novelburst-info
Chapter 247
Chapter 247
[Capital Region of the Lower District]
[Time Attack World Record]
[1st Place - Speedmaster - 25:12]
[2nd Place - Silent Swordsman - 25:13 (new!)]
He almost got overtaken.
The Speedmaster, who was seriously threatened by the record, breathed a sigh of relief only after the Silent Swordsman surpassed his own time.
He narrowly avoided the terrifying experience of seeing his record shattered right in front of him during the broadcast.
- Where did he go?
- He's ignoring the airfield and heading somewhere else?
- No wonder he's taking such an odd route.
- Isn't he heading toward that pillar?
- Doesn’t he know about the airfield?
- The porter told him.
- ???: "I don’t listen to information from those weaker than me."
- Social distancing, haha.
- Apparently, he’s not accepting Earth-based info.
- Guess we need to communicate with aliens, lol.
Without having the time to enjoy the fact that he had secured the throne, the Silent Swordsman sprinted toward the pillar that he hadn’t yet conquered.
- No, he shouldn't go there;
- Newbie vibes at the worst timing, lol.
- If you don’t know, you’ll have to face it.
- He’s going toward the pillar, right?
- Yep.
- There’s a raid boss there.
- Even if the player is the Silent Swordsman, can he still defeat it?
- Uh... not sure.
- Not sure?
- You don’t even know, and it’s the Silent Swordsman we’re talking about?
- Must be a really strong boss then.
Players who are told they might win against a powerful boss are highly praised, and similarly, when a raid boss is discussed with the possibility of defeating the Silent Swordsman, the boss is praised.
Despite being overwhelmed by the presence of the Silent Swordsman, Speedmaster thought, at least, it was a good thing that the situation was progressing.
"The boss guarding the Pillar of Ascension is a boss I also gave up on. I considered it practically unbeatable, so no one’s been able to defeat it."
- Agreed.
- Even if you level up quickly, it doesn't work.
- I don’t even know what the strategy item is.
An existence that couldn't be beaten with direct combat or found a strategy for in any other way.
Watching the Silent Swordsman face failure against an insurmountable wall was something the viewers wanted to see.
There wasn’t any real malice, but people want to see someone struggle, get frustrated, or even despair.
It’s a tsundere-like maliciousness, like a child teasing their crush at school!
This feeling wasn’t just unique to Speedmaster.
Even viewers who admired the Silent Swordsman’s strength secretly looked forward to the moment when someone as strong as him might finally face defeat and show their emotions.
‘I can’t say it openly, but I’m also kind of expecting some body part destruction.’
There’s a desirable system in Half-Demon Valley.
When a certain body part takes a certain amount of damage, the clothing breaks, applying a part destruction system.
For enemies, it’s part destruction, but for players, it’s clothing destruction.
The Silent Swordsman, who always wears a hat and tightly covers his body with his training outfit, finally shows his skin when he collapses in Real Mode.
How can one not expect that?
Feel free to curse if it seems shady.
In front of desire, even Speedmaster is just a man.
- Story mode is here.
- Is it possible for Silent Swordsman to lose?
- Wow, it moves?
Finally, they reached the Pillar of Ascension.
As the raid boss-level monster appeared, even the viewers who had seen everything were stunned.
"Huh? What is this? This is different from what I saw before...?"
Speedmaster was taken aback.
Things began unfolding in a completely different way than he had expected.
[Story Mode]
The Silent Swordsman and Boogeyman reached the Pillar of Ascension, the entrance to the Ascension District.
Monsters that had been rushing to catch them stopped in their tracks when they realized where they were. Their faces turned pale, and they hastily began retreating down the path they had just come from.
[Something’s off. Something is coming.]
Boogeyman’s warning was correct.
However, even he didn’t expect the danger to arrive in this manner.
Rumble...
A giant pillar linking the earth to the heavens.
A massive hand reached out from it and began grabbing nearby monsters, crushing them without mercy.
[Aaaah, no! It woke up!]
[No, I’m not! I just came to catch the intruders!]
[It’s too late. Hahaha, it’s already too late!]
Monsters screamed in despair.
They denied the harsh reality.
They fell into resignation.
Their fate was the same.
Crack!
With the giant hand, they were swallowed back into the pillar.
Hundreds of monsters vanished in an instant.
Without distinction, any monster that approached was grabbed by the pillar and its hand.
Monsters of unknown identity.
Seeing this, Boogeyman pulled a few of the fleeing monsters toward him and interrogated them face-to-face.
[H-H-Help me!]
[Tell me. What is that pillar? Why does it possess a power similar to mine!?]
[That... That’s a collective of despair! It’s a being that lost its ego and is a collective of despair that devours monsters endlessly!]
The raid boss known to players, including Speedmaster, was deemed unbeatable. That entity was called the <Collective of Despair>.
But this story mode was different.
Even after its true nature was revealed, the story didn’t end there.
