The Regressed EX-Class Martial God Decided to Become a Thousand-Star Hunter - Chapter 55

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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 55
55.
From far in the distance came the sound of gunfire detonating, and a wave of heat rose up simultaneously.
Ju Do-gyeom smiled.
‘Now that’s what I call decisive.’
Typical of Kim Han-ryul.
He’d known the man would pull it off.
Now only his own role remained.
The situation had grown slightly harder than planned, but then again—when had his life ever unfolded according to plan?
Ju Do-gyeom accepted the circumstances with his usual composure and turned his gaze forward.
Even in this barren forest where a single leaf seemed out of place, peculiarly dense trees clustered together, and a lightless path wound ahead into shadow.
Without hesitation, Ju Do-gyeom steered his motorcycle into it.
The Yoris party, having already closed the distance, followed him into the depths of the Dark Forest.
It happened at once.
Vroooom!
The motorcycle came roaring down upon them with deafening noise.
Yoris’s eyes flashed as his blade bisected the machine.
Crash!
Sparks erupted from the explosion, briefly illuminating the forest path before darkness swallowed it once more.
Immediately after, Amy spoke.
“Wait—where did that man go?”
Yoris’s eyes narrowed.
In the Dark Forest.
Ju Do-gyeom was nowhere to be seen.
Emil, who had driven his wooden staff into the ground, spoke with his eyes closed.
“Don’t panic. He’s nearby.”
Even without pinpointing his exact location, he could sense an aberrant magical pulse settling somewhere in the vicinity.
“Hm!”
Yoris snorted and raised his blade, calling out.
“Come now, don’t lurk in the shadows—come out and let’s talk. Between us, we could reach an accord without either side suffering loss, wouldn’t you say?”
His answer came not in words, but in the form of a Chinese Cleaver that suddenly flew from the darkness.
Clang!
Yoris deflected the blade and immediately hurled his sword in response.
Thunk!
In the darkness, his sword buried itself in a barren branch.
“Tch.”
A smile played at Yoris’s lips even as his eyes sharpened with caution.
* * *
『Skill, Sanhwa-yeong, upgraded to 3-star.』
『Skill, Muyeong Sinbo, upgraded to 3-star.』
Hidden in the darkness above, watching the Yoris party from above, Ju Do-gyeom assessed his situation with cold clarity.
‘The effect of Single Point Explosion still lingers strongly.’
As a result, all his ability stats had fallen two tiers, leaving him at D or D+ Rank.
A yawning gap in power before he could cross the barrier into C.
His only consolation was that his Mana had reached C Rank through the effect of Mana Early Stage.
But even that wouldn’t last long.
Checking his system status, roughly two hundred seconds remained.
Less than four minutes in total.
On top of that, the backlash from Explosive Force meant continuous pain wracking through his body.
Combined with the effect of Single Point Explosion, damage was doubling with each wave, and his mind was beginning to swim.
In this state, he had to contend with two Hunters that easily exceeded B Rank, and one A Rank Hunter.
If he took even a single hit from his opponents?
The effect of Single Point Explosion would push him into an irreversible situation.
There would be no room for the delicate balance of give-and-take he usually relied on.
‘Absolute precision.’
And perfect execution.
Ju Do-gyeom steadied his breathing.
Then.
‘Sinsu Jamryeok Ki-gong—activate.’
Internal power collided within his body.
『Temporary Strength Rank increase: D → D+』
『Warning: User’s life may be in danger.』
‘Again.’
『Temporary Strength Rank increase: D+ → C-』
『Warning: User’s life may be in danger.』
『Skill Sinsu Jamryeok Ki-gong promoted to 4-star.』
Ju Do-gyeom’s eyes gleamed with sudden brilliance.
The nature of Ki-gong mastery.
Their walls existed not in increments of 5-stars, but in units of 3-stars each.
That meant the 4-star Sinsu Jamryeok Ki-gong now possessed far greater power than before.
There was no hesitation.
‘One more time.’
『Temporary Strength Rank increase: C- → C+』
His Rank had jumped two stages from a single activation of Sinsu Jamryeok Ki-gong.
Naturally, the backlash was far more severe.
The system message alerted him.
『Warning: User has reached their limit.』
Immediately after.
