Chapter 415
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 415
Chapter Title: Meeting Janus
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You have acquired 1 of Dark Energy.
"There sure are a lot of them."
Jeong Hoon clicked his tongue as he absorbed the black orbs.
Who would've thought there would be this many followers of Beelzebub?
"There are a total of 26 followers in Origin Village."
Teras, who was following behind Jeong Hoon, obediently confessed.
The reason he had unhesitatingly cut down Duke and Zaiki.
It was because Teras had been brainwashed.
Through Teras, eliminate all the followers lurking in Origin Village.
And thereby complete the first secret quest.
"Take me to your hideout."
"Understood."
The brainwashed Teras meekly led him to the hideout.
At that moment.
Beelzebub, who had returned to the demon realm, was watching everything.
"Hmm, just as I expected."
It was regrettable to lose such a massive amount of black orbs, but thanks to the ritual, he could intervene like this.
Of course, once the black orb energy lingering in the atmosphere dissipated, he wouldn't be able to intervene anymore, but for now, this was more than enough.
The human who had opened the gates to the divine realm.
The human who had not only stolen his 96th demon realm but also pressured him.
If he hadn't heard about it from Psyche in advance and acted, he would've been in quite a bind.
"Anyway, what an intriguing existence."
How could such a monster emerge from that dimension?
At that level, he could've swept away several Jeocheon-grade beings with ease.
'He ascended to demigod. He's concealing his fate with spirit energy.'
'Since when?'
'Roughly from this point.'
Even looking at the timing Psyche had marked, it made no sense.
He had suddenly lost New World in a situation where there was no foundation for ascending to demigod.
"Hmm, could he have regressed into the past?"
There was no other explanation.
"Beelzebub."
His head turned at the voice calling him.
"Harmageddon, why are you here again?"
Beelzebub asked in an irritated tone.
"I have a feeling he's about to come charging in soon."
"That figures."
Both their gazes turned to the orb in the center.
The giant orb showed the demigod human swiftly exterminating the followers Beelzebub had planted.
Starting from Origin Village and up to Arandis.
He showed no mercy.
And he absorbed every last bit of the black orb energy.
"It's not just about ascending to demigod. He's trying to claim our power of darkness too."
"Is that even possible?"
The power of light and the power of darkness.
Those two could never mix.
They themselves had discarded all their light power to wield the darkness.
Yet this human wanted to wield both?
"Impossible."
Harmageddon smiled meaningfully as he gazed at the human.
You have completed the quest.
You have acquired the Mysterious Bracelet.
He had exterminated all the followers lurking up to Arandis.
As a result, he obtained the Mysterious Bracelet.
It was so rusted it couldn't be worn, and it had lost all its statsa completely useless bracelet.
"Why give something like this as a reward?"
The quest was made by the divine realm.
So this bracelet must have some use somewhere, which was why it was offered as the secret quest reward.
For now, he stowed the bracelet in his inventory and checked the accumulated dark energy.
Dark Energy: 5,143
Having swept up everything up to Arandis, an absurd amount of 5,143 energy had piled up.
If he could wield the power of darkness with this, he could even take on named bosses.
'Hoo.'
Tenebris took repeated deep breaths to relax as he stared at the energy.
This power was essentially a gamble.
He had pressured Urielle with a hardline stance, but even Jeong Hoon had no certainty he could handle it.
It was just that there were no other options.
"Let's begin."
Jeong Hoon released the massive accumulated dark energy.
Warning! Warning!
Dark energy is clashing with spirit energy!
If you do not remove the energy, your health will drop to 0!
Then, like a lightning strike, excruciating pain coursed through his body like electricity.
"Krgh!"
Unable to endure the pain, Jeong Hoon let out a groan and dropped to one knee.
Skills cannot be used.
Health is rapidly decreasing.
'Master! Pull yourself together!'
'You can't collapse here!'
'Expel the dark energy from your body! You'll really die at this rate!'
Mukho, Anima, and Harnion circled around Jeong Hoon, shouting urgently.
'Damn... It really doesn't work...'
Tenebris grimaced and spat curses.
"Who... says it's over...!"
Jeong Hoon cried out laboriously.
But his health was plummeting, dropping below 20 in an instant.
His vision darkened, and strength drained from his body.
He couldn't use skills, so healing was impossible.
Would you like to expel the dark energy from your body?
If he expelled the dark energy rampaging through his body, he could save his life.
But if he did it here, he would never get this energy again.
No, even if he did, he wouldn't get this much quantity.
'Damn...'
As soon as the pain hit, Jeong Hoon tried to control both his spirit energy and the dark energy simultaneously.
But the two forces refused to mix, sparking and instantly killing his body whenever they touched.
This was why the demon realm's denizens had cast off light and turned to darkness.
Because the two energies clashed.
'It really doesn't work.'
His health fell below 5.
He could sense Mukho and Anima shouting something, but his head throbbed so badly he couldn't hear anything.
