Shwaaaaah!!

The black water of Black-Tar Abyss surged in like ink, and by the time it reached Su-ho, it shot past in an instant like a roller coaster, seizing control of the entire space.

Then everything around him was stained in pitch-black darkness.

'Looks like a domain skill.'

Well, if it was a boss monster—especially a Ruler-class one in a Big Gate—then it was about time it had a domain skill or two.

There was only one reason Su-ho thought Black-Tar Abyss was both a domain skill and the second phase.

'It’s a skill I didn’t see when I siphoned its blood with Bloody Hand earlier.'

Which meant it had to be a skill that unlocked when the second phase began.

Fine.

He’d been running gates while knowing every single one of the opponent’s skills for so long—why would he be bothered by something like this?

Still, if he had to pick one thing that was a little disappointing, it was that it would’ve been even better if the system had given even a tiny bit of explanatory ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) notice about Black-Tar Abyss, like back in the day with the Sword Emperor’s “Nameless Swordsman’s Battlefield.”

'It’s probably because it’s a skill without specific restrictions or rules.'

Then what was Black-Tar Abyss’s effect?

First off, it was so dark he figured it would restrict vision.

That was fine.

He had the vampire effect that didn’t suffer darkness-based restriction effects.

That’s what he thought.

He definitely thought that, and relaxed.

If only Paracondia hadn’t been hiding in the black water and slamming into him like a hit-and-run.

Kwaaaang!!

If you took it with no preparation, it hurt like hell.

That’s what damage in darkness was like.

His whole body, smashed as if he’d been hit-and-run by a dump truck, hurt enough to wrench a groan out of him.

“Ggorrrrk!”

Pressurized water—whether it was pressurized water or black water, he couldn’t even tell—crammed into his mouth like it had gone insane.

This is seriously driving me crazy.

Why can’t I see it?

Even inside pressurized water, the vampire effect had worked just fine.

Don’t tell me this was the effect of the black water?

But if a skill effect couldn’t activate, there would’ve been a notice saying he couldn’t use it, like with the Subspace House.

Which meant the skill itself wasn’t forbidden.

'Then what is it? Don’t tell me the black water doesn’t count as darkness?'

That was the answer.

Because this wasn’t the kind of darkness where you couldn’t see just because there was no light.

'Damn it. You’ve really twisted the situation into a mess.'

At that moment, Paracondia pulled another hit-and-run.

Kwaaaang!!

“Ggorrrrk!”

It hurt.

But more than the pain, the water coming into his mouth was the problem.

More precisely, because of the water that got into his mouth, his breathing became too ragged.

'I'm already holding my breath, and now I'm really at my limit...!'

Originally, around this timing, he should’ve taken a breather at least once.

But with the water that had drained out when Paracondia appeared now surging back up, was there even a place here to catch his breath?

'I have to think. A way to catch my breath.'

Moving back to the previous rooms with hope was too risky.

If it hit him one more time on the way, it really felt like that would be the end.

Right then, an idea flashed through Su-ho’s mind.

'Ha, fuck... but is this really the right call?'

The idea came to him, but when it came time to actually use it, he hesitated for a moment.

But the hesitation didn’t last long.

At this rate, he might not die by that bastard’s hand—he might drown, or suffocate.

Su-ho summoned Shuraia from among the trusted retainers engraved into the Sun-Moon Night Jade.

- Did you call for me, my master?

- Give me your hand.

- My hand? Here it is.

She had been summoned, but because he couldn’t see through the black water, he asked her for her hand.

Then, holding her hand as a guide, Su-ho found Shuraia’s face and pressed his lips to hers.

- ...!

At the sudden kiss, Shuraia’s eyes widened.

But what Su-ho was aiming for in that kiss was none other than the fresh air in the lungs of someone who had just been summoned.

“Hhuup!”

“......!”

At the act of immediately sucking in air the moment they kissed, Shuraia was startled again for a different reason.

But she couldn’t push him away.

Because he was her master.

After barely securing a handful of breaths and buying himself another turn, Su-ho pushed Shuraia back and used voice transmission.

