Chapter 129: The New Savior (1)

-Whoosh!

The moment I emerged from the mental world, I saw Leon enveloped in a brilliant, five-colored light.

The light, which had completely swallowed the room, did not weaken; instead, it grew even brighter.

The radiance, asserting its presence as if to devour the entire world…

-Flash!

It vanished after erupting in a sudden explosion.

“Ha—”

Leon let out the breath he had been holding.

“…How is it?” I asked, watching him regain consciousness.

“…..”

He looked at me.

In that instant, something flashed within his pupils like a bolt of lightning.

‘Complete creation. And that Rank was absorbed entirely into his body.’

As Asgard vanished, the divinity was extinguished.

Consequently, that Rank was converted entirely into the strength of his physical form.

Leon had now fully absorbed the Rank of creation into his flesh.

In other words…

‘It means he has attained the most powerful and perfect body.’

It wasn’t just his body.

The energy known as aura on the Gritia Continent was now overflowing within him.

It was a staggering amount that far surpassed me during my prime.

However, I couldn’t be satisfied with just that.

-Swish.

I tossed him a wooden sword.

“Let’s test it.”

I wanted to see how strong he had become or what kind of talent had manifested.

Catching the flying wooden sword, he nodded obediently.

“…Yes.”

It was a simple answer, yet I could feel a profound depth in those words.

He had become a completely different being from just a moment ago.

He took a stance and in that moment…

“Rumble!”

I could feel it.

Even without consciously assuming a posture, he was in the ‘most natural stance.’

It was the pinnacle of nature that required no explanation.

Being natural meant being ready to transition into the next movement at any time.

I could feel it.

No matter when, where, or how I attacked, he would be able to block or counter.

He had naturally assumed the most natural stance, one commonly described as having no openings.

“Impressive!”

However, it could just be a facade.

A natural stance didn’t necessarily translate into effective movement.

“….”

A brief confrontation ensued.

I was the one who moved first.

With the intent to cut down my opponent and high-speed movement, a thrust that had reached the ultimate height rushed toward his brow.

But he didn’t block the attack.

Instead…

-Slide

The tip of his wooden sword gently touched my brow before I knew it.

“Checkmate.”

His attack was clearly slow, yet it was faster than mine.

‘Physical superiority and a counter-attack born from that certainty.’

The body of a man who had absorbed the Rank of creation was superior to anything else.

Therefore, without needing to block or avoid my attack, he utilized that advantage to pierce my brow in a single stroke.

If this had been a duel to the death, I would have died from his blow.

“Good.”

He passed.

Leon, having absorbed the Rank of creation, had certainly been reborn as a perfect being—better than I had expected.

However, he was still clumsy.

“Your body is perfect. It leaves nothing to be desired. But as they say, metal becomes stronger the more it is hammered. Do not neglect your training.”

“Yes. Now that I have obtained complete power, I think I understand. I see that there is still much for me to improve upon.”

***

The man who had attained complete creation had also changed slightly in personality.

The hazy, fog-like atmosphere that had surrounded him cleared up, making him bright.

He had become clear and prudent.

‘I finally have something worth teaching.’

The path for Leon’s instruction, which had seemed so distant not long ago, finally felt visible.

Dealing with the remaining Demon Clan forces had seemed very easy at first.

But it wasn’t.

Subjugating the remnants of the Demon King’s Legion was more difficult than expected.

Ironically, the end of the world of the gods played a part in this.

The humans had been able to obtain powerful authority and artifacts through the worship of and belief in the God of Creation and the God of Victory.

However, as the world of the gods collapsed, they could no longer receive such benefits.

Humanity had no choice but to climb the Tower as they had in the past to strengthen their artifacts and Traits.

Of course, the results of climbing the Tower were clear.

In particular, the number of Awakeners who obtained numerous rewards by climbing through the remnants of divine legacies and Traits increased.

Naturally, their combat power rose as well, but the problem was that even then, the Demon Clan remained a powerful enemy.

From the start, the Demon Clan was known as a warrior race.

Their physical abilities far exceeded those of humans, and their authority and Traits through Magical Power were incomparable to those of mankind.

If a human was a fifty, a demon was a 100.

There was a difference from birth, and the demons, who were in a disadvantaged position, opted for guerrilla warfare instead of an all-out war.

That didn’t just mean simple attacks.

They carried out assassinations of key figures and acts of terror through demons capable of blending into human society, such as Doppelgangers, Succubi, and Vampires.

Humanity suffered immense damage as the Demon Clan carried out these guerrilla tactics and terror.

While the enemy attacked from deep hiding, humanity had to find their hiding spots first.

The situation was similar to the damage suffered by the US Army and its allies during the Vietnam War.

And the most threatening of them all…

“MY MANA IS INFINITE!”

The Lich.

Originally human, they were cursed beings who grabbed onto eternity after being consumed by greed.

Though their goals varied, their conviction was one and the same: to reach the end of magic.

And the simplest way to reach that end was through human experimentation and absorbing their life force.

They devoured knowledge of mana and magic through human experiments and reached a sublime state that couldn’t normally be attained by absorbing life force.

That was the Lich’s long-cherished desire.

Due to these characteristics, the longer a Lich survived, the more powerful its mana and strength became.

This was because they gained infinite knowledge through countless human experiments and endless mana through life-force absorption.

