I Became a Disaster-Class Newbie by Stealing Abilities - Chapter 39

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 39. Demon (2)
Cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo!
The sky tore open.
Between the clouds that had split into a perfect circle emerged a black sun.
Damn it.
Does it trigger instantly the moment coordinates are designated?
I have no idea how high-ranking a Demon would need to be to pull off something like that.
“Aah….”
Parbon too stared up at the empty sky, his face hollow with despair.
If even a seasoned mage felt that way, what more could be said of the rest?
“It’s… it’s over.”
“How are we supposed to stop something like that?”
It felt like witnessing a dragon’s meteor magic from the pages of legend.
Running was pointless.
No matter how fast we fled, we couldn’t escape the blast radius.
In that moment when everyone had abandoned their will to survive—
“Amy!”
“Yes!”
At my signal, Amy immediately opened a spatial rift.
I hadn’t expected to need our trump card so soon, but there was no time to hold back.
[Volcano’s Shield activates the special skill Spirit of Earth!]
A door inscribed with sigils of light and shadow.
The barrier that once guarded the mouth of the Volcano now manifested to shield our entire raid group.
[Amy activates the skill Divine Shield!]
Amy unleashed her holy power in a violent burst.
And I stood beside her, optimizing the flow of mana to support her.
Then, in a moment so brief it could scarcely be measured—
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
The black sun fell.
Scorching.
Heat washed over us that felt like it would incinerate our very skin.
My thoughts sizzled and burned.
The breath drawn into my lungs—
The eyes fixed on death—
The hands gripping our only defense—
All ceased to function.
And yet we held.
“Just a little longer…!”
Trusting the ally at my side.
[Spirit of Earth converts to maximum output!]
Relying on the shield we had prepared with everything we had.
“Kyaaahhhhh!!!”
We endured that critical moment.
Crash!
The black sun shattered into hundreds of pieces amid a white haze of smoke.
Boom!
Boom-boom-boom!
The fragments scattered in all directions.
At the same time, the shield itself split cleanly in two.
* * *
That was too close.
Had the impact been even slightly stronger or the duration any longer, the black sun would have wiped us all out.
“Are you… are you all right?”
“I’m barely holding together. What about you, Amy?”
“I… it’s nothing that will impair my combat ability.”
A sharp twinge shot through me.
But my words didn’t match reality—there wasn’t a single uninjured spot on my body.
Several of my ribs had cracked from that last blast.
Every breath felt like needles stabbing into my lungs.
‘Even after using Spirit of Earth, we took this much damage.’
Now it hits me all over again.
Just how absurd the power wielded by Demons truly is.
Still, one thing has become clear.
There’s a name that springs to mind instantly when I think of a high-tier Demon using the Black Sun.
Varcan.
So. That bastard is their leader.
Of all the rotten luck, I had to face a top-tier Demon—one regarded as standing closest to the Demon King himself.
My luck couldn’t be worse.
“What are the priests doing?”
“Healing! Start with healing! Once you finish treating those two, move on to the others.”
The raid group rushed toward Joo-sang and Amy from behind.
Overlapping healing spells worked quickly, and the fractured ribs began knitting back together.
The body had recovered, but the mental fatigue that accumulated remained.
The problem was there was no time to recover from it.
Screech! Screech! Screech!
Countless Jooin Race poured through the rent in the sky.
‘Just as expected.’
The Jooin Race infected with Demonic energy had already devolved into faithful servants of the Demons.
This was the moment Keruza’s desperate battering against the wall finally made sense.
“A rather splendid fortress, this. For something built by insects. Not bad at all.”
Standing at the vanguard was the advanced Demon, Varcan.
* * *
A chill ran down my spine.
My blood felt like it was freezing solid.
Indeed, we’re operating in entirely different dimensions.
Varcan’s estimated Star Rank was ten.
Moreover, he had reached not the early stages, but the peak.
From the eighth Star Rank onward, it was fair to say the early and late phases operated on completely different planes of existence.
Without question, he was the strongest opponent I’d faced thus far.
‘The risk is absolutely insane.’
Under normal circumstances, I would need at least another year and a half of growth just to have a fighting chance against him.
But where there is despair, hope follows.
Ding!
A shimmering reward materialized before me.
[Plunder Condition: Awaken Varcan to the terror of combat—he who has not felt true tension in over a hundred years.]
[Reward: You may randomly plunder one unique ability, trait, Stat, or memory item from the target.]
Yes.
I’d have felt cheated if this didn’t appear.
I was dying to know what kind of treasure could drop from someone of Varcan’s caliber.
I’ll confirm the details after I survive this, though.
For now, every ounce of my focus has to go toward responding to his every move.
