SWNOVELXO Chapter 87
Chapter 87. Squama Circle (1)
TL: xLordFifth
ED/PR: The reader
“Keguru!”
“Kegul!”
The screams of the drags continued without pause.
Kim Shimun, the producer of these screams, kept his arms constantly moving.
‘They’re harder to kill than I thought.’
He surveyed the front calmly.
‘Is this because they’re high-ranking dragonkin drags?’
High-ranking dragonkin drags.
Despite their somewhat comical faces that were a cross between frogs and reptiles, they were a species of dragonkin that appeared from the platinum upper ranks.
They were especially known among the higher-ranking species for their toughness and tenacity.
However.
Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.
Wave Annihilation Cannon.
The techniques of the unparalleled martial art, Heavenly Demon Divine Arts, were a different story.
“Ke…”
The drag, unable to even let out a proper moan, had its upper body vanish after being struck by the Annihilation Cannon.
Following that.
Peeing.
Another Annihilation Cannon split the air.
This time, three drags were skewered in a line like kebabs.
“Hmm. Is it cost-effective only if I hit about three at a time?”
Kim Shimun licked his lips as he looked at the three drags whose parts had vanished.
‘Even with a alchemy energy stat over 100, the Annihilation Cannon is a bit burdensome.’
After investing all of the remaining 10 stats, his pure alchemy energy reached 110.
With the addition of +4 from the Chosen by the Constellations, his total alchemy energy was 114.
Even though the bound stat was half of his alchemy energy.
The Annihilation Cannon of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts still felt burdensome.
‘Well, it’s because the Wave type techniques mostly consume a lot of demonic ki.’
Just as his previous life’s Malsuk had complained.
Originally, the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts was a martial art that unfolded on the basis of powerful internal energy, and its Wave techniques unfolded purely with 100% internal energy without any physical medium.
As a result, it notoriously devoured a lot of demonic ki.
‘But as long as I don’t recklessly spam, I should be able to manage. If push comes to shove, I can switch to using brain energy with Astrape.’
Thinking unconcernedly about switching the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts to operate on brain energy instead of demonic ki, a thought that would have shocked his previous life’s Malsuk.
“Looks like they’re about to break on that side too.”
With another Annihilation Cannon piercing through the drags, he looked towards the front where the loud explosions had begun to die down.
Grugrugruk.
“Keguru! Stop dying, damn golem!”
A drag, larger and more ostentatious than the others, appeared to be the leader, having nearly destroyed a giant golem.
Kim Shimun turned his gaze towards the main forces engaged in fierce battle.
“Hold them back! Block them!”
“Damn it! Detoxify faster, I can’t move!”
“Use magic to hinder their entry rather than attack magic! It’s not that we lack damage!”
Amid the sounds of battle with the drags, beasts from the surrounding swamps had swarmed in.
True to its name as a poisoned supply route, from their attacks to their deaths, the monsters spread poison in all their actions.
At a glance, it might seem as if the main forces were being pushed back, but
“Krraaaang! Get lost!”
Crack.
Choi Jinsu, transformed into a colossal lizardman, showed an overwhelming performance reminiscent of a dragonkin, which allowed the main forces were holding their own.
‘As expected of the Beast King. With that level of performance, there’s no need to worry about the main force at all.’
Kim Shimun nodded in satisfaction and said, “Human! Your limbs will, ack!”
Phwoooaruk.
He immediately implanted a King Crushing Fist into the face of a drag that leapt at him from the side, then flicked his fingers.
‘Ah. It’s been a while, feels a bit shaky.’
Contrary to his inner thoughts. Shimun’s lips curled up in anticipation, yet there was a catch. Suddenly, Drdrdrdr.
Not just around Shimun, but everywhere, “Ke, kegul?”
“Grrr. What’s this now?”
Golems, smaller than the ones before but still towering over 2 meters, sprung up from the supply routes where dragons leaped about. There were as many as 20 of them. Shimun looked at the formed golems with a proud gaze, ‘In my past life, using all sorts of items, I could barely manage 10…’
Now, without the hindrance of magic disability and armed with a alchemy energy of 114, Shimun effortlessly created 20 small golems on the spot.
