Chapter 74 - A Battle Beyond Limits
’I need to find the weakness.’
But at that moment—
"You are..."
Someone from District D-5 called out to him.
A man wearing a raccoon mask and another with a panda mask were staring at him, fully on guard.
"...Are you human?"
"..."
"D-Don’t come any closer!"
Skkkrrk!
Jhin passed them without a word and sliced off the fingers of Lykan, who was creeping up behind them.
He swallowed hard and spoke to the two tense men.
"If you don’t want to die, get out of here."
His voice seemed to mix with multiple others—woman, man, elderly—all at once, overlapping.
"Hurry."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
The raccoon and panda masks, scared out of their minds, quickly fled the scene.
Watching their retreating backs, Jhin lifted his head again.
At some point, huge fangs were rushing straight toward him.
Jhin widened his eyes and dodged out of the way.
Kwa-jik!
"...You trying to eat me?"
He didn’t need to hear an answer.
He could tell from the monster’s eyes—they were locked solely on him.
Again, the monster’s remaining left hand lunged toward Jhin .
He leapt aside, muttering.
"Definitely no intelligence left."
Lykan’s intellect hadn’t been particularly high to begin with, but this thing didn’t seem to have any intelligence at all.
A true "brainless goblin."
It moved purely on the instinct to devour souls and grow stronger.
Meaning, it now saw even the "Elendil Jhin "—covered in compressed souls—as nothing more than a meal.
Well, no wonder.
There probably wasn’t a more appetizing target than Jhin right now, with all the souls clinging to his body.
"All right. Come chase me."
Stepping onto the train roof, Jhin sprinted toward District D-6, retracing the path he had come from.
Predictably, Lykan, as if possessed, chased right after him.
[Skill ’Ryuan (A)’ has been activated.]
At the same time, his golden-lit eyes darted around, scanning Lykan thoroughly.
There it was—the unnatural flow around the monster’s neck area remained unchanged.
’That must be the source.’
Once he thought he’d gained enough distance from District D-5, Jhin suddenly changed direction and rushed toward Lykan instead.
As the beast reached out to devour him, Jhin once again swung his sword.
But this time, he couldn’t cut cleanly through.
He had to roll away to dodge the monster’s half-dangling left hand.
"Uwooooh!!"
The monster swiftly reattached the torn limb by weaving the souls back together.
At that moment, Jhin fixated his gaze on one particular spot.
’The back of the neck.’
It was obvious: all the soul flows converged through that area.
It felt almost like a spine—like a nervous system.
Kwaduk!
Jhin ’s vision flared brightly.
The goblin mask covering his face cracked and partially fell away.
The armor of souls wrapping his body also began to leak out like a collapsing dam.
’No time.’
He was rapidly exhausting his ability to control the souls.
His body could no longer sustain the skill much longer—a sure sign that if he pushed any harder, even if he could maintain "Elendil" mode, his life would be forfeit.
He had no leeway left.
"Hrrrrgh..."
Drawing a sharp breath, Jhin ’s eyes flashed as he charged forward.
The Wailing Sword of Master of Chaos screamed as it cut through the air.
[Item ’Master of Chaose’s Wailing Sword ’ activates the special skill ’Frostbite.’]
A surge of frost flared around the blade’s edge.
His target: the monster’s Achilles tendon.
Skkk! Skrrk!
"Uwooooh!!"
Severing one side made the monster stumble, losing its balance.
With its posture lowered, Jhin had a clearer view of his true target.
He leapt up immediately.
Whooosh!
Lykan’s left hand slammed toward him like a mosquito being swatted.
Jhin spun his body mid-air, slicing off the monster’s fingers while stepping onto its arm.
Tup!
Using the beast’s arm as a springboard, he propelled himself up onto its shoulder.
Lykan’s madness-filled eyes sluggishly followed his movements.
At the moment when Jhin focused all his strength into the sword—
[Skill ’Power Focus (F)’ has been activated.]
Skrrrk!
The sword drove in smoothly.
The deeper he cut through the monster’s flesh, the louder its howls grew.
Slice after slice, peeling away the bizarre flesh that oozed souls instead of blood.
Jhin ’s eyes sharpened.
With the soft skills, he could now see it clearly—the unnatural flow.
The source of the monster’s power was right before him.
’This is...’
He let out an involuntary chuckle.
It was reckless to laugh during battle, but he couldn’t help himself.
Because—
’All because of something this stupid?’
Lykan, having evolved into an "Elendil."
He had been so curious how it managed to keep evolving without a dungeon break—
And now he realized.
It had been such a ridiculously simple trick all along.
"Uwoooohhhh!!"
Watching the C-ranked Lykan wail in rage, Jhin bit down hard on his lip.
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📚 Hey dear reader! 📚 Hey dear reader
🔗 www.patreon[dot]com/c/levelingmonarch/shop
If you’ve made it this far, it’s clear you’re enjoying the story! ❤️
But I noticed that the price here on WebNovel is way too high... 😓
So, I decided to publish the novel on Patreon at just 10% of the price 💸—to help you save your money!
🔥 You’ll also get access to 750+ advanced Chapters!
👉 To read the novel, please click the button below and check out the store link. If you’re currently on a tight budget, feel free to message me—I’ll gladly offer you a discount! 💬😊
🔗 www.patreon[dot]com/c/levelingmonarch/shop
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