Chapter 18
Staggering Talent
Kim Byung-han had once heard Lee Hyuk-soo refer to that man as the ‘self-proclaimed prophet’.
And everyone present had witnessed the prophet’s miracle.
It happened when he summoned the ‘Grim Reaper’ and killed Andariel.
The chills from that moment still hadn’t faded.
However, Kim Byung-han had never seen the prophet demonstrate any personal combat ability.
‘Because Lee Hyuk-soo handled everything by himself.’
During the first night of the Abyss, at the ‘Great Water Nightclub,’ the deadly encounters only grew more intense as the monsters got stronger.
Yet, the prophet didn’t move a muscle. He stood with his arms crossed, not taking a single step.
Only Lee Hyuk-soo, drenched in sweat, swung his sword with all his might, playing the role of a driver for the rest.
Naturally, doubts arose about the prophet’s power in that demonic armor.
Reasonable doubts about whether the prophet was truly weak.
“……”
But in this moment, those doubts were entirely and unquestionably erased.
Not just for Kim Byung-han, but for everyone charging forward as well.
It was as if they’d all pressed the pause button on a remote control—frozen in place.
The moment Park Chan-woo’s mouth opened…
The ‘magic’ that manifested from the tip of his staff changed the world was unleashed.
“What, what is this…?”
“What the hell… is happening…?”
People looked around in disbelief.
They couldn’t trust their own eyes.
…Every inch of the surroundings was now covered in ‘thorns’.
Jagged, towering thorns blanketed the world.
So densely packed that it was impossible to move.
The ground, the buildings—everything within sight was consumed by a forest of sharp spikes.
It was truly a hell of thorns.
“Don’t move.”
It was then that a voice echoed, causing everyone to turn their heads.
The voice belonged to the grand mage who had summoned this phenomenon—Park Chan-woo.
Though the world around him was filled with thorns, his immediate surroundings remained clear.
“If you recklessly touch the thorns, you’ll die.”
Gasp…!
At Park Chan-woo’s words, people trembled in fear.
Even without his warning, they couldn’t move.
The thorns hadn’t just overtaken the landscape.
They had already grown, entangling their entire bodies.
Even the slightest movement, like a pursed lip or a twitch of a finger, would cause them to be pierced.
There was nothing they could do except breathe.
“For the next two hours, stay like that. This is the price you pay for challenging me without knowing your limits.”
Park Chan-woo sentenced them to the punishment of thorns.
Charging in blindly without understanding the difference in strength—it was as good as asking to be killed.
But instead of killing them, he merely trapped them.
It was an act of mercy on his part.
‘Ignorance is a crime that can take your life in the Abyss.’
Ignorance.
To know nothing is a crime.
But the greatest sin of all is not even attempting to learn anything—just like these people now.
Suddenly, the rules had changed, and the target they had to kill had increased by one.
Wouldn’t it make sense to assess the situation and understand their opponent first?
Shouldn’t their first priority be figuring out why the Creator changed the rules, why an additional target had appeared so unexpectedly?
And so, Park Chan-woo punished them to teach a lesson.
A lesson they would never forget, ensuring they wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
This would be an unforgettable experience for them.
‘Still… this is quite a powerful domain spell. The status of Andariel, the King of the Hell of Thorns, might exceed that of a mere high-ranking demon.’
The spell had engulfed the Abyss in thorns just by being used.
Such a ‘domain spell’ was exceedingly rare.
A ‘domain spell’ was a unique type of magic that only the top-tier mages could use.
It was a mage’s personal realm, where they could store incredibly complex and high-level spells, allowing them to use those spells far more easily.
In battles between top-tier mages, the outcome was often decided by who could deploy their ‘domain spell’ first.
And this spell, ‘King of the Hell of Thorns’, was Andariel’s world—his personal domain.
Naturally, it wasn’t something that an ordinary high-ranking demon could possess.
“I-I can’t bear it…!”
“Aaaaahhh…!”
After about ten minutes, the people trapped within began to groan in pain.
Unable to move, they were forced to endure an awkward position for two full hours—an agonizing ordeal beyond imagination.
To stay frozen in place, straining under such tension? It was enough to make anyone beg for mercy.
But Park Chan-woo didn’t care.
He sat cross-legged and gazed up at the night sky.
“Ouch, it stings!”
“It hurts! I said it hurts!”
“Aaahhh!”
Screams erupted from all around.
As time passed, more and more people collapsed, unable to support themselves, only to be pierced by the thorns.
Their skin was torn, and blood flowed.
