Chapter 427

"I don't understand why you waited for someone who said they would save their family."

At Seong Jihan's question, Ashoka held up one finger.

"If you were someone who wholly upheld a great cause for humanity, you would have eventually become the Red Administrator."

"..."

"Even if you were someone who only cared about yourself, you would have become the Red Administrator."

Becoming the Red Administrator whether you think of humanity or not.

Seong Jihan felt like he understood what that meant.

'The very purpose of humanity's rebirth was for the Red Administrator to rise as the active Administrator. Unification with the Administrator could be called the race's secret wish.'

And if you only care about yourself, you'd accept becoming the Administrator and set the world tree on fire.

So seeing him trying to take care of his family, is that why he said he was waiting for someone like this?

'Well, anyway.'

That's not what's important.

"So, now that the person you've been waiting for is here, what's the plan going forward?"

"The plan, you say."

"Yeah. First… how strong is Martial God?"

Now that Ashoka was also cooperating, Seong Jihan decided to gather information first.

"Martial God… his talent is inferior to yours."

"That's a vague talent. Below me, then."

"Yes. He doesn't deserve the title of Martial God. However, that doesn't mean you should underestimate him."

Swish…

In front of Seong Jihan's eyes, an orb appeared.

A desolate mass of rock with a bumpy, rocky surface.

"This is…"

"It's Tuseong. Martial God's star, much smaller than the moon."

Zing.

As soon as Ashoka finished speaking, small lights began to flicker around the rock.

Centered around Tuseong, that object engraved like a star was,

upon closer look, the constellation's relic that Seong Jihan had seen when he went to Tuseong before.

"…It's the constellation's relic. This."

"That's right. Have you been to Tuseong before?"

"I have. It was about Martial Soul, when you were asleep."

Seong Jihan then briefly told him about what happened then.

Dongbang Sak said he would give the constellation's relic if he gave up on martial soul, but,

"I refused that offer and chose the star's power instead."

"If you had chosen the constellation's relic then, you would have been eternally bound to Martial God."

Zing.

As the constellation's relic enlarged, Ashoka tapped it.

"I told you before. Inside this, Martial God's pre-return power is stored."

"Yeah… I heard that from you."

"Martial God can focus all of this power entirely on himself. Then, the power he can use in an instant rivals that of an Administrator."

"Comparable to an Administrator, huh."

"It's the power he's accumulated bit by bit through endless returns. It's at that level. And…"

The screen changed.

The enlarged constellation's relic shrank again, and this time Tuseong was zoomed in on.

"Inside this rock mass too, a huge energy is hidden."

"In Tuseong itself?"

"Yes. It seems he's stored power not only in the constellation's relic but also in this star."

Swish.

Tuseong turned 180 degrees, revealing a huge golden tower.

"My prediction is that Gilgamesh and Pythia are related to this."

"Those two?"

"Yes. Since I was always sealed during the infinite regression, I can't say for sure… but Martial God's arrangement is likely hidden in that golden tower."

"That Gilgamesh bastard gets used until the end."

"It's the karma of wanting immortality."

Ashoka spoke coldly and summarized.

"In the end, the sources of Martial God's power are the constellation's relic and the golden tower."

"Hmm."

"The constellation's relic will be handled by Dongbang Sak, and I will destroy the golden tower."

"Uh… is that so?"

The two sources of Martial God's power, if Dongbang Sak and Ashoka each take care of one…

"Then I have nothing to do, right?"

"No. The moment we rebel, we'll immediately die by the golden wheel. It's impossible to eliminate all the sources of power."

"Hmm… so you're saying I should deal with what's left. Martial God."

"That's right. It won't be an easy fight, but I believe you can achieve victory. However,"

"However?"

"Before that, a prerequisite is needed."

What condition?

As Seong Jihan furrowed his brows, Ashoka pointed at his own chest with his finger.

"The fire that the Red Administrator has planted in humanity must be extinguished."

"Extinguish the red fire… how do I do that?"

"Become a new Administrator, not a red one."

"Become an Administrator? It's similar to what Yggdrasil said."

"Oh? Can you tell me what Yggdrasil said?"

Seong Jihan told him what Yggdrasil had said to him.

Yggdrasil's offer to make him a temporary Administrator if he showed amazing achievements.

"You defeat the Great Constellations, ascend as an Administrator, and remove the red factor… My thoughts are similar."

"Even Yggdrasil says the right thing sometimes."

"I'll tell you here the means to remove the red factor once you become an Administrator."

"Hmm, I thought becoming an Administrator was the end."

"It won't be easy for a temporarily ascended Administrator to remove the red remnants. And there's not enough trust to fully believe Yggdrasil's words, is there?"

"That's true."

Seong Jihan nodded his head.

Although Yggdrasil gave him information because it was afraid the Red Administrator would ascend as active before him,

The World Tree Elves are basically a race that shouldn't be trusted.

"Then what's the method you thought of?"

At Seong Jihan's question, Ashoka made a strange smile.

"Hmm… I'll ask just in case."

"What?"

"Are you interested in the teachings of Buddhism?"

* * *

What was he suddenly saying?

"No, not at all."

"That's a shame. If you were interested, I would have taught you directly."

Since Ashoka said he was Buddha Sariputta's teacher, if he learned from him, wouldn't it be like learning from the beginning of Buddhism?

