Chapter 92
‘…They’re on a different level.’
Watching the clash of two monsters, Lee Hyuk-soo trembled uncontrollably.
The guardian warrior that had appeared was Level 109.
A realm so far removed from his own, it wasn’t just the number that was overwhelming—it was a different dimension altogether.
Just watching sent shivers through his spine. It was hard even to make eye contact with such an exalted being.
Even if he combined every opponent he’d ever faced, they would pale in comparison to that single guardian warrior.
If that warrior were to charge at him…
No, there would be no need to charge.
The sheer pressure alone would crush him.
He would suffocate under the force radiating from the guardian warrior until his body simply burst.
The only saving grace was that the warrior’s attention was fixated solely on the Prophet.
All Lee Hyuk-soo could do was struggle to breathe beside them.
The Prophet wasn’t just enduring the gaze.
…He was fiercely battling it.
‘I… I can’t even see them move.’
Heaven beyond Heaven.
A realm so high that even if he polished his skills for a lifetime, he’d never reach it.
Their blows exchanged in a world beyond mortal sight.
Even sounds only reached intermittently—he had no time to figure out how many exchanges had already occurred.
Boom! Boom! KRAAAK!
The pillars holding up the palace collapsed like dominoes.
The floor caved in, dust clouded the air, and before long, the palace interior became a battlefield of chaos.
Lee Hyuk-soo couldn’t move.
A single wrong step and he’d be caught in their storm.
…And yet.
‘Can this even be called a fight?’
It was more like a war.
To call it a duel felt insufficient given its scale.
They had clearly surpassed the realm of living beings.
Lee Hyuk-soo was witnessing the battlefield of gods.
This was the world beyond Level 99.
A dimension of egoless transcendence, experienced only by those who surpassed Level 100.
‘There’s no place for me here…’
Gulp.
Lee Hyuk-soo’s expression tensed.
His mouth went dry.
His eyes could barely track their afterimages.
He didn’t belong here.
He never had.
‘Now I understand. The Legendary Quest. The title, Witness of Legend—why it was given.’
It finally made sense.
Why everyone who entered the Second Night was granted the title ‘One Who Witnessed Legend.’
It was simple.
Everyone who stepped into the Second Night was merely a spectator.
None of them could be summarized in the story.
Lee Hyuk-soo was merely granted a closer seat to watch.
A complete bystander.
There was only one thing he could do.
Remain in his seat and watch until the story was finished.
That was all Lee Hyuk-soo could do.
‘That’s… the Prophet’s power.’
Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded madly.
He had long known the Prophet was an extraordinary being.
But this was his first time seeing him directly engage in battle.
And even against a guardian warrior, he wasn’t being pushed back at all.
In fact, as time passed, he began to overwhelm.
Especially the way he manipulated particles—it looked like a surreal form of magic.
‘What level is he…?’
He had considered it.
That his level was so high it caused errors, even bugs.
That suspicion was now confirmed.
To face a Level 109 guardian warrior with such ease—he had to be beyond even that.
And perhaps, even what he was showing now wasn’t everything.
It was impossible to gauge.
Just how high had he climbed?
‘I want to reach it too…’
Though he couldn’t see with his eyes, Lee Hyuk-soo sensed it.
So he closed his eyes.
Only then did a mental image begin to form in his head.
How the battle was progressing.
Who was attacking, defending, and gaining the upper hand.
Just forming that one frame felt like it would make his head explode.
‘I won’t miss this.’
Lee Hyuk-soo instinctively understood.
A battle of this caliber—he wouldn’t witness something like it again.
Even if his mind couldn’t keep up with reality, he forced every bit of it into memory.
You had to know to reach.
You had to perceive another dimension in order to break through the wall.
It might not be easy. It might even be impossible. But Lee Hyuk-soo poured his entire focus into following their battle.
Even if it killed him, he would have no regrets.
“You bastard…!”
Crunch.
Then it happened.
The guardian warrior gritted his teeth.
No matter how violently he swung his greatsword, those black and red particles blocked him with ease.
It was like watching an automated shield system.
When direct attacks didn’t work, he tried feints to bait the particles—but even that failed.
As if his movements were being read like an open book.
What irritated him more was the challenger’s behavior.
“You’re not even using your full strength!”
He was being mocked.
Testing his new powers little by little—as if he were an experiment.
So this is how a lab rat feels.
This wasn’t just a power gained from absorbing Ajos.
It was stronger.
Faster. More cunning.
The challenger fought in an utterly alien way.
Whipping the black particles like whips, using them as shields, manipulating them in various forms.
And all with an attitude that seemed uninterested in the actual battle.
How could he not be infuriated?
No one had ever acted like this in front of him!
‘That’s not even his full power?’
