Chapter 42
-Huuu…….
Upon hearing the blatant provocation, the Soul Eater let out a long breath and swept a hand across his face.
When his expression was revealed again, it was calm.
Beyond calm, he had regained his earlier sly demeanor. He licked the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth and smiled.
-I must have lost my touch because it’s been so long since my last fight. It’s not something to get angry about. Rather, I should be happy to meet a strong person like you.
“…….”
-This is it. This is how it should be. How could the human who will become my new body fail to even leave a scratch on this old, worn-out shell? Let’s have some real fun starting now.
Kwaaaaa—!!
That was when the Soul Eater’s aura changed.
A fierce, scorching energy like molten flames surged throughout his body, raising the temperature of the entire area.
It was a signal that he would fight with full power.
Ruth also sharpened his senses and gripped his blood sword firmly.
Thanks to the <God Slayer> effect, he could vividly sense the enemy’s breathing and the minute tremors of his muscles, which would normally be imperceptible.
Crack—!
He glanced at Entur, who was still diligently freezing and shattering the core of the barrier field.
Small holes were beginning to form in the barrier that had been distorting the surrounding space like waves.
It was slow, but it was clearly collapsing.
‘Five minutes…… No, seven minutes.’
The moment Ruth finished calculating how much time he needed to buy until Entur finished her task,
Boom—!
Breaking the silence that had hung like the calm before a storm, the Soul Eater charged first.
Ruth also stopped thinking and stepped forward with explosive force.
Claaaang—!!
The blood sword enveloped in <Black Radiance Divine Sword> energy collided with the long blade covered in green flames, producing a deafening roar like hundreds of sheets of paper being torn apart.
“……!”
Ruth’s expression twisted for an instant. As expected, a sharp pain shot through his wrist from the blood sword.
Gritting his teeth, he thrust the tip of his sword toward the Soul Eater’s neck.
At that moment, the spinning blade deflected Ruth’s thrust.
Having parried the straight thrust, the Soul Eater took a couple steps back and then,
Fwoooosh—!
He greatly enlarged the green demonic flames burning on his long blade.
Soon after, the eerie cry of a dragon rang out.
-Even if I look like this, I have quite a rich sensibility, you know.
The Soul Eater smiled with his eyes and released a chilling killing intent.
-As a farewell, before I switch to your body, I should use every technique I can with this one. Let’s enjoy ourselves properly.
Immediately after.
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!
The green demonic flames covering the long blade took the shape of a dragon and shot toward Ruth.
Facing the roaring steel dragon with its maw wide open, Ruth did not retreat. Instead, he held his sword straight.
Entrusting his body to the rising sense of exaltation, he combined the most suitable forms among the sword principles flashing through his mind to tear apart that dragon.
[<Frost Fang> Second Form]
[Cold Orchid]
Slice—!!
The thrust that pierced a single point ripped the green dragon apart.
Just like when he had blocked the Sword Orb earlier, a terrifying shock struck him fully once again.
Blood vessels burst in both arms, and his bones felt as if they had been hammered out of place.
Even with his body strengthened by the achievement effect, it was this bad.
‘If I didn’t have <God Slayer>, I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened.’
Every single one of these few minutes until the barrier was destroyed felt like years.
At this rate, he wasn’t sure he would even have the strength left to escape once the barrier collapsed.
On the other hand, the Soul Eater was approaching with a smile so joyful it looked like he was going insane.
He exuded the leisure of someone savoring a delicious meal slowly.
‘He’s certain he’ll win in the end.’
If asked whether he disliked that, the answer was no. Rather, he liked it.
A relaxed mind breeds carelessness.
The Soul Eater’s attention was focused solely on him. In other words, his field of vision had narrowed.
If he could take advantage of that leisure, seizing the initiative might not be impossible……
-Don’t bother scheming. No matter how much you struggle, the result that you will die by my hand today will not change.
“…….”
-Take a look around. Do you see any path that will let you survive? There isn’t one. In this space, there are only you and me. Just the two of us.
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!
Ruth did not respond. Instead, he operated his blood ki and swung his sword downward.
At the same time, sword ki scattered across the space and surrounded the Soul Eater from all directions.
It was the second <Sword Wind>.
-Ah…… This is a bit disappointing. Did you really think I would fall for the same trick twice?
Kagagagang—!!
The Soul Eater swung his long blade at a speed that outpaced even sound.
The blade, drawing ever-changing trajectories and stretching out in all directions, instantly struck down the storm of sword ki.
Not a single one remained. Every last one.
