Chapter 123: The Absolute Barrier

Daniel Basmann’s fast and powerful attacks rained down on Seong-jun.

whoosh slash

But Seong-jun defended them all without moving from his spot, either evading or deflecting.

“Hah! Look at this guy?”

Seong-jun’s tanking ability was superior to Gwang-taek’s.

Gwang-taek had also risen to S-rank thanks to the Guardian’s power, greatly boosting his tanking ability, but Seong-jun’s basic tanking was even better.

This was all thanks to Divine Combat Technique, a fusion of Priest Combat Art and Paladin Combat Arts.

Perhaps that’s why Daniel Basmann wore a bewildered expression.

“Either way, you can’t move a single step from here. So don’t strain yourself too much.”

“Haha! Is that so?”

In that instant, Daniel Basmann’s eyes turned red.

It seemed he was about to use some skill.

Whoooooooosh!

As an intense energy gathered on his two daggers, Seong-jun sensed an extraordinary attack coming.

‘Huh? Something strong is coming, isn’t it?’

“Let’s see if you can withstand this without moving!”

Daniel Basmann swung both daggers, filled with aura, toward Seong-jun’s shield.

Bwooooooom!

The moment the tips of the two daggers met the shield.

KWAAAAAAAAANG!

A tremendous force was released, causing a massive explosion.

It was a super-finisher-level skill that would seriously injure most S-ranks.

Psssssshhh.

As the dust cleared, Seong-jun stood firm in his spot.

There was one reason.

‘Phew, I almost got into trouble if I hadn’t cast Absolute Shield in time.’

It was because he had cast Absolute Shield just before the skill was activated.

“Hah! You blocked this?”

“This is an absolute defense skill I saved and cherished, but you made me use it. However, now that I’ve deployed it, you won’t be able to deal any damage to me for at least 10 minutes. And during that time, I’ll eliminate Kang Ji-sang who came with you, and my party will join up.”

Of course, since he had just activated Absolute Shield, it would last for 10 minutes, but Movement Impossible only had about 6 minutes left.

That meant Movement Impossible would be lifted before Absolute Shield wore off.

But Seong-jun was confident that his party would eliminate Kang Ji-sang before Movement Impossible wore off.

Just then.

“Kugh! Ah, Lord Alexander! I can’t hold on any longer! Please do something!”

Kang Ji-sang was in a truly desperate crisis.

In fact, with just Seon-hwa, Yuseon, and Chang-su, the power difference was already overwhelming, and now Gwang-taek had joined them, so what more could be said?

He couldn’t even attack properly, and even evasion or defense was difficult.

On top of that, he had been hit by Seong-jun’s successive area combos, so his health had dropped below half.

If things continued like this, he would surely be defeated without even using any significant power, so he urgently asked Daniel Basmann for help.

“Tch, Shadow Clone.”

In response, Daniel Basmann immediately activated the Shadow Clone skill.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Then two shadow clones, identical in appearance to Daniel Basmann but pitch-black all over, were created.

Thud! Thud!

The two shadow clones didn’t even glance at Seong-jun and immediately moved to help Kang Ji-sang.

But.

“Haha, what perfect timing. Chain of Light!”

Right at that moment, Gwang-taek’s Chain of Light cooldown ended.

Chwa-rrrrrrr!

Naturally, Gwang-taek pulled in the two shadow clones along with Kang Ji-sang.

“Gah! D-Damn it!”

“I’ll hold them here, so finish them quickly!”

Daniel Basmann, even with his stats lowered by debuffs, was still so powerful that it was hard to keep him in place.

But these guys?

Kang Ji-sang, originally S-rank, had already dropped to A-rank level, and the shadow clones were about the same.

Normally, shadow clones possess 70% of the original’s ability, but Daniel Basmann’s stats were already greatly reduced, and the shadow clones themselves were debuffed again upon creation.

In other words, they were summoned at a level less than 50% of the original’s ability.

“Okay!”

“Catching immobile enemies is a piece of cake!”

