Chapter 76 - Everyone Else is a Returnee

[Critical Hit!]

{Kroaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!}

As the Orochi’s screams got louder, its attacks became more fierce as well.

Not stopping with making the land a sea of flames, it seemed as if it wanted to make its own body a sea of flames as well. As seven heads were aiming their magic bullets at Yu IlHan in order, eight tails were closing in on him as if to block his path of retreat, as well.

[It’s becoming more used to its own body!] (Lita)

Yu IlHan also agreed to Lita’s opinion. Unlike the beginning where it was unknown whether it wanted to destroy Yu IlHan or the Earth, currently, it had understood its powers and he felt like it was now pinpoint sniping him.

“Huuuuuu~k.” (T/N: Breathing in deeply.)

He moved without loosening his tension at all, deployed weight transfer, along with transcendent regeneration as soon as superhuman strength’s duration ended, and supplied his body with bloodrink whenever it was about to go tired.

He strained his slow brain to calculate the trajectory of the Orochi’s attacks, and took out shields to block them. After all the shields he prepared had broken, he used the corpses of the monsters to replace them. Everything Yu IlHan had were now being used in battle.

“Hup!”

[Critical HIt!]

Yu IlHan’s armor melted down and at the same time, his flesh became burnt. Fountains of blood sprayed out from the Orochi’s body. At least two out of three of his attacks were critical hits, and by now, tens of them were stacked.

“But why the fuck isn’t it dying! Uwaaaaaaaaa!”

{Kroaaaaaaar!}

Yamata no Orochi was also sick and tired of Yu IlHan. A fly that seemed like it would die at any moment not only endured to the point of annoyance, it also dug holes over its body so there was no way it wouldn’t be annoyed.

In the end, it decided.

It had acknowledged that it would actually die if it wanted to keep its pride, and decided to remove him with all its power despite the fact that it mght become a little tattered.

“Huh.”

The time Yu IlHan noticed the change was not long after that. Its tail, body, and head were all gradually coloring in purple, and he could see that its seven heads were shortening while the tails were lengthening and thinning.

Moreover, the sharp spikes that protruded out from each of the tails was as if looking at a poisonous knife.

“Pattern change?”

Absent mindedly muttering, he gripped his spear with both of his hands. He had become enraged.

“Are you some boss monster in a game!? Huh!? Why is the pattern fucking changing!”

[It’s useless even if you vent your frustration in injustice!] (Erta)

“If this is the second phase, then there may as well be a third phase and a final phase!”

{Kroaaaaaar!}

The Orochi answered with a roar. The blades at the end of the tails flew at him as if to pierce through his heart, and after that, its purple colored body started flaming up.

[IlHan!]

Lita shouted, but Yu IlHan did not have the room to answer. He could only think that he was in pain.

He had leapt as soon as he realized that flames were shooting out, but even despite that he could not completely evade the flames.

“Kuuuuuuuuuuuuhk!”

Painful, even though the armor was holding out, that absurd heat could not be blocked completely. The flames transcended space to push his physical body into the abyss. The flesh, muscles, blood, and bones were all being scorched. If he did not have the mentality that had withstood loneliness for numerous years, it would probably have been impossible to remain conscious.

Only now that he had leapt several hundred meters into the air and escaped the effective range of the Orochi, did he continuously deploy transcendent regeneration while madly sucking on the bloodrink.

{Kgaaaaaaaaaaak!}

It also realized that Yu IlHan did not die. However, it did not shoot magic bullets anymore. Yes. It had probably given up its magic bullets in order to set its body on flames once again.

However, to replace it, the eight lengthened tails aimed for Yu IlHan like cannonballs. The blades at the end of the tails were also emitting a poisonous aura with purple light.

It had paid the price of its necks shortening, but the flexibility of the tails became absurdly high. Faster than Yu IlHan falling down, the eight tails were shooting up as if competing with each other.

The scene was a spectacle as if dragons were rising to heaven, but for Yu IlHan, who would be the one to get pierced by it soon, it was quite a damned scene.

“Hup!”

{Kgwaaaak!}

Activating re-leap while falling down, Yu IlHan stepped on the air and got as far away from it as possible.

Its tails did not expect that he would suddenly change directions in mid air, and were tangled into a mess. However, it wouldn’t take a lot of time before it untangled the tails and assault Yu IlHan again.

The place Yu IlHan landed on was on the roof of a collapsed building that was miles away from the original battlefield. Now that he had escaped the first battlefield, the place that had turned into a sea of flames by the Orochi, he felt cool despite there being no wind.

