Fall of the Sin of Pride
Pride of the Seven Deadly Sins.
She never even considered the possibility of defeat.
Not when Ma-in Roland showed signs of worry, nor when she read the information about Mumyeong from him.
Who knew a human could make my heart race like this.
She simply enjoyed the situation with an intrigued expression.
Mumyeong's true value doesn't lie in his apostles.
Even facing Lucifer and Gabriel was no burden. The Apocalypse Temple was practically her bedroom.
Kwaaang—! Kwagwang!
The endlessly spawning clones, combined with Pride's devastating destruction magic, pressed the two apostles hard.
I wonder how Mumyeong will attack.
Even in the midst of battle, Pride's interest was solely on Mumyeong.
Finally, when Mumyeong entered the interior of the Apocalypse Temple.
At last.
Pride grew greatly excited.
Her prediction was correct.
Mumyeong hadn't been in the Apocalypse Temple from the start.
He had simply been watching through his apostles.
So that's how it was.
The Bewitching Mist she had deployed blocked all communications—even the higher-level ones used by apostles.
In the end, unable to grasp the internal situation, Mumyeong had come himself.
Leashed beasts, your master has arrived.
"!"
The two apostles didn't respond to those words. They simply charged forward with gleaming eyes.
It was a desperate attempt to buy even a little time.
Kwaaaang—!
Purple plant stems erupted from thin air, surging toward the two apostles. The terrifying destructive power caused the astral realm to crumble.
It was overwhelmingly fast and overwhelmingly powerful.
The longer the stalemate dragged on, the more wounds accumulated on Lucifer and Gabriel's bodies.
Mumyeong had cleared the second trial. Every demonic beast in the trial had lost its life.
Hmm.
She couldn't comprehend the principle behind it. Living things had simply lost their lives in an instant.
It wasn't physical force.
Nor magical power.
Divine authority, then?
No, it didn't feel like that.
Pride had revived countless times across eons and dimensions.
She thought she could easily discern it with a single glance. Yet this was an ability she couldn't understand at all.
It was in that moment, as Pride's brow furrowed.
"What're you pondering so deeply?"
Lucifer had closed in before she knew it, sneering. Black demonic energy gathered in his hand.
Not a chance.
Pride casually swung her hand, and a plant stem shot out from behind her.
"Kuhuk."
It was too fast for Lucifer to react. The stem grabbed his ankle and swung him around.
Kwagwagwa—!
Lucifer was mercilessly dragged across the wall. Gabriel fared no better.
"Ugh!"
The clones' magic power hounded Gabriel. Amid the endless explosions, she couldn't even move.
The two apostles without restriction releases were no match for Pride.
Moreover, with Mumyeong here in person, there was no reason to hold back.
Shall we see Mumyeong's reaction?
Pride smiled leisurely and gestured.
She sent clones toward Mumyeong. They were clones infused with fragments of her soul.
Perfect for extracting information.
However.
Puhwaak—!
The clones vanished without doing a thing. Pride's lips twisted. No reaction whatsoever.
Hmm...
As she pondered briefly, Gabriel's restriction suddenly released. Vast holy power erupted as she charged forward.
Tudududu—!
Pride blocked the attack with plant stems and ascended into the air. Unraveling the power's principle seemed difficult.
Unless she captured Mumyeong for experiments.
Pride dodged Gabriel's onslaught nimbly while lost in thought.
It's a skill used by a human, after all. There must be limits.
Her current Omniscient Authority was limited. She couldn't read Mumyeong's weaknesses through the apostles.
From here, it was all prediction and conjecture.
Maybe Mumyeong can't deal with things he can't see?
He appeared when the apostle connection severed.
Not all demonic beasts in the second trial were killed. A few out of sight survived.
The clones were destroyed the moment they appeared before Mumyeong.
If so, dealing with it is easy.
Suspicion turned to certainty. Pride summoned the Bewitching Mist around herself.
Kwagwagwa—!
She attacked the now-unneeded apostles with lethal intent. Plants and destruction magic swirled chaotically, driving Lucifer and Gabriel back.
That was fun after so long.
She confirmed the restriction release lasted 3 minutes. It would end around Mumyeong's arrival.
Dealing with Mumyeong was simple too.
Hide in the mist and observe via clones.
Kwaaang—!
By the time Mumyeong arrived, the two apostles lay on the astral realm's floor. Their stamina was depleted.
