I Became an Illegal Cheat User

136 – Breaking Through the Demon Realm (4)

Firearms expert.

The holy magic of a battle priest.

One enhances the power of firearms.

The other enhances the power of the divine.

Acquiring these two talents was an excellent choice.

Ah, some may find it puzzling.

That I, neither devout nor baptized, have obtained the talent of divine power.

And rightly so, for divine power must be innate, unlike magical power which can be acquired later.

But that doesn’t apply to me.

Whoosh!

White flames rising from my hands, the sacred fire.

The manifestation of divine power, something only priests, especially those specialized in battle, can achieve.

And I am manifesting it.

How?

Through the power of the system.

[Divine Power: 60(75)(+50)]

A brief status window on the right side of my vision.

The status window displayed the amount of divine power I currently possessed.

As noted in the status window, my original divine power was 75.

However, due to the constraints of this otherworld, it is reduced by 20%, showing that I can currently use only 60 divine power.

For reference, the plus number next to the value indicates one of the effects of the weapon I am using, Astra, which enhances ‘all attributes.’

‘Including Astra’s additional attributes, the total is 110.’

In terms of the effect of the perception skill, it’s mid-tier.

It barely surpasses the lower tier, only at the early level.

In simple terms, it means I’m a rookie.

A rookie who can finally utilize the power they possess.

Of course, that’s just an example; it doesn’t mean I am one.

Flame, flame!

A holy fire that blazes fiercely as if to consume everything.

But for a moment, the flame diminished rapidly, bending to my will.

And not long after.

Flicker….

The holy fire, now barely maintaining its form, enveloped my hand and the gun like a coating of paper.

A remarkable level of control.

I did it, yet I can’t help but admire it.

‘At this level…, I might surpass most priests, right?’

Of course, excluding the Great Saint Gloria, the Saint Noah, and Cardinal Remilia.

Those three, beloved by the divine, are authorities of holy power. Anyway.

The reason I am so adept at controlling not just magical power, but holy power, stems from the weapon I used during the previous duel season against the greedy Grid.

Ascalon.

A saint of Christianity.

The dragon-slaying sword used by Saint George.

Though it was not the genuine article, but a replica created by Astra’s ability, ‘Imitation.’

Even so, having been exposed to and used the immense holy power contained within that imitation, it seems that despite defeating Grid and returning my stats to normal, the purity and control I gained from wielding the sword remained intact.

It appears that while the numbers may not have increased, the channel of holy power has widened.

So, when I decided to purchase talents this time, I thought.

Since it has come to this, let’s acquire a talent related to holy power.

Thus, I bought it along with a talent that enhances the power of my main weapon, firearms.

Increased holy fire damage.

Reduced consumption of holy power.

I haven’t confirmed it yet, but there are various other effects, and so on.

A talent perfectly suited for me, who is already familiar with controlling holy power, yet lacks it.

The battle priest’s sacred combat skill.

Boom, boom, boom!

I pulled the trigger.

Again, without pause, again.

With each pull, a flash of blue and white mixed with thunder erupted from the muzzle cloaked in holy fire.

“Yujin….”

“Lee Yujin….”

A voice calling my name.

Boom! Bang, bang bang!

But it is quickly drowned out by the sound of explosions.

And at the same time, the heads of monsters burst open from all directions.

Monsters disguised as Lee Seoyeon, now even taking on the appearances of Arthur and Noah.

Thud, thud.

Gurgle, gurgle.

The bodies of the monsters, their heads gone, collapsed to the ground and began to melt away.

Purple mud monsters.

The creatures that had been hiding their true forms returned to their original state, unable to recover their bodies, melting away and seeping into the earth.

An increase in power due to the purchase of abilities.

And a divine power that is lethal to the demonic attribute.

The two synergies combined inflicted damage so severe that the monsters could not recover their bodies, surpassing their unique regenerative abilities.

In other words, the damage the monsters sustained was literally lethal.

Is that why?

It seems they realized that their disguise no longer worked and that they could no longer withstand the damage.

Squish, squish.

The monsters approached now without any disguise, their true forms with mud dripping down.

“Disgusting creatures.”

I grimaced and glanced around.

The squelching sounds coming from all directions.

The sight filled with purple mud monsters.

Truly a repulsive sight.

But even more revolting than that was.

“Yujin, Yujin, Yujin….”

“Lee Yujin, Lee Yujin, Lee Yujin…, Miss.”

