Chapter 100 Divine Ultimatum (5)

“Well, I have a favor to ask.”

When he asked what brought her here, Namgoong Soso said that. Yoon-seok tilted his head. A favor? The awkwardness went away after talking for a while, and that was all. They weren’t close enough to be asking favors. Still, Yoon-seok decided to listen.

“What is it?”

“It’s not that big of a deal.. but if you meet Namgoong Chul again, could you ask him where he hid the original version of the Azure Dragon Energy?”

Azure Dragon Energy, the Unique Skill obtained from Namgoong Chul. She continued that 500 years ago, the Sect’s vision, Azure Dragon Energy, was destroyed at the hands of Namgoong Chul, and as a descendant, she wanted to restore it somehow.

“..But there’s no guarantee we’ll see each other again.”

“Yes, that’s true. But could you do that if you happen to meet him?”

She wasn’t asking him to find Namgoong Chul and ask him. Just that if they happened to meet, could he ask him that? It wasn’t like Namgoong Soso asked him with expectations of it working out, so Yoon-seok nodded.

“Well, if that happens, I’ll ask.”

“Thank you.”

As if that’s all she had to say, Namgoong Soso went back to the waiting room to resume her meditation. Accordingly, Yoon-seok stopped paying attention to her and organized what he had gained from the duel.

‘Let’s check the skill first.’

{Blood Pact}

Rank B — Opens the passageway connected to the blood system.

Rank C — The absorption of blood restores physical strength and magic.

Rank C was straightforward; this was where he used the summoned creatures’ blood to recover. But he didn’t know what Rank B meant.

‘Is it talking about the magic circle?’

He thought so, but he wasn’t sure. He did think it might be a Unique Skill since he didn’t chant a command, but it could also be a power from the admins.

‘We’ll find out after trying.’

Seeing was believing. It was more effective to give it a try than trying to wrap his head around it. Yoon-seok controlled the blood flowing from his fingertips and made it into a magic circle as he saw earlier. It wasn’t too difficult because he was used to dealing with different powers and materializing energy. Of course, he couldn’t make the same one from his memory alone, but it wasn’t an issue.

‘So this is how it works.’

The details changed on their own as soon as the mold was set. Six circles were drawn, with geometric shapes and texts packed in. But that was all.

‘So, what am I supposed to do next?’

The passageway to the blood was open, but the wolf didn’t pop out like how it did for his opponent. In the end, after a few experiments, Yoon-seok found out what the function was.

‘I see.’

After opening the system, the blood released could be controlled. That was all to the Rank B effect. Then what about the wolf and different types of shapes? The answer was simple. Just like how Yoon-seok made Bloodseeker Swords, the opponent also manually materialized them.

‘It’s not even that powerful; I can’t use it after all.’

He didn’t know what Rank A entailed, but it didn’t seem very helpful right now.

‘No, but is it still useful as a defense technique?’

At the end of such sentiments, Yoon-seok shifted his attention to the next item.

*Vampire Count’s Banquet Attire (Rank A-) – A piece of clothing a demon enjoys wearing at a banquet.

When worn, stamina recovery increases 12x, and damage to magic decreases by 30%. When the enemy’s blood is stained on the clothes, a certain amount of magic is restored.

The equipment was chosen by the highest rank. From his perspective for canceling the cost of using b Blood Pact}, it seemed to be a fairly efficient piece of equipment, but the design wasn’t appealing. Of course, it was better than nothing.

‘Now is the time to throw this away.’

Yoon-seok took off his full-body suit without hesitation. It was useful in the old days when 30,000 AP felt big, but now it served a familiar and comfortable outfit rather than as armor. On the other hand, what about this banquet attire? 12x increase in stamina recovery. 30% less magic damage. It wasn’t visible, but he was sure it would help, and even the last option was quite usable.historical

‘It’s more comfortable than I thought.’

Because there was no mirror, Yoon-seok lowered his head to check his condition. The thick fabric and clean appearance looked more like a uniform than a banquet attire. However, maybe because it was so luxurious, it didn’t feel like it was mass-produced at all, and it wasn’t as strange to wear as he thought.

Yoon-seok recycled his full-body suit into Steel Stealth. Naturally, his durability didn’t increase. Just as his magic stats hadn’t grown with this duel, this wasn’t enough to make a difference.

‘So is it time to do some shopping?’