Pride peered down from within the mist.
Two humans, including Mumyeong.
Let's test it.
The dispatched clones emerged from the mist—and died instantly.
A smile deepened on Pride's lips.
As long as she didn't reveal herself, defeat was impossible.
I won't come out of here. What will you do now, Mumyeong?
All that remained was how to toy with Mumyeong. Just as an irrepressible look of delight spread across Pride's face.
Puhwaak—!
Pride's arm flew off.
When her entire arm was severed, the first emotion Pride felt was bewilderment.
He saw through the Bewitching Mist?
If that was possible, why not attack her from the start?
Arrogant...!
To Pride, it felt like clumsy bravado. An unavoidable attack. She could only think it deliberately targeted her arm.
Pride's face twisted.
An arm was nothing.
She could regenerate it.
She gathered the mist upon impact to regenerate—but.
Regeneration isn't working...?
No energy was felt where her arm should be. Pride's eyes shook for the first time.
At the same moment, she instinctively knew.
The next attack was unavoidable.
Mumyeong's eyes were cold.
Not a hint of hesitation.
"Die..."
Mumyeong's mouth opened.
In that split second.
Pride moved.
She had to.
This was her last chance.
Kwaaaa—!
Purple plant stems erupted near Pride, shooting like beams of light.
Terrifying speed.
Too fast for Joo Kanghyeok to react.
The fallen apostles kicked off the ground to rush forward, but they instinctively knew.
Too late.
The distance from their master was too great.
By the time they arrived, the stems would have pierced him.
A desperate crisis.
Yet one person didn't miss that brief moment.
Sa Choiheon.
Red energy poured from his body. In an instant, he entered overload and leaped forward.
No other reason.
Just instinct.
At this moment.
The instinct to protect Mumyeong drove Sa Choiheon.
Muscles expanded and burned from the special item's activation, mana circuits overheating in sustained overload.
Sa Choiheon's sword etched a single blue line in space. The stem extending toward Joo Kanghyeok couldn't cross it, splitting left and right.
Kwaaaang—!
The attack on Mumyeong was blocked. But Sa Choiheon took the massive impact head-on.
Red blood poured from Sa Choiheon's mouth.
The price for ignoring an Apocalypse Apostle's aura.
Yet that one move decided the fight.
Mumyeong's Instant Death activated. The short two-word incantation completed.
Puhwaak—!
Pride's other arm flew off.
Huhk!
A horrifying shock engulfed Pride.
Mumyeong didn't stop.
Merciless attacks raged.
Puhwaak—!
Both legs.
Puhwak—!
Abdomen.
Puhwaak—!
Heart.
They burst into the air amid sprays of red blood.
Mmph...!
Only her head remained, gasping in midair. Everything seemed to flow in slow motion.
Ah...
She let out a short sigh.
In the end, she couldn't understand it to the last.
What that power was.
Why Mumyeong was so strong.
She knew nothing.
No, it was a meaningless question.
Only one thought surfaced.
Simply...
She had touched what she shouldn't have.
Her own pride had invited death.
That was all.
Puhwaak—!
Pride's head exploded.
The numerous destruction spells casting behind her fizzled in midair.
Pasasak—!
The plant stems extending around shattered and withered in an instant. The ominous mist filling the Apocalypse Temple vanished all at once.
Pride was dead.
'Seven Deadly Sins: Pride' has lost their life.
The Apocalypse Temple has been fully cleared.
Calculating rewards.
In the silence, Cheon Iryeong spoke up.
"D-did we win?"
"Yeah. Mumyeong did it."
Sa Choiheon replied dryly. He was kneeling on the floor.
Cough.
A clump of red blood spilled from his mouth.
The overload state plus taking Pride's aura full-body.
Swish.
Mumyeong calmly extended a hand toward him.
In truth, to Joo Kanghyeok, it had felt like a mere instant.
Something flying, flashing, exploding.
Even as an A-rank hunter, he couldn't gauge the situation.
But Sa Choiheon had blocked the attack with his life on the line.
That much he knew.
"Mumyeong..."
Sa Choiheon stared at the offered hand briefly before grasping it.
Helped to his feet, he wiped his mouth. Lucifer and Gabriel approached Joo Kanghyeok too.
Neither was unscathed.
A sign of how fierce the battle had been.
"Master, you worked hard."
"Glad you're okay..."