As Gwang-taek bound Kang Ji-sang and the shadow clones with Chain of Light, the full-scale offensive from Seon-hwa, Yuseon, and Chang-su began.

Bam! Ba-bam! Bam! Bam!

They hurriedly tried to block with their swords, but it was nearly impossible to fend off the fierce onslaught while unable to move from their spots.

“Kugh! Ah, Lord Alexander… Kugh!”

In the end, Kang Ji-sang, whose health had dropped below half, was inevitably overwhelmed by the fierce attack.

It was nonsense from the start for Kang Ji-sang, dropped to A-rank, to alone face Seon-hwa, who was near S-rank, and Gwang-taek, Yuseon, and Chang-su, who displayed abilities surpassing S-rank.

Kang Ji-sang fell, and the shadow clones desperately attacked Gwang-taek, but he easily blocked all their attacks.

“Huh! Roberto went down so pathetically. Anyway, such cheat-like buffs and debuffs. Roberto was right. You are someone who must never be left alive.”

Buffs and debuffs raise allies’ abilities and lower opponents’.

That was a buffer’s basic ability.

And Daniel Basmann had seen countless buffers.

But no buffer had ever shown such cheat-like buff and debuff abilities as Seong-jun.

This alone made it highly likely that Seong-jun would become Revolution’s greatest nemesis.

“Even if you say that now, it doesn’t seem particularly threatening. Your powerful ally is dead, and the shadow clones are gone, so the advantage has practically shifted to our side. How about surrendering here?”

With the shadow clones dispelled, only Daniel Basmann remained.

On the other hand, this side—including Seong-jun as the main—was all unscathed without any significant damage.

Anyone could see that Daniel Basmann was in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position.

“Keukkeuk, is that so? I haven’t even started properly yet? You can look forward to it. Once I can move, hell will unfold for you.”

“Haha, really? Then we’ll have to settle things while you can’t move. Everyone, attack!”

No sooner had Seong-jun finished speaking than the full-scale assault began.

Sweeeeeeoooosh! Whiish! Bwooom!

Yuseon opened the attack with a powerful single-target skill, followed by Seon-hwa and Chang-su engaging in close combat.

And Gwang-taek, shield first, tried to pressure Daniel Basmann alongside Seong-jun.

But at that moment.

‘Shadow Incarnation’

Daniel Basmann activated a skill, and in an instant, his entire body turned into pitch-black shadow.

Hwoong! Bwoong! Whiish!

Bam! Bam! Kwa-kwa-bam!

The problem was that the moment he turned into shadow, all their attacks passed through his body as if penetrating.

Naturally, Gwang-taek’s shield also passed through his body without any resistance.

“Holy crap! My attack…”

“What? The attack just passes through?”

The party members showed signs of confusion at the unexpected situation.

Seong-jun was equally flustered.

“What is this…”

Seeing that, Daniel Basmann, now in shadow form, gave a twisted smile.

“Keukkeuk, your attacks won’t work on me now. That means until your Chain of Light ends, you can’t deal any damage to me. But you know what? I can deal damage to you.”

With that, he immediately activated a skill.

‘Dark Frenzy!’

Suddenly, small beads the size of a thumbnail began to form around Daniel Basmann.

Rustle! Rustle! Skitter!

The small beads multiplied from over a dozen to dozens, then quickly surpassed a hundred, soon numbering several hundred.

“What’s that now?”

“Hundreds of tiny beads the size of nails. Those look dangerous somehow.”

Daniel Basmann, now in shadow form, opened his mouth with a creepy smile.

“Now, let’s begin the frenzy party.”

And at that moment.

Swooosh! Swoosh! Swooooooosh!

The hundreds of small beads began moving at incredible speed.

Bam! Ba-bam! Bam!

Whenever a small bead touched a body, an explosion occurred, and a considerable shock hit the party members.

“Kugh! W-What! Don’t let those beads touch you! Dodge!”

They knew they had to dodge, but inside the abandoned building, which wasn’t very spacious, avoiding hundreds of beads moving at tremendous speed was far from easy.

