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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Agent of Divine Punishment
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First Angel Slayer.
It was the title Ryu Min had obtained by killing his assigned angel, Briel.
'A good title that doubles my stats against divine-types.'
The Agent of Divine Punishment was none other than a divine-type.
This was why he was thinking of catching it, not just running away.
'Without this title, I wouldn't have dared to even try.'
The Agent of Divine Punishment was a monster that required five level 40 players working together just to take it down.
For Ryu Min, at level 27, it was an overwhelming opponent to face alone.
'But if I have a strategy and the stats to back it up, it's not impossible.'
Ryu Min had the Rune of Slaughter, which doubled his stats.
On top of that, the Angel Slayer title doubled them again.
A total of four times.
In terms of raw stats, he was on par with a level 99 player at their peak.
Although, that was assuming the level 99 player was only wearing normal-grade equipment.
'Still, it's better to raise my stats even a little.'
Ryu Min opened the combination window.
A large slot appeared, with five smaller slots radiating out from it.
The large slot was for the main material, and the five smaller ones were for sub-materials.
'I'll combine mana stones to raise my stats, even if it's just a bit.'
Ryu Min dragged an item from his inventory into the slot.
[Main Material]
-Skull Bone Necklace
[Sub-material]
-Lowest-grade Purple Mana Stone
-(Empty)
-(Empty)
-(Empty)
-(Empty)
There were empty sub-material slots, but he didn't need to fill them all.
Once ready, he pressed the combine button.
[Combination Successful!]
[The 'All Stats +1' option has been added to the Skull Bone Necklace.]
The sub-material vanished, leaving only the Skull Bone Necklace.
Ryu Min immediately began combining mana stones with his other equipment.
'You can socket one mana stone per piece of gear.'
He had two mana stones in his inventory.
One was indigo, and the other was an orange one he had obtained from hunting in this round.
[Combination Successful!]
[The 'Damage Reduction +1%' option has been added to the Veteran Hunter's Leather Armor.]
He socketed the lowest-grade indigo mana stone to gain damage reduction.
[Combination Successful!]
[The 'Strength +2' option has been added to the Reaper's Scythe.]
The lowest-grade orange mana stone raised his strength stat.
'They're the lowest grade, so they won't be a huge help, but…'
He combined them without hesitation to increase his power, even by a little.
After all, he could always remove the combined mana stones if he wanted.
'They're not consumables, so I can just attach and detach them as needed.'
Just as he finished all his preparations by combining the mana stones.
*Craaack-!*
The sky split open, and a pillar of light descended to the ground.
*Fwoooosh-!*
Appearing in the celestial spotlight was none other than an angel.
It wore judge-like attire, and its face was hidden by a robe, making its gender indistinguishable.
*Flutter-!*
But the wings, spanning up to six meters in length, proclaimed it an angel.
'The number and size of the wings determine an angel's power.'
The more wings, and the larger they were, the easier it was to gauge the angel's level.
'These wings are so large, a normal angel can't even compare.'
Compared to a normal angel, whose wingspan was only two meters combined, this was an immense size.
However, the players, oblivious to such facts, could only blink and stare.
"That's the Agent of Divine Punishment?"
"We just have to survive while avoiding that?"
"Isn't this too easy?"
Scoffs could be heard from all around.
While its wings were magnificent, the Agent of Divine Punishment was about the same size as a regular human.
Ryu Min let out a sneer at the surrounding reactions.
'Did they expect some kind of giant to appear?'
They wouldn't know how strong the Agent of Divine Punishment was until they experienced it firsthand.
*Jingle-!*
The Agent of Divine Punishment shook its staff, and a bell at the end chimed.
*Jingle- jingle!*
Leaning on the staff like a crutch, the being walked slowly before suddenly striking the ground.
*Thud-!*
At the same moment, a purple aura spread out from the staff.
[The Agent of Divine Punishment has cast Restriction Field.]
[You cannot leave the area until the caster dispels it.]
[The stats of all players within the field are reduced by 50%.]
A translucent purple barrier, 100 meters in radius, formed.
The players trapped inside panicked all at once.
"W-What is this? My stats are decreasing?"
"We can't get out either?"
"Don't tell me we're trapped?"
When they touched the purple barrier, it was as hard as a wall.
The players, trapped inside the massive dome, turned pale.
Their plan to simply run and dodge had been shattered from the very start.
Ryu Min, who was outside the barrier, counted the players trapped inside.
