Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Shuv Ranigdu, Ruler of Geomseong Palace
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Shin Yu-hyun gazed at the woman trapped within the crystal.
Her lavish golden hair cascaded in waves down to her waist.
A beautiful face that could belong to someone in her twenties or thirties.
Black goat-like horns protruded from either side of her head, and expansive black feathered wings spread from her lower back.
Enveloped in a black dress adorned with white patterns stood a stunningly demonic beauty inside the crystal.
'The Ruler of Geomseong Palace, Shuv Ranigdu.'
Shin Yu-hyun silently contemplated her for a moment before placing his hand on the crystal.
At that instant.
Crack.
A fracture began to spiderweb across the crystal's surface.
Krshh!
Moments later, the cracks multiplied exponentially, and the crystal shattered into countless shards.
Shuv's seal had been broken.
With the crystal that had suppressed her power now destroyed, black mana poured out in visibly tangible form.
Her floating body caused her golden hair and the hem of her dress to flutter in the emanating mana.
Flutter.
Soon after, her eyes quietly opened.
Golden demonic eyes gleaming coldly in black sclera scanned the surroundings before settling on Shin Yu-hyun standing before her.
Shin Yu-hyun, too, looked up at her without a word.
A voluptuous, statue-like body reminiscent of a goddess, with radiant golden hair and skin as white as snow—this was a peerless beauty.
Her icy golden demonic eyes and the thick black mana oozing out, darkening the air around her, made her appear like a golden goddess emerging from the shadows.
"I greet the Immortal King's successor."
She descended gracefully to the ground, lifted the hem of her dress slightly, bowed at the waist, and offered her respects.
"You know me?"
"Yes. You carry the same scent as him."
Shuv gazed at Shin Yu-hyun with gentle eyes.
"I've waited so long for your arrival. Command me in anything."
"Anything?"
"Yes. I will serve any order you give."
Shuv spoke in a honeyed voice that could steal one's soul.
Not only that, but as she bowed, she looked up at him from below with a kind, benevolent smile.
Her dizzying cleavage, marked by a black beauty mark, came into view.
Moreover, the golden demonic eyes fixed on Shin Yu-hyun gleamed with an ominous light.
'Is she testing me?'
A smile tugged at Shin Yu-hyun's lips.
Shuv had activated her Eyes of Seduction to test him.
But she didn't know.
That Shin Yu-hyun's mental fortitude was at 100.
"Playing such petty tricks."
Shin Yu-hyun smirked as he looked at her.
To think she'd try to seduce him.
"It doesn't work, as expected."
Shuv looked at him with a hint of regret. She'd used seduction to gauge what kind of man he was.
Yet he'd resisted it.
"Of course."
Before entering the room where Shuv was held.
Shin Yu-hyun hadn't succumbed to the sensual temptations of various beauties.
Of course, among them, Shuv possessed the most dangerous allure.
"Well, my heart wavered for a second there."
At Shin Yu-hyun's sudden quip, Shuv simply smiled serenely without a word.
Then she bowed her head toward him and spoke.
"My apologies, Master. Please forgive my impertinence."
"I'll let this one slide."
Shin Yu-hyun nodded at Shuv's apology for testing him.
From her calling him "Master," he knew she acknowledged him as the Immortal King's successor.
"Then allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Shuv Ranigdu, one of the Seven Arcs, ruler of Geomseong Palace. I'm delighted to meet you again, Master."
Shuv smiled sensually at Shin Yu-hyun.
She wasn't intending to seduce him this time, but her inhuman beauty made even a simple smile feel alluring.
"Shin Yu-hyun of the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan."
Yet Shin Yu-hyun remained unmoved by her goddess-like smile.
He had no intention of letting her set the pace.
'As expected, one of the Immortal King's direct summons.'
Shin Yu-hyun checked her status window.
He'd half-expected it, but Shuv was a being of immense power.
Even fresh from the crystal, with her strength not fully returned and her abilities still sealed, her rank was a staggering 6-star.
Once fully unleashed, she could reach 7- or even 8-star.
That meant power on par with—or surpassing—Sword King Shin Sung-il, a 7-star Transcendent Realm master and Sword Master.
Her titles evoking darkness, and unique skills like Essence Absorption, Ecstatic Curse, and Tentacle Summon screamed danger.
