Vol 2. Chapter 28: Dragon Devouring Ghost Blade, and His Brother II (3)
I awakened three powers – spiritual power, aura, and life energy. I was a , a , as well as a - triple cla.s.s. Genie informed me that this was quite rare. Even if one was able to awaken multiple different powers, there was a limit to human talent and effort and only one body and mind to manifest the powers.
Currently, the only power that was useful to me in a battle was life energy.
Bang!
The shadow wolf charged at me with the sound of breaking air. Even though it was as big as a tiger, its movements were quick and nimble. I pounced on the shadow wolf. It was impossible to avoid the wolf anyways. Even though the monster had the modifier lowest tier, the opponent was a demon. Even the great powers of the Great Universe did not dare belittle the Demon Realm.
Puck!
“Keuk!”
The world started to spin along with a dull sound. Even though I had been full of spirit, I was not able to stop the charge or a shadow wolf, a creature possessing beastly senses. I flew through the sky like a deer hit by a dump truck, getting stuck in the walls of a nearby building. It had been only a single blow, but my entire body was shaking due to the ma.s.sive impact. It had been a fierce body blow. My head was spinning, I could not breathe easily, and both my arms had broken and were floundering.
“Oh G.o.d, it hurts…”
Captain-nim, are you all right?
“I’m fine. The situation’s rather encouraging.”
I answered calmly. I had no intention of benefiting from the first collision anyways. But it must have seemed absurd to Ares.
Encouraging? What are you talking about? You were literally beaten unilaterally and now you have two broken arms. What’s encouraging about this?
“It is encouraging.”
I pictured a door in my head. The door was still and firmly shut.
“At least I’m not getting angry.”
When I was attacked by the bandaged guy at Gyeongbokgung Palace, I had been unable to contain my anger. The anger had taken over me even though I wasn’t placed in a crisis. It had felt like a line had been crossed, a line that should have never been invaded. Anger like an active volcano had erupted as if I had been utterly humiliated.
However, the situation was different now. I started to train in Life Energy, and I was in a battle against a shadow wolf. This was a battle. It was not disgraceful to be hit a couple of times in a fight, it was only a natural process involved in a battle.
“Book.”
Flap--!
As I spoke, a book appeared in front of my eyes and automatically opened. The cover had no t.i.tle, but the open page contained a subt.i.tle with the word Napoleon. I recited one of the three sentences written on the page.
“Undying Emperor.”
Woong!
A suddenly protective barrier rose around my body and soon, my broken arms began to recover at a frightening pace. In the first place, I had an increased rate of recovery as a Life Energy Pract.i.tioner, and combined with the cheat-like ability, the healing took place in a flash. Broken bones and torn muscles were quickly restored, and my entire body filled with energy. Rather, my condition was even better than before I got hurt.
Boom!
The shadow wolf pounced once more, unwilling to wait as the enemy recovered. However, it failed to break through the protective barrier cast by the Undying Emperor. There was no way a lowest-tier, level 5 demon would be able to break through an ability cast by Napoleon’s Iron Heart, a Human-rank Gigas.
I checked my status. As soon as I summoned the book, my soul energy, magical energy, magic resistance, and mana regeneration had risen by 600 points each. It was an understatement to call it a simple buff. Moreover, that wasn’t all.
*Abilities of the day!
Penetration
Penetration
Penetration
Flash
Stealth
“What the h.e.l.l is with the triple penetration? There aren’t any enemies with barriers around either. Well, I guess I should count myself lucky for striking flash and stealth.”
I grumbled before lowering my posture. My heart began to beat faster and my muscles began to repeatedly contract and relax.
Crack.
Similar to magic and martial arts, life energy also possessed its unique techniques and system – just like the Twelve Zodiac Forms of the Saulabi, Hwarang’s Way of Heaven Earth Flower, or Severing Art of the Glorified Soul. Naturally, such forms existed in the Leonhardt Empire as well.
Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights.
Blue.
Wiiing!
The atmosphere distorted for a moment and a blue wave burst out from my body. It was the power of tremor. I kicked off the ground and charged towards the shadow wolf.
