THE TRUTH OF SOCIETY-III
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Chapter 18: Awakening the Abyss
Darkness. Not just around Ji-ho, but within him.
The world had twisted too much. The society he once thought worth protecting had spat on his courage. His brother still bore the mental scars of their last encounter, and Ji-ho could still feel the phantom sting of the chains that held them in the Devil's Association's dark chambers.
But now, something was different.
His body trembled—no, surged—with power. As if the pendant that had remained invisible to the world finally answered his screams. It began to glow—not like before, not a flicker—but a pulse, a heartbeat of a slumbering god.
The moment he focused on his status window, the truth reflected back at him:
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[STATUS UPDATE]
Name: Kim Ji-ho
Awakened Rank: AA
Strength: AA
Agility: AA
Stamina: AA
Willpower: ????
Superpower: Destructive Ray (Advanced)
> Destructive Ray can now generate Destructive Poison Aura—a deadly energy that corrodes both physical and magical defenses.
Aura Shield: Ji-ho now manifests a defensive shield combining both Destructive and Poison Auras, melting incoming attacks upon contact.
Poison Resistance: Acquired. Immune to natural and supernatural poisons.
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His fingers curled. The air around him distorted with pressure as the aura expanded—sharp, venomous tendrils of smoke-like destruction licking the walls. Every breath Ji-ho took now seemed to weigh on reality itself.
Ji-ho raised his hand—and without effort—a blade of raw energy, shrouded in a venomous flame, formed at his palm.
"Let them come," he muttered, voice low, cold. "I will burn this false world down."
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Outside, the sky hung heavy with dark clouds as rumors spread. The fourth target had fallen. Whispers of a demon in human skin. Of someone who crushed AA-rank awakened warriors without blinking.
The Devil's Association tightened their grip. Cities locked down. Information censored. Fear propagated.
But one by one, Ji-ho found his way through.
Underground syndicates collapsed in his wake. Awakened soldiers vaporized, their armor and flesh stripped away by the poison-tinged light of his Ray.
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In one confrontation, six B-rank awakened stood before him, armed with thermal blades and frost-imbued bullets. Ji-ho didn't flinch.
They screamed as his aura touched them—bones melted, screams choked in their throats as their lungs dissolved from the inside. His shield absorbed every counterattack, and his aura blade carved effortlessly through reinforced steel.
He had become a walking calamity.
But even amid the vengeance, his mind wrestled with clarity.
The voice within the pendant whispered again: "Now you understand… This world must burn."
"No…" Ji-ho growled through clenched teeth. "I'll decide how this ends. Not you."
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By the end of the night, the alley where the ambush had taken place was nothing more than ash and glass.
Ji-ho stood at the center, alone, a burning circle of corruption radiating from his feet.
He was no longer the hunted.
He was the reckoning.
To be continued....