Seong Hyunjae didn’t dodge. My approach was actually welcome for him. Even though he could barely cover with the Sovereign’s Sword, the gap in strength was still clear. I knew that, too.
Karak─
I swung my sword without closing the distance completely. A crack ran along the jet-black, glossy blade, bending it long like a reptile’s tail. The fierce edge of the swift sword split the air, but Seong Hyunjae lightly vaulted back, and the Seeker’s Chain flew toward me.
My attack didn’t reach Seong Hyunjae, and his attack was of no use to me either. The only way was to search out Grace and remove her, or buy time by choking off his breath. So even if the chain wrapped around my neck, I could just slice it off with my sword—or so I thought. The chain came from a slightly different angle.
Charr—
A current arced toward the chain flying at eye level, not my neck. It was all Grace, anyway. Just a moment—
“Damn!”
I hurriedly closed my eyes the instant I understood Seong Hyunjae’s intent, but a powerful light burst forth slightly faster. It was as if the sun exploded before me. Even through my shut lids everything turned red, then whitened into a blinding flash.
A headache struck for a moment, but I stepped back and focused on the view granted by Teacher’s Skill. As I staggered, whoosh, he closed in. Seong Hyunjae reached right in front of me. The chain tangled around the blade I swung blind, and his one free hand shot forward. I fell to the ground to dodge his touch, only to have his boot stamp on my ankle immediately afterward.
Kagagak! Pulling the Sovereign’s Sword tangled in the chain, he curved it in a half-circle and wrapped it above my neck. Crimson flames flared along the sword’s edge. Through half-opened eyes I saw Seong Hyunjae’s face looking down at me.
“If you’re going to blind someone’s vision, you might as ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) well take an antidote in the meantime.”
“I’m about to take it now.”
...Maybe I should just shut off poison resistance entirely. I’d be more effective than any antidote in the world.
But even so, Seong Hyunjae couldn’t reach me easily. His attacks didn’t affect me, while the Sovereign’s Sword waited razor-sharp for any enemy within range. His gaze swept over my body, searching for where Grace lay.
Jiiik, the shoe pressing my ankle rubbed against my clothes. Confirming it was bare skin underneath, he dragged his foot a little higher. Irritated, I kicked his leg with my free foot, but it didn’t budge. I couldn’t afford to use the sword—if the Sovereign’s Sword targeted his leg, his hand would clamp down on my throat.
The toe of his shoe pressed on my shin. Tilting my ankle slightly to check for any gap, I realized even that small contact triggered some antidote effect. Seong Hyunjae’s expression eased just a little. With blood circulating throughout, the poison would slowly flush out.
But dragging it out would disadvantage me. Drawing a breath, I gripped the Sovereign’s Sword and poured all its power at once.
Kakang! Kang!
The golden chain caught on my thrust-out blade. But the black sword sliced through the chain and surged toward its owner in an instant. The crimson coil of flame, laced with poison and heat, spread like a dragon’s breath, and Seong Hyunjae’s black-red robes fluttered before him.
“You said you wouldn’t use it!”
The wings of Silekia that had blocked the onrushing flames vanished back into my inventory. Stepping back, Seong Hyunjae wore an apologetic look. Charrrek, the broken chain reassembled and returned to his side. Rising to his feet, I glared at that shameless face.
‘I thought it’d leave at least a scratch.’
Though Seong Hyunjae expended a lot of mana, almost all the Sword’s stored power was gone, too. If I used up every last bit of the strength Yuhyun poured into it, I wouldn’t even be able to hold the sword properly. Seong Hyunjae seemed to notice that, too.
‘Right now, winning is impossible.’
If the Sovereign’s Sword imbued with Yuhyun’s power were completely spent, I’d have no way to attack Seong Hyunjae. Even swinging an SSS-rank weapon as an F-rank user would be stopped cold.
