Chapter 100

Chapter 100.

Inside a muddy pit.

Thick roots of the World Tree coiled around Cheol-su’s entire body like snakes and dragged him down, deep underground.

He struggled with all his might to force open even the smallest gap, but each time he swelled his muscles, the roots twisted like serpents and tightened even more fiercely.

Hard bark dug into his skin, his entire rib cage was crushed, and his breath kept choking off.

His vision was gradually darkening too.

Thanks to the ‘Immortal Vestment,’ he would not die, but the pain of his flesh being crushed and his lungs collapsing, along with the sensation of being crushed to death, was conveyed to him in full.

‘Fuck, being Undying doesn’t mean everything works out!’

No.

At this rate, he really would become a living corpse.

A horrific living corpse trapped forever under the soil, unable even to die.

Kim Cheol-su felt the limitations of immortality in his bones.

Simply not dying was not enough to overturn a battlefield.

He had to find another method!

‘Among the cards I have, what can counter that insane Elf?’

During the short free time he had been given after clearing the 94th Floor.

Kim Cheol-su had spent much of that time classifying and systematizing the numerous B-rank abilities he had obtained.

Until now, Kim Cheol-su had obtained an absurd number of ‘beads’ called B-rank abilities, but had been unable to string them together.

But now, even if not perfectly, he had developed enough to at least consider what cards he had been given.

‘First, I have to escape these roots...!’

Kim Cheol-su prioritized forcibly suppressing his reason, which was about to fall into panic, with [Field Commander’s Judgment (B)].

‘[Beginner! Earth Magic (B)].’

With Earth Magic, he first dispersed the pressure that felt as if it would compress him at any moment and crush his lungs flat, then scanned his surroundings.

He sensed the density of the soil enveloping him and the trajectories of the thick roots digging through it.

Even at this very moment, the roots were pulsing like a heart, absorbing Mana from the surrounding earth and proliferating.

Kim Cheol-su focused his senses on the bark and sap of the roots digging into his skin.

The beads he would string together this time were the numerous daily-life miscellaneous skills he had obtained.

“[Chief Gardener’s Arboriculture (B)], and [Artier’s Medicinal Cuisine (B)]!”

B-rank skills that seemed completely unrelated to combat, dealing with plants and grasping the properties of food ingredients, activated in succession.

Then the essence of the World Tree roots, which had only felt tough and violent, slowly began to reveal itself.

The strength of the bark, the properties of the sap flowing inside, and even the faint pulses it emitted.

‘...There is no poison or killing intent. It does not have the murkiness unique to attack magic either. Rather, it is so clear it is excessive.’

To gain certainty, Cheol-su strung together one final bead for confirmation.

“[Holy Kingdom Divine Spellcraft (B)].”

The moment he drew up the faint B-rank Divine Power remaining inside his body and brought it into contact with the root, Kim Cheol-su nearly inhaled sharply.

Because his own B-rank Divine Power crumbled pathetically before the energy pouring out of the root, like a raindrop before a vast sea.

‘This is...!’

It was a sublime energy, endlessly clear and even holy, to a degree that could never be expressed with an energy called Mana.

[Field Commander’s Judgment (B)] assembled every collected fragment of information into one piece at once.

Infinite growth power that dominated the earth.

The spotless, clear attribute inherent to plants.

And a sublime pulse that lightly overwhelmed even Divine Power.

‘The roots of the World Tree are... the crystallization of life force, and the purest energy itself.’

One hundred percent pure life force, without any murkiness mixed in!

That was the true driving force moving the roots of the World Tree.

‘In that case.’

Cheol-su’s mind began to spin fiercely.

If he had perfectly grasped the enemy’s essence, the method to break through it would naturally emerge as well.

‘It is hopeless to try crudely burning away or cutting through that overwhelming life force. But... what if I have a card that can strike the perfect polar opposite of that “pure life force”?’

Kim Cheol-su’s dust-covered eyes flashed open.

He had one.

In the past, when he had followed Ha Seong-un to the temple of the Fallen God.

That ominous power he had ripped from that repulsive god!

Until now, he had not used Inverse Divinity because he had considered it the power of a fallen god.

‘To kill the roots of the World Tree, which have infinite life force, I have no choice but to release this power I have kept suppressed!’

[Inverted Divinity (B)]!

Deep inside Kim Cheol-su’s Mana Hall, the pitch-black energy that had been coiled in the exact opposite position from Divine Power began to writhe, as if it had been waiting.

“Kghhh—!”

Even though he knew how to use it and was doing so deliberately, a massive backlash shook Cheol-su’s insides.

Inverse Divinity was originally a power used by ‘inhuman beings.’

The very fact that Cheol-su, who had a human body, was using it made no sense.

‘This is...’

But the moment he drew out and used Inverse Divinity.

Kim Cheol-su gained one realization.

‘This power... was not evil!’

Divinity was light and the power of yang.

Inverse Divinity was darkness and the power of yin.

If Divinity was the power called ‘Recovery,’ which breathed life force into wounds and healed them,

Then Inverse Divinity was the power called ‘decay and annihilation,’ which inverted life force and made it rot away.

When humans were born, aged, sickened, and died, they eventually decayed and returned to the earth.

Then, was decay evil?

No.

It was merely the destination of life, and the natural phenomenon beyond it.

Not good and evil.

But two sides of the same coin.

‘There is no good or evil in this power.’

Once, the Fallen God had said that Divinity and Inverse Divinity were not a matter of good and evil.

That had been right!

He only understood those words now.

‘Haaah!’

Kim Cheol-su exploded the damp, murky Inverse Divine Power that he had suppressed deep inside his body toward the roots of the World Tree that had bound him without the slightest gap.

The roots of the World Tree, crystallizations of life force and the purest energy, began writhing as if in seizure the moment they touched the Fallen God’s murky Inverse Divinity.

