Chapter 175

Chapter 175

Spendthrift Necromancer (175)

Mind Sword.

Commonly called the sword of the heart.

It was a technique Kim Minwoo had never been able to use even when he'd been flying around as various main characters.

But now things were different.[Using Guidance of Fate(SSS)

!][Selecting Park Siwoo!][Current Affinity: 85.][Future point of ‘85’ applied.][Possession Degree of ‘85’ applied!]

An Affinity of 85.

Higher than the previous 83.

A little farther into the future.

A little more skilled.

A future Park Siwoo so developed he was practically a monster possessed Kim Minwoo's body.

The result was close to devastation.

The instant he swung Mind Sword, Lucas's right arm was cleanly severed.

Murmur!

The many witnesses stared in shock.

Before the Duel began, they'd thought Kim Minwoo was simply insane.

What he'd done had been mad enough to justify that belief.

Fine.

Fight Lucas.

But then at least summon something before the Duel began.

Or prepare something.

Anything.

Yet Kim Minwoo had done literally nothing.

As though offering up his own life.

There were only two possibilities.

Either he wanted to die.

Or he truly had something he trusted.

The answer was revealed.

The latter.

The problem was that there were far too many things no one understood.‘What?’‘He didn't move.’Objectively, the situation was simple.

Lucas cast magic.

Kim Minwoo stood still.

Yet the outcome was the exact opposite of what it should've been.

World Mage Ranking 27th.

Even in an all-Class integrated ranking, Lucas would comfortably fit inside the top 200.

In other words, he was one of the strongest two hundred Awakened in the world.

And his arm had been severed.

Even Lucas himself didn't seem to understand what had happened.

“Guhh!”

Sweat poured down his face as he urgently clutched the bleeding stump.

His eyes had gone beyond confusion into fear.‘What was that?’Some unknown force had cut his magic apart.

If a chill hadn't made him twist his body at the last second.‘I'd be dead.’Cleanly.

His entire body would've been cut in half.

Gulp.

Lucas swallowed.

Of course, he'd assumed Kim Minwoo had some hidden card he trusted.

But this exceeded imagination.‘A Skill he'd been saving?’How much Mana did it consume?

If it could only be used once, it didn't matter.

But what if he could use such a bizarre Skill several times?

Alarm bells rang inside Lucas's mind.

Kim Minwoo.

He wasn't some rookie hiding a single claw.

He was an opponent worthy of staking everything against.

An enemy who had to be fought with life and death on the line.[Lucas uses the Authority of the ‘Shadow Apostle’!]

Pitch-black power completely covered his body.

His breathing grew rough.

Kim Minwoo's eyes gleamed.‘That power from before.’The power of the Shadow Apostle Jonas had used.

The difference was its density.

Much darker.

Much more sinister.

Lucas's presence swelled until it seemed to engulf the entire training hall.

The audience widened their eyes.

After the airport incident, they already knew the Griff family possessed an evil power.

Naturally, they'd expected Lucas to wield it too.

What they hadn't expected.

Was that its strength would exceed imagination.‘The foundation…….’‘It's shaking?’The Duel was governed by the System.

A territory was designated, and the fighters battled inside it.

Put differently, no matter what kind of chaos occurred within, it almost never affected the outside.

But now was different.

Black power raged.

Even the audience seating trembled faintly.

That alone showed how tremendous the energy Lucas possessed was.

If not for the white boundary of the Duel, even the spectators would've been affected.‘At that level…….’‘He's top 100 across all Classes.’Those quick enough had already finished calculating.

Lucas, wrapped in black energy, had probably reached a level worthy of the world's top hundred overall.

Top hundred might sound simple.

But taking someone in the 200s and instantly lifting them one hundred places?

In the absolute highest tier, where each individual rank represented an enormous gulf?

Most Awakened would probably bow and accept such an evil power.‘What exactly is that power?’Half curiosity.

Half fascination.‘Then…… what happens now?’Every gaze focused on the two.―……

I'll deal with you properly now.

Lucas's voice sent chills through the air.

Black Mana like death itself burned around him.

“Sorry.”―……?

“No matter how I look at it, I can't picture myself losing.”

The moment he finished.

BOOMBOOMBOOM!

Hundreds of spells bombarded the place where Kim Minwoo stood.

Magic filled with hatred and malice.

The entire training hall shook violently beneath the explosions.

Yet Lucas's expression never relaxed.

Just as a swordsman felt the sensation of his blade striking flesh.

Magic had something similar.

When a spell struck a body, it returned a distinctive wave.

And yet.

His senses remained empty as a still lake.

Hundreds.

No, thousands of spells were being fired, and still nothing.

His eyes split into eight pupils like those of a spider and scanned every direction.

His senses were sharper than ever.

And yet he couldn't detect even a trace of Kim Minwoo's presence.

A chill crawled down his spine.‘Get caught. Get caught…….’Lucas repeated the thought endlessly.

Great Hadronox.

Shadow Apostle.

Its appearance resembled an enormous spider.

The core members of Griff had received power from that Apostle.

But even within granted power, there were differences in rank.

Comparing Jonas's power to Lucas's would be insulting.

Naturally, the way they used it was worlds apart too.

Jonas merely used the granted power itself.

Lucas was different.

He understood how to use its essence.‘Spider.’A ruthless hunter.

One that knew how to use traps.

Quietly.

Lethally.

