Among those in the room, Diablo and the Demon King were the only ones who remained silent.
After their conversation, the other absolute level powerhouses* disappeared one after the other, leaving them. (*: Until now, I’m still not certain if these people are ‘Absolutes’ or not as the author uses ‘absolute’ both as a title and a power rank. But I’ll call them Absolutes from now on for simplicity’s sake)
It was Diablo that stood up first. As he was about to leave, Diablo looked back.
[I will allow it.]
[Allow what?]
[You to send your subordinates.]
[…]
[No. Did you say they were your limbs, not subordinates? In any case.]
The will o’ wisps burning in Diablo’s eye sockets turned toward the Demon King.
[Don’t try to contact him directly. I will not let it go.]
[You seem to be mistaken. Neither I nor my limbs intend to meet Lukas Trowman. My goal is elsewhere.]
[Is it the Blue Knight? Or Yang In-hyun?]
[Do I have to tell you that too?]
[You don’t.]
Immediately after hearing that reply, which seemed to be taking a step back, the Demon King’s figure disappeared. Diablo muttered, a sigh mixing into his voice.
[Today might be. The most important day of my life… Lucid.]
The Black Knight, who had been concealing his presence until now, revealed himself.
[Can you defeat the Blue Knight?]
[Don’t know.]
Lucid replied bluntly before adding.
[However, I wouldn’t lose.]
* * *
He didn’t manage to extract any information from the monster.
This wasn’t because the goblin monster overcame its fear or show its backbone during torture. Instead, as soon as it opened its mouth to spit out some information, its facial muscles twisted and exploded.
Lukas clicked his tongue as he blocked the flying pieces of meat with a barrier.
‘A trivial act.’
Was some sorcery cast?
No. Lukas hadn’t even noticed until right before the explosion, so it was probably a machine. An explosive device must have been implanted into its skull. The faint burnt smell and bits of brain matter mixed with mechanical pieces turned that suspicion into a certainty.
…This was why science was annoying.
‘No.’
Lukas shook his head, clearing it. Then, he decided to put aside his arrogance and think again.
It was not just at the level of an annoyance.
‘Science might be the most threatening power for me.’
It was a subtle feeling.
In many worlds, humans were usually the ones that developed science. This was because those who were born with innate strength, special abilities or talents usually don’t feel a need to resort to such means.
Humans, who were not born with anything special, had no choice but to study other things to protect themselves.
In other words, science was one of the possibilities and brilliance that humans displayed.
And this science.
Turned out to be the most threatening power for Lukas, who at one point claimed to be the god of all humans.
An unknown bitterness rose up to the top of his throat, but it couldn’t be denied.
Lukas suddenly felt curious.
What limit of science had the Great Galactic Alliance achieved, and what was the limit of the power they could display?
He looked at the Lake Hotel.
Perhaps it was because he’d just shown his strength when he killed the two monsters. He could feel that many presences in the hotel were paying attention to him.
They would soon approach.
‘They won’t attack all at once.’
At least there would be two, and at most, there would be five. The chances of them launching a pincer attack are slim.
In other words, in a sense, this crisis might be an opportunity.
If he took care of the forces that they sent, then he could reduce the number of enemies at the beginning without having to give his all.
Taht.
However, Lukas ignored the gazes and presences he felt at the hotel and flew in the opposite direction.
His destination was, of course, the place where Pale was.
In this situation, he was more wary of a single out of control Pale than the group of Absolutes or ‘Kiel Marlgol’ in the Next Stage.
As he was moving through the sky at a high speed, he felt a presence.
With fluttering robes and a gleaming blade.
Yang In-hyun landed right beside Lukas and began moving along with him. He was already in a combat ready state and his sword was already drawn.
Nevertheless, with an indifferent face, Yang In-hyun asked.
“What’s the situation?”
“Kiel Marlgol, the founder of VIP and the Head of the Great Galactic Alliance, started this.”
The two were reuniting after a week, but they didn’t ask each other about their well-being. This probably would have been the case even if the situation was different.
“I’m sure you also heard what he said, right?”
