Chapter 334
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 334.
The barrier that had imprisoned the Lord of Rifts was released, and the things trapped inside began pouring out.
The rift he had created, and the creatures spilling out from within it.
—Why… why do I look like this…….
—It hurts, it hurts, ah…….
The creatures from dimensions the Lord of Rifts had destroyed. The allies of Yoo Baek-jun, who had been waiting near the barrier, confronted them.
—Aaaagh!
“Captain! This is……”
“Don’t hesitate—kill them all at once!”
The creatures were diverse.
Some resembled humans, others were closer to monsters, and there were even beings with unimaginable forms.
A few hunters hesitated to kill the creatures that looked human, but this was no time for that.
“They’re already dead! Think of them as undead! Putting them down here is the most merciful thing to do!”
—Uuuugh……!
Ryu Il-woo beheaded the creature blocking his path and fought at the forefront.
Those who had hesitated soon joined in.
‘There are too many enemies.’
But the situation wasn’t good.
The number of rifts was high—and still growing. And the number of enemies emerging from them was horrifying.
It was literally like a tidal wave crashing down.
“Swordsmen, forward!”
“Form a battle line! Now!”
Then, the swordsmen of the Sword Saint family moved like the wind and charged ahead.
The swordsmen at the front unleashed sword energy in unison, cutting down the enemies, and immediately erected a sword barrier to block them.
Behind them, spearmen wielded dazzling spear techniques.
Crackle!
—Kyaaaaagh!
Those who had repelled the approaching enemies with their spears hurled them with all their might.
The spears, wrapped in fierce energy, pierced through the enemies in an instant.
And as if following their lead, a rain of arrows poured from the sky.
The arrows moved as if alive, targeting the creatures’ vital points.
—Guh, uuuugh…….
—Aaaaah…….
But the enemies were endless.
The swordsmen trying to form a battle line met fierce resistance. And then, a powerful wind blew from the rear.
“Hurry and form the battle line.”
“Grandmaster!”
It was the Grandmaster Ja-yeon.
With a formless sword in one hand, she leapt into the midst of the enemies.
Then, focusing her mind—
Swish!
A flash of light erupted.
By the time it faded, no creatures remained standing beside her.
All had been bisected and collapsed.
She strode through the enemies, sword in hand, leaving only shattered corpses in her wake.
“Grandmaster, I’ll assist you.”
Han Seong-ah’s ghost blades shot in all directions, piercing the creatures.
She used dark magic to eliminate the enemies, and in the meantime, the swordsmen succeeded in forming their formation.
Whoooosh!
A thick fog obscured their vision.
The flashes of light within it signaled the ongoing battle.
‘They’re fighting impressively. But…….’
Ryu Il-woo looked around.
‘How long can we hold out?’
The hunters had reached their limit.
From the moment the Evil Dragon appeared until now, they had fought without rest.
Physically and mentally, they were already at their breaking point.
‘We won’t last much longer.’
All they could do was wait for Yoo Baek-jun to end this before then.
Ryu Il-woo smirked bitterly.
Every time something like this happened, they relied on him alone—no wonder this situation felt absurd.
“Captain! The signal has come.”
“Hmm, pull the formation back!”
Ryu Il-woo turned around. At the very rear of the hunters, in the safest zone, a group waited.
The mages of the Magic Tower.
“Mage corps, release your magic!”
Magic rose like mist, transforming into spells that engulfed the enemies.
The ground erupted like a volcano, spewing flames, while whirlwinds swept up the creatures and hurled them into the sky.
And then—
Kwaaaaah!
Jin Baek-cheon unleashed his magic.
Monuments of beautiful light erupted from the ground. As Magic gathered, the monuments exploded.
The fragments became projectiles, wiping out the surrounding enemies in an instant.
“There are too many.”
Jin Baek-cheon immediately cast his next spell. With a wave of his hand, a black sphere formed amidst the enemies.
Whoooosh!
—Kyaaaaagh!
The massive sphere sucked in all nearby enemies.
The force was so overwhelming they couldn’t even struggle.
Then, magical artillery rained down upon the immobilized enemies.
It was Jin Seo-yeon’s magic.
“Jin Seo-yeon.”
“Yes, Father.”
She worked in tandem with Jin Baek-cheon to eliminate the nearby creatures.
Their movements were harmonious, and Jin Seo-yeon moved freely without being intimidated by her father.
A situation that would have been impossible for the girl who once feared him.
All of this was possible because of one man’s help.
‘Yoo Baek-jun.’
Yoo Baek-jun came into view.
He was fighting alone against the being known as the Lord of Rifts.
—What if the me now isn’t the Yoo Baek-jun you knew?
—What if I’m not the Yoo Baek-jun you grew up with, but a different Yoo Baek-jun?
Jin Seo-yeon suddenly recalled the words he had spoken on the Floating Island.
—What if I’m not Yoo Baek-jun, but someone else?
“……”
Jin Seo-yeon frowned.
A thought she had never considered before. There had been no reason to.
Just nonsense.
‘That should be the case.’
But she couldn’t dismiss it.
The reason was simple. Deep down, she, too, found Yoo Baek-jun’s changes strange.
He had changed too much.
Not a trace remained of the Yoo Baek-jun she once knew.
And.
