#113 Success!
From Choi Kang-ho's perspective, the essence of Gunter appeared as lightning, an anvil, and a hammer. His deep blue-green mana floated ethereally, shaping that form.
"Processing the Eternal Crystal, huh..."
Gunter stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"One regrettable thing... We had a specialist in my clan for this sort of work..."
He gave a wry smile and added,
"But that guy's scattered across entirely different dimensions now..."
Gunter pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"I can handle the primary processing myself. But it won't unlock its full potential with just that. We'll inevitably need re-refining to make it a finished product... That alright with you?"
Kang-ho nodded at Gunter's question. It crossed his mind that Manryeonja, the legendary blacksmith from the Murim world, might be from Gunter's clan.
"That'll be enough."
"Good. What do you want?"
Kang-ho paused, thinking. The Eternal Crystal from the Demon Realm. Its innate property: absorption of mana and vitality. The best match for that was, without doubt, a weapon.
He glanced down at the Oerblade he wore. Having used this gear for so long, he'd grown quite attached to it.
"Use this one."
"That works best."
Gunter nodded, then continued with a slightly troubled look.
"Processing an Eternal Crystal takes a serious toll on mental energy, though. As you know, I have to endure it myself. So I won't have the capacity left for this other item."
Gunter pointed to the Earth's Eternal Crystal.
Kang-ho nodded slowly.
"Understood. You'll need magic stones, then?"
"A large quantity. Can't guarantee otherwise."
Kang-ho looked at Jun-seok. He shrugged, and Kang-ho handed him the sack of magic stones.
"It'll take about a week, maybe more. I'll find you when it's done."
"Thank you."
Kang-ho bowed his head, then suddenly turned back. Seol-a stood there, head perked up as if entranced, perfectly still.
He walked over, crouched to her eye level.
"What're you doing, Seol-a?"
Seol-a pointed frantically all around.
"There!"
Kang-ho turned to where she pointed. Indeed, the air was thick with the mana of the ruined 9th dimension, Izenbaum, everywhere.
"Yeah, it's there."
"Yup!"
Seol-a's eyes went wide, and she dashed around, scooping it up.
"Mana!"
Shaaaa—
The mana from all directions visibly poured into Seol-a's body.
Gunter watched her with a smile tugging at his lips.
"Silver White Fang subspecies... They're enigmatic beings."
"..."
"No one knows where they come from, why they appear across dimensions, or for what reason. Everything about them is a mystery."
Shaaaa—
Seol-a kept absorbing the ambient mana, then ran back to Kang-ho with a beaming, proud face.
"There! Daddy!"
"Sometimes I wonder if they're the final blessing and hope crafted by some higher existence from the endless beyond..."
As Gunter's meaningful words hung in the air, a deep blue-green light erupted from Seol-a's entire body.
Fwaaah!
Her form flashed brilliantly, and shloop! Another tail sprouted. Now Seol-a had four tails.
The fourth was a dark blue-green, and just gazing at it felt like staring into the cosmos—sparkling turquoise nebulae embedded in lustrous darkness.
"More!"
Kang-ho scooped her up and nodded.
Shaaa—!
Before he knew it, Kang-ho and Jun-seok had exited the gate.
Jun-seok glanced down at Seol-a, then nodded as if struck by a thought.
"Alright. Let's split up here for now."
"...?"
He grinned.
"Plenty of stuff coming up. Need time to sort my thoughts and figure out how to fully harness this power."
He tapped his chest—his heart.
"Gotta get used to this guy."
The Demon Realm's Eternal Crystal embedded in him. Neutralized from the fight with Kang-ho, its nature had shifted slightly from what Baal used, and the damage hadn't fully healed.
Kang-ho eyed him steadily.
"Don't worry."
Jun-seok grinned again.
"I won't disappear this time. Ever."
"Good."
Kang-ho finally nodded. Kang Jun-seok stretched languidly, then offered his fist. Kang-ho bumped it.
Thud!
Soon, he walked off into the distance.
Kang-ho watched his back, then chuckled softly. Just like him.
......
Shaaaa—
She opened her eyes.
This place...
Before her stretched an eternal world where all four seasons coexisted amid endlessly towering mountains! The Northern Fantasy Realm!
Somehow, she'd awakened there. Han Su-hwa, the Ice Dragon—one of the realm's Four Mythical Beasts—looked around.
