Chapter 247
Hyukjin felt as if he were trapped in a dark place.
Where am I?
It was silent. Amidst the stillness, he could see nothing.
What about the Black Pearl Centipede?
He rembered enveloping Isabel in the blackfire that made up the Blackfire Bow with Athenaes pure flas as a base. He also rembered burning the Black Pearl Centipede to a crisp with that. And then, his consciousness had dimd.
Did I black out?
But his mind was too clear for that to be the case. He tried moving his fingersthey moved normally.
What about Isabel?
She wasnt in his hand up until a mont ago, but he suddenly began to see her. He heard her voice.
(You killed .)
Crack
Cracks began to spider along Isabels blade.
Just like the glass of the compass that had broken earlier.
Crack
Cra-crack
With that sound, silver dust fell from Isabels blade.
He heard the sa voice, speaking the sa line.
(You killed .)
Isabels blade broke in half.
Clang.
One half of the broken blade fell to the ground. The sword turned red. Blood seeped from it. Red blood.
(You killed .)
The other half fell to the ground as well, leaving just the hilt. Blood seeped from the hilt, staining Hyukjins hand. The hot blood ran down his hand and down his wrist to soak his clothes.
(I wanted to live.)
Hyukjin felt dizzy, like he had lost a lot of blood.
(Why? Why did you kill ?)
Behind that voice
Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.
He had the feeling he heard another voice.
Wake up. Please.
It rang faintly in his ears.
(Im your bride. So why?)
And that other voice.
Husband!
It suddenly occurred to Hyukjin that sothing was strange.
She died?
Isabel died?
Then whos the one talking to
right now?
She died, but she was talking. It was strange, sothing that couldnt normally happen.
Sothings been distorted.
That mont, Hyukjin realized.
He looked at the hot, red blood running down his hand and dripping onto the ground.
This place is really dark.
There wasnt a single ray of light.
And yet, I can see the red blood.
He could see it strangely well. That ant this was a distorted space. As soon as he recognized the distortion, an incantation began to flow unbidden from Hyukjins lips, flowing out without his conscious awareness as if it were carved into his body and lips.
He had, after all, gone through the process of smashing through fabricated authorities and distorted illusions.
Illusions and apparitions, distortions and lies, cannot covet .
No matter what ravine of evil in this world I must traverse.
No evil power that seeks to harm
can violate .
Such is the power of intuition.
The Eye of Insight that sees the true nature of things.
Hyukjins voice changed. A low voice that was not his own rumbled from his lips.
[May all lies.]
[Be shattered.]
And then, the fake world enclosing him shattered. Light began to stream in.
(Are you awake now?)
This ti, it was a white space. It wasnt darkthere was light. But that was all. In his hand was a cracked Isabel. He heard her voice.
She spoke quickly, like she was being chased by sothing.
(No matter what happens, I wont resent you, husband.)
(Even if I die.)
(So dont be fooled by a false illusion like that.)
Hyukjin realized what happened. While he was unloading everything he had, he was hit by the Black Pearl Centipedes illusion attack. Normally, Eye of Perception would defend him from such attacks, but he had just expended too much strength and was very ntally fatigued. He guessed that was why he hadnt been able to fend off the Black Pearl Centipedes final attack.
(I wont ever bla you, never. Because that is the Sword's Contract I signed.)
(The To of the Divine Sword Physique. You got it, right?)
Hyukjin rembered. Yes, he acquired it. It was a direct reward from the System.
[The quest Hunt the Black Pearl Centipede Boss Monster! has been cleared.]
[Distributing the To of the Divine Sword Physique.]
His briefly cut-off mories returned to him like the incoming tide.
[The Dwarf Elders Blessing is in effect.]
There were twists and turns, but Hyukjin achieved the result he wanted. It had gone as Hyukjin planned.
[The Breath of Production takes effect on the To of the Divine Sword Physique.]
[The Breath of Production produces another To of the Divine Sword Physique.]
[The production success rate is determined by the Players enhancent talent.]
Hyukjin thought back to the situation that had just passed. When he took the Black Pearl Centipedes illusion attack, and when he shattered the illusion with his incantation, that was when Breath of Production took effect.
[The To of the Divine Sword Physique has been successfully produced.]
[You have acquired an additional To of the Divine Sword Physique.]
[The additional To of the Divine Sword Physique will be valid for the remaining duration of the Dwarf Elders Blessing.]
In a few days, this To of the Divine Sword Physique would disappear. It was only duplicated for a very short period of ti.
I got it. The To of the Divine Sword Physique.
Isabel responded imdiately.
(Use it right away.)
Cracks continued to spread along Isabels blade. Hyukjin knew that this ti, it wasnt an illusion. It was real. Isabel was really breaking. He could feel it, as soone who shared a ntal connection with her.
I can feel Isabels pain.
She was truly in agony right now. She just wasnt showing it. Despite suffering from the pain of her entire body burning and crumbling apart, she wasnt showing him that. In his minds eye, he saw a woman thrashing in pain.
Hyukjin imdiately used the To of the Divine Sword Physique without a word of resistance.
[Absorb the To of the Divine Sword Physique?]
[Absorbing the To of the Divine Sword Physique requires the appropriate talent.]
A very short mont, just a few seconds, passed.
[Absorbing the To of the Divine Sword Physique.]
It was like when he absorbed the To of the Divine Bow Physique. A storm of blue mana enveloped Hyukjin, swirling violently around him before getting sucked into his body.
[The trait Divine Sword Physique has been generated.]
