The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 327

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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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The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Episode 327
327. Hope and Despair
[What?]
For the first time, Chaos’s eyes shifted in a peculiar way.
The gaze of one witnessing something bewildering.
The Spear of Mortality was vanishing as if being absorbed into Black Scythe’s body.
‘It’s not being absorbed. It’s being pulled into a spatial dimension.’
Chaos traced the trajectory of that space.
And he could not help but be astonished.
The destination of the trajectory was set toward himself.
‘A reflection? He reflected my technique?’
Without time to be surprised, Chaos hastily reversed his own dimensional phase.
However, due to the half-beat delay in timing, he was forced to accept a portion of the reflected damage.
[Krraaaaaaagh!]
The loud scream startled all the Players watching.
A being they thought incapable of taking damage had just let out a cry of agony.
Even Ryu Min, the one responsible, found it hard to believe.
‘The Resurrection Rune worked!’
Deliberately taking a hit from the Spear of Mortality was nothing short of gambling.
Since it was an attack from the Primordial God, there was a real possibility the rune wouldn’t activate.
‘But if it worked, that means even against the Primordial God, a Player’s runes and skills have an effect.’
Though I smiled, the situation was far from optimistic.
I wished that last attack could have killed him, but unfortunately, Chaos’s eyes remained intact.
[How dare you! How dare a mere human defy me!]
“A human? I am unmistakably a god as well.”
[I will kill you… I will tear you to shreds and make you taste eternal agony in the Underground Prison!]
Chaos’s enraged eyes widened.
Whatever attack he was preparing, I had to stop it.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
I swung my scythe toward those bloodshot eyes, but he evaded through a phase shift.
Still, I did not cease my assault.
I slashed dozens, hundreds of times without giving him a moment to attack.
Yet Chaos’s eyes, which had been blurred like a curtain, suddenly flashed with crimson light.
‘What is this? Has he completed his attack preparation even while in phase shift?’
Could it be that while he cannot speak, he can still chant incantations?
This is dangerous.
My instincts are screaming it.
If I don’t evade now, I will die.
As I hastily retreated, Chaos’s voice reached me.
[The amusement ends now. Every human in this place will be annihilated.]
Before the words even finished, space tore open.
Sixteen rifts appeared, one for each person.
Up to this point, it was identical to before.
The difference was that instead of dark crimson spears, blood-red spears emerged, their tips gleaming.
[This time, there will be no escape.]
Chaos blinked, leaving only those words behind.
As if that were a signal, sixteen blood-red spears surged forward at tremendous speed.
Or rather, they were about to.
‘Phew, thank goodness I activated the Rune of Light Speed in time.’
The Rune of Light Speed slowed the surrounding time.
Or rather, I had become as fast as light, making everything around me appear sluggish.
Looking up, the blood-red spears descended with the pace of a tortoise.
They looked unmistakably stronger than the spears I’d seen before.
‘Chaos said this time there would be no escape.’
It was certainly no bluff or empty boast.
There was something about those blood-red spears.
As I examined the spears closely, I shifted my position.
Watching the spears turn their heads to follow me, I smiled wickedly.
‘Just as I thought. They have homing capability.’
Each one had a designated target, changing direction according to movement.
To confirm this, I moved the people standing motionless like mannequins.
Just as expected, the spears turned their heads.
Even if I hid the people, the spears found them with uncanny precision and pursued.
‘Just as Chaos said, evasion is impossible. Every single person here has been set as a target—guaranteed to be hit.’
If those blood-red spears descended simultaneously, everyone here would be annihilated in an instant.
All of them, without a chance to revive anyone else.
‘I wish I had some kind of universal invulnerability… wait.’
A strange thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘Not everyone is being targeted.’
There was one person—a single exception.
‘Artaros. The spears don’t target him.’
The spears were set to kill one person each, yet Artaros alone was not targeted.
There wasn’t even a spear aimed at him.
The spears were only created in number equal to the players.
‘Is it because he’s his subordinate? No, even so, that’s strange. Artaros has an immortal body anyway. Chaos would know he can’t die, so why exclude him from the targets? Could it be…?’
A possibility flashed through my mind, and I had no choice but to gamble on it.
There was no other way out right now.
‘First, I gather everyone together.’
I collected all the remaining people in one place.
Gathered like this, there were only fifteen of them besides myself.
I scanned the faces around me with an anxious heart, relieved to find that all the key members were still alive.
‘Jo Yong-ho’s mercenaries took heavy casualties.’
In the slowed time, I could see Jo Yong-ho’s shadowed expression.
‘The dead are beyond saving. All I can do is keep the living alive.’
As I gathered everyone together, sixteen crimson spears converged on a single point.
And before that convergence point, I positioned Artaros as a shield.
Hoping that he would block those spears like a barrier.
‘With his wings spread like this, he should be able to withstand it to some degree.’
Looking at his stance, Artaros stood with his massive wings spread wide, enveloping myself and the other fifteen people.
It was absurd to have a former enemy protecting us, but there was no other option.
‘I can only pray that the spears don’t pierce through Artaros and reach us.’
With that thought, I released the time constraint of the Light-Speed Rune.
Time snapped back to normal, and the sluggish spears suddenly accelerated, piercing through Artaros.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Screeeeeech!
The people, suddenly drenched in crimson blood, gasped in shock.
“Ahhh! What?!”
“What… what is this…?”
Their shock was understandable.
In the blink of an eye, their positions had changed, and they found themselves huddled together.
Moreover, right before their eyes, Angel—who had been fighting Black Scythe—was struck by sixteen spears and yet remained alive.
