Chapter 200: 200

Grit-

Su-hyeun’s words caused a sudden change in the light burning in Babel’s eyes .

It was him with all the way up to this moment . He certainly acknowledged Su-hyeun’s skills, but not once did he believe that he was lagging behind his challenger . Never .

On the other hand, Su-hyeun had been feeling rather tense . Not because he was scared or anything like that, though . He deliberately psyched himself up just before embarking on the raid of the indigo-colored dungeon, that was all .

But that tension was turning into a problem, instead .

>

History’s first indigo-colored dungeon .

Awakeners who lost their lives in this place .

A tower literally built of human remains, and the existence called Babel who received an unending supply of power from such a structure .

Of course, Su-hyeun would be tense . He never got to personally experience Babel’s might in the previous life, but every single boss creature of an indigo-colored dungeon he knew of were all certifiable monsters, after all .

But this…

Fwooosh-

Craaaack-!

Babel rushed forward, and his fist smashed the ground again . The punch was originally aimed at Su-hyeun’s head .

The giant shifted his head around, trying to locate Su-hyeun’s whereabouts .

Swiiish-

Splaaash-!

A lengthy wound was sliced open, extending from Babel’s shoulder, past his back, and down to his thigh .

The giant wobbled for a moment before he swung that long arm of his one more time . Along with ‘Whoosh!’ of the air being torn apart, Su-hyeun leaped up again .

“This is way too strange . ”

Stab . Staaab-

“Keuh-euh…”

Su-hyeun’s sword stabbed several times into Babel’s swung arm .

The attacks were too fast to be seen by the naked eye . The only reason why the arm wasn’t completely severed was down to the sheer toughness of Babel’s physique .

“Is it because you’re too weak, or maybe I’m much stronger than I thought?”

It was probably both .

Babel was weak . No, more correctly, he became weaker . That was because the source of his strength, the tower, was crumbling down around him and he couldn’t receive his supply of additional power .

On the other hand, Su-hyeun was strong . So much so that he wasn’t even fully aware of the extent of his powers .

His Strength stat had reached 98 . And then, he even possessed experience and technique that exceeded raw stats, plus Miru’s buffs as well as the effects from the title ‘Hero’ that he had earned recently .

“Well, it doesn’t matter which one it is, you being nothing special won’t change either way,” said Su-hyeun .

“You bastard…! You baaastard…!”

Just as Babel spun around in the direction of the voice and tried to pounce again…

Wobble-

>

The inside of the giant’s head shook, and dizziness rushed in . This numbing sensation began spreading from all corners of his body .

>

Although the injected quantity was small, the poison skill’s effect was still enough to make Babel’s body not function properly .

“Physique-wise, you’re excellent . From the natural defense your body possesses, to your innate magic resistance, and even your massive magical energy reserve, too . You’re certainly not lacking in any regard . ”

Su-hyeun analyzed all of Babel’s combat potential objectively .

Just as he alluded to, Babel’s physical abilities were unparalleled . When converted into the numerical stat values, then his numbers should be higher than every one of Su-hyeun’s stats by a noticeable margin .

“But you really lag behind in technique . It’s not as if you have the benefit of techniques that can support your superior physical status, either . Well, if this tower was still intact, then such an issue would’ve been resolved to some degree, but…”

Gu-gugugu-

Su-hyeun stared at the tower shaking precariously and muttered to all who could hear him . “As you can see, it’s in this state . ”

Using his absolute, overwhelming strength to make up for the problem of the lack of technique—that was Babel’s preferred combat method .

But in the current situation where the infinite power supplied by the tower was no longer available, he couldn’t be called an ‘overwhelming’ opponent anymore .

A man with a lackluster technique, and, even worse, with a strength no better than what Su-hyeun currently possessed—that was Babel in a nutshell .

“Don’t… Don’t look down on me . ”

Wuduk, wududuk-

Babel’s body began ballooning up, little by little . He was already thickly-set compared to his height, so his new transformation into an even bigger mass of muscles looked utterly grotesque .