Around Lucas, energy like impossibly transparent spiderwebs had already spread everywhere.

Even if they couldn't be seen with the naked eye, anything approaching would inevitably reveal itself.

Because it would touch the webs.

The stickiness of webs infused with the Apostle's power was so great that even a world ranker couldn't escape instantly.

A single instant was enough.

If he could stop Kim Minwoo even briefly, Lucas would annihilate him with overwhelming firepower.―Damn you! Stop hiding like a rat and show yourself!

As though panicking.

As though seized by indescribable fear.

Lucas unleashed magic in every direction.

Even a little was enough.

If he could induce just a trace of carelessness, this level of acting was nothing.

That was when.

A web behind him trembled.

With exactly the weight of one person.

Lucas's eyes flashed red.

The foolish prey had definitely fallen into his trap.―Haha! Die!

Lucas spun around with his mouth split into a huge grin and thrust out a hand.

Just before the magic fired.‘……?’Lucas's eyes widened.

A figure dangled in midair.

But it wasn't human.‘……

A Skeleton?’It was a Skeleton.

A chill ran down his spine.

He had forgotten for a moment.

The bizarre Skill at the beginning had distracted him, but Kim Minwoo wasn't a Swordsman.

He was a Necromancer.

And worse.

He'd thrown exactly one Skeleton into the trap, as though he knew the web's location.

“I'm over here.”

A voice whispered beside his ear.

Slash!

Lucas's head fell.

A fountain of black blood erupted.* * *An Affinity of 85 was so extraordinary it couldn't be described in words.

How Lucas's energy flowed.

Where it moved.

How it would be used.

He could simply see it.

Feel it.

That meant one thing.

Future Park Siwoo stood overwhelmingly above Lucas, even while Lucas used the Apostle's power.

A master easily predicted the movements of the weak.

The only thing Kim Minwoo lacked was physical specs.

Guidance of Fate didn't replace his body itself.

The hardware remained the same.‘But the software is going berserk.’Of course, that alone was already absurdly broken.

The sword transcended the material plane.

And it wasn't only the sword that could transcend it.[Your body temporarily transcends the boundary of the material plane!]

Affinity grown to 85 made even this kind of trick possible.

For a moment, Kim Minwoo's body became faint.

He felt weightless, like swimming through the ocean.

Lucas's magic filled the training hall.

Yet not a single spell struck his body.

The message saying he'd transcended the material plane.‘Probably because of that.’Lucas's magic was no longer a threat.

But one thing was different.

The web-like energy spread around Lucas's body.‘I shouldn't touch that.’It looked like one of Hadronox's abilities.

That was probably why it still felt dangerous despite Guidance of Fate.

So he threw a Skeleton in as bait.

Lucas spun around with a face full of delight.

The nearby webs became faint.

In exchange, the energy gathered in Lucas's hand grew far denser.

If Merhen had seen it, she probably would've called him an idiot.[Entering the material plane!]

Before he knew it, Kim Minwoo had reached Lucas's back.

He used Mind Sword and cut through his neck.

The Necromantic Sword sank into him as smoothly as slicing cake.―Guaaah!

Lucas screamed.

Kim Minwoo lightly cut apart the magic Lucas sprayed wildly around him.

His neck was more than ninety percent severed.

His dangling head howled.―Wh-Why isn't it…… healing…….

His eight spider-like pupils shook violently.

Lucas's body trembled.

The Apostle's power was great.

Great enough to regenerate even if his head was completely severed.

But now things were different.

The regenerative power wasn't activating at all.

Kim Minwoo shrugged.

“I cut it.”

―Wh-What……

bull……

shit……

is that…… kuh!

Lucas collapsed.

A wave of dizziness struck him.

The great Apostle's power had stopped functioning as though it had broken.

Little by little, strength drained from his body.

Barely managing to lift his head, Lucas shouted in terror.―N-No…… impossible……!

He was going to die here?

To a brat like this?

It was an ending he'd never even considered.

That made it even more terrifying.―Haaah……!

His eight pupils rolled wildly.

“What are you looking for so desperately?”―I…… cannot…… die…… like…… this…….

Lucas cried desperately in a weakening voice.

His split pupils returned to a human shape.

His body, which had been writhing like an insect, slowly stopped functioning.

That was when.

Lucas's wildly rolling eyes suddenly opened wide.

His gaze locked onto somewhere in the audience.

An utterly ordinary-looking middle-aged man.

A man smiling as though amused.

That much wasn't unusual.

But one thing was different.

His fingers tapped against his arm like someone playing a piano.

At a glance, it looked meaningless.

To Lucas, it was different.

He'd watched that gesture for years, from the time Han Sia was born until now.

Far too familiar.

There was no mistake.

That was the High Priest.―Guhh…… High……

Priest……

please……

help…….

The smiling man lifted one finger.

Shh.

Then his figure vanished as though wiped away.‘High Priest?’Kim Minwoo's head snapped around.

The place Lucas had been staring.

That section of the audience was empty.

As though nobody had ever been there.[Your opponent has died!][You have won the Duel!][Your Level increases by 15!][The Necromantic Sword absorbs the prey's blood!][The Necromantic Sword blooms!][A new effect is unlocked!][It has absorbed blood imbued with special energy!][The effect is greatly enhanced!]

The Duel ended with the messages.

At the same time, pure-white light began gathering over Han Sia's body.