Chapter 61

Chapter 60: Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin (1)

"Huh, already...?"

A black moon formed in Cadric's pupils.

The moment of death.

Cadric felt time slow down.

He hadn't even noticed it coming.

When did it get here?

No, was there ever a choice to run from the beginning?

His head felt like it was about to explode with all the possibilities and assumptions.

And that was it.

Rip!

That was Cadric's last thought in this world.

Boom!

The decapitated corpse fell to the ground.

"Kieee!"

"Keek!"

When Cadric died, all the undead he controlled turned to dust and disappeared.

There were still necromancers alive, but they wouldn't last long.

The enraged stone statues immediately chased after them.

"Aaaaah!"

"S-Save me!"

The battlefield, now stained with blood.

The necromancers, who had been hunting one-sidedly, had now become the hunted.

And taking advantage of this,

'Hmm, everyone seems busy.'

Jinhyuk approached the fourth-floor stone tower, where the defenses had weakened.

***

A four-story stone tower carved from massive granite.

In front of the safe containing the key to the inner chamber, three stone statues armed with spears and swords stood guard.

"Rooo!"

"Raa!"

Considering that this place should have had over ten times the number of guards, three statues were practically like an empty house.

Jinhyuk cracked his knuckles.

"Being brainless does have its advantages."

They wouldn't be scared even after seeing such a huge skill gap.

Just puppets moving according to the boss monster's commands.

In a way, an army without hearts might be the strongest.

Jinhyuk picked up the spear and shield lying on the ground.

'It's been a while since I fought with these weapons.'

He shielded himself with the round shield in his left hand and thrust the spear through the gap.

This was the exact stance he had practiced to exhaustion when he was obsessed with the movie '300.'

Although he couldn't perform the synchronized battle of 300 men like in the movie, he had practiced with the spear and shield until his hands were blistered to maximize efficiency on his own.

Ah, of course, he had also practiced one more thing.

This was the most important part.

"Shall I come to you, or will you come to me?"

Jinhyuk repeatedly crouched and stood, maintaining his stance.

The key here was to subtly show his weaknesses.

As if asking, "Aren't you going to come even after I do this much?"

Did the provocation work?

The stone statues simultaneously pushed off the ground.

Bang!

Crash!

They were coming.

Jinhyuk tilted his shield.

The essence of shield technique was to disperse the impact.

Clang!

The swords and spears of the stone statues scraped along the shield's surface.

'Now!'

Jinhyuk, having deflected the impact, spun his body 360 degrees.

Crash!

The spear, enhanced by the rotational force, pierced the stone statue's head.

Almost simultaneously,

Jinhyuk struck the second statue's leg with his spear.

"Roo?"

The statue's leg bent, and its center of gravity collapsed.

This was possible because he had aimed precisely at the joint.

"You're going to freeze to death."

Thud.

The spear hit the statue's chest.

[Lv2 'Ice Sculpture' activated!]

Crack!

The cold aura from the spear tip adhered to the statue's chest.

The cold spread rapidly.

It took less than three seconds for the entire body to freeze.

'That's two down.'

Now, only one remained.

Jinhyuk took his basic stance again, facing the retreating statue.

The spear and shield perfectly balanced attack and defense.

However,

"Rooooo!"

The statue suddenly roared and reached out toward the stone tower.

It pulled out a golden key from inside the tower.

What is this?

Does it want to hand over the key and beg for its life?

Gulp!

The statue swallowed the key it was holding.

[The key to the inner chamber is reacting.]

[The gate is activated!]

[The entity beyond the gate responds to the call.]

Consecutive status windows appeared.

Whoosh!

The air changed abruptly.

"This guy is more spirited than I thought."

To think it would sacrifice itself to open the gate.

Jinhyuk licked his lips.

Right then,

Crack!

A green vortex appeared in the stomach of the statue that had swallowed the key.

It was sacrificing itself to summon a higher-level monster from the inner chamber.

Zap!

A completely different kind of magic power surged.

The killing intent that spread through his skin made Jinhyuk's eyes sparkle.

It wasn't out of fear or panic from the unexpected situation.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His body, which had been heated up by the too-easy battle, couldn't be controlled...

Finally, he had a chance to fight properly.

Moreover,

'If it comes out on its own, leaving its advantageous position, I'll be grateful.'

If he had to fight a named monster, it was better to do so outside rather than inside the inner chamber.

A moment later, something approached from the shimmering gate.

Thud.

A figure with numerous arms appeared, accompanied by light footsteps.

[Named Monster 'Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin (千手千眼觀音)' has appeared!]

"Hmm."

The Thousand-Armed Guanyin slowly looked around.

Behind the benevolent smile, a strong scent of blood filled the air.

Then, its gaze stopped on Jinhyuk.

"This is unexpected. I didn't think there would be a human among the intruders who could threaten the key in the stone tower."

