Demon God's Armor (10)

Yeong-sik frowned at the unidentified mechanical voice echoing in his ear. He could overlook the suit's name, but user changes and partial usage rights requests? He had no idea what any of it meant.

Hiss. At that moment, pure white steam billowed from the Demon God's Armor, and the suit slowly began to open.

Clank. Clank. The sound of gears meshing rang in Yeong-sik's ears. A space large enough for a person to enter formed inside the suit.

'This is Lacteon Type 2...' Recalling the suit's name he'd just heard, Yeong-sik lay down in the opened space.

Clank. Clank. As the gears meshed once more, the black suit enveloped his body. It fit perfectly, as if tailored just for him.

Once he was inside, a familiar mechanical sound returned to his ears.

'Max output at 20% for just five minutes?' A flicker of disappointment crossed Yeong-sik's face. It was fortunate that partial use was possible at all, but 20% didn't sound all that impressive.

But then.

Thick steam filled the room. Visual data from the suit's visor flooded directly into Yeong-sik's mind. A torrent of immense power surged through his entire body.

"Urk?!"

Yeong-sik hurriedly opened the room's window and rushed outside. Controlling the boiling power surging through him was proving difficult.

Hiss! Billowing white steam erupted from the suit, spreading outward. Yeong-sik's body shot upward into the sky at tremendous speed.

Boom!

A sonic boom ripped through the air as he exceeded the speed of sound. Fierce winds whipped around him.

"This is... just 20%?"

Yeong-sik stared down at his suited body in disbelief. An overwhelming force, like his whole body might explode, coursed through him.

Whoosh.

Information on the suit's functions and its arsenal of weapons streamed into his mind. The flood of data churned his thoughts. As he absorbed it, Yeong-sik's eyes trembled.

'This is insane.'

The suit contained far more functions than he'd imagined. And among them was the most crucial one.

"It syncs with my weapons?"

The suit's key feature: synchronization with Yeong-sik's own weapons.

"Blade."

Yeong-sik tested it out. Clank! His left wrist opened, but the blade emerged from the suit's gauntlet instead. It was a black-edged blade. Instinctively, he knew this was on a whole different level from his usual one.

"All my other weapons have synced and powered up too..."

Yeong-sik frowned in confusion. Why? The question flashed through his mind.

Syncing with his weapons was great. Without it, he couldn't have used his shotgun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or blade while suited up. And with enhancements on top? It was perfect.

The problem was, he couldn't understand why the suit had a function ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to sync specifically with his weapons.

'What the hell is going on?'

This "Demon God's Armor," discovered during the Great War between the Ingrium Empire and the northern monsters long before Yeong-sik was summoned to Earth—how could it sync with the weapons embedded in his body?

"What the hell am I?"

The more time passed, the less Yeong-sik felt he understood about himself. Hovering in the air, he sank into thought for a while.

The mechanical voice snapped him out of it. Regaining his focus, Yeong-sik extended one hand and fired an Energy Blast.

Vrrrroooom!

Energy gathered as if a sun had descended from the heavens. Yeong-sik unleashed it toward the sky.

Kaboom!

The massive energy orb, larger than a person, pierced the heavens. Clouds touched by it evaporated instantly from the intense heat.

"Ha..."

A hollow laugh escaped Yeong-sik's lips as he felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the suit's power anew. It was overwhelming—the word didn't even do it justice.

'If this is just 20% max output...' Imagining its full potential made him dizzy. No S-rank rare item could compare; they'd be mere trinkets.

'With this suit...'

An image flashed in Yeong-sik's mind: a fierce woman with an uncomfortably long greatsword. White Sword Kang Ha-rin.

He'd later learned she was a level 103 ranker. Beyond level 100, each level meant a massive stat gap, making her stronger than most called "rankers."

He'd never seen her full power, but in this state, he could hold his own against her. Hell, he might even win.

'Ah... but with only five minutes, I couldn't keep it up long enough to win.'

The suit's biggest issue wasn't the 20% limit—it was the mere five-minute runtime.

Yeong-sik descended back to the ground. As his feet touched down, white steam vented from the Lacteon Type 2. The overwhelming power filling his body drained away.

"Hoo..."

Yeong-sik frowned at the strange sense of powerlessness washing over him. Moments ago, a thrilling torrent of power had raged through him—its sudden absence was jarring, of course.

"Come to think of it, when Tiriya used Grace of the Archangel, she said she could go toe-to-toe with a level 103 ranker."

Yeong-sik murmured in a low voice, calling her by the casual name instead of the stiff "Miss Tiriya." If her power reached that level with the artifact restored, he could ask her later to test the suit against her.

'I'll talk to her about it later.'

With that thought, Yeong-sik stored the suit in his inventory. His expanded inventory, grown with his levels, had plenty of space for it.

Stowing the suit, he lightly used Boost to leap to the second-floor window of his room.

"Kyaaak!"

A short scream echoed as Yeong-sik entered. It was A-ra.

"W-Why'd you come in through the window like that?!"

A-ra yelled at Yeong-sik, who entered through the window out of nowhere. He gave an awkward smile and opened his mouth.

"I had some business outside, so I was coming back in."

"Business...?"

She looked at him puzzled.

"I'll tell you later. More importantly, what are you doing here?"

Yeong-sik dodged the question and asked her instead. Hearing that, A-ra swallowed a groan and pouted her lips.

"Tell me."

"Huh?"

"Tell me what happened. Right now."

She said it in a whiny tone, hard to imagine from her usual personality.

"Uh... alright, I'll tell you."

Yeong-sik sat on the bed and began explaining the Lacteon Type 2 he'd acquired. From discovering it by chance in the palace report hall, to hearing from Hendrick that it was from the Great War, to testing it and uncovering something incomprehensible.

He laid out everything that had happened over the past few days in detail.

A-ra listened, staring at him with a somewhat dazed expression the whole time.

"What's wrong?"

Yeong-sik asked, noticing her blank stare.

Her face flushed bright red at his words.

"N-Nothing. It's nothing."

She bowed her head, face crimson. Clenching ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her eyes shut, she thought to herself.

'It's been so long since we talked like this... How am I supposed to say I'm just happy about it?'

From arriving at the Sirenchium Mountains at Han-seong's call, Yeong-sik had led Salvatore Guild with such unique charisma that calling him guild master felt natural. Watching him grow close to others—especially Tiriya—stirred an inexplicable anxiety in her.

The fear that he'd slip away to a place beyond her reach. That's why she'd forced this alone time, even if it meant acting spoiled.

"Um, Yeong-sik..."

Her voice trembled as she called his name. She swallowed dryly. The spicy tension filling the room made her heart race.

Drunk on the mood, she leaned in toward him with a hazy expression. Her breathtakingly beautiful face drew slowly closer, close enough to steal his breath.

"A-A-ra...?"

Yeong-sik looked troubled by her sudden move. A-ra cupped his cheeks with both hands and whispered tensely.

"J-Just stay still."

She leaned in further. The space between them shrank.

That was when.

Bang!

"Yeong-sik! The guild master's calling everyone to the lobby—party tonight..."

Kim Gil-su burst in energetically, then froze at the sight, his expression stiffening.

"Ahem. My mistake... I'll make sure you two have your intimate time. I'll tell the guild master myself..."

"Kyaaaaaaaak!"

A-ra's scream echoed through the inn.