Artifact Devouring Player-Chapter 36: Silence - (5)

[Chapter 36]

The siege battle was a continuous sequence of tense attacks and evasions.

It was also an endless game of rock-paper-scissors.

The Arch Lich soared high into the air and unleashed magic down onto the ground like a bombardment—it was truly a spectacle.

Countless fireballs rained down from behind the Arch Lich, as if burning basketballs were falling from the sky.

But that wasn't all.

Before casting magic, the Arch Lich would always create a vast swamp of silence over a wide area.

It was five times larger than the swamp of silence that the Death Knight had used earlier.

Because of this, it was impossible to dodge with precise timing as he had done against the Death Knight.

Skills had to be used preemptively before the swamp of silence formed—no matter what form that took.

『Defensive Sword』

'Fighting a mage is definitely tough for a swordsman.'

Boom! Boom! Thud!

Sanghyun maintained the defensive barrier he had set up in advance, blocking the fireballs pouring down from the sky.

The Arch Lich wasn't a fool.

It knew that if Sanghyun, a swordsman, got close, the tide of battle would shift, so it desperately pushed him away.

No matter how confident Sanghyun was in his aggressive combat style, his body wasn't made of invincible steel.

The Arch Lich's relentless magical bombardment had to be either blocked completely or dodged entirely.

However, dodging would only widen the distance between him and the Arch Lich, so Sanghyun chose the better option.

≪You have impressive skills. Your sword's barrier resembles a shield, and your backward movement looks like a short-range teleportation spell.≫

"And now you're complimenting me? I'm so flattered I don't know what to do with myself."

Sanghyun scoffed.

Even the Arch Lich was genuinely impressed by Sanghyun's diverse use of skills.

In the early stages of their attrition battle, the Arch Lich had waited for Sanghyun's stamina to drain.

That strategy worked for a while, and it thought an opportunity had come to aggressively press the now-tired Sanghyun.

But that was a miscalculation.

Sanghyun had deliberately exposed his abdomen to the Arch Lich's magic and used Sacrifice to recover his stamina.

No matter how much the Arch Lich tried to provoke him emotionally, Sanghyun didn't fall into its pace so easily.

Realizing that weak provocations wouldn't work, the Arch Lich decided to focus entirely on an all-out assault.

That moment was now.

When the Arch Lich resolved to increase the intensity of its offensive against Sanghyun—

'I see your habits.'

Half by intention and half by necessity, Sanghyun dedicated himself to defense while analyzing the Arch Lich's patterns.

Every player and monster had their own habits.

Even Jerron Decay, the renowned global Silent Mage, was no exception.

There were always predictable movements that appeared before using certain skills or actions—Sanghyun was no different.

For example, before using a swordsmanship skill, Sanghyun always had a habit of gripping his sword tightly.

It might seem like a trivial habit, but to a sharp-eyed opponent, it was a different story.

When he gripped his sword tightly, the muscles in his forearm and arm subtly shifted.

An observant enemy could recognize this as a prelude to using a skill and react half a beat faster.

In Jerron Decay's case, he had a habit of consciously widening his eyes before using silence skills.

It was generally analyzed as a focus-enhancing habit, but regardless, it was there.

That's why, during the Great Rift Incident in the UK in 2045, Jerron died in battle.

Ironically, the one who killed him was a Black Knight from another dimension that had emerged through the Great Rift.

That Black Knight later said it was impossible not to find an opening because Jerron's habits were so obvious.

'When creating the swamp of silence, he has a habit of stretching out his pinky finger while forming a magic seal.'

Sanghyun had noticed the habit.

To verify it, he crossed several critical moments.

The blood running from the corner of his mouth was evidence of that.

While trying to understand the connection between the silence skill and the habit, he got caught in the swamp of silence.

As a result, a fireball had struck his chest directly, causing internal injuries that made him cough up blood.

Luckily, he had managed to pull his body back just in time—if not, at least four of his ribs would have been broken.

'When using lightning magic, he slightly pulls back his rear leg. Probably an unconscious reaction to brace against the spell's recoil.'

He had analyzed that too.

Even when using fire magic or ice magic, there were subtle differences in movement.

These weren't coincidences but patterns proven by clear cause and effect.

Since this process required time, Sanghyun had focused entirely on defense.

Trying to know the enemy better than himself—observing even the smallest movements.

Even though Sanghyun wasn't recognized as a renowned player in his past life, this was the secret to his longevity.

He always made decisions and plays based on data and reality, not coincidence or intuition, and this was the continuation of that practice.

The know-how and understanding accumulated over thirty years of being a player were being applied in full now.

'Let's go!'

『Psychedelic』

Sanghyun launched his counterattack.

This was already the second time using Psychedelic since entering the Silent Ground Dungeon.

The first use had left quite an aftermath, and once this effect ended, he felt like his body would be completely exhausted.

≪You still haven't noticed yet.≫

He ignored the Arch Lich's voice—it subtly tried to provoke his emotions.

At that moment—

'The pinky finger!'

He saw it.

As the Arch Lich began forming the magic seal, its pinky finger stretched out.

The seal had a red magic circle reminiscent of fire magic, but Sanghyun didn't fall for it.

『Back Step』

『Back Step』

Knowing it would overload his body, Sanghyun consumed 20 mana to use Back Step twice in succession.

Rumble rumble rumble.

