Chapter 238. Guardian (8)

The bottle of whiskey I brought with me was emptied by the time I detected an unexpected change. While Lin and I were exchanging our final glass, I began to vaguely see Lin’s face. At first, I thought I had gotten accustomed to being in the dark, but that wasn’t it. Lin muttered as he stared at my face.

“Up close, you look like the incarnation of misfortune.”

“Lin also looks like a sissy.”

The underground base got brighter ever so slightly. The darkness from magic that dulled one’s senses was slowly transforming into natural darkness. There was only one reason this would be happening.

“It’s a good thing we finished the bottle.”

“Yep, one has to finish a bottle once he opens it.”

We exchanged such words as if we had already discussed it, and stood up after throwing the bottle and glasses on the ground. Lin was gritting his teeth.

“That crazy bastard…”

“It might not be too late. Let’s hurry.”

Lin and I rushed in union. Meanwhile, Daisy messaged us.

[Found Book Walkers. Ceiling, being broken through.]

The moment we received her message, the ceiling fell with a thud along with several Book Walkers. Before I could say anything, Lin’s two handguns shot flaming bullets. By the time the magazine ran out, the Book Walkers had all become corpses, but Lin clicked his tongue as he reloaded.

“These guys got faster. It must be that damned resistance or whatever. How annoying.”

“I should also—”

“You stay still. Don’t reveal your abilities in front of them.”

“This really is annoying. I can’t even fight them when they’re right in front of me… Ah!”

We left a passageway and entered a wider residential area. It was the place where we had heard moaning sounds before. In the corner was a gruesomely shredded corpse of a man. That was it. Lin murmured calmly.

“The woman was taken.”

“…”

I didn’t open my mouth. If I did, I felt like I would have shouted at the top of my lungs to tear apart this silence. Afterwards, in just three minutes, we found over ten corpses. They were all of men.

I asked Lin, gritting my teeth and clenching my fists.

“Administrative guild master’s power… Is there a way to retrieve it?”

“There is one way.”

Lin replied as he reloaded his guns again and shot down the spear of ice coming towards him.

“Killing her.”

The magic had disappeared completely. There were huge gaping holes in the ceiling. The underground base was no longer safe from light. Beyond the passageway where light and darkness coexisted, the one who sent the ice spear flying appeared. It was Sipua.

“Lin, I didn’t want to do this.”

“You’ve gotten unsightly, Sipua.”

Lin’s words didn’t carry any emotion. He aimed his gun at Sipua and asked.

“Tell me, why did you get rid of the magic?”

“I made a deal, Lin. It was the only thing I could do for our happiness.”

“… I take it to mean you made a deal with the world’s enemy?”

At Lin’s words, Sipua nodded. Then, she spread her arms out. Countless crystals of ice radiating brilliant light filled the space around her. Just like the god’s true name Lodert Hydelcyon had, it seemed she also had the ability to wield ice.

“I can’t win against you with my strength, so I needed someone to defeat you.”

“And Hydelcyon?”

“The darkness magic was very formidable. He had to use his god’s true name.”

“Scizarnath must be lamenting.”1

Lin looked at Sipua in contempt and spoke with scorn. Then, he turned to face me.

“Find Ectradion and go back. The world’s enemy will appear soon.”

“Right.”

I knew very well what position I was in. I also knew that the world’s enemy of Panan continent was a special case. Against monsters that obtained resistance against me if I didn’t kill it in one blow, I didn’t dare be so adventurous. It wasn’t my role to face them.

Above all, finding Daisy was currently the most important thing.

“No, I won’t let you go. You have to suffer more.”

“Kang Shin, run away! Now!”

Immediately, a brilliant light erupted from Sipua’s body. The underground base enshrouded in darkness became as bright as day. I heard a message, one that I thought I wouldn’t hear for a while.

[You entered the EX rank Event Dungeon, ‘Cemetery’! Before the dungeon is cleared, no one can exit!]

No, it wasn’t the familiar message noona’s voice. This voice was… Sipua’s voice!

“You, just how much are you going to abuse your power!?”

“This is it. Once everyone who came to find me dies, I won’t need it anymore!”

Just to be sure, I opened the gate to the dungeon. I couldn’t enter it. I couldn’t use Return either. It seemed there was only one way for me to leave this place. I quickly messaged Daisy.

[Daisy, are you okay!?]

[Too many, Book Walkers. Space is too small, can’t take out all undead. I will use, god’s power.]

[Make sure you live! And…!]

[… Hydelcyon, found him.]

With that, Daisy’s messages cut off. Damn it! I didn’t think Daisy would lose to someone like Hydelcyon, but the resistance I felt when I kicked him earlier made me uneasy.

