Artifact-Devouring Player - Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Displaying Skills - (4)

‘Spearmen have an advantage in the early momentum battle. They’ve taken the most ideal formation.’

Sanghyun watched as the two players, spears aimed forward, charged at him like rampaging rhinos.

Their eyes, locked solely on Sanghyun, gleamed with murderous intent.

Of course, they were merely exuding killing intent in their own way, but to Sanghyun, it felt like nothing more than empty bravado.

‘They must’ve had quite a bit of fun up until now.’

There were too many openings—far too many.

They had likely been using this same team composition for a long time, so their reckless tactics had been effective thus far.

The advantage of team play is that when coordination and synergy are on point, the destructive power can be explosive beyond imagination.

However, the downside is that individual weaknesses often get concealed within team play.

Small mistakes or missteps tend to be buried within the team’s synergy, going unnoticed.

For these guys, who were probably used to luring in players and stabbing them in the back, refining and improving their tactics was likely never even considered.

‘In an all-out melee, even debuffers hesitate to use their skills recklessly, so this is fine.’

Numerically, he was at a clear disadvantage, but in reality, this was a one-on-two battle.

The rest were either watching or maneuvering to find a new angle of attack.

This was the blind spot of team play. Numerical superiority didn’t necessarily translate to situational superiority at every moment.

Sanghyun analyzed the trajectory of the oncoming spears and found the most suitable countermeasure.

It was a combination technique using the greatsword’s Knockback Burst.

The goal wasn’t to land a direct attack with the greatsword. It was to trigger a knockback effect.

“You’ve got a pretty face!”

“Let’s have some fun before we sell you off!”

The two players, who had already envisioned their victory a hundred times over in their minds, lunged at Sanghyun with their spears.

“Hoo!”

With a sharp breath, Sanghyun lightly evaded their attacks.

They had definitely used skills to thrust their spears quickly, but Sanghyun’s response was even faster.

‘The vanguard is the most important. Seeing your skills, at least I can be sure I won’t die here.’

Sanghyun smirked inwardly.

Then, he swung his greatsword, striking them in the abdomen.

“Haaat!”

As expected of experienced players, they immediately switched to a defensive stance and blocked the greatsword.

Blocking was the right move.

Tiiing!

But the knockback effect activated, sending the two of them flying backward in unison.

By that time, Sanghyun had already prepared Full Charge.

He had calculated the exact moment they would be knocked back and timed his follow-up attack to take their lives.

Swish! Splat!

With the power of Full Charge, Sanghyun dashed forward and severed one of their necks in a single stroke. Then, as he retrieved his greatsword, he took the remaining one’s head as well.

Both of them lost their lives in the path of his sword—one on the strike, one on the return.

“……”

Silence blanketed the entire warehouse. The two players had been killed far too cleanly.

Everyone had considered the possibility of someone dying. No one had been overly optimistic about a complete victory.

But no one had expected two of their own to be killed at the very start of the fight.

The deceased themselves had been the least prepared for it. They had charged in with full confidence that they could handle this.

“Now it’s one versus eight, guys.”

Sanghyun lowered his greatsword, its edge dripping with blood.

‘One who nitpicks everything, one who blindly supports me, and one who enjoys numbers. They all have their quirks.’

Sanghyun smiled as he read the messages flooding in from the constellations.

The Dark Hunter was always irritating him in some way.

His relationships with the constellations had the potential to create many unpredictable variables in the future.

The fact that the Dark Hunter seemed to be constantly observing him was something Sanghyun couldn’t ignore.

‘So, a one-versus-many battle in an isolated space was the recipe for this title? I didn’t see this coming.’

Sanghyun tightened his grip on his greatsword.

In his past life, he had never had even a minor connection with the Owner of the Unquenchable Flame, making this an entirely new experience.

It was a pleasant surprise.

Even an F-rank title could have a wide variety of uses.

Checking the message, he found that the 【State of No Mind】 title was rated A-rank.

‘Crazy! No, that just means my opponents are that much trickier.’

Sanghyun suppressed his excitement.

Regardless, thanks to the constellation, he now had a clear motivation to win this title. This was a prize he could not afford to give up.

Weeee. Weeee.

In the meantime, several debuff skills had landed on Sanghyun.

His Skill Resistance wasn’t high enough yet to completely nullify them.

‘Slowed movement and defense reduction to amplify damage? A textbook debuff strategy. Annoying.’

Feeling a heavy pressure weighing down on his shoulders, Sanghyun frowned slightly.

The urge to remove the debuffs with Recovery was strong, but he held back.

Considering Recovery’s cooldown was one factor, but more importantly, he needed to get used to these debuffs.

In higher-level dungeons, exposure to debuffs would be a daily occurrence.

If he treated them like ankle weights and tried to shake them off every time, he would struggle to adapt.

‘Once three more debuffs stack up, I can use Psychedelic to nullify them almost completely.’

His calculations were already complete.

“Debuffs are in! Kill him!”

