I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 22
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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 22. The Sun That Has Fallen (2)
Imagine a cockroach the size of your middle finger crawling up your arm.
Countless legs brush against your bare skin, and its bodily fluids seep into your flesh.
Even in a state of sleep where one could barely be considered conscious, you would surely feel that grotesque and horrifying sensation, cry out in revulsion, and desperately try to kill the creature.
Crash!!
As I climbed onto Ra’s descending massive fist at the moment Seo Mi-na’s attack halted it briefly, Ra seemed to share the same sentiment—glowing with fury as he began thrashing about in every conceivable way to shake me off.
—Grraaahhh!!!
A worthless insect that should have been crushed to death beneath his fist was now going mad, scrambling up his arm toward his head!
How utterly infuriating and despicable! How dare this insignificant creature attempt to climb The Sun itself—that arrogant, magnificent orb floating majestically in the heavens, looking down upon all creation!
The thoughts sleeping in Ra’s unconscious mind began to dominate his body, now stripped of reason, and his massive arm started flailing wildly.
Crack!
I drove my sword deep into his arm and held on against the thrashing limb as if caught in a typhoon.
‘Damn it all!’
If he’s lost his mind, why is he acting so intelligently?!
I thought he’d just try to swat the arm I was clinging to with his other hand!
But I cannot fall. Not if I want to clear this Hidden Stage, and not if I want to escape this place alive!
Gritting my teeth, I transformed Manbyeon into a longsword as well, and began climbing this massive, terrifying mountain of a god.
Thunk! My frost-laden blade pierces through the god’s skin and lodges firmly, granting me stability.
Thunk! The sturdy longsword that Manbyeon has become carves the next path for my ascent.
—Graaahhh!!
Of course, when the insignificant insect he expected to fall continued climbing his arm without hesitation, Ra’s fury finally exploded.
—…!!!
Wordless rage erupts from Ra’s mouth. But for me, this was an opportunity.
Taking advantage of the moment Ra halts his arm’s movement to roar, I continue climbing upward.
—Grraaahhh!
In an instant, having reached the vicinity of his shoulders, I saw him. Ra, staring down at me with eyes burning darkly, a deep crimson hue.
The moment I beheld those blackly burning eyes of The Sun, I felt for the first time in my life an indescribable, bizarre emotion.
A filthy feeling as though opposing him was itself a sin, an irrationality, something to apologize for. Thoughts forcibly imprinted themselves into my mind—an overwhelming compulsion to cease this arrogant, disrespectful behavior at once.
I was about to drop both swords to the ground and kneel down….
“What the—! This madman is launching a mental attack?!”
〚Unique Ability: Supreme Soul struggles against an overwhelmingly powerful mental attack and barely manages to defend!〛
〚Stat: Indomitable assists Supreme Soul in defending against the mental attack!〛
〚Authority: Twilight’s Gaze has been completely resisted!〛
Something felt wrong. Certainly, Ra has lost his reason. Yet I, standing before him and seeing him directly, could tell. Those eyes unmistakably belong to a being with consciousness.
Ra changed after that crimson flame ignited.
‘Never mind! First things first!’
I abandoned the two swords that had fallen to the ground below and, without further hesitation, kicked off from Ra’s shoulder and leaped upward.
—Grraaahhh!
Had Ra finally understood what I intended? Or was he simply displeased that this insignificant creature dared to move toward his head?
Ra’s gaze shifted briefly upward toward his own head, toward the key lodged in the center of The Sun, now half-shattered.
At the same time, Ra’s face contorted grotesquely, as if someone had forcibly seized and twisted it.
And finally, language—not mere bestial shrieks—began to pour from that creature’s mouth.
-Grraaah… Hin… Hiii…!!
At last, it uttered something approaching coherent speech, yet given the circumstances, the words were anything but encouraging.
“Damn it! I wish we could’ve exchanged pleasantries and grown closer! What a shame! Just know that I’ve come to like you!”
-…Do not… deceive… The Sun…!
“Yes, I apologize. For standing atop the head of such a great constellation!!”
