The Villain has Perished

Chapter 91 Cruel Time

?

[ A Few Seconds Earlier ]

Sol flew towards the sky while Jae-sung fought Ravnyr.

Annoyed at Jae-sung's resistance, Ravnyr used his special eyes to enslave Jae-sung again.

Jae-sung suddenly changed his sword path and struck the ground. Dust and gravel flew into the air, blocking Ravnyr's eyesight, rendering his <Marionette Eyes> useless.

'Did he know about my eyes or was it a coincidence?' thought Ravnyr.

As the blue-haired man attacked him from the shadows, the dragon king understood Jae-sung was trying to buy time.

He scoffed at their futile resistance. 

'Unlike me and Illusive, Light carries the arrogance of our dragon kind. If someone charges at him headfirst, Light will obliterate them without holding back. Opposing him will only bring greater misfortune.

'There is no human who can stop Light.'

With Baxtiel's arrival, the fate of Imperial city and its citizens was sealed.

'But why is Light here? I'm sure Illusive and I were the only ones who were ordered by Smiling Tear.' 

'Did Light come here by coincidence while destroying other kingdoms or did Illusive call for him before dying?'

Despite Jae-sung going all out, Ravnyr had enough room for leisure thoughts. The Dragon King lightly tapped the ground and the stone floor exploded.

Pieces of rocks flew in all directions, and killed Jae-sung.

The protagonist fell with blank eyes, however before his body made contact with the ground he was revived and fighting again.

'I'm on my last heart. One more time and I'll be a goner.'

?[ Emergency Quest Issued! ]

?[ Stop Ravnyr, the Dragon King of Slavery, from attacking Sol for 15 seconds (A+) ]

?[ Reward: 10 Hearts ]

The emergency quest seemed like an oasis in the desert. Its difficulty was nightmarish but Jae-sung reasoned 15 seconds weren't impossible.

"15 seconds should be rea—!"

Jae-sung's head exploded when Ravnyr punched him.

"If you are using dust to hide, then don't talk idiot."

Shaking the blood off her hands, Ravnyr stared at Sol who was flying higher with each passing second. 

She attempted to enslave Sol in order to remove all variables. The confidence Sol was exuding resulted in a seed of worry blooming in her heart. 

The Dragon King of Slavery's eyes glowed. 

Suddenly, a sheath blocked her vision.

"I'm not letting you do that!"

Jae-sung kicked Ravnyr, blowing him away. He didn't stop and shouted his skill name.

"Darkness cocoon."

The shadows jumped out of hiding and trapped the Dragon King momentarily in their binding.

'How much time is left?'

?[ Countdown: 11 Seconds remaining until Quest Completion ]

His expression turned grave.

Due to Limit Break, Jae-sung could react to every attack. But it also distorted his sense of time by increasing his cognitive ability to its limit.

He died 3 times in the past 8 seconds.

With no more extra lives, he couldn't stop Ravnyr for long.

It was an overwhelming defeat. Jae-sung gaze wandered toward the swords in the sky.

Sol asked him to protect the city until he dealt with the enemy. 

However, Jae-sung couldn't protect himself, let alone the city.

"Didn't I kill you already? What is with humans of this generation? Why do all of you have weird aces up your sleeves?"

The Dragon King broke Jae-sung's strongest skill.

The time it brought? 0.5 second.

"Revival, huh. I want to see how many times you won't die when I kill you."

Ravnyr disappeared and reappeared before him, his fist only inches away from blowing Jae-sung's head off.

In that split second, Jae-sung saw his life flash before him.

He was whisked to this planet without memories of his home world. 

Luckily, he met good-natured nobles, a baron in the countryside, and slowly adapted to his new life.

The occasional quests granted him fragments of his lost memories.

Jae-sung was happy. He met good people in this new world. People he would call friends. 

A young woman who carried an undeniable thirst for strength, a knight who carried unshakable faith, and an enigmatic man who seemed like an immovable mountain, carrying far greater responsibility than one could ever think of.

They were all whom Jae-sung looked up to.

Yet Jae-sung's heart was never calm. The memories he regained became his unending nightmare.

Just recalling those memories was enough to send him into a seizure. 

Even with incomplete memories, Jae-sung's soul couldn't forget the terror he faced in his home world.

A realization dawned upon Jae-sung.

'I can't win at this rate.'

He could intuitively tell, he would face the terror from his memories in the future. 

Would he be able to win when his past self couldn't? The 'he' who had used his Gamer System to its full extent?

'No'

Jae-sung made his decision.

A choice that he never made in the novel.

"I accept!" Jae-sung shouted.

An ethereal glow covered Jae-sung moments before Ravnyr's attack landed.

Bam!

His figure crashed into the wall, destroying 3 buildings in the process.

"How did you block that attack?" asked Ravnyr with a surprised tone.

Jae-sung stood up from the rubble and the ethereal glow dissipated.

[ Congratulations! You have become the Orator of the Champion 'Hated One'! ]

[ You have received one blessing and an Earth grade profession 'Blitz Spearman' ] 

? Your one-time blessing 'Invulnerability' will be activated ?

? You are immune to physical attacks for 3 seconds ?

The protagonist bolted toward Ravnyr. He had chosen the only Champion who offered him to make him his Orator.

