Chapter 286: Chapter 286

“What is all this all of a sudden?!”

“Kill them! Kill them!!”

“Uaaaah! It’s a monster!!”

The hall turned into a literal hellscape.

Not only had a monster fallen from the sky, but now dozens of people were raining down as well—each one striking like a meteor with terrifying force.

The ones who landed didn’t fear death. They charged in, fighting like madmen.

Then, one sharp-eyed mage shouted, amplifying his voice with mana.

“Don’t be afraid! It’s just a copy spell! We can solve this just by killing them!!”

The moment he said it, other mages began to analyze the situation and shout advice.

“It’s a copy spell! Don’t get confused!”

“There has to be an original somewhere!!”

“Take out the original and it’s over!!”

“Especially target the one fighting the best!!”

To them, a copy spell wasn’t anything amazing.

Just one among countless forms of magic.

They had methods to block even a Grand Mage’s teleportation. A copy spell wasn’t a big deal.

And naturally, they knew how to counter it.

So they focused on finding the one fighting the best.

Sure enough, amidst the chaos, they quickly spotted one with the same face who was cutting down their troops with overwhelming skill.

“Archers! Where are the archers!!”

The invading army focused on that specific clone.

A hail of arrows and spells flew toward him, and behind the shield bearers, spears and swords began thrusting forward.

The onslaught was so intense it was hard to imagine anyone surviving it.

Then one soldier shouted, voice trembling with excitement.

His weapon had pierced through.

With that, the others shouted too.

And all of it was true.

The Su-ho impaled with countless weapons—

Like a great general meeting his end on the front lines—finally fell.

The princess on his back, still tightly bound, had also been shredded by the countless blades and spears.

The moment Su-ho’s head hit the ground—

His body burst into smoke.

The soldiers stared in blank confusion.

Even the one who had fought so well was a fake.

A nameless commander screamed:

“You sons of bitches!! Start searching again!! Now!!”

A man running with a nod.

It was none other than the real Su-ho.

Not the clone—but the original.

Su-ho had been present during the meteor assault plan executed by his clone.

But the moment they landed, he chose not to fight.

Instead, he transformed into mist and slipped through the chaos.

‘You think I’m crazy enough to fight all those bastards head-on?’

The journey was still long.

He’d only just descended from the upper levels and crossed the middle floors. Who knew how long it would take to reach the basement?

No—it was possible to reach it.

But there was no way to stop every single invading soldier in the process.

Thankfully, his plan had worked beautifully, and Su-ho broke through the grand hall with minimal damage.

Why did that one clone fight so well?

Because Su-ho had been controlling it directly.

That much he could manage even while running.

As for Bulgasari—he’d unsummoned it in advance.

Even Bulgasari wouldn’t survive that place.

So, combining distraction tactics, mist transformation, and his backup battery strategy, Su-ho finally reached the underground level of the palace.

“Where the hell are they?!”

“Comb every corner!!”

Above, the sounds of invading troops echoed through the floors.

But that didn’t mean the basement was safe either.

From time to time, Su-ho had run into commander-level enemies like Bahram or Ablain, but with stealth and ambush tactics, he’d narrowly avoided disaster.

‘I think it was around here.’

The palace basement was divided into two major areas:

A storage warehouse for supplies, and a prison for people.

The prison wasn’t for real criminals—it was more like a punishment zone for those who broke rules within the palace.

After all, they couldn’t keep actual criminals beneath the sacred palace.

Su-ho headed toward the prison.

That was where the royal family’s secret location was hidden.

And the moment he stepped inside, Su-ho winced at the overwhelming stench of blood.

‘Don’t tell me... they killed all the prisoners?’

A bloodbath had already occurred here.

No one had even cleaned the corpses.

They were strewn everywhere, and judging by their condition, many hadn’t been killed in combat.

They were murdered for fun.

‘Disgusting bastards.’

Worse still, most of the bodies had chunks torn off.

The invading army’s brutality was too much to stomach.

Even if a gate recreated another world, the revulsion was still real.

‘Good thing I kept the princess asleep.’

Frowning, Su-ho headed deeper into the prison.

That’s where the royal family’s secret chamber lay.

He followed a spiraling path downward—

“Heuhuhuk... heuhuhuk...”

Whimpering voices echoed # Nоvеlight # from somewhere.

If that many were crying, then... there were people here?

Su-ho immediately activated his sensory field.

To locate the source of the crying.

His head turned toward the far end of the path.

The voices were getting closer.

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The cries were drawing near.

“Heuhuhuk... heuhuhuk...”

