Chapter 73: Who Are You? (3)
"Phew."
My heart pounded loudly.
At the same time, two circles spun, supplying my mana.
It was the aftermath of rapidly exhausting my stamina.
'I thought I pushed myself a bit too hard.'
The stamina consumption was more severe than I had expected.
My body hadn't adjusted to the Heavenly Martial Body yet.
And their level was stronger than I thought.
That was one reason, but…
'Is it because of the Soul Origin Qi?'
The S-rank trait, Soul Origin Qi.
It emits an overwhelming energy, almost exclusively for the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique.
A tremendous force.
The power extracted and honed from Soul Origin Qi displayed extreme might.
Even with my body somewhat complete, I still became this exhausted.
'I want to rest.'
But I couldn't.
They kidnapped me to this place.
And they said they'd attack the academy straight away.
Crackle.
I looked up at the sky.
Sure, here are the changes highlighted:
The suddenly created black sky was breaking apart.
A barrier.
It must have been a barrier separating this world from reality.
The reason it was breaking was probably that the caster had died.
'If I had seen it from outside, it might've been quite troublesome.'
No, maybe not.
There was a means to split it now.
I took a deep breath and chewed on the emergency pill I had packed.
A refreshing sensation filled my body, invigorating me.
Crunch, crunch.
In the meantime, the barrier was half-destroyed.
Not much time had passed. However, smoke billowed from a corner that seemed to be the academy.
'They've got guts.'
I had heard that was where they resided.
Those arrogant beings were fixated on an absurd goal.
What on earth did they want from the academy that they'd terrorize it?
'They'd be scary if their plans were successful.'
But was there a reason to risk everything to terrorize the academy?
Various thoughts crossed my mind, but I got up and checked my body's condition.
'About 80%.'
Compared to my usual state, I could muster about that much.
I looked at the place where the smoke was rising.
My senses were ringing alarm bells.
It was dangerous to go there in my current state.
'No need.'
I sharpened my senses.
Recalling the last memories of my past life, I sharpened my senses even further.
When was there ever a time that wasn't dangerous?
Think about it when you're dead.
Wind God's Steps.
Swoosh.
Here's the passage with the changes highlighted:
With the sound of the wind slicing, my body shot forward.
After running for a while, I looked at the place presumed to be the Holy Empire Academy.
'They did it?'
Why presumed? Because it had already been tampered with by them.
A black barrier.
The entire area of the Holy Empire Academy was covered by it.
Heavenly Eyes.
The eye that peeks into the secrets of the sky grasped everything.
'A structure to block external intrusion… No, it's more like separation. Did they separate the space itself?'
As soon as I figured it out, I let out a hollow laugh.
Spatial separation.
It was extremely difficult.
If I had gained a unique spatial trait, it might have been doable, but…
It wasn't possible now.
Instead, I'd have to use another method.
'Should we go with an infiltration approach?'
I quickly approached the entrance with Wind God's Steps.
In front of the entrance, murmuring could be heard.
"What do we do about this?"
"Separation from space. Crazy bastards. What did they do just to invade the academy?"
I looked at the murmuring beings.
None of them seemed noteworthy.
However, each one of them had reached the High Realm.
They had that level of 'presence.'
'Outlaws?'
Outlaws.
Martial arts and magic gather energy within themselves.
Martial arts have a solid microcosm that doesn't waver in any environment.
Magic creates circles in the heart, influenced by the environment.
But they're different.
Material possessions, or divine artifacts, are embedded within, converting them into personal power.
Divine power.
The price of possessing a god's power.
When they have that, they become immensely powerful against equal opponents.
But they become endlessly weak if they lose the divine artifact or divine power.
In severe cases, they could even be killed by someone of a lower level.
That's the trait of those who handle divine power.
'They'll be useful.'
This place is dangerous.
My senses were ringing alarms. This life might end here.
So these people can become useful allies.
The problem is they knew this place was the Holy Empire Academy.
So they must have made at least some preparations.
"…Wait, who are you?"
"What? When did you get here?"
"Hold on, everyone, don't be rude. He's a guest."
"Guest?"
Perhaps because of his high rank, there was at least one person with proper manners.
"…Han Seojin, the head professor."
"That famous guy? He still looked like a kid with that baby face."
"He's an Asian. They look younger than us."
I looked around.
The strongest-looking guy here.
A man with blue eyes wearing armor.
"Who are you?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm a knight serving Thor, the god of lightning, among the Celestial Gods."
So that's why I felt the tingling lightning power.
