The ‘resonance’ option on the hammer wasn’t limited to just resonant vibrations. Strictly speaking, it was closer to a ‘state transfer’. Freezing the hammer will end in the resonant items freezing, coating it in flames it would result in the same for the resonant items, almost a complete transfer of conditions, it was that kind of resonance.
[Khaaaak! Kgggggagagagagaga!]
As such, the arrows and spears deeply embedded in the monster's body spontaneously covered themselves with Blaze the moment he struck the monster while activating Blaze.
[Kauohoaaaaaaaaaaah!]
The beast rolled on the ground while screaming in pain.
Well, Ilhan and the knights had suffered a fair bit in order to strike so many dragon bones into its body, so if it didn’t roll on the ground after all that, then that would have been a waste of effort. Now was the time to receive compensation for their hard work!
“Hup!”
Yu IlHan nodded in satisfaction as he stepped off Aegis again into the air. Leap, re-leap, re-leap, re-leap! As if inputting commands in a game, he activated the skill without the slightest bit of error and broke through to terminal velocity in mere moments.
“Uoooooh!”
By adding the weight of the inventory into the hammer slightly, he put a slight spin into his charge.
It would be him who was struck into the ground if he had calculated the angle wrongly, but Ilhan had no hesitation. The result was a clean success! With the speed of the charge still remaining, his body started spinning around in the air. (PR: Drills are a man's romance~~)
“Die already!”
It ended up as a powerful range finisher full of openings! However, the demon beast was still rolling on the ground in pain, and it was in no position to take advantage of the openings. Yu IlHan’s spinning hammer struck onto its back!
[Critical Hit!]
[The skill, Critical Hit, has become level 53.]
[Kyaoooooaaaaaaaaaagagagak!]
The hammer weighed hundreds of tons due to the weight transfer, adding the speed and spin on top of that! The demon beast lost its consciousness due to Yu IlHan’s finisher attack.
A demon beast of over level 260, fainted, due to a strike from a human less than level 150!
“Fuu.”
Yu IlHan was scared stiff since the black flames were still burning despite the fact that the demon beast had lost its consciousness, but he clenched his teeth and stood tall despite the DoT(damage over time) that the flames inflicted.
His high fire attribute resistance was made for these kind of moments. Wouldn’t he have to deal as much as damage while it was still in a defenseless state? If he shrunk back from these flames, he’d lose such a good opportunity.
“Fuuu……”
Sighing shortly, he raised the hammer in his hand up high.
“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Then, with a very pure shout, he started striking down onto its body like a madman!
[Critical Hit!]
[Critical Hit!]
[Kyaaaaaaaak!]
The demon beast woke up instantly and screamed horribly, trying to raise its body, before falling back down again due to the vibrations and Blaze from the spears and arrows all over its body.
When its massive body trembled endlessly, the lands shook, and it started raining from the skies as well. The black flames that did not die down from torrential rain, started dying out and Blaze, which only appeared on the moment of Yu IlHan’s strike, remained burning. This showed the superior force between the two.
The scene of an apocalyptic beast tens of meters tall, falling down in front of human, was very emotional, but at the same time, very frightening.
The knights, who didn’t run away due to being drunk in the atmosphere, also witnessed that scene and shook.
[Kyahaaaak!]
“Uoooooooh!”
They were met with Yu IlHan’s shout, the monster’s scream, and the shaking lands. And only after they were hit with the rain from the skies did they regain their cool and reason.
Rebuilding the empire? A new legend? Even if such things existed, they realized that they wouldn’t have the chance to do any such things after looking at Yu IlHan. There was only one legendary hero that shined brightly, which was Yu IlHan alone. They wouldn’t even be considered as side mobs.
They were dragged in the name of the empire for all their life, and now, they would sink into the abyss along with the empire that met its downfall due to a critical mistake.
They tried to fight against that man? Be his equal? There was a limit to misunderstanding. They were in a completely different league than Yu IlHan, who was pioneering an impossible path alone.
That fact was too agonizing and some knights ended up crying. They had been foolish. However, they will not be given an opportunity to set themselves straight. That, was the price for their foolishness.
“Huoooooooh!”
[Kihik! Khaaaaa!]
