Chapter 362
Plod. Plod.
Seong Jihan approached the cracked statue of the Constellation.
Among the beasts, there was a statue resembling a tiger. The crack was around its leg.
"Come out from there... now!"
Although shouted from afar by a monkey-like monster reprimanded by a Constellation earlier, Seong Jihan did not respond. Instead, he struck the cracked statue with the Eclipse sword.
Then, the statue's eyes sparkled.
[What do you think you're doing... Breaking this won't cut off the Constellation's support. Wasting your strength on trivialities!]
"Is that so? Even if the statue breaks, the spirit remains, hence the Constellation's support continues?"
[You've seen the spirit, have you? Yes. No matter how much you try to destroy me, the support continues. All that remains is for you to be overpowered by players much weaker than you!]
"Really?"
[Yes, now scram!]
As the powerful aura from the Constellation's statue surged, Seong Jihan's sword, unable to properly pierce the statue, was on the verge of being deflected.
However,
Fundamental Divine Arts,
Annihilation God's Secret:
Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods
As the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods manifested from the sword's tip,
Whoosh!
White smoky essence rapidly began to leak from the cracked statue.
[What is this...!]
The spirit got sucked into the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods instantly.
The Constellation's statue, sensing its critical condition, flashed a bright light attempting to somehow repel Seong Jihan.
But,
"Let's feast a bit more."
Avoiding the counterattack, Seong Jihan continued to draw in the spirit with the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.
Although the crack was so small that he could not absorb the opponent's spirit all at once even with the technique fully deployed, he felt a rapid fulfillment inside the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods compared to the amount he had consumed.
'This might yield something more if I continue.'
Seong Jihan recalled a game in the Northern Wall. There, absorbing fragments of a Constellation's spirit with the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods produced an item from within the formation.
Although he couldn't directly use this item, it contained the memories of a Constellation, aiding in increasing his stats.
Let's put this to good use again.
As the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods continued to devour the spirit from the cracked statue,
The Constellation seemed increasingly desperate.
[You... Stop standing there gawking and attack him quickly!]
"But I'm still having trouble controlling my power...."
[Even if the statue breaks, it's fine, just chase that creature away!]
"You're giving me permission?"
Willing to risk the destruction of its statue to repel Seong Jihan, the observing monkey-like monster once again charged at him.
"I'll join the fight!"
Other players, one after another, joined in attacking.
Boom! Boom!
As consecutive powerful attacks landed, Seong Jihan found himself forced to withdraw the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods to avoid the blows.
"Whoa."
The statue by then had more cracks.
"Thanks, guys. That'll help me feed."
"What..."
Seong Jihan smiled lightly and thrusted his sword into thin air, summoning the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods once more. This time, the formation was significantly larger than before.
[No, he's creating it again...]
The Constellation, seemingly not expecting Seong Jihan to immediately recreate a formation capable of absorbing the soul of a Constellation,
"Will feast well."
As Seong Jihan fully activated the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods,
Whoosh!
More spirits were absorbed from the cracked statue, and once the formation was completely saturated,
Pop!
A massive fang emerged from within.
'Finally, it appeared.'
An item imbued with the experiences of a Constellation.
Despite containing enlightenment from a being entirely alien to humanity, as one who harbored Martial Soul without conflicting nature, Seong Jihan could utilize this to increase his stats.
'Not the best time to absorb it, though.'
With attacks coming from all directions, Seong Jihan placed it into his inventory and looked back towards the Constellation's direction.
Despite absorbing so much, the spirit of the full-fledged Constellation seemed to have more left to consume.
'As expected of a Constellation. Plenty to feast on.'
As Seong Jihan continued to dodge and maintain the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods,
[Ah, this won't do. I will cancel my support and return to my sarcophagus...!]
As the Constellation's statue mentioned its sarcophagus,
Rumble...
The ground split, and the giant statue promptly sank into the earth.
"What? The Constellation is leaving..."
"Damn, I've lost some power...!"
With one Constellation's support withdrawn, some players felt their strength diminish.
'They haven't weakened much though. Did their power drop by about 2-3 percent?'
Such a reduction was not enough to make a one-against-many battle easy.
Evaluating the opponents' strength, Seong Jihan shifted his gaze afar.
He aimed for a location with as many Constellations' statues as possible.
'That direction should do.'
Whoosh!
Seong Jihan's form stretched towards the east.
"Where are you running off to?"
"Quickly, let's chase him. He's trying to do something rash with Constellations' statues...!"
"If we lose Constellations' support, we're doomed!"
As the remaining players hurriedly followed him,
* * *
The Graveyard of Stars Map.
The aspect of survival that had been dominated by Seong Jihan bore an oddly altered state now.
From an outside view, it appeared as though the players sponsored by Constellations were jointly besieging Seong Jihan, putting him in an apparent disadvantaged position.
- Why are the Constellations suddenly stepping in like this?
- Just stick to receiving their support... Ugh, it's frustrating to see everything go south at the last minute.
- Wow, Seong Jihan's really good at dodging; those attacking him must be so annoyed.
- For real, haha. He's so slick at dodging attacks from all sides.
Humanity's viewers were worried the game might flip, watching this fight unfold.
- Absorbing the spirit of a Constellation... What kind of ability is that?
- He doesn't break the statues with his power but uses the other players' power instead.
- Nine Constellations have already retreated. Players' movements have also slowed down significantly.
- To win like this...
