His blood vessels began to expand and contract repeatedly.
Clumps of heat and cold then appeared throughout his body, radiating intense warmth.
Naturally, the number of clumps was far greater than during the previous hwan-gol-tal-tae.
And they generated that much more pain.
So far, it had been bearable.
But Gaon gritted his teeth.
This isn’t the end.
He knew it was not over yet.
And Gaon’s prediction was accurate.
Tremendous pressure erupted from all directions.
The pressure crushed his entire body.
Gaon resisted the pressure.
At first, he had not planned to resist.
He had intended to endure it like the heat and cold.
But the pressure was beyond imagination.
He felt he could not simply stay still.
And in the following moment, Gaon was glad he had chosen to resist.
The pressure grew even stronger.
If he had not resisted?
His muscles and organs would have burst.
Then, at a certain point, the pressure began to weaken.
Gaon instinctively knew the end was approaching.
Soon the pressure disappeared completely.
And Gaon realized that the third hwan-gol-tal-tae had ended.
He immediately checked inside his body.
“…!”
His eyes flashed.
Just as expected, new space had formed inside his body.
Gaon examined the newly created space within.
It’s possible.
After checking, Gaon was certain.
He could enter the 11th Circle.
Of course, the opportunity to enter the 11th Circle had been granted; it did not mean he would enter it immediately.
Creating the 11th Circle was not easy.
It would require more than twice the Pacheonki needed for the 10th Circle.
Gaon set aside thoughts of the 11th Circle and continued observing inside his body.
There was one more thing to check.
He was not referring to the strength of his body.
He already knew how much stronger his body had become.
What Gaon wanted to confirm was the twelfth wall of the Pacheon Mind Method.
Found it.
And Gaon soon discovered the twelfth wall.
Upon seeing the wall, Gaon swallowed hard.
This is……
The twelfth wall was the final wall of the Pacheon Mind Method.
Was it because it was the last one?
It was incomparable to the walls that had collapsed before.
There was an enormous difference.
First, its thickness was on another level.
He could not even guess how long it would take to melt away on its own.
It seemed it would require far more Pacheonki than what was needed to enter the 11th Circle.
Gaon looked at the twelfth wall and thought.
Will there be a fourth hwan-gol-tal-tae?
If the twelfth wall melted away on its own and he underwent hwan-gol-tal-tae once more?
And if new space opened inside his body?
If the opportunity to enter the 12th Circle was granted?
The thoughts chained together endlessly.
Gaon, who had been lost in continuous thought, finally stopped.
That’s for later.
It was something far in the future.
There was no reason to dwell on it now.
Gaon stopped examining his body and reached into his pouch.
He took out one of the demon stones left by Dormanimonu.
It contained less demonic energy than the one he had absorbed earlier, but as a 9-star demon stone, it still held an enormous amount.
Even absorbing all of this will be tough……
Even if he absorbed all the demonic energy in the stone, he would not be able to enter the 11th Circle.
The twelfth wall would not melt either.
And it was not just this stone.
Even if he absorbed every elixir he currently possessed, the result would be the same.
But that was no reason to stop.
He would have to absorb them all eventually anyway.
Gaon began cultivating while absorbing the demonic energy from the stone.
The royal palace of the Muen Kingdom.
The palace at the center of the capital stood on high ground, allowing a view over the surroundings.
King Keremal Muen of the Muen Kingdom stood silently on the top floor of the palace, gazing outside.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out beyond the palace.
The explosions were caused by dragons.
And not just one.
At least five were visible.
There were more beyond his line of sight.
He could not even guess how many dragons had appeared.
How……
Keremal could not believe the current situation.
This place was the heart of the Muen Kingdom.
Yet dragons had appeared here in such numbers?
So that report was true……!
The Muen Kingdom’s direct intelligence unit “Mar Mun” had reported.
The front lines had collapsed.
They were being pushed back without pause.
And the demons had fled.
When he first heard the report, he had not believed it.
Because he knew the demons’ power.
Because he knew the state of the human forces that had been relentlessly pushed back.
But looking at the current situation, the report seemed to be true.
Yeah. Since we can’t even make contact.
He had tried to contact Tarun to confirm.
But there was no response from Tarun.
Not only Tarun—contact with other places had also been lost.
The situation was probably far more serious than reported.
No, it was definitely serious.
The dragons appearing in Muen were proof of that.
It was then.
Click…… Click……
Footsteps could be heard.
Keremal turned his head toward the entrance.
A man was walking in from the entrance.
He wore a loose robe.
Keremal was slightly surprised when he saw the man.
The reason was that the man did not belong to the Muen Kingdom.
But he knew exactly who he was.
He knew him very well.
……Balversa.
It was Balversa, the Great Elder of Gardion Tower.
Keremal had a close relationship with Balversa.
A very deep one.
Of course, that was in the past.
The moment he had turned to the demon world, their deep friendship had become a deep enmity.
Step!
