Category: I Never Run Out of Mana

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161. The Last Test

-snap!

I could hear this god snap her fingers.

This was the noise that sounded each time before the scenery changed.

At this god’s movement and the sound I heard, I automatically looked around me.

However, I could not see any changes.

The only thing that changed was that the illusion of my mother dissipated.

Next to me, I could hear the laughter of a young girl.

Of course, it was the god. Looking at her, I asked.

“I thought the last test began? Has it not yet?”

“Hehe. Nope! The test has started.”

“……”

“Why do you look at me like that? What! What! Hehehe.”

“Weren’t you the one to tell me to prove my strength to you?”

“Yep! That’s right! I can’t just hand over the powers of the Piece of Time and Space, right?”

“Hm… If that’s the case, there needs to be an opponent for me to demonstrate that.”

“Kekek!”

“Perhaps…. Are you telling me to face you?”

“Kahahaha.”

“Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t ask the impossible of me?”

“That’s right.”

“……”

“Don’t be so tense. This isn’t a test to defeat me.”

“But there’s nothing here……”

In a gesture to invite her to look around, I lifted my hand to point.

It was then.

I wasn’t sure when, but I hadn’t noticed all this time.

It was the fact that my body was several times heavier than usual.

Not only that, but I noticed that there was another arm below the arm I had raised to point.

“……”

“Hehe. I thought you caught on quickly, but I guess that’s not the case?”

“Is this the third test you were talking about?”

“Yep!”

“However, this test doesn’t end.”

“Hm?”

This was this god’s final test that I needed to pass in order to make mine the power behind the Piece of Time and Space.

It seemed that I needed to win against myself in a fight.

However, as this god had said, this fight wouldn’t end.

The reason for that was due to my Mana Shield.

Mana Shield could only be penetrated by a skill beyond ranking.

Not only that, but because I had successfully Transcended this skill, this shield had a chance to block skills beyond ranking at a fixed percentage.

That percentage was at a whopping 50%.

I had 3 skills beyond ranking in my arsenal.

Proof of Pledge, Dual Casting, and Archangel’s Fall.

All these skills weren’t offensive spells.

The only thing close to one was the Archangel’s Fall, and that spell was more akin to a support spell due to the fact that it raised my damage against monsters.

And it wasn’t as if the bonus damage worked against humans such as myself.

What would happen if another me, who has the same powers as I have, fight me while both of us have Mana Shields up?

Only the area around us would be destroyed, with no clear victor at the end.

She looked towards me for awhile with a playful childish look.

It was almost as if she was signaling me that she already knew what I was going to say and what I was thinking.

Her appearance was that of a cute little girl.

However, her personality was so cruel and vicious that I dreaded even thinking about it.

After a long silence, she spoke.

“You mean to say that the shields in this battle are too thick, right?”

“……”

“Hehe. That won’t do! This fight won’t be fun at all then. A boring fight where all you do is defend! We should start this fight by removing shields from both sides to make it fair. How about it? That’ll do, right?”

“That means…..”

“Hehe. From this moment on, you and your copy cannot use defensive skills. This is the rule of the test.”

“I cannot use defensive skills?”

I quickly opened the status window and checked my skills.

I was hoping that wouldn’t be so, but as this god had told me, I could not find any defensive skills.

Not only that, but all my recovery skills were sealed away as well.

I could only attack.

While I was deep in thought, another me had separated itself from my body and stood in front of me.

It was almost as if I was looking into a mirror.

Even its expression, armor, and weapon was the same as mine.

It was enough to unnerve me just how identical this copy was to me.

“I assume both of you are very well aware of how strong each other is, right? Hehe.”

“Of course. I know better than anyone else.”

“Then an explanation won’t be necessary, and right now I’m very excited, you know? I’m hoping that this begins as soon as possible…”

“Sure.”

Finishing her words, she seemed to turn and move away from me, but all of a sudden came back and whispered in my ear.

“Kehe. Do you think that you’re using all of your strength? Heh. Wrong. You’re not using your strength properly to its full potential. Learn well from this, though I guess you won’t be using this knowledge anywhere after you perish.”

“……”

I wanted to swear up a storm, but this was a god I was facing.

I couldn’t mess this up due to my pride.

Hearing the words through one ear and out the other, I ignored what she told me.

Not using the strength I had properly?

I thought that I possessed quite the sense in when and how to use the skills I possessed.

Something that could only be obtained from countless battle experiences, I guess?

This copy that stood in front of me, had it only copied my growth?

Or has it copied also my thought processes and my experiences?

Either way, it was obvious that this opponent was quite the difficult one to deal with.

The biggest reason being that I could not defend against it.

Just from it using Meteor Call, I would have my hands full trying to avoid it.

The god leaving the scene signaled the beginning of the fight.

The one who was ready to launch the first attack was the opponent.

Behind its back were many of the vastly powerful Butcher’s Swords.

It had casted Piercing Sword.

It was pretty smart for using this skill.

Piercing Sword was one of the skills that moved at the will of its user.

Since this fight did not include any defensive measures, it would seek its target more persistently.

“This copy is quite handsome. And smart to boot…”

It began its attack before I could even finish.

The opponent it targeted was just me.

There were a vast number of swords that flew towards me at once.

If I had my shields, I wouldn’t have even bothered to try avoiding or blocking against this attack skill that wasn’t even beyond ranking.

However, the situation was different.

It was so very different.

My choice to counter the flying swords was to use Iceberg and Devil Avatar.

Just with my fight against Joker before, Iceberg was quite useful as a defensive measure.

It was solid enough to hold out against most attacks, and even its size was massive.

It was obvious that this skill would be very important in this fight.

Due to my lack of a Mana Shield, I could cast three spells at once.

I used Iceberg in front of me to block the flying swords, and then casted Gravity Laser.

Gravity Laser attacked all that was in its range.

The attack would also become more concentrated the fewer targets there were.

An orb appeared in the air and a summoned Devil Avatar charged at my copy.

-crack!

“Ha….. You’re also blocking with that?”

“…….”

It seemed that this would become quite the extended fight.

Not only did this copy possess my ability and growth, but it also had copied my fighting style as well.

I smashed a Meteor into the Iceberg it had summoned.

Meteor and Iceberg were of the same ranking and dealt a similar amount of damage.

When these two skills meet, they cancel each other out completely.

You could say that these skills were the polar opposites of each other.

Leaving behind glittering shards of ice behind, most skills had canceled each other out.

It was the same with how this copy destroyed my Iceberg I was using as a shield.

The same strength and thought process.

“Even if I used Mass Stealth Jutsu, you’d use Eye of Insight to see right through it. Just what do I need to do defeat you?”

“Same with me. I am another you.”

“Oho…. You even speak? I’m too scared to even die, considering that you might impersonate me.”

“You won’t be able to surpass me.”

“At the rate this is going, I think we’re going to tie? As you said, you are just another me, right?”

“Kuhu! I am foaming at the mouth from all this wasted talent that is rotting away because of you!”

“Huh?”

“Endless mana. To think that you’re only using it to cast skills.”

“What do you mean?”

“I shall show you. Your special trait! Your ability! Used to its full 100% potential!”

“…..”

“Kuaaa!”

I wondered just what nonsense it was spitting out.

The only way humans could use their mana was through the use of skills.

I had never thought otherwise all this time.

However, here was this clone, berating me.

I looked at my copy as if I was looking at an insane person.

With its ringing shout, this copy had given up on all defense and stood still.

Thinking that it had gone mad, I charged it.

There was no attack worth allowing to be attacked freely in such a vulnerable state.

To exchange one’s life to attack was going overboard and an incorrect decision.

Especially if there wasn’t any ways to defend oneself.

This was the case at least for me.

Without a single hesitation, I stabbed it with my sword.

After that, I used Formless Sword Aura.

It was because I was being too hasty with the idea of trying to deal a heavy amount of damage to my copy.

However, I didn’t deal that much damage.

The reason for that was simple.

My strength was over 30,000. However, my stamina stat was far over 50,000.

Due to my miscalculations, I had made a mistake that had wasted what little precious time I had.

However, I believed that my continued attacks with Formless Sword Aura would cover the mistake.

“Damn it! Why did I raise so much of my stats!”

With the Wild Beast activated, my Formless Sword Aura attack countlessly stabbed away at my copy.

I sliced and stabbed repeatedly in a crazy frenzy.

Due to the skill’s rank and destructive force, the difference in the strength stat and stamina stat had been covered for awhile.

The end was approaching.

-gulp.

“Damn it…. No way…..”

“UWOOOOO!”

Something that I didn’t even want to consider a possibility had occurred.

It had swallowed something.

That something was the King’s Marble.

Noticing the changes to its body, I became sure of it.

“You little shit!”

“Kuhahaha!”

In an instant, its body turned to a slightly reddish hue.

This process continued until its color changed black like charcoal.

Thanks to the effects of the King’s Marble, its body had become immortal.

Even the body that had been pierced all over had recovered in an instant.

There was still one more huge issue.

That issue was the effect of the marble that granted twice the offensive power to its user for a minute.

Even resorting to letting out a roar, it had created something.

It was using a skill that I did not possess.

This spellcasting motion was something that I had never seen nor heard of before.

It had created something insane that was completely different from anything so far.

Not only that, but it was twice as strong what it would have been normally.

“What…. What is that…..”

“I told you! I said that I would use 100% of your potential!”

“I had never learned that skill! What…..”

“Kuhu. Skill? I understand that you cannot use magical energies. After all, it is a power that our kind cannot use. However, you’re saying that someone who cannot even use the mana that they were hand fed will obtain the power of the Piece of Time and Space? Shut up with that nonsense!”

“Damn it……”

---

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162. Control+C, Control+V

“You’re just an illegal fake copy…..”

“Observe well! This is what true power is! This is how you use power!”

“…..”

A massive tower appeared behind it.

The tower glowed in a bluish hue.

It didn’t appear solid, but anyone could tell from a glance that massive amounts of mana had been compressed into it.

A pure white pupil formed at the top of the tower.

I did not know of its capabilities or use, but I sensed that it was dangerous.

Not letting down my guard, I kept watch of the tower.

“What is that….”

“Take this! While you lament in your helpless state, receive the attack of the Magician Tower!”

“……”

As soon as it had finished talking, a bright light shone from the tower, almost as if exploding.

Magics that I’ve never even heard nor seen before came forth at me.

Attack skills had their own elemental types.

Fire, ice, and electrical attacks were the most common out of the spells being hurled towards me, with other types being mixed into the barrage.

-crack!

“My Iceberg is being shattered this easily? And to an electrical attack? Shit……”

Iceberg could only be destroyed by polar opposite skills, yet it was being destroyed by a simple electrical magic.

The power behind the spells from that Magician Tower was immense.

No, it would be more accurate to call it downright insane.

The one good thing for me was that the tower was stationary.

I did not know the full attack range of the tower, but it wasn’t likely that it covered this large battlefield.

Thus, if I was able to escape its activation range, I would be able to nullify that tower without taking any heavy damage.

Continuing to use Iceberg as a shield, I made distance between myself and the tower.

If things were normal, I would be using up a shield or two and escape the distance in one leap, but due to the endless barrage of attacks, I could not do so in this situation.

“Just how far do I need to back up?”

“Kuhaha! Are you trying to escape the range of my tower?”

“…….”

“Good. Try to flee with all your might! I’ll make it as many times as needed!”

“It doesn’t just end with one? Damn it!”

According to this copy, the Magician Tower could be created infinitely.

If I keep holding out and it just keeps spawning more Magician Towers to cover the entire battlefield in its range?

That would conclude in my defeat.

Only if I was able to control my mana to my will like this copy did, but that was impossible.

So instead my plan went like so.

As stated before, this copy was identical to me.

This also meant that the number of King’s Marbles would be the same as mine.

Out of the 5 marbles, I had to make this copy consume at least one more before me.

Whenever it creates a Magician Tower, it will be open to attacks.

When that happens, it will have to consume a King’s Marble.

Since it had consumed one already, this copy would only have 4 marbles left.

I had to increase the advantage further. I had to make the copy use as many marbles as possible before I have to.

“What are you thinking about? Hm? Are you thinking of a strategy to win?”

