Chapter 134: Large-Scale Raid - (3)
When the Frozen Mage attempted hypnosis with his Third Eye—
『Illusion Arbitration』
Sanghyun created his own illusion and made it charge toward the Frozen Mage.
The timing was perfect.
As the Frozen Mage was just about to focus on hypnosis, he missed the activation process of Illusion Arbitration.
Thanks to that, the Frozen Mage’s attention was completely stolen by Sanghyun’s illusion, and his head turned.
As the illusion slipped past the side of the Frozen Mage, it gave off a signal as if there was another hidden trick.
Illusion Arbitration forces a choice.
What if he had realized the illusion slipping past was fake? Sanghyun would’ve activated arbitration to swap positions.
‘It’s a vicious skill.’
That was Sanghyun’s own evaluation.
Truly vicious. It forces an unconditional choice on the opponent, yet doesn’t even allow them to make the right one.
In any case, an opening had been made.
Thump!
Sanghyun leapt powerfully and landed directly on the broad shoulders of the Frozen Mage.
Though their heights were similar, the body of the Frozen Mage was bizarrely extended like a tree, providing many footholds.
Earlier, he had secretly deployed Weak Point Amplification, and he already had the fourth hit secured.
Without hesitation, Sanghyun immediately moved to the next combo.
『Whisper of the Sage』
『Sword of Ruin』
Puuuuuk!
Gwaaahhh!
It was a success.
The berserk Demon Sword pierced diagonally from the top right of the Frozen Mage’s shoulder and skewered the left collarbone.
The sword went in so deep that half of the greatsword’s blade disappeared in an instant.
Thunk!
But it hit something in the upper chest—be it bone or something else—and was momentarily stopped.
‘It’s not like I wasn’t planning to go again anyway.’
Swoosh!
Sanghyun yanked out the greatsword.
Black blood flowed along the blade as it was pulled out.
Fssshhh!
A fountain of blood soon shot into the sky. It surged with such force that it drenched Sanghyun’s entire face.
『Mortal’s Wrath』
Whap!
25% of the damage from that blow instantly activated along with Mortal’s Wrath.
Since the skill forcibly detonates the wound, the physical pain was far worse than just 25% damage.
Grrraaaaghh!
The Frozen Mage screamed out a mournful cry, like he was squeezing it out from his abdomen.
Sanghyun had seized the initiative.
That’s what he believed.
To put it another way, if he didn’t end it here, the turn would pass to the other side.
The Frozen Mage, unable to endure, was summoning all the nearby undead toward this location.
If things went badly, even if he took down the Frozen Mage, he might still be torn apart alive by the surrounding undead.
“Just die already!”
Sanghyun stabbed the Demon Sword once more into the wound in the collarbone.
『Freezing Transformation』
This time, he also imbued the blade with Freezing Transformation.
He intended to freeze everything inside the body if it came to that. Just because it’s the Frozen Mage doesn’t mean he’s made of ice.
Puuuuk! Crack!
“Nice!”
The sound of thunder exploded with the strike.
A critical maximum damage had occurred.
The lightning strike that burst inside destroyed the Frozen Mage’s internal organs.
No matter how powerful a mid-boss monster was, there was no way to withstand that destructive current.
『Cursed Beheading』
The Demon Sword’s passive skill, Cursed Beheading, immediately activated.
In the case of monsters like ghouls, which die instantly, the Cursed Beheading often doesn’t even get a chance to trigger.
But for enemies like the Frozen Mage, who leave a sliver of health, this kind of finale had a high chance of happening.
Slice—
……!
The head of the Frozen Mage, now a ghost without a neck, flew through the air, scattering black blood.
That moment was clearly etched not only into the eyes of Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk, who had been watching, but even in the eyes of Choi Sihoo.
Even Do Kyungsoo, who had been catching his breath and observing Sanghyun from afar, saw it all perfectly.
[Your level has increased!]
His level immediately rose to 166.
The effect of the Rapid Growth title was activated without fail, even against the mid-boss monster Frozen Mage.
‘If you gain a whole level in the 160s just from killing one monster, that’s gotta be a cheat.’
And the one pulling off that cheat in real time—was him! Sanghyun formed an invisible smile.
After confirming the Frozen Mage was truly dead, Sanghyun shouted toward Jung Junhyuk and Lee Gah Hee.
“Wipe them out! They’re all idiots now! They won’t do anything. They’ll just flail around!”
Just as Sanghyun said.
The demonic beasts, having suddenly lost their control tower, fell into disarray and confusion.
Normally, when a Frozen Mage senses their death approaching, they hand over command to another nearby mage.
That was the command know-how they used to endlessly maintain the undead army’s coordination.
However, the Frozen Mage who fought Sanghyun believed in his victory until the very end.
By the time he realized he had been caught off guard, there was no time left for the mental focus needed to pass command.
‘Got the Artifact right away!’
He naturally picked up a necklace Artifact that had formed from the dead Frozen Mage.
A Unique-grade Artifact! Things were going well from the start.
“Haaahp!”
Letting out a shout, Sanghyun shifted his attack direction toward Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk and began a frenzied charge.
A short while later.
The undead horde, having lost their supreme commander in confusion, began collapsing like dominoes from all sides.
At the center of it all were Sanghyun and his two teammates.
* * *
At the same time.
“Now do you understand why I asked you to keep an eye on Shin Sanghyun?”
“…I have to admit it. He’s truly amazing. Feels like watching an early-era Master.”