His body went limp, threatening to collapse entirely.
Ju Do-gyeom, true to form,
seized control through sheer willpower.
And he spoke the words silently.
‘Activate Limit Maintenance.’
『Unique Skill Limit Maintenance activated.』
『For 180 seconds, the user will not fall.』
A Unique Skill obtained upon reaching 6-star Jigyeol Ki-gong.
Limit Maintenance prevented a person from falling for 180 seconds, no matter what.
It was, quite literally, the perfect partner to Explosive Force.
In an instant, he felt as though his condition had become completely restored.
Ju Do-gyeom smiled and executed the next Explosive Force technique.
Triple strike of Bando Bung-ik-gong.
Good news came.
『Skill Bando Bung-ik-gong promoted to 4-star.』
Once again, Bando Bung-ik-gong had broken through its wall.
The Ability Stat that naturally rose as a result was:
『Temporary Agility Rank increase: D+ → B-』
A single Ability Stat, but now it had reached B-Rank.
Ju Do-gyeom’s body felt incomparably lighter than before.
By sensation alone, he felt as though he had reached his peak condition—a state of effortless ease.
In those brief moments,
Ju Do-gyeom savored the transformation, smiling as he checked the remaining time on Limit Maintenance in his status window.
‘175 seconds left.’
He closed the status window.
“Ju Do-gyeom! You wretched rat! How long do you think you can keep hiding!?”
Meanwhile, Yoris—unable to contain his fury—lashed out with his sword in all directions, his voice trembling with rage.
Crack-crack-crack!
Trees collapsed in an instant.
The mage Emil was not idle either.
Spheres of light formed in his hands, illuminating the surroundings brilliantly.
He had concluded that darkness was aiding Ju Do-gyeom’s concealment.
A wise assessment.
But too late.
Ju Do-gyeom was already fully prepared.
His body burst forward.
Whoosh!
The light of Seomjeon-bi flashed brilliantly through the darkness.
“There!”
Amy cried out and rushed forward, swinging her axe.
Of course, Ju Do-gyeom was already gone from that spot.
He appeared directly before Emil, the mage’s eyes widening in shock.
Ju Do-gyeom was nearly upon him.
“My will shall protect those who walk the same path as I-!!”
Yoris chanted the incantation once more, hurling the shield forward.
Ju Do-gyeom let out a snort of contempt.
His eyes blazed crimson.
The Mana, dwindling toward zero, seemed to vanish the moment he spent it, yet it surged back immediately.
More precisely, it was replaced before any sense of depletion could register.
The power of his Unique Skill—Limit Maintenance.
Relying upon it, Ju Do-gyeom swung the Daebu toward the Shield, its white Aura radiating from his crimson gaze.
Crack!
The shield shattered.
Beyond it, Emil’s body—which had been raising a staff to cast magic—bore a vertical wound of red light before splitting left and right.
Crack!
The mage’s death.
Afterward, the light that had illuminated the forest vanished.
Ju Do-gyeom concealed himself in the darkness.
『Skill, Sanhwa-yeong promoted to four-star rank.』
Yoris’s blade, pursuing him, crashed against bare earth with a deafening roar.
Bang!
Emil’s corpse, lying just behind, exploded from the impact.
Amy’s eyes snapped wide open as she cried out.
“Emil-!”
“That’s not important right now, Amy!”
Yoris pressed her urgently.
His eyes, brimming with killing intent, pierced the darkness in all directions as if they could see through it entirely.
In fact, his eyes could perceive beyond the darkness.
The problem was that Ju Do-gyeom, concealed within that darkness, remained invisible.
‘Where on earth is he……’
Within that void.
Yoris’s eyes flared with light as he dimly sensed something—a blurred afterimage moving.
It was the moment his body lunged forward.
Someone shoved him hard to the side.
Thud!
Yoris, pushed away in confusion, turned his gaze with a bewildered expression.
Amy, clinging to Emil’s shattered corpse, let out a wail.
“Nooooo-! Emiiiil-!”
“What the—damn it—!?”
Was he really questioning that now, in the middle of battle?
A flash of realization lit up his mind.
Amy, who had been carefully tending to Emil all along—pretending otherwise.
