Chapter 166

Chapter 166

Spendthrift Necromancer (166)

Jonas's eyes filled with rage.

His stats were superior.

So was his weapon.

Their Levels couldn't even be compared. Yet his weapon had broken.

That meant the difference in swordsmanship was overwhelming.

“How…… do you possess swordsmanship at that level……?”

Jonas stared at Kim Minwoo as though he'd witnessed something incomprehensible.

He was a Magic Swordsman.

He'd swung a sword for more than twenty years before reaching a senior position within the family.

Swordsmanship?

He could guarantee he ranked within the top fifteen in Germany.

And yet he'd lost.

Not merely lost.

He'd been humiliated.

Of course, it wasn't as though he had no excuses.

Kim Minwoo had help from his summons. He was also freely manipulating Attributes. Even through the coating of Shadow's power, the chill biting into Jonas's grip was terrifying.

There had been countless variables.

Even accounting for all of that.

He simply couldn't understand.

“Don't try to understand. Just accept it. Easier that way.”

Kim Minwoo spoke as though offering advice.

Jonas stared blankly for a moment.

Then his eyes burned.

“I haven't lost yet, brat.”

Grinding his teeth, Jonas drew upon the Power of Shadow.[Shadow Blade(SS)

activates…….]

A pitch-black sword formed over his hand. Naturally, compared to coating an existing weapon, maintaining a blade made purely of energy consumed far more power.

In exchange, he could wield a weapon made entirely from Shadow's power.

It was far harder than the Legendary sword from before.

“I'll finish you!”

He no longer underestimated his opponent.

If the fight dragged on, he would definitely lose.

He had to overwhelm them before the stacks built up again.[Jonas uses Rampage(SS)

…….]

Rampage.

The power inside his entire body exploded.

There would be consequences after the battle, but that no longer mattered.

Too much rested on this fight.

So he had to win.

Absolutely.

Explosive power crashed toward Kim Minwoo and his summons.[The Power of Shadow engulfs you!][All Stats decrease by 20%!][Status ailment, ‘Confusion,’ applies…….][Status ailment, ‘Darkness,’ applies…….]

Countless messages appeared as a bonus.* * *Han Sia stared at Jonas.

He had been a Magic Swordsman who stood out within the family ever since she was young.

Time had passed.

And now they had met again.

In the worst possible way.

Jonas was using an eerie power that made her skin crawl.

After his sword broke, he began rampaging as though he'd gone berserk. Kim Minwoo looked dangerously pressured.

Wounds covered his body.

He barely avoided fatal injuries.

Han Sia frowned.‘Again, because of me…….’Kim Minwoo was being hurt because she'd gotten tangled with the Griff family.

Of course, now that she'd joined the guild, he wasn't a complete stranger anymore.

A comrade……

Was probably fair to call him.

But they'd only known each other for a single day. Han Sia still didn't understand why he'd go this far for her.

Anyone in the world.

No one would choose to make an enemy of Griff over a single girl.

But she felt like she understood one thing now.

His promise not to abandon her.

That was real.

That was sincere.

If it weren't, he wouldn't be fighting like this.

This was the first time in her life.

The first time anyone had treated her like this.

Not even family had.

Her father went without saying.

Even her mother, Kim Haeun, had been the same. She only spoke sweet words and never gave Han Sia real love.

Never showed it through action.

Deep down, Han Sia had known.

And yet, like a parched tree, she had continued craving it.

Because she wanted to be loved.

Because she wanted to believe she was loved.

When that faith betrayed her, the shock had been overwhelming.

Like being crushed beneath a burden too heavy to bear, she'd been completely exhausted.

It felt like she could never trust anyone again.

But after only one day.

She wanted to trust someone again.

Han Sia smiled bitterly.

Was she too easy?

Giving trust in a single day like this, choosing to believe someone so quickly.

“……

Still, I can't help it.”

He was the first person to show it through action.

So she couldn't help it.

She was too tired to keep doubting everyone. Even if she didn't want to trust him, she couldn't help beginning to.

As though praying, she clasped both hands together by habit.

She had prayed every night for her entire life.

To escape the family's clutches. For Mom to truly love her. For her body to stop hurting. Every prayer had been for herself.

A wish.

But this time was different.‘Please be safe.’I hope he doesn't suffer because of me. I hope he doesn't get hurt.

Please be safe.

And please win.

It was a prayer for someone else.

That was when.[‘Formless Talent’ begins taking shape!][At this moment, the direction of your talent is determined!][Overwhelming talent creates a Skill!]

Like a sprout opening beneath warm spring sunlight, something warm within her slowly bloomed.

Pure-white light wrapped around her body.[Skill, Prayer of Hope(S)

is created!]

Flash!

The white light surrounding Han Sia shot toward Kim Minwoo.

“……

Huh?”

“……

Huh?”

Jonas and Kim Minwoo.

Both men, locked in fierce combat, froze as though someone had paused time.● The fate of one of the main characters, ‘Han Sia,’ begins to twist!● This is an unknown domain! Special Bonus Points are awarded!● The story begins changing!● A large amount of Achievement Points is awarded!

Along with the Achievement Point messages.[‘Han Sia’ uses Prayer of Hope(S)

!][All Stats increase by 30%!][30% Health and Mana restored!][Light resists the Power of Shadow!][All status ailments are removed!]

Pure-white light surrounded Kim Minwoo.

His shaking vision, which had grown pitch-dark, instantly became as bright as daylight.‘Prayer of Hope?’The message saying Han Sia's fate had twisted.