Crunch! Crack! Crack!
The deflected sword ki mercilessly gouged the floor, walls, and ceiling, turning the entire area into a mess.
It was a completely different result from the first time, when countless wounds had been carved into the Soul Eater’s body.
However,
Swish—!
Ruth paid it no mind. Using the Soul Eater’s blood scattered on the floor as a foothold, he activated <Chasing>.
In an instant, he leaped across space and took the enemy’s flank. Immediately after,
Slice—!!
The blood sword scraped the floor violently as it shot upward like a ray of light toward the back of the enemy’s neck.
Of course,
Clang—!
The Soul Eater deflected the sword strike effortlessly with a casual swing of his blade, without even looking.
-How boring. So boring. Haaam.
While the Soul Eater yawned with his mouth wide open, the second <Chasing> followed.
This time, Ruth appeared from behind and stomped the ground hard enough to leave a long gouge, thrusting <Cold Orchid>.
Claaaang!
Now the Soul Eater didn’t even use his long blade—he simply kicked the blood sword upward with his heel.
Unlike Bruno, who had been helplessly struck every time Ruth took his blind spot with <Chasing>,
The Soul Eater allowed not even the slightest opening while maintaining a completely relaxed demeanor.
It was a result that once again made the gap in their realms painfully clear.
-Why do you keep stubbornly clinging to a strategy that doesn’t work? It’s almost pitiful to watch.
Claaaang!
In the end, even the final sword strike was blocked. The Soul Eater clicked his tongue.
There wasn’t a single wound on him, not even a drop of sweat.
“Huu…….”
In contrast, Ruth was clearly exhausted.
With both swords hanging limply in his hands, he panted heavily.
It was only natural. He was already tired, and he had overused both Blood Mage skills and secret sword arts at the same time.
-Is that it? If you have anything new, go ahead and show me…….
“You told me earlier. To look around.”
-……?
At the sudden remark, the Soul Eater frowned with a puzzled expression.
At the same time, the corners of Ruth’s mouth twisted.
“I’ll return those words right back to you.”
Kugugugu—!!
A tremendous roar exploded and the ground shook violently at that moment.
The Soul Eater, who had staggered for a brief second, lowered his gaze.
-Wh-what is this…….
The deepest shock he had shown since the fight began appeared in his eyes.
Hwaaaak—!!
At some point, a massive radiance surged from the rune characters drawn on the ground.
[Blood Link Skill, ‘Shadowless Chant’ is activated!]
[The world answers your will!]
[Rune Magic, ‘Elemental Wall’ has been activated!]
Soon after, a translucent barrier emitting brilliant light formed around the Soul Eater.
But what surprised him more than the barrier itself was the sudden appearance of the rune characters on the ground.
‘I never gave him any time to draw rune characters…… Wait. Could it be?’
That was when.
When the kid had used consecutive instantaneous movements to charge at him earlier.
He must have secretly carved the rune characters one stroke at a time by scraping the floor with his blade or stomping his feet.
‘His goal from the beginning wasn’t me……!’
It was to secretly draw the runes on the ground while pretending to aim for me.
Because he had been so relaxed, he hadn’t even noticed what was happening right under his feet.
And carelessness always brings a fatal mistake.
Kugugung—!!
The barrier, completed in the blink of an eye, trapped the Soul Eater.
It was the moment the prey had fallen into the trap.
“Huuk…….”
Only now could Ruth finally breathe a sigh of relief. He wiped the sweat droplets under his chin with the back of his hand.
<Elemental Wall>
A binding magic that creates an unbreakable barrier for 1 minute, no matter how powerful the enemy may be.
It had the downside that the caster themselves could not attack the opponent trapped inside the barrier, but……
In a situation like this where even a single second was precious, it was truly a priceless skill.
“Entur. How’s the situation on your side?”
<……Not very good. That damn parasite. I don’t know what he did, but even as I destroy the core, the barrier keeps regenerating!>
“…….”
It seemed it would take longer than the seven minutes he had expected.
There were roughly 40 seconds left until the barrier disappeared.
After that, he had to figure out how to buy time against that rampaging monster.
Perhaps because he was pushed to his limit, no suitable plan came to mind. Just then,
“Ah.”
He suddenly remembered that killing the Fierce Dragon earlier had automatically completed the quest.
Thanks to that, he had received 10,000 BP as a reward.
Adding the reward from the quest where he shook off Scarlet’s pursuit, he currently had a total of 13,000 skill points.
