Trait Hoarder-Chapter 261

Shadow Temple – Part 3

The superhumans screamed at the top of their lungs.

“Saintess!”

“Saintess!”

All one thousand superhumans who surrounded me.

Yet the Saintess didn’t spare them even a single glance.

She only looked at me.

Only me.

Clank, clank, clank.

The sound of metal echoed like background music.

The Saintess approached.

Ominous magic power spread out like a bombardment.

Layer after layer of blessings fell upon the Saintess from above.

Cloaked in monstrous stats, the Saintess stood before me.

“That’s unexpected.”

“What is?”

“I didn’t expect you to grow strong enough to slaughter them all, Savior. According to my calculations, I should have arrived just in time.”

The Saintess looked down at the four corpses.

A complex emotion flickered in her eyes.

“Guess I got stronger than you expected.”

“Seems like it. You definitely weren’t this powerful in your previous life. If the fight had dragged on for a full day, sure, maybe you’d have killed the four Guardians and everyone else here, but for it to end so quickly…”

Previous life?

‘What the hell was I in that life?’

I probed the Saintess casually.

“No way. Even in my past life, I probably went beyond your predictions. Guardians? Those guys were trash. Even back then, I could’ve ended them in five minutes flat.”

“Hahaha.”

The Saintess let out a short laugh.

“Of course, of course. Everything you say is true, Savior. Thinking about it now, that must have been the case. After all, in your previous life, you shattered every prediction and bias and stood at the center of the skies of this world.”

She’s not biting.

I was hoping for a hint about who I used to be.

GUAAANG.

The Saintess grasped her warhammer.

With her left hand, she equipped a shotgun.

Her mana circuits awakened with a deafening ignition sound.

It sounded less like a heartbeat and more like a massive diesel engine revving up.

The air trembled, and my senses roared in response.

A crushing weight pressed down on me.

The Prophet’s Ring screamed in warning.

Even through my Insight and senses, the Saintess was terrifying.

It was like a carnivorous beast in human skin stood before me.

And yet, my thoughts were elsewhere.

‘Weaker than I expected.’

Even with the blessings of a thousand superhumans concentrated into her body.

The Saintess should’ve been far stronger than the Arctic Sovereign or the River Goddess.

But right now, she felt like she was somewhere above the Arctic Sovereign, but still below the River Goddess in combat power.

It made sense.

The Saintess standing before me was weaker than the one in the game.

The in-game Saintess was a final weapon.

Thanks to the Sacrifice Plan being almost complete, she had connected with the Old Father’s Divine Kingdom.

Infinite mana, infinite blessings.

A thousand superhumans buffing her couldn’t compare to that divine link.

‘I might be able to kill her.’

A chilling killing intent struck my chest.

Yeah. I could kill her.

I could tear apart that smug face that baptized me by force and tried to feed me to a god the moment we met.

But I held myself back.

‘Too dangerous.’

There’s one thing the Saintess, Apostles, and the Pope all share.

They can all sacrifice themselves to summon their deity.

If the Saintess did that, I’d be finished.

Even as an 8th level, there’s no way I could take on a descended god.

Maybe if I finished combining the big three sword arts…

Still—

‘I can hit her.’

I’ll give her a blow she won’t forget.

I’ll leave her with a wound that lasts.

Something that’ll hinder her movements from now on.

At the very least, she won’t be able to roam the world causing chaos like she does now.

That’s my goal.

“I can hear your scheming from here.”

The Saintess sneered.

“You think you can run away after all that?”

Boom!

She took a step forward.

“Laarararaara!”

“Rararararaa!”

A hymn rang out.

With the song, divine power reverberated through the air.

It debuffed me, while buffing the Saintess.

“O Saintess!”

“O Old Father!”

The superhumans plunged into a frenzy.

They didn’t kill themselves, but they self-harmed, pouring their blood and divine power into the Saintess.

Fwaash!

Wings of light unfurled.

[Wings of Radiance].

A buff trait as powerful as my own [Sacred Knight].

BOOM!

The wings of light exploded.

In the moment the radiant burst spread like contrails behind her, the Saintess folded space and lunged!

I entered full focus mode.

I could see it.

The world’s mana, the divine power of a thousand superhumans supporting the Saintess.

This wasn’t just the Saintess charging—

It was the world itself.

But I was 8th level now.

I raised Aegis.

A glorious golden wall unfolded.

It layered again, then transformed into a semi-transparent haze, absorbing the world’s mana.

For an instant, my eyes locked with the Saintess.

In her hyena-like gaze, clear confusion appeared.

And then we clashed.

Psshk!

For the clash of two worlds, the sound was underwhelming.

I didn’t take any damage.

Instead, I stepped forward and bashed the Saintess with my shield.

“Kh!”

Something bizarre happened.

The double-layered heavenly wall simply let her pass through.

But I saw her mana circuits get violently tangled.

Not physical damage, but mana damage.

If it had been a 7th-level superhuman—say, the Iron Tower guy I just killed—they’d be coughing blood from mana overload right now.

But this was the Saintess.

