Chapter 272: Chapter 272

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 272

There wasn’t even time to scream.

Those with personal defense skills succeeded in blocking it, but those without them died on the spot.

A 1,000-level user died without even being able to respond to a single reflected attack.

James Marcus muttered blankly.

“This doesn’t make any sense...”

Alessandro Bryden, who barely managed to defend himself with Absolute Barrier, spoke in a panicked voice.

“James! What the hell is going on here? You never said the reflected attack would cause an internal explosion!”

“I-I don’t know either... This has never happened before, not even in all my regressions!”

An internal explosion.

In such cases, evasion itself is impossible.

Fortunately, because the damage was divided according to the number of people, they barely managed to survive.

The problem lies with those who don’t have defensive skills.

Most of their comrades without defensive skills perished instantly.

James Marcus almost dropped his sword and shield.

At that moment, Kaneda Shun, leading the Dark Knights, shouted.

“James! Get a grip! What are you going to do if you’re panicking like this?”

At his words, James quickly regained his composure.

“Y-You’re right. This isn’t the time to despair.”

The number of surviving comrades was barely ten.

Just now, eleven had lost their lives to the reflected attack.

More than half of their forces were gone.

“Are you glad to still be alive?”

Darkhan sneered as he looked down at the humans.

He could kill them all if he wanted to, but he decided to savor the rare entertainment a bit longer.

‘Exterminate all humans.’

That was the command given to Darkhan.

He created dungeons in specific zones, deleting the area after a certain amount of time to destroy the Earth.

Naturally, humans who tried to interfere with his task existed, but they were too insignificant to be worth playing with, so he killed them immediately.

However, the humans before him were a bit different.

More than half of their group had disappeared, but they had survived his reflected attack.

‘Beware of humans. Let me grant them a new ability.’

The explosion just now was a blessing bestowed by the Supreme One about two hours earlier.

Its performance was indeed remarkable.

It designated the one who attacked him and returned the incoming damage in full, causing an explosion.

While the need to divide the incoming damage was a drawback, it was split into three times the original damage, allowing it to kill even those over level 1,000.

James Marcus clenched his teeth and shouted.

“I’ll kill you, no matter what, and stop the final destruction!”

“You’re spouting amusing nonsense. You, who crawl on your knees before mere apostles?”

Darkhan sneered again.

If he wanted, he could kill these humans at any moment.

But he still wondered why he had been told to be cautious.

For now, he thought, he would toy with them a little more before finishing them off.

Boom!

At that moment, an explosion erupted from Darkhan’s body.

“Gah!”

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Darkhan grimaced.

‘Where did that come from?’

Darkhan’s gaze shifted to one man.

It was none other than Jeong-hoon.

‘Was it him?’

Darkhan’s eyes narrowed.

What kind of attack was that?

It bore a resemblance to the method he used to reflect attacks.

Could he possibly have a similar ability?

“Jeong-hoon! Was that your attack just now?”

James Marcus also realized it was Jeong-hoon’s doing.

“Yes.”

“…You’ve gained something, haven’t you!”

“Shut up and focus on finding a way to take him down.”

Jeong-hoon had just used the Rune of Counterattack to strike Darkhan.

It returned 45% of the incoming damage back to the attacker.

[Master, wasn’t that too hasty?]

‘Yeah. This dragonkin—I’ve never seen him before, but I can’t afford to underestimate him.’

It’s fine.

The reason Jeong-hoon used the Rune of Counterattack was to confuse the enemy.

He wanted to implant the idea that the same tactic might be used against him if he tried to reflect attacks again.

Now, it wouldn’t be so easy for Darkhan to rely on reflection.

‘Lee Hwa-Rang… he’s alive.’

This version of Lee Hwa-Rang in this world had numerous close-range defensive skills, even excluding the Art of the Underworld King.

In the regressed timeline, however, Lee Hwa-Rang had lost his reason to vengeance, became an incarnation, and was ultimately killed by Jeong-hoon.