- Ah, I thought he was going to lose this time. That guy...
Alien viewers, several levels more observant, were noticing a distinctly different aspect of the battle than what surfaced.
Using opponents' power to break the statues and utilizing the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods at the cracked parts to absorb the Constellations' spirits were Seong Jihan's tactics.
[This madman...! If this continues, he'll entirely rob us of our spirits... And, I'm returning to my sarcophagus...]
Whoosh...
As the tenth statue sinks into the ground, the power of opposing players noticeably weakened.
"No more running!"
"Fight me fair and square...!"
Shouting at Seong Jihan moving towards the next statue, the players screamed, but
"Fair and square when you 12 are ganging up? Does that even make sense?"
"Grr...!"
Unable to overpower Seong Jihan alone, the 12 players banded into teams, making their words ring hollow.
"It might be best to avoid attacking near Constellations' statues, don't you think?"
"I was thinking the same around the fifth one. But that guy kept destroying them..."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Just a crack on the statue is enough. Then he uses that strange formation to absorb Constellations' spirits. It's a headache..."
"If more Constellations return to their sarcophagi, the game is over for us. We must land a successful blow."
"If things keep going like this, he'd be too much for us to handle. If the buff disappears further, we're all doomed."
Facing certain defeat if the situation continued, the 12 players were desperate to strike Seong Jihan,
[Useless beings... Despite giving them tremendous power, they're utterly failing to utilize it.]
Already losing patience, the Constellations sponsoring them were,
[Absorbing Constellations' spirits... This being is beyond the norm.]
[Let's give up on this game. He's only doing this to exit early. If we lose more spirit here, we'll be stuck in sarcophagi even longer.]
[Right. Let's cut our losses this time.]
Observing the direction the battle was heading, the Constellations decided to no longer put their stakes in the 12 players.
"No, they can still do it! They're getting used to me! Just trust them a bit more! You don't want to lose your weapons, right?"
After stashing the tenth Constellation item into his inventory, Seong Jihan, hearing the Constellations' voices from afar, hurriedly shouted,
[We're withdrawing!]
[As for the weapons... Sigh, we'll just make new ones.]
The Constellations had already given up on the game.
Rumble...
The land began shaking all around.
The Constellations' statues, prominently standing on the land, swiftly hid themselves underground.
-What? LOL
-The Constellations are escaping??
-Seong Jihan desperately protecting their shields, haha.
-At least take a hit, man. If you keep slipping away like that, who would count on you? Haha.
And then,
"This... this is bad..."
"Our blessings have disappeared..."
Looking at each other with distraught eyes were the 12 players.
Bolstered by the Constellations' support, they had once exuded a fierce might.
Now, they were reduced to mere players.
"Ha..."
Plod. Plod.
Seong Jihan sighed deeply and walked towards the 12 players.
Among them, Seong Jihan was of the smallest stature.
However,
At his footsteps, the rest of the players found themselves unwittingly taking steps back.
They had not managed to land a solid hit even with the Constellations' support.
Now that the support was gone, they couldn't muster the courage to confront him.
"Hey, you guys are also Constellation candidates?"
"That, that's right."
"Really? From the Grand Master League?"
"...I'm from the Star League, actually."
Hearing that, Seong Jihan furrowed his brows.
The Star League, for those from level 450 to 500.
Why was this guy mingling in a place for Grand Masters?
"So, you're above level 450."
"4-478."
"Why so weak? You should've at least broken an arm or a leg of mine. Give the Constellations some hope."
Ssshhh.
As Seong Jihan's shadowy sword began to glow more fiercely,
One of the players grit his teeth and exclaimed,
"You, you must have deceived us...! How can a player, not even a Constellation, possess such power?"
"That's right. A being with sealed powers should not have this much strength...!"
As the players, unable to accept the turn of events, started to voice their disbelief,
Shick!
Seong Jihan, having no intention of listening, swung his sword.
Their bodies were cleaved in two and fell apart.
[You have secured 1st place in the Special Survival Map, 'Graveyard of Stars'.]
With the game ending message popping up, normally, this would have meant logging out.
[You have secured 1st place without any Constellations' sponsorship.]
[You have completed the epic quest.]
[You have received 100,000 Constellation Fame.]
[You can choose one item from the spoils of the Graveyard of Stars.]
This time, instead of returning to reality, Seong Jihan found himself summoned to a space filled with darkness because of the epic quest rewards that allowed him to choose from the spoils.
'Ah, only one?'
Hoping the fourfold rewards from having his abilities sealed applied to the epic quest as well, Seong Jihan was slightly disappointed it didn't extend that far.
As he mulled over this,
Flash! Flash!
Lights burst around him, revealing an array of weapons glowing in various shapes within the dark void.
[You may choose one item from among these.]
At a glance, there were over a hundred weapons. Most were not suited for human use, but an array of equipment unrecognizable to mankind.
Given the diversity of species, it seemed likely items would emerge this way...
'They're all too big for me.'
Among the supreme Constellations, there seemed to be no species around the size of humanity.
Seong Jihan surveyed the equipment with a hint of disappointment. With so many pieces drawing from various cultures and styles far removed from humanity, no spoil immediately resonated with him.
'Hmm... I better look for something of value then.'
Deciding it was better to prioritize value over utility, Seong Jihan thought something of high value would later be traded for a more suitable item.
'Let's start treasure hunting, then.'
Ssshhh...
Seong Jihan's shadowy sword began to rapidly freeze over.