Chapter 218: Two Ways to Fight a Stronger Opponent

Episode 218

Somewhere near the ridge of a mountain.

The peak, shrouded in clouds, was barely visible.

Below, the mountain’s slopes stretched out in a dizzying array, a treacherous landscape at a glance.

A small magic circle appeared at the entrance to the ridge, and two figures, a man and a woman, materialized.

“…This is…”

The woman, dressed in light workout clothes, looked around with a surprised expression.

She immediately realized that the surrounding Mana felt different from reality, similar to a dungeon.

“We can get here through dimensional travel?”

“This is my first time trying it too.”

“…What?”

She looked at him, bewildered, but he remained expressionless, his gaze fixed on the mountain.

“I only recently acquired the Dimensional Teleportation ability.”

▶ Skill Enhancement: ‘Dimensional Travel’ skill has been enhanced to ‘Dimensional Teleportation’.

▷ Dimensional Teleportation – Allows instant travel to any dimension, as long as the coordinates are known.

Now allows dimensional travel with multiple people within a 3-meter radius.

Skill preparation time reduced from 1 minute to 10 seconds.

▶ 10,000 Beast Karma Points have been used for skill enhancement.

‘Dimensional Travel’, the skill he had enhanced to ‘Dimensional Teleportation’, was one of the many skills within the ‘Distorter’ trait he acquired after killing Graham.

It was originally a skill that only allowed the user to travel alone, so he had to use ‘Skill Enhancement’ to bring Hong Hyeonjin with him.

“This is the 45th floor of the Trial Tower. It’s also known as a level 45 Heavenly Realm dungeon.”

He explained to her.

“Currently, all high-level dungeons above floor 30 are monopolized by Major Clans. So we couldn’t enter through the entrance.”

“There’s a reason why you used dimensional travel to get here.”

She nodded in understanding.

“But straight to the 45th floor… Aren’t you trying to make me too strong too quickly?”

She asked playfully, but he remained stoic.

“I’d like to train you systematically, but we don’t have time. You have too much to do to spend a lot of time in dungeons.”

She turned serious, her gaze fixed on the mountain.

She saw two winged figures.

“…So I have to defeat all the guardians here alone?”

“I’ll help you if it gets dangerous. But until then, I won’t move. Do your best.”

“You’re telling me to clear it alone.”

He remained silent, and she chuckled and pressed a button on her thick belt.

Blue Mana enveloped her body, and a full-body suit materialized.

“Is it forbidden to use the latest suit?”

She asked, her face now covered by a helmet, and he shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter.”

The battles she would face in the future weren’t sparring matches or sports with rules. They were real battles, where blood and flesh would be spilled.

The better the weapon and the higher the proficiency, the better the chances of survival.

He watched her charge towards the angels, thinking,

‘It’s a suit I’ve never seen before. It must be the latest suit developed by the Baekdu Clan…’

Considering her position in the clan, it was probably the best suit they had.

‘I wonder if she can use it properly. She won’t be able to defeat them with her current skill level.’

He had judged that the 45th floor was too much for her current power level. She would struggle to defeat even one of the angels, let alone both.

But it wasn’t a completely hopeless situation.

She could either utilize her unique ability or use the latest equipment that enhanced her stats. Those were her only options.

‘She seems confident, so I guess she’s proficient with the suit.’

The angels noticed her and shouted,

[How dare you approach this sacred ground!]

[No one but the chosen ones of the Heavenly Realm can enter this mountain!]

They thrust their large spears at her with lightning speed.

The spears reached her in the blink of an eye.

– Suit energy activated to maximum capacity.

– All physical abilities enhanced to maximum capacity.

A robotic voice echoed in her helmet, and

the spears, which had been approaching at lightning speed, suddenly seemed to slow down.

It was thanks to the suit, which had enhanced her reaction speed.

**Whoosh!**

The two spears pierced the air where she had been standing.

But she had already dodged the attack by twisting her body.

