Chapter 41: Infinite Multiplication (3)

“Keeeeeeh!”

With a sharp death throes,

the body of the Giant Mantis, pierced by a wind hole, crumbled away.

No matter how extraordinary its regenerative abilities were, they were useless.

Even the most tenacious creature could not regenerate its heart.

[‘Anubis’s Descendant’ has been defeated.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have acquired ‘Spellbook of the Peltaros Duchy’.]

[You have acquired an Intermediate Magic Stone.]

With this, my level rose once again.

Moreover, a spellbook that you would normally need to reach the middle floors of the tower has appeared.

‘Ho, would you look at this?’

A small exclamation escaped Jinhyuk’s lips.

He had defeated many descendants before, but never before had he received such a generous reward.

Usually, only weapons were dropped or occasionally accessories with special effects were given.

But this time, the disparity between rewards had suddenly increased.

Jinhyuk quickly realized why.

‘It’s thanks to the effect of monopolizing kills and the luck stat.’

It wasn’t just coincidence; there was an inevitability—small fortuitous events that he’d accumulated led to the current outcome.

What a thrill.

‘It means that all the efforts I’ve put in were not in vain.’

It’s probably for this feeling that he couldn’t stop immersing himself in this game.

Picking up a tome lying next to the corpse, Jinhyuk’s fingertips felt a piercing chill.

…So cold.

[Due to the pure coldness, your fingertips will be partially numb.]

The Spellbook of the Peltaros Duchy, capable of teaching ice magic, was highly coveted among non-magic users due to its rarity, fetching a high price on the market.

Although more than 90% could not even muster a single snowflake, let alone utilize ice magic….

The mere opportunity to acquire skills of a different class was valuable enough.

‘As expected of a duchy crammed with magical noble houses.’

The corners of Jinhyuk’s mouth curled upward.

The item he expected to maybe see on the 13th floor appeared now, allowing him to wield new magic much earlier than planned.

With a rustle, he opened the first page of the book.

Intricate characters filled his vision.

***

Anubis let out a chuckle while watching this unfold.

Naturally, as the spellbooks were written entirely in runes which ordinary people couldn’t decipher in the first place.

Even if someone managed to learn these runes, understanding the content and casting the most basic magic would still require a considerable amount of time.

Effort and talent.

Both realms had to be supported in order to use magic.

“Foolish. Does he not realize it would take well beyond 3 years just to read that spellbook… Gasp!?”

Mid-sentence, Anubis took a deep breath.

Tsstssttsstts!

The moisture in the air froze around him, with fine icy particles scattering about.

[1 minute has passed, you may now use your unique abilities and skills.]

[Lv1 ‘Ice Sculpture’ is activated!]

Huh?

It sounded like a whimper of a puppy.

“What did you say just now?”

“How can you…?”

How, indeed.

“I studied with textbooks.”

Of course, learning a new language isn’t easy.

Many people can’t even properly use English after studying it for 12 years in school.

But, that would be a story about cramming education forcibly.

‘This… this was a study I truly desired.’

It was fun.

And only by mastering it could I become stronger.

So, I memorized it.

…practiced it to death.

Even more than those players who chose magical classes, continuously, ceaselessly.

Tsstsstsstts!

In no time, the scattered icy particles took form.

Five ice arrows, each over 2 meters long.

Beautifully sculpted, each arrow awaited Jinhyuk’s command.

“To think, you’re clearly no ordinary human, I acknowledge that. However, do you plan to fight me with that ice toy?”

“I know.”

“What?”

“I know it’s useless.”

There was no way to kill Anubis with any means at his disposal.

Not even inflict a small scratch on him, as Anubis was a monster placed at the pinnacle of the tower, much like Eris.

But.

“Aren’t you just as frustrated, having to blunder around? Besides, without using a descendant or vermin, you must be at a loss, unable to attack other creatures directly?”

“…”

Anubis clamped his mouth shut.

His intention had been to intimidate his opponent with words, but somehow, the guy already knew all this.

He even pierced through what kind of restrictions were placed on him.

‘The more I look, the more impressive it gets.’

What’s more intriguing is that despite knowing that attacking him would be futile, he showed no intention of backing down.

“What’s your reason?”

It was curious. What was he planning?

And what trick did he have up his sleeve?

Contrary to Anubis’s expectations, Jinhyuk’s response was incredibly anticlimactic.

“Just… fun?”

“Fun, you say?”

“A punchbag that wouldn’t die no matter how much it’s hit. Can’t give up on that.”

“Your insolence knows no bounds.”

Crrreak.

A fine crack appeared on the surface of Anubis’s statue.

Jinhyuk didn’t miss that small change.

Good.

‘As proud as you are, baiting was your weakness.’

If he kept scratching at it, he’d soon meet the conditions for replication.

And to prove his point –

Kukukukukuku!

Anubis extracted a beehive, the size of a basketball.

A special item ‘Hive’ capable of infinite multiplication, now being put to use.

Was it finally time?

With the descendant gone, the only real option left was that.

“Rend that damned human to pieces!”

Anubis pumped magic into the Hive.

Then.

Boooom! Booowm!

Insects with wings began to pour out of the hive, a piercing, chilling sound to the ears.

