Hard Carry Support

Chapter 169 - Qualities of a Transcendent (3)

The most important thing at that moment was speed!

Rather than fighting the defeated soldiers, it was more important to break those blocking them and pass through.

Whir-

At that moment, magic activated from behind.

Hyun realized what magic it was just based on the effect. He rotated.

Smash!

Pillars of ice rose from the ground, but the moment the «Sword of Darkness» touched them, they were torn apart.

「Hyun, up…!」

「I know!」

Due to the ground’s intense vibrations, one of the walls was about to collapse.

Were the Magicians aiming for that?

Usually, Hyun wouldn't dare to move under a falling wall, but he had Darkness’s Authority at the moment.

Crack-!

The «Sword of Darkness» even cut the falling wall in half.

The sword absorbed all of the collapsing rocks and swirling fog, so they didn't need to slow down.

「Ain, my back!」

When Hyun shouted, a white light flew toward the group.

Incineration, the magic that had turned the town to dust.

As she hid behind Louise, Ain saw the world flash as light and darkness warred.

The «Sword of Darkness» absorbed Incineration and cast long shadows behind Louise and over Ain.

'This… is my power.'

Louise couldn't help but be surprised while looking at the giant sword she was wielding.

'So this is the strength of a demon…!'

She'd calmed down after recovering her Ego.

Although she could still feel the pain and sadness of the devils, she wasn't swept away by them anymore.

The sadness in her heart was replaced with ecstasy because the devils were happy while they watched Darkness advancing.

'I want more.'

Louise suddenly felt greedy.

It was known that seeking power was part of a demon's nature, but she'd never thought about why demons sought more strength.

Wasn't it because they couldn't ignore the emotions of those that felt happy and sad because of them?

The moment Louise gained the strength of a Transcendent, she began feeling that all the souls connected to her were important—even weak devils like skeletons and ghosts.

And among those, the soul that was the closest to her…

'Hyun…'

That felt the most important. She wasn't sure if she thought of him as special… or if she was someone special to him.

Sometimes, it was hard to identify where the Empathy began.

'I want to be like you.'

Even if she'd awakened her strength as a demon, if it weren't for Hyun, she wouldn't have been able to do anything.

She remembered what Hyun had told her: She needed to get the qualifications to become a demon.

That probably meant one didn't have the right to obtain a strength they couldn't control.

Hyun's existence grew within Louise.

[Darkness's Strength: 105 seconds]

On the other hand, even while fighting, Hyun was thinking with a cool head.

'As expected, this isn't enough…!'

Hyun gulped.

Based on the situation and how much time was left on Darkness's Strength, it would be impossible to kill all the enemies or pass them before it ran out.

It was something he'd expected. After all, absolute power didn't last long.

After Louise began showing overwhelming power, the Knights began avoiding confrontation.

They only used long-range magic or destroyed the terrain to slow down their movements because everyone had received Shakron’s orders, who had told them to slow down Darkness as much as possible.

「Hyun, how far have we come?」Ain anxiously asked.

It seemed like she also felt the same.

Hyun glanced at the map he'd found on the interloop and answered.

「I don't know…」

「Didn't you just look at the map?!」

「I can't tell just by taking a glimpse at it!」

The canyon full of fog was like a labyrinth—it was so big that one could say it was a sea of fog.

It didn't matter how much Hyun looked at the map, he wasn't able to tell where they were.

[Darkness's Strength: 91 seconds]

But once the buff ended, Louise would return to normal, and there was no way the enemies would let that opportunity go.

Without Darkness's Strength, Louise couldn't even handle a single Holy Knight.

「Then what are we going to do?!」

「Escape.」

Ain couldn't understand what Hyun was talking about.

They were in the middle of the Heavens’ formation.

Where could they escape to in a place surrounded by the forces of the Heavens?

「To where…?」

「Up.」

As Hyun said that, Ain felt Hyun's hands grabbing her.

She didn't feel intimidated, because Hyun was «Assimilated» into Louise.

Pang-

Immediately after, she heard a loud sound; then she felt cool air brush her skin.

The explosion of wind pushed the group over a hundred meters through the air.

Up in the sky, Ain saw a picturesque scene.

The dark sword pointed toward the sky and absorbed the black fog it came into contact with.

The absorption ability didn't differentiate between living things and inanimate objects. Hyun began absorbing the black fog above the clouds and opened up a road through the sky.

'Will it be okay?'

Hyun hesitated a bit while looking at the dark sky.

The sea of fog seemed to be warning him that he wouldn't be able to emerge once he stepped inside… that he would be buried by the darkness and disappear.

'I hope it all goes well…!'

Pang! Another loud sound spread.

Hyun created a «Wind Barrier» in the sky and began running toward the darkness.

GUOO. The fog in the air returned to its place at a frightening pace and then calmed down after closing up behind them.

Translator - Daniel Shin

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

Even after Louise obtained Ego, Mayday followed Ain and Louise from a distance.

She wasn't interested in the vampire that had suddenly disappeared. After all, she didn't know who he was and why he'd disappeared.

While following the girl whom she thought Hyun was «Assimilated» to, Mayday let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad! As expected, it was a quest skill! Haha, there's no way such a skill could belong to a user!"

It didn't matter how much she thought about it. A giant sword that absorbed elite knights with one attack didn't seem to be something that a user was capable of.

Just like she used the skills of the named boss, he was probably using Darkness's skills!

If a user had such a strength, Mayday had been thinking about sending a complaint to the developers about the game’s balance.

…But it probably wouldn't have any effect anyway because of Asrian's terms of service.

