The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 132

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 132

Episode 132.

[Shadow Lycanthropos]

-Title: Elite Dungeon Boss

-Type: Lycanthrope

-Traits: Contempt for the Weak, Agile Body, Shadow Claws

-Description: The king of lycanthropes who has gained partial power of shadows.

His shadow-wrapped claws can tear through rock like paper, and his agile body never lets prey escape.

[Currently in an amplified state due to the full moon’s energy.]

[Physical abilities greatly enhanced due to the effect of Contempt for the Weak.]

Text floating as if warning him.

Dohyun casually closed the information window and gripped Cheonbyeon.

[Cheonbyeon transforms into ‘Brilliant Taksinel’s Blue Sword’.]

Perhaps because the shabby club had become a blue-tinted sword like a work of art.

Grrr…?

The Shadow Lycanthropos, who had been grinning at that mystical phenomenon, stopped laughing.

But that was only momentary. The creature soon snorted dismissively.

Though it possessed mystical skills, it was still just one human weakling that triggered Contempt for the Weak so greatly.

It only thought of it as a bug performing tricks.

Grrrr…

The Shadow Lycanthropos was confident of victory but didn’t move quickly.

Since it was a rare human, it planned to slowly torment and toy with it before killing.

‘Full of openings, keheheh…’

Look at that. Even as it circled around gradually closing the distance, the human couldn’t make any countermeasures.

The nape of the neck was temptingly inviting, as if it could sever the windpipe at any moment if it wished.

Gulp.

‘…This won’t do, I’m too hungry.’

The Shadow Lycanthropos changed its mind at that sweet temptation.

Its meager reason couldn’t overcome its instincts.

Dash!

Using its agile body to kick off the ground, the 20-meter distance was closed in an instant.

Just one step away from sinking its fangs into that tempting nape.

Thud.

Grrr…?

Instead of the nape, a blue sword clashed with its teeth.

…It was definitely standing still, so why was the sword blocking it?

Before it could even wonder, its body suddenly slipped and its vision dropped.

[Parrying successful.]

“Damn thing coming at me mouth-first?”

That wasn’t the end of the strange events.

Thud. Crash-

As it was slipping, Dohyun lightly kicked its foot, making it fall shoulder-first.

Stab! Stab stab!

Stab-!

A series of thrusts came flying in an instant.

Tremendous speed that was hard to follow with the eyes!

Ke, keheng! Keng!

The Shadow Lycanthropos screamed like a newborn puppy at the terrible pain slashing through its entire body and struggled to escape, but it was futile.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Its scruff was grabbed tightly and it was thrown down again, immediately followed by a barrage of attacks.

Stab! Stab stab! Stab!

Crack-!

-Ugh… How brutal. Getting hit in the knee like that must hurt so much.

-…Risa Risa.

-Hmm…! Very… efficient!

At the cruel sight resembling one-sided beating, Jihad covered Eliza’s eyes.

Even Charlie was pondering his commentary on this indescribable fighting style.

The Shadow Lycanthropos, who had suddenly become an object of pity, struggled for a few more seconds before rolling sideways.

Roll roll-

It was a sight quite undignified for a king of a species, but dignity wasn’t important right now.

‘Ke, keaaa! It hurts! It hurts!’

The Shadow Lycanthropos got up and brushed itself down here and there, its face filled with pain, but equally filled with confusion.

Why does it hurt? Its face seemed to ask.

That was natural.

Among lycanthropes with tenacious vitality, it was especially exceptional.

[Shadow Lycanthropos’s HP is below 70%.]

Though that should be the case, it had felt a threat to its life in that brief moment.

In just a few seconds, a mere instant, it didn’t know how many times it had been stabbed.

If it had continued being stabbed like that, wouldn’t it have died without being able to do anything?

Grrrrr…

Thinking this way, it felt fear, and equally, anger surged.

It was being treated like this by just one human male?

It, who was a king?

Those strange ghosts would be one thing, but being treated like this by just one human male was too damaging to its pride.