“……”

“Know this. There is no such way. Once these towers are summoned all over this area, no matter how much you struggle for you life defending, you will lose your life.”

“Not sure who you take after, but you sure talk a lot. Shut up and go build your towers, you little shit!”

“Pfft! I shall do as you say. Keyaaaa!”

‘Good. Looks like I can make it consume another marble.’

The copy did not chase me past the range of the Magician’s Tower.

Instead of coming close and overextending to summon another tower, it stood near the already summoned tower that had stopped its attacks due to me being out of range to summon another tower.

There was one huge issue with my plan though.

The problem was that the way I thought would easily become the way it thinks as well.

This copy also knew just how important these marbles would be to the conclusion of this battle.

However, it wasn’t as if there was no other way.

After all, I had skills that had longer ranges than that of the tower.

These skills were Explosion and Holy Missile.

The destructive force wouldn’t match that of a Formless Sword Aura with the Wild Beast going off or that of Meteor level S ranking skill, but they were still very destructive.

Since the copy could not use shields, I was positive that it would deal massive amounts of damage.

I busily moved my previously idle hands.

Targeting only at its body, I casted a barrage of instant cast spells without rest.

With all the skills hitting their mark, it seemed that the damage was beginning to rack up.

‘Hurry up and eat it already. Shove down that King’s Marble!’

Almost as if my pleas were heard, I saw its Adam’s apple move.

-gulp.

“Good……. With this, it’s over.”

The copy of myself swallowed the marble in its mouth without a second thought.

At this moment, one could say that the victor in this fight was already decided.

And that victor would be me.

Why?

With this, this copy only had 3 marbles left.

I, on the other hand, still had 5.

With how our healing skills were sealed away, there was no possibility that Status Denial would be used in this fight.

No matter how strong the Magician Tower is, I would be able to ignore it easily with a one minute immortality buff.

From now on, I’m going to stick on this copy and not let it escape.

One minute of immortality. Once that ended, it would consume another.

Another minute and it would so again, and after another minute, again.

Without a King’s Marble to help against my attacks, it would be difficult for it to survive.

Just like that, the one to consume the marbles one by one and run out of them first would be the copy.

A battle of attrition had begun.

I’m sure that my copy had thought this through carefully and decided on a drawn out fight.

You could say that it had planned quite far ahead.

However, there was something that it didn’t consider.

The scariest person in the world is not someone who meticulously plans ahead and follows it without a single mistake, but someone who lives as if it is their last day.

Finishing the creation of a Magician Tower, the copy called forth summons.

They were King Suwoo and Devil Avatar.

I knew that with a Meteor or two, they would be defeated.

Was it because it wanted to decrease as much as damage it was going to take while it created the next Magician Tower?

However, the copy probably also knew that doing this was pointless.

I observed it for a brief moment instead of acting right away.

The copy began to pour in mana into the giant summoned creatures.

Absorbing the mana, the summoned creatures became even bigger in size, and the amount of killing intent that they let out increased to another level.

Just exactly how many ways could one use mana?

I felt ashamed at myself that had been only using mana for skills all this time.

After receiving mana, the summoned creatures covered the copy with their bodies.

This probably meant that it was attempting to not use anymore marbles.

After all, it had enough defensive capabilities now to hold off against my Explosion and Holy Missile attacks.

“You’ve even got my smarts. But you know, sometimes charging in with reckless abandon is the right choice.”

“Haha. What? If anyone else heard you right now, they’d think that you are the winner of this fight.”

“Why, anyone can see that this is my victory…..”

“You won’t be able to damage me with those quick cast spells no matter how much you try. What will you do? Will you get in the range of my tower to try attacking me? Or will you accept your death and watch as a new tower is created?”

“Observe well, smartass.”

I threw all 5 of the King’s Marbles into my mouth that I had been keeping in my armor.

It was impossible for me to eat them one by one whenever I was in danger.

Not only that, but this copy would try to flee as fast as it could within the range of the tower.

This plan that I had carried out with a small gesture and everything on the line could go awry.

Kicking the ground, I shot forward at it like a bullet.

Due to being in the range of the Magician Tower, a barrage of magical skills came hurtling towards me.

Defensive measures? I did not need such a thing.

The reason why I had waited until I had two more than the copy was that.

On one hand, I could not guarantee that I would win with this.

I had to calculate the damage that I would take from the tower after all.

“Ugh!”

Even the short while during the time it took me to close the gap, I felt a great amount of pain.

However, I did not give in to the pain and kept my eyes trained on the copy.

The other me was smiling sinisterly at me from behind the summoned creatures.

Staring it down, I swallowed the first marble.

“Kuwahhhh!”

The moment that I swallowed the marble, all the pain that was blocking everything out disappeared as if it was never there in the first place.

On top of that, I felt a power surge from somewhere from my body.

I put a level of strength that I could not control on top of the S ranking skills I possessed.

From the sky came Blizzard and Meteor.

From the ground came Iceberg and Glacial Field.

Not only that, but I used Chain Explosion, which I could not use without a shield.

“Urgh!”

Despite the summoned creatures having received mana to become a rank stronger, they were torn apart as if they were nothing.

Only then did it seem to react and turned around to try escaping.

However, it was too late.

I had become 2 times stronger due to the marbles.

My strength and speed had far surpassed my copy’s.

With how shocked it was, only after did I grab it by the cuff of its collar did it swallow a marble.

“Cuffing time. Gotcha, you little shit!”

“Ah! You’re crazy.”

“Crazy…… Despite not wanting to be called that, for some reason I feel good.”

“Argh!”

Due to the marbles in my mouth, not only did what I say incoherent, but drool was spilling out.

I could’ve avoided looking like a fool by not talking, but how could I hold back when I’m in a situation this satisfying and cathartic.

I was smiling, continuing to drool.

I looked absolutely insane, but I did not feel any shame.

Grabbing a hold of my copy, I casted a barrage of spells down on it.

Most area of effect spells also deal some damage to the caster as well.

The copy struggled to escape, but it could not do so.

A minute had already passed amidst the storm of spells.

Noticing that its body was cooling down from the previous heated form, my copy swallowed another marble.

“Two.”

“Aargh!”

Two marbles left.

It would all end soon.

-gulp.

“AHH! LET ME GO! YOU’RE INSANE!”

“One.”

“DAMN IT!”

“Zero.”

“PLEASE! AHH!”

“32, 31, 30…… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, bye.”

“A…. ugh!”

****

“Oho?”

“As you can see, I won.”

“……”

“I passed all the tests you’ve given me.”

“Hehe. I did think that you weren’t an ordinary human……. But to think that you’d actually succeed.”

“As promised, I demand that you give me the power of a Piece of Time and Space.”

“A promise is a promise. I’m curious as to how things will be, you know?”

“Happy ending. That’s it. Do I need to explain further?”

“Pfft. No. I hope that things go as you will it to. It won’t be all sunshine and rainbows though. Let’s meet again, human.”

-snap!

---

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160. Snap! Snap! Snap!

-snap!

The god snapped her fingers once more.

Just like how it was with the first test, the area around us dissolved.

The pure white field of snow disappeared, and in its place rose new pieces of the puzzle.

A familiar scene came into view.

“Not being able to hold back, you’re playing another trick?”

“Heh heh. The location of the second test is here. Why? Are you familiar with this place?”

“……”

It was the house that I lived in where I resented and burned with hatred every single day for our poverty.

The home I lived in previously was in such a state that no one would be surprised if it collapsed at any given moment.

I think I was beginning to understand what this god was trying to hint at.

It was obvious now that those I know of will be appearing before me.

At first, I thought that all that this god made were illusions.

However, what about the radical faction members and the tribe leaders of the demonic races that appeared during the first test?

It was possible that they were either brought back from hell, or they were another part of this god’s trickery.

Even my Titan Boots, which gave me immunity to all types of status effects, were useless against this peerless being.

My ability to defend myself against hypnotism and charms were easily nullified.

I couldn’t shake off this uneasy feeling I had.

As if trying to convince myself, I muttered.

‘No matter what, all of it is fake. Only focus on obtaining the power of the Piece of Time and Space. No matter who appears before me, I have to cut them down.’

“Hm? What are you saying to yourself?”

“…….”

“From the look on your face, I think you’ve caught on at least somewhat. Shall we begin?”

“Let me make one thing clear.”

“Eh…… I don’t like such a serious expression.”

“Even if you are a peerless existence, if those around me are really injured or lose their lives from this test…..”

“…..”

“Then no matter the method…… Even if my opponent is a god, I will eliminate them. Do you understand?”

“Ahhh! So scary….. But you know, those words are pretty hollow? I am what you consider a peerless existence. Do you really think that even if I hold back, you will be able to make me kneel?”

“I think you know it better than I. I don’t have that strength. And it’s not like I have a plan either. But I ask that you do not take my warning lightly. I am but a creation that you have made, but I’m not sure what went wrong when you did, because I turned out pretty fucking crazy.”

“It’s been quite awhile since I’ve been this excited, you know? Hehe! You make all the decisions. I am merely testing you. So shouldn’t you be the one to take responsibility for you actions? I hope that your greed for this power doesn’t blindside you from the truth. Good luck!”

“You really are a twisted peerless existence.”

“Hehe. Then……”

The god concealed her presence in an instant.

Unlike how she had been observing the fighting with glee, she had completely disappeared into thin air.

The area became so quiet without the presence of this god that it was enough to make my ears ring from the ambiance.

Without giving much thought, I followed my instincts and went inside the run-down villa.

Walking up the stairs one by one, I stopped in front of a door.

This familiar scenery was exactly as it was before.

Fliers and stickers were all over the place.

I had no idea how long the doorbell had been broken for.

Even the messy scribbles on the wall that I had made were identical.

Carefully, I opened the door and headed in.

The moment that I opened the door, as if the mute option had been turned off on the TV, I could hear the sounds around me.

What I heard wasn’t something new.

After all, it was one of the days in the past that I did not want to remember and ran away in embarrassment all this time.

“You bitch! You dare glare at your husband, who is as important as the sky!”

“……”

“Instead of bringing money as I have commanded you to, you dare lecture me instead?”

“…..”

“You still won’t talk till the very end? Fine. You’re going to die today! Come here!”

“….”

“Stop……”

“I said stop……”

“Yeah…. You really won’t give in, won’t you?”

“Stop! You piece of shit!”

This was my childhood, the days which I could recall clearly as if yesterday.

That’s right. I was seeing my dad, who only cared about money and beat my mother when he got drunk.

Despite the door being closed, I could see myself in the adjacent room, weeping silently with a blanket over my head.

Even though the severity of the violence was beyond what anyone could hold out against, mother did not let out a single cry of pain.

She desperately struggled to keep her mouth shut with both her hands, enduring against the pain all by her lonesome.

After all, she probably did not want to show or have this scene be discovered by a young child such as myself.

However, the real reason behind her silence was that she knew that I’d run to her if I heard her cry out.

With how she considered me as her everything, she had done so in order to prevent me from being involved in the violence.

In the past, I had avoided mother’s face that was swollen and covered in lacerations.

Staring at the floorboards, I pretended to not notice and looked away.

Because of the possibility of his violence being directed towards me as well, I was too afraid to do anything back then, and I could not even bring myself to console my mother.

I was so angry at this past self, tears filled my eyes from the rage I felt.

Right now, I wanted to rip apart my dad… No, that worthless trashy scum who was stomping down on my mother.

However, I could not do so.

The moment that I opened the door, my body refused to move, almost as if I had been turned into a statue.

Even though I had obtained a vast amount of power, I was helpless to watch without being able to do anything.

This horrible scene that I did not wish to witness continued for awhile.

After the brutal beatdown finished, my mother carefully avoided my father that had passed out from his drunkenness and opened the door leading out of the room.

Busily moving around despite her limping body, she made a meal, and only then did I come out of my room to have her spoon feed me the meal.

Like the utter fool I was, I ate the food with joy.

“Shit……..”

I swore without realizing it.

A part of it was my anger towards my dad, but most of it came from my ineptitude.

This scene came to a halt, and almost as if the lights of a stage was going off and the set was being changed, the space around me changed.

Looking towards the sky, I tried to steady my breath.

This definitely was the god’s attempt to make sure that I wouldn’t be able to pass the test.