I didn’t know what Sipua did to strengthen him, but with his god’s true name and the Book Walkers helping him, Daisy would undoubtedly have trouble dealing with the situation. Everything was extremely annoying!

“Sipua, what you did cannot be undone. From now on, I won’t treat you like one of us.”

“Lin, you should have done so the moment you saw me. Now, it’s too late! I’ve already surpassed you!”

“What…!?”

In the next moment, the entire space exploded. I quickly summoned Ruyue and surrounded myself in a wall of ice, and Lin also protected himself with a wall of fire. However, the explosion only served as a signal. Immediately after Sipua’s attack, something shot towards Lin like lightning.

“Kuhahaha! Too easy! Too visible! Draconian, draconians are surprising!”

“You… Trash!”

Despite the lighthearted tone, the voice carried an immense pressure. The owner of the voice was a titan, carrying a book on one hand and a sword on the other. The moment I saw him, I could clearly feel his aura.

He was the world’s enemy.

“Kuk!”

“You’re moving like when you killed our kin! But you won’t be able to defeat me!”

Although Lin’s movements were quick to the point I could barely see him, the titan easily caught up to Lin. Furthermore, the titan’s attacks flew in from angles Lin couldn’t easily dodge, and eventually tore Lin’s leather armor and shed blood. Lin distanced himself from the titan with a strong kick as he gritted his teeth.

“Sipua…!”

“You and I have fought together many times. In my head, your movements and your twin handguns are recorded clearly!”

“Puhahaha! The dungeon sure is interesting! Its administrators are interesting too! Truly interesting!”

“Shut it!”

Lin’s twin guns continuously spat out bullets. Shockingly, the world’s enemy received them directly without even trying to dodge them and wasn’t injured in the slightest.

“With data, we have nothing to fear from your attacks! With my power, I can easily defeat you! Draconian, you’ll have to die!”

“Don’t think guns are my only weapon, idiot!”

Lin threw away his twin handguns and charged towards him. Flames erupted around him as he attacked the world’s enemy. I could easily tell that Lin’s flames were of EX rank. The Demon Lord would have to give up one arm to ignite such flames? And he was using it as he pleased!?

What was even more shocking was that the world’s enemy wasn’t fazed at all by the EX rank flames. His resistance had gone past the point of shocking and had reached the level of impossibility!

“Kuhahaha! Futile! Not only your guns, but your flames and martial arts have all been remembered! That bitch gave me all the data I needed!”

“If you think some record on a book is enough to defeat me, you’re gravely mistaken!”

After Lin shouted with a voice filled with rage, he disappeared. In the next instant, a flash of Lin’s foot appeared, enveloped in scarlet flames. The titan’s shoulder exploded.

“Kuaaaaak! That hurt!”

“I’ll show you a power your trivial ability can’t resist!”

“Annoying! Draconian is annoying!”

The Book Walker opened his book. Even as he was being injured by Lin’s attacks, he held up his sword and wrote something down on his book. For every phrase he jotted down, his injuries shockingly healed. He was even beginning to catch up to Lin’s hastened speed.

“If this is all, this is the end! You can’t win against me!”

“I’m not done yet… You damned bastard!”

At this rate, Lin would lose. Since we won’t be able to leave unless we defeated the world’s enemy, if I used Overlord and joined him…!

“You should play with me.”

Sipua noticed my movements and created countless spears of ice in the air. I used Ruyue’s power to stop them as I questioned her.

“Daisy couldn’t read your thoughts or Hydelcyon’s thoughts. Is that your work?”

“I sent Lodert to you on purpose. To trick you into believing us.”

“Defending against Evil Eyes…”

“I’m originally more skilled in defense than offense! So, Earth’s Hero, you should give up on defeating me and helping Lin!”

Her mana was indeed boundless. Solely to stop me from approaching Lin and the world’s enemy, she filled the area with ice. Even if I pushed them away with Ruyue’s ability and used Divine Speed to charge forward, with my current ability, I couldn’t deal with the endlessly respawning wall of ice unless I used Overlord.

“I acknowledge that you’re a talented explorer, but I’ve lived for 2,500 years as an administrative guild master! You will never be able to obtain what you desire!”

“Kuk, S-Sipua.”

When a man’s voice suddenly eked out, she revealed an opening. I didn’t miss this opportunity and materialized Ruyue.

“Break through!”

[Un! Haaaaap!]

Immediately after materializing in the air, Ruyue let out a spirited shout and spread her arms out. In the next instant, the wall of ice trapping us exploded entirely.

Sipua and a heavily beaten Lodert Hydelcyon appeared in front of us. As the saying went, love made one stupid. Sipua had completely forgotten about me and was hugging Hydelcyon tightly.

“Lodert, how did this happen to you!?”