[Constellations Odin and Zeus watch with deepening interest.]
[The Constellations Black Goat and the Heavenly Demon send intrigued glances toward the golems you created.]
This seemed to have piqued the Constellations’ interest, who until the start of the arena had remained quiet, now showing active curiosity. However, ‘The important part begins now.’
Shimun concentrated, paying no mind to the Constellations’ interest. The reason was simple, ‘From around me… to the entire supply route.’
Unlike the single giant golem created earlier, Shimun needed to, “Connect.”
Control all 20 newly formed golems himself.
Ouch!
“Eek!”
As Shimun flicked his fingers to attempt connection with the golems, a sharp headache flashed through his mind. But it was only for a moment.
Grgrgrk.
The 20 golems quickly started moving exactly as Shimun wanted, ‘It must be because alchemy energy is a unique stat of alchemy, affecting golem control too.’
Initially, Shimun had anticipated controlling about 10 golems, but before flicking his fingers, the instinctive knowledge from the 114 alchemy energy stat informed him, ‘You can control twice as many.’
What was even more astonishing, ‘Tie their feet as much as possible.’
Grgrgrk!
All 20 golems began attacking the dragons with ‘separate movements’. This was akin to the concept of double casting, drawing a circle with one hand while drawing a square with the other. Although the overall concepts were similar, the core idea was completely different.
[The Constellations of Zeus and Odin gasp at your control.]
[The Black Goat and the Heavenly Demon twinkle their eyes in fascination.]
Controlling 20 golems at once was a task difficult enough to astonish even the Constellations. After all, even with the help of numerous items in his past life, it was absurd to think of controlling 10 golems with a level 1, magic-disabled body. But now, Shimun was not hindered by magic disability or poor stats appropriate for a level 1.
Instead, a alchemy energy close to 114 backed Shimun up, “Ha… This is exhilarating!”
Shimun went from feeling like he was riding a broken bicycle, Grgrgrk!
“Ke, kegul!”
“Kuh!”
To enjoying the thrill of jetting through the sky. Naturally, -Whoa! What’s this now!
-Crazy lol. Looks like about 20 of them, and he’s moving all of them?
-And they’re all moving separately. Just, wTF lol, can’t help but laugh.
-Did he use some program for this? Is it even possible for a human brain to do this?
-A program that works in the Galaxy Arena? That makes even less sense lol.
-But seriously… I don’t get how one could control 20 separately either…The viewers watching were equally astonished.
Moreover.
-It’s impossible! Controlling 20 golems at the same time?
-I agree with you. This can’t be possible.
-He must have some means of control. Perhaps something like an artifact.
-That’s the most convincing argument. Mr. Kim must have an SSS-Rank artifact related to summoning.
-Oh! If there is such an item, please sell it to me. No matter the cost, I’m willing to buy it.
Even foreigners, who had been trickling in since the gold debut, were chatting among themselves about the unbelievable control.
However.
“Grrr! Just a piece of rock!”
Crack.
The golems’ moment of glory did not last long.
“Dare to confront a dragonkin!”
“Grrr! Shatter!”
The golems that had been pressuring the drakes began to crumble quickly. Neither the lowest class of dragonkin, the drakan, nor the medium class, the Dvali could confront the golems.
However, it was impossible for the golems, spontaneously created on the spot, to stand a chance against the high-class dragonkin, the Drags.
But.
Snap.
With the sound of a finger snap.
Crash.
The shattered golems quickly restored themselves.
Shimun had instantly repaired the damaged golems.
Upon seeing this, a drag with unusually large weapons and bulk roared.
“Ke, Kegul! Find the core! Find the core!”
Then.
“No! We must deal with the summoner first! It’s faster!”
Another drag shouted, plunging the drags into chaos.
Shimun eyed the last drag who had shouted, thinking to himself.
‘That one seems to be the smartest.’
Golems created on the spot without any preparation.
Though not as powerful as fabrication golems made from specific materials or cores.
‘It’s pointless to destroy the golems over and over.’
Conversely, without a core component.
As long as the alchemy energy supported them, they could regenerate endlessly.
Shimun glanced at the once-massive golem that now barely retained its form.
‘Well, this should be enough for golem creation.’