However, who in their right mind wouldn’t be upset after seeing something like this.

I tried my best to regain my composure.

There probably was a reason why she showed me a dark past I didn’t want to remember.

At this rate, I didn’t know if I would have to kill my own mother.

The area around me changed, but the situation did not.

An old noodle restaurant in our neighborhood appeared.

This was the place that my mother had worked all her life to take care of me.

We had arrived on the day that my mother’s forehead was bleeding from a laceration.

Only then did I was certain of what this god wanted and was aiming for.

From then on, I did not react much to the scenes that were being shown before me.

No. To be honest, I was doing everything I can to make sure that I wouldn’t lose myself in rage.

The hellish time passed by just like that, and I could hear a snickering laughter from afar.

It was the bright laughter of a female child.

Turning around, I saw this god standing there.

“Wow. Just a moment ago, you were killing your fellow humans with a cold gaze, but now, tears are running down those same eyes? How should I take this?”

“Is the second test over now?”

“Mhm.”

The god shook her head and replied with a mischievous look.

“It was a difficult situation for you to hold yourself back, but weren’t you aware that your body wasn’t moving because of my powers, not your own willpower? Wouldn’t this test be too easy if I let you pass with just this?”

“Then what’s left? Perhaps, are you telling me to kill my mother with my own hands?”

“Oho! You catch on quickly. I applaud you!”

“Are you finding this amusing?”

“This is a new test that I’ve never given out to other lifeforms that have consumed the Piece of Time and Space. It’s only possible because you’re a human, or something like that I guess?”

“…….”

“Since you knew ahead of time and prepared yourself, it shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

-snap!

“Son.”

“……..”

“Hurry up and kill her. You can only obtain this power after you’ve shown me your resolve.”

“I’m glad to see you after all this time. Are you well?”

“…….”

“Hurry! Are you going to waste your time like this?”

“Son….. Why aren’t you saying anything? What about meals? Have you eaten yet?”

“……”

Mother was as benevolent and graceful as she always was.

It was such a striking image of her that it was hard to believe that this was an illusion.

It was enough to shake my resolve that I had promised myself hundreds of times.

I walked towards my mother who was waiting for me with both her arms outstretched.

I gripped the sword that I was holding so gently with such a sudden burst of strength that I could almost hear a crack.

I was going to cut down my own mother.

To be exact, I was going to cut down this illusion that looked exactly like my mother.

As I took a step forward, the god poked her head out next to me.

“Can you do it? Your mother had endured all those harsh years only for you. Can you kill her with your own hands!”

“……”

“No. You can’t do it. No human could. Just give up.”

“……”

“Do you really think that this isn’t your mother? Pfft! Well, it’s your problem to decide on.”

“Hey god.”

“Yep! Are you giving up?”

“Didn’t you say it yourself? You hoped that my desires to obtain the power of this Piece of Time and Space wouldn’t blind me from the truth.”

“Oho?”

“You were right.”

“Hehehe. Of course. Guess you failed this test…..”

“My eyes really were caught up in those desires and clouded my judgement until I could no longer see.”

“…..”

“However, you could never understand…. Humans can see beyond that.”

“Huh?”

“That’s not my mother!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I charged forward and swung my sword.

A swift and powerful diagonal cut strong enough to shake the surroundings caused a massive shockwave.

The target received the cut without any resistance, dissipating like smoke into thin air.

It was such a powerful attack that it was enough to cause a whirlwind around me.

Sheathing my sword, I walked back to where the god was.

With a flabbergasted expression, she stood there as if she was caught off guard.

“How….. How are you able to cut down your own mother? A human…. Especially you of all people shouldn’t be able to!”

“Everything isn’t as it seems.”

“……”

“No matter how identical the illusion appears to be, and even if it says what my mother usually says, there’s no way that I wouldn’t recognize it for what it was, you know? This is my own mother we’re talking about.”

“……”

“I guess this means that I’ve passed the second test?”

“Y…. Yeah…..”

“Last one, right?”

“What a blunder I made. My expectations were way off the mark.”

“I already put my life on the line and came here. If I don’t obtain this power and go back to living, it’s better that I die. I really am out of options.”

“Amazing…. This is getting even more interesting!”

“It’s going to be even more amusing from here on out. I’m going to pass even your final test.”

“Heh heh! Sure. Feel free to try. If you can pass that is.”

“Anytime.”

-snap!

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159. Meeting

After parting ways with Barub, I headed through the entrance of the celestial plane.

The dimensional door was different from a Warp or Gate.

Unlike Warp, which took me to a location the moment I crossed through, I had to travel pass the entrance and through a pure white tunnel for awhile before arriving at my destination.

Due to the path being straight, I was able to find my destination easily without being lost.

At the end of the tunnel, I saw a worn wooden door.

I carefully opened the creaking door.

“What… What is this…..”

After opening the door, I couldn’t close my mouth from the sight I was seeing before me.

Since I was quite shocked, I had forgotten to go past the door.

The celestial plane was completely identical to Earth.

No. This was Earth. It was an Earth that had turned into a field of waste from monsters.

Corpses of both humans and monsters littered the place, and there wasn’t a single undamaged building in sight.

Perhaps due to the corpses starting to rot away, a nasty smell began to fill the air.

The blue skies had turned purple, as if this place had turned into the demonic realm.

“What is this….. This looks completely different from what I had imagined? It’s like hell…..”

It was then.

“Hello?”

“…….”

I heard a voice asking a question at me.

I looked towards where I heard the voice from, and there stood a female child who seemed about six or seven years old.

Covered in blood from head to her toes, she was licking a lollipop as if nothing was wrong.

To think that she was smiling so brightly in a barren field destroyed by monsters.

Anyone seeing this situation would find this suspicious and strange.

I spoke to the child.

“What has happened here? This is Earth, right?”

“Hm hm…… Yep! The monsters turned this place like this.”

“Where is everyone else? Where are those that survived?”

“Pfft! There aren’t any. So all those candies over there are mine. Aren’t you jealous?”

“…….”

“And if you go over there…..”

Whistling a tune, she pointed at a convenience store with her cute little hand.

After that, I didn’t even hear the child continuing to ramble on.

As time passed, I felt greater terror in the air.

To think that the place I had thought to be the celestial plane was actually Earth. And Barub had said that the moment they had met me, time had stopped.

Stopped for Earth and the demonic realm that is.

But Earth had become like this? This is too much even for a joke.

I looked at the child.

“Don’t even think about eating my candies! Okay? They’re all mine, hehe. But since oppa looks nice….”

“Are you god?”

“Hm?”

“The one who has made that marble in the first place….. I asked if you were the god that has guided me here.”

“Hm? What. That’s no fun!”

“So everything I’m looking at must be an illusion? Since the moment I had entered this rift in space time, all time should’ve stopped after all.”

“Gosh….. I guess Barub said something that they didn’t need to say.”

Puffing out her cheeks, she pouted.

Tossing aside the lollipop she was licking with excitement, she stared at me intensely.

I stared right back at her intense gaze and asked.

“What is the point of showing me such a horrible sight? Does it have anything to do with the test you’re going to give me?”

“Hehe. Unlike the others, you’ve learned quite a lot, haven’t you?”

“…….”

“Barub, you little! I’ll have to punish them!”

“If you’re the so called god, then I’ll get right to the point. I have to obtain the abilities on that marble.”

“All those who have sought after me said the same thing. But isn’t that power too great to just give it to anyone? Isn’t that so?”

“I heard that no one has passed the test so far. Are you hoping for the impossible to begin with? Or you don’t have any desire to give the power of the marble in the first place.”

“Hm? That’s not it. I don’t give out impossible tests. However, not everyone can pass.”

“What is this test? Even though time has stopped, I want that power as soon as possible. Let’s begin right away.”

“Oho! You want to? You just need to prove me how strong you are.”

“An absolute existence such as yourself, a god. Are you asking me to defeat you?”

“Wow…. Could you do such a thing?”

“Probably beyond my capabilities……”

“I told you already, didn’t I? It’ll be doable. There are three tests. Of course, you only get one chance. If you fail…… You’ll cease to exist. Shall we start now?”

With one wave of her hand, everything changed.

Almost as if tossing a completed puzzle on the ground, the space fell apart.

The empty space was filled by a pure white snowy field.

The ground stretched on beyond what I could see, all covered in snow.

In the center was a small little Gate.

“Has it begun?”

This was the test that no one had passed.

I wasn’t sure of the others who swallowed the Piece of Time and Space, but it probably wasn’t easy for them either.

I cast Mana Shield, Reflect Shield, and Spirit Armor.

After that, I waited with bated breath.

I knew that something would come out of that Gate.

The hand that gripped the Butcher’s Sword tightened.

A bit of time passed.

“No way……”

“Kuhahat!”

“…….”

“Glad to meet you again, kid…..”

“Killed me. That man killed me. Hehe. I shall have my revenge.”

“To think that a pathetic human such as yourself defeated me, one of the tribe leaders of the demonic realm…..”

“I shall pay you back all the shame you’ve given me!”

This was beyond what I had expected.

All of those who stepped through the Gate, I was acquainted with.

The looks they all gave me were filled with resentment.

Hatred and rage. Their eyes told me that they were starving for revenge and murder.

The radical faction’s Park Hyun and Jin, their leaders Joker, Ghost, Dark Lady, Pierro, and even the demonic tribe leaders Berdan and Zekill were here.

All of them had lost their lives to me.

I was shocked for a brief moment at their reappearance.

I felt someone poke me at my side.

‘Wait…. They went through my shield so easily and applied physical force on me?’

The person behind that was the little child. No, it would be accurate to call them a god.

The god spoke with a curious expression on her face.

“Why are you looking so surprised? Hehe. These are are familiar faces, right?”

“Is this the first test you were mentioning before?”

“Yep! Doesn’t it seem fun?”

“…..”

“They’re those that lost their lives to you. You already are aware of that though, right? If we brought the total number of those that died to you, there would be a lot more, but none of them had such resentment against you as these folks here. Despite having lost everything, those here seem only intent on getting revenge against you.”

“I told them to reflect on their behaviors and live with goodwill in their hearts in the afterlife….. But I guess there wasn’t anywhere their wickedness could go.”

“Hehe! Now, begin already.”

“I just need to get rid of them all?”

“Yep! Hurry! Quickly!”

Voice filled with elevated excitement, the god sat down on the spot.

She acted as if she had found some entertainment to watch.

Licking her lollipop, she stomped her feet.

Looking at their faces, I was somewhat relieved.

If an opponent like the Chimera had appeared, I’d fail from the very first test.

I already knew all their attack patterns.

On top of that, even if they all attacked me at once, there was no way that I’d lose.

It had been quite awhile since I had destroyed the radical faction by its roots, growing vastly stronger beyond comparison of what I once was before.

Not only that, I had defeated those two leaders of their own respective demonic tribes without much difficulty.

While looking at them as they approached me, I took out one King’s Marble from the folds of my armor and put it in my mouth.

It wasn’t likely that I’d need to swallow it, but it was good to be prepared just in case.

The cooldown on my Status Denial was over too.

All preparations were done.

They were preparing to charge me at once.

“I’m using the gifts you’ve given me well. The armor, weapons, and even stats…… However, I have no plans to return them to you. You all say that you’ve been only dreaming of revenge? None of you even have the qualifications to do that.”

“Keyahaa!”

“I shall send you all to hell!”

I poured a torrent of attacks on the group that was charging at me.

The transcended Meteors that had become dozens of times stronger than before rained down from the skies, while the powerful lightning attack In Storm followed.

A fierce barrage of magical attacks rushed forth.

In an instant, Ghost moved to the front and absorbed the spells.

“Roa’s Staff?”

Roa’s Staff was a weapon that absorbed all magical attacks until its durability ran out, and Ghost had used that to absorb my attacks.

However, it wouldn’t last that long.

With my endless mana, my attacks would come without end, and since the skill had reached maximum level, no cooldown existed for this skill.

Roaming the battlefield, I continued to pour down my skills.

It was impossible for them to catch up to my speed.

There was no need to even worry about them catching up, as they had difficulty even keeping track of my position.

It was possible due to the radical faction, since I had stolen massive amounts of strength stats from those gathered here and their subordinates.

