The Player that Can’t Level Up

Chapter 355: Ironshield (5)

Silence and tension filled the air. Soon, the giant stopped shrinking, yet no one made a move, as despite shrinking, it was still appropriately enormous. Also, its skin was still boiling.

Shouldnt we run away? Kang Ji-Hee felt impatient. It was a minor change, but it felt like the calm before the storm. She and the rest couldnt help being nervous.

But I cant seem to move at all. Anxiety and Haures threat prevented her from moving freely. And besides, I want to see who wins.

Kang Ji-Hee was curious to see who would come out victorious. Would Kim Gi-Gyu return safely? She wasnt certain, but she prayed that he would. Until now, Gi-Gyu had proven himself to be a powerful figure, so Kang Ji-Hee thought he would come out of this alive.

Suddenly, the dragons in the air began crying loudly and moving. They had been circling the corpse until now, but they were now flying together.

Kwerrrk! The darkest dragon in the middle looked like the king of all the dragons. Named Dark Dragon, it roared, and two more sets of wings appeared from its back with a cracking noise. It spread all its wings and flew straight toward the sky. It flew as if gravity was just an opinion; it quickly became a dot in the sky.

Get ready, Haures announced. Kang Ji-Hee turned toward him and saw that Haures had raised his hands to summon his sorcerous energy.

Is he forming a barrier? She couldnt be certain, but the form his sorcerous energy took resembled a barrier.

Prepare yourselves! Haures yelled again. Kang Ji-Hee and the Angela Guild members quickly got ready to use their skills when suddenly, Dark Dragon screeched. It exuded a black cloud of energy that rained down dark droplets on the other dragons, which extracted sorcerous energy from them. All this sorcerous energy pooled and quickly formed a barrier.

This barrier was almost complete when something shot out from the giant and flew toward Kang Ji-Hee. Thankfully, the barrier protected her.

Whack!

...! She was so shocked that she couldnt even scream. Whatever hit the barrier exploded, and then Kang Ji-Hee and the other Angela Guild members recognized what it was from its splayed pieces.

Its flesh Some body part, perhaps, Human or not, they couldnt tell, but it was definitely flesh covered in blood.

Haures coldly explained, He couldnt digest it So he is vomiting his meal. Get ready! If even one of those chunks gets through the barrier and reaches us, were all dead.

It was a warning, threatening and cautionary.

***

... Gi-Gyus head was throbbing, and he had difficulty opening his eyes. Thankfully, circulating Life once returned everything to normal.

Where am I now? Gi-Gyu asked with his eyes open now. The last thing he remembered was seeing Ironshields memory of eating Andras. Then, he had felt something snap. After waking up, he had found himself in an unfamiliar place again.

Even before Gi-Gyu turned his face, he heard familiar voices.

Are you awake now?

Grandmaster.

Kwerrk

Kirrk!

Unlike the voices, the scene in front of him looked unfamiliar.

What are all these? asked Gi-Gyu. Hal came running to help him stand, but Gi-Gyu refused. He wasnt in bad enough condition to need help. Instead, he was busy trying to know the situation.

The world he saw had a crimson veneer on it. He could see so many corpses that he couldnt even count them all; some seemed human. There was a massive mountain, the size of the giant he had killed, of flesh, blood, bodily fluids, and corpses before him. It was a frighteningly grotesque sight.

When the giant burst, he mustve hurled all the bodies he couldnt digest, Haures approached Gi-Gyu and explained.

... Gi-Gyu continued to stare at the countless corpses. These are all the bodies Andras injected into Ironshield.

It was a terrible realization. Gi-Gyu was used to gruesome sights, yet even he felt like vomiting with disgust.

Blerg!

Blerggg!

Ugh!

When Gi-Gyu turned around, he saw that many others were already throwing up. But mostly, it was just the Angela Guild members, including Kang Ji-Hee, vomiting and gagging. Gi-Gyu saw the pile of vomit in front of them and asked, How long was I out?

No one answered, so Gi-Gyu pointed at the giant and asked again, How long has it been since I left that?

About 10 minutes in human time, Haures answered.

No one had to explain for Gi-Gyu to realize that he was one of those corpses that the giant had vomited.

Any survivors? Gi-Gyu asked, just in case. Perhaps one or more bodies had woken up like him.

... Haures remained quiet, but it wasnt because the answer was no. It appeared that he felt uncomfortable because there was another survivor.

Where? Haures reaction told Gi-Gyu the survivor wasnt someone they wanted alive. He had a good guess, so he turned to stare at the meaty pile before hearing the answer.