At that moment, the heavily rusted bracelet began to glow.
Janus is calling you.
"Janus...?"
Jeong Hoon murmured his name lowly.
Janus says to come here.
Here...? Where?
At that instant, his 2 health hit 0.
Jeong Hoon's form collapsed.
'Master!'
'Damn it!'
Mukho and Anima's screams echoed.
"Hey."
Who was that?
A stranger's voice resounded in his head.
He slowly opened his closed eyes to see a little devil peering closely at his face.
"Who are you...?"
He mumbled in a hoarse voice, and the devil tilted its head as if wondering what nonsense that was, then slapped his cheek hard.
Smack!
In that instant, pain like electricity surging through his body jolted Jeong Hoon's eyes wide open.
His body sprang up like a spring.
"You summon me and don't even know?"
"Summon...? Janus?"
Only then did Jeong Hoon recall that he had called Janus's name just before losing consciousness.
"Yeah. Recognize me now?"
"...I didn't call you. Didn't you call me first?"
Words needed to be said straight.
The devilJanusmade an incredulous face.
"Human, you seem to have a habit of trying to gain the upper hand whenever the situation turns against you?"
"......"
He wouldn't deny it.
"You're only alive right now because I'm holding onto you. Otherwise, you'd be dead. Got it?"
"Holding onto me?"
"Yeah. Your flesh couldn't withstand the clash of light and darkness and died."
"...Hoo, I guess I should've expelled the dark energy after all."
Janus clicked his tongue at the mutter and added an explanation.
"What are you talking about? You were as good as dead the moment you released the power of darkness. With your spirit energy in chaos from the clash, control would've been impossible."
"Even if I expelled it from my body, my health would've still decreased?"
"That's about right."
Hoo, he had confidently told Urielle this was the only way.
Now he felt ashamed of himself.
"Good thing it's just a game..."
New World still existed in game form.
So losing his life here didn't mean the real-world Jeong Hoon would die.
That was the biggest reason he had dared to gamble.
"Hmm, in other words, you took the shot because you had insurance?"
"You even know the word 'insurance'?"
"I peeked at your memories while you were down."
"I see? Then no need for explanations."
In any case, if he could hold onto his soul like this, he wasn't just any devil.
"Wow, look at him drumming up calculations in his head?"
Janus narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.
"Ahem."
Caught red-handed in his thoughts, Jeong Hoon averted his gaze.
"Well, not wrong. Why else would I be holding onto you?"
"So then...?"
"Bow your head to me first!"
"Bow?"
It bruised his pride quite a bit, but now wasn't the time to quibble over such things.
If he could gain power, he could bow his head as many times as needed.
It was just as Jeong Hoon knelt and was about to bow his head.
"Stop!"
"Huh?"
"A man with no pride? Bowing that easily?"
"You told me to bow."
"That was just me testing!"
"Then you'll give me the power?"
Jeong Hoon's eyes gleamed.
Finding that gaze burdensome, Janus averted his eyes and spoke.
"Yeah. But you have to prove your worth first."
"My worth?"
"Even looking like this, I'm a being who can wield two powers."
"Two powers?"
"Yeah. That's why both the divine realm and demon realm had trucks full of guys gunning for me."
Janus.
In ancient Rome, the god guarding doors was called Janus.
He was often depicted with a unique form having faces on both front and back to eliminate blind spots.
"But why were you in the bracelet?"
"Bracelet?"
Janus tilted his head.
"Yeah. I got a heavily rusted bracelet from the divine realm. Just before dying, it glowed, and I learned you were calling me."
"Ah... Those divine realm bastards. Not only did they steal my stuff, they couldn't even maintain it?"
"Huh?"
Janus said the bracelet given to Jeong Hoon was originally his.
The divine realm had anticipated his body wouldn't hold up when unleashing the dark power and handed him the bracelet.
So that Janus's voice could reach him through it.
"Hmph, not a single one of them is to my liking."
"Sorry about that."
"Huh? Why are you apologizing?"
"I'm aligned with the divine realm right now. So I'll apologize on their behalf."
Perhaps the apology worked, as Janus's expression softened a bit.
"Fine. We're just cooperating temporarily because our goals align. You're not affiliated with the divine realm."
"Thanks for understanding."
"Anyway, you want to wield both the power of darkness and the power of light, right?"
"Exactly. I need to wield the power of darkness to annihilate the demon realm's scum."
The power of darkness.
Janus would know how to wield it.
If he succeeded in this process, he could head straight to the demon realm.
But Janus shook his head.
"You know, don't trust anyone easily, whether divine realm or demon realm."
"Don't trust?"
"Whoever gave you that info, it's not 100 correct."
Not correct?
As Jeong Hoon made a confused face, Janus pointed to himself and added.
"If it were correct, both divine and demon realms would've come after me one way or another, right?"
"So Psyche lied to me?"
"Half right, half wrong."
After that, shocking words flowed from Janus's mouth.