I wrung every last ounce of power draining from my body and drove my shoulder upward with all my might.
“Done.”
At last, I managed to plant myself atop Ra’s head.
Before my eyes, I could see the shattered Sun—fallen from that distant sky, stripped of its radiance and strength.
-I… cannot… permit… this! Ra… must… remain… trapped… here… eternally…!
I gazed at Ra—or rather, at whatever entity now puppeteered Ra’s body—with that grotesque visage, and offered a bitter smile.
“Too late, you bastard.”
Without hesitation, I hurled myself toward the shattered Sun, and finally—finally—I stood before the key.
-Wretched… insect…!!!
Realizing it could not prevent me from obtaining the key, the creature began desperately seeking another path.
And its gaze turned toward… the colossal Altar beneath Seo Mi-na’s feet.
-…Kkhkhkhkh… Very well… The loss is great… but there is… no choice…!
Ra’s enormous arms rose skyward, then came crashing down directly toward the Altar.
“Seo Mi-na, move!”
“Damn it!!!”
Kwaaaang!!
The entire Pyramid resonated with a deafening roar, and tremors coursed through my entire body as if an earthquake had struck.
Kwajjik!
Where Ra’s hands had struck, fine cracks began spreading across the seemingly solid Altar.
Kwagwag!
An overwhelming force erupted forth, seeping into Ra’s body!
Simultaneously, crimson power began flooding back into the shattered, lightless Sun, and the searing heat and agony it brought washed over me where I stood.
“Ugh! Quickly! Come free!”
I hastily wrenched the key free, leaped down from the Sun, and landed back atop Ra’s body. The entity dwelling within Ra, clearly displeased by this turn of events, declared to me:
-Go ahead… and thrash about as you wish…! If you, a mere insect, can escape from beneath the shadow of The Sun’s greatness!!
Was it because power was flowing back through the cracks in that Altar? The words flowing from Ra’s mouth were no longer faltering or crude.
‘There’s still a chance.’
Now it was certain. I had to insert the key into that Altar. If I could do that, Ra would reclaim all his power and expel whatever entity had taken root within him.
I retrieved the two weapons scattered across the shoulder, then set my mind racing at full speed.
‘The problem is, that creature will desperately try to stop whatever Seo Mi-na and I attempt.’
I had to find a way! If I wanted to survive, I absolutely had to!
Reading the murderous intent gleaming in Ra’s eyes, I threw myself from his shoulder and began descending rapidly along his massive arm toward the ground below.
-…Where do you think you’re going!!
A tremendous whoosh!
As a colossal hand descended upon me, I immediately pushed off with my arms and hurled my body through the air.
A soft chime?!
Manbyeon, which had already transformed back into shoe form, activated the effect of Cloud Step. Clouds materialized beneath my feet, allowing me to land safely on the ground.
-Crack! A pathetic…servant…like you!!
But fortune had run its course. The immense surge of buffs that had enveloped my body evaporated in an instant, and torrents of blood erupted from my throat.
“Cough! Cough! Hack!”
“Are you alright?! If it’s too much, I’ll take the key and figure something out!”
Seo Mi-na rushed over, her face draining of color as she watched the flood of black blood pouring from my mouth.
‘Wait?’
In that moment, a single thought flashed through my mind.
“Come here!”
I quickly pulled Seo Mi-na into my arms and activated both the concealment cloak—Kang Chul-woo’s legacy and spoils of war—and the concealment ring Lee Ji-hyung had left behind simultaneously.
Our presence withered, our existence faded, and even our scent and odor were erased.
-Kuhaha… How dare you… refuse light… and hide… before The Sun!!
I know. Even with this concealment, that creature won’t be fooled. It will probably sense where we are.
But there’s one thing it won’t know. I wiped the blood flowing from my mouth roughly and retrieved a single potion from my inventory.
《→Duplication Potion》
A potion that creates a single-use duplicate item lasting ten minutes. Of course, it can’t replicate abilities or power, but that doesn’t matter. All I need right now is an appearance that can deceive that damned creature.
A splashing sound.
As I poured the potion onto the key, another key materialized. I handed one to Seo Mi-na and gave her instructions.
