◈ Chapter 551. Karma (2)
Well, I didn’t think it would be this anticlimactic. ‘They don’t call it the Pantheon for nothing.’ Just as I had something to rely on, you had something to rely on too, huh, Guyver?
Behind Guyver, who charged forward on horseback, a brilliant army formed.
Not to be outdone by that light, the sight before my eyes flashed brilliantly. [Soldiers of the Pantheon appear.] [The field is transforming.] [The field’s attribute changes to the light attribute.]
A light-attribute field, is it?
Not a common experience.
If he was aiming for a blind spot born from that lack of experience, then it was an admirable effort.
“How unfortunate.”
Granfell murmured arrogantly.
Just now, you definitely thought that was an attribute chosen to drive away the “Infinitely Deep Darkness,” didn’t you?
Seriously, talk about excessive self-consciousness.
As if that weren’t enough, he added one more line.
“For I possess a light more brilliant than that.”
A light more brilliant than that. ‘Let’s see, if I think about it as a major in Granfell-style rhetoric...’ It had to be the [One Who Awaits the Dawn] set.
Among the Dawn set effects.
There was definitely an effect related to the “light attribute.” [2. Additional damage is applied to all attacks. The additional damage carries the ‘light’ attribute, and deals the same damage even if the attack target is of the ‘light’ attribute.] ‘That effect is valid even against the light attribute.’ Therefore, I wouldn’t suffer any disadvantage in attribute compatibility against the Pantheon’s light-attribute army. So, as always, I shamelessly raised my arm.
“I shall accommodate your decision.”
In a way, Guyver had stabbed me in the back.
But the reason I spoke fairly generously was simple.
As I said, Guyver had his own justification.
Who in the world could resist the temptation of a class quest? ‘I know that feeling very well too.’ Only one thing had changed from the past.
The Cataclysm.
In the past, countless conflicts had broken out between players, and those had merely been suppressed after the Cataclysm, when real lives were on the line. Raymon Sean had simply stimulated that.
Time flowed without stopping.
Even in reality, where time flowed more slowly than on the Arcana Continent, quite a long time had passed. Players had taken root in their respective territories. The deeper and thicker their roots became, the more unavoidable it was that they would become entangled with one another. ‘Even if it isn’t me.’ Conflicts between players would be inevitable from now on.
Just as large and small siege battles were breaking out across Seoul.
Suddenly, it felt as if such a voice rang in my head. 《Then wouldn’t it be enough to uproot them all?》 ...
Get a grip, Hoyeol.
Now wasn’t the time to be thinking such absurd thoughts.
As you can see, the messages were warning me nonstop too. [The Pantheon’s army regards you as an enemy.] [You are afflicted with the status abnormality, ‘Heretic Worshiper.’] [※Warning: Due to the status abnormality ‘Heretic Worshiper,’ all stats decrease when hostile to forces belonging to the Pantheon. Current total reduced stats: 100]
It shaved off a hundred stat points outright. ‘That’s an all-time status abnormality.’ I thought about the value of a hundred points. ‘A hundred points is how many days of physical training, exactly?’ Some might say I was complaining when I could raise precious stats through mere physical training. To that, I could say with confidence: if you’re that annoyed, go try it yourself...!
The intensity was such that even Granfell, who would die before abandoning formality, had his hands and feet trembling like an aspen after finishing physical training. Worse yet, the required count increased exponentially every time I succeeded.
In that sense, I couldn’t tolerate it. ‘After all the suffering I went through, you think I’ll just quietly let it be taken away?’ The next message appeared. [The blessing of the First World Tree rejects ‘Heretic Worshiper.’]
I’m truly glad to see you.
After all, I couldn’t enjoy that effect in Hell.
I prayed inwardly. ‘To hell with the Pantheon. I’d rather believe in the World Tree.’ What was the point of reconciling with the Pantheon, which had only ever hated me without doing anything for me? I immediately raised my mana. After all, when dealing with cavalry, architectural magic was extremely effective.
