Chapter 124: Quasi-Deity Nekraksia (1)
Golden Holy Grail.
It was exactly the same as the one Jin-young had found in the hell dungeon he raided not long ago.
However, it seemed to have lost a lot of its power compared to then—almost no holy power could be felt.
Or perhaps it was before it had regained its strength.
‘Given the circumstances, it’s more likely that it lost its power. No matter how much of a dragon it is, there’s no way it would just shove an artifact like this into a pile of treasure.’
『Fortunately, since it has no power, there won’t be any problem storing it in subspace.』
Jin-young examined the Holy Grail for a moment before putting it back into subspace.
He decided to keep using the Holy Grail that still preserved its power on Earth, and hand this one over to the angels.
They should be able to restore its power somehow.
‘Was there anything else unusual mixed in with the treasures?’
『Hmm… There are quite a few artifacts mixed in. None of them are as good as the ones used by the calamity knights, though.』
‘Well, those were used by disaster-grade beings, so it would be hard to find anything better than them.’
Since Jin-young had no plans to use the artifacts himself, he intended to distribute some to his senior and junior from the Intelligence Department and sell the rest.
He wasn’t particularly greedy for money, but there was no harm in having more.
The same went for the proxy work for the calamity knights—he had to receive proper compensation.
If he kept giving favors, more and more humans would start thinking it was their right and demand things.
Of course, he doubted there would be any crazy human shameless enough to demand from him.
But crazy humans existed everywhere.
The politicians who tried to join hands with GODS were prime examples of such lunatics.
『Cyclic energy is starting to run low. It would be better to conserve it.』
‘Yeah, I need to reorganize for a bit anyway. They need some rest too.’
Kyle was sprawled out on the floor. Michelle and Hannah were sitting in neat postures.
Eun Ji-eun was in an awkward half-sitting, half-lying position, resting her arm on her knee.
Each of them was recovering their depleted mana and stamina in their own way.
If it were up to Jin-young’s style, he would have minimized rest time and pushed straight through.
But since even greater trials might await them ahead, he judged that some rest was necessary.
If a dragon stronger than Zetakrax appeared, they might really have to risk their lives.
“We’ll rest for 30 minutes and then move out, so relax and recover.”
“Yes!”
“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.”
Kyle muttered in a dying voice.
“It hasn’t even been a full day yet, though?”
Eun Ji-eun, who was still relatively energetic, pointed it out.
It was true—the remaining time limit had dropped from 100 hours to about 75 hours.
“Damn brat…”
Kyle shook his head and closed his eyes.
Jin-young, who had sat down cross-legged, checked Eun Ji-eun’s condition.
As expected, with every battle her red mana’s quality was improving.
The quantity seemed to keep decreasing, but it recovered quickly each time.
‘Red mana really is a demonic talent.’
『Even the crazy human in subspace kept emitting red mana while resisting my mental domination.』
‘Now that I think about it, has that guy still not come to his senses?’
『I’m not sure if he hasn’t come to his senses or if this is just how he originally is.』
After obtaining Void energy, Experiment Subject 78 inside subspace could no longer rampage.
He had been completely suppressed by the tentacle.
It seemed mental brainwashing had succeeded as well, but he still behaved as if some screws were loose.
He was completely different from the variant that had been Godfather’s experiment subject.
Perhaps because Godfather had put much more effort into this one.
‘Anyway, I’ll think about that guy later. I need to recover first.’
Jin-young closed his eyes and focused on recovering Cyclic energy.
He had consumed a lot while breaking through walls and fighting Zetakrax, so the amount had decreased significantly.
If it was completely exhausted, it couldn’t be regenerated, but at the current level, a small amount could still be recovered.
Of course, even if it was fully exhausted, it wouldn’t matter.
He could return to the power plant in Nine City, extract Cyclic energy, and absorb it.
But since he couldn’t leave the dungeon yet, he needed to recover moderately.
Only then could he continue breaking through the remaining labyrinth walls.
Sssss…
Jin-young focused on his mental world.
White energy slowly swirled around his body.
