The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 352

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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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Yeo Joo Saves the World
Part 2, Episode 173

“It lies beyond this door.”
Kang Han pointed toward the massive gate as he spoke.
Six hours had already elapsed since we passed through the Gate.
For an A-rank Gate, our conquest speed was extraordinarily swift, yet the constant shifts between day and night made the passage feel far longer than it actually was.
I retrieved the torch I had carefully stored in my Subspace and checked the condition of my guild members.
Everyone still had plenty of stamina, and no one bore any injuries.
Having completed a purification before leaving the Holy Sanctuary, Kang Han’s darkness addiction rate remained at just 24%.
Considering the multiple battles we had fought on our way to the boss area deep within the Fortress, it was a respectable figure.
‘But why does he keep doing that?’
Kang Han, who had shown a strange reaction to my purification skill when we passed through the village earlier, displayed similar behavior at the Holy Sanctuary as well.
I thought perhaps he had been startled then, so I warned him beforehand and used the skill while holding his hand under the pretense of healing, yet he still reacted the same way.
I underlined the note I had mentally made—’Check Kang Han’s purification reaction’—multiple times.
Creak—
As Kang Han’s hand touched it, the massive door swung open, releasing an unpleasant screech that echoed through the Fortress.
“Ugh!”
“What is that stench!”
The moment we stepped inside, a putrid reek hit us so forcefully that breathing became nearly impossible.
The vast space, created by hollowing out the very top of the enormous Fortress, was a sprawling Banquet Hall.
Clearly, an eternity had passed—skeletal remains lay scattered throughout.
Yet atop the long banquet tables arranged in rows, decomposing food writhed with countless insects, releasing a stench that threatened to make us retch.
Another peculiarity: unlike the other areas where only wind sounds had echoed, this place resonated with an eerie melody.
Of course, it cut off the moment we entered.
And there were even creatures actually enjoying the banquet.
“Intruders!”
“Reveal yourselves!”
My guild members showed no surprise at the fact that the dungeon inhabitants could speak language.
I had experienced the same thing in the Temple in Jungle I had entered with the Sa Ma Guild.
What was far more shocking was their condition.
“Insolent wretches!”
A knight whose bulk dwarfed a human several times over rose from his seat and drew his sword.
Thud, roll.
In the process, an eyeball fell from his decomposed face and rolled across the floor.
…I felt like I might be sick.

[ Undead Knight Commander (A) ]

After confirming the eyeball’s owner’s information, hollow laughter rippled through the guild members.
“Ah, so it’s the Knight Commander.”
“What a pathetic display, truly.”
The twins muttered sharply, yet couldn’t hide their tension.
“Seven A-rank, ten B-rank.”
Jang Su Ho quietly counted the heads inside the Banquet Hall.
For an A-rank Dungeon, it was a respectable difficulty.
Before nightfall came.
Once darkness descended, they would grow one tier stronger.
‘Seven S-rank monsters.’
An absurd difficulty.
Having reached the same calculation as I had, no one spoke carelessly.
Then, the black silhouette seated at the highest point of the Banquet Hall rose to its feet.

[ Noscrain (A)
: Master of the Dungeon.
Once a knight who guarded the Fortress, but fell to corruption and crowned himself king. ]

Once a knight who guarded the Fortress, but he fell to corruption and crowned himself king.
He was wearing a black robe and his face was not exposed, so all that was visible was his yellow eyes.
“An uninvited guest has arrived.”
Pressing down the black robe over his face, only yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Yet it was unmistakable—his size was as massive as a giant’s.
“Do you covet the throne?”
None of us answered.
Kang Han simply wrapped sparks around his silent blade and spoke.
“Let’s finish this before nightfall.”
“Protect the king!”
The Banquet Hall transformed into a battlefield in an instant.
As they formed a circle around the throne, the Justice Guild launched their assault immediately.

It was because of the single-handed sword we’d first discovered in the Supply Depot.

“Why is this blade so effective?”
Lee Yu-chan, who uses arrows made by soaking the tip with holy water rather than using mana as usual, and Lee Yu-eul, who switched from a jungle sword to an A-grade sword, were also satisfied with the supplies.
A sword forged to face boss monsters—it had proven its worth the moment we crossed into the Fortress, displaying its full capabilities in the ensuing battle.
Lee Yu Chan, who wielded arrows crafted with holy water on their tips rather than summoning them from mana as usual, and Lee Yu Eul, who had traded her Jungle Blade for an A-rank sword, both seemed satisfied with the supplies.
But Jang Su Ho was on another level entirely.
He seemed to have an unusually perfect compatibility with his new weapon.
‘He might end up with a lucky drop like Lee Yu Eul used to get.’