Even after giving up their disguises, they continued to mimic the voices of my friends.

And that imitation grew increasingly distorted, transforming into a sharp sound like a beast scraping its vocal cords.

I found that sight, that behavior, both repugnant and yet…

“…Tera, retreat.”

I felt a deep sense of displeasure.

“Yes, Master.”

At my command, the maids nodded in unison.

Simultaneously, they sliced through the air with their blades, swiftly kicking the nearby monsters away, sending them tumbling back.

Then, without hesitation, they opened their inventories and stepped inside.

There was no trace of doubt in their execution of orders.

If anyone had witnessed them carrying out commands despite the encroaching enemies, they would have been utterly bewildered.

But from my perspective, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

In fact, I found comfort in the fact that they could read my thoughts, sparing me the need to explain my reasons.

[Master, retreat complete.]

I nodded at Tera’s message, my eyes scanning the surroundings.

Monsters were closing in.

Straight towards me.

“Yujin Yujin Yujin Yujin.”

“Lady Yujin Lady Yujin Lady Yujin.”

The gaps left by the retreating maids were quickly filled by the monsters. And with a squelching sound, muddy hands reached out toward me, calling my name in a voice I found utterly intolerable, deeply unsettling.

Just as the nearest monster’s hand was about to touch me.

Crack!

I reached out first.

I grabbed the grotesque, squishy head of the monster.

And just like that.

Squish!

I clenched my hand.

With that action, the mud-formed monster’s head lost its shape and was crushed.

Yet, perhaps because it wasn’t a fatal blow, like a Christmas miracle of instant death,

Gurgle, gurgle.

The monster attempted to regenerate its head with its characteristic resilience.

‘Not a chance.’

How could I just stand by and watch that?

Whoosh!

I summoned my divine power.

With my hand gripping the monster’s head, I manifested a holy flame.

“…Kieeeeeeeek─!!”

The monster, its head ablaze, let out a chilling scream that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

But the monster’s scream didn’t last long.

Whoosh!

The holy flame that was burning its head incinerated its entire body.

“…….”

I shook my hand.

The ash that was once the monster scattered into the air.

‘I’ve only burned one of them.’

Just moments ago, my divine power was over 90%.

But the moment I chose to burn it directly with holy flame instead of shooting, half of it vanished. And that was with a 40% reduction effect on consumption applied to my divine power.

‘…Seeing how much I’ve consumed, it seems greater than the mana consumption.’

One of the peculiarities of the Death Fog, mana consumption is halved.

I thought divine power would be the same due to that peculiarity.

But now that I’ve used my divine power, it seems I was mistaken.

No, to be precise, it’s only half of it that’s like that.

‘When I shoot a bullet coated with holy flame, the mana consumption is the same.’

When I attack directly with holy flame, it consumes about four times as much, but right now, with the bullet coated, it only consumes twice as much.

Of course, since my divine power is significantly lacking compared to mana, even a twofold consumption is no small matter. Still, I think this is manageable.

It’s faster to consume in a steady stream than to deplete it all at once, which is preferable in a situation like this.

‘Activating the injector five times.’

Whoosh.

With the sound of the device activating, I felt a sting at my waist.

At the same time, a cool yet warm liquid flowed into my body from the needle that had burrowed into my waist.

Suddenly, I felt a surge of vitality, and the divine power that had been crawling on the ground began to rapidly swell.

Golden Apple (S).

Remilia’s Special Holy Water (A).

Divine Elixir and Spiritual Potion.

The effect of the essence created by combining these two items was truly remarkable.

Restoration of health and stamina from the golden apple.

Continuous recovery of divine power from the special holy water.

And various resistance buffs as well.

Though it was made using a blender rather than alchemy for simple recovery purposes, this was enough to place it among the top three recovery potions in the world.

‘If only I could add mana recovery, it would be almost an elixir.’

Special holy water, to be precise, a mana recovery potion that repels and harmonizes with divine power.

Wondering if the ingredients were the issue, I decomposed the mana recovery potion and mixed only the materials related to pure mana.

‘But that didn’t work either.’

It still clashed with divine power and failed to achieve harmony.

In the game, there were no cheat codes for such combinations or for infinitely creating items, so I had no idea what the problem was.

So I gave up for now. And I thought.

Later, I would meet Midas, who had S-rank alchemy talent, to solve the problem. Anyway.

Thinking it would be almost an elixir was just a simple complaint.