Other than Berdan and Zekill, the humans needed Ghost to block my attacks using his staff, and thus needed to stay grouped together with him.

This made area of effect spells the ideal choice here.

It was taking everything for them to just hold out against my attacks.

Since they could not retaliate, the only sound that came from them were all sorts of swears and curses.

I wonder how much time had passed.

It happened when 6 meteors covering the sky were falling down on them.

-crack.

“I think I heard a rather welcoming sound?”

“Kuhu…..”

“Scatter!”

Before they could separate, Meteor and In Storm buried them.

I don’t think I really need to explain what happened after.

As expected, their bodies disappeared without a trace.

From the start, they did not stand a chance against me.

Sadly, due to how they had lost their lives before, I wasn’t able to obtain additional stats with my Butcher’s Sword.

The only ones left were Berdan and Zekill.

Casting buffs that increased my offensive power, I charged at them.

A noise sounding as if the air itself was being cut apart resonated, and before that sound had even stopped, my sword swings at them with Formless Sword Aura had begun.

“Kuwahhhh!”

Right now, even Formless Sword Aura’s Wild Beast had activated.

The speed at which my swords cut through their bodies increased to another level.

Not only that, but the wounds left by the sword became far deeper.

The pure white field of snow was being smeared violet by their blood.

With labored breath, life in their eyes were becoming dulled.

Unlike them, my shields weren’t taking any damage.

Not even a single chip or crack.

This meant that I wasn’t allowing even a single attack to hit me.

With my continued attack, Zekill was the first to kneel.

“Ha…… Hah ah…..”

A long sigh escaped from his mouth, signaling that he had taken his last breath.

As if to say that he wouldn’t let Zekill go alone, Berdan also lost his life after him.

Just like that, the fight came to an end.

The first test had ended so easily, almost making me disappointed.

Cleaning the blood on my sword, I approached god.

“Wow! Aren’t you something? Hehe!”

“Did I pass?”

“To think that you’d kill your fellow humans despite having such a kind looking face. I’m impressed!”

“……”

“Congratulations! Passed the first test! I look forward to the next test, you know?”

“Since we don’t have time to waste, let’s get started right away.”

“Yep! Yep!”

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157. Demigod

A black marble the size of a fist.

The surface glowed, reminding me of a black pearl.

Other than that, nothing looked out of the ordinary.

I thought back to the time I defeated Joker and obtained the King’s Marble.

I have taken good care of it all this time, still being held within my armor.

The marble was much smaller than the black marble I’ve obtained, but the effect was insane enough to make the size of it not matter at all.

Not only did it restore my health and mana to full, but it made me immortal for a minute, and on top of that, it granted me twice my strength for a full minute.

It was a very powerful item.

Currently, via hunting in the Unknown Dungeon, I had 11 of those marbles with me.

However, unlike Status Denial and the ring that allowed the wearer to come back to life, I wasn’t using them as a survival method.

It was because I had to consume the marble in order to activate the effect.

After all, I couldn’t use this when the situation turned critical, unless I had it in my mouth to begin with.

Not only that , but the Demon King’s attack power wouldn’t even give me the time to swallow one of them.

Also, even if I succeed in swallowing the marble and increasing my attack power by twofold, my attacks wouldn’t hit the Demon King.

If I was only a bit stronger…. If only I had an attack that could break through his defenses.

The King’s Marble will still massively affect this battle though.

This was pretty much my final card against the Demon King after all.

If the King’s Marble provided both offensive and defensive benefits, this black marble seemed to only benefit me offensively.

However, this item wasn’t lacking by any means.

No matter how weak the owner was, it would allow them to rise as one of the strongest.

Like the ring in the movies.

It was that incredible.

The information that the Eye of Insight showed me regarding the black marble was as follows.

-A Piece of Space and Time-

*All attacks have a 100% chance to succeed.

*Ignores all enemies resistances.

*Prevents opponents hit by attacks from recovering.

*Allows the user to wield all of their strength.

*However, effects are activated only after passing a god’s test.

“Using Eternal Rest didn’t feel like a waste at all…… Chimera, you clever little thing.”

Once I consumed the marble, I would obtain amazing abilities.

Isn’t this enough to make anyone exclaim with glee?

Just from looking at the first effect, anyone could tell that this was no ordinary item.

My main attacks involved using skills.

Each of these skills had their own ranks.

Depending on these ranks, an opponent’s defensive capabilities and resistance can make the attacks deal no damage.

However, this single effect allowed my attacks to bypass that wall.

This meant that even if I used Frost Orb, it would deal some form of damage to the Demon King.

Secondly, ignoring resistances.

Monsters have some form of innate resistance, either physical or magical.

Holy damage ignores resistances, but they usually don’t deal a lot of damage.

This basically rewrote the rules of what was and wasn’t a viable attack method.

Even an enemy with a 100% resistance to physical attacks could be defeated with sword skills.

I could laugh at an enemy’s 100% magical resistance while killing them with magical attacks.

Thirdly was the ability to prevent healing.

I already had a skill that had that effect.

It was a necromancer’s B ranking debuff skill that prevented the opponent from healing themselves.

However, due to the fact that it was only a B ranking skill, not only did it not work on most Awakened, but most monsters as well.

If the effect of all attacks succeeding was true, it would allow the Unrecoverable spell to go through as well.

However, this saved me the trouble of having to cast it every single time and also being at the mercy of the spell’s duration.

With the three effects I went over so far and properly spacing out the use of the King’s Marbles, I would not only be able to beat the Demon King, but even his grandpa if he were to exist.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

The best one was saved for last.

The fourth effect was hard to believe.

It allowed the user to use all of their powers.

To put it in simple terms, it allowed me to freely use my magical energies, which was something I still couldn’t control or even see.

From my travels throughout Earth and the demonic realm, I had slaughtered countless monsters and have obtained their magical energies.

Me, while being a human, had enough magical energy to be considered the one with the 3rd most amount of it in the demonic realm.

If I was to obtain the ability to wield it as I pleased?

I would be able to attack with both the abilities of the Awakened and the power of magical energies at the same time, obtaining combination attack capabilities.

In other words, the Demon King would be toast.

Not only that, but I had Archangel’s Fall, which allowed me to deal bonus damage against monsters.

Each line of the descriptions on the marble artifact were amazing.

However, the last line filled me with doubt, almost as if throwing a question at me.

“A god’s test? I thought everything was going smoothly, but what is this nonsense? If you’re going to give me abilities, should just give it to me without all this hassle…..”

To be able to use the artifact’s effects, it seemed that I had to meet the requirements, similar to how a skill book beyond ranking does.

As confirmed with the Eye of Insight, the requirement here was to pass a test, and that test was from a god.

I couldn’t fathom if this was some kind of joke or not.

There probably wasn’t anyone who had information regarding this item either.

The informant of the demonic realm, Karin, and the one who is in a shaky alliance with us, Belkoseu, wouldn’t have intel on this.

After all, artifacts were only related to humans.

“So there isn’t anyone who could give me a clear answer….”

I did have my worries about this, but I was leaning more towards just consuming it.

No matter what angle I look at this from, there just wasn’t any other way out for me.

The Demon King. Ladin. Belkoseu.

Just hearing their names gave me a headache.

Not only that, but it wouldn’t be long before the Gate that leads to Earth would be discovered.

As time passed, it was us that would be at a greater disadvantage, and it was us that were in a hurry.

Since I’ve used up Eternal Rest already, I had no way of stopping Belkoseu after I defeated the Demon King.

My only way of annihilating Belkoseu had disappeared altogether.

And I couldn’t even face that problem until things worked out well enough for us to defeat the Demon King in the first place.

I held the orb up.

With a slight moment of hesitation, I moved it towards my mouth.

It was then.

“Min-Cheol!”

“……”

“Keruuu….. Min-Cheol!”

“Has that much time passed already?”

Jong Ho and Karin yelled while being carried by Belkoseu at incredible speeds.

I thought for a second how lame they must’ve felt when I carried them like that.

Karin’ face was wet from something that I couldn’t tell if it was drool or tears.

Jong Ho’s expression was calm, as if he couldn’t be surprised anymore.

He must’ve known that I was alive via Karin’s ability.

And seeing that the orb in the sky hadn’t disappeared, Jong Ho must’ve have foreseen that I would use the skill on the Chimera.

That was probably why he had kept that expression.

Arriving near me nearly in an instant, both of them hopped off from the arms of Belkoseu and landed on the ground.

“Whew. I didn’t know that being carried around while being held looked so ridiculous, you know?”

“You! Only good at running your mouth.”

“So, how does it feel to be taxied around by him?”

“Yeah! A lot more comfortable than you, that’s for sure. You okay?”

“Of course. It doesn’t seem that you were worried at all by the looks of it, right?”

“You think you’re a normal person? At this point, I’m not even surprised anymore at these day to day occurrences.”

Jong Ho snuck a glance at Belkoseu while carefully speaking to me.

After all, he knew what I was thinking better than anyone else.

The missing Chimera. And I was alive, completely fine to boot.

With an expression that anyone would be able to tell it was filled with suspicion, Belkoseu spoke.

“Human…. What happened?”

“What?”

“Why has the Chimera stopped its activities, and how are you alive without a scratch.”

“Hm….. Are you saying that I should be dead or something? I feel a bit sad, but since it’s something to be curious about, I’ll let it slide.”

“…….”

“I escaped the Chimera. Of course, it is hard to believe.”

“Kuhum……”

“You don’t think I actually killed the Chimera, do you?”

I pointed at the sky while asking.

The sky still had one of those burning orbs floating there.

Looking at it, Belkoseu cleared his throat in an attempt to regain composure in his voice.

“That’s right. I didn’t believe for a moment that you defeated the Chimera. However……”

“What did you want to ask?”

“Maybe! Are you hiding your true strength?”

“Do you think I came here to waste time playing hide and seek with the Demon King?”

“…….”

“Of course not. I’m pretty sure that you saw yourself? I had received a severe injury from the Demon King’s attack before while I was trying to go through the Warp. I’m not into getting hit. Stop wasting your time pointlessly doubting me, okay?”

“Hm…….”

“Well, I have something to discuss between the three of us, so leave us be for now.”

“……”

Without even hearing his reply, I turned his back and brought Karin and Jong Ho with me.

Belkoseu seemed pretty shocked, but since these kind of situations were common, he didn’t make much of a fuss.

Casting Silent, I continued the talk between us.

After all, what we were about to discuss wouldn’t do us any good if Belkoseu heard them.

“Hyung-nim, as you are aware, I used Eternal Rest.”

“Right. There wasn’t anything else you could’ve done. You did well.”

“Yes. I did survive the Chimera, but…..”

“Now we lost the only way to defeat Belkoseu…..”

“Thankfully that’s not the case.”

“Hm? I thought that Eternal Rest could only be used once? Or perhaps… Nah. There’s no way that the Chimera, who doesn’t even have any magical energy to begin with, could drop any gear.”

“No, that’s what happened.”

I took out the black marble that was tucked away in my chestplate and showed it to Jong Ho.

I told him about the marble’s effects.

Each time he heard one of the effects, he couldn’t help but be surprised.

However, as expected, his expression did look too good when he heard about the last line of description that mentioned a test.

Jong Ho asked as if he knew what I was going to say next.

“You’re going headfirst into an unknown territory again. Are you confident?”

“You know that Jong Ho’s dongsaeng is just a corpse if you take out his confidence, right?”

“I’m an idiot for asking. So what do you need to do?”

“Not sure. I wouldn’t know unless I consumed this….”

“I think we need to move to a safer location. We’ll also need Belkoseu’s ability to hide our magical energy signature.”

“Yes. However, there is one thing I’m concerned about.”

“I’m more surprised that you only have one thing to worry about. You little! What is it?”

“How do I swallow something this big?”

“Listen well. Be glad that you’re stronger than me. If that wasn’t the case… you would’ve died.”

We headed towards where the demon god Ifrit resided before.

If we hide our magical energy signatures here, we would be able to completely avoid the Demon King.

He would never expect us to go back to a place where we already did our business and hide there.

After arriving, I consumed the marble.

