Chapter 270: An Ideal Conclusion

The fear of death is a fundamental emotion that all living beings possess.

Especially when the efforts and hard work accumulated over time suddenly amount to nothing.

[Activating unique ability ‘Tomb of Swords.’]

[Activating Lv15 ‘Primeval Flame.’]

Jinhyuk unleashed the mana he had been subtly gathering.

At that moment,

BOOM!

A crimson spear descended from the sky.

Aimed precisely at Tristan’s head.

“Ah…”

Tristan let out a brief gasp.

Now.

“Dodge!”

Jinhyuk pushed Tristan aside with an exaggerated motion.

Almost simultaneously,

BOOM!

The spear struck the ground.

It was a narrow escape. If they had been even slightly slower, Tristan’s head would have gained an unwanted decoration.

“This… this is…”

“It’s a demon’s spear. Hargan must be really pissed off. Leaving something like this behind even after returning to the Demon Realm.”

Tristan’s body trembled like a leaf.

The pride and arrogance she had once held were long gone.

In her place was a person stained with despair and fear.

Manipulating her now was easier than breathing.

“He… he tried to kill me with that?”

“Yes. And this is probably just the beginning. With the demonic nature, he will keep targeting you until he succeeds.”

Jinhyuk gathered more mana.

In the air, new spears began to materialize one by one.

Swoosh.

Jinhyuk stood in front of Tristan.

The spears, poised to strike, halted in mid-air.

“As you can see, Hargan fears the demon who supports me. And that demon is devoted to me. If I ask, they will help, even if it means waking up in the middle of the night.”

Jinhyuk boasted.

With Tristan’s spirit half-broken and his movements subtle, the dramatic effect of his act was in full display.

[The deity ‘Rotting Heart’ strongly questions your statement.]

Beriel urgently displayed a status window, but Jinhyuk closed it even faster.

Stop interrupting at crucial moments.

“Decide. Will you stay with the demons and die at the hands of a demon, or will you join me and save your life? This is your last chance to choose.”

“If I follow you, you can protect me from that demon?”

“Of course. With a strong demon watching over me, there’s nothing to worry about.”

[The deity ‘Rotting Heart’ silently screams.]

[It warns you to stop spouting nonsense!]

“See? Even the great being is pleased. Look at the fireworks they’re putting on.”

Jinhyuk pointed at the air.

There, sparks flew as Beriel’s anger-filled magic scattered in various colors.

“Really… To think I could be under the protection of a higher demon…”

Tristan swallowed hard.

Death or life.

The decision didn’t take long.

“…Promise you’ll keep your word.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Of course, he would keep his promise.

[Activating ‘Brand of the Burning Soul.’]

As a perfect slave, that is.

A red brand burrowed into Tristan’s flesh, creating an indelible mark.

Good.

‘With Gawain dead and Tristan subdued, the remaining demons are essentially leaderless husks.’

Moreover, with access to the demons’ infrastructure and internal information, it was a significant achievement.

“If people see you, I’ll have a lot to explain. Take another route out. I’ll contact you later.”

“…Understood.”

Tristan nodded slightly.

＊＊＊

Jinhyuk emerged from the room where the Wailing Witch had been and joined the others waiting outside.

There were players with anxious expressions waiting for Jinhyuk.

“Hyung! Are you okay?”

“Oppa!”

Lee Taemin and Yoo Yeonhwa were the first to welcome Jinhyuk.

They were completely exhausted from evacuating the Dangun Guild, but their faces lit up seeing Jinhyuk safe.

“…Thank you, Jinhyuk. Because of you, we all survived.”

Park Jungjin of the Dangun Guild expressed his sincere gratitude.

“Thank you.”

“We came to help, but we ended up needing your help.”

Their voices were tinged with self-reproach for their lack of skill.

They had been proud of being in a large guild, but this raid made them painfully aware of their own limits.

And how extraordinary Jinhyuk was for defeating such overwhelmingly powerful foes.

‘We can’t even reach his level, no matter how hard we try.’

‘One person is more impressive than the entire attack team.’

‘How much more effort do we need to put in?’

It would likely be impossible, even if they spent their entire lives trying. Even fighting alongside him seemed out of reach.

Rather than feeling envious or bitter, they felt reassured knowing such a player was climbing the Tower of Trials for humanity.

“You’ve become quite the star. Next time, I might not even get the chance to join you with my level.”

Even Maria of Olympus approached Jinhyuk for a handshake.

Without Jinhyuk, they might have been annihilated by the betrayal of the Gandhara Guild.

If not that, they would have met a tragic end at the hands of the Wailing Witch or the demons.

“Why would the best mage in Europe say such a thing? It was thanks to everyone’s help.”

Jinhyuk modestly shifted the credit.

Not because he had matured or learned humility.

It was just that he was about to receive the rewards for being kind.

[Conditions for copying have been met.]

[You have copied ‘Hellfire.’]

As expected.

By not betraying Maria, he had successfully copied Hellfire.

Now he had both Black Tears and Hellfire.

Everything he needed to do on the 15th floor was complete.

“Thank you, Elder Yoo Chunyoung. It was a burdensome request, but you agreed so readily, putting my mind at ease.”