“When I was coming back after destroying the darkness magic, that damned bitch…!”

“… Daisy Ectradion, I’ll be sure to kill that wench!”

“Hey, Bitch and Son of a Bitch. You think you fuckers can just kill my precious guild member!?”

I finally exploded. Although it might be a bit too early to use these skills, I felt okay using them now.

“Caduceus, Overlord!”

The moment I shouted the names of these skills, my body grew enough to pierce through the underground base’s ceiling. Everyone present focused their attention on me. Sipua, especially, had a shocked expression.

“Y-You! How can you have that power…!?”

“I’m different than trash like Hydelcyon!”

“But it’s too late! You’ve lost!”

The world’s enemy raised his voice and laughed. He spoke as he threw what was in his hands towards me. The shape of the “thing” he threw seemed all too familiar.

“I wonder what kind of power you have! I hope it’s better than this dead lizard’s!”

“Dead lizard… You’re talking about Lin…?”

My hands trembled. I shouted louder than I ever had.

“YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT LIN!?”

[You used Frozen Roar! All enemies in the battlefield freezes in place. All allies temporarily become super-armored and have all abilities increased by 50%. Your chance of landing a critical hit doubles when fighting enemies affected by Frozen Roar.]

[Frozen Roar is suppressed by the world’s enemy’s overwhelming power! Although Overlord’s power offset his power, Frozen Roar’s effect has been halved!]

In that instant, as ice descended around me, the surrounding became shrouded in darkness. Did my rage finally create a supernatural effect? Of course not.

[Magic recovery, complete. Book Walkers, weakened.]

“Oh, Daisy. I love you!”

[… Kang Shin, I don’t know love, yet. So, I apologize.]

“I didn’t mean it like that. It was a… cheer!”

[Human language, too difficult…]

I gave a short reply to Daisy who rejected me seriously. Then, I infused Sharana into my spear. As both fire and lightning radiated light, I couldn’t make satisfying destructive power in this place. Furthermore, they couldn’t do what I wanted to do.

Thus, what I needed to wield now was the power of wind! Sharana’s aura strengthened the power of Enigma to the limit and created a threatening whirlpool.

“Even with the darkness back, you won’t be able to win! Compared to the lizard, your power is too weak!”

“But I can hold you back for a bit!”

Along with my reply, a wind aura that converted into a whirlpool shot out from my spear and cut through the darkness. Even if the world’s enemy was much stronger than me, this was the first time I used my power since I came to this world. Plus, the purpose of the wind aura I just shot out wasn’t to tear him apart. Like I said, it was just to tie him in his place for a moment.

As I had even used Divine Speed, neither Sipua nor Hydelcyon could react to it. Though the world’s enemy snorted and tried to strike it down with his palm, he body was halted in the process. Confused, he looked around his body and soon burst into laughter.

“So you aren’t completely talentless after all. But this is it! I doubt you’ll be able to do anything by just holding me down! Kuhahaha… haaak!”

Within the darkness, a single bang of a gunshot rang out. The titan, who was laughing just a moment ago, had his head shattered into pieces.

Using this opportunity, I grabbed the world’s power that popped out of the titan’s body. The expressions of Hydelcyon and Sipua, who had watched everything blankly, turned pale.

“You killed… the world’s enemy… Someone even the entire continent couldn’t kill, so easily…!”

“T-This… is… Im-Impossible…”

“How so?”

In the direction where the bullet came flying, Lin walked out with the sniper rifle he had been hiding now hanging on his back. Ignoring the reestablished darkness magic, Lin lit the cigarette in his mouth. Sipua shouted in utter shock.

“Lin, how are you alive? You certainly died! I saw it with my two eyes! Plus, how could you kill him so easily!?”

“Huh? Let me ask too, Sipua. How is it any of your business? Even if you knew, nothing would change.”

Lin tilted his head, replying in a slightly murmuring voice. Then, with a single flick of his hands, the twin handguns he threw away before flew back into his hands. He then fired two shots from each handguns, the bullets piercing through Sipua and Hydelcyon’s knee and forcing them to kneel.

“It’s time to be punished, damned bastards.”

Author’s note:

If Shin used Overlord and fought the world’s enemy, he would lose in just 2 minutes… But Lin killed him with one bullet! That said, it wouldn’t have been possible without Shin restraining him. A wonderful coordination for their first fight together!

Of course, the unexplained parts will all be explained next chapter! I thought about separating the fight into two chapters, but then Shin lasting so long would only be possible if Shenlong was summoned using Dragon Balls and… Huh? I can’t say this because of copyrights…? Er, um… goodbye! (escapes)

1. Scizarnath is the god whose name Hydelcyon has. Mentioned in chapter 171.

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