11 – Irregular Gate

King of Annihilation was, simply put, a Lich.

The rank of a Lich is roughly A+ to S-.

King of Annihilation is a monster that can only become a Lich who has surpassed their limits.

Therefore, he can handle souls more meticulously, and unlike Liches who have Soul Fire in their heads and can be killed by breaking their heads, his is located in the heart, making him even more difficult to kill.

Moreover, he’s S-rank.

The ranks of monsters and Hunters are different.

It doesn’t mean that the power of one A-rank Hunter is equal to that of one A-rank monster.

S-ranks can overwhelm A-ranks with overwhelming power, but from S-rank onwards, the level is different.

‘I thought he’d be S- at most.’

I didn’t expect a perfect S-rank to appear.

Damn it.

“Are we going to fight? Or should we go back and request support?”

“To be honest, I don’t think getting support will make a difference.”

An S-rank Hunter is an opponent that even ten A-rank Hunters can’t defeat at once.

In a situation where we can’t even bring many A-rank Hunters, would bringing support be helpful?

Especially with two S-ranks present.

“Well, since we’re already here, we have to handle it, right?”

“Looks like it.”

The King of Annihilation rose from his throne.

He grabbed the staff floating in the air, emitting an eerie aura.

“Damn, he’s fast!”

He launched an Ice Spear.

Creating ice shards and launching them is easy, but creating an Ice Spear requires meticulous work and takes quite a bit of time. To create it instantly, he really is an S-rank monster.

The two, having quickly dodged to the side, charged forward as if they had made a promise. Ha-yeon charged in, while Jin Ha-jeong took position in the back to provide ranged support.

‘Mana Beam.’

This time, she gathered mana in both hands and fired.

A huge beam flew towards him.

A much thicker and denser blue light than the previous beam was fired.

-Kyahhhhh!

A screech that sounded like scraping metal with an awl made her ears ache this time, but she didn’t stop moving.

The reason for using this beam now was to obscure his vision.

‘Quickly!’

Confirming that Haste Magic had been cast on her legs by Jin Ha-jeong’s support, she quickly sprinted towards him.

And when she reached him, she unleashed a slash in a stance her body remembered.

When she was certain she had cut something.

“…!?”

She confirmed that what she had cut was not the King of Annihilation, but the ice he had created.

“Damn… Ugh!”

Realizing this, Ha-yeon quickly tried to retreat, but her left cheek was slightly cut by an ice shard that sprang up from the wall next to her.

Blood, it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.

The moment she smiled briefly at the sight of blood after so long.

A strange feeling rose from her body, and a System window appeared.

[Blood has been detected.]

[The effect of the epithet, ‘Sword Demon’, is activated.]

[The title, ‘Cold Blood (B)’, is activated.]

“…What? No, wait…”

In the moment of panic at the sudden activation of the epithet and title, an ice magic approached her flank.

She instinctively rotated to the side to dodge it, but she couldn’t stop panicking.

[Due to the activation of the epithet, ‘Sword Demon’, some physical abilities are increased.]

[You will temporarily lose control of your emotions.]

[Due to the effect of the title, ‘Cold Blood (B)’, resistance to ice magic is increased.]

[Due to the effect of the title, ‘Cold Blood (B)’, the mind is calmed.]

With that System window, her head cooled down.

Immediately after, she examined her body and confirmed that her physical abilities had been enhanced compared to before.

‘Lose control of my emotions?’

It was something she didn’t understand right away, but the moment she saw the King of Annihilation, that thought completely changed.

The moment she saw him, her head was filled with murderous intent.

Fortunately, she regained her senses to some extent thanks to the effect of Cold Blood, but as expected, it was impossible to completely block the side effects of the S-rank epithet with the effect of a B-rank skill. Her mind was only calmed enough to be able to think.

“Jin Ha-jeong, cast Haste.”

“Your personality completely changes when you see blood.”

As he said that, he waved his staff, and an even more powerful Haste, no, a Wind Boost, a higher-level magic than Haste, wrapped around her legs.

Seeing that, Ha-yeon took a stance for a moment.

And her figure disappeared in an instant.

Bang!

A sonic boom occurred in an instant.

But the King of Annihilation wasn’t just any S-rank, he quickly used magic to attack.

‘I can see it.’

She deflected all the dozens of Ice Spears that rushed towards her and continued to charge.

A speed that ordinary people couldn’t see at all.

The King of Annihilation showed a moment of panic, but soon began to cast a much larger and more powerful magic than the one he had just used.

