Chapter 126

Level Up IlDanSimPanGwan – Chapter 126 (126/227)

Chapter 126: Arena (4)

“Khhp…”

Clowe was pushed back and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Another long wound had opened up on her side.

Due to the unexpected fierce battle, her stamina had already dropped below 40%.

Meanwhile, Ail’s health, slowly recovering through holy magic, had already surpassed 25%.

The situation was reversing from earlier.

‘This can’t be happening…!’

Clowe’s expression twisted in frustration.

She had an extremely strong belief in her own skills within Warode.

And because of that, she couldn’t believe the current state of affairs.

Losing to someone stronger was one thing, but being beaten by a mere level 80s user…

It was more than just damaging her pride as a player; it was shattering her mental state.

‘Something… has shifted somehow?’

On the other hand, Ail, who was fully immersed in the fight, felt somewhat dazed.

Since blocking what could’ve been a fatal attack, he’d felt strangely lighter.

A subtle difference he could vaguely sense.

This was related to Ail’s changing synchronization rate.

When his synchronization rate had been forcibly set to 99% at the start of the game, changes began as it approached 100%.

Though still minor enough that neither observers nor Ail himself could clearly notice anything.

“Waaaah!”

“Amazing!”

The audience erupted in excitement over the intense battle.

Annoyed by their loud chatter, Clowe turned her head toward them.

But then, amidst their voices, she faintly heard the name “Ail.”

“Hold on… Are you Ail?”

Clowe hesitated and looked at Ail standing before her.

Though Ail didn’t respond, she realized who he was after hearing about him.

He was Ail, the insane heretic judge of Esmaier.

Considering his profession as a heretic judge and his absurd skill level compared to his level range, everything made sense.

‘Yeah, I definitely heard he beat Roden…’

Though she hadn’t seen it herself, she’d already heard that he defeated Roden.

“Good, this is actually convenient. Crushing you here will raise my bounty even more.”

Pfft!

She charged forward using a dash skill at high speed.

With Clowe rushing straight at him, Ail instead ran directly toward her.

Despite wielding a longsword, Ail moved to close the distance.

It was too late for weapon swapping now, so Clowe smirked at what seemed like Ail’s mistake.

But only for a moment.

Bam!

“Guh…!”

Clowe’s face was brutally struck by Ail’s shoulder, distorting in pain.

It wasn’t just a simple collision.

This was the eighth skill Ail acquired upon reaching level 80.

[Ultimate: Shoulder Bash (Hero)]

While the original shoulder bash skill was famous for pushing enemies back while dealing damage,

the hero-ranked version not only increased its power but also added a stun effect.

It was a martial arts skill learned specifically to counter opponents closing in when wielding a longsword.

“Ahhh, no way…”

Clowe stumbled back, clutching her head.

No matter how hard she tried to regain focus, there was nothing she could do against the system-enforced stun.

During that time, Ail’s cooldown ended.

Raising both longswords high,

“This is absolutely…”

Kwaaang!

His twin sword slashes swept through her.

With her health depleted, Clowe was sent flying with a burst of white flames and collapsed into near-death condition.

She lacked even the strength to struggle or scream.

Ail stepped forward and delivered a final downward slash to her neck.

Kwaak!

Long streaks of blood splattered across the floor.

Clowe was instantly teleported back to her team’s area, and Ail turned his gaze toward them.

Their remaining members stared back at him, pale-faced and terrified.

“Next.”

* * *

[Victory in the Colosseum Match!]

[The Light Judge Lu commends your excellent performance!]

[Goddess Favor +1.00% (Current 87.85%)]

[Light Church Contribution +1,500]

[Faith Stat +5]

[Madness Stat +5]

[Title ‘Reverse Sweeper’ Acquired!]

[Title ‘Master of the Arena’ Acquired!]

[Title ‘God of Winning Streaks’ Acquired!]

