“It clearly looks like a collective…”
Looking at the situation, thinking that it might reach Jo Gi-man would be a foolish misjudgment.
It’s not just a matter of whether I can take him one-on-one; just seeing the guys guarding Jo Gi-man makes me sigh.
Fortunately, it was really a relief that the First Clone didn’t transform into a two-headed dragon.
Even though the remaining clones have transformed into dragons, the power I feel is not as great as I feared.
However, the four clones are still intact, and I’m at a level where facing them all at once is tough.
Let alone Jo Gi-man.
The quest conditions that Goddess Irmana set also asked to banish the Collective of Evil.
In the first place, even the divine beings accompanying me do not expect that I would kill that guy.
I need to stay calm.
“Even if I try to expel them, I don’t know how to use the Precious Gem…”
Suddenly, I recalled the moment I chased away Liu Xiao-Wo’s cat.
It was a being that Irmana deemed part of the Collective of Evil.
The Incarnation of the Evil Dragon, Jo Gi-man…
The fact that I have the power to drive out the unclean has already been confirmed with the cats.
“If I just get a little help… Goddess of Water Ryun… it might be tough for you, but please lend me your strength─!”
Holding the Precious Gem tightly to my chest, I shouted out to a god whose name I didn’t even know.
Though I had lived my life rejecting the help of those around me, I was throwing away my pride to plead for assistance.
Woooooosh──
“Something’s coming…”
Is Ryun hoping that I, holding the Precious Gem, can overcome this crisis?
Fortunately, an unknown energy began to swirl through the magic circuits etched into my bones from the Precious Gem.
Pitter-patter-
“I’m going…”
I was stepping closer to the enemy that killed me, gradually picking up speed as I ran towards Jo Gi-man, who had just stepped out of the portal, using [Blink].
And in that fleeting moment that transcended space, I activated all the skills I could, starting with the artifact ‘Puristain’s Sky Bastion.’
“Uh?!”
Just as Jo Gi-man had barely crossed the passage, he was hit with multiple bindings and status ailments, briefly freezing up.
“It worked!”
Honestly, I thought it wouldn’t work at all, but thanks to the Precious Gem, it was quite effective.
The amazing movement skill [Blink] and the moment’s opportunity granted by Ryun.
How long could I keep Jo Gi-man tied up like this? 0.5 seconds? 0.3 seconds?
“I just need a moment. If there’s a tiny gap!”
I didn’t care about anything else at this point.
As I got close enough to reach out to him, the rage that I had buried deep inside began to boil over.
The ugly face of that guy who had dug into my eyes with a dagger while sneering as if the world was his playground.
His mocking tongue that flicked at me.
His eyes that were already small, disappearing completely when he smiled.
I was powerless, despairing, and writhing in pain in front of Jo Gi-man.
The cause of Yeon-hee’s death, the one who had failed to protect me, made me seethe with resentment for falling to such a reality.
“Jo Gi-man… Jo Gi-man───!!”
I still don’t know why I was reborn as a skeleton, but I defined my purpose in this life as killing you and protecting Yeon-hee.
If I could, I wanted to not just expel him from this world but to completely annihilate him.
So that no one else, like me or Yeon-hee, would become a victim again – for all the countless people who have been killed by this scumbag.
“──?!”
His head jerked as he sensed me, and the look of panic that was once there was gone, replaced by a ridiculous expression as he released the bindings and unleashed an overwhelming force that no evil should ever have.
It wasn’t just a thoughtless explosion skill.
A whirlwind of lightning was twisting in a curve, targeting only me.
“What’s this?!”
In just a few seconds, the sturdy – that had fused with me – Flame Armor burst apart.
The artifact-level armor I wore underneath was so damaged that it automatically retracted back into my space, exposing my true form that had hidden within.
─?!!
His eyes widened as he saw my essence.
Was he surprised that I wasn’t human?
Or was it shocking that the one attacking him was a mere Skeleton Soldier, the weakest monster?
– [Mismatched Fury] activates!
– [Mismatched Fury] synergizes with the achievement [Sense Master]!
– Damage dealt to the Incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon Jo Gi-man increases to its limit!
– Damage dealt to the Incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon Jo Gi-man increases to its limit!
– Damage dealt to the Incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon Jo Gi-man increases to its limit!
“What, what’s happening?!”
The last message that appeared in my mind continued to repeat in red, as if I were experiencing a bug.
It stated that the damage I could inflict on Jo Gi-man had increased to its limit, but I had no idea what was going on.
All I knew was that [Sense Master] wasn’t an achievement I possessed, so I could only guess that it was something designed among Jo Gi-man’s achievements to work in my favor.
“I have to seize this opportunity─!”
An once-in-a-lifetime chance.
I couldn’t help but focus so hard that blood began to flow from my eyes.
Drip-drip──
As my mental power surged, the world began to turn a pure white.
Suddenly, this world had transformed into my own space.
In this space, it was only Jo Gi-man and me.
“Wh-where is this?!”
He slowly recognized the changed world.
His gaze resembled that of a child facing an unknown terror he had never experienced before.
“Is this your first time in the realm of nothingness, Jo Gi-man?”
The fist-sized Precious Gem of Ryun had settled into my heart.
Thump-thump-
Though it merely took position in my core to lend me strength, for some reason, it felt like it was pulsing as if it were part of my heart.
