F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 19

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

19

[Soldiers, arise.]

A majestic voice echoes throughout the Cathedral Interior as vibrations shake the cathedral.

Corpses that had been sleeping in chairs.

More precisely, those with nothing but bones left rise from their seats and show their will.

Gaunt bone fragments, creaking noises.

Tension climbs up the spine.

“Jihoon, remember? We just need to take down the Lich King and it’s all over.”

“…Can the two of us really do it?”

“It’s not a matter of possibility. We have no choice but to do it.”

Jung Juhyeok looks back while facing the Skeleton Army.

‘If we leave these people behind, they’ll definitely be attacked.’

The Party Members who had now become burdens.

Would it be possible to protect everyone while defeating the Skeleton Army?

It was by no means an easy task, but there wasn’t even time to think about such things.

Jung Juhyeok quietly recited two choices.

“Should we abandon the Party Members and take down the Lich King just the two of us, or should we fight and overcome this while protecting everyone?”

“….”

Jihoon hesitates for a moment.

If they had to fight while protecting the Party Members, it would probably lead to quite a long battle of attrition.

Fighting while protecting the Party Members with stamina already depleted from the raid was nearly impossible.

A suicidal act.

If asked what the right decision was during Academy lectures, he would have naturally chosen the former, but.

“Jung Juhyeok.”

Right now, Jihoon knows the names of the Party Members behind them.

As Guild Members, he knows what kind of lives they’ve lived, where their Family Homes are.

As humans, they had come to know too much about each other.

That’s why Jihoon foolishly clung to a thread of hope.

“Can I trust you?”

“….”

Jung Juhyeok glares at him with his mouth tightly shut.

Then he slowly raises the corners of his mouth.

“I knew you’d say that.”

It was the answer he had expected from the moment he asked.

It was time to respond to his friend’s unchanged nature with his own changed self.

Jung Juhyeok drew his Sword and said.

“Protect them. I’ll take the Lich King’s head.”

“…Thank you.”

Division of roles.

Jung Juhyeok would take the Lich King’s head.

Jihoon would protect the Party Members.

There was no need for further conversation.

Jung Juhyeok slowly walked toward the Lich King, leaving the group of Party Members behind.

[A vessel too small in contrast to such noble sacrifice.]

The Lich King, having seen through his Mana capacity, describes it with the words “insufficient vessel.”

He raises his fingertip, points at the crowd, and speaks.

[Flesh shall decay, and tears shall dry.]

The group of Skeletons begins to move, each wielding Swords and Bows.

A familiar scene.

He just had to think of it as the Dolls from the Training Room being replaced with Skeletons.

‘Though there weren’t this many back then.’

In any case, it was the same as dodging countless Arrows while simultaneously clashing Swords.

[Welcome new comrades.]

A horde of skeletons came rushing forward.

Unlike the charging skeleton horde, Jung Juhyeok stepped forward slowly.

Whoosh―!

He listened to the sound of wind and dodged the arrow.

Then he ducked under a skeleton’s sword and crushed its spine.

This would take quite a while to regenerate, removing it from combat strength.

He had to aim for the spine with certainty.

If the strike didn’t land properly, it would surely get back up immediately and rejoin the battle.

Jung Juhyeok thoroughly destroyed them one by one as he advanced forward.

‘There aren’t that many of them.’

From what he could roughly count with his eyes, there were fifty swordsmen and fifty archers.

Since some forces would probably target his party members from behind, he wouldn’t need to face all the attackers – he’d only have to deal with a little over half of them.

‘The problem is the Lich King…’

Would it really stay still without pulling any tricks while he was fighting?

If it was a Lich King, it would definitely cast magic during battle.

‘How is it planning to attack?’

The Lich King was an undead mage that used debuff-focused skills like mental attacks or fog that darkened vision.

Not knowing when or what kind of magic might come flying, he destroyed skeleton soldiers while his nerves were on edge.

His body, now accustomed to dodging arrows, moved automatically even amid such concerns.

It was when he had destroyed about twenty of them.

He heard the admiration of the Lich King that had been standing quietly in the back.

[Impressive. Excellent martial arts that don’t match your pitiful mana amount.]

That damn mana.

He didn’t even respond to the story that now only made him laugh bitterly as he dodged an arrow.

[I should prepare a new gift.]

A staff striking the ground.

He listened to the noise while crushing spines.

Feet that couldn’t stop despite the tension.

His eyes moved busily as he avoided the skeletons’ dull attacks.

‘Is it planning to spray fog or something?’

If he could just destroy as many as he had so far, he should be able to reach the Lich King.

If interference came at this timing, it might become a bit dangerous.

Jung Juhyeok increased his speed and quickly defeated the skeletons.

Meanwhile, green lines were being drawn on the floor.

‘A magic circle.’

Whatever magic was coming, it would be cast the moment the drawing was completed.

Jung Juhyeok quickly moved away from the floor where the magic circle was being drawn and retreated.

Not long after, the magic circle was completed and space distorted with green light.

[How unfortunate, if I had caught you, your memories and body would have become one with me.]

“…Was it a mental attack?”

It would have been dangerous if he had been caught.

Jung Juhyeok readied his stance again and charged at the skeletons.

He crushed bones.

He dodged arrows.

He escaped from the flashing magic circles below.

After repeating this about three times, there weren’t many skeletons left in the horde.

‘Jihoon’s stamina is starting to run low too, so I need to finish this quickly.’

The Lich King was raising new forces from somewhere again.

When he killed 10, about 5 would pop out from somewhere to fill their places.

Still, as he increased his speed, the monster army disappeared quickly.

