Solo Max-Level Newbie
Chapter 355: The Crown of the Path of Villainy (3)

Chapter 355: The Crown of the Path of Villainy (3)

“How could this be…”

“This is impossible.”

“Ha… The Hound Captain has fallen? To such a brat?”

Astonished cries erupted from the mouths of the Old Guards engaged in fierce battle.

It was unavoidable.

Throughout countless heinous missions…

Hound had always been at the forefront, leading his team members.

He was the one known as Nyarlathotep’s Hound, someone who had always carried out his tasks flawlessly.

But now.

How could…

…the ranker who dealt with legendary heroes from myths lose to a mere player?

They already knew the reason.

They simply did not wish to accept it.

An arrow of instant death.

Even after activating his unique ability to destroy weapons, the blow that could not be negated was exceedingly beyond normal parameters.

It was as if they were glimpsing the ancient beings themselves taking action.

Using the crown to prepare all the traps also sent shivers down their spines.

On the other hand, the veteran corporation’s morale skyrocketed due to Jinhyuk’s stellar performance.

“Now it’s finally starting to look manageable.”

Cheon Yuseong let out a small sigh.

Enduring the pressure from Celly had led to a tense situation.

But the time for counterattack had finally come.

Theresa and Euaesis also prepared their attacks with more relaxed expressions, their morale boosted by the trust that Jinhyuk would soon join them.

“Uhmm. Not too bad. Oh, no. Of course, he must be like that if he’s my contractor. Right.”

Ellis murmured something too.

Though she did not speak clearly, her face was filled with pride and satisfaction.

“Mooogiiee!”

“Indeed, an impressive master like ours—, not a devil-like being.”

“That’s why you need to choose your spirit carefully. If we had run away, we’d all be in big trouble.”

“If we did, we would have been hung upside down on a pole and forced to eat mint chocolate for 365 days straight.”

Goguma and the spirit creatures also started to overpower their demonic enemies in one swift move.

“Kieeek!”

“Kwoooh!”

The demons, riddled with holes, fell one after another.

Celly, who had been directly issuing commands, fell into panic upon Hound’s defeat, causing the entire system to be thrown into chaos.

“We’ll win this fight.”

Frey swiftly maneuvered her twin spears.

Her blue hair danced wildly along with her spear thrusts.

Kwaang!

Kwakwakwang!

Each strike was a critical hit aimed at vital points.

“…Cough!”

Roipang staggered backward, his fist imbued with elemental magic trembled ever so slightly.

Balance.

It began to crumble.

***

Koong.

Hound’s knees hit the ground.

The extreme pain, exceeding his limits, had paralyzed his rationality.

“Ggrrr…”

He could barely let out a groan.

Even cries of agony could no longer escape him.

He had never imagined it would be this painful.

“Kill… me.”

Words that should never have come out slipped from Hound’s mouth.

Though he had long ago mastered resistance to torture, the sensation engulfing his entire body was beyond anything he had experienced before.

This was…

…a curse from the crown to punish those unworthy.

“I’m not the type to enjoy seeing others suffer, but sorry, it’s still not over.”

Jinhyuk shrugged his shoulders.

Ability copy.

There was still a last task left to resolve.

“However, there is a way. Just solve one thing for me, and I’ll grant you peace.”

“What… is it?”

If there was any way to end this pain, he would do anything.

He even felt like he could sell his soul.

“That greatsword. Hand it over.”

The favored weapon of the Old Guard ranked fourth.

With it, undoubtedly the conditions needed to copy an ability would be satisfied.

“…My sword…?”

Hound hesitated only for a moment.

“Understood… I’ll hand it over. Please… just end it.”

[Transfer of weapon ownership has been completed.]

[You have acquired the greatsword ‘Executioner of the Doomed’!]

Swoosh.

Jinhyuk effortlessly swung the sword with one hand.

Indeed. Despite being over 2m in length, it felt almost weightless.

Probably due to the ultra-lightweight magic and dozens of ‘runes’ inscribed in it.

