Murim Login - Chapter 423

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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 423
Thud!
The moment the Arch Lich was sent tumbling to the ground by the dull impact, I drew upon my inner energy and kicked off through the air.
Boom—!
With the sound of compressed air exploding outward, I shot toward the creature’s body as it plummeted at a terrifying speed.
The Skeleton Warlord let out a cry—whether a scream or a cheer, I couldn’t tell.
– That’s it, human! Finish it now!
Finish what, exactly?
Unfortunately, the creature’s judgment was flawed. At least, I knew better—having just driven my fist directly into the Arch Lich’s jaw.
‘It cast a defensive spell in that brief instant…!’
Before my full-powered Extinction Flame Divine Fist could connect, the creature shielded itself by layering a Bone Shield across its face.
Given the force behind the strike, the impact wouldn’t be entirely without effect, but this wasn’t an enemy that would fall to such a blow.
And my prediction proved accurate. The Arch Lich’s body, which had been plummeting like a meteor, suddenly halted, and tremendous magical power rippled through the air.
– Darkness Hold.
Whoooosh!
A pair of colossal hands erupted from the void. They resembled Dark Hands at first glance, but Darkness Hold—true to its name—was magic designed solely for binding and restraining an opponent.
I swiftly brought my blade down against the two hands hurtling toward me.
‘Show me.’
Everything possesses a ‘grain’—a fundamental structure. It exists in living things, in wind, and in invisible forces alike.
Through the opening of my lower dantian, I had gained the ability to sense and perceive the center and grain of all things.
Just as I did now.
Screech!
Flames erupted, and darkness split asunder. The black hands, which had been writhing in apparent agony, scattered into mist—and the Arch Lich’s eye sockets flared with light.
In the next instant, its hands, composed of dark bone joints, raked through the air.
– Dark Claw!
Shrieeek, whoosh!
The dispersing black mist transformed into the talons of a savage beast, pouring down upon me.
Countless attacks converged from all directions, each following a different trajectory. I could block them if I chose to, but doing so would mean losing the Arch Lich just as I’d closed the distance.
‘I must choose.’
I cannot catch two rabbits at once. And when the opponent is a tiger rather than a rabbit, the choice becomes even starker.
In that fleeting moment, I made my decision and unleashed White Flame with full force—not toward the magic surrounding me, but directly at the Arch Lich.
Roooar!
White Flame, burning with azure terror-fire, tore through everything and shot forth like a flash of lightning.
From the Arch Lich’s mouth came a voice more urgent than ever before.
– Bone Shield—!
Too late, you damned creature.
Whoooosh!
The azure terror-fire consumed the Arch Lich’s body.
The bone shield, not yet fully formed, crumbled to ash before the ultra-high temperature.
Crack!
Baek Yeom’s spear pierced through the Arch Lich’s chest. As it fell, skewered like meat on a spit, the Arch Lich unleashed a shriek unlike anything I’d ever heard.
And in that instant, I felt an icy wind slashing at me from all directions.
– Human, danger…!
I didn’t need the Skeleton Warlord’s cry to know what was coming. I already understood.
And I chose this path anyway. To claim bones, I had to surrender flesh. I knew I wouldn’t emerge unscathed, yet I believed this decision was right.
I stared at the torrent of mana claws descending upon me from every angle, and a thought crossed my mind.
‘…Should’ve just blocked it.’
But there was no turning back now.
Shhhhhwick!
A single gust of wind swept across my entire body.
It wasn’t an illusion like the Bone Spear, nor was it slow enough to block. I twisted my body and drew upon my reserves of power to their limit, but my boundaries were clear.
Screech, screech, screech! Shrieeek!
Shoulder, ribs, thigh, arm….
Countless mana claws tore and raked across my entire body. Blood burst from the gaping wounds, and a crushing agony flooded through me.
‘Damn it.’
It hurt. Enough to kill. Enough to want death.
No matter how many times you endure it, pain is something you never truly grow accustomed to.
My vision blurred, and my body went limp without my consent.
A brief moment, yet it felt like an eternity of suffering.
When I opened my eyes after it all, the first thing that filled my vision was an enormous heap of concrete bearing down on me.
– Snap out of it, human!
“…!”
The Skeleton Warlord’s urgent cry jolted me awake.
I forced power into my rigid body, and with the searing pain of torn meridians, my dormant senses came alive.
‘Now!’
Without a moment’s hesitation, I flipped my body.
Boom! A deafening crash erupted as dust clouds billowed upward. Violent tremors and pain crawled up my legs as I landed roughly atop the concrete heap.
“Ugh.”
Gritting my teeth against the agony, the Skeleton Warlord spoke to me.
– Human, are you alright…ah, you can’t see, can you.
I answered through ragged breathing.
“Huff. If you know, huff. Shut your mouth. My head’s ringing.”
It wasn’t just talk—it was the truth. The system notifications alone screaming in my ears were enough to make me retch.
Beep beep.
– Status Abnormality,
[Severe Injury]
has been applied!
– Status Abnormality,
[Excessive Bleeding]
has been applied!
– Due to severe injuries, your physical stats have drastically decreased!
–
[Strength], [Agility], [Stamina]
have each decreased by 200 points!
– You have sustained severe injuries! Immediate medical treatment is required!
Yeah, I think so too.
Whether from blood loss or the continuous waves of pain coursing through me, my vision blurred and my thoughts refused to function properly.
Yet even in this state, I couldn’t forget the presence of someone.
“The Arch Lich. Where’s the Arch Lich?”
