Chapter 2390 – 2390. Modern Magic Battle
[Death Resistance has been activated. You will not die for the next 15 seconds.]
I was surprised by the sudden death. But I didn’t die. My limbs weren’t severed, and my internal organs weren’t ruptured, so I didn’t collapse.
There was nothing wrong with my body. I just died.
[Using ‘Fleeting Moment’. Remaining stacks: 11]
I used Fleeting Moment to accelerate my thoughts. I needed time to think.
‘It felt like my existence was shattering. But my body is fine. My heart stopped beating, but… it’s not that I died because my heart stopped, but my heart stopped because I died.’
I didn’t think too deeply.
This is magic.
Magic that instantly kills a person.
‘The ultimate grimoire, Ars Magna of Goetia. I understand that. The problem is that even with Thousand Eyes active, I didn’t sense any sign before Death Resistance activated.’
It wasn’t like some invisible force like magic power flew at me. The moment the monolith used instant death magic, I died.
‘It’s not a type of power that can be avoided. The worst-case scenario is that it’s spamming instant death magic without any conditions.’
Even if I use Full Recovery, there’s no answer if that guy uses instant death magic again. In that case, the only thing I can rely on is Death Resistance. I have to kill him within the 15 seconds that Death Resistance is active.
‘And after that, I die. I don’t have any points left because I was reinforcing my inventory last time. I can only use Full Recovery once.’
Of course, there are several ways. I could use Absolute Authority, summon Yuriana or Elena, or go outside the game world to earn points in another world and use [Skill Cooldown Reset Tickets] infinitely to fight.
‘I might have to do that if it’s really unavoidable… but considering the balance of this world, it can’t be possible to use instant death magic without any conditions.’
There’s too little information. It’s impossible to guess the conditions for instant death magic right now. I have to clash with it to find out the conditions.
‘If I die again from instant death magic… Death Resistance will activate, so I’ll immediately end the game and come up with a plan in the real world. I can’t give up the quest when the final boss is right in front of me.’
I released Fleeting Moment.
To draw out the monolith’s carelessness, I fell forward weakly. Pretending to be dead. Since I have the Acting skill, he won’t notice. I was also a corpse with a heart that wasn’t beating.
“Ha, to think the last hope of this country would fall so easily. It’s kind of boring.”
Boring? But the smile on his face looked very satisfied. I understand. He can kill anyone? It must feel like being a god.
I confirmed that the monolith’s gaze was directed at the transparent camera floating in the air, not at me. He was mocking the Koreans, the people all over the world, who were watching this scene.
“All the magicians of the world! Rejoice! Now the world is the age of magicians! Now there’s no need to be mindful of non-magicians, the inferior ones. I am on the side of magicians!”
While the monolith was ranting, I used Full Recovery before Death Resistance ended.
[Using Full Recovery.]
I perfectly controlled my magic power to hide it, and even forcibly stopped my heart to feign death.
The guy, distracted by the transparent camera, didn’t notice.
The monolith, who had begun to be arrogant beyond confidence, turned his gaze to the side. Park Hyun-woong, the director of the Order Bureau, along with the captains and members of the Anti-Magic Unit, were gathered. They were all in a state where combat was impossible. The captain of the 6th Unit, a master of recovery magic, was unconscious.
Park Hyun-woong was protecting his comrades by isolating the space with isolation magic, but the magic was unstable, as if it would be dismantled at any moment. It was natural. Park Hyun-woong was covered in blood and in very bad condition.
“The Anti-Magic Unit of the Order Bureau. No, the people of Korea. I am truly grateful to you. Thanks to you holding onto vain hope and wishes until the end, thanks to you fighting against us without giving up until the end, I was able to create Ars Goetia. Now, Anti-Magic Unit. Let’s finish this. You have become the starting point of history… so die with glory.”
Lightning Heaven Style (雷天流) Gale Lightning (疾風迅雷).
Crack.