How long did it pass since Yu IlHan started striking down the hammer while not falling back due to the black flames? The monster screamed as it neared its death. Even the monster, which had an explosive amount of lifeforce like its gigantic body, was slowly nearing its limits.
The demon beast, who realized that fact, thought that it will never die like this, and also thought that it had to deal a strike against that damned human.
It desperately gathered mana. The mana that it had accumulated over thousands of years. Although the majority of it had been consumed during battle, there was still enough to blow a small city into bits, and it had gathered that amount of mana into a single point!
As the demon beast had overwhelmingly superior ability than Yu IlHan in regards to handling mana, even Yu IlHan couldn’t notice that. Until it gathered right beneath its skin.
“Kuhk!?”
[Kuaaaaaaaaaaaahk!]
It was too late by the time he noticed. No matter how fast Yu IlHan’s reflexes were, he couldn’t leap amidst of striking down with the hammer. His balance would tilt, and he would end up worse than blocking that attack.
“Eeeeeeeeek!”
As such, Yu IlHan protected his body with Aegis, and struck down with his hammer with all his might. No matter how strong the wave of mana that assaulted him, he would be able to destroy everything with that strike! This was the first, and last, frontal exchange between the demon beast and Yu IlHan.
Booooooooooom!
Its mana exploded. The hammer with all the remaining mana of Yu IlHan, also spat out Blaze and struck it back.
While the two flames emitted brilliant light, Blaze from the dragon bones all over its body slipped in into its body and weakened its strength.
That was a strangely good timing. Just as the concentrated mana was about to disperse due to the emergency signals from its body, the fire of Blaze overwhelmed the mana and poured down!
[Kuuk, Kuuaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!]
At that moment, something he had experienced before, had happened. The black flames that were snapped in flow by Yu IlHan, was absorbed into the red flames from Yu IlHan’s hammer, and flowed back into its body!
[You have achieved another one of the requirements to acquire the active skill, Counter. It is possible to acquire Counter if you fulfill two more requirements.]
As he was focusing all of his mana, muscle power, and nerves into attack, he did not read the message properly. However, he did know that he had taken another step forward.
Against a monster that had lived several times longer than him, despite with a cheat known as ‘dragon bone resonance’, he had won against it in a mana vs mana battle! His joy right now was inexplicable in words.
[Kihik, Kihiiiiiiiiiiih!]
The demon beast that was just freed after living all its life contract-bound to the empire, realized that its life was nearing the end, and cried in a deep anguish.
However, Yu IlHan did not stop. Yu IlHan, who was exhausted after that exchange, just let go of the hammer and transferred all of the weight of his inventory into the hammer.
The dragon bones stuck all over its body, pressured the demon beast’s body with overwhelming weight!
[Kahak!]
The demon beast screamed with all of its remaining power.
That became its last 'words'.
[You have earned 327,185,406,392 experience.]
[You have earned the record of Lv 267 Volcanic Demon Beast.]
[The skill, Blaze, has become level 24. You can now imbue Blaze into several different weapons at once.]
The battle ended. Yu IlHan, who levelled up 3 times at once due to the overwhelming difference in experience points, in fact, a whole digit difference from Elbani, felt his ragged body regenerating and stood there silently.
In fact, he didn’t have any strength left to even twitch his pinky finger, have poured every last bit of his power into that hammer strike. He only laughed emptily.
The power of the demon beast he felt at the last moment, was really frightening. He would have dodged if there was the slightest chance of evading, but he couldn’t. All he could do was to place his faith into the final hammer strike, and ended up dishing out a stronger attack than ever before. It was rather funny, wasn’t it.
“Fuuu…….”
When his body regained a little strength, Yu IlHan put the still-steaming hammer into his inventory and raised his head to look at the sky.
Rain poured down endlessly from the murky skies, as if to bless the Hero of Fire that was born from subduing insurmountable fire with flames of a different league altogether.
Yu IlHan threw away the stuffy helmet, and let the raindrops fall onto his skin. His sweaty face was now drenched in rain, but he felt better than before.
“Good.”
Muttering as if resolving to himself, Yu IlHan turned his head around to look at the surroundings. There, were knights looking up to him absent mindedly, with their faces covered in a liquid that was difficult to distinguish from tears or the rain.
It wouldn’t be surprising even if any of them ran away, but it was surprising for Yu IlHan that none of them did.
