Chapter 126

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 126: Awakening of Iphrax

While the guild members and legion commanders were tasked with training the Awakened, Kim Minwoo was engrossed in alchemy within the temple’s dark magic research lab.

To be precise, it wasn’t exactly him who was engrossed.

[Apprentice Alchemist 234 uses Elven Alchemy (D)…]

[Apprentice Alchemist 342 uses Elven…]

[Critical Failure!]

[This combination cannot possibly result in a potion! Proficiency will not increase!]

[Critical Failure!]

.

.

Skeletons were simply rolling around tirelessly.

Iphrax’s mental attack.

To begin with, tampering with someone’s mind was already a highly advanced skill.

It was nearly impossible to concoct a potion to block such an attack with a mere D-rank alchemy. At the very least, it would require S-rank alchemy.

So, he changed his approach.

Was a potion that specifically defended the mind necessary to block a mental attack?

In Kim Minwoo’s view, not really.

In the first place, a mental attack wasn’t an ability that instantly turned someone into a slave like mind control.

Such an ability would be a god-like power.

‘As if a god would play such tricks.’

If Iphrax possessed such power, the priests and dark magicians would already be under his control.

‘If he’s restricted by the level of the sealing formation…’

At best, it’s an ability that takes time to turn someone into a puppet.

This means there’s a gap between the initial mental disruption and the complete subjugation.

If he could exploit that gap, it would be possible to disrupt the mental attack. That’s why he was making the skeletons work tirelessly.

Three days of continuous labor.

“It’s about time something popped up…”

Just then.

[Success!]

[‘A foul-smelling potion so disgusting that even a 100-day starved ogre would shake its head’ has been created!]

[A new alchemy recipe has been discovered! It will be added to the list!]

[Apprentice alchemists gain valuable experience!]

[Explosion of know-how!]

[Success!]

[‘A tickling potion that would make even a seasoned demon cry’ has been created…]

[Success!]

[‘A devastating sneezing potion’ has…]

[New alchemy recipes have been discovered! They will be added to the list!]

[Elven Alchemy (D) proficiency increases.]

“Did it work?”

The skeletons respectfully presented the potions. He took them and examined their contents.

[A foul-smelling potion so disgusting that even a 100-day starved ogre would shake its head]

[rank: Unique+]

[The first masterpiece of a creator driven mad. A potion that seems to have crammed in everything that’s disgusting and foul-smelling in the world.]

[Effect 1. Too spicy, salty, sour, bitter, and disgusting. It explodes with umami.]

[Effect 2. Upon consumption, inflicts indescribable pain on the taste buds and sense of smell for a prolonged period. (2 hours)]

[A tickling potion that would make even a seasoned demon cry]

[rank: Rare+]

[The second infamous creation of a creator driven mad. Drinking it is not recommended.]

[Effect 1. After drinking, you’ll feel an itch as if ants are crawling all over your body. (1 hour 30 minutes)]

[Devastating Sneezing Potion]

[rank: Magic+]

[The third creation of a creator driven mad. This one is at least somewhat humane.]

[Effect 1. Drinking this will cause sneezing. (1 hour)]

“Oh.”

Kim Minwoo let out a gasp of admiration after reading the descriptions. Since these recipes didn’t exist even in the elves’ repertoire, he had tried to concoct potions by throwing in all the ingredients that seemed relevant.

“A Unique rank came out?”

The passionate efforts of the past three days.

He was relieved that they weren’t in vain. With the recipes registered, he could now mass-produce them by simply adding the ingredients.

‘And one of them is Rare.’

The effects might be even more horrifying than he had imagined.

‘I’ll have to test them out…’

This was a matter of life and death.

Verifying the effects was essential.

He could only be at ease after trying them himself. He picked up the foul-smelling potion and gulped.

“…Here goes.”

He closed his eyes tightly and downed the contents.

Gulp.

The moment the liquid touched his tongue, an explosion of flavors assaulted his senses.

The stench was so unbearable, it was like decades-old food rotting in a sewer.

“Ugh!”

A gag reflex kicked in.

