Chapter 23
Chapter 23: Creation (3)
“Wh-what? You’re saying you’ll bring goblins to level up the possessors?”
Was this truly something a cleric could think of?
Jang Du-sik scratched his head with his club while staring at Erik.
Gathering monsters to raise possessors?
“What in the world does that mean? Brother, wouldn’t the possessors get dragged away and killed too?”
Blink, blink.
Jang Du-sik asked with his large eyes sparkling.
“Du-sik, can you use that?”
Erik asked an unexpected question.
At those words, Jang Du-sik panicked and stepped back.
“Huh… Is it okay to reveal that magic now?”
Jang Du-sik had already heard about ‘skills’ from Erik.
‘Good grief, what exactly are these possessors’ skills that cause such a fuss….’
Jang Du-sik couldn’t gauge their value.
“It’s worth that much.”
“Understood.”
Seeing Erik’s firm gaze, it seemed like it would be something great.
‘I’ve planted divine power in those guys, so it should be fine to use this.’
Jang Du-sik had been researching a certain magic for a long time at Erik and Riferoze’s request.
Since Jang Du-sik developed it independently without a Magic Tower or school, there were still many inadequate parts.
However.
“Five minutes is the limit.”
The word ‘impossible’ couldn’t exist in Erik’s requests.
At least not for Jang Du-sik.
“The time has increased quite a bit. Five minutes is enough.”
“Let me prepare for a moment.”
Jang Du-sik tap-tap pushed the possessors with his club to line them up.
It became a formation with Erik at the front, Jang Du-sik behind him, and the possessors lined up behind Jang Du-sik’s back.
“Heave-ho!“
Then suddenly, wasn’t he doing exercises with his club as if warming up?
To the possessors, it was no different from a strange situation they couldn’t understand.
They felt anxious about the conversation happening without them.
Erik and Jang Du-sik talking about using some mysterious power.
‘You’re going too far! It’s not like we’re playing train…’
Kang Pung-ho was deeply dissatisfied.
‘I guess I have to step forward…’
Just as Kang Pung-ho was about to raise his hand to demand an explanation.
Grab.
A long hand grasped Kang Pung-ho’s wrist.
Kang Pung-ho turned around with his bob cut swaying.
‘Park… Chang-ho?’
The handsome fencing athlete Park Chang-ho was holding his hand.
‘Could it be me?’
It was natural for Park Chang-ho to be calm.
Wasn’t he the only man who maintained kindness even after learning he was male?
‘Huh?’
But the fact that even the fatty behind him was maintaining silence was clearly an abnormal phenomenon.
‘Even Nishida Ryo?’
[Death Sense]
[Sixth Sense]
Recalling the two people’s unique traits, he could understand the reason.
‘It’s not a threat of death. Maybe something good might happen?‘
Kang Pung-ho, who had the [Rapid Growth] trait, was slightly lacking in sensory abilities.
Still, he had some eye for situations.
Park Chang-ho looked mysteriously pleased, and Nishida Ryo was unusually not making a fuss.
As Kang Pung-ho slowly lowered the hand he was about to raise.
“You endured well.”
Park Chang-ho’s praise was heard.
Hehe.
A silly smile leaked out.
Whack!
“Kyaak!“
The club came down like lightning on his head.
“Don’t smile like a pervert. You’re disturbing my concentration.”
Good grief.
What was that guy who was originally male grinning so cheerfully for?
Jang Du-sik muttered while retrieving his club from Kang Pung-ho’s head.
“Ugh.“
Rubbing his swollen forehead, Kang Pung-ho puffed out his cheeks.
Just as he was about to look up and shed tears.
“Oh?”
He saw blue lines of mana rippling along the club’s trajectory.
The lines connected as if wrapping around the possessors’ heads.
‘It’s a magic circle!’
It was large enough for even possessors who handled power through skills and systems to recognize.
He had merely swung the club as if warming up…
‘When did it become so large?’
A dome-shaped magic circle spread out, encompassing the possessors and Jang Du-sik.
It was like a giant shield.
Beyond the magic circle, Erik’s broad back was visible.
Jang Du-sik aimed his club at that back.
“Brother, I’m ready.”
At that, Erik gave a deep smile.
***
‘I should properly use the skill.’
When he tested it at Ruelle’s church, it was too sudden.
It was also impulsive.
Well, it was a skill he’d obtained after 15 years, wasn’t it?
‘I can determine the power with divine power, and there’s a set minimum.’
Erik sharpened his senses while recalling his previous experience.
He had the [skill], but there was no information about resource consumption at all.
That meant.
He had to learn purely through experience.
Erik walked to the center of the Labyrinth’s 1st floor cave holding [Blade of Creation].