- Sorry. In water, this was the only way to breathe.

- ......It’s okay.

- Be ready every time you’re summoned. In this situation, this is the only way I can breathe.

- O-okay. Then I’ll go now....

When she blushed and hurried to unsummon herself, Su-ho called her back urgently.

- Hey, wait a second!

- Y-yes?

Shuraia, flustered at the urgent call.

But Su-ho, as if he didn’t care at all, went straight to the point.

- Can you not see either?

- Ah....

So that’s what this was about.

She answered.

- Yes. I can’t see anything at all.

- Okay. Then I’ll see you again later.

- ......Yes.

Only then was Shuraia unsummoned.

Thanks to that, he got his confirmation.

The black water wasn’t a vision restriction caused by darkness—it was a physical vision-blocking effect, like ink.

'I hate vision-blocking play.'

The situation had gotten tangled, but it wasn’t like there was no way out.

Because Su-ho had experience taking down enemies even in situations where his vision was completely blocked.

'It’s been a while. Time to bring back the old feeling.'

Until now, thanks to the vampire effect, he’d fought while almost always securing vision unconditionally.

Because of that, his feel for fighting under restricted vision had dulled a lot.

But condition was temporary and form was forever—he’d just gotten a little loose because he hadn’t run it in a long time, not because he couldn’t do it.

Su-ho closed his eyes completely.

Then he began focusing his mind on his other senses.

'The moment a person loses one sense, the other senses develop to an extreme.'

For example, the blind were like that.

Whether congenital or acquired, from the moment they lost their sight, the blind tended to develop other senses like hearing and touch to an extreme degree.

Of course, that wasn’t just true for humans—it was the same for all living things.

It was from that point that Su-ho began training to amplify his other senses to overcome sensory restrictions depending on the situation.

His mind focused.

And before long, he began watching Paracondia by concentrating on his other senses... especially touch and hearing.

Suuuuuh...!

He could hear it.

The sound of it tearing through the water and charging at him like it had gone insane.

It was so skilled at swimming that unless you were someone at Su-ho’s level, you could barely feel the ripples and waves from its movement at all.

But Su-ho sensed it.

So Su-ho immediately gripped his sword and took his stance.

And the moment Paracondia tried to charge at Su-ho again.

[ Blessing is activated. ]

[ Rage Mode is activated. ]

[ Foxfire is activated. ]

[ Sword Aura is activated. ]

[ Point is activated. ]

[ Enhance is activated. ]

A six-skill combo.

And.

[ Hundred Strikes is activated. ]

The final finishing touch that encompassed all of it activated.

[ Enhance is applied. ]

[ The power of Hundred Strikes becomes even stronger. ]

There was only one reason he chose a thrust instead of a slash.

Because its attack pattern was a charge.

'Rather than swatting aside something that’s rushing in from the side, if you can just endure that force, ramming it head-on is the best.'

On top of that, my weapon is a sword, and my method is a thrust that concentrates the pressure point to an extreme.

Now that Pressurized Body had completely freed his movement in this high-density water, there was no need to use Slow Thrust.

And that prediction hit perfectly.

Kwagwagwagwagwak!!

Su-ho’s blood sword struck dead-on, piercing precisely into the tip of Paracondia’s snout as it charged straight at him.

Of course, since it had kinetic energy from its charge, Su-ho got shoved back a good distance as well—but it was fine.

Because the enhanced Hundred Strikes he’d driven in head-on, combined with Vacuum Style Point, drew out insane destructive power and blew up the inside of Paracondia’s face as if a bullet had punched through it.

Thud!!

- Graaaaaaaaah!!

Because of the kinetic energy from its charge, Su-ho was ultimately pushed back and slammed into the wall.

But thanks to the dense pressurized water, he didn’t get shoved as far, so the impact wasn’t that big.

The one in pain was Paracondia.

The moment its snout exploded, a full thirty percent of its face took massive damage, and it howled in agony.