Bang!
“Yip!”
Along with a pathetic cry, the shadow wolf flew through the air and destroyed the building of a nearby convenience store. This was a technique that only the royal family and the Howard Duchy were allowed to train in throughout Leonhardt Empire.
‘I do feel a little guilty training in the technique of a family I personally destroyed.’
There were numerous families in the Leonhardt Empire, but the five largest and strongest of them would be the duchies. The Payne Duchy had willingly submitted the throne to Leonhardt and stepped back. However, all of the other duchies were families of the founding fathers who fought against the extraterrestrial beings alongside Leonhardt during the Great War.
The guardian of the G.o.d Sword, Amon"s Duchy.
The master of the Sun Magic Tower, Shadow Duchy.
The largest warlord family in the Empire, Howard’s Duchy.
The master of the Golden Tower, Osman’s Duchy.
They were the most powerful and influential families of the empire, possessing physical strength, financial capabilities, and a rich history. Even the emperor of the Leonhardt couldn’t do much against the five powerful families.
But--
Currently, the five duchies had been reduced to the four duchies. Duke Howard, who had been greedy for the emperor’s seat, attempted to kill the princess and her husband. Of course, one might wonder what terrible fate could possibly befall the great duchy from their attempt to kill a single man, but unfortunately, it led to a disaster. The one Duke Howard had been targeting was one of the very few Untouchables in the Great Universe – a transcendent capable of destroying an entire civilization.
Even though Howard’s Duchy had several highly developed planets under their rule and an advanced civilization, they had no way of avoiding the wrath of an Untouchable. The untouchables possessed power beyond common sense.
What more did I need to say?
I was the one who destroyed Howard’s Duchy, and this technique was the legacy of the duchy.
“…Hmm?”
I tried to get a better look. I had been prepared to defend using the green stance of the Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights, but only silence greeted me.
“What? Why is there no counterattack?”
I looked over the smashed convenience store where the shadow wolf had crashed into. I was unable to understand the situation because I had not witnessed the monster running away.
Fortunately, Ares answered my question.
It’s dead.
“What?”
It’s dead. How could it live with its head smashed in like that?
I activated augmented reality using Udjat. I wanted to sense the presence of the enemy with my own senses like a proper ability user, but I was still not used to dealing with my enhanced senses.
“…You’re right.”
I relaxed my defenses at the sight of the fallen shadow wolf and entered the convenience store. I found the fallen shadow wolf inside, as I observed with Udjat, but its appearance was quite different from when it had first appeared.
“What is this?”
The still body of the shadow wolf consisted of metal cans, furniture wood, and asphalt instead of bones and muscles. The black energy surrounding the shadow wolf’s body had also disappeared. It looked more like a sculpture created by an environmental protection group to show the dangers of environmental pollution, rather than a demon.
The Shadow Demons are not originally a race with physical bodies. They move around in the form of negative energy, building their bodies with surrounding materials to gain physical form.
But this is rather unique. Even if it was a lowest-tier demon, it died way too easily.
Genie and Ares started to mutter.
Paaa--!
Black energy rose from the body of the fallen demon, then flew towards me and wrapped around my left hand.
Pat!
The energy was being drawn into the back of my hand. It did not feel like it was being absorbed into my body, but rather being absorbed by the system.
Level Up!
You have obtained 10 stat points!
Current level: 1, 1, 2
Current experience: 25%
“What? A level one killed a level five, but I only gained one level in a single cla.s.s.”
It felt unfair, but it couldn’t be helped since I possessed multiple cla.s.ses. I would level up at 25% efficiency, so it was only natural that my levels would increase rather slowly.
Then, a new text formed in front of my eyes.
t.i.tle. You gained Lowest-Tier Demon Slayer!
“Oh?”
I became pleasantly surprised and quickly confirmed the t.i.tle.
Lowest-Tier Demon Slayer
-Magical Power +40
-A t.i.tle given to the hero who defeated a lowest-tier demon. Increases magical power.
“The effects are pretty good.”