Final boss of Episodes 1, 2, and 3.

She calmed her surging circuits with just a glare.

Then she roared and charged at me again.

“Savior!”

Take one hit and the true face comes out, huh?

A storm of relentless attacks began.

The warhammer thundered with terrifying force, and the massive-caliber shotgun roared in my face.

I couldn’t lose.

I blocked with my shield.

In my right hand, the Black Tiger Sword roared.

With my left, I brought Mjolnir crashing down.

At times, I dual-wielded pistols and fired the Invincible Gun.

[KRAAAAH!]

I summoned the ancient dragon, Red.

The Supreme Flame breath scorched the Saintess.

Mountain Wail and Hailstorm detonated in sync.

Divine power blazed as if to incinerate the entire Shadow Temple.

I threw in everything I had built.

Defender Warrior.

Martial Warrior.

Classic Warrior.

Gunslinger.

Dragon Knight.

Holy Knight.

Every build I had ever used shone in turn.

Traits shifting like flashes of light.

Whether defending, dodging, attacking, or countering—I overwhelmed the Saintess in every aspect.

Even with the support of a thousand superhumans.

The Saintess opened her mouth.

Eyes wide in disbelief, she screamed.

“This is impossible—this is completely impossible! How—how can a human do this?!”

I’d consumed the Elixirs of Reconstitution more than once.

I’d secured stats on par with a Lesser Deity.

With carefully matched high-tier traits enhancing my base stats.

Even reinforced further by the [World] trait.

To face me properly, she needed to be the final boss Saintess.

At the peak of the Sacrifice Plan.

Directly receiving divine power from the Old Father.

The in-game Saintess.

Not this pitiful wreck of a Saintess whining in front of me.

‘I want to kill her.’

Burning with killing intent,

I clenched my teeth and pressed the attack on the Saintess.

I could kill her.

I really could.

If I just used [Heaven Defiance]!

But I waited.

Because I knew her trait set.

Even if she wasn’t the final boss version, I knew exactly what she’d do next.

“Ahaha.”

The Saintess suddenly burst out laughing.

“You truly are the Savior.”

She kept fighting, but her voice had gone calm.

“Yes. This is how it should be. You should be this strong. Only then does it feel worth it, for me to have sacrificed myself to summon the Savior. The Savior of humanity, the Light of the World.”

Her eyes flashed.

Her hand darkened, burning black.

A power that could neither be dodged nor blocked.

[Black Gold Baptismal Flame] activated.

Fwaaaah!

A waterfall of overwhelming power surged over me.

Same as last year.

No, this was definitely different.

If last year’s baptism was a candle flame, this was the sun.

Massive divine power, ruthless magic, all screamed to dye my soul with their color.

“Accept it.”

The Saintess whispered.

“Accept the fate of salvation, the destiny of deliverance—and become a god.”

“Ghhk.”

I dropped to one knee without realizing it.

The being standing before me wasn’t the Saintess.

It was the Old Father.

This forced baptism I suffered as an 8th level engraved a terminal in me directly connected to the Old Father.

[Vajra Body] [Vajra Body] [Indomitable]

[Magic Resistance] [Supreme Flame] [Black Flame]

Even with every related trait fully activated, it was no use.

The Black Gold divine power began to rewrite my mind and body.

Free will? Useless.

Before the Black Gold Baptismal Flame unleashed by the Saintess—no, by the Old Father himself.

“Oho.”

The Saintess’s eyes gleamed with intrigue.

“You possess an interesting power. The Old Father will be pleased.”

She’d finally noticed the [World] trait.

“Ughhh…” 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Agonizing pain burned through every fiber of my being.

My consciousness began to sink.

I couldn’t move a finger.

Finally, the Saintess relaxed and placed her hand on the crown of my head.

“It’s done. It’s over. You’ve done enough, Savior. Accept the Old Father and find peace. End this life, end this ocean of suffering, and be freed from this hellish Earth.”

Her voice was sweet like honey.

A thick, nauseating temptation.

I wanted to give in.

I really wanted to let go.

Throw everything away and dive into the void.

But just before the final choice—

Right at the moment my will was about to break—

And just when the Saintess had completely let her guard down—

I quietly equipped a trait.

[Heaven Defiance]

Something I had never shown in front of the Saintess.

A trait I had saved even through battles with the four great bosses.

“Fuck off.”

I activated it.

A cataclysm erupted.

The terminal the Old Father had implanted in me?

Erased.

The river of divine power connecting me and the Saintess?

Evaporated.

All that remained was me, grinding my teeth—and the Saintess, caught off guard.

Shluk!

I stabbed her.

The jet-black blade pierced through her armor and embedded itself in her chest.

“Guhhk!”

The Saintess coughed up blood.

“Saintess!”

“No! Saintess!”

There was no Sword Qi, no sword aura.

But the Black Tiger Sword—Arcane Seoul’s strongest weapon—did its job.

It crushed her heart.

I rose slowly.

Gripping the Black Tiger Sword in both hands, lifting the impaled Saintess like a skewer.

She flailed.

Both hands clutching the blade.

