“Ugh… This is exhausting.”
It feels like my head is about to split open. Imagine gathering every single hangover one could experience in a lifetime and experiencing them all at once.
“Urrrgh! K’haarrrr!”
“R’haarrrr! Wzur-y’iin!”
It wasn’t time to stop yet. The dancers were muttering some stuff in a strange language. Even though some of them were broken and charred, there were still those with enough strength to move… Let’s see… There are nine of them?
“What are you saying? Speak in Korean, you bastards.”
A couple of them seemed to be squirming awkwardly, but that wasn’t something to worry about.
I slowly massaged my stiff neck, which refused to move easily, and thought about the actions I needed to take, the declarations I needed to make, and the objects I needed to keep an eye on.
“As if my condition wasn’t bad enough… After this is over, I really need to lie down for a week without moving.”
The nine dancers approached me in a synchronized formation. Though their numbers have decreased, their movements remained precise. They intertwined their legs and dipped their heads in my direction. Their movements were reminiscent of ballet poses. And then they followed with jumps and kicks.
If I had known a bit about ballet terminology, I might have been able to describe what they were doing, but there was no way for me to know something I hadn’t known before, regardless of my increased intelligence. And then there was the leap that followed. Staying any longer to watch would be the death of me.
I threw my skateboard to the ground and cast a few spells.
[Cat’s Reflexes]
[Invisible Hand]
[Leap]
It wasn’t for no reason that I was in a daze. As my concentration returned, the traits that had stopped activating began to function normally again, which allowed me to cast spells in succession without the need for signs or incantations.
As soon as I vacated my spot, the dancers’ performance transformed from ballet to a sword dance. Each held a sparkling pair of swords in their hands. The sword dance in honor of their king had started. It was a dance of death meant to eliminate the king’s enemies.
“I am a mage!”
Just like the last time with the ghoul shaman, why do they keep forcing me into physical confrontations? If my magic order was even one level higher, I might have been able to pull out a spell that would let me respond more comfortably, but for now, keeping my distance was the answer.
The magically enhanced skateboard emitted a dazzling radiance and bounced to ridiculous heights that would have been impossible for my original body. Yet, the golden dancers followed suit. Ten chillingly bright swords glowed. And yellow silk fluttered like clouds.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Their weapons were not limited to swords alone. The rocks that brushed against that fluttering yellow silk were sliced as if cut by a sword. Was this some kind of joke? The range of impact was far too wide.
The range a single dancer could attack spanned 4 meters in all directions—front, back, left, right, above, and below—and with their ability to close the distance in an instant through leaps, I couldn’t afford to stand still for even a moment. Leap, then spring off a rock to leap again. As soon as I touched the ground, I used an explosive dash trick for rapid movement. Then leaped again.
Just when I thought I had shaken off one that was clinging to me from behind, a golden body flew at me from the front. At this rate, there would be no end to it. I gathered my magical power and screamed.
“Get out of the wayyyy!!!”
[Shock]
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!!!
The dancer directly hit by the heated shockwave emitted from my hand was flung away and crashed into a rock with a metallic noise.
Just as I was about to cast a new spell to finish off that one, three dancers and six sword blades clung to me. They targeted the angles that were difficult for me to move into and flew in with precise sword strikes.
“Ah, sh*t. Leave the sword fighting to the swordsmen!”
[Gale], [Spell Enhancement: Maximization]
[Leap], [Spell Enhancement: Range Increase]
[Protective Circle], [Spell Enhancement: Multicasting]
I sent the one suspended in the air flying with a gale and the other one was forced to jump up, changing its trajectory. At the same time, I thrust the layers of entwined protective circles at the one that clung closest to me.
Clang!
Sparks flew from the twin swords blocked by the invisible protective circle. But I had lingered in one spot for too long. Eight more swords flew at me from another direction. Ah, this really could be the end of me.
Ah, forget it! I’m abandoning the strategy of minimizing damage!
With all my fingernails gone, I spread my hands wide and cast spells in every direction around me.
Whirrrr…!!
I concentrated the magical power, brimming with excessive Yang energy, on the tips of my hands. I could see the blood flowing from my torn and burst fingers start to boil and evaporate.
[Lightning Strike]
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})[Spell Enhancement: Maximization]
[Spell Enhancement: Multicasting]
It felt like all ten of my already damaged fingers were being completely shattered. A chilling pain crawled from the tips of my fingers up to my spine. Yet, the extremely strengthened lightning obeyed my command, absorbing my magical power and growing to an enormous size.
Fizzzzzzzz!
A blindingly brilliant golden lightning burst forth in all directions.
It felt as though giant trees were sprouting from my hands. It was a bizarre sensation in which I didn’t even know if I was feeling pain or pleasure. I felt dizzy. The trees of lightning grew at the speed of light and entwined around the dancers who were rushing towards me. Gold conducts electricity well, right?
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
While the dancers were paralyzed by the lightning, I created a fireball beneath my skateboard.
[Hardening]
[Fireball]
Booooom!
At the peak of the fireball’s explosion….
[Leap]
I activated a leap and then leaped again. Despite the feeling that my guts might spill out, I shot up vertically more than twenty meters in an instant.
Whoooooooshl!
The sound of the wind battered my face and ears.
As I reached the peak of my leap, I threw my head back to look down. Or more accurately, I began to fall headfirst… Nonetheless, I could see the dark forest of Tanhyeon below me, the ruins that appeared almost naked in their exposure, and the dancers glittering under the starlight.
“K’haarrrr! kya’vughtmm!!”
“Waugh! F’huzur ghliis khaa!”
I could also see the dancers who had not been swept up by the lightning, gathering below my feet as if chasing after me. They were nicely clustered together.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Had there ever been a time in my life when so many people were clinging to me as if they were fond of me? It seemed my luck in love was at an all-time high. Anyway, they were gathered nicely together. The essence of a hunt is in the area of effect.