They struggled to regain their balance, but it was maddening.
‘It hurts so much!’
‘The pain is unbearable!’
‘When will this end?’
It felt as if time had stopped.
It seemed like hours had passed, yet the clock showed only half an hour had gone by.
“Serves you right… you fvcking bastards…”
Kim Byung-han sneered at them.
Seeing the people who had ruthlessly attacked him now suffering filled him with satisfaction.
What did it matter that they had shared meals together for over ten years?
In the end, humans were bound to betray each other.
Especially in the world that was coming, where extremes would only grow more pronounced.
If you didn’t become stronger or align yourself with someone powerful, you wouldn’t survive.
‘I survived.’
Kim Byung-han glanced at the prophet, at Park Chan-woo, who was staring up at the moon.
He felt that the prophet was stronger than Lee Hyuk-soo, the man who had killed the Dragon God General in a single strike.
A single spell that could engulf the entire world in thorns!
And it was a monster who could wield such a spell.
It wouldn’t hurt to get on his good side.
And they had even made a ‘deal.’
Wasn’t it safe to say he had already established a connection?
“Um… Prophet. Could you possibly heal me?”
Kim Byung-han asked, his face pale.
Though the arrows had missed any vital organs, they had pierced his body.
He genuinely felt like he was going to die.
Park Chan-woo looked at him for a moment before responding.
“Why should I?”
“W-What?”
“Why should I heal you?”
“You, you said you’d save me earlier…”
“Didn’t I save you by not killing you?”
“…?”
What kind of bullsh!t was he saying?
Was he seriously saying that since he didn’t kill him, that counted as saving him?
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t wrong.
If someone could kill you but didn’t, that technically meant they saved you.
“And I agreed to saving you, not healing you.”
“Ah…”
Kim Byung-han realized.
‘I’m screwed!’
It seemed he had mistakenly thought he had secured a connection with the prophet.
His heart raced with panic.
If he didn’t get treated soon, he really might die.
Even if he survived, there was a high chance he’d be permanently disabled.
But there was no way out.
In this world filled with thorns, he couldn’t move an inch.
At the same time, Kim Byung-han realized something else.
His situation wasn’t much different from the others who had attacked him.
And so, time passed.
《The Death Knight has appeared in the Abyss’s center!》
《The Death Knight will slaughter every living human.》
《Survive for one hour to end the Abyss.》
Park Chan-woo slowly stood up.
Finally, the one he had been waiting for appeared.
The Death Knight.
A knight made of corpses in death, but in life, a hero of great renown.
Boom!
With a powerful leap, the Death Knight soared through the air, landing directly in front of Park Chan-woo.
―The Queen has commanded thus: To annihilate every human here, and especially to make sure that you are utterly obliterated.
A chilling voice spilled death with every word.
The figure was clad in black, armor as dark as night.
The eyes shining through the helmet’s slit were like the abyss itself.
The magic that oozed from the sword was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
‘Sword aura.’
Sword aura, the essence of combat power, was something a swordsman could manifest only after breaking through the fourth class limit and reaching Level 41.
This meant that the Death Knight’s minimum Level was 41 or higher.
Park Chan-woo’s level was -96, a gap that was incomprehensible.
Even if there were a million of Park Chan-woo, they wouldn’t be able to defeat a single Death Knight.
In fact, it was widely accepted that no matter how many fighters you had, a level difference of over thirty couldn’t be overcome.
Thus.
‘The best option is to run.’
Didn’t the system say so?
Survive for an hour.
From the start, this battle wasn’t meant to be won.
Victory wasn’t even a possibility.
―You fake mage. This is not your magic. You cannot defeat me using power that is not your own.
The Death Knight knew.
This ‘domain’ wasn’t Park Chan-woo’s.
After all, domain magic was a preparatory space for casting ultra-high-level spells.
Unless it was Andariel himself, no one could wield this domain properly.
Moreover, the Death Knight could sense that Park Chan-woo’s ‘status’ was far below Andariel’s.
―Accept your death quietly, fake mage.
The Death Knight raised his sword.
He steadied himself, then leapt forward, thrusting off the ground.
Whoosh—
With that sound, the Death Knight vanished.
He was moving toward Park Chan-woo with such speed that it was as if space itself folded in on him.
Park Chan-woo lifted his staff.
Ssshhhhh!
Thorns rose from the ground, forming a shield in front of him.
Slice!
The Death Knight cut through the barrier of thorns with ease.
However, the thorns continued to rise endlessly.
―Tricks!