With the remaining power, I could only swing the sword for a few more minutes. The flames that had coiled around the blade had already vanished. Exhaling deeply, I steadied the sword with my only free hand. Seong Hyunjae, having gauged my condition, leisurely awaited my next move.
I planted my toe and focused on Teacher’s Skill, smashing my foot into the ground. If this attack failed, it was over. As I charged, the chain flew at me.
The golden chain drifted slowly in my vision. I confirmed its trajectory and twisted my body. I could have fully blocked it with the sword, but I didn’t. The chain sliced unimpeded toward my chest, and Seong Hyunjae weakened its force—he didn’t even use lightning magic. Even if Grace tried to block it, he had enough strength to push me back.
The moment the chain’s tip touched my chest,
Thunk!
I shut off Grace. The chain pierced through my chest and dug into my back. Blood roared up, my back aflame with heat. My blood, my brother’s blood, the fragment of the Black Dragon’s heart—I channeled all that mana. I poured it into the Sovereign’s Sword that consumed everything.
The blade greedily swallowed blood and mana, reclaiming its original strength.
Craaaack-!
It bent sharply and pierced Seong Hyunjae’s chest. The sword’s sudden power surge even Combat Foresight couldn’t track. Even foresight is useless if you lack the ability to dodge.
Unlike me, caught by the thin chain, his chest was torn roughly. The wound was shocking enough that survival seemed impossible. Blood dripped from his lips, which curled upward. Our knees buckled simultaneously. The Sovereign’s Sword, its power completely spent, felt unbearably heavy. My palm burned so badly I dropped it.
Seong Hyunjae’s upper body leaned toward me first. No, he deliberately lowered himself and rested his head on my shoulder. I heard his quiet laughter tickle my ear.
“What are you... laughing about, huh? Cough. You were beaten live by an F-rank.”
“It was fun... after all.”
Well, it’s not something you get to experience twice. If I were a real body, I’d never have been able to use that method. It felt like my back would melt from the mana’s backlash. It shouldn’t do lasting damage, though. If the Black Dragon is harmed, the Sovereign’s Sword can’t grow beyond SS-rank. So far, even the dead have recovered fully......
“Ugh... Seong Hyunjae-ssi, you’re...”
My breath was ragged. I wanted to tell him that if he’d really set his mind to it, it would’ve ended sooner—that he was amazing. It would’ve been much easier with any other Hunter. Because Grace nullifies attacks, and the Sovereign’s Sword grants more power than an S-rank Hunter. Though my body was slow, Teacher’s Skill let me move almost like Combat Foresight.
“...Now that I think about it, I’m pretty... amazing too.”
Not kidding. The Mana Engraving helped with Chatterbox’s support, but still. As Seong Hyunjae said, it was something I gained. At my murmur he laughed lightly again. The breath on my shoulder faded. And then Seong Hyunjae’s form vanished.
[Han Yujin Victory!]
I stared dumbly at the message window.
[The party has ended.]
The message appeared just as my ragged breath eased. The pain in my chest and arms vanished cleanly. My clothes were soaked in blood, but my wounds had healed perfectly as if they’d never existed.
‘The sword remains.’
Normally damaged weapons and items restore too, but the Sovereign’s Sword, given directly by Yuhyun, remained as it was. I reached to pick it up, then paused and drew its scabbard first. He warned me not to handle it recklessly. I slipped the blade in gently, then lifted the scabbard.
‘Why is it still here, though?’
As I looked around,
Saaah─
White mist surged in. The Mist of the Harmless King. The party was over, so the items we’d received should have been reclaimed? Startled, I rose—
“Ugh! What is—”
Crimson threads wrapped around my arm. Swish, they coiled around my other arm and both legs. Before I could resist, a force pulled me free of the Sovereign’s Sword, which clattered to the floor. Through the mist lay the broken staff of the Harmless King. Its emanating threads bound me and lifted me up.
“......”
My dry swallow echoed in the deepening mist. A chill of dread prickled down my spine.
[Intimidation Resistance partially negated!]
A message for Fear Resistance popped up.
