I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 335
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 335
Ep. 335
“…!”
Whoosh—
Rather than firing the healing gun, Ihyeon immediately used shadow movement.
Boom boom boom——!!
Almost simultaneously, a massive black spear crashed into the spot where Ihyeon had been concealed, striking with tremendous force.
The attack was not directed at Ihyeon alone.
Boom—! Boom boom—!
Similar spears flew toward Elsie, who was literally slaughtering the Duogsinis in the plaza.
Rather than evading like Ihyeon, Elsie defended by directly cutting down the threatening spears.
Crack—! Screech….
The numerous Duogsinis who had recklessly clung close to attack Elsie were pierced by the spears without even understanding why they were dying, thrashing about before going limp.
The plaza fell silent in an instant.
Not only the Saedos who had been desperately scrambling to capture Ihyeon.
Even the Duogsinis, who seemed to exist solely for slaughter, came to a halt.
The arrival of an absolute being suppressing them all.
Ihyeon’s gaze turned toward the direction from which the spears had come.
Clap— clap— clap—
Leisurely applause echoed through the now-silent plaza.
A shadow flickered in the torchlight, and soon someone who had not been there before appeared.
Clearly infested by twilight, yet bearing an appearance not greatly different from an ordinary person.
However, his face painted red and eyes pitch-black without irises gave off an unsettling aura.
“Honestly, you’ve exceeded my expectations. Quite impressive.”
The one speaking thus was none other than.
“The Bishop!”
“The Bishop has arrived!”
The Bishop, ruler of the withered plains.
The Saedos, who had been thoroughly defeated by the combination of Ihyeon and Elsie until moments ago, erupted in cheers.
Though normally an object of fear, before such a formidable enemy, he was now as reassuring as an ally could be.
Ihyeon remained hidden behind a suitable fragment, waiting for the Bishop’s reaction.
Fortunately, the Bishop also seemed to have difficulty locating Ihyeon, merely speaking as he gazed at Elsie standing vacant in the plaza.
“It seems you’re making an effort to achieve the best possible outcome in your own way, but there is no such thing as the best in this world. It is merely a worthless ideal.”
“….”
“Do you think you’ve gained an advantage against us here? That cannot be.”
The Bishop continued with a scoffing sound, tsk tsk.
“By now, on the surface, twice as many Duogsinis as those you’ve captured are slaughtering humans. Ah, and those wretches caught between life and death have surely perished completely by now.”
Why don’t you understand that you can lose even while winning!
The Bishop’s final words resonated powerfully through the plaza.
“Ooooooo!!!”
“As expected of the Bishop!”
The Saedos erupted in fervor once more as the Bishop swiftly seized the momentum and turned it to his favor.
Yet their jubilation was not destined to last long.
The Bishop, who had been gazing upon his followers with a contemptible smile, extended his hand forward.
“Kueeeek——!!!”
A considerable number of Saedos nearby suddenly convulsed, their eyes rolling back as agony seized them.
I could roughly discern what the Bishop intended to accomplish.
‘The Bishop who summoned Eodukshin did precisely the same thing.’
When wielding the power of Eodukshin, one must offer sacrifices to channel sufficiently potent skills.
As expected, not only the Saedos but numerous Duogsinis surrounding Elsie trembled and collapsed to the ground.
And the reason the Bishop suddenly demanded such offerings was painfully obvious without need for inquiry.
“….”
The Bishop began muttering an ominous incantation.
Whoooosh—!
Simultaneously, the torches illuminating the walls flared with greater ferocity as an eerie current of air swept through.
I traced the source of this abruptly shifting air current.
The Duogsinis burst forth as iron cages throughout the chamber swung open.
Yet amidst this chaos, a single cage remained sealed.
Far more colossal than the others, it had released no Duogsinis.
Goooooo———
From within, a low rumble that would strike terror into any living creature began to pour forth gradually.
Elsie furrowed her brow and spoke as if reciting.
“A monster beyond imagination.”
Simultaneously, from beyond the iron cage shrouded in darkness.
Flash—
A pair of crimson eyes gleamed with sinister brilliance.
Creak—
The iron cage, firmly sealed, began to lift upward.
Crash——!!
The owner of those crimson eyes, as if unable to endure even this delay, simply shattered the wall itself with ease.
No—it was not merely the owner of those crimson eyes.
‘The Overlord of the Depths, they called it.’
Erkastrula.
The master of this underground prison.
The flying iron cage embedded itself in the opposite wall, while dust and debris billowed forth to engulf the plaza.
The Duogsinis and Saedos unfortunate enough to be nearby were crushed by the falling rocks and perished instantly.
From within that maelstrom, Erkastrula revealed itself.
One horn stood erect, the other twisted and gnarled—a pair of horns.
One wing was naught but bone, the other covered in a membrane reminiscent of a bat’s wing.
Its body was covered in coarse fur, yet even this could not conceal its elongated fangs and massive upper frame.
Legs planted like pillars, supporting that massive frame with unwavering strength.
A tail that lashed like a blade, carving deep scars into the surrounding walls.
Most notably, the pitch-black earthweb’s movements that coiled around the creature.
‘Has the earthweb infested its body and still had power to spare? No, that’s….’
Ihyeon examined the assailant’s condition with meticulous care.
The creature was rotating the powdery earthweb at tremendous speed, wielding it as though it were both armor and weapon.
It didn’t seem to be a case of so much earthweb being injected that even a demon’s body struggled to accept it.
Rather, befitting a demon of its caliber, it was utilizing the earthweb it had absorbed in its own distinctive manner.
