Chapter 312. Clash (1)

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In this hell.

For what must they live for?

We need someone to lead us.

***

‘Sign… I envy the previous generations.’

-Cough-

The adventurer, Niclouse, looked into the sky above the crumbling war fortress and puked out blood.

Although the previous generation needed to go through difficult situations without any knowledge, at least they’d had a leader.

To him, there was no Kang Hansoo.

Only an evil Dark King who pretended to be him.

Niclouse thought back to the words the Dark King had always mumbled in the past.

— Just wait. Once I become stronger… You will see a new ray of hope.

‘Fucking maniac.’

Niclouse cursed that man as he forcibly raised his body up.

At this rate, he would get squashed to death by the rubble.

He started to slowly climb up.

Away from the battlefield.

***

-Boooom!-

“Hahahaha!”

The Dark King laughed as he felt the overflowing power inside him.

He didn’t feel the same glee and joy of the past when he’d become a transcendent; another feeling now filled him.

When he’d first become a transcendent, it was as if he’d become a brand new bowl.

A weak sauce tray being broken apart and being born anew as a large, strong bowl.

And how it felt as if that exact bowl had been filled to the brim.

To the point that the water inside it could overflow at any moment.

Tens of thousands of crystals exploded, giving him strength.

It changed his body and gave him enough power to smash apart the world.

“Hahaha! Try catching this!”

A bright orb appeared in the hands of the Dark King.

<Triple Demonic Bullets>

A regular skill which could be acquired with ease, even in the old Red Zone.

It had a speedy reload time and was easy to fire, but it could only fire in a straight line and didn’t do much damage.

It was good enough to use as a probe, but not to deal fatal damage to a person.

Usually, at least.

If a normal person used it, that is.

-Rumble!-

Thunder and lightning exploded out from the orb.

Then-

-Booom!-

The orb shot out from the Dark King’s hands, the ruins of the fortress were lifted into the air, and the space around them trembled.

Dust flew apart in all directions as if a bomb had exploded.

And through the dust-

– Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!-

The bright orb smashed apart everything in its path as it continued to rush towards Hansoo.

It created gales in its wake and turned the stone below it into a river of lava.

And as the orb made contact with Hansoo’s spear-

-Booom!-

A blinding light exploded outwards.

The surrounding ruins of the War Fortress turned into dust from the shock wave, and the ground nearby began to sizzle.

And the Dark King laughed coldly at this scene.

‘Mmm. That spear definitely suits me.’

He could clearly see it during the explosion.

The golden spear that was trying its best to disperse the energy.

Although it had met the wrong owner—in his opinion, anyway—the fact that it could withstand his overflowing energy was something to compliment.

The Dark King stared at the golden spear in Hansoo’s hands and then looked at the imitation in his own hands with a dissatisfied expression.

Then-

-crunch-

He split the spear into two.

Though it was a good spear, it was a spear that could be found anywhere and then merely covered in gold.

It was too weak to withstand the strength of a transcendent like himself.

Though he had broken his own weapon during battle, his expression was still bright.

Since a spear like that wouldn’t help him much in a fight anyway.

And soon he would be able to gain the real thing.

‘Strength really is the best.’

In the past.

He had revered Hansoo.

The man who had succeeded in terraforming the previous zones into a livable space.

Though he hadn’t seen Hansoo’s actions in person, he was part of the group that followed right behind Hansoo and Mihee.

Though he hadn’t seen them personally, Hansoo’s footprints could be felt all over his body as he climbed his way up.

He felt the might of the World Tree Hansoo had revived in the Red Zone.

The giant Gragos that Hansoo had succeeded in taming in the Orange Zone.

Countless Satellite Fortresses that covered the skies in the Yellow Zone.

And in the Green Zone, he had fought to help Hansoo during the Battle of the War Fortress.

He had personally seen the hole appear in the sky as the elevators descended and the world transformed.

He reveled in the footprints of this giant and respected them.

Respect towards the being that had done things he could not.

He remembered the stories of those who had seen Hansoo up close, and remembered them during the hard times to keep himself going.

He’d kept going until the day he could meet the man in his dreams.

But now.

With his strength.

His thoughts had changed.

‘If I had strength, I could’ve done that as well.’

Kang Hansoo.

He was stronger than anyone else and had succeeded against any enemy.

There were some who’d helped him, and those beside him were also quite strong, but in the end, his individual strength had played the biggest role.

If Hansoo had done it.

Couldn’t he, who was now even stronger than Hansoo, do it as well?

‘Just wait. I will be the one to lead you guys now.’