At my hoarse voice, the Skeleton Warlord bellowed.
– Have you lost your mind, you lunatic! Get treatment first!
“I haven’t received a defeat notification yet. That bastard is still alive….”
– Forget the defeat notification or whatever! Just get treatment!
“Ugh.”
Stop yelling, will you.
I leaned my body against the concrete rubble, dizzy and disoriented. From head to toe, my entire body was drenched in blood, and my arms and legs trembled like aspen leaves beyond my control.
‘Damn it.’
I really got torn apart.
The one consolation was that the Arch Lich had fared no better than me—if anything, worse.
– You foolish human!
I know. I’m aware.
I listened to the roaring echoing in my skull and slowly opened my palm. Then I muttered silently to myself.
‘Inventory open. Summon.’
Pop!
Everything happened the instant I thought it.
The subspace pocket that originally belonged to Lee Jung-yong. From that item, now under new ownership, I retrieved something.
‘Supreme Potion.’
Did Lee Jung-yong ever imagine? That both supreme potions he’d brought as backup would be used entirely for me.
With trembling hands, I uncorked the supreme potion. And I was about to drink it in one gulp like it was the elixir of life.
That very moment.
Thud, whoooosh!
“…What?”
It all happened in an instant.
Black thorny vines erupted from between the concrete rubble and lashed at my wrist, and in the slowed world, the supreme potion flew away beyond a hazy mist.
I stared blankly as droplets of potion scattered through the air and seeped into the ground.
“Dark Vine.”
A spell from someone all too familiar.
The Skeleton Warlord murmured like a groan.
– It’s him.
I slowly lifted my head. Beyond the thick mist, crimson eyes like torches drew closer.
A three-meter frame gleaming with obsidian luster. It resembled a human, yet was something that could never be called human—it parted the mist with heavy footsteps and revealed itself.
– You, human.
A low voice laden with barely restrained fury.
The Skeleton Warlord trembled deep within my inventory, and I let out a faint laugh.
“Damn bastard. Stealing my meal.”
– Your struggle ends here.
Shriek, crack!
There was no time to even reach out—the moment the Arch Lich flicked his fingers, Lee Jung-yong’s dimensional pocket, which appeared as an ordinary leather pouch, was swept up by Dark Bind and hurled far beyond sight.
– No more shallow tricks will work.
With each word he uttered, the mana surrounding the Arch Lich responded.
But just as I had sustained grave injuries, the aura he was radiating was also diminished from before.
The White Flame that pierced straight through the center of his chest was undoubtedly the decisive cause.
‘I can do this.’
I forced myself to rise. As I reached out, a spear summoned from my inventory materialized in my grip.
“That spear lodged in your chest looks lovely. Want me to plant another one?”
– Will you have such an opportunity?
“Of course. Looking at your condition, it seems entirely possible.”
– Humans never distinguish between courage and recklessness. How foolish. Truly foolish.
The Arch Lich laughed aloud and spread both arms wide.
In place of the robe reduced to ash by the earlier blow, jet-black mana flowed from his entire body and took on a singular form.
‘That is….’
A vortex of mana that inspired dread merely to witness.
I instinctively understood what the Arch Lich was attempting.
‘A Gate.’
It was unstable, as though it might explode at any moment, yet it unmistakably bore the shape of a Gate.
And the Arch Lich’s next words transformed my suspicion into certainty.
– It is not yet complete… but if I eliminate only you, I can perfect everything.
Simultaneously, a low voice echoing from the heavens itself caused the space to tremble.
– Descend upon this place. Gate Open.
“…!”
I had to stop it somehow. But pain made my body sluggish, and the transformation was already beginning.
I watched the unfolding spectacle with eyes wide open.
Kwaaaaaaa!
The faint rays of sunlight that had dimly filtered through the Gray Sky vanished completely.
With a deafening crack as the heavens split asunder, a tempest swept across all directions, and in that void rose a dense darkness that lifted itself like a primordial giant.
Swooooosh!
The undulating darkness surged upward from the center of the ruined metropolis.
As tall as a high-rise building and broader than a soccer field, it was far more colossal than any Gate I had ever witnessed, and it awakened a terror that seeped deep into my very bones.
– Ah, ahhh.
A sight that made even the undead Skeleton Warlord tremble uncontrollably.
I stood there, mouth agape, staring at the Gate, when suddenly I remembered a truth I had forgotten.
‘I have to stop it. No matter what.’
Even if it wasn’t a complete Gate, if things continued like this, an unstoppable catastrophe would begin.
Millions, perhaps tens of millions, could die.
And among them… my people could be included.
Choi Team Leader on the Battlefield, Shao Shen—brief though our bond was, it had taken root.
If the Arch Lich crossed from China into the Korean Peninsula… the members of the Peace Guild and my beloved family would all be in danger.
‘I have to go.’
My will moved the body that had been paralyzed by pain and shock.
Drawing upon every ounce of strength I possessed, I pulled my inner energy upward. The damaged meridians screamed in agony, and blood erupted from countless wounds across my body.
But I did not stop. For one chance. Just one.
‘Inferno Path.’
My trembling legs pushed against the ground. A trail of flame tore open, accompanied by shattering pain.
At its end, a single being awaited.
The one who started all of this. The one who could end it.
‘Die.’
Annihilation Strike.
In the slowed world, I thrust my spear forward with all my might.
The vortex I unleashed with every ounce of power reached him.
Kaaaaaaaaa!
And within the blue flames that consumed the world, his laughter-tinged voice pierced my ears.
– Blink.

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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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