Boom!
The opening assault came from Jeroksar, the massive Demon.
“Kha ha! I ask out of curiosity—if there is anyone among you with the courage to face me, step forward! I shall personally test whether you possess a warrior’s merit.”
He was what you might call Varcan’s right hand.
“That one… it was him. He killed our comrades.”
“Magical attacks don’t work on him. The Anti-Magic Resistance on that monster has to be over one hundred fifty.”
Fear crept slowly into the eyes of Kim Dae Hyun and Parbon.
The brute strength that had torn people apart with bare hands—it remained a nightmare.
Not a single other raid member stepped forward.
“Tsk. All cowards, the lot of you.”
Jeroksar clicked his tongue and began striding forward.
There was only one entrance into the Volcano.
A narrow, elongated bridge.
If that breach was opened, those countless Jooin Race would flood inward like a tidal wave.
That, above all else, had to be stopped.
[The Flame Guardian awakens!]
The guardians protecting the Volcano responded immediately.
A six-Star-Rank protective monster that Boradoli had painstakingly restored by inscribing runes.
Currently, blessed by the Stronghold’s buffs, their Star Rank had increased by half a stage each.
“Roooaaarrr!”
“Ooohhh!”
Towering giants of living flame, their bodies wrought from burning stone, thundered across the bridge with deafening roars.
“These rock golems—there’s no satisfaction in crushing them.”
Crack!
Crash-boom!
As Jeroksar swung his fist, the upper bodies of the guardians disintegrated into ash and sparks.
The force was absurd—utterly disproportionate.
Not even using a skill, just basic attacks, and he could do that.
Dozens swarmed him, yet his advance didn’t slow for a single step.
“Amy takes main tank. The warrior with the Green Shield and the one in Black Armor—you’re secondary tanks! We’ll split the aggro between you, so get ready now!”
Jusang shouted the command.
Those called upon flinched in surprise.
But only for a moment.
The sharpness in Jusang’s eyes was too keen to ignore.
“Yes, understood!”
“Damn. Just keep buffs and heals flowing heavy. Even taking one hit won’t be easy.”
Then they immediately took their positions at the vanguard of the formation.
“Let’s do this.”
“If we give ground here, we’re all dead anyway.”
The healers readied their healing magic, and the bards and minstrels began casting buffs.
The mages focused on support rather than offensive spells.
Attack magic wouldn’t touch this enemy anyway.
“My blade may not penetrate, but if an opening comes, I’ll aim for his vitals.”
Hyang Pyeong Jak gripped the Hand Axe and Kukri Knife tightly in both hands.
A 7-Star Rank dealer had to be deployed carefully.
If a critical hit landed, he could inflict real damage on Jeroksar.
“Khahaha! Now this is getting interesting.”
Jeroksar stomped the ground.
Boom!
The distance of over twenty meters closed in the blink of an eye.
[Amy activates the skill ‘Holy Burst’!]
Amy infused her hammer with sacred power and swung it in a wide arc.
White lightning tore through the air in a burning line.
They collided.
At a single point.
Two different forces.
Each formation’s fate hanging in the balance.
Boom-boom-boom-crash!!!
A shockwave rippled outward in successive waves.
“……!”
Amy barely choked back a scream.
Searing pain pierced through even her gauntlets, burrowing deep into her bones.
Had this been a game world measured in hit points, she would have watched a quarter of her health bar vanish.
Drip, drip….
Thick drops of blood fell through the gaps in Amy’s armor.
The layers of holy power that had wrapped her body were already completely stripped away.
“Good heavens, from just one blow….”
“H-heal! Start healing!”
The healers poured their mana without reservation, heedless of reserves.
‘Basic attacks—she can tank maybe four of them. If he uses skills, twice is the limit.’
Jusang continued gathering data, piecing it all together.
At least it wasn’t instant death—that was something to be encouraged by.
There was still the option of recovery, still a path forward.
The tanks had opened the gap. Now it was the dealers’ turn to do theirs.
Whoosh!
Boradoli, gripping the Black Scythe, slipped into the space beneath Jeroksar’s guard.
A powerhouse of 9-Star Rank strength.
Essentially their last hidden card, their ultimate trump.
[Boradoli activates the unique ability ‘Circus of Destruction’!]
Space twisted, and part of the circus arena materialized before them.
“I’ve cast Haste on you. It lasts for one minute!”
Parbon’s support magic bore fruit at precisely that moment.
A Rank-6 mage’s careful preparation showed immediate results.
Crash-crack!
The scythe swept in wild arcs, raking across Jeroksar’s skin.
“Kkhaha! I’ll grant you this—you’ve got some backbone.”
