Thumbs Up, Level Up

As Ji-Cheok allowed Reable to do his thing, from his darkness, an unimaginable number of Undead burst forth.

The darkness grew wider and wider until the entire area was engulfed.

Ji-Cheok could see the people in the red cloaks trying to summon something or using their skills to resist the attack of the Undead. However, he just watched in silence and did nothing.

In an instant, tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Undead destroyed the red shroud and started to attack whatever was inside it.

They were overwhelming in numbers, and their power was not lacking either.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“H… Hell has opened!”

The Earl of Coventry, one of the eight elders of the Lake of Dawn, and an Archmage of fairy bloodline, was horrified.

The black clouds that had suddenly appeared in the sky emitted strange waves of energy that seemed to be present in this world but also strangely absent at the same time, instantly engulfing the surrounding area. It blocked out the sun, and darkness enveloped the ritual circle created by the Lake of Dawn.

It was a transcendent and unearthly sight to see so many dead bodies falling from that black cloud, too many to count.

As the man watched in shock, the sight unfolding in front of his eyes was indeed nothing short of literal Hell. An uncountable army of the Undead was clinging to the barrier of the ritual circle, spewing madness and curses. They were the very embodiment of terror, and they also possessed a mind-eroding power of their own.

“ARGH!!”

“Stop whispering! Stop it!”

“I can’t see! What the hell! I can’t see!”

In an instant, those who had been working around the ritual circle were overcome by madness. In the midst of their madness, someone grabbed the robed Earl of Coventry by the shoulders.

“Come to your senses, Earl of Coventry!”

The Earl felt a strong grip on his shoulders, followed by a strange power that snapped him out of the terror. He turned his head to look at the person behind him.

“Oh, it’s you! Duke of Carlisle. Is the ritual over?”

It was a man with an oval-shaped helmet on his head. The helmet covered his entire face, and on its surface was painted the Tree of Sephiroth which the Sephiroth Zohar held sacred. He was one of the seven highest-ranking officers from Sephiroth Zohar—Duke of Carlisle of the Fourth Wing. Just like the Earl of Coventry, he also wore robes and held a staff in one hand.

“Not yet! Our Lord has accepted the tribute, but it will be some time before she takes it. If we don’t stop those monsters somehow…”

“That is impossible. Look at their numbers. Isn’t every single one of them a demonic creature with powerful abilities? There are hundreds of thousands of them, how are you planning to stop that kind of army?”

“Wicked… What kind of person can muster such incredible power?”

It was ironic to hear the Undead being called ‘demonic creatures’ by people who had built towers out of human corpses.

“I guess we can’t do anything… I thank you for your assistance. I will guard this place for the Queen.”

The Duke of Carlisle groaned softly at the Earl’s words.

“Hm… I see. Then I shall return home. I wish you luck.”

The mask of the Duke started to glow. His entire body turned into light, and a moment later, he was gone.

When the Duke of Carlisle disappeared, the Earl of Coventry took out a sheathed sword. The scabbard was laced with gold, and the sword had seven gorgeous jewels attached to the hilt.

“Espee as Estranges Renges![1] Lend me your strength, for I was granted the mandate of the [Queen_of_Avalon], and you will not be able to resist!”

The sword left its scabbard and a golden light exploded into tiny stars. The Undead that had been charging at him from all sides vanished in a flash, leaving the area empty.

He stood ramrod straight, holding his sword like a torch, his other hand gripping his staff as he attempted to recite the magic of Lake of Dawn.

However, before him suddenly stood the wielder of black-and-white dual swords, rage searing in his eyes.

Fury had descended.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Ji-Cheok remembered a quote from a virtuous and wise ancestor: hate the sin, but not the person.

He did not remember exactly who had said it, but in any case, he was having a hard time separating the sin from the person.

As an ordinary person, he was not sure how to do that, and he also had no interest in that right now. All he wanted was to tear this person in front of him into very small pieces.

“Wicked one! I will sacrifice my life here to protect this ritual!”

Ji-Cheok’s jaw almost dropped at the sheer shamelessness.

‘Wicked? Protecting the ritual with your life?’

“Hey, are you by any chance insane?”

“What?”

“Look around you! Look at all those dead bodies! Who the hell do you think you are to call me wicked after what you have done to them?”

There were corpses everywhere. The corpse tower was still standing, thanks to the power of the ritual, even as the Undead clung to it and tried to tear it down. Most of the ritualists had been slain by Reable’s hundreds of thousands of Undead, but a powerful few still resisted. 

As thousands of the Undead were annihilated in one fell swoop by the glowing sword of this man, the few who were still alive banded together to protect themselves. It was very ugly to watch.

‘How much of a hypocrite can this man be?’

“If you do it, it’s romance, but if I do it, it’s infidelity?”

Ji-Cheok expressed his feelings using a famous Korean phrase.

‘And I didn’t even do anything!’

“You… You are Um Ji-Cheok! Their sacrifice is for the world!”

“So, did you get their consent? Did they willingly give up their lives for the ‘sake of the world’?”

The middle-aged man did not answer. When Ji-Cheok saw that, he simply continued, “I’m not a judge, but you guys crossed the line. So…”

‘You guys need to take responsibility.’

