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nChapter 69 – Final Battle With Joker (3)

n-BOOM!

nAlmost as if his body was a bomb, he exploded.

nThe impact was strong enough to not only destroy the floor, but all the walls of the battlefield.

nAfter the explosion, I looked far worse off than the battlefield.

nMy left arm, as well as my body that I turned away were ripped in half and blown away from the explosion.

nThe Lizardmen Gauntlet was sprawled out on the floor.

nOn top of that, the nape of my neck was branded with an unknown symbol.

n‘Damn it…..’

nIt was a special ability from the executioner’s class that Joker possessed, known as ‘Isolation’.

nUnlike what I heard from Jin, I was anxious because he wasn’t using his ability.

nI was even looking down on him because I thought his attacks only reached at this level even with the ability.

nBut who knew he’d select his target for the ability like this.

nIsolation, an ability that increased damage taken by the target. It was an ability that shined even more during 1v1s.

nThere aren’t many who could receive this kind of explosion and his attacks with the ability.

nA massive ringing filled my ears.

nAlso.

n“Urrgh!”

nA pain filled moan came out naturally.

nIn my vision, now filled with splatters of red, Joker was slowly regenerating himself.

nHis form that had exploded was slowly coming back together, similar to the liquid human from terminator.

nI had my Mana Shield, with 2 ranking shields casted on top of them.

nIt could’ve been a skill beyond ranking, but the self-destruct could only be explained by the passive he had.

nIt happened while I was casting heal on myself.

nPerhaps he had recovered fully already, he began to mock me in a smug tone.

n“Kuha! To think I’d have to use Isolation.”

n“Urgh! I really stepped on ** this time.”

n“It looks like you’re in a lot of pain. Yes.. that expression. That expression is the one that suits you the best!”

n“…ugh, ur….”

n‘Just a few fingers blown off… I can recover using Status Denial after I beat him down and leave… For now, let’s focus on recovering. No, first I have to prepare against his attacks.’

nContinuing to cast Heal, I picked up the gauntlet and Banwol Jincheon that fell to the floor.

nThe bleeding nearly stopped, but the damage would take a long time to heal with a recovery skill that was of low ranking like Heal.

nEven during the fight against Park Hyun where my stomach was cut open from an attack by Jin, it didn’t take this long to recover.

nPerhaps it was due to the attack being used with his ability?

nThe gauntlet that I put my hand back in was giving off an emerald hue, mixing with the blood that was still smearing out.

n-Drip. Drip.

nPain continued from the hand that held the sword.

nThink about it. Despite not realizing the importance of it, just how much you’d be distracted even from a small papercut.

nNow you know how important it is.

nHowever, right now my fingers weren’t cut or ripped off, but blown off.

nThe overwhelming pain was enough to break my concentration.

n-Stomp. Stomp.

nJoker was walking towards me with his dual swords pulled out.

nIt’s already been a while ago since the cuts on his neck and shoulder were gone without a trace.

nEven the damage from the Formless Sword Aura that he took with his whole body was gone.

nI needed to buy time to recover.

nSince he was going to attack again, I needed to get away from him.

nIf I could disappear from his sight completely so I can buy time to heal my wounds, there would be another chance.

nA skill that’s perfect for this situation exists.

n‘Mass Stealth Jutsu.’

nInstantly, I disappeared from view.

nQuickly, I casted Flash and hid myself in a corner of the ruined battlefield.

nI even used Silent to hide the sound of my breathing.

nMana Shield and Reflect Shield.

nI used one hand for Heal while keeping a lookout for him.

nLooking at the spot where I was before, he mumbled to himself.

n“Stealth… and he covered up the sound he makes.”

n“Ugh.”

n“At this rate, it would be difficult to find him. But…”

nJoker had a smile on his face.

nAlmost like a predator that found its prey drinking water by the pond without any suspicion.

nOnce more, red smoke began to rise from his body.

nThen closing his eyes, he spoke.

n“But you know. Guess you don’t have any skills to cover up this heavy scent of blood. Oraa!”

n-SLICE!

nHe turned his body towards the exact location I was stealthed at, throwing both the twin swords at me.

nAs the swords left his hands, it was covered in dark red flames, flying straight towards me.

nIt didn’t have any spin and it didn’t shake in the slightest, as the throw had an incredible amount of speed and power.

nAt this rate, it was going to skewer me before I had time to even prepare to react.

nIt would be over in a moment.

nBoth of his twin swords arrived right in front of my eyes.

nLooking at the swords, I froze.

nEven my eyes that should’ve automatically closed due to reflex stayed open.

nThere’s a saying that before you die, the life you lived comes all back to you in a flash.

nI realized that it was true.

nIt was a short life of 18 years, but all the memories I lived began to pass me right before my eyes.

nAll the way up until the last film of a movie projector.

nIt was vivid, almost as if I was viewing from the sidelines.

nAs I returned to the present hoping that my situation had changed, I felt more hopeless than before.

nAlmost as if it was a slow motion video, Joker’s swords clashed with my shields.

nWho would have known that this weak looking weapon toss skill would be a skill beyond ranking.

nWithout being able to resist at all, my Mana Shield crumpled.

nAlmost as if fighting to be the first, both twin swords came in at the same time.

nAnd finally.

n“……”

nWithout realizing, I had closed my eyes, thinking that this was the end. However, much time had passed.

nOne thing that consoled me was that the swords impaling my head would hurt less than my fingers did right now, but I had to accept that this was death.

nGuess it’s true about what they say, that death’s door closes the slowest.

nI heard a noise from where Joker was at.

n“URRRK!”

n‘Is that his disgusting laugh again? I had to kill him at least before dying….’