Yoon-seok opened the shop page. 1,667,000 AP, now even that amount didn’t even feel that huge.

「Rank of Yin and Yang (Rank C+) has been increased.」

Yoon-seok invested 96,000 AP in upgrading Yin and Yang’s ranking first. Then, the selection of characteristics appeared.

「Selection of characteristics for Yin and Yang (Rank B-) is available.」

Yoon-seok checked the contents with eyes shining like a child, and he burst out in laughter. As he wondered what kind of characteristics would emerge, the first option was already far beyond his imagination.

—Characteristic 1: Personality Grants

Random characters are created and grow according to experience.

In short, it meant he could create a double personality. But the question was, what merit did it have? However, there would be nothing to worry about. Fortunately, the second option was what he was expecting.

—Characteristic 2: Trinity

Three thought processes can be managed simultaneously.

That meant he could handle five more swords in the future.

「Trinity was chosen as the characteristic for Yin and Yang (Rank B-).」

Although he felt dizzy, just like when he learned Yin and Yang, he didn’t collapse like before. He organized his thoughts for three minutes and slowly grew used to it. Yoon-seok tried to invoke King of All Swords to the fullest extent.

「Seventeen swords are used. The Phantom Energy that is ingrained in the sword becomes stronger.」

Power 3x, strength and agility +1, and stronger Phantom Energy were added. Naturally, the gap between Yoon-seok’s eyebrows narrowed.

‘What’s Phantom Energy?’

He could see negative blue energy at the tip of the sword, but he still couldn’t figure out what effect it had.

‘Well, it’s not a bad thing.’

Even though he thought so, Yoon-seok felt a little stuffy. Not just Phantom Energy, but he still didn’t know how to use Middle Qigong. Because of that, he couldn’t process what he had, but he wondered if it was right to keep ascending to catch up with the Heavenly Devil.

‘Let’s finish what we’ve been doing.’

Yoon-seok, shaking off his thoughts, spent 384,000 AP to upgrade Dispel to Rank B. Now he could block all active skills and magic below Rank A-. Very few challengers would have skills higher than that; it was already quite useful.

‘The characteristic is pretty adequate.’

The selection of characteristics came up again. Yoon-seok’s choice was Order Predation so that when Dispel was used, half of the magic consumed by the opponent would be absorbed by him.

「Rank of Vajra Step (Rank B-) has increased.」

「Rank of Vajra Step (Rank B) has increased.」

「Rank of Vajra Step (Rank B+) has increased.」

Following that, Yoon-seok spent 1.152 million AP to raise Vajra’s Step to Rank A-. Since he invested in other skills, he thought it was time to invest in his ace card. Well, just like at Rank B, if the characteristic selection page didn’t appear, it would be a loss.

「Selection of characteristics for Vajra Step (Rank A-) is available.」

It appeared. Afraid that he might press it by mistake, Yoon-seok took his hand off the prompt and read it slowly.

—Characteristics 1: Unmoving

When the skill is used, it is no longer necessary to leap backward.

It was possible to move to the desired place within a 50m radius, ignoring all damage for 3 seconds. Not bad. In addition to teleportation, he could continue to fight for 3 seconds in an invincible state if he understood it correctly.

—Characteristics 2: Demarcation

Upon landing, durability stat drops to Rank F, and magic stat increases by +2 for 5 minutes.

Yoon-seok frowned. It would have been easier to decide if one option was bad, just like when he chose Dispel. This was great, too. It was just durability, so it wasn’t a big deal, but on the other side, magic would increase by +2. It may be temporary, but the increase was worth more than 10 million AP.

But there was still one more to decide.

—Characteristics 3: Universal Grand Shift

Upon landing, the basic stats of all beings within a 100m radius is fixed at Rank F- for 20 minutes.

Frankly, he was wondering what this was about. Soon, however, Yoon-seok felt goosebumps. He might not need this when dealing with the weak, but..there was no lethal move better than this when dealing with a strong opponent in a duel.

‘After their stats drop, if I use Vajra Mirror to reflect their blow..’

Then there was no way to stop it. Even if it wasn’t everything, stats were extremely important in the Tower. This combination may even overcome the dragon named Disaster he met during the mission or even the Heavenly Devil.

「Universal Grand Shift is chosen as the characteristic for Vajra Step (Rank A-).」

He liked all the other options, but Yoon-seok didn’t regret it. One day, when he encountered a powerful, undefeatable enemy, this would be the secret weapon that saved him.

