Pick me Up – Chapter 253 – Assault on the Holy City (4)
Ooooh!
The statue twisted, its torso spinning violently.
I kept my feet firmly planted on the ground while I turned the hilt of my sword. The blade, hundreds of meters long, sank deeper into the monster's body.
Crackle!
Crimson lightning constantly emanated from my body.
I bit my teeth until they bled.
‘It's still not… easy.’
Although the penalty of Exceed or the Black Dragon Scales had disappeared, the Demon Dragon Soul was not a skill I could use indefinitely.
There was a clear limit. This skill not only increased the gravity of the sword but also required delicate adjustment to handle it. A single mistake would mean everything near me, including Priacis, would be crushed.
Bifröst cut the statue almost in half.
The monster, staggering, stared at me. Its eyes, similar to crystals, began to shine white.
[The Ancient Statue casts ‘Eye Beam’.]
Zzzing!
A white beam shot from its eyes, piercing through me.
[The hero is immune to magic.]
[The hero is immune to magic.]
[The hero is immune to magic.]
[The hero is immune…]
Crash!
Well, the beam faded as it hit the barrier in front of me.
I sneered and gripped the hilt tightly.
Then I cut horizontally.
Complete slash.
A piercing scream echoed as the upper part of the statue began to slide at an angle.
I shook the sword. Shiiing. Bifröst quickly returned to its original form.
“Han… is that you…?”
“It’s not a pleasant sight.”
I shook the dust off the blade.
Priacis looked at me with trembling eyes.
In those golden eyes reflected was the image of me turned into a monster.
“It’s not that. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize. I chose this myself. Let’s talk later, for now, let’s get out of here.”
Boom!
Finally, the upper part of the statue fell to the ground.
A column of dust and sand rose powerfully.
I sheathed the sword forcefully.
The sandstorm hovering over us dispersed with a single strike.
‘…This is over.’
The Ancient Statue stopped moving.
In the sand, only the waist and legs remained.
I had disabled it with a single strike. Remembering what it had cost to defeat this monster before, it seemed like an absurd end.
Although I had finished the golem, the illusion was not yet over.
I looked at the hill.
A whirlpool of light was spinning furiously.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, understood.”
Priacis got up, clutching my hand.
Though the scales were rough, she had no other choice.
[Drag and drop the screen. Extend a hand to help NPCs trapped in the illusion!]
Anything slid the screen again.
[Slash!]
[A dimensional portal connected to the illusion has opened!]
‘I must finish this quickly.’
I clenched my fist.
I couldn’t maintain the demonic state indefinitely.
I had to break all illusions within a limited time.
<Don't you have confidence even with that power?>
“No, it's just a bit annoying.”
Yes, just a bit annoying.
I took a short breath and headed toward the third dimensional whirlpool.
The sensation of floating took over my body.
Finally, when I opened my eyes again.
Ting!
[The hero Han (★★★★★) has entered the ‘Third Illusory World’.]
[A special mission has been assigned. If you fail this mission, the special NPC Priacis al Ragnar will die. Master, please observe the situation carefully.]
I looked around.
Waves and ripples.
I was on a raft in the middle of the vast ocean.
‘Is this all?’
I still didn’t see Priacis.
I looked up.
“This is not enough. Don’t you have something stronger?”
I smiled.
They talked about ancient magic and now were silent.
<The time has come.>
A voice like someone chewing something was heard.
The voice came from beneath the surface.
Violent waves churned, and the raft seemed about to capsize.
I adjusted my sword.
Well, this would be easy.
It seemed this enemy had me as its target.
[Floor 35 (?).]
[Mission Type – Extermination]
[Objective – Eliminate the Sea Dragon.]
Roaaaar!
With a roar, a column of water rose.
[Sea Dragon Cutaart Lv.81]
A massive, hydrodynamic body emerged from the water.
The red-eyed sea dragon that had tormented me on floor 35 had appeared.
<We had pending debts.>
Halgion sneered.
I probably had a similar expression.
I had unfinished business with that creature.
‘I won’t kill you easily.’
No matter that it was just a discharge of anger.
I gripped the hilt of my sword.
<The beginning of a true hunt…>
“Yes, the hunt begins.”
Boom!
I leaped from the raft.
Fragments of the shattered raft flew through the air. It no longer mattered whether I was in the water or the air. I jumped toward Cutaart, propelling myself through the water like a stone thrown across the surface.
“I won’t kill you easily.”
<A weak human like you…>
<Hahaha! An insignificant half-breed barks!>
Crash!
<…?!>
I pierced the neck of the sea dragon that tried to bite me.
And I stabbed it repeatedly.
Until the sea turned red with its blood.
Uff.
I shook the blood-soaked blade.
In the distance, Priacis, floating on the waves, looked at me with a stunned expression.
“What’s next?”
I smiled as I looked ahead.
A whirlpool of light was oscillating over the sea. But its light was visibly dimmer than before. It seemed the saint’s spells were reaching their limit.
‘The truth is, I’m also at my limit…’
But I couldn’t show weakness.
I took Priacis to the next portal.
The following challenges were also variations of my previous missions.
Survive five minutes against thousands of Corrupted Goblins. Reverse a desperate battle. Defend a fortress on the verge of collapse.
As the saint had stated, her spells were terribly powerful.
If it had been before awakening the Demon Dragon Soul, I would have been on the brink of death.
‘But…’
It was too late.
I had trained countless times in my mental world with Halgion.
More than ten thousand times. Although my body had been shredded and dismembered thousands of times, I gained the corresponding strength.
‘I am not invincible.’
I knew that better than anyone.