{Kroaaaaarkakagagakaka!}

The Orochi charged towards Yu IlHan. A path of flames rose wherever it passed, but unlike the magic bullets that made the scene of impact a sea of flames, those traces didn’t last long.

It was different from the time he had to give up fighting on the ground and go on its back due to the rain of magic bullets.

Despite the horrifying pain that he felt while his injuries were healing, Yu IlHan ended up laughing at that scene.

Why did it give up its magic bullets? That was because the Orochi was afraid of Yu IlHan climbing onto its back again.

Being annoyed at the fact that increasing injuries on its body, it had given up its most potent weapon. Of course, those bladed tails were just as dangerous, but it was much better than the magic bullets that destroyed the surroundings.

“Now I have the advantage.”

Then, what kind of battle can Yu IlHan do on the ground? This, was already proven countless times.

[The skill, Transcendent Regeneration, has reached Lv 30. The range of regenerating the body increases and becomes more efficient.]

Coincidentally, his body completely recovered just as the skill levelled up. His back, in which even the bones could be seen, was now covered in glossy skin.

Well, he was worried since the armor that covered the flesh were absolutely tattered and molten, but now, he had no thoughts of getting hit again.

Yu IlHan adjusted his posture. He gripped the dragon-exterminating spike spear, which was the number one contributor to this battle, as tightly as possible, bent his knees, and pulled back his arms. The muscles of his arms became taut like a drawn bowstring, puffed up inside his armor.

{Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa!}

“Ha!”

With a single syllable shout, he threw the spike spear, which easily broke through the Orochi’s eight tails before embedding itself deeply into the wound that was made by the pile bunker.

Flames receded, scales shattered, skin became tattered, flesh burst apart, blood evaporated, muscles ripped apart, and bones broke.

[Critical Hit!]

{Kuaaaaaaak!}

“Fuu.”

Yu IlHan sighed in relief after seeing that his attack had worked properly, and that the spike spear that pierced the Orochi’s body had safely been collected into his Cross Bag.

The Orochi also seemed to have realized its own mistake after being injured by Yu IlHan’s throwing spear, but at that time, it was too late – it was impossible to revert its changed body.

{Kroaaaaaar!Kugagagagagkakagagaga!}

“Hup!”

The Orochi charged. The eight tails flew at him from different directions as if each of them had a will of their own; and the blades glistened dangerously at the end of those tails!

However, just because it became a little sharper, there was no reason to fear it in any way. The Orochi, the controller of those blades, had not changed from the start. It had only changed appearances, but the patterns in swinging those tails had no change.

Yu IlHan evaded them all without difficulty, and threw his spear in that process.

[Critical Hit!]

{Kuwaaaaaaaaaaa!}

[How come it’s a critical whenever he throws it?] (Lita)

[It’s just my hypothesis, but isn’t it that the defense of its body had become weaker in price of burning its body in flames?] (Erta)

Yu IlHan ignored the angels’ words for now. He only collected the spear, then threw it again. He evaded the attacks of the tails, evaded its charge which felt like it would collapse the Earth, and threw his spear again.

A critical hit occurred whenever he threw his spear. From the Orochi’s purple flame covered body, fountains of blood sprayed out.

It roared at the heavens, but now that wouldn’t affect Yu IlHan anymore. He could only see the injuries of his prey.

It didn’t matter if his body was injured and tired. He might have thought about it if someone gave him a way out, but wasn’t his fate to live and die on Earth?

He knew that everything would be over if he didn’t kill it, and as such, his fighting spirit only increased. His feeble body endured through each moment with the help of the combination of bloodrink and transcendent regeneration.

At that time, the Lightning God clan had arrived. They were dazed at the sight of Yu IlHan evading the Orochi’s disastrous and frightening attacks by a hair’s breadth, and throwing his spear to burst its skin and break its bones.

“No way.”

Kang HaJin denied reality even though he was looking at the scene with his own two eyes. It wasn’t that he wanted Yu IlHan to die. However, he at least expected that he would be in a tougher situation.

Wasn’t this thing a 4th class? There should be no one on Earth right now who could fight a 4th class alone!

“How can a human, a human of Earth… This isn’t possible.”

“But he is human, thooooough.”

“Weapon. His weapon must be special.”

The solution that Kang HaJin came up with in denying reality couldn’t be more correct but the others ignored him.

The Clan Master, Kang MiRae, gritted her teeth while looking at Yu IlHan fighting the Orochi on equal grounds.

