Chapter 100
Creeeak. Thud!
As the Stone Gate opened, warm sunlight blazed in.
Scowling, No Death made sure no one was around before glancing to the side.
“Am I the first one out?”
Seeing that the other four Stone Gates were still firmly shut, No Death stretched his arms wide and confidently sat down where Chang-kyung had been sitting.
It was the quiet rear entrance of Taebudong.
Lying there amid the tranquil scenery, filled with nothing but the rustling of leaves in the wind and birdsong, No Death muttered to himself with a worried look.
“Hurry up and come out. You’re not the kind of people who’d lose to some damn shadow thing, are you?”
It was then, just as he sent that small bit of encouragement from outside.
The leaves shading him from the sun swayed in the wind, and the Shadows on No Death’s body shifted with them.
Each time the Shadows moved, they gave him a strange feeling, as if they were whispering to him.
“Hm?”
He lifted his head, sensing a presence from quite far away.
It wasn’t just a vague sense of someone being there.
This sensation, as if he could see everything clearly, made an incredulous laugh burst from No Death.
“Ha! Did I have an ability like this?”
When he turned his head, he could see Chang-kyung climbing the stairs in the distance.
After confirming that No Death had come out, Chang-kyung smiled brightly.
“At last.”
Fwoosh.
At that moment, the reclining No Death smiled and held out a hand. Black smoke spread out in front of the approaching Chang-kyung.
Chang-kyung’s eyebrows twitched at the dense, unfamiliar sensation he had never felt before.
The moment he looked down at the black smoke covering the ground.
From within it, a black silhouette in the shape of a person, seemingly holding a dagger, emerged in front of Chang-kyung.
“How’s this?”
Surprisingly, the voice coming from the black silhouette was No Death’s.
“I knew the scale of it was unusual, but if it comes with an ability like this, then it really must have been a Hidden Class.”
“As you can see?”
The black silhouette shrugged and placed a hand on Chang-kyung’s shoulder.
Then it vanished into the black smoke along with Chang-kyung, instantly reappearing in front of No Death.
“Incredible.”
“I’m surprised too. I had no idea I had an ability like this.”
“What is the true name of your Hidden Class?”
“Shadow-Eating Death God.”
“The God of Death that devours Shadows. A fitting name for that ability.”
“I’ll put it to good use. Thanks to you.”
When No Death waved his hand, the black smoke that had covered the ground around Taebudong vanished in an instant.
Chang-kyung stared intently at the smiling No Death.
Then, with a heavy expression, he spoke.
“Many things have changed. The fire you carry has grown larger and darker. Even so, you are not an evil person.”
“Huh? You can see things like that?”
“I can still see a faint light within your darkness. A red light that an evil person cannot possess.”
“I see.”
“And one more thing has changed. It’s gone. The lake that used to reflect your fire.”
“…..”
At the mention of something being gone, No Death’s face instantly darkened.
He knew exactly what it was.
Something fleetingly sad, yet an indispensable and fulfilling part of his life.
‘Elina….’
But soon after.
“Well, we’ll meet again someday.”
He shrugged with a smile.
“I suppose you will.”
“We promised to meet again with a smile. We promised we’d definitely meet.”
“I see.”
Chang-kyung nodded.
But only for a moment.
Smack!
“Ack!”
Suddenly smacked on the back of the head, No Death glared at Chang-kyung.
Then Chang-kyung, smiling brightly, ground his teeth and asked,
“But why have you been speaking informally since a while ago?”
“Ah, right…”
“Is it because you think you can beat me now?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s just that there aren’t many people I speak formally to… Not that I think you’re easy or anything…”
“You little brat.”
“Sorry! No! My apologies!”
Just as he was about to get hit on the back of the head again.
Rumble!
A vibration strong enough to shake the ground rang out.
The deafening roar from Taebudong and the violent tremor shaking the entire structure made both of them stop what they were doing and stare at the cave.
“What is this….”
At that instant, a foreboding feeling washed over them, making both Chang-kyung’s and No Death’s eyes fly wide open.
Rumble!
Another tremor followed.
From it, they could identify the source of all the shaking.
“Bang Hyuk-min?”
Rumble!
There was no doubt.
This enormous impact and vibration were clearly coming from Hyuk-min’s Taebudong, the Stone Gate at the far right.
“This is Bang Hyuk-min…? Hyuk-min?! Hyuk-min!”
Startled, No Death tried to rush toward Hyuk-min’s Stone Gate, but Chang-kyung grabbed his hand.
“What’s going on! Don’t tell me mine was like this too?”
At No Death’s question, Chang-kyung shook his head with a grim expression.
And said,
“This is the first time something like this has happened. It seems….”
Rumble!
“He has made the mistake I told him not to make.”
“A mistake?”
Rumble!
