Throw Eye Proficiency Rises!
The heat surging through my entire body felt like it was concentrating solely in my right eye. Reflexively, my hand started toward my face without me even thinking about it... but then.
"What...?"
The moment I saw the message pop up in front of me, my hand froze midway to my face.
‘Throw Eye – Second Form’ awakens!
For 10 minutes, it seals one skill effect and one trait effect from the opponent each!
The newly evolved power of Throw Eye. In a situation like this, where despair piled on despair, it was nothing short of a lifeline.
But I had no time to sigh in relief or flash a triumphant smile.
Shing-.
That fake was slowly drawing the Sword of Salvation from its sheath, closing the distance between us.
Blocking isn't even an option worth considering, and dodging won't help either.
Even if I dodged, the shockwave alone would pulverize my body to dust. So then...
I have to end it before that bastard swings!
The moment my eye, flickering with red light, locked onto him...
A flood of information filled my vision.
A feast of countless skills and traits unfolded before my eyes. I could seal one of each.
But what was there to hesitate over?
The bastard raised his crescent blade high, even though he hadn't fully closed the distance yet. That meant he was confident he could kill me with just the sword wind, damn it.
The instant that blade drew its line, my body would be torn to shreds.
Growing impatient, I shouted out loud.
"Seal Warrior's Awakening and trait number one!"
The moment I bellowed that, whoosh-!!
Sparks ignited from my wide-open right eye, unleashing a terrifying wave of energy.
[……!]
The fake's form was flung backward by the brutal shockwave. He even dropped the Sword of Salvation from his grip, the impact was that severe.
Before his body even hit the ground, thud-!
My feet were already planted in a solid stance.
Right now, that bastard's stats are less than half of half!
The balance had crumbled. In an instant, I closed the gap, snatching the Sword of Salvation spinning through the air.
I positioned the blade tip vertically, ready to sever his windpipe...
[…….]
In that moment when time itself seemed to slow...
For some reason, I caught a glimpse of the fake's face, faintly smiling.
Thirteen long years had passed, but that gentle, warm smile was one I'd never forget—my mom's.
Why the hell was that fake wearing it?
"......!"
Was this another strategy? Yeah. Using the fact that I'm her son to make me hesitate.
Fat chance.
Yeah, no dice. That kind of cheap trick would only piss me off more.
So...
My hand trembled. There was no reason for it to.
I quickly suppressed the shake.
Then I drove the falling blade toward his heart with extra force.
The Blood Can't Lie skill told me the perfect angle and power to minimize his pain. Whether to thank it or curse it, I wasn't sure...
Squelch-!!
An unpleasant sensation slithered up the blade like a snake, making my wrist tingle.
Blood gushed from the fake's mouth as his heart was pierced deep.
You have passed the ‘Central Soul Trial’!
Level up!
The path to the ‘Lower’ opens!
With the system messages, his body began crumbling to powder from the toes up.
Even as his chest, neck, and head vanished, he kept smiling. Not a sneer or a chuckle.
Just a pure, genuine smile.
"...Even at the end, you leave a bad taste, you damn bastard."
When I was a kid, on the day of the final battle with Germadon, Mom had smiled at me like that as she said goodbye.
What a shitty feeling.
Still, my level went up. Let's check my growth and turn this crap mood around—
• Level restriction active (No EXP gain or level up possible. Phase 3 unlock removes level cap)
—Nah, looks like that's not happening.
"Hit the level cap wall again..."
Yeah. I'd known since level 15 that there was a level restriction, and figured this day would come eventually.
But slamming into it again still deflated me.
No choice now...
"You ready to have your spine folded? Diorque, you miserable fuck."
<…….>
Screw the complicated stuff. Time to beat the hell out of that bastard and vent some stress.
Crack.
I cracked my knuckles and stepped lightly toward the gate to the ‘Lower’ like I was off on a picnic.
Or tried to.
"...This feels kinda familiar."
That was before I spotted the extraordinary glow where the fake had powdered away.
Up close, it was a brilliantly shining ‘skill orb.’
"Well, yeah. It gave EXP, so no reason not to drop a skill orb..."
...Wait, hold up.
This wasn't the time to mutter so casually.
A skill orb from an enemy that mimicked Mom and used her skills. That meant...
I could randomly acquire one of Mom's possessed skills.
"Jackpot...!"
Not quite on the level of picking any skill I wanted from the Reverse Dungeon's final reward, but still comparable loot.
I clasped my hands, silently praying ‘please,’ and checked the skill orb's info.
<Skill Information>
Name: Storm Slash
Type: ???
Rank: ???
Description: [Skill cannot be unlocked due to insufficient understanding.]
Effect: ???
‘Da’ slipped out again, but ‘jackpot’ didn’t follow.
The three question marks dominated my mind, just like in the info box.
It was Storm Slash, Mom's ultimate skill on par with Warrior's Awakening.
It dropped, but...
‘Insufficient understanding?’ What the hell?
It's confusing. Sure, constellations sometimes hide details arbitrarily, but I'd never heard of a skill orb concealing its own info.
<You're lucky, you bastard.>
"Hey, you. I'm already boiling inside—don't pour oil on the fire."
He muttered it like to himself, but I couldn't just let it slide in one ear and out the other.
"...Cherished me? That fake didn't even know who I was, right?"
