#55 Unstoppable Momentum
All eyes were on him as Choi Kang-ho slowly made his way forward. No one dared utter a word. Having witnessed that overwhelming power, their minds were a whirlwind of complexity.
'Me too...' It was around then that Lee Hyuk silently vowed to himself.
Over there, amid the pile of bones, something glinted.
"Hm?"
Lee Hyuk approached and checked it out. It was a smartphone—likely one held by one of the skeleton soldiers.
"......?"
At that moment.
Thud thud thud—!
Theo came sprinting breathlessly from afar, glancing around frantically.
"......"
Lee Hyuk blinked at him. Theo asked urgently,
[Hey, seen a smartphone around here?]
"Smartphone..."
Lee Hyuk showed him the one in his hand, and Theo's face lit up.
[Hand it over.]
"Ah, it's yours."
Lee Hyuk offered it. 'This guy's Theo. Codename: Hades.'
From his debut, he'd seemed no ordinary figure, but the abilities on display in this battle were downright astonishing.
'Where the hell are all these monsters coming from...'
Whether he sensed Lee Hyuk's thoughts or not, Theo snatched the phone and checked something frantically. Then he grinned wide.
[See ya.]
He waved and strode out of the gate.
Snow fell steadily over Cheorwon skies that day as well.
Huff huff huff—
Furball stared straight ahead. Sticking out his tongue and panting idly, Furball blinked, then turned his gaze to Seol-a scampering over from afar.
Seol-a, in her human child form, ran barefoot through the snowfield like a person.
Furball watched curiously as she shifted into human shape. Seol-a absolutely adored Furball. So she readily offered him a big hunk of jerky Kang-ho had given her.
Furball snapped it up and swallowed, then crouched low to match Seol-a's eye level.
A flush colored Seol-a's plump cheeks. She stroked the spot between Furball's eyes.
"Good boy."
Human speech was tough for Seol-a. She carefully shaped her mouth to get the words out.
"Good."
As Furball bounced around her playfully, Theo stretched and emerged from the cabin.
[That guy's cooking is seriously the worst.]
Theo's face was full of complaints. He approached Seol-a frolicking in the snowy expanse, nose running, and hoisted her up.
[Running around barefoot like this—what's the house gonna turn into? Geez.]
Theo slipped shoes onto her from under his arm.
Krreung, krreung!
Furball licked him all over in greeting, and Theo recoiled in disgust.
Soon, everyone's eyes turned to the massive corpse in front of the cabin.
The cabin seemed trivial next to it—the body of the evil dragon Kasumus.
They'd succeeded in turning it into a familiar using the mana amplification from the constellation's gauntlet. But its sheer size and immense mana meant it wouldn't become a skeleton soldier right away.
First things first.
[Time to start with the deboning.]
"What a pain of an ability."
Kang-ho grumbled as he followed Theo out.
Kasumus's enormous body was covered in tough scales that all needed stripping.
Crack—crack crack—
The scales began peeling off under Kang-ho's hands. Each one could serve as an incredible material on its own.
"How do they use these in the Demon Realm?"
[Dunno? But northern Demon Realm folks often made weapons or armor from its shed skin or scales.]
Theo picked up a scale and held it up to Seol-a. One scale covered her completely.
[Shields made from them were top-notch.]
"I see."
Once the scales were off, they piled up like a mountain. Kang-ho eyed them, then turned to the innards.
"The flesh?"
[Wonder if it's tasty?]
"Wanna try?"
Exchanging idle banter, they finished deboning. Flesh, bones, and scales were neatly sorted.
Thud—thud—
The eye-catcher was the massive heart. It pulsed as if alive, radiating tremendous demonic energy.
Seol-a's eyes went wide. She toddled to Kang-ho and reached up—wanting to be held. He smiled and scooped her into his arms.
Seol-a pointed at Kasumus.
"Big."
"Yeah. It's huge."
"Ung!"
Thrilled at successful communication, Seol-a clenched her little fist.
Now it was Theo's turn.
Vrrr—!
Theo extended a hand, and mana seeped into the heavy bones. Once the heart was removed, the bones fully absorbed his mana, allowing free command.
Rumble—!
The giant Kasumus rose. Its body was assembled from bone fragments, shrinking steadily until it was just a bit bigger than Furball.
"Why'd it get smaller?"
[......That's all the mana I've got right now.]
Theo waved at the Kasumus. Mana enveloped it, shrinking it further until it fit in his palm—a tiny skull.
That must be the summoning medium.
Kang-ho reached for the heart. Its throbbing mana would soon become a magic stone.
Shhhk—!
The massive heart hardened and shrank into a magic stone.
'SS-rank, easy.'
◈ Immense mana density from Kasumus's heart
◈ Capable of causing societal shockwaves if sold
It was huge, with incredibly viscous mana concentration—a prime SS-rank magic stone. Selling it would ripple through society with its rarity and value.