On the TV, Han Yujin panted. Myeong-woo’s face remained stiff, but a faint relief showed through. Hwang-rim whistled long in surprise.
“As I said, our Jin is something else. He burned brightly that night, too.”
Ignoring Hwang-rim’s “good memories,” Myeong-woo looked back at Chatterbox. Han Yujin had won as himself. Though some captured images remained, he’d discarded both mist and staff. Above all, Han Yujin believed he’d finished it by his own power.
So you could say Chatterbox’s goal hadn’t been realized.
“What a pity. It could have been more perfect.”
The lips beneath the mask still smiled. Chatterbox’s hand, resting on the chair’s arm, lifted up. Myeong-woo winced and tightened his grip on his sword. As if the tip pointed at his throat were invisible, Chatterbox gripped the edge of his own mask.
“But with this—”
The mask was removed. A distinctly smiling face appeared.
“Chatterbox is complete.”
Myeong-woo’s brow furrowed. He sensed the ominousness but didn’t grasp its meaning. Chatterbox’s eyes closed.
The party ended. Countless viewers were swept in excitement. Almost every human in this world now recognized Chatterbox—leader of S-rank Hunters, host of an unprecedented grand party, publicly revealing the secret interior of a dungeon worldwide, and elevating the weakest F-rank Hunter above all.
“The youngest of the Broken Labyrinth, the cage-bearing mage, Gios Sanus, disappears in this moment.”
Chatterbox declared. Myeong-woo’s eyes widened. To relinquish his transcendental self meant—there was no time to ponder. His arm stretched forth, and
Squeeek─
The blade pierced Chatterbox’s neck. The tall body in the chair shuddered slightly. But that was all. Chatterbox rose with the sword still embedded in his throat. Myeong-woo staggered back, staring at him in shock.
“I am Chatterbox. The impossible party’s host! A clown for my beloved mist!”
Gios Sanus, the transcendental being, was gone. In his place stood Chatterbox. Chatterbox’s laughter brightened. A portentous force swirled.
“Blacksmith-ssi!”
Thud! Hwang-rim kicked aside the thick wooden table. It flew into Myeong-woo, cracking instantly, and Hwang-rim grabbed Myeong-woo’s arm to pull him back.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but this seems dangerous.”
Myeong-woo gritted his teeth. Potent mana swirled within Chatterbox’s body. His gaze turned to the cracked TV screen. This couldn’t be left unchecked. But there was no way to stop it now. A transcendent’s work must be handled by a transcendent. Contacting the newcomers and the Child of Chaos as soon as possible was the best hope.
Without regard for their departure, Chatterbox watched the TV in excitement.
“For my mist.”
A transcendental being can’t set foot in this world. And the Chatterbox that took root here cannot become a transcendental.
An ancient transcendental and a newly made party host—though the two are alike, they’re distinctly different beings, so even the Filial Wraiths permitted Chatterbox’s actions.
No one had expected the transcendental to relinquish himself.
Yet the Labyrinth Mage chose Chatterbox. The chatterer for his beloved, the one she named. The host of a grand feast for his love.
Tzzt...tzzt...tzzt─ Walls cracked from the backlash of gathering mana. The fractured TV shattered completely. Sacrificing the transcendental, the gathered consciousness of the world’s intelligences formed Chatterbox’s final shape. The sword that pierced his neck glowed dimly, then vanished. His wound healed without dropping a single drop of blood.
He was not a transcendental. His rank was far lower. Yet even compared to awakened beings above S-rank, Chatterbox’s power was terrifying.
Clatter... Clatter... Fragments of wall and furniture rolled across the floor, and in the silent ruin Chatterbox smoothed his clothes.
“Shall we go greet them now?”
The party was over. But the broadcast continued, for the finale of the funeral. Chatterbox turned his gaze to the broken TV. The cracked screen flickered back as if time rewound, revealing Han Yujin bound in the mist.
Smiling softly, Chatterbox vanished from the room.