“Sure enough… [Flame Explosion] is undetectable.”
I was far from the explosion point, but more importantly, I wasn’t directly linked to the Flame Mark.
The moment the mark was engraved, it had already become complete in itself, and I was just pressing a button.
If it were a Sense Ability User, they might have noticed that I attacked, but Jo Gi-man wouldn’t have a clue.
Clatter—clatter—
I struggled to keep my shoulders from shaking while watching Jo Gi-man’s face crumple.
– Ugh!!
Visible flames burned away, leaving a clear burn mark on one of his arms.
Clearly, he was in agony, and I found it a bit puzzling.
“Hmm… That reaction seems a bit excessive… Even if it’s damage ignoring defense, does he really hurt that much from just that?”
If I got closer, I could probably gauge how much health he had lost, but his aura was too ferocious for that.
He looked around with an expression as if he had seen a ghost, a sure sign that there was something I didn’t know.
“No way?! Why is the achievement applied in reverse?!”
Jo Gi-man seemed so agitated that he couldn’t see the surrounding situation and was openly voicing his discontent.
“What kind of achievement causes such a violent reaction?”
I didn’t know what it was, but his actions, as if trying to find someone, made me uneasy.
I decided to overlook the fact that I didn’t understand why he was having seizures, but there was one thing I regretted.
“Didn’t I directly engrave the mark with [Flame Cut]? I can’t do ‘Health Destruction.'”
If the effect had been applied against the Giant Skeleton I met in Nargul’s dungeon, a message would have definitely popped up.
However, a new dot appeared on the mini-map, pointing at Jo Gi-man.
– Tracks the location of enemies hit by the Flame Explosion until the end.
“Ooh?! Nice! Anything applied is still something. Haha—”
I felt like shouting in joy.
Now that I could pinpoint his location, it would be much easier to respond to him from now on.
[Graaaaah!!]
– Ugh! You filthy, tenacious monster! Get away!!
While Jo Gi-man was frantically searching for something, a monster that was knocked back by the [Flame Explosion] was now back on him, preventing him from doing what he wanted.
The monster didn’t stop attacking Jo Gi-man even amidst the explosions. Jo Gi-man looked even more exhausted by the monster’s insane obsession.
“Now that’s a truly impressive monster.”
And with the final fifth blast, the ominous black flame surged high into the sky while the great beast and Jo Gi-man’s bodies froze as if time had stopped.
Kiiiing─────
This was true for everyone except me.
In the severely slowed flow of time, only my thoughts worked normally.
Now, if that great beast disappeared in this state, Jo Gi-man would be left even more flustered when he regained consciousness.
“Oh, here it comes.”
Five soaring pillars of fire swirled wildly like a dragon.
At their center, a blinding lightning clawed through the world violently, revealing something so massive that it was hard to take in at a glance.
And a message floated up.
– The skill [Flame Explosion] has knocked on the door five times. Fragments of a Great Being are bursting forth in anger from their deep slumber.
– [Annihilation] has activated!
‘… I don’t think the word “anger” was there last time…’
As I trembled in fear, that overwhelmingly huge being gaped its mouth and fell down below.
Just like last time, my perception was hazy, making it impossible to gauge its exact form.
Yet, it felt once again like the gigantic being was incredibly angry.
In one swift motion, it swallowed the nameless great beast whole.
“Chomp──!”
[······!!!]
The great beast let out a terrible scream and writhed in pain, but that was only for a moment.
‘……’
Literally, annihilation.
The great beast left no trace and vanished from this world in vain.
Aside from the overwhelming form of the Great Being, there was nothing particularly impactful about it.
It felt like doing something trivial, like blowing dust off the floor.
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from that sight in fear.
I would have preferred losing consciousness like last time; at least I wouldn’t be feeling this fear.
“Last time, I passed out around this point, right? Did my job change allow me to endure?”
Even now, my consciousness felt precarious, but somehow, I thought I could hold on.
The Great Being that had devoured the great beast seemed a bit calmed after taking it out, though I couldn’t understand why.
Shudder—shudder—
And Jo Gi-man.
He was now trembling like a leaf where my gaze had stopped.
‘What the…? If he has the backing of a Seven-headed Dragon, can he resist that much?’
– A tiny fragment of an unimaginable Great Being that cannot be recorded in the [Akasha Chronicle] has descended onto this world!
– The divine beings that were breaking the balance of this world quickly vanish.
But as the message appeared, Jo Gi-man’s terrified eyes suddenly changed, and he raised his head, glaring at the fragment of the Great Being as if he wanted to kill it.
– The embodiment of the Seven-headed Dragon meets the gaze of the fragment of the Great Being.
“Grrrr…! It’s just a tiny piece, yet…!!”
‘?!’
“What? That guy has consciousness?! If he does this, someone here will find out about this ability!’
I grew anxious.
