Murim Login - Chapter 425

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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 425
Thud!
Robbed of its target, the White Flame tumbled across the ground.
“Ah.”
The Arch Lich snapped its fingers toward me, frozen rigid as stone. A pair of spectral black hands materialized from the void, constricting my entire body.
Wordless magic—incantations no longer necessary for spell manifestation.
Step. Step.
With each footfall of the Arch Lich, wisps of mist seeped deeper into its ethereal form.
My left arm, which had vanished in that flash of brilliance, slowly regenerated, and the fractured, splintered bones mended with an even darker luminescence, stronger than before.
As the Gate drew closer to completion, the creature grew more formidable by the moment.
– So that’s why I detected the scent of death upon you. A bond between human and monster… how touching.
Crack.
Bones grated and shifted throughout my body, yet I stared blankly past the Arch Lich’s shoulder.
More precisely, at a single blade driven deep into the earth and the hand of someone who refused to release its hilt until the very end.
‘Skeleton Warlord.’
Monster and human—sworn enemies by divine decree.
That was what we were. Certainly, it had been that way at first.
But now I understood. Somewhere along the way, the Skeleton Warlord had ceased to be a monster in my eyes.
‘If I had truly seen it as a monster, I would have destroyed it with my own hands.’
Had I slain the Skeleton Warlord myself, I could have gained levels and grasped that final glimmer of hope.
Yet I hesitated, and ultimately, I surrendered.
Not because it had spared my life. Because somewhere in my heart, I had already accepted it as a friend.
A hollow laugh escaped my lips.
‘Damn it. I should never have grown attached.’
At my expression, the Arch Lich’s eyes narrowed to slits.
– You laugh? In such circumstances?
“My mother always said: a smile brings good fortune.”
– You’ve lost your mind.
“I’ll laugh if I want to. Who do you think you are, my superior?”
I spat directly at the Arch Lich’s face. A thick, viscous liquid—whether blood or phlegm, indistinguishable—dribbled down the bridge of its nose.
Simultaneously, crimson light blazed fiercely where eyes should have been.
– Your answer has been noted.
“Go to hell.”
To claim I harbored no regrets about the life I’d lived would be a lie, yet all of it was futile in the end. Regret always arrives too late, and I had struggled until the very last breath—I had done what I could.
As I released my grip on despair, everything felt like a fleeting dream. My peaceful, smiling face reflected in the Arch Lich’s burning gaze.
– I told you clearly. Your flesh would be torn to shreds, and your soul would wander the River of Death for eternity.
I nodded in serene acceptance.
“So it shall be. Just like that Demon King you serve.”
– …!
“When I meet him, I’ll pass along your regards. Give me his address.”
– …How much longer will you spout such nonsense? Let’s see.
At the Arch Lich’s gesture, the colossal hand of magical force that had been constricting me seized my limbs and began pulling my body violently in opposite directions.
Slowly. Methodically.
Crack, crackle—
Small fractures erupted from within, and the pain I had nearly forgotten suddenly awakened.
I thought I had no strength left to scream, yet a cry tore unbidden from between my lips.
“Ugh, ugggghhhhh!”
– How delightful. Much better.
My vision flooded white with agony. I released the screams I had been holding back and waited for death to arrive.
But just as the pain began to fade from my senses, what came was not death—it was a system notification.
Ding.
–
[Superior Potion]
has been used!
– The amount of potion used was insufficient. Your wounds have been healed only marginally!
– Your injuries are far too severe. You require far greater quantities of high-quality healing!
…What?
As I snapped my eyes open, feeling both the refreshing sensation and the pain returning anew, I saw the Arch Lich staring down at me with eyes full of mockery.
And in its hand—a glass vial.
‘That’s.’
One of the potions that had been in Lee Jung-yong’s spatial pocket. Already stolen by the Arch Lich long ago.
And now, it was using a potion crafted for healing as a tool of torment.
Healing just enough to stop at death’s threshold. Healing enough to feel the greatest possible suffering.
– Foolish human. Did you truly believe I would grant you such an easy, merciful death?
“…!”
– Continue to wail. Weep like the coward you are, writhe in agony, and only after you comprehend your own stupidity shall you be permitted to cross the River of Death.
The Arch Lich shook the glass vial filled with potion, its voice dripping with contempt.
The potion, less than a tenth emptied, represented the measure of suffering I would endure.
And that time would stretch endlessly, flowing like an eternity.
With the faint healing came waves of agony that engulfed my entire body, stealing my breath. I forced a smile and asked the Arch Lich.
“If I chant three times ‘Long live the Demon King,’ will you end this quickly?”
– Perhaps. If you do so with all your heart and soul, I might consider it.
“No way. Go to hell.”
– Very well. Time is abundant, after all. There is no rush to decide….
Crack!
The Arch Lich’s eyes trembled violently. Mine were no different.
It was something neither I nor it—nor anyone—had anticipated.
– …What is this?
The Arch Lich looked down at its own chest, its voice thick with confusion.
Light. It was light. A radiant brilliance that seemed to illuminate the entire world pierced through its chest and burst forth.
‘No, it’s not light.’
I stared at it with vacant eyes. It was a sword, radiating a brilliance unlike any I had witnessed before.
I knew the name of that sword, so achingly familiar to me.
