Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 53
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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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Episode 53.
Ha Gyeong was locked in fierce combat with Silent Ruin.
‘Even after draining so much Abyss Energy with Kin Predation, we’re still evenly matched.’
If that was the case, the outcome was obvious.
The moment the skill’s effect ended.
Ha Gyeong would be torn to shreds by Silent Ruin.
But then a sudden warmth enveloped his entire body.
Turning his gaze instinctively, he spotted his allies.
It was Seo Jun Hyeok who had cast a support skill on him.
Yet the scene before him was entirely unexpected.
He glimpsed Park Jun Ho rushing back instead of fleeing, and couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
‘This is a bit ambiguous.’
As a Ranged Dealer, he might have instinctively tried to create distance.
Or perhaps the survival instinct bred into the Raiders Guild had surfaced.
Only Park Jun Ho would know the truth.
Either way, Ha Gyeong didn’t particularly care.
Right now, eliminating Silent Ruin took priority.
[Crosswind Activated]
[Double leap available]
Whoosh!
Ha Gyeong attempted to escape danger using Crosswind, its cooldown conveniently refreshed.
If he’d been slammed into the ground, he’d have no choice but to take the follow-up attack.
Changing direction mid-air, he watched as Silent Ruin whizzed past him.
Screeeee—!
Remarkably, the creature was flying at tremendous speed.
Using the skeletal wings attached to its gaunt frame.
Fortunately, its turning ability seemed poor.
It couldn’t follow him directly.
‘Seo Jun Hyeok gave me a healing skill. I can conserve the Bracelet of Tyrant now.’
The problem lay in Silent Ruin’s behavior.
Without a Tanker, aggro management was impossible.
It would certainly target Seo Jun Hyeok first.
The opponent possessed intelligence comparable to an Abyss Lord.
Indeed, Silent Ruin immediately altered course.
It began circling widely, then dove down like a bird of prey.
Screeeee—!
“Gah!”
Seo Jun Hyeok, his face drained of color, spun his body.
He was trying desperately to evade the diving attack.
Ha Gyeong pushed off the ground as well.
‘Damn it’s fast.’
Silent Ruin’s directional control wasn’t ideal, but
it flew at incredible velocity.
Though Ha Gyeong was closer, their arrival times were nearly identical.
He stretched out his arm.
To grab Seo Jun Hyeok even a fraction of a second sooner.
But it was right then.
Bang!
Seo Jun Hyeok suddenly hurled himself sideways.
This brought him slightly closer to Ha Gyeong.
Silent Ruin’s sharp claws barely grazed past.
Whoosh—! Crack!
Ha Gyeong caught Seo Jun Hyeok and vaulted over the rubble of the wall.
In the process, Silent Ruin nose-dived into the ground.
Boom-boom-boom!
As deafening impacts echoed from beyond the barrier,
Ha Gyeong witnessed an unexpected sight.
“Over here. This passage leads to the other side.”
Park Jun Ho had burrowed a hole through the wall rubble.
He hadn’t fled—he’d been preparing this instead.
Ha Gyeong felt oddly embarrassed.
‘Was I wrong?’
He’d genuinely thought Park Jun Ho was trying to escape.
Seo Jun Hyeok seemed to think the same,
scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
Then Ha Gyeong snapped back to focus.
“We don’t have time for this. You two use this structure as cover. I’m going back to fight that thing.”
“Of course. Out in the open, we’d only get torn apart.”
A Ranged Dealer and Healer belonged in safe positions, providing support.
The moment the two disappeared through the hole,
Ha Gyeong looked upward.
Screeeee—!
Silent Ruin ascended once more, beginning to circle.
But it only traced circles,
unable to dive readily.
Seo Jun Hyeok and Park Jun Ho were hidden securely within the wall rubble.
Meanwhile, Ha Gyeong strolled casually into the open ground.
“Come at me again if you dare.”
―Cunning creatures, all of you.
“Smart enough, I’d say.”
