[Proofreader – Prøks]
Chapter 205: Abyss (7)
A swirling, colossal mist appeared. Two crimson eyes were embedded in the center.
It resembled the form of a demon.
The red eyes blazed with fury.
‘Looks like it’s angry.’
Well, that’s understandable.
She had been absorbing a significant portion of the abyss of the inner sea.
From the Abyss Lord’s perspective, it was no different from losing the space to breathe.
It would be strange if he wasn’t angry.
The mist gathered, taking the shape of a massive bow.
A giant arrow was nocked onto the bowstring.
The sound of the bowstring being drawn made Seo Yerim’s face turn pale as she ran towards it.
It was a sound all too familiar to her.
[Prayer of Salvation (S)…]
[Prayer of Hope (S)…]
Han Siah’s holy relic, which was carried on her back, emitted a pure white light.
A jet-black arrow was fired.
It instantly split into hundreds, hurtling towards Seo Yerim and Han Siah.
The arrows seemed to have a homing function, accurately chasing after them. The power of the jet-black Abyss energy concentrated in the arrowheads was beyond imagination.
If she just ran forward, she’d die.
Seo Yerim kicked off the ground.
She spun her body in mid-air and drew the Divine Bow’s string.
[Killing Zone is activated…]
Three mana arrows were nocked onto the string. Her enhanced vision captured all hundreds of incoming arrows.
‘I have to block them.’
There was still a considerable distance to the rest of the group. She had to block this attack on her own.
She fired the arrows.
The stats boosted by the buffs created a miraculous scene.
In the brief moment of spinning her body, she, like the Lord, fired hundreds of arrows.
And with such precision that they all accurately struck the incoming arrows.
Seo Yerim’s face hardened.
Precision, speed, wind, trajectory…
Every aspect was perfectly calculated in the fired arrows.
However, technique was powerless in the face of overwhelming force.
She felt the mana arrows colliding with the Lord’s arrows, unable to withstand them for even a moment before dissipating.
Park Siwoo, who was running towards them, shouted in terror. The black arrows flying from behind seemed ready to pierce through Han Siah’s body at any moment.
[Sanctuary is declared…]
Even with the Holy Sword’s ability, his speed was insufficient.
It seemed impossible to block them.
At that moment, Kim Minwoo’s figure, running beside them, melted away.
Seo Yerim’s shadow dashed forward.
Behind it, Kim Minwoo’s body emerged, glowing pure white.
[Heavenly Projection activated…]
[Hayang shares Abyss attribute…]
[Command Swordsmanship (S) is…]
Mana, split into hundreds of strands, swept through the barrage of arrows like a wave.
This wasn’t nearly enough.
Fortunately, Kim Minwoo had an abundance of support.
He closed the distance instantly using the movement ability of the Shadow Sword.
Next came the summoned creatures.
Thousands of skeletons blocked the path ahead.
The summoned Merhen unleashed magic beside them, and Cedric, flapping his wings in flight, scattered crimson energy to knock down the arrows. However, a few remaining arrows continued to fly towards Seo Yerim and Han Siah.
Dolsoe bravely stood behind Seo Yerim, like a warrior sacrificing themselves.
The heavy tower shield accurately blocked the arrows’ trajectory.
With thudding sounds, holes were punched through the shield.
That wasn’t an ordinary shield.
It was a special shield, enlarged and reinforced with multiple layers to match Dolsoe’s immense strength.
In exchange for its massive weight, it boasted a defense far exceeding that of ordinary objects, a sort of giant-exclusive item.
After being hit by five arrows, Dolsoe was instantly recalled.
Leluya, who had somehow approached Seo Yerim and Han Siah, extended her hand.
Like being struck by a hammer, the remaining arrows were all driven into the ground.
Leluya’s face hardened as she caught the arrows.
—This monster isn’t supposed to be this strong…
The Abyss Lord wasn’t a difficult monster to hunt, only tricky to find. A full-fledged witch could handle it alone.
That’s why she had casually come to visit Kim Minwoo.
But this Lord was different.
Even blocking a few weakened arrows took considerable effort.
‘Even an experienced witch would struggle, wouldn’t they?’
The skill level of Kim Minwoo and his party members was by no means low.
Combined, their strength was almost on par with her own as a full-fledged witch.
In other words, the Lord’s attack had exerted this much power despite the best efforts of a force nearly equivalent to two full-fledged witches.
An absurd, monstrous power.
A giant vortex approached.
Hundreds of arms emerged from the writhing vortex. Various weapons made of jet-black mist were tightly gripped in each hand.
The Abyss energy scattered around them like a blizzard.
[You are directly hit by the ‘Abyss Whisper’!]
[Entering a state of ‘Mental Confusion’…]
Seo Yerim’s vision blurred.
The image on her retina split into dozens. Her brain throbbed as if pricked by needles.
Kim Minwoo’s face grew serious.
Even he, with resistance from Hayang’s attribute sharing, was affected to this extent.
The others were in no better shape.
“Drink your potions!”
The group hastily opened potion bottles and gulped down the contents.
“Ugh, hyung, are we hunting this thing? Or…”
Park Siwoo asked urgently.
They had expected it to be strong, like a boss monster, but they hadn’t been too nervous.