The screen covering the sky had been so large that it could be seen from anywhere in this city.
Yang In-hyun simply nodded.
“Dok Go-yun was injured. The injuries aren’t serious but I don’t think he will be an effective force in what is to come. So I entrusted him with the rescue and evacuation of the citizens.”
Lukas continued.
“And I confirmed the presence of my original targets, Diablo and the Demon King, in a place called the Lake Hotel. In addition, there were also a bunch of guys at the absolute level waiting there. Looking at their movement, it can be assumed that they were aware of our presence long ago.”
Yang In-hyun thought for a while before opening his mouth.
“Then…”
The conversation cut off abruptly. This was because a shadow was cast in the sky for a moment.
Boom!
Like a meteor crashing down, something fell to the devastated city. The force of the collision was so strong that it caused a small earthquake, making the building rubble heave for a moment.
Of course, Yang In-hyun and Lukas knew that it was not just a simple object.
Beings with presences that couldn’t be ignored showed themselves through the rising smoke one by one.
“What’s this? You’re both together?”
“That saves us the trouble of looking for them.”
“Hold on a second. They’re both here. Doesn’t that mean one person can take care of both of them on their own?”
They all had unique appearances.
There was a small man who was barely over 1 metre tall, a woman radiating enough colour to make one’s head spin, and a dragonman with crystal-like scales.
Lukas narrowed his eyes.
‘Three revealed themselves openly.’
His eyes then briefly swept across the ruins.
‘Four… are hiding.’
Then, he looked up at the sky.
“And the other three passed straight over us. They should be heading to where Pale is.’
Lukas was conflicted for a moment.
Pale and the Absolutes.
Would it be worth it to let them meet now?
Of course, if the enraged Pale exterminated all of them then it wouldn’t be a bad thing for Lukas.
However…
‘If Pale lost all reason because of their hasty actions…’
Then, no joke, this great universe would disappear today.
…As expected, he couldn’t. He couldn’t wait and see.
Just as Lukas looked at Yang In-hyun and was about to open his mouth, he beat him to it.
“Go.”
“…will it be fine?”
“Are you worried? That’s a bit disrespectful.”
Lukas let out a hollow laugh at those words.
“You really misunderstood. You were going to Pale too. I was asking if it would be okay for you to take on the role of cleaning up these guys.”
“Ah.”
As if he hadn’t thought of that, Yang In-hyun let out a dumb sound that didn’t suit him. That was only for a moment, and soon he shrugged.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t think it’ll take too long.”
“Be careful. You’re not allowed to be careless.”
“Hmm.”
“…”
The small man, woman and dragonman watched this series of conversations with absurd expressions.
“Hah? What are these guys blabbering about now?”
“It seems like one plans to deal with us while the other goes off to do something else.”
“Kukuku. They seem to be talking for us.”
Letting out a laugh, the small man sat down where he was.
Then, something strange happened. A white chair suddenly appeared in the space that was just empty.
The small man sat on it, crossed his legs and said.
“There’s no need to let those guys get a rise out of you. I’ll watch from here, you two can take care of one each.”
“…that’s what our Disease King* says, what will you do?” (*: Tentative translation since there is no context.)
The woman looked at the dragonman and spoke.
“The Swordsman or the Wizard. Who will you take?”
“I’ll take the Swordsman. He seems to be a martial artist as well.”
“Then I guess I’ll take the Wizard. Ugh, a chase is tiring.”
Clicking her tongue, the woman was about to leave, but for some reason, she stopped moving.
“Huh? What are you doing? Are you not going?”
“Can you be so relaxed? That guy is skilled at using space. It’ll be annoying if the distance spreads any more.”
“…”
The small man and dragonman let out puzzled voices, but the woman didn’t respond. She appeared to be lost in thought.
The two Absolutes quickly diverted their attention. This was because they didn’t care about other people in the first place.
The dragonman focused on the enemy before him.
The narrow, vertical pupils in his gem-like eyes reflected Yang In-hyun’s image.
“I am the Gem Dragon Hazirholman.”
