Chapter 223. Thorough Preparations
When he saw the archangels who had come to kill him, Ryu Min couldn’t help but feel inwardly troubled.
‘Archangels showing up before I can even put Demon’s Blessing on them.’
You have to apply Demon’s Blessing before you kill an angel to receive enormous rewards proportional to your stats.
But ironically, Demon’s Blessing is a buff you can only apply after killing 100 angels.
‘Right now, the only one counted is Sariel—the one I killed last time.’
He had to kill ninety-nine more angels to use the blessing.
‘Without the blessing, even if I kill an archangel, I won’t get even an ant’s claw worth of reward.’
He needed angels to use as sacrifices before killing archangels.
‘What’s the best way to do this?’
After a brief 고민, the answer he came up with was surprisingly simple.
Make the archangels call in reinforcements.
While adjusting things so they’d feel evenly matched.
‘If I crush them overwhelmingly, they won’t even think to call support. Or, on the other hand, they might call in another archangel.’
Another archangel would be a problem.
What Ryu Min needed were sacrifices to build stacks.
‘I need to match my level as closely as possible—so it feels like they can win if they just have a little more manpower.’
It was important to lure them into thinking they could win if they tried hard enough.
Like waving bait to draw in a fish.
‘I’ll need some acting. I’ll deliberately take a few hits I could dodge.’
Even though he knew the Exploding Dagger would detonate on contact, he touched it as if he didn’t know.
Even the Prison of Divine Punishment—something he could have broken in a single blow—he struck it several times, acting like he was trapped and helpless.
‘Luckily, they swallowed it nicely. Now they’ll think the two of them working together is enough to win.’
But if he only kept taking hits, they wouldn’t call in reinforcements.
He needed to show a temporarily stronger form, and the means he used for that was Reaperization.
‘At first, I show myself being pushed back. Then I use Reaperization and overwhelm them, like it’s nothing. And when Reaperization ends? I act flustered and bolt immediately.’
That would buy the angels time to call reinforcements—and also give him an excuse to “run.”
‘Unless they’re idiots, the angels will accept it. I got stronger after turning black.’
The angels would be frustrated.
They’d let a winnable opponent slip right in front of their eyes.
‘And since I wrecked their wings, they can’t chase me, so they’ll call support. And they can’t call archangels either. This mission seems tied to their honor.’
On top of that, they were prideful bastards.
If possible, they’d try to handle it themselves without borrowing an archangel’s power.
The odds were high they’d call in combat angels—forces they could use as much as they wanted.
‘Ideally, I want them to call as many combat angels as possible… no, even if it’s just ninety-nine.’
He didn’t know how many they’d request.
What was certain was that, while waiting for Reaperization’s cooldown to come back, he had to make thorough preparations.
‘I need to raise my stats as much as possible, in preparation for catching angels and using Demon’s Blessing.’
He had quite a lot to do in the remaining forty-four minutes.
He needed to drink potions, and receive this and that buff.
‘I need to go see three people.’
Spreading his wings, Ryu Min cut across the sky.
The first person he went to see was Min Juri.
Because the Bless buff she’d given him at the start of the Round had ended.
“Black Scythe-nim?”
At Ryu Min’s sudden appearance, Min Juri’s eyes went wide like a startled rabbit.
“What were you doing?”
“Ah, I just finished an errand quest a little while ago.”
Min Juri was doing quests in the Holy Empire, exactly as he’d told her.
- Make an offering at the temple
- Run an errand for a priest
- Subjugate nearby monsters and obtain holy water
- Donate to the temple
If you did those four chained quests, you could raise reputation all the way up to Very Friendly.
It was the optimal route for raising human favorability the fastest.
Even though it looked simple, it took at least six hours.
“You’re doing well. Is it time to go subjugate monsters next?”
“Yes. I’m not sure I can catch them on my own, though….”
“You have the cheat skill Bless. That’ll be enough. Don’t worry.”
“Thank you. But… why did you come here?”
“The effect of that cheat skill I just mentioned wore off.”
In other words, he came to get buffed.
It was natural to ask a Buffer for buffs, but Min Juri was still shocked inside.
Because there had only been a handful of times Black Scythe had directly asked her for buffs.
‘B-Black Scythe-nim needs my help….’
For some reason, Min Juri was beaming from ear to ear like it was the most touching thing in the world that he came for “just one buff.”
“Are you going to give them or not?”
“Ah—what am I doing? I’m sorry. Of course I should!”
[Due to skill Bless effect, all stats increase by 80%.]
[Due to skill Swift effect, attack speed and movement speed increase by 80%.]
[Skill Safety Barrier has been applied.]
[You can be protected 2 times against physical attacks only.]
“I put on the three-piece set. Hee-hee.”
“Thanks.”
Even if he didn’t say anything, Min Juri always applied useful buffs on her own.
Flap—
When Ryu Min spread the Wings of Darkness behind him, Min Juri startled.
“That’s a skill I haven’t seen before?”
“Something happened recently. I’m busy, so I’ll go first. Keep working hard on your quests.”
“Thanks for cheering me on, Black Scythe-nim. Take care!”
Ryu Min’s body soared far into the air.
The second place he arrived was the dwarves’ city, Irongray.
It was to meet Russell.
It looked like the promised three hours had passed—Russell was waiting in front of the forge.
“Ah! Black Scythe-nim!”
After descending to the ground, Ryu Min asked calmly.
“Did you wait long?”
“No!”
“The reward?”
“Of course I got it! Would you like to check?”
When Ryu Min nodded, Russell stepped closer and placed a hand on his equipment.
[Due to skill ‘Equipment Polishing’ effect, armor options increase by 20%.]
[The buff lasts until the end of the Round.]
‘A full 20%?’
It had doubled from 10%.