At best, it was only a delay tactic.
It wasn’t even his own magic. He couldn’t possibly control all of the power stored in this ring.
Forcing himself to manipulate someone else’s magic and power would soon cause his nerves to snap, his magical circuits to break down, and his body to be consumed in flames.
Moreover, mere thorns couldn’t stop a great knight like him.
With a swift, decisive strike, the Death Knight’s sword moved so fast it was invisible to the naked eye.
In no time, he had sliced through all the thorns and reached the place where Park Chan-woo had been standing.
―Die, human.
A dark energy surged through the Death Knight’s sword.
With all his strength, he swung his blade.
Slash!
Park Chan-woo’s body was cut in half.
…However, the Death Knight immediately sensed something was wrong.
―A fake?
It didn’t make sense.
He had just cut through what appeared to be Park Chan-woo, but astonishingly, it was nothing more than a thorny decoy.
A fake made from thorns.
―Then, where is the real body…?
Thwack!
In that moment, a thorny vine shot out from behind, piercing the Death Knight’s chest.
This should have been impossible under normal circumstances.
A fleeting moment of carelessness.
The briefest lapse in attention had led to this surprise attack from behind.
Thud! Thud! THUD!
Thorns pierced him from every direction.
Soon, the vines intertwined and grew into a massive tree, pinning the Death Knight in place, rendering him unable to move.
The Death Knight couldn’t believe it.
―What are you? How are you controlling someone else’s magic as if it were your own?
This domain spell, ‘The King of the Hell of Thorns’, belonged to Andariel.
Only Andariel should have been able to wield it properly.
Yet, this mage was controlling the magic as if it were his own.
Yes… ‘controlling’ was the right word.
Like a servant or a slave, he was commanding the magic from above.
It defied common sense.
It went beyond any ordinary concept or understanding.
From the beginning, nothing about this made sense.
He had been sitting there gazing at the moon, and then suddenly, he created a thorn clone to bait the Death Knight into a careless mistake.
If the Death Knight hadn’t let his guard down, he never would’ve been immobilized by the thorns.
―How long? How long have you been standing there?
The Death Knight’s eyes fixed on the front.
By now, Park Chan-woo stood right in front of him.
He had surely cut him down, yet he was perfectly fine.
And not just that.
“From the start.”
In Park Chan-woo’s hand, his staff glowed with immense magical power.
The Death Knight knew the moment he saw it.
This magic was the Death Knight’s own.
It was the magic that had gathered as a result of his own attacks!
It was a ‘reflect’ spell.
But a reflect spell only works on a single target.
And the Death Knight had attacked not just one thorn but many.
Yet somehow, the magic had accumulated in the staff.
How had this happened?
No, what had happened?
The Death Knight spoke in disbelief, his voice filled with astonishment.
―You… did you apply a reflect spell to the domain spell…?
Even as he said it, the idea seemed absurd.
It was impossible.
Layering one spell on top of another simply wasn’t feasible.
And this wasn’t even his own domain spell!
The notion of controlling it as if it were his own and evolving the spell to a higher level by layering spells on top of each other—
If that were possible, turning the weakest magic into the strongest would also be feasible.
…And if that were possible, this man was no ordinary mage.
―You bastard… Could it be you’re from the Great Lineage…?
The Great Lineage.
The Dragonkin!
He must have been one of those beings who were on par with or even surpassed elder dragons.
They were the masters of magic, the only beings who could command it so freely.
But…
“I’m human.”
Park Chan-woo replied casually.
―Do not lie! A mere human couldn’t possibly possess such staggering magical talent…!
The Death Knight couldn’t believe it.
Humans had clear limits.
They were a pitiful race that could never reach the ultimate pinnacle of anything.
Surely, no human could wield such extraordinary talent in magic.
But the Death Knight couldn’t say another word.
Thud.
Park Chan-woo’s World Tree staff touched the Death Knight’s forehead.
The magic gathered in the staff began to stir violently.
And then—
BOOM!
With a massive explosion, the Death Knight’s entire body evaporated on the spot.
《Expected survival rate after the ‘Death Knight’ appeared: 0%》
《You have defied all expectations and achieved a 100% survival rate.》
《Astonishing and unfathomable—the gap in level has been overcome.》
《All survivors will receive a ‘Gold Box (★★)’ as a reward.》
《Your level has increased.》
《You have gained 1 Class Level Point.》
《Additionally, you have received a ‘Platinum Box (★★★)’ and a ‘Potential Power Enhancement Scroll’.》