Mumyeong looked straight ahead.
There had been twists and turns, but the Apocalypse Apostle had fallen. The immediate crisis was overcome.
Only quiet silence lingered in the astral realm.
Step, step.
Mumyeong walked forward.
He picked up the black stone where the Apocalypse Apostle had died. As he examined it, he noticed an overlooked presence in his vision.
Behind the throne in the astral realm.
"..."
There sat Roland, terrified out of his mind.
United States, Arizona.
The Grand Canyon's heart.
"Huh, Pride's already dead."
A boy with androgynous features looked up at the sky. An ominous aura emanated from him, perched on a rock.
"Hilarious. Mumyeong? Beaten by a single human? You buying that?"
Dismembered human bodies littered around the boy. One barely breathing hunter trembled faintly.
"No answer? Annoying."
The boy flicked a stone fragment nearby. It pierced the hunter's head.
Seven Deadly Sins: Envy.
Apocalypse Apostles inevitably summon others.
Before building the temple, Pride had summoned Envy to the mortal realm.
One inevitably summons another.
But limited to one per person.
The system's limit.
When Envy opened his eyes, only hunters surrounded him.
S-rank or whatever.
Envy found a smartphone amid the corpses.
A pretty amusing device.
"Humanity here's developed some fun stuff. Totally different from other worlds."
Mumbling, Envy operated the phone.
He gathered info on Mumyeong. Nothing particularly useful.
Just somewhat famous in a small country called Korea.
"Stupid woman, but she recorded the info properly."
The real intel came from the recently deceased Pride. Precisely, from the memory repository shared among the Seven Deadly Sins.
Pride's death was quite valuable.
"Incredibly, incredibly intriguing."
Mumyeong's ability was extraordinary.
With such power, how easily could he bring apocalypse?
Envy boiled beyond mere jealousy.
"Seven Deadly Sins: Envy."
"Yeah?"
A unfamiliar voice reached the lounging Envy's ear.
The boy furrowed his brow. A human knowing his identity? Obvious.
"A prophet?"
"Yes, that's correct."
A woman in a half-mask and black cloak. Elise Grainzer, leader of the Star of Prophets.
Envy waved her off lazily.
"Don't kill anyone, don't do this, don't do that. Prophets are always like that, huh?"
"..."
Envy clicked his tongue and turned to the prophet.
"From now on, I'll kill whatever comes out of your mouth, in order."
"You must not summon other Seven Deadly Sins to this world."
"Okay, kill all Seven Deadly Sins—wait, no."
The boy rose from the rock. Murderous intent filled his eyes. The air grew heavy.
"Why should I listen to you?"
A higher being's aura overwhelmed the surroundings.
Yet the prophet's voice didn't waver.
"Then I request you not provoke Mumyeong."
"Ah, Mumyeong. You want me to kill him first."
Elise continued calmly.
"Mumyeong may bring true apocalypse to this world."
"...?"
A brief silence.
Envy burst into laughter.
"Pfft, you lost your mind? A puny human bringing apocalypse?"
Elise ignored the mockery.
"In a world where nothing exists, apocalypse holds no meaning. Your own purpose vanishes too."
"Hey, kid. Cut the pointless koans."
"Kid..."
Envy shot to his feet, approaching Elise. A sinister smile curled his lips.
"I'll awaken all Seven Deadly Sins. Tell humanity clearly: tutorial's over, age of apocalypse begins. Might take a bit, though."
Not as easy as he claimed.
Conditions attached for all to descend in this era.
He hoped to unsettle the prophet.
But Elise replied flatly.
"You won't be able to stop Mumyeong."
"...Even better?"
The boy clenched his fist with a mad grin, intent on smashing her head—but.
"She ran."
The prophet had vanished.
"Mumyeong..."
Ridiculous.
What kind of guy was he?
No, he roughly knew, but couldn't comprehend.
Why did this world's prophets fear Mumyeong more than the Seven Deadly Sins?
"Let's see for myself."
Envy ground his teeth.
Inside the temple.
The site of the second trial.
"That guy's really Mumyeong...?"
"How'd he make all the beasts vanish in an instant?"
"Paegong Guild folks okay?!"
The five guilds easily mopped up the remaining beasts.
Sa Choiheon Hunter had left word not to enter the interior. Basically, don't get in the way.
"Let's wait for now."
"Yeah, better than being a hindrance."
The five guilds were on standby.