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158. Test

After finishing a simple meal and before swallowing the black marble at Ifrit’s previous residence, I gave 6 of the 11 King’s Marbles to Jong Ho.

It was because I had no idea how long the test would take, and during that time, the Demon King could appear or Belkoseu could betray us.

Thankfully as of now, Belkoseu has not reached Jong Ho’s strength yet.

Taking the marbles, Jong Ho spoke with a calm expression.

“I’ll be waiting. Come back safely.”

“Yes. Don’t you already know? I did well in education. If it’s a test, I’m confident.”

“Yes. Don’t try to cheat, and just do as you normally do.”

“If the situation gets to the point where I’ll have to write my farewells to you, I’ll cause a ruckus and escape.”

“Whew. Try to be a little bit nervous. Just because I humored you once, you don’t know when to stop. I know I say this a lot, but be careful.”

“Yes. Please wait a bit.”

Jong Ho frowned and nodded.

It was a reaction that showed that he was used to this at this point.

Next to him, I saw Karin holding steak in both of his hands.

Despite having steak, something that he would die without, he wasn’t eating it and was looking at me instead.

“Keruuu. Min-Cheol…..”

“I’ll be back before these steaks grow cold.”

“Kehel? Despite having to risk our lives each day, I was glad to be with you. And I think I will continue to enjoy that going onwards. So please, just return back safely. I shall trust in your words and eat the steaks then.”

“Running your mouth till the end…. There’s no stopping you. Not at all. I don’t want to see your face, really. What? You’re coming back before the steak grows cold?”

“Pfft. I’m just trying to relieve some of his anxiety. I’m going for real now.”

While we were talking, Belkoseu focused on hiding magical energy signatures.

Unless the monsters were at the rank of a Chimera, they wouldn’t be able to find us.

Finishing our talk like that, I swallowed the marble.

The marble was the size of an adult’s fist.

I knew how large it was when I had held it in my hand, but unlike what I had thought, the marble went down my throat with ease.

I guess it was like drinking a bowl of maesaengi soup? ¹

The lumpy and thick texture of the marble didn’t feel too good.

After consuming the marble, I lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

No, to be exact, by physical body lost strength and collapsed.

I had expected being transported to another dimension or someone appearing before me, but I was way off the mark.

Just like in the movies or drama shows, it seemed like I was in a situation where I was having an out of body experience.

After all, I was looking at my own body that had collapsed.

I also was able to clearly see Jong Ho and Karin standing guard next to me.

However, everything had lost color and had turned grey.

Being surprised at the changes didn’t last long though.

I could hear the sound of footsteps from somewhere.

I looked around the massive palace that Ifrit had resided in, but couldn’t find anyone.

However, I could hear the footsteps clearer as time passed on.

It sounded as if someone was walking on a light amount of snow.

I was drawn to the sound, moving towards it without much thought.

A bit of time had passed.

I was nearing the source of the sound, getting close to the edge of the demonic realm.

Everything around me looked grey, but far away, I saw someone letting out vibrant rays of light.

Almost as if they had taken all the light in the world to make themselves shine, there was nothing I could really compare to the beauty and majesty of the light.

I couldn’t even begin to tell how far away the light was.

Almost as if being lured in, I moved towards it.

After each step I took, from the edge of the demonic realm that seemed to fall down straight to hell, a narrow road was being made.

Passing through that pitch black darkness, I continued to walk towards the light.

An odd peaceful sensation overwhelmed me, and I did not feel any need to rush anymore.

Even the thought of needing to run there quickly dissipated.

Enjoying this strange situation, I followed the light lazily at my own pace.

I was acting as if I had forgotten about the Demon King, Ladin, Belkoseu, and the Gate and portals that have appeared on Earth, allowing countless monsters to pour in.

I was even considering that I had died.

However, that wasn’t the case.

If I had died, there was no way that Karin and Belkoseu wouldn’t have noticed.

However, my magical energy was still in my body undisturbed.

That meant that my life hadn’t been extinguished yet.

After all, magical energy was basically one’s life force.

I didn’t know why this was happening, but only my soul was floating around after having consumed the marble.

How long did I walk for?

I saw someone come into view.

A form of pure white that contrasted vastly with the pitch black darkness around us.

That someone was draped in clothes of white, walking towards me.

The outer form was identical to that of a human, but the clothing covered this being’s hands, feet, and face.

In a world that had changed completely, this was the first lifeform I was meeting.

However, I didn’t feel any fear at all.

I could instinctively tell that this wasn’t someone to be afraid of.

After arriving near each other, both of us stopped.

“Are you the one who has consumed the Piece of Space and Time?”

“……”

“Event after consuming it, you didn’t perish. Follow me.”

“Perish? There wasn’t anything like that on the description… That’s that, but are you the god that was mentioned?”

“I am the guide through space and time, Barub. I shall guide you to the god.”

“Well, I didn’t expect this god to come meet me.”

“Then……”

As soon as Barub finished talking, they turned around and started to walk away.

They had a voice that I couldn’t even tell if they were male or female.

Not only that, but their voice carried no emotions.

Other than not sounding awkward, there was no difference from an automated answering machine.

Due to how fast Barub walked, I had to rush to keep up in order to try continuing the conversation.

Since I had no information regarding this place, it was to find out as much as I could regarding the current situation I was in.

“Barub.”

“……”

“What is at the end of this road? And can you tell me about this one that has sent you here to guide me?”

“The light leads us to the entrance of another dimension that you’ve never experienced before.”

“Not to Earth or the demonic realm, but to another dimension?”

“That’s right. The place where this god you speak of so much exists.”

“So the celestial plane, basically?”

“Call it as you wish….”

“Are there any who have consumed A Piece of Time and Space before?”

“Yes. However, you are the first human to do so.”

“This item wouldn’t drop for monsters, so it wouldn’t be a monster…..”

“The worlds you’ve been in are only the tip of the iceberg…….”

“The description said that I had to pass the test of a god. What does that mean?”

“I do not know that either. My only duty is to guide those who are lost. I cannot leave this time and space.”

“Hm…. Is the dimension that we’re heading to similar to Earth or the demonic realm?”

“As I said before, I am simply a guide. You’ll have to see and feel for it for yourself.”

“The god that has ordered you to do so, do only one god exist?”

“……”

“You don’t even know about that? You really do live under a rock, don’t you?”

My questions continued persistently.

After all, I wanted to get even a clue as to what was going on.

However, Barub did not easily give up answers.

It had been long since that feeling of peacefulness that I had while walking had gone away.

Doubt and worry came in like a rising tide.

I continued to question.

“How much further do we need to go?”

“Time does not pass here. We merely go with the flow of the time space rift here.”

“I know you have time to spare, but my body is laying on the floor of the demonic realm. I’m not even sure if I’m still breathing or my heart is still beating. At this rate I’m going to decay like a corpse!”

“Do not worry. The moment that you met me, your time has stopped. The dimensions of Earth and the demonic realm that you have existed in are now only affected by what goes on here.”

“…..”

“If you’re unable to pass the test…… thus, not being able to receive my guidance back to the demonic realm…..”

“If I’m unable to? Then what?”

“Then your existence will be completely obliterated. You space. The things you have achieved. Even those you had personal ties with. Not a single memory of you will be left, and you will disappear as if you had never existed in any dimension. And those left will live on without ever knowing or being concerned.”

“What a refreshing answer. So let me ask you one more thing. You don’t have to answer this.”

“What is it?”

“Of those other than me who have consumed this marble, did you guide any of them back after they passed the test?”

“None.”

“You didn’t have to answer, but you gave a clear answer instead. There’s only unique folks around me, I swear.”

“None were able to return. However, just being able to come here is amazing in it of itself. Most who consume the marble perish from just the act of doing so. You’ve already proven how strong you are from just arriving here.”

“That’s not what I want. I don’t care about being acknowledged. I just want the very powerful abilities that the marble grants me from the god who had put it on this artifact in the first place.”

“Despite having served this being for so long, I still cannot figure out what they are thinking. I do not know why they call upon those who have consumed the marble. I also have no idea why they had not allowed a single one to pass the test.”

“You sure that there is only the two of us here? Since this is the place inbetween the demonic realm and the celestial plane after all.”

“That’s right.”

“I guess that means that they can’t hear us. I know the answer to your question. The reason for why this god does this is simple.”

“……”

“They’re absolutely insane.”

“How rude.”

“Do you think that they’d do this without being insane? But don’t worry about it.”

“…….”

“Despite how young I am, I’ve met plenty of crazies. So I know how to deal with them. If you meet me again after I pass the test, then you’ll know that I was right.”

“…..”

Even though I had insulted the god that Barub served, they did not respond.

It really felt as though I was talking with an emotionless machine.

Just like that, I continued to be guided by them until I arrived at the entrance of the celestial plane.

The size of the entrance was about the same size as what I had seen from the edge of the demonic realm.

The entrance completely ignored the rule of how objects further away look smaller than it actually is.

Finishing their duty, Barub turned around and headed back the way they came from.

It was then. I heard their low voice.

“There is something odd about you. I shall pray for you. I pray that I can guide you back to the demonic realm, that your existence won’t be erased, and that you will obtain the power that the marble brings…..”

“I guess you really weren’t a hundred percent tin can robot. Wait with the red carpet out for me. It’ll end up just as you said.”

“…….”

Barub left.

I was alone once more.

The area around me was pitch black, with only the brightly lit entrance to the celestial plane in front of me.

Through here was the being who would allow me to use the abilities of the marble.

More than anyone in the world, I needed this power.

I had to obtain it. If I could not obtain it, then I would steal it to make it mine.

Just like that, I went through to the place where this god resided.

---

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156. An Unbelievable Occurrence

It had already been 8 hours since the Demon King unsealed the Chimera.

Many monsters ranked as tribe leaders had been done in by the Chimera.

It was to be expected, since it hunted with fire in its eyes, acting as if it was a beast that had been starved for days.

Demon King Jamon could sense that many monsters with vast capacities for magical energies and possible candidates to replace him in the future disappearing into oblivion.

It was just like when the humans and Belkoseu were taking them down before.

He did already have roughly 50% of the magical energies in the demonic realm, but he couldn’t help but be wary of those with the magical energy capacities that of a demon king.

Like that, Jamon made a satisfied smile.

The moment that the Chimera left, the Demon King and Ladin left the castle.

The Demon King had met with the Chimera at the castle.

Waiting there was the equivalent of waiting for the Chimera to attack him.

The Demon King completely hid his magical energy signature.

Even with the Chimera’s powerful magical energy searching skill, it wouldn’t be able to find him.

This wasn’t an Authority that he obtained when he became the Demon King.

Jamon already had this ability the moment that he was born.

Since he was the Demon King and could do as he pleased, he never had the need to use this.

There was no need for him to flee from anyone, so he had never done so.

It was the same for Ladin.

No matter how much Jamon hid his magical energy signature, if he moved together with Ladin, he would naturally be discovered.

This was pure coincidence, but both of them had the same Authority.

That was why the both of them were staying together, observing the situation.

The amount of orbs left in the sky was now one.

If that orb disappeared, it wouldn’t be long before the Chimera was sealed away again.

The reason why Jamon had released it was to have it defeat the human who had crossed over to this realm.

Running from place to place and annoying him to no end, the human was even helping Belkoseu, who was a dangerous threat, grow stronger.

That was why the Demon King was so focused on the magical energy signature of the human.

He couldn’t tell the exact location of the it, but he could at least sense if the human was alive or not.

Two hours passed like that.

Jamon frowned and spoke with weight.

“Ladin.”

“Yes, Demon King.”

“How long until the Chimera is sealed away again?”

“I am not sure of the exact time, but it seems that the Chimera will be sealed away soon.”

“Hm….. However, I can still sense the human’s magical energy signature.”

“……”

“And look at the orb in the sky.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Have you not noticed it yet?”

“Huh! What…? The Chimera should have already consumed the orb…..”

“That’s right. In order to undo its last seal, it needs that orb.”

“You are absolutely correct.”

“And on top of that, the Chimera isn’t able to kill anything right now. It’s been way past since it should’ve consumed another orb.”

“Then perhaps…. The human has defeated the Chimera…..”

“Impossible. You are aware of this as well! I have let loose the Chimera into the demonic realm. It makes no sense that the Chimera was defeated by a mere human.”

