Chapter 118

“Hmph!”

Kang Yuseong’s eyes shot open.

This was a terror akin to standing completely exposed before a colossal predator!

Moreover, Blood was not responding to Kang Yuseong’s mental link.

It was trying to vanish on its own.

Blood was a being summoned from nothingness to begin with.

It had been able to remain in this world due to Kang Yuseong’s powerful control, but that very connection was now severing, a sensation Kang Yuseong could feel.

To put it in a single sentence, a force more powerful than Kang Yuseong was now compelling Blood. A stronger, more ominous power, beyond Kang Yuseong’s control, was attempting to return Blood to nothingness.

‘Damn it!’

This power.

This extreme terror, which felt like his skin was being torn to shreds, his blood vessels bursting, and his heart being secretly invaded and squeezed tight, was the power of darkness itself.

A primordial power that had existed since the dawn of time!

Only then did Kang Yuseong understand why the corpse had filled him with such dread.

“Captain!”

Kim Do-jin, realizing something was seriously wrong, called out to him loudly.

Gil Hyeok-jun also frowned deeply, looking around.

However, they didn’t seem to have been impacted as severely as Kang Yuseong.

While they felt an incredibly dark and sinister power, they weren’t completely immobilized like Kang Yuseong.

Kang Yuseong gritted his teeth.

This power.

Before this colossal power, he was merely a tiny ant.

‘The master of this power…!’

The master of this power, which could be considered darkness itself, was completely oppressing Kang Yuseong, who wielded dark power.

In other words, because Kang Yuseong used the power of darkness, he couldn’t help but feel this extreme terror. Even Blood, with its strong mental fortitude, chose to return to nothingness upon exposure to this power, demonstrating just how mighty its master was.

‘Blood!’

Even though his mental link with Blood was completely severed, Kang Yuseong didn’t give up.

If he gave up now, Blood would vanish completely.

An irreversible situation would occur.

Kwooooooh!

And at that moment, a scorching heat erupted from Kang Yuseong’s entire body.

Fwoosh!

Flame.

A crystallization of pure power that incinerates all darkness and burns away evil!

Kang Yuseong, possessing the power of darkness but also the ability to nullify it, borrowed the power of pure flame to counter the encroaching power of darkness.

And it was effective.

The power of darkness, which had sought to swallow him whole, was being pushed back by the fiercely burning flames, and Kang Yuseong gritted his teeth until they nearly shattered, drawing out more power.

Boom—

Suddenly, a tremendous explosion erupted around him, and dazzling light burst forth from Kang Yuseong’s entire body.

[You have acquired [Radiance].]

[Radiance: Pure light that opposes darkness. Greatly increases resistance to dark power, and doubles power inflicted upon darkness. Duration: 10 minutes.]

As radiance burst from his entire body, Kim Do-jin looked at him with an expression of disbelief, and Gil Hyeok-jun shivered slightly.

‘What on earth!’

Kim Do-jin’s expression was even more surprised because he knew what kind of power Radiance was.

Among flame-type powers, it was a crystallization of pure power, leaning more towards purification than destruction.

As long as Radiance was maintained, no dark power could instantly kill Kang Yuseong.

He would be immune to most curses, and damage received from dark power would be halved.

In truth, because dark-element Magic Users were almost nonexistent, Kim Do-jin had only briefly skimmed over Radiance’s abilities. However, in a situation like this, where a colossal dark power was pressing down, it exerted its maximum effect.

A golden light flickered in Kang Yuseong’s eyes.

‘4 minutes.’

He had 8 minutes remaining.

Radiance would dissipate after 8 minutes.

The immense pressure and extreme terror he had felt moments ago had now completely vanished.

And something even more surprising had happened.

Perhaps due to the power of Radiance, the mental link with Blood, which had been completely severed, had faintly reconnected.

Blood was currently in a state where its will was being extinguished.

‘Blood.’

Kang Yuseong injected his consciousness into it.

‘…Yes.’

A very small reply came from Blood’s gradually fading consciousness.

Kang Yuseong gave a cold laugh.

That was enough.

As long as he held onto even a sliver of its consciousness, he could start again from there.

‘Endure. I’m coming.’

Instead of a reply, he felt Blood’s consciousness waver.

It had begun its own struggle.

“Kim Do-jin.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Kang Yuseong looked at him and spoke.

“It looks like this will be a tough fight. If you want to run, go now.”

But a cold smile played on Kang Yuseong’s lips.

Kim Do-jin saw that smile and chuckled.

Then he adjusted his fedora slightly and said,

“That’s a bad joke. If you tell me to run with that expression, do you think I won’t go?”

“Well, even if you run, you’d probably just throw fireballs from a safe distance. That’s you.”

Kim Do-jin shrugged his shoulders.

“Damn, you got me.”

Then he continued in a low voice.

“But Captain, do you know where the safest place is?”

At Kim Do-jin’s question, Kang Yuseong looked directly at him.

At that moment, Kim Do-jin spoke with a chilling smile.

