Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 28

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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 28. Hunting the Water God
A tremor ran through him.
His eyes twitched involuntarily.
The moment he saw what lay inside the Treasure Chest.
The instant he grasped what it was.
He couldn’t hold back the curses that clawed at his throat.
‘…This is what they call Sustenance?’
……It was nothing like he’d imagined.
On the surface, there was nothing visibly amiss about it.
It merely bore the shape of a small, rounded pill.
Artificially refined.
Yet it was unmistakably different from every other Sustenance he’d ever found.
The Sustenance that Creators prepared for their Avatars—contracted partners—consisted almost entirely of Spirit Herbs and the like, brimming with pure essence.
Spirit Medicine in its natural state.
Unrefined and unmixed, so that the essence could be absorbed easily.
In those early days after the Abyss first opened.
Avatars had far to go in their growth.
Consuming Spirit Medicine laced with explosive essence—or worse, impure Spirit Medicine—would kill them outright.
Naturally, the Sustenance should have been calibrated with restraint.
But the pill before his eyes far exceeded that threshold.
《’The Myriad Blood Immortal Pill.’》
What was an Immortal Pill?
A pill refined by an immortal.
Various mystical herbs combined in proper ratios and formed into pill shape—that’s what was typically called an Immortal Pill.
Had it been an ordinary Immortal Pill, he wouldn’t have been this horrified.
The problem lay in the name affixed to the front: ‘Myriad Blood.’
An Immortal Pill infused with the blood of ten thousand beings.
‘A pill created by extracting and blending the serums of ten thousand lives.’
Whoever made this was out of their mind.
A madman obsessed with blood—that much was certain.
It made no rational sense for ten thousand people’s worth of blood to be mixed into something this small.
Someone had painstakingly extracted blood, refined it into serum, then collected ten thousand portions of that serum and processed it again.
In other words.
‘…The lives of ten thousand beings are contained within this.’
And they’d prepared it as ‘Sustenance.’
More likely still—this pill was not made from human material.
It had come from mass slaughter of another race, another form of life.
And that was almost certainly…….
‘Orcs.’
The lich necromancer guarding the Altar.
His kin were bound within this tiny pill.
Park Chan-woo’s brow furrowed as he recalled the words of the orc priest, Yan.
―……Ah. Why do I yet remain at this Altar, guarding that which is corrupt, enduring this mockery of my people? The pain is unbearable. I wish only to follow my fallen comrades……to join them…….
She’d said she wished to follow her dead companions.
A war had taken place, and Yan must have deployed a powerful barrier to protect the Altar.
Given that the barrier was set to allow only her kin to cross, it seemed she’d fought against another race—or something far more alien still.
She’d said something corrupt lay upon the Altar, but in truth it had contained the Myriad Blood Immortal Pill—the blood of her own people—placed there under the guise of Sustenance.
‘How insulting.’
To mock and ridicule the priest Yan.
It surpassed even the cruelty typically inflicted upon the vanquished.
It was hard to imagine a more contemptible act.
The defeated orcs’ blood had been made into the Myriad Blood Immortal Pill, then placed upon the Altar that honored their god—a desecration.
And they’d forced the priest Yan to guard it.
So that Han Shin could possess the Myriad Blood Immortal Pill in its entirety.
Which meant the Creator who’d made and prepared this pill was the orchestrator of the orc massacre.
At the same time.
‘The Abyss Lord contracted to that one.’
The shape of it was becoming clear.
The being who’d transformed Yan into a lich, who’d placed the Life Vessel in Han Shin’s hands.
A Creator capable of such depravity—he was beginning to see who it had to be.
…the doubt had never left him.
If Han Shin had already struck a contract with the Great Nine Lords at this stage, there was simply no way to compete.
No matter how desperately he clawed his way to greater strength, he could never match Han Shin’s ascent.
The benefits the Great Nine Lords could bestow upon an Avatar were limitless.
Even if he monopolized every reward and bankrupted countless Creators, surpassing an entity that dominated the entire Abyss was nearly impossible.
‘It’s not the Great Nine Lords.’
Park Chan-woo was certain of it.
They would have no reason to massacre the orcs, nor would they bother constructing such devices merely to humiliate Yan.
Even among those called Named Creators, there were scarcely a handful with this degree of vicious cruelty.
Could it be one of them?