Swish!
He raised the blade straight and stared ahead.
Six torches attached to the cave walls illuminated six passages.
All that was visible inside was pitch-black darkness.
“Goblins will be drawn in.”
Erik was certain.
Creation was a skill that sucked in everything like a black hole.
Moreover, the Labyrinth’s terrain was indestructible.
‘There are exceptions called hidden pieces, but…’
There shouldn’t be hidden pieces at the starting point. Since it was Nishida Ryo’s words, it was probably true.
Erik finished his preparations.
“Du-sik, I’m starting.”
Whooom!
A massive flow of mana was felt from behind Erik.
Erik also raised his divine power.
Keen!
A short resonance shook the pupils.
Brilliant divinity descended upon the crude iron sword.
It was thin and fine divinity.
‘I should reduce the power more.’
Since it was power used through the combination of a sacred relic and divine power, its might would be beyond imagination.
Since there was a risk of the possessors burning to death, Erik had even instructed Jang Du-sik to use defensive magic.
‘I’ve lowered the divine power to this extent, so it should be enough.’
Erik used the Creation skill.
Keening!
The sacred relic [Blade of Creation] resonated with the divine power and scattered golden light in all directions.
Then very heavy and sublime divinity gently descended upon the blade.
He used the minimum amount of divine power.
The skill’s power was also reduced as much as possible.
Swoosh!
Erik very slightly swung the sword.
Rip-rip-rip. Rip-rip!
Space tore along that small trajectory.
The size of the torn space was smaller than before…
The golden light visible inside was so brilliant it was blinding.
Whooooooo!!!
A strong wind rushed into the small hole. It was a wind that sucked in everything.
Only 3 seconds had passed.
“Br-brother. Not even 1 minute, but 15 seconds is the limit from now on!”
Jang Du-sik screamed.
The club in his hand trembled violently.
“10 seconds!”
There were six branching paths in the cave where Erik was.
“5 seconds.”
It was about time for a bite.
Erik’s brow furrowed.
Whooooooo.
Certainly, an enormous amount of wind was being sucked in from all passages.
There should be goblins at the end of those.
“2 seconds!”
“1 second!”
Crack!
Jang Du-sik’s barrier shattered.
Then 1 second passed.
“Hiiiek!“
“Kyaaa! Kyaak!“
“S-s-save meeee!”
The possessors screamed.
A sizzling burning sound was heard.
It was the sound of divine power trying to engulf the possessors.
At this rate, the possessors might be annihilated…
Snap.
Suddenly the torn space disappeared.
The divine power surrounding them was the same.
“Phew.“
Erik exhaled.
His back heaved.
Quite a bit of power was consumed from forcibly canceling the skill.
“Br-brother. Did it fail?”
Jang Du-sik approached with difficulty, using his club as a walking stick with his trembling body.
Erik used [10,000 Gold] to replenish his depleted divine power.
Instead of answering the question about failure, different words came from Erik’s mouth.
“—Heal.”
As Erik extended his hand with a perfunctory prayer.
Boom!
A golden pillar struck down upon Jang Du-sik.
Entrusting his body to the pouring divine power, Jang Du-sik asked again.
“So how did it go?”
Whoosh!
A waterfall of light, a miracle of divinity.
And that power seemed very joyful.
Erik’s lips curved up greatly.
He said.
“Don’t you hear it?”
“What exactly am I supposed to hear… Huh?”
Listening carefully, the sound was clear.
Somewhat like screaming.
And like roaring…
“Grrrowl? Real goblins?”
“Look.”
Goblins over 2 meters tall came tangled and rushing toward the passages.
Grrr-growl. Growl.
“Haha, I’ve gained quite an interesting ability.”
Erik burst into laughter at the sight.
***
“How long are you planning to just watch?”
Erik asked that, but the possessors were still broken.
It wasn’t that their minds were shattered, but they were drooling like crazy people while staring at the incomprehensible phenomenon before them.
“Brother, it seems like all the possessors’ souls have been sucked away.”
Jang Du-sik worried seriously.
Erik should have hit his head telling him not to talk nonsense.
‘They really have gone mad.’
This time the reaction was different.
After Erik examined the possessors’ condition, he realized Jang Du-sik’s words made considerable sense.
“Uh-uh…“
“Mm?“
“Eek.“
While there were differences in the strange sounds they made according to their personalities, they had all commonly lost their minds.
Really.
‘Why do possessors exist?’
Park Chang-ho fell into existential doubt.
‘I finally became a woman, but I’m worse than a fly.’
Kang Pung-ho also closed his eyes tight with similar worries.
‘Why did Death Sense break?’
