Sovereign of Judgment Chapter 65:
Episode 4: The Great Colonizing Age / Chapter 65: Demon King (6)
TL: emptycube
Editor: Obelisk
{T/N} Because Retribution is a stat rather than points, I switched Retribution Points into Retribution .
“But the guardian is a healer?”
Lee Jinhee raised a question . As a healer, Bae Jinman’s karma was fixed at the ‘Heal’ trait . Like how the karma trait shop didn’t sell the ‘Heal’ trait, Bae Jinman couldn’t change his karma trait as well . He would improve their state simply by using his trait . So how would Bae Jinman make the Berserkers even madder?
However, Baek Seoin only stared at Bae Jinman as if he couldn’t hear Lee Jinhee’s question . Bae Jinman rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before replying .
“… I’ll try it . ”
“What? You can do it?”
Lee Jinhee asked in surprise . However, this time Bae Jinman was in deep thought and didn’t reply . Instead, Baek Seoin replied for him .
“There’s only a paper-thin margin between medicine and poison . They both have similarities in their influence on the body . Depending on when or how you use it, poison can turn into medicine and medicine into poison… I thought that healing and buffs were the same . ”
“Really?”
Lee Jinhee, who had only believed that the more medicine she ate, the healthier she would get, widened her eyes at this new information .
At this time, Bae Jinman finished conceiving a plan . He released his karma with a changed version of ‘Get Up’ . Increase vitality, enhance the mind, and strengthen sympathy . Bae Jinman especially worked **** ‘strengthen sympathy’ .
Normally, it would be a useful buff, however, now it would add oil to the flames known as madness . Increase vitality would support the Stamina they had consumed due to madness, and enhance the mind would make those who had fallen into a state of futility and numbness become even more intensely enraged and sorrowful . Also, above all, ‘strengthen sympathy’ would make the Berserkers sympathize with each other’s pain and rage . Simply put, it made all the Berserkers clearly sense each other’s pain . Like how Jung Minji felt…
Berserkers, who were burdened with their own pain, were flooded with the indiscriminate pain of others .
The result was a more severe madness .
The sudden change came remarkably . Even Choi Hyuk, who was fighting by himself in the distance, could sense this change .
The noise of the battlefield . The rhythm had changed . A rain shower had turned into a hail storm . Tennis **** grew to baseballs . The formation of monsters, that would occasionally endure or occasionally get penetrated, started shatter like glass .
Choi Hyuk nodded his head . Due to the Berserkers, the pressure, from the countless number of monsters that blocked his way, lessened .
He now didn’t need to be concerned with the battlefield and could fight the boss to his heart’s content .
“Then, is it my turn now?”
With the monsters’ commanders, the ‘eyeless observers’, in front of him, Choi Hyuk slowly stretched his shoulders . He threw the Flaming Devil in a corner . The Flaming Devil, whose other leg had burned off on the way here, was pitifully writhing on the ground .
There were only trails of flame, and the ashes of the monsters that had been burnt black, behind him .
He pretended to be composed, but he didn’t find his current situation very lax . ‘Flaming Wing Dance’ was a skill that consumed a lot of Stamina, and Choi Hyuk’s Stamina was only at 3-star with 366 (3★) points . It was very low compared to his Power, Speed, Control, and Retribution which were all over 4-star, meaning he couldn’t maintain Flaming Wing Dance for a long time .
“Hooo…”
He let out a big breath and drank down a special karma recovery potion in one shot .
“Keu… It’s not enough to send a message to my liver . ”
This was a temporary method… And he obtained the strength to fight once more .
The moment he tossed the empty bottle behind him .
Blaze!
Flames violently erupted once again .
In front of him were around 100 eyeless observers . Each one was stronger than the Wyvern of Destruction . They were 4-star rank monsters . The real enemy of the mission this time wasn’t the hundreds of thousands of monsters but the hundred eyeless observers .
{Kyahh!}
Feeling threatened, the eyeless observers let out a cry .
“You’re too late . ”
By the time they cried, Chio Hyuk’s sword had already sliced through the front most monster .
A geyser of flames .
The flames that sprouted from its wounded chest spread to its four limbs and its face . The eyeless observer twisted its body, and its long flesh that covered its eye brilliantly dispersed as it burned .
As expected of the Flaming Wing Dance that possessed power beyond that of 4-stars . It burned up an observer with a single strike . Yet, Choi Hyuk’s expression was serious .