She was about to counterattack when

[Don’t even try!]

One of the angels shouted and extended a hand towards her.

A thick beam of light shot out from his hand.

It was a light-speed attack, but

she was prepared. She thrust her right fist towards the beam.

A thin Mana barrier formed around her fist, and the beam struck it,

and was reflected back.

**Boom!**

[Ugh…!]

The angel who had fired the beam was hit by his own attack and staggered back, groaning.

A fist-sized hole had appeared in his left side.

‘Yes! It worked!’

She cheered internally, seeing her counterattack succeed.

‘They said the best way to counter Heavenly Guardians’ attacks is to reflect them, and it’s true.’

The ‘Heavenly Energy’ used by the Heavenly Guardians, the main monsters of the Heavenly Realm, possessed the properties of light.

It meant that a reflective shield strong enough to withstand a single hit could effectively counter their attacks.

And with her stats enhanced by the latest suit, she was able to counter the Heavenly Energy attacks,

even against guardians on the 45th floor.

‘I can keep using this reflection ability.’

She instinctively channeled Mana into her left fist and thrust it forward.

Another beam of light, fired by the other angel, struck the reflective shield around her fist.

**Boom!**

[Gah…!]

The angel was also injured, his shoulder partially blown off, and he staggered back in pain.

She quickly checked something else.

‘How much did I absorb?’

She looked at a message in the corner of her helmet’s screen.

– Currently absorbed 8.7% of the target’s Heavenly Energy.

‘8% after blocking two attacks… I need to block about 25 more attacks.’

She quickly calculated and charged towards the angel on the right,

timing her attack to coincide with the angel’s recovery from his injury.

‘I can’t defeat a level 45 angel with my current strength. My only option is to keep absorbing their attacks until I reach 100%.’

She might not have a high power level, but her knowledge of dungeons was unmatched.

She had been systematically trained as a successor since childhood, and she knew that it was impossible to ‘destroy’ the angel before her with conventional methods, even with the suit.

**Boom! Boom!**

She continued to absorb the angels’ beams, preparing for a powerful attack that could destroy them.

She patiently endured, waiting for the moment she reached 100%.

And finally,

– Absorbed 100% of the target’s Heavenly Energy.

– ‘Annihilation Bomb’ attack available, using a portion of the user’s Mana.

The message she had been waiting for appeared on her screen.

“Haaaah!”

She channeled her Mana into her palms and thrust them towards the angel on the right.

A giant circular missile, a mixture of blue and white light, shot out from her palms and landed at the angel’s feet.

[…!]

The angel sensed danger and tried to fly away.

But it was too late.

**Boooom!**

He was caught in the Annihilation Bomb’s explosion.

‘Hmm…’

Kim Jinsung, watching from afar, was impressed for the first time.

The explosion was quite powerful, even in his eyes.

‘But can she use that attack consecutively?’

He wondered.

She had destroyed one angel, but there was still one more left.

And it didn’t seem like she could use such a powerful attack consecutively.

‘If that was her ultimate move, how is she going to deal with the other angel… Hmm?’

His eyes widened in surprise.

He looked at the battlefield, where the smoke from the explosion was clearing.

‘Why are there two angels…?’

He saw two angels, flapping their wings, completely unharmed.

He was sure that the angel on the right, who had been caught in the explosion, had been destroyed.

‘Ah! Could it be?’

He suddenly remembered something he had overlooked.

‘Did Hong Hyeonjin use her ability?’

As he was thinking,

**Clang!**

A metallic clang, which he hadn’t heard before, echoed from the battlefield.

It was the two angels.

The angel on the right had suddenly swung his spear at the angel on the left.

He was certain now.

‘That’s right. The ‘Spirit Form’ ability.’

His gaze was fixed on the angel on the right.

His body was translucent, like a ghost.

It was proof that he had been transformed by Hong Hyeonjin’s unique ability, ‘Spirit Form’, which allowed her to control the souls of her defeated enemies.

—