouth.
"Sword."
Slash!
As the mask split in half and fell to the ground,
It soon turned into a sword grasped in the ancient elf's hand.
"To wield the power of the Void to its limits... Indeed, you must be captured."
"You call this the limit? It still has a long way to go."
"How arrogant. That confidence will be your downfall."
Swish!
As the ancient elf swung his sword,
Slice!
A long gash appeared on Seong Jihan's left arm with blood gushing out.
One look at the exposed half-face of the Ancient Elf revealed a twitch of the eyebrows.
"It... didn't cut off?"
"Was that supposed to cut it off?"
"Hmph."
Swish!
With another swing of the sword, dozens of gashes appeared all over Seong Jihan's body.
An unavoidable strike.
"Pointless."
Looking at the blood gushing out of Seong Jihan's body, the ancient elf spat out scornfully.
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=Seong Jihan... He's being completely overwhelmed! If his body didn't regenerate, this would've ended long ago!
=We can't even see his movements at all! He's just getting slashed...!
=Isn't it a blessing his neck hasn't been severed yet? He's somehow enduring...!
The battle was terribly one-sided.
Despite manifesting Crimson Divinity Arts to its limits empowered by the amplified void,
"Useless."
Slice!
Seong Jihan's arms and legs were slashed countless times.
But no matter how many times he was attacked, his body wouldn't be severed,
Thanks to the Crimson Divinity Arts strongly flowing through his body.
'Without the amplification as the Void Enforcer, I would've just been a severed neck by now...'
Fundamental Divine art, Fusion of Divine thunder and phoenix: Crimson Thunder cannon
While barely defending against the enemy's strikes, Seong Jihan stretched out his spear but
Crackle!
His attacks were entirely absorbed by the ancient elf's half mask, rendered useless.
"Not bad."
Swish!
As the ancient elf stroked his mask, burnt by the lightning yet quickly restoring its pristine form again.
He looked at the red currants with interest and continued.
"The void's force helps you withstand my strikes and the wounds heal via the life force... How does a lowly being like you utilize both void and life force together?"
"You're the same, aren't you? Your head is void, but your body is elf."
Hm...
Upon Jihan's response, the Ancient Elf looked at him with astonished eyes.
"So, you've noticed."
"I sensed it when you wore the mask earlier."
"You have quite the special senses. A mere lower life form wouldn't be so sharp... You have enough value to dissect and experiment on. I'll take you with me."
Swish!
The movements of the sword quickened further.
Slice!
And the number of gashes rapidly increased all over Seong Jihan's body.
'Though I've managed to endure so far... if this continues, only my head will remain.'
Facing a Constellation-class opponent like the Ancient Elf, Seong Jihan knew he was powerful, but he had not anticipated such a vast difference in strength.
Is the gap with the Constellation-class really this wide?
-This guy is insanely strong...!
-What are the other players doing? They should throw themselves to help Seong Jihan escape
-A few of them went to help, but they got cut down from afar;
-Yeah, even the Sword King on the BattleTube livestream tried to approach but got shredded into pieces...
-The magic is reflected right away too? The power of these masked elves is just different.
The other human players weren't idle either.
They were using various methods to try and help Seong Jihan, but no one could enter the ancient elf's domain.
There was no hope in sight from the other humans.
'In the end, I have to win by myself.'
Despite being overwhelmingly pushed back, Seong Jihan refused to yield and rallied his strength.
Though every ounce of force in his body responded, the residual crimson thunder not included in the stats, remained uncontrollable.
Instead...
Crackle!
The residual crimson thunder, spreading throughout Seong Jihan's body, emitted increasingly powerful currents. Electricity flashed to the extent that Seong Jihan's body was almost invisible.
The ancient elf paused his sword for a moment.
"What's that power? Were you hiding your strength?"
"No. What was hidden came out."
The crimson thunder received from Brahma had shown strange movements ever since obtaining it.
Although the amount of crimson thunder not included in the stat of 200 seemed considerable only when received, in the face of crisis, an enormous amount was being emitted, revealing its true magnitude.
[Trying to quietly stay put only to face a crisis like this... I didn't expect this.]
"Brahma? It's suspicious that the crimson thunder isn't under control. Were you hiding here?"
[Actually, it's his avatar.]
Zap!
From the released lightning, a lion head abruptly popped out.
[I just wanted to transfer power at first, but because you, who took away 1 trillion GP, were annoying, I implanted an avatar.]
"Let's be honest. That has nothing to do with it, does it? You would have planted it anyway, right?"
[Kukuku. Not fooled, huh? Right. How could I give up this power that even the Invincible Martial God couldn't absorb... I will completely comprehend the operational principle of it and transcend the Martial God as an existence.]
To do that, I needed to observe how you use the crimson thunder for a while...
Zap!
The red lion opened its mouth wide.
[To think you'd be so reckless as to face an ancient elf. Truly a fearless guy.]
"So you couldn't stay hidden and popped out?"
[Right. For you to live means more chances for me to grasp the crimson thunder. If you're dragged to the Cosmic Yggdrasil, I'll end up trapped in hell too.]
Rumbling!
Fierce currents of lightning stretched out from the red lion's mouth.
"Tch. Brahma... Wasn't he dead?"
The Ancient Elf, who had absorbed all attacks with his mask until now, frowned and dodged the lightning.
Although the lightning unleashed by Brahma was similar to Seong Jihan's,
The difference of released power was dozens of times over, preventing the ancient elf from nonchalantly tanking it like before.
"Oh. Helping me out?"
[I'll save you if you share control over your body.]
"My... body?"
[Yes. Become my avatar, human.]
Hearing that, Seong Jihan snorted.
As expected, he had no intentions of genuine help huh.
With the ancient elf in front and the parasitic Brahma inside, things were chaotic inside and out.
"You think I'll become your puppet?"
[No need to be so antagonistic. We'll just share senses. It's far better than being dragged away by him.]
"To become an avatar?"
[I'm a generous god. I won't impose much. Just sincerely worship me.]
"So become your slave?"
[Kukuku. If you insist on resisting, I can negotiate directly with the ancient elf instead.]
[Right, Brahma. If you cooperate... I'll give you half that body. The neck is ours though.]
[No. That won't do. Let's experiment on him together instead.]
While he was being slashed apart, the ancient elf and Brahma were bargaining over Seong Jihan's body.
Listening silently, Seong Jihan spoke to Brahma.
"Hey. Brahma."
[Made up your mind? Using casual speech... Have you decided to become my avatar?]
"You think I didn't know you were lurking inside?"
[Kukuku. Suspicious perhaps, but so what? No way to respond anyway right?]
"No. There is one method."
Jjijijik...!
As the lightning in the shape of a lion head suddenly thrashed about,
[What...]
Brahma stiffened in surprise.
Fundamental Divine Art, Annihilation God's Secret - Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit
Swoosh...!
The red lightning twisted and started changing into chains.
[T-This is...! No, how are you...]
Clank! Clank!
As the red lion rapidly lost its form,
"Turning Brahma into the roots of Yggdrasil..."
The chains soon stretched towards the ancient elf.
"How...!"
Clank! Clank!
The endlessly extending chains soon began coiling around the ancient elf one by one.
Despite frantically swinging his sword,
"Have fun with each other."
Seeing both under control, Seong Jihan smiled meaningfully.
He was recalling what happened earlier.
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