I Awakened as a Dark History - Chapter 29

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

Episode 29
“Lee—!”
Choi Sei tensed his legs and activated the Shield’s effect.
A hemispherical barrier materialized before the Basilisk.
As the Basilisk slammed straight into it, Choi Sei’s body skidded backward across the ground.
An Jehwan braced himself behind him, adding what little strength he could to steady the impact.
Choi Jeongmun seized the moment and sprinted toward Lee Jaecheon to revive him.
If Choi Sei held, they could mount another coordinated defense and assault. If he broke—it was total annihilation.
‘I can’t just sit back and watch that happen.’
I spread my wings and slipped through the barrier.
I harried the Basilisk with Hanpuli and flew swiftly toward Choi Jeongmun.
I snatched the Potion from his hand and shouted.
“Fall back to the others!”
Whether by mobility or sheer speed, I could move more efficiently than Choi Jeongmun.
Knowing this, he immediately pushed off and wheeled around.
Lee Jium’s flames pinned the Basilisk in place—the opening his blade needed to surge forward.
Shriek! Shriek!
The Basilisk twisted violently as cold steel raked its throat, spraying venom in all directions.
The barrier shattered under that onslaught, and poison cascaded over the team.
Everyone swallowed Antidote.
Only ten minutes remained.
I uncapped the Potion and poured it over Lee Jaecheon.
His wounds sealed rapidly, but consciousness did not return.
“Damn it.”
Screech!
Hissss.
Lamias converged on the fallen body, encircling us.
“I didn’t come to rescue him just to be trapped myself.”
I gripped Lee Jaecheon’s body tightly.
But these Lamias possessed intelligence enough to read my intentions—they were Demon Beasts of cunning.
With their poison-corrupted bodies, they clung to Lee Jaecheon, dragging at him.
They understood that pinning down the wounded was far more effective than targeting me.
Each time I tried to take flight, the entangling creatures prevented any clean escape.
At this rate, I wouldn’t save Lee Jaecheon—we’d both become their prey.
I moved my eyes to check the Synchronization Rate.
[Current Synchronization Rate]
28%
“If only I could use Thorn Thicket!”
The Synchronization Rate hadn’t filled completely. That missing 2% felt like bitter mockery.
I kept up my assault with Hanpuli, but mana was draining fast—even its power felt insufficient.
I drove Hanpuli at a Lamia’s head. My depleted mana betrayed me.
Screech!
Even with Hanpuli striking true, the Lamia didn’t fall instantly.
Half its face torn away, it still rushed at me, undeterred.
“Gah!”
The Lamia’s fangs sank into my arm—the one holding Lee Jaecheon.
In the blink of an eye, sensation drained from my fingers.
‘The Basilisk’s poison is still active. If I use the Antidote now….’
I wrenched my arm free by force.
The creature’s venomous fangs tore a long gash along my skin.
Blood dripped steadily, staining my clothes. Such a waste of a good tunic.
I had no space for such thoughts.
Without hesitation, I pressed my fingertips to the Lamia’s skull and released Hanpuli.
From point-blank range, my mana pierced through its brain—the Lamia dropped dead.
And that was my last attack.
I could feel it now: I had no mana left.
Behind me, a scream tore through the air.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Lee Jium’s voice.
Beyond the rising tide of Lamias, I saw my teammates’ situation.
Choi Jeongmun and Choi Sei lay sprawled in a puddle where the Basilisk’s venom and blood had mingled.
Lee Jium and An Jehwan had no ability to stand against the Basilisk.
The two continued their assault, but the Basilisk now ignored their attacks entirely, lashing its tail toward them.
That was enough.
“Ah…….”
Without people, my Synchronization Rate won’t increase either.
I held Lee Jaecheon tightly.
The open door of the Boss Room seemed to blur the line between hope and mockery.
‘But if we can survive, we have to.’
I gripped Lee Jaecheon harder, his breathing shallow and fading.
The Lamia pack still refused to let us go.
I stretched my hand toward the ceiling.
It would be a familiar movement to the Lamia pack.
Just as this word was.
“Nakhwa!”
