Chapter 41

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 41: Divine Beast (1)

Kim Minwoo started by examining the ring.

[Ring of the Four Apostles (1/4)]

[Rank: Unique/Fragment]

[Requirements: Level 101 or higher]

[This ring was worn by the Fourth Apostle, Velitas. It seems to be an unfinished ring…]

[Effect 1: Increases Mana by 50]

[Effect 2: Increases Mana Regeneration Speed by 20%]

“A fragment?”

Kim Minwoo’s eyes lit up.

A fragment item.

The true power of the item is revealed when all the fragments are collected.

There were a total of three fragments needed.

‘The other apostles must have them.’

If he could collect all of them, the item’s performance would be significantly improved, at least to a plus rank.

If he was really lucky, the rank might even go up one more level.

‘Even a unique accessory is worth a lot…’

A unique + rank or even legendary accessory?

They are so rare that they are almost impossible to find.

Awakened ones would definitely equip it first and then think about it later.

“Well, that’s good.”

He would meet the apostles someday.

He could just get the rings back then.

He took off one of the subspace rings he was wearing and put on the Apostle’s ring.

[You have equipped the Ring of the Four Apostles!]

[Your Mana has increased by 50!]

[Mana Regeneration Speed…]

‘The options are also good.’

Not to mention the 50 stats increase in mana.

The increase in mana regeneration speed was also a very valuable option.

‘It’s an option that’s hard to find except for a few buff skills.’

Mana regeneration speed skills were mostly possessed by rankes like priests and sorcerers.

It was one of the rarest options to find on items.

‘It’s very precious.’

Potions are expensive, and even if you have a lot of them, you can’t drink them indefinitely due to overload or addiction.

That’s why he relied on natural regeneration in most situations.

1% per minute.

Without any buffs, this was the speed at which his health and mana were regenerated.

It goes without saying how good an option it was to increase that speed.

There was even room for growth.

After all, this was just one of the fragments.

He picked up the skillbook.

[You have acquired a Soulbound Skillbook.]

[You have acquired the Necromancer Skillbook, Equip Arms (B)!]

‘Huh?’

Equip Arms?

Could it be the skill he thought it was?

Kim Minwoo, his eyes shining, checked the contents.

[Equip Arms (B)]

[Level Requirement: 115 or higher]

[You can fix the equipment of your summons. Fixed equipment will not be dropped even if your summon dies. Additionally, the performance of fixed equipment is increased by 20%.]

‘That’s right.’

The skill that fixed the equipment of summons.

It was one of the essential skills that all summoning-based rankes dreamed of.

The reason was simple.

It was because the process of summoning and equipping them was extremely cumbersome.

Take skeletons for example.

He had to take them out, spread their equipment from the subspace ring, and then put it on them.

‘It’s incredibly complicated.’

It doesn’t give them much preparation time.

Sometimes he had to summon them at his feet to block his mobility, and there were also times when he had to reverse summon them and then summon them again right away.

In those cases, he naturally didn’t have time to equip them separately.

In that situation, the summons would have to fight with just one basic bone weapon dangling.

But what if he had Equip Arms?

Since the equipment is fixed, he could use fully set summons at the right time and place.

There was no skill like this for diversifying strategies.

On top of that, even if they are reverse summoned, the equipment doesn’t drop, and the performance of the fixed equipment even increases.

‘Isn’t that really good?’

Until now, he had been matching the equipment of the skeletons at a magic level.

The cost was the cost, but the biggest reason was to prepare for accidents.

He still vividly remembered when he challenged the arrangement of the Death Lord in the past.

He had returned without being able to recover hundreds of sets of armor.

What if he happened to get a rare rank?

He couldn’t handle it.

It’s not just the money, but it would take a lot of time to get it back.

‘I don’t have to worry about that anymore.’

He was even in a state where he could mass-produce + items with his crafting skills.

It seemed like his power would be inflated by at least 50% with this one skill.

It was a jackpot.

All that was left now was…

He looked at Velitas’s corpse.

Utilizing corpses to create undead was quite a complicated task.

First, it required related skills, and it also took a lot of materials.

And decisively.

‘The corpse must be of high quality.’

Lee Seoyoon had high potential.

That’s why he kept it.

Even if he acquired undead creation-related skills later, someone like Lee Seoyoon was worth the effort to raise.

On the other hand, Velitas?

‘It’s ambiguous.’