‘Hero’s Soul.’
And beyond the chest of the Arch Lich made of bone, I could see the owner of the hand gripping the sword’s hilt with unwavering resolve.
“…!”
The world seemed to have frozen all movement.
Within that impossibly slowed world, I watched hundreds, thousands of bone fragments converging together.
Those remnants—nothing more than the final traces left behind by someone—drew toward one another and took on their respective forms.
Thud, crack!
The fusion of bone.
First, two arms and two legs formed, followed by a chest and abdomen.
The bones that had gleamed with black luster were washed clean by the light scattered from the Hero’s Soul, gradually taking on a subtle golden hue and becoming ever longer and more resilient.
‘Ah.’
It was a wondrous sight.
Countless bone fragments assembling into a body felt like time flowing backward, and the light pouring from the sword driving away the darkness etched into each joint felt like a herald announcing the birth of a new existence.
And when the skull finally descended upon the completed form.
Burst—!
Golden radiance erupted from the hollow sockets. Familiar yet strange all at once.
With the voice that followed in the next moment, time resumed its flow.
– You asked why, didn’t you.
“…!”
My body trembled as if pierced by lightning. A memory from less than an hour ago flashed through my mind like a spark.
‘Then, why exactly?’
Yes, I had asked that back then. Why did you save me. Why did you become a shield yourself, even prepared for annihilation.
To my question, he said he didn’t know. Perhaps he was bewitched by the sword, not understanding why he had done such a thing.
And now, the answer I hadn’t heard back then pierced my ears.
– You’re cunning, but you’re a decent human. That was all.
A decent fellow.
Words I had once spoken to someone.
I gazed at him with astonished eyes. Larger and more solid than before, his entire form now bearing a subtle golden hue. The mysterious silver patterns etched upon the forehead of his skull resembled a crown.
No, it was undoubtedly a crown.
[Lv.160 Skeleton King]
Upon seeing the system window floating above his head, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
“You’ve grown so much. Our little Golly.”
– I’ve been feeling an itch all over my body for some time now.
The black, small caterpillar had finally shed its shell and spread its wings.
The Skeleton Warlord—no, the Skeleton King’s eye sockets curved like crescents. Both he and I were smiling.
And there was one existence that could not smile.
– Kraaak! Kraaaaaaak!
The Arch Lich.
This unprecedented named monster, commanding hundreds of thousands of Undead Legion beneath its dominion and wielding an inexhaustible torrent of formidable magical power, writhed in agony.
A single blade pierced straight through the center of its chest.
Golden light flowing from the Hero’s Soul devoured its magical power, melting away at its body.
Perhaps even its very soul.
– Human.
At the Skeleton Warlord’s quiet call, I understood what I had to do.
‘Now… let us end this.’
Ding.
–
[Hero’s Soul]
bestows upon you the light of healing!
– All status abnormalities have been cured!
– All wounds and stats are restored!
– Someone absent from this place smiles upon you.
Whoooosh!
A pillar of light erupted from the Hero’s Soul, enveloping my body.
With its warm embrace, shattered bones knitted together and flesh sealed itself. Wounded organs and damaged meridians healed, while a heat that threatened to burst forth roiled like molten lava.
‘I can do this.’
It was a conviction so absolute it startled even me, and it proved true.
With strength in hand, there is nothing I cannot accomplish.
‘Come.’
Screeeech! Clang!
The moment I pulled Baekryeom from where it lay tumbling across the ground into my grasp—
Whoosh!
I felt myself suspended in air as I extended my legs forward.
At the end of that stride stood the Arch Lich, convulsing in pain while torrents of formidable magical power poured from its form.
– What manner of sorcery have you unleashed!
The Arch Lich shrieked upon catching sight of me, its voice trembling with convulsion.
Its crimson eye sockets flickered ceaselessly, their size swelling and contracting.
That alone was enough to gauge the magnitude of suffering the creature endured.
– Curse you, curse you human! Krraaaagh!
Instead of answering, I slowly raised Baekryeom.
I aimed its transparent blade toward the Arch Lich, whose limbs trembled violently from agony, and the colossal Gate looming behind it.
Whoosh.
The fire dragon that unfurled its wings from my dantian erupted into a ball of flame, surging forth in all directions. It flowed along my fingertips, igniting blue flames atop Baekryeom’s blade, layering upon itself in successive waves.
– Fool! How dare you!
The Arch Lich flailed its limbs in a blinding display, but the magic it unleashed dissipated upon striking the heat that enveloped me like a protective barrier before it could reach me.
Yet unlike the weakened Arch Lich, the darkness surrounding the Gate swirled with even greater ferocity.
And finally, I understood.
‘Now!’
The rotational force flowing from my legs through my waist, shoulders, and wrists caused Baek Yeom’s body to tremble violently.
An unprecedented surge of energy drawn from my entire being ignited a flame more massive than ever before.
Yes, this was the moment.
Whoosh.
A single step. All the space between the Arch Lich and me vanished, and time itself slowed to a crawl.
Before the creature’s slowly moving lips could finish their incantation, I unleashed a strike imbued with every ounce of my will and strength.
– Bling…!
One Annihilation.
There was no room for a second mistake. A blue fire dragon erupted from the spear’s blade, consuming both the Arch Lich and the Gate.
Roooaaarrr!

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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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