Chapter 94
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Seven Rings Ceremony
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The main hall of the Crimson Flame Sect stood in the heart of Seoul.
Even on ordinary days, countless people bustled through the opulent building, but today hordes hurried about inside.
Reporters from major media outlets, heroes managing their own guilds, corporate executives, and Korean politicians—all of them.
The VIPs invited to the Crimson Flame Sect's project presentation were guided to the massive arena on the first floor, gradually filling the seats.
"......"
Standing motionless below the arena in the sect's uniform, Yeom Seong-ha slowly turned his gaze amid the surrounding murmurs.
People watching with interest, as if they'd stumbled upon some entertaining sideshow. Irritation surged within him, but Yeom Seong-ha quickly brushed it aside.
'No need to mind useless fools like them.'
What mattered to him was flawlessly completing today's Seven Rings Ceremony.
As Yeom Seong-ha steadied his breathing.
"You idiot."
An elderly man with white roots at the base of his hair stood beside him and scolded.
"What the hell were you thinking, baring your teeth at the Sect Master? You got a death wish?"
Amid the old man's relentless nagging, Yeom Seong-ha frowned as he replied.
"Not your concern, old timer."
"......What'd you say?"
"Cut the crap and beat it."
As if that settled it, Yeom Seong-ha closed his eyes and resumed regulating his breath. The old man stared in disbelief at the brat's sheer audacity bordering on outright rudeness, then let out a sigh.
"Brat. If you had the bandwidth for that nonsense, I wouldn't have come over here."
"......"
"The Sect Master's drawn his blade for real this time. Even posers like me strutting around as 'neutral' have no choice but to pick a side."
Yeom Seong-ha stayed silent for a long moment during Park Jin-hwan—the Crimson Flame Sect's dedicated artisan's—continued explanation before slowly opening his mouth.
"Why didn't you pick their side, then?"
"Got demoted as a roadblock to a project already in motion. Even without that, I didn't want to."
"......"
Yeom Seong-ha had no response to Park Jin-hwan's words.
His application for Seven Rings Promotion marked the true start of the fight for the next Sect Master position.
How much chaos would that unleash? Yeom Seong-ha considered it briefly before erasing the thought from his mind.
'Doesn't matter how it turns out.'
His master wanted him to become the Crimson Flame Sect's leader, and he would make it happen. As he reaffirmed that resolve.
"The instant you step up there today, the Sect Master won't care about repercussions anymore."
Park Jin-hwan spoke up from beside him again.
"Hell, he might even hand down orders to take you out right after the Seven Rings Ceremony."
"......"
"So I'll ask one last time, thinking of it as a farewell."
Park Jin-hwan looked Yeom Seong-ha straight in the eye with utmost seriousness.
"You really confident?"
At Park Jin-hwan's question, Yeom Seong-ha suddenly recalled his prior conversation with that bizarre guy.
'Even if you don't want it, I'll make you Sect Master.'
The way he'd declared it with such certainty, just as assuredly as Yeom Seong-ha had declared his own ascension.
Recalling those convinced eyes, Yeom Seong-ha banished the memory and spoke calmly.
"I will become the Crimson Flame Sect's Sect Master."
-Yeom Seong-ha disciple's Seven Rings Promotion will now begin. VIPs, please take your seats...
The arena fell silent. Watching the Sect Master's shadow enter from the entrance, Yeom Seong-ha added impassively.
"That was the deal."
Sunday morning.
As cadets despaired over the looming Monday and squeezed every last drop from their weekend, Lee Se-hun was borrowing Kim In-cheol's workshop to prepare for work.
"Hup...!"
Thud!
The heavy iron box hit the floor with a thud. Lee Se-hun wiped the sweat beading on his forehead and caught his ragged breath.
"Fucking heavy..."
Subspace boxes like the one before him weren't usually this weighty, but there was no helping it this time.
Inside was every last byproduct recovered from the Divine Tree during the Black Lotus Flood disaster.
'Still, being able to haul it like this is something.'
These days, subspace items made transport a breeze, but back in the day, heroes had to lug everything by hand without proper means.
If they'd felled a monster like the Divine Tree back then, they couldn't have carted it all back to Babel—most would've been scrapped on-site.
'Makes that Ludwig guy seriously impressive.'
In the past, subspace manipulation was limited to a tiny fraction of those with spatial abilities, but everything changed when Ludwig became the first Summit Climber and descended the Hero's Tower.
