Chapter 53

Chapter 53.

[One, Sir!]

“Sir!”

Clang!

[Two, Sir!]

“Sir!”

Clang! Stab!

“Aaaagh!”

Ratty thrust his toothpick sword from every direction, and Lee A-un frantically drew up dark Mana to block the sword strikes in order to survive.

The places he failed to block were mercilessly pierced, and blood sprayed out.

It was crude, but it was a sure survival-style hell training.

The effect was dazzling.

That was because I could visibly see Lee A-un’s speed in handling dark Mana increasing dramatically as he relied on his Survival Instinct.

“Ugh!”

He still looked as though he was in pain, but compared to when his whole body had been trembling and pouring sweat, this was tremendous progress.

[Agent, stopping them would be…]

Depending on how one saw it, it might appear excessive.

But I would answer firmly.

“No.”

This direction was correct.

‘It will begin soon.’

Ratty was probably only devoting himself to my command and goal.

But I was looking beyond Lee A-un’s dark magic training.

When Lee A-un felt, ‘I am really going to die.’

When he was ready to break through his shell and evolve one stage further.

“Cough!”

Lee A-un vomited black blood and collapsed.

[You feeble insect!]

Ratty’s toothpick sword flew toward his thigh.

I blew a very slight amount of dark Mana into Ratty’s body.

[Huh…!]

The trajectory of his stab twisted and extended straight toward Lee A-un’s heart.

Ratty panicked and tried to withdraw his sword, but my dark Mana was firmly controlling Ratty.

I saw life return to Lee A-un’s half-loosened eyes.

He was really going to die. He was probably feeling that way.

At that moment.

The ‘divine energy’ that had seeped into Lee A-un’s body opened its eyes.

Flash!

Blue light burst out from around Lee A-un’s heart and wrapped around him.

Clang!

The toothpick sword failed to pierce that light and bounced off.

[Wh-What is this…!]

Lee A-un’s body floated into the air.

“Huh? Huh?”

“Stay still.”

When I restrained Lee A-un, who was about to flail wildly, he immediately went limp like an obedient large dog.

The blue light wrapped around Lee A-un’s entire body without leaving a single gap, then slowly began to be absorbed into him, like ointment touching skin and melting into it.

Flaaash!

The moment all the blue light seeped into Lee A-un’s body, a bright five-colored radiance burst out from him.

I slightly closed my eyes from the brightness, and when I opened them…

Translucent spirits of four colors—red, blue, green, and yellow—had appeared as if guarding Lee A-un from every direction.

‘Primordial Essence….’

It was the Genesis-rank item I had made for Lee A-un.

The power of ‘Primordial Essence.’

The core purpose of Primordial Essence was to infuse Lee A-un with aptitudes he did not have.

To be precise, aptitude for spirits and summoning types.

And what I had tried to induce through nearly 100,000 detailed designs.

The Genesis Trait I had given Lee A-un was…

[Genesis Trait]

[Yggdrasil Core: Microcosm That Gives Birth to All Things]

It was to turn Lee A-un into a ‘human World Tree.’

***

In Lost Honor, the World Tree was called ‘Yggdrasil.’

According to the setting, it was the mother tree that had asked the Supreme God to create elves and spirits.

The World Tree sent living beings known as elves into the world through its ‘fruits.’

And from its leaves, it endlessly created spirits.

Primordial Essence was an item that compressed and degraded the World Tree’s Authority as much as possible, then contained it.

No matter how much of a Genesis-rank item it was, it could not contain the creative power of a god.

However…

Even so, it was a Genesis-rank item.

Although it had been degraded, there was one thing.

It had succeeded in containing the World Tree’s ability of ‘spirit creation.’

‘Of course, even that had to be compressed and degraded to an absurd degree….’

The World Tree was a demigod that could endlessly produce ‘highest-grade spirits,’ which were only one step below the Spirit King, as long as there was enough necessity and cost.

However, all Primordial Essence could do was create a few lowest-grade spirits.

“Hy-Brother… what is this?”

The spirits floating around Lee A-un in all four directions were those lowest-grade spirits.

They were like spirit fragments that only retained the instinct to protect their master, Lee A-un.

‘They are still tiny now, but once Lee A-un’s abilities develop, he will be able to summon even more outstanding spirits later.’

The reason I had tried to make Lee A-un into a human World Tree like this?

It was simple.

I intended to use Lee A-un as a Tanker.

