Chapter 414

* * * *

“Did I misjudge this?”

Jang Mu-yeol muttered to himself as he stared at the monitor.

“I never thought it would go this smoothly…”

I thought it would be a bit of a struggle. But looking at the information on the monitor now, that was a mistaken assumption. Far from being a struggle, it was proceeding so naturally, so smoothly.

“Hmm…”

Jang Mu-yeol, staring at the monitor, let out a low grunt.

Swish

Then he picked up the phone sitting on his desk and called Kim Moo-woong.

-Hello?

“Oh, Mu-woong.”

A moment later, Kim Moo-woong’s voice came through the phone, and Jang Moo-yeol began speaking.

“It looks like it’ll start earlier than expected.”

-What? The main episode?

Kim Moo-woong countered Jang Moo-yeol’s words.

“Yeah, looks like we need to get ready right now. Where are you?”

-I’m on my way. I’m right in front of it.

“Got it.”

After ending the call with those words, Jang Mu-yeol placed his phone on the desk and muttered while staring at the monitor.

“I wonder how long the last one will take.”

Only one final step remained before the main Chapter began.

“Still, the last one should take a bit, right?”

The final stage saw a significant increase in difficulty. Yet Jang Moo-yeol couldn’t be certain. He was the one who had breezed through the parts he thought would take a long time. Even the final stage with its drastically increased difficulty might not take that long.

“Ugh…”

Jang Mu-yeol let out a deep sigh.

* * * *

After dispatching the middle-aged Ekalim, Myeong-hu moved toward the pillar of curses. Seeing the distant pillar, he smiled.

‘What a relief.’

He had worried there might be more auxiliary barrier pillars, but thankfully, no further auxiliary barrier pillars existed.

[Warning!]

[You are near the Curse Pillar.]

[You are cursed.]

[All stats reduced by 15%.]

[Damage dealt to enemies is reduced by 25%.]

[Damage received from enemies increases by 25%.]

And shortly after, Myeonghu entered the influence zone of the Cursed Pillar.

‘The debuffs got stronger.’

Was it because this was the last one? Or because the center held a stronger curse? Myeonghu averted his gaze from the intensified debuff message and looked toward the pillar. He wanted to see who was guarding it.

‘It’s Ekalim, as expected.’

A man stood before the pillar. It was a man Myeonghu knew well. Ekalim, whom he had encountered while destroying auxiliary barrier pillars—the man before the pillar was none other than Ekalim himself.

‘But he looks younger now?’

Myeong-hu tilted his head, puzzled by Ekalim’s appearance. The first Ekalim he had met was a boy. The next Ekalim he had encountered was a young man, and the Ekalim he had just met was middle-aged.

Ekalim was gradually aging. Myeong-hu thought that the next time he met Ekalim, he would be an elderly man, even older than middle age.

‘He looks similar to when he was a young man.’

But contrary to his expectations, the Ekalim before the pillar had a youthful appearance. He looked much younger than his middle-aged self and resembled his younger days.

It was right then.

Thud!

Haran stopped in his tracks.

-What a truly powerful curse.

Haran muttered, staring at the pillar of curses as he halted.

[The being guarding the pillar awakens.]

[Ekalim of that day watches over you.]

And as if waiting for it, a message appeared.

‘…Ekalim of that day?’

When Haran stopped walking, Myeonghu, who had been following, also halted and tilted his head upon seeing the message.

‘That day?’

Something felt off. The Ekalims they had met before had words like ‘boy’ or ‘young man’ attached to them. But this Ekalim was different. That day—they didn’t know what day it was—but the word ‘that day’ was attached to this Ekalim.

“Wow, that’s surprising.”

Just then, Ekalim spoke up.

“Who’d have thought that brat’s prophecy would actually come true. Guess gods really are gods after all. Ha ha.”

Swish

Finishing with a laugh, Ekalim pulled the greatsword embedded in the ground. Then, swinging the greatsword lightly, he continued.

“Shall we see if the end of the prophecy will unfold exactly as foretold?”

Ekalim finished speaking and grinned.

[Ekalim casts Storm Qi.]

Whoosh!

Simultaneously, a message appeared, and small whirlwinds began to form around Ekalim.

-Th-that!

Haran cried out in surprise upon seeing the storms. Judging by his expression, Haran seemed to know something about the storms.

