Chương 9: Divine Reaper's Descent

Ch 09 - Divine Reaper's Descent Jester's body was thrown around again and again as the balloon swayed wildly through the air. Every sudden shift sent him swinging in a different direction. From below, relentless shockwaves from countless attacks slammed into him, making it even harder to stay balanced. The battle had reached its peak. The Raid Boss was being bombarded from every direction without a single moment of rest.

He carefully watched how the players' attacks affected the Raid Boss, paying close attention to the timing of the strongest skills they would unleash during the final moments. He had to compete against all of them if he wanted to claim the finishing blow. Gritting his teeth, he slipped a ring onto his finger, the very ring he had obtained after discovering the Hidden Cave before all of this had happened. It turned out to be an unexpected bonus, one far more valuable than he had ever imagined.

[Sanctum's Encore Ring | Epic | Ring] [Weight: 45] [Durability: 1000/1000] [Description: A ring forged from crystallized echoes of the Hidden Sanctuary's first intrusion. Once per day, it grants the wearer a moment of temporal distortion, causing their next attack to strike with doubled ferocity, as though the world itself conspires in their favor.] [Skills: Intrusion's Echo] [Once per day, your next attack within the next 30 seconds deals 100% additional damage and gains +50% accuracy. This effect triggers automatically on your next ability or weapon strike.] An Epic-grade ring! It was completely absurd. He could become incredibly rich just by selling it. One hundred percent bonus damage? Seriously? Sure, it only worked once a day, but that hardly mattered. The ring appeared on the ring finger of his left hand. Normally, players had ten ring slots. This was his first. Jester released his grip on the balloon. His tiny body plunged toward the battlefield at terrifying speed.

Dark energy wrapped around him as an enormous scythe materialized in his hands. In his Pocket Form, the Divine-grade scythe looked absolutely enormous. The oversized weapon spun wildly around his tiny body, creating a surreal and terrifying sight. He finally had enough Chaos to activate the scythe's ability.

"Spend 100 stat points on the Constitution?" Jester couldn't afford to be careless by leaving his Constitution too low. If he was hit by even a single attack before he finished off the monster, he could be killed instantly. He needed more Health. His eyes sharpened as he continued diving. The scythe's passive bonuses surged through his body, dramatically increasing his attributes. His stats had already reached the level of someone in level eighties. [Jester Lv. 25 - Evil Clown] [HP: 1374 | Mana: 2576] [Strength: 160 | Agility: 172 | Magic: 322 | Constitution: 119 | Stamina: 12] [Luck: 20] [Available Stats: 0] [Weight: 920 / 960] The monster continued to endure an endless barrage of attacks. Its massive body had begun to stagger, each successive blow driving it closer and closer to collapse. Wrapped in dark energy, Jester plummeted toward the battlefield. The Divine-grade scythe spun around him as though it had a will of its own. Then, at the perfect moment…

The scythe grew several times larger in an instant, its enormous blade spinning with terrifying force as it descended toward the battlefield. Several players looked up in shock. A deafening roar echoed across the forest as the gigantic scythe slammed into the monster. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. [20 Chaos consumed.] [Divine - Chaos Reaping (Conditional Active)] [Chaos Cost: 20-220] [Unleash a Chaos-infused slash. The more Chaos consumed, the greater its damage, range, armor penetration, and Defense Ignore.] The strike exploded with overwhelming force. The impact hurled Jester away before he even had a chance to see the full result. His tiny body was flung through the air like a leaf caught in a storm. Even so, he knew the attack had connected. A flood of notifications immediately filled his vision. His body crashed through the treetops before finally slamming into the forest below.

By then, the Divine-grade scythe had already vanished, dissolving into countless particles of light. [You have taken massive damage.] [Critical Condition: HP critically low.] A warning notification appeared just as his body returned to its normal size. However, another series of notifications appeared across his vision at the very same moment. [You killed Elite Raid Boss - Abyss Horn Tyran (Lv. 95)]"I actually killed the Raid Boss! Hahaha!" The amount of Experience Points he received was completely absurd.

