Translator: Wan ED/PR: Solarin
61. Rival (10)
The head of Tuatha dé Danann, the god of brilliance and light, Lugh Lámfada.
He was a jack-of-all-trades, who showed talent in numerous fields and was called an all-rounded god.
Moreover, Lugh Lámfada received numerous treasures from Manannán mac Lir.
Lugh Lámfada, who had all-rounded talent and treasures, had numerous choices.
But in the myths he had left, there always was the ‘Spear of Lugh’ that led to the victory of the person holding it.
And right now, that Spear of Lugh was in my hand.
Paaaaa….!
When my hand touched it, with the activation of ‘Use of Everything’, the Spear of Lugh awoke[1].
The old spear, under a shabby cloth and in a cheap case, began to shine.
At the same time, a demonic energy so gloomy that it turned my back cold, raised from the floor.
Uuuuung….!
“The alarm activated! Hey! We have to run, quickly!”
As if the barrier created by the Fomori Demons activated, the demonic energy tried to encircle us.
The Phantom Thief Neon avoided it with nimble movement, and Gu Seulbi swung her oak staff and released mana, off-setting the demonic energy.
However, my side was safe.
Thanks to the light pouring from the Spear of Lugh, no demonic energy dared to approach.
“That’s a divine treasure, right? How did you receive permission to put your hand on a divine treasure?”
“I don’t know about respectfully moving it to put it in a case, but you can’t put a hand on it like you’re going to use it…!”
Even while avoiding or hitting back, the Phantom Thief Neon and Gu Seulbi, glanced in my direction with shocked faces.
Usually, if my Playable Characters had doubts, I would answer or change the subject, but right now I had no time to do so.
Grrrrrr!
The sharper the light grew, the sound of the blade grew louder, like a cry of a winged beast.
The Spear of Lugh not only had dazzling war records and powerful powers, it was also famous for its bloodlust for living beings.
The desire for blood and flesh was flooding through the Spear of Lugh and going wild.
It was restrained right now thanks to my mental power and influence of superpower wave left by Midir.
Like a lake fog, a faint superpower wave of Midir was calming down the Spear of Lugh.
‘It’s like this even with a higher being calming it down…!?’
Just like its fame, the Spear of Lugh had powerful powers, but it wasn’t without risks.
‘I have to finish it in a short period of time!’
I organized the priorities in my head.
The infiltration goal, reclaim of ‘Imoogi’s Rise To Heaven’ was successful.
Now all that was left was to retreat.
As our existence was already discovered, I wanted to choose a way that wouldn’t leave clues about our side if possible.
“Balor moved!”
Through the vision borrowed from the animals she came with, it seemed that Gu Seulbi read the demon king Balor’s movements.
Following her urgent voice, we heard an extremely loud ‘Baang’ sound in the distance.
It was accompanied by moving presence of enormous superpower wave, it seemed that the demon king Balor personally moved.
Trying to guess the location Balor was heading towards, I spoke up.
“Do you know that this space was otherworldized just now and became the Demons’ Garden?”
“… I don’t know the principle, but I know it became a Garden. Because the ‘Emergency escape item’ is blocked.”
The otherworlds differentiated into dungeons, towers, castles, gardens and mazes, etc. they each had their own characteristics.
The biggest characteristic of a Garden, the otherworld dominated by someone, was that the ‘emergency escape item’ doesn’t respond.
Unlike other otherworlds that randomly occurred naturally, as a Garden was controlled by someone’s superpower wave, one couldn’t freely escape.
As a reference, in a case of otherworlds summoned by the Dark Mastermind with ‘Otherworld Summoning’, they weren’t naturally occurring otherworlds, but because the control rights over an otherworld weren’t in the Dark Mastermind’s hands, the ‘Emergency escape item’ worked.
But in a ‘Garden’s’ case, no matter how low the rarity, it was impossible to consume an ‘Emergency escape item’ and escape
But as the otherworld itself was controlled with superpower wave, it was possible for Players with good senses to guess the location of an exit.
