Chapter 565
“Th-this can’t be…”
Ares trembled uncontrollably.
An overwhelming force that a mere human should not be capable of.
That pressure… even for a moment, it surpassed Zeus himself.
What he had just witnessed—he would never forget it until the day he died.
‘An absurd monster just appeared…’
25 Years had been a monster too.
A grotesque ability Ares had never seen before.
It reminded him of the beings who resided on the 50th floor.
However—
A monster had been devoured by another, even greater monster.
A perfect predator, a complete hierarchy of dominance.
As far as Ares knew, there was no being who could stop Kang Jinhyuk.
‘Vwooom!’
Ares quickly healed his wounds.
Only enough to do what mattered most—
To use his final trump card.
[Ares activates Unique Ability ‘Honorable Retreat’!]
“…It’s working!”
The God of War’s true talent wasn’t fighting—it was escaping.
Ever since the Trojan War, retreat had been his specialty.
As long as he could throw away his pride, he could escape any battlefield.
Red lines stretched all the way to the Tower of Trials.
[While ‘Honorable Retreat’ is active, you are immune to all attacks.]
He had used this skill to escape from numerous life-threatening battles.
Everything was going according to plan.
Except for one thing—
Jinhyuk already knew this ability existed.
And he also knew that Ares was fully willing to abandon his pride.
‘Squelch!’
Right before the ability fully activated, the Ice Spirit’s Spear pierced Ares’ back leg.
[‘Ice Spirit’s Wrath’ – Absolute Zero activates!]
‘Crackle-crack-crack…!’
“GRAAAAGH!”
A surge of extreme cold engulfed him.
Ares screamed as a hole was blown through his leg.
He hadn’t expected Jinhyuk to aim for the exact moment just before activation.
He cursed his own complacency.
But it was already too late for regrets.
Jinhyuk, holding the spear that had struck him, was already right in front of him.
‘Yeah… this thing’s performance is amazing.’
Jinhyuk caressed the spear’s shaft.
As if it were a weapon he’d used for years, its weight and feel fit naturally in his grip.
Most of all, the fact that it had pierced Ares’ divine body in one blow made him like it even more than Balmung.
‘Well, it does have nearly 450,000 attack power.’
Specifically: 449,800.
It outclassed Balmung’s 320,000 by nearly 130,000 points.
Unless it was a deity specialized in extreme defense, no one would dare try to block it.
Jinhyuk turned his gaze to Ares.
“Ugh…”
Ares had completely lost the will to fight.
He hadn’t even realized the Coronation was gone—he was that desperate.
Yet Jinhyuk didn’t press in for the kill.
Instead, he pulled the spear out.
‘Shluk!’
Blood gushed from Ares’ leg and instantly froze.
In the brief opening—
Ares looked back and forth between Jinhyuk and the spear in disbelief.
Then, snapping out of it, he hurriedly completed his ability.
“Khaha! Fool! Now it’s impossible for you to kill me!”
‘Vwoooom!’
Ares vanished along a red line in the blink of an eye.
Truly, his escape skills rivaled Chun Yoosung’s.
He might’ve been built like a tank, but he moved like a fish in water.
“You’re letting him go? Isn’t he one of their major forces?”
Alice tilted her head.
Knowing Jinhyuk’s nature, it made no sense that he let Ares escape.
“Well, he seemed pretty desperate to go home…”
When someone wants to go that badly, the polite thing is to let them.
Besides, Jinhyuk would prefer Ares return to Olympus in one piece—
He was a very precious delivery package… carrying a very special gift.
Just in time—
[‘Flowing Moonlight’ has been deactivated.]
The clone began to fade.
“Guess I can just sit back and watch now.”
Jinhyuk quietly closed his eyes.
—
In the shared consciousness—
Jinhyuk, still locked in fierce battle on the 34th floor, let out a satisfied sigh.
His clone had performed beyond expectations.
‘BOOM!’
‘BOOM BOOM BOOM!’
“Damn it, I’m struggling to survive over here! What the hell are you smiling about?!”
Chun Yoosung roared, veins popping from his neck.
He was facing three intergalactic warriors, each wielding lightsabers of different colors. His body was barely holding together.
‘Whirrrrr!’
‘Clang-clang-clang… KABOOM!’
Precise, relentless strikes came from all directions.
It was maddening.
Especially that masked freak breathing through a rebreather—he was on a whole other level.
[Unique Ability ‘Song of the Sword’ activates!]
[Unique Ability ‘Death Star’ activates!]
A massive planetary fortress materialized above.
That masked one, receiving its support, was a monster.
At the very least, he was on par with a top martial artist or a grand swordmaster of an empire.
‘Whirrrrr!’
‘BOOM!’
Lasers and bombs ripped through the ground.
“Hands off our team!”
“The broken sword will…”
On top of that, countless heroes and protagonists from other dimensions were running wild.
A swordsmanship master—
The wind itself became a storm as he advanced.