-Your Highness, this way!

Haran shouted with a startled expression.

Whoosh

And as soon as the cry ended, a bright light burst forth from Haran’s body.

[Haran used the blessing of Bartash.]

[Bartsash’s Blessing effect is applied.]

[You cannot be killed for 1 minute.]

‘Huh?’

Myeong-hu couldn’t help but be slightly surprised upon seeing the message.

‘Was this even possible?’

It wasn’t the current deity, but the blessing of Bartash, the second deity—the being who had once been the deity.

‘If you don’t die for one minute…’

Perhaps because it was the protection of a deity? The effect was immense. One minute of invulnerability. In other words, invincibility for one minute.

Swish

Myeong-hu turned his gaze with a smile, looking at Ekalim who was creating the storm.

‘In this state, even with reflection…’

The most troublesome attack reflection—in this situation, even attack reflection could be ignored. In other words, it meant he could attack without worry.

‘I told him to come…’

Haran had told him to come to where he was. At first, he had intended to go, but now that he knew the effect of the blessing, he wouldn’t. Myeonghu began to approach Ekalim.

“Wow, that guy’s blessing! It’s been a while since I’ve seen that.”

Ekalim, who had been watching Myeonghu, smiled broadly. Just as Haran knew about the Storm Qi, Ekalim also knew about the Blessing.

“It’s a pain, but whatever…”

Ekalim raised his sword, aiming it at Myeonghu.

Whoosh!

Then, the small storms Ekalim had conjured began flying toward Myeonghu. Seeing the approaching storms, Myeonghu dashed forward swiftly. The distance closed rapidly, and soon Myeonghu met the storms head-on.

“Huh…?”

And the situation that followed left Myeong-hu unable to hide his bewilderment.

[Movement speed reduced by 50%.]

[Physical defense reduced by 30%.]

[Magic defense reduced by 30%.]

The moment he was hit by the storm, the messages appeared. Debuff messages indicating reduced movement speed and decreased physical and magic defense. The reduction values were staggering. Myeong-hu averted his gaze from the messages and checked his health.

‘…500,000?’

After checking his health, Myeong-hu couldn’t help but panic. Myeong-hu possessed tremendous regenerative abilities. Yet the storm’s damage had already evaporated 500,000 health points, surpassing even his monstrous recovery rate.

‘This is insane!’

Myeong-hu frowned at his significantly slowed movement speed and rapidly depleting health. And no wonder—there wasn’t just one storm.

‘If they stack…’

He didn’t know yet if they stacked or not. But what if the damage and debuffs stacked? The thought alone was terrifying.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Myeong-hu continued moving at his significantly slowed pace, encountering the second and third storms one after another.

‘Looks like debuffs don’t stack.’

Whether it was fortunate or not, no new messages appeared. Meaning, debuffs did not stack.

‘The problem is my health…’

Of course, the debuffs not stacking was a good thing, but that didn’t mean the situation was hopeful.

The debuffs didn’t stack, but the damage did. The rate at which his health was being drained accelerated, and before he knew it, it was nearing 10 million.

‘I’ll die before I get there.’

Myeonghu thought this as he looked at Ekalim, who wore a relaxed expression. Thanks to Bartash’s blessing, he wouldn’t die for one minute. That meant he had to reach Ekalim within one minute. However, judging by the remaining distance and his movement speed, it seemed impossible to arrive within that minute. If things continued like this, he would surely die. Ekalim, who had been unleashing storms with that relaxed expression, looked at Myeonghu and spoke.

“To think you won’t die no matter how many times you’re attacked… what an annoying ability. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re invincible.”

Ekalim was also well aware of the protective charm. Listening to Ekalim’s words, Myeonghu thought to himself.

‘What should I do? Should I use the necklace?’

The Necklace of the Undying. Using it would remove all status effects and grant immunity to any status effect for one minute. Using the necklace would definitely get him to Ekalim.

‘No, what if there’s something else?’

Yet, the reason Myeonghu hesitated to use the necklace. It was precisely because there might be something else waiting for him at Ekalim. Reaching him didn’t guarantee he could attack Ekalim. What if Ekalim possessed another special skill, like the Storm Qi? He’d only waste the necklace’s cooldown.

‘Better to die once.’