“Do you know where the Garden’s entrance is?”
At my thrown question, the two immediately nodded.
“Of course. A phantom thief has to secure an escape route and move at any time.”
“Me too, roughly.”
Even though the two knew, they didn’t go out?!
Considering the two’s personalities, I felt like even if they figured out the exit, they would prioritize achieving their goals.
Even while they lost their way in the Garden, they were probably searching for the ‘Imoogi’s Rise To Heaven’ and the divine treasure.
“Balor is moving towards the location where the exit probably is. He realized that the barrier installed around the divine treasure was broken, so he must have cut off our retreat.”
“Then he will soon look in this direction, eh?”
The voices of the two, which were calm at first, became a bit stiff.
Even if the two were overflowing with such talent that they could even brush past Balor, it wouldn’t be easy.
Either knock him down, or avoid his gaze.
I could feel the two’s heads running complicated calculations.
“One of the divine treasures entered my hands, and the ‘Imoogi’s Rise To Heaven’, you were aiming for, was already reclaimed.”
“What?! The lead[2] was stolen from me!”
The Phantom Thief Neon said with a tone like he lost the world.
It seemed that the thoughts about Balor evaporated from his head the moment he heard my words.
“I also plan to return that painting to the owner. Right now, lets’ think about our escape.”
“Should we make a bait to lure Balor?”
“It’s a fine idea, but the risk is too high. If we make a bait, it’s not Balor, but the owner of this Garden, who may come to check it instead.”
I looked at the Spear of Lugh, which was still screaming for blood, and said:
“I’ll use this. Let’s get out together.”
Even while I was talking, the Spear of Lugh was spewing furious superpower wave and screaming, to the point it hurt.
Gu Seulbi, looked at my hand holding the Spear of Lugh with a nervous gaze and asked:
“… Why are you doing this for someone you just met?”
It was difficult to reply to those words right away.
Considering Gu Seulbi’s upbringing, I knew it would be difficult for her to blindly accept a person’s goodwill, whose face and name she didn’t know of.
I knew very well how Gu Seulbi would become hopeful at the goodwill her parents sometimes threw at her like a fickle struck them, only for her to be quickly thrown into despair.
Gu Seulbi couldn’t easily accept even the goodwill offered by Ju Su-hyeok as a friend from the same class.
When I wasn’t able to reply, the Phantom Thief Neon opened his mouth first.
“I think such righteous heart is rooted in the sense of camaraderie felt between the phantom thieves.”
In contrast to Gu Seulbi’s reasonable question, the Phantom Thief Neon’s answer was wrong.
Gu Seulbi seemed to have felt it was ridiculous just like I felt in my heart, but because the situation was urgent, she seemed to have decided to ignore the Phantom Thief Neon, instead of facing him.
“Master-nim told me if something happens, there will be a safer method than escaping into a dream.”
“Place safer than a dream?”
“… Ye. He said ‘If something happens, you will be safe if you follow the crow mask.’.”
Merlin told Gu Seulbi such thing?
I didn’t exist in PMH[3], so I didn’t know what Merlin thought of me, and I in no way expected him to say such a thing.
“I’ll go with you.”
But right now those words were enough.
I activated my Gwangrim as I spoke:
“Both of you, close your eyes. Focus on maintaining balance.”
〈Using Gwangrim ‘Player’s Trajectory’.〉
The character I selected was Yong Jegeon, who used Flight and Space Art.
The place the demon king Balor was waiting was across the lake in the otherworldized Garden.
To fly over it with two people, moving using Flight Art and Space Art was necessary.
〈Using the target character skill ‘Flight’.〉
〈Using the target character skill ‘Space Art.’〉
Paaat!
Space formed under two people, and we instantly took off.
Even though the two people closed their eyes, they stably held their ground.
When the flight speed rose, Gu Seulbi lowered her body and stuck the oak staff into the space, but the Phantom Thief Neon stood tall.
