The Magic Bayonet crossed with the scimitar. Heat burst out.

The Magic Bayonet was a lot shorter than the scimitar, and Hanryeong didn’t miss it.

Gagagak!

<Blade Whirlpool>. Another one of Hanryeong’s signature skills activated.

A swing of his sword turned into the attack of hundreds of whirlpools.

But Yeon-woo jumped up into the sky to avoid it. The whirlpools disappeared futilely.

Meanwhile, Yeon-woo aimed for Hanryeong’s neck with Carshina’s dagger.

Kang!

Hanryeong pulled out his saber to avoid Yeon-woo’s attack. The scimitar in his hand drew a straight line in the air.

Kwakwang!

Yeon-woo was barely able to block the attack alternating the Magic Bayonet and Carshina’s Dagger. However, he wasn’t able to avoid it all, so his body was pushed away.

He quickly spun his Magic Circuit. As his wings of fire became bigger, he caught his balance, but Hanryeong was in front of him in an instant.

Hunting sword. The sword that was specialized for stabbing was pointed right at his head.

It was impossible to stop it now.

Yeon-woo quickly activated another power.

[The 3rd Soul]

[72 Bian – Byuk]

Kkiaaaa—

The Black Bracelet on his right arm flashed, and with a horrible screech, an army of pale souls appeared to create a sturdy wall in front of him.

Kwang!

It made a hole in the wall of souls, but Yeon-woo wasn’t hurt thanks to the many layers around him.

Meanwhile, Yeon-woo caught his balance. Aura and Holy Fire blazed on his blade.

However, Hanryeong quickly swung the saber that was next to him, like he wasn’t going to lose this small advantage. Krrung. Once again, whirlpools came from his sword. The wall of the souls quickly broke down.

Yeon-woo still had a lot to catch up on compared to Hanryeong’s experience with the sword.

Hanryeong was at an expert level before he had died. He had gained new knowledge studying the Monkey King’s inheritance after that, so now, he was almost at the arhat level.

The only thing holding him back was his body. His skills were already there.

Of course, Yeon-woo, who was only a master, would lose to him.

But Yeon-woo had a weapon that would make up for his skills.

Fire. His almost limitless magic power with the Philosopher’s Stone put a powerful strength in a single attack.

Kwaang!

The Magic Bayonet spewed out a red fire. As the Aura with Holy Fire blew Hanryeong back, Yeon-woo used his Blink to chase after him.

Hanryeong sensed Yeon-woo’s presence and quickly swung his scimitar. However, the scimitar was stopped by the new wall of souls, and the Magic Bayonet cut Hanryeong’s side.

Flash!

The Magic Bayonet shined an intense light like it would explode. Wave of Fire. It was more destructive than ever.

The fire soared tens of meters up into the sky.

Kwang! Kwakwakwang!

Krrrrr—

In the end, Hanryeong couldn’t be found in the fire. Just then, Shanon and Rebecca suppressed the fire and swung their swords at him.

Yeon-woo used Blink once again to move.

However, the moment he appeared somewhere else, arrows flew at him like they had been waiting. Rebecca had read his movements, and she was prepared.

Clink!

While he was flicking the arrows away, Shanon appeared again, bringing his sword breaker down.

A path of vibrant red fire fell on him. <Volcano>. It was the signature skill that he took from Bahal.

[Time Difference]

In the slowed world, Yeon-woo quickly made his judgement.

Blink wasn’t able to help anymore.

There was only one thing he could do.

‘Meeting it head on.’

When he finished thinking, another power revealed itself.

[Hyoongshin Acksal]

The anger that was quietly resting inside his heart suddenly grew up to his head. It was like he was a beast. Yeon-woo didn’t hold back the violence and instead used it to explode.

“Kwang!”

Yeon-woo’s Howling and Holy Fire grew his body to several times its original size and turned to a burnt black color.

Kwakwakwa—

Black flames became the predator of everything in front of him. Not only were Shanon and Rebecca swept away in an instant, but the hill that was behind the training area also became flat.

Krrrrr!

The mountain shook, and their surroundings turned into ruins. From between the heavy dust cloud, Yeon-woo was emitting a deadly aura, black flames blazing up around him.He looked like a Lord from hell, hellfire in tow.

