Chapter 297

"It's unexpected."

"Why do you think so?"

"I didn't expect you to help me. Didn't you side with Seong Jihan last time?"

Before falling asleep, the Martial God had ordered Longinus to eliminate Seong Jihan.

But Gilgamesh had said that the order was only given to Longinus, and told Dongbang sak not to interfere.

His attitude then was clearly to protect Seong Jihan but now he says he'll help with the recovery.

Longinus couldn't grasp his intentions at all.

"Hehe, well. Maybe this isn't about helping."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Helping with recovery doesn't mean you'll be fully healed. It's just enough for you to descend. You won't be at full power."

"…Even if I'm not at full power, if I recover enough to descend, I can beat that guy."

"Do you really think so? The opponent possesses the Martial God's martial soul. In addition, he has many immeasurable powers. You can see that from him ascending to Master and challenging Space Area 3."

At those words, Longinus couldn't confidently say no.

The Seong Jihan he fought through the avatar was definitely not an easy opponent.

If he could use all his power, it would be one thing.

But if he went to Earth and fought with just enough recovery to descend, he wasn't sure he could win.

"…What are you scheming?"

"For me, the clash between you two is important. Who wins doesn't really matter."

"…"

"Originally, I was waiting for the battle after your full recovery, but because of the incident he caused, I can't just keep waiting. So I'm proposing this. How about it? Will you accept my help?"

"In the end, you're helping so you can make us fight, right?"

Gilgamesh nodded, and Longinus frowned, asking back.

"Why are you so intent on making him and I fight?"

"I can't tell you that. Instead, if you accept this proposal, I promise you the certain death you desire."

"…Can you give me that?"

"Yes."

Even before becoming the Martial God's disciple, Longinus had an immortal body.

Cursing that eternal life, he nodded at Gilgamesh's affirmation.

Right.

As long as he could die, that was enough.

He didn't particularly want to know the complicated circumstances behind it.

However,

"Why is that happening? Can you tell me? I'm genuinely curious."

"Are you talking about the limit of evolution?"

"Yeah."

"Your becoming an immortal body is because of that."

"What…?"

"In the beginning, many things happened."

Gilgamesh smiled as he looked at the screen.

"You already know about it. Your memories are just sealed."

Memories are sealed?

Longinus thought deeply.

Born to kill the 'gods.'

But after that duty was stolen by the Martial God, he became his servant and lived only doing as ordered.

In this life, there were no such sealed memories…

"Do you not remember anything before taking on the duty of killing the gods?"

"Nothing particularly special."

"Then I have nothing more to say."

"Can't you just tell me?"

"I'd like to tell my 'old comrade' as well, but."

Tap! Tap!

Gilgamesh sat down and tapped the ground.

"Talking about the events of the beginning would break a promise I made with the owner of this star."

"…Tsk, how bland. But old comrade?"

"Yes. We've been comrades for a long time…"

Ziiing!

As soon as he said that, Gilgamesh's body briefly turned transparent before returning to his original form.

"Oh my, even this much talk is caught by the Martial God's prohibition."

"…Forget it, then."

"Alright. I'll help with your recovery."

"Okay."

Listening to Gilgamesh's story only made Longinus's head more complicated.

But for now, he accepted his proposal upon hearing that he could die.

And with his permission.

Shwooo…

"Then let's begin."

Chains began sprouting from Gilgamesh's body.

* * *

Round 20.

It was different from the defense of the Northern Wall and the game progression so far.

[Summoning the strongest from the 'Daegi Guild' in the 'Resting Place of the Dead'.]

Flash!

Seong Jihan, who had been standing with his arms crossed, was summoned to a new space, the 'Resting Place of the Dead'.

[The all-out attack of the dead begins. Defend against the enemy's assault.]

On the fortress walls where the remaining guild members stood, Ghosts, incomparably more numerous than before, were being summoned.

Enemies overwhelmingly outnumbering the previous round.

And with Seong Jihan summoned elsewhere, it seemed difficult to defend against this.

"That's quite a lot…"

"Even if they're spirits, aren't they too big?"

"Their momentum seems much stronger than before too."

"This will be tough to defend without Seong Jihan-nim…"

"As expected of the final round…"

The rankers, who had been on a winning streak until round 19 while receiving 3% of Seong Jihan's power, judged that this would be difficult due to the enemy's vastly different scale.

