NOVEL NEXT Chapter 310
Like a crushed can. Or like paper.
Creak.
The bone-chilling sound of cracking bones echoed as the hand lost its shape. Blinking in disbelief at the unbelievable sight, if only for a moment.
“Kyaaa!”
At the scream of his younger brother, Millard.
“This, this!”
Milia, snapping back to reality, hurriedly shook her hand. Then the platinum-scaled hand that had been holding.
Swish.
Millard’s hand vanished without a trace. Soon after.
“Millard!”
The hand that returned to its original position. Was it unbearably painful?
“Urghhh!”
Millard, with his face turning beet red, held his right hand, which was not only swollen but also bruised blue, and let out a groan.
But that was only for a moment. Millard, more than the pain of his crushed hand.
“You… How are you unscathed?”
With questions flooding his mind, he glared at Shimun with bloodshot eyes.
“Why hasn’t my trait collapsed you?”
Milia, also curious,
Clink.
While quickly pulling out a potion to provide first aid to Millard’s hand, stared daggers at Shimun.
Shimun, instead of answering, “Hmm…”
Watched as the potion poured on Millard’s crushed hand.
“…Essence and Life Water. Quite the waste of money.”
He muttered something incomprehensible.
“What did you just say…?”
But before Milia could ask further.
Snap.
Shimun snapped his fingers.
Sizzle.
Suddenly, with the sound of something burning,
“Aaaaaah!”
Millard screamed once again.
Startled, a few drops of potion splashed onto Milia’s hand.
Sizzle.
“Kyaaa!!”
Milia, too, screamed at the burning sensation of her flesh.
Buzz.
Hurriedly waving her hand, distorting the surface of her and Millard’s hands, then.
Sizzle.
The potion’s contents that fell to the floor melted it, emitting a white vapor.
Seeing this, Milia,
“You damn bastard!”
Threw the potion she had been holding in anger.
Then.
“What the hell did you do?!”
She shouted sharply.
“Well, I just showed you firsthand why you shouldn’t use potions in front of me.”
Shimun shrugged and smirked.
“You damn monkey!”
With eyes ablaze, Milia pointed directly at Shimun. In response.
Dash!
The Dragonoid transforme Shimun kicked off the floor. The distance between Shimun and Milia closed in an instant.
But.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
As Milia’s fingers bent at an odd angle, the ground stretched, returning the distance between Shimun and her to what it was.
Swish.
Around Shimun, distortions appeared,
Buzz……
Ominous spectral fingers revealed themselves.
But that was it. Was it because he had crushed Millard’s hand earlier?
The fingers that appeared from the void hesitated to attack.
Kiing…
They merely circled around Shimun.
“The training has really paid off.”
Shimun chuckled at the sight.
“But…”
Snap.
He flicked his fingers again. Then, sharp spikes and pillars erupted from the ground beneath Milia.
Rumble!
“Ugh!”
As Milia stumbled, losing her balance,
Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功).
Heavenly Demon Supreme Step (天魔君臨步). Suppression (抑制).
Bang.
Stamping the ground forcefully while adding the restricting power of the Heavenly Demon Supreme Step, Shimun did not go for the staggering Milia.
“Damn it! Millard!”
He lunged towards Millard instead.
“Even though Milia’s distortion is powerful, she has to constantly focus to control space smoothly.”
Information Shimun had heard from Malsuk in his previous life, who had dealt with these twin villains.
Thus, “In that sense, Millard is in a vulnerable state right now.”
With his hand in Milia’s distorted space, Millard was as good as restrained. Recalling this, Shimun condensed his demonic energy into his fist.
And then, “N-Noona!”
Voom!
The moment he was about to strike Millard’s head with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art Supreme Emperor’s Demolition Fist, “Fetus of Eternity! Grant us power!”
With Milia’s sharp cry,
Gwoo…
The wind that brushed his ears suddenly stretched out. It wasn’t just sound.
Demonic energy and Dragon Force flowed through his entire body as he struck.
Vroom…
And even the Supreme Emperor’s Demolition Fist condensed in his right hand. Everything started to move bizarrely slow.
“Die!”
Millard’s fingers flew towards Shimun, not missing the opportunity.
But, though he could have been flustered by the sudden phenomenon, “This must be the time deceleration Malsuk raved about. In that case…”
Remembering Malsuk’s review from a previous life, Shimun calmly activated Nuada’s Silver Arm.
Boom!
He detonated the Supreme Emperor’s Demolition Fist condensed in his right hand right then and there.
Swish.
And then, watching Shimun soar through the air, cutting through the dust,
“No way…”
“How is he escaping this!”
Millard and Milia gasped in astonishment.
Bang.
Soaring further, Shimun widened the distance from the astonished siblings. He then saw it.
Hiss…
The void’s familiar yet highly displeasing dark purple aura emanated from the rod-shaped hook Milia held. And then,
Kiing.
