I had nothing to say about the situation other than to weigh my options.
I had to exert the utmost power I could muster.
With the activation of my skill, a familiar sensation soon returned.
“───?!!”
Even though it was a skill I had used countless times, it still felt mystical and unfamiliar.
This mysterious moment, where all the worlds seemed to freeze and only I was allowed to exist, was exhilarating every time.
‘Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’m using it in front of someone else. It got canceled when I tried it on Inessa.’
Showing my self-destruction to other hunters was a risky move, but if I missed this opportunity, not only would my companions be in danger, but so would the fate of this world.
There was no hesitation, and soon a core containing all my accumulated achievements soared into the space between Escalon and me, erecting a powerful pillar of light.
How high would that pillar rise?
That thought flashed through my mind for just a moment.
Sasassas─
Soon after, both Escalon and my body began to crumble.
“──?!”
“Tap…”
Annihilation.
The process of being erased as if I had never existed in this world.
Escalon had his mouth wide open, his face filled with shock.
Since his massive face was so wide open, it was clear how startled he was.
‘Hahaha, this is hilarious.’
He had to watch in horror as his own body decomposed into its smallest units and returned to nature.
The monster, who had unwaveringly believed it was the strongest—
And had looked at us as if we were mere bugs, was now terrified and at a loss for what to do.
It would have been nice if the other hunters could savor that expression too. What a pity.
‘You will become a non-entity.’
Of course, I would too.
But I still had my life remaining.
“Uuugh—”
Escalon, with his eyes wide open, was screaming that he couldn’t die.
His eyes told me many things, but I had no interest in the story of some wood monster brat.
Pasa─
With holes appearing all over my body, I rapidly crumbled to the ground.
Both he and I.
Crack─
And then we vanished without a trace.
The only solace was that this process of death was happening so quickly that Yeon-hee wouldn’t even notice.
‘Even if I’m gone, Ma Gwang-jin and Yoo Min-jeong are here, so they should be able to withstand two Escalons somehow. Oh, and there’s the possessed witch too.’
Behind me, Yeon-hee was reaching out one arm toward me.
Her slightly watery gaze was as beautiful as a jewel, and the corners of her mouth, drooping down, oddly looked a bit cute.
‘Goodbye for now…’
I gave a solo farewell to Yeon-hee.
Forgive this helpless me who can only protect you through death.
Crack───!
– ‘You have defeated the First Escalon!’
The gruesome monster’s last moments were marked by the message that appeared, but the world still felt silent as if it had stopped.
It was truly strange. I didn’t exist anywhere, yet the world wasn’t sending me off.
– You have become the first to defeat the seed of evil, which was destined to plunge into destruction!
‘The seed of evil… it was certainly that kind of guy.’
The unending malice toward humanity was palpable, even in our brief encounter.
– All attributes have increased by 50!
‘Wow—!! All attributes by 50?! That’s insane!’
– You have achieved the achievement [Evil Hunter]!
[Evil Hunter]
– Every time you defeat a being with the potential to become an Evil God, all attributes increase by 30.
And now I had the chance to increase my attributes by 30 every time I defeated such a creature.
Of course, I didn’t know if I could catch another insane monster like that again.
– Trait [Thievery] has activated.
– You have acquired the trait [Corruption of Chaos]!
– The achievement [Pioneer] has activated!
– All attributes increase by 1!
– You can fuse the trait [Gray Fungal Poison] and the skill [Contaminated Breath] into the newly acquired [Corruption of Chaos].
‘O…? I can fuse traits with skills? I have to do this.’
– You have acquired [Dreadful Land of Chaos]!
– The achievement [Pioneer] has activated!
– All attributes increase by 1!
[Dreadful Land of Chaos]
– Inflicts poison/paralysis/slow effects in a 50m radius centered on the caster.
– Enemies within the area lose 0.2% of their max health every second.
– Enemies in the area experience a continuous decrease in movement speed.
– Enemies’ armor takes permanent damage while in the area.
– The longer the exposure, the greater the effect.
– During trait activation, magic recovery rate decreases by 3%.
‘Wow… it’s amazing, especially since it’s combining two powers…’
Although I had occasionally used [Gray Fungal Poison] and [Contaminated Breath], their effectiveness had deteriorated recently.
Now, by merging them, it had transformed into a seemingly useful trait.
With a wide range and various debuff effects, this broad trait seemed very valuable.
While the magic recovery rate does decrease by 3% during activation, if I think of it as fuel for ability activation, it doesn’t seem wasteful at all.
And there was one more stolen ability left.
– Trait [Thievery] has activated.
– You have acquired the skill [Warping Green Binding]!
– The achievement [Pioneer] has activated!
– All attributes increase by 1!
– Would you like to enhance [Warping Green Binding] into [Chain of Flame]?
‘This time it’s enhancement, not fusion. This is a tough choice…’
I’ve seen the Chain of Flame resist against powerful enemies a few times, so enhancing it seems efficient, but having binding skills by attributes could be a significant competitive edge, so I was hesitant.
‘Hmm… is there a choice to enhance it later? Even if it’s altered, the natural attribute binding skills are quite rare. It might be useful later in ‘Nando’.’
– It is always possible.
‘Oh! The system answered me!’
– ······.