Perhaps it was because I had briefly become one with the Precious Gem?
Curled up in that distant space, I could feel Ryun’s energy granting me strength.
That energy felt oddly familiar yet refreshing.
It was roughly vibrating.
An extremely unstable wave.
“I can feel it… the power of Ryun… but what are you so afraid of?”
The image of a trembling girl filled with fear.
I quickly realized what Ryun feared through the gaze peering down at me from the distant sky.
– ‘The Great Being’ watches you, who has gained the potential for divine unity, with interest.
‘……’
If such a being is watching, anyone would be afraid.
The same could be said of Irmana, who unceremoniously severed the connection with me.
But that gaze soon faded.
It was possibly just a brief provocation of the Great Being when I conversed with Ryun. Whatever the case, it didn’t matter.
Despite the numerous messages appearing, and my thoughts racing in judgment, time continued to flow slowly to me.
In this space, the passage of time was in my favor.
Jo Gi-man’s movements felt slow-motion.
I was already swinging ‘Cheongwol’ towards his crown.
The ‘Cheongwol’ that carved through space contained countless possibilities.
The natural elements of water and fire infused into the sword, forming a sharp line meant to eliminate the evil that threatens the balance.
This encompasses all the weight of existence and potential I had accumulated.
───────────
Without sound or anything, I simply passed through Jo Gi-man.
He looked at me with a bewildered expression.
The sluggish flow of his body, slow compared to his cognition.
In that moment, it seemed he finally realized something.
“Ugh?!!”
I sliced Jo Gi-man cleanly in half, gliding smoothly past him.
A red line started from between Jo Gi-man’s eyebrows, flowing seamlessly up and down.
Zzzzkkk──
The energies of lightning and ice formed along the path I had traversed.
That energy didn’t just serve as a mere trace of my past.
Soon, that energy returned, united, engulfing Jo Gi-man, forming a red line that literally swallowed him whole.
Boom─!
A sphere resembling a blue ice lotus locked Jo Gi-man in tightly.
Jo Gi-man stared at me with astonished eyes, frozen.
As I tried to stare back at him defiantly, the side effects of everything I had risked were far too great.
Suuuu──
I felt as if I might fall apart.
“Even dying together isn’t so bad.”
My collapsing body began to tremble like aspen, making the magic circuits sustaining me flare up violently.
“My body can’t endure it anymore; that’s the natural flow.”
The physical limitations that came with being a Skeleton Soldier.
I had not completely overcome that.
But on the other hand, I felt a sense of pride.
It was hard to believe that the weakest monster had risen to this level.
Splat──
As the red paint spread ominously from the line that had sliced Jo Gi-man in half, it began to taint the ice lotus that surrounded him.
“…… I couldn’t kill him.”
I had split his brain and severed the artery leading to his heart.
Yet, the defeat message did not appear.
I could have sworn I heard a brief gasp from Jo Gi-man, but he wasn’t dead.
Was it because of Ryun’s Precious Gem? The ice engulfing him faded in and out, becoming indistinct before sharpening again.
“Get lost! If you’re not going to die, then please just disappear!”
But he wouldn’t be expelled.
Even after pouring all of Ryun’s power and everything I had into it, I couldn’t banish him.
A massive presence clearly blocking it cast an overwhelming aura.
Kikikikikikit
Jo Gi-man’s mouth, which should have been near death, was now twisted into a grin.
He looked at me, attempting to maintain a serious expression but couldn’t hold back laughter.
He stared at me as if he had realized something.
In that moment, his serpent-like eyes appeared far too chilling.
Before I knew it, his pupils had elongated vertically.
The cold, cynical eyes of a dragon turned Evil God.
That wasn’t Jo Gi-man.
“Haa──”
The being whose physical form was imprisoned in ice, no longer merely Jo Gi-man but an entity of the Seven-headed Dragon, blew out a breath and, as if nothing had happened, everything around him evaporated cleanly.
Crack─
Upon emerging from the ice, Jo Gi-man, now severed, broke into two parts.
But the right piece that had fallen to the ground sprung up like a Weeble and swiftly regained its original form.
“This is insane…”
As Jo Gi-man faced death, the Incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon manifested in one of his pieces.
The remaining left piece was flailing like a live fish, slowly pulling away from Jo Gi-man.
“Ugh…”
It was a disgusting sight, making me feel nauseous even though I had eaten nothing.
Though the world was nonsensical, seeing a human transformed into a flounder was just too far.
The left half of Jo Gi-man’s body, still twitching, jumped up off the ground.
From his split mouth came some threatening mumbling, but he couldn’t form coherent words, only foaming at the mouth.
At least for this moment, Jo Gi-man would understand what it feels like to be a fish.
“Oh! Ahh- cough- cough- You see, when I borrow Jo Gi-man’s body, my speech tends to get a bit ridiculous. Even when I try to be careful, it doesn’t quite work out. Can you understand where I’m coming from?”
The being of the Seven-headed Dragon, clad in Jo Gi-man’s shell.
That creature was not the enemy I had hated so much; instead, it was a dark star rising stealthily behind the veil of darkness in the high skies.
A divine being that turned back the clock.
Perhaps even more mysterious than the blue-eyed being that had plunged my master into despair.
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