This guy was strong because he was a boss monster, not because of his personal talent or potential.

“Hmm…”

He contemplated for a moment.

He put it in the subspace ring for now.

After all, he had enough courage to apply for the final battle at the last minute.

‘Well, I might raise him someday.’

Or he could just leave it there and use it to replace the bones.

Since he had some extra space left after the food disappeared, it wouldn’t hurt to keep it as a bonus.

―Chwiik! Big brother! I’ve cleaned up everything here!

Urkan shouted proudly, holding a bloodstained axe.

“Yeah. Just wait there instead of going inside the inner castle.”

―Chwiik! Gotcha! I’ll split the heads of anyone who goes inside with this axe!

He walked into the wide-open inner castle gate. In an instant, a bitter cold hit his body.

Elise, who was standing next to him, shivered slightly and said.

“…The fragments are probably in the inner castle’s basement. It’ll get colder the further we go inside.”

“Wait here. I’ll break it and come back.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’ve been preparing for this moment.”

She nodded at his words.

“Cedric!”

He called out to Cedric, who was cleaning the inner castle.

He entered the castle with the approaching man.

[A fierce cold strikes!]

[Body temperature drops rapidly!]

[Consume Top-Rank Fever Potion!]

[Consume Top-Rank Cold Resistance Potion!]

.

.

.

Money is god, and potions are invincible.

As he drank the top-rank potions in succession, the cold subsided.

He strode into the basement without hesitation.

And when he entered the room at the very bottom of the basement.

He saw a door that was completely frozen.

“Break it.”

[Cedric uses Dragon’s Strike (S)!]

Kwaang!

The door shattered into pieces, revealing the interior.

In the center of a huge cavity.

He saw a tiny blue shard floating upwards.

A tremendous chill swirled above it. As he looked at the shard, information popped up.

[Winter Fragment]

[Rank: Special]

[A shard made by splitting a part of the essence of winter. It possesses a cold that can freeze an entire region. It’s probably best not to touch it.]

[Effect 1. If you overcome the cold after consumption, you can use the ice property. However, if you do not overcome it, you will freeze to death.]

[Effect 2. If you overcome the cold after consumption, you can gain ice resistance. However, if you do not overcome it, you will freeze to death.]

“Hmm…”

―Master, why is that?

“I don’t think we should approach it.”

—It looks that way to me too.

“But we can’t just leave it alone…”

The fragments must be shattered for the cold to stop.

Of course, eating it would probably also stop the cold.

‘Absolutely not eating it.’

He had his limits.

It even seems difficult to approach it, let alone eat it?

This wasn’t a matter of having a strong soul or not.

A strategy should be attempted only if it seems feasible.

That wasn’t something that could be overcome by just drinking a cold resistance potion.

“Go, Cedric. Smash it with Dragon’s Strike.”

―…

Cedric, who had been hesitating for a moment, rushed towards the shard.

It was truly a sight befitting 100% loyalty.

And then.

[Cedric uses Dragon’s Strike…]

[It freezes!]

Zzzack!

As he narrowed the gap between himself and the shard to ten steps, Cedric’s body was completely frozen in ice.

And then.

Crack!

The ice shattered into pieces, and Cedric was reverse summoned.

Even though he was brought back to life once more by the Death Lord effect, there was no answer since he had already set foot in hell.

Thus, it shattered twice.

He summoned Cedric again.

“Breathe.”

The guy’s mouth opened wide.

A massive flame was shot towards the shard.

It was just when the breath was about to approach within ten steps.

Poof!

The flames scattered and disappeared completely.

“……Are you crazy?”

Kim Minwoo’s face hardened.

An attack that had killed a B-rank boss couldn’t even approach and disappeared?

‘It’s more difficult than catching an apostle?’

Ranged?

He knew from the attack just before.

If he shot magic or arrows, they would freeze before they even touched it.

‘I don’t know unless I use magic like Meteor Shower…’

Meteor Shower was an S-rank magic.

Sadly, Kim Minwoo was not a mage.

“There must be a way to clear it…”

But what that was still unclear.

Just then.

—Coo-oo.

“……?”

—……It’s not me.

“No, did you hear that?”

—I heard it. It’s like the sound of a bird…

—Coo-ooo.

“No, what is it?”

He could clearly hear the sound of something crying, but he couldn’t sense any presence.

‘Is it a gimmick here?’

Just then.

