Fine cracks started to appear on his face, then droplets of blood began to form between the slowly opening cracks in his skin. It was not just his face. His hand, which had been moving toward his chest, had stopped in its motion and was being torn to shreds.
The speed at which Devi’s Sword was ripping him apart was not the pace he could keep up with. Moreover, lightning bolts were drilling into his ears and eyes, piercing through his skin. However, the pain wouldn’t have been properly delivered to his brain.
His physical body was already done. The blast of pressure from my fist’s movement swept him away before the fist itself could.
Woosh-!
His state was no different from a puzzle being shattered into thousands of pieces as his flesh had been torn into fragments immediately. It was as if the puzzle pieces were pouring out as the puzzle board was flipped over.
The blood had already hardened, and even that was breaking into fine powder-like dust, but that was before I could even touch it. The blood solidified and scattered into powder and sparks ignited in it. The volume of each piece of his torn flesh was shrinking, trying to bounce and fly away in every direction.
At that moment, I plunged into them and wrapped all of them with my wings.
Roar!
Precisely speaking, all sorts of impurities were contained within the area embraced by my wings. However, what was important were not these scraps from the beginning! It was what he had been hiding in his clothing. While all sorts of scraps were settling down within my wings, that thing remained intact.
As I had assumed, it was a small dagger.
[Mysterious Relic (Item)]
Indeed, it was made in the same way Odin’s Left Eye was. There was no doubt that this object contained the concentrated power of the ancient dragon. Even in its current state, its core power was suppressed enough to hold it without purification.
However, I postponed unlocking it. Even if I unlocked it now, I would only be obstructed by the power of the ancient dragon contained within.
As soon as I caught it, I concentrated my Sense on another movement that had nowhere to go, trapped in my wings. I couldn’t identify the movement with the naked eye, but just like during the battle against the Great Green, I could feel the writhing of a soul.
It was the soul of the ancient dragon. Before, I couldn’t deal with it as I didn’t know its habits, but now it was different. Its soul escaped when it lost its physical body, then it could form a heart from a part of their soul, then when the heart was complete, it could summon the Old One.
Nonetheless, I wouldn’t give him the chance this time. I was basically facing him within the small space confined by my wings. Just because I couldn’t see the soul didn’t mean the soul wasn’t there.
It was desperately trying to escape from me. An intangible force was increasing, beating against the walls of my wings.
Soon, the phenomenon I had been waiting for was detected. It was a very tiny grain. That speck was the source that rapidly created the heart, and as soon as it appeared, I clenched it in one hand.
I couldn’t fully close my fist. The soul underwent a sudden growth such that my fist was already half open. A black aura writhed between the gaps of the fist. The power of it beating against the wall of wings began to diminish as it began to focus on completing the heart.
[Warning: The Heart of the Great Black has been created.]
[Progress: 45%]
…
[Progress: 51%]
[Warning: Once the heart is complete, the Great Black will be able to cast ‘Advent of Main Figure.]
[Progress: 54%]
The power of the dead was so strong that one of the blood vessels on the back of my hand burst. There was a searing pain at the point where it touched its heart.
However, compared to the pain that it must have been feeling, this was nothing for me. I struggled against the force that was trying to complete the heart for a while. Every joint in my fist creaked, and my whole arm shook.
Then, I felt it at one point. The black aura that was squirming between the gaps of my fist was being sucked into the heart all at once, and the trend of increasing power began to wane.
[Progress: 54%]
…
[Progress: 32%]
…
[Progress: 1%]
A piercing scream in a female voice burst out.
- Nooooooo…
She tried to suppress her scream until the end, but eventually, it seemed that she didn’t have a choice. It couldn’t be helped. After all, not only was she unable to complete the heart, but her soul couldn’t escape from me and was crushed along with the heart.
Crush!
The sound of the heart being destroyed was unusually loud. It was only when my fist finally clenched that I had to grit my teeth.
[You have removed the Great Black.]
Although it had diminished, there was still residual power. The power that had not been fully formed and was reduced was now concentrated. The last resistance would explode right in front of my eyes.
Damn it. That fucking thing was about to burst right in the center of my fist. I knew it…
[Odin’s Ethereal Animal has been destroyed.]
[Odin’s Wrath has been destroyed.]
Thud!
***
I was falling. As soon as I regained my sight, I checked on the safety of my worshippers. The damage was minimal as they were hidden in my wings, and the wings had absorbed the explosion.
However, the cliff collapsing above them and cracks in the surroundings were another problem. I landed in front of them and caused a gust of wind. With every stretch of fist, the piles of dirt and chunks of earth flying toward us were turned into powder and swept away in the opposite direction.