The other Hunters, who didn’t know about the energy, naturally couldn’t see it.
It would simply look like he was meditating.
Jin-young mixed psionic energy into the rotating Cyclic energy.
He delicately controlled the two energies and rapidly increased the rotation speed.
As a result, the amount of Cyclic energy slowly began to increase, even if only slightly.
Of course, psionic energy was increasing far more during that time.
He had nearly recovered all the energy he had consumed while fighting the dragons.
Tskwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—
Thanks to the continuous circulation, psionic energy had fully recovered long ago, and its maximum capacity had begun to increase slightly.
Somehow, Jin-young had gone beyond simply recovering Cyclic energy and had even entered training his psionic energy.
Normally he would have stopped at an appropriate point, but for some reason energy training felt especially effective in this place, so he couldn’t stop.
Some time passed.
When the maximum capacity of psionic energy stopped increasing, Jin-young opened his eyes.
“…….”
“You finally woke up.”
“I thought you had passed out.”
Michelle and Kyle spoke one after another.
The Hunters were standing right in front of him, as if they had been waiting for him to wake up.
“How much time has passed?”
“10 hours!”
“…What?”
Jin-young couldn’t believe Eun Ji-eun’s words and summoned the System Board.
[Time Limit: 64 hours 47 minutes 49 seconds]
Nearly 10 hours had really passed.
He had been so focused on his mental world that he hadn’t even noticed time passing.
This kind of experience was the first since shortly after he had realized psionic energy in Renard.
“No matter how much we called, you wouldn’t wake up. If a dragon had come, it would have been a real headache.”
Kyle said.
If something like that had happened to Jin-young, it would have been troublesome, but it wouldn’t have been a big problem.
His training had conditioned him to wake up instinctively the moment such danger approached.
More surprising was that his sense of time had momentarily disappeared.
Jin-young had thought that at most an hour had passed.
『When the maximum capacity of psionic energy increased, a temporary spacetime distortion occurred.』
‘So that’s what happened.’
Jin-young quickly understood because he had experienced something similar not long ago.
When he had compressed the tentacle’s black mana in the cave, he had distorted spacetime with psionic energy.
Without realizing it, three whole days had passed back then.
He hadn’t expected to experience the same thing again.
‘I thought the energy training was going unusually well.’
The good thing was that he had gained the efficiency of 10 hours or more.
『By the way, I’ve finished analyzing the energy felt from the ten mimics.』
‘Really? What kind of energy is it?’
『I don’t know. One thing is certain—it is similar to the blue mana used by humans and dragons.』
‘Hmm… So it’s the origin of blue mana. I’ll have to look into this gradually.’
Jin-young stood up as if nothing had happened.
“Well, we still have plenty of time, so let’s move diligently.”
The Hunters also began preparing to move.
“Thanks to you, we rested for a long time, so I feel much better.”
“Yeah. We really needed that rest.”
Hannah and Michelle nodded.
Although staying up for several nights was nothing in a normal dungeon raid,
This wasn’t an ordinary place—it was a labyrinth, and they had fought dragons, so they had been quite exhausted.
That made the rest all the sweeter.
“Glad to hear you rested well.”
Jin-young immediately walked up to the wall of the Treasure Room and unleashed an energy explosion.
Zzkakakakang— Kwaaaaaang!
Thanks to Cyclic energy recovering more than expected, there was no strain at all.
They continued advancing for a long time, encountering traps, mimics disguised as treasure chests, and more dragons along the way.
[Time Limit: 55 hours 17 minutes 45 seconds]
Before long, Jin-young’s party stopped in front of a massive door.
The unusual aura flowing from beyond the door forced them to stop.
“I can’t breathe…”
Even Eun Ji-eun, armed with red mana, clutched her throat.
“Huff… huff…”
Kyle and Michelle were naturally panting, and even Zero-grade Hannah looked pale.
“Looks like the labyrinth boss.”
Jin-young said calmly.
Of course, the powerful aura was enough to surprise even him slightly, but it wasn’t something to be afraid of.