Still,

"I have no interest in religion, and no time for it now."

If you don't want to, that's that.

"Then there's no choice. We'll have to do it the short way."

Swish.

Ashoka, as if he had expected that answer, handed him a leaf.

"What's this?"

"It's a Bodhi tree leaf. Chewing this will allow you to briefly experience one's-self. That will help extinguish the red fire."

"You're quite prepared."

"I've been waiting for this day to come."

Seong Jihan felt an unfamiliar feeling as he watched Ashoka take out this and that for him.

He had always only given humanity a free ride, so being cared for like this felt strange.

'Still, thanks to that, a solution has emerged.'

If Ashoka hadn't shown him the way, he would have struggled a lot.

Around the time Seong Jihan was thinking this free ride feels nice,

Crack…

The giant hand covering the two slowly began to crack.

"Is the time up for this?"

"Yes. It held out for a long time."

Ashoka, watching the hand crumble, pointed to Seong Jihan's sword.

"Then, please stab me with the sword."

"…With this?"

"If I return unscathed, it will raise suspicion from Martial God."

It felt wrong to touch someone who shouldn't be touched…

"Okay."

Puk!

Still, Seong Jihan faithfully stabbed the sword as Ashoka said.

Then,

Shatter…!

The hand covering the two shattered and,

-Oh… oh… what

-What the. It was definitely paused?

-Yeah, the screen suddenly changed to a stabbing scene lol.

-What is this lolol

-Could it be that the two fought in stopped time?

-But seeing Seong Jihan stab him, it seems like he won.

The chat that had been paused began to fill with messages.

"Kuk…"

Step. Step.

Clutching his chest, Ashoka stepped back.

But there was a smile on his lips.

"…The hand's seal is complete."

What he was looking at was Seong Jihan's right hand.

Hearing those words, the viewers were startled.

-What? Seal?

-Whoa, I don't see the eyeball on his right hand anymore.

-So he can't shoot lasers now…?

-Is not being able to shoot lasers the problem? It's practically the same as his power being greatly weakened…

-We don't know how they fought so ㅡㅡ;

The humans worried for Seong Jihan.

-Then doesn't this make the tournament meaningless?

-No, seals are meant to be undone. If you just get the hand, there's always a way.

-Rather, this makes it easier to defeat Seong Jihan.

-That's true. With that arm gone, even a Level 8 constellation could overwhelm him.

-This will make the tournament competition even more intense, right?

The alien viewers predicted the aftermath the hand's sealing would cause.

Swish…

And as Ashoka's body turned to dust and disappeared,

[You have won the tournament finals.]

[The special reward, 'Race Evolution Bonus' will be given.]

[Fire affinity has increased by +1.]

[Vitality has increased by +3.]

The arena immediately began handing out the species evolution bonus.

* * *

[Seong Jihan, victorious in the tournament!]

[Another fire evolution bonus obtained. Even water mages can learn fire magic with the increased affinity.]

[The tournament opponent, Gautama Siddhartha? Records indicate he was known as an Indian prince.]

[When is the evolution to intermediate species? Experts say it could happen within this year at this rate.]

"Wow, there's barely any news about our beginner arena…! I was active again too!"

Yoon Seah pouted as she looked at articles related to the tournament.

As expected, she couldn't compete with her uncle in terms of being a hot topic.

"All the articles were about the beginner arena until a few days ago. You're being too greedy."

"Well that's true, but… it feels sad to see my face disappear from the portal main page after seeing it every day. Uncle, but what will you do about that hand?"

"This?"

"Yeah. Your Red got sealed."

Tap tap.

Yoon Seah approached Seong Jihan and tapped the back of his hand.

The red eye that had become small like a dot.

The vitality that used to be felt here was gone.

"Ashoka… that person even got stabbed to seal this. Does he hate your Red that much?"

"…Why do you keep calling it Red?"

"Isn't it cuter than red hand?"

"You've developed quite the strange taste, dear niece, to find cuteness here."

"This guy would sometimes stare at me intently when you were resting in the living room, Uncle. So I thought I should name him."

"…Is that so?"

"Yep."

Seong Jihan frowned.

This guy probably didn't watch Seah for no reason.

'It's sealed well. This.'

Thinking that, Seong Jihan examined his body's condition.

Although his hand was sealed, the stats and red value that had risen so far remained unchanged.

However, it would be difficult to continuously gain additional stats from the hand like before.

'Now that I can't use Total Annihilation, I need to think more about how to utilize red.'

The red stat, which was ambiguous to use despite rising tremendously.

Finding a way to make use of it would be helpful in the future battle against Martial God as well.

As Seong Jihan was thinking about the red stat,

[Ma…in… Bo…dy… what… did… I… say… the… fire…]

The hand's voice weakly reached Seong Jihan's mind.

[The… seal… must… be… undone…]

This guy, tenacious in vitality.

While thinking that, Seong Jihan calmly replied to him.

'How do I undo the seal?'

[Make… the absolute… weapon…]

The absolute weapon?

This couldn't be ignored.

'How do I make it? That absolute weapon.'

[Contain Total Annihilation… in a weapon… and converge it… With that… the seal can be undone…!]

'Hoh.'

Hearing those words, Seong Jihan smiled.

'Tell me in detail. How to make that weapon.'

The ability, he found a use for it.