Kang-ho stared at it. No real dilemma there.
The real issue was elsewhere.
Primal power containing the essence of the 3rd Dimension 'Demon Realm'.
What he'd gotten from Kasumus was, predictably, a Demon Realm Eternal Crystal.
Kang-ho already had two fragments fused into one.
Vrrr—!
Infusing mana into both at once, they snapped together like magnet poles—clang!
Now, three Eternal Crystals had become one.
Primal power containing the essence of the 3rd Dimension 'Demon Realm'.
Three fragments have united as one.
That instant.
Rooooar—!
In a flash, Kang-ho's vision went pitch black, as if black mist shrouded everything.
"......!"
Suddenly, he surged through a prismatic passage transcending the world—like a soul unbound from flesh!
Fwoosh—!
The world shifted. All around was barren wasteland, cracked earth from prolonged drought. The sky choked with thunderheads, but no rain—just roiling dry clouds.
'The recurring dream...!'
Kang-ho knew instinctively. This landscape felt deeply familiar.
Ahead in his vision: a mountain of corpses. Countless demons of every shape lay slain, their blood forming rivers across the field.
A pile of bodies! Atop it sat a man.
His view zoomed closer. Kang-ho made out the man's features.
Dark red hair flowed long and wild. Pointed ears jutted sideways, eyes a deep teal.
Beside him, a blood-smeared greatsword plunged into the peak.
Thump—thump—
The pulsing from his chest was familiar to Kang-ho.
'Eternal Crystal...!'
This guy had one too.
'Is that Baal...?'
No, didn't match the look. Suddenly.
The man's gaze turned forward—locking exactly with Kang-ho's.
He spoke quietly.
He continued slowly.
The unfamiliar tongue conveyed meaning directly into Kang-ho's mind.
His voice was utterly calm. No frenzy or instinctual rage from the Eternal Crystal's influence.
Kang-ho sensed intuitively.
'This guy's controlling that power.'
Lord Baal?
Crack—!
Suddenly, cracks spiderwebbed everywhere, shattering like mirror shards.
Kang-ho's vision shifted until he stood before a table.
"......!"
He was back in Cheorwon. Unknowingly gasping for breath, Theo asked with a baffled look.
[Uh... what happened?]
"......?"
Rare cold sweat beaded on Kang-ho's brow.
"How much time passed?"
[Huh?]
Theo tilted his head.
[You fused it and suddenly started sweating?]
Hardly any time had passed.
Kang-ho gazed at the Eternal Crystal.
'Resonance...!'
Yes, resonance. Fusing three made the image far clearer.
"Any lords in the Demon Realm with flowing dark red hair and a greatsword?"
[Gasp!]
Theo paled.
"Who?"
[How'd you know? That's Agares.]
'Agares...'
Kang-ho closed his eyes, deep in thought.
[Rank 2: Yata Killiden Agares. Matches your description perfectly.]
Kang-ho explained what he'd seen. Theo nodded slowly.
[Agares is Baal's loyal hound. Guess they're hunting that thing too.]
"Power-wise, how's he stack up?"
The Agares Kang-ho saw wasn't inferior at all. Even he was shocked—no one like that since a certain someone.
'First since Jun-seok.'
[Probably...]
Theo trailed off.
[On par with you, I'd say.]
If they fought, could he win? Kang-ho pondered seriously.
It had been ages since such doubts. Long forgotten musings on the 'possibility' of victory.
A far cry from his unchallenged past.
"Compared to you at your peak?"
[......]
Theo shrugged.
[At my prime, there were about five in the Demon Realm I couldn't beat head-on.]
Five.
[Baal would shred me... oh wait, already did.]
Theo looked hurt just saying it.
[Agares? I might scrape by with my life.]
Kang-ho nodded slowly.
[But you get the issue, right?]
Kang-ho knew too.
"The flesh is the problem."
Vast mana. Beyond human limits—needed a body to withstand it.
'Eternal Crystals are coming to Earth.'
And eerily close ones.
Im Cheol-bae always said it. Once is chance. Repeated? Inevitable.
'Something's...'
Something was drawing them to Earth—to Korea, specifically.
No modern person doesn't know YouTube. A meteoric video had appeared on the world's top video platform.
The full title: Beast King Choi Kang-ho and Hades Theo.
The video was pretty crude. The flashy action felt like movie CG, but the issue was...
—Clack clack clack!
—Clack! Clack!
The bone rattles, probably.
Crude or not, it exploded in popularity.
[Damn it.]
Theo resolved thenceforth to put his name first in titles.
[They film like shit.]
And never let skeleton soldiers handle video next time.
Anyway. As the video spread, portal search terms flooded again.
Popularity surged unstoppably.