Massacre Empress — Part 2
Seo Woojin was confident.
‘If I just get the chance…’
He had devoted his childhood to the sword.
He had trained in martial arts, cultivated inner power, and refined his mana.
That was why he had despaired.
The mont the Saintess’s hand touched the crown of his head.
The mont divine fever began to burn through his entire body.
[I’d rather join the Old Father’s Cult.]
[Are you insane?! Over my dead body! If you join that cult, you’ll be brainwashed into a completely different person!]
If not for his parents’ opposition, he would have truly gone through with it.
Not because of the pain.
He didn’t care about that.
The real problem was that he could no longer practice martial arts or wield mana.
‘I want to be strong.’
‘I want to shine like the heroes.’
So he had secretly picked up the sword again.
Even if he couldn’t channel mana, he had swung his blade countless tis in his mind, imagining himself unleashing sword energy and circulating power.
And then—he was saved.
By a superhuman who, aside from the scar on his cheek, didn’t even look that strong.
[Teacher!]
He had been truly grateful.
So thankful that he swore to repay that debt for the rest of his life.
At the sa ti, he had devoted himself to training every night.
Because he had lost over ten years.
Because he believed he had to work ten tis harder just to catch up to the others.
And in the end, he was rewarded.
[Level 5!]
[Unbelievable!]
[He reached Level 5 on his first certification?!]
[Is that even possible?]
[He’s not human!]
[Good thing Jaegumun and Ilgeomun rged.]
[Isn’t he Korea’s future number one?]
[He might even surpass the Heavenly Demon…]
The Heavenly Demon!
His heart pounded at the thought.
So he pushed himself even harder.
He swung his sword, refined his mana, consud elixirs until his stomach nearly burst, and seized every opportunity to gain real combat experience.
[There’s nothing more I can teach you, my son.]
[The First Sword is now in your hands.]
The First Sword.
A fusion of Jaegumun’s World Saving Sword Art and Ilgeomun’s Unified Spirit Sword.
Within the two martial schools, it was cautiously considered on par with the legendary Black Tiger Sword Technique.
He had everything—except the na.
The mont he mastered the First Sword, Seo Woojin was certified as Level 6.
Level 7 was within reach.
And so was the title of Swordmaster.
Just one more step. Not even a full step—just half a step more, and he would reach Level 7.
He would beco a Swordmaster.
That was why he had gladly accepted the request.
A request from his lifesaver and half-ntor—Warrior Kim.
And he had his own ambitions.
‘I can do it too.’
Warrior Kim had been famous for a long ti.
For taking down powerful opponents in one-on-one battles.
At Level 3 (according to rumors), he had defeated the Cleaner Association President.
At Level 4, he had slain the Lion Knight.
At Level 5, he had won a duel against the Hunter Association President.
And then—the defining mont.
The Seoul Terror Attack.
Warrior Kim had encountered Massacre Empress and lived to tell the tale.
That feat had sent his na skyrocketing.
After all, Massacre Empress had long been infamous as an international terrorist and a vile criminal.
‘I can do it too.’
Gratitude was gratitude. But his competitive spirit was his own.
Seo Woojin believed he could accomplish the sa.
Because he was a genius.
Because he had trained until his hands bled, until his palms were skinned raw dozens of tis over.
Because he had reached Level 5 on his first certification and climbed to Level 6 in just six months.
Truthfully, he had been hoping for this.
The mont they stepped into the Forbidden Zone.
There was a chance—however small—that they would run into Massacre Empress.
If they did, he planned to step forward and challenge her one-on-one.
To overco the one-level gap and claim victory.
He had envisioned it in his mind—a scene where his lifesaver and teacher, his parents, and the entire nation would cheer and look up to him in awe.
But—
But…
“Guhh!”
Reality was nothing like his imagination.
“You ca looking for a grave, you little rat.”
The mont those words were spoken.
The mont the air turned heavy like solid iron.
Seo Woojin collapsed to his knees.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He wasn’t the only one.