‘As expected, wide area damage doesn’t work . ’
Normal monsters would turn to ash once they came into contact with the flames he emitted . Without wielding his sword, the majority of monsters would burn to ash and disappear .
However, the eyeless observers were different .
Tssss…
{Kii . }
Although it looked like it was burnt, he wasn’t able to completely burn it before the flames died out . The burn wounds quickly recovered . To properly burn them, he would have to cut each one with his sword, but he couldn’t endure that with his Stamina .
It wasn’t easy . When Choi Hyuk thought this, a smile hung on his lips .
“Yeah . It needs to be like this . ”
Pssft-
Choi Hyuk immediately gave up on the Flaming Wing Dance . The flames that had engulfed his body died down . The Flaming Wing Dance was an area attack; it wasn’t very effective in this situation where he had to kill each one individually .
As the flames died down, the pitch-black sword that shined within, the Predator’s Blade, was revealed .
——————–
{Tyrannical Predator’s Blade}
Rank: B (Unique, Growth-type)
Sharp and sturdy . The more blood it absorbs of strong foes, the stronger it will get . It has almost reached the limit to its growth .
Blood Drain: Absorbs the blood of enemies to replenish its owner’s karma and heal their wounds . Able to absorb 1L of blood per second .
*Second Blade: Sacrifice the Evolution stat to imbue karma into the blade . No extra karma consumption .
Durability: 98,573/100,000
Evolution: 11/1,000
——————–
The driving force behind how he was able to endure up until now with only 3-star Stamina was due to the Predator’s Blade . He was able to recover small amounts of Stamina with its absorption ability and reduce his karma consumption with its outstanding cutting force .
The Predator’s Blade had evolved once more during this time . Since it was a B rank weapon, if enough force was added, it was able to penetrate through 4-star Endurance . On top of that, if he reinforced its cutting force with the Second Blade, it was able to rip through most protective skills .
“Second Blade . ”
{Evolution reduced from “11” to “6”}
Choi Hyuk resolutely invested its Evolution stat to activate its Second Blade .
Swish .
A frightening sound of an enormous snake slithering . The Predator’s Blade was imbued with black karma . It was a different color from Choi Hyuk’s deep blue karma . It was a Karma Blade that the Predator’s Blade created itself .
“Let’s fight . ”
Choi Hyuk began to only utilize his karma inside his body . He used the ‘karma pathways’ that extended to all four limbs from his dantian, where the Karma Heart was located . The heart and the ‘karma pathways’ became new muscles and tendons for Choi Hyuk and moved his body faster and stronger .
This was how Choi Hyuk was able to minimize his Stamina consumption .
{Kuahh!}
The eyeless observers swung their hands at Choi Hyuk . Their hands were especially large . They were about three times as large as a person’s head . Their skin was white like limestone, and they possessed tough claws .
Choi Hyuk walked naturally as he avoided their attacks and cut one .
“One . ”
Choi Hyuk’s movements became more and more efficient and simple .
He looked at his opponent’s next step and their shoulders . He stepped forward before his opponent took another step and slashed out .
“Two . ”
As their skin, which was as white as limestone, was cut, their sticky blood, which was as black as oil, burst out .
{Kekiehhh!!}
“Three . ”
Choi Hyuk’s eyes tinged blue . Using his right foot as a pivot, he rotated his body to evade an attack from his blind spot . Using the momentum of his evasion, he slashed out again .
“Four… No, three-and-a-half . ”
It was a bit shallow . It was difficult to kill them while maintaining his maneuverability . He couldn’t stab them or block their attacks . He used his ‘Mind’s Eye’ to find the shortest path for his Karma Blade to traverse between the monsters .
Swish! Swish! Slice! Slice!
As if he were a child who was hiking while swinging a wooden stick, Choi Hyuk simply walked as the eyeless observers were critically wounded and fell to the ground . Their black blood stained their white skin .
They were all 4-star monsters . However, they weren’t a match for him .
There were cases where martial artists with similar physical abilities would knock each other out with one blow . Precise strikes had that sort of power . Choi Hyuk had much higher karma stats than normal eyeless observers . They were in the early stage of 4-star while he was in the mid-late stage . If Choi Hyuk’s senses, which allowed him to hit precise strikes, were added on top of that, it was difficult for even 4-star monsters to endure a single sword . Since this wasn’t a game, if a sword pierced through, and if it was a fatal area, no matter how strong the opponent was, it would end with a single sword .
