Chapter 62

Chapter 61. Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin (2)

Jinhyuk took out an old piece of wood from his subspace inventory.

It was a relic obtained from the corridor.

A fragment of 'Merlin’s Staff.'

“What is that...?”

The frown on the Thousand-Armed Guanyin’s forehead deepened. Her eyes darted around, and she took a stance as if ready to bolt at any moment.

She sensed an ominous aura.

But it was already too late.

Blame yourself for underestimating one of my arms.

Jinhyuk combined the two items.

Whirr!

['Fragment of Merlin’s Staff (AAA)' and 'Thousand-Armed Guanyin’s Precious Jewel (AA)' are fusing!]

The relic began to react with a brilliant light.

[Fusion successful!]

[Merlin’s Staff (Incomplete)]

Acquisition difficulty: S

Description: Merlin, the great magician and sage who served King Arthur of England. This staff, a relic he used in his lifetime, allows the user to maximize their magical abilities. (However, since it is not made from complete materials, the maximum potential of its abilities is limited.)

A moment later, a wooden staff with a precious jewel embedded in it lay where the light had disappeared.

‘Finally, I have it.’

The corners of Jinhyuk’s mouth turned upward.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His heart also beat rapidly.

Even though it wasn’t a complete relic.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

This is enough.

Initially, the complete Merlin’s Staff could only be used by a Great Mage who had completed their third-class promotion.

Good. Next.

Jinhyuk peeked at the Thousand-Armed Guanyin’s status window through the 'Greed Eye.'

There was something he had to check before fighting her.

——————————————————

Name: Thousand-Armed Guanyin

Gender: None

Age: 30,985 years

Level: ??

Strength ?? Agility ?? Vitality ?? Magic ?? Karma ??

Unique Ability: Mandala (曼茶羅)

Skills: Cannot view individual skill windows due to insufficient level of 'Greed Eye.'

——————————————————

[Copy Condition: The Thousand-Armed Guanyin extremely despises Western magic. Within 5 minutes, use ice magic to create a large and beautiful sculpture that insults the opponent. (Additionally, you must select an appropriate song to accompany the creation.) If successful, you can copy the opponent’s unique ability.]

Huh?

Wait, wait a moment...

Did I read that wrong?

Jinhyuk slowly closed and opened his eyes.

But the content of the copy condition did not change.

‘The system is really going crazy.’

Even when he asked Cadric to listen to a necromancer lecture, it was absurd.

But this is getting more and more ridiculous.

‘A song and a sculpture...?’

And it has to be appropriately fitting.

Jinhyuk pressed his index finger against his forehead.

No matter what, it’s still too much.

To creatively decorate a proposition to insult the opponent like this.

He could already feel a headache coming on.

However, no matter how bizarre the condition, he couldn’t give up.

This was the only place to obtain 'Mandala' on the 25th floor.

“Sigh.”

Jinhyuk sighed deeply and activated the 'Broadcast System.'

He wasn’t planning to stream.

It was one of the features set up for the Broadcaster.

Specifically,

[Please select a BGM.]

The background music for the broadcast.

‘The only music that fits ice magic is this one.’

Jinhyuk selected the song and turned the volume up to the maximum.

A familiar and beautiful melody soon flowed out.

It was the Disney animated masterpiece 'Frozen,' which set the world ablaze in the dead of winter.

And the main hit song used in it, 'Let It Go.'

[Let It Go~! Let It Go~! Can’t hold it back any more.]

The rising melody made his face feel hot.

It’s hard to describe.

Maybe it’s like being lost in past memories?

It feels fresh to hear it again after a long time.

In contrast, the Thousand-Armed Guanyin’s face twisted into a fierce expression at the unexpected song.

“You! What are you doing?”

A thunderous voice erupted.

A life-or-death duel.

And in the middle of it, he was doing something ridiculous.

“Please, don’t ask for a reason.”

I don’t even know why I’m doing this.

Of course.

“Answer me! Human!”

There’s no way she would let him get away with treating her like a snake crossing a fence.

The enraged Thousand-Armed Guanyin gathered her magic power.

Rumble!

A golden aura enveloped the weapon in her hand.

A power different from a sword or holy energy.

Mandala (曼茶羅).

The ultimate ability of Buddhism, which materializes all phenomena, was activated at this moment.

“Enough fooling around. From now on, I will tear you apart with all my might.”

She seems to be quite angry.

Although the Thousand-Armed Guanyin has slaughtered countless humans, she has never used Mandala before.

“Are you sure about that?”

Jinhyuk shrugged.

“What do you mean?”

“If you activate Mandala and still lose, you won’t have any excuses, will you?”

No one who has said, “This is my 100% power!” has ever won.

How can they all spout such embarrassing words?

If it were me, I’d just stay quiet.

Ah, but then again, I’m the one playing music while fighting, so I shouldn’t talk.

“This... cursed human! A mere creature that can’t even live for 100 years, who do you think you are to talk about defeat!”

Cracks began to form on the ground.

