Chapter 190

Magical power of a different dimension, and the authority of existence—it was a fragment of a colossal power capable of twisting the very laws of the world.

‘Was it… this kind of feeling?’

He had been prepared for the collapse of his physical body, but strangely, there was no pain. Rather, the overflowing power immediately reconstructed his destroyed flesh, transforming Taewoon into something beyond.

When Taewoon opened his eyes again, his pupils were burning with a crimson light like the abyss.

The Crimson Mist enveloping his body was no longer a mere sporadic phenomenon. It began to throb, eroding reality like a living creature.

“Whew…”

Having completed his third Apostle Transformation, Taewoon gazed silently up at the sky. Then, he hurled Keshatus into the air.

The spear soared high into the heavens, its entire form beginning to shine brilliantly like a star cleaving through the firmament.

With a sound like the sky tearing apart, a massive red thundercloud formed, covering the entire graveyard. This was not merely an attack containing immense power, but a Calamity—the manifestation of The Red Man’s authority itself.

Crimson thunder, as if leading the world toward its end, writhed within the thundercloud. As Taewoon lowered his hand, a bolt of crimson divine punishment slammed down toward The Nameless Head.

The sky tore, and the earth wailed.

The crimson thundercloud summoned by Taewoon was a Calamity that manifested the authority of a great being. It was a will of destruction that mocked the laws of the world and shook the very foundations of existence.

Its power and efficacy were on an entirely different level from the Lightning of Destruction he had shown previously.

With every single bolt that fell, a vivid wound was carved into the form of The Nameless Head. The entity, which had remained silent as if transcending even pain, finally began to erupt with a recognizable form of rage.

The screams of souls, a mixture of tens of thousands of voices, shook the entire cemetery, but Taewoon did not stop. Instead, he increased his aura, pushing The Red Man’s authority to its limit.

“…Now we’re finally eye-to-eye.”

As Taewoon waved his hand in the air, particles of lightning originating from the red thundercloud descended to the ground, forming a thick mist.

The countless currents flowing within it would disrupt the energy of every being it touched, scrambling and collapsing their perception and senses.

The Nameless Head immediately tried to expand its own domain to clear the mist, but the mist stubbornly maintained its form, repeatedly eating away at the creature’s presence.

“Why? Is it not working like before?”

Taewoon raised his right hand and gripped Keshatus.

As if responding to him, the thundercloud in the sky sent down a massive bolt of lightning, which condensed at the tip of Keshatus, manifesting as a giant spear of lightning exceeding 10 meters in length.

‘The way to handle this power… is beginning to be engraved deep into my body.’

A lethal Technique that combined all the Finishing Moves and Intent of the Soul-Chasing Eight Ghost Spear he had honed so far, along with the power of Keshatus and the principles of Blazing Sword Judgment.

‘Eight Ghost Spear: Sixth Form, Reverse Soul Flash!’

The massive spear of lightning rotated, tearing through space as it flew toward The Nameless Head.

The Nameless Head hurriedly thrust tombstones forward like shields, but before the destructive aura that could slice through even souls, the tombstones were merely torn like sheets of paper and shattered into pieces.

Finally, a vivid scream erupted. The spear of lightning obliterated a portion of the creature’s form, drilling a massive hole and creating a void.

Normally, such a wound would have been repaired in an instant, but the wound imbued with The Red Man’s authority did not heal easily, continuing to burn through its existence.

‘Good, I’ll keep going!’

Mitra’s Wings began to glow in an even stranger shape, moving beyond the form of Divine Authority Release. Taewoon began to integrate the swiftness of Mitra’s Wings with the reality-warping movement method unique to The Red Man.

As a result, Taewoon’s movements moved beyond the realm of general perception.

He would seem to appear in the east, only to continue his attack from the west in an instant; he would seem to be in the sky, only to surge up from beneath the ground to dig into the root of The Nameless Head.

Faced with irregular spatial leaps that seemed to ignore the laws of nature, The Nameless Head had no choice but to helplessly allow the continuous barrage of attacks.

Finally enraged by the repeated effective hits, The Nameless Head began to obsessively target Taewoon’s existence, even at the cost of sustaining injuries itself.

In the center of the cemetery, the largest and oldest tombstone surged up from the ground. Its surface was covered in eerie and grotesque inscriptions that writhed as if they were alive.

The moment the tombstone glowed gloomily under the red light of the thundercloud, familiar energies that made Taewoon’s spine chill began to emanate from it.

‘What is this? A quite strange ability…’

The first was a being of madness wearing a Mask, appearing alongside a suffocating red mist. It was the wraith of the Master of the Theater, ‘The Red Man,’ the first opponent Taewoon had conquered.

The second was the phantom of Iosis, a complete master of spearmanship and one of the Empire’s strongest Seven Knights, who had once pushed Taewoon to the brink of death.