It was only thanks to his countless experiences that he didn’t collapse.

“Gasp. Gasp.”

He hurriedly pulled out peppermint candies from his inventory.

Even after stuffing ten of them into his mouth, the horrible taste and stench persisted.

The cool mint scent seemed to mix with the other flavors, making it even stranger. He instantly understood what “indescribable pain” meant.

“This will do.”

There’s a saying that if you enter a tiger’s den, you can survive as long as you keep your wits about you.

The same applied to mental attacks.

If the victim could maintain a clear mind, they could significantly delay the effects.

Pain was one of the best ways to keep the mind alert.

He took a sip of the Rare and Magic rank potions as well.

They weren’t as potent as the Unique rank, but they were powerful enough.

‘I wasn’t expecting to block it completely anyway.’

Eleven flashbangs.

This wasn’t a battle meant to be drawn out. Either the enemy would die when all the bombs exploded, or he would. There was no other outcome.

“Achoo! Make these. As many as you can.”

Clatter!

The loyal skeletons busily started their work.

* * *

After three days of seclusion in the temple’s research lab, Kim Minwoo finally emerged.

No one had been able to approach him during that time.

From morning till evening, the intense training left no room for visits, and between night and dawn, the two sleepless legion commanders guarded the entrance.

Only the guild members had been allowed in and out, which naturally amplified their curiosity.

‘What’s he doing in there that he won’t come out?’

The unspoken leader of the Awakened gathered here was Kim Minwoo.

Even the four strongest instructors already acknowledged him as such.

But why was their leader holed up doing who knows what at this crucial time when they needed to coordinate their efforts?

As their curiosity grew day by day, Kim Minwoo finally showed himself. He was leading skeletons carrying boxes filled with strange potions.

“Stop your training for a moment and gather around, everyone.”

Forty-two Awakened gathered before him.

Kim Minwoo explained the information he had gathered on Iphrax.

“So… you’re saying he’s a monster who can control minds, use curses, and has other special abilities?”

“Yes. I’ve been looking through documents whenever I had time, and that’s what they say.”

The skeletons were the ones using alchemy, not Kim Minwoo.

Thanks to that, he could browse through books in his spare time. Finding a hidden space in the priest’s room was a bonus.

There, he found a book detailing Iphrax’s abilities.

The abilities that past priests had thoroughly analyzed and investigated.

‘They must have been preparing in their own way.’

Their perception of Iphrax had always been like that.

They are not gods.

Recognize them as dangerous monsters.

Feel the fear…

Contrary to their title as priests, they were clearly wary of Iphrax. Their thorough analysis of the monster’s abilities and power must have stemmed from that wariness.

Thanks to this, Kim Minwoo hit the jackpot.

He could grasp the enemy’s power and abilities in detail even before the raid began.

“The curses can be countered with the priests’ blessings. And you can use this to counter the mental attacks.”

The skeletons following behind handed out three potions to each of the Awakened.

Shock flashed across the Awakened’s eyes as they read the detailed descriptions.

“…A potion that even a 100-day starved ogre would refuse?”

“…Makes even a seasoned demon cry?”

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

The only potion with a somewhat decent descriptor was the “Devastating” one.

Of course, as experienced individuals, they could roughly guess why they were given these potions.

The monster’s primary power, mental attacks, seemed too much for even an A-rank Awakened’s mental fortitude to withstand.

‘That’s why he gave us the potions.’

The only problem was the overly intimidating descriptions. It was no wonder that even useless items like these were labeled as Unique and Rare.

‘Come to think of it, Il Sung was selling + potions…’

‘Did that alchemist make these too? What a strange taste.’

Even the detailed descriptions seemed to agree, kindly referring to the creator as “a creator driven mad.”

Kim Minwoo, who had brought these bizarre creations to the preliminary round, found it hard to understand as well.

Even with an abundance of subspace rings, it was as if he had too much space to spare.

“Everyone should have a grasp of the basics by now, so we’ll move on to the advanced stage by taking potions and practicing. Understood?”

“Um… shouldn’t we save these for when we fight the monster?”