The strange current that had flowed between the two.
‘These bastards, could it be……?’
His bewilderment was deepening.
Amy, her eyes ablaze with fury, sprang to her feet and charged forward, swinging her Axe wildly.
“I’ll tear your limbs apart. Your body I’ll throw to the monsters……!”
Those were Amy’s final words.
Boom!
A Yusseong-chu that erupted from somewhere not only obliterated her Axe but also detonated Amy’s skull as she charged ahead, blinded by rage.
Yoris watched it happen with hollow eyes, then bowed his head.
The Yusseong-chu, dancing through the air, grazed the back of his head with a chill and swept past.
Though he had lost his two allies in such a hollow manner, what he had learned was unmistakable.
‘It’s been that way all along……’
For some reason, Ju Do-gyeom’s attacks could not be blocked.
The moment one tried to defend, death was assured.
‘I must evade.’
He discarded the new Shield he’d drawn from his Inventory.
He closed his eyes as well.
He concentrated every sense on Ju Do-gyeom’s attack, wherever it would come from in the darkness.
‘There is but one chance.’
The blurred afterimage he had sensed before.
If only he could chase after him and drive a blade straight into that heart.
‘No. That won’t work.’
He had to get back everything stored in his inventory.
Keep him alive.
Keep him alive so he’d spill everything in agony.
Greed sharpened his senses rather than dulled them.
In the darkness, even the faintest tremor of energy became startlingly clear.
Crack!
A massive presence materialized directly ahead.
Yoris opened his eyes.
Ju Do-gyeom stood fully revealed, a massive axe in hand, regarding him with cold indifference.
Yoris laughed.
“A coward’s trick. Now you want a direct fight?”
Ju Do-gyeom said nothing.
Instead, he seized the Daebu with both hands, raised it high, and drew a deep breath.
“Haaaaaah…….”
Yoris found it absurd.
“Are you really trying to provoke me with that stance?”
“…….”
Ju Do-gyeom held his position.
His eyes asked the question.
Will you come? Or won’t you?
As if it made no difference either way.
Yoris nodded slowly.
“Very well. I’ll play it your way.”
An incantation spilled from his lips.
“All Glory Shall Follow My Path—!”
Pure white light erupted from his blade.
In the same instant, a dazzling white-armored figure surged forward.
Yoris thought it through.
‘He’s counting on me dodging.’
He’d seen firsthand the power of that strange attack.
But.
‘No need to evade.’
Not in a head-on clash like this.
As the distance collapsed to nothing.
He murmured the incantation.
“Glory Becomes the Explosion of My Conviction—!”
The aura pouring from his blade was pulled inward, absorbed into the armor.
And then.
Light detonated from the armor itself.
Ju Do-gyeom, his axe still arrogantly raised, would be engulfed and sent tumbling across the ground in ruin.
That was what Yoris believed would happen.
Amid the cascading rays of light.
Beneath eyes that glowed a fierce crimson.
What happened instead: Ju Do-gyeom’s axe, falling with an eerie slowness, met the detonating light—
“……!!”
Yoris’s golden eyes widened in shock as he charged through the explosion like a shield.
‘The explosion of conviction…….’
It was splitting apart.
Like the Red Sea parting in scripture, the torrent of light bifurcated, splitting into two currents that tore through the darkness of the forest behind Ju Do-gyeom.
Boom—crash—!
And descending beneath it all.
That axe blade.
Yoris’s body lay directly in its path, and he instinctively raised his blade in defense.
But he already knew the outcome.
He was dead.
Terror and understanding flooded his eyes at once.
‘Ah! So that’s why—why that dragon…….’
It was his final thought.
Like the beam of light I unleashed.
Or like dead Emil.
From above to below, the corpse of the White Knight—split into two halves—fell helplessly to the ground and met its end.
“Phew…….”
Ju Do-gyeom exhaled deeply.
Boom!
The torrent of light exploded, then faded into nothing.
Immediately after.
『Five or more Intelligent Beings have died in the Mana Erosion Zone.』
『New rules are being applied to the region.』
『Battle Royale.』
『The Inventories of dead Intelligent Beings are forcibly unlocked.』
Items came cascading down beside the corpses of dead Yoris and his companions.

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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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