CH 112

Ping! Ping!

The ray of light split into two and grazed each side of Sungmuk’s shoulders before shooting past him. The rays moved fast. A bit too fast. Sungmuk, who had deflected long-ranged bullets from a Berrett without even looking, could not even react to Arthur’s sword strikes.

“Try this. It’s the first step of Bursting Sword Light, Thousand Light.”

Arthur wasn’t careless. In terms of swordsmanship ability, Sungmuk and Arthur were nearly equals, so though this battle was immensely fun, Arthur knew he couldn’t ease up. Dragging the fight on would be insulting to his opponent, and increase the chances that Sungmuk would somehow successfully counter.

Flash!

At that moment, a burst of blinding light shot out from the center of Arthur’s body.

‘I’ll see it.’

Sungmuk threw away the Divine Red Sparrow sword’s sheath, and ignited Dividing Clear Mirror Water with his Mysterious Sword.

‘I’ll see it.’

Merlin’s eyes lit up with a bright, shimmering gold light. With this, his comprehension ability speed accelerated.

Boom!

As time slowed, Merlin could see waves of light rushing toward Sungmuk like a tsunami. Even in this slowed state, Merlin couldn’t make out the movement of the sword that was creating the wave of light.

‘Five hundred… no, seven hundred… no. Arthur called it Thousand Light. That wave of light must be a thousand sword strikes.’

Though it was called Thousand Light, many would consider it an absurd joke that a thousand strikes could be sent out in that brief of a moment. The sword strikes were so fast that it seemed like the wave of light was created by a single light-based sword qi strike. The only two who knew that Arthur’s attack consisted of a thousand sword strikes was Sungmuk and Merlin.

Bam!

As fast as lightning, Sungmuk dealt out ten sword strikes and concentrated his Body Strengthening Self-Defense Technique into a semi-circle. He created a beautiful amethyst shield that hovered in the air through his mastered Body Strengthening Self-Defense Technique; Divine Violet Mist, but Arthur’s tsunami-like torrent of light covered him in an instant, as if he was swallowed by a raging wave. Seeing this, Merlin understood something. Though Sungmuk would do everything in his power to block this attack… he wouldn’t be able to.

Ring!

“Ugh?!”

“Huh?!”

“Ack! What the hell?!”

An ear-piercing ring rang out. The gathered users quickly placed their hands over their ears in anguish. Arthur’s attack was sudden and had taken everyone by surprise, but Merlin was fine.

Arthur’s Thousand Light attack consisted of waves of light that moved at supersonic speeds. Merlin had accelerated his thought and reasoning process to observe the attack; hence, he was able to see Sungmuk bring up his magic circle right before Arthur’s attack enveloped him, which allowed him to block Arthur’s attack. Of course, this observation itself wasn’t what protected Merlin from the loud ringing; he had seen the reverberating sound shockwave billow out after Arthur’s attack clashed with Sungmuk’s magic circle, so he had activated his internal energy to protect his ears.

“Tsk. I told you not to look down upon the users, right?”

“… I thought you couldn’t be here.”

“Hmpf. You don’t really think that, do you? You and I are in different positions. I can do whatever I want.”

A clear voice rang in the minds of the users, who now filled the entire central city square. It wasn’t an attack but a spiritual presence, a presence that a supreme being naturally emanated in the company of lower-level beings.

“W-what is that? An elf?”

“Is her magic power for real…”

The newly appeared being was a woman. She had the characteristic pointy ears of an elf, was strikingly tall, and possessed flowing green hair. Four soccer-ball sized jewels revolved around her like satellites. Each of them possessed a breathtaking amount of magic power.

“Green hair and pointed ears… with four fantasy stones…”

“No, wait… you’re not saying that she’s the one on the official DIO homepage, right?”

“It seems so, no?”

“Ah, crap… the being on the official DIO homepage is supposedly as strong as the grandmasters who reside in the seven Holy Lands. She’s comparable to the dragon Igniz that showed up during the closed beta period.”

Brief descriptions of characters who resided in Dynamic Island were given in the [Character] section of the official DIO homepage. On that webpage, descriptions of the seven Holy Land grandmasters, leaders of major organizations, and other major figures were given. Based on some of the descriptions, there were a few beings that couldn’t be considered anything less than unimaginable monsters.

That same webpage detailed the existence of four supreme monsters that ruled over the four largest areas that existed in the world of DIO: Forest of Despair, the Bitter Earth, Desolate Desert, and the Dead Earth. The backdrop and description of these four supreme monsters were so impactful that users knew of their names even though no user had ever come across any of the four.

“She’s the ruler of the Forest of Despair.”

She was magnificently clad in green and wore a jade green necklace with the figure of an angel, along with a pair of emerald earrings the size of one’s thumbs. A skin-tight green dress gave off an angelic glow and highlighted her slim yet athletic figure. The dress had slits down each side like a Chinese qipao, which showcased her sleek legs.

“The queen of the forest, Mahashah.”

Mahashah was a Legend Class monster whose power was equal to the grandmasters that resided in each of the seven Holy Lands. She was a being that became aware and grasped the rules of the heavens and the earth, so she was able to combine and exact numerous spells at the same time. As a Great Mage, if she so desired, she could even destroy an entire planet!

Bam! Bam!

Boom!

At that moment, fierce auras started to congregate in the city square. They were familiar faces to the gathered users; guards who were placed all around the city to protect important facilities and stores, provide help and guide users, and prevent fights from breaking out.

However, at this moment, the aura they gave off was different.

Whoosh…!