They had a full-fledged witch, vouched for by Kim Minwoo, and the witch’s information… They hadn’t anticipated it to be this powerful.
[Proofreader – Prøks]
As the saying goes, you can tell a lot from a little.
The writhing energy in the hundreds of arms was beyond imagination. S-rank? No, even an SS-rank Gate boss wouldn’t be this strong.
“Witch! You didn’t say anything about this! You said it would be easy to catch! Don’t tell me you were trying to trick us…”
—I don’t have a hobby of committing suicide together.
—And we can definitely catch it.
—The Grand Witch said so.
The sound of wings flapping reached their ears.
Hayang, who had suddenly appeared, was flying towards the Lord. There was no time to stop her.
As befitting the title of Divine Beast, her speed was tremendous.
The Lord also saw the small bird rushing towards it.
A creature with insignificant energy.
As if swatting a mosquito.
Two arms moved at high speed.
A massive tremor shook the ground.
The fate of the creature crushed within the palms was obvious…
The Abyss Lord tilted its head.
Its eyes soon blazed with fury.
The small creature it had struck with its palms.
Like a vacuum cleaner sucking up dust, the Lord’s fingers vanished in an instant.
As the bird continued to devour its hand, reaching up to the wrist, the Lord hastily severed its arm.
The creature was still flying.
And its body had turned pitch black.
The Lord was shocked.
Kim Minwoo was no different.
[Divine Beast, Hayang, activates its racial trait!]
[Adapting to attribute…]
[Perfectly adapted to the Abyss attribute!]
This was the message that had appeared when the Lord’s palm struck Hayang.
[Hayang consumes Abyss attribute!]
[Hayang consumes Abyss attribute!]
[Hayang consumes Abyss attribute!]
Consumption messages flooded his vision.
Kim Minwoo was equally surprised. Leluya, who had been observing analytically, nodded.
—It seems this bird’s ability is more extraordinary than I thought.
—The Abyss Lord is a type of attribute monster with no physical power.
—If it charged in knowing that, it might be a very intelligent bird.
A monster made of attributes.
In other words, it could be seen as something like the Winter Fragment from the Orc Gate, transformed into a moving monster.
Back then, Hayang had pierced through the cold with Attribute Adaptation and pecked away at the fragment.
Perhaps the same thing was happening now.
This was a golden opportunity.
The Awakened Pros needed no further words.
They charged towards the Lord.
[Abyss attribute at 52%…]
[Abyss attribute at 65%…]
[Abyss attribute at…]
Each time Hayang absorbed the Lord’s energy, it consumed more than absorbing a single section of the inner sea.
As a bonus, the Lord’s blazing form was gradually fading.
The Lord’s movements grew frantic.
Its attacks couldn’t harm the bird. Retreating was also impossible, as the Awakened, among the best on Earth, were all charging towards the weakened Lord.
It was nearly impossible to subdue the Awakened while avoiding Hayang in this weakened state. The hundreds of arms gradually shrank.
[‘Abyss’ attribute evolves to the Deepening stage!]
[Abyss attribute evolves to ‘Chaos’!]
Hayang’s body turned completely black.
It’s hard to call her Hayang anymore, isn’t it…?
Perhaps due to the evolved attribute, the speed at which she absorbed the Abyss Lord doubled.
[‘Hayang’ shares attributes with the owner!]
[You can now utilize the ‘Chaos’ attribute!]
[Abyss attribute resistance increased by 120%…]
The resistance had increased tremendously.
The Chaos attribute swirled around the sword. As he parried the Lord’s weapon strikes, the weapons shattered like glass.
[The Abyss Lord is hit by ‘Chaos’!]
The Chaos energy climbed up the Lord’s arm, surpassing its weapon.
As if moving on its own, the Lord’s arm twisted like a pretzel. With a look of bewilderment, it quickly severed its own arm.
[‘Chaos’ attribute at 2%…]
[‘Chaos’ attribute at 4%…]
Every time Hayang pecked, the grown attribute increased like crazy.
‘This is a treasure trove.’
Considering how hard it was to raise Absolute Zero, Chaos would likely be just as difficult.
Thanks to the Abyss Lord’s generosity, the initial growth was incredibly smooth. As it absorbed the attribute, the Lord weakened and shrunk as if rapidly aging.
Finally, when the Chaos attribute reached 10%,
[Hayang feels very full!]
The now-black Hayang, with a belly swollen like a mountain, burped loudly. She then plopped down on his shoulder, rolling onto her back as if full.
“My baby. You did so well, so well!”
The Abyss Lord, once as large as a mountain, had shrunk to the size of a human.
She deserved the rest.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even rest. She was still faithfully transferring the Chaos attribute.
He swung his sword at the staggering Abyss Lord. It hastily blocked with its few remaining arms, but it was futile.
The Lord’s form crumbled.
[‘Ferocious’ Abyss Lord has been slain!]
[An amazing achievement!]
[Title, ‘Abyss Dominator’ acquired…]
[Level increased by 20!]
[Cedric reaches level 501!]
[Merhen reaches level 501!]
A series of messages popped up.
Numerous items were scattered near the fallen Abyss Lord.
[Proofreader – Prøks]