I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 109
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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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Chapter 109. Darkness Descending Upon the Holy Kingdom (4)
“Cough!”
It felt like I’d collided with a massive tidal wave. I forced my battered body up from the stairs, using recovery magic to mend my shattered bones and torn muscles, then gazed into the chamber beyond the door.
That place was also hell itself—the Eight Hot Hells, as it was called, where souls suffered under the most scorching flames imaginable.
The barrier separating that inferno from the mortal realm bore a hairline fracture. What had just erupted was merely a wisp of fire seeping through that tiny fissure.
Had I not possessed the power of the Noon Sun, a single moment of carelessness would have killed me. This was no trial for a novice who’d merely cleared Stage-0.
Why did such a place exist here? Why was such a creature confined to this location?
〚Legend Rank EX LV 499: The Turtle That Burns Planets reveals itself!〛
Damn it. A turtle this time. The scale is absolutely absurd. A creature that incinerates entire planets.
I stepped into Floor 3 and looked upward. This time, an underground passage existed. No wonder the stairs felt endless—flying was the only way to traverse this place in any reasonable timeframe.
“Is that really a calamity-class monster?”
The five on Earth? They’re cute by comparison. This thing burns planets. Its sheer size was planetary in scale.
The inferno that had just erupted was merely dust kicked up by its footsteps—an insignificant byproduct of its movement.
The saving grace was that, true to its nature as a turtle, each step took an eternity to complete. I rushed through Floor 3.
The counter incremented, and stairs leading to Floor 4 materialized. How many more levels could there possibly be?
More importantly, how many of these creatures had been captured and sealed away?
I unfurled the Wings of Pride once more and dove downward at breakneck speed. My body reached the bottom in moments.
This time, I took precautions—donning armor, consuming sufficient enhancement potions—before slowly opening the door. The interior revealed itself. This was the real deal.
I trembled. What lay before me was a cosmos. An infinite, boundless universe was trapped within this cramped underground chamber.
“Haha… is this really a Quest meant to be cleared?”
But there was no turning back now. I pressed forward, walking through the cosmos itself.
Yet strangely, no enemies appeared anywhere in the universe. The Sun’s Heart continued to function brilliantly with the support of Pride. It would alert me instantly if anything stirred…
Then it appeared. Something of indescribable magnitude.
〚Myth Rank C- LV 555: A Fragment of Behemoth, the Greatest King of Beasts, reveals itself!〛
Ah. Now I understood why a universe had to exist here. With something like that present, even a cosmos becomes nothing but a prison.
“If that’s just a fragment…”
What could the complete form possibly be? I abandoned the thought. I simply ignored the endless cascade of mental protection warnings and ran.
Toward the stairs leading to Floor 5 in the distance. It roared. A sound no mortal should ever hear. Yet I felt it.
Cramped! Cramped! So cramped!
I don’t listen. I ignore it and run. Even with my powers and the protection of the Supreme Soul, it’s agonizing. Fatigue accumulates, and my sanity wavers.
By the time my exhausted body finally reached the stairs, Behemoth’s fragment was still roaring, and I could endure it no longer—I threw myself toward Floor 5 once more.
I’m exhausted. I wanted to turn back now. Where the hell does this cursed tower end? How did Ma-in even manage to enter a place with creatures like these?
There must have been some method, naturally. I detected no signs that Cardinal Aoira had interfered in Floors 1 through 4.
“But if something like that awakens, wouldn’t he be unable to survive either?”
These are creatures that cannot be defeated unless a Divine Seat itself manifests to stop them. People still lingering at Stage 1 have no business facing such things.
I desperately hoped that what lay beyond this door would be normal—or at least that this would be the last one—as I slowly opened it.
The fully opened door revealed only a narrow cavity, smaller even than the 1st Floor underground.
“What is this now?”
Every unexpected phenomenon that manifests makes my heart race with shock. I entered Floor 5.
It was a vast chamber.
At its center stood an enormous, towering pillar, and bound to that pillar was a single entity—that was all. A simple, hollow place devoid of anything else.
Only upon arriving here could I confirm it.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
Dozens of figures—no, puppets—were doing something to that bound entity.
“At least it’s somewhat livable.”
I didn’t know what kind of monster that entity was, but one thing was certain: this was the end. The floor number that had been marked with a question mark until now had fixed itself at 5.
I drew the Manmang Divine Demon Blade and took a deep breath, then manifested the Sun Divine Art.
Sun Divine Art
Sun Heart Method
Sun Holy Domain
The moment the Sun’s magnificence began to dominate my surroundings, I didn’t hesitate. I kicked off the ground and charged toward the puppets, cleaving the nearest one cleanly in half.
In that instant, they all twisted their necks 180 degrees simultaneously and came rushing at me with a visage straight out of a horror film.
“This is exhausting. Let’s end this quickly.”
The puppets themselves weren’t particularly strong. At best, they barely scraped by at C-rank level.
