The wife of the one whose name must not be spoken.
The Black Goddess of Abundance.
The black goat that spawned madness.
These are but a few of the epithets adorning one of the mightiest deities in the Cthulhu Mythos—
‘Shub-Niggurath’.
“…….”
Branches, each lined with countless teeth, reached toward the far side of the tower.
Eons of time.
She had floated around the 50th floor of the tower, observing the rise and fall of powers on each level.
Many forces had ascended the tower, only to fall into demise.However.
Hundreds, thousands of strong ones, and even those who surpassed that to become the absolute beings.
And those who possessed ‘crowns’.
All failed to meet expectations.
It was boring.
Lacking.
So, she intended to casually descend from the tower to alleviate the boredom that permeated her to the bone.
Yes, this was entertainment.
A transcendent being trampling upon the insignificant beings below.
But then.
“…….”
Right after the partial release of the gate, the sentient bodies she had sent out started to lose their signals one after another.
Could there really be someone below capable of contending with the black goat?
Never did she imagine that among those outside the tower, there would be such a skilled being.
“Kether de Casbah.”
An unspoken language flowed from her lips.
Then.
“Argh… Th-that’s…”
Hastings winced in pain, bowing his head, as a mere display of her discomfort seemed about to twist the world itself.
“Doom! Arabya Kr Kimasha.”
“Str… Jinhyuk. Ye-yes, that is correct. That human… he is the one who dares to interfere with the great one’s plan and seeks to reach the top of the tower.”
Kang Jinhyuk.
She received the name of the one behind these events from Hastings.
Crunch! Crunch!
The teeth opened and shut repeatedly, emitting a chilling sound.
‘…He aims to stop me?’
Oddly…
That could be fun.
For the first time in ages, she felt the emotion of genuine interest.
Then she might as well give them a more entertaining game.
For this occasion, she had even made provisional contact with vampire families and the sinister followers of the Cheonma Shin Church, the Left Guardians.
There was still more time needed before she could be liberated.
“Kaidro Pe Maybach.”
“Now, you say?”
“Phalak Tr Swordractus.”
“Yes, I under…stand. I will relay the message to everyone.”
Shub-Niggurath issued a brief command.
Begin the war in the middle floors.
＊＊＊
Within the barrier where the Sanctuary of the Sun had been activated.
The Queen who tried to escape by hiding in the sand could not comprehend the current situation.
‘How is it possible to pinpoint my location so precisely when I’m so deeply hidden?’
Despite moving at high speed 10 meters below the sand, somehow her pursuer followed with incredible accuracy.
Pwoof!
The sand gave way to boreholes.
The precision of the gunfire sharpened still further.
She must flee.
Further.
Deeper.
Somehow she needed to buy time and entangle the opponent, leading to the ruin of everything he held dear.
But just then.
[Lv14 ‘Glacier Sculptor’ is activated!]
Crackling sounds!
The rapidly freezing sand.
The Queen’s nimble movements through the sands were noticeably slowing.
“Got you.”
Jinhyuk’s lips curled into a smile.
As expected, the Queen chose to flee rather than fight.
‘It’s not even difficult to pinpoint her position through ‘Thousand-Mile Eyes’.’
He could predict where she would go next based on the vibrations of the minutely shifting sand.
And once both conditions were met, it was easy to immobilize her using ‘Glacier Sculptor’.
After all, even the Queen couldn’t easily move in sand that had turned to icy, biting cold.
[Unique Ability ‘Core of the Legion’]
[Difficulty to Acquire: S]
[Copy Conditions: The Queen, always protected by the escort of countless offspring, if you could grant her ‘solitude’ before cutting her breath, you could copy one of her possessed abilities or skills.]
‘Core of the Legion’ was a special ability that only a tiny fraction of swarm boss monsters possessed.
It not only increased the stats of summoned creatures by 10% but also maintained contracts at half the usual mana cost—an absurdly powerful trait.
Considering he planned to manufacture undead and summon spirits or other creatures later, optimizing mana would be one of the many issues to solve.
‘There’s a lot to gain here, too.’
Jinhyuk had allowed the Queen to flee across the desert, recreated by the Sanctuary of the Sun, driving her deeper into a corner to fulfill the copy conditions to acquire her unique ability.
‘It’s time to finish this.’
Jinhyuk summoned all the remaining mana in him.
There was no reason to conserve mana at the climax.
Woooong!
Two different lights gathered at the muzzles of his guns.
The Daylight-enhanced bullet paved the way first.
Soon, a bullet strengthened by ‘Blood Magic’ struck the Queen’s back.
BOOM!
“KAAAH!”
A critical hit, but she didn’t die in one shot.
The carapace cracked, but she persisted fiercely.
So, a ruler of one layer wouldn’t go down without a fight.
No matter how much she thrashed, the outcome remained unchanged.
Only prolonging her pain.
BOOM! Pow pow! BAAAH!
A storm of colorful lights assaulted her.
“Kugh… ah…”
As the assault intensified, her shrieks gradually waned.
And at that moment.
Ding!
A dazzling flash appeared, followed by numerous notifications.
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level…]
[…has increased!]
[You have successfully copied the ‘Core of the Legion’!]
[The copied ability will be stored in the ‘Memory of the World’.]
[‘Dusk Blade (Yellow Grade – Material Type)’ is acquired!]
