“Is this the South Gate?”
The gate loomed before him, far larger than he had imagined.
To put it in perspective, it was about the size of an average elementary school playground.
Judging by the sheer number of monsters pouring out, its size wasn’t just for handling quantity.
‘Could there be a boss monster that requires a gate this size to contain it?’
There had to be another reason.
And, of course, the Sky Harpies weren’t about to let a player waltz right up to the gate.
“Kkyaaaaak!”
“Kkyaaaaak!”
Dozens of Sky Harpies swooped down on Se-un at once.
They didn’t just attack with their sharp beaks and claws.
They opened their beaks wide and inhaled, and then an unidentifiable magic circle appeared in front of their beaks.
Then they shrieked.
Faaaaat!!
A powerful whirlwind formed and targeted Se-un.
In addition, they used wind to sharpen their claws even further, making them longer and sharper, and they twisted their wings to accelerate rapidly.
Even though they didn’t seem very intelligent, they were experts in wind magic.
Against them, Se-un was…….
– Your understanding of internal energy enhances the Fifth Form of the Blood Wolf Sword Style, Blood Wolf Multihunt.
He had been practicing martial arts.
No, to be precise, he had been practicing flying.
Moves performed on the ground and moves performed in the air while flapping wings were completely different realms.
As Turiq’s wings evolved, he needed to become accustomed to flying at high speeds and using martial arts in the air.
“Kkyaaaat!”
Swish-
The Sky Harpies were cut down in an instant.
Even when their wings were severed, they tried to float back to the gate using wind magic, but Se-un wasn’t going to let them.
Without using a single spell, they were thoroughly shredded like they were in a blender, using only pure swordsmanship.
‘That’s the gate.’
The gate was close. Unfortunately, the inside was obscured by an aurora-like light.
The closer he got, the stronger the Sky Harpies’ resistance became, and nearly a hundred of them were trying to hold Se-un back.
And here, Se-un prepared his original plan.
– The Holy Mark is reacting to the Legend of the Blood Wolf.
– The first ability of the Holy Mark, ‘Fear,’ awakens.
The power of Fear.
As he reached the 9th Circle [a high level of magical attainment], the level of his soul increased, and the power of the Holy Mark grew stronger.
Since he had already witnessed many of his comrades being torn apart, there were enough mediums for fear.
“Kk, Kkyaaaaak!”
The Sky Harpies writhed and moved away from Se-un.
Those who already had their wings cut off couldn’t maintain their wind magic due to fear and fell to the ground.
In an instant, the view towards the gate cleared, and Se-un immediately prepared a spell.
– You have opened the Treasure Vault of Greed.
[ Meteor Swarm ]
– The ultimate destruction magic that draws dozens of small meteorites from space and devastates the area.
Meteor Swarm.
If the Meteor Strike he had used before was the strongest single blow that could destroy an entire castle, Meteor Swarm was a powerful area-of-effect spell that could sweep away an entire territory.
And so, dozens of meteorites were created.
Kugugugu!!
They began to fly towards the gate.
“Kkyaaaaak!”
Was it because of the magnificent sight?
Some of the Sky Harpies, who were trembling in fear, regained their senses.
Some of them threw themselves to block even one meteorite and unleashed the most powerful wind magic they could muster.
“Kkyaak-“
Kwajik!
Their wind magic didn’t work against the meteorites.
After seeing them being torn apart helplessly, the power of fear took hold, and no one dared to step forward.
And after a while.
Whoosh-
Dozens of meteorites were sucked into the gate.
Just a moment ago, meteorites were flying before their eyes, but now there was silence.
The Sky Harpies were trembling all over in that surreal situation.
‘I wonder what kind of reaction will occur.’
The gate was still silent.
The aurora’s unique light that covered the gate remained unchanged even after the meteorites entered.
Since the inside couldn’t be seen, curiosity kept growing.
Just as nothing unusual happened and the Sky Harpies were slowly regaining their senses and trying to attack Se-un.
‘Now.’
Finally, a reaction appeared from the gate.
The aurora, which had consistently covered the inside of the gate, flickered once.
Kwaaaang-!!!
With a huge explosion, the light scattered.
Soon after, the aurora completely disappeared, and the aftershock from the Meteor Swarm spewed out.
The scorching heat and thick smoke felt in the aftershock proved that the Meteor Swarm had landed properly inside the gate.
If nothing existed inside, the meteorites would have simply passed through the air.
‘Shall I go in?’
The fact that the Meteor Swarm worked meant that the gate was a two-way portal.
The Sky Harpies were being pushed back, unable to withstand the aftershock, so Se-un could head inside without any interference.
‘It feels similar to climbing the tower [referring to a common trope in fantasy novels where characters ascend a tower to gain power or knowledge].’
The dizziness felt when moving between floors was also felt when passing through the gate.
As soon as he passed through the gate, which was filled with dust after the beautiful aurora disappeared, what he saw was.
“Kkyaaaaak! Is it youuuuu!”
Kkaaaang!
The beast’s maw filled his vision.
It was definitely a bird’s beak, but the beak had sharp teeth like gears that shouldn’t have been there.
Se-un instinctively pulled out Durandal [his sword], blocked the teeth, and moved his wings to escape outside the beak.
“Is it the leader?”
The one who greeted Se-un was a Sky Harpy.
However, it was completely different from the Sky Harpies he had seen so far.
First, the size.
It wasn’t for nothing that Se-un’s vision was obscured just by the beak opening.