At my cry, the Lamia pack fell back, opening a wide distance between us.
A high-intelligence Demon Beast remembers first the skill that once claimed countless lives from their pack.
Of course, my Synchronization Rate was far too low for the skill to activate.
But it didn’t need to activate.
All I needed was that gap.
“Now!”
I shot upward toward the ceiling, my wings beating frantically as I drove toward the door.
The door drew closer and closer—almost near enough to touch.
Yes, almost near enough to touch, until…….
Crack.
My wings seized mid-beat, from joint to tip.
When wings stop, the body falls.
“Antidote, I…….”
I fought it off by sheer force of will, but the Lamia’s venom spread through my body regardless.
The body I’d been clutching slipped from my grip, and scarlet scales filled my vision.
Crash!
My numbed limbs felt pain only as a dull throb.
My body tumbled through empty air.
The door—my original target—receded into distance as my body plummeted toward the dark staircase below.
[Unlock]
The lock on the “Demon King” has been released.
Synchronization is now possible.
Had I gasped for breath?
Or had I simply closed my eyes?
‘I haven’t even used my vacation days…….’
That was what worried me in this moment.
The soul of a salaryman endured, even as consciousness slipped away.
* * *
Slither, slither.
Something was approaching. I knew it, but my body wouldn’t move.
I forced my eyelids open. The world before me swam in red.
I hoped it was someone else’s blood, but pain woke me to the truth—it was yours, it whispered.
Already, within that red haze, glossy scales undulated into view.
When the serpent hunting for prey drew near, he closed his eyes again.
He didn’t enjoy pain, so he wished to lose consciousness once more, but his body wouldn’t obey.
No—if anything, it was trembling from fear.
Death looming ahead, the body shaking from pain and terror…….
Rumble.
‘No.’
The trembling wasn’t his body.
‘Below.’
The earth itself was crying out.
Something deep beneath was stirring, awakening.
And then.
Like a volcano, it revealed itself.
Her hair was a deep navy, like shards of night sky, and her eyes blazed with restless crimson as she wrapped fire around herself.
She looked like she wore the golden halo of the sun itself, or perhaps a volcano that bled its own molten core.
What was certain was the inferno that consumed everything in her vicinity.
The pattern of the flames was etched into her black pupils like a seal.
‘A Demon Beast…?’
Beyond its human form, nothing of its face could be discerned.
Whether it was a Demon Beast in human shape or human itself remained unclear, but one thing was certain—it was no ally of the Basilisk.
The Basilisk spewed venom straight toward the ceiling, lunging at the creature.
But the venom evaporated and vanished in the flames before it could touch her.
The Basilisk that charged at her suffered the same fate.
The instant the Basilisk’s tongue made contact, the inferno consumed it first, burning it to ash.
The Lamia swarm shrieked and crawled toward the Basilisk, but all they found was ash.
Faint embers still smoldering in the ash crackled and scattered.
She gazed down at them with indifference, lost in their anguish.
Then she reached out her hand toward them.
It was a light gesture, as if dusting away powder.
Those faint sparks that seemed about to die reignited with renewed vigor, following her motion.
The Lamias shrieked and crawled across the ground, fleeing.
But the inferno was faster.
The Lamias crawling on the ground were reduced to dust by the tide of flames that rushed forward like a tsunami.
All that remained in their place was fine gray ash.
Only then did she slowly descend to the ground.
Yet even with that gentle motion, the fine ash could not withstand it and rose in a hazy cloud.
‘Ah.’
Through the ash, he felt his eyes meet her crimson gaze.
He could not be certain. His vision was completely stained red now, and his consciousness was slipping away.
Footsteps.
In the moment before his consciousness severed, he could only faintly discern the approaching steps.
A low, feminine voice reached his ears as though from a great distance.

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