“We will help him exterminate the Orochi.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Kang MiRae declared and bit on a blue colored potion before holding up her staff with both of her hands.

“The Orochi’s aggro is solely held by him anyway. We only need to be careful of the stray attacks. Like those blades and fire.”

“Looks like I should defend with my life on the line.”

“Na YuNa, you help him like you said last time. They may look like they are equal but the Orochi has not shown its limits yet.”

“Yup, I came here to do exactly that.”

“Good, I’ll leave it to you.”

Having finished with ordering, Kang MiRae started casting her incantation. Na YuNa buffed her with a magic enhancement, before turning her gaze towards Yu IlHan.

The land was burning. The Orochi burning in purple light looked like a monster that came to destroy humanity, and Yu IlHan was blocking it, alone, on the ground.

What seemed like an iron wall-like armor was molten to the point that it could not be any less effective, and the spear in his hands also became slightly blunt after breaking through the flames so many times. Just looking at those two equipment was enough to make her imagine what kind of frightening battle he had until now.

It was curious that no injuries could be seen on his body, but he was probably tired despite having no injuries.

[That human is a monster. He’s a monster incomparable to the Orochi.] (Feyta)

“I know, Feyta.”

Seeing Yu IlHan holding out alone against a 4th class mutant boss, Feyta seemed slightly scared despite her pride as a higher existence. However, Na YuNa smiled slightly and replied in a nonchalant manner.

“That’s why it’s more fun.”

Na Yuna raised her two hands without hesitation, and brought out all her holy power that she had not used even in this frightening battlefield. The scene of her entire body being covered in pink colored aura made people wonder if she was really a 2nd class. (T/N: Hen~~shin~~~!)

“Your servant that was blessed by you, Na YuNa, dearly wishes.”

The lands shook. Even the berserk mana in the air could not win against that power and was sucked into her. Kang Mirae, who was preparing her magic, Kang HaJin, who was desperately guarding at the front, and even the Orochi who was attacking Yu IlHan turned their attention to her.

Only Yu IlHan, the target of the holy power, threw his spear several times while the Orochi was distracted.

And Na YuNa’s chant was finished.

“Bestow your mark of a hero to the one that strives to save the world by defeating great evil!”

Yu IlHan’s injured and fatigued body warmed up in an instant as if he had entered hot springs.

[For 5 minutes, health and magic recovery rate increases by 300%. Attack power increases by 70% and critical hit rate increases by 50% when fighting against an enemy that is 100 levels or more higher than you.]

A too-delightful-to-be-true notice of green text appeared on Yu IlHan’s retina. That was a sudden and huge power.

Yu IlHan instantly realized why an angel was tagged on to Na YuNa. She was an absurd monster. The words ‘She’s the hope of Earth’, or ‘She will save humanity’ weren’t lies.

Of course, to use Na YuNa’s chant perfectly, there was an absurd condition where one had to fight something or someone a hundred levels higher than them, but that wasn’t a problem right now.

Although he had levelled up several times during this incident, he was still a 2nd class (Lv200)!

{Kroooooaaaaaaar!}

However, the Orochi didn’t seem to like the oh-hope-of-Earth Na Yuna. Its eight tails that continuously tried to pierce Yu IlHan seemed to miss him before heading towards Na YuNa!

Of course, this was within Yu IlHan’s calculations.

Thinking that he wouldn’t be a human if he left her to die after being buffed, Yu IlHan kicked off the ground instantly to catch up with the tails and swung his spike spear. The moment he did, his arm muscles puffed up to the limits.

“Haap!”

His spear strike was tremendously more destructive than just now, and at the same time, was frighteningly sharp. Although the spike spear had become slightly blunt after being thrown into fire several times, if the wielder was a master of spearmanship, then it was as good as new.

And that, had called for a miracle.

[Critical Hit!]

A flash flickered across the air, and unbelievably, one of the Orochi’s eight tails were cut off midway and rolled on the ground. After that, it was collected into the Cross Bag immediately. Now Yu IlHan had a matching pair – a head and a tail.

{Kruuuuuukagagagagagak!}

[Wow, this actually got cut.] (Lita)

Lita muttered in a daze. Even Yu IlHan didn’t imagine that it would actually get cut apart, and became dazed momentarily, while the Orochi rolled on the ground in pain. The people who were looking at that scene all became dazed as well.

“Yup, heroes should do at least that much!”

Only the one who gave the buff, Na YuNa, nodded in satisfaction.