Following them, the third was The Lake Hydra, which boasted a size that covered the entire lake, powerful toxicity, and infinitely regenerating heads.

‘This is…’

It was summoning the existence of enemies from Taewoon’s past memories—specifically, those who had made him feel the concept of death.

Finally, staring at the extraterrestrial space fleet that began to fill the sky above the graveyard, Taewoon let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.

‘Is it possible for a creature like that to do something this absurd…’

They were fragments of the deepest deaths Taewoon had experienced. The Nameless Head was pulling out shards engraved deep within Taewoon’s memories, constructing a curse to form a powerful causality of death.

“Be careful, Hunter! The aura of death is closing in from all sides!”

Aphrasia’s urgent cry reached him, but Taewoon remained calm. His crimson pupils gazed at the Calamities before him without a single flicker of hesitation.

‘…I don’t even need to think about it; I know exactly what to do.’

This Apostle Transformation had not only brought Taewoon immense power but had also changed the very concept of how he perceived the world.

The moment Taewoon’s gaze fixed on a single point in the air, the space within a 5-meter radius of his focus reached a state of standstill, as if time itself had stopped.

The wraiths of the past, who had been charging fiercely, froze in grotesque postures in their respective positions, and the causality of death directed at Taewoon ultimately failed to reach its goal and scattered.

‘Did I… really do this…’

A new Authority brought by the evolved Apostle Transformation: Gaze Fixation.

It was an ability that utterly transcended human common sense, temporarily freezing everything within a specific range simply by staring with a massive will.

As Taewoon shifted his gaze, cracks formed in the frozen space, and the wraith of The Red Man trapped inside began to shatter and vanish.

Perhaps not expecting its lethal move to be countered so futilely, bewilderment appeared for the first time in the high will of The Nameless Head.

Taewoon did not miss the opening. He continued to shift his gaze, crushing the phantom of Iosis, bursting the heads of the Hydra, and turning the warships in the sky into dust.

Watching the fragments of fear that had once oppressed him crumble powerlessly, he realized how colossal a being he had become.

‘…It’s possible.’

The current Taewoon was achieving a massive growth in status every second, and the moment he gained this momentum was the perfect chance Aphrasia had been waiting for.

“You’re finally showing an opening, you damn thing!”

Snap.

Snap.

Aphrasia raised her right hand and ripped out all five fingernails, which had grown slightly longer than those of an ordinary person.

Blood dripped in droplets, but she didn’t make a single sound of pain. Instead, she threw the extracted nails into the air and began to chant a curse while waving a branch.

A dark red energy coiled around the nails, burrowing into the ground like a sentient creature and beginning to contaminate The Nameless Head’s domain.

It was a truly vicious and powerful curse cast by a Cardinal of the Apocalypse Society at the cost of her own life force.

The Nameless Head emitted its will in a fit of rage, and its form began to shake slightly unstable.

‘Now!’

The red thundercloud roared once more, dropping dozens of lightning bolts simultaneously. With Taewoon’s pincer attack, The Nameless Head was finally driven into a disadvantage and began to shift its power to a defensive stance.

The battle continued without a lull.

While groaning under Taewoon’s fierce assault, The Nameless Head gathered all the lingering thoughts and grudges remaining in the cemetery to attack Taewoon’s party.

Rotten hands surged from the ground to grab their ankles, and the screams of vengeful spirits clouded their minds from the air.

Taewoon crushed all those attacks with The Red Man’s authority and overwhelming martial power. However, in the process, wounds accumulated on Taewoon’s body.

Crimson Mist leaked through torn skin, and the eerie sound of breaking bones echoed.

But every time that happened, the transcendent power sent by the being beyond the Mask immediately reconstructed Taewoon’s body. It was a phenomenon close to evolution, recreating the destroyed parts to be stronger and more solid.

Similarly, The Nameless Head repeatedly filled its damaged parts by constantly absorbing the energy of the graveyard.

At a glance, it was a tight, evenly matched fight.

However, Taewoon felt it instinctively during the process. The longer this fight lasted, the more disadvantaged he became.

‘Its existence… is gradually becoming complete.’

The form, which had initially been like an indistinct haze, was now gradually taking on a clear outline. No matter how he looked at it, it felt as if the creature was trying to undergo Sublimation into another being.

If this continued, a truly uncontrollable Calamity would be born. Taewoon had to settle the match before that happened.

‘I expected it… but is it now?’

Taewoon thought of the Special Privilege he had acquired upon entering the Theater, ‘A Handful of Blessing.’

It was the final Trump Card he had saved until now, but it was clear that such a perfect opportunity would not come again.

Taking a brief moment to steady his breathing, Taewoon began to wish for its activation in his heart without hesitation.

【Activating the Special Privilege: A Handful of Blessing!】