Even if they followed his instructions, there was still a problem. They hadnât gotten through the thorn wall yet. Thatâs why they had stopped here in the first place.
âI have an idea.â
While they were talking amongst themselves, Lee Shin Woo had thought up some ways to get through the thorn wall âwith his partyâ, but Kratiaâs eyes were sparkling, so he decided to hear her out first.
âI analyzed the thorn wall and found that the ore would temporarily overlap its defense and durability in the specific area whenever it is attacked, nullifying the damage.
ââŠHey, wait. Thatâs ridiculous.â
Darkness signified a link. By using this power, the ores were pieced together. The secret behind the thorn wallâs formidable defense lay in gathering ore which possessed similar characteristics, assimilating them together, and overlapping them together.
âNow that you mention it⊠This is indeed the power of darkness. I understand now. A magicianâs deductive ability is quite surprising.â
âThis is basic for a magician. Prince is still below average.â
âKeuk.â
Of course, Lee Shin Woo already knew all this. His peak darkness element mastery wasnât just for show. If Lee Shin Woo were alone, he couldâve just forced his way through the wall.
âThen why is it that level 8 or lower physical attacks canât damage the wall?â
âYou need to think about it in reverse. A level 8âs physical attacks can somewhat ignore the darkness element surrounding the Evil Eye ore. An attack that messes with the wallâs overlapping defense will inflict damage.â
âAh⊠As I thought.â
Lee Shin Woo understood what she meant, as he had gone through several changes when heâd reached level 8. Yeah, thatâs right. He hadnât felt anything unusual, as he could use several elements and had even unlocked a few innate elements as well, but level 8 was a large leap towards a higher realm.
âI hadnât realized because everything else Iâd gotten was so amazing. But now that I know, itâs fine. Since itâll make Wild Card, which lets me define myself, better than before.â
If he really wanted to, he could unleash a physical attack that defied physics, so Kratiaâs deduction was spot on. Lee Shin Woo nodded his head and Kratia continued.
âIâve thought of three ways. First, we take advantage of the limitation of the thorn wallâs overlapping defense; we attack in two places at once. One person attacks the same spot, and the other uses that opportunity to unleash a quick and powerful attack on the wall. As long as the overlapping darkness element doesnât react, then the second attacker should be able to damage a portion of the wall.â
âA good plan.â
The fact that its defensive capabilities were assimilated and overlapped meant that the wall focused all of its defense at one point at a time. It didnât just take that defense from nowhere.
In other words, if one person were to attack one place, forcing the wall to overlap its defenses in that specific area, then another person could attack and damage the wall before the concentration of defense could shift to the new area.
âSecond, I use my ice. Ice is, at its core, based around death, and change. My magic freezes everything and in the process, can make everything move slower as well. Mana, as well as these oresâ overlapping ability, are no exception. Therefore, if I make the wall respond slower than normal, then we should be able to get through without much difficulty. Of course, it would take an immense amount of mana to do so.â
âCool.â
âIâm always cool.â
Hoo. If all the heroes were like Kratia, then they wouldâve conquered the Underground Empire already⊠Lee Shin Woo looked at Kratia as if deeply moved, and experienced Jinâs ârodeoâ. This was quite the bold move for a woman whoâd wondered whether she was qualified or not.
âLastly⊠We use light. I donât think I even need to explain this.â
âThatâs right. After listening to you, Iâve gotten the gist of it.â
Retadane agreed as if the answer were obvious. The mace end of her flail was already accumulating a bright white light.
It was clear that she had transcended human limitations, as she could create the light element.
âLight is the power of severing. It goes without saying that it can sever things that have been connected through the darkness element. But because I cannot even begin to comprehend the concentration of darkness magic that has gathered in this wall⊠Even I, who can use such powerful light, am not confident that I can break through it by myself.â
âThatâs why I told you all the options. Weâll mix all three of them together.â
That was the most effective method. Especially because they were pressed for time. Kratia stretched out three fingers. Seeing that, Retadane nodded her head in understanding.
âAs expected. Lee Shin Woo will attack the wall first, forcing the wall to concentrate its defenses in a different location. And during that time, youâll use your ice magic. Then, Iâll use my light magic to its fullest in that area⊠If we do that, then we should be able to get through the thorn wall.â
âWeâll be able to break through only a portion of it. Thereâs a chance that it can regenerate.â
âIf we can get in, then getting out shouldnât be too difficult. âŠI see. There was indeed a way to break through the thorn wall.â
Retadane was deeply moved at the realization that they could combine their power to break through the thorn wall. Many years ago, when she was still young, she remembered seeing the chaotic form of the thorn wall and being unable to do anything but latch on to her older brotherâŠ
ââŠLetâs begin. Lee Shin Woo, you have the toughest job. Can we leave it to you?â
âOf course.â
If Lee Shin Woo were to help Retadane with his own light element, they would be able to break through the thorn wall with ease.
Lee Shin Woo didnât say anything, but the party seemed to think that he was putting in a lot of effort just to wield the Shining Bone Sword. They didnât even suspect that Lee Shin Woo could masterfully wield the Shining Bone Swordâs light element and cut through the thorn wall alone.