'But is the myth still intact?'
Only the god of light existed in my second life, and in my third life, the immortal beings were playing around.
Well, I couldn't see them due to some restrictions.
"What forces are present here?"
"Most of the available forces. And reinforcements will keep coming every hour."
So they're continuously gathering heroes here via planes or transport ships.
'Maybe the Holy Empire Academy wasn't the target, but gathering heroes here was.'
Or both.
Then, what could be inferred is…
'To kill all the heroes gathered here.'
Yoo Eunchae mentioned their goal.
White-Faced Golden Fur.
They said she was stepping in.
The girl I briefly encountered before coming here.
She didn't seem that strong.
'Dangerous.'
As I saw with my eyes, that being was a fallen existence.
I looked around.
They are quite skilled heroes.
And if they keep coming here…
'Highly likely.'
With some means, they must have something to materialize their original level.
'Bleak.'
Surely, that level wouldn't achieve proper transcendence.
But the problem was that you needed another transcendent to kill an unstable transcendent.
Unless I reached the Supreme Realm.
Unfortunately, I hadn't even crossed the wall of the High Realm yet.
'…Should I really use it?'
Three times left.
No, practically, only two times left.
Even if I saved one for the Dragon King, should I use it on such a trivial being?
"By the way, head professor."
While pondering how to use it, the knight serving Thor spoke to me.
"Do you have any intention of joining us?"
Why did these guys always ask if I wanted to join them whenever they saw me?
Actually, I knew the answer.
'Because I'm just that great.'
But that wasn't important right now.
"Is that important now?"
"What?"
"The important thing now is breaking through here."
"…That's true. This is where the children who will lead our Holy Empire grow up. Let's talk about other things later."
The cheerful, handsome man said so while looking at me.
"But is there a way to break through here?"
"There is."
Coincidentally,
I possessed an ability that allowed me to pass through here.
"Phew."
I took a deep breath and drew out my power.
'Space Blade.'
Although it originated from Subspace, I modified it into a trait that cuts through space.
A black blade emerged on my hand.
And here.
Soul Origin Qi.
The gray energy began to flicker over the black blade.
"…What is that power?"
"Everyone except one person here, enter. It will close immediately."
"…Got it. Everyone, gather here!"
"Zeronis, everyone has gathered without you saying."
As the cheerful guy spoke, everyone around gathered here.
I immediately activated Space Blade.
Swoosh-.
With the sound of something being sliced,
"Huh?"
Yoo Eunchae, who was about to come out, greeted us.
A dark place.
In that place, a white-haired girl quietly opened her eyes.
"It was a bitter cold."
She shivered.
It took some time to unravel the spell he cast on her.
'Han Seojin, was it?'
The vessel to become the Eternal Demon King.
As soon as he had recognized her, he cast a spell.
She didn't know how it worked.
Even with the knowledge of a transcendent, the only thing she understood was that the method was subtle and high-level.
She only knew that much.
Certainly, it was just a clone, but it affected her main body.
It had been a long time since she encountered such a powerful spell.
'It's surprising that there's still a mage of that level here.'
Originally, magic wasn't a despised field of study.
The most renowned field of study in the empire that ruled the continent had notable talents.
However, the first Purple Tower Master perished with the Insect Dragon King, and the empire declined.
The Duke of Extermination secluded herself somewhere, and her followers sought her legacy.
'It was indeed remarkable.'
Just a human.
A mere human mage perished with the Insect Dragon King.
Insect Dragon King was the weakest Demon King, but also the strongest.
It was because of the Power of Gluttony.
Using Gluttony to accumulate strength, the Insect Dragon King had the potential to become so strong that other Demon Kings would hesitate to fight him.
Those who don't know might think the Insect Dragon King was the weakest Demon King.
Others knew better.
Everyone took notice of Han Seojin, the Purple Tower Master who defeated the Dragon King.
Many sought his soul.
Demon Kings and Demon Gods of Hell.
Celestial Gods and Angels in the heavens.
And the hypocrites who called themselves Celestial Gods.
They all wanted his soul, but it drifted somewhere else.
"It's tiresome."
After thousands of years, it was time to return to her true form.
White-Faced Golden Fur.
Or Daji.
The fox spirit who bewitched people in two nations.
She looked outside the barrier.
There were already many heroes gathered there.
"Haha, they're entering without knowing it's hell."
Utterly foolish beings.
And the man leading them.
Han Seojin.
That ominous name.
It was probably just a namesake.
But having stepped into this place and troubling her…
He'll pay the price.