The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-175

If Seol had to classify Bornuil, the Libra, into a rank like a monster, he would be at least Transcendent-rank.

The six-armed monster Seol was currently facing was also likely a Transcendent-rank monster during its life.

‘A monster that can control Transcendent-rank monsters as he pleases…’

Seol hadn’t encountered even one Transcendent-rank monster before entering Alcatron, with the exception of Jamad.

However, here, he had already encountered three.

‘Koko, Stompy, and that muscular Gaugoku monster…’

And Ur, the individual within solitary confinement who treated these monsters as toys.

Even now, Seol couldn’t see Ur’s rank with his Eyes of Foresight.

‘What are you…’

Fwooosh!

Ur managed to catch Seol’s fist as if he had slowly grown accustomed to Seol’s movements.

“To acquire this much strength at such a young age… What are you…”

Ur's thoughts weren't that much different from Seol's. He also couldn't conceal his surprise at Seol's skills.

Fwirl!

Karen seized that opening to deliver a horizontal slash at Ur’s legs.

Claaaang!

Fssss…

"Both of you," Ur said to Karen and Karuna, "What a curious power."

"Neither of you are ordinary shadows... The more I see, the more incomprehensible things I find. Is this just a natural result of the new world? Or are you two just exceptional existences? I still don’t know yet..."

The Twin Knights continued their assault on Ur, ignoring his question.

Clang clang!

Claaaaang!

Thanks to the increased stats from Land of Abundance, though Karen and Karuna were unable to deal damage, they were more than capable of drawing his attention.

Claaaang!

“Exceptional!”

Grit…

“Are you making fun of us?” growled Karen.

“I would never! I was simply impressed! But… Your powers are being restrained.”

“...What?”

Even though it was only a couple of attacks, Ur was able to immediately discern a peculiarity of the Twin Knights.

"There's no reason to be so surprised. I, Ur, am the master of all branches. What do you think? I will allow you to serve me."

Karuna, who couldn’t bear to hear any more of Ur’s words, cut him off.

“There is only one fate for your new life.”

“Darn. And I liked you two so much…”

Griiiind!

Bam!

Ur slowly began to regain his composure despite being attacked by multiple opponents. In fact, he was even beginning to retaliate properly.

He then smirked.

“It seems that I can only use one magic word with this body. Hm… How should I use it?”

Ur thought for a second before finally opening his mouth.

[Destroy.]

Seol readied himself for Ur’s magic word but felt nothing.

“......”

“Hm… I guess he must have such awful mana that even the effects are delayed. Oh well.”

Ur was confident. Even so, there was something that even he did not expect.

Bark!

A black entity soared up from the shadows.

"Huh? When did you get in here?"

Koko had quickly sunk into Seol’s Shadow Space before Ur activated his skill. It was all thanks to Koko’s passive skill, Friendly Shadow.

Flaaare…

Koko gathered a black fire in his jaws.

[Koko used Unique Skill: Hellfire.]

Roaaaaaaaar!

A massive flame engulfed Ur’s body.

“Hmph!”

Sizzle!

A dark, blazing inferno, one that seemed capable of burning everything down, circled Ur.

“Krgh…”

Even Seol couldn’t step in easily with the intense heat radiating from them. The only thing he could do was wait for an opportunity.

‘How many hits can he fucking take?’

It seemed that Gaugoku’s body had considerable elemental resistance, enduring the flames as if they were nothing.

Crsh… crshh…

Ur waded through the flames and calmly approached Koko. With each step, immense pressure radiated out from him, causing the ground to sink beneath him.

However…

Rumble rumble…

Ur quickly halted and turned around.

“You…”

[Karen used Fire Flower.]

[Karen absorbs all heat within a certain radius.]

[The range of all fire attacks is increased by 100%.]

[Karen takes 50% reduced damage from all sources while she spins.]

[Karen deals 360% of her damage with each spin.]

[Karen spins 35 times.]

The Hellfire slipped away from Ur and drew toward Karen.

“Tch…”

Ur raised his arms as high as he could, preparing to defend against Koko’s fires on one side and Karen’s attack on the other.