Swooosh! Swoosh! Swooosh!

Bam! Bam! Ba-ba-boom! Kwa-boom!

“Damn! There are too many beads! I can’t dodge them! Agh!”

“Wind Spirit’s Bombardment!”

Gwang-taek tried to block with his shield, but there was no way to block the beads attacking from all directions.

Yuseon cast the area skill Wind Spirit’s Bombardment to try to eliminate the beads.

Sweeoooosh! Sweeosh! Sweeoooooosh!

Bam! Bam! Kwa-bam! Kwa-ba-boom!

Since the entire interior of the abandoned building was within the range of Wind Spirit’s Bombardment, it seemed like it would have some meaningful effect, but unfortunately, not many beads were eliminated by that attack.

Kwa-bam! Ba-boom! Ba-bam!

“Agh! Crazy! There are too many!”

Seon-hwa and Gwang-taek were protected by Absolute Shield and Holy Dome Shield, so they didn’t take much damage, but Yuseon and Chang-su were different.

They were being continuously directly hit by the hundreds of small beads.

‘Kugh! Divine Healing! Party Mode! Great Heal! Party Mode! Area Heal! Holy Protector! Party Mode!’

Seong-jun immediately cast healing skills to restore his party’s health.

Since their health was constantly being drained by the dark beads, he cast Divine Healing, followed by Great Heal copied from Kato Asumi, and also cast the continuous healing skills Healing Light and Area Heal.

Finally, he cast Holy Protector to temporarily boost his party’s defense.

The reason he hadn’t cast Holy Protector from the beginning was that its cooldown was 30 minutes, so he wanted to save it for a potential crisis.

And that time was now.

Whoooosh! Whoosh! Whooooosh!

As Seong-jun cast healing skills, the health consumed by the dark beads quickly filled up.

“Everyone, gather in one place! Hurry!”

Then Seong-jun told them to gather together.

Thud! Thud!

At Seong-jun’s shout, his party gathered in one spot.

“Holy Dome Shield!”

He activated the area barrier skill Holy Dome Shield.

Whoooooosh!

Instantly, a semi-transparent hemispherical barrier formed around the party.

Bam! Bam! Kwa-kwa-bam! Kwa-boom!

The dark beads continuously struck the barrier, but fortunately, they couldn’t penetrate it.

However, Seong-jun’s Divine Power was being consumed rapidly.

Of course, considering Seong-jun’s Divine Power exceeding 100 million, it wasn’t exactly a concern, but…

“Huh? A barrier that can withstand that attack? Usually, it would be broken pretty quickly.”

Normal shield magic is dispelled once its maximum defense value is exhausted.

And those dark beads each carried tremendous damage.

If dozens of beads struck the shield simultaneously, most shield magic would be dispelled in less than a minute.

But Seong-jun’s Holy Dome Shield held firm even after being struck by over a hundred, even hundreds of beads.

Of course, Seong-jun’s Divine Power was being drained rapidly, but Daniel Basmann, unaware of that, could only be astonished.

“Go ahead and hit as much as you want. That barrier will never break.”

At Seong-jun’s words, Daniel Basmann nodded.

“I see. That only makes me more determined to eliminate you. I’ll abandon the idea of subduing you from now on.”

Until now, he had intended to subdue Seong-jun to extract information.

But now he had changed his mind from subduing to eliminating.

He judged that Seong-jun was not someone who could be subdued, and even if there was a slight chance he escaped alive, it would cause enormous trouble for Revolution.

Seong-jun smiled and said.

“Feel free if you can. But don’t worry. I still plan to subdue you.”

The reason he had lured people from Revolution’s headquarters in cooperation with Choi Sangjin was to obtain more detailed information.

That’s why Seong-jun still had no intention of eliminating Daniel Basmann.

He planned to subdue him somehow and extract all the information he knew.

“Anyway, what now? It seems Movement Impossible has been lifted.”

Just as he said, the duration of Chain of Light ended, and the Movement Impossible that had been binding Daniel Basmann was released.