I was thinking this as I watched the B-rank monsters falter helplessly with each swing of Jang Su Ho’s blade.

[ Kang Han activates the skill ‘Judgment of Thunder’. ]
With the message seen for the second time, the banquet hall floor was colored with yellow sparks.
Crackle, crackle—!
With the second message came the Banquet Hall floor awash in yellow sparks.
As the monsters caught in the effect’s radius grew progressively slower, Jang Su Ho and Lee Yu Eul seized the opening.
“I… I can’t move…!”
“Ugh!”
But it didn’t end there.
Boom! Boom! Crash!
Lightning descended through the high ceiling of the Banquet Hall.
After the deafening roar and blinding flash faded, only Noscrain and the Knight Commander remained alive.
Even the Knight Commander lay collapsed on the floor, twitching feebly, barely clinging to life—already incapable of fighting.
“How… how is this possible…!”
Noscrain retreated hesitantly.
Unable to even attempt a proper fight, I felt oddly more frustrated.
So many people had died to someone of this caliber.
Kang Han approached Noscrain’s throne, drinking a mana potion.
Using Judgment of Thunder against monsters of a far higher rank than those in the Dungeon I’d entered for practice had drained him considerably.
It was just as the pale-faced Kang Han took a few more steps.
The sky visible through the hole in the ceiling began darkening rapidly.
“Ha! Hahaha!”
The coward from moments before was gone—Noscrain laughed loudly.
“Night! Night is coming!”
This confidence was not without reason.
As darkness fell, his power grew stronger.
I had fought S-rank boss monsters before, but there was no need to take the harder path.
I nudged Lee Yu Chan, who stood waiting beside me, and spoke.

As I pushed mana into the torch he held, an enormous flame burst forth—far too immense to come from a single candle.
: Holy fire against darkness. ]

: Sacred fire that stands against darkness. ]

The flame that began as red but soon burned white caught onto the fire arrows
(火箭)
I had discovered in the Supply Depot.
Whoosh—!
The first arrow flew toward the old chandelier.
The Holy Flame spread across countless candelabras, traveling along the cobwebs that had accumulated from years of disuse.
“Can’t you stop it!”
Noscrain unleashed dark energy toward us, but Jang Su Ho’s shield blocked it.
Lee Yu Chan, nocking the second fire arrow, asked me a question.
“Really do it?”
“Do it. It’s fine.”
“I really don’t know about this.”
In the end, the second and third arrows were aimed at the curtains that half-covered the large windows on both sides of the Banquet Hall.
Whoosh—!
“It’s burning well.”
Normally, I would need to carry a torch and light the candles scattered throughout the Banquet Hall, but this isn’t my home, and I won’t be coming back here again.
Thanks to that, unlike the pitch-black darkness outside, the Banquet Hall had become even brighter than daytime.
“No—!”
Noscrain let out a scream.
But it didn’t last long.

And the moment the spear point turned toward him.

[ Kang Han uses the skill ‘Spear of Justice’. ]
“Is the light going out like this again?”
Crash! Boom—!

Most of the Holy Flame was extinguished by the violent wind that swept through as the area around the throne tore apart like the claw marks of a massive beast.
[ Quest completed! ]

[ Quest Complete! ]
And then a scene that seemed like a lie occurred.
The System window that had suddenly appeared vanished from my sight, leaving only the Banquet Hall—one entire wall obliterated as if struck by a bomb.
And then an almost unbelievable sight unfolded.
“The sun is rising.”
Beyond where the throne had stood, beyond the distant mountain ridge, the sun was lifting its head above the horizon.
I could see its light gradually descending over the Village visible through the window.

I held up the score monitor for the Guild members to see and spoke.

[
281216
vs

]
“I won!”
“We’re in the semifinals!”
“We won!”
But this wasn’t just any victory.
I spoke to Kang Han, who was perched on the edge of the Banquet table, each word infused with emphasis.
“The Justice Guild’s overwhelming victory.”
Warmth gradually spread across his exhausted face.
Beneath the brilliant sunlight so bright it stung the eyes, Kang Han smiled.
It was a refreshing smile—the dark melancholy that had always lingered like clouds obscuring the sun was nowhere to be found.
I hoped he would always smile like that from now on.
I made a wish as the sun rose, as if offering it to the dawn itself.
‘Everyone must be in an uproar by now.’
Like Yoo Jin Rok, there would be many who recognized the consecutive skills Kang Han had just unleashed.
The quarterfinal match had ended in our victory, and we could have wrapped things up right there without any regrets.
But I had one more desire.
“Is everyone doing okay?”
The Guild members shook their heads at my question.
“We’ll recover quickly once we drink stamina potions. Is there more work to be done?”
Kang Han tilted his head and asked as well.

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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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