noveldrama
Chapter 230
Chapter 230
The instant Aika burst into the boss room, she wasted no time.
She doused the final boss with divine essence, weakening her,
then immediately unleashed her full strength.
Before the enemy could even regain her senses, Aika was already moving.
Leap.
While my disciple holds the line up front, I have to end this…!!
Aika charged toward the boss’s back.
Her face was tense with urgency—there wasn’t even a shred of calmness.
The reason was simple.
As a Transcendent, her instincts had become razor-sharp.
Her senses, surpassing human limitations, screamed at her:
If things continued like this, their chances of victory…
—wouldn’t even reach 20%.
Clench.
Not even in my worst nightmares could I imagine facing a monster like this!!
Her combat instincts blared warnings.
The current battle stood at nine versus one.
With three S-Class fighters and two Transcendents,
it was a force unprecedented in the history of Awakened combat.
They had reached the final boss with zero casualties after traversing the treacherous Gate.
And yet, even with the boss weakened by divine essence…
Their chances of victory were less than 20%.
Aika knew it in her gut:
If they fought this way, defeat was inevitable.
We have no choice but to ride this momentum.
[Aika to Yujin! I’ll focus on attacking from behind. You cover the front!!]
[Got it!]
Leaving defense to Yujin and moving to attack the rear wasn’t a random choice.
Her disciple, a master of soul manipulation and the creator of ethereal blades,
was capable of withstanding the tentacle attacks that had been weakened by divine essence.
More importantly, defensive maneuvers would keep him safer.
Even now, Aika couldn’t bear the thought of her disciple getting hurt.
Leap.
Hang in there, Aika! Once this fight is over, you’ll finally marry your disciple….
But Aika didn’t realize something.
The thought running through her mind was a classic cliché:
The kind of declaration that usually foreshadows inevitable defeat.
***
How much time had passed? Aika realized it—
she was no match for the final boss on her own.
Whirr! Slash! CRACKLE!
Why is everything targeting me…?!
Aika’s face was wrought with frustration as waves of tentacles relentlessly surged toward her.
The sound of air being shredded echoed over and over, drowning out any other noise.
Unlike the rest of the raid team in the frontlines,
facing the tentacle barrages as a group, Aika stood alone in the rear.
Dodging became her sole priority.
Though she had started strong—blocking attacks and even countering the boss’s main body—
as the fight dragged on, it became progressively more difficult.
Meanwhile, my disciple is fighting so well!!
Ironically, Aika’s struggles stemmed directly from Yujin’s exceptional performance.
The sheer brilliance of Yujin’s "mad movie" of soul blade barrages—
his relentless "spawn-killing" of tentacle summons—
had been critical in protecting the weaker team members.
But from the boss’s perspective?
Her attempts to eliminate the weaker fighters had been thwarted over and over.
No matter how much she attacked,
the defense proved impenetrable.
Eventually, attacking the eight fighters at the front became a waste of effort.
In contrast, Aika stood alone at the back.
While her strength as a newly ascended Transcendent was formidable,
she was still inexperienced.
Unlike Yujin, she hadn’t yet harnessed any divine essence of her own.
Even the oppressive aura emanating from the boss’s avatar was a heavy burden for her.
It was only natural that the tentacle onslaught would target her.
And deep down, Aika had known this would happen.
I thought I could handle it, though….
CRACK.
My body… it won’t move how I want it to!!
What she hadn’t anticipated was the debuff.
Hadn’t Yujin warned them?
In this fight, staying together with allies was critical.
The boss’s presence slowly froze one’s soul when isolated—
that’s why they couldn’t stray more than 10 meters apart.
Aika had tried to stay within range of Yujin,
never venturing too far.
WHOOSH. SWISH.
But with all these tentacles, I can’t even see my disciple….
Unbeknownst to anyone, Aika had become spiritually disconnected from Yujin.
The tentacle onslaught dividing the battlefield had severed their bond.
Dense waves of attacks filled the air like a curtain,
splitting the frontline from the rear.
Effectively, Aika was alone against the final boss.
The oppressive aura emanating from the boss’s avatar was freezing her very soul.
And as her soul stiffened, so did her ethereal movements.
It was only a matter of time before she slipped.
Time to retreat….
SLASH! CRACK!
The air screamed as a tentacle lashed toward her.