The effects were quite simple, but considering the importance of magical power, it would be effective. It was enough to give me an immediate, significant boost in power if I switched out my t.i.tles. However, I could not give up the merit of resurrection and teleportation, so I put it away.
I would reconsider it after I gained a higher-level t.i.tle, something like Demon Hunter or Demon Slayer.
Crumble!
I gave the demon’s corpse a light kick, and the clutter collapsed before a cracked bead fell from it.
This is a Mana Stone. But it is destroyed.
“Isn’t it natural for it to be destroyed after the demon dies?”
Not necessarily. With a few exceptions, the Mana Stone will be the last thing to be destroyed. It is the last bastion for the demon to be able to recover from a fatal injury.
I picked up the Mana Stone while listening to Genie’s explanation. The black bead was emitting a subtle energy, but it was very faint due to the damage done to the bead.
“It must be due to my ability.”
Today’s ability had granted me triple penetration. Looking at the penetrating effect by itself, it would be much more potent than a legend-cla.s.s ability.
“I thought it would be useless because the demon didn’t have a barrier, but I guess it has its uses.”
“Krrrrrr”
“Krrack!”
“Kyah!”
As I murmured, the cries of beasts drew closer to my location. When I looked up, I saw that five shadow wolves had gathered outside the convenience store. They were growling rather threateningly.
Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!
I pulled the trigger five times.
Crumble!
Five piles of random items fell to the floor.
Hey, you, how are you going to train if you keep using the gun like that?
“It’s just an experiment, an experiment.”
I transformed Shadow Stalker back into a watch and waited for a while, but nothing happened. The conclusion was obvious. There shouldn’t have been an overwhelming difference between the required experience to go from level 2 to level 3 compared to leveling up from 1 to 2.
“So killing them with an equipment doesn’t count, huh.”
I clicked my tongue with regret. If it had been accepted, I could have reached level 10 or 20 with ease, but it seemed that nothing was easy in the world.
Actually, using Napoleon’s Iron Heart is also cheating. Be honest. Do you think you would be able to beat a demon at your level? Even if it is a lowest-tier demon?
“Agreed.”
I nodded my head. However, the important thing to be taken away was that the system did not care about the Iron Heart’s magical energy. I wasn’t sure if it was recognizing my book as an ability I possessed or if it could not recognize it, but it didn’t matter – I would be able to level up comfortably with this much.
“Genie.”
Yes, Captain-nim.
“Have a golden knight stationed near my brother inform him that I am safe and sound. There is no need to have him worry about me.”
Okay, Captain-nim.
After listening to Genie’s answer, I picked up the Mana Stones from the remains of the shadow wolves before resuming my walk along the road. My body was already prepared for combat. Tremor was intensifying with my every step.
It was Red of the Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights. The force of tremor wound around my body and a red wave was emitted. Scientifically, it would be impossible to see the tremor, which was essentially created from vibration of the smallest of particles, but it would be a foolish attempt to understand powers like these with physics in the first place.
Wooong!
The Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights from Howard’s Duchy consisted of forms that dealt with tremor. The Red form acc.u.mulated vibrations and stored them in the body. Orange emitted the acc.u.mulated vibrations. Yellow identified and manifested objects that came in contact with the skin. Green converted external energy into vibration. Blue converted internal energy into vibration. Indigo vibrated substances that touched the body. Purple caused tremors in beings that could not be touched.
The Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights would increase in magnitude as one’s power increased. At the peak, it would display power that could literally shake the heavens and earth. Duke Howard had been given the nickname “Earthshaker” because he could cause an earthquake with a single stomp of his foot. The technique possessed a distinct weakness because of its extreme dedication to a single aspect, but the terrifying power made up for it. This was an ability that I would train throughout my life.
“Krrrr!”
“Woof woof!”
Shadow wolves began to appear – from alleyways, rooves, even the insides of buildings.
“How long did you say we had until my brother’s battle?”
12 hours and 12 minutes.
“That’s more than enough.”
The atmosphere became distorted by the tremor emitting from my body. This was the beginning of a grind.