―A pitiful vermin dares speak back.
“Who exactly are you calling vermin?”
―Obviously you. I’m the stronger one.
“That’s rich. The proof is in the match, don’t you know?”
―Kekekeke! Is that so? Then let’s see what you’ve got.
The brief exchange ended as a terrifying sonic boom erupted.
Of course, the sound arrived only after the impact.
Boom! Crash—!
“Ugh!”
Ha Gyeong crumpled with a groan.
The creature had clearly arrived faster than sound, striking him across the face.
But even supersonic speed wasn’t beyond reaction.
His physical abilities should have been sufficient to handle it.
‘So why did I get hit?’
The answer came from the system message that followed.
[Silent Ruin deploys Denied Evasion]
[You cannot evade]
Just before impact,
the creature’s skill had disrupted his movements.
A ranged attack with no warning whatsoever,
plus a bind that prevented evasion.
It was an incredibly annoying ability.
Though he’d taken the hit one-sidedly, it wasn’t a total loss.
[Reactive Mana Armor Activated]
[Spirit’s Cloak Activated]
Flare!
Crimson flames erupted along Ha Gyeong’s blade.
Kin Predation combined with the mana amplification of Reactive Mana Armor.
Now everything was prepared.
Just one strike.
One perfect blow to sink Silent Ruin.
Ha Gyeong stood still, waiting.
But suddenly that same sense of danger returned.
A phantom sensation like being stabbed in the gut.
He immediately threw himself sideways.
Tap! Crack—!
Skidding to a stop with his feet scraping the ground, the space where he’d stood was erased.
A 3-meter crater had appeared silently.
[Silent Ruin deploys Dead Zone]
From that attack, Ha Gyeong understood something new.
‘It can’t use both skills simultaneously.’
If it had bound him first, then attacked?
He wouldn’t have survived annihilation.
Though it was possible this was deliberate.
Toying with him before the kill, or a sadistic psychological game.
But the odds seemed low.
Silent Ruin knew Ha Gyeong was no easy prey.
Screeeee—!
Soon the creature’s dive resumed.
It was so fast the system message hadn’t appeared yet.
But Ha Gyeong was already resolved.
‘Here it comes.’
His entire body tensed as if in a vice.
Silent Ruin’s form swelled rapidly.
Such was the force of its descent.
Ha Gyeong raised the Karambit in time with the rhythm.
Swoooosh—!
“Kyaaa!”
A crimson disc, 15 meters across, erupted upward.
A strike slamming directly into the oncoming creature’s face.
Impossible to evade.
Silent Ruin seemed to know this.
Instead of dodging, it chose to attack.
Then a crimson flash and a sickly yellow aura passed each other.
In the collision’s center, something dark materialized.
Kyuuuuu—!
Tangled products of malice made manifest.
In that process, Ha Gyeong experienced immense pressure.
‘Why is this happening suddenly?’
Normally he would be knocked back with a strong impact.
But Ha Gyeong was being pulled instead.
Toward the growing dark mass.
The remarkable fact was that Silent Ruin faced the same situation.
―What is this?
The reason was unclear, but one thing was certain.
The opponent didn’t fully understand this situation either.
It was panicking.
Ha Gyeong struggled hard.
But he couldn’t break free.
The pulling force was simply too strong.
Still, he couldn’t surrender to the current.
An indefinable dread crawled down his spine.
When raw force proved futile, Ha Gyeong tried something new.
‘This just might work.’
He drew the Resonance Staff from his back.
Then he struck it hard with the Karambit.
Clang! Whooooom!
A sharp resonance rang out, and the staff began vibrating.
Remarkably, Ha Gyeong’s body was gradually slipping free.
He hurled the Resonance Staff directly at the dark mass.
“There!”
Guuuuum!
Then Ha Gyeong escaped with relative ease.
The moment he distanced himself from the collision’s core,
a tremendous shockwave hit.
Boom!
“Argh!”