Koooo—

The dust whirled around. Above it, sparks continued to crackle. Everything was completely destroyed, like a horde of beasts had stomped through it.

Looking at Yeon-woo in the center, Shanon slowly stood up, cursing.

[…..I’ll be damned.]

The sound of bones cracking could be heard from all over his body.

He was a spiritual body now, made of shadows, but he hadn’t been able to erase his identity as a human, so he still felt emotions from when he was alive. Mental stress was controlling his body right now.

The sword in his hand was still shaking.

If he hadn’t protected himself with this, he would’ve been back in the shadow again. And he would’ve struggled to make another body.

Even in that situation, Shanon was impressed beyond words at the unscratched sword. An artisan was definitely an artisan for a reason.

At the same time, he thought his master was ridiculous for doing something like this. Just seeing Yeon-woo made him sweat.

And after Yeon-woo’s Hyoongshin Acksal, he could feel shivers down his back.

Seeing Yeon-woo’s with such powers, it reminded him of some people.

Eyes.

The symbol of the Red Dragon.

The powerful energy of a ruler was wrapped around Yeon-woo.

When he first met Yeon-woo, the guy was just a little newbie, barely able to defeat a semiranker.

To think that Yeon-woo changed so much in just a single year.

He had never heard of a growth rate that was this fast, other than Heaven Wing Cha Jeong-woo. No, Yeon-woo grew even faster than Heaven Wing.

Most people would give up, but…

[…..Even if it’s annoying, I can’t surrender here. I won’t lose.]

Shanon felt even more motivated, and he used the sword breaker as a cane to raise himself from the ground.

As much as Yeon-woo had grown, Shanon had become equally as strong. He was already stronger than when he was living, and his skills were enough to fight face to face with a ranker.

Ranker.

It had been a high wall that he couldn’t pass when he was alive. After reaching this peak, the only thing he had felt was that there wasn’t much to it.

He thought that he would feel satisfied when he reached this position. He even had the confidence that he would be able to shake up the Tower. He would’ve fulfilled his wish of tens of years. He believed in himself.

However, after experiencing a new type of battlefield with Yeon-woo, and meeting countless skilled people, Shanon felt his world being crushed.

It was a new world.

And another sky.

The sky that he had been looking at until now was just a tiny part of it. He hadn’t known that there was a much larger sky and world beyond that.

And experiencing that sky, Shanon considered all his accomplishments useless. He thought he wasn’t enough.

Yeon-woo, who was at the same level as him 1 year ago, had a goal that was far off into the distance, and he just wanted to be next to him when he achieved it.lightsnovel

However, Yeon-woo’s growth rate was too fast, so he had to work endlessly to catch up.

Thanks to that, he was able to reach the expert level after using the 72 Bian and the Monkey King’s Inheritance as a background.

But Shanon still thought he had a long way to go. Yeon-woo had grown again this time. Since that was the case, he also needed to quickly catch up.

Breaking down here was unforgivable.

No.

Even with all that aide, Shanon had the mind to defeat Yeon-woo at least once. After he had lost to him and followed him around during all this time, he was filled with the thought to not be defeated at least this once.

And that moment—

Hwaak—

The black energy around Shanon became clear and started to multiply in amount.

His connection with Yeon-woo’s was strengthened. The remnants of the Devil Cores in the Philosopher’s Stone had flowed inside of him.

[A strong will has awakened a new Devil’s Blessing.]

[Properties of darkness and evil both increased by 30.]

[Fire property has increased by 15.]

…..

[Congratulations! With the strengthened Devil’s Blessing as the background, you have achieved taking a step closer to death.]

[The Death Knight (Shanon) is undergoing a new change. His previous ‘level’ is being raised by one.]

[His previous traits and class are being examined.]

[He received the influence of the title ‘One Who Leads Death.’]

Checheche—

The black armor on Shanon became sharper, turning into the color of a shining metal black, and under his helmet, blue flames that looked like will o’ the wisps were burning.

Inferno Sight.

When the hellfire that only the most powerful of those with the expert level brightly burned, Shanon’s presence was amplified by several times.

It didn’t just become larger, but it boiled with a clear metal black color, like it was fire.

[The Death Knight (Shanon) has successfully evolved into a ‘Death Noble.’]