[Players are strengthened in proportion to the cumulative score value earned by individual players until now.]

As if they wouldn't be pushed back so easily, players were strengthened according to the scores they had earned up to round 19.

[Defeat the boss emerging from the Resting Place of the Dead. Each time you defeat an opponent, a special buff is granted to guild members.]

Depending on Seong Jihan's performance, summoned to the Resting Place of the Dead, A way for the guild members outside to become stronger was also created.

=Lue Investment CEO Octane's words were truly correct! After the players were strengthened in proportion to their scores, their movements became much lighter!

=It seems Seong Jihan's 3% buff is still maintained as well. With this, they'll be able to oppose the enemies with much greater power than usual!

While the commentators and numerous humans were focusing on the final round, Seong Jihan was examining the Resting Place of the Dead he was warped to.

'Those covering all sides, are they… eyes?'

The Resting Place of the Dead.

Except for the vast pure white marble floor, all sides were filled with huge red eyeballs.

Those eyes were all moving, focusing on Seong Jihan.

But that focus was short-lived.

[That's the strong one.]

[For a newcomer, it's too trivial a body.]

[I won't aim for it.]

Voices came from the eyes, and the eyeballs closed one by one.

Among the red eyes of various sizes, Especially the large ones were the first to close their eyes.

With the opponent not appearing and the eyes on all sides gradually disappearing.

-What is this? Why isn't the opponent coming out?

-Those eyeballs seem disappointed seeing the human body lol

-Ugh, there's a bloody battle going on outside, the enemy needs to come out quickly -_-

-Even after receiving the Seong Jihan buff + score buff, it looks tough… Need another buff here for the Northern Wall to hold.

-Does Seong Jihan have to do it again?

-Since Seong Jihan was born human, can't be helped.

The guild members at the Northern Wall needed buffs from the Resting Place of the Dead to survive.

But the enemy wasn't coming out, making the viewers anxious.

However,

[I, I'll at least eat that!]

Light burst from one small eye.

[The constellation Fragment, '??' challenges you.]

An opponent whose name appeared as ?? appeared before Seong Jihan.

The opponent, whose spirit body was reduced to only half vertically, was a bipedal race with a wolf's head.

'Its momentum seems quite strong.'

Perhaps because it was a constellation fragment.

Despite being only half a spirit body, the momentum it exuded was considerable.

In terms of power alone, it was comparable to the Disciples of the Martial God he faced before.

[Give…give me your body!]

Opening its half-remaining mouth wide, the wolf head kicked off.

Its spirit body instantly vanished.

The opponent fiercely charged with a ferocious momentum.

The power it displayed outwardly was not to be taken lightly but if it was only that level, it was an easy opponent for the current Seong Jihan.

Fundamental Divine Art, Triad of Martial Mastery – Total Annihilation Horizontal Sweep

Swooosh!

As the shadow sword Eclipse drew a vertical line, the wolf head split in half from its already halved state.

[This…this power… Co…could it be…]

It looked at Seong Jihan's sword strike with a shocked voice before vanishing.

Total Annihilation Horizontal Sweep.

In a way, it was merely the pinnacle of a vertical slash.

Yet it seemed to recognize this attack.

"What about the power?"

Seong Jihan retorted like that and this time swung his sword horizontally.

[Is this really the power of the Martial God…?]

Swooosh!

In the end, the wolf spirit was split into vertical and horizontal quarters compared to the beginning while mentioning the Martial God as it disappeared.

[A portion of Constellation Fragment '??'s power is granted to all guild members.]

[Strength and regeneration are greatly increased.]

A message that popped up for all guild members, including Seong Jihan.

He clenched and opened his fist.

'Perhaps because it's the power held by a constellation fragment, I can feel it a bit.'

A powerful buff that even Seong Jihan, possessing the martial soul, could say it had an effect.

If it was like this for him,

-Oh…! As expected! I believed in you!

-That buff is crazy? Warriors' bodies are regenerating like crazy at the Northern Wall right now lol

-The severed arm is growing back without even receiving healing lol

-It's like elves, isn't it? You guys enjoyed this alone? So good, really lol

For the warriors fiercely battling at the Northern Wall, this buff was felt even more greatly.

The front lines that seemed like they would be completely pushed back could hold out a bit longer with this buff.