There was more crucial information yet to be revealed.
The ominous black energy leaking around Boogeyman’s wardrobe flared up intensely.
[Great Demon. You’ve crossed the line you should never cross.]
[I'll provide the information, but then I’ll...]
With a crack, Boogeyman crushed the monster's neck. The creature’s lifeless body fell limply beneath his hand.
[Silenct Swordsman.]
[You once said you had a mission. A job you must do after coming to the human world. You and I are simply walking the same path.]
The Silent Swordsman nodded.
[Now is the time to tell you.]
Boogeyman spoke.
[There was once a being in the Monster Realm who stood toe to toe with the Great Demon.]
[The leader of all murderers who couldn’t escape their fate as murderers due to their innate killing instincts.]
[The strongest of all murderers, who completely controlled their instincts and was feared as the Ultimate Murderer, also known as the Great Murderer.]
The Great Murderer. A monster with a name that carried as much weight as the Great Demon, if not more.
- Wasn’t Boogeyman just a random ally character?
- There’s a behind-the-scenes story to this?
- Could it be?
Even someone who lacked awareness could guess the reason Boogeyman started telling his story.
[That was my past.]
[The Great Demon betrayed me and took my body.]
[If I hadn't relied on the bodyless fear and taken on the mask of "Boogeyman," I would have been erased from existence.]
[I hid in the wardrobe, relying on a pathetic creature, but I never gave up on my desire for revenge.]
[I swore that one day, I would reclaim my old body.]
As a result, Boogeyman reached the capital of the Great Demon.
Standing before the Pillar of Ascension in the heart of the Lower District, he now realized something.
[Now, there’s nothing left of its original form.]
[Can you see it? That pillar.]
Boogeyman sighed before the Pillar of Ascension.
[That is a powerful curse manifestation.]
[It’s a being born from the Great Demon’s blood using the Great Murderer’s body.]
[A cursed creature born from the Great Demon’s blood mixed with a body that has lost its soul.]
[A being that devoured countless monsters, supporting the Pillar of Ascension.]
[That is my true body, the body I must reclaim.]
What was once thought to be simply a giant structure leading to Daoist Paradise was not just a pillar.
It was Boogeyman’s lost body and, using it, the Great Demon created an enormous raid boss.
[A shell that lost its ego.]
[A giant entity that devoured countless monsters and lost its form.]
[A graveyard for monsters not chosen by the Great Demon, created to protect Daoist Paradise.]
The pillar cracked.
Huge hands, bigger than buildings, reached out.
The hands, red with blood, were similar to Boogeyman’s, but on a scale hundreds of times greater.
Losing one’s original body.
Ha Eung Eung had already experienced this once, maybe twice.
Once as a man, she lost herself.
Once again, as Ha Eung Eung, she lost herself.
Losing her body and taking on another was not just a physical change; it affected her mind, shaped by the body she inhabited.
‘The unfamiliarity and strangeness are nothing.’
This is not my body.
You are not this being.
From the discord of such wills, an unconscious suicidal urge arises.
I want to throw myself away.
I must fight the instinct to destroy myself.
‘You've been through a difficult past.’
Ha Eung Eung doesn’t know what Boogeyman was like as the Great Murderer.
She only vaguely thinks that he must have had immense power, but wasn’t a good being.
[It wasn’t easy.]
[If you want to avoid it, you can, but I won’t.]
[This battle will be more grueling than when I fought against the King of the Abyss.]
Rationally, running away would be the best option. If you just fly past the pillar, you won’t need to fight a huge monster like that.
[I'll rely on the bond of comrades.]
Boogeyman opened the wardrobe.
With his body covered in darkness, he reached out with his hand.
[Even if it’s just a shell that’s lost its ego, that was once a part of me.]
[Even if it has become the collective of despair with no original form, I want to free it from the curse.]
[Silenct Swordsman, please lend me your strength.]
In front of Boogeyman’s heartfelt plea, a fork in the road of destiny unfolded for her.
?Interaction Choices?
- Take Boogeyman’s hand (Pillars of Ascension raid)
- Do not take Boogeyman’s hand (Collective of Despair raid)
- Attack Boogeyman
Fight against the curse that binds his body, or even if unable to free him, temporarily repelling it to climb the pillar.
Or, choose to attack and defeat Boogeyman, who could become the second Great Demon.
[? 1. Take Boogeyman’s hand (Pillars of Ascension raid)]
It’s a funny story.
Possibility? Since when did that matter?
I take what I want.
I walk the path I want.
I now have the strength and qualification to do that.
Qualification is not given by the Great Demon.
It is not something you receive with permission.
If she wants it, then she has the right to it.
‘I’ve always wanted to break that unnecessarily large pillar. Now, I just have a good reason to do it.’
No matter how grand the Pillar of Ascension’s backstory is, what’s the problem?
She is, after all, the fearless greatest swordswoman in the realm, the Silent Swordsman.