With that amount, he could not only learn most Blood Mage skills but even afford one of those expensive <Blood Link> skills.
‘……There must be one.’
With the desperation of grasping at straws, Ruth opened the skill window.
Hoping there was at least one skill that could break through this hopeless situation.
Roughly 20 seconds left until the barrier was destroyed.
As Ruth’s pupils rapidly scanned the skill list,
“This is…….”
Among the Blood Mage skills that had not yet been unlocked, one caught his eye.
【Bleeding】
You can read the information of the target contained in blood.
A short description.
But Ruth instinctively knew.
‘This is it.’
He had a gut feeling that this simple and clear skill would break through the tangled situation they were in right now.
After all, the ability to read the target’s information meant he might even be able to discern their weaknesses.
The points required to unlock it were 8,000.
Without hesitation, Ruth spent the points to acquire the skill and then,
[Reading the information of the target contained in blood!]
[Due to the significant gap with the target, only partial information is displayed!]
He placed his fingertips on the Soul Eater’s blood scattered across the floor and activated <Bleeding>.
《Soul Eater that Swallowed the Martial God》
- An undead parasite that, after coveting the bodies of the strong, took over the body of the Martial God.
Level: ???
Skills: [Possession (M)] [Sword Style Circulation] [Aura Generation] [Explosive Dragon Slash] [???] [???] [???] [???] [???]……
‘……Fuck, is this all?’
Faced with the disappointingly sparse information, a chill ran down Ruth’s spine.
Even worse, several entries were marked with question marks.
He was feeling utterly lost about what he could even do with this when,
‘……Wait a second.’
His desperate eyes suddenly fixed on one particular word in the information list.
And at that moment,
Claaaaang—!!
-Finally! I thought you’d never come out!
The barrier finally collapsed, and the Soul Eater walked out.
Having been trapped inside the small barrier for a full minute, he must have been quite frustrated.
Kagagagang—
Dragging his long blade along the ground as he approached, his expression clearly showed uncontrollable rage.
-You make weapons out of your own blood. You use rune magic without any casting. You really have a lot of tricks. It’s not just tempting anymore—I want to kill you as soon as possible.
“…….”
-Let’s end this soon. If I keep fighting you, my patience will run out first.
The moment the Soul Eater finished speaking and raised his long blade, Ruth’s eyes sharpened.
The Soul Eater immediately raised his long blade as soon as he finished speaking.
It was a familiar preparatory stance.
As expected,
Kugugugugu—!!
The ferocious aura condensed on the blade formed a round orb, creating a Sword Orb.
Facing the pinnacle of swordsmanship manifested once again, Ruth quietly narrowed his eyes.
‘Will this even work?’
No. It wasn’t a question of whether it would work.
It had to work.
To turn the tide and stab a dagger into him, no matter how he thought about it, there was only ‘this method.’
Fwoosh—.
Dark red energy overlaid the blood sword.
The moment a cold, icy silence settled between them,
------!!
The Sword Orb left the blade and shot toward Ruth, mercilessly distorting the air in a spiral.
The Sword Orb flew toward him at a far more terrifying speed than before.
In that case, Ruth would respond by swinging his sword even more swiftly.
[<Frost Fang> Third Form]
[Falling Stone]
Slice—!!
The blood sword, carrying an enormous amount of fighting spirit, scattered snowflake-like energy and split the Sword Orb apart.
A slash that precisely cut through its microscopic center.
However,
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!
Once again, there was nothing he could do about the shockwave generated when the Sword Orb split.
By the time the sphere of condensed energy had subsided, leaving behind a deafening roar that made his eardrums ring,
Ruth’s entire body was covered in burst blood vessels, and he barely managed to open his fading eyes.
And then, eventually,
……Thud!
He collapsed.
Letting out a faint groan, he staggered before face-planting straight into the ground.
-Kha!
The Soul Eater let out a cry of joy.
Finally. At last!
He had brought an end to this tiresome battle.
Looking at Ruth, who lay motionless, the Soul Eater’s eyes gleamed with intense desire.
Now it was time to abandon this withered body and switch to a new one.
‘Just in case he’s pretending to be unconscious…….’
Fwoosh!
He raised his aura on the long blade so he could cut the neck at any moment, keeping his senses sharp.
But even after approaching close enough that he could reach out and touch him, Ruth did not move.
Only then, certain that he had completely lost consciousness, the Soul Eater slowly extended his right hand, from which a sinister aura flowed, and grabbed Ruth’s head.
For possession.
