Chapter 307
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 307.
Eldaim’s test was simple.
—It’s a provisional contract. You have no talent for Spirit arts, but if a spirit permits it, forming a contract is possible.
He pointed his spear at Yoo Baek-jun.
Then, a pattern was engraved on the back of his hand—a trident entwined with waves.
—From now on, you are…….
Eldaim’s figure blurred.
Right now, he was being maintained by the power of the item called the Tear of the Spirit King.
If he returned to the spirit realm, that power would be severed. And if he were summoned again…
—You’ll have to bear the burden of summoning me.
This time, without any external assistance, Yoo Baek-jun would have to endure the summoning of the Spirit King solely with his own power.
Eldaim’s figure vanished.
“…….”
At first, the back of his hand vibrated.
The pattern Eldaim had engraved as proof of the provisional contract emitted a blue light.
Then, magic began to circulate.
An external force forcibly moved Yoo Baek-jun’s magical power and took it away.
Swoosh!
A pillar of water formed.
The process of summoning Eldaim earlier was repeating itself exactly.
His magical power was rapidly depleting.
It regenerated, depleted again, and repeated the cycle endlessly.
Click!
Finally, when his magical power was completely exhausted, a mechanical sound was heard.
Click!
The sound of gears meshing together.
It was the sound of the Magical Rings engraved all over Yoo Baek-jun’s body activating.
Kiiing!
Blue light flowed from Yoo Baek-jun’s arms, legs, and all over his body.
The depleted magic was instantly replenished. Though that magical power also disappeared quickly, the regeneration speed was even faster.
—Impressive.
A voice was heard.
The swirling pillars of water collided and vanished, and in their midst, a massive spray of water erupted.
—It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a human with this much magical power.
The spray of water took shape.
The shape of Eldaim.
—Throughout history, only three humans have been able to summon me. Now, your name has been added to that list. Among those without talent for Spirit arts, you’re the first.
Eldaim’s eyes widened, as if genuinely surprised.
“Is that something to be celebrated?”
—You’ve left your name in history. Isn’t it a joyous thing for you humans to be remembered by future generations? Hohoho!
Eldaim stroked his beard and laughed.
He looked just like a kindly old man.
—You’ve succeeded in summoning me. But you seem more like a warrior than a spirit user—do you think you can fight while maintaining me?
“Probably not.”
Summoning a spirit consumes magical power, and maintaining one does too.
At the level of the Spirit King, it’s like driving a supercar with the worst fuel efficiency.
So Yoo Baek-jun…
—So this is why you asked for my help, you thief!
He made someone else pay for that fuel cost. Specifically, the fairy—the World Tree.
Namely, the fairy—the World Tree.
“Calling me a thief is a bit harsh.”
—You bad human, dumping the magical cost of maintaining magic onto me.
—Bad huumaan!
Among Yoo Baek-jun’s traits was one called the World Tree’s Blessing.
A trait that grants him various buffs wherever the World Tree’s influence reaches.
The vast magical power of the World Tree flows into Yoo Baek-jun, providing those buffs.
—Tch!
He exploited this to make the World Tree bear the burden of maintaining magical power.
While maintaining magical power was a burden for Yoo Baek-jun, it was nothing for the World Tree, which produces an enormous amount of magical power.
—Hohoho! You’re an amusing human. Fine, I’ve taken a liking to you.
“So?”
—From now on, you are…….
The pattern on the back of his hand glowed.
The somewhat faint pattern became vividly clear, as if freshly engraved.
—The contractor of Eldaim.
Water spirits appeared in the valley, celebrating Yoo Baek-jun.
Each time, the fairy shrieked.
—Kyaaak! Don’t come out! What? What? Do I have to handle their magical power too?!
—Kyauung!
—Hohoho!
The fairy screaming, Seol-yeong playing with the spirits, and Eldaim watching them with a pleased smile.
It was an utterly chaotic scene.
* * *
Left alone, Yoo Baek-jun stared at the spear before him.
[Spirit King’s Contractor (S)]
—You have contracted with the Water Spirit King.
—You can summon Eldaim and summon lower-grade spirits without a contract.
It was a new trait he gained after contracting with Eldaim.
Yoo Baek-jun tried summoning a spirit.
“Why is it so small?”
—……?
He summoned an Undine, but it was smaller than what an elf would summon.
It seemed that his lack of talent for spirit arts was the reason.
‘Thanks to Eldaim, I can summon them, but their power is halved.’
Yoo Baek-jun clicked his tongue.
Eldaim, being the Spirit King, was a special case and didn’t seem to have his power reduced.
At least that was a relief.
—Uuung?
—……!
While watching Seol-yeong play with the small undine, he checked the gate rewards.
Among them was a trait.
[Savior of the Demi-humans (S)]
—You have saved countless Demi-humans.
—Demi-humans instinctively hold great favor toward you and are more likely to obey your requests or commands.
—Additionally, various positive buffs are provided to Demi-humans who follow you.
“Another S-rank…?”
Getting a trait was good, but his feelings were mixed because its effectiveness was ambiguous.
“Hmm. Well, it’s not bad, right?”
The Demi-humans who follow him—meaning those on the Floating Island—would receive positive buffs.
That part was quite satisfying.
“The rest is… miscellaneous.”
There were many rare items, but none he particularly needed.
Having already obtained an S+-rank item, wanting more would be greedy.
So Yoo Baek-jun placed his hopes on the achievement rewards instead.
[Achievement: Usurper of the Throne, Executor of Justice has been completed.]
[Usurper of the Throne: Played a major role in replacing the throne of a nation.]