{Kroarararararar! Kigugggagagagagak!}

Orochi’s pain-filled screams resounded across the lands, and after that, its landscape-changing power ran berserk. (T/N: Remember how the lizards in LA had this power too?)

From the concrete and cement rubble-covered land, purple vines started growing. Every time it screamed, the thorned vines grew, got thicker, and shot up.

“Shit!”

“Master, not yet!?”

Kang MiRae did not answer them. It was as if she would keep chanting even if those thorned vines covered her up. No, perhaps, nothing could be seen in her eyes.

As such, all the clan members with Kang HaJin at the head, could only sigh while they defended against the shooting vines in order to protect Na YuNa and Kang MiRae.

[Yu IlHan!] (Erta)

“Not yet.”

Tens of layers of thorned vines flew at him to restrain him. However, Yu IlHan did not activate leap to avoid them and instead cut apart each and every one of them with his spear while running forward. He endured the thorns that pierced his body. He sucked on the bloodrink, and recovered those wounds using transcendent regeneration.

[I think you drank 50 liters just in this fight.] (Lita)

“You wanna drink too?”

Joking around, Yu IlHan swung his spear. It was probably due to Na YuNa’s buff, but during the short 5 minutes, he had the power to slash apart the Orochi’s tail. The fact that the Orochi had blocked Yu IlHan’s path using vines was also because it had realized that Yu IlHan could be a threat to its life.

It probably knew as well that this kind of absolute power wouldn’t stay with Yu IlHan for long. The thorned vines were only to drag time. What was frustrating was that Yu IlHan had no choice but to be done in by this scheme.

However, even so.

“I can win.” Yu IlHan muttered while glancing at the Lightning God Clan.

Of course, he would have fought with his life on the line even if he was alone, but thanks to them appearing he now could clearly see the path to victory.

Especially, that incantation that Kang MiRae was chanting now.

A high concentration of mana that was unbefitting of a 2nd class, was still gathering towards her. This level of mana was plenty dangerous for the Orochi after it had become riddled with wounds due to the fight with Yu IlHan!

{Kroaaaaar!}

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The destination that Yu IlHan was heading to while cutting apart the vines was of course, the Orochi. Like how it had attacked Na YuNa last time, Yu IlHan was sure that it would attack Kang MiRae, and to prevent that, he was planning to throw himself, the biggest threat, in front of it.

{Krrrrrrr!}

The forest of thorned vines was cut apart as a whole. Yu IlHan’s spear made a path, and he blocked and struck against the tail that was heading to Kang MiRae.

“Dammit.”

Just one action of defending made his shoulder muscles and bones broken, but they soon recovered and solidified. Thanks to Na YuNa’s chant, the efficiency of transcendent regeneration had increased quite a lot.

Pain was the evidence of life, if he didn’t die then he could endure no matter how long. Well, at least for the 4 minutes that Na YuNa’s chant lasted!

He had to kill it within that time somehow. If Kang MiRae’s chant was completed before that, then it was possible.

{Krrrrr, Kroarararararara!}

However, immediately after he thought that, what he had expected to a certain point, but didn’t wish for it to happen, had arrived.

Yamata no Orochi’s body started changing again.

It had also realized. This was the final phase. The moment of showdown between human and monster!

(T/N: DUN DUN DUN, CLIFFHANGER!!!)

Author’s notes

, the boss fight ends. I wanted to finish within book 3 though… T^T

Since this monster was hard to fight against currently, the fight scene became long. I compressed where I could, but there might be something lacking despite that. Please enjoy it!!

Translator’s notes

It’s so confusing as to whether I should use plural or singular when translating Orochi’s actions cuz there are 7 heads and 8 tails…

Also, people wondering about critical hit rates, it’s probably not that ‘100% increase in critical hit rate’ will give him a critical whenever he strikes, but that it will be twice as likely as when he doesn’t have one. So, 100% increase in critical hit rate doesn’t mean 100% critical hit rate, but two times the probability.

So… any grammar nazis out there? Leaped or leapt? I keep thinking it’s leapt, but using it for re-leap, i.e. re-leapt sounds weird, so I kept it as leaped.

Is it leap-leaped-leapt, or leap-leapt-leapt? (present-past-past participle) (Or something else entirely?)

Na YuNa’s chant sounds so cheeky…

Editor’s note: Ever since I heard EER did not have a PR, I immediately jumped to ask Chamber whether I could and he gave me the heads up. So, from now on, I’m gonna help make the chapters easier to read. Hopefully it helps!

Translator : Chamber

Proofreader: Kerrigan