Lee A-un was a talent I would have to value as a Tanker from now on, but his classes had aptitudes suited to a mage rather than a Tanker, such as necromancy and curse magic.

So I had long since abandoned the idea of raising Lee A-un as a mere meat shield who fought on the front lines and absorbed attacks.

What was the core of tanking?

It was absorbing powerful attacks aimed at party members.

But was there any reason that a human with frail flesh had to absorb those attacks directly?

Why did he have to block the attacks of Demonic Beasts, whose power was hundreds or thousands of times greater than a human’s, with his own body?

Because he liked it? Because it was efficient?

No.

The answer was simple.

Because there was nothing else he could do.

I had no intention at all of raising Lee A-un as that kind of ‘unavoidable meat shield’ Tanker.

‘What if Lee A-un cannot endure by shaving away his own blood and flesh?’

Simple.

He could block them by endlessly throwing someone else’s blood and flesh at them.

The Deathlord had the ability to summon undead through necromancy.

‘Ratty alone is a Death Knight, after all.’

What if, in addition to that, he became able to summon spirits?

What if those summons blocked each attack that would be aimed at Lee A-un and his party members, even if only once?

And what if Lee A-un could create those spirits almost infinitely?

Finally, what if I could make it so that the spirits would accept the sacrifice of dying in Lee A-un’s place ‘very gladly’?

As I expected, the world’s greatest Tanker would be born.

***

“Ratty, attack Lee A-un with the intent to kill him.”

[By your command.]

“H-Huh!”

Swoosh!

When Ratty shot forward like a streak of light and swung his toothpick—

Piii!

The nearest red spirit bravely threw itself into the path of Ratty’s sword.

Pop!

When Ratty’s sword cut through the red spirit, its momentum weakened with a weak explosion.

Pop, pop!

After the remaining spirits also charged in and sacrificed themselves, Ratty was bounced away.

‘Oho….’

It was a perfect defense.

[This is…]

‘What?’

To be honest… even to my eyes, it looked fascinating.

‘Was this how Dual Class influenced things?’

It was different from Lost Honor.

Perhaps because the dark Mana of Lee A-un’s Deathlord affected the spirits.

The spirits’ appearances were different from what I knew.

Should I say that there seemed to be a murky madness dwelling in the clear spirits’ eyes?

Moreover, that explosion that blocked Ratty’s sword…

Originally, it would absolutely not have that much power.

‘Are they mutant spirits born containing dark Mana?’

Even better.

They had been upgraded.

Flash!

Piii~ Pii~

The sacrificed lowest-grade mutant spirits were immediately regenerated.

As if the pain of the death they had just experienced did not concern them at all, they once again circled Lee A-un from every direction with fierce momentum and established an ironclad defensive formation.

That was the key.

As long as Lee A-un’s Mana allowed it, those disposable spirits would be refilled endlessly, like leaves sprouting.

The boss used an area-of-effect skill?

Throw 100 lowest-grade spirits at it as meat shields.

The boss used an instant-death skill?

Grind 1,000 spirits into it and raise a wall of flesh.

It was a miraculous meta in which Lee A-un would take responsibility for the party’s survival without suffering a single scratch, grinding down the lives of 1-cost summons that poured out endlessly.

‘Infinite-powered Meat Shield Summoning.’

That was the true purpose of the Dual Class I had given Lee A-un.

‘It is done.’

If the real World Tree saw spirits, who were no different from its children, sacrificing themselves, it might shed tears.

But aside from that one being, this was the completion of a world where no one would be hurt.

‘Stand strong, great tree.’

***

Min Ji-hee was confident.

She had read the Apostle’s instructions, as well as the intentions underlying them, and had finished preparing by ‘handling things properly on her own.’

Their posture was perfect.

It was enough for her to be that confident.

Min Ji-hee raised her head and looked into the distance.

She could see Pyongyang, which had turned white.

Even after fifteen days had passed, the frost that had settled over Pyongyang had not melted at all.

Even when sunlight shone down, even when the weather grew a little warmer, that place still looked like a frozen hell.

‘That is the place of the decisive battle.’

Min Ji-hee looked below.

The Tanker line was armed with various Artifacts.

With their inconsistent clothing, they looked at a glance like a gathering of rabble, but…

Min Ji-hee knew.

That Tanker line was the strongest on Earth.

They were warriors reborn through the Apostle’s unstinting shower of Points!

And in front of them.

A small point protruding alone….

With white hair fluttering, noticeable even from far away…

The Guardian of the Republic of Korea.

