157. DemiG.o.d
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 ma.s.sively 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 s.p.a.ce and Time-
*All attacks have a 100% chance to succeed.
*Ignores all enemies resistances.
*Prevents opponents. .h.i.t by attacks from recovering.
*Allows the user to wield all of their strength.
*However, effects are activated only after pa.s.sing a G.o.d"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 bypa.s.s 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 s.p.a.cing 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 G.o.d"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 ha.s.sle….."
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 pa.s.s a test, and that test was from a G.o.d.
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 pa.s.sed, 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 pa.s.sed 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 G.o.d 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 ma.s.sive palace that Ifrit had resided in, but couldn"t find anyone.
However, I could hear the footsteps clearer as time pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed.
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 h.e.l.l, a narrow road was being made.
Pa.s.sing 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 s.p.a.ce 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 G.o.d that was mentioned?"
"I am the guide through s.p.a.ce and time, Barub. I shall guide you to the G.o.d."
"Well, I didn"t expect this G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 s.p.a.ce 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 pa.s.s the test of a G.o.d. 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 s.p.a.ce."
"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 G.o.d that has ordered you to do so, do only one G.o.d 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 pa.s.s here. We merely go with the flow of the time s.p.a.ce 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 pa.s.s 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 s.p.a.ce. 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 pa.s.sed 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 G.o.d 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 pa.s.s 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 G.o.d 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 pa.s.s the test, then you"ll know that I was right."
"….."
Even though I had insulted the G.o.d 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 G.o.d resided.
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Korean seaweed soup. 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 pa.s.s 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 h.e.l.l….."
It was then.
"h.e.l.lo?"
"……."
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 pa.s.sed, 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 G.o.d?"
"Hm?"
"The one who has made that marble in the first place….. I asked if you were the G.o.d 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 s.p.a.ce 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 G.o.d, 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.s."
"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 G.o.d. 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 s.p.a.ce fell apart.
The empty s.p.a.ce 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 pa.s.sed.
I wasn"t sure of the others who swallowed the Piece of Time and s.p.a.ce, 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 pa.s.sed.
"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 G.o.d.
The G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 h.e.l.l!"
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 ma.s.sive 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 pa.s.sed.
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 G.o.d.
"Wow! Aren"t you something? Hehe!"
"Did I pa.s.s?"
"To think that you"d kill your fellow humans despite having such a kind looking face. I"m impressed!"
"……"
"Congratulations! Pa.s.sed 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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