If Jae-sung had to complain, he wasn't a spearman. The profession wasn't remotely suited to him.

However, in exchange for future possibilities, the one-time use blessing and the new skill saved his present.

? The profession 'Blitz Spearman' grants you an E grade skill: Glory World ?

? Glory World (E): Robs the enemy of their eyesight for 5 seconds in 5-meter range. Cost: 700 MP ?

'How much is 700 MP?'

As Jae-sung continued to use hit-and-run attacks, he thought of the cost of the skill. 

His status had a Mana stat. But Jae-sung didn't know if those values were numerically equal to the 'Interface'. Worse, Jae-sung couldn't check his interface at this moment.

'If the skill takes too much MP I'll become unconscious, I can't do that.'

At that moment, Ravnyr realized the [Channel] held strange powers. Clearly, it was related to Jae-sung's recent burst in strength.

Worried Sol might also possess such a trump card, he decided to ignore Jae-sung and attack him.

The space around Ravnyr's mouth twisted and a green orb floated above it. 

A concentrated beam of green lighting discharged from the orb.

Jae-sung's eyes widened when Ravnyr aimed dragon breath at Sol. 

"Glory World!" 

He couldn't worry about losing consciousness anymore.

A white light shined with Jae-sung at the center. The light was visible to only Jae-sung and his target - Ravnyr.

Losing his eyesight, the dragon king missed his mark and the dragon breath hit one of the swords of light. 

Sol was already above the swords of lights as such he didn't realize what was happening below.

He had barely avoided death.

?[ Countdown: 7 Seconds remaining until Quest Completion ]

"It's getting annoying, you damned insect!"

A shockwave rippled in the air, causing a catastrophic explosion to take place. The entire plaza along with several blocks was blown to smithereens.

Through the dust, a towering figure stepped out.

A bone dragon with green lightning pulsating through its rugged and eerie bones.

The Dragon King of Slavery revealed his true form in all glory.

Cough—! Cough—!

"I'm… alive?"

Puking blood, Jae-sung was breathing heavily as he stood at the edge of the explosion radius.

His clothes were in rags and his limbs mangled. 

The nine swords of light were about to make contact with the ground. It didn't seem Ravnyr was worried about tanking Baxtiel's attack.

Perhaps, those attacks weren't worth dodging for him.

?[ Countdown: 4 Seconds remaining until Quest Completion ]

A chuckle left Jae-sung's lips. 

'Which idiot brought the late-game bosses in the early stages? How are we supposed to defeat them, when I can't stay alive for 10 seconds?'

Nevertheless, Jae-sung moved.

"S…sir Sol is going to stop the enemy in the sky. I c…can't stay behind, in th…that case, can I?"

His voice came out broken.

Jae-sung was eccentric. He viewed the world as a game and himself as the main character of that game.

It was his honest opinion.

His cheats, his backstory, his goals, his journey. Everything was like the epic of a protagonist.

"I… It would be a shame if I… I were to fall behind my rival.." 

As the corner of his lips rose, Jae-sung felt a burning pain ravaging his head.

He was the protagonist. 

Yet he was jealous of those who shined far brighter than him.

'A rival. It suits Sir Sol well.'

Someone who was weaker yet stronger than him.

"A h..ero…shan't fall…."

Forcing his burned muscles, he held his sword with both hands and aimed at Ravnyr.

?[ Countdown: 3 Seconds remaining until Quest Completion ]

'Shitty time. If a miracle doesn't occur, I'm lodging a complaint against the system for fraud.'

Jae-sung licked his lips.

Grawr—!

The Dragon King of Slavery swung his claws.

Jae-sung crouched, gathering energy in his muscles and dashed. However, he suddenly fell face-first into the ground.

'My body won't respond.'

The attack landed straight into his chest and blew him away.

He broke through several dozen buildings and houses as his body continued to move like a ball thrown in the air.

His limbs twisted in the wrong direction, a splinter of wood stabbed into his abdomen, and his bones turned into dust.

Jae-sung lay still on his deathbed. 

The Limit Break didn't let him lose consciousness.

It was the worst.

Hope for survival?

The footsteps of Ravnyr inching closer felt like the melody of death instead.

While his body remained motionless, Jae-sung stared at the sky – at Sol flying higher and higher. 

"You seemed to have given up."

The Dragon King opened his maw and another dragon breath shot out.

?[ Countdown: 0 Seconds remaining until Quest Completion ]

Seconds passed, however, the impact never came. 

Jae-sung lowered his gaze and found a figure in front of him, blocking the lightning dragon breath.

"It's thanks for helping us earlier."

?[ Emergency Quest Completed ]

?[ Reward: 10 Hearts granted ]

"I didn't help any elves."

The elf priestess turned back.

"Aren't both of us trying to help Sol?"

Jae-sung opened his mouth but he could only nod.

Faena watched his helpless smile and spoke, "How can I help?"

Her complexion was pale. Heavily injured, she wasn't in a condition to stand straight, let alone fight.

Nevertheless, beggars can't be choosers.

Jae-sung pointed at the nine colossal swords of lights.

"Block them."

He bit his tongue, killed himself, and came back to life swiftly. The revival no longer restored his stamina however it healed his physical injuries nonetheless.

"That'll be a bit difficult."

"Can't deny that."

Jae-sung stood back to his feet alongside Faena.