78. I will allow it
Joo-in already knew very well about the spells that were spread out in the forbidden zone.
‘It’s a place where you can lose your life if you enter without any preparation.’
Spells were spread out all over the forbidden zone.
[Illusion spell that makes you lose your way]
[Deadly plant traps that devour people]
[Poisonous bugs that carry deadly diseases]
These were traps that were difficult to see, not just for ordinary people, but even for knights.
The poisonous bugs, smaller than a fingernail, could cause fatal diseases with just one bite.
‘These poisonous bugs are really the worst. They also suck the moisture from your entire body.’
However, none of this mattered to Joo-in and his party.
That was because the one leading them was a Grand Warrior.
Those tasked with defending the Forbidden Grounds were immune to magic.
‘It’s not just simple immunity, either. The moment magic recognizes a Grand Warrior, it doesn’t activate.’
All they had to do was have the Grand Warrior in their party.
The Forbidden Ground’s magic would never harm the barbarians, especially those ranked Grand Warrior and above.
It wasn’t without reason that he had readily agreed to come along when that guy had asked to join them.
However, the last one was different.
[The Stairs of Courage]
Even Grand Warriors had difficulty crossing this.
‘You have to cross without a single ounce of hesitation. If you show even the slightest bit of doubt, the magic will drag you to the bottom of the cliff.’
What if you get even a little scared or worried that you might fall?
Even a Grand Warrior wouldn’t be able to escape death.
Of course, Joo-in had no doubt that he would be able to cross it.
‘I’ve crossed this bridge hundreds of times.’
Even if the game had become reality, that wouldn’t change.
He was confident that he would be able to cross it without any problems.
‘Although, when I played the game, Karacen talked so much that it was annoying.’
At the time, he had been annoyed that he couldn’t skip it, but now, he kind of missed it.
‘Failure means instant death.’
In any case, all he had to do was cross the bridge. However, he didn’t cross the bridge.
‘That’s why it takes so long.’
It’s not like the bridge was the end. This bridge was merely the ‘first’ trial.
It would be troublesome if the Grand Mage were to run off with his belongings while they were leisurely taking the trials.
So, he jumped down.
Whoooosh.
The wind rushed towards Joo-in as he fell.
The sharp wind, which could cut skin just by brushing against it, rushed at Joo-in’s body as if it was going to tear it apart.
Creak!
Creak!
However, it was useless.
Instead of Joo-in, who was falling, the rocks next to him were carved with sharp marks.
[＜Reflect＞]
He could reflect magic like this any day.
However, the Grand Mage’s real danger didn’t lie in wind like this.
Right at the very bottom, there were vengeful spirits.
“Ooooooh.”
The deceased stretched out their hands towards Joo-in, who was falling.
[Swamp of vengeful spirits]
The worst black magic that sucked the life out of the living and turned them into the dead.
They were the ones who had fallen under that spell and were unable to rest in peace.
They were spewing resentment from their eyes to turn the falling being into the dead like themselves.
‘Once you fall for it, not even a knight king can escape on their own.’
There was only one way to escape.
He needed the help of a colleague with divine power.
It was such dangerous black magic that if they didn’t help quickly, he would be turned into the dead in an instant.
However, Joo-in was different.
‘If my guess is correct… this will work!’
In an instant, Joo-in’s body got closer to the ground.
The deceased rushed towards Joo-in and reached out their hands.
-Come to us.
-You, too, will become one with us.
Joo-in ignored their words.
Instead, he put his shoulder out and charged with a shoulder tackle.
“Get lost!”
Kwaaang!
A huge sound erupted as Joo-in and the ground collided.
The deceased smiled gleefully.
-It’s no use.
-We are ghosts tied to this place, unable to escape death.
-From now on, you will be with us forever.
However, the deceased’s laughter didn’t last long.
-W-what?
-Where are you going!
-Don’t go!
