Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 328 - Show Time

“You monstrous bastard! Now I understand how you’ve been thwarting our grand plan! How you’ve embraced Extinction and received the power of a god! You’ve already cycled through five times! At least 66 souls of the abyss have attacked you once each! How can you still be unscathed?”

The 3rd Apostle coughed up blood once more.

It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it was severe enough to hinder immediate movement.

No one had ever pushed her this far before.

Because of this, the 3rd Apostle’s mind was in turmoil.

She felt like she was being overwhelmed.

That last attack would have been impossible to block without a superhuman ability.

It was the same technique she had blocked with Sartre’s Secret Archive, but the power had increased even further.

“Grrrr.”

Now she finally understood why the other apostles had died and so many plans had gone awry.

It was because Ethan Whiskers was strong enough to withstand Extinction.

In front of him, the 3rd Apostle was feeling an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.

“…Huh?”

The 3rd Apostle finished recovering and looked at Ethan.

The atmosphere surrounding her opponent had changed dramatically.

He was standing there just as before, but the aura he emanated was completely different.

She had barely withstood his attack and recovered, but now Ethan felt like a completely different person.

“What is it? What’s going on? What the hell is this!”

The 3rd Apostle, who had already removed her hand from her healed neck, frowned deeply.

It was incomprehensible.

None of her attacks had worked on him. She had used numerous attack patterns and continuously used her superhuman ability.

She had even used her trump card, but Ethan was still unharmed.

On the other hand, Ethan’s attacks had hit her.

Two lethal attacks. If it weren’t for her superhuman ability, she would have died on the spot.

Yet now, Ethan was preparing an even stronger attack than before.

Suddenly, the 3rd Apostle felt fear.

Fear? Isn’t that an emotion felt by the weak in front of the strong?

She had always been the strong one.

Not once had she been in the position of the weak.

This situation was causing her tremendous stress.

That stress quickly turned into anger.

Her composure was gone, but so was her fear of Ethan.

“Damn it. A human who wasn’t even chosen…”

The 3rd Apostle suddenly stopped speaking.

“Is it because you were chosen? Were you really chosen? Then am I your trial?”

She hadn’t lived this long to become someone else’s trial.

The enraged 3rd Apostle gripped her wrist tightly.

Watching her, Ethan casually lowered his two swords.

“I’ll do it properly. I’ll do it right. I’ll squeeze out every last bit! Damn you, Ethan Whiskers! I must see you bleed. Let’s see once and for all who was really chosen.”

She had to reveal everything.

If she didn’t bring out everything she had, there was no way to defeat this Ethan Whiskers.

White smoke began to rise from the 3rd Apostle’s wrist.

Shaaaaaaa-.

Along with the rising smoke, the mana swirling inside the 3rd Apostle began to amplify.

Boom-! Boom-!

It was an alarming amount of mana.

A fierce flow strong enough to affect not only the surrounding air but also the ground.

The outpouring mana alone was enough to make the surrounding land sink.

In that moment, Ethan’s eyes gleamed.

The Formation of Sacrificial Spirit.

One of the superhuman abilities, this Formation of Sacrificial Spirit had the power to maximize physical abilities momentarily at the cost of lifespan.

The more lifespan sacrificed, the more it breaks through the limits of the body instantaneously.

It was a superhuman ability that perfectly matched the 3rd Apostle’s declaration to reveal everything she had.

‘She has all the S-rank superhuman abilities. How many more does she have left? I don’t know how many more variables I need to anticipate.’

But for Ethan, who had already made up his mind, this was actually a good thing.

The higher the difficulty, the more his concentration soared.

His mindset itself changed.

‘The 3rd Apostle is an unknown. So rather than calculating and predicting, I need to act on instinct.’

The Eye of Horus and Sleeping Dragon’s Sight would take care of calculations and predictions.

He needed to act on instinct.

‘My experience, my time.’

He had to maximize his own strengths.

“Now it’s finally fair.”

Ethan smiled at the 3rd Apostle.

It was undoubtedly a powerful superhuman ability, but he was also using an ability of comparable strength.

It was only fair that she stake her life when he was also struggling at the cost of his lifespan.

‘Only one defensive technique left.’

Now only the Moonforce’s Armor remained.

This Moonforce’s Armor was Ethan’s last line of defense.

‘Well, there is one more. But that’s leaving it entirely to luck.’

So far, Ethan had taken more than ten attacks from the 3rd Apostle. Theoretically, he should have avoided one.

But the 3rd Apostle’s attacks had definitely broken through Ethan’s defensive system.

So he had to assume Perfect Evasion hadn’t been used.

Shaaaaaaa-.

The 3rd Apostle, who had been emitting white smoke from her entire body, began to laugh in a moment of elation.

“Ahahahahaha, this always feels good.”

Crack-. Crunch-.

The sound of bones breaking or something bursting could be heard.

The 3rd Apostle stared at Ethan with bloodshot eyes.

“Ethan Whiskers, if I kill you today, our association’s plans will no longer fail. Because we won’t find another strong person like you!”

Kwak-!

It was a much faster speed than before.

Ethan instinctively bent his waist backward.

Shwaek-!

A soul of the abyss struck precisely where he had been.

‘The speed of the main body, the speed of the white mass.’

And the destructive power.

If he had been even a little slower in his movement, it would have been a direct hit.

However, Ethan didn’t retreat.

Because once you retreat, you’ll keep getting pushed back.

Shwaek-!

He deflected it.

Kwang-!

He dodged it.

Ethan’s movements, now left to instinct, were rougher than before.

There was no longer any trace of smoothness. Instead, it was precarious and risky.

At that moment, the instantaneous acceleration—the only attack from the 3rd Apostle that had worked on Ethan—came flying in.