The EX-rank Frost Type Hunter, Han Seol-ah.

Han Seol-ah stood with her eyes closed in a relaxed posture.

As if absorbing the chill blowing in from Pyongyang, Han Seol-ah breathed deeply and slowly.

Crackle!

Each time she did, small frost whirlwinds repeatedly appeared and vanished around her.

‘Seol-ah….’

Han Seol-ah had once had to consciously be careful with her Mana and suppress it because her Frost Type Mana harmed her.

If she failed to control her emotions and lost the reins on her Mana, she would vomit blood and collapse. That had been her life….

But the current Han Seol-ah had changed.

She had become free to breathe together with Frost Type Mana, and it no longer wounded her.

She had become strong. Astonishingly so.

“Are you worried?”

“Association President.”

The one who spoke playfully to her was Jin Cheon-jin.

Wearing the White Tiger’s Claw, which he had somehow gotten back, Jin Cheon-jin grinned.

“No.”

Min Ji-hee smiled back.

“This time… it will be our complete victory.”

***

Han Seol-ah felt freedom.

Was this what it felt like to be a bird flying through the sky?

In a vast, open space.

Breathing Frost Type Mana to her heart’s content.

Freedom without worrying about being hurt.

It was an enormous sense of liberation.

‘…Apostle.’

Han Seol-ah’s eyes would not leave Pyongyang.

It was different from when she had temporarily set foot in EX-rank.

Only now that she had definitively stepped into EX-rank could she see it.

‘Just… what kind of person are you?’

The Grand Magic that had erased Pyongyang from the map and turned it into a pure white empty lot.

She had known long ago that, as a spell with the name ‘Grand Magic’ attached to it, it was no ordinary magic.

But now that she stood before the traces of its destruction like this.

A thrill and terror rose simultaneously from deep in her heart.

—Magic can become this powerful.

That was the thought filling Han Seol-ah’s head.

It felt as though her thoughts were expanding infinitely….

At the moment her mind was about to fly away.

[Calm down.]

A sharp voice caught hold of Han Seol-ah’s sanity.

“Frozen.”

[Why do you always lose your mind when you see those traces?]

“They are beautiful. Wondrous….”

[Your magic is beautiful too. And wondrous.]

A sullen voice came back.

Was that comfort? Praise?

“Pfft, were you comforting me just now?”

[…No? I was not.]

“You were.”

[…Be quiet, and do not think about trying to imitate that after seeing it. You are losing your mind because you are thinking that you want to imitate it.]

“…That is true.”

When a mere human had transformed the terrain and annihilated a Demonic Beast in one blow, what mage could help but long for that?

[I told you Frost Type magic is not magic meant for destruction. That… ‘Grand Magic’ is magic that has taken one step outside reason, so forget it. Please, I am begging you!]

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

[Insolent.]

“Hehe.”

Han Seol-ah stretched out her hand.

A small mass of pure white Frost Mist formed above her palm.

“How many points?”

[…Not bad. Well, 90 points?]

“So basically 100 points, right?”

Ahaha.

Han Seol-ah laughed brightly.

Han Seol-ah would not be taking the role of a ‘Damage Dealer’ in this raid.

She planned to faithfully fulfill only the role of a ‘Frost Debuffer.’

Until now, Han Seol-ah had been crushed by the sense of responsibility that ‘if I fall, the Republic of Korea is finished.’

Now that she had escaped that role and was participating in the subjugation battle as one member of the raid, her heart felt at ease.

“The preparations are perfect.”

She was free.

***

“Save me….”

Unlike Pyongyang, where the tension of the decisive battle lingered, Kang Hyo-jun’s office was suffocating, like a forest of documents piled up like mountains.

Dozens of empty coffee cups were rolling around.

With dark circles hanging down to his chin, Kang Hyo-jun struggled between piles of documents.

“Let me rest….”

But he could not rest….

—I will visit after the subjugation battle is over.

He had to meet the deadline set by Special One, the Apostle.

Kang Hyo-jun fell asleep as if fainting.

Tears fell drop by drop onto the title of the document he was holding.

[Republic of Korea Reconstruction Foundation ‘Golden Mine’ Business Report]

***

Ding—

[Emergency Epic Quest]

[Save the Republic of Korea from the Crisis of Destruction 4]

[Quest Objective]

[Defeat Wondrous Echo - Resonant Entity Resonar]

[Reward]

[Synchronization (EX) ‘Trait’ Unlocked]

[Possession Ticket]

“The time has come.”

I activated Synchronization.