With this…

[Sacrificed the ‘Executioner of the Doomed.’]

[Satisfied the conditions beyond the allowance!]

[Successfully copied the ability from ‘Hound’!]

[Talent of Reversing Heaven (逆天) Wheel]

Trait: You receive the ancient runes’ blessing to destroy the target. Depending on your mastery, the scope can vary from living beings to holy relics. Additionally, while possessing the Wheel of Reversing Heaven, your strength stat increases by +20.

[The copied ability will be stored in ‘World’s Memory.’]

Fantastic!

Offering a weapon of much higher grade than the fangs had its effect.

Thanks to exceeding the allowed limits, he finally obtained the extraordinary celestial weapon.

“Keep your… promise.”

“Ah…”

Right, he had promised.

To end this pain once he handed over the weapon.

He had no intention of letting such a big fish be consumed by the crown.

Setting aside the Hall of Fame, the astronomical amount of experience was something he could not forego.

Jinhyuk loaded another arrow into his jaws.

Then he released the bowstring.

Thwack!

With a clean impact sound, Hound fell backward.

Being pierced through his forehead, he would feel no more pain.

Proving his words,

Ding!

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has…]

[…increased.]

Numerous status windows appeared.

Level 10.

The intense battle finally drew to its conclusion.

‘The others are tucking their tails and running, too.’

Jinhyuk glanced to the side.

He could see Blackrock, Roipang, and Celly, having lost their leader, quickly retracting their forces.

He could pursue if he wanted to, but his primary targets were not them.

‘Copying abilities can wait until our next encounter anyway.’

With news of this event reaching Nyarlathotep or Hasting, they were bound to make a move again.

So he would simply prepare and await them leisurely.

[Unique abilities ‘Star’s Blessing’ and ‘Mandala’ have been activated!]

Pazzts…

Warm energy seeped into his entire body.

To avoid repeating Hound’s fatal mistake, he needed to fully restore his depleted vitality and magic power.

As he operated the ‘Pure Blue Cleansing Technique of the Blue Sea’, his mana quickly began to replenish.

Taking advantage of a brief interval, Jinhyuk activated his personal status window.

Name: Kang Jinhyuk

Gender: Male

Level: 154

Strength 109 Agility 91 Endurance 67 Magic 402 Gap 100 Luck 10 Adaptive 78 Essence 106.25

Stat points available: 30

Coins available: 9,241,358

Occupation: Master of Runes

Celestial Weapon: Wheel of Reversing Heaven

Unique Abilities: ‘Fusion,’ ‘Sword Tomb,’ ‘Star’s Blessing,’ ‘Judgement of Anubis,’ ‘Blood Demon Qi,’ ‘Mandala,’ ‘1 Second Invincibility,’ ‘Thousand Poisons,’ ‘White Beast,’ ‘Shared Happiness,’ ‘Sanctuary of the Sun,’ ‘Black Heaven Demon Emperor Technique,’ ‘Triple Magic,’ ‘Giant’s Strike,’ ‘Breath of the Fire Dragon,’ ‘Lightning Sword,’ ‘Tombgrave’s Right Arm,’ ‘Berserker,’ ‘Domain of the Wind,’ ‘Shadow Extremity Kill,’ ‘Origin Flame,’ ‘Blood Explosion’ ‘Black Tears,’ ‘Tombgrave’s Legs,’ ‘Herculean Madness,’ ‘Core of the Legion,’ ‘Ancient Barrier,’ ‘Heavenly Demon Technique,’ ‘Mentra Taming,’ ‘Nihilism,’ ‘Heaven-Destroying All-Poison’

Skills: Content is too vast to display and has been ‘folded away.’

Jinhyuk clenched his fist slightly, seeing the altered status window.

Above the category for unique abilities…

…a new category had been added called ‘Celestial Weapon.’

Only those chosen among the residents could wield such divine secret techniques, which were now beginning to be recorded in the infinite library.

‘Now it’s time to allocate some stats.’

A whopping 10 levels.

