Murim Login - Chapter 421

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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 421
Among Hunters, there exists an old adage passed down through generations.
Mages are divided into two categories: Arch Mages and those who are not Arch Mages.
Magic Johnson himself proved this saying to be true.
Out of seven billion people on Earth, only three Arch Mages exist.
Among them, he—the strongest War Mage—had slain countless monsters during the Cataclysm and led countless battles to victory.
Yet even Magic Johnson, who had accumulated such tremendous achievements, had an existence before which he would humble his pride.
‘I hate to admit it, but the Arch Lich’s magic surpasses mine. Be careful, Jin.’
The Arch Lich was a being of such immense power. When facing him, not even a moment’s hesitation or carelessness could be tolerated.
– Human, hurry!
I know, Skeleton Warlord.
Letting the Skeleton Warlord’s desperate cry pass through one ear, I channeled all my energy into both legs.
The solid concrete floor, unable to withstand the pressure transmitted through it, caved inward with a crackling sound. I bent my knees slightly, then drove off with explosive force.
Boom!
With a deafening roar like a bomb detonating, I shot through the air like a beam of light.
A fierce wind swept across my entire body as the Arch Lich, his black robes spread like wings, rapidly closed the distance.
– You…
I could see it. The faintly trembling glow in his eye sockets.
The White Flame I had unleashed with all my might shattered the invisible barrier surrounding the Arch Lich and was descending with diminishing force.
‘Come.’
I reached out my hand. Crossing the several meters between us, I pulled the shaft of the White Flame spear toward me through Void Grasp, and it landed firmly in my grip.
‘Now!’
I thrust the spear forward with all my strength. The energy of three decades of cultivation surged from my core, flowing unstoppably through the weapon. A blue aura like ghostfire erupted across the transparent spearhead.
Crash!
And in that moment when I was certain of success.
– Gravity.
Screech!
“Ugh!”
With an ominous voice, something invisible crashed down upon my entire body.
No—it slammed me.
I stretched my arms as far as I could while gasping for breath, but before the spearhead infused with my energy could even touch the Arch Lich’s feet, my body was already plummeting toward the ground.
The Arch Lich’s form, which had seemed within reach, suddenly receded into the distance.
“Damn it!”
Boom!
As I crashed down like a meteor, a metallic, scraping laugh echoed above my head.
– Impressive. That was rather entertaining.
Damn skeleton bastard. I spat out blood and glared up at the Arch Lich, who looked down upon me like a god.
“Good thing you enjoyed it. Because things are about to get a lot more fun.”
– Humans always harbor such futile dreams. I have witnessed countless times how they challenge what cannot be overcome, driven by anger and desire, only to finally grasp reality and fall into despair.
“That sounds like the same nonsense all the guys who’ve fallen to me used to spout… Do you guys share some kind of Jin Tae-kyung response manual or something? Hold study sessions about it sometimes?”
– Even so, the ones who died by your hand are mere insignificant humans. But I am different.
“Of course you’re different, you bastard. You’re already dead.”
– …!
I continued speaking to the Arch Lich, who had been momentarily rendered speechless.
“Looking at your current state, it seems you were killed by someone too. Was it by a human, perhaps? Why do you keep displaying such inferiority complex since earlier?”
– You….
“That’s right. This bastard was killed by a human.”
– Why don’t you shut your mouth!
With a resounding cry, the magical power surrounding the Arch Lich surged violently. Eyes that had turned far redder than before glared down at me.
– I am a servant who follows a great king. I am not a being that can be compared to insignificant creatures like you!
Just as I was about to continue my barrage, an unexpected word that escaped from his mouth made me pause.
Wait. A king?
‘Did I mishear that?’
In response to the question that flashed through my mind, the Skeleton Warlord answered in a trembling voice.
– I-I heard it clearly too, Commander. You cunning human, could it be that….
That couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be. I swallowed hard and asked.
“Could that great king you just mentioned be Demon King Asmodeus?”
– Do not speak the name of the venerable king so casually.
They say misgivings kill people, and it turned out to be exactly that Demon King Asmodeus.
The Skeleton Warlord, despite being unable to breathe, drew in a shaky breath, and I muttered quietly in disbelief.
“Really? Asmodeus?”
– Do not speak the name of the venerable king….
“But I was under the impression that Asmodeus had been completely annihilated.”
– Do not speak the name….
“Is Asmodeus still alive? As an Arch Demon King or something like that?”
– Do not speak the….
“Yeah, I get that it’s all very venerable and all, so just answer me. Asmodeus died back then, didn’t he? Or was he resurrected? If he was resurrected as an undead like you, where is he now and what is he doing?”
At that moment, the Skeleton Warlord muttered in a voice tinged with fear.
– At this hour, wouldn’t he be sleeping…?
What nonsense. You don’t sleep either.
– That may be true for me, but the king might be different.
Is the Demon King a child from some new country? Does he seem like the type to turn off the TV and brush his teeth before bed when the sun sets? And why are you using such formal language?
– Ah. I couldn’t help myself… But isn’t that only natural from my position as commander?
Fair point.
– Exactly. Because I’m a monster.
Then don’t use it.
– Why…?
Because the Demon King is far away, and my fist is right here.
– Ah.
The Skeleton Warlord, having uttered a sound of realization, added further.
– Human, in a moment, the Arch Lich’s magic will draw even closer.
Damn it. There it is.
I hurled my body aside with desperate haste. The verdant mist that grazed me by the narrowest margin consumed the space where I had stood mere moments before.
Ssssshhhhh!