'Roughly 300 caught?'
Naturally, Ryu Min had not been trapped in the barrier.
Knowing it would be cast in a 100-meter radius, he had positioned himself outside the range early on.
'Unfortunately, I won't be able to save those 300.'
Once you were caught in the Restriction Field, there was no way out.
They were like rats in a trap.
'And with the stat reduction debuff, they have no chance of winning.'
He knew from his first time fighting this thing.
Getting trapped in the field was a death sentence.
*Flutter-!*
The Agent of Divine Punishment unfolded its wings.
Simultaneously, countless arrows of light materialized around them.
At a glance, there were over 200.
'It's begun.'
Ryu Min turned his gaze away as if there was nothing left to see.
What would happen next was obvious.
*Fsh-fsh-fsh-fsh-fsh-!*
The arrows, flying like light, pierced the players' bodies.
*Papapapapak-!*
"Keoheok!"
"Gack!"
In an instant, the 30 players in the front row became pincushions and died.
"Kyaaaaaah!"
"C-Crazy! We're supposed to dodge that?"
"I can't even follow it with my eyes!"
The panicked players retreated, but unfortunately, there was nowhere to run.
'Dodging the arrows of light is next to impossible.'
This was why Ryu Min had been so keen on not getting trapped in the field.
The field plus the arrows of light was a death combo.
'In other words, if you avoid that, it's not a big deal.'
As long as he didn't get caught in the field, he wouldn't die.
In fact, he could even attack the creature from behind.
'Now's my chance, while it's distracted.'
Ryu Min kicked off the ground.
Meanwhile, a party of death was unfolding inside the circular dome.
"Aaaaargh!"
"H-Help me!"
"Mooommy!"
Players died helplessly under the barrage of countless light arrows.
The Agent of Divine Punishment continuously generated arrows, advancing leisurely as if hunting rats in a trap.
It was completely unaware that Ryu Min was watching from behind.
'As I thought, it's so focused on hunting humans that it's not paying any attention to its back.'
Ryu Min circled around the barrier, positioning himself behind the creature.
Although the barrier prevented him from getting close…
'The moment the barrier is dispelled, I'll launch a surprise attack.'
This was the only way to ambush it without being seen.
[The opponent you are facing is a divine-type.]
[Due to the effect of the 'First Angel Slayer' title, all stats are doubled.]
At the sudden message, Ryu Min opened his status window.
-Strength: 80, Intelligence: 28
-Agility: 116, Luck: 96
With the Rune of Slaughter and the title effect combined, his stats had quadrupled.
'This should be enough to deal significant damage.'
He had to inflict a critical blow with his first attack.
That would make the rest of the fight easier.
Isn't there a saying that the first strike wins?
While waiting for the barrier to be dispelled, he looked at the nearby players.
'They seem pretty shocked.'
Everyone was speechless, watching the massacre unfolding inside the barrier.
He could see some players trembling like leaves.
"We have to survive against a monster like that for 30 minutes?"
"I-It's insane."
"Th-There's no way we can win. We have to run now."
The hesitant players began to flee one after another.
But running away wouldn't solve the problem.
'It has wings. Getting caught is just a matter of time.'
No matter how far they ran, a few flaps of its wings and it would easily catch up.
Then it would deploy the field again and leisurely slaughter the humans trapped inside.
'Rather than running away in a herd like that, it's better for survival to scatter in all directions.'
The best option was to run behind the Agent of Divine Punishment.
'It rarely looks back.'
The reason was simple.
It looked down on humans.
'Unless it gets attacked first, that is.'
Finally, *shhhh-* the barrier was dispelled like a curtain falling.
It was because all 300 players inside had been killed.
Just as the Agent of Divine Punishment took a step to find new prey.
'Now.'
Ryu Min ran at full speed.
The distance of over 100 meters, maintained by the barrier, quickly closed.
70 meters…
50 meters…
30 meters…
It should have been able to sense his presence and turn around, but the Agent of Divine Punishment's head remained facing forward.
'I don't have to worry about it looking back.'
Because the creature had no ears.
That was its first weakness.
'Five meters away from it…!'
As he reached a fairly close distance, Ryu Min leaped high into the air.
*Thwip!*
He had already placed the Seal of Death.
'I have to bet everything on this first strike.'
He tightened his grip on the scythe to maximize the damage.
A shadow fell over its head, and only then did the creature look up.
'Too late.'
Ryu Min's scythe, swinging like a crescent moon, was faster, embedding itself in its eyeball.