‘Not a Named Creator either.’
He shook his head.
No matter how demonic they were, the Named Creators maintained their own dignity.
They never conducted affairs in this manner unless they themselves had been directly insulted.
Of course, there was no chance they would feel insulted over a mere orc priest.
Therefore, it was not a Named Creator.
Yet if it wasn’t a Named Creator, they couldn’t have prepared Provisions of this caliber.
Someone who wasn’t a Named Creator, yet could arrange Provisions incomparable to those of other Creators.
Who could that be?
‘Only one person comes to mind.’
There was only a single candidate.
‘A Lord of the Abyss who isn’t a Named Creator, yet ranks second only to them.’
He had witnessed that creature’s contemptible deeds more than once.
This method—forcibly binding and heaping humiliation—matched that creature’s tactics precisely.
Park Chan-woo recalled the name of the horrifying being.
‘……Aheta.’
Aheta, the Lord of Night!
Aheta was the singular, unparalleled Lord who presided over the Night Abyss.
There was a strong possibility that Aheta was the Creator contracted with Han Shin.
One other mystery resolved itself naturally.
‘Now I understand why Han Shin didn’t participate in the first Night Abyss.’
Han Shin hadn’t participated in the first Night Abyss itself—never mind hunting the Twelve Divine Beasts.
There had been no need.
Had Aheta contracted with him, he would have offered rewards far superior to anything obtainable in the Night Abyss.
Especially given that he hadn’t even expected the Water Divine Abyss to be cleared.
There was no reason to deploy Han Shin and risk interference.
‘Did Aheta create an Avatar?’
Yet there had been no word that Aheta, the Lord of Night, had ever created an Avatar.
Among countless Creators, only his name had been revealed; the contract itself to create an Avatar would be an enormous burden.
If an Avatar knew the name of the Creator it was bound to, there arose methods to nullify the contract itself.
And yet he had done so.
Was Han Shin’s talent truly so coveted?
One thing was clear…….
‘All I need do is prevent him from catching the Great Nine Lords’ eye.’
Everything had become crystalline.
Now that he knew Aheta stood behind it all, he couldn’t touch him directly—but instead, far more paths had opened.
Han Shin.
He had grown explosively strong thanks to Aheta, until he caught the attention of the Great Nine Lords themselves.
In the end, Han Shin would betray Aheta and forge a new contract with the Great Nine Lords.
If he played his cards right in that gap, he could reap incalculable gains.
Park Chan-woo drew a deep breath.
Then he bowed briefly toward the Altar.
The spirits of the orcs lingering there—not close companions, but fellow adversaries of the same enemy—deserved at least this final solace.
“Rest easy. I swear I’ll bankrupt Aheta for you.”
Without delay, he reached into the Treasure Chest and grasped the Myriad Blood Immortal Pill.
Then he tossed the Myriad Blood Immortal Pill into his mouth.
Gulp!
《You consume the Myriad Blood Immortal Pill.》
《The vast, primordial essence that shapes all things circulates through your body.》
《Your constitution of Hundred Toxins Immunity improves to Thousand Toxins Immunity.》
《Your attack power increases by 1,100 for 100 hours.》
《Your defense power increases by 1,100 for 100 hours.》
《……The overwhelming surge of energy is difficult to contain.》
《If you do not expel the excess energy, your body may rupture.》
《The unabsorbed energy contains a powerful curse.》
Merely consuming it had improved his constitution, and his attack and defense power had risen by an amount equivalent to all the Spirit Medicines he’d ingested until now combined.
Yet even so, he could not absorb it all.
And worst of all, cursed energy was mixed in with it.
‘I have to spit it out.’
His body already had a weakness to curses as it was.
It was unfortunate, but he had to know when to yield.
He was on the verge of expelling the excess energy when it happened.
Rumble!
Suddenly, the ground shook.
And then.
Whoooosh!
A brilliant light poured forth from the Altar.
The light pierced through Park Chan-woo’s entire body.
