Past Life Returner
chapter-421

From the moment I soared up in the sky, I could clearly see Entegasto’s current condition. Black armor pieces covered its body, but a majority of its skin was still exposed. Muscles that were wrapped around its face were visible through the gaps in the helmet that revealed its eye sockets, and muscles were tightly stretched between the armor pieces. The muscle fibers were gathered to form masses, and they appeared as if a reddish ocean current was moving

However, the exposed parts of its skin were just a tip of the iceberg. Its shoulder had many gaps to the point that I was surprised that the armor pieces had not fallen off.

Moreover, there was not even a single piece of armor left in the chest area. Skin, muscles, and ribs were all gone, leaving a gaping hole. On top of that, I could see its massive heart pounding vigorously.

In addition, the crimson energy of its Power continuously flowed from the wound and disappeared in all directions. This was clear evidence that Entegasto was suffering from its injuries.

The battle between Entegasto and Saint Jayden took place a long time ago, but its wounds looked as fresh as if the fight had just ended.

Sheeeeek-!

Its eyes that were looking down at me flashed, but I had already reached the level of its chin. The chin was the closest part of its face I could approach, and I thrust my spear at it quickly, adding in my flight momentum as well.

Zing-!

The spear hit the target accurately. Although lightning streaks struck it and scattered first, the tip of the spear actually touched its chin, where a piece of the helmet was missing. The spearhead penetrated its muscles, and it was pushed in as if it was sucked into a black hole. As my fist was pulled into its muscle, I felt resistance.

I then retrieved the spear. Although it was a tiny scar, the size of its sweat gland, there was definitely a trace left on its chin. However, it recovered instantly.

[The negative effect, ‘Chaos,’ has been applied.]

[The negative effect, ‘Harbinger of Death,’ has been doubled.]

Immediately I felt a stinging sensation on both my ankles, and it soon aggravated into extreme pain. It was from an evil spirit. I had totally forgotten about the faces of the Seventh and Eighth Virtue sisters. Only their faces appeared without necks and bodies. Both of them were glaring at me with their eyes filled with intense resentment.

However, they were not actual souls. They were just illusions, but the damage they inflicted on me was real.

At the moment the two faces simultaneously turned their heads, the force pulling me down became immense. The two faces that were attached to my ankles remained the same, but my surroundings spun crazily. I struck at them with Alpha and Gamma. Although they couldn’t crush the skulls or burn the faces with flames, it worked to a certain extent as they soon disappeared. I managed to get my balance immediately before hitting the ground, and the background stopped spinning.

Nonetheless, I realized that both of my ankles were so severely injured to the point they were non-functional/ I didn’t even need to look at them. Of course, I couldn’t afford to take a look at them.

[Remaining time (Punishment of the Moong Water God): 19 seconds]

Its hand was coming down at me again, and this time, it didn’t seem to intend to grab me. That was why all sorts of evil spirits were pouring out from its gigantic outstretched hand. The faces of the Seventh and Eighth Virtues were there as well.

All of them were the souls of the deceased that I killed. Each face had bloody tears flowing down their eyes, filled with resentment and agony. Their mouths were wide open as if they were screaming, and their tongues were writhing.

However, there were also the faces of people I had not killed, which made my skin crawl. Yeon-Hee, Jonathan, Joshua, Seong-Il, my parents, and faces that I never wanted to see even in my dreams. Dozens of them were pouring out all at once. The sound of their onslaught was similar to the sound one made when they were choking or strangling.

Aargh. Aaaargh.

Aaaaaaargh-

I wanted to use Lunea’s Light, but I stopped myself. I unfolded and flapped my wings with a disgusting feeling. It was not a big deal that I couldn’t use my legs as the wings were a part of my body as well.

Argh!

[The negative effect, ‘Harbinger of Death,’ has been tripled.]

Ugh. I thought I had narrowly avoided it, but that was not true. A sudden shock struck my back, and a light flashed in front of me. When I came to my senses, I was stuck in the ground. My entire face felt heavy, and my broken teeth were mixed in the blood.