[Death Noble]

Knights who died feeling wronged aren’t able to move on to the beyond. And a few of these Death Knights are able to receive power and positions from the Lord of Hell.

Death always follows where they go, and as they get promoted in the position that they have, the amount of power that they can use also increases.

Additionally, the greater the power, the greater their position, so they can create squads of soldiers.

Shannon felt the power that was growing inside of him.

With his cape fluttering behind him, Shanon roared. The sword breaker in his hand also exuded demonic energy.

Was it because of the influence of the Philosopher’s Stone? Or because of Shanon’s strong will?

He couldn’t figure it out.

But the power that Shanon was exuding was greater than ever, and Rebecca and Hanryeong were surprised seeing Shanon so different.

For Hanryeong, it was something that scratched his pride.

While Shanon had escaped his bindings, Hanryeong, who had once been a high ranker, was still a Death Knight.

And the same went for Rebecca. Her holiness was being pressed down by Shanon. Even if they were allies, she felt like she was in danger.

Shanon was powerful enough to make the two of them tense.

But Shanon didn’t blink an eye.

Normally, he would’ve been haughty about it, but he was completely focused on Yeon-woo right now.

All he was thinking about was whether he was able to defeat Yeon-woo with his newfound power.

These thoughts were clearly delivered to Hanryeong and Rebecca.

The two gripped their weapons even stronger. They got into a ready stance.

Kwang!

And they began to run at Yeon-woo as one like they had planned it beforehand.

Yeon-woo’s eyes coldly flashed as he tightened his hold on his Magic Bayonet as well. Hyoongshin Acksal. His eyes were shining more violently than ever.

The blade swished over the fire again.

***

Brahm shook his head like the situation was ridiculous.

“Both the servant and the master. I don’t know why everything about them is the same.”

The fight between Yeon-woo and his three subordinates ended as a tie.

Amidst the fire and the crossing blades, the four fought like they really wanted to kill each other.

The training area that Yeon-woo used was completely in ruins, and the Head Elder was sighing as he looked at the scene.

The singed ground was cracked all over, and the bare hill nearby was a horrid sight to see.

“How is it? Do you feel better now?”

Brahm crouched down to speak to Yeon-woo, who was catching his breath on the ground.

Instead, Yeon-woo smiled bitterly.

He thought he had been keeping up with his training well, but it seemed like he was mistaken.

But after fighting, he still felt a lot better. All his stress and worries completely disappeared.

However,

“I’m regretting it.”

He wasn’t satisfied with everything.

“You’re regretting it?”

Brahm looked at Yeon-woo like he was crazy. Yeon-woo nodded his head with a serious face.

“Yes. I know that the power of the three won’t stop there.”

Although Yeon-woo had become stronger, he hadn’t been able to catch up to Hanryeong.

That was how powerful the Saber God was. He wasn’t the second strongest in Cheonghwado for nothing.

The same went for Rebecca. Since Cernunnos was one of the greatest gods, Rebecca was also one of the strongest players. But right now, she had lost too much.

Shanon surpassed his abilities from when he was living, but he wasn’t able to properly use his new skills.

Yeon-woo was just filled with the thoughts to become stronger.

Brahm made a face like he was sick of Yeon-woo, then grinned. He felt like he knew how Yeon-woo had become so strong.

“Then you need to continue to push me too.”

“You need to find your holiness again.”

“Huhu. Thanks for saying that. But don’t you have to overcome that first?”

It had already been a while since Brahm gave up returning to the past, so he just chuckled. Yeon-woo had to get a greater holiness than what Brahm had before so that Brahm could regain his holiness again.

There had never been a case since the Tower was established that a player had received holiness. There were only rumors that Allforone had it.

But Yeon-woo was just looking at Brahm with calm eyes.

Brahm’s eyes widened.

lightsnοvεl “Y, You?”

Smirk.

Yeon-woo just lightly laughed and stood up.

“Since we confirmed the function of the stone, we have to move to the next step.”

Brahm didn’t ask Yeon-woo anything else, and just nodded his head.

It would take a long time until Yeon-woo got his holiness.

There was something else Brahm had to do right now.

A witch hunt.

And saving his daughter.

Although Brahm had a fake body, he felt like he could feel his heart beating faster. Boom. Boom. His breathing quickened at the thought of seeing his daughter again.