Chapter 453

Kim Ji-Hoon could not hesitate. His comrades were under attack from the summoned creature, which was called a Fire Spirit here, and the man who had summoned it was highly focused on something. In fact, he was not participating in the current battle as it looked like was about to call something more dangerous here.

He came to that conclusion also because he judged that it would be easier to defend by equipping the breastplate rather than carrying it.

I'm sorry, Odin.

When Kim Ji-Hoon put it on, golden light swirled around his body. Since the System had disappeared, he could no longer see the item information window. Therefore, it was impossible for him to check the effects of the equipment immediately.

Is it a transformable item?

Typically, item appraisal started with giving it to an Awakened with high Sense stat and Night Eye while using a Dummy, the experiment rat. However, they had to rely on their intuition in a situation where this was not possible.

If he had a little more time, then he would have been able to find the optimal conversion formula for the current situation...

At that moment, Kim Ji-Hoon's back, which had been severely injured by burns, was healing rapidly. There was a clear difference in the vitality he could feel as the speed of his blood circulation had accelerated to an incomparable extent. His Health had definitely entered the challenger section.

Even though it was just one part of the world that the challenger Awakened lived in, it was a brave new world for Kim Ji-Hoon. His entire body trembled in excitement.

However, he quickly returned to reality and analyzed the situation to make a decision. There was no way to figure out what power this Holy Grail had for now, so he could only try to extract even a small amount of the energy from it by actually using it.

Right after he used the breastplate, white rags appeared in front of his eyes, and he reflexively took a few steps back.

Sssss-!

On the spot where he had previously stood, women with breasts and lower bodies wrapped around by those rags had been summoned. There were a total of six. They all had short hair and held shields, but the weapons in their other hands were different, ranging from axes and swords to spears.

"Kill that wizard! Now!" Kim Ji-Hoon shouted at their backs in a voice boiling with tension and excitement.

The moment the six entities all poured forward at once, they moved at a speed that Kim Ji-Hoon couldn't chase. Not just Agility, but the pressure that popped out immediately after the women poured out was also the unique attribute of the Awakened in the challenger section. Their Sense and Health surely matched it. Each of them had the abilities of the challenger, and there were six of them. Six.

This breastplate lets me summon six entities with the formidable abilities of a challenger...!

When the phoenix-like spirit stopped attacking his comrades and turned around to protect its wizard, Kim Ji-Hoon also threw himself toward his remaining comrades. Then, he propped up the comrade with the most serious injuries and turned to look toward the six warriors.

The phoenix was literally getting slaughtered. It was powerless, pierced by a spear and struck by an ax. The small spirits that had been protecting the wizard were also being torn apart into a handful of flames.

Soon, the area turned into a place of explosive fires where nothing could be confirmed with the naked eye.

Kim Ji-Hoon and his comrades moved to avoid the explosion. However, it was clear that the wizard couldn't afford to care about this side as all the spirits had escaped from the battlefield, shrinking in the flames.

After a while, a new phoenix shot up into the sky, but a translucent spear thrown from the ground pierced the phoenix's head and it immediately crashed down. Upon closer inspection, the wizard was clinging to the phoenix's back.

The wizard then fell straight down and vanished into the pit, and the last sight Kim Ji-Hoon could confirm was the warriors rushing eagerly to the site.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck..."

Kim Ji-Hoon turned his head toward the sound. It was Caliber. He was in such a critical condition to the point where Kim Ji-Hoon couldn't believe how he had managed to come this far and triggered such a big warning in that state.

Half of his face had been grotesquely melted, and there was no part of his body that was not severely damaged. Only then did Kim Ji-Hoon realize why Caliber had arrived later than he had expected. His wounds wouldn't be easily regenerated, even with the Health of the challenger section.

Caliber said, "It's too late..."

His face, which had turned horrible due to burns, twisted even more. There was no explosion or loud noise, but all six of the female warriors were flung out of the pit of fire.

Caliber said something again, but Kim Ji-Hoon couldn't hear it well. All his nerves were focused on the entity emerging from the pit. It was the one that all the spirits desperately wanted to meet with all their might. It was the transcendental being he had only heard of!

When it finally revealed its majesty to the world with a flicker, Kim Ji-Hoon swallowed nervously.

The Fire Spirit King, Seleon...

It was exactly the same as what he had seen in illustrations from texts of outer space.

***

Thud Thud Thud—!

The Valkyries, who had been flung into the air, had now formed a line of shields. They could protect a total of seven people, including Kim Ji-Hoon, Kwon Seong-Il, Tetsuya, and four citizens of the Savior's City.

Kim Ji-Hoon had no choice but to stick right behind the Valkyries. Therefore, all he could see was the giant arm of the Spirit King that hit the shield before pulling back toward its body. It blazed so intensely that it obscured the body of the Spirit King from his view.