Also, perhaps it was because they possessed a special mental attack ability, but the Endurance and Recovery stats of the eyeless observers were low . Being Choi Hyuk’s opponents, this was a fatal weakness .
{Kiiyahhhh!}
As more than thirty observers fell at Choi Hyuk’s hand, the largest monster at the back, the king of the observers, wailed . The mood abruptly changed .
“Hmm?”
Choi Hyuk, who was wielding his sword in a trance, halted .
All the observers followed their king and wailed .
{Keahhh!}
Following their king that seemed to have shouted a command, their long, tattered skin, which covered their eyes like torn fabric, molted . Single eyes, red as blood, were revealed .
Their sclerae were red, and their pupils were redder . Their eyes rolled and all stared at Choi Hyuk at the same time .
Kiiiing!
Choi Hyuk felt dizzy .
‘Would you look at that . ’
Their ferocious karma shot out of their eyes, through the air, and into Choi Hyuk’s head . Around 70 observers carried out this simultaneous mental attack .
Choi Hyuk smiled .
‘You want to enter my mind?’
His whole body tinged blue . His karma trait went beyond ‘Mind’s Eye’ and reached ‘Identical Mind’, which could engage with anything . It tightly wrapped around the observers’ karma, preventing them from escaping .
‘Although you can enter whenever you want, you can’t leave . ’
His mind boiled . The observers’ ferocious karma ran amok inside his head . However-
‘There is something worse inside . ’
Choi Hyuk recalled .
The moment his mother died .
He recalled .
The {You have no choice . Get angry . Kill . Only then can you kill . } message from those **** .
And… the delight he felt when he fought and killed his opponents .
Like a monitor screen that exploded with a blast, as if a pitch-darkness lurked inside, Choi Hyuk’s vision was blown away . His insides, beginning with his stomach, boiled black . It surged . Madness filled his head and swallowed his brain . He felt an unbearable thirst . He didn’t endure it .
There was no need to .
{Kiyaahhhh!}
As if they saw something, the observers screamed . Black blood flowed from their red eyes .
Kiiing!
Dark red blood dripped from Choi Hyuk’s nose . However, the smile on his lips didn’t fade .
He mumbled .
“Get angry…”
“Get angry…”
He mumbled as he stepped forward . While the observers were unable to move, crying **** tears, Choi Hyuk slowly tottered forward .
“Kill . ”
He raised his sword .
“Only then can you kill . ”
His sword stabbed out .
{Kekk… kekk…}
One observer trembled its body before collapsing .
“Get angry…”
Choi Hyuk moved towards his next target . His mind had already flown away . He couldn’t see properly . Since it wasn’t possible to block the mental attack of 70 observers . Choi Hyuk’s mind with greater rage instead of blocking their attack . With the despair he felt when his mother, who was his only sanctuary, died, and the rage he had towards the ones who created this game . With his cruel instinct he had avoided his whole life, his love of fighting .
The observers invaded his mind to destroy and control it, but the place they invaded was already **** . They weren’t able to escape due to Choi Hyuk’s karma, and they could only sorrowfully scream .
“Ah…”
Choi Hyuk, who was staggering forward, abruptly changed his direction and grabbed the Flaming Devil .
{Kuaahhh!!}
{Kiyahhh!!}
The screams of the devil and the observers mixed together terrifyingly .
Choi Hyuk dragged the devil by its throat as he stabbed each observer that was pleading due to pain .
“How good to hear… good to hear… hehe . ”
Choi Hyuk, who had already lost his reasoning, simply enjoyed their screams . He dragged the Flaming Devil as he walked towards the observers, which were screaming sweetly, and stabbed them with his sword .
As if harvesting screaming reeds, he stabbed, cut, and then repeated . White corpses lay on the ground, flowing with black blood .
The large-bodied king of the observers was no exception . They may have had a chance if they had attacked him physically instead . Unfortunately, they had invaded Choi Hyuk’s mind, which was a hellhole, and futilely lost their lives, suffering in pain .
“Ah… Is it over?”
Only after he killed the king of the observers, and popped out and threw the Flaming Devil’s head did Choi Hyuk return to his senses .
{Obtained the Dimensional Isolation Release Code . Releasing the isolated dimension . }
The message was heard as if from a dream, and the dome that covered the sky faded away .