### Chapter 356 – Room 205, The Cursed Room – ‘□□□□’ (5)
—
– Cha Jinchul
The moment my sister’s head falls, the remaining people reacted swiftly.
Ahri moved in front of Miro, drawing out the ancient power of blood, and I instantly unsheathed my spear, aiming it at the old man’s body.
I immediately recognized who the opponent was.
There are only three people capable of giving off this level of intimidation in this room, and there’s no way the head of the Baehwa Sect, who couldn’t even cross the seals or barriers, could appear here.
Thus, the old man must be Ija Seong!
In the next moment, a pale light flickered at the old man’s waist, and a beam shot out at lightning speed.
There was no time to deliberate—right away, I had to use ‘Chalna’!
Time in the world slowed down.
The beam of light, which was rushing toward me like a comet, appeared to slow down, and the ‘sword’ finally came into view.
I bent the angle of my thrusting spear to the right, preemptively blocking Ija Seong’s sword path—
Just then, as if he had read the changing angle of my spear, the old man’s sword subtly retreated.
I wasn’t about to let my spear pierce the air with no intent; I twisted my body and retracted my spear as well.
A voice, tinged with amusement, reached my ears.
“You’re not bad. They called you the North Star General, didn’t they? You deserve the title of general.”
“…”
The implications of our earlier exchange were clear.
That monster, Ija Seong, was someone who could fully respond and make judgments even within the super-accelerated world created by ‘Chalna.’
“And it’s a pity. If you’d had more time, we could have shared some delightful moments….”
That meant he had no intention of doing so right now.
The sword of the North Star General once again radiated a threatening aura.
I called upon the power of Chalna once more.
And then, something incomprehensible occurred.
I could understand if the North Star General had become twice as fast as before.
For someone who might be the strongest being in human history within Room 205, it was possible that even with the power of Blessing and Chalna, I might not be able to keep up with his movements.
But—
The old man’s sword was slow.
To my Chalna-accelerated mind, it felt painfully sluggish.
However, his sword moved without hesitation, without obstruction.
I had clearly intended to block his incoming strike with my spear, but the ‘collision’ never happened.
It was as if the spear flowed effortlessly, like a salmon swimming upstream against the current, or like a bird flying with the wind as propulsion.
My spear seemed to pose no obstacle to his sword.
With my senses amplified by the power of Chalna, I could only watch in ‘long time’ as the old man’s sword closed in on my heart.
It felt like a horrible nightmare.
But I still had one last resort.
— PAAAAA!
Waves that rippled through the world were released.
If one meets an incomprehensible force, they have to counter it with an incomprehensible force.
The wave emanating from the ‘Star of the Otherworld’ began to overturn the entire space in no time.
“Cough! Seriously, you’re disgustingly strong!”
Time began to flow normally again.
As I barely caught my breath and assessed my upper body’s condition, I felt an overwhelming sensation and realized streams of blood were flowing out.
Ija Seong had twisted his sword path in fear of the Star’s power, preventing my heart from being pierced, but I still couldn’t avoid significant injury.
In the blink of an eye, Ahri appeared from behind and poured her blood—contained in a thermos—onto my body.
“Ahri, did you see that?”
“What do you mean? In my eyes, it was just a blur, and then suddenly you summoned a star.”
“That old geezer is filthy strong!”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
As I turned my gaze back to the North Star General, I saw that the earlier exchange had inflicted considerable damage on him as well.
The time he was exposed to the power of the star was at most half a second, but he was way too close to be alright, and more importantly, his body had no resistance against the power of the stars.
“Truly a terrifying power….”
The old man spoke without feeling any actual fear.
He began to carve at his grotesquely twisted skin and flesh as if he were a carpenter whittling wood.
Ahri couldn’t hide her astonishment at the sight.
“Doesn’t that hurt?”
“It does.”
Just as Ahri and Miro exchanged looks to attack back, the old man’s voice rang out.
“Followers of the Illusion Demon.”
“What?”
“I’m reminded of memories from long ago….”
Suddenly a flashback?
This was honestly some cliché rambling.
Since Ija Seong was also affected by the power of the stars, he surely needed some time to tend to his wounds.
But since I needed time to heal as well, I couldn’t be swayed by such shallow talks.
“Thirty years ago, I slew thousands of innocent people.”
“…”
“If they had sins, it was simply being unlucky enough to be close to the Illusion Demon.”
“…”
“I thought then that we had killed too many people in this grim world, and the stains on our hands would never be washed away.”
Ahri replied with a tone of interest.
“What’s the point of sharing that story?”
“The Illusion Demon is the greatest evil in history; he must never rise again on this land. Yet, pray tell, what do you think you’re doing attempting to bring him back?”
At those words, I found myself at a loss for words momentarily.
After all, that old man was here to prevent the resurrection of the Illusion Demon for a ‘greater cause,’ right?
In contrast, we, as those on this stage, were attempting to resurrect someone deemed the most wicked in human history for reasons that could not be understood.
Depending on the perspective, Ahri might sense a pang of conscience regarding the issue, but she simply replied.
“Just because.”
“…”
In that moment, it seemed even the great Ija Seong was momentarily lost for words.
“It sounds fun. Watching the three absolute masters throw down would certainly be entertaining.”
Ah, was Ahri trying to rattle Ija Seong’s nerves with that line?
Right?
Just then, the old man replied with a somewhat derisive tone.
“You are similar to the Illusion Demon.”
“What?”
“Long ago, there were the Two Great Clans, the Dark Blade Sect and the Golden Tails. Both flourished in Hanan City, and they didn’t really have conflicts.”