SIZZLE—!

As if touched by deadly poison, the roots began to blacken, rot, and melt away.

Kim Cheol-su’s Inverted Divinity was only B-rank.

From the start, it did not possess enough destructive power to erase the roots themselves.

But in battle, there was something just as important as power.

Compatibility!

Just as water extinguished fire, decay ate away at life.

To the World Tree roots, which possessed pure life force, Inverse Divinity was no different from a deadly poison that was fatal on contact.

Wriggle, wriggle!

The thick roots that had been binding Cheol-su as if to suffocate him convulsed with an eerie rasping sound.

It was only a B-rank output.

But that was enough to put a crack in the restraints that had been binding him so tightly he could not move an inch.

Cheol-su did not miss that opportunity.

“[Holy Kingdom Combat Arts (B)]!”

With both fists wrapped heavily in jet-black Inverse Divinity, Cheol-su violently tore away the crumbling World Tree roots as if snapping rotten ropes.

CRACK! CRUNCH!

Having regained his freedom, Cheol-su focused Mana into both legs and kicked off against the compressed mass of soil, shooting upward.

BOOOOM—!

The ground burst dully, and Cheol-su broke through the pit of dirt and sprang up to the surface.

“Pwaah! Cough, ptooey!”

Cheol-su spat out the mouthful of dirt as if vomiting blood and breathed roughly.

At the sudden sign of someone’s presence, the gazes of all three turned toward Cheol-su at once.

“......?!”

For the first time, shock settled in the Elf Queen’s noble eyes.

“M-Mother’s branches... rotted?”

There was pure shock and displeasure at the fact that even part of the sacred World Tree’s roots had rotted away from that disgusting energy.

Instead of the aura unique to a Healer, a damp and murky black haze was faintly rising from his entire body.

Because of that, only the grass within a radius of one or two meters where Cheol-su stood had lost its moisture and burned black.

It was a pitifully small range, but it was enough to provoke the Elf Queen’s anger.

“You, you bastard! How dare you smear such filthy sludge on Mother’s sacred body!!!”

Kim Cheol-su raised his middle finger toward the Elf Queen.

Then he shouted in a ringing voice.

“A-un! Do not stupidly throw out only summons! Spirits do not work on the Queen! Use your real specialty!”

Cheol-su’s thunderous order rang across the battlefield like a bolt of lightning.

***

The Skeleton Soldiers he had raised as a shield were being swept away by the Mana bombardment emitted by the Elf Queen.

‘To think I would become this powerless just because I cannot use Spirits...’

At this rate, the thin defensive line would collapse, and not only Han Seol-ah in the rear but also his main body would be torn apart.

It was at that moment that Kim Cheol-su’s shout, after he burst out of the ground, struck his eardrums.

‘My specialty...?’

When he recalled it.

The class Brother had given him was not some mediocre third-rate summoner.

‘Is fighting like this... all I am?’

Deathlord.

The pinnacle that could use every skill from all six lower classes of Black Magic, having mastered the whole of Branch 9 - Black Magic!

‘No.’

Lee A-un drew up Dark Mana.

His skin split, and blood flowed.

Lee A-un staggered and corrected his stance, and in both his eyes, a blue will-o’-the-wisp-like gleam blazed.

When Lee A-un swept his hand, every summon filling the battlefield vanished.

“To remove your own shield. It seems you have gone mad!”

The moment the Queen focused countless soundless, colorless arrows on Lee A-un.

[That is it, insect!]

Ratty, the Death Knight who had been sleeping inside Lee A-un’s pocket, awakened as Dark Mana was supplied to him once again.

Ratty kicked off the air and swung his sword fiercely, knocking away all the invisible murderous intent scattered by the Elf Queen.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

[You are the pinnacle of Black Magic! Do it!]

“Authority: Ocean of Blood.”

RUMBLE—!

Crimson bloodwater erupted from beneath A-un’s feet and covered the ground in a blood-red lake in an instant.

An Authority borrowing the Ultimate Skill of the Blood Mage.

The movements of the Elf Queen standing on it visibly slowed.

“Wh-what is this...?!”

“Authority: Bone Dragon.”

[ROOOAAAR!]

In the middle of the lake sprayed with blood, a massive bone Demonic Beast, the Bone Dragon, descended with a roar that tore the sky.

Its mountain-like bulk completely blocked the Queen’s path.

“Cough!”

Just manifesting two Authority spells in succession left Lee A-un’s entire body drenched in blood.

“Kgh...!”

But Lee A-un gritted his teeth.

This was the reason Lee A-un had been unable to properly use the Deathlord’s magic until now.

Because when he used Dark Mana, Lee A-un’s body broke.

Every human had a safety device in their head.

When they knew their life was in danger, it unconsciously kept them from crossing the line.

That was why Lee A-un had held himself back each time, refraining from using the Deathlord’s magic at full power despite having enough Dark Mana left.

But if he could not surpass his limits, he would forever continue fighting like a mere ‘summoner,’ unbefitting the status of the EX-rank Deathlord.

Was that what a member of this party, which had to challenge the 95th Floor clear, should be doing?

No.

There was no way.

‘One step farther.’

So Lee A-un.

Decided to cross the line.

—Use any more and you will die.

In his head, the Dark Mana was whispering that to him, but...

‘One step farther...!’

Lee A-un drew up Dark Mana.

“Authority: Thorns...!”

The Ultimate Skill of the Curse Mage, activated in succession, wrapped the Bone Dragon’s massive body in a thorn aura like frost needles.

“Kugh...!”

At that moment, Lee A-un’s knees buckled.

BOOOOM!

Dark Mana surged from his entire body.

***

“Yes, that is it.”

You have cracked your shell, Lee A-un.