Nodding, Yang In-hyun raised his sword.
This was the politest greeting he could give to an enemy.
“Yang In-hyun, Sect Leader of the Flower Mountain Sect.”
“You are one of the Twelve Void Lords of the World of Void, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Hmm. Good. I always wanted to try fighting one.”
Hazirholman nodded.
“…indeed, it will be a great contest. I couldn’t ask for a better opponent.”
“…Hazirholman.”
At that moment, Yang In-hyun let out a sigh.
“You, no. All of you, don’t know anything.”
“What-”
At that moment, Hazirholman hurriedly twisted his body.
But he wasn’t able to dodge completely. Together with a cool feeling, he felt his right arm be cut.
He lost one of his limbs in one blow?
‘Fast…!’
But Hazirholman’s face was filled more with shock than frustration. This was because he didn’t understand how Yang In-hyun cut his arm. And that feeling of unknown soon became one of horror.
Clang clang clang!
Yang In-hyun continued to attack with an expressionless face. Every time the sword wind blew, shards of crystal were scattered everywhere as if they were being mined.
‘Wh-, what kind of sword technique is this…?’
On the planet of Dragons in a certain universe, someone with ‘jewel scales’ was born once every few millions of years.
Hazirholman’s race was lords of that universe. And they had the unique characteristic of getting stronger as they aged.
Their average life expectancy was in the tens of thousands of years.
And within such a race, at the age of barely more than a decade, Hazirholman could no longer find an opponent.
He had never suffered a defeat.
He was the strongest.
Even when the universes merged and he learned about the existence of VIP as well as encountered the Absolutes there, that declaration never wavered.
But now, Hazirholman couldn’t even afford to speak. He could only watch helplessly as the number of sword wounds on his body gradually increased.
The small man, who was watching the situation, narrowed his eyes.
“…something’s not right. Hazir, are you not doing your best?”
“…”
“Ay. Diana. Say somethi-’
“Ru-”
Diana, the woman who had been standing still all this while, finally spoke.
The small man turned his gaze to her. And saw. The completely bloodless face of the woman, which was covered in cold sweat.
“Run-”
“Diana?”
Diana’s body split into two pieces. A thick bloody smell was released in an instant.
“…!”
The small man jumped up from his seat.
She was cut. When the hell? Did Yang In-hyun cut her?
However… wasn’t he fighting right now?
Crack!
“Kuack!”
The sound of metal breaking and a scream were heard at the same time.
He saw Hazirholman standing there with a dumbfounded face. Most of his body was destroyed and bleeding profusely.
“What is this… strength…”
The moment Hazirholman muttered in disbelief, his chest split vertically. Blood poured out like a fountain before his huge body collapsed.
“You motherfucker! What did you do?!”
“Do you want me to explain it to you?”
“What?”
“No. You wouldn’t understand anyway. Because you…”
Yang In-hyun shook his sword.
The moment his emotionless eyes turned towards him, the small man felt a chill on his neck.
“Haven’t even realised you’re dead.”
“Huh?”
But the coolness was not just a feeling or an illusion.
He hurriedly touched his neck. There, he felt something, like a thin hair. A moment later, he realised it was a solid line.
His neck was cut.
“Whe… n…”
The small man’s eyes slowly rolled back and his neck slipped off. Thump, the head without consciousness* rolled across the ruins. (*: Consciousness-less head)
Three Absolutes were killed without difficulty.
But Yang In-hyun’s heart was calm. After standing there for a while, he turned to look in a direction.
“I think I warmed up a bit. How about you?’
Krrr…
Shadows from all directions gathered in one place. The gathered shadows rose up and swayed like sewage water.
The ominous liquid gradually took shape.
“…”
It was the first time Yang In-hyun was meeting the being in front of him.
However, he felt a strange sense of kinship. But considering this person’s origin, it wasn’t that surprising.
[I’m always ready.]
Demon King Kasajin, the 0th Demon, one of the Twelve Void Lords, smiled and said.
(TL: They were so arrogant before… I thought they were worth something.)
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