What's the point of waiting? If something happens... even if Mumyeong can't stop it, we couldn't either.
Cheongmyeong Guild Master Chae Arin let out a hollow breath. She addressed her junior behind her.
"I said BreadBag wasn't Mumyeong, right?"
"Your instinct was spot on, sunbae."
"Buy me a meal."
"W-we never bet on that..."
Even joking, Chae Arin recalled the earlier scene.
Mumyeong's feat was unforgettable.
Impressive at the previous world boss, but this was another level.
Gathered here were Korea's top-ranked hunters.
Yet he dispatched beasts they could barely hold off—in one go.
Soon, messages appeared before everyone.
'Seven Deadly Sins: Pride' has lost their life.
The Apocalypse Temple has been fully cleared.
Calculating rewards.
"Is he really human?"
At Chae Arin's mutter, Lee Hayeon Hunter cautiously guessed.
"Maybe a monster. Or alien. With ma-in hiding, why not aliens?"
"Nah, that's too far. Aliens are a bit..."
"You're so mean..."
As they bantered idly.
The murmuring hunters fell silent at once. As if by agreement, their gazes turned to the gateway.
"..."
Mumyeong emerged from the second gateway.
A being in a black robe embroidered with golden threads.
Male or female? Even gender unclear.
The hunters froze, halting their tasks. Silence blanketed the temple. An irresistible force seemed to crush them.
Step, step.
Mumyeong quietly passed through the hunters.
The aura emanating from Mumyeong overwhelmed them. A power most experienced for the first time.
No one dared speak first.
"..."
Accompanied by the two apostles, Sa Choiheon, and Cheon Iryeong, Mumyeong slowly faded from the hunters' sight.
Joo Kanghyeok's group reached the exit door.
Before leaving.
Sa Choiheon held up the black cube imprisoning Ma-in Roland and spoke. An artifact.
"I'll take this one for interrogation. And..."
Sa Choiheon avoided "ma-in" for Cheon Iryeong's sake.
His internal injuries were already healed with potions.
Sa Choiheon paused, then spoke.
"I owe you again. Accept my thanks."
"What, acting like you're carrying the world alone. From now on, bow a thousand times toward wherever Master goes."
Lucifer sneered from the side.
"I'll consider it."
Sa Choiheon said earnestly. Then Cheon Iryeong, waiting her turn, spoke.
"Mumyeong-nim. I'll wait for your call. Order anything."
Her bold words came with shining eyes. Somehow more passionate than before.
Joo Kanghyeok started to reply but stopped.
The expectations on Mumyeong exceeded his own far more. Better than empty words...
He simply nodded.
In response, Joo Kanghyeok nodded silently.
Faint smiles appeared on Sa Choiheon and Cheon Iryeong's faces. They stepped out first.
Only then did the apostles speak freely.
"We have no face, Master."
"I wanted to win..."
Lucifer and Gabriel, now crows and doves, perched on Joo Kanghyeok's shoulders.
"No, you both did great."
Without them holding off the Seven Deadly Sins, who knows what might've happened.
He'd panicked when the first Instant Death missed.
But thinking now...
Pride didn't dodge. My aim was off.
Overdrive.
About 10 seconds.
Joo Kanghyeok could wield death energy. First time controlling it.
Except the first Instant Death,
The energy moved precisely as intended.
Partial slaughter.
Sequentially removing arm, legs, heart—his will.
Instant Death gained strong physical force too.
It dispersed the mist and staggered Pride. Overdrive's hidden function.
In the urgent situation, that's all he could attempt.
If I could use a bit more, it'd be certain...
Mumyeong activated his mask's skill. No point dwelling here.
Item skill Stealth Lv.2 activated.
Lv.2 Stealth applied to them too.
"Let's go."
Mumyeong exited the temple. The waiting reporters couldn't see him.
He passed them. Once fully distant, he had the apostles check surroundings, then released the item.
"Hoo..."
Only then did Joo Kanghyeok exhale the pent-up tension. A long sigh.
His whole body felt drained.
But he did it.
Done was done.
Under the still overcast sky, sunlight peeked through briefly. Joo Kanghyeok looked up at it.
Time to go home.
This clear's level corresponds to Myth grade.
Numerous constellations are watching Korea.
System searching for rewards matching clear level.
Pajik, pajijik—!
Red sparks began crackling around Joo Kanghyeok as he walked.