The skeletons that had filled the cathedral to capacity were now reduced to bone fragments scattered across the floor.

[It’s about time to end this.]

Sensing the crisis, he struck his staff hard against the floor again.

With a thud, green lines began to be drawn much slower than before.

He thought he could dodge this time as well, but it was impossible.

‘He’s using magic on the entire cathedral?’

From the cathedral floor to the walls.

A magic circle being created as dots connected to form lines.

Since the range covered the entire cathedral, there was no escape route.

“Hiss…”

There was only one way to escape from here.

To defeat the Lich King before the magic circle was completely finished.

‘Let’s move as fast as possible.’

Increasing his margin of error, he moved in directions that would avoid fatal injuries as much as possible.

Jung Juhyeok moved at his maximum speed and advanced toward the Lich King.

An arrow grazed his forearm.

He removed the sharpness from his movements and smashed through the skeletons more roughly.

Soon, only five remained.

Looking at the magic circle’s completion rate, the timing was ambiguous.

Jung Juhyeok lightly crushed a skeleton’s spine and reached right in front of the Lich King.

Blocking a descending sword strike – one down.

Rolling to dodge an arrow fired at close range and immediately launching a counter sword strike – two down.

Taking advantage of that gap, he kicked an attacking skeleton to knock it down, then stomped on it – three down.

Now only two minions remained.

With the Lich King right in front of him, Jung Juhyeok checked the magic circle’s progress while looking at his hands.

‘Another one in his hand?’

While wrapping the entire cathedral in a magic circle, he was also drawing a smaller magic circle with his hands.

He hadn’t expected him to create a double magic circle.

‘What kind of attack is this?’

Based on the pattern, it was the same type as the mental attack he had just launched.

With the entire Skeleton Army already destroyed, he seemed to have judged that obscuring vision would be useless.

Jung Juhyeok kept his eyes on the magic circle while quickly destroying one more.

Now only one skeleton remained.

He instantly aimed for the lower body and shattered the joint with a single strike, causing the entire cathedral to glow green.

[This is my victory.]

The Lich King’s hand reached out.

At its tip, a small magic circle approached.

If he dodged while attacking, the magic circle that had already wrapped the entire cathedral would activate.

‘I’ll have to take the hit.’

Jung Juhyeok determined the best course of action in that split second.

He broke through head-on and swung his sword toward the magic stone embedded in the Lich King’s forehead.

His sword severed the Lich King’s head, and the magic circle wrapping the cathedral’s interior began to fade.

However, it wasn’t all over.

[That was impressive.]

Despite having his head severed, telepathy still echoed through the room.

The magic circle the Lich King had left at his fingertips activated and enveloped Jung Juhyeok’s body.

[Since you’ve devastated my army, you must pay the price.]

His body turned green.

The Lich King’s mental attack magic circle had successfully tainted him.

[I shall savor it. Every single one of your memories.]

The Lich King examines each one.

Jung Juhyeok’s birth.

From when Jung Juhyeok entered kindergarten to the time he lost his father.

Starting kendo, awakening, and then entering the Academy.

Jung Juhyeok living a life where he never gave up despite being pushed aside by fierce competition without talent.

Living like that until one day he encountered an artifact.

Jung Juhyeok then entered the Training Room…

[…]

The Lich King’s mind staggers.

Suddenly too much information flooded in, making it impossible for his head to process.

[Grrk!]

The magic circle disappears along with the agonizing telepathy.

The green light surrounding Jung Juhyeok’s body also grows faint.

“Did you see everything?”

The mental attack had failed.

He hadn’t rushed toward the magic circle with the resolve to perish together.

Jung Juhyeok walked step by step toward the head that had flown away, then crouched down and said.

“I guess you thought I avoided the magic circle because I was afraid of being hit by a mental attack, but that doesn’t work on me.”

A fact already confirmed through the trap.

He had maintained a sound mind for hours even in the illusion trap.

‘Since illusion magic doesn’t have an incubation period of even 20 minutes. It probably means illusions don’t work on me.’

If the magic circle surrounding the cathedral interior had activated, it might have been a little dangerous, but there was absolutely no way he could be broken by a small magic circle created at fingertips.

That’s why he had deliberately let himself be caught by the magic circle, and as expected, Jung Juhyeok’s mind wasn’t shaken in the slightest.

[…]

The skull shakes silently.

The Lich King couldn’t continue speaking after his complete defeat, then said quietly, filled with terror.

[Don’t, don’t eat my magic stone—.]

“That’s enough.”

The skull shatters.

The Lich King who seemed to have read his memories even if he couldn’t dominate his mind.

Before the creature could continue with useless words, he crushed the skull along with the magic stone.

Of course, since magic stones don’t break that easily, only the bone fragments shattered, leaving only the skull and separated magic stone on the floor.

“…It’s similar in size to last time.”

A magic stone similar in size to the one from the Mutant Orc.

As he was admiring it, a message appeared again this time as well.

[Consume the magic stone to absorb mana.]

‘Not yet.’

Since there were watching eyes behind him, he pocketed the magic stone for now.

At that moment, a bright light flashed in the cathedral center and a gate opened.

“Juhyeok!”

Jihoon came running after confirming the gate had opened.

The guy who had exhausted all his stamina protecting the party members came running breathlessly and rapidly poured out words with a surprised expression.

“How on earth did you catch that thing! When you swept away the skeletons I had a feeling, but really—”

“I got it. I understand what you want to say, so let’s go outside and talk first.”

Even if he understood the joy, getting the party members out of the dungeon came first.

Jung Juhyeok lightly calmed him down, then carried the party members and walked out through the escape gate.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————