âForget the light element. I could use the Shining Flame to outright erase the thorn wallâs karma.â
Lee Shin Woo decided to humor them and stepped forward, gripping the sword with both hands. He didnât even need to gather his mana. With but a thought, the worldâs mana would come to his aid. Plus, there was already a significant amount of mana within the sword itself.
âIâm ready. Tell me when youâre all ready.â
âIâm ready as well.â
âNot yet. Just a little while longer⊠Done.â
Lee Shin Woo nodded his head and silently thrust his sword. His sword pierced through the wall with ease, as if he were slicing through butter. Since the light element was attached to every one of his attacks, the wall was unable to activate its defensive ability at the moment of impact.
But right after, he could feel its incredible toughness. While Lee Shin Wooâs attack possessed transcendent strength, the thorn wallâs own defense was transcendent as well.
âHoo. Itâs better than I expected.â
Darknessâs ability of assimilation. They had developed this ability into an overlapping ability. He could see the wall gathering all of the Evil Eye oresâ strength into one place so that it could crush the sword.
âWhat a tremendous flow. The energy being overlapped into this space could even hurt the Garuda. Even if theyâre rotten, theyâre still the Empire, huhâŠ!â
Lee Shin Woo saw as the darkness that comprised the wall move around and smiled automatically. There was so much he learned from seeing that. Heâd reached the peak of the darkness element, but it didnât mean heâd mastered every facet of using it. Overlap. What a good idea.
âNow!â
âIâm going! Huaaaaahp!â
While Lee Shin Woo was experiencing the thorn wallâs ability first hand and analyzing it, Kratia had burst a portion of the wall with her ice magic.
She cast a small blizzard with her violently rotating orb and temporarily halted the wallâs overlapping function. Then, Retadaneâs flail exploded with light. She let out a battle cry and a portion of the wall collapsed!
âShin Woo, you can stop now! We have to go in now!â
âLee Shin Woo, will you really be ok!?â
âI have someone working with me. On the contrary, Iâm more worried about you.â
âThat nonchalant expression⊠Very good. Leave the inside to us!â
âShin Woo, you have to tell me everything later.â
âGood luck, Junior! If you die, Iâll kill you!â
Lee Shin Woo watched as his party, aside from him and Jin rushed through the opening, and then withdrew his sword. The area he pulled the sword out of seemed to emit an unbecoming scream and caused an uproar in the entire area.
At the same time, darkness thorns were formed in the damaged area, which attempted to punish the intruder, but the moment they touched his body, the thorns completely fell apart.
âWhat do you think youâre doing?â
âIt almost seems harder hiding that ability than using it.â
âStill⊠itâs like Iâve stopped being human.â
âYou stopped being human a while ago.â
Once the party was gone, Jin spoke. Lee Shin Woo just grinned and replied. And he picked up the remains of the thorn wall.
Its name was indeed âEvil Eyeâ. Each piece was only a level 6 piece of ore, so he couldnât believe that altogether it formed such a tremendous artifact.
âSo the more pieces that are gathered, the more powerful it gets. But instead of overlapping the properties in emergencies only, why not overlap matter itself?â
âWhat a crazy idea! What happened to the conversation of mass!?â
âWhen I first came here, he [1] died, along with my body.â
Lee Shin Woo tried to apply the technique heâd just learned with his own darkness magic, applying it to the thorn wallâs debris.
He thought itâd be really tough to do, but he was able to condense the debris into the size of a bean with ease, perhaps because he, whoâd mastered the darkness element, had seen the ability first hand and understood its fundamental principles.
âAha. So this is the real way of using this ore. You donât overlap the magic together, you overlap the matter itself together instead. Youâre not supposed to make this stupid wall with it.â
ââŠâ
Of course, in the process of overlapping matter, it became heavier as well, but it was still lighter than combining the weight of all the debris. The conservation truly was dead.
What was so special about this ability? Well, if he were to gather all the Evil Eye in one place, then he would be able to create the worldâs heaviest and most durable artifact with the highest magic concentration.
âDoes the Undead Emperor know this too? Iâm excited.â
âSo are you going to break this whole thing downâŠ?â
âAre you crazy? This thing will become the last bastion that stops the others from entering. Iâll do it after itâs done its job.â
He wondered what he would have to do if the hole wasnât mended, but it had completely regenerated, though he didnât know where the additional material had come from. He tapped on the once collapsed area and found that it was as tough as ever.
âGood. Then weâre all good to go.â
Lee Shin Woo placed the level 6 (+7) Evil Eye bean into his chest, grinned and turned around. The Chi Pauls had already lined up in front of him. Including the original Chi Paul, there were five level 7 elites. They feared nothing.
[You called for us, so we came. What shall we do?]
âWhat do you mean? We do we what we do best.â
Lee Shin Woo checked the location of all the forces one last time. Heâd already memorized where all the traps were, as well as where the monsters and spirits were.
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âOur goal is to confuse our enemies, cause them to lose their way, cause them to fight against each other, and lose sight of their goals and themselves⊠Basically, just make a mess of things. Today, weâre killing four of the 12 Generals!â
[Understood!]
Chi Paul yelled vigorously. The others needed no explanation. When Lee Shin Woo had completely mastered the darkness element, he had become able to directly transmit his thoughts to his subordinates.
His subordinates went everywhere. It was time to raise the curtains for the Heaven Defying Generalâs performance.
[1] T/N: Refers to the conservation of mass as a âheâ.