Chapter 678

Clang!

Klang!

Wolyoung and Teresa were locked in fierce combat, and Alice was closing in at the same time.

Accounting for the variables and each of their traits, he arrived at the most interesting and profitable outcome.

Jinhyuk’s lips curled slightly.

‘Good.’

‘All the conditions are met.’

‘All that’s left is the direction.’

He turned his head, searching for the right timing.

Just then—

[Wolyoung activates ‘Shadow Killing Art’!]

The rapidly shifting shadow caught Teresa off guard. He’d figured it out: the corrupted Teresa, with her personality flipped, was 0.1 seconds slower to react when it came to fine, delicate control.

Killing intent flashed in Wolyoung’s sharply focused eyes.

Even if he didn’t kill her, he intended to take at least one limb from the one who’d targeted his master.

“Tch.”

Teresa clicked her tongue and gathered black energy.

But it was too late.

Sword Aura always sought gaps first—joints, seams, places armor couldn’t fully cover. Teresa raised her stabbing stance half a beat late.

It was a blow filled with the will to make the opponent bleed even if she was struck first.

Whoooom!

The shortest straight line. A flash that piled acceleration on acceleration.

Just then—

Thud! Stab!

Jinhyuk stepped in.

The blade drove deep.

Swords from both sides pierced clean through Jinhyuk’s body, jutting out the other side.

Before the falling blood could even hit the ground, the shock rattled everyone’s minds.

“Master…?”

“You…?”

Wolyoung and Teresa’s eyes trembled violently.

Anyone who’d reached a certain level would constantly account for variables mid-fight, but neither of them had considered the possibility that Jinhyuk would step between them like this.

A gap of about one second opened.

Why would he do this? What now? What comes next? Their minds filled with questions.

In that moment—

Jinhyuk didn’t attack or defend.

He didn’t make excuses, threaten, or persuade.

He simply pulled Teresa into a tight embrace.

And whispered into her ear.

“It’s okay.”

It wasn’t anyone’s fault.

So don’t blame yourself.

He just smiled.

Drip….

Black tears slid from Teresa’s eyes.

[The personality within the Corrupted Saintess reacts.]

The warm, gentle saintess buried deep inside her consciousness—the Teresa who saved Amsterdam and valued others more than herself—stirred awake.

The darkened red eyes cleared.

Emerald eyes, clean and bright, gazed softly at Jinhyuk.

Her lips parted, and sincerity spilled out.

“…Thank you.”

For not giving up.

For risking himself for her.

Teresa hugged Jinhyuk just as tightly, closed her eyes, and clung to that precious moment again and again.

From the first time they met until now.

Thinking of how happy she’d been, simply having him by her side.

“What, this is boring.”

As her personalities began to mix again, the corrupted Teresa spat out her irritation.

She realized her time was up.

And of course—

Heh heh heh heh heh!

The True Ancestor of Ataraxia, who had watched the whole thing, could only boil with fury.

Ominous Mana seeped out, spreading through the air and crawling up from the ground.

Tingle!

A vicious killing intent so sharp that even the flying and crawling returnees instinctively backed away.

“W-what… what are you doing!”

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A massive burst of blood droplets erupted.

—

With Teresa returning and Alice enraged, the battlefield shifted slightly. Alice was rampaging so hard that gaps began to appear all over.

‘It was worth the trouble.’

‘It was so cheesy I almost died… ugh, look at these goosebumps.’

Jinhyuk treated his wound, shivering all over.

Gaining a degree of control over Teresa’s corruption was a major result.

Maximizing Teresa’s trust was another undeniable gain.

Soothing Alice afterward was still a big task, but compared to what he’d gotten, it was minor.

‘Taking Bingoff out early was huge.’

Losing the returnee of seals—one of the few ways to restrain Alice—this early would hurt the enemy as well.

BOOM!

Clang!

Teresa, now standing shoulder to shoulder with Chun Yoosung, displayed overwhelming power against Degoria Balrog.

“Kuooh!”

Degoria Balrog swung all four weapons at once.

But unlike before, it could no longer absorb Teresa’s Divinity.

Awakening.

Teresa, who had survived the extreme situation, broke through her wall. With that, she gained the power to offset even the special abilities of top-tier demons.

“It wasn’t for nothing that you suffered alone.”

“I’m sorry, Yoosung. Because of me….”

“It’s a compliment. Don’t dwell on it, and don’t make mistakes from now on.”

“Yes!”

The synergy between Chun Yoosung and Teresa—who had fought together repeatedly—had now reached a level comparable to any resident or god.

One by one, the strongest cards he’d been lining up in his head were taking the field.

Jinhyuk’s gaze shifted.

