Nothing Else I Need
A crescent-shaped slashing wave, fifty meters long and utterly colossal.
Crreeeak!
It didn't stop at merely attacking the trees. It cleaved the Demon Realm Tree clean in half, and even with that much power left over, the spreading shockwave dealt secondary damage to the Wings of Dark Flame goons all around.
No one else could know, but I knew the moment I laid eyes on it.
'That's dangerous.'
That strike was overkill to the point of absurdity. The thought flashed through me that Kim Ara must have trusted herself that much — and at the same time, that she'd put herself in real danger.
She had to have burned far more strength than it looked like. Maybe even more than when she uses Paechon.
"Ara!"
I shouted her name and darted forward with Black Flash Step. Kim Ara was falling, limp and boneless. I conjured footholds in midair, closing the distance as fast as I could.
And then I caught her, princess-style.
"Can you still use Paechon?"
"Once, if I push it."
"...Got it."
In the brief exchange with Kim Ara, a chaos of mana wavelengths erupted across the ground below.
-Shadow Critical!
-Magma Attack!
What was missing, notably, were the curses.
The Wings of Dark Flame had plenty of members specialized in curses, but my wiping out every curse thrown my way during our charge at the Demon Realm Tree must have rattled them badly enough to drop the tactic entirely.
'Pathetic.'
I unfurled my Black Wings.
Fwoooosh!
The black single-edged wings revealed themselves, denying the very flow of the air around us. Reverse-Heaven energy poured from them, negating the atmosphere and guiding the current to lift me skyward.
WHAM!
The black wings stretched toward the heavens and birthed a shockwave of pure force. The invisible pressure, laced with negation, began erasing the incoming spells outright.
"Good lord — what am I even looking at?"
"Magic resistance? No, no amount of resistance could—!"
I could see the Wings of Dark Flame members thrown into disarray. Steadying my breath, I spoke to Kim Ara.
"Hold onto my back."
"Okay."
Kim Ara clung obediently to my back. Deliberately ignoring the soft pressure against it, I gripped Heukcheon in a reverse hold.
My Star-Perception Eye swept the field. No Superior-grades. The problem was that most of them were Intermediate-grades.
'Doesn't matter.'
I would end it in one stroke.
Yeongcheon traced out her spell-forms — the same support magic as always.
-Strength Enhancement. Sensory Enhancement. Speed Enhancement. Falling-Speed Enhancement.
Spells woven from Reverse-Heaven energy wrapped around my body.
Feeling my spirit surge, I funneled Reverse-Heaven energy into Heukcheon. The black, corrupting power coalesced along the blade and took the shape of an edge.
Sword aura.
No — not quite. It was a blade's form forcibly pinned into existence by my conceptual stat, Reverse-Heaven.
"Sword aura?! Insane — nobody said there was a Superior-grade here!"
"Everyone fall back! Contact the other Wings and have them adjust the difficulty — NOW!"
It was more than enough to send the enemy into a full-blown panic.
And as I fell with the momentum —
For an instant, the world went dark.
A memory surfaced from the depths of my mind.
A garden wrapped around a lotus pond. Architecture straight out of ancient China.
-The Black God Martial Art was created for the purpose of killing those of a higher standing than oneself.
There, I saw a woman. A woman in black martial robes — though strangely, her face was blurred, impossible to make out.
-That a fated one has come this far means you are likely on the verge of learning the purgatory that devours all things — the Bottomless Abyss. Upon reaching the Intermediate standing, when facing many at once, this art was made available to you. This Lady shall teach you the martial art for contending with numbers.
Snap.
The woman extended her hand. Coiled around it was a black shockwave of force.
-The meaning of this lies in spreading the Black Force wide. The Black Force was, by its nature, a martial art made to slay a higher standing in a single strike. Lesser wretches can be killed by nothing more than unraveling it and letting it loose.
The woman of the long sleeves, the previous Heavenly Demon, spoke with her back half-turned toward me.
-This Lady has named it the Black Force Rending Art. It is quite useful, so learn it well. Even should Heukcheon one day teach you the purgatory that swallows all things — the Bottomless Abyss — that is no art suited for fighting many.
The Heavenly Demon chuckled softly.
-That you have witnessed this is proof you inherited the Black God Martial Art without incident. This Lady's toil was certainly not wasted. If there is any regret, it is only that this Lady could not see the fated one's face.
The backdrop began to darken once more.
-And one more thing — when first practicing the Rending Art, do not channel the shockwave through a weapon. Unleashing it with a body tempered by the Black God Martial Art is far, far easier.
Reality returned.
I was still falling.
'Time didn't pass, then.'
Perhaps it was something only possible because the Heavenly Demon was a Transcendent. I looked down at Heukcheon. She'd told me not to do it... but still.
'I can.'
Instinct told me I could unfold the Rending Art through Heukcheon — because I possessed the conceptual stat, Reverse-Heaven.
The power to wield the very concept of Reverse-Heaven itself.
Wooooong!
Reverse-Heaven energy gathered in Heukcheon. Just as when unfurling the Black Force, the edge didn't take a keen shape — it formed thick and blunt. And then, slowly, I unraveled it, letting it spread into a shockwave.
-Hm?
Heukcheon glanced back at me, puzzled.
I drove Heukcheon straight down into the earth.