He swung his swords like lightning, unleashing the Mind Sword. The dual Mind Sword blades slashed at the opponent, accompanied by another copy of the same attack generated by Ji-Cheok’s Double Strike skills—in total, four blades were aimed straight at the enemy.

Crack! Boom!

“Huh…”

Surprisingly, the middle-aged man did not die. Instead, the golden light emanating from his sword only dimmed.

‘What the hell is that pesky sword?’

[Sword of the Strange Hangings (Espee as Estranges Renges)]

[Class: SS

A holy sword originally belonging to David, known for its ability to protect its wielder.

It is also known as the sword of Galahad, one of King Arthur’s knights.

Function: Deploys holy shield.

Function: Automatically recharges divine power.

Function: Divine Radiance — Exerts divine power around the wielder.

Function: The wielder’s Stamina is not consumed.]

‘Aha! So it’s the kind of thing that activates a divine shield at all times!’

“Sigh… I do not know how you managed to appear in the presence of this ritual circle, but with the power of this holy sword, your evil army and power will not be able to penetrate me!”

“Ah, alright. Let’s see how well that works for you, OK?”

The sword’s light faded. It had blocked Ji-Cheok’s Mind Sword attack, but they both realized that the attack had weakened the holy sword.

“Power of Dawn, unleash the chastisement of the stars and…”

Ignoring the man’s muttering, Ji-Cheok gripped his swords tightly. His muscles were exploding with power, and his entire body was crackling with Qi.

‘Heaven and Earth Chaotic Sword Art. Cosmic Fracture — Forty-Nine Swords!’

Zoom!

Forty-nine immaterial blades streaked out at an inconceivable speed. Each and every one of them was filled with the power of Mind Sword and imbued with Ji-Cheok’s Augmented Sword Qi.

Within a fraction of a blink of an eye, the blades cut straight through the middle-aged man’s protective holy light.

Crack!

“Wha—”

His expression twisted as he tried to cast his magic.

Clang!

The Sword of the Strange Hangings shattered into pieces and scattered in the wind.

“No way…”

The man also shattered into pieces and scattered in the wind.

“Reable!”

“Wow~ That was so cool! But why did you call me?”

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Don’t let the man die like that, get some information out of him. We must find out about them.”

“Of course, my lovely master. But first, what do you think we should do about that?” Reable said as he pointed at the sky.

Above the dark clouds that Reable had summoned, Ji-Cheok could see real black clouds gathering, twisting and swirling as they were carried over by a mighty wind.

‘Ah… This is starting to piss me off.’

“So, I guess that God took the tribute, right?” Ji-Cheok said.

“Yes! The ritual was already complete anyway, it’s just that it took a while for the God to reach for the tribute. I’m sure that God is going to take it now!”

“Do you have any countermeasures?”

“We can prevent that God from taking it. Your Mind Sword might be able to do that, but that’s going to be a tough one!”

“I guess we will find out.”

Ji-Cheok closed his eyes. Then, gathering his strength, he opened them with determination. He saw a giant reptilian hand reaching down from the warped sky.

He recognized the hand’s owner. It was the [Three-headed_dragon_that_burns_the_world]. 

Ji-Cheok put the two swords back in their sheets attached to his belt. He placed each hand on the hilt of a sword and gathered his strength. 

The hand was descending. The moment it broke through the dark clouds of Reable and was above his head, Ji-Cheok drew his swords!

‘Sword Drawing Art. Heaven and Earth Chaotic Dual Polarity Slash!’

The blades infused with the power of the Mind Sword flashed and cut through the world. Ji-Cheok felt tremendous pressure as the blades reached their target.

He had slashed the God!

Zoom!

ROOARRR!!!

The bodies inside the ritual circle began to burn. Ji-Cheok could feel the souls of the corpses crossing to the other side. 

The giant lizard’s scarred hand retreated back into the sky. Ji-Cheok could not read their will, but he could easily sense their anger and irritation. 

Ji-Cheok gave the retreating hand the finger.

[The [Three-headed_dragon_that_burns_the_world] is enraged.]

‘Well, you can suck it.’

He turned and looked at the ground. The Undead walked back into the darkness that Reable had created, and all that remained were the burning bodies.

As he looked around, he saw the remnants of a small town in the United States. It was a desolate scenery, devoid of all life.

“Whoa. It looks like the dungeon is moving,” Reable interrupted.

‘I guess I don’t even have time to be angry.’

“The dungeon?”

“Yes. I have some scouting wraiths over there. Hm… I see two hooves coming out of the Gate that look like they belong to a giant deer… or a horse… uh… something like that, anyway.”

‘Damn it! Cheok-Liang!’

«I am sending the video right now.»

A video popped up in front of Ji-Cheok and Reable. It was transmitted by a scouting Golem built to monitor Antarctica.

Just like what Reable said, giant hooves protruded from the large Gate, flanking both sides of the Gate. The hooves seemed to be gripping the edges, struggling to escape. 

Then, its head popped up from among the dark dimensional vortices.

1. Name of the sword in Old French. This is from a real legend (as in, not one invented for this novel). ☜