[Executor of Justice: Unwaveringly carried out justice.]
[Rewards: 3,000P, S-rank Trait Upgrade Ticket, A-rank Trait Upgrade Ticket, stat rewards have been granted.]
Perhaps because they were high-difficulty achievements, the rewards were quite generous.
Yoo Baek-jun whistled.
[Yoo Baek-jun]
Strength: S [S+] (97/100)
Agility: S (98/100)
Stamina: S [S+] (99/100)
Magic Power: S+ (2/100)
His other stats were also on the verge of ranking up.
Fortunately, there was still time before the event, so he could rank up the remaining stats by then.
‘As for the trait upgrade tickets…’
The S-rank upgrade ticket would elevate an S-rank trait to S+.
Yoo Baek-jun looked over his S-rank traits and fell into thought.
‘Which one should I choose?’
There were five: King’s Dignity, Blood of the Battle Demon, Magical Rings, Spirit King’s Contractor, and Savior of the Demi-humans.
‘The last two won’t be much help even if upgraded. Blood of the Battle Demon isn’t that great either… Magical Rings?’
Not bad.
But something else appealed to him more—King’s Dignity.
‘Considering how things will play out in the Evil Dragon event…’
This would be more helpful.
After some deliberation, Yoo Baek-jun used the S-rank upgrade ticket on King’s Dignity.
There was no change in the description, but its potency would have been enhanced.
‘The A-rank upgrade ticket is better used on World Tree’s Blessing.’
World Tree’s Blessing was also upgraded to A+ rank.
The buffs he could receive would become stronger. The fairy wouldn’t like it, though.
Uuuung!
Lastly, White Sword.
Yoo Baek-jun looked at the White Sword placed beside him and let out a deep sigh.
—Uuung! Uuuung!
—Meow? Kyauung!
“Stop with the comedy skits.”
The White Sword vibrated first, and in response, Seol-yeong growled.
Both were serious, but from an outsider’s perspective, it was pure comedy.
—Uuuung.
Perhaps pleased that he had saved the Demi-humans, the sword vibrated intensely.
It meant its favorability had increased.
As proof, the sword had grown.
[White Sword (S+)]
A sword once wielded by the Sword Saint.
It holds tremendous power but has not fully acknowledged you.
—Options: Awakening, Sword’s Pinnacle, Overwhelm
—Skill: Divine Sword Union (False)
*Awakening: If wielded by someone with a compatible bloodline, increases all of the user’s stats.
*Sword’s Pinnacle: Greatly increases the power of all sword techniques. Allows for more lethal swordplay.
*Overwhelm: Dominates nearby enemies.
*Divine Sword Union (False): Unleashes a single sword strike that cuts through everything.
No new skills were added, but two new options appeared.
And those options were exceptionally powerful.
“I might start using White Sword as my main.”
Until now, there hadn’t been much reason to use White Sword, so he’d relied on Grandal.
In terms of utility, Grandal was still better, but White Sword surpassed it in lethality.
“Hmm……”
Yoo Baek-jun gripped White Sword.
The effect of Awakening filled his entire body with immense vitality—the effect of the stat boost.
Combined with Sword’s Pinnacle…
“Not bad. I like it.”
The White Sword vibrated once.
It would’ve been nice if all its functions were unlocked at once, but it seemed the sword wasn’t ready for that yet.
As Yoo Baek-jun rose to his feet with White Sword in hand, Han Seong-ah approached him.
“Family head, the dragonkin you captured earlier has reached his limit. He won’t last much longer.”
“Is that so?”
Dante and his subordinates.
They’d already extracted all useful information from them.
“Let’s make his passing comfortable.”
* * *
Yoo Baek-jun headed underground.
The deep prison was filled with the thick stench of death.
Dante, the last one remaining, breathed heavily in the cell. [TL/N: There was no official confirmation that Dante had died but this is definitely weird.]
“Damn… humans… But it’s too late now… There’s nothing you can do……”
As if sensing Yoo Baek-jun’s arrival, Dante spoke abruptly.
“He… has already completed all preparations… The day your world… is destroyed… isn’t far……”
Dante’s head slowly dropped.
“…away……”
Those were his last words.
Until his death, Dante cursed Yoo Baek-jun and humanity, and then he died.
‘Well, it’s natural for him to curse us.’
They’d done everything to extract information from him, so his curses were understandable.
Still, he brought it upon himself.
“Shouldn’t have messed with us in the first place.”
It was Dante and the Black Shadow who had first targeted the Sword Saint’s family.
Yoo Baek-jun looked down at Dante’s corpse. His necklace, the Dragon Slayer’s Destiny, reacted.
—Kraaaaak!
A beast-like maw emerged from the necklace and swallowed Dante whole.
His remaining soul flowed into the Dragon Slayer’s Destiny.
—Kyaaaaaa……
“Creepy.”
A horrific scream echoed, and then the Dragon Slayer’s Destiny glowed.
It had absorbed the soul.
This meant the necklace had grown even stronger.
[The Dragon Slayer’s Destiny has absorbed sufficient power. New power: One Who is Called Dragon Slayer has been unlocked.]
*One Who is Called Dragon Slayer: When equipped with dragon-slaying items, their effects are enhanced.
Only one new option was added, but its effect was quite good.
“Perfect.”
It meant that if he equipped the Dragon Slayer’s Spear, its power would be further enhanced.
Exactly what he needed right now.
“Dispose of the body.”
“Yes, Family head.”
The dragonkin, executives of the Black Shadow, were still operating covertly around the world.
But not for much longer.
“I’ll take care of all of them.”
This time, without leaving a single one behind.