MTLNOVEL Chapter 293
Chapter 294. Failure is Treason, Success is Revolution (8)
The guardian of the Five Elements Divine Artifact, Toban, Malphite, couldn’t believe the current reality.
[You’re telling me a mere human is holding on?]
So shocked that his thoughts spilled out of his mouth.
[In 887 years, eight humans have challenged. But none lasted more than five seconds!]
Those who challenged the trial to obtain Toban weren’t just humans. Beastmen, elves, dwarves… Even those confident in their strength within their races came.
But all failed and died.
Among them was even a descendant of the giants, albeit a half-blood.
[Even the descendant of the giants failed, and now a lowly human…!]
Malphite was in shock.
If it were the usual Keter, he would have provoked and angered him, but now he was silent. There was no room to open his mouth.
Not even the luxury to think differently. The only thoughts in Keter’s mind were ‘use strength’ and ‘hold on.’
Blinking his eyes, breathing. Even the muscles used for that were a waste.
Crack! Tear!
Sounds of something breaking and tearing came from Keter’s body.
Thud thud thud!
Keter’s whole body and legs trembled uncontrollably. Under unimaginable pressure, his blood vessels burst, and blood flowed from his entire body.
Yet, Keter didn’t fall. He didn’t close his eyes. He didn’t withdraw his arms.
As if born to hold up this massive mountain, he just endured.
Malphite felt fear.
He had told Keter that the trial would end if he could take Toban, but the reality was different. The trial ended if he endured Toban’s weight for one minute.
And now, 40 seconds had already passed. Malphite grew anxious.
[The Five Elements Divine Artifact is a sacred relic of our giant race, the original humans. But you humans are just byproducts, scraps, livestock! At best, a pet like you can’t take the sacred relic!]
Malphite, fearing Keter might take Toban, shook his body violently. There was no hesitation in his actions. This wasn’t the first time.
677 years ago, Malphite had killed a dwarf in this manner.
The dwarf lost balance, fell, and was crushed by Toban. Keter would meet the same fate.
And Malphite’s prediction wasn’t wrong. Keter fell. Who could have expected the guardian, Malphite, to interfere?
But Keter did.
[Wha, what?!]
As soon as Keter fell, he leaned his back on the ground and supported Toban with his feet.
Splat!
Something burst from Keter’s thigh, and blood spurted out. But Keter wasn’t crushed to death.
Without cursing at Malphite, who interfered as a guardian, he just stretched out his hands and pushed Toban up.
A posture of endurance using his whole body. Keter could now endure much more stably than with just his hands.
[Thi, this is absurd. Unacceptable!]
Rumble rumble!
Malphite shook his body like mad. He couldn’t directly interfere with the challenger, so this was his best attempt, but it didn’t work.
If he were standing on two legs, it might be different, but Keter was now lying flat on the ground. No matter how much the ground shook, what interference could it be?
52 seconds, 53 seconds…
As it approached one minute, Malphite urgently shouted.
[Keter, give up! You’re just enduring Toban, you can’t take it. I’ll show mercy. If you give up now, I’ll take Toban back and give you a mountain of gold and treasures!]
Keter didn’t know the truth that he only needed to endure for one minute. So Malphite tried to deceive him.
But Keter, raised in the Lawless City, wouldn’t fall for such a trick.
Keter ignored it cleanly and focused only on enduring, and soon the promised time came.
[No!]
Malphite screamed.
The world echoed. All kinds of beasts fled, and mountain birds flew up. That was Malphite’s last cry.
His body began to be sucked into Toban. It took only a blink of an eye for his massive body to be absorbed.
Keter, who was above Malphite, fell to the ground. Whether he lost consciousness or not, he didn’t move at all.
Crash!
Keter, who fell defenseless from tens of meters high. His eyes were open, but there was no focus.
A body without even a twitch. And a pool of blood that was hard to believe came from one person.
That’s right.
Keter was dead.
Keter, covered in blood.
Outwardly, his injuries didn’t seem severe, but inside was different. It was no exaggeration to say an explosion had occurred inside his body.
After all, he had been holding up a mountain weighing millions of tons.
With millions of tons of pressure on a human body, how could one be unharmed? Just maintaining a human form was a feat.
But that wasn’t all. Keter had opened Heavenly Power. Up to the 7th level of Heavenly Prison. A transcendent power obtained by purely exploding human potential without the help of Aura or Mana.
Could there be no risk in a technique that grants such power?
Both body and mental strength were worn down. Torn to shreds. Turned to dust and crumbled. Leaving a corpse was a mercy.
Then.
[Huh, huh, I’ve been waiting for this moment.]
Chomp!
Amaranth, who had been lying still as if dead, revealed his presence.
Creep creep.
Keter’s right arm was instantly engulfed by Amaranth’s black light. From the arm to the shoulder, from the shoulder to the torso.
Amaranth began to take over Keter’s dead body.
[A human daring to challenge the Five Elements Divine Artifact meant for the giants. I truly admired your body and capabilities. But now it’s all mine. Huh huh huh.]
Just as Amaranth, who had taken over the entire torso except the head, was about to take over the head.
Toban, which had completely absorbed Malphite, was gently sucked into Keter’s index finger in the blink of an eye.
Whoosh.
A warm brown light starting from the ring gently enveloped Keter’s entire body.
At the same time, his wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the eye.
[What is this? What’s the point of healing a corpse? Stop it!]
Amaranth fired a Mana Arrow to block Toban, but it was futile.
Toban easily deflected Amaranth’s Mana Arrow and began to push out Amaranth, who had taken over Keter’s body.