A streak of lightning coursed through my entire body. I felt the power that had been strengthened in an instant and stood up. The monolith, startled, turned his head towards me.
[Using Acceleration. Lasts for 10 minutes. Remaining stacks: 10]
[Using ‘Fleeting Moment’. Remaining stacks: 9]
Before the monolith could fully turn his head, I kicked off the ground and ran towards him.
Lightning Heaven Style (雷天流) Flying Thunder God (飛雷神).
Lightning led me from the front and pushed me from behind.
[Using ‘Fleeting Moment’. Remaining stacks: 8]
Another moment of acceleration through Fleeting Moment.
By the time the monolith turned his head, I had already reached him. I summoned the Hwaryeon Flying Blades from my inventory and swung them at the monolith.
Lightning Heaven Style (雷天流) Lightning Flash (雷光).
The red trajectory etched in the air shone and cut through his waist.
[Using ‘Fleeting Moment’. Remaining stacks: 7]
Lightning Heaven Style (雷天流) Lightning Flash (雷光).
Once more, a red lightning flash shone and pierced through the monolith’s head.
‘It’s over. Even if the 6th Unit captain uses recovery magic, he can’t recover since his head is pierced. This is an undeniable instant death.’
Whirr.
The pages of the grimoire the monolith was holding, Goetia, automatically opened. Pages with complex patterns. Something that was clearly not human language was shining.
Then the grimoire spoke.
-Ars Magna, Limited Regression.
‘Shit. This is Yoo Min-ha’s magic. Not just magic, but he can even use Ars Magna?!’
Magic power flowed out of Goetia and took over the space. At the same time, the hole in the monolith’s head healed, and his severed waist reattached. My body was pushed back.
Yoo Min-ha’s Ars Magna, Limited Regression, slightly reverses time in a limited space. The magic power consumption also increases exponentially depending on the time reversed. This was a fact that became known when Yoo Min-ha’s combat footage was released to the public.
‘The biggest fact is that the opponent doesn’t know that time has been reversed.’
I was lying on the floor. Right after using Full Recovery.
‘…Wait. Time has been reversed, but my memory is fine. The cause… there’s only one.’
Absolute Spirit.
It couldn’t reverse my spirit, even if it could reverse my body.
‘Of course, the game life app wouldn’t be affected either. Then it’s even worse….’
[Remaining stacks of Acceleration: 12]
‘……It was affected? The Hwaryeon Flying Blades are also in my inventory. I didn’t get them when I used the Regression Ticket? I need to check this.’
[Available Points: 247]
I did a random draw. I didn’t have to operate my smartphone directly; if I concentrated, the game life app would appear in front of me like a status window.
The items that came out were [Bamboo Straw] and [Heavenly Wet Tissue]. Both were 1-point duds. At least the Heavenly Wet Tissue could be used, but the Bamboo Straw was utter trash.
[Available Points: 245]
“How long are you going to pretend to be dead?”
The monolith sneered at me. I slowly got up.
“Seo Yu-jin!! The monolith reversed time with Limited Regression!! Cough!”
Director Park Hyun-woong shouted and then coughed up blood. The monolith clicked his tongue. I summoned the Hwaryeon Flying Blades, held them in my hand, pointed them at the monolith, and asked.
“Aren’t you going to use True Death or whatever it is?”
If I were the monolith, I would use instant death magic right away. It’s easier and more certain. At the same time, it can show a more overwhelming appearance.
“…I’ll ask you in return. How did you survive True Death? There’s only one way to survive True Death, and that’s to reverse time with Limited Regression. Only I and that woman lying there can use time-reversing magic. What kind of trick did you pull?”
I chuckled.
“You’re talking too much. True Death or whatever. It seems like you can’t use it right now?”
“Ha, what makes you so sure? Do you want to die again?”