[Sonic Refraction]
[Spell Enhancement: Multicasting]
A barrier made from magical power rose around the dancers. A magical barrier distorting the sonic waves formed like a dome with its lid open.
Take this, the signature move of Lee Chang-hyuk.
[Sonic Impact]
“Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!”
Boooooooom!!!!!!!
The shock wave created by the Sonic Impact was blocked by the sonic distortion barrier and echoed back inward as it continued to reverberate.
The trapped shockwaves were unable to escape the barrier and continued to layer upon each other, manifesting terrible destruction.
The rocks of the ruins and the metallic bodies of the dancers, caught in the horrific vortex created by the sound, could not withstand the repeated shocks and were shattered to pieces.
Kwazzzz…
Even after I deactivated the spell, the shockwaves trapped within the sonic distortion barrier did not fade but persisted for a while.
The effect was more powerful than I expected. Given the right circumstances, this technique alone could dispose of most enemies in the future.
The destruction on the ground was sufficient. Now, it was time to save myself.
[Feather Fall]
I tried to catch the skateboard in mid-air while activating a spell to reduce the speed of my fall… Well, I tried to catch it before I realized such a feat was beyond my agility. I then resorted to an additional spell to catch it.
The ordeal was not over yet.
I looked up at the sky in the midst of my long, leisurely fall through the air.
The dark night sky.
And the bright yellow stars that illuminated it while shining brightly.
What a crazy sky.
It was a terrible and ominous sky that made you feel like you would go mad if you just kept looking at it. Though the moon hung in the air, its faint crescent light was overshadowed by the unnervingly bright stars that exuded a far more imposing presence.
“Fu*k it, I’ll do whatever crazy thing it takes to get back home.”
With that resolve, I landed in the center of the chaotic ruins.
“Surprisingly, no achievements popped up.”
I had half-expected something like a “Shall We Dance?” achievement. Aaah, but that would require me to dance as well.
The frenzied dancers, for the most part, were unable to overcome the overlapping sonic shockwaves and were completely destroyed.
Of course, not all of them were annihilated. Four dancers remained alive.
However, they were far from unscathed. Now, the figures that used to attack with bodies glowing in golden light and dancing with unprecedented grace in the world were nowhere to be seen.
All four dancers were affected by the sonic shockwaves in some way, with their metallic bodies ruptured and crumbling.
The sight of them struggling to crawl away, using what remained of their arms and legs which were reduced to stubs, was a spectacle that was both tragic and comedic.
Anyway, this is the [Cthulhu World]. Where there was no bargaining with beings born from the darkness of the abyss.
As I approached them, the dancers began to chant in unison.
“K’haarrrr!”
“K’haarrrr!”
“K’haarrrr!”
“K’haarrrr!”
“Iä! Iä! Hastur! Ugh! Ugh! Iä Hastur! n’ghah- ghaaa mglw’ghaa mhatha!”
“Iä! Iä! Hastur!”
“Iä! Iä! Hastur!”
“Iä! Iä! Hastur!”
[System: The ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ trait has been activated.]
[System: The ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ trait has been activated.]
[System: The ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ trait has been activated.]
[System: The ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ trait has been activated.]
[System: The ‘Enhanced Vigilance’ trait has been activated.]
The [Enhanced Vigilance] trait sounded an alarm.
“Holy sh*t, stop!”
[Fireball]
Whooooooooooosh!
Bright red flames erupted with a tremendous blast.
One of the golden monsters that glowed while shouting the true name of the [King in Yellow] was destroyed. But, three remained.
“Iä! Iä! Hastur!”
“Iä! Iä! Hastur!”
“Iä! Iä! Hastur!”
[Lightning Strike]
Rumbe… … Booom!!
“Iä! Iä! Hastur!”
“Iä! Iä! Hastur!”
They still wouldn’t stop. This is maddening…! Stop chanting, you lunatics!
[Firestorm]
Despite this, there was still one mouth left and it continued to chant the true name of the abyssal being.
[Magic Bullet]
[Spell Enhancement: Multicasting]
Ratatatattatata!!
Dozens of magic bullets were unleashed, shattering the body of the last dancer to pieces. Holes riddled the dancer’s body, scattering golden scales and body fragments in all directions.
But even when its body was destroyed and only its head remained, the dancer’s head still emitted cries of praise for its king.
“Iä! Iä! Hastur!”
The rolling head of the dancer eventually came to a halt after it was blocked by someone’s legs.
“Oh? You.”
The problem wasn’t the dancer. A new shadow appeared as if blocking the dancer’s path. Long limbs and golden hair. And strange ornaments on the ears.
No, this was not a new character. It was someone who was supposed to be here all along. It was Jang Hyeon-deok.
“You… what are you doing…?”
Wait, something was off. The quality, form, and flow of his magical power were completely different. Jang Hyeon-deok approached the dancer’s head with an eerily emotionless expression on his face.
The dancer’s head was not moving away from me. It was moving in the direction of Jang Hyeon-deok.
“Hey, stop.”
[Arrow of Destruction]
Fwsssh!
In haste, I unleashed an arrow imbued with the magical power of the neither world towards Jang Hyeon-deok’s location. But for some reason, the purple arrow flew swiftly but veered off in an unexpected direction.
It wasn’t like my aim was bad. The Arrow of Destruction was flying straight towards Jang Hyeon-deok. But then, as if space itself warped, the arrow changed its course on its own.
Before I could think of my next move, Jang Hyeon-deok had already completed his action. A peaceful and natural touch with a motion that seemed as if it was meant to be.
Jang Hyeon-deok removed the mask that was covering the dancer’s face and placed it on his own.
And then, silence.