Of course they were shocked.
Chaos, watching from the sidelines, felt the same way.
[How is this possible?]
The humans he was certain would die had suddenly gathered in one place, and now Artaros was shielding them like a barrier?
For Chaos, who knew nothing of the Light-Speed Rune, it was utterly incomprehensible.
Among the panicked people, only I maintained composure.
‘Thank goodness. The spears didn’t pierce through Artaros’s body.’
I had worried the spears might penetrate and harm the people behind him, but fortunately, that nightmare scenario didn’t unfold.
Instead, something better happened.
Artaros, whom I expected to revive, went limp as if dead.
Thump.
As the spears supporting his body dissipated like smoke, Artaros collapsed limply.
Crimson blood flowed endlessly from the countless holes piercing his entire body.
[Cough, cough… heh, hehehehe…]
Even as he died in agony, Artaros wore a faint smile.
As if he had finally achieved his deepest desire.
And so Artaros closed his eyes.
As if an ordinary person had simply died.
‘It’s not an illusion. He’s truly dead.’
Ryu Min, who had been watching, couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
The curse of immortality had no effect.
He wasn’t the only one startled—Chaos’s pupils trembled as they darted back and forth.
It made sense that he’d accidentally committed friendly fire, but that didn’t seem to be the only reason for his reaction.
[Round 20 Boss has been defeated.]
[Congratulations on clearing Round 20!]
[The round will end shortly.]
The moment Artaros, designated as the Round 20 boss, fell, the round clear message appeared.
At the sight of that long-awaited, blessed message, the players’ jaws dropped.
“The boss is dead?”
“Round clear?”
“D-do we actually get to survive this?”
“Hahahaha! W-we made it! We’re alive!”
Light pierced through the corridor that had seemed to hold nothing but despair.
It was the radiant light of hope that sealed their escape.
The players couldn’t help but be elated, though it seemed Chaos’s ears weren’t registering their voices.
He was so thoroughly shocked that he simply stared blankly into empty space.
[Ha… I took a direct hit. So you managed to land the Spear of Instant Death on Artaros and end the round.]
Chaos’s gaze shifted toward Ryu Min as he muttered.
[It was your doing. Wasn’t it?]
“….”
[Yes, it could only be you.]
Ryu Min said nothing in response.
He had no desire to provoke the creature with careless words.
The round wasn’t truly over until it was.
More than anything, Chaos’s aura felt deeply ominous.
[Damn it. To fall victim to the very system I created. How absurd. That I should have to withdraw like this.]
Chaos’s hollow eyes looked down upon the people savoring their victory.
[But hear me, wretched humans. Rejoice too soon at your peril. I have more than enough time to kill every last one of you in an instant.]
As expected, Chaos intended to land one final blow before his retreat.
Unable to use the Rune of Light Speed again, Ryu Min swung his scythe with desperate intensity.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
But just as before, Chaos’s eyes gleamed—he could still chant spells even while in a phase-shifted state.
A deep hum resonated through the air—
As sixteen rifts materialized in the sky above, the players’ faces drained of all color.
They were the Spears of Instant Death that Chaos had wielded moments before.
[Try dodging this if you can.]
Before his words had even finished, the spears plunged downward.
With luck, one might have evaded them—but the problem was that these spears possessed homing capabilities.
‘This is catastrophic!’
Before the spears descended, Ryu Min’s eyes darted urgently toward Christine.
‘Rune of Sacrifice, activate!’
[You have designated a target for protection.]
[You will take damage intended for the target instead.]
[The effect automatically cancels if the distance between you and the target exceeds 100 meters.]
‘Temporary skill, Invincibility!’
[The temporary skill ‘Invincibility’ activates.]
[You become immune to all damage for 60 seconds.]
[You have used a one-time skill.]
[The skill disappears from your skill window.]
I cast the Rune of Sacrifice on Christine, then activated the temporary skill Invincibility.
In that instant, the crimson spears mercilessly impaled my comrades scattered around us.
Thud—thud—thud—thud—thud!
“Aaaahhh!”
“Gahhhk!”
Some cried out, while others died instantly without a sound.
Seo A-rin, Min Ju-ri, Ju Sung-tak, John Delgado, Jeffrey, Russell, Yamtti, Jo Yong-ho, Um Jun-seok, Victor, Sophia, Alex, Dorothy—and more.
My comrades, with whom I had shared life and death, fell before my eyes.
Only Christine and I remained alive.
‘I saved Christine with the Rune of Sacrifice.’
By blocking the spears’ damage with Invincibility, I managed to keep her alive.
I could also nullify the spears aimed at me with the same invulnerability.
‘Saving even one person is something.’
Though my comrades’ deaths were tragic, this was no time to succumb to grief.
[So you blocked my attack with invincibility. I commend you. But do not grow complacent.]
Chaos’s assault was far from over.
[Of course, I have no intention of attacking now. I will kill you the moment your invincibility expires.]
Hearing the death sentence, I clenched my teeth.
‘Damn it! When does this round finally end?’
Roughly 40 seconds of Invincibility remained.
Time that could be called either long or short.
I could not simply wait passively for those seconds to pass.
“Christine! Snap out of it. Christine!”
I shook her shoulders vigorously, but she gave no response.
Her eyes stared blankly into the void, pupils unfocused.
‘Damn. She witnessed her comrades die right before her and fell into shock.’
The fact that she couldn’t hear me even when I shouted beside her suggested she was deeply traumatized.
‘There’s no choice.’
I used my last remaining Dominion on Christine.
“This is an order, Christine. Use your resurrection skill to revive Sophia.”

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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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