“It seems he has disturbed a Latent Dragon he should never have stirred. A monster that Hyuk-min cannot control…”
No Death’s eyes dropped to the hand Chang-kyung was using to hold him back.
A faint yet unmistakable tremor.
It was the kind of sight one would expect from someone gripped by fear.
“Chang-kyung…?”
“[LIMITLESS]… It seems he’s encountered it.”
= = =
Experience was a textbook unlike any other in the world.
He had already experienced the trial of Taebudong once before, and that experience became a massive guide, allowing him to easily overcome what was supposed to be a difficult trial.
Perhaps it was because the person was the same, even if the contents had changed.
Since it wasn’t very different from his past life, he had cleared Taebudong’s second trial far too easily.
“Is it over?”
There were originally two types of trials in Taebudong.
Having overcome both perfectly, the hidden dark Hyuk-min revealed himself, clapping.
“Whew~ You’re too good, aren’t you? Almost like someone who’s done this before.”
“Both trials are over. Now let me out.”
It was at that very moment, when he had begun to think it was easy because nothing had changed from his past life.
“When did I say there were two? Did I ever say that?”
Hyuk-min’s eyebrows twitched.
As far as Hyuk-min knew, there were only two trials in Taebudong.
That shouldn’t have changed, not in his past life and not in the present.
A moment ago, he had finished both trials. The difficulty had changed, but there had been exactly two, no more and no less.
‘But he’s saying it’s not over yet.’
What exactly did that mean?
“Weren’t there only two trials in Taebudong?”
“Ah~ You’re right, there are two. Everyone who comes in here gets to leave together with their Latent Dragon after clearing two trials.”
“Then why are you saying it’s not over? What does that mean?”
“It means exactly what I said. Your trials aren’t over yet. There’s still one more. One extra trial left.”
Was it because the life he had lived and the things he possessed were different?
Unlike his past life, the mention of a third trial he had never even heard of made a deep furrow form on Hyuk-min’s brow.
“Were Taebudong’s trials always this unfair?”
“No, if anything, you’re the unfair one. That monster… no, that’s not it. You… this isn’t your first time here, is it? I can’t just let you leave.”
When the dark Hyuk-min lightly snapped his fingers, the entire surrounding scenery vanished as if by magic. In its place appeared the purplish-black world he had seen when he first faced Taebudong’s trials.
An empty world containing nothing.
Within this world of nothingness, dyed in purplish-black, the dark Hyuk-min appeared, radiating a crimson light.
“It’s really strange. As far as I know, if you fail a trial here, you’re supposed to be trapped forever. So how is a second attempt even possible?”
“I find it strange too. You’re supposed to be me, so how can you not know the reason? Even as a Latent Dragon, you don’t know everything about me?”
Was that a sensitive subject?
The dark Hyuk-min shrugged once, then snapped his fingers.
“Well, I’m not curious enough to care. There are more important things.”
Then the Immortal Demon Sword appeared in his hand, as if it had always been there.
The Immortal Demon Sword, in its crimson form, was now visible in the hand of the dark Hyuk-min.
“Quick and simple. Try to beat me. If you win, I’ll submit to you without another word.”
It was definitely different from his past life.
Perhaps because, unlike back then when he had nothing, he now possessed several Hidden abilities.
A new trial had been added to Taebudong’s trials.
A duel with his Latent Dragon, something he had never experienced in his past life.
Swish. Swish.
He swung the Immortal Demon Sword through the air a few times.
It fit his hand perfectly and felt no different from the one he used outside.
“Let me ask one thing.”
“Can you just shut up and get started? I don’t want to stay here even a second longer than necessary.”
Fwoosh.
Before he could finish speaking, the dark Hyuk-min kicked off from the purplish-black void, where it was impossible to tell where the ground even was, and charged at terrifying speed.
Fitting for the Latent Dragon sleeping within Hyuk-min, the dark Hyuk-min seemed to possess the same greatly enhanced Stats as the Hyuk-min outside.
Clang!!
The force behind the sword was heavier than expected.
The clash, combined with the thrust of the crimson Demonic Energy that erupted as he charged, unleashed a Blood Demon Energy the current Hyuk-min did not yet possess.
It was the heaviest sword strike he had ever had to block in all his battles.
‘My wrist almost snapped.’
It wasn’t for nothing that in his past life, people said the Blood Demon Energy of the Immortal Demon Art was a more powerful energy than Mana.
Though only faint, the Primordial True Energy of blood, the Mana of life itself, was a power that stood above all others.
Drip. Drip, drip.
It throbbed, but fortunately, his wrist had held.
However, the force had been so overwhelming that he couldn’t keep his palm from being torn open.
‘And here I thought I’d gotten used to my strengthened body.’
That single clash made him realize it had all been a delusion.