“Haha. What did I do? Clearing the boss of the ruins and saving the attack team were all your doing. Besides, I had to fulfill a request from the one who saved my life.”

Yoo Chunyoung laughed heartily.

It felt good.

In the past, he had to handle everything alone, but now he had companions walking the path with him.

Companions he could trust with his life, even in the most dangerous situations.

“We’re heading straight to the 15th-floor boss raid. What about you, oppa? Want to join us?”

“Boss raid?”

“Yes. News of the successful raid on the ruins has various guilds mobilizing. They think the rest is doable since you handled the hardest part.”

The boss, huh…

There was a separate boss monster guarding the 15th floor, but it wasn’t particularly valuable.

That level could be left to the large guilds and those two.

“No, I have other plans. I’m going to rest and recover my strength for a few days.”

From practicing the newly acquired skills to creating superior versions through fusion, there was a lot to do.

Moreover, the Empire would soon be ready, and another great war was imminent.

He needed to prepare for that as well.

‘I should visit Murim to see my master.’

Jinhyuk shivered at the thought of the Dark Emperor.

‘…I have to go through that training again?’

Even Jinhyuk, who had enjoyed various bizarre training processes, felt a chill run through his body at the thought of training with the Dark Emperor again.

＊＊＊

Three days had passed since the ruins.

Jinhyuk, having left the Tower of Trials, spent the time recuperating.

It was more like collapsing than resting, but he fully recovered his condition.

With perfect recovery, Jinhyuk, along with Alice, headed to a special training ground prepared by the Awakened Association.

“This is it. It guarantees complete privacy, so there’s no worry about anyone else coming.”

A private training room available for S-rank and above.

Alice looked around curiously.

“Ho. To think they can make something like this. Quite impressive for humans. But what is this?”

Alice approached the augmented reality device in the center of the training room.

She pressed the red button with her finger.

[Scanning the subject’s mana.]

A blue light scanned Alice’s body.

“How dare…! A mere machine trying to assess my mana?”

Alice’s red pupils dilated.

At that moment.

Buzz!

[Lv??? Unable to measure. Implementing the highest possible practice opponent.]

“Roar!”

A 30-meter-tall holographic giant appeared.

A Black Dragon.

A creature covered in black scales, the ultimate being.

“A d-dragon? How can there be a dragon outside the tower?”

Alice stammered in disbelief.

Facing an unknown type of dragon for the first time, she was understandably bewildered.

But regardless of how formidable, the pride of a True Ancestor wouldn’t let her back down.

“I am Alice von Ataraxia, head of Ataraxia!”

Alice unleashed ‘Blood Lord.’

Hmm.

The battle between the foolish queen and the machine…

This would be quite interesting.

A battle where either outcome would leave scars made it even more appealing.

“Die! Die! Huh? Why does it keep dodging? Could it have spatial distortion abilities… Indeed, a dragon is a formidable adversary!”

Formidable adversary, my foot.

She’s definitely an idiot.

At this level, she should have figured it out by now, shouldn’t she?

While Alice was recklessly attacking, Jinhyuk quietly activated his status window.

—————————————————

Name: Kang Jinhyuk

Gender: Male

Age: 27

Level: 100

Strength: 101

Agility: 30

Stamina: 40

Mana: 233

Gap: 100

Luck: 10

Adaptive: 78

Spirit: 51.24

Stat Points: 18

Coins: 5,175,356

Profession: Rune Interpreter

Unique Abilities: ‘Fusion,’ ‘Tomb of Swords,’ ‘Star’s Blessing,’ ‘Anubis’s Judgment,’ ‘Blood Demon Energy,’ ‘Mandala,’ ‘1 Second Invincibility,’ ‘Thousand Poisons,’ ‘White Beast,’ ‘Universal Sharing,’ ‘Sanctuary of the Sun,’ ‘Black Heaven Demon Emperor Technique,’ ‘Triple Magic,’ ‘Giant’s Strike,’ ‘Dragon’s Breath,’ ‘Fast Sword,’ ‘Tombgrave’s Right Arm,’ ‘Berserker,’ ‘Wind’s Domain,’ ‘Shadow Killing,’ ‘Blood Explosion,’ ‘Black Tears’

Skills: The number of learned skills is too many and has been set to ‘folded.’

Barriers: The number of learned barriers is too many and has been set to ‘folded.’

—————————————————

Level 100.

He had finally reached triple digits.

The experience gained from defeating the Wailing Witch and the apostles was tremendous.

‘Time truly flies.’

At one time, he looked at three-digit level enemies, wondering when he would reach their level. Now, he stood among them.

Though still far from his prime.

[Agility increased from 30 → 39.]

[Stamina increased from 40 → 49.]

It was time to enhance the relatively under-invested agility and stamina.

While the lower levels of the tower could be overcome with skills and experience alone, the balance of stats became crucial as one ascended to the middle and upper floors.

Good.

Next…

It was time to check the long-awaited ‘rewards’ that would make all the hard work worthwhile.

Jinhyuk pulled out the items obtained from defeating the Wailing Witch from his subspace inventory.