Chapter 140 – Park Seongcheol

“Ah.”

Park Seongcheol, the only founding member who failed to connect with an Apostle from a parallel world, felt he had fallen behind internally, yet he wasn’t anxious.

He judged that with the talent of Dice, with whom he had contracted, he would quickly catch up to his other comrades.

And now, his belief was proven right.

Gooooooo!

“Polarity Reversal. My Way is Threaded by One (If I do not die, then the enemy will certainly not dare to come and attack)!”

Chungmugong’s final Polarity Reversal, having reached Half-Step Ten-Star, instantly completed its form thanks to Dice’s <Foresight Before Pain>.

A Polarity Reversal meaning ‘as long as I do not die, the enemy will not dare to invade.’

If the pre-reversed 《Vanguard-Class God-Spirit-Word-Guard-Command》 created a Primal Spirit God to continue fighting even after death.

Then 《My Way is Threaded by One》 was a Law-type ability that imposed the Taboo of being unable to initiate attacks on the enemy in any battlefield where he was present.

Halt!

The movements of the meteorological weapons, sensing danger from the change in Lee Hanseong’s group and accelerating their attacks, all stopped simultaneously.

Of course, it was impossible to block an offensive composed of Authorities for long with a Polarity Reversal at the Myth level.

But even a brief gap was enough for Park Seongcheol to draw forth all the changes he desired.

Crackle.

“Authority. [Ten-Thousand Thunder Sword].”

Dice’s Seven Star was different from existing Seven Stars.

Having already completed the form of an Authority, there was no need for the process of mastering Awakening Skills or obtaining Polarity Reversals.

The Mythic Skill <Foresight Before Pain>, integrating the 1st and 2nd Awakening Skills.

The Mythic Skill <Relative Time Acceleration>, integrating the 3rd and 4th Awakening Skills.

These two skills were used to fill the slots expanded at Seven Star and Eight Star.

And now, having reached 2nd Stage Transcendence at 9-Star and obtained two Myth Skill slots, he had even acquired <Reversal> and <Synthesis of Opposites>, fully unlocking his Authority.

This followed the ancient cultivation system.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!!!!!

With a single swing of the Ten-Thousand Thunder Sword, a torrent of ten-thousand thunder-swords erupted forth.

It was the complete, undiminished torrent of ten-thousand thunder-swords.

Rumble!

The river of lightning surged like a dragon, swelling its size by preying on the already dense net of lightning-type meteorological weapons filling the sky and ground.

Thanks to this, Jin Yuseong regained his freedom.

The celestial body, cracked by the lightning strike, had recovered thanks to Spirit Overlay and Treasure Body.

Moreover, the torrent of ten-thousand thunder-swords continued to writhe, devouring lightning-type meteorological weapons as soon as they appeared, sealing the [Lightning] Authority itself.

The Ten-Thousand Thunder Sword was also essentially bound to block the opponent’s lightning, but it didn’t matter.

In ancient cultivation, 9-Star was equivalent to the modern 11-Star realm.

“And Authority. [Victory].”

Just as Park Jincheol completed Chi You’s Authority through Hwanin, Park Seongcheol also unified Chungmugong’s skills through Dice, Blooming a new Authority.

Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!

Along with the sound of war drums echoing across the battlefield.

Chungmugong’s Victory Authority began to disrupt Chi You’s War Authority.

* * *

Just as the War Authority had set the stage to attack Lee Hanseong’s group.

The Victory Authority was also weaving a stage for victory.

It began by sharing Dice’s <Foresight Before Pain> with everyone through Colonization and Primordial Chaos Gang Qi.

As Dice’s Foresight Before Pain inspired Jin Yuseong and Yu Sehee, who were already Contractors of an Eleven-Star Divine Spirit.

They began to enjoy the Prerogative of a Transcendent Awakener, which they could already do but hadn’t realized.

The first to undergo change was Jin Yuseong.

Boom—!

My Way is Threaded by One.

The skills of Jeon Woochi, an ancient cultivator like Dice, melted under My Way is Threaded by One, sublimating into a new Authority.

Authority [Dao Liberation].

Fssssss—

The Authority to dismantle the heavenly laws that form the world was overlaid onto the Star-Shattering Fist.

“The heavens are the law, destiny.”

GRRRRRRUMBLE!

From Jin Yuseong’s fist, a ring of ripples clear enough to be seen with the naked eye spread out.

The concentration of Overwhelming Power focused into the celestial body’s fist.

Sky-Shattering Star-Destroying Fist.”

Whoosh.

The fist that shatters the heavens and destroys stars stretched towards the sky.

Immediately after,

CRACKLE-SHATTER-SHATTER-SHATTER-SHATTER-SHATTER!!!!!

The sky shattered.

To be precise, Hwanin’s [Heaven] Authority spread across the sky completely collapsed.

The power that created meteorological phenomena, the material of the meteorological weapons, vanished.

Of course, the Cloud Authority still remained, so it didn’t disappear completely.

But at least the power that had been interfering with Lycan’s Twilight Orb no longer existed.

