Chapter 193: The Plant Itself

Episode 193

As the clones reached Kim Jinsung,

he realized what Dumont had meant.

‘Their energy is no different from the original.’

The aura emanating from each clone was as powerful as Dumont himself.

**Clang!**

‘…I’m sure of it.’

He blocked the first attack and felt the impact in his hand, confirming his suspicions.

Unlike his own clones, Dumont’s clones possessed almost 100% of his power.

‘Even if I summon my clones, I’ll be at a disadvantage.’

He had initially planned to summon an equal number of clones to fight them.

But summoning clones that were only 75% as strong as him would be pointless. They would be quickly overwhelmed by Dumont’s clones.

And summoning even more clones wouldn’t make a difference if Dumont simply matched his numbers.

‘…I have no choice.’

He made a decision.

He would use all of his remaining Beast Karma Points.

▶ You have further enhanced ‘Shadow Clone’ through skill enhancement.

▷ Summoned clones could previously only use 75% of your stats, but can now use 100% of your stats.

▷ Mana cost for summoning a clone has been reduced from 1000 to 500.

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

‘I was planning to save them since I don’t have many points left, but I have no choice.’

As he was thinking,

**Slash! Thud!**

“Ugh…!”

“Aaaargh…!”

Screams erupted from behind him.

The FCC Clan members, who had been fighting his clones, started falling one after another as his clones’ combat power suddenly increased.

▶ You have defeated an evil being.

▶ Acquired 300 Beast Karma Points.

▶ Acquired 295 Beast Karma Points.

▶ Acquired…

He looked at the notification windows popping up before him and thought,

‘Fortunately, thanks to them, I can keep accumulating enough points to maintain my Demonic Energy.’

He was relieved that he wouldn’t run out of points and activated his Mana again.

Multiple clones appeared around him, and

**Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!**

The sound of swords clashing filled the dungeon as a chaotic battle ensued.

The clones were evenly matched, and no one fell for a long time.

“Hmm…! Impressive.”

Dumont, who had been watching from the back, spoke with genuine admiration.

“How did his clones suddenly become stronger? Was he holding back all this time…? Ugh!”

**Clang!**

“That’s not it.”

Kim Jinsung answered as he swung his sword at Dumont.

At the same time, a black wave emanated from his body, spreading throughout the dungeon.

▶ You have created ‘Domain of Demonic Energy’.

▶ All trait and skill effects are doubled when using Demonic Energy.

He swung his sword again, now enveloped in Demonic Energy, and

**Clang!**

“Ugh…!”

Dumont groaned, taking a step back from the increased impact.

‘This is it.’

Kim Jinsung smirked, feeling the surge of power.

Surrounded by Demonic Energy, his source of power, the oppressive feeling he had felt since entering the dungeon finally lifted.

‘Now this is a real fight!’

He moved with newfound agility, relentlessly attacking Dumont.

**Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!**

Dumont’s defenses crumbled under the relentless assault, and he was finally hit.

**Thud!**

Dumont froze as Kim Jinsung’s sword pierced his neck, a common reaction when someone received a fatal blow.

Green blood flowed from his neck…

Wait, green?

‘……!’

He instinctively jumped back as soon as he saw the color.

His quick thinking saved his life.

**Whoosh!** Dumont’s sword, despite his pierced neck, swung horizontally, narrowly missing him.

“Ugh… So close… Gah.”

Dumont gasped, his voice raspy from the gaping hole in his neck, and collapsed.

His skin rapidly turned brown, his entire body rotting and decaying, until he turned into a pile of ash, scattering in the wind.

‘What was that…?’

Kim Jinsung watched Dumont’s unusual death, realizing that the scene was familiar.

The way his body had turned brown and decayed…

‘It was like a plant withering away.’

It was as if he had fast-forwarded the process of a fallen autumn leaf decaying.

‘…Wait a minute. Then…’

He had a realization and approached one of the many Dumont clones fighting his clones.

He chose the one who seemed the most distracted and attacked him from behind.

**Slice.**

The Dumont clone’s head was cleanly severed, and his body fell to the ground.

He put his finger on the severed neck, which was oozing green blood, and sniffed it.

‘…This is definitely the smell of plants.’

