Artifact Devouring Player-Chapter 33: Silence - (2)

[Chapter 33]

"Hmph!"

Sanghyun began charging toward the Undead Mage without the slightest hesitation.

He was already at a numerical disadvantage, and the longer the fight dragged on, the worse it would be for him as a close-range attacker.

Kshirusus.

The Undead Mage muttered something incomprehensible and launched a self-destructing swarm of flies at Sanghyun.

Hundreds of flies, blackening the air ahead, pursued only one target—Sanghyun.

Instead of responding immediately, Sanghyun advanced another step toward the Undead Mage.

Then, when there were about 3 meters left—just as the self-destructing flies were about to collide with him in a tense, critical moment—

『Defensive Sword』

He deployed Defensive Sword, commonly referred to as Defensive. It was a barely-timed barrier.

Boom! Boom! Crack!

The suicide flies, driven purely by murderous intent, slammed into the barrier one after another and exploded.

The barrier still had durability left, and hundreds of flies ended up futilely self-destructing against it.

A pointless death.

'If I had deployed Defensive earlier, those quick bastards could've easily dodged it.'

Satisfied with how things were unfolding as he had anticipated, Sanghyun grinned.

He then threw his greatsword at the nearest enemy like a spear, carrying his momentum forward.

Whoosh!

With a sound slicing through the wind, the spirit-charged greatsword flew, trailing a blue light.

Sanghyun immediately grabbed a longsword from his waist. While the greatsword was his main weapon, so was the longsword.

It wasn't a matter of primary or secondary—just a matter of preference. Both were his main weapons.

Kuweok!

Thud!

Without any chance for air resistance to slow it down, the greatsword pierced through the center of the Undead Mage's face.

However, unlike regular monsters, it wasn't dead yet, so Sanghyun immediately followed up with a Full Charge to finish it off.

Slash!

The Undead Mage's head fell helplessly where the longsword had passed through. A perfect instant kill.

"Huuh!"

Sanghyun pulled the greatsword from the mage's face and gripped it again.

There were still six Undead Mages left. The real fight was just beginning.

Fwoosh. Crackle.

As expected of a magic-type monster, it conjured magic with dazzling hand movements.

It looked like raging flames—but the fire was pitch black.

'Is that the flame that burns flesh? I need to be careful.'

Despite its fiery appearance, when hit, an extreme chill seeped into the body, quickly necrotizing the tissues.

Kuaaa.

Soon, six black flames targeted Sanghyun and flew toward him.

Each spell drew a different arc—an intelligent tactic to prevent easy prediction.

'Good. Now this feels like a real fight.'

Sanghyun transformed his tense situation into fierce determination and challenge.

Only by doing this could he grow stronger. Settling for the present would never lead to growth or progress.

『Defensive Sword』

He deployed Defensive again. With its remaining durability, it seemed capable of blocking four or five spells.

Boom! Boom! Crack! Crackle!

"Urgh, as expected."

As predicted, the barrier showed major cracks when the fourth spell struck.

Clang!

Then, as the fifth spell hit, the barrier shattered. If Sanghyun hadn't turned his body in advance, he might have been exposed to the remaining magic.

Whoosh!

The sixth spell, descending a beat later in a high arc, aimed directly at Sanghyun.

『Back Step』

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Sanghyun immediately dodged the sixth attack with a Back Step.

His body was forcefully propelled backward, placing significant strain on his bones and muscles—but it was bearable.

Scrrkk!

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Thanks to the Back Step's momentum, Sanghyun's body naturally slid across the sandy ground.

This was his favorite movement style.

Without exerting any effort, he could prepare for a Full Charge while moving.

It was true that once in the standby state for Full Charge, he couldn't move his body.

However, as his body was already in motion due to inertia, it posed no problem for chaining attacks.

Kshiuh?

With precise defense, evasive maneuvers, and a seamless shift to offense, the Undead Mage's expression darkened.

"Haaah!"

With a sharp shout, Sanghyun unleashed a quickly gathered Full Charge in an instant.

Covering 7 meters in one leap, Sanghyun swung his greatsword and struck the Undead Mage at the front.

Crunch!

At the moment of impact, the mage was immediately frozen. That distinct sound of the body freezing echoed.

"You're finished."

Without hesitation, Sanghyun unleashed Demon Bash.

With the mage frozen solid, its only option was to take the hit head-on.

Thud! Shhh!

"Missed a little, huh?"

The greatsword, swinging in from the side, sliced horizontally from the mage's nose to its earlobe.

Its face split grotesquely in half, sending a fountain of blood spraying in all directions.

A filthy(?) end.

"What's your next spell?"

Despite his words, Sanghyun had already locked onto the next target.

Another Demon Bash followed.

Scrrk.

The Undead Mage narrowly escaped with a teleportation spell, but couldn't avoid a slicing wound.

Kuuuuu...

The once-fiery red glow in the mage's eyes noticeably dimmed.

Although it wasn't stunned, the combined effect of Talisman of Despair triggered additional Intimidation.

The expressions of the other mages changed—they realized Sanghyun had gotten too close.

Their intelligence, ironically, worked against them in this situation.

If they had been mindless beasts, they would have fired magic recklessly, even at the risk of team kills.