Alessandro was also still alive.

Jeong-hoon drew Anima and aimed it at Darkhan.

At that, Lee Hwa-Rang’s eyes widened.

“You… Don’t tell me you took that?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Ha… So, the version of me in your world must have lost everything.”

He had always bragged about his heroic feats.

With Jeong-hoon’s perfect memory, he must have collected all the opportunities from that timeline.

“You’re absolutely correct.”

Jeong-hoon smirked and released the bowstring.

The Arrow of the Storm arced through the air, striking Darkhan squarely between the eyes.

However, Darkhan absorbed the arrow without harm.

Seeing this, Lee Hwa-Rang and the other survivors launched a renewed barrage of attacks.

“Pointless.”

Darkhan scowled as he began absorbing their assaults.

“Oh, really? Are you sure it’s pointless?”

Jeong-hoon smirked.

As expected, Darkhan refrained from using his reflection ability.

He couldn't risk it, knowing the same counterattack could be turned against him.

‘He doesn’t have any proper defensive skills.’

Absorption and reflection—Darkhan had abilities that could be considered near-cheating. Yet beyond those, he lacked adequate defensive capabilities.

Thus, he had to rely on his innate defenses. But Jeong-hoon’s counterattack earlier had dealt significant damage, making it dangerous for Darkhan to recklessly use his reflection ability. At least, until he uncovered Jeong-hoon’s trick.

Jeong-hoon summoned Seven Deadly Sins and Michael.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“You called for me, Master?”

As Seven Deadly Sins appeared, it eyed Darkhan curiously, while Michael respectfully greeted Jeong-hoon.

“Yes. Today, we’re hunting that thing.”

“That massive dragon, you mean?”

Jeong-hoon nodded.

“Think you can do it?”

“Uh… I’ll try my best.”

Overwhelmed by Darkhan’s aura, Michael replied hesitantly.

“Not try—you must do it.”

The reason Jeong-hoon summoned Michael was straightforward:

While Darkhan could absorb and reflect physical and magical attacks, spirits weren’t affected in the same way. Unless Michael, their summoner, was eliminated, the spirits couldn’t be dispelled.

In other words, Michael was a perfect counter to Darkhan.

Additionally, Michael had under his command necromancers gained through the Crown of Death and even Siegfried. Their combined strength was more than sufficient.

As for Seven Deadly Sins, Jeong-hoon summoned it not only to absorb Darkhan but also because of its unique abilities.

“That thing looks tasty.”

Seven Deadly Sins drooled, staring at Darkhan hungrily.

Darkhan’s eyes widened in shock.

“Seven Deadly Sins…?!”

The entity that should have been sealed appeared right in front of him.

‘This is impossible!’

It was supposed to be divided into seven fragments and sealed. How could it be here, whole and unrestrained?!

“You can eat it.”

With Jeong-hoon’s permission, Seven Deadly Sins grinned wickedly and began approaching Darkhan.

Darkhan’s body involuntarily trembled.

‘This thing… it’s no ordinary entity.’

The Seven Deadly Sins, which had once been sealed in seven parts by the celestial Eschanon of the Apocalypse, was clearly an extraordinary existence.

Even without knowing its full history, Darkhan’s fearful gaze at Seven Deadly Sins made it clear.

Seven Deadly Sins likely possessed power surpassing that of a monarch.

As proof, it unleashed an enhanced Judgment of Death on Darkhan without breaking a sweat.

“Damn it!”

The moment Judgment of Death was imposed, Darkhan seemed to lose his composure and unleashed a flurry of special abilities.

[Transcendent Dragon Darkhan uses Death Breath.]

Darkhan began gathering black flames in his maw before firing them directly at Seven Deadly Sins.

To escape the countdown of Judgment of Death, Darkhan had to reduce Seven Deadly Sins’ life force to below 30% within three minutes.

But Jeong-hoon had no intention of letting that happen.

‘Heavenly Demon Fist.’