Among the high-ranking heroes, there were many more powerful than me.
No matter how much I amplified the weight of my sword, it wouldn’t work if they could nullify physical strength. If Lidygion were my enemy, he would handle my black dragon sword like a toy.
The black dragon scale also had its flaws.
Top-tier heroes had at least one ‘special medium’.
Otherwise, they couldn’t challenge the 80th floor.
Even now, if one of the top teams from Niflheim faced me, I would be a corpse in less than a minute.
But those were the best.
Crack.
I clenched my hand.
An unpleasant sound of bones displacing, and the broken neck of the black dragon hung limp.
The last illusion was the 20th floor.
It seemed they wanted to finish once and for all, as three black dragons appeared at once, but the combination wasn’t right.
Inside me dwelled an existence that was an ancestor to these dragons.
‘They couldn’t compete.’
I shook my hands.
Black flowed from the bodies of the dead dragons.
This was the stage of the 20th floor, the arena. They didn’t last even three minutes.
“Consider this a dream. Forget it when we leave.”
I said to Priacis, who was sitting behind me.
She closed her mouth and looked alternately at me and the dragon corpses.
“Han.”
“What?”
“You’ve become stronger. Really.”
“It’s been three years.”
For her, it had been three years.
When I gestured, Priacis nodded seriously and entered the whirlpool of light.
This was over.
Ting!
[The hero Han (★★★★★) has completed the special mission.]
[The special NPC returns to the field.]
Finally, I took a deep breath.
[Han (★★★★★) has exited Demonization.]
The scales that had sprouted all over my body retracted into my skin.
The crimson lightning that enveloped me disappeared without a trace.
I clenched my still-tingling hand.
‘The situation outside…’
It seemed almost resolved.
I couldn’t see everything clearly, but from Anything’s interface, I could deduce the battle’s state.
The number of enemies remaining in Delhive’s citadel was less than 500.
An overwhelming victory.
‘I’ve done my part, now it’s your turn.’
I looked up.
Anything immediately called the menu.
[Gift Shop!]
[Buy Warhorse Statues (X60) for 300,000 gold!]
[Deliver Warhorse Statue to Han (★★★★★).]
[Deliver Warhorse Statue to Han (★★★★★).]
[Deliver Warhorse Statue to Han (★★★★★).]
Great.
I received my reward.
<Incredible. Why do you obsess over those useless pieces of wood?>
“They are not useless pieces of wood.”
<Then what are they?>
“A healthy hobby.”
It’s a simple exchange.
I don’t like working for free.
I smiled as I looked ahead.
The illusion of the arena slowly distorted, revealing a familiar landscape.
<…>
Suddenly, I was back in the hall of the temple’s top level.
In front of me, the saint looked at me with a rigid expression.
The illusion had ended.
I took a step towards her.
This time there was no transparent barrier to stop me.
<With the power you had before, this wouldn’t have been easy.>
“It’s the result of my effort. I haven’t been wasting my time.”
<I didn’t know the power of ancient species was so formidable. It’s impressive.>
Riane murmured, visibly disconcerted.
“Don’t you have something more? Any final trick that can kill me in one blow?”
<If I had it, I would have already used it. If you know of one, let me know, and I’ll try it.>
Riane laughed while covering her mouth.
I unsheathed my sword and approached her.
<The ancient statue, the sea dragon, the black dragon… for you, they were insignificant. I am also insignificant, right?>
“…”
<Is the princess alive?>
“Can’t you see?”
I looked beyond the terrace.
Priacis was standing at the entrance of the citadel, looking at me.
The eyes floating in the sky had disappeared, and only the cheers of the mercenaries celebrating the victory could be heard.
<Once you said not to take revenge on the princess. She was only used by the goddess.>
“…Yes, I did say that.”
<So, you knew something, after all.>
I remembered clearly.
When the witch and the beast king, along with the saint, attacked Asynis’s camp.
Before being surrounded and attacked, I told them that and jumped off the cliff.
“Tel entered Priacis’s dream and deceived her. She was seduced by her words and…”
<Do you really believe that?>
What does she mean?
I frowned.
<Can you distinguish between a dream and reality when you dream?>
“…”
<If your words in the dream are sincere, the contract with the goddess is fulfilled. So, the princess really sold all of us and Taonier. Just to have another chance.>
“Don’t try to deceive me now.”
In a corner of my mind, the images of that moment replayed.
The end of the world, during the four-star ascension ceremony.
「Even if you have to endanger everything around you, you want to try once more.」
I remembered Tel’s voice declaring this to everyone.
「I, the goddess of purity Tel, swear by my soul that this is the truth.」
I turned the sword in my hand.
「Admit it. You sold everyone.」
Priacis protested, but Tel finally spoke.
「In the dream, I did.」
She said she had made the contract in the dream.
That contract gave the goddess an excuse to intervene, and Taonier ended up in that state.
However, that contract was made when Priacis didn’t know the full situation. Once she understood, she renounced the contract.
‘What an absurd word game.’
Such a crude attempt at manipulation wouldn’t work.
I had reviewed the situation many times.
It wasn’t a lie.
<The human heart is a mystery.>
Riane stepped back.
Her back was already against the railing.
<Anyway, thanks to the princess, we ended up like this. Living in agony, unable to die, and being preyed upon by you. I wonder what expression she will make when she knows the truth.>
“…”
<Please, enjoy it.>
Riane pushed with her feet forward.
I didn’t have time to stab her with my sword.
The saint’s body fell slowly backward and disappeared from my sight.
A few moments later. Amid the cheers of victory, a small sound, like something breaking, was heard.
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