Even Lee Hyuk-soo was stunned.
That powerful guardian warrior was grinding his teeth in frustration.
Because he wasn’t even going all out.
He couldn’t even imagine what would happen if the Prophet used his full strength.
“…Now I understand.”
At that moment—
Ignoring the warrior’s words, Park Chan-woo nodded.
A power gained suddenly.
He had merged with the berserk Ajos and donned him like armor.
The particles surrounding his body were the evidence.
Now he understood how to use them.
‘This isn’t just for swinging around.’
But that wasn’t all.
Simply swinging wouldn’t unveil the truth behind this phenomenon.
Only by probing deeper could he reach the truth.
What were these particles?
They moved on their own when he didn’t focus. When he did, they responded even stronger.
So he tried swinging them. Tried tapping them.
But that wasn’t enough.
Slurp.
…He stuck out his tongue and drew a particle into his mouth.
Madness.
To take an unknown energy and place it inside his body.
Especially one so ominous.
It wouldn’t be strange if he died immediately, but Park Chan-woo didn’t care.
Instead, he rolled it around in his mouth like tasting wine.
Gulp.
He swallowed it in one go.
‘Hmm.’
He soon felt the particle bounce out.
It naturally exited his body.
What did that mean?
After repeating the process a few times, he finally understood.
‘These particles are all mana. Ajos’s original mana.’
The inherent energy one was born with—[Innate Mana].
Some called it the ‘soul.’
These particles were Ajos’s very essence.
However, [Innate Mana] wasn’t supposed to be visible.
It wasn’t something that should be felt or wielded like this.
And yet—they were visible. Controllable. Shapeable.
“Ahh…”
A realization struck Park Chan-woo like lightning.
It was [Innate Mana], and at the same time—
‘It’s magic.’
This alone was magic.
But it was unfinished magic.
The [Innate Mana] surrounding his body was just a ‘dot.’
Only by connecting it into ‘lines’ and then into ‘planes’ would it become true magic.
Only then could he finally cast the spell called ‘Ajos.’
A clue to creating an entirely new spell!
His heart raced.
‘I have to refine this into a complete spell within the remaining time.’
Only 20 minutes left.
Could he complete it?
‘I’m creating magic.’
Unless you were one of the dragon race—the progenitors of magic—this was nearly impossible.
Even for dragons, this was difficult.
The Dragon God Sephiro had created countless spells, but Park Chan-woo wasn’t him.
And even Sephiro had never taken raw mana—raw existence—and turned it into a spell.
‘Ajos’s [Innate Mana] is abnormal. It’s been altered by something.’
That’s why he couldn’t recognize it at first.
It had been altered and corrupted.
It was indeed Ajos’s mana, but far removed from the norm.
He thought about what caused this change.
‘Beyond the Zero Realm… The Negative World.’
That had to be it.
Ajos, having experienced negative levels through the Reaper of Oaths, must have seen something he shouldn’t have in that realm.
Something that could shake and rewrite his soul entirely.
The Sealed God.
But if that being was truly the God of Offerings—
…Then there must have been others.
For example—
‘Other sealed entities, including the human form of Dragon God Sephiro…’
Were they trapped in the Negative Realm?
The sacrifices used for regression?
All the offerings Park Chan-woo had made?
He had found the God of Offerings in the Holy Grail of the Sealed God, but that being had existed for a very long time.
If he existed from time immemorial, surely there were other masters before Park Chan-woo.
Their offerings would’ve been countless.
Perhaps Ajos saw those things.
‘Something from there must’ve clung to Ajos.’
Otherwise, none of this could be explained.
Something made Ajos go berserk.
It latched onto him and profoundly altered him…
“Don’t lose focus, human!”
The guardian warrior’s entire body turned red-hot.
He couldn’t tolerate it anymore.
That man was ignoring him. Distracted.
He was entirely focused elsewhere, paying him no mind.
What an insolent bastard.
“Let’s see if you can ignore this too.”
Shhhhhhhh!
The guardian warrior summoned all his mana.
Then mirages formed—one, then two.
Soon, ten mirages stood firm like clones.
His ultimate technique—[Purgatory].
In an instant, ten clones surrounded Park Chan-woo.
Though this consumed an immense amount of mana, once trapped inside, death was certain.
The clones were no different from the original.
Each moved independently, focused solely on his death.
No way those little particles could block an attack from eleven directions.
It was the guardian warrior’s most powerful technique.
Ten clones.
One original.
Unless the true body was located and destroyed, there could be no victory.
‘This is my win, you arrogant fool.’
The guardian warrior was sure of it.
He would butcher this impudent challenger.
Thus—
As the clones and the guardian warrior charged in all at once—
“…Awaken, Ajos.”