Chapter 155
Chapter 155
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Fiend
Fiend.
>
Roarrr.
My body was burning.
It was pitch-black flames.
However, they carried a strange hue.
The power closest to black—the Demon King's power.
It was utterly different from that green-tinged, deep blackness.
>
Fwoosh.
Flames.
Those black flames were consuming my body.
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"Warm."
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I felt that sensation.
On the contrary, I could sense that these flames shared a similar shade with the Demon King's power, yet their essence was entirely different.
Flames that devoured evil.
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"...Devours evil with evil."
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The Demonic Cult, or Sun and Moon Divine Cult.
That was the phrase that always came up in descriptions of the place.
>
I'd never grasped what it truly felt like to devour evil with evil.
But now... I had a sense of it.
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⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [...Not bad. Quite satisfactory.] A foreign voice.
I quietly suppressed my presence and slipped into the gloom.
>
Right now, with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art activated.
A power unlike anything before was surging through my body.
>
-Wh-what's happening, Yuseong!
-Are you okay?
-D-did the Heavenly Demon consume you?
-Those damn bastards finally touched our master!!
"No, it's not like that."
-Huh, are you alright?
>
To the worried voices of the holy sword and holy bow, I gave a light nod.
>
"That's not the issue right now."
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Pitch-black flames.
Once they entered me, the Extreme Thunder God's power vanished.
No—not vanished. That wasn't the right word.
>
"...Status window."
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚡ Strength: 105 💨 Agility: 105 ✨ Magic Power: 105 💪 Stamina: 105 🍀 Luck: 105 🛡️ Endurance: 105 ◈ Gifts -[Steal Strike (?)], [Thief's Divine Realm (S+)], [Tyrant (S+)], [Storm Giant's Heart (S+)], [Fist Ghost (S+)], [Black Flame (S)], [Elf's Compounding Ability (A)], [Synthesis (B)]
◈ Skills -[Heavenly Demon Divine Art (S+)], [Shadow Dance · Phantom Image (S+)], [Hidden Space (B)], [Dragon Poison Technique (B)]
◈ Techniques -[Hero's Orthodox Breathing (Lv 15)], [Fist Arts (Lv 80)], [Archery (Lv 75)], [Footwork (Lv 65)], [Body Arts (Lv 50)], [Throwing (Lv 50)], [Dragon Poison Technique (Lv 50)]
A few gifts had changed.
Sword Ghost became Fist Ghost.
Extreme Thunder God turned into this power called Black Flame.
The other heart methods had vanished.
And the Heavenly Demon Divine Art had taken their place.
>
One more thing.
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"The techniques shifted from sword arts to fist arts."
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I clenched my fist and threw a punch at the empty air.
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Thud!
I wasn't all that familiar with fist arts, but I'd built the basics through body arts.
Even so, this felt entirely different. A bizarre sensation, as if I'd spent my whole life wielding only fists.
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"...Did the Heavenly Demon soulstone temporarily tamper with something?"
>
That was the most plausible guess.
And I already knew how to undo whatever prank the Heavenly Demon had played.
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"Just stop operating the Heavenly Demon Divine Art."
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In other words...
As long as I kept the Heavenly Demon Divine Art running, I could move in this state.
>
"Interesting."
>
I pulled a mask from my Hidden Space.
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The one from before.
The mask Ermé had handed out during the fight with Diago.
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"Some people will recognize this mask."
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If anyone who knew it saw me, it could serve as proof of my identity.
Of course, it wasn't that famous, so the enemies wouldn't catch on.
>
I informed the holy sword and holy bow of what I'd just discovered.
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-The moment you operate the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, you can wield Black Flame...
-Congratulations, Master! Regardless of the rest, their Black Flame will be incredibly useful!
-I agree with the holy bow. Though I have no idea what sort of being would hand over Black Flame to you so readily.
-What, his face? It's not like there were no female Heavenly Demons.
-You think a Heavenly Demon would fall for a punk like you? Those fiends became demons to slay evil. They had the will to protect the world—do you really believe they'd stoop to that...?
-Hmph, one look at that face and you could live off it for ten years. Does anything else even matter?!
-It matters a ton!
>
As the holy sword and holy bow bickered...
I shrugged off my coat and donned the black martial robe I'd bought on a whim back East.
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-Oh my, that suits you too!
-To think this punk shares the same divine artifact status as me...
>
Crack, crack.
I loosened up lightly.
The power had changed, but the shift itself wasn't drastic.
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"The problem is that most of my sword arts are sealed."
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I clenched my fist lightly and unleashed a single strike.
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Whoosh!
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-Hm?
-As expected of Master!
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Once more.
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Whoosh!
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-Wait a second...
-As expected of Master!
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I'm starting to get the hang of it.
I threw another straight punch.
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Hwang!
-Hey, what the hell are you doing!?
-Huh.
"Close enough."
>
I relived that sensation from moments ago and threw another punch.
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Thud!
One swung fist.
And then...
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Papapapang!
Dozens of fist energies tore through space in an instant.
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"Hero's Orthodox Swordsmanship? Handled."
-Wait, you adapted swordsmanship into fists?
-No, hold on... Isn't that the Hero's Orthodox Swordsmanship?!
>
The holy bow practically shrieked it out.
She'd finally realized what I'd done.
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But the Hero's Orthodox Swordsmanship—no, fist arts now—didn't mesh perfectly with fists.