[The dungeon boss ‘Shadow Lycanthropos’ activates the ‘Shadow Claws’ trait.]

[Phase 2 begins.]

The enraged creature’s claws turned black.

It acknowledged it. That it had been careless.

That guy was worthy of being torn apart with full power.

Scrape- Scrape scrape-

When it lightly swung its claws at a nearby luminous stone, it shattered like glass fragments.

This was the power of shadows.

This power was what made it king.

Grr. Grrr.

Seeing its own strength with its own eyes, did confidence surge?

The Shadow Lycanthropos began grinning again.

And seeing that creature, Dohyun also raised the corners of his mouth.

“Oh, you know how to power up too?”

Grrr…?

As Dohyun grinned and gripped Cheonbyeon properly, the blue sword suddenly became stained with darkness.

A sword emanating ominous energy and fierce momentum.

Ke, keng!?

The Shadow Lycanthropos’s eyes widened at the momentum that was in no way inferior to its own shadow power.

No, what was it supposed to do when someone who was already strong without such power wrapped themselves in the same thing!

But unfortunately, this wasn’t the end.

Flash-!

Golden light flickered through the darkness, and a tremendous magical form burst forth from the sword.

The black mana form that covered the entire sword and extended long made it seem as if the sword’s length had increased.

[Physical attack power increased by +40 due to Striking effect.]

[Sword Aura activated.]

[All sword attacks are enhanced and cutting power is increased.]

[You can counter liquefied enemies or magic.]

[Mana is consumed per second.]

These were the effects of Striking and Sword Aura.

However, due to the nature of Sword Aura being originally non-attribute, an opaque mana form should appear instead of black mana…

[Sword Aura is affected by Darkness Cloak and gains darkness attribute.]

[Additional effects of darkness attribute are applied.]

‘I didn’t think of this… this is amazing?’

Due to the nature of Sword Aura using the user’s mana, it was affected by Darkness Cloak.

Thanks to this, the two abilities merged together.

‘…Should I call this a hidden piece?’

No matter how I think about it, this doesn’t seem like an intentionally left mechanism.

Probably even the AI didn’t expect a player to use Sword Aura and ‘Cloak’ skills together.

Whatever the case, it was good news for Dohyun.

The already powerful Sword Aura had become even more formidable.

Kerheng! Kang!

The Shadow Lycanthrope whose arm was cut in the blink of an eye let out a pitiful scream.

Even when it tried to escape by backing away, the silent approaching sword wouldn’t let up.

When it rolled to the side, the sword was already cutting its left arm, and when it retreated to the right, it stabbed its flank as if waiting for it.

Swish-

All those attacks approached without sound.

It was already hard to follow with the eyes, and now that no sound could be heard, it was like an invisible sword was targeting its life.

Kkaeng… kkaeng…

The Shadow Lycanthrope, no longer having the dignity of a king, was making whimpering sounds like a puppy facing a tiger.

Regardless, Dohyun looked at his sword wrapped in Sword Aura and grinned.

“Yeah, this is it. The cutting definitely feels different.”

Previously, he had to put in effort to cut, but now things were already being sliced the moment they were touched.

That tough hide and muscle felt like tofu.

The sword’s range had also increased, making cutting much easier.

If there was one disappointing thing, it was that the characteristic tearing sound of Sword Aura couldn’t be heard…

‘Though it’s less romantic, this is more efficient.’

Since the noise that was both an advantage and disadvantage of Sword Aura had disappeared, it would feel even more terrifying to enemies.

It was like a violent beast gaining stealth capabilities.

[Shadow Lycanthrope’s health is below 20%.]

‘I should finish this soon.’

Just when he was getting into it, the boss couldn’t withstand the increased damage.

Though regrettable, Dohyun prepared his stance, promising himself another time.

[Using Sword Aura – Slash.]

‘The finale has to be this.’

The flower of Sword Aura, Slash!

While wrapping oneself in Sword Aura alone showed excellent performance with sufficient mana, the main attraction was still this Slash.

“Hup!”

The moment the aura surged, Dohyun swung his sword in a middle stance.