But the problem emerged soon enough. When I severed the third puppet’s neck, all of them stopped moving. Then blood began streaming from their eyes as they glared at me.
“Cardinal Aoira.”
Even at my words, the puppets simply stared at me with their 180-degree twisted necks, tears of blood dripping down.
“If you have no intention of talking, I’ll just slaughter all of you.”
As I moved to act on that threat, the central puppet’s mouth finally opened.
“How did you even get here? There’s no way a wretch like you would know the true nature of the secret passage. How did you witness those calamities and still survive to reach this place!”
“So you knew I was coming here?”
“Of course I was certain you’d die before reaching this point. Those are not entities a mere insect could ever oppose. If those three emerge from this underground, at minimum every territory up to the 100th Stage will be annihilated. How? How could you witness such beings with your own eyes and still retain your sanity to survive?”
“Do you think I’d tell you that?”
“I was told it was dangerous because so much time had passed that the sealing barrier itself might have developed problems… But this isn’t a place one can advance through with mere luck! How could you!!”
I stopped listening and cleaved the puppet in half. But this time, another puppet was possessed by consciousness and screamed.
“No! No! No! Don’t you dare touch him! You filthy insect must not lay a hand on the great one’s avatar!”
The puppets burst apart. Not by my doing. Self-destruction—or should I say fusion?
“Disgusting. The ability itself is repulsive.”
Under normal circumstances, I would have retched, but compared to the Predator I’d seen on the 2nd Floor, this was merely adorable, so I let it be. The puppets became blood, merged and coalesced, and were reborn anew.
“What in the world are these things made from?”
“Hahahaha! What else! Of course, the flesh and blood of living humans! With enough of that, I possess the great potential to grow infinitely stronger!”
An enormous puppet loomed over me, laughing maniacally as if victory were already assured.
“That’s right! You should have killed me faster without getting distracted! That’s your fatal mistake! I never even assumed you could descend this far. I didn’t prepare a powerful puppet, but this level should be more than sufficient for you. Go ahead and die. Die miserably down there and become material for my puppets!”
I stared at the puppet and opened my mouth.
“You clean your neck too and wait. I’ll kill you. Just make sure you survive well enough not to die to Cardinal Batroy first.”
At my words, the puppet’s lips curled up bitterly as it calmly conveyed the truth.
“It’s a shame I can’t show you that this senile fool’s head is already in my grasp. Even if you somehow survive my puppets in that massive prison, it’s still my victory. I’ve already bought all the time I needed.”
With those words, the connection between the puppet and Cardinal Aoira severed. Simultaneously, the puppet, no longer restrained, charged at me.
‘A-rank.’
This required me to go all out. I drank every buff potion I could access and focused on evasion, and the moment the enhancement was complete, I unfurled the Wings of Arrogance.
My Limitless and Arrogance stats soared to their maximum, yet they could not breach the wall. Buffs alone could never transcend that barrier.
However, there existed one ability that could make it possible. A scale materialized behind my back.
“Raise my Limitless stat to the absolute maximum you can.”
〚The right scale has been raised with Stat: Limitless Grade Elevation and +22 increase.〛
〚The left scale demands payment—navy coins…〛
“I don’t care. Exchange it.”
Screeeech! Boom!
The moment the scale balanced, immense power surged through my body. It was omnipotence itself—that transcendent ecstasy felt only when breaching a wall.
E-rank. My Limitless stat ascended first, followed almost simultaneously by my Arrogance stat, which barely crossed into that realm.
-ROOOAAARRRRR!!!
Yet it still wasn’t enough. My opponent remained formidable, and I remained weak. I couldn’t guarantee victory, couldn’t even manage to evade and endure—it was far from easy.
‘I just need to survive one more minute until Longinus activates.’
But even with these stats, it fell short. So I played my final card.
〚Unique Ability: Self-Conquest [Mythic-EX+] has manifested.〛
Self-Conquest. The principle that he who conquers himself is the truly strong one.
A reward bestowed by the Tower of Ascension upon me, who trampled upon the deaths of my former self and rose to advance forward.
This unique ability possessed but one power: to summon and project another version of myself. Ultimately, it was a gamble.
My weak former self might be summoned, or a version of me from the distant future could appear.
One thing was certain—at minimum, I wouldn’t get nothing or a blank. Otherwise, I couldn’t defeat that doll.
“Destiny…please.”
So I had no choice but to beseech destiny, my only lifeline. And destiny answered my will.
〚Destiny grants only a faint power!〛
Destiny tosses it aside reluctantly and falls back asleep. But that was enough.
〚Your power will manifest in 187 days, 11 hours, and 32 seconds!〛
I grew stronger. Merely six months. Half a year. A moment that passes in an instant for some, yet an eternity for others—I had pulled that future into the present.
〚Rune: Time-Hourglass erases the side effects of that ability!〛
The price was paying my lifespan equivalent to what I’d borrowed; naturally, there were no side effects.
“Now you’re finished.”
There was no need to draw Longinus. I was now a fully matured S-rank Hunter.
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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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