As I leaped to the side by striking the ground with my three tails, an explosion erupted where I had collapsed. The blast wave pushed me away once more, but it wasn’t over yet.

It appeared that this was just the beginning of Entegasto’s offensive. Illusions of evil spirits poured out non-stop from its palm, and each one had the attribute of death. In addition to the unbearable pain in my damaged back and ankles, a curse was seeping in and preventing regeneration.

Therefore, I needed to run away somehow.

[Please! Please go to hell, Doom Man! Everyone is going to die if you keep doing this! Pleaseeeee-!]

At one point, the bastard’s messages shook before my eyes. I managed to land a hit on Entegasto while dodging the illusions of the evil spirits, but Sensitive had not been activated yet so I found myself getting slammed to the ground again.

This time, I struck the ground not only with my tail but also with my hands and wings. As I soared at an angle, the wind filled with the smell of blood brushed past me.

Doom Entegasto was injured, but it indeed deserved its title and its close rank to Doom Kaos. It continued to stand still even while it had continuously attacked me with evil spirits. It had only slightly adjusted the direction of its palm. Even now, its offensive maneuvers had not stopped.

Damn it. Damn it! How strong is this asshole?

Every time it switched direction, a dangerous illusion grazed past me. However, when something came straight for my abdomen, I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid it. Therefore, all my Strength was focused on the point of impact. Forerunner alone was not enough. I needed the activation of Sensitive…

“Argh!”

***

[Warning: Odin’s Golden Armor is in danger.]

[The negative effect, ‘Harbinger of Death,’ has been quintupled.]

[* Keep in mind that if it reaches six stacks, the powerful negative effect ‘Contempt for the Weak’ will be completed.]

[Contempt of the Weak (Negative Effect)

The weak deserve contempt.

Effect: All Resistance is reduced to the maximum extent during the duration of the effect. The user will be restrained, and the effect of items will not be applied. The user cannot use items, skills, or traits. The level will be reduced to the lowest possible.

Duration: Unknown.]

The messages that suddenly came to my mind were fragments of memories. They were things I saw just before my memory was momentarily cut off during the crash. Not much time had passed as the Punishment of the Moong Water God had not been recharged yet.

Even then, the evil spirits were flying with their mouths wide open toward me.

[You have used Lunea’s Light.]

[Cooldown time (Lunea’s Light): -30 % (16 hours 49 minutes)]

[Doom Man’s Bone Ring that the Dead Revere - 30%]

[The negative effect, ‘Chaos,’ has been removed.]

[The negative effect, ‘Harbinger of Death (quintupled),’ has been removed.]

The illusion disappeared immediately, and the hideous faces turned into projectiles that were condensed with red energy. That was their true form. Although it was a relief that I no longer had to see them, I felt something icky. I wasn’t certain if I could withstand Entegasto with only a sword and lightning power, but it wasn’t time to hesitate.

I formed the trajectory of Devi’s Sword with me in the center and spun the lighting bolts as well.

[*Storage box]

[Lunea’s Light has been added.]

I put some items in my inventory before forgetting about it. I was struggling to dodge the projectiles with my injured body, and Devi’s Sword and Odin’s Wrath were definitely not enough.

I was exposed again as a few projectiles quickly offset the barrier I had created. I managed to avoid the ones I thought I could, but the problem were the ones that I couldn’t help but get hit by. One of them suddenly pierced through my sensory net and appeared out of nowhere, so it was useless to change direction.

I must have fallen again like a puppet with a severed string.

[Warning: Ra’s Sun Cape is on the verge of destruction.]

[Warning: Odin’s Golden Armor is on the verge of destruction.]

[Warning: Zeus’s Thunder Spear is in danger.]

At that time, the negative effect of ‘Harbinger of Death,’ which I had reset, became tripled again, and the fucking ‘Chaos’ clung to me as well.

