I wandered across the Gritia Continent, experiencing all kinds of crises.
Wars where the lives of countless people were lost and saved.
Battles between factions seeking their own gain.
Lovesick conflicts over a single woman.
For countless reasons, I came close to losing my life more times than I could count.
But if I had to name the most dangerous moments, it would be poison and disease.
Human malice is impossible to predict.
What if someone tried to poison my food to take my life?
What if I was suddenly exposed to a contagious disease that started spreading out of nowhere?
There were several times I faced such crises.
The Gritia Continent, unlike the modern world, had sewers and standards of cleanliness no better than those of medieval Europe.
That’s why plagues spread frequently, and I almost lost my life to diseases like measles and chickenpox, which would be easily cured with medicine today.
And the most dangerous moment of all.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t caused by the Demon King, a Hero, or even a so-called one-man army Knight.
I remember nearly dying after eating food laced with pesticide by an old woman—her mind slightly unhinged by age—who believed the villagers were ostracizing her.
What mattered there wasn’t the unpredictable malice of humans.
No matter how much you train, the human body is fragile, and just a few drops of poison can kill.
The moment I realized that, I sought out herbalists.
I visited those who supplied herbs to alchemists or magicians, and I researched all sorts of herbs and poisonous plants found on the continent.
Usually, research means studying theories.
But my research involved eating poisonous plants directly—a kind of live experiment.
They say humans are animals of adaptation.
That’s possible because our bodies can astonishingly adjust to the environment.
By gradually eating poisonous plants, I built up resistance.
Over time, I developed immunity to every poisonous plant and disease in existence, and finally, after more than 500 years, I achieved a perfect body known as Mandokbuchim.
The Plague Rider—its authority over plagues is deadly to living beings.
But after five centuries of building immunity to poisons and diseases, it had no effect on me.
On the contrary.
“Urgh!”
With immunity to all diseases and poisons, my energy rendered the Plague Rider completely immobilized.
“H-how can a human possess a perfect body, something only the Demon King could achieve…Kuh…”
He could never understand.
Mandokbuchim is an absolute trait only the most transcendent beings—like the Demon King—are born with.
But I achieved it.
Given infinite time, even a human’s Poison Energy could reach the level of authority wielded by the transcendent.
“I’ll have to change my question.”
At first, I asked whether Salmora was the mastermind.
But from the changes in his emotions, I was sure.
The one behind it all was Commander of the Plague Legion, Salmora.
Without a doubt.
In fact, it was nearly certain from the moment the Plague Rider appeared—someone I already knew about.
All I needed was confirmation.
“How did you cross dimensions?”
If it were just an ordinary demon invasion, I wouldn’t question it.
But the Plague Rider and Commander of the Plague Legion, Salmora, were beings that once existed on the Gritia Continent.
Long ago, when the Demon King disappeared, they vanished from history as well.
Yet now, they’ve returned to the modern world, stepping out from forgotten history.
Just like I had traveled to the Gritia Continent via dimensional shift in the past.
But unlike my unexplained journey, theirs had a purpose—and the pressure they’re putting on me now must be related.
I wanted to know why.
“Kuhuhuh…”
But he only laughed at my question.
“Crack!”
Of course, the price he paid was the harsh fate of having his lower body frozen.
“Did you think I would be as foolish as that vampire?”
The vampire who had transformed into Deputy Zhang Zhao.
He had tried to tell me the truth.
But that was only possible because he was an inferior being.
The Plague Rider before me, a high-ranking demon loyal to Salmora, would never betray his kind.
Especially as a member of Salmora’s personal guard.
Even knowing this, I asked—not for answers, but for confirmation.
‘He doesn’t know.’
That was all I needed to verify.
Right now, I was using the authority of the Undead Legion Commander, Valdevron Brocia.
This absolute frost could only be wielded by the Undead Legion Commander.
Yet, despite such blatant Magical Power, the Plague Rider showed no particular reaction.
Any other demon, especially one as seasoned in war as the Plague Rider, should have recognized my authority.
I had sensed it before, but now I was certain.
‘It’s intentional. Someone, an unknown someone, has erased my existence from their memories.’
I’m not sure if it’s only memories of the Undead Legion Commander that have been removed.
My current actions are meant to verify that.
And—
‘The Elixir emblem.’
On the right chest of the Plague Rider’s suit, I spotted an emblem with three potion bottles intertwined.
It was the emblem of the Elixir Research Institute.
“Frankie Duncan and the five founding members of Elixir.”
At my words—
I felt the body in my grip tremble.
“Archer Freeman is already dead by my hand. If I remove you here, that leaves three. Salmora’s personal guard, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—war, famine, and death remain.”
If the founding members are Salmora’s personal guard, then the one at the top—the now-named Frankie Duncan—is—
‘Salmora.’
No doubt about it: he is the Commander of the Plague Legion, Salmora.
Through the Elixir Research Institute, he sought to place the United States, and ultimately the whole world, in his grasp.
And he was now close to success.
“It looks like… I can’t let you leave here alive.”
It wasn’t about having the power to subdue the Plague Rider.
Information.
He was wary of me because I held secrets that must never be revealed to the world.
“You realized it too late. What can you do now?”
But he was already subdued by my hand.
“Crack, crack, crack!”