Ruuuuumble.
As befitted the founder of architectural magic.
Swiftly and grandly.
I erected pillars all across the battlefield.
Crack-crack-crack.
They weren’t soldiers of the Pantheon for nothing, were they?
They charged straight toward the pillars.
And advanced while smashing the stone pillars apart. ‘They’re definitely not easy.’ Around then, the Crusade Alliance seemed to sense something off as well.
Baaaaaam.
The moment a majestic horn sounded.
My reliable allies.
The Crusade Alliance began to move. ‘I’m quite grateful, but still.’ I opened my mouth.
“Stand down.”
“......?!!”
“This is an order.”
This time, it wasn’t Granfell-style rhetoric. ‘It’s best for me to face them alone.’ Paimon’s appearance on Jeju Island.
From that experience, I realized it. From now on, even if I wanted to turn away, I couldn’t. I had stepped onto a battlefield where it wouldn’t be strange for anyone to lose their life, anywhere, in any way. ‘I don’t even want to give examples.’ Could Hakuna, commanding soldiers on the front line, defeat the soldiers of the Pantheon? No, even if it weren’t Hakuna, could the players who had only just entered the realm of the extraordinary withstand the Pantheon’s army?
Even if victory were achieved.
I, Lee Hoyeol, sincerely wished for it.
Faces flashed through my mind. ‘From Elder Mage Senios to Lady Yugwid.’ I don’t want to lose any more.
Someone might call it unreasonable.
But I had the ability to do so.
The Crusade Alliance halted on the spot at the commander-in-chief’s order.
After confirming that, I looked at the enemy.
“Annihilate the Infinitely Deep Darkness!”
Was it the influence of the class quest?
Guyver charged toward me with a solemn resolve like a real holy knight.
I wondered if there might be any, but as expected, I couldn’t feel even a hint of malice from Guyver.
You were right, Granfell.
Everything is give and take.
If you want to protect something.
At the same time, you must bear its weight. ‘I don’t know.’ What traits the soldiers of the Pantheon possess.
Whether that’s a skill, a physical entity, or the effect of an item.
I don’t know.
What you need when facing such an unknown enemy is a difference in weight class.
Before an overwhelming weight class, traits become meaningless.
Of course, I don’t have that level of weight class. [Name: Granfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo] [Titles: Last Adventurer, Noble One, Transcendent, Dark Dragon, Heaven Beyond Heaven, Master of the Ten Thrones, Grandmaster of the Extraordinary, Savior of the Black Curtain] [Class: Demon Hunter] [Level: 1,065] [Stats]
Strength: 265 / Agility: 261 / Mana: 981 / Luck: 20 / Aesthetic: High / Tenacity: 50 / Charm: Present / ???: Present [Available Points: 0]
At a glance, it might look impressive, but the most important class was Demon Hunter, a class missing a screw. [Natural Enemy]
If it had activated, that would be one thing, but otherwise, it meant I couldn’t flaunt my weight class before the Pantheon’s army.
However, there was a second-best option. [Hexagram Brooch 5/6]
If it was the Hexagram Brooch. [1. All basic stats increase by 2 points.] [2. When attacking boss monsters, all damage increases by 10 percent.] [3. When hostile to multiple enemies, damage received decreases by 10 percent.] [4. During combat, when maximum health reaches 70 percent, 50 percent, 30 percent, 10 percent, and 1 percent, you obtain the ‘Awakening’ effect.] [5. After entering the ‘Awakening’ state, mana consumption becomes 0 for a certain period of time.]
If I used the set effect of the brooch whose true identity I did not know.
I could win on this battlefield alone through superior weight class.
But there was something I needed to know before that. ‘Tell me honestly, Granfell.’ I knew Granfell’s temperament better than anyone.
Even if I let the retreat from Hell slide because something really did happen, Granfell’s attitude toward the Hexagram Brooch felt so strange it was almost unsettling.
Of course, this wasn’t an interrogation.
