Cessation (1)

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Central Yeouido.

On the top floor of the building housing the Korean Holder Association.

In this space, converted entirely into a conference room, armed Rune Holders were gathered together.

Notably, their skin was white, and their eyes were blue.

American Rune Holders.

They were members of the American <Wings of Freedom> clan, dispatched in response to a request for aid from the Korean Holder Association.

And at their center, a middle-aged man with an imposing physique stood, exuding rough charisma.

An S-grade Holder from America and the world’s strongest Holder.

He was Liam Hendricks, the master of the <Wings of Freedom> clan.

“We do not enter the dungeon under any circumstances.”

This was the first statement Hendricks made in the conference room.

His clan members immediately fell into confusion.

“…Is that true?”

“No, then why are we here…?”

All clans move according to their interests.

This was true whether in Korea or America.

<Wings of Freedom> was no different.

Nominally, they came to protect world peace and help Korea, but in reality, it was to get even a small foothold in the ‘undiscovered super-large dungeon’ that was attracting worldwide attention.

-Official name <Room of the Deserter>, the largest dungeon in Holder history!

Recently, after <Room of the Deserter> was revealed and its approximate structure was disclosed, interest from the Holder community worldwide surged rapidly.

Evil groups like the Ludenark School and peace-oriented public interest attacks.

Setting aside these purposes, <Room of the Deserter> had many interesting aspects.

First, its scale was vast, with dungeon areas spread out extensively, and within it existed various ‘zones’ related to the Ludenark School.

Zones set up like double dungeons.

Each zone had separate rewards for conquering, and naturally, as the level of monsters was high, the rewards were excellent.

Holders couldn’t help but be interested.

“Master. Wouldn’t our losses be too great if we came all the way to Korea for nothing?”

But to completely give up on conquering such a dungeon.

The clan members couldn’t help but be bewildered by Hendricks’ bombshell statement.

However, Liam Hendricks’ expression remained resolute.

“Our purpose is solely to protect the outside of the dungeon and Korea. And to deal with any Ludenark School members who might pop out.”

“But…”

“Paul.”

One clan member continued to express dissatisfaction.

Hendricks directly called him out.

The clan member immediately realized his mistake at the low baritone, but the reason for singling him out wasn’t simply to blame him.

“Have you ever seen dungeon monsters freely coming and going in and out of dungeons?”

“…No, I haven’t.”

“Neither have I. Moreover, we’re not talking about monsters, but humans similar to us. We can’t gauge how dangerous their abilities and intelligence might be, and it’s hard to predict what results they might bring.”

Hendricks raised his head to look at the clan members.

“The current Holder world is in upheaval. Korea is at the center of it. We need to accept that fact. It means the times have changed a lot from when we used to act only chasing immediate interests.”

Liam Hendricks was coolly assessing the reality.

It’s true that he and the <Wings of Freedom> clan were the world’s strongest.

They had led the Holder world from the very beginning and taken pioneering steps within it.

But there was no law saying that would last forever.

Just as he and <Wings of Freedom> had led the early days of the Holder world, now it was the Korean clans and Holders leading the global Holder community.

“Therefore, we focus on our assigned task of external protection. We will not independently proceed with dungeon entry until there are separate additional agreements with the Korean Holder Association.”

Hendricks was trying to ride this trend, protecting world peace while also protecting the clan’s interests.

If they moved rashly thinking only of immediate gains, it could sour relations with Korea, who would lead future trends.

Hendricks was preventing such incidents in advance.

In fact, he was making the optimal choice as a clan master.

And then.

“Master! We’ve received detection signals from the magic barriers and magical devices we set up. Just as the Korean allied forces advised! The enemies have come out of the dungeon.”

One clan member who had been dispatched in advance rushed in to report.

Hearing this, Hendricks grinned.

They hadn’t just been sitting idle either.

It was time to move.

***

Ippotranslation

***

Falling endlessly.

And even while falling…

The sword strikes towards each other don’t stop.

Although the intense air pressure weighed down on their bodies, Hwang Seong-yeon and I moved with even more vigor as if we didn’t care about such things.

‘Stubborn bastard.’

I’m one thing, but Hwang Seong-yeon is something else.

My main rune [Brave Eternal Wave], which belongs to the martial arts category, is by no means an easy sword technique.

It incorporates the principles of [Wave Sword Technique] and [Water Sword Technique] that my masters developed over decades with their own know-how, and additionally fuses the [Ocean Sword Technique] of veteran Holders.

Even without special effects or skills, it’s a very high-level rune that can defeat most monsters just by utilizing the rune.

Yet Hwang Seong-yeon is fighting against this [Brave Eternal Wave] without wavering at all.

Without even borrowing the power of black magic or a demon sword.

This meant that Hwang Seong-yeon also possessed a sword technique of similar or comparable level.

‘Genius….’

A genius in the Holder world that appears once in a decade, if that.