Flaaaaaare!

“Haaaaaah!”

[Karen used Exceptional Skill: Sunset Draw.]

[Channel all of the heat into a single attack, dealing 150% of its usual damage.]

Sizzleeeeeee!

Ur, quickly realizing that Karen’s attack was much more powerful than he had initially thought, swiftly twisted his body to lift both hands in Karen's direction.

Even so, he was late.

SLAAAAAAASH!

Slice…

Fssss…

“Krgh…”

Karen managed to cut off two of Ur’s left arms.

He seemed to have taken more damage from the attack itself than the residual flames.

[Land of Abundance activates.]

[Karen has acquired a lead to Hellfire.]

“Kraaaah!”

Seol used that opening to make a move as well.

Fwoosh!

Crackle…

[You have changed to the Rain of Fire Stance.]

[All attacks will spread flames.]

[An explosion will occur at the impact point of each attack.]

[Thunderbolts will spread at the impact point of each attack.]

[Passive: Moving Flames is applied.]

[Passive: Heat and Warmth is applied.]

[Passive: Static is applied.]

Ur was shocked after seeing Seol’s changed form.

“What the hell?!”

Crackle…

“Krgh…”

Craaaaackle!

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

Woooosh!

Ur was hurled toward the barrier separating them from the rest of the expedition party.

BAAAAM!

A loud echo boomed out from the impact.

It was an overwhelming difference in strength.

Seol had the Twin Knights, who were barely a step down from Transcendent-rank, Koko, a Transcendent-rank monster, and he even combined with a Transcendent-rank summon himself.

Even if Ur had strength that put Transcendent-rank monsters to shame, his original body was currently in chains.

In fact, just how he could last this long against Seol with a body he wasn’t comfortable with was an incredible feat.

But now, even that was nearing its end.

“Grrrgh…”

"Ran out of energy to talk?”

“Hah… Hahaha…”

“...Why are you laughing?”

"I am just looking forward to seeing you in despair later."

“What?”

"Look, summoner, I realized something while facing you. And my realization will become my weapon that guarantees your defeat."

Seol had no idea what Ur was talking about.

Even though Seol had managed to push Ur back this far, he was still filled with confidence.

Seol felt both uneasy and worried.

‘I think I bought a lot of time already…’

Any longer than this, and Seol would just be giving Ur time to recover.

As his Primal Power slowly began to run out, he couldn’t wait any longer for them.

“Die.”

“Haha…”

Even so, as Seol was unsure of the traps Ur had prepared, he didn’t use Iron Fist Rule.

Instead…

[Karuna has entered the 3rd Stage of Soaring Moonlight, Full Moon.]

Gloooow…

Flare…

Karen and Karuna gathered red and black energy into their swords, respectively.

“Haha!”

Ur quickly stood up before sprinting toward Seol.

Seol, holding no intentions of avoiding a head-on fight, faced Ur with the Twin Knights and Koko.

[Karuna used Moonlight Slash.]

[Karen used Red Lotus Slash.]

Slaaaaash…

Ur fell to the floor before even reaching Seol.

He collapsed helplessly, in a pathetic manner.

“Haha… This is why I don’t like bodies that can’t use magic.”

“It’s over.”

“No, let’s enjoy it a bit longer, summoner,” laughed Ur.

Ur’s body had been completely cut in half.

It was clear that he only had a few more breaths left. It wouldn’t have been weird for him to die at any second.

With his dying breath, Ur said one final word.

“Summoner… that will soon break…”

Thud…

[You have defeated Ur:Gaugoku.]

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Faaaade…

The barrier that Ur made slowly faded away.

And with that, the expedition party celebrated.

“You beat him! You fucking beat him!”

“I thought he was never going to die!”

“He died for sure this time, right?”

Frannan walked toward the corpse to check it.

“He is, he definitely died this time as well. I never thought you’d be able to just defeat him one-on-one like that though. You damned monster…”

“Woahhhhhhh!”

“So all we have to do now is seal him, right?”

Seol glanced at the cheering expedition party before looking to Frannan.