“A seasoned veteran like you shouldn’t ask such a question. We need to get used to them now so we can move effectively even after taking the potions then. Don’t you agree?”

“Y-yes, of course.”

“Hurry up and drink them. These are more expensive than any tonic.”

The cost of the ingredients alone, not to mention finding the recipes, amounted to hundreds of billions. They were indeed more expensive than most tonics.

Gulp.

The Awakened stared at the potions with nervous faces.

A brave Awakened stepped forward first.

“Here goes!”

Thompson, with his burly arms, opened a potion and chugged it down.

“…Ugh!”

“Hey! Turn your head away!”

“Ugh! Can’t stop… Ugh!”

The faces of the Awakened turned pale.

An indescribable smell wafted from the moment the bottle was opened.

One thing was for sure: even catching a whiff from afar could induce nausea.

‘This is bad.’

For the remaining four days.

It seemed like hell would manifest on earth.

* * *

Four days later.

As soon as morning arrived, the Awakened gathered in one place.

“As everyone knows, we are going to target it today. Just as we discussed, we will throw the light bombs. One by one. This will likely be a step-by-step process.”

Everyone nodded.

They were already aware of the information about Iphrax.

In addition to its mental attacks and curses.

‘It also had pain mitigation. This thing is trickier than expected.’

Pain mitigation.

Among A-rank gate bosses, there were a few with such abilities.

The effect was simple.

When it received a large amount of damage in one hit, it had the ability to ignore a portion of that damage.

The larger the single hit, the larger the proportion of the damage that gets nullified. This meant that they can’t throw all the bombs at once. The damage reduction would be much greater.

At that moment.

Kim Minwoo smiled and said,

“There’s no need to be so tense. Haven’t we all been working hard?”

“That’s… true. I thought I was going to die just adapting to the potion the leader gave us.”

Thompson said with a wry smile.

At least now, they wouldn’t collapse and vomit uncontrollably after taking the potion.

It was still, well, extremely nauseating.

“Let’s go.”

They moved to the underground of the temple with the other awakened ones.

Through the vast magic circle, they could see the dark mages tied up.

‘The condition for its appearance is….’

Not offering a sacrifice to the sealing circle.

Until now, the dark mages had been diligently offering sacrifices.

But now that preparations were complete, there was no need for that.

The undead army filled the underground. Awakened scattered among them, gripping their weapons with tense expressions.

Raids attempted by large groups were naturally difficult.

Usually, one mistake meant death. It wouldn’t be strange for there to be casualties.

Of course, they couldn’t help but be nervous.

Kim Minwoo turned around and spoke.

“We just need to move as we practiced beforehand. I can’t guarantee there won’t be any deaths, but I can say this much.”

He paused for a moment, then smiled and continued.

“The reward will be worth risking your life for. Now, let’s begin.”

Immediately after, five blue arrows pierced the foreheads of the bound dark mages.

A clean, instant death.

Rumble…!

The entire temple began to shake violently as if an earthquake had struck.

[There is no sacrifice on the sealing formation!]

[Iphrax is greatly enraged!]

[Warning!]

[If a sacrifice is not offered to the sealing formation within 10 minutes, Iphrax will directly appear on the surface!]

The ground had trembled greatly on the first day, but it had soon calmed down. It seemed that was because they had placed a sacrifice on the formation within 10 minutes.

But now, there was no intention of doing so. As time passed, the ground began to shake more and more violently.

Crack…!

Crack…!

Soon, cracks began to appear in the hole where the souls had been sucked in.

A massive, well-like hole formed. It was so deep that the bottom seemed to continue endlessly.

[Warning!]

[10 minutes have passed!]

[The true ruler of the ‘Cursed Land’, Iphrax, will now appear!]

Something began to float up from the bottom of the hole. A monster with hundreds of eyeballs clustered together like grapes.

The Awakened drank the potions they had prepared.

Blink.

Iphrax blinked its eyes.

The raid had begun.

A light bomb was thrown towards it.

Bang!

A bright white explosion erupted on top of its eyeballs.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]