“Try killing me. If you can use that kind of instant death magic without any restrictions, that is. Heh heh. You still haven’t killed me, so it seems like there are conditions after all. You can only use it once per person? It takes a lot of time to reuse it? You offer a special item as a price? Either way, it’s certain that you can’t kill me right now.”
The monolith frowned, then smiled leisurely.
“As you said, True Death has limitations. It can kill any living thing, but it can only be used once per hour. Do you understand? It means you will die unconditionally in an hour.”
“An hour is more than enough time to slice you to pieces.”
[Using ‘Fleeting Moment’. Remaining stacks: 11]
In the slowed-down world, I summoned and threw Vajra Lightning. Vajra Lightning became a golden lightning bolt and flew towards the monolith.
“Ars Magna, Azure Flame.”
With the monolith’s incantation, a blue flame rose and protected his front. Normally, Vajra Lightning should have disappeared the moment it touched Azure Flame. Because Azure Flame burns everything. But Vajra Lightning pierced through the Azure Flame and the monolith’s heart.
“?!”
Both the monolith and I were surprised. The monolith was surprised that Azure Flame was pierced, and I was surprised that Vajra Lightning was starting to melt.
‘Vajra Lightning is melting? Even if it’s weakened because it’s from another world, it’s a Dharma weapon of Indra! And from the world of the Ascent to the Light!
I was flustered, but soon remembered that in this world’s setting, Azure Flame can burn anything. Maybe not in another world. In this world, Azure Flame can burn anything.
‘…Judging by the fact that it’s not disappearing immediately, Vajra Lightning is resisting. If it were Vajra Lightning that wasn’t weakened, the result might be different. Anyway, since Azure Flame is attached to Vajra Lightning… it’s reverse summoning.’
Reverse summoning and summoning again. Vajra Lightning was slightly melted.
-Ars Magna, Limited Regression.
Goetia babbled.
Time reverses again. This time, I was standing instead of lying down.
[Using ‘Fleeting Moment’. Remaining stacks: 11]
I summoned Vajra Lightning. It was fine as time reversed. I threw Vajra Lightning at the monolith.
The golden lightning flew towards the monolith, then suddenly slowed down.
‘…Yoo Min-ha’s Distortion Field. The time distortion is quite large. Did he increase the deceleration ratio by pouring in magic power?’
The monolith dodged to the side. Vajra Lightning flew far away and disappeared from view.
I tried to summon Vajra Lightning again and throw it.
“Ars Magna, True Death.”
[Death Resistance has been activated. You will not die for the next 15 seconds.]
‘That bastard, he reversed time to the point before he used instant death magic. No wonder he was standing instead of falling.’
Even as I was dying, I was relaxed. Why? Because I can use Full Recovery.
I checked the points I had.
[Available Points: 245]
The points I used before the regression didn’t come back. The [Bamboo Straw] and [Heavenly Wet Tissue] I got from the random draw were there.
On the other hand, the Fleeting Moment stacks I used came back.
‘Skills are affected by regression. It’s different from when I used the Regression Ticket.
Anyway, it wasn’t bad.
Unlike me, who returns to the state before regression except for my spirit due to Absolute Spirit, the monolith doesn’t get back the magic power he used when he regressed. I can feel it. He has already used more than half of his magic power.
“What is it? How are you resurrecting? Your weapons, too… you use incomprehensible power.”
“I don’t die. You’re the only one who dies. If you give up everything and quietly die… I won’t stop you.”
At that moment, the monolith’s eyes flashed red.
“That’s a lie. I see. Like my True Death, there are limitations to your resurrection. Resurrection that isn’t magic. Can you use it more than once?”
“……”
I closed my mouth. Judging by the way his eyes flashed earlier, it was certain that he was using some kind of magic that could detect lies.
‘I can’t use Full Recovery, but… that guy can’t use instant death magic either. I have overwhelmingly more combat experience. Just because you can use all magic doesn’t mean you have a high level of proficiency in all magic.’
I held the Hwaryeon Flying Blades and Vajra Lightning in each hand and charged.
