Chapter 119: Duke Of Destruction (2)

Everything froze.

Everything in sight.

It froze in the Ice of Destruction.

Atsuko swallowed as she looked at the scene Han Seojin created.

'How can such a powerful spell…'

When she saw Han Seojin, she thought he was an extraordinary being.

That thought remained unchanged.

Others may not know, but her abilities were related to spirits and senses.

So she could easily gather karma.

Therefore, she could closely examine a person's caliber.

'I've felt it since I first saw him.'

She couldn't describe him as merely High Realm.

This was a power that might reach transcendence.

However, the caliber felt from Han Seojin was merely that much.

The Ice of Destruction refroze everything.

Crack, crack.

Han Seojin looked at the frozen things.

Ice of Destruction.

Glacial Heavenly Moon.

Its power froze all the demonic insects.

Crackling, everything began to fracture.

This was the Heavenly Moon.

Freezing everything with the Ice of Destruction, it destroyed them all.

Its radius was enormous.

Han Seojin froze everything within his magical detection.

Avoiding all the students.

It was a precision spell to an astonishing degree.

And yet, such a wide range.

Han Seojin focused on one spot.

"If anything, it's fortunate."

"Why is that, my nephew?"

"It seems we have an ally."

"An ally?"

Atsuko was puzzled.

There couldn't be an ally. There's no useful being here.

As Atsuko thought that far, she stopped thinking.

Somehow, she felt she knew who the ally was.

And it was a very unpleasant being.

"What are you doing here?!"

A startled voice.

Brown hair and green eyes were filled with urgency.

Atsuko frowned.

"You are…"

"What, it's Atsuko, who I snatched the youngest High Realm title from?"

"I've told you repeatedly, in Japan, it's impolite for someone who isn't close to call you by your name."

"Not only did you lose the youngest High Realm, but the youngest Supreme Realm too, didn't you?"

"Hah, I was promoted from High Realm to transcendent in one go, that's why."

"Are you bragging about being the youngest transcendent? Well, I suppose you can. Thanks to that, you're enjoying your social life and now living with our little brother."

"…Our little brother?"

Atsuko looked at me.

Nam Daram grinned unpleasantly and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Yes, my little brother. I'm personally teaching him the sword (never taught him)."

"Who are you to teach my nephew?"

"…Huh?"

At Atsuko's words, Nam Daram blinked once.

"To my cute nephew, you're not even acting your age, surely you're not hitting on him."

"N-nephew?"

"Yeah, didn't you know? His maternal family is from the Iron-Blood Sword Clan. I hated them terribly, but my nephew is so cute."

"You, the photo you showed last time didn't look like this."

"…Back then, the kid was really lacking in confidence."

More than that, his hair color was different.

Now it's completely white, but back then it was black.

It's natural not to recognize him when his expression and physique look different, and even his hair color had changed.

When Atsuko and Nam Daram were fighting, Han Seojin looked around.

'No students died.'

To be precise, none of the students he taught.

Many students were injured and dead. Although they were not his students, this crossed the line.

He slowly looked up.

There, he saw the Insect Dragon King, not yet fully evolved.

The creature curled up like a fetus.

It was looking down at him.

[Why have you come here?]

Although it was far away, it sounded as if it was speaking nearby.

Its magic was immense.

The surrounding atmosphere trembled due to the magic waves.

Unbelievable magic.

The creature had already taken root here.

'Unlucky.'

As if it had devoured a transcendent being, its magic spread in all directions.

This suggested something.

Four dragons.

The Dragon King, having devoured the minions released by the principal to protect the academy, was regaining the power of his prime.

'I can't let it drag on.'

Han Seojin thought.

He had to end it in one blow.

[I can't understand.]

In a puzzled tone, the Dragon King spoke.

"What do you mean?"

[You are undoubtedly an extraordinary being. But to confront me in your current state? It is truly foolish.]

It was true.

Atsuko thought so.

She had intended to sacrifice this place to save Han Seojin.

However, her nephew had come here.

She had tried to stop him, but it didn't feel right.

She had followed him here to save him somehow, but even if she sacrificed her own life, she still wasn't confident she could save her nephew.

「You can sacrifice all here if it's you. The others are just discarded trash in this cradle, but you are different.」

Because his value was not just this much.

The Insect Dragon King did not want to defeat his arch-nemesis in such a place.

Therefore, he gave time.

When he captured Han Seojin in the form of a fetus, when he was involved in space movement, he secretly hoped.

For him to run away.

To flee far and wide and grow strong enough to kill him.

He was confident.

He was no longer the being who was defeated by Han Seojin during his time as the Purple Tower Master.

A being whose name was difficult to even mention.

That being was protecting him.

He was stronger now than when he was a Demon King.

Han Seojin breathed slowly.

The two circles inside his body.

And the deity created by the Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra began to respond.

[Unique Trait, Eternity dwells within you.]

[The magic of Eternity flows within your body.]

[All eyes are on you, be cautious.]

The final message from the system.

Then he felt the gazes piercing him.

'This is absurd.'

Were they trying to make a plaything out of him now?

Or perhaps they want me to bring some information about the Demon King.

There was a hint of confusion in their gazes.