-You bastard! How the hell… Take us too… Take us too!
It was natural for the deceased to be bewildered.
They had thought that Joo-in would hit the ground and turn into rags.
But instead of flying into the sky, he was bouncing off the ground.
That wasn’t all.
-W-why is my body…
-My flesh is breaking apart…
Kooooo.
The bodies of most of the deceased crumbled.
Since their bodies were made of souls, they did not face death.
However, it was clear that his body had received a blow that was enough to make him lose his balance.
Joo-won laughed as he flew up into the sky.
“I knew it would work.”
‘Grand Magic’ draws living beings to the cliff.
As if by manpower.
It was as expected that reflecting it would make people spit out in the opposite direction.
Anyway, even if he tried to fly using his wings here, he would be dragged under the cliff because of the power of magic.
So, in order to get to the top, he had to deal with this first.
Of course, the shock of hitting the ground did not come to him either.
[＜Reflection＞ activated]
The moment he hit the ground, he dispersed the shock to the undead.
If they hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have even tried.
‘Even if I reflect the shock of falling, I could get counter-damaged.’
He wasn’t sure if it would be safe to fall.
So, that was the intention.
He sent the shock of hitting the ground to the undead, and reflected the magic to fly into the sky.
But there was unexpected help.
At first, he only intended to remove the power of manpower that would interfere with the black wings.
“I didn’t know I could fly this fast?”
Whoosh!
Wasn’t that a tremendous force of wind pushing him in the back?
It was because not only the power of the undead, but also the magic of the wind that made people fall, was ＜Reflected＞ together.
Joo-won’s body shot up like a missile.
“At this rate, I won’t need to use the power of the black wings.”
– No! Come here!
Joo-won ignored him and flew away.
The destination was the forbidden peak.
* * *
The Grand Warlock frowned.
“Of all people, why did that Great Dao guy come?”
If it was Great Dao, he would have already spread the news of the savages throughout the continent.
Then, it was clear that they would send troops from all over to stop him.
Thanks to that, he had to abandon the stronghold of the savages that he had worked so hard to build.
But it wasn’t over yet.
‘I still have warriors and warlocks who follow my will scattered all over the continent.’
His desire to conquer the continent had not yet been extinguished.
Rather, it might have turned out well.
“While they’re attacking this place, I’ll grow my power even greater in other places.”
If only there was one annoying thing.
“Why isn’t that Karasen guy answering my call?”
By now, the barbarian chieftain should have regained his senses.
But strangely, he didn’t respond to his magic.
Normally, he would have come to his side by now.
“It’s like my voice is bouncing back.”
He couldn’t help it now.
First, he had to get out of here.
“That guy can’t escape from me anyway.”
Karasen had nothing to worry about.
Since his magic was cast on him, he was like a puppet. He would come running whenever the Grand Sorcerer called.
Soon, as the Grand Sorcerer gathered his strength, the red pillar in the village grew larger and larger.
“aaah…”
It was an ominous aura just to look at.
The moment that power was absorbed by the Grand Sorcerer, it transformed into an enormous force.
From Noble mtl dot com
With this power now, it wouldn’t be difficult to deal with that fool in the arena.
It was the moment his eyes flashed with bloodlust.
[Foolish. Are you satisfied with that level of power?]
“My Lord!”
The Grand Sorcerer fell to his knees at the voice that pierced his mind.
He couldn’t help it.
Until now, it was the voice of the Supreme Being that he had cried out with all his might.
Normally, it was a being whose voice was difficult to even hear.
However, his aura felt stronger because he had absorbed the bloodlust from the forbidden land.
But the Supreme Being’s voice was chilling.
[With that level of power, you cannot conquer the continent. Why haven’t you gathered more power as I instructed?]
“Forgive me… I apologize. But I couldn’t help it. Suddenly, the Great Mage, the ally of the former hero…”
[Make no excuses!]
Gulp!