The Undying Necklace had an enormous 20-hour cooldown. But the resurrection scroll had no cooldown. In other words, dying once was better than using the necklace.

‘Well, holding out would be even better.’

Of course, death wasn’t inevitable. Myeonghu planned to hold out as long as possible using potions and skills.

It was right then.

[Ekalim’s Storm Qi will dissipate in 10 seconds.]

[Barthash’s Blessing will disappear in 10 seconds.]

The message appeared to Myeonghu, who was slowly, bit by bit, closing the distance with his slow movement speed.

‘Vanish?’

Seeing the message, Myeong-hu couldn’t help but be puzzled.

‘Was it originally meant to drain blood?’

After all, if the storm continued, breaking through here would be impossible. Seeing it disappear along with Bartash’s blessing, it was clear Ekalim’s storm had been created for the purpose of draining blood from the start.

‘Good.’

Having finished his thoughts, Myeong-hu opened his inventory. The moment the blessing and storm vanished, he prepared to take out and consume a potion.

[The energy of Ekalim’s Storm has dissipated.]

[Barthash’s Blessing has vanished.]

Ten seconds later, along with the message, dozens of storms and the light enveloping Myeonghu’s body vanished. Simultaneously, Myeonghu pulled out the potion and shouted.

“Blood Recovery!”

Having restored 30% of his health through Blood Recovery, Myeonghu then popped the potion cap and gulped it down.

Myeonghu’s health, which had been at 1, instantly surged past 10 million through Blood Recovery and the potion, and began climbing further through his monstrous recovery rate. Seeing his stable health, Myeonghu smiled and charged toward Ekalim.

Thud thud thud

As the storm dissipated, the debuff lifted, and Myeong-hu’s movement speed returned to normal. The distance closed rapidly.

“Th-this…”

With about 10 meters left, Myeonghu opened his mouth to use his movement strike. But he couldn’t use it.

“It’s like seeing my old self.”

Swish

With a mutter, Ekalim vanished from his spot.

‘Acceleration!’

The acceleration used by the boy Ekalim. Ekalim’s disappearance was clearly due to acceleration. Myeonghu quickly opened his mouth.

“Blood Wave! Blood Space! Blood Pool…”

Blood Wave, Blood Space, Blood Pool. Myeong-hu, who had intended to cast these three skills, failed to achieve his goal.

Swoosh!

“You have an interesting ability.”

Just as he cast two skills and was about to cast Blood Pool, Ekalim appeared.

‘Behind!’

Myeong-hu swiftly turned around at Ekalim’s voice coming from behind. And Myeong-hu could see.

Whoosh!

Ekalim’s greatsword flying toward him.

Clang!

Myeong-hu raised both hands to block the greatsword. After blocking the greatsword and checking its vitality, Myeong-hu couldn’t help but frown.

‘4 million?’

His life force, which had risen to 18 million, had fallen back to 14 million.

‘Was this gate designed to be broken?’

4 million—enough damage to kill an average user in one hit. What were they thinking when they made this gatekeeper? And that wasn’t all.

‘Why aren’t they using the Curse Key?’

At first, he thought it was because of Bartash’s blessing that the key couldn’t be used. But even now, after Bartash’s blessing had ended, Haran still wasn’t using the Curse Key. He was just staring at Myeonghu and Ekalim.

‘Kill him first, then see.’

Myeonghu abandoned that thought as he saw Ekalim’s greatsword flying toward him again. Ekalim was the priority now. Myeonghu swung his fist at Ekalim and shouted.

“One Punch.”

============================ Afterword ============================

It’s been a while since I posted a chapter…

After posting one chapter four days ago, my right leg started giving me trouble too.

The pain got so bad I couldn’t walk, and even sleeping was excruciating.

I could only sleep for an hour at a time and had to stay awake for over an hour. It was incredibly tough.

I couldn’t take it anymore and ended up going to the emergency room. My neck was so stiff I couldn’t move it, so even getting into a taxi was incredibly difficult.

Still, after going to the ER, I did feel much better…

But now the pain is slowly creeping back, probably because the medication wore off.

My goal was to write at least two chapters a day to finish this month or by January next year, but it looks like it’ll be a bit delayed, which is really disappointing..ㅠㅠ

I hope everyone takes good care of their health.