Everyone had dropped to their knees.
As if an invisible force had slamd them down—as if it intended to shatter their kneecaps.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
His vision blurred.
This was primal terror.
No one realized it, but this was the power of the [Massacre] trait.
In the midst of overwhelming despair, Seo Woojin forced his eyes open.
Through his flickering vision, he saw one person standing tall like a mountain.
“Oh, it’s been a while. A little over a month, right?”
A calm, indifferent voice—just like always.
Warrior Kim.
The sa Warrior Kim who had only just reached Level 6.
The sa Warrior Kim who should be weaker than him.
Yet, he was standing there, completely unfazed.
This was the power of the [One-Man Army] trait.
Or perhaps the effect of [Unrivaled].
‘H-how…?’
And it wasn’t just Warrior Kim.
A strained groan ca from beside him.
Soone was trembling violently—then, through sheer will, they forced themselves to stand.
“You stinking old hag! I’m going to kill you myself!”
Baek Sorin.
Her bloodshot eyes glared as she spat insults.
Her legs were trembling, but she steadied herself.
Shing!
She drew the Holy Sword that Warrior Kim had entrusted to her and pointed it at Massacre Empress.
And she wasn’t alone.
“Huuup… Haaaah!”
Janet stood up, radiating divine light.
As she infused her shield with aura, she transford into an immovable iron fortress.
“Eeek!”
Even Kali joined in.
The three of them gathered, directing their killing intent at the enemy.
A Level 5, a Level 4, and a Level 3—rising in defiance.
Massacre Empress twisted her chanical lips into an eerie smirk.
“You little brats must really have a death wish. Fine. I’ll kill you all. And you, little rat—this ti, you won’t escape. Grand Escape isn’t all-powerful.”
“I never planned on running.”
A calm voice rang out once more.
“You die today.”
“Puhaha!”
Massacre Empress let out a wild laugh.
“Die!”
She charged forward.
Boom!
Warrior Kim and Massacre Empress collided.
Sothing astonishing happened.
As if by so unspoken agreent, both of them took two steps back.
Massacre Empress gritted her teeth and shouted.
“You…!”
Once again, they clashed.
Again and again, they struck at each other.
A perfectly even match.
If the warriors of old had witnessed this, they would have praised it as a true battle between a tiger and a dragon.
Seo Woojin watched the duel in a daze.
It was nothing like he had imagined.
Completely different.
In his fantasies, it wasn’t Warrior Kim fighting Massacre Empress.
It was him.
He had pictured himself blocking her attacks like an iron wall, striking like a teor, and unleashing relentless, storm-like assaults—fighting her as an equal.
But in reality, he was on his knees, reduced to a re spectator.
He wasn’t the protagonist.
The protagonist was Warrior Kim.
“You wretch!”
A thunderous roar exploded in my ears.
It rumbled like a storm.
But it couldn’t shake .
I locked eyes with Massacre Empress.
More precisely, I stared at my own reflection in her cybernetic eyes—my gleaming, glass-like pupils—before hurling Mjolnir.
Kraaack!
Lightning erupted.
The very technique I had learned from the Thor Cult’s Pontiff.
Accumulated energy followed by detonation.
A crude imitation of the Lightning of Annihilation.
Perhaps even a makeshift Astrape.
“Damn it!”
Massacre Empress dispersed the lightning.
Her counterattack followed imdiately.
Boom!
A dizzying impact tore through my brain.
I barely managed to block it by switching traits at the last second.
If not for Aegis, that single blow would have severed both my arm and my heart.
[Master of the Sword] [Cybernetic Adaptation] [Massacre]
[Tidal Swordsmanship] [Heaven and Earth Annihilation] [Untouchable]
These were Massacre Empress’s traits.
The explosion from her sword aura nearly sent
flying, but I held firm.
Instead, I braced myself and used Grand Assault to charge at her midair, slamming into her.
At the sa ti, I tid a shield bash perfectly.
Bam!
She blocked with her sword, grinding her teeth.