He'd formalized the undefined subspace into formulas and distributed them freely for anyone to use.
'Inter-nation pipeline restoration, supply chain fixes from monsters and villains, boosted byproduct recovery rates, hero armament upgrades... the list goes on forever.'
It was ancient history now, but to the heroes active at the time, Ludwig was nothing short of a miracle.
Lee Se-hun inwardly whistled as he mulled it over.
'No wonder Summit Climbers are terrifying.'
A transcendent being who single-handedly resolved what entire nations—no, humanity itself—couldn't.
Freshly reminded of that ever-present influence woven into daily life, Lee Se-hun placed his hand on the panel atop the subspace box's lid.
Whirr-
The Ring of Ascension on his right ring finger glowed faintly, and an image of the warehouse naturally formed in his mind.
Lee Se-hun was slightly awed by the sight of the Divine Tree byproducts neatly organized inside.
'Internal projection function... this is one pricey box.'
He'd assumed it was some cheap throw-in since it came as a bonus, but apparently it was a latest-model reward for his exploits this time around.
Satisfied with Babel's ever-generous spending, Lee Se-hun selected the largest quantity among the byproducts: the Divine Tree fragments.
Click!
The front of the iron box swung open like a door, and a fragment smoothly ejected from the pitch-black interior.
Thud!
The Divine Tree fragment rivaled the size of a full-grown tree trunk.
Its sheer mass drove home just how much material he'd secured.
'And later, seeds to regrow more... this'll last till I wipe out those Six Great Demon God bastards.'
As Lee Se-hun basked in satisfaction, pondering the endless creations possible, Kim In-cheol entered the workshop after parking his motorcycle.
"So this is that Divine Tree byproduct?"
"Ah, yeah. That's it."
"Rumors didn't exaggerate the size. Mind if I take a look...?"
Seeing Kim In-cheol's intrigued gaze, Lee Se-hun nodded.
"You're lending me the workshop—of course it's fine. Just no mana use."
"Got it... then."
Kim In-cheol approached the Divine Tree fragment and first ran his hand over its surface before checking the info window.
'Ordinary fragments like this usually lack durability pre-processing... but this one's different. Feels like stroking a whole tree, not a chunk.'
"This... "
Properties shift based on imbued mana. Kim In-cheol's eyes went wide at the effect.
"A material that changes nature during refinement... with that versatility, it's hero-grade no question."
No matter how skilled the crafter, pairing it with mismatched materials from the start imposed hard limits on the outcome.
But this Divine Tree fragment could have its nature freely altered during processing—meaning it could pair with virtually any finicky material, making it the ultimate universal resource.
"What percentage of your total haul is this?"
"By volume? Less than 1%."
"......"
Securing this much of such material. Stunned, yet curious, Kim In-cheol asked.
"You planning to use it all solo?"
Even Lee Se-hun working flat-out, processing thousands of tons alone wouldn't be easy.
At the question, Lee Se-hun flashed a sly grin.
"It's a lot, but not that much. Pick the prime stuff, and over half gets culled."
"......That much filtering?"
Even as-is it was prime—how selective to halve it? Seeing Kim In-cheol's puzzled look, Lee Se-hun replied confidently.
"You'll get it when you see, Professor. But that means the assistant needs to show up soon..."
"Assistant? There isn't a single cadet in your class suited for—"
Knock knock.
No sooner said than a knock echoed from the workshop entrance.
Turning, Kim In-cheol spotted a silver-haired girl peeking in sheepishly.
"Um... is there a Lee Se-hun, that little shit—er, first-year—here?"
"Ah. Right here. Come on in."
Lee Se-hun leaned out from behind Kim In-cheol and beckoned. Louise scowled as she stepped inside.
A plain choker on Wagner, black hoodie with a wolf character, long jeans. Seeing Louise's casual getup, Lee Se-hun looked intrigued.
'She actually owns normal clothes.'
Pre-regression, the Violent Dog wore her black rider suit even to bed—this everyday look felt refreshingly novel.
"......Why the stare?"
Snapping at his silent gaze while averting her eyes. Lee Se-hun grinned and shared his honest take.
"Casual fits you perfect."
"......"
An assessment that felt like praise but landed like an insult.
Too pride-stinging to ask his intent, Louise swallowed retorts and glanced sideways.
"Who's the guy next to you?"
"Ah. Workshop owner, Professor Kim In-cheol."
"Nice to meet you. Kim In-cheol."