In every sense of the word.
"So, Master, what will you do from here?"
As he reviewed her status, Shuv posed the question.
Her query was clear.
What would he accomplish as the Immortal King?
'What to do, huh...'
Shin Yu-hyun pondered her words.
Seeking revenge on Getia using the Immortal King's power was a given.
And tied to that revenge was another task.
"I'll achieve what the original Immortal King couldn't."
"You mean...?"
"Drive out the Magic Beasts."
Getia had swept over humanity using Magic Beasts.
To Shin Yu-hyun, the Magic Beasts were no different from Getia—targets to be eradicated.
"As expected."
Shuv nodded happily at his answer.
He would carry on the original Immortal King's will.
The first Immortal King had waged war to exterminate the Magic Beasts.
But he failed to drive them out. In fact, far from it—his fate became unknown amid the war, and the Seven Arcs scattered.
Moreover, Shin Yu-hyun had realized something from the murals in Shuv's sealed chamber.
The Magic Beasts' influence extended even to the cosmos, and beyond them lurked something more.
"Then tell me everything you know."
"I'll share any information I have."
"Start with the Immortal King."
"I'm sorry, but I can't speak of the original Immortal King. He bound us by contract not to reveal anything about himself to anyone."
"Not even to me, his successor?"
"Yes. He impressed upon us never to tell a soul."
Shin Yu-hyun clicked his tongue at Shuv's firm nod.
He'd wanted to know who the original Immortal King was, but to think even the successor was off-limits.
"What about his abilities, then?"
"All I know is that he possessed them innately. And you, the successor, have inherited his legacy and powers."
Thus, Shin Yu-hyun learned from Shuv about the original Immortal King's abilities.
It mostly aligned with his expectations, leading to the conclusion that he needed to raise his Superhuman rank to grow stronger.
And as quickly as possible, find the other Seven Arcs and bolster his summons.
Having heard the full rundown on the Immortal King's powers, Shin Yu-hyun asked his next question.
"Were you Seven Arcs with the original Immortal King from the start?"
"No. We formed contracts with him and became his allies."
"Contracts?"
"Yes. We acknowledged him and chose to become his summons."
"I see..."
Shin Yu-hyun's eyes widened in surprise at her words.
The Seven Arcs were the Immortal King's direct summons.
He'd thought they were born from his powers, but they were contracted beings.
"No need to worry. We contracted to serve not just the original Immortal King, but his successor as well."
"And you're fine with that?"
"Yes. To us, the successor is no different from him."
Shuv flashed a captivating smile with those enigmatic words.
At any rate, knowing the Seven Arcs were bound to him as successor eased Shin Yu-hyun's mind.
"So what are you, exactly?"
"We are beings who crossed time and dimensions to contract with the original Immortal King. That's why our origins vary."
"Traveling time and dimensions? The power of the Time-Hunting Hound?"
Her words reminded Shin Yu-hyun of the massive blue wolf that had gazed at him across time and space before his regression.
The message about it watching him across time had given him chills.
If it was the power of the Time-Hunting Hound—or that blue wolf—traveling time and dimensions wasn't impossible.
"Yes. The original Immortal King received much aid from Tamrang Palace back then. And not just them—we can also traverse nearby dimensions or spaces."
Shuv spoke with a soft smile.
Indeed, Shin Yu-hyun himself had arrived in this world—where Shuv's sealed temple lay—via Dia's power.
"If you wield such dimensional travel, you must be extraordinarily powerful. So why contract with the Immortal King?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Shuv's aura shifted at his question. A chilling frost began to emanate from her.
"To eradicate the Magic Beasts. And the ones who created them, too."
It seemed Shuv and the Seven Arcs harbored deep hatred for the Magic Beasts.
The reason was plain without asking.
They'd surely lost everything to them.
Loved ones, family, friends.
That was why they'd joined hands with the Immortal King, who sought to annihilate all Magic Beasts.
But one part of her words made Shin Yu-hyun probe further.
"There are beings who created the Magic Beasts?"
A vague unease he'd felt since earlier.
From the chamber murals, he'd sensed something dangerous lurked beyond the Magic Beasts.
But creators of the Magic Beasts? What did that even mean?