-Huuu……
Behind the face of the Martial God exhaling a breath as cold as ice, a centipede-shaped spiritual body gradually began to reveal itself.
The Soul Eater, having shown his true form, wriggled its countless legs and floated into the air.
The moment it gently landed on the back of Ruth’s head and tried to seize the soul it had longed for,
Crackle—!!
-……?!
A short burst of mana sparks swirled, and an invisible wall-like barrier blocked the Soul Eater.
-W-wait. What?
Possession wouldn’t activate. He couldn’t even approach the soul of the body he was supposed to devour.
There was only one possible reason why possession wouldn’t work.
The original owner of this body was not present—the soul was already misaligned with the flesh.
In other words,
-T-this body is already possessed by someone else?!
A different soul had taken over this body before him.
<Possession> was a skill that only activated on targets with intact souls. It did not work on beings whose body and soul were out of sync.
And that fact,
“You noticed too late.”
A 9,000-hour veteran like Ruth was not going to miss it.
Boom—!!
Ruth, who had been pretending to be unconscious, pulled the trigger of the shotgun he had created with <Blood Weapon>.
Aimed at the now-empty shell of the Martial God’s body.
The blood-red shotgun muzzle spat fire, and hundreds of buckshot pellets tore through the Martial God’s body like a rag.
-No, no……!!
The Soul Eater screamed as he looked at the mangled corpse of the Martial God. With his host gone, he was now nothing more than a large bug.
“Why? Are you suddenly sad because there’s no body left to take?”
-Aaah……!
“Try smirking and acting arrogant again, you parasite bastard.”
Fwoosh—.
Sacred platinum-colored flames wrapped around the shotgun.
He had imbued it with divine power using the <Adversary’s Blessing> skill.
As the information he had read earlier stated, the creature’s true nature was that of an undead.
To kill it for sure, divine power was the answer.
-You… what the hell are you…….
The Soul Eater’s voice trembled as if he were facing some incomprehensible monster.
-Why… why is this body already possessed?! I am the only being called Soul Eater in this world! Who… who the hell is inside there?!
“Lee Seong-hoon.”
-……What?
My name from Earth.
Click—.
The shotgun muzzle, wrapped in noble radiance, pressed down on the Soul Eater.
“Introducing myself to a bug. I really am doing all sorts of bizarre shit since I got dragged here.”
-You… what the hell have you been saying since earlier…….
Boom—!!
Explosive holy bullets rained down, sending dirt flying into the air.
When the thick gunpowder smoke cleared, nothing remained.
“Ha…….”
Overwhelmed by a tidal wave of exhaustion, Ruth slumped down on the spot.
It had been an incredibly close fight.
If he hadn’t learned through <Bleeding> that the creature used <Possession> to parasitize others’ bodies,
He never would have come up with the strategy of deliberately offering his body for a surprise attack.
‘……Kara had that skill too. Possession.’
Of course, unlike the Soul Eater, she couldn’t permanently steal another person’s body.
The <Possession> skill available to playable characters lasted at most 30 seconds.
There were also various restrictions, such as it only working on monsters with significantly lower levels, or being disabled in PvP (Player vs Player), but……
The most representative restriction was that ‘double possession’ was impossible.
It simply didn’t work on a being that was already possessed.
‘I believed that even if the Soul Eater’s possession was on a different level from Kara’s, the double possession restriction would still apply the same way.’
That was why Ruth had boldly offered his body.
After all, he himself was also in a state of possession—inside the body of someone named Ruth Fried.
[You have defeated an opponent with an overwhelmingly large gap. <Authority of Growth> reacts!]
[Rank value is…….]
[Rank value is…….]
He ignored the dizzyingly ringing messages and unconsciously muttered,
“Fuck. I actually won this.”
For once, instead of keeping it in his mind, Ruth let the curse slip out loud.
<Di-did you finish it?>
“…….”
He almost cursed again.
As Ruth glared at Entur with a look so murderous that even the exalted ancient dragon flinched for a moment,
Thud!
Where the Soul Eater had died.
In the middle of the ground, which was cratered from the shotgun pellets, something had fallen.
That something was none other than—
“……What the hell is this. A notebook?”
It was a spiral-bound notebook.
A spiral notebook.
For a notebook in a medieval fantasy world, the design was extremely 21st-century.
But since this was <Soden>, a world where emperors were elected by popular vote, it was possible.
Ruth accepted it with mild understanding and checked the notebook.
And then,
“…….”
A chill ran down his spine.
Because written on the notebook cover, in both Korean and English, were these words:
『GM Note』
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