Chapter 625
The ground shook.
Kukukukukuku!
Part of the temple began rising into the sky.
The fragments that fell carved the earth into a wasteland.
Soon after, the shadow cast by the fortress darkened the ground like night.
“Kwaaaargh!”
“Aaaah!”
“W-why is the fortress activating!?”
“They said replenishing mana would be impossible for a while… who…?”
The soldiers stationed around the temple screamed.
The suddenly awakened aerial fortress was enough to send anyone into a panic.
Especially because a colossal amount of mana was required—no one imagined it would activate anytime soon.
‘If the main forces of the Celestial Order hadn’t left earlier, we’d never have seized this.’
Their blind faith in their sole line of defense—the barrier—and their arrogance that no outsider would know about Vimana also played a massive role in letting this fortress be taken.
However, the Celestial Order wasn’t sitting still either.
Even if the main forces had left the temple, tens of thousands of reserve troops were still spread across the region.
“Kieeeeh!”
“Kroooo!”
“Attack them!”
“Everyone, latch on! Never let the enemy take the fortress!”
Elite troops riding divine beasts charged toward the aerial fortress.
Losing Vimana was unexpected—but their luck ended there.
No matter what, even Vishnu took centuries to master Vimana’s controls. There was no way intruders could possibly—
Kukukukung!
[The Vimana’s special armament ‘Cradle of Purification’ is activating!]
A column of fire swept through the enemy ranks.
Ultra-high-temperature flames rushed toward them.
Whoosh!
Kukukwakwakwakwa!
There wasn’t even time to scream.
The hellfire turned bones to ash, burning away even the sense of pain.
The sky cleared as if nothing had happened.
“So fiery. This is why you need to pick a good car.”
Jinhyuk let out a whistle as he watched the sea of flames.
Truly worthy of a final weapon—the power of this newly acquired war machine was beyond imagination.
“To think you had something like this planned.”
“Seriously, how do you know all this stuff?”
“Hyung, people online say you’re living your second life, and honestly, the more I watch, the more believable that sounds.”
“Our contractor is unmatched among humans. Of course the man I chose as a partner—no, struck a deal with—wouldn’t be ordinary.”
“Alice, something weird slipped in just now.”
Reactions of amazement erupted everywhere.
Except from one person.
“A-amazing… this… leech-like… bastard…”
Chun Yoosung, who’d been thoroughly used as a mana battery.
“You’re so narrow-minded. Thanks to you, everything went well.”
“You tricked me!”
“It was a benevolent lie. A white lie.”
Chun Yoosung’s bloodshot glare stabbed into him, but Jinhyuk simply hummed and ignored it.
That gullible Sword Saint could be easily manipulated later with promises of rare swords and duels.
Besides, the most important thing now was using this fortress to secure the ‘First Lotus,’ the heart of the Celestial Order.
‘If Anubis and Berial stall for time, they can hold out for at least another day.’
The possibility of success was increasing.
But then—
Rumble!
Lightning gathered in the clear sky.
“Right rear!”
Teresa’s sharp shout pierced their ears, and a heavy impact struck the hull.
KWAANG!
Part of the defensive barrier around the fortress was blown away.
“Tch! So she finally recovered.”
Jinhyuk shot toward the rear.
Only one being had power like this.
The Thunder God—Indra.
⁕⁕⁕
A painful humiliation.
There was no better phrase to describe this situation.
Crack.
Indra ground her teeth as she looked at the broken chains and the rising fortress.
The great Brahma himself had ordered her to guard the prisoners well… yet she had failed, and even allowed Vimana to be stolen.
Trying to quietly fix the mistake when she first realized they had escaped—that had been her biggest mistake.
She should have confessed everything and requested support.
“You’ve dragged me all the way to hell.”
There was no turning back.
Brahma might spare her, but that fiery Shiva would not.
She had to clean this up to survive.
[Indra activates the Unique Ability ‘Seven Clouds’!]
Standing atop a tiny cloud, the girl summoned countless bolts of lightning.
Rumble… rumble!
“I don’t know how you gathered the mana to activate Vimana, but it’s barely enough. There are too many openings.”
Indra’s gaze locked on the fortress’s corner.
To lift and propel such a colossal floating structure required enormous mana.
Naturally, the external defenses would weaken unless constantly reinforced.
“You understand just from my gaze, hmm?”
“Well, roughly.”
“Ridiculous. Sigh… I suppose there’s a traitor among us, but I can deal with that later. You realize how disadvantageous your situation is, yes? Surrender now, and I’ll spare your lives. You’ll keep all your limbs too.”