“You speak sense, Demon King.”

“But this is rather strange. Perhaps the Chimera is not consuming the last orb in order to delay being sealed away again…….”

“Please consider this, Demon King. The only reason why the Chimera madly thrashes about is to find its opponents. It is only concerned with butchering and battles. That is why I believe that it is not trying to buy time out of fear of being sealed away again.”

“Hm…..”

“Please do not worry. It will definitely get rid of the human and stop Belkoseu from getting stronger.”

“Then we shall wait a bit longer.”

While Ladin was speaking with the Demon King, his expression was that of disappointment.

He had no idea that the Demon King Jamon had the Authority to perfectly hide his magical energy signature.

Only today did he learn this information.

He had thought that this Authority was exclusive to him.

The Chimera’s release.

The one to first speak about that idea was not the Demon King, but Ladin.

Hiding his wicked intentions, he had continued to pretend that he was trying to stop the Demon King from coming to this decision.

However, the fear that he felt when seeing the Chimera wasn’t an act.

After sensing its aura and killing intent, who wouldn’t be scared stiff.

In order for him to take the spot of the Demon King again, he had provoked the prideful Jamon.

Ladin had made the Demon King aware of the Chimera’s existence and lead him to release it upon this world.

After all, even if the Chimera was released, he could hide his magical energy signature completely and stay alive.

Even a Demon King shouldn’t be able to face off against the Chimera.

Then the natural course of action would be the death of the Demon King at the jaws of the Chimera, and in a world where the Demon King is gone, the one surviving with the highest amount of magical energy would become the next Demon King, which would be himself.

It was a plan to take over the whole demonic realm without any effort.

However, his plan had been completely ruined.

It was because right now, the Demon King was standing next to him, completely hiding his magical signature.

Not only that, but the Chimera that was supposed to completely obliterate the residents of the demonic realm had stopped moving.

Ladin’s anxiety was only amplified.

Even if his plan to rise to the title of Demon King had failed right now, another chance was bound to come eventually.

However, looking at this long term, he could not ignore the existence of Belkoseu.

His thoughts were the same as Jamon’s.

And just like that, a large amount of time passed.

Only then did the two of them realize that something was wrong.

The orb in the sky was still there, and the monsters with massive amounts of magical energies weren’t being annihilated.

This meant that the Chimera had stopped butchering altogether.

Both Jamon and Ladin’s expressions hardened quickly.

“Damn it……”

“D… Demon King.”

“Chimera! What has happened!”

“Is it possible that it was defeated by the human……”

“There is no way that’s possible! It must be planning something!”

The Demon King could not believe that the Chimera might have been annihilated.

He could not even begin to imagine that the human, who could not even match his strength, had defeated the Chimera.

The Demon King was absolutely positive that the Chimera had other plans.

He was enraged, letting out all of the magical energy he had been hiding in an instant.

Just like when the Chimera had first appeared, all the lowly monsters nearby were wiped out.

After all, a massive amount of magical energy had been released.

Ladin began speaking words he didn’t mean in the slightest.

“Demon King! If you let out your magical energy like that…. The Chimera will come here immediately.”

“Tsk! It doesn’t matter! Didn’t I say this before. I will not be defeated by it. Do you think that I’ll be defeated by a mere servant!”

“Still…..”

“I have made you second in command in the demonic realm, but it seems that you’ve been consumed by fear first!”

“Demon King, I seek forgiveness…..”

“Shut up! I shall go find the Chimera myself. Be thankful that you’re the last demonic tribe leader. If that wasn’t the case, I would’ve cut you in half where you stand right now. Kuhuhum! Fool…..”

“…….”

Just like that, the Demon King moved as fast as he could to find the whereabouts of the human and the Chimera.

It seemed that his anger would not be extinguished so easily.

****

‘Eternal Rest.’

I casted the skill on the Chimera.

It boasted confidence that it could take on my attack.

A small but intense ray of light came out from my hand.

That ray went straight for the Chimera.

The Chimera saw my attack, but did not try to dodge.

After all, even with all that speed, the Chimera could not avoid an attack this fast.

However, the effect looked really pathetic.

It was a simple looking attack, similar to the basic skill Lightning Bolt.

The light from the Eternal Rest spell was absorbed into the chest of the Chimera.

A skill that was hard to see due to how small it was had hit the massively giant Chimera’s form.

The Chimera laughed at this sad display of an attack.

From its point of view, this attack must seem pathetic.

The Chimera stared at me as it spoke.

“Kurururu. How pathetic you are.”

“…….”

“I’m embarrassed that I rated your strength so highly.”

“As I said, it’ll be a disappointing end.”

“I had hoped that you’d show me the strength of a race different from the demonic race. Kurung! My amusement is no more.”

“Since I ruined your fun, I guess I’ll have to take responsibility. Do I need to play you a sad song or something?”

“You blabber utter nonsense. I wasted my time. I shall end you now!”

“…….”

“Kururung! Your strength has met the wrong master and never had a chance to display itself proudly, but instead meets a disappointing end……”

“Kuru…. What’s happening….. Kwuhh! Kurungung!”

“This skill has met the wrong target to kill, but there’s no point in regretting.”

The Chimera that was running towards me suddenly stopped.

The skill had hit directly at its chest.

The small dot of light had suddenly started to grow into a massive size.

On top of that, its body was cracking at the seems as though the ground would in a drought.

Between those cracks shone intense bright lights.

“Kururuhung! You! What have you done!”

“You told me to attack, so I attacked. Is there an issue?”

“Kuruuu!”

The Chimera struggled as hard as it could to move.

However.

The more it struggled, the more the cracks widened and the light shined brighter.

The front leg that it had raised to swing at me disappeared a long time ago.

After all, who would think that they would lose their lives to such a simple attack.

Even I, the caster, was this shocked, so imagine how flabbergasted would the Chimera be.

All it could do was growl, unable to muster up any resistance.

And just like that….

Its body was completely obliterated.

Not a single trace remained, as it had been completely removed from the demonic realm.

Only a cluster of light in the shape of its form remained, lighting up the area.

The light shined as if polish had been put on a statue of the Chimera.

The hunter of the demonic realm that was thought to be immortal had met its end so anticlimactically.

Something floated up where it had disappeared.

If things lived up to my expectations, a pile of artifacts enough to cover up this entire area should’ve dropped.

However, I couldn’t be further off from my mark.

Only a small black marble the size of a fist had dropped.

This wasn’t at the level of not meeting my expectations, but rather enough to question my sanity.

This was the reward for defeating the absolute being of the demonic realm.

For killing the one that has never been killed and could not be defeated by any, this was it.

I couldn’t hide my disappointment and trudged forward to where the marble was.

I didn’t even think of identifying the marble using the Eye of Insight right away.

It was probably because I was so heavily disappointed.

I picked it up and while I didn’t feel like it, casted Eye of Insight on it.

The situation flipped onto itself at that very moment.

When I identified this black marble that I held with disregard, I realized that I should be holding onto this with both hands and as if I was a servant to it.

“Ha….. Even though it was for a brief moment, I’m crazy for doubting…“

---

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155. There Is Only One Difference Between the Hunter and the Prey

We had been helplessly caught by the Chimera’s chase.

Its giant body blocked our path.

It was as if a giant mountain was in front of us.

My entire field of view had been completely covered by its body, and I wasn’t able to see anything other than it.

Karin had fainted from just its appearance.

He must have been suppressed by the Chimera’s intense killing intent.

Belkoseu seemed fearful and amused at the same time, seemingly enticed by an idea.

He wouldn’t die, but I assumed that his worried expression came from worry about my safety.

Was it because of the friendship we’ve built up during our travels? No way. He must be worried that he couldn’t climb to the throne of the Demon King without my help.

Then what about that mysterious amused expression?

It could be that, with the appearance of the Chimera causing the demonic realm to be reduced back to its infancy, Belkoseu considered this to be a better opportunity.

I was even more positive now that I could not trust Belkoseu.

The Chimera’s speed was something that my eyes could not keep up with.

Since it did not possess any magic energies, I knew that I could not predict its location.

On top of that, its offensive capabilities and speed were far superior to mine.

I knew that rushing in to fight it would be nothing different from riding an express train to death’s door.

Due to fighting Ifrit from before, I also carried the fatal weakness of not having my Status Denial skill back up yet from its cooldown.

Without the Resurrection Ring and Status Denial, we did not have a second chance at this.

Thankfully, Jong Ho and my Warp cooldown was back up.

The Chimera wouldn’t be interested in a weakling like Karin.

And I knew that Belkoseu wouldn’t die.

This meant that we only had one chance to escape from it.

While the Chimera kept on ranting, I casted Mass Stealth Jutsu on Karin.

It was to protect Karin and escape with Jong Ho.

The Chimera should be able to see right through the spell, but Karin should remain invisible to other monsters roaming around the demonic realm.

However, since it sensed our magical energy right through our illusions, I concluded that escaping it for the next 5 hours was impossible.

It would also find us immediately with its incredible speed.

Just like that, my plan to flee had become that of facing against it instead.

Staring at the Chimera, I spoke.

“Well this is rather unfortunate.”

“Krurung. Despite not even being a tribe leader of the demonic race, you carry strength far greater than anyone else.”

“Since arriving at the demonic realm, I’ve heard that so many times that I grow tired of it. Seems you’ve been in many battles yourself….. Wouldn’t it be a lot more amusing for you if you fought the Demon King right away?”

“The Demon King…. It is true that the Demon King is the strongest in the demonic realm.”

“Right. So even though you know that….. Why are you so dead set on hunting us side mobs like us?”

“Kururuhung! However, that strength is only based on the magical energy he has. I have existed since the beginning of the demonic realm. However, I cannot be unsealed without the help of the Demon King. This means that after this, I do not know when I will be able to roam the outside world again. I’ve searched for strong opponents for countless of years, testing my mettle against them. I have faced countless foes.”

“……”

“I shall ask you one thing. Do you think that the strength you possess is weaker that the Demon King?”

“Won’t you, the monster, know better than I? You’re aware just how large and strong the Demon King Jamon’s magical energy signature is.”

“Kurung. In my eyes, I see someone possessing strength far beyond that of the Demon King.”

“What nonsense are you talking about…..”

“I guess you do not know how to wield that power yet?”

“Are you speaking of my magical energy?”

“That’s right. You only have the limitless potential, nothing more. I am most disappointed. I do not have much time. Once all those orbs in the sky disappear, I will be sealed once more. Since things turned out this way, I’ll need you to use your strength to gift me an amusing battle.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing of importance. I’m just saying that it’s a waste. If I only had more time. If only you’ve reached a point where you could use your magical energy! I could’ve had a lot more fun.”

“It sounds like you’ve decided that we’ll be fighting against each other?”

“Kururu. That’s right. I do not have much time, and in that time, I also need to fight the Demon King…..”

“I’m glad that at least I can get through to you. Then I guess you have no interest in the others?”

The Chimera looked over at Jong Ho, Karin, and Belkoseu.

It must be confirming their strengths.

After a brief moment, it spoke once more.

“They’re nothing of worth. That’s right. They’re far too weak to amuse me.”

“Glad that’s the case. Let’s change the location of our battle.”

“As I said before, I don’t have any interest in anyone else but you. I also do not have much time……”

“The amount you talk really matches your size. I’ll fight you with everything I got, so stop complaining and follow me. I shall give you something far greater than what you’re hoping for, and it’ll be a lot more fun than fighting the Demon King.”

Without wasting anymore time, I casted Warp and headed through.

When I looked back to check on Jong Ho’s expression, it was a sight to see.

I knew that he would do everything he could to stop me, but because I acted rashly out of nowhere, it seemed that he was shocked beyond words.

Where I landed was the place that I took down Ifrit.

The reason I came here was simple.

Was it to prevent collateral damage around me?

No. After all, the Chimera was only interested in me.

All I had to do was to fight after making enough distance between everyone.

The real reason was to make sure that Belkoseu would keep our alliance.

What did I mean by that?

Getting to the point, I was going to use Eternal Rest on the Chimera.

It’s the skill that allows me to annihilate any existence.

However, imagine if Belkoseu saw that.

There was no way that our shaky alliance would last after that.