A satisfied smile rose at the corner of Ryu Min’s mouth.
It was worth coming back for the buff.
“While I’m at it, I’ll do it for your other gear too. Your weapons as well.”
“Thanks.”
Russell placed his hands here and there, applying buffs.
Every slot except accessories was reinforced another step.
[Due to skill ‘Weapon Polishing’ effect, weapon attack power increases by 200%.]
[The buff lasts until the end of the Round.]
Not only Equipment Polishing, but Weapon Polishing had increased too.
One three-hour quest had strengthened his overall skills.
And even his reputation with the dwarves.
“Reputation?”
“It was Neutral, but it shot up to Very Friendly in one go. It’s all thanks to you, Black Scythe-nim. Ah—and Prophet-nim too, for arranging the relationship.”
Seeing Russell grinning ear to ear, his skills being strengthened must have made him very happy.
“Good. I’m glad you’re happy. Now all you have to do is level diligently.”
“Thank you, Black Scythe-nim. I’ll work hard so I can be of help going forward!”
“Don’t forget that 마음. I’m busy, so I’ll go.”
Spreading his wings, Ryu Min slowly rose into the sky.
After finding just one last person, he planned to go to the angels.
‘Please tell me they called at least ninety-nine.’
Ryu Min’s body quickly left the city behind.
The Forest of Magical Beasts was crowded with out-of-season angels.
They were Grade 5 angels who had appeared after being called by Uriel and Raguel.
[Uriel-nim. How are your wounds?]
[I’m almost fully healed. You?]
Raguel rolled his shoulder and showed the area where his wing had been torn off.
[Maybe because this is another world, the recovery is slow, but the pain is gone.]
[That’s a relief.]
[Compared to the Great Cheonma War, this kind of wound is nothing. I can’t flap my wings right now, but if we return to the Heavenly Realm, I’ll recover completely.]
Angels could be treated at the “Heavenly Spring.”
Even if their limbs were severed, as long as they were still breathing, they could restore the body to the point it was practically recreated anew.
[Damn it. That human called Black Scythe was stronger than expected. You agree, right?]
[I acknowledge it now. But his rampage ends here. With this much force, it’ll be hard for him to handle.]
Raguel’s gaze swept over the combat angels filling the Forest of Magical Beasts.
In total, two hundred angels, each gripping a weapon, were holding steady positions.
[True. If we join with this force, subduing Black Scythe will be like eating cold porridge.]
[Even if that worm turns black?]
Since it wasn’t a question he could answer lightly, Uriel delayed his reply for a moment.
He only weighed their combat power against Black Scythe’s.
[If he turns black, it won’t be easy. The two of us alone would be lacking. But….]
Uriel’s gaze moved to the soldiers.
‘With two hundred shields to throw in front, the odds are more than 충분하다.’
Hiding his true thoughts, he smiled softly.
[With this much manpower, what is there to fear?]
[Right? This is enough, isn’t it? We can win with this, right?]
[Of course. Still, to prevent unforeseen situations, if Black Scythe turns black, let’s execute him on the spot. It doesn’t look like subduing him will be possible.]
[That’s wonderful to hear. Hee-hee.]
Raguel sincerely hoped Black Scythe would turn black.
He intended to repay the humiliation he’d suffered at the worm’s hands with death.
[Then the force is gathered—shall we go kill Black Scythe—no. Shall we go subdue the worm?]
[We should. Get ready to track him.]
[Yes.]
While Raguel used a tracking artifact, Uriel stepped forward before the soldiers standing like wooden statues.
[Listen. I don’t need to explain who I am, do I? The soldiers who received the support request would have seen my name first.]
The angels didn’t answer, and they didn’t even nod.
To Grade 5 angels, an archangel was an unimaginably distant superior.
If you compared it to an army, it was like a two-star general stepping out in front of a private first class.
[Thank you for supporting more than expected. Your mission is simple. Help me and the Raguel here and eliminate a single human criminal who is disturbing the Heavenly Realm.]
‘A human criminal?’
‘They called this many to catch just one person?’
That humans were weak was common knowledge in the Heavenly Realm.
They’d rushed to respond to a two-star’s request, but they never imagined it would be a mission to catch a human.
[Don’t underestimate him just because it’s one. Among humans, he’s in the stronger category.]
They still thought, How strong could he possibly be?—but no angel said it out loud.
If an archangel said so, then that was that.
The angels’ 관심 was only about earning merit and looking good in the archangel’s eyes.
Right then, Uriel brought up something that would interest them.
[If you wrap this up well, I will personally promote you one step—to Grade 4. So do your utmost for the mission. Understood?]
[Yes!!!]
Their voices were filled with discipline, and their expressions showed the desire to tear the human apart as soon as possible.
Uriel smiled in satisfaction at the morale-boosted soldiers, but only for a moment.
[U-Uriel-nim.]
Seeing Raguel’s flustered face, he couldn’t keep smiling.
[What is it? Did something go wrong with the tracking artifact?]
[No. It’s Black Scythe.]
[What about that human?]
[The distance is closing—he seems to be coming this way.]
[What?]
The one who ran away was coming here on his own?
[Are you sure?]
[I’m sure. The direction and distance—everything is pointing here.]
[Perfect, then. We didn’t even need to go looking for him, did we?]
As Uriel smiled, a strategy flashed through his mind.
[Instead of that, let’s lay a trap and wait. That way we can end it for sure. Estimated time until arrival?]
[Three minutes.]
[Plenty. Tell the soldiers to use the trees as cover and hide. The target will arrive soon—on my signal, ambush all at once.]
[Heh-heh, understood.]
Raguel issued the order immediately, and the angels moved in perfect unison.
Watching them, a smile formed again at the corner of Uriel’s mouth.
‘Go on, come—human. This time, you won’t be able to run.’