It was enough to send his level soaring. [Level Up!] [Level Up!] [Level Up!] [...] [Lv. 25 → Lv. 38] [Level Up Bonus: HP, Mana, and Stamina have been fully restored.] [XP Progress: 26, 578 / 36, 684 XP (72%)] Jester slowly sat up and looked over the aftermath of the battle. The massive monster was already lying motionless on the ground, while the players, the prince, and his soldiers were busy gathering around its enormous corpse. Hidden behind the trees, Jester remained completely out of sight.

None of them realized he was there. Even if someone had caught a glimpse of him, they still shouldn't have been able to recognize him. On top of that, the flashy effects surrounding his scythe made the weapon appear several times larger than it really was, hiding his tiny body behind it even more. Meanwhile, several brightly colored items were scattered across the spot where the raid boss had fallen. They were the loot drops.

Since Jester had landed the final hit on the monster, he should have received the highest-value rewards. The items soon floated into the air, each glowing with its own colorful light. Most of them shot toward the player leader and Prince Caelan, but three of them clearly curved away and flew toward Jester's hiding place behind the trees. They twisted through the air before slipping into his chest as though they had merged with his body.

Every player turned to look in that direction, trying to figure out who was hiding there. [25 Chaos consumed.] [Pocket Form: Chaos Version activated.] Jester ignored the three items for the moment. Without wasting another second, he activated his Pocket Form and quietly disappeared from the area once again. [You successfully turned the players and Prince Caelan's forces against each other. You also seized the opportunity to deliver the final blow to the raid boss.] [A truly outstanding performance.] [Chaos +125] Jester ran without paying attention to anything else. He kept circling through the forest, doing everything he could to avoid being discovered by the players. It would become a serious problem if they managed to find him. Dealing with Baboon and his friends was one thing. They might be rich, but they were idiots. The players from one of the top guilds were a completely different story. Not that Jester was afraid of them. It was a strategic retreat.

He had no intention of fighting or confronting them head-on. He was the Evil Clown! He fought with deception. He misled his enemies, manipulated every situation to his advantage, searched for their weaknesses, patiently waited for the perfect moment, and struck when they least expected it. Once he was certain he had put enough distance between himself and the others, he searched for another place to observe them.

He climbed a tall tree, jumped across several branches, and settled into a concealed spot high above the ground. From there, he watched the two groups once again as they continued clashing with each other. They were now openly accusing and suspecting one another. Neither side was willing to let this incident pass. The most valuable item from the raid boss's loot had disappeared, and that alone was enough to make both groups furious. Only eight players remained from what had originally been a party of nearly twenty.

Prince Caelan's group had also been reduced to around twelve people. Both sides had suffered heavy losses, and their numbers had dropped dramatically. One thing was certain. Jester had claimed the greatest reward of all. He had gained an incredible number of levels in a single battle. Just what level had he reached now? [Jester Lv. 38 - Evil Clown] [HP: 1249 | Mana: 576] [Strength: 35 | Agility: 52 | Magic: 72 | Constitution: 119 | Stamina: 12] [Luck: 20] [Available Stats: 130] [Weight: 55 / 210] He had gained thirteen levels at once. He was now Level 38. It was an unbelievable leap. Just think about it. He had only recently logged back into the game. He had been only Level 10. After obtaining the Divine Artifact, he had jumped to Level 25. And now, after this single raid, he had skyrocketed all the way to Level 38.

It was an extraordinary achievement. For a normal player, reaching this point could easily take months of grinding. The game itself had already been running for two real-world years, which meant six years had passed in the game's timeline. Even so, only a small number of players had managed to reach Level 200. Of course, the higher a player's level became, the more Experience Points were required for the next level. Every level demanded significantly more EXP than the one before it.

Even so, Jester's progress was nothing short of astonishing. In such a short time, he had already climbed from Level 10 to Level 38, a pace that most players could only dream of.

"While those two sides keep trying to kill each other, let's see what I got from that monster." He opened his inventory, but before he could check the loot, another system notification appeared in front of him. [You fell from the sky itself, a Divine weapon spinning around your tiny frame, and drove it through a Lv. 95 tyrant as if it were nothing. Even the world itself bent to turn your descent into pure annihilation.] [Achievement Unlocked: Divine Reaper's Descent] [Achievement Reward Granted.]