*Puk-!*
[Hraaaaaaaargh!]
'Did it work?'
When Ryu Min landed after a mid-air spin, the Agent of Divine Punishment was clutching its eye.
[Hraaaaargh! Uwaaaaaargh!]
Golden blood flowed between the fingers of the hand flailing around its face as it shrieked.
He couldn't understand what it was saying, but it was clearly in agony.
'A direct hit. It landed right in the eyeball.'
Stabbing an eye on a face with a large scythe was a difficult feat.
It was nearly impossible without a deep understanding of the weapon and considerable experience.
But Ryu Min had done it.
'It's not over yet, though.'
Even with a scythe in its eye, the Agent of Divine Punishment did not die.
'Its health is exceptionally high.'
Besides, its other eye was still intact.
It was a critical wound, but this creature wouldn't die from a single attack.
He could easily tell because the Seal of Death showed him its health bar.
'Remaining health: 60%. I took off 40% with one attack, so that's not bad.'
With that thought, Ryu Min created some distance.
The Agent of Divine Punishment frantically searched for Ryu Min with its remaining eye, which was wide with fury.
But he had long since moved out of its line of sight.
Unable to see him, it cast the purple barrier again.
[The Agent of Divine Punishment has cast Restriction Field.]
It intended to trap him in its snare, but…
'I knew you'd do that, so I got out quickly.'
Ryu Min was already well outside the 100-meter radius.
The now one-eyed Agent of Divine Punishment searched for prey within its field.
But upon realizing there was no prey to be found, it immediately dispelled the field.
As if waiting for that moment, Ryu Min kicked off the ground.
*Tat-!*
He ran into its blind spot, closed the distance, and leaped once more.
'Since I took one.'
*Puk-!*
[Waaaaaaaargh-!]
'I'll take the other one too.'
The scythe, drawing a half-moon arc, struck the Agent's remaining eye.
[Hwaaaaaargh! Kraaaaaargh!]
The creature let out a shriek mixed with pain and fury and immediately cast its field.
[The stats of all players within the field are reduced by 50%.]
The stat reduction slowed Ryu Min's movements, but it didn't matter.
'A creature with no eyes is nothing but a glorified punching bag.'
There was no reason to fear an enemy that couldn't see.
*Flutter-!*
The Agent of Divine Punishment spread its massive wings.
Unable to see its opponent, it intended to fire arrows of light in all directions to kill him.
Just then.
'Now.'
Ryu Min cast Night of Death.
*Duuung-!*
The countless arrows of light that had materialized were extinguished like candles.
The light had been swallowed by darkness.
'Its second weakness.'
Ryu Min raised his scythe.
'It's extremely vulnerable to the Reaper class.'
Light cannot defeat darkness.
The system of this other world was designed that way.
The flustered Agent of Divine Punishment swung its staff wildly.
But there was no way it could hit Ryu Min, who had already moved behind it.
'Time to end this.'
To prevent it from escaping, he decided to cut off its wings first.
*Swish-! Swish-!*
After a few hacks, the wing fell off.
[Hraaaaaaargh!]
It shrieked in pain, but its other wing was still attached.
With his attack speed increased by 50%, he swung his scythe.
*Swish- Swish- Thud!*
Both wings were severed.
Now the creature had lost its means of escape.
'Remaining health is 10%.'
Only the finishing blow remained.
But instead of going for its neck, Ryu Min backed away.
The Agent of Divine Punishment's body began to glow with a golden light.
[Condition met. The Agent of Divine Punishment's passive, 'Radiant Final Brilliance,' is activated.]
[The Agent of Divine Punishment becomes invincible.]
This was the phase that appeared when its health dropped below 10%.
'If I had gone for the neck first, it would have escaped without me being able to kill it.'
This was why he had removed the wings first.
'I'll watch your final struggle.'
[Kihaaaaaaaargh!]
The Agent of Divine Punishment swung its staff like a madman.
Its means of attack and escape were both blocked.
Ryu Min watched the scene unfold leisurely from a distance.
*Woosh- Woosh-!*
[Kihaaaaaaaargh!]
He watched its frenzied rampage for a minute.
[Invincibility has been dispelled.]
The radiant light faded.
At the same moment.
'Time to die.'
Ryu Min sprang forward, his scythe dancing.
It didn't take long for the Agent of Divine Punishment's head to fall.
[You have slain the Agent of Divine Punishment.]
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