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"The follow-ups aren't that strong."
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Proof that it hadn't caught up to my sword arts yet.
This was a clear downgrade.
What if I focused on making a single strike even stronger?
Not a punch.
A heavy, smashing blow.
>
Kuuuung!!
The empty alley floor.
My fist was imprinted right into it.
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"...I've got the feel for it."
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Regrettable, but I hesitated to use the other sword arts.
That said, if I had to use something else...
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"The Black Cloud that Black Nether Art taught me."
-Most would say you stole it.
"Whatever."
>
I reshaped Black Cloud at will.
A cloud of sword energies unleashed all at once—Black Cloud.
I dismantled it entirely in one go.
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"Grab the Black Cloud."
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And swing it as if clutching it tight.
My fist lashed out in all directions. Thanks to my body arts training, my steps were light. My body moved as I willed.
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Pababak!
In an instant, my fists blurred into rapid motion.
Gripping the cloud, swinging it wildly.
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"...This isn't bad at all."
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But the opponent was level 7.
I could prepare more...
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"First, smash those guys."
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Caution was key against a level 7.
But after hearing their union technique's killing move from the Haomen lord, something occurred to me.
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Steal Strike.
That might nullify their killing move.
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-This seems manageable.
-Fighting a level 7 already... But if it gets dangerous, use me over the holy sword—he's not fully unlocked yet!
-You brat! You're not fully attuned to the master either, so you can't bring out your full power!
-Still more useful than a completely sealed holy sword.
>
Fair enough.
I nodded quietly at the holy bow's words and set off for the Black Heart Pavilion.
>
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Black Heart Pavilion.
The executives were holding an urgent meeting there.
>
"...Which bastard touched that guy?!"
"We haven't even touched him yet..."
"Could we even afford to? Ever think about who's protecting him?!"
>
Shouts rang out.
All of them Black Heart Pavilion executives.
>
They dwelt more in Cradle's shadows than its light.
But they knew their place.
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Their usual MO: poke at low-ranking clan grunts, slowly crush adventurers, then extort money from the clans.
But this time, they'd picked the wrong target.
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"Damn it, messing with a clan that has the guild master, Volkan, and even the crown prince dropping by?"
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This was dangerous.
Luckily, everyone was distracted with stabilizing the Labyrinth right now.
But all eyes were on this place.
It wouldn't be strange if their deeds from last night had already been exposed.
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"This got messy."
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Of all clans, they'd poked the Starlight Helix Clan. They might get made an example of.
The Gold Witch would absolutely do it.
Even if she was away at the Hero Contest right now.
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"We need to bolt, and fast."
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Most executives had already decided to abandon ship.
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"Grab as much wealth as we can..."
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Just flee like this.
Apologizing would be ideal, but they'd racked up too many sins.
The moment Volkan or the guild master got involved, this place would vanish without a trace.
The executives' heads would roll.
And the clan leader would be publicly executed as a warning.
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One such figure was crisis enough, but at least three heavyweights were tangled up here.
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Normally, they wouldn't fret this much.
But who was their vice clan leader?
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The Gold Witch.
A monstrous woman who'd seized a chunk of Cradle's underworld in under a year and controlled ten percent of the money flowing through it.
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Those in the shadows had heard the rumors about her.
Like how she'd confronted a loan shark boss and punished him by slipping cockroaches into his soup while he ate.
Or how she'd used a single gold coin to set slave market operators against each other until they killed one another.
Incredible tales, hard to believe—but every underworld clan that crossed her met a grim end.
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And their clan leader...
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"A real monster..."
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The longer the Labyrinth endured, the more powerhouses it birthed.
Centuries after the first level 9 emerged, just how many were there now?
The Starlight Helix Clan's leader was rumored to be on track to become the world's first level 10.
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They'd been watching closely, but they'd still goofed and poked that clan.
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In truth, Han Yuseong hadn't thought that far.
He'd only planned minimal retribution.
But the guild executives were tormented by the Gold Witch's notoriety, her tangled connections everywhere, the guild master's foul mood...
And the revelation that Rebelion—the group they'd allied with—were terrorists.
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As the executive meeting wrapped up and they scrambled to snatch whatever assets they could...
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Kwaaang!!
A terrifying explosion rocked the base of the clan building.
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"...They've already stormed in?!"
"Get the clan leader—now!"
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The executives grabbed their weapons, rallied their underlings, and rushed downstairs.
The Gold Witch was still far off.
So it might be the clan leader who'd come.
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"Still young after all."
"Stall as long as possible. We can't let the royal body get hurt."
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They exchanged quick glances as they descended.
What they saw...
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A man in an eastern black martial robe, masked, wreathed in black flames.
But his presence was terrifying.
Just meeting his eyes through the mask felt like it could knock you out—overwhelming killing intent.
Most of the clan's underlings were already collapsing in convulsions.
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"Wh-what kind of monster is that..."
"We can't fight that...!"
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The executives screamed inwardly.
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"Wh-who are you?"
"Me?"
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Han Yuseong took a quiet step forward, pondering.
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"Roughly... Fist Demon?"
>
But the Tyrant's power crushed their minds.
As a result, the executives wildly misjudged his strength.
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"Black Flame! It's the Black Flame Demon Emperor!"
"Everyone, run! That's at least a level 8 monster!"
"...?"
>
Huh?