In Belkoseu’s mind, he was in the advantageous position in this alliance.

He had not the foggiest idea that the situation had severely changed after I obtained the Eternal Rest skill.

No matter what it took, I had to make use of him.

Until Ladin and the Demon King were defeated, I needed to make sure that the alliance between us remained.

However, if he saw me defeating the Chimera, there was no way that our alliance would last.

Since he wasn’t aware that this skill had a one time use, he would become extremely wary of me.

I had to trick Belkoseu.

I have to pretend as if I had escaped and that the Chimera was sealed away due to running out of time.

Since he could not read magical energy signatures in the first place, there was no way that he could sense the Chimera.

Of course, when the Chimera first appeared, Karin and Belkoseu recognized its presence.

However, that was due to the fierce killing intent that it let out.

From how the two of them were unable to sense the Chimera’s presence approaching in any way before, I knew.

It was true that after using Eternal Rest, I’d have nothing left.

After all, it was a one time use skill.

But there’s a saying that if you save something too much, it becomes useless.

I felt as though that saying was perfect here.

I had saved this skill in order to use it on Belkoseu later, but since the Chimera had appeared before me, I really didn’t have much choice.

I would definitely lose against the Chimera without this skill, and even if the Chimera defeats the Demon King and Ladin after, this did not guarantee the safety of Earth.

With the Gate that was already open, monsters would pour in without me having summons guarding it.

Also, Belkoseu or another demon tribe leader could attack Earth.

That’s why I had to kill the Chimera.

One could see this as a reckless wild flailing with no afterthought.

However, as long as the Chimera existed, there was no future for me.

The one thing that I was looking forward to was that this Chimera had been alive for far longer than these monster gods.

On top of that, it had fought countless battles, hadn’t it?

It was the definition of an experienced creature who has gone through just about everything, which was exactly what I wanted.

However, since it did not carry any magical energies, I had no idea if it would drop any artifacts.

I mentally prepared myself for a brief moment.

“I guess it is true that I cannot escape the Chimera. What is that insane speed?”

“Kwuhrururung. You do as you please, don’t you?”

It didn’t take 5 minutes for it to appear.

It had covered the distance that I ran for nearly 7 hours in 5 minutes.

This just confirmed my decision to use Eternal Rest was the right one.

After all, if I had tried to run away, I could’ve been done in instantly.

I could not win against him.

Unlike the demon king, where I could fight him on even ground after growing stronger, the Chimera, I could not.

It really was a peerless existence.

“Well, I hear that a lot too. You’ve found me pretty easily, didn’t you?”

“Kuru. You didn’t move locations in order to try escaping me, did you? If you moved locations to try doing that, I feel bad for you. No matter how much you try to escape, you won’t be able to.”

“Well, it would be a lie to say that I wasn’t considering that. However, that wasn’t the only idea I had when I moved locations.”

“Then….. I guess it is time that I had fun with a plaything before I head for the Demon King. I hope that you learn how to harness magical energies before….. you lose your life. I dislike easy fights.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Well, you’re not even a monster, so it would make sense that you cannot use your magical energy.”

“While that may be true, this is going to end quickly. The fighting that you enjoy so much, that is.”

“Kururung. Seems you lost your will to fight even before we began. How disappointing. Now, come! Try to leave a wound that won’t wash away, and see if you can leave a scar for eternity.”

The Chimera moved its large body to come closer to me.

Stretching its wings as much as it could, it stood still in a steadfast manner.

The Chimera did not obtain any benefits from butchering opponents.

It wasn’t as if it could grow any stronger either.

It seemed that it only enjoyed killing and existed for that purpose alone.

The Chimera did have intelligence, but it was nothing different from a lowly monster that lived following only its instinct.

It waited for me, staying still.

It was waiting for me land the first blow.

The Chimera was clueless to the fact that I could deal an insane attack that even it could not handle.

“How kind of you. In a fight, victory goes to the one who attacks first. Are you sure that I can go first?”

“Kururung. Even though you are aware of your fate, you tongue still mocks me with empty words.”

“Even though my words hold no weight, my fist will be heavy…… Let’s say our farewells.”

“Kwuhuhuh!”

“Farewell, ugly!”

---

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154. Hide and Seek

While I was busily looking through the pile of loot that Ifrit dropped using Eye of Insight, I noticed Karin and Belkoseu’s strange behavior.

Almost as if they had planned this before, their shoulders raised up in astonishment, and they could not hide both their fear and shock.

I thought at first that perhaps the Demon King had come near, but I could instinctively tell that something far worse had occurred.

I asked Belkoseu, who was staring blankly into space.

“Hey, Belkoseu. And Karin too. Why are the both of you so shocked? Is the Demon King coming?”

“Kuhuu….. I would rather welcome the Demon King……..”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The Demon King really has done it.”

“What do you mean he did it?”

“He has undone the seal on the Chimera. All of the demonic realm will be destroyed. The worst case scenario has come true.”

“The Chimera……”

“Jamon….. No, it might be even stronger than him. From this moment on, it’ll begin its hunt.”

“…….”

“It will begin searching for someone strong enough who can give him a promising battle. It will take its time enjoying butchering its opponents. Not only that, but none can escape the Chimera once it starts tracking you down, and this includes the spell you use to escape the Demon King each time…..”

“You mean that the Chimera can accurately pinpoint the location of magical energy signatures?”

“That’s right. It can use the ability that Karin is using, and without a cooldown to boot. And with how fast it moves…… No matter how much we try to outrun it, it will eventually catch up with us. Your human physical capabilities are amazing, but compares against the Chimera, it’s nothing but a petty parlor trick.”

“Karin.”

“Keruk!”

“What do you think we should do?”

Hoping that Karin had something in mind, I asked him.

However, it didn’t seem that Karin had anything concrete.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Karin spoke up.

“Keruuu…… Min-Cheol. The length of time the Chimera is released for isn’t that long. In human time, it will take roughly 12 hours. However, it won’t be easy avoiding it for 12 hours.”

“The Chimera isn’t an opponent we can face right now. This means that we’ll have to completely hide ourselves in the demonic realm until the Chimera is sealed away again…..”

“Kel. As you are aware, there is a way. However, it is true that this method is highly dangerous.”

“Are you talking about going through the Gate and hiding back on Earth?”

“That’s right. However…… If we do get stuck in the crack between dimensions….. You will probably come to the conclusion that it would’ve been better to die at the jaws of the Chimera.”

That was right. It wasn’t as if there was absolutely no way to avoid facing off with the Chimera.

However, as Karin had said, that solution would be highly risky.

If we did get stuck in the crack in between dimensions, we would be forced to wander in a space where time has stopped, cursed to stay forever and spend a hellish eternity.

The chances for that to occur wasn’t that high, but I didn’t even know what was going to happen a few hours from now, so who knows what would happen if we took the chance.

“It’ll be the equivalent meeting tiger after trying to avoid a fox. Can we not do as what Berdan did, which would be to hide our magical energy as much as possible in order to avoid being tracked down by the Chimera?”

“The Demon King and Ladin have probably already done so, since they are aware of the strength that the Chimera carries…….”

“Belkoseu, is it possible for you to do so as well? Do you have an Authority that lets you hide magical energy signatures?”

“That’s right. However, the Chimera probably already has detected our magical energy signatures. No matter how much we try to hide it now….. Even the slightest amount of magical energy we give off, it’ll find us using that. The Chimera is not an easy opponent in the slightest.”

Listening to what Belkoseu was saying, I couldn’t help but feel the anger inside of me rise.

We couldn’t win.

We couldn’t escape.

We couldn’t avoid being chased down.

The conclusion that was drawn was that we were going to be defeated no matter what in the end.

It was as if he were spectating a fire across a river, acting as if this was none of his business.

Not hiding my anger, I stared at Belkoseu and spoke curtly.

“Hey, Belkoseu. I know that you have the body of an immortal, but that’s not the case for us. So stop beating the bush and tell us a solution if you can think of one! Have you forgotten? Without us, even after an insane amount of time passes, you still won’t be able to rise to the seat of the Demon King, right?”

However, as if finding this whole situation amusing, Belkoseu faintly smiled while speaking.

There wasn’t a single part of him that I liked.

However, without any plans, we couldn’t help but listen intently at what he was saying.

“The first thing we have to do is to leave this place immediately.”

“……”

“We do not know which monster the Chimera has targeted right now. Like a predator hunting for its prey, once it sets its sights on a target, it does not lose it. I pray that we were not selected as the first target.”

“What about after? Do we need to keep hiding our magical energy and hide the entire time?”

“You’ve gotten half of it right. We will continue hiding our magical energies and stay on the move. And while we travel around, we will be leaving behind bait to keep it off our tail as best we can. In order to reduce the chance of being found out, we’ll be leaving behind some very tantalizing bait for sure.”

“Bait?”

“We’ll be leaving traces of magical energy all over the place.”

“Continue.”

“These traces of magical energies will work like illusions. It will be similar to the magical energy you’re exuding, but this shell that you’re leaving behind will be empty. If there are magical energy readings with the same color spread out all over the place in the demonic realm? That means that the chances of it finding us will be reduced by that much.”

“So we’ll be making false copies to confuse the Chimera?”

“That’s right.”

“Guess we have no other choice. Karin, please hurry up and pick these up. We’ll be leaving immediately.”

“Kehkel! Understood.”

Karin urgently picked up all the loot.

I noticed that Jong Ho was standing next to him with a hopeless expression.

Almost as if talking to himself, he muttered.

“Sigh…… Do I have to write out the will I’ve been thinking of in my head now? There’s not even a single peaceful day, is there.”

“Are you the negativity man or something. Hyung-nim, hurry up and pick up the jewels and stones. We don’t have time.”

“Alright.”

“Hyung-nim! Even if you’re going to die, you cannot die! Do you understand?”

“What a strange declaration, but for some reason, I can put my trust in it.”

****

Following Belkoseu’s plan, we moved without rest.

Thankfully, we did not encounter the Chimera so far.

However, we knew that it would eventually come searching for us.

After all, there was no way that the Chimera would leave alone the two humans with the 3rd and 4th most magical energy after all.

The artifacts and the skill books we’ve obtained wasn’t of that much importance compared to the current situation we were in.

Due to the Chimera’s appearance, there was a 12 hour timer of death ticking, so the loot that dropped wasn’t on my list of priorities at this moment.

Right now, priority stood with doing all that we could to survive.

Coming back from beyond the edge of the demonic realm, we noticed the giant orbs in the sky.

Belkoseu knew exactly what they were.

These orbs basically told us how long the Chimera had left before being sealed away again.

As we moved throughout the demonic realm, Belkoseu copied our forms and began to put them all over the place.

It was an amazing ability to say the least.

Not only did it copy my outer appearance perfectly, but even the color of the magical energy that was being exuded was the same.

Even Karin, who had the ability to detect magical energy signatures, could not discern which magical energy was ours when he had his eyes closed.

With this much, I had hope again that we’d be able to escape the Chimera.

Time passed by as we continued to move feverishly.

The dark red orbs in the sky had been reduced to 3 at this point.

For a moment, we could see the Chimera’s silhouette swallowing the giant orb in one bite.

From just a glance, its shape didn’t look that much different from a Manticore.

However….. if we could see its shadow this clearly from the other side of the demonic realm, I could not even begin to imagine just how large it was.

The one positive was that the Demon King had stopped his hunt after us.

It must be that the Chimera’s existence was also a huge obstacle for the Demon King.

If the Demon King was also on the move right now, this would become a living hell.

Time passed some more.

There was only a single orb in the sky left.

Since each orb disappeared roughly every 2 hours 30 minutes, this meant that there was 5 hours or so left before we could stop running.

Traces of our magical energy had been spread far and wide throughout the demonic realm.

Since these copies were identical to the original, the Chimera wouldn’t be able to find us right away without an insane amount of luck.

My anxiety had dissipated enough for me to start feeling hunger again.

Counting the time since the battle with Ifrit, we had been moving on an empty stomach for quite the time.

While we were running as fast as we could, I spoke to Karin, who was cradled in my arms.

“Hey, Karin.”

“Kerut?”

“Can you pull out something to eat from your pouch?”

“Keheh…. Can you actually eating something in this situation?”

