Chapter 297.

[Orden’s Palace]

At the heart of the palace where the Monster King resided, two rays of magic power descended from the ceiling like lightning .

Orden calmly studied the intruders from his throne . One was surrounded in silver armor and the other was dressed in a simple martial arts uniform . The striking contrast between the two men, in addition to their superhuman strength, aroused Orden’s interest .

“…Heroes, I presume?” Orden’s deep voice rang out .

“Correct . ”

Heynckes nodded and clutched his sword .

Chae Joochul flipped his folding fan open .

They had no intention of holding a conversation with Orden, but Orden seemed to have quite a few questions for them .

“I heard a select number of Heroes are called the Nine Stars . The name apparently refers to the nine saints . Are you the members of the Nine Stars?”

Heynckes shook his head at Orden’s question . “Three of the Nine Stars are already dead, one ran away, and the remaining four went into hiding . I’m afraid the Nine Stars no longer exist . “

The public was not made aware of the deaths of Nine Stars . The Association publicly announced the heroic death of Shin Myungchul but concealed the deaths of other members who died of old age, side-effects, and illnesses . The Association wanted the Nine Stars to remain flawless to the eyes of the public .

“…Is that so?”

“But that’s no reason for you to be disappointed . I believe we’ll be enough to entertain you . ”

Orden looked at Chae Joochul . Chae Joochul’s eyes were gleaming with dark magic power . The Immortal was now gathering up all of Africa’s vital energy while Heynckes bought him time .

“Looks like it’ll be fun . ” Saying so, Orden grinned .

It was then .

Tzzzt—!

A fierce whirlwind surrounded Orden’s throne . Flame blazed up inside the biting wind . Orden dispelled the wind with his magic power .

Chweek—

Chae Joochul waved his fan . This time, electric currents rushed towards Orden . The attack poured in from all sides .

Orden willingly got up from the throne .

Kwaaaaa—!

Heynckes unleashed his Steel Spirit as he shot towards Orden . Orden witnessed the tremendous amount of magic power surrounding the Steel Spirit Sword .

Koong—!

Heynckes’s sword struck Orden’s fist .

Suddenly, something strange happened . The gauntlet surrounding Orden’s fist disintegrated on its own and was absorbed into the Steel Spirit .

This was the power of Steel Spirit that prevailed over every metal .

At that moment, Orden gave a small smile .

He had never felt so pressured before .

The thrilling sensation at his hand began to crawl up his arm .

His heart boiled with fighting spirit .

Immersed in a pleasant stimulation—

Orden was confident this fight would be one he could truly enjoy… . .

**

[Please enter the nickname of the Player you wish to summon . ]

Though she somehow managed to activate the item, she couldn’t possibly type in the middle of battle . Chae Nayun was busy just guarding herself against Park Hanho’s attacks .

Park Hanho was ruthless . His sword reinforcement was imbued with the indestructible attribute, and his unbreakable magic power made him shine in both offense and defense .

“——!”

Chae Nayun knew that the longer the fight prolonged, the less likely she was to win . For that reason, she instantaneously gathered all of her magic power in her sword .

Chae Nayun’s Gift— ‘Sea of Magic Power’ activated .

Her Gift eliminated all capacity limitations for magic power . It was one of the strongest sword-related Gifts .

Chae Nayun gathered the boundless magic power to her sword, even turning off her qi reinforcement . Even Park Hanho couldn’t help but hesitate, and though it was only for a moment, Chae Nayun didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately exploded her magic power .

Clang—!

Her magic power turned into a huge pillar of fire that quickly spread to the rest of the laboratory . The explosion of magic power destroyed all of the lab equipment, and the impact sent Park Hanho flying across the room .

Now was her only chance .

Chae Nayun quickly activated the invitation letter .

[Extra7]

[Warning! You’re not allowed to summon forcefully when you’re in a battle zone . ]

[Asking the target for the permission to summon… . ]

Crack—!

At that moment, she heard the cracking of bones .

“Ah… . ”

Chae Nayun felt a blow on her side . Yet there was no pain . This was a bad sign as it meant that her entire nervous system had been damaged along with her spine .

With a numbing sensation, Chae Nayun was thrown into the air .

Boom!

She crashed into a wall and fell to the ground .

“… . ”

Her arms and legs wouldn’t move . Blood spurted out of her mouth .

She received a critical injury .

Chae Nayun looked at the figure across the room with hazy eyes .

Amidst the crimson flames and the black smoke, she saw Tigris, the humanoid monster who attacked her . His eyes gave off a horrid glow .

—You managed to achieve your initial goal .

A voice seeped into her consciousness, but she wasn’t sure where it was coming from . The fire began to melt the floor tiles, and she could feel the heat on her skin . She felt as if her consciousness was melting .