“Maintaining balance in high places without safety measures is a phantom thief’s speciality!”
The Phantom Thief Neon added even though no one asked.
Because I lost strength at those words, it seemed that my nerves, which were on edge, controlling the Spear of Lugh, relaxed a little.
At that moment.
Heavy superpower wave pressed down on our group.
“Keuk…!”
The Phantom Thief Neon, who specialized in holding his balance as a phantom thief, shamefully faltered.
“The demon king is about to look this way!”
Paat!
Gu Seulbi tightly closed her eyes and instantly draw a magic circle on the Space Art’s surface, summoning a tree with a drawn shield, and shielded my front.
Then, the surface of the lake we were flying above started to boil and evaporate.
The Garden’s lake was killed because it was touched by the demon king’s gaze, but the tree from druidic magic, succeeded in enduring, wilting just a little.
Shaaa…. Pshhhh….!
But as Balor drew closer, the magical tree lost its form and broke into pieces.
“I think it won’t be able to endure any longer…!”
It was said that even if you close your eyes, avoiding instant death, everything alive will die when touched by that gaze, so it would be difficult to endure.
The two people were said to have items with protection blessings[3], but Midir said it would block ‘only once’.
It couldn’t be guaranteed how long they would shield them.
‘If possible, I hoped to save the protection blessings of higher beings for the future.’
On the other hand, I was safe even in Balor’s vision.
Because thanks to the Spear of Lugh, which had a myth of defeating demon king Balor’s eye, that power couldn’t touch me.
As the higher being left the Spear of Lugh in my care, I couldn’t throw it like Lugh Lámfada in the myth, so the only thing I could do right now was to hold it.
‘I haven’t get within the range yet!’
It was impossible to throw it, but I was a Player.
I could instill superpower wave into the Spear of Lugh and release it.
‘3 seconds until the superpower can reach, 2 seconds…!’
We approach close enough that I could clearly see the eye of demon king Balor even in the darkness.
There was nothing shining in that eye besides one thing — death.
‘This is like… before I came to this world, it’s that…’
I only predicted a physical death before directly facing him.
I thought the death Balor caused was something that happened as result of superpower wave’s pressure, but it was different.
According to the dignity of a mythological being that symbolized death, he showed me death itself.
Inside the Eye of Death, revealed by Balor.
Was Jo Uisin before coming to this world, who received the sentence of terminal illnesses and was dying.
The physical pain that increased day after day, and the despair that accompanied it.
Balor’s eyes reminded me of my own death that I tried to forget.
‘I can’t look away.’
But I couldn’t avoid that eye.
Because my death wasn’t the only thing on the line here.
‘If I close my eyes, I may miss!’
I turned away from the terror pressing down on me, and instilled my superpower wave into the Spear of Lugh that was asking for blood and life energy.
The Spear of Lugh screamed as if it was waiting for the superpower wave.
Paaaat!
Pitch black-like superpower wave spouted out of Spear of Lugh and swallowed the Eye of Death.
My particular black superpower wave dyed Balor’s eye and erased death.
And behind the one-eyed demon king, that seemed to be burned in darkness, we flew towards the exit.
“The demon king’s eye is closed!”
“We’re getting out of this otherworld… Is it done?”
“No, this crazy phantom thief! Why are you spouting resurrection’s spell!”
Following the sound of the two arguing, I heard one more system message.
〈The skill ‘Use of Everything’ rose from level 5 to 6.〉
*~*~*
[1] awoke — literally ‘opened its eyes’
[2] lead — the first move.
[3] protection blessings — =-= you know it, not the system window blessing.
Translator’s note: It could be because this translator consumed too many stories with secret masterminds guiding protagonists to do things and hiding behind the veil of narrative conventions, coincidences and other characters’ plans, but damn, Merlin mentioning the crow mask sounds like it.
It’s okay. I love my unreliable narrators and their counterparts, the third-person true mastermind narrators. I’m okay. ^^;;
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