“It’s right where I’m standing. Don’t worry. No one…”

Kwooooooh—

Cold light erupted from Kim Do-jin’s eyes.

“…can get near me.”

He, too, was enveloped in the flames of fire.

Kang Yuseong looked at him and offered a faint smile. He was indeed himself.

“Hey, Captain.”

At that moment, Gil Hyeok-jun tapped Kang Yuseong’s shoulder from beside him.

“Where should I go?”

Kang Yuseong looked directly at him and replied.

“Can you guard that door?”

He pointed to the entrance.

Gil Hyeok-jun gripped the greatsword hilt tightly and nodded.

“I just need to block that?”

“It will be an incredibly difficult fight. Out there… that place is swarming with unimaginable monsters.”

As he spoke, Kang Yuseong’s eyes were already dyed a deep blue.

Thieving Eye had opened.

The world he saw outside was…

A living hell.

Countless revenants rose, tearing and biting at each other, creating a pandemonium, and all living creatures before them vanished without a trace.

Massive numbers of revenants, driven mad by blood and desperate for flesh to devour, were swarming.

Hundreds, thousands… no, perhaps even more.

An immense number of revenants, so many that even Thieving Eye couldn’t count them all, were tangled together, heading this way.

Gil Hyeok-jun smiled broadly.

“Just what I wanted.”

Thump—

He set his greatsword down on the ground, dusted his hands, and then lifted the greatsword again.

Kwooooooh—

During that brief action, tremendous battle aura also burst forth from his entire body.

He, too, had drawn out his most powerful force.

“I’ll block them. You, go.”

Gil Hyeok-jun strode towards the door.

Kim Do-jin also exuded immense momentum and gave Kang Yuseong a slight nod. It meant he was ready.

‘5 minutes 50 seconds.’

Kang Yuseong checked Radiance’s duration and walked towards the door.

At the suddenly transformed appearance of the three, people stared at them with expressions of awe.

“Everyone, do not leave your positions. From now on, no matter what happens, please do not be alarmed. It will end quickly, like a fleeting dream.”

At Kang Yuseong’s words, the frightened people nodded.

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

At that moment, a group of Hunters approached and asked.

They were also fully armed.

Kang Yuseong shook his head.

“Stay here and protect your families. That is your job.”

One of the Hunters asked again with a puzzled expression.

“Then… outside…”

Kang Yuseong grinned.

“I’m going alone.”

At his words, the Hunters murmured amongst themselves.

They, too, could clearly feel it now.

What kind of monsters were coming from outside.

They were not the monsters they had encountered before.

They were…

Beings of a different dimension.

“Then.”

Kang Yuseong took a decisive step outside.

As he passed through the small entrance, the pitch-black sky was the first thing to catch his eye.

And he felt the terrifying resentment and intensely emanating eeriness.

If not for Radiance, Kang Yuseong would have been crushed by the terror and rendered powerless by the mighty force raging all around.

In the pitch-black sky, a grotesque vortex swirled as if vengeful spirits flew madly, and on the ground, trees swayed wildly, adding to the eeriness.

Sring—

Kang Yuseong drew his sword before it all.

Unlike before, his sword was infused with Radiance, beginning to glow brilliantly with a golden light.

At that moment.

Clank— Clatter!

The gauntlet attached to his left hand suddenly moved on its own and transformed into a grotesque shape.

Clank—

And from that gauntlet, a long blade extended.

A golden glow flickered from the blade, which was the length of an adult’s forearm.

Kang Yuseong chuckled as he saw it.

‘As expected…!’

It was indeed Kang Mu-hyeok’s handiwork.

With this, Kang Yuseong was effectively wielding two swords.

Moreover, the blade now attached was also a famous sword crafted from Crydesicle.

Gooooooh—

At that moment, an eerie vortex arose before his eyes.

“Grrrrrr—”

“Keeeee—”

And a pungent stench suddenly wafted over.

The revenants.

Countless dead from this land, unable to rest even in death, had resurrected in grotesque forms and were heading this way.

It wasn’t just humans.

Even dead monsters were resurrecting, emitting a bluish-green glow from their eyes, and approaching.

Kang Yuseong possessed Necromancer abilities, but he couldn’t resurrect so many revenants. That meant the one controlling all these monsters was a being with far greater power than Kang Yuseong.

Moreover, not just an ordinary Necromancer.

Perhaps it was…

A chilling smile spread across Kang Yuseong’s lips.

‘You… I’ll take everything from you!’

The power of darkness was precisely what he desired.

He would crush this power and claim it for himself.

He didn’t know what kind of monster possessed such immense power, but to Kang Yuseong, it only looked like delicious prey.

Evolution.

Another opportunity for evolution had been granted to him.

‘5 minutes 50 seconds!’

Bang—

Kang Yuseong’s body, enveloped in Radiance, soared directly into the air.

A single ray of light shining in the deep darkness plunged down as if sucked into the gloom.

Crash—

An explosion erupted, shaking the darkness.

And Radiance began to burst forth wildly in all directions.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwah!

Burning away the darkness, a dance of radiance that cuts down all impurity!

Flames were rising.