Chapter 60: Just wait quietly

Kwaang!

A sound of something bursting was heard.

Han Seojin's fist hit Lukan's head.

Then, his entire body shattered into pieces.

That was the end.

It was as if ashes left from burning were scattering in all directions.

'What.'

Can such power exist?

Lukan.

A minion of the Demon King.

A traitor who betrayed humanity.

But his strength was real.

He was a promising talent who became a mid-ranker but hit a wall.

But he sold himself to the Demon King, betrayed humanity, and gained power—power enough to move from mid-rank to high-rank.

Originally, he was called a fake high-ranker, unable to use the power of True Manifestation of Thoughts.

Yet, Lukan was a real deal, and Han Seojin had to risk his life to have a chance against him.

But with one fist.

Han Seojin killed the opponent in a single exchange.

"How trivial."

Huu- As Han Seojin gasps for breath, he comes into view.

Just a moment ago, the aftermath of Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique and Soul Origin Qi was a bit severe.

'The body....'

The Soul Origin Qi, was said to be a heavy burden.

However, it was better than expected.

Created with the Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra, the overflowing mana from the spirit vein was directly turned into his body.

That must be why.

Han Seojin looked at the woman called Maria.

Even though her comrade had died, she was smiling brightly.

Like a believer who had seen the light.

"Ah, indeed, the destined Demon King of Eternity… Though we are different kinds of demons now, it was an honor to meet you."

"Then die together."

Han Seojin reached out his hand.

The woman called Maria also moved.

Clap-.

With one clap, she disappeared far away in the blink of an eye.

"I'm sorry, but I have pledged myself to the Dragon King. It's an honor to birth the Demon King of Eternity, but I have duties to attend to now."

"Eunchae, can you catch that?"

"It's simple."

"Simple, you say?"

"Yes."

Yoo Eunchae said so and then looked at Han Seojin.

"But could you please cover your ears?"

"Sure, why not."

Han Seojin covered his ears.

Maria snickered. No matter what this orange-haired girl said, she was confident she wouldn't be caught…

"Did you just call our Demon King an idiot?"

"…."

Maria stopped dead in her tracks.

She looked at Yoo Eunchae with her dark eyes. Such words shouldn't fool her. The Insect Dragon King entrusted her with a mission to complete faithfully…

"Isn't it really embarrassing? After dying to a human, all that's left is barely keeping your life. The Demon God saves most Demon Kings, but how pathetic must he be for the Demon God not to save him? The other Demon Kings must see him as a cripple…"

"This blasphemous creature!!!"

"Ooh."

Maria appeared in front of Yoo Eunchae through a spatial leap. She opened her mouth.

With a snap—her mouth widened as if it would swallow Yoo Eunchae whole.

Han Seojin used the Wind God's Steps. He swung his fist in front of Yoo Eunchae.

'Soul Origin Qi.'

A gray light flickered on his fist. The mirage of gray light shimmered.

Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique.

Soul Crushing Strike.

A power that could even crush souls headed towards Maria's head.

Kwang—!

A sound as if a soul was bursting out.

Along with that, Maria's body collapsed.

"…Wow, that's really a brutal technique."

"Indeed."

Han Seojin said that and looked back.

Behind him, Seo Boram was diligently following.

"I'm not sure if you saw it well, but this is exactly my method, just going on a rampage destroying everything."

"…Getting angry and running out on your own, acting like you're teaching a lesson, is a bit, Master."

"So, was it helpful?"

"Yes."

As Seo Boram nodded, Han Seojin moved forward.

"But don't follow suit."

Han Seojin said and thought.

'The Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique I use contains the essence of Defeating—the most extreme method of the Defeating.'

It fully contained the Defeating.

Even a transcendent who ascended through martial arts cannot imitate the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique.

'After all, it's made for me.'

Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique is a martial art that exists solely for him.

It wasn't that others couldn't use the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique.

However, for an ordinary person to begin, they had to possess the realm of a transcendent.

But the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique rejected any other martial arts than its own.

One had to discard all the martial arts they possessed and learn them anew.

'Would that be easy?'