“How did it go, Frannan?”

“Look up.”

“Up?”

Seol looked up at the ceiling.

As Frannan said, words, likely magic words, were written all over the ceiling.

Seol was filled with warmth as Chameli’s Sanctification filled the room.

Seol then silently looked up at the ceiling, staring at the words.

‘It feels… familiar. Those letters. I feel like I’ve seen them before…’

As Seol continued to ponder while rubbing his chin, a scream came from the expedition party members.

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

“Damn it! No!”

Frannan and Seol both ran toward the noise.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

Mael, with a miserable look, showed them Kiki, who had gone limp.

“Kiki… died.”

“...How?”

Kiki bled from his nose and eyes.

"It likely… overworked itself while trying to decipher the words…”

“Then what do we do now?”

“We might be fine for now since Ur is dead, but he will revive. We need to quickly acquire another junkie and—”

Mael stopped mid-sentence, his face frozen.

“...Snowman?”

“What is it?” asked Seol.

Mael then pointed at Seol’s waist.

“Since when… has your belt been like that?”

“My… belt?”

Seol quickly looked down to inspect Space. A crack had formed on it.

“When did it…”

Seol’s belt hadn’t taken damage at all, even during his fight with Ur.

‘So then why… Don’t tell me…?’

Seol quickly recalled something that Ur said.

- [Destroy.]

“Was it because of that?”

Crack…

Seol’s belt then shattered into pieces, as if it had been given the signal to.

[Peerless: Space’s durability has been exhausted.]

[Peerless: Space is destroyed.]

[You have earned the special achievement 'You Destroy Everything That Falls Into Your Hands'.]

[You have earned the special title 'Nephew'.]

Fwooooosh…

An immense amount of energy began to escape Space.

The expedition party began to stumble as if a storm had just appeared within the prison.

“Krgh… What is going on…”

“S-Something came out of the belt.”

Seol quickly realized that with Space being destroyed, the powers sleeping within it had also escaped.

He then recalled Blaine’s prior warnings to him.

- This item is dangerous.

He also said something like this…

- Once they are off balance, the spirits’ individual powers could eventually merge into one.

Fwooooooosh!

An enormous, black spirit appeared and looked down at Seol.

“Shades…” muttered Seol.

The black spirit grinned from ear to ear before responding.

“I’m quite disappointed. I can’t believe it only took a few seconds for you to be unable to recognize me.”

“Don’t tell me… Are you…?”

The black spirit folded its arms and then cackled manically.

“Kahahahahahahaha! Did you enjoy your short-lived victory, summoner?”

“......”

“Why should I, Ur, the Wizard, bring you down with such barbaric methods? If I want to defeat you, it has to be… this power.”

Rumbleeee!

[Ur:Shades used Vacuum Bomb.]

[Knock everyone away with an explosion of air.]

BAAAAAAAAM!

“Ahhhhh!”

“Khrghh…”

Every single expedition party member, including Seol, was blown away.

Riiiiing…

There were even a few with blood coming out of their ears and hearing a ringing sound.

“I can’t hear anything!”

“What… was that…”

Rumble!

[Ur:Shades used Howling Winds.]

[Fierce winds blow.]

Fwoooooosh!

Woosh woosh…

The winds coming forth from Ur’s hands destroyed the stake that Seol planted into the ground.

[Land of Abundance dissipates.]

“This overwhelming mana… This may be my first time taking control of a spirit-type monster, but it’s much better already.”

“...Were you aiming for my belt from the start?”

“I was. Spirits are much better than humans when you consider they’re pure lumps of power, after all. Did you fall for my tricks?”

“Damn it…”

“You can give up now. There is no way a human can defeat-–”

Koko quickly charged in at Ur, seeing this as an opportunity.

“Koko, no!”

“This is why brainless monsters are…”

[Ur:Shades used Black Fang.]

[Deal both physical and shadow damage to the target.]

Pieeeerce!

Whimper…

Seol was shocked.

Though it was true that Seol was using Koko, Koko also had faithfully followed every order that Seol gave him.