QUAD-D-D-D-D-DRIP!

The liberated Wolf’s Maw tore apart the cloud imprisoning Yu Sehee.

A hole was torn in one corner of the cloud prison, and Yu Sehee’s light seeped out from within.

She too, inspired by Dice’s Foresight Before Pain, was in the midst of undergoing change.

“Thank you, Lycan. Thanks to you, I could come out a bit faster.”

Flutter!

She slipped out through the torn hole, thanked Lycan, then immediately glared in the direction of Park Jincheol.

While unfolding the Miracles reversed from Beatus’s six Awakening Skills.

She had Bloomed even the remaining three Polarity Reversals, excluding the 《Apocalypse: Apocalypse》, 《Support: Assist》, and 《Liberation: Release》 that had Bloomed during the Dragon Extermination Campaign.

<Judgment: Judgment> became 《Salvation: Redemption》, just like Hanna’s.

<Revelation: Oracle> became 《Oblivion: Lethe》.

<Block: Blocking> became 《Pierce: Piercing》!

Originally, 9-Star was limited to up to 5th Stage Polarity Reversal, but thanks to reaching Half-Step Ten-Star through the legendary Resonance born from the history of subjugating the Fungus Demon King and Dragon Slayer Emperor alongside Dice and Asta, she had Unlocked the final Polarity Reversal as well.

After that, it was easy even without Foresight Before Pain’s help.

All Awakening Skills obtained through the Blessing of the Constellation of Radiance took the form of light.

Ziiiiing!

Beatus’s six Awakening Skills and Polarity Reversals naturally blended with Seras’s Annihilation Lamp, granting additional effects and amplifying power as if they were part of an Authority.

The most effective were Apocalypse: Apocalypse, Liberation: Release, and Pierce: Piercing.

Since one meaning of Apocalypse is to open a covering or remove a veil, the cloud obscuring Yu Sehee naturally had force applied in the direction of opening upon contact with the light of Apocalypse.

The light of Liberation added force in the same direction.

With the light of Piercing added on top, even the cloud veil at the Authority level could no longer block the light of the Annihilation Lamp.

“You think I’ll let you escape!”

Just before Yu Sehee completely escaped the cloud prison, Park Jincheol concentrated his Rage Authority into his Cloud Authority to block her escape, but.

“You’re already too late to stop me.”

Authority [Annihilation Kaleidoscope].

Whoosh!

The light of Salvation saved the cloud from the rage trying to dominate it, and the light of Oblivion made the cloud forget Park Jincheol’s Order imprinted upon it.

Moreover, the light of Support pressured the light containing other effects, momentarily amplifying the power of the applied light, thus providing appropriate assistance to all effects.

‘How seasoned. As expected, I don’t need to worry about Sehee.’

Although the power of each individual effect wasn’t at the Authority level, Lee Hanseong inwardly admired Yu Sehee’s appearance as she responded to the Authority by lowering other effects and amplifying the desired effect exactly as much as needed at the crucial moment.

Perhaps because Seras was originally the potential that the parallel world’s Yu Sehee could reach.

She was flexibly utilizing the [Annihilation Lamp] in new forms as if handling her own Authority.

She had already digested Seras’s experience of fusing the Authorities of other Divine Spirits belonging to the Constellation of Radiance into the Annihilation Lamp as an Apostle of the Constellation of Radiance.

‘With the Cloud Authority neutralized as well… all that’s left is Rage.’

[Lightning] and [War] were handled by Dice’s [Ten-Thousand Thunder Sword] and Chungmugong’s [Victory].

[Heaven] was neutralized by Jeon Woochi’s [Dao Liberation] combined with Asta’s enhanced [Sky-Shattering Star-Destroying Fist].

[Cloud] was neutralized by Yu Sehee’s [Annihilation Kaleidoscope].

‘This one, I should handle.’

Since his comrades had each taken care of at least one Authority.

Dealing with the last remaining Rage Authority was Lee Hanseong’s role.

Hum.

[<Primordial Chaos Gang Qi> links <Foresight Before Pain> and <Skill Tree View>.]

Using Foresight Before Pain borrowed from Dice to link with Skill Tree View, he recalled the most suitable combination formula for the current situation.

[<All Things Control (Innate)>+<All Phenomena (Innate)>=<Universal Comprehension (Universal Comprehension)(Legendary)>]

He evolved All Things Control, used to Synchronize with the Formless Sword Demon Armor, by intertwining it with Hyu’s All Phenomena into a Legendary Skill.

Thus making the connection with the Formless Sword Demon Armor even tighter.

How much had changed from when it was just All Things Control, which was practically like an exoskeleton that was part of his body?

Many things had changed.

Beyond merely communicating with the Formless Sword Demon Armor, which was simply a medium for Divine Possession by Sword Demon, Synchronization with Sword Demon beyond the parallel world was occurring.

It felt like what might happen if he contracted with Sword Demon and performed Heroic Spirit Synchronization with him.

But upon deeply understanding Sword Demon like this, he realized one shocking fact.

Sword Demon’s True Name was already the name he knew.