《The spirits of the orcs and yangs freed from death offer their gratitude to you, who brought them solace.》
《The spirits of ‘Orc Priest Yang’ and the ‘Orc Warriors’ sealed within the Altar have activated the ‘Altar of Origin’.》
《The ‘Altar of Origin’ that lay dormant begins to function.》
《You acquire the achievement ‘Orc Liberator’.》
《You acquire the achievement ‘Friend of the Orcs’.》
《You are granted the ‘Blessing of Death, Life, and Fertility’.》
《The above blessings are activated automatically and vanish once used.》
《The ‘Blessing of Death’ erases the cursed energy that carried death.》
《The ‘Blessing of Life’ allows you to absorb all the life force contained in the ‘Myriad Blood Immortal Pill’.》
《The ‘Blessing of Fertility’ grants a 100% success rate in reproduction when the act is performed.》
* * *
“You’re… quite something, aren’t you.”
At a point where they’d already pushed past the halfway mark of the Water Divine Abyss.
Han Shin let out a murmur of admiration as he watched Lee Hyuk-soo.
Just a day had passed, yet like a fish in water, Lee Hyuk-soo pressed onward in endless combat.
He set a purpose and refused to stop until it was achieved.
Before long, only the two of them remained.
‘According to the original plan, I would have led the people toward the Swampland…….’
There, he’d intended to show them a miracle.
But Han Shin had changed his mind.
Because he’d come to understand that Lee Hyuk-soo mattered more than they did.
The others couldn’t even muster the courage to keep pace with the two of them as they surged ahead.
What profit was there in winning favor with such weaklings and cowards?
‘This one is genuine.’
For the first time in ages, he felt excitement kindle.
This man had brought him the pleasure of growing stronger, of truly competing.
‘If I’m with him, I might even hunt the Water God right now.’
Han Shin paused to consider.
His task was to obtain Provision from this place and then prevent the Water Divine Abyss from being cleared.
Should Lee Hyuk-soo attempt to hunt the Water God, Han Shin would have to stop him.
“Lee Hyuk-soo. Let’s hunt the Water God together.”
But Han Shin found he didn’t want to do that.
Genuinely hunting the Water God alongside this man seemed far too entertaining to pass up.
As competitive spirit flared in him, heat bloomed in his chest. His heart raced.
If they overcame trials together, their backs to each other, then Lee Hyuk-soo would follow him of his own accord.
Han Shin was resolved to make Lee Hyuk-soo his true right hand.
For that purpose, he could hunt the Water God as many times as needed.
It wouldn’t be easy, certainly, but it was far from impossible.
“…You mean now?”
When Lee Hyuk-soo asked, Han Shin shook his head.
“If we pool our strength, there’s nothing we couldn’t do—but to be thorough, we’ll need two more days. What I can guarantee, though, is that no one else alive could kill the Water God.”
Han Shin already possessed knowledge of every dungeon, including the Water Divine Abyss itself.
‘I know everything.’
Not only that — I’ve absorbed countless pieces of information that other awakeners, or avatars, could never know.
All of it thanks to the Creator I’m contracted with and their special nature.
‘To kill the Water God with absolute certainty, I need to break through the First Limit Level.’
No matter how monstrous his talent, he hasn’t broken through the First Limit Level yet.
If I set my mind to it, one day would be enough — not two.
If I acquire Sustenance during that time, things would go a bit more smoothly.
But the Water God is a boss monster that no one but him can kill.
Lee Hyuk-soo needs two days to stand against the Water God at all.
Lee Hyuk-soo nodded quietly, his expression blank.
“Understood. I’ll do it that way.”
He was certainly a refreshingly straightforward one.
Han Shin felt a surge of curiosity and asked, “But why do you want to kill the Water God? Do you want to become a Savior?”
“…I’m not interested.”
Lee Hyuk-soo’s tone was genuine.
He truly didn’t seem to care about becoming a Savior.
Han Shin smiled faintly.
“That’s good news. We won’t have to clash.”
“……?”
“Because I intend to become the Savior myself.”
Han Shin said it with confidence.
Though his plans had gone awry, since things had come to this, he intended to hunt the Water God and secure a solid foundation for himself.
That way, his relationship with Lee Hyuk-soo would also become smoother.
Lee Hyuk-soo said he had no intention of becoming a Savior, but his actions and demeanor were already close to that of one.
He could be a more than capable ally.
“Lee Hyuk-soo. After we finish hunting the Water God, come with me…….”
Come with me.
But Han Shin couldn’t finish the sentence.
Suddenly.
From far away, at the edge of the Abyss.
Crash!
A massive rumble of thunder tore through the air.
And in that very instant.
《The Water God has been slain!》

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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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