“You rat bastard!”
Frustrating, isn’t it?
Pissing you off, isn’t it?
It was just like before.
I clung to her relentlessly, and she struggled to shake
off.
Because of Tidal Swordsmanship.
The sword art Massacre Empress had inherited from her father, the Sword Emperor.
It specialized in long-range attacks.
And since she was a Swordmaster, she could unleash pale gray sword auras like crashing waves.
Just like in the ga.
If you left a mage or a priest alone, she would annihilate them instantly.
The standard strategy was to fight in close quarters, swapping out mages for magic swordsn and priests for paladins.
I didn’t rush.
I carefully countered her step by step.
Purifying curses as they ca.
Absorbing every conditional stat boost from One-Man Army.
Swinging Mars Swordsmanship like a divine blade.
The one-level gap was still absolute.
No matter how much I had rebuilt my body twice, no matter how efficiently I switched between high-tier traits, it was only natural that I would be pushed back.
“Let’s see if you can handle this!”
Massacre Empress suddenly stepped back.
She twisted her body, hiding the Demonic Blade Masamune behind her.
In that instant, a red alarm blared in my head!
Heaven and Earth Annihilation!
Last ti, this attack had pierced through all my defenses, stopping just short of my heart.
I braced myself.
I raised Aegis.
I switched traits and poured all my mana into Aegis.
[Mana Soul] [Thor Cultivation Technique] [Holy Radiance]
[Mana Shield] [Shield Block] [Divine Artifact]
A milky-white barrier ford.
But instead of unleashing Heaven and Earth Annihilation, Massacre Empress smirked.
“You fell for it, fool!”
Instead, a tidal wave ca crashing down.
A storm of pale gray sword auras rained down.
They fell like raindrops, slashed like strokes of ink—
Blocking every escape route, turning into a surging tide that threatened to swallow
whole.
But I remained calm.
I still had absolute composure.
‘This is actually easier.’
[Empathic Vision] [Iron Body] [Mana Soul]
[Mana Shield] [Shield Block] [Divine Artifact]
I deflected each one.
Blocked them one by one.
I saw every attack’s trajectory and order through Empathic Vision.
With Bright Eyes and the Prophet’s Ring, it was impossible to miss.
A series of precise, calculated defenses.
Mont after mont, my milky-white Mana Shield flickered.
Each ti, Shield Block activated just before impact, boosting my defense.
No matter how powerful her sword auras were, they couldn’t break through.
But Massacre Empress wasn’t fazed.
After unleashing dozens of sword auras, she finally drew Masamune fully.
Flash!
This ti, it was the real Heaven and Earth Annihilation.
KRAAACK!
A deafening explosion shook the air.
I watched as my Mana Shield shattered.
For a brief mont, my brain felt like it had caught fire—my vision flickered to white.
But that was all.
Unlike last ti, Heaven and Earth Annihilation failed to break through Aegis.
The only thing destroyed was the outermost layer of my reinforced shields.
The core defense—the true Aegis—remained intact.
Even my Star Spawn Combat Suit, though lacking Iron Fist, remained functional.
“This… This can’t be!”
Massacre Empress shouted in shock.
From Level 5 to Level 6.
From upgrading Aegis with specialized traits.
Everything had combined to create this impossible result.
Of course, I wasn’t unhard.
‘My arm has a fracture.’
Not just a fracture—
The muscles were completely torn.
I could feel internal bleeding rising in my throat.
But I didn’t show it.
Instead, I launched myself at Massacre Empress.
Smack!
With my fractured left arm, I swung and struck her with a shield bash.
“Guhh!”
For the first ti, Massacre Empress groaned in pain.
I was almost there.
Instead of healing my wounds with Undying, I switched to Giant’s Strength, Iron Body, Swordsmanship Expert, and Close-Combat Mastery—
Then pressed forward, overwhelming her with Mars Swordsmanship.
Massacre Empress was being pushed back.
Massacre Empress barely managed to block Black Tiger Sword’s slash and Mjolnir’s crushing strike as she staggered backward.