“It is indeed the time deceleration ability Malsuk mentioned, a power of a mythic-grade artifact.”
Shimun recognized it immediately with Odin’s Eye. It wasn’t hard to identify. Abilities related to time were rarely granted by ordinary items or traits.
Then,
『Constellation Black Goat rises from her throne, exclaiming, ‘That! That damn little wretch!’』
Shimun saw the Black Goat’s reaction before his eyes. She wasn’t alone.
『Constellation Black Goat exclaims, ‘What’s happening? After the mongrel, even the little wretch has joined the chaos?!’』
『Constellation Ra shrugs, saying, ‘Well, it’s not surprising, is it? (They both come from the other side’s edge.)’』
『Constellation Baal nods, ‘Hmm.’』
The reactions of the constellations followed one after another. Especially, ‘Daniel and Haruto too… It seems like the constellations from the other side are sponsoring Desperado…’
Taking note of the rare reaction from the Black Goat’s astonishment, Shimun thought, ‘I should ask about this sometime.’
With that, he organized his thoughts and then,
Boom!
Using the Heavenly Demon Supreme Step, he distanced himself again. The reason was simple.
“You damn rat!”
The rod-shaped hook Milia was holding, it pointed at Shimun just like the Pharaoh’s Heka.
Naturally,
Ominous…
A time-slowed zone extended towards him similar to before.
“Tch.”
Only after taking several steps back with the Heavenly Demon Supreme Step did he fully escape its influence. Was she satisfied with this?
Even though the time slow zone didn’t hit, “Oh ho ho! Where did all that confidence go?”
Milia’s lips curled up. Showing the back of her hand, “It’s no use begging now. Especially after what you did to this pretty body of mine with that acid.”
The acid potion had burned her hand.
“Now that I’ve used the power of the Fetus of Eternity, you’ll pay dearly.”
“I’ll make you feel the most excruciating pain, very slowly.”
Was it because she held the mythic-grade artifact?
Milia and Millard growled, exuding intense killing intent.
However, “I understand your confidence, but…”
Despite the twins’ threatening aura, Shimun chuckled.
“Have you never thought about it? Or did you notice it somewhat from my broadcast?”
He flauntingly extended his hand.
“Mythic-grade artifacts are…”
Snap.
He flicked his fingers.
“Not something only you can use.”
Boom!
A bolt of lightning struck down.
*
A blindingly white and bluish ray of light.
No,
Crackle!
The lightning flashed past in an instant.
The blonde woman barely dodged it.
“Damn it!”
Spitting out a curse, Milia brandished the rod-shaped hook in her hand. A menacing dark purple aura flowed ominously.
Swoosh…
Along with it, an invisible, intangible force extended forward.
Crackle… zzz… crack!
The bundle of lightning aimed at her head rapidly slowed down. Though still fundamentally lightning, even the slowed lightning was fast enough.
“Millard!”
“I’m on it.”
Kiing…
The hand emitting an ominous sound, Millard’s SSS-Rank trait, collapse, instantly nullified the slowed lightning.
Sss…
But that was all. Far off in the distance, from about 40 meters up in the sky,
Crackle, snap!
A 2-meter tall dragonkin relentlessly poured down bolts of white lightning.
“That damn monkey bastard!”
Milia used time deceleration again, and her brother Millard nullified the lightning bolts with Collapse.
This pattern had continued for over 20 minutes.
“20 minutes! We’ve been at this nonsense for 20 minutes!”
Though this endless back-and-forth was frustrating, “If this fight drags on any longer, sister…”
“I know!”
Milia had Fabian Wolf, the current commander of the European Union, imprisoned.
As Millard said, if the fight prolonged, the European Union forces would arrive. And then, not only would it be revealed that Desperado was involved in this Outbreak,
“But we might not even trigger this diamond-rank Outbreak.”
They would fail the main objective of the mission. If that happened, “Everything we’ve done till now, including the rewards, would all be gone.”
Four platinum Outbreaks.
The loss of subordinates and injuries from the ongoing battle, and borrowing a mythic-grade artifact, all of it would be in vain.
Desperado’s boss was particularly strict about missions.
Clench.
“I can’t let that happen!”
Milia bit her nails in frustration.
“Because of that bastard, I used up half of the tributes I’ve accumulated!”
Given the current scarcity of offerings coming into the organization, Using half of their stored tributes just to wield the mythic-grade artifact was already a setback.
Retreating and failing the mission in such a state?
On top of injuries and exposure of their identities?
“To hell with that!”
Milia swung the mythic-grade artifact irritably. She couldn’t afford such disgrace because of one damned Asian.
“I must find another way to trigger the Outbreak and deal with him…”
Her eyes flickered anxiously.
Then, “That’s it!”
Milia’s eyes widened. Her gaze fixed on the massive metallic wall standing in the distance.
Then, “Millard, over there.”
