Slice
Slice.
The moment I cut through that faintly visible something—
"Wha, what?!"
The monster's eyes widened as if they would split. Its attitude, which had treated death as nothing, changed completely. Its expression was easy to read. One emotion filled its pupils.
Fear.
Vwoom!
I pressed the sword wrapped in Shooting Sun against its throat.
"Kugh...! G-get that thing away!"
Crackle, crackle, crack.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of sword energies aligned simultaneously, colliding with each other. The eerie sound filled the crumbling building. Even though sword energy had no weight, wielding it felt heavy. There was a price to pay. A ringing sound echoed from somewhere. A corner of my head tingled, and the internal energy that had been about half remaining evaporated in an instant.
'Hoo...'
Pretending nothing was wrong, I asked the bastard.
"You said you didn't care if you died, right?"
Gulp.
The sound of it swallowing saliva echoed in my ears. Death is something everyone fears. Especially those who never imagined they themselves could die.
"S-stop...! If you kill me, you won't come out of it well."
"Haha... and if I let you go, will you repay the favor?"
"Kraaah...! D-don't!"
I pushed the Shooting Sun forward, touching its throat. The blade dug in about a centimeter, cutting into the flesh. No blood flowed. The cut part sizzled and turned to ash, disappearing.
Maintaining Flesh Fire and Shooting Sun at the same time wasn't easy. I forced down something rising from my throat and asked.
"What exactly were you trying to do here? Why were you torturing people?"
The bastard clamped its mouth shut. I swung the sword and cut off its left ear.
"AAAHK!! S-stop! Th-the painful death of humans... that is the key!"
"Key? More details."
"Th-the key to enlarging the crack...! When a human dies in pain, the cycle of reincarnation shakes. G-get this away...! I'll talk!"
My fingertips trembled finely. I was almost at my limit. Forcing down what was probably a mouthful of blood, I muttered lowly.
"More details."
"I-if there's lingering attachment or resentment to this world, even better. Using the power of a soul that instinctively wants to stay in this world, we enlarge the crack in the world."
"...Then what about you getting stronger earlier?"
"Th-that was enlarging the crack. Originally, the power that would spread across the entire world was poured only into this place. That's why I could descend, albeit incompletely."
"Hmm... And what about your father? No, Sado?"
At the word 'father,' the bastard's eyes changed drastically. It gritted its teeth.
"Damn it! I don't know anything!"
"Tch..."
It clearly seemed to know something, but I was at my limit. In fact, my body had been trembling for a while. Maintaining Flesh Fire and Shooting Sun simultaneously felt like my entire body was collapsing in real-time.
"Hoo... Then just die."
"W-wait—"
CRAAAACK!
As I thrust the Shooting Sun, something exploded from the tip of the sword. Naturally, it turned the monster to dust, and the bundle of sword energy that extended out bombarded the reed field.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, CRASH!!
For a moment, dizziness struck. I put strength into my staggering legs. The backlash from deactivating Flesh Fire and Shooting Sun nearly made me pass out. All the internal energy in my body was completely drained. If it weren't for the thousand-year ginseng Helena had given me, I might have collapsed on the ground by now.
"Hoo..."
I raised my head and surveyed the area where the Shooting Sun had extended. The reed field, several hundred meters wide, was utterly devastated as if hit by a missile bombardment. The fan-shaped spread of sword energy bundles had created hundreds of craters, scorching the reed field.
'Incredible...?'
The satisfaction was brief. Suddenly, I recalled the first time I used Shooting Sun in the martial arts world. Back then, it was simply quiet. There was no such flashy destruction. There weren't even thousands of sword energies—not even a single one had formed. It was merely an ordinary iron sword. That power had been condensed into a single point without any waste.
Ironically, this flashy Shooting Sun was of a lower caliber than that quiet one.
I looked at the sword trembling faintly in my weakened hand and chuckled. Raising my head, I saw the devastated reed field.
'Well... this isn't bad either, but...'
I even felt anticipation at the thought of reaching that quiet sword someday.
With the monster dead, a crack exit formed as if a boss monster had been killed. There were a few survivors in other thatched houses. I took them and handed them over to Helena's subordinates. Perhaps due to the aftermath of using Shooting Sun, I was incredibly tired. This was the first time I had been this exhausted since gaining the power of regeneration.
"Huaam..."
As soon as my internal energy recovered, it vanished as if being sucked into somewhere. As if it were the price of Shooting Sun. With no other choice, I used only my strengthened body to run mindlessly toward Seoul. In the meantime, a call came from Helena.
"Si-woo-nim? Are you alright? Raiden said you looked very tired."
"Yeah. A little tired. Oh, I went to that place marked on the map and found a crack. So I went in..."
"What?! How could you just go into such a suspicious crack!"
I smiled wryly at her worried voice and explained what happened there.
"...Torture and blood? That sounds like those vampire bastards no matter how you look at it. I wondered where they were hiding. So they were there at that time. Those bastards come back to life if you just kill them, so you have to be careful. I'll teach you the sealing method next time."
"Ah... but I don't think this one will come back to life?"
"Huh? How can you..."
"Umm... just intuition?"
I could tell from the bastard's reaction after I cut that faintly visible line, but it was complicated to explain in detail. I was too tired for that right now.
"Huaaam... Anyway, let's talk more when we meet... I need to get some sleep. I'm too tired."
"O-okay... Si-woo-nim...?"
I had been running as fast as I could while talking, and before I knew it, I was in front of the academy dormitory.
"Sorry. I'm so sleepy I'll get some sleep and call you again. I've arrived at the dorm, so don't worry too much."
"Ah, yes... Get some rest."
With her voice as the last thing, I returned to the dormitory. As soon as I entered, Amelia, who was in the room, came trotting out.
"Si-woo's here?! Ung...? You look really tired...?"
"Yeah. A little tired."
Amelia, who had been running to hug me, stopped short.
"Uung... Ch-cheer up!"
Smack.
Amelia, who had a serious expression, suddenly kissed my cheek. She seemed to have been thinking about how to help.
"Haha..."
I couldn't help but laugh. I felt like I was about to collapse at any moment, but I gained a little strength. Using that strength, I crawled into bed.
"I'll sleep a bit..."
Half-asleep, I heard Amelia's voice.
"Hehe... I'll hold you. Good night...! Smack."
With the soft and warm touch on my forehead, my consciousness faded.
I lifted my stiff body and looked around. It was the room. It was the dormitory room. But the bed and walls were crooked. They felt wavy, not straight. The clock was strange too. 38:92. It was the room I usually saw, but it felt oddly surreal. My mind was hazy and muffled.
'It's a dream.'
It had been a really long time since I last dreamed after learning martial arts. I thought about circulating my internal energy to wake up, but I just stayed still. As I sat there staring into space like watching a fire—
Creak.
The door opened.
'Huh?'
Helena and Amelia walked in hesitantly, wearing suggestive clothes. They wore slips that were completely see-through, revealing their underwear. They had nipple covers that barely hid their nipples and open-crotch panties. The most important part, the genital area, was split open. They were panties with no function other than seducing a man. As if they had coordinated, they wore a black set and a white set respectively. Both suited them well. Helena in sexy black, Amelia in pure white. It was such a lewd sight that it was a shame it was a dream.
'Ah...'
I opened my mouth to greet them, but no sound came out. As expected, it was a dream.
After staring at each other for a moment, they rushed over competitively and pulled down my pants. My huge cock popped out and slapped Amelia's face.
"H-Hiyik..."
"Ugh... Y-you're really big..."
Helena, who had been staring blankly, licked her lips and then took the glans into her mouth.