I stopped punching when everything became calm. At least the arm holding the dagger was fine. That was the arm I used to punch. However, the other arm, which had absorbed the explosion shock, was in a terrible state. It was so severely injured that it was a miracle it was still attached to my body, and it hurt more as I thought about it.
“O… Odin…”
Meanwhile, my worshippers clearly understood what I had sacrificed for them. Their eyes were moist and filled with awe.
In front of the dangerous eyes of fanaticism, I realized what I had done. Looking back, this was the first time I had directly intervened for the citizens. In my judgment, the great impression I received yesterday was the reason I stepped in.
Around that time, I regained the ability to move my arm without having to use the Punishment of the Moong Water God.
My skin was healing, but the citizens began to take off their combat uniforms all at once. I hadn’t asked them to, nor had I paid them any attention. I joined them and took off the tattered uniform.
“...I didn’t realize it until now. Please kill me.”
“Please kill me.”
“Please kill meeeeee-”
Indeed, they all knelt down without exception and lowered their heads. They stretched their necks long enough that I could behead them whenever I wanted.
“I will reward your achievements later. Return to the headquarters.”
I left them. The reason I could shake off the regret of not being able to obtain the heart of the Great Black was that I had obtained something of equal value as loot. The Great Black had no choice but to offer this to me without ever being able to use it.
[Mysterious Relic (Item)
The relic’s identity is unknown until used.
Item Class: ?
Item Level: ?]
It resembled the Mysterious Stone that had transformed into Odin’s Left Eye, so it would be an incredibly powerful object, overshadowing the bone ring. There was something I needed to do before unveiling the true nature of this item. I had to remove the disguise that was no longer needed.
If ‘Odin’s Left Eye’ were to end up in the hands of someone in our faction or an enemy’s group, nothing could be more horrifying. Though the likelihood of that happening was almost nil, one couldn’t know if a character like Saint Cassian or Jayden suddenly appeared.
I stopped and found a place to set things up. Organizing the blueprints I had collected into one category was not a difficult task. I followed the process I used to create the Extractor. Just as the extraction and absorption process had been automated by embedding a device in my body at that time, I created a domain to mangle blueprints!
[* Blueprints in possession]
[1. Insignia, Time Reversal]
[2. Trait, Extractor]
[3. Item, Odin’s Left Eye - Mysterious Stone]
[4. Skill, Hermes’s Teleportation]
[5. Skill, Fountain of Sanctity]
…
I started with the Extractor.
[You have obtained the trait ‘Extractor.’]
[Extractor has been activated.]
[Target: Item, Odin’s Left Eye]
[Name: Na Seon-Hu
Level: 641 (Overlord) *Second Round*]
[You have regained your original power.]
***
The War of New Devil. How strong was Entegasto during its prime? I suddenly had this thought before unveiling the loot. The ancient dragons under the Great Red had been terrified by the mere name of Entegasto and ran away.
Entegasto’s power must have surpassed that of each ancient dragon. Whether it was its own power or borrowed from Doom Kaos, it must have been far beyond what I could manage. Even though it had lost its divinity, it was so powerful back then. That was why it could secure so many spoils.
However, I wasn’t as strong as it used to be. Therefore, I knew that destroying Black before it could summon its main body was the best choice. Thus, Black was completely annihilated, along with its heart, skull, and other organs.
Nonetheless, I was certain that Entegasto in its prime couldn’t have obtained something like this even in its prime.
[You have used Mysterious Relic.]
Please, please!
[Mysterious Relic has transformed into ‘The Great Silver.’]
[Explorer has been activated.]
[The Great Silver (Item)
It is a great relic imbued with the Great Silver’s spirit of sacrifice. Also, it is a formidable weapon created to counter the dark Demon King, Doom Man. The sharp blade, forged from the Great Silver’s skull, houses its soul, and its heart has been embedded to complete the sanctity of the relic. The Great Silver’s powers and soul are bound to the relic itself. This is a powerful blessing and constraint designed for the Great Black, who was chosen as the owner of this relic.
* No purification is needed.
* Power greatly increases against beings of the Doom Kaos’s faction.
Item Class: SSS
Item Level: 700
Effect: Power Resistance + 50%, Mental Resistance + 50%, Soul Resistance + 50%, Duration of all skills and traits + 300%
The Great’s Common Power ‘Gate Formation’
The Great’s Common Power ‘Purification’
The Great’s Common Power ‘Polymorph’
The Great’s Common Power ‘Advent of Main Figure’
The Great Silver’s Unique Power ‘Steel Curtain’
The Great Silver’s Unique Power ‘Steel Cloud’
The Great Silver’s Unique Power ‘Steel Breath’
Physical Defense: 300000 / 300000
Magic Defense: 300000 / 300000
Power Possessed: 1000/1000]
Yes. An object created to kill me was now in my hands.
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