Including what he gained from capturing Murciélago, he had risen 7 levels.
On top of that, he had dropped a material-type item that could strengthen bladed weapons.
It was an item of a yellow grade.
‘This is… a complete jackpot.’
Jinhyuk swallowed saliva thickly.
Considering the unrewarding loot from Murciélago, he honestly hadn’t expected much from this level.
Instead, he scored the best possible drop from the Queen.
The sharpest, hardest part of her carapace.
It wasn’t weaponized but came in the form of material that could be applied to other needed items.
‘It’ll be great for the Fangs or the Twin Dragon Swords… even for the Tae San Sword I got from Yacha.’
The possibilities for its use were truly boundless.
Good.
Now, the next move…
Jinhyuk then activated his personal status window.
——————————————————
Name: Kang Jinhyuk
Sex: Male
Age: 28
Level: 115
Strength 109 Agility 47 Stamina 57 Mana 273 Gap 100 Luck 10 Adaptive 78 Vitality 78.25
Stat Points Available: 21
Coins: 9,253,137
Occupation: Rune Translator
Unique Abilities: ‘Fusion’, ‘Tomb of Swords’, ‘Blessing of Stars’, ‘Judgment of Anubis’, ‘Blood Magic’, ‘Mandala’, ‘One-Second Invincibility’, ‘Thousand Venom’, ‘White Savage Beast’, ‘Communal Prosperity’, ‘Sanctuary of Suns’, ‘Dark Heavenly Demon King Arts’, ‘Triple Magic’, ‘Giant’s Blow’, ‘Dragon’s Breath’, ‘High-Speed Sword’, ‘Arm of Tombgraver’, ‘Berserker’, ‘Territory of Wind’, ‘Shadow Extreme Kill’, ‘Blood Explosion’, ‘Black Tears’, ‘Leg of Tombgraver’, ‘Herculean Power’
Skills: Too numerous to list, condensed in ‘Toggled-off’ state.
Barrier: Too numerous to learn, condensed in ‘Toggled-off’ state.
——————————————————
He had reached level 115 without realizing.
Had the situation not been so urgent, he may have been lost in sentiment.
Jinhyuk, holding a faint smile, shook his head.
This wasn’t the time for such thoughts.
‘With the Core of the Legion, I can put the mana stat on hold for now.’
[Agility increases from 47 to 58.]
[Stamina increases from 57 to 67.]
He invested evenly in agility and stamina.
Balance also needed to be taken care of now.
Just then.
[‘Conquer the 16th Layer within 24 hours’ trial has been passed!]
[A gift from the senior administrator ‘Bendivia’ has arrived.]
[Soul Stone of Longing]
[When using a unique ability or skill, or something similar, it allows you to exceed the potential of the target.]
Finally, he had secured the last card, ‘Soul Stone of Longing’, that needed to be acquired here.
‘The cleanup can be left to the Titan Guild.’
With the Queen’s death, the remaining insects would break free from control.
But the likes of Aidan and Meiling, the rankers, should be able to handle them.
If three S-rank individuals couldn’t settle the mass-produced worms, they might as well bite their tongues and die.
Only one thing remained.
Jinhyuk took out a reward he had earned after dealing with one of the True Ancestors, Amulam, from his spatial inventory.
A picture in a frame, ‘The Place Steeped in Silence’
A location with twelve black pillars standing tall.
To acquire the lost language…
…and reproduce the ancient barriers.
This was the only way humanity could survive from Shub-Niggurath.
[‘Mirror that Breaks Boundaries’ is used.]
Wooooong!
A green gate appeared in front of Jinhyuk.
A door that allowed free movement between layers.
His destination was already set.
“To the 30th floor. To the Hill of Constellations.”
＊＊＊
The night sky is studded with countless stars.
This place, brimming with unfathomable mystery and beauty, was the only peaceful spot in the blood-scented 30th layer.
Meteor showers descend.
As he watched, for some reason, his heart felt a yearning ache.
Step by step.
Jinhyuk began to walk a familiar path upward.
The twelve black pillars standing tall above the expansive meadows.
He had visited this place in the past, but he did not know that it was where one could learn the lost language.
To him, it was just a place with a beautiful view.
However, thanks to the painting from Amulam, he could now understand the real meaning hidden in this location.
Jinhyuk carefully examined the picture in the frame.
Certainly, each pillar in the picture had a different rune carved at its center.
Yet, no runes were visible on the actual pillars.
Or to be precise, traces were faintly remaining, but they were considerably damaged.
‘It meant I had to restore it.’
A task demanding an extremely high level of difficulty.
Not just to restore the runes on the pillars but to complete a synthesis formula encompassing all twelve runes.
Needless to say, there was no room for mistakes.
Calmly. Deliberately.
He had to carry out a precise operation.
Mana gathered at his fingertips traced the air.
Above, with the first rune, the barrier began to take shape.
[A 3-star Barrier ‘Mana Synchronization’ is activated!]
[A 4-star Barrier ‘Memory Restoration’ is activated!]
[A 6-star Barrier ‘Minor Substitution’ is activated!]
Fzzt!
Blue runes emerged along the surface of the pillars.
But then.
As the mana was rearranged through the barriers, something unbelievable happened.
Could this be…
“Hoo.”
Jinhyuk let out a complex exclamation of amazement.
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