[Jeroksar uses the skill ‘Demonic Flame Shattering’!]
A black tempest engulfed his entire fist.
No agile dealer could withstand an attack of this magnitude.
“Get back!”
Snap.
Amy moved to raise her shield.
Boom-crack!
She poured every scrap of holy power into the Divine Shield, layering it over the barrier.
Boom-crash-crash!!!!
A force in an entirely different league from before.
If she’d tried to block it with her hammer as she had last time, her arm would’ve shattered completely.
Crack-crack-crack…thud.
The shield was half-buckled.
The item’s durability had dropped below thirty percent.
“Ugh…”
Thin blood trickled from Amy’s nose and lips.
[The target falls into ‘Terror’ and ‘Confusion’ for 1 second!]
[If the same type of damage accumulates, the duration of the Status Ailment increases!]
She’d blocked it perfectly, yet the status ailments still clung to her. That was the caliber of the attack.
“Tank rotation! Amy, fall back and recover your health. We’ll cover the gap with the sub-tank and myself.”
“Hah… hah… understood!”
Amy staggered backward, withdrawing from the front line.
“Go!”
“Let’s move!”
The two sub-tanks moved into Amy’s position.
Expecting the same performance from them as Amy was wishful thinking—they fell far short of her caliber.
But that was all right.
Because tactics existed precisely to bridge such gaps.
Shards of ice scattered like snow.
The commander himself absorbed the most dangerous skill attacks.
[The Frost Sword ‘Snowburst’ activates!]
[Due to the slowing effect, the opponent’s attack speed decreases by 2%.][line id=”220″>Countless techniques unfolded in dizzying succession, and each time Jeroksar tried to maximize his power, the commander slipped in at just the right moment to disrupt him.

Clash!
Malkarim, the status ailment purification skill, blazed forth in brilliant sword light.
“I thought you were some coward who hid at a distance and ran his mouth… But no! A true commander ought to have the guts to stand on the front line! Do you know what I see? Your eyes burning with an intensity like I’ve never witnessed before!”
This wasn’t some fish market where you picked out fresh sashimi.
Don’t stare like that.
She had no love for the scorching gaze of a man.
“Hunter Kim Dae Hyun!”
“On it!”
Kim Dae Hyun lunged at Jeroksar’s thigh as if he’d been waiting for the signal.
Thrust!
Shallow.
He’d driven the blade forward with the intent to pierce bone, yet it only scratched through skin.
There was no reason for disappointment.
Hadn’t they anticipated this from the start?
“Next!”
Skills danced in rapid succession.
“Boradoli, position yourself to my right flank!”
The formation shifted.
“Parbon, cast Haste on me. While the healers’ cooldowns are cycling, I’ll draw his focus!”
They refined their positioning into an optimized formation, every move calculated for mana and stamina efficiency.
The wounded kept coming, yet none had fallen to death.
As time wore on, a strange dissonance rippled through the entire raid party.
‘What is this? Why are we naturally following that man’s orders?’
Kim Dae Hyun tilted his head in puzzlement.
At some point—he couldn’t say when—he’d begun moving exactly as Jusang commanded.
At first, it was simply because this man had seized the stronghold first.
And because those with him bore Star Ranks that seemed anything but ordinary, so he’d deferred.
But that reasoning had shifted entirely in the last few moments.
‘A leader. That’s what he is.’
The talent to carve open a way forward even under impossible odds.
The courage to stand foremost and rally his allies.
And.
The skill to back it all up.
It was like moving under the command of a seasoned raid leader.
“Extraordinary. Such a man lurking in this remote frontier, not even in Europe?”
Parbon, himself a veteran of many wars, couldn’t help but marvel.
For more than twenty years in service to the Empire, he’d crossed countless battlefields, yet he’d never seen a single person reverse such a dire tide of war.
A power disparity that should have meant annihilation long ago.
And yet….
He was catching up.
One step at a time.
Then another.
“You can do this.”
“Hold on just a little longer!”
“We’ll all make it home alive. I swear it!”
The power to kindle hope even in the face of overwhelming despair.
That was the true mark of a raid commander.
And then, it happened.
Ding!
A status window flickered into view before Jusang.
[Sovereign Stat has been added!]
[People will heed your words and seek to follow you. The weight and authority in what you speak shall be blessed by the system itself.]
A rare stat he could never have obtained in his past, grinding through solo play alone.
Unlike Anti-Magic Resistance, this could be raised through allocated stat points.
With careful investment, it would prove invaluable on the path to becoming emperor.
‘Luck keeps flowing my way.’
A desperate crisis, and yet because of it.
He was gaining so much in return.

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