"First time. Louise Valente."
The two exchanged light nods. A touch awkward, but irrelevant to the work, so Lee Se-hun cut straight to it.
"Assistant's here—let's get started."
"Assistant? You told me we needed to talk first."
"We will talk. Just not you and me."
"What the—"
"Come on, let's move."
Grabbing Louise's shoulders, Lee Se-hun guided her to the fragment's end and drew the White Light Dagger from his pocket.
"Lemme see..."
He traced the ring-like grain, nicked it lightly, and tied Black Spirit Thread to the hilt.
Repeating a few times, he finally lightly stabbed the dagger's tip into the fragment's core.
"Alright. Good to go."
"What is this... a tent?"
Black Spirit Threads fanning out from the hilt. Puzzled by the unfamiliar setup, Louise stared. Lee Se-hun explained simply.
"Nah. More like a microphone, technically."
"This?"
"You'll see once you try it."
Linking fresh Black Spirit Thread to the hilt, Lee Se-hun held the end to Louise's mouth.
"Here. Bite."
"......What kinda weekend bullshit is this."
Sighing and grumbling, Louise bit down anyway. Pleased by her deference to her benefactor, Lee Se-hun stood beside her.
"This wood chunk's in dormant mode right now. Kick it awake—like rousing a sleeper—with speech magic."
"......?"
She shot him a look screaming utter nonsense. Undeterred, Lee Se-hun continued calmly.
"Just channel it like you're waking someone who's out cold."
"???"
Still lost, Louise blinked. Lee Se-hun sighed deeply and pulled the thread from her mouth.
"Haa... fine, I'll demo. Watch close."
"Hey, wait—!"
No chance for protest—Lee Se-hun bit the thread, instantly refined his mana, and prepared the speech magic.
'Mana's iffy, so imagery to compensate.'
Speech magic's effects varied wildly by mental image. To maximize, Lee Se-hun recalled a moment of desperate wishing for someone to awaken.
'Master...'
Bloody hands slipping away, grasping nothing.
An unpleasant memory even to think of—but a true speech sorcerer turned even that into a tool.
Drawing on pre-regression Violent Dog's advice, Lee Se-hun solidified the imagery from the recollection.
"[Mental Awakening]"
⟨ Speech Magic ⟩
The speech magic surged through the Black Spirit Thread deep into the Divine Tree fragment.
Rumble rumble rumble-!
The fragment began shuddering violently. Just as it seemed to slow, changes erupted across its surface.
Crunch crunch.
It compressed like in a press, bark forming over the surface.
As if reborn as a tree, Lee Se-hun unleashed his prepared follow-up speech magic.
"[Growth Halt]"
⟨ Speech Magic ⟩
The wildly growing Divine Tree fragment halted. Kim In-cheol, watching from the side, looked stunned.
"This fragment... it was alive?"
"Yeah. Probably fissioned off and gone into suspended animation."
Pre-regression, the Divine Tree's fame as a material stemmed not just from versatility, but this tenacious vitality too.
Case in point: an S-rank hero bought one as an ornamental, stuck it in his garden pot—and overnight it rooted, withering all nearby plants.
"Won't match the original, but harness this growth right, and it'll adapt to even the trickiest materials easy."
"......You've scored one hell of a material."
How many diverse creations could come from this? As Kim In-cheol marveled, Louise sulked from behind.
"You could do it solo—why drag me here?"
"Speech sorcery thrives on experience. Perfect training for you."
"Then why the hell on a weekend...?"
"Plus, your speech magic's more reliable."
His speech infusion was shallow, prone to failure—but Louise's delved deep, boosted by her latent unique skill 'Mana Assimilation,' maximizing success odds.
Thus, her help was essential for efficient fragment processing.
"......Bullshit."
Snatching the Black Spirit Thread from Lee Se-hun's hand, Louise glowered.
"So what's next?"
"Nothing tough."
Lee Se-hun approached the sole unlit furnace—#4—of the five lining the workshop wall and pressed the side button.
Roar!
The moment he did, ferocious flames jetted beyond the translucent cover. Hot enough to melt iron to slag in seconds, let alone wood. Standing beside it, Lee Se-hun smiled.
"Temper it tough enough to withstand flames like this."
"......"
How much speech magic to infuse for the tree to endure that inferno? After mental calculations, Louise mirrored his smile.
"You crazy son of a—!"
A curse rang out through Kim In-cheol's workshop.