‘Sword Demon is… Gobhan?’

Gobhan, Henrietta’s first child, had in some parallel world grown to become an Apostle of the Darkness Constellation.

To be precise, the World Line where Lee Hanseong chose Mirinae and focused solely on Henrietta’s Historical Alteration was precisely Sword Demon’s world.

When Henrietta completed her 12-Star Promotion, the two beings closest to her also rose to 12-Star.

They were Gobhan and Alpha.

‘Fenrir, the Apostle of the Lunar Constellation connected to Lycan, was also a being from the same world as Gobhan!’

The Alpha Dire Wolf that Henrietta first tamed also grew alongside Gobhan, undergoing Ancestral Regression to become Fenrir and reaching 12-Star.

Realizing this fact made Sword Demon feel even more familiar.

Along with that, a new skill combination formula also came to mind.

[Divine Descent Dance (Innate)] + [Embrace (Innate)] = [Saint (Saint) (Legendary)]

Thanks to this, a Legendary Skill was formed that granted an effect as if contracted without forming a new Spirit Contract.

It felt like a separate Vessel independent of his inner Vessel had been created.

And it was in a state where Sword Demon Gobhan’s star resided within it.

‘Huh…!’

It was a skill that would make even those whose Vessels had reached their limit go mad with greed.

Lee Hanseong did not rejoice over the new skill, instead examining the memories of Gobhan flowing into his mind.

The Intuition from various information-type skills told him that within it lay a method to neutralize the Rage Authority.

Sure enough.

There were memories regarding the Authority of the Seven Deadly Sins, which could be considered representative Authorities of the Darkness Constellation.

When Gobhan unfolded the Formless Darkness Sword using the [Darkness] Authority, what he primarily contained were the Authorities of the Seven Deadly Sins.

And one of them was the [Rage: Ira] Authority, which could be considered the original source of the Rage that Park Jincheol had awakened.

“Ah, I understand.”

The moment he understood the mechanism by which the Rage Authority operated.

The Veins of the [Rage] Authority unfolded by Park Jincheol began to appear in Lee Hanseong’s Insightful Eye.

‘Cut.’

Slice!

The next moment, the movements of the meteorological weapons became simple as before.

Because the Rage Authority that had granted them minds had all been severed, reducing them back to inanimate weapons once more.

And immediately after cutting the Rage Authority like that.

Sssss—

A change occurred in the Legendary Skill Circuit imprinted on Lee Hanseong’s soul.

[<Mind-Severing Heavenly Penetration (Legendary)>+<Universal Comprehension (Legendary)>=<All Things Are Impermanent (All things are impermanent)(Myth)>]

Just as previously the Absolute Sword Art and Flowing Sword Art achieved Synthesis of Opposites to become Mind-Severing Heavenly Penetration.

The enlightenment from directly unfolding the Formless Sword achieved Synthesis of Opposites between the ‘severing’ Mind-Severing Heavenly Penetration and the ‘connecting’ Universal Comprehension, integrating into the Myth Skill <All Things Are Impermanent>, which could be considered a degraded version of the Formless Sword.

[Achievement, ‘Myth Skill Creation’ achieved.]

It was the first Myth Skill created by Lee Hanseong.

* * *

Meanwhile, the moment Lee Hanseong severed even the Rage Authority, Park Jincheol, with all his Authorities sealed, sensed his defeat.

Because with the Rage Authority completely neutralized, his Starlight temporarily became unresponsive.

Of course, it was a state where he could fully recover if given just a little time, but.

Thump!

Park Seongcheol, following the Victory Authority that overwhelmed the War Authority, didn’t miss his opening and was charging forward mounted on Fenrir.

Although some meteorological weapons remained between Park Jincheol and Park Seongcheol, meteorological weapons without Authorities could not stop Fenrir’s charge.

Thud!

Fenrir, devouring all remaining meteorological weapons and closing the distance.

The sword of Park Seongcheol on his back pierced Park Jincheol’s chest in his defenseless state.

Precisely, the part where the brand was engraved.

Splat!

Then the Victory Authority contained in the sword destroyed the brand, confirming Park Seongcheol’s victory.

“Sorry… about this.”

With the destruction of the Penglai brand, Park Jincheol, having regained his senses, sensed death and apologized.

Having just reunited as father and son after being lost, to part again in this way, he couldn’t possibly look his son in the eye properly.

But since it was the last time, he couldn’t not see his son’s face either, so he straightened his gaze.

“……?”

He saw his son’s smiling face.

Schwak!

Leaving behind a momentarily confused Park Jincheol experiencing cognitive dissonance, Park Seongcheol withdrew his sword.

But there was no trace left of the wound that had pierced his body.

Not even any recoil from the destroyed brand.

“Huh…?”

“As expected. I guess I didn’t need to ask Hanseong for resurrection after all.”

Park Seongcheol nodded as if having expected Park Jincheol’s intact appearance and muttered.

Victory always brings spoils.

The Victory Authority had saved Park Jincheol, who should have vanished along with the destruction of the brand.