However…the attack suddenly stopped. I wondered if Doom Kaos had stopped the fight, or if I had missed a message, but I couldn’t see anyone including the jerk Lunea, Caso, and Mount. I couldn’t let this reprieve pass in vain.

I started by unleashing the recharged Punishment of the Moong Water God. Although the powerful death energy had blocked my regeneration, this would be temporarily effective in treating my wounds.

At the same time, I put Odin’s Golden Armor in the inventory. While I was making a painful decision about Ra’s Sun Cape, I suddenly realized that perhaps Entegasto needed time for maintenance. If I were him, then I would have waited for time to recharge without attacking more to avoid the situation of the Man Who Overcomes Adverisity’s activation. Moreover, I was resistant to physical damage.

Thus, the attack it had to exert on me was obvious. It was waiting to complete the Contempt of the Weak. Nonetheless, at that moment…

Woooong-

I felt a familiar flow from it. A rough, strong, and controlled flow surged dramatically toward the skulls of ancient dragons attached to its knee pads. It was the same phenomenon that occurred when those who had awakened as a skeletal dragon or Dragorin exhaled their breath. Of course, their strength and speed were incomparable to them.

The skulls of the ancient dragons, which were now merely material, moved as if they had regained life. That was when I realized Entegasto’s intention. It was confident that it couldn’t complete the Contempt of the Weak. Perhaps it was because the recharging time was too long to try right away.

Therefore, it was preparing a powerful strike that could inflict damage on me even if I activated the Man Who Overcomes Adversity! It wanted to kill me as soon as I completed my true form with the activation of all the items and traits I had.

Entegasto had missed two chances. It couldn’t trap me in its grasp, nor could it complete the Contempt of the Weak. That was why it decided to move again! It already gave me goosebumps, and the chilling sense of crisis permeated my bones. My thoughts flowed quickly as if death was just around the corner.

The attack that would burst from the two ancient dragon skulls had a formidable power that I had never experienced before. If I took the damage head on, then Ra’s Sun Cape would be destroyed. Without the cape, I lacked Power Resistance. To continue confronting Entegasto, I needed to pay Ra’s Sun Cape as a participation fee.

I decided to fight!

Dddd- Dddddddd-

The jaw bones of the ancient dragons widened as if they were screaming. The red energy filling my entire field of vision burst out.

***

The motherfucker Lunea once said that hell will feel like an eternity. The pain was terrible and crushed me. It shattered me into pieces, burned me, and devoured me. At one point, I didn’t even have the organs left to scream.

[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity has been activated.]

[You have leveled up. Change: Overlord (Lv.641) → Overlord (Lv. 720)]

[All skill classes and traits’ proficiency has leveled up.]

[All of your injuries have been healed.]

[All negative effects have been removed.]

[The duration of the trait the Man Who Overcomes Adversity has significantly declined.]

[Duration (Man Who Overcomes Adversity): - 90% (2 hours 24 minutes)]

[Doom Entegasto’s Unique Power ‘?’ - 90%]

The pain washed away like a lie as the Man Who Overcomes Adversity had activated, but it was only temporary. The ongoing pain was unbearable and hard to escape. Even after Entegasto’s attack stopped, the screaming that had been echoing in my head for a long time didn’t disappear.

[Ra’s Sun Cape has been destroyed.]

The cape was ripped apart into pieces.

[Your injuries have not been recovered due to Doom Entegasto’s Unique Power ‘?’]

My previously healing wounds stopped recovering. I took out the Thunder Spear I had placed in the storage box. The hand gripping the spear also had exposed bones as the recovery halted.

Meanwhile, the large body of Entegasto that had been standing from the bottom stairs to the top in front of the curtain had vanished. Then, a shadow slightly larger than me walked out from the curtain with a black sword in its hand.

Entegasto!

Its heart no longer existed in its chest. The sword that was glaring with red energy was its heart, and the sound echoing from the blade was like the solemn drumming of a ritual. I dove toward that sound.

Is this fair now? Entegasto!

I rushed toward the cursed sword’s hum, which was also the sound of its heart…