Shwaek-!

“Ha! Look at this?”

The soul of the abyss, affected by the instantaneous acceleration, grazed right past Ethan’s head.

For the first time, he had avoided the 3rd Apostle’s instantaneous acceleration.

“You didn’t see it to dodge? Don’t tell me you predicted it? That I would attack there? Ha!”

The 3rd Apostle exclaimed in astonishment.

“Did you gamble with your life? You could have died right there?”

The 3rd Apostle had thought Ethan’s defensive techniques had reached their limit.

But Ethan had dodged the accelerated soul in that state of being at his limit. Seeing this, she couldn’t help but be shocked.

“Who knows.”

Ethan smiled. It was something he hadn’t done in a long time. His heart felt free, as if shackles had finally been removed.

“I dodged it, didn’t I?”

It was an instinctive movement.

Thanks to that, he had avoided the instantaneous acceleration attack and gained time for a counterattack.

Kwak-.

Ethan stepped hard on the ground and approached the 3rd Apostle.

‘The 3rd Apostle’s instantaneous acceleration is not a simple magic. Like a magic fortress, it’s a complex magic where numerous spells are intricately intertwined.’

Such powerful magic always comes with a price.

A magic fortress needs to continuously pour in mana to maintain its enormous power. That was the price.

‘The instantaneous acceleration magic must also have a price. I’ll break through that price.’

Shaaaaaaa-.

Ethan Swordsmanship 3rd Form

Ten Thousand Thunder Frost Strike

Pzzzzzzzt-!

Hundreds of lightning bolts poured out.

Ethan added to this by stepping hard on the ground and rotating.

It was to maximize the destructive power of the 3rd Form of Ethan Swordsmanship.

‘I’ll keep up the pressure like this. There’s no need to actually hit.’

He intended to shake the 3rd Apostle’s psyche with this attack and make her feel urgent.

By Ethan’s calculations, the time needed until the next use of instantaneous acceleration was 35 seconds. But currently, she had greatly enhanced her body with a superhuman ability.

She could use instantaneous acceleration faster.

She would definitely use instantaneous acceleration again in a short time.

Shwaeaeaeaek-!

It was as Ethan had predicted.

Even before 35 seconds had passed, an accelerated soul came flying. He couldn’t see it, but he could definitely feel it coming.

Ethan avoided the attack just like before.

The 3rd Apostle was shocked, asking if he had gambled with his life, but this was a highly sensory action.

Shwaek-!

A long scratch appeared on one of Ethan’s cheeks.

He had tried to avoid it perfectly, but ended up allowing the attack.

The effect of the Moonforce’s Armor didn’t extend to his face, but it had some effect.

It had just barely grazed him, so it was hard to say he had taken damage.

-Your survival probability decreases!

However, the survival probability steadily decreased.

As soon as the survival probability decreased, Extinction stirred. Then, his mind became foggy as if covered in mist.

“That kind of gamble has its limits! This is an attack I’ve staked my lifespan on. Don’t think you can keep dodging it so easily!”

The 3rd Apostle’s attacks became even more fierce. As she said, it was no longer easy to dodge.

Kwadeuk-!

So he didn’t dodge. Instead of dodging, he swung his sword and deflected all attacks right where he stood.

‘I need to see it.’

Now that he could dodge instinctively, the next step was to see it.

The souls of the abyss affected by instantaneous acceleration accelerate so fast that they momentarily become impossible to track with the eyes.

That wasn’t something like a superhuman ability.

It was magic composed of mana and techniques.

‘It’s created purely with mana. It’s cast by drawing a magic circle.’

Even if it didn’t look like magic, it clearly was. If so, it could also be broken.

The core of the 3rd Apostle’s power, the essence of her technique.

If he could break this instantaneous acceleration, he could win for sure.

Kwagagagak-!

The 3rd Apostle knew this intention and kept pressuring Ethan.

So that he couldn’t grasp the nature of the instantaneous acceleration.

So that he couldn’t break it.

‘I need to penetrate it.’

Some artist once said.

Good artists copy, great artists steal.

Ethan’s eyes began to track the trajectories of the accelerating souls.

The souls of the abyss accelerating even in slowed time, aiming for Ethan’s throat.

And the explosive movements of the 3rd Apostle controlling them.

Ethan keenly observed all of this.

Seeing the opponent’s movements was the most important thing at this moment.

Ethan stopped all predictions and only watched the opponent’s movements.

Kwang-!

But in the end, he allowed a strike from the 3rd Apostle.

-Moonforce’s Armor protects you.

-The protector has broken. Time until reuse [24:00]

“Kkeuk.”

He had allowed a truly dangerous attack.

If the Moonforce’s Armor hadn’t protected him, he would have died instantly.

Ethan was prepared to die at this moment.

At the end of that preparation was confidence.

Confidence that he could see it.

‘I’ll steal it.’

He would dismantle that instantaneous acceleration.

To do that, he needed to see and understand it with his eyes.

-Death awaits you.

-Your survival probability greatly decreases.

Extinction stirred.

When Ethan’s survival probability decreased, Extinction moved as if the world had become its own. Each time, extreme pain surged through his body.

But Ethan breathed calmly.

It was a long, deep breath. Concentration, dive.

Ethan focused solely on the 3rd Apostle’s instantaneous acceleration.

If he failed here, he would die.

If the 3rd Apostle knew his intentions, she would cry out that it was a gamble, but Ethan didn’t think it was a gamble.

‘This is a challenge.’

It was a challenge for survival and a challenge against limits.

“I’ve got it.”

At the edge of death.

At the edge of his limits, Ethan stole the 3rd Apostle’s magic.