Su-ho suddenly felt something off about the sound.

From the darkness at the end of the hallway, the source of the sobbing emerged.

And when Su-ho saw it—

He was at a loss for words.

The reason he was speechless—

The voice hadn’t come from multiple people.

It had come from a single being.

Not a monster in the normal sense... more like a thing so hideous that “monster” was the only word that could describe it.

It stood nearly three meters tall.

And most disturbingly—

‘So that’s why the prisoners were torn apart... it was because of that thing.’

Its body was made of the very corpses Su-ho had seen.

Mostly their lower jaws.

The thing resembled the form of a necromancer’s meat golem.

But this wasn’t just some stitched-up lump of meat and hide—it had limbs and torsos bursting outward, forming a visual horror that was difficult to comprehend.

Its shape wasn’t even humanoid.

Two legs, a massive spherical torso.

On that torso—one single eye, and countless mouths.

Su-ho grimaced as he checked its nameplate.

— Gu Byeong of Gwaeslam Lv. ???

“Gu Byeong of Gwaeslam.”

The label suggested Gu Byeong had been created by someone named Gwaeslam.

‘Gwaeslam must be like Ablain—a member of the invading army. But what the hell is a Gu Byeong?’

[Gu Byeong of Gwaeslam uses Boss Monster-level Fear.]

[Dragon Blood has been activated.]

[Fear is nullified due to Dragon Spirit effect.]

Even beyond the Fear effect, its sheer volume was enough to make Su-ho’s eardrums throb.

He rubbed his ringing ears and let out a low breath.

Normally, he’d be completely immune thanks to Dragon Blood.

But the princess wasn’t.

So the damage from Fear hit her full force.

“If Sacrifice were still F-rank...”

He didn’t even want to imagine it.

Only one option remained—

But if that thing was a named or custom monster, why was it using Boss Monster-level Fear?

It was suspicious, but he’d worry about that later.

First, eliminate the target.

Su-ho dashed forward to close the gap.

Gu Byeong screamed again.

[Gu Byeong of Gwaeslam uses Boss Monster-level Fear.]

[Dragon Blood has been activated.]

[Fear is nullified due to Dragon Spirit effect.]

[Gu Byeong of Gwaeslam uses Ultrasonic Wave.]

Alongside the Fear came a piercing ultrasonic wave.

A transparent, high-speed pulse erupted from Gu Byeong.

It slammed into Su-ho, blowing him back.

Su-ho barely managed to brace himself and regain balance.

“Stronger than expected.”

The force of the blast was bad—but the actual damage wasn’t light either.

But there was no turning back.

According to the princess’s memory, the royal family’s secret chamber was just beyond this point.

“If I can’t close the distance—then I’ll attack from range.”

Su-ho summoned the Guiyeong Spear and hurled it.

[Javelin has been activated.]

It tore through the air with a whistle.

Gu Byeong roared again.

[Gu Byeong of Gwaeslam uses Boss Monster-level Fear.]

[Gu Byeong of Gwaeslam uses Ultrasonic Wave.]

Fear and ultrasound activated simultaneously.

[Shadow Binding has been activated.]

[Shadow Bleed has been activated.]

[Shadow Pierce has been activated.]

The ultrasonic wave that had blown Su-ho back couldn’t stop the spear empowered by Javelin.

The creature was in dim lighting. Enough to count as shadow.

So Shadow Pierce activated as well.

Gu Byeong thrashed and roared in agony.

It wanted to pull out the Guiyeong Spear—but with no arms on its spherical body, it couldn’t.

“Guess I don’t need to use Weakening.”

It continued screaming, blasting out ultrasonic waves like gunfire—but it didn’t matter.

[Hundred Pounds Throw has been activated.]

When weight is lacking—add more.

Su-ho closed the distance again.

Gu Byeong screamed in pain with the spear still lodged in its body.

But thanks to Hundred Pounds Throw, Su-ho wasn’t pushed back this time.

He reached melee range and swung his sword.

[Steel Severance has been activated.]

[Enhancement is applied.]

[The power of Steel Severance increases further.]

Adding the enhancement for a clean and safe kill.

Just as the sword was about to strike—

Something long slammed into Su-ho.

It was too fast, too sudden.

And Su-ho had been mid-swing—he couldn’t react in time.

Grimacing, he stared forward.

And from the darkness, the new attacker revealed itself.

— Su Byeong of Gwaeslam Lv. ???

And when Su-ho saw what it looked like—

He couldn’t help but curse.

Gu Byeong had a body covered in mouths.

Its body was covered in arms.