Therefore, the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique should not be followed.

It was also an impossible martial art to learn.

Those who could learn other martial arts, like Wi Gunak, could not mimic the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique.

'Was that all?'

Some attempted to mimic the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique and suffered severe injuries.

Therefore, the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique wasn't something that should be learned. It wasn't a martial art that one could simply decide to follow in the first place.

Unless someone with the talents of Heavenly Eyes and Heavenly Martial Body appeared—someone as gifted as Han Seojin.

'That's unlikely. Even the Academy, which housed humanity's most gifted, didn't have anyone with a talent matching mine.'

"Shall we go collect the spoils now?"

Yoo Eunchae stepped forward and said.

Han Seojin looked at Yoo Eunchae. It seemed like she came because she wanted to take care of something.

Seeing Yoo Eunchae with such a gaze, Yoo Eunchae smirked and laughed.

"Do you know? The system also gives something for being hostile to the demon clan."

"Being hostile to the demon clan?"

Something came to mind at Yoo Eunchae's words.

Soul Origin Qi.

A qi that evolved suddenly in Moonlight, suitable for Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique.

Even without Soul Origin Qi, there was no trouble in killing the demon clan.

It was just a bit harder and took a toll on the body.

Soul Origin Qi made it a bit easier to lead myself. It made it easier to kill the demon clan.

'Something feels a bit lacking, though.'

Being S-class seems like it was not that big of a deal.

Thinking that, Han Seojin sent his qi into the wind, spreading it in all directions.

'I don't see the demon clan.'

However, he felt a catching sensation.

As if sealed,

"And I'm already going to get what I came for here. By stopping the plans of the Insect Demon Clan~."

Yoo Eunchae gave a twisted smile.

Han Seojin didn't know because he couldn't see the future.

But Yoo Eunchae knew how two Demon Kings led this world into a tremendous tragedy.

Eternally enslaving corpses, the immortal Demon King of Eternity would resurrect endlessly, while the Insect Dragon King would control its insect minions to devour countries without a trace.

If you only looked at the results, they stopped the resurrection of the two Demon Kings.

'Though the Insect Dragon King hasn't been stopped yet.'

Still, hope emerged.

There was more hope than before.

We went inside.

Into a room shaped like the warehouse from which they emerged.

As we entered, the first thing to greet us was treasure.

Gold bars were neatly stacked, and bundles of 50,000 won bills. And at each end, a bookshelf was visible.

"Wow, that's a lot of money."

"All in cash, gold bars, and there are jewels too. Pure gold, pure gold."

"This is it?"

Seo Boram's words made me and Yoo Eunchae stop.

"This is just a bit more than my allowance. Master, if I give you this much money, will you look after me a bit more?"

".......................I am not tempted by money."

"Sounds very noble, but you hesitated too much in the middle."

"Hurry up and pack it, Eunchae."

"Yes."

I had Yoo Eunchae gather all the cash and jewels.

And I first looked around the bookshelf.

I couldn't feel anything like magical power.

Ordinarily, a grimoire is soaked in such potent magic that, if it falls into the hands of a layperson, it would lead to a catastrophic situation.

There seemed to be none of that here.

When I had looted a dark mage before, that had been somewhat lucrative.

I skimmed through the books.

Nothing seemed useful.

Rituals for contracts with demons or a compendium on demons. Just minor things like that.

"Is there something that looks interesting?"

"No, doesn't seem like much."

I said that while looking at Yoo Eunchae.

With a gaze that asked, 'Are you hiding something?'

Yoo Eunchae chuckled for a moment, then nodded her head.

"Come. to. think. of. it. Doesn't. that. look. suspicious. over. there."

Yoo Eunchae pointed awkwardly in one direction.

I walked towards where Yoo Eunchae was pointing.

It didn't seem like much.

'Ah, not so.'

I realized it once I got closer.

It was hidden as a trait. Should I say it's blurry?

I've upgraded the Recognition Degradation and Stealth trait to a high level.

"Yoo Eunchae is useful, you say..."

"I've always been useful!"

When Yoo Eunchae got angry, Seo Boram tilted her head beside her.