He confirmed his suspicions.

He then moved to verify his theory with his own eyes.

He activated ‘Shadow Concealment’, a skill he hadn’t used in a long time, and burrowed into the ground, descending deeper.

‘If I’m right, the source of Dumont’s power is underground.’

The roots were the core of a plant.

Even Forginei, the giant plant monster, had emitted the most Demonic Energy from its roots.

He was certain that Dumont’s power source was also his roots,

if he was indeed a unique ability user with the ‘power of plants’.

‘…As expected.’

He didn’t have to dig deep to find what he was looking for.

The dungeon’s underground was covered in thick, short roots.

And at the center, he found a heart-shaped object, pulsating with green Mana.

‘So that’s why he said he was Juan’s natural enemy.’

Everything finally made sense.

He now understood why Juan’s Heavenly Energy was a bad matchup against Dumont’s ability.

Light was merely nourishment for plants.

On the other hand, his Demonic Energy, which completely blocked out light, was the perfect counter to plants.

‘Is that why he started losing to me as soon as I used Demonic Energy?’

As he was thinking,

“…Unbelievable.”

Dumont, who was sitting at the center of the heart, looked at him and spoke in a low voice.

“No one has found my main body this easily in recent years…”

He muttered, genuinely shocked.

Even Esteban, the Master of the Triunfo Clan, their rival, hadn’t been able to find his main body. And yet, this unexpected Russian had found it in less than 10 minutes.

“But that’s it. You’re too late to kill me.”

As he spoke, the surrounding roots suddenly started moving.

“The entire dungeon is covered in my roots. No one can defeat me here!”

He shouted, and the roots shot towards Kim Jinsung.

‘Whoa!’

He felt a surge of danger and immediately jumped upwards.

He emerged from the ground, the roots chasing after him.

He slashed the roots with his sword, escaping the attack.

He landed and started thinking.

‘How do I destroy the main body inside the core? …Huh!’

**Slice.**

He dodged a surprise attack from a Dumont clone and cleanly decapitated him with a counterattack.

‘I need to reach the core somehow…’

There were three ways to reach the core underground.

1. Physically dig a hole to the core.

2. Create a direct path to the core using the ‘Warp Hole’ skill.

3. Use ‘Teleport’ to instantly move and launch a surprise attack.

‘Option 3 is too risky, regardless of whether it succeeds or not.’

Teleporting to the core, which was surrounded by earth, would be like turning half of his body into earth.

And if more than half of his brain turned into earth, he would die instantly. That was out of the question.

‘So it’s either option 1 or 2…’

He thought for a moment and came to a decision.

He would try both.

‘First, option 1… Huh!’

But before he could even start, he had to jump out of the way.

A thick root shot up from the ground where he had been standing.

It was a fast and powerful attack that would have seriously injured him if he had stayed put.

‘Damn it! He’s not giving me a break.’

He dodged the root attacks and fell into thought.

If he kept dodging, he wouldn’t be able to try either option 1 or 2.

Not only did physically digging take time, but ‘Warp Hole’ also required 15 seconds of concentration.

‘Do I need to find another way?’

He was about to start brainstorming when,

**Crash!**

A loud thud came from afar.

Everyone, including Kim Jinsung, turned their heads towards the sound.

A figure, covered in blood, was writhing on the ground, his face unrecognizable.

“D-Dante…?”

Juan stammered, his eyes wide with shock.

It wasn’t just Dante. More figures emerged from the dimensional rift, all participants who had entered the left stage.

They were all severely injured.

As Juan stared at them in horror,

“We’ve captured them all, Master!”

A hairy man emerged from the dimensional rift and shouted.

One of the Dumont clones near him replied,

“Good work, Victor.”

Victor, the Team 2 leader of the FCC.

While Dumont and Henrique were fighting Alopsky and the others, he had taken a separate force to the left stage and captured the remaining participants, following Dumont’s orders.

“Gather all the captives in the center.”

“Yes, Master.”

The Dumont clone gave instructions to Victor and then looked at Kim Jinsung.

“Now, let’s stop fighting and have a productive conversation.”

Kim Jinsung raised an eyebrow.

‘…Productive?’

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