Simultaneously, the ice arrows over Jinhyuk’s head vanished.

Kwaang! Kwaang!

Amidst the roar, a blizzard stormed up.

Impaled on the 2-meter pillars that stuck out of the ground were dozens of insects.

All hits.

‘As expected, that kind of damage isn’t enough, huh?’

Despite the ice arrows penetrating the insects’ exoskeleton, it failed to destroy the Hive.

But it didn’t matter.

The outcome of this battle depended on who had more endurance.

Flames erupted in Jinhyuk’s left hand.

Tsstsstsstts!

In his right hand, thin streams of ice exhaled cold air.

At that moment.

[‘Fire Element (B)’ and ‘Ice Sculpture (A)’ are fusing!]

Jinhyuk clasped his hands together.

Ice and fire converged, magic began to surge wildly.

Flames intermingled with the snowstorm.

Kukukukuku!

The air underwent a drastic change.

“Kyeeeh…”

“Kek! Kek!”

The insects faltered in the presence of the alien magic.

Anubis’s gaze narrowed.

[The fusion is successful!]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Daylight (AA)’!]

[Daylight]

Difficulty of acquisition: AA

Description: A large-scale warfare skill that compresses and releases magic. White magic is not only powerful, but also affects visibility, making it extremely useful in combat scenarios.

[Fused skills are stored in ‘Memories of the World.’]

Following the Ice Sculpture, he acquired a new skill through fusion.

And it was a specialized large-scale, mass-targeted skill.

‘Let’s find out how powerful it really is.’

In the past, he had obtained this skill, but he wasn’t as fully developed as he was now. He had made mistakes, faced failures, and there was a mix of wasted time and effort, wasn’t there?

So, there was anticipation.

To find out where this path would lead.

Jinhyuk thrust his dagger forward.

Woowwng!

[Lv1 ‘Daylight’ is activated!]

That was the moment a massive light engulfed the underground.

As if standing under the hot sun in the midst of summer.

The blinding light scorched the insects’ eyes.

“Keeeeek!”

“Kiiiaaak!”

The insects screamed in agony.

Having not seen light for a long time, the outcome was predictable.

“It’s tough, I get it, but if you keep burying your heads like that, how will you avoid this?”

The primary effect of Daylight was light property damage.

It inflicts harm to creatures with dark-related attributes and blinds them.

However, the real deal follows with the secondary storm.

Jinhyuk watched the light gather at the tip of his dagger.

His arm quivered.

The muscles strained from containing the powerful magic.

Just a little more…

And at that moment.

The light, now a single point, shot out in a straight line.

There was no explosive noise or loud bang.

The ground didn’t shatter; there was no hole in the wall.

It simply remained faithful to its sole purpose – lethality.

Chiiiiiiik!

White phosphorus.

The demonic flame that continues to burn even under water did not cease until every insect in sight was consumed.

Of course, the Hive continued to spawn new insects during this…

But Jinhyuk, without taking a break, poured out his magic to prevent numbers from accumulating.

‘It’s the collective number of these swarm insects that make them terrifying.’

With excellent cooperation and adept at group hunting, the more their number grows, the more difficult they are to deal with.

It’s not simply a matter of 1+1=2, but rather 3 or even more than 4 in terms of power.

However, conversely speaking.

If they aren’t allowed to gather, defeating them one by one is no big deal.

Boom!

Kwaang!

When one flame exploded, it became the trigger to set off another.

The ice arrows also penetrated the carapace of the large insects, doing their part diligently.

The rate at which they died was faster than they were born.

“Kuuugh…!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Anubis finally activated the second ability of the Hive.

[‘Hive’ selects a target.]

＊＊＊

Shortly after, the hive released a hornet, barely one meter in size.

Its venomous sting looked fairly dangerous, but that was about it.

With relatively low magic power and as a single entity, it was capable of nothing.

“Keeeeek!”

The hornet shrieked and soared into the air.

Then, from about 20 meters high, it started to descend.

Booooom!

Quite a speedy approach.

Jinhyuk unsheathed his dagger.

Crrrack!

The two blades intersected.

Thick fluid dropped, drop by drop, from the tip of the dagger.

The decapitated hornet smashed into the ground on its original trajectory.

Kwaang!

The choice of the Hive felt all too anticlimactic.

That’s how it seemed, at least.

“Kiiii…”

The hornet wasn’t dead.

It writhed, and then its head began to regrow.

“Regeneration?”

“Huhu. Does it only seem like that?”

Anubis chuckled lowly.

“Kiiiiii!”

“Keeeek!”

A second voice emerged at that moment.

Not only did a new head sprout from the torso, but now a new body grew from the severed head.

Not regeneration, but division.

It was like a real-life horror film.

“So cutting it is no use, then.”

“That’s right. Now, no matter how much you struggle, you will only end up fighting more and more insects.”

That was the second ability of the Hive. To endlessly fight against dividing insects until your health and magic were completely drained.

No matter how powerful a player, there’s always a limit.

In the end, only time would tell; the outcome was predetermined from the start.

However.

‘…Finally, caught you.’

Jinhyuk smiled.

Since he had planned this desperate situation, all of it would serve as a setup leading to his desired outcome.

For that reason, he couldn’t help but laugh.