She called out to her brother with a subtle glance towards the location. Clearly, being twins was in their favor.
“Always the cunning one, aren’t you?”
Millard chuckled, nodding in agreement. After the battle with Shimun, “Call it smart, you disrespectful bastard.”
She laughed with a rare bright smile.
“Alright then, let’s chase that lowly monkey out one last time.”
She swung the rod-shaped mythic-grade artifact in her hand.
Swoosh…
Along with the ominous void, the deceleration zone aimed directly at Shimun, who was firing bolts of lightning from midair.
Then, “Millard.”
“Yeah.”
The SSS-Rank trait that could even collapse powers. Millard’s fingers, imbued with Collapse, split into small fragments and,
Kiing…
Pressed upon Shimun, who was dodging the deceleration zone. Perhaps due to the suddenly aggressive attack patterns?
Flutter.
Shimun fluttered the golden wings on his ankles, using bolts of lightning to keep them at bay while meticulously evading the twins’ attacks.
In response, “Yeah, monkey. That suits you perfectly.”
Milia’s lips curled into a sly grin.
“Millard, we need to end this for sure this time. Don’t hold back—use both the mythic artifact and your trait.”
Milia poured out both the mythic artifact and her own strength without reservation.
“You don’t need to tell me.”
Millard grumbled but still poured all his energy into the distortion points Milia had prepared.
Kiing…
SSS-Rank Collapse was unleashed into the distortion points.
“Annoyingly sharp monkey, I’ll chase you down hard.”
For spatial ability users, innate talent was crucial, but equally important were design and insight.
And like other renowned spatial ability users, Milia, who had honed her skills in these areas to the point of being recognized even among fellow villains,
“More… yes, keep going.”
She meticulously and stealthily funneled their prey along a specific escape route using herself, her brother’s traits, and the mythic artifact—making sure the prey wouldn’t notice.
Thus,
Flutter.
As Shimun fluttered the golden wings on his ankles,
Swoosh…
Crackle!
The exchange of attacks with the twins gradually drew Shimun closer to the towering metallic wall. Having already experienced the operational range of the metallic wall,
“Just a little further… a bit more…”
Milia poured all her strength into it, even sweating from the effort. When Shimun crossed into the operational range of the metallic wall, “Kyahaha!”
She let out a crazed laugh.
“Fetus of Eternity, unleash all your power!”
She threw the rod-shaped mythic artifact with all her might. The ensuing deceleration zone was unlike any they had previously encountered.
Swoosh!!
The mythic artifact unleashed a deceleration zone like a tidal wave.
Its power was so intense, the space before them crackled and distorted; the wave of deceleration engulfed everything but the metallic wall like a tsunami.
With time slowed in front and the massive metallic wall behind him,
Shimun was caught.
“Aha! Now you’ll be ground to dust! It was hell meeting you, you damn monkey!”
Milia cackled uncontrollably.
Yet Shimun acted as if he could not hear her mockery at all.
“Wait, this is…”
Shimun stared wide-eyed at the mountainous metallic wall. Did she misunderstand his reaction?
“Oh, are you scared? Millard, look at that. Our poor little monkey is so terrified! Ha!”
Milia thumped Millard’s shoulder while pointing at Shimun.
“Why don’t you try showing off with that damn lightning again? Huh?”
Milia couldn’t stop laughing, as if a burden of ten years had been lifted off her chest. It seemed her brother Millard felt the same.
“If he manages to bring down that wall, even better for us.”
He added with a grin similar to his sister’s.
“Oh right? It’s good for us, but he might just survive too, from the diamond-rank monsters. Ha!”
Milia laughed so hard that she could barely breathe.
However, what greeted her was not the mechanical devices that slaughtered their subordinates, but:
『Special protection target identified.』
『Initiating precision scan.』
“What, what is this?”
It was the sound of a mechanical voice she had never heard before, accompanied by a telescope-like device.
『Scan complete. Priority protection target number one: Kim Shimun.』
『Security level upgraded to the highest grade.』
What kind of advanced technology had been established here?
Clang!
Rattle!
Various mechanical devices emerged, filling the mountainous metallic wall. Devices they hadn’t even encountered while strategizing began appearing one after another.
“What is this…?”
“W-What the hell?”
Milia and Millard couldn’t hide their shock. However, their astonishment showed no sign of stopping. The reason was simple.
Creak!
The mountainous metallic wall that hadn’t budged against the twins’ onslaught finally opened up. And from within, in stark contrast to the gigantic wall, “Where, where is he?! Ah!”
A small girl with pigtails rushed out, looking around frantically. When she spotted Shimun gradually descending with the golden wings on his ankles,
“Ah… finally… after hundreds of attempts, finally!!”
Tearing up, the girl ran towards him.
“Savior!!!”
She leaped into Shimun’s arms.
TL’s Corner:
Dwarf girl appears!!!