While pouring out dark red blood, Jo Gi-man displayed a furious gaze, struggling to endure the immense power.
His efforts to withstand the Great Being’s might looked even pitiable.
Crack—Boom—
In the end, realizing that he couldn’t bear the colossal power in his current state, Jo Gi-man began to reveal his true form.
‘What the hell?’
Boom—Crash—
His face, transformed like a reptile, split into two, and his wings became a complete pair.
‘Is that energy…? No, this shouldn’t be happening?! Damn, this is insane!’
As his form changed, Jo Gi-man began to explode with an energy that was clearly alien.
Seeing him transform into something unimaginable made me realize that things were going horribly wrong.
Crack——!!
In the blink of an eye, his size grew, exceeding ten meters, and when his two faces split again, trying to become four faces.
The fragment of the Great Being, watching with interest as Jo Gi-man morphed into a Seven-headed Dragon, suddenly vanished.
‘Huh?!’
Yet the gaze of the vanishing Great Being briefly met mine, and for some reason, those eyes seemed to crave something more.
‘……?’
I couldn’t exactly tell what more it wanted.
Having swallowed the great beast and calmed down a bit, was it asking for a stronger one?
“A greater existence than the great beast… I was lucky this time, but… that guy, we need to do something about him—”
– The balance of this world briefly regains its place.
‘It… vanished?! What about Jo Gi-man?’
As the Great Being disappeared, I finally got my constraints lifted.
I tried to see how Jo Gi-man was doing.
Thud—
But he fell to the ground like a log.
I felt dizzy. I couldn’t even move a finger.
I felt like I was going to throw up.
But biologically I couldn’t, so an unpleasant feeling kept rising.
Thud—
I saw Jo Gi-man over there, flopping on the ground.
He was back to his human form, and there was an expression on his face as if his soul had left his body.
‘Did he return to normal? He won’t remember what happened, right?’
If he remembered the Great Being, he would definitely harbor ill intentions.
The sheer power Jo Gi-man exhibited earlier surpassed anything I had imagined. That wasn’t even his complete form.
If he had just transformed into a two-headed monster, he might have trampled a great beast.
If that guy started searching for the one who had summoned the Great Being, no one would be able to stop him.
Hundreds of worms crawled and squirmed across Jo Gi-man’s body.
His body expanded as if it would burst open at any moment, and suddenly he gushed forth a bucket of blood.
‘This transformation is clearly too much to handle…’
It wouldn’t be an ability he could use often.
There might be limits on frequency or time in place.
I was just glad for that.
I felt the flow of time slowly starting to return to normal.
The dark clouds that had densely occupied the sky had cleared, revealing an incredibly blue hue.
The cracks that had split and torn had vanished as if they had never existed.
Along with this, vitality began to return to Jo Gi-man’s eyes.
He struggled to get up, muttering something indistinguishable and started laughing like a madman.
“To think an existence beyond my powers exists… There can’t be such a singularity. Hehehe…”
Watching that self-deprecating laugh, I felt a shiver creep up my spine.
‘… That’s… still not Jo Gi-man, is it…? How can he still maintain it?’
Jo Gi-man’s consciousness was mixed up with the monstrosity, remaining unchanged. In fact, it seemed like he remembered everything.
“Ugh… The blue-eyed… That loathsome being… Setting a trap to kill me…… An existence beyond my powers cannot exist…”
He muttered, seemingly possessed.
‘……?’
Suddenly, I couldn’t comprehend how the conversation had spiraled in this direction, but Jo Gi-man repeatedly vented about the blue-eyed one.
– The perception of the being trying to break the balance is severely distorted.
‘…… I see. Is this some kind of side effect of excessive intervention? I’m not sure what exactly happened, but at least there’s no longer an intent to kill us.’
Any sense of danger he had of charging at me vanished, and I put the self-destruct skill I was just about to trigger back into my inventory.
Moments later, as time started to flow normally again, the top-tier hunters led by Kang Yeon-su were just recovering their senses.
Suddenly, Jo Gi-man, who was sitting on the ground, tearing at his own hair in agony, abruptly stood up.
Then he jumped into the air and swung his hand knife horizontally, enhanced by [Lightning Strike].
‘?!’
That position was precisely where Barrier Mage Kim Jae-hyeon had been hiding.
– Gwaah! Wh-what…?!
Kim Jae-hyeon was revealed, his neck partly severed, spraying blood like a fountain.
Jo Gi-man, having split Kim Jae-hyeon’s throat, swallowed his anger as if directing it towards someone unseen.
“Blue-eyed…! You dirty, ugly thing. Summoning defense spells with such vermin! The only being capable of bringing forth that horror is you! Just wait, this time I won’t evade it at all.”
Jo Gi-man roared multiple times toward Kim Jae-hyeon, clutching the split neck.
Then, grabbing Kim Jae-hyeon’s head, Jo Gi-man brutally tore it from the body.
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