Even though Seol had been considering ways to take in Koko after the Adventure ended, Koko died before Seol could do anything about it.

[Helper ‘Koko, the Starving’ has died.]

[The corresponding Helper will not appear in future Adventures.]

[Koko, the Starving, has left behind a core.]

“You bastard…”

Ripple…

Shadow Hands grew from Seol’s right arm, swelling it up in size.

However…

[Fly away.]

WOOOOOSH…

Seol tumbled on the ground multiple times before finally coming to a stop.

"Cough..."

Blood dripped from his mouth as he lay completely still, unable to move from the sudden force that had pushed him away.

"It appears I can utilize a lot more magic words with a spirit's body. Oh? It seems like all of you have been quite clever, huh?"

Ur laughed as he saw the illuminated ceiling.

"How could you fools, who don't even know how long Cagon has existed, decipher the essence of Cagon wizardry's magic words?"

“......”

“Khrgh…”

Some from the expedition party began to despair.

Currently, Ur was much stronger than he had been before.

“Are we going to die like this…?”

“I don’t want to die…”

As everyone trembled in fear, Seol quickly scanned the area.

Seol only had the opportunity to do so as Ur was already confident in his victory.

‘I’m sure of it! I… definitely know those letters.’

What mattered now wasn't how he knew but that he could decipher and interpret it.

That was the only thing that mattered right now.

“Haha… We’re… going to all die.”

Upon hearing the voice, Seol realized Frannan was beside him. The Vacuum Bomb spell Ur had cast earlier had blown him away this far.

Seol quietly whispered something to Frannan.

“If you can buy time…”

Frannan quickly nodded, catching that Seol had a plan, and stood up.

“Hey, over here, Ur!” shouted Frannan.

“What is it?”

“Your proposal from earlier… Is it still on the table?”

“Aspect Magician Frannan, what are you saying?!”

“No, don’t do it!”

“What are you doing right now?!”

After coming this far, a few members of the expedition party believed the situation had progressed to the point where they were willing to do whatever they could.

And for those reasons, seeing Frannan not only give up but willingly become their opponent's pawn left a sour taste in their mouths that painted Frannan as an even more despicable villain.

“I am disappointed in you, Frannan.”

“Die, you shitty human!”

Ur couldn’t stop laughing after seeing the humans fight with one another.

"Yes, humans are a race that despises each other. They are, at most, walking manifestations of negativity. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Then… will you accept me?” asked Frannan.

“I don’t know…”

The expedition party continued to hurl all sorts of insults at Frannan. Despite that, Frannan ignored them all and solely focused on saying what he had to say.

“I’m quite useful. In fact, I even have another useful demonic spirit left.”

“Not interested.”

“Just listen, this demonic spirit is extremely unique. Its name is Sassy, and it has the ability to emit a loud noise that can disrupt the target's spellcasting. What do you think, cool, right?”

“And why are you explaining this to me?”

“Because I’m going to use it on you, of course.”

Fwip!

Frannan tossed something into the air.

“Sassy, don’t you think he’s loud?”

A small orb quickly sprouted eyes, a nose, and a mouth, then began shouting at Ur.

“It’s so louuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud!”

Riiiiiing…

Though Ur tried to shout in response, Sassy absorbed all the sound within the area.

“Now!”

Seol began reading through the ancient text on the ceiling.

[We suppress the evil within us not by virtue, but by reason.]

Realizing that he couldn’t cast any spells, Ur began charging at Seol.

“Stop himmmmm!”

The expedition party quickly stepped in between, stopping Ur.

[O root of all evil.]

“...o!”

Baaaaam!

Sassy, unable to hold back any more of the sound, exploded.

Despite that, Frannan smiled.

Seol was on the verge of finishing the last sentences.

[Light shall never greet you again whence you look up.]

“No! How are you able to…”

Seol shouted the last lines.

[May you be forgotten with Alcatron, Ur.]

Rumble rumble rumble!

Floor B5 began to rumble intensely.

Clatter clatter!

The words on the ceiling began to glow as massive chains poured down, catching Ur’s wrists.

“NOOO!”

[Alcatron reactivates.]