Thanks to them, the Heavens’ forces lost their will to fight, and Mayday was able to safely follow Hyun.

'But… he's definitely amazing.'

At a certain point, she'd forgotten about her original goal and was looking at Hyun's gameplay.

Although they were similar to Ain's, his movements were clearly different.

Mayday still wasn't at a level where she could completely understand his movements.

But still, Hyun's movements had something that enraptured the viewer.

'Just having a good relationship with him would be more than enough.'

With Hyun's skills, it was understandable that he wasn't interested in joining the Darkness Guild. There probably wasn't any guild that could grab his attention.

She wished she had his contact info, at least, but that wasn't the case, so Mayday was a bit disappointed.

Anyway, how could she befriend him?

'Would I be of help if I do this?'

After thinking about it for a while, Mayday got rid of the soldiers that couldn't fight anymore.

If the contribution system was correct… most of the experience obtained from the Holy Knights she killed would go to them.

Fwoosh! Mayday was surprised at the level-up effects that happened consecutively.

'Did they just go up two levels at once?!'

She made her calculations assuming the Holy Knights were at level 350… Were Hyun and Ain's levels lower than she'd expected?

She thought that they would've obviously completed the 2nd ascension, but maybe their levels were lower than hers.

Because, after all, she and Lattice were about to reach level 200.

Mayday was thinking about numerous things when she realized something.

'Wait, if things go like this, they won't know it was me who helped them!'

If the other person didn't even notice you, your good intentions wouldn’t be transmitted.

'I’ll at least make it so they have the chance to see me!'

Mayday quickly tried to reduce the distance between them when she heard the loud sound of a wind explosion. She was surprised after seeing the two figures rise to the skies.

'H-how could they jump so high…?'

Mayday waited for a moment, but they didn't reappear.

Had they really risen to the skies?

SSSS.

Fog started to gather where they had disappeared.

All the Holy Knights that were scattered away began gathering.

'Oops! I need to hide!'

After understanding her situation a bit late, Mayday hid nearby.

While silently waiting in some stones located between the canyon and the fog, she heard the sound of horses.

Paanngg-!

A chained sword suddenly flew and made numerous devils explode.

After hearing the news from the front, Captain Shakron returned while riding a horse.

He brought silence back to the battlefield and spoke to a nearby Knight.

"We… aren't sure. At first glance, it seems like they disappeared in the skies."

"The skies…?"

Shakron looked at the fog-filled canyon and clicked his tongue.

'I trusted a bunch of useless guys!'

It seemed like they'd managed to escape before Darkness’s strength ran out.

Maybe he should've arrived sooner. If it were him, he should've been able to tie Darkness’s legs.

He never imagined that Darkness would use her strength and hide so fast.

"What are you going to do?"

Shakron fell into thought after his underling asked him a question.

'Yes, maybe I'll have another opportunity to catch Darkness.'

The oracle of Light had never been wrong.

According to Light, they would be able to cut the seed of Darkness once they reached the Ruins of Darkness.

That meant that the Darkness would go to the Ruins either way, which meant they also had to hurry and get there.

"Let's march faster…"

"Yes!"

"We have to get there faster than Darkness. No matter what!"

Thump thump!

As the sounds of horses and steps disappeared, the fog-filled canyon became silent.

Mayday walked out after a while.

The buff the vampire had given her had already disappeared long before.

'Now… in what direction should I go…?'

Mayday had lost sight of Hyun's group and even the Knights, and the road ahead of her was looking bleak.

After thinking for a while, she had no choice but to walk alone through the only road available within the fog-filled canyon.

* * *

Hyun landed in an unknown place.

He advanced while pointing the sword forward.

It didn't matter how much they walked, they only saw endless fog.

As the same scene kept repeating, he began wondering if the darkness hadn't absorbed him.

[Darkness's Strength: 0 seconds]

[Because of the strength used, the soul needs to take some rest!]

[Time until the soul recovers: 600 seconds]

The time ran out, Louise lost her strength, and Hyun was suddenly and forcibly «Disassimilated».

"Ugh, what…!"

Hyun shouted in surprise after being pushed away from Louise's body.

He couldn't help but be surprised since it was the first time he’d been forcibly «Disassimilated», but he soon returned to his senses.

"Ugh…"

"Louise, are you okay?"

"My head… hurts a little bit… a little bit… I want to take a little break."

Louise didn't look good.

Hyun couldn't «Assimilate», so he carried Louise on his back.

Even if he were a Support, carrying a lightweight girl was easy.

Thanks to the numerous achievement bonuses, Hyun's strength stat was at 30.

Ain asked a question as she watched him.

"Hyun, do you remember I'm stronger than you…?"

"What…?"

‘I increased it for cases like this…’

Ain's lips fluttered a bit, but even to her, saying something like that in their situation would be stupid, so she decided to remain silent.

"I'm still not sure where we are."

Hyun once again took a glimpse at the map he'd found in the interloop.

"I think that we're outside of the map."

"Outside?"

"There's a defined track in a racing game, right? For example… I think that we left the track."

"Hngh… Well, I guess if that's the conclusion you've reached, it's probably right."

Hyun decided not to look at the map anymore.

"Let's find a devil."

"Why?"

"Because we can talk to it and even ask for directions," he mumbled while looking at the fog.

'It seems like we've fallen somewhere abnormal.'

That was the thickest fog he'd seen since he began following the road.

No, they weren’t even on the road.

As the dangerous fog was blocking even the sky, Hyun felt that he was wandering around within a very confusing cave.