“No. Even I wasn’t that proactive while also fully grasping the situation like that. I was much duller.”
“Aren’t you underestimating yourself a bit too much?”
“See? Shin Sanghyun knew from the start that the Frozen Mage had to be killed for sure. And he had the ability to do it too.”
“That’s true.”
“And the moment the Frozen Mage died, he immediately changed direction and wiped out the remnants.
But what about us? Huh?”
Do Kyungsoo pointed straight ahead.
The Sword Demon–Sword God team was proceeding with a textbook strategy.
Each team had one dedicated tanker blocking the Frozen Mage’s ranged attacks.
The remaining four carefully eliminated the undead horde step by step.
Of course, it was the least risky tactic and one that made sense for the first phase of a raid.
“We’re just following the standard.”
“But that could be considered standard too. Safe doesn’t automatically mean standard. The three of them already finished the situation, didn’t they?”
“Technically, it was Shin Sanghyun alone.”
“Cutting off the powerful demonic beasts trying to approach Sanghyun from the rear—that was Jung Junhyuk and Lee Gah Hee’s quick judgment.”
“I’ve never seen a swordsman take on a Frozen Mage one-on-one that aggressively. He’s impressive.”
“You admit it?”
“Yes, I admit it. It’s a bit frustrating, but I don’t want to deny his real ability.”
“There’s a reason for my curiosity and fondness. It’s not like I just take a liking to anyone, you know. Tsk tsk.”
Do Kyungsoo laughed like a proud older brother watching his younger sibling succeed.
Then Choi Sihoo listed off Sanghyun’s confirmed abilities while watching him, wearing an expression of disbelief.
“Spatial isolation skill. Stiffness induction. Short-distance teleportation. Instant burst damage skill. Illusion skill. This is all from one person…?”
“Right. That’s Shin Sanghyun’s ability. And that’s just one aspect of it. Doesn’t it make you curious?”
“I can’t help but look forward to it.”
“Let’s keep watching. He’ll do well.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Say that to Shin Sanghyun later. You may not have directly disrespected him, but it’s true you looked at him with bias.”
“Yes, understood.”
Choi Sihoo bowed his head.
Abilities that couldn’t be denied!
Even Choi Sihoo couldn’t help but become curious about the true extent of Sanghyun’s potential.
* * *
30 minutes later.
Sanghyun spoke to Jung Junhyuk and Lee Gah Hee, who were wiping away their sweat.
“Let’s take a short break. It seems the main force is pushing straight up the main route. We’re done with our cleanup here too.”
“Phew. I really fired away to my heart’s content. Who knew it’d be this smooth just because the Frozen Mage wasn’t around?”
“With fewer variables, I could safely use healing skills offensively as well.”
The two looked very satisfied with the battle.
In truth, it was because Sanghyun had set the whole stage.
The Frozen Mage had been the biggest concern as a potential threat,
But Sanghyun had taken care of it early on.
“You really worked hard! I’m sure you hear this a lot, but we’re clearing this so comfortably thanks to you, Sanghyun.”
“I’m starting to seriously wonder if I’ve become a healer with no job. What’s the point if I can’t even heal anyone?”
“I think I understand now why everyone wants to get close to you, Sanghyun. Do Kyungsoo-nim, Han Hyunjeong-nim too.”
“Let’s cut the sappy compliments. I’m not the only one who gave it my all, right? We all did our best together.”
“There’s a difference between doing your best on a prepared stage And doing your best to prepare that stage in the first place.”
“In any case, we got a happy ending, so it’s all good! Let’s rest for five minutes and then move out right away.”
“Sounds good!”
Sanghyun began his maintenance right away.
There were no weapons or skills to adjust—he simply wanted to check the Artifact obtained from the Frozen Mage.
「Cold Necklace」
■ Artifact Grade: Unique
■ Artifact Description: Grants 50% resistance against ice attacks from undead mage types.
The necklace, filled with the essence of cold, contains the mana essence condensed by the Frozen Mage.
■ Mana +200
‘Mana +200? Yeah, definitely not something I should consume.
This should replace the Necklace of Flexibility I was wearing.’
Upon checking the mana-related stat option, Sanghyun clicked his tongue.
Aside from the ice resistance, the mana increase was greater than expected.
Just by that value, it was worth more than a typical Unique item.
Sanghyun removed the Necklace of Flexibility he had been wearing.
Then he immediately checked the absorption rate.
‘Nice.’
A 100% absorption rate showed up.
Since he’d never taken it off before—not even during showers—it must have absorbed plenty of body scent(?).
As soon as he equipped the Cold Necklace, his mana stat rose to 760.
At this level, it surpassed the mana stat of mage-type players in the same level range.
Unless someone had gathered expensive Artifacts to stack their mana stat, his was actually higher.
‘Absolute Summon of Death’s Touch or Absolute Freeze of Freezing Transformation—
each eats up 500 mana on its own, so even with this much, it’s not exactly a ton.’
Anyone hearing him would’ve called it peak arrogance.
But seeing the boosted mana still filled him with confidence.
The Necklace of Flexibility had reduced the duration of Stiffness to 90% and gave 50 Evasion stat.
Since the absorption rate was 100%, there were no lost stats—he could enjoy his “meal” worry-free.
The visualization of the food occurred right away.
“Huh?”
It was curry made by Do Kyunghye!
That incredibly delicious curry he had eaten before.