Soon Balversa stopped walking.
Keremal asked Balversa.
“What about the ones outside? Did you kill them?”
“My orders are to kill anyone who has already crossed the point of no return.”
“……”
At Balversa’s answer, Keremal could not say anything.
Outside were the Muen Kingdom’s direct knight order.
The knight commander was a wall-crosser.
Yet Keremal had not heard a single sound.
In other words, the gap between Balversa and the direct knight order had been so vast that the battle had ended without a noise.
That was not all.
Balversa had said he would kill anyone who had crossed the point of no return.
That meant he intended to kill Keremal as well.
Since Keremal remained silent, Balversa continued.
“It’s all over.”
The Muen Kingdom was finished now.
There was no power left in the Muen Kingdom to reverse the current situation.
And it was not only the Muen Kingdom that had ended.
By now, the other kingdoms that had betrayed humanity had likely met the same fate as Muen or were close to it.
Me.
Keremal, who had been silent at Balversa’s words, opened his mouth.
“Do you think I’ll die quietly?”
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Patterns appeared all over Keremal’s skin as he finished speaking.
The patterns glowed, dyeing his skin red.
Naturally, it was not only his skin that changed.
As his skin changed, Keremal’s energy began to surge rapidly.
But Keremal felt uneasy.
Why isn’t he attacking?
It was because of Balversa.
Strangely, Balversa was not taking any action.
He simply watched the situation quietly.
Soon the growth of his energy stopped.
Now at his peak condition, Keremal stared at Balversa just as Balversa had stared at him.
He was curious what Balversa was thinking.
Boom!
An explosion sounded from outside at that moment.
The explosion was much closer.
And that meant the dragons had gotten much closer.
This was no time to stand still in a standoff.
Keremal charged at Balversa.
The distance closed in an instant.
Keremal thrust his fist forward.
The red fist, reinforced by all kinds of patterns, flew toward Balversa’s face.
……?
Keremal felt uneasy.
Balversa still showed no reaction.
Soon Keremal’s fist struck Balversa’s face.
Whoosh!
To be precise, it passed through.
As if he had punched empty air.
Keremal’s expression hardened.
Balversa had flickered and disappeared.
Clone.
Keremal quickly looked around.
Balversa had to be nearby.
It was then.
Whoosh!
A magic circle appeared beneath his feet and began to glow.
At that moment, Keremal realized.
He could not avoid it.
White light surged from the magic circle.
Naturally, it was no ordinary light.
His entire body began to burn.
“Uaaaaaagh!”
Keremal screamed as he took one laborious step after another, struggling to exit the magic circle.
Having barely escaped the hell of light, Keremal’s expression was extremely dark.
It was not because of his burned body and lost strength.
“Balversa……”
Balversa stood right in front of him.
It was not a clone like before.
This was definitely the real body.
And around Balversa floated countless projectiles.
Each colorful projectile brimmed with considerable power.
“You’ve grown quite strong.”
Keremal said with a bitter smile.
Balversa answered.
“I was always strong.”
The moment Balversa’s reply ended, the projectiles began to move.
Naturally, every projectile’s target was Keremal.
Boom! Crackle!
The projectiles struck, and explosions rang out.
Not long after the explosions stopped, Balversa looked at Keremal.
Keremal’s physical condition was poor.
Balversa showed “regret” that had not been visible earlier and thought.
All that just to gain this much power……!
It was truly pitiful.
To betray humanity for power that was not even omnipotent, only this level.
Swish.
Balversa turned his head.
He headed toward the terrace where Keremal had been observing the outside situation earlier.
Upon reaching the terrace, Balversa cast magic toward the sky as promised.
Whoosh!
A huge fireball soared into the sky and spread in all directions.
Watching the flames spreading everywhere, Balversa thought.
I wonder how the other places are doing.
The central conference hall of Gardion Tower.
Numerous people were busily moving about in the hall.
“The demonic rifts in the Ramagas region have all been closed.”
“Check with Seionia. See if any new ones have appeared.”
“Yes.”
“Purification of the Asmal region has begun.”
“Send resources immediately if requested.”
“There was a clash with Seionia in Rakurs. What should we do?”
“Tell them to hold their position. Pulling back now could cause trouble later.”
Listening to the various voices ringing out without pause, Graxios walked toward the central map.
The central map was a map of the continent.
And the continent map had changed greatly from the beginning.
Only three places left now.
At first, nearly half had been demon territory.
But not anymore.
Just three places.
Once the three remaining demonic rifts were dealt with, it would be over.
Of course, “over” did not mean not a single rift would remain.
Gaon had left one demonic rift in the demons’ sanctuary “Tarun.”
It’s about time to report.
Gaon had said to report once the demonic rifts were nearly all closed.
Graxios took out the communication crystal to contact Gaon.
Whoosh!
The crystal glowed.
Soon Gaon appeared in the crystal, and Graxios spoke.
“I greet you, Lord Gaon.”