"What did you do today that was so great?"

"…"

So, this was when you stay silent.

I examined the traits.

'I would have been fooled if I hadn't known.'

I might have just passed it by.

But now that I know, I'm relieved.

I scrutinized the trait with clairvoyance. I grasped the structure and principle at a glance.

While doing so, I paid close attention to this power.

I can't imitate it immediately, but it would be very useful if I ever had to hide it.

'I'm satisfied.'

Seeing this is a gain in itself.

Besides, I've also acquired gold and treasures.

Having seen it once, I wouldn't be fooled by a similar level of stealth again.

Boom!

I threw a punch towards the feature. With a loud explosion, a space appeared in what seemed like empty air.

Stairs.

Stairs leading downward became visible.

'Interesting.'

A foul smell pricked my nose. I could feel the surging demonic power.

"This is...."

"Evil."

"Evil?"

"A ritual used by Demon Kings. A method only for demons, who feed on the emotions of living beings and grow stronger from them."

Demons are thus evil.

Pain and pleasure, hatred and anger. The stronger these emotions become, the purer the demonic power they gain.

And they feel pleasure as they devour these emotions.

That's why demons can only be evil.

Dark Mages gain power from such beings, exploiting human emotions in the human realm according to their conditions.

Evil.

Thus, demons are evil.

Dark Mages are traitors.

"We've arrived."

Descending a bit, a single altar came into view.

Surging demonic qi. It seemed to contaminate the surroundings.

"Ugh…"

"Ugh…"

Yoo Eunchae and Seo Boram retched.

I looked at the altar with indifferent eyes.

Altar.

Its form was horrific. Twenty human corpses. That many people were arranged in the form of an altar.

What was more vile was the evidence of torture inflicted on them.

I walked forward.

This altar was for a resurrection ritual.

I could tell intuitively.

And the main body for that resurrection was the Insect Dragon King.

'To have fallen this far.'

I recalled the last battle with the Insect Dragon King.

To be honest, I was skeptical.

Lightning that splits stars, adding to that an attack even beyond the Divine Thunderbolt.

It shredded its soul to pieces, not leaving even a speck of the body.

And yet, to be able to resurrect?

'It was real.'

Is this the difference between demons and humans?

No, resurrecting might have been possible because there was a Demon God.

And Yoo Eunchae came here to destroy it.

"If you destroy that, it'll be done."

"Really?"

I walked forward.

The Soul Origin Qi reacted.

My Unique Trait, Eternity, also reacted. It was telling me to destroy it right now.

Then I'll destroy it.

I wrapped my fist with the Soul Origin Qi.

Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique, Soul-Crushing Strike.

Kwoong!

The altar was crushed into oblivion, leaving no trace behind.

[You have thwarted the demons' plan. The Celestial Gods rejoice in your achievement.][You have built a great achievement. Your capacity has expanded a bit]

A Celestial God?

Before I could even wonder, the message unfolded before my eyes.

[Your Celestial Body (A+) evolves into Heavenly Martial Body (S).]

An enormous amount of reward.

But there was something more pressing.

The dark magic had not yet disappeared.

Silently.

The magic coalesced to form an eyeball.

「You, the proxy of the gods. Did you think this world was at your mercy because you traveled back in time?」

…A familiar voice.

I found myself smiling unknowingly.

「Even if you go back, events that are supposed to happen will happen. No, if you mess with things, those events will only accelerate. That's the law of regression. Did you think you were the only pawn of those above the heavens?」

"It's been a while."

Snap.

The words of the Insect Dragon King were cut off.

It seemed like the eye was examining me.

「You… are not a regressor. No, I thought only the regressor could come here.」

"Still spouting nonsense, I see."

「You, could it be…!!」

He seemed to have realized something, his eyes widening.

And then came the laughter.

「HA! HAHAHAHA! Yes, yes, this is right! I thought a mere regressor could never know of this plan. It was you! You were alive!」

A voice filled with exhilaration.

I said with a smile.

"I'll be waiting. To throw you back into the mire once again."

Yes, just wait quietly.

Because I'll mess you up again.