She tried to dodge, but she was just a fraction of a second too slow.
The blow wasn’t direct—just a glancing hit.
But to Aika, already on the brink, it was devastating.
"……!!!"
It barely grazed me… so why…?!
Her vision momentarily blacked out.
Even as she dodged and fought,
the stacking debuffs had been accumulating.
Just brushing against the tendrils suffused with the boss’s essence
was enough to overwhelm her soul,
which was already coated in frost.
The tentacle’s direct strike shattered her inner defenses.
Pain.
An unbearable chill, like her entire body was freezing solid.
Agony, as if every part of her was shattering like thin ice.
Every sensation assaulted her at once.
"KYAAAAAH!!!"
It hurts! IT HURTS!!!
The scream she had been holding back erupted at last.
She had suppressed her cries until now for several reasons:
- If she showed weakness, Yujin would worry.
- If he heard her scream, he’d rush to her side.
- He’d try to fight beside her, holding her hand tightly.
But she couldn’t let that happen.
If they fought side by side and he got hurt—or worse, died—
she couldn’t bear it.
Yet the pain ripping through her soul made her forget all her reasons.
Her belated scream filled the boss room.
"Master!!!"
Not her arm again!!!
The sound jolted Yujin to awareness.
The boss’s clever attacks and Aika’s pride had kept him unaware of her struggle.
But now he saw her clearly—
his master on the verge of collapse, completely outmatched.
And the tentacle’s strike? It had targeted her right arm—
the same arm she’d lost in the first timeline.
For Yujin, the sight triggered a wave of PTSD.
If I rush in now… it’ll be too late.
WHOOSH.
I have no choice but to use my trump card.
Yujin’s expression hardened.
He summoned the system interface before his eyes.
The last resort.
The guaranteed bad ending.
He was prepared to press the button that would make him a god.
If it could save his master, he didn’t care about the cost.
"……!!?"
That damned brat!!!
Meanwhile, Seol Hayeon was horrified.
Unlike Aika, blinded by pain,
and Yujin, blinded by rage,
only her transcendent senses could detect what was happening.
The moment Yujin’s gaze locked onto the system interface,
the boss’s grin stretched wide.
Smirk.
Checkmate.
"……!!!"
Yujin, stop!!!
Victory and defeat were both clear.
For the boss, her win was inevitable.
For Seol Hayeon, the raid’s loss was undeniable.
And Yujin? He had no idea.
Sacrificing everything to save his allies,
he couldn’t imagine that his self-destruction could spell their doom.
Had he seen the boss’s grin,
or even glanced at Seol Hayeon’s desperate expression,
he might have stopped.
But it was too late.
The warning couldn’t reach him in time.
The raid, the world, their very survival—
all teetered on the brink of catastrophe.
CLUNK.
Grab.
Infiltration complete!
And yet, just as disaster seemed inevitable,
a new variable entered the fray—one the boss hadn’t accounted for.
Though drained of all power,
her presence reduced to a faint shadow of what she once was,
a tiny, nearly invisible figure had reached Yujin’s side.
This is so exhausting….
[The Saintess smiles upon you.]
[If you finish this task, I’ll give you a reward….]
Slide….
Mom promised me a reward!
A small, leaf-like hand touched Yujin’s ankle.
The hand, barely visible, began to fade.
And with it, the tiny, fragile form of Hypnosis-chan—the remnants of a being born from divine essence.
She poured every ounce of her remaining power into Yujin.
The boss noticed too late.
"……!!!!?"
SHINE.
The tendrils whipped toward Hypnosis-chan,
abandoning their pursuit of Aika.
But it was pointless.
Before they could land a strike,
Hypnosis-chan had already faded away, her task complete.
Mom said it’ll be fine. Hang in there, big brother.
Smile.
Fizzle. BOOM.
Her sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
By transferring the last fragments of her essence into Yujin,
she unlocked one of the locks in his memory—a lock the boss had overlooked.
It was a trump card Yujin had forgotten… until now.
Wait. I know why….
[SENSEI—!!!]
Yujin’s voice reached Aika.
FWOOSH.
"How… how does someone newly transcended wield divine essence…?"
"Because of you!!! You’re the reason I couldn’t have children until I was 47!!!"
"……? What does that—"
"DIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
SLASH.
Aika cleaved the boss in two.