His weak body was frozen by the cold, now reduced to just a head.
Unlike the vampire earlier, he would never reveal information about Salmora or the demons.
So, I had no hesitation in killing him.
“Die! For the Grand Plan of the Commander, for the world of the great demons!”
At that moment—
“Whoomph!”
His body swelled up like a huge balloon.
“Hisssss—”
Green gas leaked from his bloated body.
It was the Plague Essence he had accumulated.
You could call it the very source of life energy, now being released.
Through that sequence of actions, I could read his thoughts.
Unless one was Demon King Ingram, no one could achieve perfect Mandokbuchim.
He intended to unleash the most powerful plague, exceeding my immunity, and wipe me out at once.
That was his intent.
However—
“Thank you.”
He would never know.
That this was exactly what I wanted.
That I revealed my knowledge on purpose.
That I froze him slowly instead of killing him instantly.
It was all to force him to draw his final weapon.
“Ssssss!” I inhaled the leaking plague energy.
“W-what?!” The Plague Rider shrieked in shock.
That energy, which had absorbed not only the plagues of Gritia Continent but even those of the modern world, was too much for even him to handle.
He must have expected me to panic, be startled, and flee in the presence of that energy.
But instead, the situation was the opposite.
I continued to inhale the leaking Plague Essence.
Some might call it a foolish, suicidal act.
But no.
There are seven energies that helped me reach the Peak of Knight.
The Knight’s Aura.
The demons’ Magical Power.
And third, Poison Energy.
Aura is gathered in my danjeon, Magical Power wraps around my heart.
And now, the Plague Essence released by the Plague Rider was converted into Poison Energy, forming a core near my solar plexus.
Through my studies of poisonous plants and diseases, I didn’t just develop immunity.
I also trained in a poison technique that harnessed that Poison Energy as power.
However, after returning to the modern era, I lost all that strength, but the Plague Rider had just provided a perfect chance to regain it.
Of course, this was my intention all along.
Unaware that he was dancing in the palm of my hand, like Sun Wukong on Buddha’s hand, he made a final decision to self-destruct.
“T-this can’t be!” He realized it too late.
But it was already over.
Like a host devoured by a parasite, he kept spewing out Plague Essence, and I inhaled it all, gathering it into a single core—just like Aura or Magical Power.
“N-no. This can’t be…”
The Plague Rider, who had never doubted my death for an instant—
His body, now devoid of any source, turned pale as snow.
A body that’s lost its essence is just a shell.
“Crack.”
His remains scattered into a handful of dust.
“Hoo.”
With his death, the inhalation ceased.
The green energy lingering in my exhaled breath—this was the Plague Essence, something not even the Plague Rider could fully control.
But now, it was no longer Plague Essence, but Poison Energy under my complete control.
‘With this, I’ve gathered three energies.’
Aura, Magical Power, and Poison Energy.
I now held the three fragments that had allowed me to stand at the Peak of Knight on the continent.
But it was still incomplete.
Compared to the past, my current strength was so feeble, it would be an understatement to call it a drop in the ocean.
More.
I needed much, much more power.
If this were just an ordinary Earth, this much strength would be enough.
‘Salmora. I have no idea what he’s plotting.’
The demons had already reached out across the world, and I had confirmed that the one behind it all was my former comrade, Commander of the Plague Legion, Salmora.
If I were still at my peak, I could have countered whatever plan he had.
But right now, I’m lacking.
Of the seven energies, I’ve only regained three, and even those are pitiful compared to what I once had.
I don’t know exactly what Salmora is plotting or what his plans are, so I can’t let my guard down.
Moreover—
‘They’re putting pressure on me, forcing me to climb the Tower.’
But why?
What benefit do they gain by making me climb the Tower?
There’s nothing I know for sure.
However—
‘I don’t need to dance to their tune.’
If I get too caught up in whatever they’re planning, I won’t be able to accomplish anything.
What I need now, what I ultimately pursue, is overwhelming power.
No matter what they’re scheming, I need enough strength to crush it all into nothingness.
Even if my climbing the Tower is part of their plan, I’ll just smash everything apart with overwhelming power.
Yes, just like now.
I released the Plague Essence—now turned into Poison Energy—into the center of Zhongnanhai.
Invisible Poison Energy spread throughout the hall.
That energy would invade any living being that entered this place, even a demon, and reduce them to nothing but a pool of blood.
I gazed for a moment at the place that had become the domain of poison.
“Flash!”
With a leap, I left that place in an instant.
***
Suddenly, news erupted and shook the entire world.
The United States, China, Russia, and Japan—the four great powers—had formed the United Nations Federation.
[The reason for the United Nations Federation’s founding? To punish the axis of evil, the Republic of Korea!]
[President Joel Morris, leader of the United Nations Federation, declares the Republic of Korea the enemy of the world.]
[The Republic of Korea has gone far beyond the line. Massacring innocent civilians in Hiroshima, Tokyo, New York, Beijing, and more—truly the world’s greatest evil.]
[Countries joining the United Nations Federation: United Kingdom, France, India, Brazil…]
The United Nations Federation.
The world’s greatest coalition, branding the Republic of Korea as the world’s evil, a public enemy, and the axis of evil—had now begun its full-fledged activities.