Murim Login - Chapter 396

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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 396
The Black Knight lifted his gaze toward the heavens.
A sky of pristine blue without a single cloud. Yet to the Black Knight’s eyes, already devoid of light, it appeared only as a dark, murky ash-gray.
‘How dark it is.’
The sudden thought unsettled him. Dark? What could darkness possibly mean?
From the beginning, he had been the Black Knight. A being born from darkness cannot comprehend the meaning of darkness itself.
‘But what is this?’
Light and sunlight. A child laughing brightly. The touch of someone’s hand stroking his head….
A cascade of incomprehensible words and fragmented scenes flooded his mind, leaving him bewildered.
Had it not been for his subordinate’s call in the next moment, the Black Knight would have stood there far longer.
– My Lord.
– Please.
Pitch-black armor encased his entire form. Between the helmet that covered his head entirely, emerald eyes flickered with an eerie glow.
Two Death Knights, dismounting from their skeletal steeds and kneeling on one knee, continued in voices devoid of emotion.
– Give us.
– Your command.
Ah.
The Black Knight recalled a fact he had momentarily forgotten. It was an order from the master he served.
– Go forth. Advance in all directions and crush and slay everything. Offer me mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
The master’s command was absolute. The Black Knight, whose very soul was bound in servitude, faithfully obeyed.
He appointed ten Death Knights under his command as commanders of five legions, and came here himself as the vanguard of one legion.
‘But why this place of all places?’
The Black Knight gazed toward the small city visible in the distance.
A place that existed in his memory. It was where the strange word ‘child’ had suddenly surfaced in his mind, and where he had felt an inexplicable, tremendous power.
Yet the Black Knight could not fathom why he had been drawn to this place.
– My Lord?
– My Lord?
The Black Knight, gazing down at his subordinates in silence, finally issued his command.
– Advance.
– We.
– Obey.
The Death Knight, hearing the awaited order, mounted his skeletal steed and brandished a colossal spear high.
From the spear’s blade erupted a pitch-black demonic aura, and the monsters densely packed across the vast plains shrieked in response.
– Kiek. Kee-kee-kee-keek.
– Graaaaaaah!
From skeletons still bearing flesh, not long dead, to small monsters like goblins and orcs, and massive creatures such as trolls and ogres.
Their numbers reached tens of thousands, and overhead, gargoyles and Wyverns cast enormous shadows across the land.
– Assemble.
– Now.
At the successive command, roughly two hundred Dullahans lined up in formation. Holding their own severed heads in one hand and weapons in the other, they mounted skeletal beasts and gleamed with malevolent light.
– Charge.
– Ready.
Two Death Knights formed the vanguard of the legion. Spear tips that pierced the heavens descended slowly, their points aimed at the city below.
A human city. But soon it would become a city of the undead, a land of death.
「All Public Security Armed Forces, assemble!」
「D-damn it! Monsters! They’ve appeared!」
「Sound the alarm immediately and report to headquarters!」
Weeeeee!
Carried on the rising wind came the cries of humans and the wail of emergency sirens.
But the order had already been given. Nothing could stop the undead legion now that it had begun its advance.
Boom, boom, boom.
Rows and columns arranged with knife-like precision.
Death Knights and Dullahans led the charge, with swift-moving Lycanthropes at the forefront, while massive monsters like Ogres, Trolls, and Golems formed an enormous wall as they advanced.
Monsters wielding bows and magic had long since moved to the rear.
It was the Black Knight who had conceived of this discipline and formation—something ordinary monsters could never devise.
‘Where on earth did I learn such things?’
Pushing aside the question that surfaced once more, the Black Knight spoke.
– Follow.
At the master’s command, the skeletal steed beneath him began to move.
Clop, clop.
Hooves of bone trampled the sprouting grass. The undead legion that covered the vast Granary Fields advanced slowly in the wake of their commander.