Black God Martial Art
Black Force — Rending Art
[Proficiency with Black Force has increased!]
The black shockwave split apart. Ripples spread through the force, Reverse-Heaven energy riding along with it.
KA-GA-GA-GAK!
The corpses scattered around us burst into flying ash. Proof that every one of them had been demons.
[Conceptual stat: Reverse-Heaven has increased by 1.]
Part of the ash the demons scattered into was absorbed into my body.
'Five.'
I recalled the Reverse-Heaven energy dispersed by the Rending Art. As the black shockwave flowed back into my body, I realized roughly ninety-five percent of my strength remained.
And thanks to the seed of Spirit Capacity, even that was rapidly recovering.
It was absurd. Fighting was supposed to drain you — yet here I was, apparently exempt from that rule entirely.
"He's stopped! That technique just now left him unable to move! Attack, quickly!"
"Die, you monster!"
They came shrieking at me.
I looked at them and let out a small snort. What remained amounted to one Intermediate-grade and two Lower-grades.
Swoosh—.
A spear came flying; I batted it aside with the back of my hand — and as I deflected it, used Sleight of Hand to redirect its trajectory. Straight toward a demon frozen mid-swing, sword raised high for a crushing downward blow.
"Wha—?"
"Y-you bastard! What the hell do you think you're—ghk!"
Then, swift as lightning, Heukcheon took his throat.
"Hiihk!"
My eyes locked with another demon. The one who'd been about to attack next turned tail almost immediately and bolted.
"H-hey! If you run now, you're all dead—ghk!"
I kicked the head of the spear-wielding demon, then brought a hand-blade chopping down.
Crunch.
Accompanied by a deeply unpleasant sensation, the demon's arm shattered to pieces.
'So my raw physical strength isn't all that overwhelming yet.'
About a notch below Park Unhyeok, at this point.
Utterly ridiculous.
It had been barely half a year since I melted into this world. And I'd already caught up to people who had trained for a decade and more.
I guided the black blade with my will and claimed the throat of the fleeing demon.
The demons' bodies scattered into ash and vanished.
[You have successfully cleared the quest.]
[Settling achievement rewards...]
[You defeated the Demon Realm Tree (juvenile stage) before it fully hatched. 40,000P acquired.]
[You have perfectly completed Main Quest Chapter 6. The rewards will be upgraded even further.]
[You have left a powerful impression on Kim Ara. A new connection will be added to your bond.]
[Conviction. This bond, forged upon faith, may perhaps come closer to that of a king and her knight. But one thing is certain: so long as you do not betray her — so long as you trust her — she will face even death itself without hesitation.]
'...That's terrifying.'
It resembled the dependency Seo Gayeon had shown me, and yet it was something entirely different.
[The Demon Realm Tree left behind its seed as it died.]
[Recover the Demon Realm Tree's branch.]
...I was heading that way anyway.
I made for the spot where the Demon Realm Tree had fallen.
The branch aside, the Demon Realm Tree was a being that stood as the inverse of what one would call a World Tree. In itself, it could serve as a priceless alchemical ingredient. It even saw use in metallurgy and cooking.
'Better gather it up frugally, then.'
The problem, of course, was that I had no way of knowing who might try to steal it.
Ownership of this place technically belonged to whoever witnessed the kill — and there were plenty of witnesses. On top of that, my backing was, by this world's standards, essentially the top.
There was the Emperor, Cheongyeon, and Paewang — three Transcendents — plus the Master of the Red Tower as well.
Since this was a matter involving Kim Ara, Paewang would step in himself, and the others would step forward the moment I asked.
I secured the most important piece first: the Demon Realm Tree's branch.
Appraise.
Grade: A
A branch steeped in demonic energy. If planted in the ground, it transforms its surroundings into a domain saturated with miasma. It carries a spirit's aura within it.
: If the branch is planted, it will absorb every nutrient within a 1km radius, reducing the surroundings to barren wasteland.
: Once the Demon Realm Tree grows to a certain point, it will claim the surrounding area as its domain. Monsters become eroded by the miasma.
Vicious description, that.
I slipped the branch into my subspace and turned my gaze on the fallen Demon Realm Tree.
'Space in the subspace is getting dangerously tight.'
I judged I could transfer about half of it, for starters.
I pulled out my phone, searching for the person nearby who could help most — and Ersil's name came up.
With Ersil, I could hand off the work without a second thought.
Because there was a business arrangement between us. And besides, she handled jobs with crisp, no-nonsense efficiency.
I pinged Ersil over KakaoTalk.
"What do we do with this?"
"We'll need to dismantle it, I suppose? Ah — ownership goes to Ara, since she took down the Demon Realm Tree. So if I end up needing some of it later, could I buy it off her?"
"Instead of money, there's something I need right now."
Kim Ara said this, then promptly turned to look at me.
"I'm suddenly tired."
"Yeah? Want to rest for a bit, then?"
"Mm."
With that, Kim Ara sat me down and rested her head against my lap.
"......."
"If you stay like this, I'll give you anything you ask for."
"The Demon Realm Tree is worth a fortune, you know."
"I don't care."
Kim Ara said that, looking up at me.
"I don't need anything in this world except you."
With crystalline clarity of emotion, Kim Ara said it quietly to me.