Jeong-hoon stepped in front of Seven Deadly Sins, throwing a punch as his body entered an invincible state, blocking the Death Breath.

“You fool.”

Darkhan sneered at Jeong-hoon.

Death Breath was an unblockable ability, a trump card far beyond absorption or reflection.

At that moment, Jeong-hoon’s body exploded.

Boom!

[Debuff: Death is imposed.]

Death Breath annihilated everything it touched.

Jeong-hoon had taken the attack head-on. There was no way he could survive.

‘Now to target that creature.’

Darkhan shifted his focus to Seven Deadly Sins, lurking behind Jeong-hoon. He began gathering power once more.

If he didn’t eliminate it quickly, the activation of Judgment of Death would claim his life.

“Jeong-hoon!”

“What… what is this…?”

“Now’s the time! Attack!”

There was no time to mourn.

James Marcus had noticed a crucial fact—the moment Darkhan used Death Breath, his body became vulnerable.

Though Jeong-hoon’s sacrifice was tragic, they couldn’t let this chance slip away.

Crash!

James Marcus unleashed Divine Blade.

A massive sword of light materialized around his weapon, forming an enormous blade.

As he swung, the massive energy slash struck at Darkhan’s neck.

Clang!

The blade collided with Darkhan’s scales, emitting a piercing metallic sound.

“Grrr!”

Darkhan groaned in pain, clearly shaken. Concentrating all his energy on Death Breath had left him temporarily unaware of the lesser opponents.

“Attack now!”

James Marcus shouted again, and the surviving fighters launched an all-out assault on Darkhan.

Energy beams, projectiles, and spells rained down, exploiting his momentary weakness.

“Kraaah!”

Darkhan growled in frustration. He needed to absorb energy, but the Death Breath held in his maw prevented him from doing so.

Left with no choice, Darkhan extinguished the gathered Death Breath and reactivated his invincible state.

“Damn it! Stop attacking!”

James Marcus ordered, and the barrage of attacks halted immediately.

This only added to Darkhan's growing anxiety.

[2 minutes 23 seconds remain until Judgment of Death is activated.]

With just over two minutes left, Darkhan was trapped in a dilemma. He couldn’t gather another Breath without exposing himself, and any lapse in his invincibility would invite another wave of attacks.

He was truly cornered.

‘Reflection is my only option.’

Although Seven Deadly Sins had returned, it was still far from its original form. It hadn’t fully regained its strength, meaning it could still be defeated.

“Planning to use reflection?”

A voice echoed from the thick smoke.

Darkhan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You’re alive?!”

“Of course.”

As the smoke cleared, Jeong-hoon stepped forward, unscathed despite taking the full brunt of the Death Breath.

“How is this possible?!”

“I don’t just have one invincibility skill.”

Jeong-hoon had used the momentary invincibility from his Heavenly Demon Lord’s Fist to block the Death Breath. For the subsequent explosion, he employed Block, a skill that expended 50% of his mana to absolutely negate any attack.

“That’s absurd! My Death Breath isn’t something that can be blocked by invincibility skills!”

But Jeong-hoon’s Block wasn’t ordinary invincibility. It was an overpowered skill capable of defending against any attack, no matter how destructive, at the cost of immense mana.

‘Of course, it’s a one-time use. I can’t rely on it again.’

However, Darkhan wouldn’t get another chance. James Marcus and the others were ready to strike the moment he let his guard down.

“It’s over.”

The countdown continued, leaving only 1 minute and 40 seconds before Judgment of Death would activate.

At this point, Darkhan’s options were exhausted. If things ended this way, they would successfully prevent the second apocalypse. All that remained was to claim their reward.

“Keuk-keuk, don’t kid yourself!”

Suddenly, Darkhan’s body began to glow with an ominous red hue.

Jeong-hoon’s face hardened.

‘A mutual destruction gambit.’

Cornered, Darkhan was preparing to unleash his final, desperate attack—a suicidal move to take them all down with him.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

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