Though Wolyoung still carried the shock of having nearly stabbed his master, he’d grown into a reliable guard, doing his part from the shadows.

Goguma, one of the strongest ancient species, and the other Spirit Beasts—Fried and Malang Black Crane among them—were steady forces as well.

T-Bone, who had bought time against Clemence as a tiny skeleton soldier, and Frey, the perfect homunculus coveted even by gods, were now indispensable.

‘…It feels strange.’

Comrades scattered across every layer of the Tower.

For once, he wasn’t climbing alone. Everyone was fighting together toward the top, and that warmed something in his chest.

Even with that man, new variables, and enemies unlike anything before, he still believed they could make it—together.

Just then.

A sharp glint flashed in Jinhyuk’s eyes.

The opening was subtle, but a route to Clemence had finally emerged.

The timing he’d been waiting for had arrived.

‘Now…!’

Jinhyuk signaled the detached force far away.

Whoooom!

A bright flash painted the sky white.

“The Mana interference has weakened.”

“We have to succeed in one shot.”

“Let’s go.”

The fairies and Spirit Beasts, led by the Spirit Kings, concentrated their Mana at once.

[Special space movement ‘White Rabbit Hole’ is activated!]

The ground collapsed inward, and a massive amount of Mana vanished.

Those who’d been waiting for their chance moved in for a successful surprise strike.

They’d chosen the moment well, taking advantage of the chaos.

They had the prepared force.

But—

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM KRAAASH!

What the Spirit Kings and spirits faced after the large-scale space movement was a vicious trap.

Angelis, having predicted Jinhyuk’s plan, had dug a perfect pit for mass slaughter.

“…What…?”

“Aaaagh!”

“Kyaaagh!”

Before they could even process what they were seeing, the landmines buried in the ground detonated all at once.

At the same time, cloaked giant battleships revealed themselves in the sky and fired plasma laser cannons.

“Checkmate.”

Angelis called out, “Bravo,” and applauded.

The Spirit Kings hurriedly raised shields and activated defensive skills, but the damage was already unspeakable.

Above all, the advantage of a surprise attack vanished the instant the detached force was exposed.

[Angelis activates Unique Holy Spear ‘Galaxy Admiral’!]

[Invisibility mode is deactivated.]

Countless ships emerged from empty space.

No—these weren’t just ships.

Even the planets that made up Angelis’s territory, the base he had built, manifested along with them.

An emperor who ruled the galaxy.

The returnee specialized in large-scale warfare had officially joined the battle.

“What…!”

Jinhyuk sucked in a breath.

He was shaken. He’d believed it was a sure hit, only for it to be seen through.

Not only had Angelis stopped the strike, he’d already completed the counterattack.

The fleet tightened the noose in a perfect encirclement. As if fully aware this side specialized in Barriers, it mocked the layered defensive ranges with deliberate positioning.

“Master!”

“W-what should we do?”

“Mogiii!”

Goguma and the Spirit Beasts trapped inside cried out.

He had to decide—now.

One mistake, and he could lose everyone.

—

“Now, what are you going to do?”

Angelis looked almost childlike.

To him, this battlefield was too easy.

There was no supply line to worry about, no rear to protect—only the obvious points to cover.

And because it was so simple, a single mistake would decide the entire war.

He was genuinely curious—excited to see how the famous Kang Jinhyuk would escape this.

Whoooom!

Colorful light gathered inside the plasma laser cannons across the fleet.

It was a firepower that could erase even the target’s existence.

“I’ve cleaned up most of the bugs, so the rest will be easy. No matter how much that guy squirms, what can he do in this situation?”

Clemence was already convinced of victory.

All that remained was indiscriminate bombardment, followed by a slow, methodical kill with troops.

The Spirit Kings tried to minimize losses by evacuating the spirits and fairies who had somehow survived, but they couldn’t break out of Angelis’s encirclement—every route had already been sealed.

[The special ability of the planet ‘Jupiter’ is unlocked!]

[Small meteor showers can be summoned within a 1km radius of Jupiter.]

[The special ability of the planet ‘Uranus’ is unlocked!]

[As long as the light of Uranus does not go out, the power source of the ships will last forever.]

With each planet’s special ability added, the already brutal war became even worse.

The undead forces, riding their momentum, continued pressing Alice and Frey harder and harder.

“……”

From afar, Jinhyuk met Angelis’s eyes head-on.

He’d taken a hit.

Setting aside the fact that he’d paid less attention to the surprise strike while dealing with Teresa and Alice, the measures Angelis had prepared were fierce and near-perfect.

“I was going to use this later, but I can’t help it.”

A hidden card prepared for the returnees.

[Summoning returnee ‘Medrey’!]

He revealed his last trump card.