‘Then let’s get going.’

Only 35,000 AP was left. Yoon-seok headed to the plaza next. It had been less than an hour since his previous meeting, but in the meantime, he had already ascended another floor, so it was enough to give the details and information of the ordeal without delay. But..

「Go to the Union Plaza.」

Did he go out somewhere in the meantime? No one was in Ashton’s room. However, it was bustling passionate voices came together and overlapped each other, and among them was Ashton’s voice.

“Stop it! Even if you are the leader of January, you have no right to do this!”

It was different from when he spoke to Yoon-seok. The soft voice was now sharp and urgent.

“Right? You still don’t know this place, foreign challenger. If you don’t have power, the law is only one word, and I’m the law here.”

He didn’t know what he got involved in, but Yoon-seok immediately opened the window and jumped out. Soon after Ashton found Yoon-seok, he looked desperate. On the other hand, the new man’s complexion became brighter.

“..Oh, I didn’t think you’d show up on your own. Are you Choi Yoon-seok?”

When Yoon-seok looked quietly to Ashton for answers, he telepathically explained the current situation.

—This is the Sword Demon Jeong Dae-woon. It was kept a secret, but it seems that information about you was leaked from the inside. That’s why he came all the way here, but I didn’t expect Mr. Yoon-seok to come back here.. now I can’t gloss this over with words anymore.

That was why when Yoon-seok appeared to help, his expression was dark rather than welcoming.

“Good timing! Come with me. The noble is looking for you.”

Then, the Sword Demon Jeong Dae-woon stretched out his arms. The gesture was very slow and natural..

Yet, somehow there was no way to escape. Should he say it’s like a huge wall, instead of a hand, coming at him from all directions? Soon, Yoon-seok realized this little movement was blended with the logic of a blunt sword. Somehow the entire space had already been taken over by the Sword Demon.

But it wasn’t like there wasn’t a way. Surely the Sword Demon’s trick was incredible. Perhaps he would be hit without knowing what it was if it was Yoon-seok before completing the eight-color sword.

Swish.

When Sword Demon was about to snatch Yoon-seok’s wrist, Yoon-seok’s arm gently moved and pushed it to the side.

“It’s not enough for you to avoid my Qinna Hands, but Graft.. what an interesting fellow.”

Curiosity shaded Sword Demon’s eyes, and at that moment..

Clang!

Yoon-seok didn’t hesitate to pull out his sword. His opponent was a 19th-floor duel challenger. Seeing how Ashton’s face turned so white, it was clear he didn’t stand half a chance. However, if Yoon-seok had been weak enough for his fighting spirit to break like that, he wouldn’t have come this far.

「Seventeen swords are used. The Phantom Energy ingrained in the sword becomes stronger.」

Yoon-seok extended his sword forward, and tidal waves began to flood alongside them.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!

In this distance, it would be difficult to avoid. No, Judgment of the Ruined Monarch remained. Yoon-seok looked at the opponent’s reaction and predicted how he would move in the future. But..

All the attacks had gone astray.

“..?”

The opponent just looked at the tidal wave blankly. It was the same even when his clothes and skin were torn apart by them.

Shaaa-!

Soon the tidal waves died down, but the Sword Demon was standing in the same position. Although his clothes were worn out and blood seeped from his exposed flesh, it wasn’t life-threatening.

‘He just endured it with his bare body?’

Not only that, as if he also had regeneration abilities, the wounds were sealing rapidly. But there was something else to be truly astonished about.

‘..!’

The Sword Demon Jeong Dae-woon’s feet moved. He didn’t notice it at first because he felt threatened, but it must have been a counterattack. Come to think of it; he heard the Heavenly Devil said this casually before. Only those who have abandoned their will to kill can get their hands on the true sword.

Perhaps the Sword Demon had reached that state.

‘Damn it!’

Feeling frustrated, Yoon-seok tried to swing his sword again. He flinched and stopped mid-swing. The reason was simple.

He didn’t hide his intentions to murder him; he realized he didn’t have them at all. The Sword Demon suddenly stuck his sword in the ground and knelt.

And..

“Hooray! Hooray! Heaven and Earth!”

He shouted while bowing lowly.

“Sword Demon Jeong Dae-woon! I’m meeting the Co-Sect Leader!”

“..?”

It was Yoon-seok’s turn to stare blankly.