And here, in the city center of Seoul, a high-tier Lich named Grakin appeared.

He was one of the oldest living Liches. Having survived for over thousands of years and obtaining immense power, he possessed enough strength to be called a Lich Lord.

Moreover, he was a Lich with great pride in his own skills.

Thus, he was laying waste to the city center of South Korea, a place no one else had touched.

The reason?

It was simple.

He wanted to become a perfect Lord by conquering the place that even the Demon King could not.

Being a Lich Lord wasn’t a feat one could achieve simply by being strong.

One had to achieve a feat and proof befitting a Lord.

And the best feat for that would naturally be ‘doing what even the Demon King could not.’

Previously, the Demon King had come to conquer South Korea but failed and was annihilated.

Grakin believed that was the result of carelessness.

If the Demon King had been thorough—if he had approached more prudently instead of just trusting his own power—he would have easily wiped out mere humans.

The Demon King was arrogant, and he failed because of it.

But Grakin was different.

He had accumulated knowledge for over thousands of years.

That knowledge didn’t just refer to magical knowledge but also included strategy and tactics.

Therefore, he came with a perfect strategy.

He invaded South Korea, specifically Seoul, where no one thought he could infiltrate, and engraved a transmutation circle there.

This was the Transmutation Circle of Death he had created.

The moment it was activated, it possessed the powerful force to turn all humans into Undead.

Of course, doing so required a long time, effort, and sacrifices to complete the circle.

He had already finished the transmutation circle, which required numerous symbols and words centered around Seoul.

The problem was the sacrifice.

The moment this circle was triggered, he had to sacrifice 6,666 victims to finally activate it.

At first, he thought about proceeding secretly, but South Korea’s defenses were more thorough than he expected.

Since they were bound to react sensitively to kidnappings, disappearances, and murders, he gave up on the idea of sacrificing them secretly.

Instead…

“BOW DOWN TO DEATH!”

He revealed himself openly.

Because of that…

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

He was able to display his mana to his heart’s content and create sacrifices.

[5,112 sacrifices remain for the Transmutation Circle of Death.]

If he had proceeded in hiding, it might have taken days, or even weeks.

But in an instant, he was able to kill 1,500 humans and activate a portion of the circle.

The Transmutation Circle of Death acted as a poison-like debuff to living creatures, but for a Lich who belonged to death, it provided a massive increase in ability.

Now, one of the six fragments of the circle lit up, but even that caused his power to rise remarkably.

“I AM… I AM THE KING OF DEATH! FOLLOW ME, MY SUBJECTS!”

He began raising Undead soldiers through infinite mana and knowledge of death.

“Clack, clack-clack!”

Those who had just died from his mana rose once again.

Not just them…

“Burst!”

Corpses that had died long ago, as well as those who had died recently, pulled their bodies up.

They were beings on a different level from simple zombies.

Zombies and ghouls raised by a high-tier Lich who had reached the level of a Lord possessed a power incomparable to ordinary Undead.

Because of that…

“Aaagh!”

“Ugh!”

“Eeeek!”

Screams erupted from everywhere.

Of course, there was resistance.

“You think I’ll be defeated by mere zombies like these!”

“Counter-attack!”

There were those who displayed special abilities.

He knew that in the human world, they were called Awakeners.

Perhaps they had experience fighting the Undead.

Since the Tower appeared, they must have fought battles they otherwise wouldn’t have experienced.

However…

“Aaaaah—”

“My god! Why are they so strong!”

“R-run away!”

The resistance was in vain.

As mentioned before, his Undead were on a different level.

Those zombies, ghouls, and skeleton soldiers infused with infinite mana ignored the attacks of mere Awakeners and carried out a massacre.

[3,532 sacrifices remain for the Transmutation Circle of Death.]

In an instant, three fragments of the transmutation circle lit up.

“MUAHAHAHAHA!”

His power grew stronger.

Through the transmutation circle he had studied for a long time, he was gradually getting closer to becoming a Lord.

Even without the feat of conquering South Korea, he could evolve into a Lord through the transmutation circle and place this world beneath his feet.

“FEEL MORE… FEEL MORE TERROR! FEAR DEATH AND VOMIT OUT PRAISE AS YOU WORSHIP ME!”

The screams of humans and the massacre were all Grakin’s Karma.

He could feel himself changing.

As expected, conquering South Korea would be the feat that would make him a Lord.

And then…

[666 sacrifices remain for the Transmutation Circle of Death.]

Coincidentally, it was when there were only 666 victims left, a mere 10% of the total.

“A mere Lich is acting far too arrogant.”

A voice rang out clearly across the area.

It didn’t seem like the person was speaking loudly, yet everyone, including Grakin, could hear it distinctly.

“HOW DARE…”

Enraged by this, Grakin sought out the source of the voice, the incredibly insolent being.

Over in the distance… a man stood with his blonde hair fluttering.

“DIE!”

The completion of the transmutation circle was near.

Because of that, even more powerful flames of death—the green flames of the dead—rushed forward, incinerating everything in their path.

However…

“WHAT?!”

The blonde man who had been there just a moment ago vanished.

“Too slow.”

And then, what he could see was the man arriving right before his eyes.

=Slash!

The man dropped the sword in his hand vertically.

“Cr-ack!”

And then came the bizarre sensation of the world appearing tilted. —