‘Great. Then I’ll hold off on the enhancement for now.’
[Warping Green Binding]
– A trait of the ancient species, Ent, that has lived in partnership with nature since ancient times. Their remarkable wooden stems won’t be significantly weakened just because they’ve become a little altered and tainted.
‘Good. This is awesome. A binding skill of natural attributes! More importantly, that crazy monster was a fallen ancient Ent… what on earth happened for it to turn out like that?’
– That is a long and ancient story. Would you like to hear it?
‘Huh…? Is there any kind of reward for listening?’
– There are no rewards at all. Just tales—
‘Then that’s fine. I’m not particularly curious.’
– ······.
Momentarily flustered by the system’s voice sounding a bit too excited, I quickly dismissed its proposal. It was surely going to be a long and boring story. That boring tale without a reward could be saved for later when everything was wrapped up.
– Your level has increased. Please select three attributes to enhance…
– Your level has increased. Please select three attributes to enhance…
.
.
.
The message that belatedly flashed was still ongoing.
In this way, the kept level had jumped by 3 at once.
‘Whoah… upon rising this much, I feel a bit odd myself.’
[Black Flame Sorcerer – Seer of Black Flames, Follower of the Goddess of Tears Lv.93]
Strength: 722 Agility: 649
Health: 1147 Wisdom: 636
Magic Power: 1739 Resistance: 173
Sense: 328 Recovery: 183
As I invested the stats gained from leveling up, my whole body trembled from the sharp rise in power.
At this point, I felt I could sufficiently take on the Lizardmen, the opponents in my job change quest.
‘But something feels off.’
Previously, I was whisked away to the Dark Space immediately after self-destructing, but this time, something felt different.
– The achievement [Beginning of Immortality] is activated!
– You resist death!
‘Ah… that’s right. This existed?’
With [Immortality] activated, my body, which had completely vanished, began to be reconstituted in the blink of an eye.
“Tap······?!”
– When receiving damage that would lead to death, you become [Immortal] for 10 seconds. (Including self-sacrifice spells)
‘······ Haha. Great. I was a bit uneasy about leaving things behind.’
The remaining time was 10 seconds.
‘So, since I didn’t completely die, the [Trace of Existence] doesn’t activate, huh?’
I eagerly anticipated seeing Skull 2, but it seemed it would only show up once I completely died.
Instinctively, I twisted my body and dashed toward the spot where Escalon had been.
And at the same moment, the world’s clock began to slowly return to normal.
Where I arrived, there was something that had fallen.
‘Isn’t this an artifact?’
In the place where Escalon had been annihilated, a rough brown necklace woven from wooden vines lay.
[Necklace of Origins]
– A token of having defeated the abominable mutant of the ancient Ent tribe that had departed from the path and fallen endlessly.
– It could be a clue to finding the ‘Leaf of Origins.’
– Magic Power +1,000
‘······ Could be a clue? The system doesn’t usually phrase things this way.’
Was it such an extraordinary item that even the system couldn’t ascertain the ‘Leaf of Origins’?
‘But who cares? My magic power has increased by a whopping 1,000!!’
Given the monstrosity that it was, the rewards were shockingly good.
‘Haha! Anyway, I’ve taken a step closer to the elixir.’
The quest to find the legendary ‘Elixir.’
The quest had suggested four items:
[Dragon Road’s Scales], [Elf Queen’s Tears], [Jinzo’s Fangs], and [Leaf of Origins].
I’ve now acquired a hint to find one of them.
Of course, this recent expeditions to defeat the Devouring Creeper should also help in speeding up the hunt for the Jinzo’s Fangs.
I don’t know how useful this will be in saving the world, but I was certainly hopeful it would play a significant role.
Then, a crimson stone, exuding a magical aura, was beckoning toward me in the air.
‘One artifact and a legendary rune. Is this my reward?’
Rune of Giants (Legend) Strength +145
Once again, I attained a legendary-level rune.
Just comparing the stats, which exceed three times that of the existing high-grade runes, shows the value of the rune clearly.
After replacing the lowest stat rune I had equipped, my strength surpassed 800 in no time.
‘Phew── I feel an insane surge of power.’
At this moment, I felt I could topple a castle with just one hand.
‘Time to move.’
[Stealth]
I concealed my form, not wanting others to witness my resurrection from the self-destruction.
It would be shocking enough to kill a transcendental monster with a mutual demise, but to resurrect again?
No matter how much we had made a pact, I couldn’t show them that.
– ······!!!
– ······?!!
‘Why can’t I hear any sounds?’
The world’s clock may not have completely resumed yet, as I couldn’t hear any words from the people.
Everyone was sluggishly opening their mouths and mumbling, and I felt like telling them to get their act together since a ton of monsters were approaching.
I dashed forward like a bullet, but then hesitated for a moment.
‘Ahh— that’s a shame.’
The gradually dying Devouring Creeper’s main body.
The starting point for all these events.
It was practically just a shell with its soul having vanished somewhere, but the aura it contained was still tremendous.
And what about all the countless achievements this great beast had amassed? Its remains might hold even more intangible gains.
‘I’ve already taken down the first one, and it won’t be long before Skull 2 makes an appearance…’
I chose to rush toward the main body of the great beast instead of the 15th and 20th Escalons.
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