Divine power belatedly gathered, but the critical damage had already been dealt.

I whispered to the struggling Saintess.

“How’s it taste?”

A satisfying sensation spread up the blade and into my hands.

That feeling of piercing through armor!

That sensation of driving a sword through a heart!

It was pure ecstasy.

Like downing a cold soda in one shot—an electrifying thrill filled my chest.

‘Should I finish her?’

Tempting, but difficult.

I could already feel the Old Father flooding divine power into her to save his Saintess.

The superhumans were no different.

They’d gone beyond self-harm to tearing their own hearts open to heal her remotely.

Killing her through all this interference was impossible.

No—possible, maybe.

But I’d die too.

Or exhaust everything and fall into the Old Father’s grasp.

I stared at the Saintess with eyes dripping with unspent desire.

The Saintess coughed blood—and smiled at me.

“As expected of you, Savior… the light of our Church, the light of the world… You’ve exceeded my every expectation… You’re the only hope…”

God, what a lunatic.

Totally killed the mood.

Thunk!

I kicked the Saintess.

Blood splattered as she flew back.

[Supreme Flame]

Her heart had been completely incinerated.

Even now, my mana and Supreme Flame lingered.

Even for the Saintess, healing that would take some time.

Supreme Flame is the natural enemy of the Black Gold divine power, after all.

Without hesitation, I turned away.

Equipped Grand Bombardment and Lightning Raid, then began my escape.

The barrier that had trapped me and the four bosses had long since vanished.

All the mana that had sustained it had been redirected to healing the Saintess.

“Stop him!”

“Get him!”

“Kill that bastard!”

The superhumans swarmed, but it was pointless.

I cut down some, blew others away, and broke through.

Then—a heavy voice slammed into my ears.

“Even if the Savior refuses, the Old Father still desires you.”

The back of my neck tingled.

Goosebumps swept across my skin.

The Prophet’s Ring screamed of danger.

Before I realized it, I looked back.

The Saintess was standing, supported by others.

In her right hand—a Black Gold-colored spear of light.

She threw it.

As expected, a strike that couldn’t be dodged or blocked.

The Spear of Baptismal Flame pierced through my heart.

“Gghk!”

The Black Gold spear etched itself into my mana circuit, my soul, and my flesh.

It was ominous.

Sensing the spear trying to seize my heart, I immediately activated Heaven Defiance again—a second copy replicated by the World Trait.

“Khak!”

But something was off.

Though the Black Gold Baptismal Flame had been nullified, a tiny stain remained, corrupting my mana circuit.

Even Heaven Defiance wasn’t perfect.

Because a level 9 deity had intervened directly.

I could think about that later.

I ignored it and ran until I burst out of the underground chamber.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Steel barriers slammed down, but it didn’t matter.

I hurled myself through them, shattering them apart.

Behind the flying debris, I spotted Paladins gathering.

Not the 5th-level knight-captains.

Just rank-and-file knights.

Level 3 nobodies.

They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, raising tower shields, but to me they looked like a sandcastle before a wave.

“You!”

One of them looked oddly familiar.

His face twisted with rage, veins bulging on his neck.

“You’re not getting through! We’ll take you down and offer you to the Saintess!”

“For the Saintess!”

“For the Saintess!”

What was his name again?

Something-whatever.

He was some Ascension Group chaebol’s son, if I remembered right.

Doesn’t matter.

Right now, he’s just Extra No. 1.

I charged in and swept the Black Tiger Sword in a wide arc.

Didn’t even need one of the big three sword arts.

A brilliant burst of Sword Qi sliced all the Paladins clean in two.

“Uh…”

“Ah…”

I remembered Oh Dusik.

That lion-hearted knight who had fought so bravely sometimes came to mind.

But these level 3 knights?

They weren’t worth even a single second of my life.

Thud. Thud.

The knights collapsed like chunks of meat.

I left them behind and ran.

Finally, I reached the outer wall of the Shadow Temple, where the barrier was still intact.

BOOM!

A direct Sword Qi blast.

The barrier shattered, and I dove through the wall.

Phase Shift, again and again—escape successful.

“Goddamn it!”

“Son of a—!”

“Fuck!”

From underground, I could hear superhumans pounding on the walls.

So what?

Honestly, today had been productive.

I’d stolen classified intel, taken down four mid-bosses, and most of all—inflicted a critical wound on the Saintess.

That’s when it happened.

My chest vibrated—and I heard a familiar voice.

[I’ll see you in two weeks.]

The Saintess’s whisper.

Two weeks.

The stain left on my heart—the Old Father’s brand—was going to take two weeks to fully take me over.

It was a terminal that even Heaven Defiance couldn’t erase.

A ticking time bomb of inevitable corruption was heading my way, second by second.

But instead of fear, I smiled.

“Yeah. See you in two weeks.”

Can’t stop it with Heaven Defiance?

Can’t endure it with Vajra Body or Indomitable?

Doesn’t matter.

I’ll just make a new trait.

One that deletes even a terminal implanted by a level 9 deity like I hit the DEL key.

The ultimate undo trait.