The third cycle didn’t die at the hands of the Tower Master.
At that time, the third cycle found itself in a difficult situation, caught between three major families.
It wasn’t like a death sentence had been declared, but it was definitely a bothersome situation caught in the middle of power struggles.
So, he took a little break.
The Tower Master still had time before launching an attack, and he lacked proficiency in using the three unique abilities at the same time.
Thus, he decided to train and visited the African Demonic Realm.
There, he started gaining proficiency by wrestling with some higher-tier monsters.
And then, he died.
There were many reasons.
He tussled with a third-tier alpha creature and got surrounded by hordes of monsters.
Adding to the chaos, he sneaked in there to face them alone without any support.
That’s an indirect reason.
The direct one? Well, the three unique abilities manifested all at once and ended up conflicting with each other.
The backlash occurred, and he couldn’t control it, resulting in his death.
“Three abilities can lead you to an early grave if mishandled.”
Like most early cycles, it carried with it risks and burdens.
“I need to explode up close.”
He was aware of the dangers.
Still, he didn’t hesitate.
“Three abilities… There’s no time for practice. Taesan feels the same way. I need to get in close and unleash them with the first casting.”
He had an inkling of the minimum damage.
If detonated from close range, it was guaranteed to kill.
Maximum damage? No idea. Just knew it could kill.
So he needed to close in for a sure kill.
– Saaaah!
The poisoned dragon roared as it gathered itself.
A tremendous amount of mana was released. Half wrapped around the dragon like armor, while the other half spewed out like poison, writhing between its scales.
Then came the charge. The dragon’s massive body closed the distance in an instant.
Its jaws opened. A barrage erupted from deep within its throat.
It was a light attack, almost like a warning shot, but for Lee Ha-yul, that alone was a lethal threat.
He felt fear, yet he didn’t back down.
He spread his wings. They shone in a rainbow of colors against the night sky.
Spirits perched on his wing feathers moved according to his will.
This was a kind of spirit manifestation facilitated through the wing feathers of heaven.
Controlling the spirits had always been easy, but in this quasi-spirit state, it was even more streamlined and rapid.
He flapped his wings.
Lightning and fire spirits sprang into action.
Flame burst out, propelling him. Lightning crackled across his wings, accelerating him further.
A rough wind didn’t assault him. A wind spirit opened up the way, with a powerful gust pushing him forward, fanning the flames of speed.
The volley of attacks descended upon him.
He could track all trajectories. As long as he matched their speed, he could dodge any of them.
He didn’t face them head-on like before.
He simply flapped his wings, weaving between the attacks as they passed.
By a hair’s breadth, those attacks skimmed past him.
Suddenly—a crunch! His body screamed in pain. His skin turned black in multiple spots.
He dodged every attack. Using every means to repel the poison. Yet a minuscule amount had accumulated, inching dangerously close to a critical level.
‘……’
Fear crept in.
Yet still, he didn’t back down.
Having come here to stop the two-headed dragon from being resurrected, he couldn’t just run away after having partially contributed to this mess.
The dragon’s jaws parted wide.
With a squelching sound, its mouth stretched open unnaturally wide.
A prelude of magical energy. The bristles on his whole body stood on end.
From that gaping maw, an overwhelming torrent of mana poured out, several times more powerful than before.
“Space.”
He hastily erected a barrier of spatial energy right in front of the jaws. Thunk! A shockwave hit his head. It felt like his brain might turn to mush from overuse of power.
The flooding poison splashed against the barrier, splattering onto the dragon’s face.
– Saaaah!
The dragon immediately shifted its body. The spatial barrier was fixed in place. As the head turned, more of the poison gushed out.
In that brief moment of distraction, it closed in even more.
A wave of mana… and poison surged.
Lee Ha-yul extended his left arm.
He poured mana wildly into his prosthetic arm. Swoosh! The golden engravings on the surface deepened in color.
“Power manifestation, protection.”
Powers are borrowed strength from outside oneself.
The most representative power would be the Tower’s authority, but top-tier artifacts also possess considerable abilities.
He connected to receive some information. He couldn’t grasp it all, but he could activate basic use right away.
Proof of protection materialized. Mana collected at his shoulder, coalescing like armor.
Simultaneously, a golden barrier formed around Lee Ha-yul. He flapped his wings again. His body accelerated.
“Closer, closer.”
Performing acrobatics, he led with the barrier as he approached, employing every defensive measure to shield himself from the poison.
The golden barrier gradually began to melt away. Layers upon layers of defensive magic were ripped apart. The thick protective energy became distorted and scattered.
He was poisoned.
His skin began to necrotize.
Blood seeped from the orifices of his body. Gritting his teeth, he hurled himself toward the dragon’s head.
‘…Here I come.’
He’d entered the optimal distance.
His mind felt hazy.
He opened his eyes. A sickly gray in one eye was marred with dark green.
A thick fog obscured his vision. A corner of his view was updating a status window.
And beyond that, he could see shadows. Similar to the darkness he had witnessed during the Shifnara incident.
Gritting his teeth, he drew forth mana. His core trembled dangerously as he channeled his mana.
“Homogenization, Gop-hwa.”
The properties of some mana changed.
Gop-hwa erupted from his right arm. Emotions surged. Instead of allowing that energy to spread throughout his body, he steered it into his right hand.
“Homogenization, Chang-hae.”
While in the midst of channeling Gop-hwa, he also triggered Chang-hae.