Every corpse on the meat mountain belonged to someone Ironshield had absorbed. The corpses werent even the victims original bodies. The pieces left of their mind had used whatever they remembered to create these. The real bodies had already melted and melded inside Ironshield.

And the screams I heard were from them. Gi-Gyu guessed that these creatures had tried to force-sync with him. He looked away. What happened to them was unfortunate, but there was nothing he could do.

Where is he? Gi-Gyu asked Haures again. He stepped forward and added, Where is Ironshield?

Gi-Gyu was certain the survivor among all these corpses was Ironshield.

***

Hes here. Haures escorted Gi-Gyu to a place far away from the meat pile.

Im relieved, Go Hyung-Chul muttered when he saw Gi-Gyu.

When Gi-Gyu smiled, Go Hyung-Chul argued, I wasnt worried about you or anything, so dont get any ideas.

Gi-Gyus smile widened. Say that after wiping your tears.

Go Hyung-Chul was now stronger than a high ranker, yet he had forgotten to wipe away his tears. Gi-Gyu could see how much Go Hyung-Chul had worried about him.

By the way, what happened to you? Gi-Gyu pointed at Go Hyung-Chuls neck.

Go Hyung-Chul married his eyes before replying, Ah That damn wolf! Never mind. I dont want to talk about it.

I have a guess now. Gi-Gyu could deduce what had probably happened without further explanation. Go Hyung-Chul looked away in annoyance, and Gi-Gyu finally saw the survivors. He was shocked to see that there were two survivors.

It wasnt just one? Gi-Gyu had been certain that Ironshield was the only survivor. Therefore, he hadnt even asked Haures about it as they had walked here.

Go Hyung-Chul asked in confusion, You didnt know?

Gi-Gyu knew it wasnt Haures fault and that he shouldnt have assumed stuff, but Haures still slumped in shame.

Besides, it doesnt matter. Gi-Gyu didnt care if one or two survived. It was a good thing that more had lived.

... Gi-Gyu got closer. Only the chests of the survivors were heaving; if not for that, they would have been no different from the corpses outside. Gi-Gyu didnt recognize one of them, but the other one looked familiar.

Ironshield Ironshields face was twisted and deformed, but Gi-Gyu was sure who he was.

This guy Go Hyung-Chul pointed at the man lying next to Ironshield. Hes the unknown player we told you about before.

What? Gi-Gyu didnt hide his surprise. The mysterious player was one of the reasons Gi-Gyu had come here. This man was why Haures and the rest had been attacked and trapped.

I have no idea who he is. Gi-Gyu studied the player, who looked Asian but had blond hair and pale skin.

Hes definitely human, but Gi-Gyu couldnt tell who he was. The player was alive, so Gi-Gyu decided to find out more about him later. He decided to inject a bit of Life into the unknown player to keep him alive.

...! Gi-Gyu pulled his hand back in shock.

Whats wrong? asked Go Hyung-Chul.

This player He has a high affinity toward Life.

What?

I dont think this is the first time he got injected with Life.

... Go Hyung-Chul tried to understand what Gi-Gyu was saying, but he looked confused.

I dont think I can save him, Gi-Gyu announced. I can extend his life a little, but hes too damaged. His existence itself was damaged.

The same had happened to those two angels who had died in the Vatican. Once ones existence was damaged, Life wasnt enough to bring them back. Gi-Gyu could feel that this player had suffered a similarly fatal injury. Because he had a high affinity toward Life, he hadnt been annihilated. He could live a while longer, but that was it.

Taking another step, Gi-Gyu stood in front of Ironshield.

... A complicated look appeared on Gi-Gyus face as he stared at Ironshield, who looked dead. Ironshield

They had a terrible history between them. Gi-Gyu remembered how Andras had claimed that Ironshields purpose was to be killed by him. For an unknown reason, Andras had let Ironshield eat him. Before his death, Andras had ordered Ironshield to climb the Tower and be killed by Gi-Gyu.

Andras definitely has a secret plan Gi-Gyu thought for a moment before reaching toward Hal.

Hal. When Gi-Gyu called out quietly, Hal handed him his halberd.

... Everyone remained quiet while they watched Gi-Gyu. No one said a word or made a suggestion. Their eyes glowed as they stared.

Gi-Gyu raised the halberd before plunging it into Ironshields chest.

You can rest now, Gi-Gyu announced. Ironshields death was simple, unlike their history.

And finally, Ironshield was dead.