Roughly thirty guards rushed in from all four corners. In total, over a hundred guards converged in the city square while emanating a terrifyingly powerful aura. Some used lightness skills to traverse through the air like gale winds while others rode wind spirits and flew like birds. There were also guards who used short-distance teleportation to disappear and reappear repeatedly to get to the city square. Their teleporting speeds were so quick that they seemed to cross Starting in an instant. Though the guards weren’t after the users, the users couldn’t help but feel the hair on their skin raise watching the speed with which the guards advanced into the city square. However, Mahashah snorted as if she didn’t care.

“All these worthless copies are gathering to contend against me…”

At that moment, a red ring appeared above the head of a Gane 1 guard, who had been at the vanguard, and broke into pieces. The appearance of a red ring meant that Gane 1 had requested something from its higher-ups and had been granted its request.

“All guards who are of the Gane-type, listen up! The Durendal seal has been lifted!”

“Copy. Operating Divine Weapon, Durendal!”

“Operating Divine Weapon, Durendal!”

A dark colored Divine Weapon appeared in the hands of the twenty or so Gane-type guards gathered in the city square. The magic power residing within each of the Divine Weapons was formidable. Moreover, it wasn’t just the Gane-type guards that materialized Divine Weapons.

“Brothers! The Shooting Star seal has been lifted!”

“Roger that. Operating Divine Weapon, Shooting Star.”

“All Diwali-type guards, hands above your heads! The Demigod Book seal has been lifted~!”

“Operating Divine Weapon, Demigod Book! Even if we die, we will be reborn. Let’s see just how strong a grandmaster is!!”

Bam! Boom!!

The guards, over a hundred in number, attacked simultaneously and mercilessly. Even a grandmaster, above worldly rules and laws, wouldn’t be able to neglect the joint attack of the guards, who each carried their own Divine Weapons. Mahashah moved her left hand from left to right and moved her right hand upwards as she chanted holy words. Following the movement of her hands, a giant energy wave moved above and covered the rushing guards.

“Argh!”

“Ugh! Do something… fight or flee! Otherwise, we’ll be swept away by the energy wave!”

Though the guards possessed tremendous power and aura, any bystander could easily tell who had the upper hand in this fight. The total number of attacking guards was one-hundred and twenty. However, from just one attack, a third of the guards had already been converted into gold-colored smoke.

“Phew, I was a little startled when I first saw your Divine Weapons, but I guess they are only a fraction of the power of their originals, no? I guess, even in a place like this, it’s difficult to mass produce original Divine Weapons.”

Though she spoke in a carefree manner, the guards’ attack had impacted her. Though they carried Divine Weapons that were only a fraction of the originals, those fractional Weapons were still formidably strong. One or two strikes from such weapons wouldn’t have hurt her, but a joint attack from the numerous guards, each with their own fractional Divine Weapon, posed a much greater danger. Also, it wasn’t just the guards who were hostile towards her.

“Eh, whatever. Attack! I didn’t attack since I thought I couldn’t go up against her, but if I do nothing, I’m going to die anyway.”

“Darn it! I just came to do a bit of shopping… why the hell am I conducting a raid?”

Due to the energy wave that Mahashah sent out, about a hundred users had instantly turned to gold smoke and were forcefully logged off. Even if they had to go up against a grandmaster, the users could no longer stand on the sidelines. From their point of view, wasn’t a grandmaster just another monster or NPC created by the DIO program?

The gathered users had not interfered when Arthur was fighting against Sungmuk because they assumed they couldn’t offer any help to Arthur, not because they didn’t want to fight. Truthfully, the users hated dying, but they weren’t afraid of it. Since users felt they had nothing to lose but a few stat points, they had nothing to truly fear.

“I wonder if she’ll give a lot of EXP points… wait, is it even possible to defeat her?”

“Let’s try to overwhelm her through sheer numbers! Even if we don’t finish her off or gain any drop items, just participating in a fight against a grandmaster will probably give us a lot of EXP!”

Arrows flew through the air as a sweltering heat filled the battlefield. Warriors took out their swords and made their way towards Mahashah, and any buff-spell capable mage or priest buffed the warriors with defensive-stat-enhancing spells.

“Oho… what do we have here?”

At first, Mahashah smirked at the scene. She was a great mage who fully comprehended the rules and laws of the world. Once she had stepped into the realm of transcendence, the number of enemies she faced was no longer a cause for concern. However, once the buffed warriors, mages, spiritual elementalists, and archers all attacked together, she began to feel a pressure affecting her body.

“… What is this?”

She tried to resist the pressure, but a strong force threw her down onto the ground before she could even try.

Bam!

The overwhelming force buried Mahashah's legs into the ground. Her body had dug into the ground as if she were a nail, and a hammer had hit her squarely on the head.

“All close combat type users should form into groups of a hundred-and-eight, encircle her, and overwhelm her with force! All mages and non-close combat users should form into groups of twenty-eight and maintain Michael’s Sleeping City formation!”

“Any users who are unfamiliar with these formations should find a place amidst the general formations!”

A tremendous wave of qi circled around the users and created a hostile whirlpool of spiritual power. An overwhelmingly strong force, which didn’t seem commensurate with the expected output that the users' formations should have made, swooped down upon Mahashah.

“What is this…!?”

Boom!

Mahashah exploded up from the ground, and began to hover in the air. The fantasy stones that were revolving around her started to shoot out magic power in the form of rays. If she had more time, she’d be able to cast one of her main spells and decimate all the users in one blow, but the users weren’t stupid; they would never give her that time. With no other options, Mahashah decided to use the strongest spell she could cast in the shortest amount of time.

“Whoa!!”

“Ack!”

“Dang it. I just hit three hundred points in magic power yesterday…”