<Do you really not know where this dark space you're standing in is?>
"How the hell would I?"
<Your unconscious mind. Right in the heart of it somewhere.>
What was he getting at? My attention had shifted from Storm Slash to his words.
<The soul realm's central region is normally a blank space. Like a pure white canvas untouched by color. But when someone enters, their unconscious is projected onto that blankness.>
"So that fake appeared because..."
<You've been calling that illusion ‘fake’ this whole time. Far from it. True, it didn't exist in reality, but ‘fake’ is the wrong word. That woman was very much alive in your unconscious as a ‘memory.’>
"...What?"
<However, due to the coercive nature of the trial I set, it had no choice but to attack you. Like a puppet on strings.>
...Honestly, I only half-understood the bullshit. But I got the gist.
"So... what I fought wasn't a ‘fake,’ but the ‘real’ thing? A vision of my mom, alive and breathing only in my unconscious, as I remember her?"
<Quick on the uptake. But as it died by your hand, the trial's coercion seems to have lifted. Back to its senses, it left you a fragment of power.>
"......"
Before I plunged the blade into its heart. Now I understood why the vision wore that expression as it faded.
She recognized me, her son.
But that damn trial coercion or whatever had stolen control of its actions, leaving it helpless.
Only right before vanishing, as the coercion faded, did it regain its will. And smile.
Leaving me that warm smile as its final act. As if saying it was the only message a vision like itself could send.
"......"
What had I thought when the vision smiled at me? Oh right. Don't pull that cheap shit.
......
"You should've just left me in the dark."
I bit my lower lip and stepped through the gate.
You have arrived at the deepest part of the soul realm, the ‘Lower’!
Roar-!!
Pillars of flame erupted from all sides, hot enough to scorch my soul. In that hellish pit, Diorque sat on a jade throne, gazing down at me imperiously.
Behind the throne, a magic circle resembling the ‘Seal of Submission’ spun like a wheel in place.
That was my reason for coming here.
But...
<Finally, I get to measure myself against you.>
"...Measure?"
Right now, the priorities had shifted a bit.
"A punk not even worthy of my mom's toenail clippings, and you've got sky-high self-esteem."
Folding that bastard's spine. That was top priority.
***
Long story short.
I folded Diorque's spine without much trouble.
More precisely, in the process, his waist got clean severed in half.
"What kind of joke is this...? A legion commander this weak?"
<Because of your curse... I lost 70% of my power, and... this body is merely... a fragment of my soul form...>
"Sore loser's got a lot to say. You lost, that's it. What's with the 70% this and soul fragment that...? Yeah, you'd probably be stronger fighting with your mouth."
I mocked him relentlessly, but deep down, I knew the truth.
It wasn't that he was weak. Mom's vision had been too strong earlier. That's why this guy felt weak by comparison.
"...My boiling rage is cooling off from how anticlimactic this is. Whatever. Tell me how to destroy that magic circle."
I nudged Diorque's lone upper body with my foot.
His wretched form began turning to powder bit by bit.
<...The seal will... vanish on its own.... More importantly, you... are far too strong... to be bound by human limits.... In that sense, let me propose... one more time—>
"Ah, damn it. This motormouth. Even at the end, you won't shut up."
I had no interest wasting time on worthless prattle.
...Well, I do have questions about the legion.
But judging by how fast he was crumbling to dust, a nice Q&A wasn't happening.
So what did I do?
Splat-!
I smashed his head spectacularly with my heel.
You have passed the ‘Lower Trial’!
The ‘Seal of Submission’ is destroyed, lifting the soul realm's suppressive force.
The ‘Passage’ opens.
Crash-!
The floating magic circle shattered with a sharp sound, vanishing without a trace.
At the same time, a gate like an exit appeared right in front of me.
Of course,
"Gonna grab what I can before leaving."
I shifted my gaze from the gate downward to the floor.
Where Diorque had vanished, a single horn lay forlornly.
Seemed like one from his head, but...
His whole body powdered away, yet this horn alone remains. There must be a reason.
On a hunch, I stared at the horn and checked its info.
Ding-!
Real info appeared.
◈ A part of the soul form of Diorque, Archduke of Oppression.
◈ Contains a portion of the legion commander's immense power.
◈ Absorb great power through ingestion.
Effect: ???
"Question marks again..."
Like with Storm Slash earlier.
Lots of loot, but all shrouded in mystery—left a weird aftertaste.
‘Absorb the legion commander's power,’ huh.
Sounds good on paper. His main body is ridiculously strong, after all.
But without knowing the exact effects, it felt off.
I'll pocket it for now.
Nothing urgent. Priority one: get out and check on Cheonrang.
The moment I stepped toward the gate...
My vision went black.
"Mm..."
When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was a leaf glistening with iridescent light.
"Come to think of it..."
Before entering the soul realm, I'd sat cross-legged in front of the Worship Tree's base and closed my eyes.
While I'd been fighting, my real body had ended up lying flat.
Wait. Diorque's horn?
Oh, got it. Safe.
I sighed in relief at the ‘Soul Fragment’ clutched in my hand.
Sitting up, I shook my head and suddenly noticed something odd.
Didn't I come here carrying Cheonrang?
Why did my arms feel so empty?
Puzzled, I turned my head to look for him, and...
"Uh...?"
The sight left me speechless for a moment.