He immediately understood.

This was obviously a Priest-exclusive Skill.

Her Class was Mage.

Her talent had been Mage.

Not anymore.

Her Class might still be Mage, but her talent had transformed into that of a Priest.

He could roughly guess why.

Unlike before, Han Sia had lost far too much of her talent. Enough that preserving the original form of a Mage had become impossible.

No original form.

In other words, the direction of her talent had become undecided.

Apparently it had settled on Priest.

One thing was immediately obvious.‘This is fucking strong.’The buff effects were ridiculous.

Jonas was using some bizarre power.

The source of that power looked formidable at a glance.

Just seeing all the status ailments it inflicted made that obvious. Yet Han Sia removed every one of them in a single shot. Her talent was incredible.

And more importantly.‘This is still only twenty percent.’Lucas had stolen the remaining eighty percent. If she got all of that back, just how monstrous would her talent become?

Park Siwoo and Seo Yerim.

It probably wouldn't lose to either of those main characters.

Han Sia was a main character too.

Even better.‘Light Attribute nullification doesn't apply.’That was the real jackpot.

Normally, the Death Lord completely nullified Light Attribute Skills.

But that was apparently only when he was attacked by Light Skills.

Buffs like this entered his body without issue.

Come to think of it.

It had been the same during the Super Rookie Selection Tournament.

When they'd attempted the Iphrax raid, Kim Minwoo had obviously received buffs then too.

Considering that, Priest buffs entering him now wasn't particularly strange.‘This makes things manageable again.’The reason he'd been pushed into defense.

Half of it had been intentional.

That strange power couldn't last forever.

There was no reason to desperately push himself while suffering under all those status ailments.

So he'd been defending.

Apparently it looked much more desperate from the outside.

“Thanks. You awakened because of me too.”

“…….”

Jonas's face twisted like he'd bitten into shit.

His Rampage didn't have much time left.

Still, he'd thought if he kept pushing, he could somehow subdue Kim Minwoo.

Now everything had gone wrong.

All because of Han Sia's blessing.‘She was a Priest?’Not a Mage?

He couldn't understand what had happened.

Was that why she'd always barely passed the family's tests?

Either way.

The situation was already disastrous.

The refreshed Kim Minwoo began pushing him back.

So did the summons.

Under their combined assault, Jonas lost ground helplessly.

The strength he'd gained from Rampage was slowly fading.‘I lost.’It was exactly as simple as that.

The Power of Shadow he'd received wasn't infinite. Yet he still couldn't bring himself to surrender because he could already guess what would happen afterward.

Griff's Mages.

And himself.

Every last one of them would become prisoners.

After all the chaos they'd caused, there was no way the Korean government would treat them kindly.

He tried to endure somehow.

Cruelly.

Kim Minwoo systematically destroyed his equipment.

Shadow's power covered it, but nothing could withstand repeated attacks forever.

His gauntlet broke.

His pauldron shattered.

Cracks began spreading across his armor too. He hadn't won even when his strength was at its peak. There was even less hope now.

“……

I lost.”

Only then did Jonas speak bitterly. Yet Kim Minwoo ignored him and kept attacking.

“I lost.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“No, I said I lost.”

“Yeah, I heard you.”

CRACK!

Jonas's armor shattered into pieces. Wearing only a T-shirt now, he spoke urgently.

“No, I told you I lost?! Why do you keep attacking?”

“You've still got plenty of equipment left.”

“You fucking lunatic……!”

But he couldn't simply stop fighting either. Someone was openly swinging a sword at him. Not defending would be insanity.

Kim Minwoo's sword struck his pants.

Clang!

A cheerful ringing sound echoed.

Jonas's face went pale.

This lunatic genuinely intended to destroy every piece of equipment he had.

“S-Stop!”

“You didn't.”

“What?”

“When they told you to stop throwing Awakened around at the airport.”

Did Jonas stop then?

No.

There was a saying.

You could enter however you pleased, but leaving was another matter.

So Minwoo intended to see it through to the end.

Wouldn't it make for a great picture if one of Griff's senior leaders ended up walking around in nothing but his underwear?

Jonas's body grew lighter and lighter.* * *When the battle ended.

Jonas was literally wearing only a single pair of underwear. His T-shirt and pants had all been sliced apart by the Necromantic Sword.

Jonas knelt on the ground with a devastated expression. Griff's Mages were the same.

Once their commander was completely subdued, their resistance practically disappeared.‘Cruel bastard…….’‘Can't believe the captain ended up like that…….’Commander of Windfire, the Third Knight Order.

The title felt meaningless after the thorough humiliation he'd suffered. And the whole thing was being recorded from every angle.

An international disgrace.

Naturally, they lost all will to resist. One wrong move and they might end up like that too.

Han Younggil approached.

“Um…… impressive. I didn't expect you to subdue them like that…….”

The words carried many different meanings.

“If you're going to do it, do it properly.”

“Yes. True enough. By the way, I never imagined Jonas could use such a strange power. Do you think all of Griff's senior leaders can do that?”

Han Younggil asked with a stiff expression.

Understandable.

The Korean government and Griff had already become enemies.

And now they'd witnessed one of them using bizarre power.

Of course he'd feel tense.

“We can just ask. Hey, Mr. Jonas.”

“……

Yes.”

“What exactly was that power?”

Kim Minwoo asked while lightly pointing his sword toward Jonas's remaining underwear.