[Oh, could this be…]

[The power of the Martial God?]

[I'll go next.]

Flash!

Inside the Resting Place of the Dead, the almost vanished eyeballs revealed themselves one by one.

Forgetting when they were disappointed seeing Seong Jihan's body,

As soon as they saw Total Annihilation Horizontal Sweep and Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit, they all exuded a hostile atmosphere.

* * *

[Get out of the way. You insignificant beings. How long has it been since I became the Constellation, and a youngster is trying to surpass me?]

[No, is experience really that important? Strength is what matters.]

[If you lack experience, you lack strength too.]

[Look at the spirit body. I was cut less by the Martial God than you!]

The red eyes argued among themselves about who would go first.

But in the end, they determined an order, and powerful beings were summoned one by one.

[About Martial God! What is your relationship with that monster who completely destroyed my world!]

The constellation fragment summoned this time was a bizarre monster with only a huge head and 3 hands remaining.

But its power was immense despite only fragments remaining.

'This one's no pushover.'

Boom!

The marble floor was completely destroyed with each movement of a hand and beneath it, grayish spirit bodies were all glaring at Seong Jihan.

The Resting Place of the Dead, far from resting, was a place where the dead exuded a hostile atmosphere to devour the living.

As Seong Jihan used the martial arts of the 'Wandering Martial God', they all became agitated and tried to devour him.

-Wow… Constellation fragments are strong indeed.

-Hes fighting evenly with Seong Jihan

-That wolf head earlier was an extremely weak one.

-As expected, constellations are strong…

-Ugh, the Northern Wall looks like it'll have a hard time holding out now?

Kaaaah!

Spewing blue flames from its mouth and erratically moving its three hands, the spirit body.

Its attacks were by far the most troublesome among the recent enemies.

'With this level, it must have been quite a powerful one even during its constellation days.'

Seong Jihan had become stronger after acquiring the stat 'red', but this was not an easy opponent even for him.

Was it still too much to fight constellation-level beings?

[I asked what relationship you and that guy have!]

"Well, do you not remember? You seem to have died at the hands of Martial God, so why are you here instead of being on display at Tuseong?"

[Displayed at Tuseong, what does that mean…?]

"You don't know because you died? The Constellation's hunted down by Martial God are floating there in the sky in the form of weapons."

[What…?]

When the enemy paused for a moment at Seong Jihan's words.

He used a special martial art.

Fundamental Divine Arts, Annihilation God's Secret – Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.

Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods, showing absolute power against spirit bodies.

Until now, he could defeat the opponents without using this, but for this three-handed enemy, he had to use this authority.

Swoosh!

As the sword stabbed into the void, a pattern was instantly created.

Upon seeing this, the opponent's reaction became even more intense.

[This… this is the technique that finished me off…!]

Shwooo!

Before its words ended, the formation of Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods moved.

[Ugh…!]

[I… I must avoid that…!]

[I'd rather stay here. I must never enter that!]

[Let's forget revenge…!]

The constellation fragments glaring at Seong Jihan from all sides, upon seeing Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods, were startled and began retreating as if nothing had happened.

Eyeballs started disappearing in an instant.

[Uwaaaaah!]

And the three-handed enemy was sucked into it, unable to resist Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.

'As expected, Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods is the best against spirits.'

Seong Jihan thought so and waited for what buff would come this time.

'…Nothing?'

Unlike when he eliminated other constellation fragments.

The enemy absorbed by Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods did not grant a buff in BattleNet.

This was bad. If buffs didn't go to the allies at the Northern Wall, it would be hard for them to hold out.

"Hey guys, I won't use this. Want to come out and fight?"

Seong Jihan called out like that while looking around.

But the eyes had already all disappeared.

A situation where he couldn't fight even if he wanted to because the enemies had gotten scared off after seeing just Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.

[The guild members at the Northern Wall have been annihilated.]

[The guild mission has ended.]

In the end, the game ended like that, with the guild members being wiped out as the buffs were cut off.

Seong Jihan frowned.

This was unexpected.

'Can't be helped.'

Thinking that he should use Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods more sparingly next time, he tried to log out.

Shwooo…

Suddenly, the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods he had created earlier floated up in front of him again.

Pop!

It spat something out.

'This is… a gauntlet?'

It was a white glowing gauntlet that looked exactly like the ghostly hands from earlier.