And the five pairs of wings on its back.
For angels, wings signify their power and rank.
Of course, it doesn’t necessarily mean that having more wings makes them stronger, or that having ridiculously large wings makes them higher in rank, but it certainly affects the criteria.
‘Even though they’re broken, it would have been a 3rd Grade Angel originally.’
The fortunate thing was that, like the Sky Harpies he had seen before, all of its wings were broken.
Originally, boss-level monsters appear while climbing the stairs even in the trials of the 90th floor, but this one wasn’t that kind of monster.
A monster that even Se-un was seeing for the first time.
It seemed like it was the one guarding this place.
“You burned our nest! Was it youuuuu!”
At its cry, Se-un looked around.
Perhaps because it was a windy place, most of the dust created by the aftershock had already cleared.
All that could be seen around were broken branches. Smaller twigs were scattered in the clouds below.
There was nothing that could be called a nest, so he couldn’t help but be puzzled.
“Nest?”
“You! You destroyed it all, didn’t youuuuu!”
“Ah.”
It seemed that the Sky Harpy’s nest was on those white branches.
Now they were all broken and difficult to recognize the shape of.
“I won’t let you live, I won’t let you liveeee!”
As it flapped its five pairs of wings, a huge whirlwind was created and swept towards Se-un.
It wasn’t just a simple wind. Inside the whirlwind, its feathers were flashing like spears and knives.
The moment he was sucked into that whirlwind, those feathers would tear Se-un’s body to shreds.
Saaaak!
Moreover, the suction power of the whirlwind was no joke.
Even with Turiq’s wings, which were now reaching the level of a Spirit King, it was difficult to escape.
‘Wind with wind.’
– According to the mysteries of the Black Tower, the power of ‘Destruction Wind’ is enhanced.
The wind of destruction raged.
Although it failed to negate the feather wall created by Lucifer.
“Kkyaaaaak?”
That wasn’t because Se-un’s level was insufficient, but only because of the opponent, Lucifer.
The whirlwind it created was scattered like a lie by the 9th Circle wind magic.
Se-un sprang out from the middle.
Se-un folded his wings like a hawk catching its prey, gained speed, and then shoved Durandal into its uvula.
Thwack!
“Kkyaaaaaaaak!”
He immediately pushed mana into the sword to finish it off.
No matter how strong it was, it would be over if he manifested magic in the sword itself.
It was impossible to block the magic that burst out from inside its throat.
But.
Swoosh-
“Mana…….”
At the same time as it screamed, the magic was canceled.
To be precise, the surrounding mana became extremely unstable.
Magic is the manifestation of phenomena by moving the surrounding mana through the mana possessed by the magician as a medium.
If the surrounding mana was so unstable, it was impossible to manifest proper magic.
There was no way that the instability that even Se-un, who had reached the 9th Circle, couldn’t adapt to was created for no reason.
“Kiyaaaak! In front of meeee! How dare you create wind in front of meeee!”
Whoom!
Wind spewed out from its body.
Not just physical wind, but wind that pushed away even the surrounding mana. Because of that, Se-un’s magic, which had reached the 9th Circle, was sealed.
“I won’t forgive you, I won’t forgive youuu!”
It wields a blade of wind.
Every time it moved its body, feathers fell out from the wings behind its back and were shot towards Se-un.
It used wind magic while preventing the opponent from using magic. It was truly an absurd ability.
Kaang!!
Was it lacking in close combat?
That wasn’t the case either.
“Be cut! Die! Be torn to shreds!”
How could it fly so well with its awkwardly broken wings?
The wind claws that flew nimbly, unbelievably for its huge size, were extremely threatening.
Fortunately, he had practiced aerial combat before entering the gate, so he could barely dodge and endure.
– Through internal energy, the First Form of the Breaking Darkness Sword, Heaven Breaker, is enhanced.
Ttseong!
“It doesn’t work!”
A desperate blow that he flew while dodging its claws.
He attacked it with the Breaking Darkness Sword’s unique black aura, but the feathers flew in instantly and blocked Se-un’s sword.
He tried to give strength with the intention of splitting the feathers, but the wind spewing out from its body offset the impact.
‘It’s tricky.’
It was more difficult than he thought.
It seemed to possess divinity, albeit weakly, so he would have to amplify his physical abilities momentarily with the power of frenzy and unleash a blow with the power of destruction.
Yes, if it were the previous Se-un, that would have been the only way.
But, it wasn’t now.
Se-un had been practicing a new technique with Brinjar in his residence for this moment.
“Nephilim.”
– I’ve been waiting.
A key was held in Se-un’s hand.
Lemegeton [a grimoire or textbook of magic].
Solomon’s Little Key [another name for the Lemegeton].
Among them, the one he was holding now was the first of the three keys Se-un possessed.
“Ars Goetia [the first book of the Lemegeton, detailing the summoning of demons].”
Nephilim was dyed black. The seal was completely released, and its original power began to be revealed.
Nephilim dripped with demonic energy and revealed bat-like wings.
– Is that guy my first opponent as a key?
Se-un nodded at Nephilim’s words.
Then, he stretched out the key forward and turned it clockwise as if unlocking a lock, and said.
“Respond, Singing Unicorn.”
Click.
He felt like something was being released.
At the same time, space opened behind Se-un, and an endless abyss unfolded.
And from within…….
“The 67th ranked Demon King, Amdusias.”
The outline of a one-horned beast was revealed.
Chapter 620