The distance to the Lycanthrope was roughly 6 meters.

It was far too short for the sword to reach, but Dohyun’s face was full of confidence.

—-!

And as if answering that confidence, the aura exploded outward.

The aura that burst along the sword’s trajectory crossed the impossible distance and swept over the Shadow Lycanthrope.

That was the end.

[You have defeated the dungeon boss, Shadow Lycanthrope.]

[Would you like to harvest the Shadow Lycanthrope’s essence orb?]

[It will be recorded in the Adventure Log.]

[Your swordsmanship proficiency experience greatly increases for executing new swordsmanship.]

[Swordsmanship proficiency becomes LV17.]

[You have defeated a new type of boss on first encounter.]

[All stats increase by +6 due to Predation effect.]

[You have leveled up.]

This was the power of Slash.

Powerful burst damage and extended striking range to mid-range, if not long-range.

It wasn’t called the flower of Sword Aura for nothing.

Of course, it wasn’t all advantages.

[You have used Slash by pouring out all your strength.]

[Cooldown is applied.]

[You temporarily fall into ‘Stun’ state for 3 seconds due to exhausting all strength.]

3 seconds.

Though it seemed like a short time, 3 seconds in a critical moment was time that could determine life and death.

Becoming a sitting duck for 3 seconds could be fatal in raids as well as PvP.

Moreover, after using Slash, Sword Aura would be canceled and couldn’t be used for a whole 3 minutes.

Therefore, Slash was usually only used at truly certain moments.

Or only when there were companions to protect you.

‘There are many cases where you can’t use it throughout an entire raid.’

The problem was that many bosses prevented even that, so many Swordsman players didn’t use Slash for safe raids.

A kind of penalty to maintain balance.

[The trait ‘Hero’ blocks mental contamination.]

[Stun effect is ignored.]

“Yeah. This is it.”

Of course, it was a penalty that didn’t exist for Dohyun.

He always felt that no trait matched Hero in terms of utility.

All the traits Dohyun possessed were top-tier and excellent, but among them, he benefited from Hero’s effects the most.

Perhaps it was natural.

‘There are officially only nine players with the Hero trait.’

As it was the best trait among those that blocked status ailments, almost no one had obtained it.

It wasn’t for nothing that Swordsmen with the Hero trait received the best treatment.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

Then came the sound of applause once again.

It was a familiar sound by now, but somehow this time its intensity was greater.

Glancing to the side, he saw Charlie’s sparkling eyes, somehow deeply moved.

-Magnificent, my lord!! To have awakened Sword Aura… This humble sword is once again in awe!

‘Ah, right. To Charlie, it must look like I became a Sword Master.’

All Knight Commander-level NPCs could handle Sword Aura, so it wouldn’t be that special, but as always, his reactions were quite dramatic.

But this was Dohyun’s misunderstanding.

-Sword Aura itself is remarkable, but… to imbue it with an attribute! Those who wield such Sword Aura have been few throughout history, my lord! Ah… my judgment was indeed correct. This humble sword will devote complete loyalty.

“Aha…?”

He was shocked seeing the synergy effect between Sword Aura and Darkness Cloak.

-I, I want that too! Such a cool explo… no, swordsmanship!

-Risa, Risa!

Even Jihad and Eliza were excited.

Well, the effects were quite spectacular.

That explosive mana wrapped in darkness sweeping through space!

‘Though it was a bit disappointing that the characteristic keening sound didn’t occur due to Darkness Cloak.’

The visual effects and the mysterious coolness that could only be felt from a silent explosion were impressive.

Black color and explosion?

-So beautiful…

“…”

It was indeed a combination that would drive that guy crazy.

He subtly tried to get Charlie’s attention, but Charlie was currently too busy being moved by the spectacle.

Dohyun shook his head and turned his gaze away.

Deciding it would be easier to give up, he planned to just ignore it and check the rewards instead. Dohyun approached the essence orb and reached out his hand.

[Harvesting essence orb.]

Then his face hardened stiffly.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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