While he did create golems.
Shimun wasn’t overly optimistic from the start.
‘It was mainly to delay the spread of their venom as much as possible.’
For an impromptu creation, the golems had served their purpose well.
Furthermore.
‘This should be enough to start working on fabrication golems.’
He now had a rough estimate of how to utilize golems moving forward.
Snap.
With a flick of his finger, the 20 golems combating the drags crumbled away.
Then.
Snap.
Another flick of his finger.
Rumble!
Suddenly, thunder roared, and a bolt of lightning struck in front of Shimun.
-Wow! There it is!
-Drag emergency situation! ‘That weapon’ has appeared!
-It’s not a weapon, it’s magic. Seriously, the unawakened really stick out like a sore thumb LOL.
-They’re going to get wiped out cleanly.
Astrape.
The chat erupted once more as viewers had witnessed its power several times before.
-Huh? But doesn’t it seem longer than before?
-It’s true? It used to look no bigger than a small stick…
-Now it seems almost like a staff?
-Could it be growing or something?
Even unaware of Astrape’s presence.
The viewers’ guesses were getting close to the truth.
Naturally. The Astrape that Shimun grasped had not only grown in size but had also drastically changed its emitted thunderous energy compared to before. Shimun concentrated on the transformed Astrape for a moment, then opened the information window.
[Astrape]
Grade – Replica (30%)
The spear of Zeus, ruler of Olympus.
It can wield lightning, but for some reason, its power is not fully unleashed.
Originally, the Astrape’s completeness was merely 10%.
However, the current Astrape, fitting its form and thunderous energy, had seen a 30% increase in completeness.
‘So, Astrape also changes completely once its crafting power exceeds 100.’
While its steady growth over time played a part, the feeling of growth becomes distinctly noticeable once the main stat surpasses 100 to reach 101.
Likewise, the completeness of Astrape had jumped significantly.
‘Had I known, I would have increased the crafting power right after the last arena.’
Back then, the crafting power was exactly 100.
‘It would have been much easier when facing Gogeolryun.’
The assassination team of the continent, Shimun hadn’t felt such growth when fighting against the Gogeolryun group.
‘Can’t be helped. It’s not common to gain 25 in the main stat in one go.’
It’s already a thing of the past anyway.
Shimun, with a new grip on the Astrape whose feel had changed, threw it with all his might towards the front. Then, “Weep.”
Along with Shimun’s softly recited command, Zzzzt zap!
From the soaring Astrape in the middle of the contaminated supply route, an enormous lightning storm was unleashed.
The Astrape, now exponentially stronger than before, “Kyaaak!”
“Krrrrrr!”
swept away the Drags, among the higher echelon of dragonkind known for their toughness.
Not just the Drags, sssick.
The colorful poisonous mushrooms and toxic plants filling the contaminated supply route, as well as the poison monsters rushing toward the main force and the toxic gas born of battle.
Those nightmarish things turned into black ash in an instant.
“……”
“……”
Those who survived the cataclysmic storm of lightning were plunged into silence.
Then, boom.
A dark shadow flew and crashed in front of Shimun.
His eyes widened upon identifying it.
“Dayna!”
The Dark Elf Dayna.
Even looked down upon by Diamond players, there she was, bloodied on the ground.
But before the shocked Shimun could approach her, Zzzip.
“Uh.”
Something long and sharp was thrust at Shimun’s feet at lightning speed.
Had he not reacted in time to move his body, it would have been Shimun, not the ground, that was gouged.
With a flick, Shimun created a palm from stone via his crafting power and moved Dayna back to the main force.
“Krrr! You! It was you!”
He turned his gaze towards the owner of the voice filled with fury, “The damn Golem’s master!”
A particularly large and splendid Drag, and its big, sharp eyes seemed to recognize Shimun, glaring at him with murderous intent.
At the same time, “How dare you interfere with the great…”
[Due to special circumstances, all dialogue broadcasted will be muted.]
“Lord Apophis’s event!”
A familiar message window popped up in front of Shimun.
However, Shimun had no attention to spare for the message window.
Right in front of Shimun’s eyes, “I, Draghel, will personally deliver your head to Him!”
a thick tongue was flying towards him.