“We’re different from you guys. It’s nearly a day since we last ate.”

“Keruuu…..”

“Do you also want to eat something, hyung-nim?”

“Whew. I’ll decline. I feel like I’ll throw up no matter what I eat right now.”

“Is that so? Then at least drink some water. I feel like you’re going to collapse before we even finish running away from the Chimera.”

“No, no. I feel like I’m going to choke even if it is water. Don’t mind me, you should eat.”

“I understand. We just need to wait out roughly 5 more hours. Let’s hold on a little longer.”

“Right. I don’t think time has gone this slowly before in my life.”

“Karin, is it possible to search the location of the Chimera? To check the distance between us, I mean.”

“Sadly, it cannot be done. The Chimera does not exude any magical energy.”

“Hasn’t it been going around picking strong monsters to butcher as it pleased? Then shouldn’t the magical energies of the those monsters go to the Chimera…..”

“Normally, that’s the case.”

“That means that the Chimera in holding onto a massive amount of magical energy. Is it possible that similar to how Ifrit was, it does not have magical energy at all?”

“Keru. That’s right. No matter how much Belkoseu and I stay on guard, we won’t be able to predict its approach. However, as you saw when it swallowed one of the orbs, the Chimera is massive in size, so we should be able to see it coming with just our eyes alo-…..”

As Karin was about to finish speaking, something giant suddenly blocked our path forward.

Only after seeing it did we hear the sound of its decent, which sent out a massive shockwave.

Since it broke the sound barrier, that meant that whatever it was in our path was faster than sound itself.

“…….”

“Keh…… Heh…….”

“…….”

“Kurururung. Kuhuhung!”

We were running at incredible speeds.

This giant monster had suddenly blocked our path.

Due to how massive this monster was, its shadow completely covered the area around us.

Its fierce Fear howling made Karin faint on the spot.

It must be its incredible killing intent that pressured Karin into submission.

“Kuhuk……. I spread countless traces all over. Chimera….. How did you….”

From Belkoseu’s mouth did a sigh-like monologue came out.

Chimera. It had appeared before us now.

Sounding like metal being grated together, it spoke.

“You playthings before I go to the Demon King hide pretty well. Kurururu……”

---

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153. Chimera’s Release

“As Demon King, I command you! Chimera, cease your endless rest and show yourself before me!”

“…….”

“Demonstrate your strength! Show your existence, the very same existence that strikes fear into all of the demonic realm! I command you in the name of the Demon King!”

“Answer the Demon King’s call! Chimera!”

The Demon King’s roar rang through the skies and earth.

After his summons, the landscape of the demonic realm completely changed in an instant.

The demonic realm was bathed in purple light before, but now, as if someone had taken away the light itself, it became dark.

It seemed as though a night without a speck of moonlight had fallen over the demonic realm.

The Fear roars of monsters throughout the demonic realm rang throughout following that.

Was it because a darkness so pitch black that you could not see in front of you had come over them?

That could be part of the reason.

However, the Fear roars they let out all carried a hint of terror and fear.

They must instinctively sense with their bodies of the great calamity that was about to arrive.

The pitch dark blackness didn’t last long.

The dark skies of the demonic realm became smeared with red.

It was almost as the skies were painted with the blood of humans.

Five dark red spheres floated in the sky.

The spheres looked similar to how the sun appeared from Earth.

Including the Demon King and Ladin, not many would know what those red spheres meant.

The weaker monsters were busy trying to hide themselves, and there were many amongst them that went weak at the legs and collapsed on the spot.

The Demon King had undone the seal on the Chimera. The dark red suns floated above the castle where the Demon King was.

In the middle of the 5 suns, the Chimera showed its form.

Many heads clung to its body as if they were parasitic, its body twitching along in a disgusting fashion.

The Chimera had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, the tail of a serpent, and the wings of a bat.

Its appearance seemed similar to the Chimera back on Earth, but the size of its body was enough to cover the skies of the demonic realm.

Not only that, but it was so strong that it could not be even compared to the Kelvecore.

“Kuhhhhuhg!”

The Chimera flapped its huge wings and landed in front of the Demon King’s castle.

With just its appearance, the monsters on the field perished without even being able to scream.

With just the flap of its wings and a single howl, the monsters were turned to dust.

Jamon stood up and walked outside of his castle.

It was to face the Chimera.

Even Ladin, who was shaking with fear, followed the Demon King outside.

The whole area was tense.

The castle door opened, and Jamon met with the Chimera that was guarding the entrance.

Due to the sheer amount of fear, Ladin could only stare down at the ground.

He could not even bring himself to look at the Chimera.

After all, he knew best what unsealing the Chimera would bring forth than anyone else, since he had witnessed the chaos firsthand before.

Chimera’s breath from its nostril were kicking up thick dust.

After a short moment, Chimera’s eyes met with the Demon King Jamon and gave off a mysterious smile.

Chimera then lowered its head and laid down on the ground.

Even while showing respect towards the Demon King, it did not stop staring at his eyes.

Stepping on the frozen ground that froze over from the cold air coming off of the Chimera, the Demon King came closer.

Standing right before the Chimera, the Demon King spoke.

“I am the Demon King Jamon. The one who has summoned you here is me.”

“Kurururu.”

“I am aware of your strength due to hearing about it constantly. Enough strength to consume the demonic realm. I am speaking about your absolute power that no one can stop.”

“Kuru……”

“I am also very well aware of how little time you have left. The first unsealing in hundreds of years……. You want to start running wild as soon as possible, right? You want to go through the demonic realm like a hurricane, bringing destruction in your path? I know that you want to release all of your inhibitions that you’ve been holding back.”

“Kururu……. That’s right……. However, do you have the confidence to not regret setting me free, Demon King?”

Chimera asked the Demon King while letting out an intense killing intent.

The reason why the Chimera lowered its head before the Demon King was simple.

Access to the Chimera was one of the Authorities the Demon King had.

Only the Demon King can undo the seal and summon the Chimera here.

Other than that method, there was no other way for the Chimera to appear.

What was to follow after that was unfathomable, but since the Chimera was summoned thanks to the Demon King, it was only natural that it show respect.

Jamon also looked into Chimera’s eyes as he spoke.

“Did you mention regret? From the way you speak, I can tell just how pathetic and weak the Demon Kings before me were. However, I am different. As the Demon King king who has called you forth, I have all the qualifications needed to be your master!”

“Kururung. We’ll find out soon enough……. I hope that you aren’t wrong. I do not want to be disappointed by an easy fight…..”

“You won’t be disappointed. Instead, that spot will be taken by regret and remorse.”

While the conversation between the two continued, Ladin kept on sneaking peeks at the Chimera.

He kept staring back down at the ground, but during the times that he peeked, he saw it clearly.

What he saw were things attached to the Chimera, clearly greatly suffering away.

What he saw was a blast from the past, a time when the 6 demonic tribe leaders fought for the throne of the demon king, with the demon tribe Gan winning for a brief moment and allowing one to rise to the title of Demon King, Seu Reol.

To end the war, Seu Reol had undone the seal of the Chimera.

Ladin saw him and the other 5 tribe leaders letting out terrifying screams filled to the brim with pain, attached to the body of the Chimera.

That’s right. Those who lost their lives to the Chimera did not meet their ends with death.

Even while the Chimera was sealed and resting, those who lost to the Chimera were to suffer eternal pain that was so intense, none could endure it without letting out horrific screams.

This punishment was to last until the Chimera, who none could dare defeat, was to be completely eliminated.

As if Ladin had seen something he shouldn’t have, his body trembled more intensely.

He had stood opposed until the end about releasing the Chimera.

He wasn’t aware of the suffering one would endure after being defeated by the Chimera, but he was aware of the catastrophe summoning the Chimera would bring.

Ladin wasn’t even aware of himself shaking his head and muttering to himself.

“No…… We’ll all die…… Summoned something that should have not been……. We’re all going to die……… I can’t end up like them….. I can’t.”

However, his mutterings were drowned out by the sound the Chimera’s breathing and did not reach the Demon King’s ears.

Even while that was happening, the conversation between the Chimera and the Demon King continued.

“Chimera. Shouldn’t you get going now?”

“The moment that I consume one of those orbs in the skies, I will move like a whirlwind through the demonic realm. To find a stronger magical energy essence. To find a stronger opponent……. I shall enjoy butchering, stepping down on everything, bringing destruction, and annihilate everything. Everything in the demonic realm that I have arrived in!”

“Pff. That is what I want as well. Before you become sealed away again, it seems that this will be our first and last time conversing. Destroy everything in this realm. I command you as your master.”

“Kururu. There won’t be a need to set targets. No matter how well you hide your magical energy, I will find you…..”

“Kuhahaha! Sounds like you want to be put back to sleep before your time is up, weakling……”

“Then….. I shall begin…….. As I kill my way up from the bottom, I’m sure you’ll be somewhere at the end. It won’t take that long. A Demon King……  different from the previous Demon Kings. When the time comes, you’ll have to prove me your strength.”

“Good. Hurry now. Go and consume everything. Afterwards, find me. I shall face you as much as you want!”

“Kururung…….”

The moment that the Demon King finished speaking, the Chimera swiftly flapped its wings and took to the skies.

The cries of all the monsters fused with the Chimera that seemed to tear apart the very air grew further and further away.

Seeing the Chimera flying further and further away, the Demon King leisurely walked back into the castle with a slightly more relaxed expression.

The Chimera only enjoyed battles and butchering.

It had held back all this time, now recalling the taste of blood that it had never forgotten once, hunting monsters with stronger magical energy signatures after each kill.

Included in those list of targets would be the humans and Belkoseu.

Ladin and himself could also become targets of the Chimera, but the Demon King believed that this was the best solution to put the troublesome humans to rest forever.

It would be great if Belkoseu, who had the Authority that gave him immortality, also perished in the jaws of the Chimera, but he didn’t expect that to be the case.

After all, Belkoseu was an existence that could not be annihilated.

Moving with complete confidence that he would not be defeated, the Demon King headed back into the castle.

Flying close to one of the dark red orbs in the sky, the Chimera consumed one of them with a single bite.

Its large jaws had no trouble consuming one of the orbs.

The 5 orbs signified how much time was left.

After swallowing all five orbs, it wouldn’t be long before the Chimera would be sealed away once more.

How ironic the situation was, since it had to take the very action that would seal itself.

However, until it consumed the first orb, the Chimera could not kill anything or anyone.

After a certain amount of time, it would need to eat another orb to continue.

Without any other options, it had to enduring consuming the orbs.

The effect of the orbs didn’t end there.

Depending on the rank of the orb consumed, it allowed a greater amount of its strength to become unsealed.

To explain this simply, the first orb consumed would be the equivalent of an Awakened learning a skill.

The second orb consumed would grant strength equivalent to a an Awakened Awakening a skill after having it reach level 100.

The third orb would mean strength equivalent to an Awakened reaching level 200 on a skill and Transcending it.

The five orbs split into each rank allowed the Chimera to display far more powerful strength with each consumed.

Having consumed the first orb and releasing its first stage of power, it began to hunt for its prey with fire in its eyes.

Accurately pinpointing the location of its first prey in one attempt, it flapped its wings and flew forward with incredible speed.

“Kuruuuu! I have waited for hundreds of years. I seek ones that will give me the thrill of battle…… An opponent who will leave me scars that won’t heal……. If the fight is anything like the previous letdown, I shall turn the entire demonic realm into ashes!”

****

Min-Cheol had defeated Ifrit.

Karin, who had categorized the pile of loot, was whistling a tune with excitement at the thought of steak nicely sizzling away.

Everything was going so well that it was enough to make one worry.

Both Karin, who was whistling away with joy, and Belkoseu, who was looking at the scene with a treacherous expression, both twitched their bodies as if struck by lightning.

Since we were past the edge of the demonic realm, we were surrounded by pitch black darkness.

That was why Jong Ho and I had no idea that the scenery of the demonic realm had changed.

However, being the monsters that they were, Karin and Belkoseu could sense it.

At this very moment, they knew that something that shouldn’t exist had been summoned forth.

“KEH HEH EHHHHHHHHHH!”

“Kuhu…… What a fool. So he has actually resorted to this……”

---

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