“Wow, mercy? Even the puppy next door wouldn’t believe that.”
Jinhyuk raised his middle finger.
Indra’s eyes went cold.
“Very well. I’ll just burn you black.”
[Thundercloud – ‘Fragment Cloud’ is activating!]
Lightning threads connected between finely sliced clouds.
Lightning’s power was fearsome, but its true terror lay in its speed.
Crackle…!
Bolts shot into the defense towers at near-instantaneous speed.
BOOM! BOOM!
KWAANG!
Most were intercepted or neutralized by the light extending from the fortress.
Even a half-complete fortress had defensive abilities far beyond standard specs.
However—
A few bolts broke through and reached the group.
Lightning that burned even divinity itself.
And what met those bolts was—
[Unique Holy Spear ‘Thunder God’ is activating!]
A supreme attack that once upheld an entire mythology.
Zeus’s signature divine art.
Jinhyuk lightly swung the blue lightning in his right hand.
KWAANG!
Indra’s final bolt shattered in midair.
“That…!?”
Indra’s pupils trembled violently.
There was no way she wouldn’t recognize it.
How could she not?
It was the trademark technique of the rival she most wanted to crush.
In the Tower of Trials, only a handful wielded lightning. And among them, Zeus was infamous for commanding the strongest lightning on every floor except the 50th.
As a fellow lightning wielder, her pride could not withstand this humiliation.
Jinhyuk struck precisely at that weak point—
To copy her ability.
[Copy Condition: Indra has harbored deep inferiority for a long time. If you crush her using Zeus’s abilities and attire, you may copy one of her Unique Holy Spears, Unique Abilities, or Skills. The degree of humiliation determines the proficiency of the copied power.]
This part wasn’t difficult.
He’d already studied how to break pride completely—from Chun Yoosung and many other victims.
Jinhyuk looked at the long, refined Astrape in his hand.
Then at Indra’s small, cute lightning bolt.
“Pft.”
Lifting only one corner of his mouth into a smirk, letting his eyes curve slightly.
He didn’t need to say a word—this alone was far more provoking.
Crack.
“You… filthy little worm.”
As expected, Indra’s face twisted viciously.
—
As the war between giant factions intensified—
One of the most important figures in this incident, Unknown, was also moving to create a new variable.
Vrrrrm!
Purple energy gathered slowly.
Resentment and souls extracted to recreate his prime were sucked into Unknown’s body.
“…Too slow.”
“This should’ve ended long ago. Something’s wrong.”
Operators like 1Person2Chickens and “jjy77” watched anxiously.
They had poured an excessive amount of souls, yet Unknown’s power wasn’t recovering.
It made no sense.
Something was wrong.
“You made sure Sleeper Owl is secured?”
“Yes. No matter what, there’s no way it escapes that place.”
“Then… it must be the coin-exchange system side.”
Only a very limited set of beings could tamper with this.
JJ scanned the souls again.
Extremely delicate and precise.
He had to catch the slightest anomaly.
[Operator Special Skill ‘4D MRI’ is activating!]
Layers of waves transcended space and time around Unknown to search for clues.
Once, twice, ten times—
Until something surfaced.
“…Here.”
1Person2Chickens detected something minuscule—like tiny insects.
They were so small and pathetic that they barely registered, but those insects were dripping micro amounts of liquid, diluting the concentration of souls being fed to Unknown.
Some insects were even carrying away bits of mana.
“It wasn’t the operators…”
They had focused on enemies outside—that was the mistake.
The true culprit was much closer.
At the same time—
In a space filled with writhing tentacles, Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath hovered together.
“Smoothly done. As expected, those operators handle tasks beautifully.”
Nyarlathotep snickered, savoring the gathered mana.
The purity and strength of the souls stored to restore Unknown to his prime were remarkable.
“Will this be okay? I did what I could, but they’ll notice soon.”
“It doesn’t matter. Those lowly beings overstepped by trying to use us.”
Shub-Niggurath dismissed it calmly.
“True. Watching those operators act smug was disgusting.”
Nyarlathotep tapped his staff in agreement.
The only one ancient beings truly disliked wasn’t the operators—it was “that man.” Operators were not superior; they were merely lateral existences.
If the goal could be achieved—
They could be used and thrown away at any time.
“Once we gain strength, we’ll cut off Kang Jinhyuk’s limbs. He won’t complain.”
No, he might even enjoy it.
There was nothing more thrilling than ancient beings and operators plotting against each other from the shadows.
Thus—
A hidden war began between the operators and the primordial beings.