[Stop! What’s the point of protecting a dead man! Please just leave it alone!]
Amaranth, who had endured being used by Keter, had endured for this very moment. But Toban interfered, and a scream naturally came out.
Despite Amaranth’s desperate struggle, Toban completely healed Keter’s wounds, blocked Amaranth’s erosion, and eventually touched Keter’s forehead and disappeared.
And at that moment-
Flash.
The corpse opened its eyes.
Keter, who had died and come back to life, first moved his lips and then uttered a word.
“Alive?”
At that annoying word, Amaranth felt like he was going to lose his mind.
Keter, who had died and come back to life, could now be sure.
‘My death isn’t the trigger for regression.’
Of course, he didn’t gamble just to confirm that one thing.
“It’s called a Divine Artifact, so I thought it would naturally have a function to protect the wearer…”
Keter muttered, still lying on the ground. Not because it was comfortable, but because the only thing he could move was his lips.
“It’s not the first time I’ve died, but I still can’t get used to this.”
This was already the third time. He had soaked in the River of the Dead and even chatted with the God of Death, only to be forcibly revived.
The first death was saved by Franken, the second by an unexpected regression.
“The God of Death must be annoyed, huh? Heh heh.”
Though his words were light, Keter really thought he was going to die this time. He had planned to survive using Toban’s power, but it was ‘healing fatal wounds to survive,’ not ‘resurrecting after death.’
“Amaranth. You’re a bit disappointing. You didn’t even pretend to save me when I was dying?”
Amaranth didn’t answer. He couldn’t.
“Shut up for life. I have one more person to talk to. Hey, Malphite. You there?”
Keter, wearing Toban, felt Malphite’s presence inside and spoke to him.
[…Don’t talk to me, human.]
“Who do you think wants to talk to you? Explain Toban’s abilities.”
[Grr… You ignorant fool. You’ve become the master of the earth. Do you not know how great that power is?]
“You, even though you hate it, you keep answering. It’s like you’re forced to, huh? As expected of a Divine Artifact. The service is top-notch.”
[Keter. I propose a deal. Find the giants and transfer Toban to them. Then I’ll give you treasures comparable to Toban.]
“Shut up, Malphite.”
[…]
Keter’s prediction was spot on. Malphite had become a servant who had to obey Keter’s words unconditionally.
And Keter wasn’t one to not take advantage of this.
“Tell me where the treasures you mentioned are.”
[I can only tell you if you accept my proposal.]
“Sigh, so that much coercion isn’t possible? A bit disappointing.”
Keter, who had been wiggling his toes, seemed to regain some energy and sat up.
“My body doesn’t feel like my own.”
In a good way, it was the effect of survival of the fittest and wearing Toban. In a bad way, the side effects of Heavenly Prison and recovery coexisted in Keter’s body.
Just sitting up made his body feel a hundred times heavier. He wanted to lie down immediately. No, he wanted to sleep for a whole week, the fatigue making his eyelids heavy.
But Keter forced himself to sit up. Like a newborn deer standing up.
“It’s just the beginning, can’t rest now.”
Trying to be cautious against his nature only made the problem bigger. To fix that, Keter couldn’t be satisfied with just obtaining one Five Elements Divine Artifact.
“Hoo.”
Keter, who barely resisted the urge to smoke a cigarette, took a deep breath instead.
The sun was already setting, and darkness was approaching.
But the excuse ‘it’s too late today’ didn’t work for Keter. Keter immediately headed to his next destination.
Dragging his body, which needed recovery, the speed was much slower than before, and his condition was the worst- but Keter still ran.
*
Snow piled up to his waist.
Ice as hard as steel.
Keter, who arrived in the northern part of the Lilian Kingdom, grabbed a handful of snow and chewed it.
“I’m starving.”
Crunch, crunch!
Keter, who quenched his hunger with snow and ice, closed his eyes and thought.
‘Named monster, Green Wind. It appeared in the Baen Kingdom but came from the northern part of the Lilian Kingdom.’
Keter’s second goal after obtaining the Five Elements Divine Artifact was the named monster, Green Wind.
Green Wind was a very rare named monster that attracted attention, not just because it had the ‘power to control the wind,’ but more because it was a goblin.
Goblin.
A monster that, even when fully grown, is only as tall as a dwarf, with strength similar to a human boy.
Quite intelligent, capable of forming villages and making weapons and armor, but lacking social skills, goblins were, with their unique aggression, cunning, and reproductive ability, the next biggest nuisance after orcs in this world.
Especially, goblins had the habit of digging burrows and living inside during winter.
No matter how much Keter liked snow, it was useless if it wasn’t on the ground, and even if he could sense presence well, he couldn’t detect life forms inside a burrow with its entrance tightly sealed. Moreover, in this vast northern area, how many goblins could there be?
But Keter had a plan.
“Toban, time to earn your keep.”
No need to inquire about the goblins’ hideouts, no need to dig through the snowfield to find the goblins’ burrows.
What would take at least half a year even with determined searching, Keter could compress into just one second.
Keter placed both hands on the frozen ground. Toban naturally emitted light.
“Malphite. Detect all the goblins in this northern land.”
[…Is this all you do with the Five Elements Divine Artifact? Just goblin hunting? Disgusting!]
“Yeah, so how many are there?”
[…There are millions of such insignificant creatures.]
“I know that. But the goblin I’m looking for is just one. The goblin with divine power. Where is it?”
[An insignificant creature with divine power… There is one.]
Even without Malphite’s explanation, Keter could feel it as if a map appeared in his mind.
The location of the goblin he was looking for, Green Wind.