I was freshly impressed by Hwang Seong-yeon’s abilities and position.

And on the other hand, I also felt irritated.

Why would someone so capable and great be obsessed with slaughter and hurting people?

The thoughts of psychopaths were just too hard to understand.

Clang-! Clang-!!

Amidst the clashing sword strikes, Hwang Seong-yeon spoke softly.

“It’ll be dangerous if you fall like that.”

“Don’t worry. You’re the one who’s falling.”

As Hwang Seong-yeon said, at this rate I would be the one smashing into the ground.

No matter how high my endurance stat is and how well-equipped my defense runes are, falling from this height would have a big impact.

Knowing this, Hwang Seong-yeon increased the speed of his sword strikes.

‘Art of Weapon Exchange.’

And I put away the divine sword in my hand and took out [Pure Paladin’s Shield].

A shield in one hand, a knuckle in the other…

In other words, bare-handed with a shield.

“…What?”

“Hup…!!”

For a moment, I heard Hwang Seong-yeon’s surprised voice, and I inhaled as I activated my martial arts technique.

Although it’s not comparable to swordsmanship, my shield technique and martial arts, honed through [Master of Martial Arts], are superior to the skills of most warrior-class Holders.

I block Hwang Seong-yeon’s sword with the shield in one hand, and grab his body tightly with the other hand and both legs.

I feel intense air resistance, but by pushing my strength to the limit, this much is no problem.

“……!”

[Master of Martial Arts], [Descendant of the Barbarian King], [Warriors’ Enhancement Technique], and even [Power of the Boiling Werewolf].

I receive the assistance of all runes related to martial arts.

Hwang Seong-yeon had firmly grabbed the wrong target in succession.

The thing I’m most confident in after aerial combat in a duel…

Was none other than close-quarters combat.

“Haaah…!!”

“What the…”

In an instant, I switched our positions.

I perfectly block Hwang Seong-yeon’s thrusting sword with my shield.

And in that moment when top and bottom are reversed.

I kick him with all my strength in my right foot.

‘Primordial Furious Attack’

Literally kicked him.

[Primordial Furious Attack] used in a state where physical attack assist runes are activated to the extreme.

The power increased even more because I used only my body without a weapon.

About 1 second before hitting the ground in the area.

Hwang Seong-yeon, who was kicked, crashed into the ground one beat earlier.

Crash, Craash-!!

At the same time, I lightly landed on the ground.

Originally, with the effect of [Mystical Dragon Boots] allowing movement in the air, there was no problem landing if there wasn’t any particular impact.

“…Tough bastard.”

Hwang Seong-yeon’s persistent attacks are giving me a headache.

From the sudden aerial battle to the falling battle that followed from its recoil.

Not a single easy fight.

I managed to score a technical win somehow, but I also took quite a bit of damage, with Tyrbon’s summon being canceled and using my main skills.

Moreover, this isn’t the end.

That bastard must have taken some measures in this fall as well.

The impact won’t be big, and I don’t know when a counterattack might come.

I didn’t think it would end easily either.

It was just a stage to take a slightly more advantageous position.

‘I’ve already used Dragonization and Berserk.’

I consider battle preparations during this short time.

[Berserk] and [Dragonization].

I’ve already used all the stat buff skills.

Among the howling skills in [Power of the Boiling Werewolf], I’ve used all that could be effective in the current situation.

‘Divine Bless.’

Then I’ll use a skill that increases divine power.

[Divine Bless], a derivative skill of [Madness of Faith].

A skill that increases divine stats by 30% for 10 minutes.

The divine stat, which was already pumped up by [Berserk] and [Dragonization], received another boost and recorded a whopping 160.

With this level of ability, it could be considered S-grade in the divine category.

An enormous amount of divine power overflowed from within my body.

And one more thing.

“Holy Mercy.”

After calling back the holy sword with the Art of Weapon Exchange, I plunge it into the ground where I landed.

[Holy Mercy], the inherent skill of the divine sword.

After stabbing the sword into the ground to create a protected area, it’s a skill that gives buffs to all allies within that area for 10 minutes.

This is no ordinary buff.

It greatly increases resistance and immunity to dark attribute attacks, and allows all general abilities to increase by 10%… It’s a divine effect possible only because it’s a ‘divine sword’.

Although the duration is short, as long as they’re in the area, all allies including myself gain a powerful edge against the undead.

‘And the same goes for Hwang Seong-yeon.’

The owner of the demon sword will also have extreme compatibility in this domain.

What’s a buff skill for us becomes a debuff skill for them.

“…Interesting.”

As all the smoke from the immediate aftermath of the fall cleared, Hwang Seong-yeon, as expected, appeared unscathed.

Using the divine skill I had been saving right after landing…

The reason for using up all the remaining buff skills was only one.

To finish him off within 10 minutes, end this tiresome evil connection, and through that, put an end to all battles.


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