Chapter 290: VS Artaros (1) |
Ryu Min could hear Artaros’s inner thoughts.
—He blocked my sword?
Though the guy was secretly surprised, his expression was utterly indifferent.
Ryu Min was no different, pretending it was nothing.
‘This guy is no pushover.’
Just for a moment, he lost sight of the enemy’s movement.
Had it not been for the Rune of Foresight, he wouldn’t have been able to dodge.
That’s how fast the sword was.
‘It’s not just fast. It’s heavy.’
In terms of strength and speed, the guy wasn’t inferior to him.
‘At this rate, I might end up dying once.’
He could resurrect using the title effect of the Last Time Regressor, but he might have to use it this time.
To be honest, he wasn’t sure he could win.
‘In this case, I’ll give it my all. It’s been a while.’
Having decided to kill the enemy, Ryu Min filled his gaze with killing intent.
Sensing the change, Artaros flinched slightly and looked at him.
[Death Aura activates.]
[All of the target’s stats decrease by 50%.]
He wanted to add Death Incarnation on top, but unfortunately, it was on cooldown.
However, Ryu Min had stat points he gained after killing the Seven Archangels and a thousand angels.
Exactly 83,961,988 stat points.
‘I’ll invest 20,990,497 each into STR, AGI, INT, and LUK.’
Using the activation command quickly, the stats surged to an absurd level.
His stats, which had barely surpassed 20 million, now soared to 170 million.
In other words, he had become over eight times stronger than before.
‘Amplify.’
Crackle—crackle—
When he added attack speed and movement speed buffs, sparks jumped off Ryu Min’s body.
He darted forward like he was bouncing and swung the scythe with all his might.
Clang—!
Surprised once again, Artaros reeled from the clearly increased power.
Clang! Clang! Cla-clang!
Each time he swung the scythe, sparks flew.
Ryu Min’s figure suddenly vanished, leaving behind only afterimages.
But as if he knew exactly where the attack was coming from, Artaros calmly folded his wings.
Clang—!
Wings, sturdy as a shield, blocked the scythe that had aimed for his head.
With a faint smile, Artaros immediately scattered iridescent sword energy in all directions.
Ryu Min couldn’t block them all and quickly retreated, but Artaros was even faster.
[You shouldn’t leave your back open.]
Puk—!
Before he knew it, the sword pierced through Ryu Min’s chest from behind.
[It’s over…….]
But sensing something off, Artaros dropped the smirk he was about to show.
Instead, he covered his body with his wings like a turtle.
Clang!
Ryu Min’s scythe, unfortunately, was blocked by the wings.
A hair’s breadth apart.
Artaros reacted quickly.
“Thought it was a clone?”
[Cheap tricks like that don’t work on me.]
“Then what about this?”
A black shadow whizzed through the air.
Ting— ting— ting!
They were daggers of darkness that could pierce metal, but against the wings, it was like eggs thrown at a rock.
[Pointless effort.]
Crackkk—!
In response, Ryu Min fired off [Charging] to push the enemy back, but Artaros neither dodged nor flinched, blocking it with his wings.
‘He’s not budging?’
Even when he used Death’s Grasp, it was the same.
The opponent, who should’ve been blown away, didn’t move an inch, like an old tree.
[It seems you’re testing things on me, but those effects are meaningless before my barrier.]
“But stat reduction works just fine, doesn’t it?”
[That applies to you as well, doesn’t it?]
Ryu Min didn’t answer.
Though he hadn’t said anything, he was already reading the message that had popped up in a corner.
[You’ve entered the Void Space.]
[In this space, no external buffs apply.]
Bless, Swift, Safety Barrier, Saint’s Blessing, weapon sharpening, equipment sharpening, etc.
All the buffs on Ryu Min had been locked.
Apparently, in the domain created by Artaros, buffs can’t be used.
‘It’s not just him whose stats have dropped. Mine have been cut to less than half as well.’
Thankfully, only buffs from others weren’t applied—runes and self-cast buffs still seemed to work.
‘What now? I invested all my stat points, but his skills are no joke……’
Even without Bless, his stats had surpassed 170 million.
Even though it was over eight times higher than when all buffs were applied, he was only just keeping up with Artaros in terms of power and speed.
‘No, to be honest, I’m a bit behind.’
His own stats had been cut in half, yet he was still stronger?
‘How high were his original stats?’
He truly was a worthy opponent to be called the ruler of the heavens.
‘Finally, an opponent worth facing.’
At this point, there was no choice.
He would have to give flesh to take bone.
When Ryu Min smirked, Artaros tilted his head.
[Lost your mind? You’ve seen the gap in strength, haven’t you?]
“You never know until you measure it to the end.”
[I’ll commend your confidence. Then, it’s time for atonement.]
As Artaros raised his sword, Ryu Min vanished.
[I told you, cheap tricks don’t work.]
Turning and swinging his sword—
Clang—!
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
At the same time, Ryu Min appeared as his invisibility wore off.
Artaros had blocked the ambush precisely, seemingly able to sense his presence.
[No need to drag this out. Just disappear.]
A rainbow-colored light burst from the blade.
It not only pushed away darkness but brightened the surroundings like broad daylight, completely engulfing Ryu Min.
There was no space to dodge—checkmate.
‘It’s over.’
As he watched Ryu Min’s scythe melt and vanish in his own skill, [Light of Annihilation], Artaros slightly lifted the corner of his lips.
But—
‘Hmm?’
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