He got another trait. That made twoone being the Divine Bow Physique, the other the Divine Sword Physique.
[An entity in a Sword's Contract exists.]
[The damage to the entity in the Sword's Contract is severe.]
Hyukjin knew that the ability he had just used wasnt his own.
Isabel helped .
She had majorly overdone it. It was no wonder manifesting blackfire had felt so easy. That wasnt Hyukjin himself, but sothing he achieved through Isabels help.
The question of how Isabel, a sword, managed that, didnt occur to him. The only thing he could think of right now was that Isabel had helped him.
This is the aftermath.
She had drawn and used too much of a sealed ability. For him, Kim Hyukjin, Isabel risked her own destruction.
* * *
* * *
He heard her voice.
(Husband. Dont just stand there all starry-eyed with gratitude. Ill really die at this rate.)
Hyukjin snapped back to his senses. She was right. This was no ti to be imrsed in gratitude. Hyukjin had the feeling he would regret it his whole life long if Isabel was really destroyed. Even though she was just an item, that was how it was.
I
He instinctively knew what he needed to do. He knew, without anyone teaching him how.
...will invest everything in my Willpower stat.
Now wasnt the ti to be flicking abacus beads. There wasnt much ti. The destruction Isabel had undergone in the illusion was becoming a reality. 20 bonus stats. 25 random stats. He still had a staggering 45 stats in reserve, stats hed been saving to use at a critical ti.
[Investing stats in Willpower.]
He used all 45 in one go, not skimping on a single one. He had the feeling he couldnt afford to be stingy. At least in this mont, he didnt stop to make any rational calculations whatsoever.
[Willpower is increasing.]
His Willpower was originally 17 ( 30), which made 47. 45 was added to that, bringing it to a total of 92. Technically, it was 62 ( 30).
The Status Window popped up on its own.
[Status Window]
Na: Kim Hyukjin (Player)
Level: 39
Contracted Guardian: [Naless Observer]
Title: [Pioneer of Victory] [Excellent Player] [First Adversary] [Pure Person of Fire] [Phantom Thief Squirrels Master] [Starting Sovereign] [Starting Fighter] [Thousand Dog Master]
Dungeon title: [True Ruler of the Gran Seoul Dungeon] [True Ruler of the Predator Tree Colony]
Innate ability: [Eye of Perception] [Sword of Insight]
Special ability: [Absorption] [ttle] [Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth] [Immortal Fleet]
Trait: Divine Bow Physique, Divine Sword Physique
Strength: 24
Intelligence: 24
Agility: 30
Perception: 24
Constitution: 24
Willpower: 62 ( 30)
Bonus stats: 0
Random stats: 0
Undistributed stats: 0
His Willpower stat shot up, and with it, his connection with Isabel solidified. Hyukjin let out an unconscious cry of pain, his heart feeling as if it would explode.
This is just a small part of the pain Isabel is feeling.
A portion of her pain was being relayed to him. Even that small portion was unbearable. It felt like he was going to die, that his skin was boiling up and would soon burst.
[Confirming the presence of the Divine Sword Physique trait and the linked Sword's Contract.]
His much higher Willpower stat strengthened the contract further, enhancing his connection with Isabel.
[The Sword's Contract is elevated to the Swords Pact.]
[Partially unsealing Isabels abilities.]
Golden light began to shimr from Isabels blade, expanding outwards. That very mont, he had the feeling that sothing imnse, sothing he couldnt handle, was destroying his body.
Now!
Hyukjin instinctively realized that now was the correct ti to use Absorption. There was no ti to think. It was because he had thought about Absorption multiple tis before entering the gate that he was able to use it in that fleeting mont.
[Using the special ability Absorption.]
He used the ability that absorbed all physical damage taken over 0.5 seconds.
The pain is fading.
It eased a little. He had no idea what just happened, but he knew he had just blocked sothing dangerous using Absorption.
Isabels body is recovering.
[Isabels innate authority, Repair, is taking effect.]
Hyukjin nearly collapsed. It was like all the mana in his body was being rapidly sucked out. If he hadnt thrown 45 stats into Willpower, he might have very well beco a mummy.
But this
Only then did he realize the strangeness of the situation.
...feels like magic.
It then occurred to him that Isabel had also helped him light the blackfire earlier, too. Applying the blackfire to her blade was, of course, her power as well. Thinking back, he was sure of it.
It wasnt .
He was convinced that Isabel, a sword, had freely used magic.
[Isabels seal has been partially lifted.]
At the sa ti, he heard a voice.
Dont think anything weird, Husband.
The words werent coming from inside his mind. They were spoken aloud and registered by his ears. In this world full of light, appeared a woman.
She was a woman with golden hair, amber eyes rimd by gold and yellow, and wreathed in white light.
He could only see her face.
Ah
Kim Hyukjin couldnt take his eyes off her.
Be it Shin Yeonseo, acknowledged by all as pretty, or Cheon Sooji, acknowledged by all as bewitching, or even Senia, who drew the gazes and admiration of all whenever she appeared, he could not see any of them as won.
He had never once thought, Shes really, truly beautiful about any woman. It was only ever at the level of, Oh, shes pretty.
But what he felt now was completely different. He couldnt see her body. The light was too strong. He could only see her face. And yet, Hyukjin felt that this woman was truly beautiful. He couldnt tear his eyes away. His heart began to thump wildly.
Oh my God.
The womans hair swayed gently, even though there was no wind. Her lips parted, and her face reddened a little.
Im a sword.
She smiled.
Not a lousy magician.
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