Elixir.

Commonly known as the treasure of nature.

The greatest potion after the “Wind of Styx,” which could revive the dead if they had not been gone for long.

Restoration of all status ailments.

Immediate recovery and continuous restoration of health, stamina, mana, and divine power.

Doubling of all stats and resistances for one hour.

Various other enhancements and permanent increases in stats, and so on.

How could such an incredible potion be compared to a simple recovery potion?

Ah, there is something similar.

The amount of recovery.

The final recovery amount of the potion I just used is similar to the immediate recovery amount of the elixir.

Aside from that… the elixir is overwhelming.

Thinking this, I sent one of the items in my inventory into the air.

It was a small potion filled with a beautifully shimmering platinum-colored liquid, attached to a sharp syringe.

Yes.

What I just transmitted into the void is the potion I just used.

A cartridge from the potion auto-injector (A), mixed with golden apples and holy water.

So why did I transmit that?

It’s for one experiment, to confirm something.

I watched the potion falling through the air. As I sensed the murderous intent detected by the sniper’s sharp senses (A+), I reacted and counted silently.

‘One second.’

Crack.

I could see the bottle containing the potion spider-webbing with cracks.

‘Two seconds.’

Clang.

The bottle shattered.

‘Three seconds.’

Sizzle!

As the bottle broke, the potion exposed to the air evaporated in an instant.

‘Three seconds. Three seconds…’

I thought while shooting down the monsters that were trying to engulf me in the murderous intent that surrounded me, covered in a mire of malice.

‘Not bad?’

The time it takes for the potion to vanish, three seconds.

Opening the bottle and consuming it, the time to reach my stomach is incredibly short.

But what if I don’t consume it?

If I can see the effect within one second?

‘I don’t have to worry about the potion.’

I had been concerned about conserving the potion due to the peculiarities of this area, shrouded in the fog of death.

But three seconds, what of it…

As soon as I transmitted it, activating the potion auto-injector would inject the potion into my body before the bottle even shattered, and the effect would manifest immediately.

As soon as I thought that, I stopped my restraint.

────────────────────

– Form 「Change」

[Changing Form: Atlas Armor (+Thunderbolt)]

Let me know if you need anything else!

[Number of registered items: 6]

────────────────────

First, Astra’s form transformed.

Clank, clank!

It was the change I had made during the duel season, breaking through the onslaught of monsters and corrupt beings alongside my classmates.

Missile ports emerged on both shoulders of the activated armor.

Each port, adorned with the muzzle of a Thunderbolt, bore eight missiles, all cloaked in holy fire.

Crackle, crackle!

Lightning coursed through the armor.

The effects of ‘Lightning (B)’ and ‘Pharma (B)’ inherent in the Thunderbolt manifested externally.

I raised my hand.

As Astra’s form shifted, my hand became empty. In response, I converted one of the ten Aegises worn on my fingers within the armor into a shield.

And the moment I grasped the shield, I unleashed my divine power.

Whoosh!

I coated it in holy fire.

‘Now, here.’

I activated my magical power.

I used the skill, telekinesis, over the holy fire enveloping the shield.

Telekinesis over the holy fire.

It was, quite literally, a coating upon a coating.

‘With this, the holy fire won’t directly touch the monster.’

While receiving the full effect of the battle priest’s holy combat, the consumption of divine power dropped from four times to two.

Of course, while the consumption of divine power decreased, the usage of magical power would surge.

Continuous use of telekinesis, along with the supply and transmission of bullets and potions, would persist.

But this method is far more efficient than allowing the holy fire to touch the monster directly.

There’s far more magical power available.

And the potions to recover magical power are infinite.

[Only you, my master, could employ such a method.]

An obvious statement.

‘Because I have a cheat, I can use this method. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t even think of it.’

I chuckled softly and spun around. With the same momentum, I swung my shield-wielding hand.

Boom!

A heavy impact reverberated from the shield.

At the same time, the monster that had approached me was sent flying through the air.

Thunderous boom!

And towards that monster, the barrel resting on my shoulder unleashed a flash of light.

Bang!

The monster’s head exploded.

Before its feet even touched the ground, it melted away, dripping down.

Watching that, I activated the injector filled with mana recovery potion.

“Ahh.”

I exhaled a long breath.

Feeling my mana rapidly replenishing, I clenched my empty hand tightly.

And when my mana had filled to a certain extent.

Boom!

I slammed it into the ground.