—Die with pride .

She saw Park Hanho raise his sword . Shin Jonghak and Yun Seung-Ah rushed to save her, only to be blocked by Tigris .

The sword descended slowly .

She felt as if the whole world had slowed down .

Everything was in a slow motion… . It all felt surreal .

Suddenly a question arose in her mind .

‘Shouldn’t my life flash before my eyes right about now? But it’s not, which must mean that I’m not destined to die here . I still have so much I need to do .

…No .

More importantly, I can’t help but be angry at myself .

Even after all that training, this is all I can do .

I spent so long training under Yoo Sihyuk and Heynckes to become strong . To be able to endure everything . It wasn’t so that I could fall at a place like this… . ’

Chae Nayun recalled the promise she made to herself .

She clenched her fists without giving up . Intense anger and a sense of resolution boiled in her heart .

Wooong… .

Maybe it was the magic power responding to her will . A mysterious magic power began to gather around her clenched fists . Contrary to the standard azure magic power, this one glowed in all sorts of colors .

The colors reflected against each other, leaving only white in the end .

The white magic power encompassed Chae Nayun’s whole body .

This was by far the brightest and the strongest ‘qi reinforcement’ .

And, at that moment .

Woooong— With a strange vibration, a portal appeared in the center of the flames . Chae Nayun, Park Hanho, and Tigris all turned their gazes to the portal .

There were two people inside . Unfortunately, due to the thick flames and the heavy smoke, Chae Nayun couldn’t see their faces .

However, she was sure of one thing… .

Kwang—!

She heard an explosion, then smelled the combustion of magic power .

—Kuek!

At the same time, she heard Park Hanho’s scream .

Their fight was put on hold .

Tap, tap— The sound of footsteps disrupted the temporary silence .

The footsteps stopped at Chae Nayun .

Chae Nayun barely managed to raise her head and look up .

Kim Hajin was there .

**

[Basilisk Dungeon Exit]

I gathered up any and everything that could possibly be useful and left the dungeon . ‘Maybe I should head over to Orden’s Palace—’ I thought when something unexpected happened .

Guoooo… .

A strange energy, one that was neither magic power nor spirit power, appeared before my eyes in the shape of an ellipse about 2m tall .

“…What the heck is this?”

If I had to say, it looked like a portal .

I frowned as I carefully scrutinized it . Suddenly, a system window popped up .

[Lv . 5 Invitation Letter to the Love Room — Nayunjajangman wishes to invite you . ]

[Warning! NayunJajangman is currently in an extremely dangerous battle zone . ]

[This portal will disappear in 5 minutes . ]

The first word I saw was ‘Nayunjajangman’, and I subconsciously flinched . I threw a glance at Jin Sahyuk and proceeded to read the rest of the messages .

“…”

—Nayunjajangman is currently in an extremely dangerous battle zone .

This sentence weighed heavily on my mind .

I had the feeling that Chae Nayun was trying to summon me using an effective good from the Tower of Wish… .

…I looked at Jin Sahyuk .

She was still swooning over the [Alexander III’s Cape] .

“Hey . ”

I tapped Jin Sahyuk on the shoulder .

“What do you want… . Wha, What’s that?”

Jin Sahyuk widened her eyes, only now realizing the sudden appearance of a portal .

I pointed at the portal and said, “Why don’t we go in together? I think this is connected to Orden’s palace . ”

Jin Sahyuk looked into the portal and carefully studied it until her eyes were tinged with blue by the portal’s glow .

“No, I can’t . ”

Jin Sahyuk shook her head .

“Why not?”

“I can tell from the direction of magic currents that this portal is a one-way portal designed for one traveler . Two people can’t travel through it . ”

“…Wow . You analyzed the portal that quickly?”

“I’m more amazing than you think . ”

I let Jin Sahyuk relish her moment of glory and activated my Authority .

With the last update, I was now able to activate [Setting Intervention] without a medium such as a smartwatch .

===

[Portal to the Love Room] [Special]

—A portal created by ‘Nayunjajangman’ to summon ‘Extra7’ .

—Only ‘Extra7’ can use this portal .

===

All I needed to do was to change the second description to 「Only ‘Extra7’ and his companion can use this portal」… .

[35 SP is required to change the setting . ]

The cost was only 35 SP .

I modified the setting, and immediately, the shape of the portal changed .

“…What the . ”

Having noticed the change in the portal, Jin Sahyuk raised her eyebrows .

“How did you do that? The fundamental structure of magic power changed . ”

“How’s that? Now two people can use this, right?”

“Yeah, but this doesn’t make any sen—”

“Geez, you talk a lot . . ”

I check the remaining SP .