As expected, the moment he entered a debuffed state, three swordsmen who had been waiting for an opening charged at him.

An assassin player was circling around the warehouse in a wide arc.

Sanghyun tracked the assassin’s movement with his peripheral vision.

It was a mere sidelong glance, but it was more than enough to follow their trajectory.

Sanghyun activated Defensive Sword and found a path to block all three incoming strikes.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Each attack rang with a different sound.

The three swordsmen had divided their attack paths into high, mid, and low strikes.

Clang!

Thanks to that, the defensive barrier of Defensive, which had taken damage evenly, cracked and shattered.

‘This is quite serious.’

Sanghyun checked the additional debuff and his expression darkened.

The debuff players had a well-structured skill composition. It was enough to make him think that this group might be the core force of their team.

‘Not yet.’

Sanghyun resisted the urge to use a recovery skill multiple times and remained composed, focusing solely on defense.

The opponents were three swordsmen specialized in close combat, supported by two buffers.

The enemies’ attack power kept rising, while he was continuously suppressed and overwhelmed. He was also outnumbered.

So, for now, Sanghyun decided to counter with steadfast defense instead of an aggressive offensive.

‘The biggest weakness of their composition is the lack of a mage.’

There was a reason behind his judgment.

They didn’t have a mage who could provide suppression from a distance.

Because of that, even if he stuck to defense, the chances of being hit by an unexpected attack were extremely low.

Anyway, the three swordsmen blocked the front path, so the only routes available for an assassin player were the sides or the back.

With this setup, even the assassin was no longer an unpredictable variable.

"Crush him!"

"This bastard’s scared!"

Convinced that Sanghyun had become passive in the face of their offense, the enemies raised their voices.

To Sanghyun, this was a strategic defense, but to them, it appeared as if he was terrified.

"Let's cook him up!"

"We'll make sure to avenge the two who died!"

Each of them spouted nonsense as they increased the intensity of their attacks.

"……"

Meanwhile, Sanghyun remained silent, focusing solely on enduring and defending.

It wasn’t just about victory—Sanghyun was determined to achieve a flawless victory without taking any hits.

For nearly five minutes, Sanghyun blocked their attacks with all his strength.

The most troublesome aspect was the assassin attempting to strike from behind while his vision was obscured.

Unfortunately for them, the weak link in their group was the assassin player. He lacked decisiveness.

During his defense, Sanghyun managed to analyze not only the debuffers’ skills but also the types of buffs used by the buffers.

He had now accounted for every possible scenario.

Of course, until his calculations were complete, he had to focus so intensely that he could barely breathe.

‘Constellations and their ridiculous preferences…’

Because of the requirement to remain unharmed, he couldn’t afford to sacrifice any ground strategically, making the fight even tougher.

Sanghyun’s eyes sharpened as he examined the full extent of the debuffs the enemy had applied.

Now was the perfect time to use his recovery skill. If he removed all debuffs now, he would have at least 30 seconds of freedom.

The moment Sanghyun had been waiting for—the hunting time—began now, for the next 30 seconds.

As soon as Recovery erased all the debuffs, Sanghyun immediately activated Psychedelic.

‘Ah!’

In that moment, he let out a gasp, overwhelmed by an unexpected thrill.

Though it was technically an enemy skill, being freed from all restrictions made Psychedelic’s effects feel even stronger than usual.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Ugh! Argh! Wh-What?!"

"Kuhak!"

"Wh-What the hell?!"

As Sanghyun, who had only been defending, suddenly unleashed a full-scale counterattack, the swordsmen panicked.

Since Recovery had instantly erased all his debuffs, his movements had become significantly faster from his opponents’ perspective.

With the addition of the Psychedelic effect, his speed became almost supernatural, as if he had merged with the wind itself.

The weight shackles had long since been removed—now, all that was left was to ignite the boosters he had saved up!

Adding Acceleration on top of everything was the finishing touch.

Now, Sanghyun, who had already reached peak concentration and momentum, maximized his mobility with the acceleration skill.

"Huh……?"

And then, the foremost swordsman sensed the change in Sanghyun.

His eyes widened in shock as he realized Sanghyun’s movement speed had more than doubled from what he had expected.

"Here."

At that moment, the swordsman understood.

Just a moment ago, Sanghyun had been within a calculable distance—but now, he had already flashed past him.

Swish!

And then, he saw it.

His own neatly severed cervical spine, exposed in midair.

As his head spun in the air, his vision alternated between the sky and the ground repeatedly.

‘Was he always this kind of monster…?’

Before the full force of Sanghyun’s unleashed attacks, he was utterly powerless. He had been taken down in a single strike.

Despite having bathed his sword in the blood of many players, all of that experience was meaningless against Sanghyun.

And then—

Swish! Swish!

"Ugh!"

"Aaargh!"

In his fading vision, he saw his two comrades, each losing their left and right arms in perfect symmetry.

The three swordsmen who were supposed to suppress Sanghyun’s mobility in close combat had disappeared in an instant.