n“KUUUHHH!”

n‘He’s being really lou…. Wait! That’s not the sound of laughter?’

nAfter accepting my end and letting everything go, now I gathered my resolve once more.

nThe pain I felt through the end of my hand. And the vivid sounds of his screams.

nOpening my eyes, what I saw was enough to surprise me.

nBoth his twin swords had pierced his chest, straight through his heart.

nWith his face contorted, I saw Joker screaming as he tried to pull out the swords.

nEach time he pulled at the hooked swords, sticky blood spurted out like a fountain.

nIt was a stupid thought, but just a moment ago, I thought I was dead for sure.

nBut how did it come to this.

nSuddenly an idea came to me.

nThat was it.

n“Reflect Shield…..”

nThat’s right. The skill he used on me was blocked by the counter effect from the Reflect Shield.

nThe attack had flown back towards him.

nSince it was a level 200 Reflect Shield, the reflection chance was 50%.

nThe reflected damage was 70%.

nHe probably attacked me while using his Isolation ability, so the attack did twice the damage.

nNot knowing that it would come back to him, that is.

nIt didn’t matter how this situation came to be, because it was my chance.

nThe pain from my fingers? Pain from my charred blown up body?

nI didn’t feel anything from these petty injuries.

nAnother chance had found me.

nFirstly, I had to finish off Joker, who was critically wounded.

n“Oraaa!”

nI cast an attack buff.

nDue to the attack I received, Louver’s Bracelet was fully charged for an empowered skill.

nDashing towards him, I began to throw out my Formless Sword Aura.

nPulling out his swords from his body, Joker began to swing his swords wildly.

nDue to the extended fight, it appeared that he was running out of mana.

nHe wasn’t even using the most basic executioner class skill that strengthened his body.

nHe was only swinging his swords with just his bare strength.

nI wasn’t sure if it was only due to chance, but he was blocking few of the invisible Formless Sword Aura attacks.

nEach time he moved though, Joker was bleeding out more and more.

nSome time passed like that.

n“Huff… Huff. You dare! Someone like you!”

nHis breathing was heavy.

nI wasn’t sure if he was screaming or roaring, but his loud voice filled the battlefield.

nHe had already received several Formless Sword Aura attacks with his body.

nBlood leaked out from in between his grey armor, forming a pool on the floor.

nHis eyes were already unfocused and body limp, and he was no longer capable of combat.

nDespite all that, he still held his sword and continued to stumble towards me.

n-slice!

nIn one swing, I cut his arm that held the twin swords.

nHis arm, as well as the sword that was held, clattered to the floor.

nJoker was trying to put his remaining arm into his armor.

nWas it his last attempt? It looked as though he was trying to find something.

n“Tenacious bastard.”

n“Ku… Kuuk…. I, to be defeated by the likes of you….”

n“A class and ability that are specialized in killing people. I shouldn’t stay alive.”

n“It’s not over y…”

n-slice!

n-thud

nThe crescent Banwol Jincheon cleanly separated his head from his body.

nBlood spilled forth from his neck, and the head had a twisted expression as it collided on the ground.

nThere was no information I needed from him.

nTo be honest, he probably had lots of information.

nBut I didn’t want to hear anything from him anymore.

nThe rage I felt against him suddenly blew up.

nAnd that’s how Joker died.

n****

nI covered Joker’s corpse with Fire Shock.

nIt was to make sure that no evidence remained.

nEven if this was a restricted area that no longer gets visitors, it didn’t hurt to be thorough.

nMeteor gave out very powerful flames, but no skill can compare to this one when it comes to incinerating things to oblivion.

n“Whew….”

nAfter getting rid of the evidence, I focused solely on recovery.

nPerhaps due to the injury I received being quite serious, a few levels of the Heal spell rose during the process.

nThe corpse was incinerated without a trace left, with only the grey armor and sword remaining.

nThe weapon and armor could withstand the fierce flames of Fire Shock.

nI was sure that it was worth a vast fortune.

n“I’ll take care of them well, Joker.”

nIt happened when I lifted his armor.

n-clang.

nSomething that was in the armor fell to the floor.

nThe size was similar to an Awakened Essence, but the shape and color was completely different.

nA transparent pearl that was perfectly spherical.

nI remembered that Joker was trying to find something with his amputated arm before he died.

nI couldn’t help but think that this was what he was looking for.

nSince I didn’t know what ability this pearl possessed, I carelessly shoved it into my pocket.

nWith that, I gathered all the items and exited the association building.

n****

n“81 missed calls? People would believe it if I told them that this was my lover.”

n-riiiiing. riiiiiing.

nEven in that short span of time, another call came.

nJust as I thought, it was Jong Ho.

n“Hel…”

n“Hey you! Are you okay?”

n“Of course. I’m fine.”

n“Are you hurt anywhere?”

n“Hm…. Status Denial. Can I get it immediately through the midget?”

n“What. Is it serious? Where and how is the injury!”

n“It’s not that serious. Don’t worry.”

n“When will you come back? What about Joker? What happened with Joker?”

n“I killed him. In about 10 minutes, I’ll take Warp to get to the midget’s office. I’ll see you there, hyung.”

n“Ok. I’ll head there right now and wait for you. You have to come straight away, okay?”

n“Yes.”

nEnding the call, I was engrossed in my thoughts.

nI only survived this battle with pure luck.

nIt was also pure luck that I won this battle.

nA 50% chance to reflect.

nIf Reflect Shield wasn’t able to successfully counter?

nObviously the role of the winner and loser in this battle would be swapped.

n“Luck… I can’t depend on luck for my life.”

nI couldn’t hope to get lucky every time.

nI needed to obtain more power for the days ahead.

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