But their shared sense of kinship held them back—hesitating to cast spells out of fear of harming their own.

"Hesitate, and you die."

Without worrying about the others, Sanghyun ruthlessly slashed the mage already exposed to Intimidation.

A relentless barrage of Demon Bash.

Even though the mage's evasion stats boosted its resistance to stiffness, the intimidation level steadily built up.

◎ Despair

◎ In this state of utter despair, you lose all will to attack or defend and fall into absolute pessimism.

Despair was triggered as soon as the gauge hit 100%.

A mindless state where I couldn't do anything for a whole 10 seconds.

"Consider it a peaceful death, since you'll die without even realizing it."

I sent the head of the undead mage flying, its limp shoulders drooping as it fell.

The hunt for the mages had begun.

With their formation completely shattered, my relentless rampage tore through their ranks.

15 minutes later.

"Whoo! Thanks to those ghouls summoned at the end, things went smoothly."

Kuaaaah...

Thud.

The crimson light in the eyes of the struggling undead mage faded, and its breath ceased.

The final moments were chaotic.

An undead mage, determined to kill me even at the cost of sacrificing its own kind, appeared late in the battle.

Because of that, I failed to defend myself twice and took a hit from a wind-shaped spell that struck my waist.

The impact was so powerful that I coughed up blood, and my stamina drained rapidly.

But the choice the undead mage made to push me further turned out to be its biggest mistake.

Perhaps it was meant to divide my attention, but it ended up summoning a horde of ghouls.

With my stamina already below 30%, those ghouls popping up from all directions became perfect healing tools.

[Clever Hunter]

■ Title Grade: C-grade

■ Title Description: Restores 1 health point by devouring the blood of a small or higher-level monster upon defeat.

I made the most of that Clever Hunter title I had obtained earlier.

I regained my stamina by swiftly decapitating the ghouls, turning their strategy into their downfall.

"An unexpected reward."

What I got from the dead undead mage was a high-grade magic stone.

With an average selling price exceeding 100 million won, it was quite the windfall.

The higher-level the dungeon, the more noticeable the rewards in both quality and quantity.

This was why the rich get richer among players.

Players who settled for lower-level dungeons kept receiving cheap rewards.

Meanwhile, those who reached higher and aimed for more received far greater prizes.

Over time, the gap widened until it became an irreversible divide.

'Just look at Yoon Daekyung, stuck at level 50 after two years, and me hitting level 63 in less than a month.'

I stared at the pile of ashes left behind by the burnt corpses of the undead mages, lost in thought.

'It's important to have various attributes, but to properly handle undead monsters, I need the Holy attribute.'

Light and darkness.

These opposing forces were designed to devour each other.

To truly crush these undead creatures, the Holy attribute was essential as an additional force.

In the end, that meant I needed to get an Artifact related to that attribute.

Kaaaooo.

"Finally showing up, huh?"

I sensed the presence of the Wights emerging one by one from the dense mist on the hill.

Unlike ghouls, who wandered around naked using their fists, these were elite units armed with swords and spears.

"Whoo."

I let out a deep breath, and the exhaustion seeped through.

Even though I had dominated the battle against the undead mages and recovered a good amount of stamina, the accumulated fatigue wouldn't go away easily.

Techniques like backsteps or full charge, which caused sudden overloads on the body, inevitably strained my muscles.

I decided to change the tempo of the battle.

With fatigue piling up, getting too immersed in a speed battle increased the chances of making a mistake.

The more determined I became, the colder my thoughts grew.

Relying on logic rather than emotion.

That was why, in my previous life, even if I wasn't outstanding, I managed to endure steadily and persistently.

"It's been a while since I played the role of a madly stingy tank. Time to show some extreme defensive swordsmanship."

I advanced with a wide defensive stance spread out in front of me.

Slowing down my breathing significantly proved to be an effective choice.

The pace of clearing the dungeon dropped to less than half of what I expected, but the stability increased considerably.

Of course, that meant I had to spend an entire day in the Silent Ground Dungeon, consuming all of my emergency rations.

"A glorious scar, this one."

I frowned slightly as I looked at the deep wound on my left forearm.

It was because I failed to perfectly block one of the Wights that charged at me with relentless undead tenacity.

I managed to decapitate it, but the moment I did, silence struck, preventing me from using my defensive skills.

As a result, I couldn't block the Wight attacking from the side, and that attack left an honorable wound on my arm.

Still, by defeating the section guarded by the Wight squad, I managed to stack up quite a few magic stones.

I had eight high-grade magic stones stored in my emergency pouch already!

Even without facing the mid-boss yet, I had already gathered nearly 800 million won worth of loot.

"But the real problem starts now."

My expression darkened.

It wasn't an exaggeration—this was genuine dread rising from facing a truly troublesome enemy.

Death Knight.

This fearsome knight of death, renowned for its top-tier swordsmanship, possessed a skill I despised the most.

The Swamp of Silence!

The most frustrating skill, creating a zone of silence around the Death Knight, rendering everything mute.

If I had been a ranged player using a bow or magic, it wouldn't have been a threat at all.

"My class is the problem."

But as a swordsman who had to fight within the range of that Swamp of Silence, I had no choice but to face it head-on.