Chapter 252: Chapter 252

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 252

The troublesome foe had been dealt with.

‘Just took him down with a single Rune of Counterattack. What a gain.’

Alessandro Bryden.

He must have gained his powers by contracting with Baal and offering his soul as payment.

After all, Baal had a particular fondness for human souls.

But with Jeong-hoon delivering a perfect counter and killing him, Alessandro would find no peace even in death.

That alone was satisfying enough.

‘I want to absorb his stats!’

However, Alessandro’s body had exploded into fragments, making absorption impossible.

Jeong-hoon summoned the Seven Deadly Sins.

“How can I absorb him in that state?”

“It’s fine. It’s still possible.”

With those words, the Seven Deadly Sins moved to where Alessandro had been standing.

Traces of Alessandro remained faintly on the ground.

[Absorbing stats.]

Jeong-hoon’s eyes widened.

To think it was possible to extract stats even in such a state.

In any case, it was a fortunate turn of events.

He had thought Alessandro’s swift demise might prevent him from absorbing anything.

At that moment, a rift opened, revealing crimson eyes.

The appearance of the crimson eyes shifted the attention of every user in the grand cavern to Baal.

“How does it feel to claim a human soul?”

Alessandro had used all his mana to create an artificial sun in an attempt to kill Jeong-hoon.

Because of that, he hadn’t been able to prepare for the Rune of Counterattack.

‘If he hadn’t been blinded by revenge, he could have calculated better.’

In the end, his demise was nothing short of hollow.

“So, you interfered because you wanted to enjoy yourself?”

Baal’s interference had not been part of the plan.

“...Stop talking like that; it’s disgusting.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Hmph. So, are you suggesting we make a wager?”

“Then how about you just leave?”

Jeong-hoon waved his hand dismissively, as if annoyed.

At that, the crimson eyes curved into a crescent shape.

“Hmph. For now, there are too many eyes watching. Could you quiet things down a bit?”

As Baal finished speaking, the surroundings seemed to freeze, as if time had stopped.

‘This guy is completely addicted to gambling.’

Stopping time to this extent meant Baal had expended considerable energy.

Though normally he wouldn’t be able to intervene this directly, the contract with Alessandro had allowed for a more forceful interference.

It was likely Baal had used Alessandro less for entertainment and more to create an excuse to approach Jeong-hoon again.

“So, what exactly can you offer me?”

“Hm, that’s not enough. As you can see, the Colossus Ursus is proving to be quite troublesome.”

“I’d like 5% of the Ultimate Energy, and the most powerful soul in your possession.”

Baal’s crimson eyes narrowed, his expression betraying his surprise—clearly not expecting Jeong-hoon to ask for a soul.

“That seems like fair compensation, don’t you think?”

Jeong-hoon smirked.

No, he couldn’t handle souls directly.

But he did have a summon that could.

That summon was Michael.

‘He’s a necromancer I brought out from the Coffin of Death. If I can get my hands on a soul Baal owns, Michael will only grow stronger.’

That was exactly what Jeong-hoon was after.

“So, what’s your answer? Yes or no?”

Jeong-hoon grinned slyly.

Baal’s crimson eyes curved into a crescent.

“Then, do I wager my soul again this time?”

“Something else?”

“A contract?”

Jeong-hoon tilted his head in puzzlement.

Baal was a transcendent of lordly rank, the kind who wouldn’t contract with just anyone.

Typically, he would engage in temporary contracts only to claim souls or wager on a game.

When victorious, he would mercilessly terminate the contract and claim the other party’s soul—a ruthless, malevolent approach.

But now he was bringing up a proper contract?

What was his game?

“Is that so? But what should I do? I’m not interested in forming a contract with you.”

He wasn’t wrong.

From Jeong-hoon’s perspective, it was much safer than wagering his soul outright.

Even in defeat, all he’d have to do was proceed with the contract.

"Fine. I’ll accept the wager."

The decision didn’t take long.