...It’s starting.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

An unstoppable golden wave approached.

But the aura of Mandala, which had been shattering the ground, stopped right in front of Jinhyuk.

[Ice Sculpture (氷河造形) 'Blizzard' activated!]

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Ice particles began to form a shape.

A massive hexagram, 3 meters in size.

A great magic circle made of snow and ice emitted a white coldness.

‘Perfect.’

Jinhyuk gripped the staff with both hands.

His hands shook violently.

Controlling the surging magic power was no easy task.

‘So, this is the upper version of the skill.’

The newly acquired skill, 'Ice Sculpture (氷河造形).'

It was fundamentally different from the 'Ice Sculpture' he used earlier.

While the previous one condensed moisture in the air into ice,

now, with Merlin’s Staff in hand, he could create coldness itself.

“Western magic...!”

The Thousand-Armed Guanyin ground her teeth.

“Western magic...”

Jinhyuk smirked.

If she can only think that, she’s making a big mistake.

＊＊＊

Far from the battlefield.

Ritchao and Melena, who were on a tree, let out a sigh of exasperation.

“I can’t believe it.”

“Not only his swordsmanship, but his ice magic has also reached such a high level? Is it even possible to have multiple classes?”

The more the battle continued, the more Ritchao and Melena’s pupils dilated and contracted.

It couldn’t be helped.

Everything they were seeing was beyond their comprehension.

The overwhelming power displayed by the Thousand-Armed Guanyin.

It was a force that truly deserved the title of a named monster.

But Jinhyuk, who was blocking her head-on, was also surpassing the realm of human beings.

By a wide margin.

“It’s not just supplementary. In the Mage Association, the number of people who can use ice magic at this level...”

Ritchao trailed off.

It was hard to say that there were no mages better than melee players.

And Melena felt the same way.

Melena, who had been moving her lips, finally uttered a word she shouldn’t have.

“Can we win even if we both attack?”

Two black mages specialized in human combat had come.

Even if the opponent was rated S, they had enough power to subdue them.

But Melena had no confidence.

No confidence in defeating that monster.

“...It will be difficult.”

Ritchao also muttered with a stern face.

Realistically, they couldn’t guarantee victory with just the two of them.

They might even have to consider the worst-case scenario.

“Let’s give up, Ritchao. We can’t do it alone. At least until a high-ranking member comes...”

“No. If we do that, all the ground we’ve built up so far will crumble.”

“Then what do you suggest? Are you willing to risk our lives?”

“No.”

Ritchao shook his head.

He wasn’t planning to take a reckless gamble.

But he wasn’t going to give up on the mission either.

“I will use the relic.”

A relic brought from the Mage Association, just in case.

It had a restriction of 3 months before it could be used again, so he didn’t want to use it if possible.

But given the situation, there was no other choice.

To complete the mission, he had to use all available means.

＊＊＊

Look at this.

‘It’s not just Cadric.’

Jinhyuk glanced to the side.

On a tree far from the battlefield.

A faint, unfamiliar magic power could be felt from there.

Since he hadn’t noticed it until now, they were at least higher than Cadric.

They were probably the hidden cards prepared by the Mage Association to ensure a definite end.

‘Good.’

This was a chance to learn more about the Mage Association.

But.

Right at that moment.

Boom!

A tingling shock ran through his wrist.

“Where are you looking?”

The spear thrown by the Thousand-Armed Guanyin had pierced halfway through the ice wall.

The trembling spear tip.

If he hadn’t quickly activated Ice Sculpture, it would have pierced through his hand and body.

Yes, this one is here.

Interrogating the Mage Association members is important, but he needed to deal with the immediate problem first.

[Ice Sculpture (氷河造形) 'Frigid Arrow' activated!]

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Over 20 ice arrows were instantly created.

They were clearly different from the ones he made with Ice Sculpture before.

The massive weapons, over 3 meters long, were more like harpoons for catching whales than arrows.

But it was almost impossible to deal a fatal blow to the Thousand-Armed Guanyin with just these.

Mandala not only drained the opponent’s magic power but also had the ability to predict the trajectory of attacks.

It wasn’t for nothing that it was praised as a perfect ability.

Then.

‘I’ll use both mid-range and close-range attacks.’

No matter how good the prediction ability, there was a limit to what it could read.

Jinhyuk infused magic power into the staff.

The staff shrank to the size of a finger joint.

This wouldn’t hinder his movement.

‘Good.’

Nodding, Jinhyuk immediately took out a dagger from his subspace inventory.

A black aura oozed along the blade.

To counter Mandala, he even activated 'Grave of Swords.'

“Until now, you’ve only been throwing ice chunks from a distance. Are you finally planning to come closer?”

“I want to finish this before the song ends.”

‘Let It Go’ was already reaching its climax.

Time was running out.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

The two magic powers collided, and blue sparks flew in all directions.

And at that moment.

‘Now!’

With the 20 ice arrows.

Boom!

Jinhyuk kicked off and charged forward.