It goes without saying, but the experience given by such a behemoth was on another level.

Well, after all, it was equivalent to dealing with one of the heroes affiliated with a grand myth.

‘It doesn’t matter if the path of villainy’s crown doesn’t fully acknowledge the contribution points; this is still more than expected.’

The issue now…

…was where to allocate the stats.

The gap left by the loss of the fangs.

To acquire that weapon within the Sun’s Sand area, some risk had to be taken.

His decision didn’t take long.

[Agility has increased from 91 → 121!]

He invested all 30 points into agility.

The sensation of stepping on sand was distinctly different.

His body felt as light as a feather.

The investment of so many points was rewarding.

How much had changed would soon be clear.

‘Good.’

His magic power and vitality had mostly returned.

Now, from the battle between Shub-Niggurath and the Heavenly Demon up to the present day.

The time had come to witness the fruits of his long struggle.

Slowly.

His fingers reached out towards the black crown lying on the sand.

[The owner of the Crown of the Path of Villainy has been decided!]

[The owner is Player Kang Jinhyuk!]

[Higher powers have begun to take notice of you.]

[Crown of the Path of Villainy]

Acquisition Difficulty: Unmeasurable

Durability: Under no circumstances will it ever break.

All owned stats: +30

Critical Hit Chance: 30%

When facing divinity, skill levels rise by +3 each.

You can use the unique abilities of previous owners to their extremes. (Limit: 3 minutes)

The detailed stats of the crown may vary depending on its past owners.

If you’ve played in the Trial of the Tower 10 times, the prowess of the crown will differ accordingly.

In this sense.

This crown outspecs any other crown seen before.

A jackpot.

“Kyaa!”

Jinhyuk couldn’t help but burst out in excitement.

***

On the 43rd floor of the Trial Tower.

The endlessly towering mountains shrouded in clouds seemed to transcend landscapes found in the real world.

Olympus.

The stronghold of a grand power that has been actively expanding its reach.

And then.

Tick-Tock… Tick-Tock.

Several men and women stood around a central fire pit in the temple.

They were Olympus’ primary deities.

“The owner of the Crown of the Path of Villainy has been decided.”

The old man with a long black beard broke the silence.

The news of the crown’s owner stirred up quite a commotion among them.

“Has there ever been a player who’s received the crown with less than two years in the tower?”

“No, it’s the first time since we’ve been in the tower.”

“The fastest to obtain a crown were the angels from Eden, as far as I remember, and that took well over 10 years.”

A record-breaking short period.

Considering how hard it usually is just to locate the crown, the outcome seemed incredible.

To them, the current climbers in the tower were no more than toddlers taking their first steps.

“…Enough. What does it matter if a human of no significant power obtains the crown? They won’t be able to keep it for long.”

A man of imposing stature, sitting on the highest seat, spoke.

Zeus.

The supreme deity leading the gods of Olympus.

Upon Zeus’s words, the murmuring voices suddenly disappeared.

“Hermes.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Attach a messenger to this Kang Jinhyuk. Be careful not to be noticed. Be as discreet as possible.”

“Just surveillance?”

“Yes. Other powers will have caught the scent as well by now and will attempt to snatch the crown from him. We’ll just watch as they tear each other apart, then step in at the very end.”

There was no need to hastily step into a den of beasts.

Waiting until their powers waned and fatigue set in would be the most efficient.

Just then.

Kwaang!

A new figure appeared in the temple with a resounding noise.

A warrior clad in golden armor. The god of war, ‘Ares.’

“Preparations are complete. Please give the command.”

Ares, who had swiftly leaped up from below the mountain, bowed his head.

“And the soldiers and that ‘weapon’?”

“Yes. Everything is perfect. Take a look yourself.”

“Hmm.”

Zeus slowly rose and looked down at Olympus below.

A vast army had assembled on the ground.

Soldiers clad in armor anticipated the divine command, poised for action.

“Good. We will now wipe out the Norsemen and claim the floors they rule as ours.”

War had begun.