Like I said, I know your damned stubbornness better than anyone. ‘Is it really all right to use the power of the Hexagram Brooch?’ The question I asked wasn’t about the truth, but permission to use it.
If it really was an unpleasant brooch.
It meant I wanted you to stop me. ‘And don’t think of pretending you didn’t hear me.’ To my question, Granfell answered.
“Of course.”
The momentary silence bothered me, but.
Fine.
If I don’t trust your words, who in the world would I trust?
Then let’s start going wild in earnest, Granfell. ‘Here I go.’ If it felt unpleasant, all I had to do was end it quickly. ‘I’ll enter Awakening immediately.’ Even at the first Awakening, the fifth set effect, “unlimited mana,” would activate. I intended to deliberately reach 70 percent health and finish the battle in an instant. ‘If my mana is unlimited, what couldn’t I do?’ It was Granfell’s brilliant talent.
Inside this head was a mountain of extraordinary feats that hadn’t manifested because of my pathetic body. Frankly, even if Muon’s holy knights came to their senses and charged at me right now, they wouldn’t be able to stop me, would they?
That said, there was no need to deliberately allow Guyver’s attack in order to lower my health. There were any number of refined and elegant ways to use health.
Sssss. Manifestation of the {Nature} ability.
I manifested every attribute except light around me.
I recalled the characteristics of attribute magic.
In the relationship of attributes devouring and being devoured.
Light was relatively free, but it had a fatal weakness.
It could be dyed more easily than any other attribute. ‘I might be able to change the field to my advantage.’ Of course, manifesting that many attributes would consume quite a lot of health, but that was fine. On my side, I was in a position where I needed to spend health anyway. [※Warning: Health is rapidly decreasing.]
And so, just as my health was plummeting toward 70 percent.
Just as the Hexagram Brooch was about to shine for the first time.
Suddenly, my vision flickered. ‘!’ Contrary to my plummeting health.
A value was soaring.
I flinched. [Karma: 4,173]
Karma.
Because I, Lee Hoyeol, had not escaped material greed.
I hadn’t forgotten it. [Corridor of Shadows]
It was something like the currency used there, wasn’t it? ‘Everyone was horrified.’ When they saw how much karma I possessed.
But what was with this number?
My karma, which had surpassed one thousand,
had somehow risen into the several thousands.
Two possibilities surfaced in my mind.
Hell.
The Hexagram Brooch. ‘Perhaps both had an influence.’ Those were the only things that had changed.
So I had no choice but to ask again.
Granfell, is it really all right for me to be wearing this brooch...? ‘...
No, never mind.’ Get a grip, Hoyeol.
If it feels unpleasant, I just won’t use it until I know exactly what it is. I stopped manifesting the {Nature} ability.
And fully felt the effect of [Blessing of the First World Tree].
My health rapidly filled back up. ‘Actually, even without this, there are plenty of methods.’ First, should I put on Unaxus’s legacy, the [Mythic]
grade item [Commander’s Gauntlets
- Wisdom of the Old Dragon],
and put my head to work...? That was what I was thinking at that moment.
My hands, which should have been moving busily, froze in place.
“Charge...?”
Guyver, who had been shouting, stopped mid-cry.
“......”
Because the soldiers of the Pantheon, who had been running across the earth, had come to a stop.
Tens of thousands, no, hundreds of thousands, no, millions of soldiers.
They all stopped moving at once.
And waited for an order.
Not an order from anyone else.
An order from me.
What do I mean by that all of a sudden?
Well.
I can’t believe it either. [Your karma exceeds the karma of the God of War.] [The sacred relic, ‘Winged Comb-Pattern Horn,’ obeys you.] [You have obtained command authority over the Pantheon army.] [Unmeasurable army under the Pantheon] [Current status: Awaiting orders]
But the system that never lies said so. ...
Well, it must be true, right?
My loose tongue answered accordingly.
“As I said.”
Flutter.
“This was a battle I had already won.”