After the remaining three burned alive on the execution pyre,

messages floated before Ail celebrating his reverse sweep victory.

Smiling satisfactorily, he checked his record window.

[30 Wins 0 Losses (Win Rate 100%), 1,714 Points]

Achieving a 30-match winning streak and surpassing the fabled 1,700-point mark.

Thanks to completing the reverse sweep alone despite his teammates being eliminated, he received bonus rewards greater than a normal victory.

Most importantly, he had gathered all 50,000 points needed to purchase the Shattering Seal for this arena run.

“Good, this brings me one step closer.”

As difficult as the process was, the Shattering Seal was clearly a rare item.

And since a quest required such an item, the reward would likely be substantial.

Pfft!

Avoiding the crowd’s gaze, Ail quickly left the arena.

He planned to visit the exclusive shop and leave the arena before things got too crowded.

As soon as he disappeared after the match ended, his teammates froze in surprise.

The spectators also rushed out trying to locate Ail again.

“This… He really won…”

A guild member of Black Wolf scratched his head.

Daryun, still seated, slightly curved his lips upward.

“Interesting. The video of him defeating Roden… wasn’t all hype after all.”

* * *

After the storm of blood passed through Media’s arena,

Ail headed back to the White Forest and delivered the Shattering Seal to the high elves.

Upon receiving the seal, they used a ritual to break the strong seal on the Dark Elf’s directive.

In return, Ail happily received violet skill books from the grateful high elves along with a fair amount of gold.

But the real reward was yet to come.

The contents of the dark elf directive contained far more information than Ail expected.

First off were several destinations the original dark elf directive holder intended to visit next.

Various locations, including spirit sanctuaries, were listed, and Alunde mentioned he’d track them down based on this information.

At the same time, they claimed they’d issue stern warnings to the dark elves now that they had concrete evidence.

Of course, if a simple warning would’ve sufficed, things wouldn’t have escalated this far.

This situation could potentially lead to war between the elves, and Alunde appeared ready to risk full-scale conflict.

“Well, let’s leave that side to the elves for now…”

In pitch-black darkness,

Ail carefully stepped forward while holding a light.

‘The real jackpot among all that was something else entirely.’

The core information hidden near the end of the directive.

Details about a newly discovered region never found until now.

Dark elves had been using spirit stones to cause severe pollution, resulting in significant ground erosion in some areas.

The key was discovering a new region beneath one of these eroded areas.

‘The last part of the directive was brief, so not every detail was included. But the location was clearly marked.’

With that, Ail was heading down through the eroded ground via the entrance detailed in the directive.

Though the erosion-created passage was unstable in many ways, it continued uninterrupted downward.

This at least proved the information wasn’t false.

‘With the arena footage currently under studio production… If this info pans out, I’ll be set for a while…’

Holding the light, Ail descended carefully through the rough terrain.

He had to pay attention to avoid slipping on rocks softened by pollution.

Honestly, climbing back up would be quite troublesome, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

As seen in forbidden temples, discovering a new dungeon first often brought tremendous rewards.

Moreover, Ail was the only one who had broken the directive’s seal, meaning there were no other competitors at this point.

Judging by the associated quest levels, it seemed to be around the 100s level range, which would increase the potential rewards even further.

Tap!

“Did I arrive?”

At the end of the dark passage,

when Ail jumped down and landed below, soft light began shining from all around.

Within Warode, softly glowing floors and ceilings typically indicated underground dungeons or new terrains.

Feeling the wind blowing, Ail soon realized he was standing atop a tall cliff.

“Wow, it’s a cliff? So this place is…?”

Looking down from the cliff’s edge,

Ail’s face froze in shock.

Rather than finding a newly discovered dungeon as he hoped,

what greeted Ail was something completely different.

An enormous expanse of land spread out below.

And numerous underground cities, scattered across the vast area, emitted their own light.

Not just a new city… It was the discovery of an entire new region beyond that.