“P…….. please.”
Someone, opened his mouth to speak.
“Even if you kill us…… please let the citizens of the capital, go……”
The knight threw himself onto his knees after finishing his words. Even though that knight was not the leader of the group, all of the rest knelt down one after the other.
Yu IlHan momentarily lost focus. Are these guys acting? Because they want to live? Are they pretending to be some enlightened monks?
It seemed it wasn’t. He couldn’t believe it, but it seemed that they were being honest.
“Hah.”
Yu IlHan sighed, before continuing.
“I should have said from the beginning. The citizens of the capital habour no sin.”
“Thank you. Thank you.”
These guys were funny from beginning to end. The guys that skinned the people of Earth just on orders, rampaged around against a massive beast when their life was in danger, and now what, they gained insight into the dao or something? They want to throw away everything and be at peace?
Disgusting. He felt too disgusted. He couldn’t forgive them.
“Who protects the capital if you guys die? The soldiers with no 2nd class amongst them?”
“……Sorry?”
The knights all raised their heads. Yu IlHan had a look at each one of the knights that numbered less than a thousand, before speaking again.
“You cannot be free. Since you press the wrong button in the beginning, shouldn’t you be walking the same path until the very end? I will give you the most cruel punishment. You will be envious of the ones that died!”
The knights became dumbfounded at Yu IlHan’s merciless words, and stayed still without being able to reply, when Yu IlHan declared as if it was the truth.
“Your world shall meet the 3rd Great Cataclysm not long from now. Since the majority of the powers from the great empire have perished, you will not be able to win against anyone in the Battle of Competition, and it will become really hard to endure in the future.”
His words were all correct. If they didn’t have any greed for the possibilities that Earth offered, they would at least be able to resist by gathering power, but the entire empire had met its downfall due to a single pancosmic loner.
As such.
“You shall struggle while looking at a scene where Ferata meets its end due to the karma of your empire. You shall suffer in order to protect the innocent citizens. You shall regret and despair. Do not even think about running away.”
While the knights knelt their stiff, while not realizing what he had said, Yu IlHan collected the demon beast’s corpse and disappeared.
It took a little more time for the knights to realized that they had survived.
Of course, Yu IlHan was running towards the imperial castle, while in concealment.
“I want to go back quickly.”
He was too exhausted whether physically, or mentally. He wanted to sleep in a soft bed while forgetting everything. Should he hug Mir as he sleeps? (PR: why not Liera…) That would be the best.
He returned to the imperial castle much quicker than he had left it. The rain that poured onto the burnt remains of the castle had put out the fire. The grand castle which laid destroyed and drenched in rain was quite the disappointment.
“Fuu.”
Yu IlHan went to the gate he had come here with. He felt Liera there, and seeing how he couldn’t feel any other presences of angels, it seemed that she had finished punishing the traitor.
Of course, he did think that it wouldn’t be that guy alone, but finding the rest of the traitors was not his job.
However, just as he arrived at the place, Liera met him with a crying face.
[IlHaaaaaaaaan!] (Liera)
[No, not me. It’s not me…….] (Liera)
Said Liera while bawling. Yu IlHan’s heart fell, thinking that something had really happened. But the gate looks fine though? It’s activated so they could go back at any time, so just what……!
[Mir went to an Abandoned World in order to rescue Kang MiRae! And that gate closed! What should we do??!!!] (Liera)
“……Sorry?”
Mir? Rescuing Kang MiRae? Went over?
[With Erta, Ericia, Flemir, and all the elves! They all followed Mir!]
Yu IlHan’s thoughts stopped.
Huh? That doesn’t work.
“WHUUAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT!?”
This was the moment Yu IlHan was shocked beyond reason, apart from his dropout on Earth!
Author's notes
It was a bait from quite a long time ago, I wonder you still remember? Active skill, Counter, it's a very hard skill to learn! (T/N: I have no memory of this.) Yu IlHan's mental state was mentioned quite often, right? Yep. He's not your ordinary twenty year-old guy. Neither is he an enlightened daoist! Just what was the reason he let the knights go? Of course, don't think over it too much. This story, in the end, aims for freshness! The meaning behind the title revealed!Translator's notes
Well, by the time this chapter is uploaded, my new PC maybe fixed…
Translator: Chamber