A tremendous tremor shook the earth itself, and the legion that had been advancing like a slow wave became a tide of bone that swept across the Plains.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!
– Graaaaaaah!
A deafening roar erupted from tens of thousands of monsters.
At the forefront of the monsters surging toward the city, the Black Knight shot forward like a beam of light.
「That one’s the leader!」
「Ranged units, prepare!」
「Tanks, stay calm! Tank units, intercept it together with the Hunters!」
Tanks, tank units, Hunters.
The Black Knight could hear the humans’ shouts, and remarkably, understood them perfectly.
Even anticipating the commands that would follow.
「Concentrated fire, commence!」
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Boom boom boom boom!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Magnificent. Fire, ice, and brilliant flashes erupted throughout the city.
Some descended in arcs, others followed nearly straight trajectories, all aimed at the Black Knight and the undead knights that followed in his wake.
– Ah.
Even in this ash-gray world, the light they emitted was mesmerizing and strangely familiar. The Black Knight felt an inexplicable surge of emotion and reached out his hand.
Shing.
The greatsword strapped to my back is drawn free.
Before the fired artillery, magic, and arrows could reach me, the jet-black blade cuts through the empty air in every direction.
Kwaaaaaah!
A torrent of mana-infused wind tears through the space. The air itself splits open. Spells glowing with brilliant mana are snuffed out like candles, and arrows shatter into fragments.
Everyone in the city watched clearly as light was consumed by darkness.
A single thought flashed through the minds of Choi Min-woo and Shao Shen.
‘This is….’
‘Unstoppable.’
A realization bordering on certainty. And in the next instant, a jet-black flash transcends space itself, descending upon the Hunters.
Kwaaaaaang!
A deafening roar echoes as if the heavens themselves are being split asunder.
Dozens of tower shields shatter, and a spray of blood erupts. With a single sword stroke, the Black Knight cuts down three A-rank Hunters and twenty B-rank Hunters, then gazes upon the frozen humans with crimson eyes.
From beneath the deeply lowered helmet, a desolate voice of the dead flows forth.
– Aksar. Garosh.
Kill them all.
The language of the Demon Realm—the last words heard by those who fell here the previous day.
And… the command the Black Knight issues to the legion following behind.
– We accept.
– Your command.
Two Death Knights materialize to the left and right of the Black Knight, followed by a hundred Dullahans that become sharp spears, piercing through the barrier of humanity.
Kwaddddduck!
* * *
‘A surprise attack?’
Emergency reports arrive from each front line. Wei Penghu roars demanding to know what happened, but the response is that all communications with each front have been completely severed.
「Complete severance?! Since last night it’s been unstable, but we’ve maintained connection!」
The communications officer answers while breaking into a cold sweat.
「That is… for some reason, the communication jamming has intensified significantly. The emergency report that just arrived has been confirmed to be from approximately thirty minutes ago.」
“…!”
What? Thirty minutes?
If that’s true, the attack occurred while the meeting was in progress.
And even this news barely arrived after struggling through the communication interference—it could be an hour rather than thirty minutes.
Magic Johnson mutters with a face gone rigid and pale.
「That can’t be. Before I left, that level of….」
Suddenly, the words Magic Johnson had spoken before leaving the city flash through my mind.
‘The Arch Lich. His power is gradually diminishing. Especially from last night onward, the interference factors have largely disappeared.’
I was wrong.
The Arch Lich’s power affecting the vicinity wasn’t weakening—he made it appear that way.
Subtly, bit by bit. Then by unleashing his legion, making it seem as though his range of influence had drastically contracted. So that we could feel even slightly more at ease.
‘This is….’
It’s a perfectly laid trap.
I don’t know how the Arch Lich discovered the absence of the S-rank Hunters, but what matters is that he seized that brief opening and sent his monster legions forward.
Imagining the horrific slaughter I’d witnessed yesterday now unfolding across the entire front lines, a wave of nausea far worse than when I first experienced teleportation washed over me.