"What, are you surprised by this? I'll be cutting down the boss monster here in a few days."

"Hahaha! You're a bold one. I'll have to admit your courage, at least."

The Thousand-Armed Guanyin laughed as if amused.

While Jinhyuk was serious, it seemed to take his words as a joke.

Damn.

This is why fighting intelligent monsters is annoying.

The 'Empathy' effect made him feel a sense of familiarity even though he didn't intend to.

"Stop weighing your options and attack. I want to finish this quickly and rest."

"I want to enjoy our conversation a bit more, but you don't, do you?"

"I don't mind chatting, but I prefer beer and chicken over swords and blood. And I'd rather have someone with soft skin instead of a stone statue with a square face."

"Treasure this moment, young human. When the time comes to die, you'll miss even this time."

Swish!

The Thousand-Armed Guanyin drew a sword from its back.

Then,

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Weapons appeared in countless hands.

Swords, knives, spears, axes, even maces and bows.

It was like a walking armory.

"I'll start by cutting off your left arm as punishment for your insolence. Next, your left leg. Then your right arm. And finally, I'll cut off the one remaining head."

"Sorry, but I'm quite satisfied with the positions of my arms and legs. I want to keep them where they are."

"You humans are so interesting. That's why I can never get tired of you."

The Thousand-Armed Guanyin's lips curled upward.

Sssss...

The tangible killing intent mixed with magic power.

This wasn't just another stone statue.

Jinhyuk shielded himself and lowered his stance as much as possible.

Ready to defend against any attack.

"Huuu."

Jinhyuk regulated his breathing and awakened all his senses.

His nerves were as sharp as a single blade.

From now on, he couldn't blink even once.

Then,

Bang!

The air was torn apart.

An attack that broke the sound barrier in an instant, without any propulsion.

But,

'Left shoulder.'

His body moved before his thoughts did.

Jinhyuk deflected the sword strike with his shield.

Clang!

Blinding sparks flew as metal clashed with metal.

"Hmm."

An exclamation of surprise escaped the Thousand-Armed Guanyin's lips.

It truly seemed surprised.

"Why are you surprised? Is this the first time you've seen someone block an attack?"

"To react to the realm of supersonic...?"

It wasn't about seeing and reacting.

It was about memorizing the trajectory and timing of attacks he had faced countless times.

Of course, not just anyone could do this.

"Haha. This is getting more and more interesting."

The Thousand-Armed Guanyin attacked again.

This time, it aimed at both his left arm and right leg simultaneously.

'I can't defend both with the shield.'

Then...

[Lv2 'Ice Sculpture' activated!]

New ice shields with snowflake patterns appeared.

Crack!

Naturally, these weren't enough to block the Thousand-Armed Guanyin's attack.

But, to slightly alter the trajectory...

It was possible.

Definitely possible.

Jinhyuk hid himself between the fully bloomed snowflakes.

Of course, the Thousand-Armed Guanyin didn't just stand there watching.

"Where are you!"

Nine spears were immediately thrown.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

All the ice shields shattered.

But none of them hit Jinhyuk.

"Clearly, I hit you?"

He had aimed precisely.

He had hit precisely.

So why?

"These also distort your vision."

The layers of ice reflected light, creating an illusion.

Jinhyuk, who had already slipped under the Thousand-Armed Guanyin, gripped his spear tightly.

A shorter distance for better speed.

The crimson magic power, 'Blood Demon Qi,' writhed on the spear blade.

"Ugh!"

The Thousand-Armed Guanyin quickly turned its body.

It moved its thousand arms to defend.

But it was too late.

Thud!

The spear, already released by Jinhyuk, pierced the Thousand-Armed Guanyin's arm.

"Kraaaah!"

The Thousand-Armed Guanyin's face contorted in a fierce manner.

A sensation it had never felt before.

Pain.

This sharp and unfamiliar experience was enough to drive it mad.

It wanted to tear the human in front of it to pieces immediately...

But it had to deal with the crimson magic spreading through its arm first.

"Is this... some kind of poison?"

"Something like that."

'Blood Demon Qi' was far less destructive than the 'Grave of Swords.'

Instead, it could deal continuous damage once it inflicted a wound.

Crunch!

The Thousand-Armed Guanyin ruthlessly pulled out the spear from its arm.

Wow.

"So you still want to live."

I thought it would take at least a few minutes to decide.

To pull out its own arm like that, its attachment to life must be extraordinary.

"Don't be so arrogant. If you were going to aim, you should have aimed for the head. What can you do with just one arm?"

Well...

"Even if I aimed for the head, I knew I couldn't kill you."

To kill a named monster in this place, ordinary weapons wouldn't work.

So he deliberately aimed for the arm.

Specifically, the arm holding the 'Precious Jade' among the countless weapons.

Jinhyuk pulled out the blue gem from the severed arm.

Then, he took out an item he had stored in his subspace inventory, specifically for this moment.