Along with surprise.

「Han Seojin, Purple Tower Master, the Emperor's dog.」

The Insect Dragon King opened his mouth.

His words spread far and wide. The voice of the Insect Dragon King reached the entire artificial island.

Then, many were bewildered.

The gazes bore down on him.

Together with the distant stares.

"W-What? The Purple Tower Master?"

"If it's the Emperor…"

The being in the form of a fetus slowly rose.

Kuuooooooo!!

The black sea rose. Dark clouds gathered. Boom! Lightning struck.

It was as if the end of the world had unfolded.

The dark clouds moved. The waterspout moved.

They encircled the artificial island.

And soon, what they created was a small circular shape.

A dome.

「The gazes were annoying.」

The gazes disappeared.

The Insect Dragon King's gaze turned to me.

「I got rid of the nuisances.」

"You're very confident."

「Confident indeed. Your once-great rank has fallen, while mine has risen.」

"With the power you got from attaching yourself to that creature in the ancient book."

「…What?」

"The power from the demon god. And power from that being, you're not that confident."

Indeed, it was good to come now.

That guy was in his weakest state right now.

The fact that he couldn't properly handle that much magical power was proof.

Even though I poured in more mana than most transcendents…

It still didn't surpass the magic power of my second life.

"What happened? You were so full of yourself, yet you're leaking magic all over."

「It's not something you need to worry about.」

"I want to worry. The so-called Demon King is faltering in front of me."

"S-Seojin?"

"L-Little brother?"

Atsuko and Nam Daram were trying to stop Han Seojin.

The current situation was clearly disadvantageous.

There was nothing to gain from provoking that being.

Even though he had caused an enormous incident, it was better to bow down and avoid the storm.

Regardless of that.

Han Seojin drew his sword with a fierce grin.

The Black Demon Sword.

It pointed at the Dragon King.

"If I'd rather die than let you belittle my achievement of defeating you, then just die."

「Pft.」

Laughter burst out.

Spontaneously, that was.

That guy was always arrogant.

He had the skills to back it up.

「Hah, hahahahahahah!!」

The magic vibrated.

The magic boiled over.

All the surrounding magic became violent, pressing down on everything around.

「I don't know what you believe in.」

However.

He was not the Purple Tower Master right now.

He was not the one who brought him to the brink of death.

He was not the one who toyed with him lightly at the end and killed him.

To the Insect Dragon King, that was as good as a dead man.

「I don't know what your trump card is.」

This was the end here.

As the Insect Dragon King thought that, the demonic insects began to move.

Countless demonic insects.

And the black sphere floating above them.

「I will sink this whole island.」

Han Seojin.

He slowly formed a seal. He projected his manifestation.

Buzz!

The blue crystal embedded within his body responded.

With a crack, the inside of the crystal split apart.

That was…

Overlaying the world's laws with his own laws.

—Manifestation of thoughts.

Although it had been a long time since he reached that level, Han Seojin cherished and saved it.

Iron-Blood Sword Clan.

He had pondered whether to use it once there.

If not, he had considered using it when confronting the principal, even if it meant risking bodily harm.

'You think I have no ace up my sleeve?'

Don't be ridiculous.

'I do.'

An ace he hadn't used yet.

Manifestation of thoughts.

Purely focused on storage and restoration.

His own tower focused solely on that.

The crystal opened wide.

It became three diamond-shaped (◆) mirrors.

Meanwhile, the Insect Dragon King watching it felt a sense of foreboding.

'What is this?'

A sense of impending doom.

As soon as those mirrors opened, all his senses warned him.

It was dangerous.

Three diamond-shaped mirrors reflected different things.

A shadow of a person, revered by all, was seen with their chin resting on their hand.

A shadow wearing a robe, holding a staff, and looking straight ahead with blue eyes was seen.

A shadow with tied-up hair, in black clothes fluttering, looking at itself with blue eyes was seen.

'…This is.'

Each one was strong.

Equal to or, no, greater than itself.

Even he, who looked down on other demon kings, who had received power from some entity, was being crushed by those beings.

Crackle, crackle—.

The second mirror scattered.

And what appeared was,

「Don't make me laugh…」

[This was our beginning.]

The sound echoed.

It felt as if the whole world was being assimilated.

Creak—.

The dome he created began to open.

The dark clouds disappeared.

Everything he caused began to change.

Countless stars in the sky started to move.

Like comets.

Numerous stars with long tails decorated the night sky.

[So, it must end like this.]

Click.

Long hair came into view.

Eyes glowing blue. A lightly worn shirt with black slacks. And black shoes.

A light robe worn over it.

However, no one here could underestimate him.

For only his existence was distinct in the universe.

A human from the Celestial Realm.

Of a different class.

Of a different dimension.

That, that existence was not the same human.

Rather, to define it,

"…God."

The empire called him the greatest mage.

Some said, there was no one on his path, hence the name Duke of Destruction.

Another person said, with his appearance and death, all magic changed, thus his name.

It was enough to call him magic itself.

—Therefore, he was called the Duke of Magic, Han Seojin.

"How strong have you become? If you're the same as back then, I'll be very disappointed."

Han Seojin smiled confidently.