“That’s right. But aren’t we in a situation where neither can harm the other right now?”

Seong-jun had Absolute Shield, his party had Holy Dome Shield, and Daniel Basmann had Shadow Incarnation applied.

It was a situation where neither could inflict any damage on the other.

“Probably my Shadow Incarnation will end first. Or maybe your Absolute Shield will end first. I have a feeling that your Absolute Shield will be the first to go. Heh heh.”

The maintenance time for Shadow Incarnation was 10 minutes.

And the maintenance time for Absolute Shield was also 10 minutes.

Of course, neither knew the duration of the other’s skill, but Daniel Basmann somehow suspected that Absolute Shield’s duration was the same 10 minutes as his Shadow Incarnation.

But he judged that Seong-jun’s Absolute Shield would be broken first.

And if his prediction was correct, there would be only a 2-3 minute difference, and during that time he would have an overwhelming advantage.

And eventually, his prediction came true.

Seong-jun’s Absolute Shield ended its 10-minute duration and was dispelled.

“Haha, as you said, mine ended first. So now all that’s left is for me to die?”

Seong-jun shrugged casually.

Daniel Basmann gave a twisted smile.

“Of course.”

Thud!

At the same time, Daniel Basmann suddenly vanished.

The only fortunate thing was that all the dark beads had been exhausted.

Daniel Basmann appeared instantly behind Seong-jun.

‘Ghost Step!’

Skitter!

The moment he disappeared, Seong-jun also cast Ghost Step and moved quickly.

Whiiish!

Naturally, Daniel Basmann’s daggers cut through empty air, but that didn’t mean he was counterattacked.

He knew that even if he attacked, he couldn’t deal any damage, so he deliberately didn’t counter.

“Let’s see how long you can keep running.”

Thud!

Daniel Basmann moved toward Seong-jun again.

In response, Seong-jun also got out of the way at tremendous speed.

Tap!

He could have used Blink to teleport and evade, but if he used Ghost Step and then immediately Blink, he wouldn’t be able to use a movement skill in a dangerous moment.

Because he could move at incredible speed thanks to his monstrous agility stat, he tried to avoid the enemy’s close combat using normal movement instead.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Tap! Crack! Tap!

Daniel Basmann constantly tried to catch Seong-jun, and Seong-jun desperately ran away.

Why not use an area skill like Dark Frenzy?

Unfortunately, Daniel Basmann’s class was Assassin, and most of his skills were close-range.

The only ranged attack that could strike the surroundings was Dark Frenzy, which he had already used, so he couldn’t use it until the cooldown ended.

And finally.

Skitter!

“Haha, what a shame. Now the conditions are equal.”

Daniel Basmann’s Shadow Incarnation wore off.

“You rat!”

Daniel Basmann had been confident that with 2-3 minutes he could deal significant damage to his opponent, but he failed to take advantage of that advantage and let it slip away uselessly.

“Now! Everyone, let’s really start!”

Seong-jun released Holy Dome Shield, and at the same time, Gwang-taek, Seon-hwa, and Chang-su moved quickly.

And Yuseon kept her distance, preparing ranged attacks.

Since they couldn’t deal damage anyway, he had maintained Holy Dome Shield to keep his party safe until Daniel Basmann’s Shadow Incarnation ended.

‘Damn! I might end up being the one caught. I think I’d better retreat and wait for the next opportunity.’

Considering the cooldown of Chain of Light, it would soon be usable again.

If he was bound once more, it could become a truly dangerous situation.

“Seems like this is it for today. But keep this in mind. The next time we meet, it won’t be like today.”

With those words, he launched himself toward the building entrance at incredible speed.

I Became an EX-Class All-Round Priest Chapter 123

E-book release date: 2025.11.14

Author: Kim Hyeon-jun

Publisher: Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won

Published by: Poten

Address: 10F, 8 Yeonmujang 11-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul [04783]

Phone: 02-6320-8500

Fax: 02-6320-8585

ISBN: 9791175302167

Price: 100 won

© Kim Hyeon-jun 2025

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