-Kyahhhhhhh!

The chill that had been around them momentarily condensed into one, creating an ice magic barrier.

But to her, it was just a lump of ice.

There was no need to break through it.

Ha-yeon leaping upwards.

Using the magic barrier as a stepping stone was actually beneficial, and she immediately charged forward with it.

No, she was about to charge.

“You crazy…!”

The shape of the magic barrier changed in an instant.

It suddenly became slimy, wrapped around her right foot, and solidified, trapping her in place.

‘It’s not cold.’

Thanks to the effect of Cold Blood, it wasn’t that cold, but it was dangerous.

‘It’ll be a disaster if an attack comes from behind.’

The strength of this ice was so strong that it would take quite a while to break it.

Jin Ha-jeong noticed this and switched her position from support to attack.

“Wind Bloom.”

A flower of wind formed above the King of Annihilation.

From the pistil of the flower of wind, a huge tornado spewed out.

Of course, it didn’t inflict much damage.

Clang!

As Jin Ha-jeong bought time, she struck the ice with the Immortal Longsword, and cracks gradually appeared.

But she couldn’t focus on that alone.

Ice shards kept flying at her from the side.

She deflected the ones coming at her legs with her sword and dodged the ones coming at her body by tilting her upper body, but doing so made the speed of breaking the ice too slow.

“Seriously….”

It was hard to control her emotions.

This was a bigger penalty than she thought.

Seeing that she was about to put a thought into action.

She grabbed the Immortal Longsword with her left hand and placed her right hand on the ice, starting to push mana into her fingers.

“Mana Beam.”

Bang!

A storm of mana exploded in an instant.

The ice shattered immediately.

“Ugh!”

Of course, she wasn’t unscathed either.

Three cuts ran from her thigh to her toes.

‘Damn, that hurts!’

But she could still move, so she started moving her legs.

Because the chance was when Jin Ha-jeong was fighting.

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’, tells you to use Mana Beam.]

….?

No, I was just using it!

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’, is speechless with astonishment.]

No, why! Tell me too!

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’, says that Mana Beam isn’t just about firing it mindlessly.]

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’, advises you to try using Mana Beam with the item ‘Immortal Longsword (S+)’.]

“Mana Beam with the Immortal Longsword…?”

She was doubtful, but she decided to trust the Constellation’s words and transferred mana to the blade of the Immortal Longsword.

It was awkward because it wasn’t her own body, but it wasn’t too difficult.

“Mana Beam.”

And when she activated the skill, a single beam was created.

This, this is like Excal… Let’s stop here.

Anyway, when she used Mana Beam with the Immortal Longsword, a beam didn’t come out like when she used it with her hands, but a huge mana was created in the shape of the sword.

It felt like Mana Beam was wrapped around the blade.

‘This should be pretty easy.’

The King of Annihilation knew that his weakness was the Soul Fire in his heart, so he had plastered it with the dead and souls he had collected so far to protect it.

This was the reason why the King of Annihilation, despite being a King of Annihilation, didn’t use attacks related to souls.

So, even with the Immortal Longsword and her, it was difficult to break through it at once, but with this, she could break through and cut the Soul Fire.

“Hey! If you’re ready, stop muttering and help me quickly!”

Jin Ha-jeong, creating huge storms and running away quickly.

That ugly… no, pitiful sight made her regain her senses, and she charged towards the King of Annihilation.

The King of Annihilation knew that she had escaped from there and quickly used a magic that was more powerful than before, but it was helpless against the beam wrapped in Mana Beam. Ah, no, the sword.

She cut through all the ice and swung her sword vertically.

The King of Annihilation tried to block it with his staff.

Clang!

The staff was immediately cut in half.

And the sword strike rushed even faster, without slowing down.

-Kyahhhhh!

The strike reached the ribs where the heart was located.

From now on, it was a race against time.

She continued to grind away at the dozens, hundreds of souls he had.

She gradually approached the Soul Fire.

The King of Annihilation wasn’t just standing still.

He tried to summon Ice Spheres to attack, but Jin Ha-jeong kept interfering with the wind, preventing him from casting them.

She had almost broken through everything and was about to touch the Soul Fire.

Feeling the danger to his life, he swung his fist to attack with physical attacks.

And she shouted in the joy of victory and swung her sword.

“Stop!”

The guy paused for a moment.

But in that fleeting moment.

The King of Annihilation’s Soul Fire was ground away by the sword.