Naturally, this was an adversary of a different tier entirely from the Saedos and Duogsinis who had been helplessly infested by earthweb and driven only by instinct.
With sacrifices even now offering their lives and strength to the Bishop and the demon in real time, there was no need for further explanation.
“Ahhh… how delicious.”
The Bishop finally completed his incantation and gazed upon the scene with an expression of rapturous satisfaction.
“You mere whelps could never comprehend what a demon Erkastrula truly is. You have no idea how much effort I invested to subjugate this creature….”
“Ugh….”
Even the Saedos who had not become sacrifices trembled with dread as they witnessed the Bishop and Erkastrula.
The terror that they too might lose their lives just as meaninglessly at any moment.
And not merely a difference in power, but an insurmountable gap that existed at the very level of existence itself.
The Bishop extended his hand once more and spoke.
“I hear you whelps were arrogant enough to boast of capturing an Eodukshin of your own making. But this—this is what a true Eodukshin is.”
He bore the dignity of a judge pronouncing sentence.
“Let your pathetic existence end in this underground prison.”
At that very moment, Erkastrula, which had only been growling until now, unleashed a roar.
Uooooooo———!!!
Dust cascaded from the ceiling—a sound that literally shook the very earth itself.
Moreover, the earthweb that had been rotating at high speed around the creature spread outward in all directions.
As though it were carving out its own domain.
“Gaaahhh——!!”
“Ugh!”
“P-please…forgive us…!”
The Saedos and Duogsinis nearby lost their senses and collapsed one after another.
Though their bodies too had been infested with earthweb, earthweb was poison among poisons.
If the precarious balance maintaining their lives crumbled even slightly, there would be no stopping the cascade.
In a sense, it seemed Erkastrula had made the blunder of sweeping away its own allies.
‘To be honest, it would be far more troublesome than those mere mooks.’
Even Ihyeon had to acknowledge it this time.
Within the earthweb domain created by Erkastrula, neither Ihyeon nor Elsie were exceptions.
Tsk tsk tsk——
The earthweb clinging to Ihyeon’s shadow robe and black garments collided violently against them.
Both items possessed considerable performance in their own right, so they wouldn’t succumb to mere earthweb.
‘Even accounting for that, my body feels heavy.’
Erkastrula’s roar itself seemed to be a form of ‘Fear’.
Once monsters reach a certain level, they typically emanate Fear.
An overwhelming skill that turns enemies beneath their station into mere sustenance.
Even if countless F-rank Hunters swarmed forward, they would be annihilated without proper movement once exposed to the Fear radiating from an 80th Floor monster.
Moreover, Erkastrula’s Fear was potent enough to make even Ihyeon’s overwhelming presence feel distinctly uncomfortable and diminished.
‘This thing emerged from the 94th Floor?’
Regardless of the 90th Floor range or Ihyeon’s peculiar circumstances, it was an absurd situation.
Experiencing such Fear alone proved Erkastrula was powerful enough to appear as a mid-boss on the 95th Floor or beyond without raising any eyebrows.
The very fact that it had arrived while shattering the plaza’s walls spoke volumes.
Breaking walls within the Tower meant this entity clearly exceeded this floor’s standards.
Just as I had shattered mountains on the 30th Floor, destroyed walls on the 60th Floor, and triggered avalanches on the 70th Floor.
Though such complaints were pointless now that I faced this creature as an enemy.
“Is Elsie alright?”
Ihyeon immediately turned his gaze toward Elsie standing in the plaza’s center.
Since Elsie wore no armor whatsoever—essentially defenseless—she might sustain injuries in such circumstances.
“Hmm.”
It was needless worry.
Whoosh——
The earthfire naturally rained down on Elsie without discrimination, but she had ignited countless spirit flames—a state of Dokkaebi fire.
While Erkastrula was wrapped in earthfire across its entire body, Elsie too was enveloped in Dokkaebi flames.
I had already confirmed that Dokkaebi fire was contrary to earthfire, and this moment proved that fact conclusively.
Every earthfire attempting to approach Elsie’s body was being incinerated.
Ihyeon let out a soft chuckle.
Even in such dire circumstances, Elsie continued to bring smiles to Ihyeon’s face.
Could this even be called a crisis?
Erkastrula was certainly an absurd existence unfit for the 94th Floor.
‘If we’re measuring by absurdity alone….’
Ilgyeok and Elsie were not falling behind either.
Ihyeon emerged from the rock he had been hiding behind and approached Elsie’s side.
The Duogsinis that should have blocked his path were all unconscious, so his stride was remarkably leisurely.
“Are you hurt?”
“No injuries whatsoever.”
“The Fear?”
“…It will pass.”
Even Ihyeon hadn’t completely overcome that Fear, so Elsie was likely affected more severely.
Ihyeon nodded and retrieved an item from his inventory, handing it to Elsie.
“What is this?”
“Sea King’s Ginseng. Found it lying around.”
A treasure from the ocean received from the Turtle in the Instant Tower.
An item that removed debuffs afflicting the body and slightly enhanced various stat qualities—precious by any measure.
Elsie seemed to have a vague understanding of the item called Haewang-sam, her mouth opening slightly before she shook her head.
“I cannot accept such a precious item.”
“Between us? Think of it as a gift to commemorate our reunion.”
Elsie attempted to decline, but Ihyeon remained resolute.
Inside the Tower, where anything could happen, I couldn’t allow Elsie to fight while under the effects of Pier’s curse.
I also felt somewhat guilty for not having looked after her until now.
“Even so….”
“If I consume this here as well, I don’t know how much more I’ll be called a fraud.”
“Ah, in that case, I shall consume it instead.”
‘Isn’t she accepting it too easily?’
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————