“We split up and head toward the Altar simultaneously. And if things get dangerous, retreat immediately. Can you…do that?”
“Of course I can. I don’t want to die here.”
The moment she spoke, a colossal fist descended, precisely targeting us despite our concealment.
“Now! Split up!!”
Understanding each other’s thoughts and plans, we no longer needed words.
I handed the cloak to Seo Mi-na and threw myself to the left, while she, still veiled in concealment, threw herself to the right. Simultaneously, another concealment item activated—the ring.
Seo Mi-na and I began sprinting toward the Altar at full speed.
But the concealment ring broke before we’d covered half the distance.
‘Damn it, I don’t have mana stats!’
Lee Ji-hyung and Seo Mi-na were prodigies who awakened mana stats from birth, so they could maintain concealment with their own mana even after the item’s power was depleted.
But I couldn’t. I’d be better off if I had a unique ability like Kang Chul-woo’s, which added bonuses to concealment and extended its duration.
-How foolish… This is The Sun’s judgment!!
Just as its attention was about to lock completely onto me!
“It’s over!”
Seo Mi-na, who had somehow dispelled her concealment and reached near the Altar, drew the key from her bosom.
-No… this can’t be!!!
The entity dwelling within Ra’s body shrieked in horror, gathering all the power it had obtained through the small crack in the Altar into its right fist, then extended it toward Seo Mi-na.
A brilliant flash! A tremendous surge!
The power of The Sun, embedded in that fist, stretched toward Seo Mi-na’s annihilation at a speed incomparable to before, terrifying even to witness.
“Ugh!”
Seo Mi-na cried out in alarm at the fist hurtling toward her and hurled the key toward the Altar, then threw herself backward without hesitation. It was as though she were determined to insert the key into the Altar no matter what!
-No!!
The creature hastily unclenched the fist it had drawn back to strike and lunged toward the key flying toward the center of the Altar. But the key, which had been traveling smoothly toward the Altar’s opening, finally lost momentum at the last moment and fell short, landing near the Altar instead.
The creature froze at that sight—both devastating and exhilarating—its body trembling as it stood rigidly upright.
And then came the laughter.
-Ha…hahaha!…This is why…lowly creatures are so pathetic.
Was it confident in its victory? Or had it only now found composure after such shock?
Picking up the key that had fallen to the ground, the creature laughed so loudly that blood dripped from its ears, beginning to mock us.
-In the end…you wretches…cannot defeat The Sun!
And that relief, that contempt, that complacency—it was precisely what delivered defeat to the creature.
Whoosh!
Without stopping, I rushed to the base of the Altar and threw myself upward, landing before the opening.
-Kuhehe! It’s already too late…!
The creature flashed a bloodstained sneer in my direction.
“Really? You sure? You won?”
I threw back an equally bloodstained smile, one that subtly conveyed contempt, and drew a key from my pocket.
-…What…is that?
“What do you think? This is the real one.”
-Damn…you!!!
Too late! Before the massive fist could even move, I inserted the key into the Altar.
Click!
And released the seal that had been locked upon it.
-No…this can’t be!!! What have you…done…?!
As the key turned, the creature’s anguished cry echoed as the Altar, the Pyramid, and even the Tutorial Zone 7 that concealed this Hidden Stage all began to tremble.
Like a dam bursting open, the primordial force that constituted them all—their true master—opened its eyes.
Kaaaaaaaaa!!!
An incomprehensible power erupted from the Altar and was drawn directly into Ra’s body.
-Gaaaaaahhhhh!!!!
The creature that had inhabited Ra’s body had no chance to break free from possession and began to writhe in agony as it absorbed the tremendous energy entirely.
-Damn…you! Curse…!! Water…I will…absolutely…remember you…!!! If we meet in the Abyss…I will tear your limbs apart and leave you in a state between death and life!!!!
Those were its final words. The creature, having left behind a curse rather than mere words, vanished. In the space where it had been, not black and murky flames, but pure and crystalline flames rose up.
【Truly, it has been a long wait.】
The Noon Sun, Ra, had been reborn.
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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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