“…”
“Suddenly one day, the youngest son of the Dark Blade Sect captured and brutally murdered the eldest son of the Golden Tails. There was no way the Golden Tails could bear it. Blood flowed like rivers in Hanan City, and I, as the head of the North Star General, moved to mediate the situation.”
“… Did the Illusion Demon do that?”
“At that time, the Illusion Demon appeared in the form of a pretty little girl. Realizing it was all just a game by the Illusion Demon, I sat over the head of the grieving Golden Tails’ lord.”
“…”
“Do you know what he said to me?”
“I don’t.”
“Why do you look so serious?”
“Well, I honestly don’t think I resemble such a guy…”
“Perhaps that very attitude turned the Illusion Demon into an invincible superhuman.”
“What?”
Suddenly, what was he talking about?
Are you saying that such a crazy attitude made the Illusion Demon an unbeatable superhuman?
While we all momentarily stood there in astonishment at the incomprehensible words, a sharp voice, which had been silent until now, echoed.
“Then just ask the Illusion Demon directly!”
—Click!
A slender young girl with silvery hair held a tiny watch in her hand.
The moment the hand rotated, a young man appeared from thin air.
*
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 156
Current Location: Layer 2, Room 205 – Cursed Room ‘□□□□’
Sage’s Advice: 3]
– Han Kain
Suddenly, I regained my senses. The surrounding situation means….
Did I get summoned here through the power of the Time-Lending device?
“Kain!”
There was no time to ponder, as Miro pointed at the old man ahead.
I didn’t know what was what, but this was the ‘signal’ we had previously agreed upon.
The person summoned through the Time-Lending device has no information about the current situation, and in a pressing situation, there’s no time to think about it.
Therefore, we promised to attack the entity that Miro points out immediately.
“I’ll try to bind that guy!”
At the same time, Jinchul leaped towards the old man, and Ahri dashed around releasing a red mist.
Before long, the sound of cold weapons clashing filled the surroundings.
I summoned the Grimoire, intending to possess my opponent.
…
What’s happening?
As my consciousness floated, attempting to seize the old man’s body, his eyes glowed a chilling blue, and I encountered a strange phenomenon I had never experienced before.
Thinking about it, the most significant factor determining whether body possession via possession works or not depends on the opponent’s ‘rank.’
This ‘rank’ is a different concept from physical strength.
For instance, in combat, even if someone is weaker than Seungyub, if they are a messenger or servant of a divine being, the chance of possession failing is quite high.
On the other hand, if a monster with the power to collapse buildings just takes a swing with its tail but is merely a beast, possession might not be resisted at all.
The old man was closer to the latter.
Considering the corpse of Eunsol I could see, the gigantic amount of blood pouring out from Jinchul in real time, and Ahri’s tensed expression, he seemed like an incredibly strong entity.
So that must be why he summoned me.
Yet, he wasn’t a being with the rank to repel possession.
In other words, it wasn’t a clash of souls but rather a strange technique I couldn’t understand that resisted the power of the Grimoire.
The old man created a wall.
A bizarre wall emerged between us and the old man that I couldn’t cross with the power of Grimoire.
That wall wasn’t something that physically existed but rather a barrier separating minds from minds.
The moment I understood the principle behind his trick, I couldn’t help but marvel.
I often watched documentaries on animals on TV.
One of the most fascinating animals that stuck with me was the beaver, which appeared to be just a large rat but built a dam so massive it left me in awe.
It felt just like that.
No matter how genius you are, you’re still human—how on earth did he create such an almost magical technique?
I couldn’t help but be amazed, but at the same time chuckled.
After all, I thought it still fell under the realm of those who could play God.
—GOOOO!
As the power of the avatar manifested, a dark power resembling a black thread surged from the Grimoire, and the old man suddenly swung his sword.
As I witnessed that scene, I couldn’t believe it; the old man displayed a wondrous skill, effortlessly cutting through the magical power of the Grimoire with his sword.
He was even accomplishing all this while fighting against Jinchul and Ahri simultaneously.
By the time we reached this point, I was filled with respect, in a way.
It was hard to comprehend how a human could reach such a level.
However, a single hand can’t overcome three superhumans.
Ultimately, Cha Jinchul endured the old man’s sword with his body, and Ahri covered the surroundings with the mist, confusing the old man’s senses.
In that moment – the power of the avatar seized the old man’s flesh.
*
For a while, Miro was sobbing while explaining the situation to me.
“An absolute master?”
“Uh-huh…”
“No wonder it felt like he knew my power.”
“Huh?”
“When I tried to possess Ija Seong’s body, it was as if….”
“As if?”
“It was like he split his mind and created a wall within. He couldn’t fully repel my possession, but he prevented losing control of his entire body at once.”
“What are you talking about?”
Instead of explaining to the confused Miro, I thought about it.
A mental wall created by splitting the mind to resist possession, a peculiar sword technique that could cut through the magical power of the avatar.
If anything, it felt like he had developed a technique capable of responding to my Grimoire’s power in advance because, given the setup of Room 205, it was conceivable that an entity similar to me, the Illusion Demon, could run amok.
The illustrious sword master Ija Seong had crafted a technique to confront the Illusion Demon, which he might face again someday.
“That’s ominous….”
“Huh?”
“If Ija Seong developed such a technique, it’s likely Jo Wonhong did as well.”
“Eh?”
“Miro, listen carefully from now on. Since Eunsol, Jinchul, and Ahri are all dead, you’re the only one who can pass on what I’ve learned.”
“Oh, got it! My memory is solid.”
“… No. I’ll write it down for you, don’t forget it.”
Already, quite a few of our companions had fallen. I wondered if the remaining ones would be able to escape….
With only about 20 minutes left of my life, I could only pray.
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