‘Clang-clang-clang!’
Chun Yoosung deflected the strikes with all his strength.
He cut through bombs, twisted laser paths, and clashed with the storm head-on.
“Gah!”
“They’re all strong!”
[Teresa activates LV30 ‘Holy Cross’!]
Golden crosses of blinding light rained from the sky.
[Andrea activates Unique Ability ‘Foxfire Play’!]
Foxfire balls blocked the enemy’s advance.
The situation was anything but easy.
They’d been through countless battles together—only that synergy kept them alive now.
And in the middle of all that chaos, Jinhyuk was just… grinning.
Naturally, it made him a target for glares.
But who could blame him?
What was about to happen would make anyone smile.
“Ten seconds… nine…”
“Damn it! This isn’t the time for countdown games!”
While Chun Yoosung yelled, Jinhyuk calmly counted toward the sky.
“Three, two…”
And one.
“Ding!”
He snapped his fingers—and a muscular divine figure appeared in mid-air.
“Khahaha! I made it—wha…? T-this isn’t where my father is—”
Ares’s triumphant grin vanished instantly.
His ability had never once taken him to the wrong place.
But now, it had failed at the worst possible time.
There was only one possible explanation.
‘Throb!’
The ice dust still clinging to his leg wound.
A chilling thought crossed his mind.
And in that same moment, he saw Jinhyuk’s devilish grin from below.
“You bastard… what trick did you pull?!”
“You didn’t escape because you were clever—I let you go.”
The curse of Absolute Zero doesn’t vanish just because the spear is removed.
It only waits—for the perfect time to bloom.
[Ice Spirit’s Curse ‘Forgotten Era’ activates!]
‘Crack-crack-crack!’
Ice tendrils surged from Ares’ body and swept across the battlefield.
“Grahh?!”
“Groooo!”
The massive residents in front were the first to be caught.
Their sluggish reactions—due to close-quarters combat with Titans—proved fatal.
The moment the frost touched them, their massive bodies froze solid.
A mind-breaking, absurdly powerful area-freeze effect.
“Wh-What is this…?”
“What the hell?!”
The rest realized the danger a beat too late.
Those frost particles were far more lethal than expected.
“Everyone, get out!”
The smaller ones, with agility and escape abilities, tried to flee the area of effect.
But—
“Awww, where are you all running off to? It’s just getting good.”
Naturally, Jinhyuk wasn’t going to let them.
His mana had skyrocketed after killing 25 Years.
He could now activate multiple Holy Spears and 5–7 unique abilities at once.
[Unique Ability ‘Earthquake’ activates!]
‘RUMBLE!’
The ground shook violently, causing the fleeing residents to stumble or fall.
“Aaaaagh!”
“Uwaaah!”
The cost of mistiming was brutal.
They were immediately entombed in pillars of ice.
Some with flight still managed to escape—
But not for long.
[Unique Ability ‘Grasp of Subjugation’ activates!]
A long hand reached up, snatching flying targets and throwing them into the ice storm.
“Kyaaaah!”
A winged fairy turned into an ice figurine.
A certain princess from a snow kingdom—frozen mid-song.
Finally—
‘Fwoooosh!’
‘Cascadia Slav’ and ‘Ten Thousand Heavens Poison Extinction’ merged into a wall of flame and poison.
There was no escape now.
Until they were all frozen, this was a game of hellish tag.
“No!”
“Please, stop!”
“We surrender! We give up!”
“It’s too late. Next time, choose your side better.”
Not that there’d be a next time.
Jinhyuk casually waved at the residents.
Complete annihilation of the 34th floor residents.
Even Ares, cursed by the Ice Spirit, became a frozen statue.
“It’s more sealing than killing—but not bad.”
Their trump card had been destroyed. Victory was nearly guaranteed now.
—
Elsewhere on the battlefield—
In Eden’s stronghold, aside from a few low-ranking angels, the area was deserted.
While Olympus and the Norse were busy with war, Eden’s main force had slipped into the Demon Realm.
Uriel’s elite guard, known for their ferocity, stood ready with blades and spears.
Finally, Uriel broke the silence.
“How’s the route?”
The best path into the Demon King’s territory.
They were about to find out.
“No movement yet.”
“Berial said they’d create a gap for us, but it’s been too quiet…”
“Are we really doing the right thing? Wouldn’t it be better to ally with Olympus and the Celestials…?”
Other angels voiced their doubts.
Tamdeel, Garitiel, and Liveel.
All elite veterans with experience fighting Demon Kings.
“Don’t worry. This is the right path.”
If Jinhyuk kept his promise and gave them control of the Demon King’s land—
It would be a far better deal, even if it meant betraying Olympus and the Celestials.
But just then—
A disruption hit Uriel’s formation.
“L-Lady Uriel!”
A frantic scream followed.
“Please—come quickly! You must see this immediately!”
The reporting angel’s face was twisted in horror.