“Don’t you dare look down on me!!”

Gu-wuwuwu-

He was the symbol of pride . He was a man who thought that, with the only exception of himself, no other human being was needed and built a tower made out of living people .

The fact that someone had disparaged and looked down on him was a completely unacceptable insult .

That was why Babel felt this uncontrollable rage from Su-hyeun’s words, his eyes, and his expression .

Pah-ahk-!

Fwooooosh-

Babel’s large hands pounced on Su-hyeun’s head . It was still a direct, straightforward attack, just like before .

But Su-hyeun’s response was completely different this time .

[Immortality . ]

Rumble-!

CLAAANG-!

Two fists collided . Not a sword, but an actual fist .

Babel flinched in shock when Su-hyeun blocked his punch . Even if he was below his opponent in terms of technique, he believed that, as far as physical strength was concerned, he was still far superior .

But now…

>

He thought that Su-hyeun wouldn’t block the punch but dodge it, instead . And this careless attitude was to blame for his slow response to Su-hyeun’s sword flying in .

Splaaaash-!

“Keuk…”

A lengthy sword wound extending from his chest right down to the thigh area was cut wide open . There were already plenty of smaller wounds on his body, but this new cut was different from all of them .

>

The injury was so deep that Babel’s innards threatened to spill out .

This was his first time—the first time that the thoughts of possible death had crept into his mind .

His first time thinking that he’d be defeated by another man .

>

Grit-

He gnashed his teeth .

His pride was wounded . He couldn’t accept the thought of being weaker and lower than someone else .

“Uwaaaaah-!”

Ruuumble-!

Babel strengthened his legs, then his hulking figure pounced forward .

Thud-

For the first time during the fight, Babel’s hands managed to reach Su-hyeun’s body . He shoved the latter in the chest and continued to powerfully dash forward .

“Uwaaaah-!”

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM-!

Su-hyeun’s body flew backward while destroying several pillars of the tower . Babel continued his dash and rammed his opponent straight into the wall .

BANG-! Crack, crumble-

Spliiit-

Su-hyeun’s body was buried deep into the tower’s substantial wall, causing it to crumble . The tower already in the state of breaking apart shook even harder than before .

Boom, ka-boom-!

Tumble, rumble-

The impact was forceful enough to rock the entire tower .

Babel was confident .

>

Unfortunately, it didn’t take all that long for his confidence to flip on its head .

“As I thought… Your strength is something else, alright . ”

Sliiice-

Drop-

Babel stared at his own severed hand, fallen to the floor .

>

His confusion lasted only for a second .

Swiiish-

That burning sensation from his wrist came from his neck, as well . Babel urgently raised his remaining hand toward his throat .

He felt something warm and moist on his fingertips . A chilling thought raced in his mind and Babel desperately grasped his neck .

“Even then, that’s all you have . ”

>

Squeeze-

Babel wondered to himself while holding his neck tighter .

Just when did he get cut?

Su-hyeun had definitely been caught by his barrage and was currently buried in the wall .

>

Babel’s eyes opened wider .

>

Su-hyeun had been focusing on severing Babel’s hand and neck rather than escaping from the giant’s attacks .

In the end, he succeeded .

Babel sensed his strength gradually fade . He abandoning his hand on the ground and gripped his own neck .

Meanwhile, Su-hyeun slowly raised his body from the rubble of the wall and wiped the blood off his mouth .

“Keok, ptooey . ”

He spat out the blood pooling in his mouth .

“You thought you were the best, didn’t you?”

“I… am…”

Even in the end, Babel still had that disbelieving expression on his face .

Still not believing that someone had managed to defeat him, that there was another ‘human’ even stronger than he was .

Not one opponent had been stronger than he was, so Babel never bothered to learn any techniques, and he simply relied on his raw strength to suppress everything . And that very arrogance brought about this result .

“The emotion of pride has managed to kill the most number of people to this day,” said Su-hyeun .