But this time, instead of giving in to it, I grabbed Magic Johnson and spoke.
“Teleport.”
“What?”
“Teleport. Now, please!”
I expected Magic Johnson to cast the spell immediately. But his response in the next moment was not what I’d anticipated.
“Jin. Take a jet.”
“What? A jet? That’s so sudden… but that will take too long.”
“I can’t do it right now.”
“Why not? You know the coordinates of the Hospital Rooftop where we were earlier.”
Magic Johnson shook his head.
“The coordinates aren’t the problem. If I attempt teleportation as things stand… we could both die.”
“…!”
In my urgency, I’d forgotten about the Arch Lich’s magical interference. There was no way he would have set such a trap and then allow us to attempt teleportation so easily.
Magic Johnson continued in a grave voice.
“Ten minutes. Twenty at most. Take the jet, Jin.”
“…Many people will die in that time.”
“Yes. But if you die during the teleportation process, far more casualties will follow.”
An S-rank Hunter is a strategic weapon capable of turning the tide of battle.
Even if I arrive late, I could save some lives. But if something goes wrong during teleportation, countless people who lose me and reinforcements will cross a river from which there is no return.
Right now, Magic Johnson was expressing his concern for me while pointing out precisely that fact.
“It’s brave, but it’s foolish.”
“…”
“The jet will finish its takeoff preparations soon. We don’t have time for this.”
Through the bulletproof glass window that dominated one side of the Grand Conference Hall, I could see pilots boarding the aircraft across the Airfield.
The silhouettes of other S-rank Hunters who had already left the Grand Conference Hall were also visible.
I stood silently watching the scene, then suddenly spoke.
“You said it was possible, didn’t you?”
“What?”
“Like in the hologram footage we saw earlier—teleporting missiles.”
Magic Johnson’s eyes widened.
“Jin, surely you’re not…?”
“There’s no need for Johnson to take on the risk too. I’m enough alone.”
“For God’s sake. Are you insane? Even after I explained it, you still don’t understand!”
“I understand perfectly. And I’m prepared for it.”
“You…”
His lips trembled as if he were about to say something, then he suddenly slammed his fist on the table. Crash! The expensive hardwood shattered under the force of his blow.
“Damn it all! This is such a mess!”
Watching Magic Johnson mutter curses without pause, I let out a soft chuckle.
I already understood what his reaction meant.
“Should I take that as your acceptance?”
“Yeah. You cheeky little brat.”
He stared at me with bloodshot eyes.
The atmosphere suggested he was about to unleash a torrent of profanity.
Magic Johnson was genuinely furious right now, and at the same time, deeply sorrowful.
“Listen, Jin. I…”
“I know. You have people you need to protect. I’m sorry for asking this of you.”
“…Damn it. Will sending me to the Hospital Rooftop be enough?”
“Yes. That’s more than enough.”
A sharp hiss escaped.
Magic Johnson, gritting his teeth, pressed his thick palm against my chest.
With meticulous care—unlike the initial teleportation—his mana began to slowly envelop my body.
“10%. That’s your survival rate. There’s a 90% chance you could die.”
10%…
I lifted my gaze toward the sky beyond the window.
A brilliant azure expanse unmarred by a single cloud. Somewhere far beyond that sky, in the vast cosmos, could the Murim exist? Were they waiting for me?
In that moment, a sudden thought crossed my mind, and my lips curved upward.
“That’s fine. 10% is acceptable.”
“What?”
A dazzling torrent of light erupted outward. I felt warmth enveloping my entire body as I continued speaking.
“After all, it’s probably a thousand times higher than the odds of crossing dimensions.”
“…!”
I wondered what expression Magic Johnson wore at this moment.
Curiosity gnawed at me, but unfortunately, his face was no longer visible. A blinding flash obscured my vision, and a violent, overwhelming force pulled me beyond the warping space.
A tremendous roar tore through the air!

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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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