The Ultimate Energy and the powerful soul Baal possessed were worth the risk.

With the wager agreed upon, Baal disappeared.

As he vanished, time, which had been frozen, began to flow again.

“What’s going on?”

“The crimson eyes disappeared in an instant!”

As Baal vanished before their eyes, the players turned to Jeong-hoon, their gazes filled with confusion.

After all, he had been the one conversing with Baal just moments ago.

“Did you… form a contract with the crimson eyes?”

James Marcus approached Jeong-hoon with a stiff expression.

Jeong-hoon chuckled dryly and responded, “What nonsense are you spouting? And even if I did, what’s it to you?”

“...It matters. If you’ve formed a contract, you’re now my enemy.”

“Enemy?”

How laughable.

Jeong-hoon had never considered James Marcus an ally in the first place.

To him, the man was nothing more than a traitor—nothing more, nothing less.

“Indeed.”

James Marcus unsheathed his sword, pointing it at Jeong-hoon.

“Tch, what a pain,” Jeong-hoon muttered, scratching his head.

He wanted to deal with the Colossus Ursus now that the wager had begun, but nuisances like this kept getting in the way.

“Should I just kill him here?”

Hearing Jeong-hoon’s murmur, James Marcus flinched.

He knew all too well that Jeong-hoon was strong enough to deal with Alessandro without breaking a sweat.

“Of course, if you haven’t formed a contract, then you’re not my enemy!”

“And yet, you drew your sword before knowing for sure. How is that any different from asking to be killed?”

“It’s… it’s different! This is just…”

“Tch. Are you going to fight?”

“…”

“Or are you going to move aside? I need to deal with my penalties.”

“I… I see.”

Hearing Jeong-hoon mention penalties, James Marcus sheathed his sword.

If Jeong-hoon had indeed formed a contract, he would’ve been assigned an Avatar Quest to prevent him from dealing with the Colossus Ursus.

In other words, Jeong-hoon hadn’t made a contract.

[That guy… why is he such a pushover?]

‘I agree.’

Jeong-hoon barely suppressed a laugh at the remarks from Mukho and Anima.

‘That’s just how he’s always been.’

James Marcus had been the one to take Jeong-hoon in as a comrade, despite the objections of others, back when Jeong-hoon had nothing.

James had been someone who valued justice above all else.

Why he betrayed Jeong-hoon in the end still remained a mystery.

Jeong-hoon placed his hand on the barrier once more.

‘This is it.’

The search had been interrupted earlier due to Alessandro, but thanks to his use of 9th-circle magic, Jeong-hoon was able to locate it quickly.

The 9th-circle magic was immensely powerful, causing the mana forming the barrier to surge rapidly. As a result, the core of the barrier became visibly distinct to the naked eye.

Jeong-hoon placed his hand on the spot and sent his mana into it.

At that moment, a formula emerged in front of him.

[What is this?]

‘It’s written in strange characters.’

[How are we supposed to decode this?]

There’s always a way.

Jeong-hoon accessed the achievement shop and purchased the “Decoding Lens.”

A special item only available upon reaching Level 6 in the achievement shop.

And Jeong-hoon’s level was already at 7.

Upon equipping the lens, the characters began to decode, and Jeong-hoon, recalling memories from before his regression, started tampering with the barrier’s formula.

Buzz

Each time he manipulated the formula, the barrier vibrated.

Jeong-hoon continued working on the formula, and before long, the barrier surrounding Ursus shattered completely.

Crash!

With the sound of shattering glass, the barrier dissipated.

The players watching were left with their jaws hanging open.

“Holy…?!”

“The barrier’s broken?”

“Wait, so it wasn’t unbreakable?”

They were all rankers, confident in their knowledge of New World.

Yet, the barrier before them was unlike anything they had ever seen.

A barrier impervious to both physical and magical attacks.

There wasn’t even a quest available to break it.

And yet, a single player had effortlessly undone it.

“...James, is that even possible?”

Amelie Reina was equally stunned.