[SP 7,045]

I’d gathered quite a bit of SP before I knew it .

Thinking back, I’ve accomplished quite a lot recently . I infiltrated Orden’s Palace, rescued the spy, and defeated the Basilisk… .

Anyways, before entering the portal, I decided to create a new Gift . It made sense to prepare another weapon before going into enemy territory .

It wouldn’t take long . I had thought of this Gift a long time ago, even before [Buster Call] . All I needed to do was to copy and paste the setting for the new [Active Gift] that was already in my head .

===

[Constraints and Amplifications] [Intermediate-rank]

—Constraints

*Apply temporary ‘constraints’ to the user’s body .

—Amplification

*Temporarily increase the user’s strength in proportion to the applied ‘constraints’ .

===

The gist of this Gift was simple .

Lose your left arm, strengthen your right arm .

Lose your eyesight, heighten your other senses .

The reason I came up with this Gift was because I relied on weapons completely in a fight .

I could let someone break my hand, but I couldn’t risk them breaking the [Desert Eagle] or [Temujin’s Bow Blessed By Horus] .

With this Gift, I planned to sacrifice my left arm to enhance [Desert Eagle], and my sight to strengthen [Temujin’s Bow Blessed By Horus] .

I came up with this Gift to enhance my weapons, not me .

[You need 4000 SP to create this Gift . ]

[Would you like to proceed?]

4000 SP was only the bare minimum .

I invested all the remaining SP to further enhance the Gift .

[You spent a total of 7045 SP to create the Gift ‘Constraints and Amplifications’ . ]

[Congratulations! You have been blessed with good luck again . ]

[10% of your investment has been returned to you . The rank of your Gift has increased drastically . ]

===

[Constraints and Amplifications] [high-rank]

—Constraints

*Apply temporary ‘constraints’ to the user’s body .

—Amplifications

*Temporarily increase the target’s strength in proportion to the applied ‘constraints’ .

—Profitable Exchange

*Increase ‘Amplification’ performance by 77% .

—Side-Effect Alleviation

*The side-effects of this Gift, including the cooldown period, are slightly improved .

===

“…Good . ”

I was happy with the results .

In addition to the new Gift, I made [Basilisk’s Poisonous Shotgun Shell] with the SP I got back . I then took out the Desert Eagle, switched it to a shotgun, loaded it with the new bullets, and activated [Constraints and Amplifications] .

My constraints were my ‘left arm’ and my ‘left eye’ .

The target for amplification was the ‘Desert Eagle’ .

At the next moment, I could feel my field of vision shrinking . Fortunately, one eye was all I needed to activate Thousand-Mile Eyes .

It was a bit uncomfortable not being able to use my left arm, but using only one arm to shoot didn’t decrease its power whatsoever .

“Let’s go . ”

With the gun in my hand, I pointed at the portal with my chin . But Jin Sahyuk only stared at me with a strange look on her face .

“…What’s that?”

“What do you mean?”

“What happened to your left arm?”

“Ah, this?”

My left arm was limp .

It had also turned completely black because of the constraints .

“I can’t use it right now . ”

“What? What does that mean—”

“Shush . ”

I aimed my gun at Jin Sahyuk .

“Just go in . It’s going to hurt if you get shot . ”

“…Psycho . ”

Jin Sahyuk put on a sour face but jumped into the portal anyways . I followed behind her .

Whoosh—

I expected the portal to take us to a heated battlefield, but I didn’t expect it to be this different .

We were surrounded by fire in a laboratory filled with the smell of blood .

“…!”

Flames blazed up as if trying to devour us alive .

However, the fire was the least of my concerns right now .

I saw Park Hanho pointing his sword at Chae Nayun who was lying on the floor .

I immediately activated [Bullet Time] and [Pinnacle-rank Instant Acceleration] .

Even the flames stopped moving as the world slowed down . I immediately infused all of the remaining streaks of Stigma into my gun .

… .

The Stigma-filled shotgun began to glow green . It was the color of the [Basilisk’s Shotgun Shell] that was loaded in the gun .

I had no reason to hesitate .

I held the gun with one hand, aimed it at Park Hanho, and pulled the trigger .

…Click .

Kwaaaaaa—!

The poisonous bullet blasted out from the muzzle of the gun .

The massive wind pressure pushed not only me but also Jin Sahyuk back .

“Uwoaah—” Jin Sahyuk yelled before she disappeared from my view .

“Aah!”

Even I hadn’t expected this much power .

Fortunately, Aether encompassed me before I got hurt .

The bullet continued to travel forward, swallowing Park Hanho entirely .

The blast resembled the Basilisk’s breath attack .

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