[ Deep-Sea Species Paracondia uses Ruler-Class Fear. ]

[ Dragon Blood is activated. ]

[ Fear is not applied due to the Dragon Mind effect of Dragon Blood. ]

[ Due to the effect of Ruler-Class Fear, all buff effects on players are removed. ]

In the process, Ruler-Class Fear burst out and all his skills were dispelled again, but it was fine.

He could just apply them again.

'And with steady heavy damage, the gauges for Rage Mode and Foxfire are filling up in an instant.'

The harsh environment of black water and pressurized water helped build the gauges, too.

Su-ho immediately took a running start and rushed straight in.

His eyes were still closed.

All he relied on was his hearing and the sensations across his entire body.

The thing that had been howling in pain seemed like it was coming closer again, but then suddenly it retreated rapidly backward.

'Running again?'

No.

[ Deep-Sea Species Paracondia is enraged. ]

[ Blackest-Tar Abyss is activated. ]

He opened his eyes at the system alert and checked the notice in front of him.

Damn it.

It had pulled out another skill.

Its name was Blackest-Tar Abyss. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Anyone could tell it was an intensified version of Black-Tar Abyss.

At the same time, the ripples changed.

Something was starting to rise up from below again.

The blackest water of Blackest-Tar Abyss, following after the black water.

'This is driving me insane.'

Of course, it was still nothing but darkness where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, but at least he knew what was coming up now wasn’t Paracondia.

Because the tremors and sounds in the ripples were different from when Paracondia came up.

Soon, the blackest water reached where Su-ho was.

But surprisingly, the blackest water wasn’t black—it had an ashen tint.

The ashen blackest water devoured the black water in an instant and began swallowing up the entire gate, and when it swallowed Su-ho, Su-ho instinctively realized it.

'Ah, shit. I’m screwed.'

Since there was no way to dodge the blackest water itself, he stayed still.

So the moment he accepted the blackest water with his whole body to figure it out, Su-ho had no choice but to furrow his brow.

Because the instant the blackest water swallowed up the gate, it became a complete numb domain where he could no longer feel sound or vibration.

'If Black-Tar Abyss was just a vision restriction, then Blackest-Tar Abyss blocks all senses?'

And that wasn’t all.

The blackest water had a density on an entirely different level compared to the pressurized water or black water that had been enveloping Su-ho up until now.

With a bit of exaggeration, it felt like he was inside a swamp.

'No way...!'

This was the worst-case scenario.

Not only were all his senses blocked, his movement had been downgraded back to the level it was when he first arrived here.

It felt like he’d become a terminal patient whose body was slowly stiffening, thrown into a void like space.

'Wow....'

Does this even count as a difficulty that makes sense?

No matter how special a quest and a Big Gate it was, isn’t this too much?

And on top of that, there were all these skill restrictions, too?

With a faint hope, Su-ho tried using his skills again, but nothing changed.

What didn’t work still didn’t work.

It was bleak.

Now what?

The only thing he could think of was to keep swinging his sword like a machine until, by chance, the bastard wandered into his range and died for him.

But there was no way that would happen, right?

That moment—

Kwaaaang!!

Pain like being hit by a dump truck.

It was Paracondia.

With its headbutt, Su-ho was knocked a good distance away and slammed into the wall.

“Gghh....”

It hurt.

But more frightening than the physical pain was the fact his mind went blank-white.

But he couldn’t give up.

Su-ho staggered to his feet and raised his sword.

Then Paracondia looked at Su-ho and laughed raucously.

But Su-ho couldn’t hear it.

Because the blackest water blocked all of Su-ho’s senses.

So Paracondia thought.

It was time to end it already.

It was going to smash that miserable human, stupidly holding a sword and taking a stance, into the wall and burst him.

- Gyaaaaaaaaak!!

Paracondia stuffed itself full of spirit and charged.

And in that instant.

Kwaddeudeudeuk!!

Right before Paracondia’s head could touch Su-ho, Su-ho stabbed his sword into Paracondia at exactly the right timing.

Sseuik-

Su-ho’s mouth corner lifted.

And at the same time, a system notice rose up in front of Su-ho’s eyes.

[ Dragon Sense is activated. ]