“This is insane. Someone like that actually exists…”

All James Marcus could do was repeat the word “insane.”

And then—

Vrrrrr!

The Colossus Ursus began to tremble, slowly lifting its head.

Its lifeless eyes regained vitality, glowing with a bright yellow light.

[Lv.??? Colossus Ursus]

The battle had now begun.

***

Even from a distance, NPC Rangrang was unable to hide her shock.

“No way, how?!”

His mission was to provoke the forced penalty to its highest level.

To do so, the defeat of the Colossus Ursus had to fail.

But what was this situation?

The plan was to not be able to break the barrier, yet some human had shattered it in an instant.

[11:13:43]

Remaining time: 11 hours.

The Colossus Ursus would not be harmed, but with so much time remaining, a sense of unease began to rise.

“If I don’t succeed… I die.”

NPC Rangrang.

He had descended under the orders of Ulyon, the master of this dungeon.

If he failed to carry out those orders, he would incur the wrath of the gods and surely vanish without a trace.

“That can never happen.”

Rangrang hastily manipulated the dungeon to drastically increase the difficulty of Colossus Ursus.

He raised it to the maximum level, making it impossible to challenge.

* * *

‘Hmm?’

Jeong-hoon tilted his head.

The yellow light in Ursus’s eyes turned red.

At the same time, the mana emanating from it grew even stronger, soon becoming unreadable.

That meant...

‘The difficulty has been raised to the maximum.’

The only explanation for what was happening was that Rangrang had manipulated the Colossus Ursus.

It seemed this battle wouldn’t be easy.

[The seal on Colossus Ursus has been lifted.]

With the message that the seal had been lifted, Ursus easily broke the chains binding its hands and feet.

At the same time, an unknown aura pressed down on all players, including Jeong-hoon.

[Colossus Ursus is using ‘Overwhelm’.]

It was Ursus’s ability.

“Ugh!”

“Damn...!”

Under the powerful pressure, most of the players kneeled.

Jeong-hoon, too, could barely stand on both legs.

“Wow... I can’t do this.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

Among them, some had smiles on their faces.

They were all avatars of the divine beings.

They didn’t want to defeat Colossus Ursus.

It was because of the avatar quest given by the Transcendent.

“Damn bastards. I’ll remember your faces.”

Jeong-hoon thoroughly memorized their faces and then stepped onto the True Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion.

The Colossus Ursus was a towering 42 meters tall.

Its head was even close to touching the ceiling of the massive cavern.

To tackle such a creature, simple attacks wouldn’t suffice.

‘I have to destroy the core around it first.’

A black rectangular object about 2 meters in size.

It might look like a simple building, but in reality, it’s the core of Ursus.

Ursus has many cores, and only by destroying them all can Ursus be defeated.

Of course, getting close to the cores is no easy task.

Bang!

Ursus blocked Jeong-hoon’s path by slamming a fist down.

The intense heat radiating from the punch enveloped Jeong-hoon.

[Using Light Barrier.]

Jeong-hoon quickly cast the Light Barrier, but as soon as it touched the heat, the barrier instantly disintegrated.

‘This is dangerous.’

Jeong-hoon retreated from the spot using the True Heavenly Demon Lord’s Steps.

Ursus then withdrew its fist and stretched its hand toward the area where the players were.

[Colossus Ursus is using ‘Annihilation’.]

The next special ability began.

A laser shot from Ursus’s hand.

“Evade!”

James Marcus shouted loudly as he pulled Amelie Reina into his arms and swiftly performed a movement technique to escape the spot.

Boom!

A deafening explosion sounded, and everything before their eyes flashed.

Jeong-hoon frowned and closed his eyes.

It was so intense that even with his eyes closed, his vision didn’t return.

‘Now’s the time.’

For a brief moment, Ursus’s body, having used its ability, seemed to freeze as if it had malfunctioned.

Jeong-hoon quickly stepped into the True Heavenly Demon Lord’s Dominion.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]