Her twisted, grotesque face contorted further, scrunching up like a pile of scrap tal as she roared in fury.
“You rat bastard!”
The end was near.
I instinctively focused on my Armory.
I had deliberately refrained from using certain weapons in front of Massacre Empress.
Even though the shotgun and sniper rifle stored inside my Armory were cumberso, I still carried them on my back.
Boom!
We clashed again.
Masamune struck against Aegis and failed to break through.
In contrast, Black Tiger Sword grazed Massacre Empress’s cheek.
Clang!
Sword aura slashed at her cybernetic body, but whether it was because of her Cybernetic Adaptation trait or simply high-quality alloy, the damage wasn’t severe.
“How dare you!”
She charged at
recklessly, completely ignoring defense.
Head-on.
Her chanical irises, fully dilated in rage, blazed with blue fire.
This was the mont I had been waiting for.
Fwoosh!
Flas erupted.
A blood-red inferno, like a flathrower.
Hellfire.
It consud an enormous amount of mana as it engulfed Massacre Empress.
“This won’t stop !”
She endured it.
She tore through the flas, charging straight at .
Her cybernetic eye flickered with an icy light.
She thought she had forced
to reveal my trump card.
She was wrong.
The Hellfire was just a smokescreen. The real attack was sothing else entirely.
I brushed my left hand against my Armory.
Mjolnir vanished, sucked back inside.
In its place, sothing small, as delicate as a flower petal yet as sharp as shattered glass, landed in my palm.
I threw it.
With the full force of my Throwing trait.
Aid directly at Massacre Empress, who was now right in front of .
“…Oh—”
A mistletoe leaf.
The divine weapon Mistilteinn’s God-Slaying Leaf embedded itself in her chest.
Massacre Empress froze in place.
Her mana circuits shattered.
The once-invulnerable glow of her Untouchable trait cracked and faded, fragnting like broken glass.
The perfect opening.
I stepped forward, extending my sword.
From the very beginning, this had been one continuous sequence—
Hellfire, the throw, and now this final slash.
I knew from experience that when Massacre Empress lost her invulnerability, she would be staggered for exactly 0.3 seconds.
Schlick!
I severed her wrist.
Her sword-wielding hand flew into the air.
“Gaaaaahhh!”
A bloodcurdling scream rang out—distorted by the chanical sound of her cybernetic voice.
It wouldn’t end here.
She was still a Swordmaster.
Losing a hand and dropping her weapon wouldn’t stop her—
If I hesitated, she would coat her remaining hand in sword aura and tear out my heart.
Boom!
I slamd into her with my entire body.
With [Close-Combat Mastery], [Smash], and [Charge] reinforcing the impact, she coughed up blood.
Without hesitation, I launched my next attack.
BANG!
With [Shield Bash], [Holy Power], and [Holy Radiance], I struck her chest with Aegis.
The milky-white shield smashed into her like a hamr, sending her flying.
The final strike.
My left hand brushed my Armory—
And I hurled Mjolnir.
This ti, the traits applied were [Throw], [Lightning], and [Divine Artifact].
Mjolnir transford into a lightning spear and impaled Massacre Empress.
Straight through the heart.
BOOM!
A concentrated lightning explosion detonated—
And her torso was obliterated.
Her severed limbs scattered across the battlefield.
All that remained was a single, round cybernetic head.
“H-Haha…”
Her entire face was replaced with alloy.
Her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears had been turned into pure machinery, giving her a monstrous, inhuman appearance.
That eerie tal head rolled across the floor—
And ca to a stop at my feet.
Even in this horrific state, Massacre Empress was still alive.
“…Kill .”
Her cybernetic irises trembled, flickering like a malfunctioning device.
I didn’t refuse.
Crunch!
I drove Black Tiger Sword straight down.
The pitch-black blade pierced through her alloy skull.
And with that—
The final boss of Episode 1, Massacre Empress, was dead.
–TL Notes–
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