[The Divine Beast that was observing you reveals itself!]

Poof!

Along with the sound of flapping wings, he felt a light weight on his shoulder.

It was a small bird.

A bird made entirely of white feathers.

Unusually, it had a horn on its forehead.

Kim Minwoo stared at the bird intently.

A Divine Beast.

He had a rough idea.

‘Title effect?’

The One Who Stopped Eternity.

The title he earned after completing the Hrungnir Battlefield.

One of its effects was definitely…

[Effect 2. A delicious smell is emitted. A Divine Beast is observing you.]

‘So that’s what that Divine Beast was?’

Then.

Cedric said.

—I think I know what it is. The Rainbow Phoenix.

“Rainbow Phoenix?”

—Yes. My body was made using Rainbow Phoenix feathers.

Come to think of it, he had mentioned something like that in passing.

The bones of the Gold Dragon Lord, the blood of the Abyssal Lord, and the feathers of the Rainbow Phoenix…

“Was that it?”

—Yes. The Rainbow Phoenix has a white body, a horn on its forehead, and a slightly blue nape. This guy is exactly the same. But was there a Rainbow Phoenix in this world too?

Cedric tilted his head.

“It’s probably the one that was attached to me. I saw a message saying that it was watching me last time.”

—Last time? When was that?

“When I came out of the Hrungnir Battlefield.”

—Hmm. I think I understand. The Rainbow Phoenix usually absorbs seven attributes. Death is also one of the attributes. It was probably attracted to the aura of the lord.

So that’s why it said it smelled delicious.

“So when the ice attribute shard came out too, it couldn’t stand it and popped out?”

—Probably? In the language of the master’s world, it’s like having pizza and chicken in front of you at the same time.

Ah, he can’t resist that.

Heunderstood in a flash.

He looked at the Rainbow Phoenix on his shoulder.

When he pointed to the shard, the guy’s gaze went towards it.

“Do you want to eat that?”

—Coo-oo.

The guy nodded.

“Does it understand me?”

—If he had paid attention, he would have followed me. It seems to have learned some human language in the meantime.

It nodded.

A Divine Beast would be smart.

It wasn’t surprising that it had learned some language.

‘The reason it followed me through the Hidden Gate is…’

It’s a 1-person limit gate.

In other words, it means that only one person can enter, right?

The bird was not a person.

Then.

An idea crossed his mind.

“Wait a moment. Then,Can I raise you as my pet?”

—Coo-oo.

“Oh man, what do I do if you nod to that?”

—Coo?

The Rainbow Phoenix tilted its head.

He looked at Cedric.

“Mr. Rainbow Phoenix Expert. What should I do in this situation?”

—Judging by its size, it looks like a fledgling that hasn’t been born long. There should be room for education.

“Can’t I raise it?”

Cedric nodded.

—I’ve never seen anyone raise a Rainbow Phoenix before… but I don’t think it’s impossible. Usually, it’s because they couldn’t raise it, not because they didn’t want to.

That’s true.

“But can this guy eat it?”

—……Probably? The Rainbow Phoenix is not a stupid creature. It will not covet something it cannot have.

Yeah, He guessed he should trust the expert’s words.

He looked at the Rainbow Phoenix.

Amazing stealth ability.

Smart enough to learn a language.

Able to solve the current predicament.

It seems like there will be plenty of opportunities for it to continue to be useful in the future.

‘There’s no reason not to accept it, is there?’

Isn’t it a typical waiting-to-be-great pet?

Conclusion.

He’ll hit the jackpot if he just raised it.

He stroked the Rainbow Phoenix’s head and said.

“Okay, I’ll take you in.”

—……Coo-coo?

“Wow! Good job! My little one!”

He gently stroked the Rainbow Phoenix’s head. The Rainbow Phoenix chirped happily.

He spoke to it.

“I’ll give you lots of other delicious things, so will you come with me, Daddy?”

[TL/N: Daddy is the name/nickname he gave to the bird i believe, no confirmation tho!!]

—Coo?

“Yes. Here, Daddy. If you come with me, you can eat lots of delicious things and you won’t have to hide anymore.”

At that moment.

—Coo-oo.

The Rainbow Phoenix rubbed its head against my finger.

[The Divine Beast wants to be with you!]

[Would you like to accept?]

‘That’s it!’

Kim Minwoo grinned.

The Divine Beast fell into his hands.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]