At that moment, a System Board appeared before their eyes.
[Main Objective Updated]
[Main Objective: Meet the Ruler of the Labyrinth]
“Looks like… it really is the boss.”
Hannah said with a tense expression.
Among all the dragons they had faced in the labyrinth so far, the strongest had been Zetakrax, the guardian dragon of the Treasure Room.
There was clearly a being far stronger than that lurking beyond the door.
Perhaps because of that, Jin-young, driven by curiosity, immediately opened the massive door with psychokinesis.
Kugugugugu…
It was so heavy that it felt as if the entire labyrinth was vibrating.
Beyond the door was a hall slightly larger than the Treasure Room.
And occupying that hall was an enormous blue mass.
At first glance, it looked like a mountain covered in blue trees.
It also looked like a mine sparkling with blue ore.
A dragon at least three or four times larger than Zetakrax.
[Main Objective Updated]
[Main Objective: Escape the Labyrinth]
『Welcome to my labyrinth, which has been fossilized as a dungeon. I am the master of the labyrinth, Nekraksia.』
Nekraksia spoke even ordinary conversation in Dragon Tongue, filling the entire vast space with his calm voice.
The overwhelming presence caused goosebumps to rise on the Hunters’ arms, and some became so dizzy they nearly fainted.
Even Jin-young felt a tingling sensation at the back of his head for the first time in a while and grew interested in his opponent.
“You can recognize that this is a dungeon?”
The most surprising fact was that he was aware he was inside a dungeon.
Even the demons of Nine City couldn’t understand the word “dungeon” itself.
It was as if some filter prevented them from recognizing it.
That was why Jin-young had to explain to Vritra and the other demons that he had brought them from the past to the present, rather than calling it a “dungeon.”
Yet this gigantic ancient dragon Nekraksia clearly recognized the concept of a “dungeon.”
『When one possesses power close to that of a deity, one cannot help but learn truths one would rather not know.』
“Khk…!”
Kyle coughed up blood and dropped to one knee.
His physical abilities were outstanding, but because he had the weakest mana among them, he collapsed first.
Even Nekraksia hadn’t shown any intent to fight yet.
『Oh dear, my apologies. At my age, it has become difficult to even speak without using Dragon Tongue.』
“How long have you lived?”
At Jin-young’s question, Nekraksia let out a light laugh.
『Heh heh heh. I’ve lived so long that I no longer remember.』
“Then you really have lived a long time.”
He had clearly lived far longer than any of the Ancient Dragons Jin-young had seen in Renard.
And he was incomparably stronger as well.
“Kh…”
Next, Hannah and Michelle collapsed.
Eun Ji-eun managed to stay standing until the end, but even she eventually had to surrender.
『Hmm, it seems those others are not yet ready.』
Jin-young, understanding Nekraksia’s words, nodded and activated psychokinesis.
Shuuu—
The Hunters were instantly thrown out of the room.
Kudududu… Kuung!
Jin-young then closed the massive door.
Finally, only Jin-young and Nekraksia remained in private audience.
At that moment, the tentacle spoke.
『I can feel that energy from that dragon. The unidentified energy we discovered in the mimics.』
‘Yeah. I feel it too.’
Jin-young was slowly analyzing the energy emanating from Nekraksia.
It was similar to blue mana, but a higher-dimensional form of it.
『Yes. This power is what is called Mystic Energy.』
Nekraksia’s Dragon Tongue suddenly rang out.
Jin-young couldn’t help but frown.
The dragon had essentially eavesdropped on the conversation he had shared with the tentacle in his mind.
But he did not rashly attack.
Not only was this being the strongest opponent Jin-young had faced since the Demon King,
More importantly, the other party showed absolutely no will to fight.
Instead, he strongly sensed that Nekraksia wanted to have a conversation.
“You seem to know quite a lot. How about we have a proper talk?”
At Jin-young’s words, Nekraksia blinked his jewel-like, brilliantly glowing blue eyes and replied.
『What are you curious about, successor of psionics and fragment of the evil god?』
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