There was a reason why he had spared a group of people, despite having been able to turn them into crystals as well.

How could a king be a king by himself?

He needed subjects.

And the people at his side would now serve the strongest king in history.

Even stronger than this living legend.

“Hahaha!”

The Dark King laughed maniacally and jumped down.

He could only win.

There was a clear difference in power.

The energy absorbed from the sacrifice of tens of thousands of Kang-Kions transformed into skills.

A skill useful in dealing with small fry, but not really those of similar levels—an immolation type of skill—exploded out from his body.

<Dark Sun>

-Rumble-

A dark sun which set everything nearby ablaze rose up from the Dark King’s body.

“F***!”

“Run!”

The screams of countless adventurers were heard by the Dark King, but he merely ignored them.

Since those who ran away didn’t have the qualifications anyway.

Then-

Hansoo, surrounded by golden light, walked out from the dust clouds.

Though he was covered in dust and minor injuries, he was mostly fine.

And the Dark King’s expression darkened at this unexpected turn.

‘Though it was just a probe…’

As the Dark King frowned.

Hansoo also frowned as he spat out-

“I’ve waited two years, you guys can’t only be at this level right?”

The Dark King almost cried at Hansoo’s look of contempt, as if he was not worthy.

It was similar to those eyes he had seen in the past.

— Are these the only guys left… Haa. I guess there’s no choice.

The eyes of the being that had given him this strength.

Hansoo was showing him the exact same expression.

But even before the tears could come out from the Dark King’s eyes-

Hansoo moved first.

He needed to teach a lesson to the Dark King who had fearlessly approached him.

‘You should’ve kept your distance…’

Then-

-Boom!-

The sound of a huge explosion blasted out from Hansoo’s position as the entire area around him crashed down.

Using the tremendous earthquake-like shockwaves as momentum, Hansoo’s body shot out like lightning.

And now dark-gold energy surrounded Hansoo’s body.

The Reinforcement skill covering Hansoo’s body was no longer translucent.

It had been compressed to the point of resembling silk.

Hansoo, covered in the Demonic Dragon Reinforcement, dashed towards the Dark King.

‘… I can block it!’

The Dark King was shocked for a moment, but then relaxed.

Since he could clearly see his movements.

It wasn’t at a level where he couldn’t catch up.

Not at a level he couldn’t react to.

Actually, he could even move faster.

‘I shall show you my strength.’

He wanted to show off.

The strength he had gained.

He wanted to smash his opponent apart.

The Dark King started to burn the Dark Sun around his body with even more fervor.

Then-

-Whoosh-

The Dark King swung his fist with all his might-

Towards the tip of Hansoo’s spear.

‘I will show you the difference in our strength!’

And as his fist swung out-

-Booooooom!-

A fist covered in black flames, and a spear covered in dark-gold silk collided.

And the Dark King smiled at this scene.

‘I… I can win!’

His Dark Sun was burning the silk-like reinforcement on the spear.

Though his opponent’s reinforcement was more compressed than his own, his endless flames still managed to burn through it.

But as the Dark King’s smile broadened at the sight of the spear bending more and more.

A change occurred.

-Swoosh!-

The silk covering Hansoo’s entire body started to sway and move about.

Then-

-Whoosh!-

The Demonic Dragon Reinforcement covering Hansoo’s entire body started to condense into a single point.

Towards the the tip of his spear.

And as the thin silk-like reinforcement focused onto a single point-

The Reinforcement started to let out a blinding light in all directions.

Then-

-Booom!-

“Uwaaaa!”

The Dark King freaked out at the scene of his Dark Sun being instantly shredded apart, and quickly retreated.

Blood gushed out from the fist that had collided with the spear.

‘NO… NO! NO WAY!’

The Dark King was extremely confused.

His opponent was merely a relic of the past.

He had clearly been lazing around.

Since the man should’ve been far above in the upper zones.

With the amount of work he himself had gone through, he couldn’t lose like this.

Then-

-Boom!-

A tremendous amount of energy exploded out from the Dark King’s body.

He had a dream.

He couldn’t fall here.

Though it was a person he’d revered, he could not allow Hansoo to block his path.

‘I… WILL… NOT… LOSE!’

-Rumble-

The still-burning remains of the Dark Sun disappeared.

As well as every other skill in his body.

Every ounce of power in his body turned into a single skill.

A skill that the man who had given him this strength had left behind.

— It’ll be useful. Make sure you only use this instead of other skills. Make sure of it. Focus on just one.

***

Ten thousand mediocre skills could not defeat a single mastered skill.

That was why the transcended needed to know how to focus on a single skill.