Nishida Ryo fell into doubt about his skill becoming strange.
The experience they went through was that shocking.
‘A barrier that blocks divine power.’
First, Jang Du-sik’s defensive magic.
Divine power was literally borrowed power from a god, and it wasn’t something that could be defended against with magic.
‘A black hole?’
And what cleric would use a technique that only the game’s strongest beings might use?
From Park Chang-ho’s perspective, it was power that beings like the [Demon King] should use.
What was the result?
Grrrowl.
Growl.
There are six passages at the starting point of the Labyrinth’s 1st floor.
Currently, all those passages were completely blocked with goblins.
‘He tore space…’
A Paladin who uses techniques that bring dozens, no hundreds of goblins?
If that wasn’t a demon king, what was it?
“Go quickly and sever their breath.”
Park Chang-ho was afraid.
He wasn’t affected at all by the intimidation the goblins gave.
In other words, Erik’s power had given greater fear.
‘I absolutely can’t move…’
He really couldn’t move his body from fear and terror.
Park Chang-ho knew very well himself.
Among the three possessors here, he was the most useful existence.
But his body wouldn’t listen.
Then Erik added one more thing.
“Kang Pung-ho, shoot quickly.”
“What? No, yes!”
Kang Pung-ho quickly drew and grabbed his bow.
‘Why me?’
His fingertips trembled, but the shadow cast over his head made his body move.
Glancing up, he saw the incredibly handsome Erik.
‘Absolutely beautiful…’
No, it was a face that couldn’t be contained by the expression ‘handsome.’
‘Divine.’
This would be a more fitting modifier.
Yet he felt fear.
A tone as if he wasn’t dealing with a person.
An indifferent and uninterested expression.
An attitude that seemed like he would eliminate them immediately if they were useless.
Swish, swish, swish!
With such thoughts, Kang Pung-ho continuously pulled the bowstring.
This went on for quite a while.
When blood was drip-dripping from his fingertips, Kang Pung-ho finally looked up.
His bob cut was soaked with sweat and stuck to him, and tears had welled up in both eyes.
“H-how much more?”
Kang Pung-ho asked carefully.
“Until you match Park Chang-ho’s level.”
A reply dripping with coldness was heard.
***
‘Creation is an absurd power.‘
Erik was certain of his existential value.
Unlike the game, there were several reasons why conquering the real Labyrinth was slow.
Among them, the biggest problem was that the battlefield was too large.
Like the goblins that had grown to over 2 meters, the Labyrinth’s size had also expanded.
‘The range to block is too wide.’
From certain floors of the Labyrinth onwards, you had to defeat bosses called floor masters to access the next level of the Labyrinth.
However, when you attack a floor master, monsters rush in from all locations on that floor.
‘You need either overwhelming DPS to kill the boss, or an army to block the monsters.’
In the game, both the map size and monster size were small.
So control was possible at the ‘guild’ level, but reality was different.
‘Overwhelming resources are consumed and most die…’
Conquering the Labyrinth’s floor masters was done through cooperation between the three kingdoms and the religious orders.
High risk, low return.
Even enduring tremendous losses, there wasn’t much to gain significantly, which was why complaints were arising from the three kingdoms excluding the Empire.
‘That’s why the Emperor wants to use possessors.’
That’s why Master Riferoze considered possessors to have received God’s calling.
Erik nodded while looking at Kang Pung-ho.
Ding-ding!
[Level Up]
Erik could see the system message that appeared above Kang Pung-ho’s head.
Like a possessor, his blood-covered hands automatically recovered.
The effect of leveling up.
“I-it’s all done noow.”
Unlike the game, real goblins were set at level 30.
Erik couldn’t confirm it himself, but according to the possessors, that was the case.
‘It really was true.’
In just one hour, he caught up to Park Chang-ho who was level 29?
‘The Labyrinth is indeed a place that needs possessors.’
He definitely felt the possibility.
‘I’ll make him do a second job change with the Rapid Growth trait, and roll the trait gacha to change him toward a damage dealer.’
Erik recalled his days as Park Ji-hun.
As he was determining the possessor’s training method by referencing the strategy he had used.
“…I’m also lower level than Park Chang-ho though?”
Nishida Ryo asked while grumbling.
At that, Erik’s eyes curved like a bow.
He looked very pleased.
‘Why exactly?’
Everyone knew Erik despised Nishida Ryo.
The two possessors tilted their heads, but Jang Du-sik was different.
‘That smile again… What is he trying to gain this time?’
Erik’s twisted smile was particularly noticeable today.
Was it natural since he was that Erik brother?
“Nishida Ryo, I’m planning to start your leveling after finding the remaining hidden pieces on the 1st floor.”
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