Kim Ji-Hoon felt dizzy. The heat that had warmed up the world seemed to have evaporated the air, making it hard to breathe. There was no doubt that this was the same attack that had set hundreds of Awakened on fire at the Franklin Dukedom on June 2nd.

At that moment, Kim Ji-Hoon swiftly turned his head and caught a glimpse of the side of Caliber's face. It was the side that was damaged by the burn. Nonetheless, his eyes were barely intact, staring at the shield wall.

Kim Ji-Hoon had never seen Caliber with such an expression before. His pupils were trembling with fear.

Caliber suddenly said, "Ji-Hoon. You know my son, Ki-Cheol, right?"

"Huh?"

Caliber continued grimly, "Take good care of him. I will watch over you and him even after turning into a ghost."

"What?"

"Put the female warriors close to me. I will be able to buy some time. After that, it is up to you guys to survive, so make sure you stay alive and take care of Ki-Cheol."

"Don't put up a death flag."

"Do you think I'm joking?"

"I am serious, hyung."

Kim Ji-Hoon didn't want to die. From his perspective, the time that Caliber and the summoned females could buy would be very brief. Then, the one who would be chased by the Spirit King would be no one else but himself. He couldn't leave Odin's equipment on the ground and run away.

"We are all going to be hunted separately if we don't stick together," Kim Ji-Hoon said.

"I guarantee you will all die. Get ready to run away. Especially you, Kim Ji-Hoon..."

Thud!

When the hand of the Spirit King smacked the shield again, everyone, including the Valkyries holding the shields and those being protected behind them, was flung out in all directions. Kim Ji-Hoon could confirm that his prediction was correct. The hand filled with flames was simply chasing after him.

Caliber and Kim Ji-Hoon's comrades seemed to have decided to fight here rather than flee, even if they were to be gloriously oxidized on the spot. They were throwing their bodies toward Kim Ji-Hoon, just like the Valkyries.

"Move his equipment. If you cannot avoid death, die at the base in front of him!" shouted one of the citizens, and it gave Kim Ji-Hoon a reality check. That was why the situation became clear to him. The game was already over when the shield wall collapsed. It was already over when Caliber appeared with his horrific injuries.

The reason that they could stay alive was only because of his female warriors, but they couldn't change the predetermined future unless he emerged here right now...

Can't I die in a more glorious manner? What is this? This is not cool at all.

Kim Ji-Hoon had made up his mind in an instant, and then it happened. The hand of the Spirit King flew in faster than anything else and grabbed Kim Ji-Hoon's entire body.

"Aaaaaaargh!"

His scream faded into the flames. The Spirit King was trying to rip off the breastplate while fending off the Valkyries and Caliber that charged toward it.

***

Kim Ji-Hoon couldn't tell how long he had been unconscious, but it didn't seem to have been long. When he opened his eyes, he still saw the warriors and comrades flying around, fighting.

Nonetheless, he didn't have any pain. He wondered what had woken him up and why everything became so vivid.

Is this the flash of the moment before I die?

Swoosh-!

Right then, Kim Ji-Hoon felt like he was being sucked into somewhere. When he opened his eyes wide, he could see that the power sucking him was coming from his own physical body, which was unbelievable. It was hanging limp, caught in the hands of the Spirit King.

Everything happened in an instant. When Kim Ji-Hoon's soul became re-anchored into the body due to some force, his eyes widened.

"Huff!"

Hot breath burst out of his mouth. He had truly regained consciousness.

Then, black energies that he didn't know where they had come from seeped in between him and the hand of the Spirit King holding him. He was shocked once again due to the impact on his spine from falling on the ground. It was not because of the Spirit King's flames.

He raised his upper body and looked up.

Wheeeee-

What was flying in the sky were wraiths, spirits filled with resentment. As he turned his head in the direction they were spewing from, there was one guy standing there. A black aura was radiating from his entire body. A pool of blood was at his feet instead of a shadow, and dark creatures were coming out from the ground behind him.

The owner of all that was not even moving, simply looking at the Spirit King with cold wild eyes. Things started as he pointed at the Spirit King. Wraiths poured down like meteors, and mostly intact corpses and skeletons rushed toward the King like moths to a flame.

Kim Ji-Hoon shuddered at the ominous power emanating from the owner. Nothing changed even after confirming that he was Osiris.

Then, Caliber sprinted at Kim Ji-Hoon and lifted him up. Caliber's face was full of questions, but the question that sprung towards him came from Olivia, who just arrived.

"How did you get revived?"

She asked as if she was interrogating him. That was what Kim Ji-Hoon himself wanted to ask.

I... was definitely dead... wasn't I?

The gaze of the three naturally turned towards where the dangerous energy was writhing. It was the place where even the Spirit King's flames couldn't approach.

The Osiris there was not the one they had known before. He had emerged as an emperor commanding the dead.