The dark mass finally exploded.
Ha Gyeong braced against the barrier.
A rush of wind tore past,
then all fell quiet.
He peeked over the rubble.
‘What? How is it still standing?’
Silent Ruin stood upright.
Despite being caught directly in the explosion.
Ha Gyeong immediately vaulted over the barrier.
‘Whatever happened, it must have taken damage.’
Then he had to land follow-up strikes before it could recover.
But as Ha Gyeong closed the distance,
Silent Ruin suddenly rose into the air.
―Kyaaaa! Hahahaha!
The creature laughed as if unhinged.
Then it began belching dark energy.
―Such pure Abyss Energy! An unexpected windfall!
Remarkably, Silent Ruin had absorbed most of the explosion.
Though the situation was absurd, Ha Gyeong paid no mind.
‘If I’d gotten caught in that like it did, I couldn’t have done the same. Focus! I need to focus!’
Dwelling on the past was the height of stupidity.
All the Abyss Energy he’d stolen with Kin Predation was spent.
Now he had to rely entirely on his own strength.
It was an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position.
Soon Silent Ruin began circling again.
Then, as tension reached its peak,
its dive resumed.
Screeeee—!
True to form,
Ha Gyeong felt his entire body stiffen.
[Silent Ruin deploys Denied Evasion]
[You cannot evade]
The creature’s form swelled larger by the moment.
Silent Ruin closed the distance in a heartbeat, claws raised.
But then—
Tap!
Ha Gyeong suddenly lunged forward.
The unexpected movement caught Silent Ruin off guard.
―Wh-how did you move…
But there was no time for conversation.
The creature was flying at tremendous speed.
And Ha Gyeong had thrown himself directly into its path.
In the blink of an eye,
they collided head-on.
Boom!
“Urgh!”
―Kyaaagh!
Ha Gyeong and Silent Ruin were knocked backward in opposite directions.
Both landing in equally wretched states.
“Oh no!”
A voice of concern came from behind.
It was Seo Jun Hyeok.
Apparently he’d tried to cast a healing skill but missed the timing.
The action had happened too suddenly.
Yet Ha Gyeong, sprawled on the ground, rose unsteadily.
Every bone in his body seemed shattered,
yet he moved as if untouched by pain.
Crack-crack-crack!
“Haa…”
Ha Gyeong exhaled deeply.
Spirit’s Cloak had long since expired.
Yet he was bearing the overwhelming pain in full.
An ordinary person—
even most Awakened Ones would have lost consciousness by now.
But Ha Gyeong walked on unbothered.
‘Bearable.’
The Bracelet of Tyrant was the reason he could endure pain like this.
Without the fear of permanent damage, such feats were possible.
As he walked toward Silent Ruin,
Ha Gyeong’s body fully recovered.
Then a grim voice seeped into his mind.
―Wh-what did you do?
“What are you talking about?”
―How did you break through my skill?
“Evasion immunity?”
―Yes.
“I didn’t try to evade. Think about what I did.”
Silent Ruin’s grotesque head twisted in agony.
In that final moment,
Ha Gyeong had thrown himself forward instead.
Using the creature’s own speed against it, creating an inescapable collision.
During impact, he’d even struck its abdomen with Collapse Heaven Fist.
Silent Ruin let out a helpless laugh.
―Hehehehe! You’re interesting…
Thump!
But it couldn’t finish speaking.
Ha Gyeong had stabbed his Karambit through it.
Silent Ruin spat curses.
―No sense of romance, you bastard.
“Romance is less important than blocking variables.”
―Don’t think this is the end. The King…
Thrust-thrust-thrust-thrust!
Regardless of the creature’s babbling, Ha Gyeong kept driving his blade home.
Silent Ruin gasped out a final word.
―You’re a real madman.
Tearing Open the Gate
Author |
Moraetop
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Samyang C&C Inc.
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Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Inc. – Dreambooks
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No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Inc. – Dreambooks.
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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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