Stone, steel, concrete—everything within a radius of dozens of meters dissolved away as if the very space had been hollowed out.
The Arch Lich’s eye sockets blazed like torches, burning with terrible clarity as it unleashed the devastating poison cloud.
– I had intended to take you as my subordinate.
“Huh? All of a sudden?”
– To subjugate your soul and body, and make you the vanguard of the glorious Undead Legion.
“How much does the position pay?”
– But I have reconsidered.
“No, seriously—how much is the salary? Don’t tell me you’re also one of those ‘passion pay’ employers?”
– Your flesh shall be torn to shreds, and your soul shall wander the River of Death for all eternity.
“Wait, do you happen to know the deacon from the church I attended as a kid? He said something similar to me once—that a demon like you would go to hell. If my mother hadn’t stopped me back then, I would’ve become that church’s first martyr.”
– You, insignificant human. Pay the price for insulting the noble King and defiling his name.
“For once, our thoughts align perfectly. The price. I like that.”
I nodded and extended Baek Yeom diagonally before me.
“So I’m thinking of collecting my own price from you… what do you say?”
In the next instant, the Arch Lich opened its mouth.
Four syllables uttered in a voice of unfathomable darkness and dread—not an answer to my question, but a curse summoning death itself.
– Dark Hand.
Whoooosh!
Through the thick miasma, a pair of black hands erupted forth. Like hands pressed together in prayer, they surged from both sides with ferocious momentum. I leaped skyward to evade them, only to find another spell awaiting me.
– Curse.
I twisted my body to avoid the net-like black miasma descending upon me, but this time I was too slow.
Or perhaps the Arch Lich had anticipated my movements all along.
The miasma was already closing in before I could even dodge the Dark Hand.
Whoosh.
By the thinnest of margins—a single sheet of paper’s width.
The moment the sticky miasma grazed the tip of my pinky finger.
Beep.
– Status Abnormality,
[Curse]
has been applied!
–
[Curse]
temporarily reduces all physical ability stats!
–
[Strength]
has temporarily decreased by 20!
–
[Stamina]
has temporarily decreased by 20!
–
[Agility]
has….
The moment the system notification reached my ears, I felt my body grow heavy, and I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘Damn it.’
Points were already scarce, and now I was cursed with a debuff on top of everything else.
Not just 1 or 2 points—20 was shaved off in one go, making the loss unmistakably tangible.
But even with such a debuff, I wasn’t helpless against him.
Not like right now.
– Dark Vine.
Crack. Whoooosh!
Hundreds of thorned vines erupted through the ground, filling the space in all directions as they shot toward me.
I exhaled sharply and swung my spear. With a scrape, a line of blue flame traced through the air, severing every magical stem in its path.
– Dark Vine, Dark Vine, Dark Vine.
Shwaaack!
From the severed edges of the withering vines, new tendrils sprouted. Budding, forming thorns, and growing to monstrous size—all within barely a second.
But a second to me was as long as a minute.
Whoosh, scrape!
A thorned vine several meters in circumference was cleaved in a single stroke.
The dark plant, its magical connection severed, crashed down upon the half-collapsed high-rise building and toppled.
Between the dust cloud that rose with a deafening roar, I sensed an ominous wave of energy.
‘Magic.’
My prediction was accurate.
Shiiiiing!
A spear stained a murky black—a Bone Spear composed entirely of bone—became a single streak of light, hurtling toward me.
No. Wait.
‘It’s not just one.’
– Be careful, human!
The Skeleton Warlord’s urgent cry accompanied the assault.
Boom!
The dust cloud exploded outward along with compressed air.
Countless Bone Spears—too many to count—surged toward me. Some flew in straight lines, others descended like meteors, and still others traced curved arcs.
“Hah….”
– Ah.
A groan escaped both the Skeleton Warlord and me simultaneously.
How many were there? Hundreds? Thousands?
Faced with that overwhelming spectacle, I found myself momentarily at a loss for words.
A chill ran down my spine, and my mouth fell open of its own accord. A bead of cold sweat that had formed on my brow slid down the bridge of my nose.
And then… everything stopped.
‘This is….’
That very state that had often visited me in times of crisis.
My five senses sharpened to a razor’s edge, and the world slowed. Through that narrowing gap, something unfamiliar pressed in upon me.
A new sense. A sixth sense that defied scientific explanation. I knew its name.
‘Intuition.’
Simultaneously, something within me shed its shell.
Eyes that had been sweeping across a vast net woven from hundreds, thousands of Bone Spheres gradually decelerated.
Had I already abandoned everything? No. What mattered was essence. Form could be layered over, but essence could not be changed.
And in this moment, I beheld the essence itself. My parched lips parted, and an exclamation escaped.
“Ah.”
So that was it. That’s what it was.
The one piece I had yet to comprehend, even at the pinnacle of transcendence.
With a flash of enlightenment that seared across my mind, the slowed world found its proper rhythm once more.
Before the rain of spears pouring down to fill all directions, I raised my spear in a daze. Toward the path I could see, I drew down White Flame.
Heavenly Strike.
Crash!
The erupting inferno consumed everything. The Bone Spheres, which defied all calculation, vanished.
No—what disappeared the moment the flames touched them were illusions woven from mana. Only the essence itself collided with my strike, and unable to withstand the force, it burned away.
Whoosh.
Ash scattered on the wind that blew from somewhere.
I heard a clear, pleasant bell chime mixed in with the wind.
Ding. Ding. Ding….
It was a sound so pleasant that a smile bloomed unbidden on my face.

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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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