With a slight time delay, the swamp of silence formed, but this time, he wasn't caught within its range at all.

≪Ah...?≫

The Arch Lich let out a gasp without realizing it. Sanghyun's reaction had been too fast.

But the distance between the Arch Lich and Sanghyun was still 15 meters—a disadvantageous distance for Sanghyun.

He desperately wanted to close that gap with Full Charge, but he held back.

The Arch Lich had already figured out Sanghyun's tendency to use Full Charge for follow-up attacks.

A smart enemy wouldn't fall for the same tactic twice. Sanghyun never underestimated the Arch Lich.

Whoosh!

Sanghyun hurled his greatsword toward the Arch Lich with all his might, aiming for the knockback burst effect.

The reason he threw the greatsword before seeing how the Arch Lich would react was clear.

He anticipated that the Arch Lich would focus on another attack spell to keep him at bay.

When faced with a flying greatsword carrying a knockback effect, the Arch Lich would have to either deploy a shield, dodge, or focus on its magic.

A forced choice! Sanghyun had intentionally reduced the Arch Lich's available options.

≪Damn it!≫

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

The wind force from the flying greatsword was already overwhelming—it couldn't be ignored.

The Arch Lich hastily formed a magic seal.

'It's wind magic. He bent the tip of his index finger forward.'

From the Arch Lich's perspective, it was a wise decision.

It just needed to generate a powerful gust of wind to push back both the greatsword and Sanghyun.

'Trading flesh for bone.'

Sanghyun didn't slow down.

Pain was always an unpleasant experience, but for a swordsman, it was an unavoidable fate.

He knew the enemy would respond with wind magic, so at the very least, he wasn't walking into it blindly.

If he lost any momentum here, all the plans he had built up until now would collapse in an instant.

8 meters.

A truly close distance.

Kwaaang!

The Arch Lich released a burst of wind magic forward.

Kiiiiing!

The greatsword collided head-on with the magic, losing its momentum and shooting up into the air.

However, upon impact, the Knockback Burst effect activated, temporarily pushing back the compressed air.

≪Kghhh!≫

In that moment, the Arch Lich let out a groan as it was caught in the sudden gust. It was an unavoidable reaction.

Paaang!

The wind magic, briefly pushed back, regained its remaining momentum and surged forward again.

4 meters.

An even closer distance.

At this point, it was too close to dodge the wind magic. Sanghyun clenched his teeth and exposed his left shoulder.

Thwack!

"Argh!"

A heavy impact crashed into his left shoulder. It felt like getting hit by a car, his shoulder nearly dislocating.

However, since some force had been drained in the earlier knockback process, it wasn't severe enough to cause a fracture.

1 meter.

He sacrificed his shoulder.

In return, Sanghyun closed the distance.

As he barely opened his eyes amidst the violent winds, the Arch Lich was visibly flustered to find Sanghyun right in front of him.

Not only had Sanghyun nullified the meticulously calculated Swamp of Silence, but he had also anticipated and countered the wind magic.

It was an overly reckless gamble—he had even sacrificed his own body to close the gap.

Of course, it only seemed like a gamble to the Arch Lich. For Sanghyun, it had been a calculated outcome from the start.

『Full Charge』

At this distance, there was no need for a prolonged Full Charge. Just a brief breath would suffice.

And then—

Slash!

With a single strike from his longsword, Sanghyun decapitated the Arch Lich.

No matter how enlightened a sage might be, having more wisdom didn't mean having extra lives.

Shhhh! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Like a champagne cork, the Arch Lich's head flew through the air and rolled helplessly across the dirt.

It rolled down a slope, disappearing somewhere far away before Sanghyun could even track its position.

"Haa... Haa... Damn, this is exhausting. I shouldn't get too addicted to this Psychedelic rush. Phew."

Sanghyun collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

Thud!

At the same time, the Arch Lich's now headless body staggered erratically before collapsing right in front of Sanghyun.

[Your level has increased.]

The level-up message appeared in rapid succession. His level jumped from 68 to 75 in an instant.

Since he had defeated a monster over twice his level alone, it seemed he had fully enjoyed the exclusive benefits.

If he had brought a companion, he might have only reached level 71 or 72 at best. With three or four people, his level might have only gone up by one.

'I can see now why top-tier players go with the smallest possible party.'

Experiencing it firsthand made it clear—monopolizing the rewards was the best strategy.

Unless, like Do Kyungsoo, you formed a large-scale party to tackle high-difficulty dungeons.

Otherwise, if average players cleared average dungeons together, growth would be painfully slow.

[You have been granted the B-rank title, [End of Twisted Desire].]

"Finally!"

Covered in sweat, blood, dirt, and dust, Sanghyun still broke into a radiant smile.

The new title that appeared in the title window was his first-ever B-rank title since his regression.

Normally, it would take surpassing level 200 to earn such a title, but for Sanghyun, it was different.

Shaaa.

Right after, an artifact ring formed around the Arch Lich's fallen neck. It was an artifact drop.

His heart raced at the thought that he had successfully completed the plan he had long desired.

Carefully picking up the ring as if handling a sacred relic, Sanghyun checked the information inscribed on the artifact.

■ Special Effect - Silence

"Silence, you're mine now!"

Sanghyun tightly clenched the ring, his face filled with emotion.

At this moment, he had added a fourth status effect to his abilities—following Intimidation, Freeze, and Knockback.