“This… can’t… be…”

The grip on the neck was finally gone, and Babel spat out his last words .

“…Possi… ble…”

Tumble-

Babel’s head tumbled to the floor .

Su-hyeun looked down on the giant’s head rolling towards his feet and quietly murmured . “It’s the same for you, too . ”

Step, step-

Su-hyeun took Miru and exited from the tower by pushing open the massive gates . And just as he reached some distance away…

Gu-gugugu-

The tower rocking precariously crumbled completely . The walls gave in and the floors began collapsing on top of each other .

The tower built by a man to reach the level of a god, a symbol of pride and also, of humanity’s sinful act .

The structure came crumbling down .

Inside a large luxury sedan, where its ceiling sparkled like the night sky .

“The indigo color, is it…”

Gordon Rohan, riding in this sedan, heard the news from Ashlyn and turned his tablet on to check the articles online .

The news related to the indigo-colored dungeon appearing in South Korea had already spread to the rest of the world . Since the first one had made its appearance, it naturally meant that the second and the third would eventually pop up soon, as well .

“Kim Su-hyeun’s gone inside . ”

Gordon Rohan saw the article stating Su-hyeun had gone inside the dungeon and put the tablet down next to him .

“Turn the car around, please . We’re going back home,” said Gordon, looking somewhat deflated .

Ashlyn sitting on the back seat alongside him saw that reaction and asked him . “What’s the matter? You seemed to be interested in it a second ago . ”

The appearance of an indigo-colored dungeon . After hearing that news, Gordon Rohan actually became interested in a dungeon, a first in a really long time .

He had already raided three of the six blue-colored dungeons that showed up almost simultaneously throughout the world . This indigo-colored dungeon that appeared in the middle of his quest had all the potential to become the tastiest, greatest icing on the cake .

“Sure, I was interested . I was even thinking of heading off to Korea, too . ”

“But now?”

“I mean, it’s over now, right? Kim Su-hyeun already went inside . ”

If it was a dungeon that he could raid solo, then there was no way that Su-hyeun wouldn’t be able to raid it solo, either .

Gordon Rohan was certain that the indigo-colored dungeon was as good as cleared out the moment Su-hyeun decided to have a go .

Ashlyn chimed in . “Now this is an unfamiliar sight, you acknowledging someone else to this extent . ”

“Well, he did beat me and all . ”

“Didn’t you say you’d beat him next time?”

“Next time, is it? I wonder about that . ”

Back when Gordon first tasted defeat at Su-hyeun’s hands, he told Ashlyn this—that it’d be different next time . That he’d regain his position as the best in the world .

He murmured, “Will it really be different?”

“What are you talking about?”

Gordon didn’t reply to Ashlyn’s question .

More correctly, he couldn’t . The last vestiges of his pride didn’t allow him to make the reply, that’s why .

>

It took him a really long time to accept this . This judgment of his didn’t come from an emotional place, but a rational one .

>

While looking at the scenery rushing past outside the car’s window, Gordon Rohan sunk deep into his own thoughts .

The sky above was refreshingly clear, which didn’t really match the current situation .

It felt as if only a couple of years had passed since the blue-colored dungeon first appeared in the world, yet an indigo-colored dungeon had shown up already .

>

Six blue-colored dungeons had appeared simultaneously throughout the world . And then, an indigo-colored dungeon had appeared right afterward .

Many people had lost their lives during this incident . Some were murdered because of wrath, and gluttony forced some to resort to cannibalism after food ran out .

If it wasn’t for the Paragon Guild responding as quickly as it possibly could, a far greater number of people would’ve lost their lives by now .

>

The theory of the apocalypse, the eschatology .

Gordon Rohan wasn’t a fan of such an endlessly-gloomy term like that, but now, he couldn’t ignore it anymore .

He continued to stare outside the car’s window and organized the complicated mess in his head, before slowly closing his eyes .

The era wasn’t changing .

It had already changed .