She'd crash-landed on Earth once before. The Murim world hadn't stabilized. After the Blood Cult uprising, dimensional rifts had flung countless beings into secondary worlds. She'd been chased by the Heavenly Demon when a rift pulled her in.
Then.
"...!"
She saw space collapsing in the distance.
Groooar—
It was utterly alien. Space itself shattered into fragments along massive cracks, vanishing entirely. What remained was only an empty abyss.
The lush forest there had simply punched a grotesque hole, like a gaping wound.
What the hell...?
Was this a dream? She'd fallen asleep in Cheorwon, her precious home on Earth...
Suddenly, a massive voice echoed.
She startled, looking up.
The voice came from the Northern Fantasy Realm itself.
Grroooar—!Flash!
The sky wailed ominously. The distant world began warping strangely, like a mass of nauseating gray mist.
Ominous Gods!
Her eyes widened. If the Murim world had the Northern Fantasy Realm, there was once the Southern Ominous God Realm, long ago.
But legend said they fell into deep slumber eons past...?
Groooar— Grooo—!
Far off, a cataclysmic force rent heaven and earth.
She knew its source.
The Heavenly Demon...!
That familiar power. The sky howled, the ground twisted.
Groooar— Boom! Kaboom!
Beyond the blackened thunderclouds, lightning illuminated bizarre shadows with every flash. The figures were grotesque—writhing tentacles sprouting from bodies that fused multiple beasts.
The Heavenly Demon fought them.
Groooar!
Soon, two entities plummeted from the Fantasy Realm's sky to the ground. A massive bird flapping wings of flame, and a colossal turtle surging like waves.
They glared ahead with unprecedented ferocity.
The voice faded, and suddenly her body plummeted, sucked into the void.
Falling endlessly.
Endlessly—
......
"...!"
When she opened her eyes, a small child gazed down at her.
She felt cold sweat dripping from her body. It felt like a viciously long nightmare—she rarely felt true fear.
"!"
Seol-a stared quietly, then hopped around worriedly before licking her cheek.
"..."
Seol-a sat, nuzzling her forehead against Han Su-hwa's shoulder. Her four tails drooped limply, sweeping the floor.
Seol-a flicked them, seemingly pleased with her new fourth tail, then turned to groom the fur.
Childlike, yet utterly foxy.
Han Su-hwa smiled unwittingly.
"Seol-a."
"Yup!"
Seol-a bounced happily onto her lap, thrilled she was back to herself.
"Listen, today."
"Yeah?"
"Tail!"
Pondering the meaning, Han Su-hwa noticed Seol-a's fourth tail.
"...!"
She'd heard Silver White Fangs could have multiple tails. They weren't part of the Murim Fantasy Realm—an independent mythical species. Aloof, proud, choosing freedom unbound by any realm. She'd rarely seen them herself.
Last time was during the Blood Cult chaos, when Murim was in turmoil. A six-tailed one appeared, vaporizing cultists in an instant before vanishing—the memory burned vivid.
"You..."
She gazed thoughtfully at Seol-a's beaming grin.
Then.
Knock knock—
The door opened. Kirin entered.
[Ice Dragon.]
"Kirin..."
[Did you have that dream too?]
She nodded slowly.
[So the legend of the Ominous Gods is real...]
"Just old tales passed down. What the hell is happening...?"
She bit her lip, unease mounting.
Suddenly.
KABOOOOOM—!
The world shook with a massive explosion.
"...!"
[...!]
She scooped up her startled child—who'd been napping—and Seol-a, bursting from the house. Kirin followed, mana surging.
In the distance, an explosion erupted like a volcano, mushroom cloud billowing skyward.
"This is...!"
Her face hardened.
Then.
Whiiiish—
Something flew from afar.
"...?"
Whiiiish—
It drew closer—not one, but two.
Crack!
They slammed into the ground, tumbling to crash thud! at her doorstep.
She stared.
"Theo...?"
It was Theo from the log cabin. His body was charred, hair half-burned, eyebrows and clothes on the verge of incineration—but his eyes gleamed sharp and alive.
[Yes! Yes!]
Thrilled beyond words, he sprang up and dashed off.
The other was Bassago, the Demon Realm's third-in-command, Grand Sorcerer. He'd face-planted headfirst, looking like a totem pole from afar.
Theo yanked him out like a weed.
[It's done! Done, I tell you!]
[Urk... Uuuurk...]
Bassago stumbled drunkenly, then vomited.
Theo shook him anyway, yelling.
[Our research is a success! That prophet was right!]