‘If all those changes are because Yoo Baek-jun became someone else…’
Then it would make sense.
All of Yoo Baek-jun’s changes, as if he had become a different person.
That was the problem.
‘If that man isn’t Yoo Baek-jun, if he really isn’t…….’
Jin Seo-yeon’s eyes darkened.
She stared at Yoo Baek-jun, locked in fierce combat with the Lord of Rifts.
‘Then I…….’
At that moment, a golden dragon soared into the sky.
Before anyone could react, an anomaly occurred.
—Kyaaaaaaagh!
The mortally wounded Lord of Rifts let out a scream filled with pain and rage.
An immense darkness erupted from him, swallowing the surroundings.
“This is……”
A massive curtain of darkness devoured the Dragon’s Land.
Thick shadows fell everywhere, and visibility vanished in an instant.
Pitch-black darkness where not even an inch ahead was visible.
“W-what? Someone light a fire!”
“Light magic…!”
The hunters hurried to ignite flames, but it was useless.
The light from magic, the fires lit by others—all were swallowed by the darkness.
—Ah, aah… guh…….
“Dammit, they’re coming!”
“Stay calm and hold the line! Your eyes will adjust to the darkness soon! Don’t scatter!”
The hunters remained composed, and their eyes slowly adapted.
Then, another anomaly struck.
“Wait, what’s that……!”
The dark curtain covering everything.
Within it, countless eerie red eyes appeared endlessly.
And from those eyes, crimson energy flowed out, spreading everywhere.
“Ugh, aaaagh!”
“M-my body…!”
Everything touched by the crimson energy began to dissolve.
Screams erupted.
Jin Seo-yeon repelled the energy targeting her and peered through the darkness.
“Yoo Baek-jun……!”
The situation was escalating rapidly.
* * *
—Guh, huff!
The Lord of Rifts was mortally wounded.
His body continued to crumble, fragments scattering and vanishing.
The Martial God’s heavily injured body had reached its limit and was breaking apart.
Crack, snap!
It was like watching porcelain shatter.
Half of the Martial God’s body had collapsed, leaving only a hollow shell, and the dark energy within began to leak out.
—My body… my essence…….
The Lord of Rifts staggered.
Sealed within the Martial God’s body for so long, he had become one with it.
The pain of the body was his own.
‘That bastard’s attacks… The wounds left on this body have severely damaged my core. If this continues…….’
It was dangerous.
The Lord of Rifts felt a sense of crisis unlike anything before.
That fear drove him to find a way out.
And there was… a way.
—Martial God… you bastard, guh!
The Lord of Rifts raised his head. His crimson eyes locked onto Yoo Baek-jun.
—Guh, ugh, aaaaagh!
A wave of dark energy erupted from the Lord of Rifts’s body.
He screamed in agony as the darkness coiled around him.
—This… worthless flesh!
The Lord of Rifts gritted his teeth.
He could feel it—death approaching.
The Lord of Rifts, an existence that should never die, was facing mortality.
—Martial God, did you think… this seal could kill me? Did you really think that would work? No……!
The Lord of Rifts looked down at his body.
Shattered, broken—on the verge of collapse.
But because of that…
—An impossibility. The destruction of this body means the seal binding me weakens…….
The Martial God’s body itself was the shackles sealing the Lord of Rifts.
With the body critically damaged, the seal’s weakening was inevitable.
And that meant one thing.
—I can feel it… my power……!
The Lord of Rifts could now wield his own power.
Though incomplete, it was no longer the Martial God’s power—but his own.
—You will see nothing. Behold the future awaiting you all.
As the Lord of Rifts declared, an overwhelming darkness swallowed the surroundings.
Visibility vanished instantly.
And within the darkness, ominous energy began absorbing those trapped inside.
—Offer your strength… to me.
The energy drained from the absorbed beings flowed into the Lord of Rifts.
The dark energy around him grew denser, stronger.
‘His form…….’
Then, the Lord of Rift’s appearance began to change rapidly.
The Martial God’s body twisted grotesquely, transforming into a monstrous shape—no longer human.
—Serve me, slaves. The time of your dimension’s destruction has come.
The Lord of Rifts created a rift.
A massive rift appeared in the darkness, and from it emerged someone Yoo Baek-jun recognized.
Overlord.
—Release the seal. Now that it’s weakened, even you can undo it.
—…….
Overlord, his mind corrupted by the Lord of Rifts, obeyed without resistance.
Yoo Baek-jun clicked his tongue at the sight.
‘Well, this is the final stage.’
He had expected this once the Martial God’s body was severely damaged.
But,
‘From here on out, even I don’t know.’
Yoo Baek-jun pieced together the fragmented memories of the Martial God. Among them were memories of his battle with the Lord of Rifts.
A single battle from the distant past. The information he could glean from it was limited.
‘The longer this drags on, the worse the damage. We’ll have to improvise.’
The problem was the scale was too vast to improvise.
He couldn’t see an inch ahead.
Others tried to light the darkness, but it was futile.
“There’s got to be a way… huh?”
Hummm!
Something vibrated. The white sword at his waist.
Yoo Baek-jun drew it, and a message appeared before his eyes.
—Transcendence can be activated.
A bland system window.
He didn't know why, but Yoo Baek-jun felt that this message window was what the white sword was conveying to him.