Kruugghhh! Gop-hwa and Chang-hae clashed within him. His body fluctuated between hot and cold. The heightened emotions sank and surged again.
His body creaked. His insides crumbled. His mind began to fade.
The backlash.
Like unicorns and bicorns colliding, like light and darkness consuming one another.
Gop-hwa and Chang-hae clashed, creating a backlash. If that backlash became too excessive, his body might collapse.
But it wasn’t all bad. If he handled the force generated by the backlash well, he could unleash power that would normally be difficult to achieve.
However, there was also an amplification effect, not just the backlash.
Gop-hwa could evaporate Chang-hae, while Chang-hae could cool down Gop-hwa, rendering them inactive.
In other words…
Gop-hwa could thaw the ice of Chang-hae, while Chang-hae could even quell the out-of-control flames of Gop-hwa.
Taesan was the same.
They influenced each other. In that process, there was a pushing-away backlash and an amplifying effect.
The culmination of all these push and pull effects was the essence of the third cycle’s three powers.
“Dan, Jilhwa…”
He drew up mana once more. He keenly observed how Ji-yeon’s Taesan manifested. He mimicked that.
“Taesan.”
Mana transformed into what should be termed “earth energy.” Although he wasn’t standing on the ground, it felt like his senses were drawing closer to the earth.
“Uh…?”
His perception shifted.
Lee Ha-yul gasped.
His blood and, of course, his skin split open, oozing out dark blood. Circuits ruptured. His senses faded further.
But he wasn’t shocked by it.
Lee Ha-yul felt vitality emanating from the earth. Even while he was dying from poison, he felt the life-giving essence of the earth.
The nearby spirits pouring out poison had none of that. No life flourished in the dead.
He felt… alarmingly less vitality compared to the dragon.
‘……’
Lee Ha-yul kept manipulating his mana.
With the tip of his right hand, he infused energy from Gop-hwa, Chang-hae, and Taesan.
– Kwa-deuk!
His right arm twisted unnaturally. Like a beast trapped in a snare, it contorted wildly, growing lumpy.
Energy collided.
Gop-hwa pushed away Chang-hae. Chang-hae pushed Taesan away, and Taesan pushed Gop-hwa.
Then,
Chang-hae calmed Gop-hwa, and Gop-hwa ignited Taesan’s vitality. Taesan nurtured life from Chang-hae’s energy.
They repelled and amplified each other. The energy endlessly intensified.
At the tip of his right hand, the three energies intermingled, coalescing into a minuscule sphere, hardly larger than a fingernail.
That tiny orb of energy radiated an unprecedented threat of life, causing the dragon to widen its eyes in alarm.
Before the dragon could react, Lee Ha-yul strained every muscle to unleash the energy he had been holding onto.
Three Completeness (삼종).
As the energy twisted and fluctuated, it burst forth.
The chaotic mix of colors melted into blackness, consuming the surrounding area.
The massive body of the dragon was engulfed in a black sphere.
The sphere continued to expand endlessly.
There was no explosion.
In the blink of an eye, the swelling energy swallowed up everything in its vicinity.
Mud, rock, air, clouds, poison… nothing was spared as it was sucked in.
Getting caught up in that? You wouldn’t even be able to find the fragments of your own corpse.
Lee Ha-yul’s body faltered weakly. He was swept away by the current.
His wings flapped aimlessly, resisting the torrent.
The spirits struggled to protect their master, flapping their wings desperately.
But it was only for a moment.
The spirit beings began to emerge one by one from the wing feathers of heaven. Their master’s consciousness was fading, and the spirit manifestation was unraveling.
“Spatial… manifestation…”
Just before getting drawn in.
Lee Ha-yul barely activated a spatial leap. A vortex of space erupted into the air, swallowing up his form.
Coordinates distorted.
.
.
.
In the hazy mist above the lake, an unexpected rift tore open.
With a whoosh—dark spaces split to the left and right, and Lee Ha-yul’s body tumbled out.
– Plop!
The exhausted Lee Ha-yul splashed into the lake.
Rough ripples formed. Yellow leaves floated on the surface of the lake, dancing in the stirring water.
A moment later, the surface quickly regained its calm.
– Bubble, bubble…
Instead, bubbles began to rise. Lee Ha-yul, submerged at the bottom of the lake, sank without resurfacing.
Lake of Mana.
The water in this lake held pure mana pure enough to be hard to come by even outside.
That mana seeped into the wounds all over Lee Ha-yul’s body. Blood and lake water began to circulate as they exchanged positions.
Glub… the surface of the lake gradually lowered.
His hair turned a pale white.
*
[Saever Correction System: Exploration Degree]
[Quest “Two-headed Dragon” Completed]
[Part of the Quest “Chinese Demonic Transformation” Completed]
[You will receive a large amount of points.]
…
[Saever Correction System: Salvation Degree]
[Verify the results of the rescue performed in goodwill.]
[You will receive a large amount of points.]
…
[The Curse of “Beauty and the Beast” is activated.]
[Spent Vitality Reconstructs the Body.]
[…The extent of the physical loss is considerable.]
[Immediate recovery impossible.]
[The body is shrinking.]
…
[The Tower Master of Growth cries out and activates the power of “Growth.”]
[The Savior’s body grows.]
[Using a large amount of points.]
…
[The Tower Master of Harmony is astonished and activates the power of “Harmony.”]
[He coordinates between the Savior’s body and the power of growth.]
[Using a large amount of points.]
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