The true power Hyuk-min needed to possess was the strike the dark Hyuk-min had just swung.
“That was heavy.”
“Who do you think I am?”
“Who are you? You’re me.”
After lightly shaking out his wrist, Hyuk-min kicked off the ground this time.
Hyuk-min’s charge instantly closed the distance he had been pushed back, and in a flash, his sword came down in front of the dark Hyuk-min.
Clang!!
Like the first clash, fragments of Mana scattered and fell like sparks.
At the exact moment the two swords were about to separate from the strong rebound.
“Hup!”
He poured all his strength into the recoiling sword, overcame the rebound, and delivered a second strike.
Clang!!!
“Whew~ Your instincts are better than I expected.”
And so the two swords became completely locked.
It was then.
A smirk.
As if he had intentionally created this situation, a smile spread across Hyuk-min’s lips.
The Immortal Demon Sword in his hand slowly began to glow blue.
Seeing that light, the dark Hyuk-min’s expression twisted.
“How annoying.”
“You only have the Immortal Demon Art, but I already have plenty of power to replace it.”
The dark Hyuk-min scoffed at Hyuk-min’s declaration and the Immortal Demon Sword growing ever bluer.
“Ha! But you know it too, don’t you?”
Then, instead of focusing Blood Demon Energy into the sword, the dark Hyuk-min concentrated it into the hands gripping it and said with a smile,
“That nothing can perfectly replace me.”
The index and middle fingers gripping the sword suddenly stretched upward.
At the same time, Blood Demon Energy scattered into the air.
“[Blood-Piercing Spike]!”
Psh-psh-psh-pshuk!
“Kugh!”
For a moment, pain so intense it nearly broke his concentration on [Railgun] tore through him, from his back clear to his chest.
Even without looking, he could tell that blood-red spears had pierced straight through his chest.
To think he would use the blood dripping from his torn palm like this. It wasn’t for nothing that Hyuk-min had abandoned the Cloud Flow Sword Method and chosen the Immortal Demon Art.
Fwoooosh.
However.
Despite the agony of having his chest pierced through, the fully charged [Railgun] did not disperse.
If anything, it gathered even more fiercely, as if he were focusing harder, until it shone with a blinding light.
“Oh dear.”
Had he underestimated the strength of Hyuk-min’s willpower?
Seeing the blue light of [Railgun] gather faster and more intensely, the dark Hyuk-min looked genuinely dismayed.
And then.
“[Railgun]!”
The Immortal Demon Sword, swung while containing that immense power, became a strike more powerful than ever before, worthy of his enhanced Stats, and tore through the dark Hyuk-min in a single breath.
Sizzle.
Something that looked like Blood Demon Energy dripped and scattered from the crimson silhouette of the dark Hyuk-min.
At the same time, the blood spears piercing through Hyuk-min’s back vanished into crimson smoke.
Thud.
The dark Hyuk-min collapsed too easily, without showing much of anything.
Hyuk-min approached and asked,
“Why didn’t you dodge? Or did you let me win on purpose?”
The dark Hyuk-min grinned and replied,
“Actually, the trial ended a while ago.”
“What?”
“As you already know, there are only two trials here.”
“Then why….”
The man’s smile deepened, making unease crawl over Hyuk-min.
“Don’t you have something more important to worry about than me?”
“What is that supposed to…”
As he slowly faded into smoke, the dark Hyuk-min looked up at the empty sky with a smile.
This was a world of nothingness, filled only with purplish-black light.
But the dark Hyuk-min, as he looked upward, seemed to be seeing something else.
“That other one. Important enough to make even me feel fear.”
At that moment, Chang-kyung’s warning flashed through his mind.
At the same time, a name that should never have been spoken flowed from the dark Hyuk-min’s lips.
“You have another Latent Dragon besides me, don’t you? [LIMITLESS].”
“….?!”
The being that had made even Chang-kyung tremble in fear from just brushing against it.
The Latent Dragon he absolutely must never meet.
“Why do you think I brought you here?”
Smiling even as he died, the dark Hyuk-min spoke the name of the final Latent Dragon and scattered into crimson smoke.
Sizzle.
It was then.
The whole world lurched, making his vision sway.
To be precise, the world he had thought was nothing but a purplish-black void moved.
The moment the purplish-black receded and the black light he had seen in the trial of his past life came into view, he understood.
“No….”
That this place had originally been nothing but blackness.
Hyuk-min’s head, trembling on its own, slowly tilted upward.
And finally….
He came face to face with the impossibly colossal Latent Dragon of [LIMITLESS], which until now he had mistaken for a purplish-black world of nothingness.
Another purplish-black Latent Dragon, one that made Hyuk-min look no bigger than an ant.
“You’re… insane….”
He was facing [LIMITLESS].