The Grand Sorcerer coughed up blood at the Supreme Being’s sudden surge of energy.
It felt like all the energy in his body was flowing in reverse.
“I am truly sorry. But… soon, I will be able to gather more energy at the new stronghold. Please forgive me.”
[Pathetic. Pathetic. At this rate, the day of my resurrection will only be further delayed.]
“I have no words to say, even if I had two mouths.”
The Grand Sorcerer trembled.
The identity of the one called the Supreme Being was none other than the ancient Barbarian King.
Moreover, he was the great Barbarian Emperor who had unified the continent.
The reason he gathered bloodlust was to resurrect himself.
[I need more bloodlust to revive the Great Empire.]
“Of course. I will definitely offer more bloodlust. Just… please wait a little longer.”
[Truly, you are an unsatisfactory descendant. I have already been interrupted once, what will you do if those guys chase after me again?]
The Grand Sorcerer raised his head anxiously.
“Do not worry. It is I, the monarch.”
The path leading up to the forbidden area was impassable to all but the greatest warriors.
“But there are no great warriors who would aid those cursed beings.”
[What if, by some chance, there were one who would aid them?]
“That is impossible.”
The remaining great warriors were all on the side of the Grand Warlock.
Those who had followed the former chieftain had all been dealt with by him personally.
Or rather, they had been killed by the hands of Karacen, who had become his puppet.
“Even if someone were to aid them, it would take a considerable amount of time to cross the bridge and reach the summit.”
What if one of the great warriors were to carry them across?
It would be futile.
No matter how fast the great warrior may be, they would not be able to arrive before the Grand Warlock left this place.
“So please, give me a portion of Your Majesty. I shall take it with me as I leave this place and gather my strength.”
[Hmm… I suppose I have no choice, since I cannot be revived here if those cursed beings were to come.]
The air around the forbidden area began to ripple.
The stone slab left behind by the former Savage King shook, and something began to rise from it.
It was an object wreathed in red energy.
[Take it. It is a part of my flesh.]
“Oh, glorious day…”
The Grand Warlock trembled with ecstasy.
A part of the flesh of the Savage King, who had once ruled over a great empire, was now in his hands.
‘With this… with just a little more bloodlust, I shall be able to revive His Majesty the Emperor.’
And then, the age of the barbarians would begin anew.
A world where the strong ruled over all.
[This is your last chance. If you fail…]
“I swear on my soul that I will not fail. I absolutely will not fail.”
And so, the Grand Warlock’s hand reached out towards the flesh.
Kwaaang!
With a deafening roar, something fell from the sky.
It was Joo-in.
“You… you bastard!”
Wasn’t he supposed to be a prisoner in the arena?
“How in the world did you get here?!”
How indeed. Joo-in pointed to the sky with a smirk.
“I flew?”
But he seemed even more shocked by what Joo-in said next.
“What do you mean? This place is supposed to be covered in a barrier that prevents flight.”
The wind itself seemed to swirl around him.
As if it had guided him here, it bowed to him respectfully.
Joo-in simply laughed in response.
“Well, like you said, I didn’t use flying magic. I just spread it out, and it brought me here on its own.”
What’s going on?
However, Joo-Heon looked at the whole body that had revealed itself and rested his chin on his hand.
“Ah, so that was the true identity of the whole body.”
“……!”
The great sorcerer who met Joo-Heon’s gaze soon burst into laughter.
“Yes. It can’t be helped if that’s the case.”
He chanted as if he understood.
“I shall allow it.”
Joo-Heon tilted his head at his words.
Huh?
Allow what?
“I shall allow you to look upon the existence of the great king.”
Joo-Heon laughed at his words.
“Really? Then I shall allow you as well.”
What?
The great sorcerer’s eyes opened wide.
However, he didn’t have time to ask back.
At that moment.
Kwaaang!
A huge shock hit the great sorcerer’s face.
His body was thrown toward the stele.