Chapter 107

Chapter 107

Phoenix's Arrow.

Although its rank is A-grade, when used as an actual spear, its performance surpasses the S-grade level.

Despite having only five opportunities, it boasted even more potent strength when thrown.

If one were to rank it, it could rival the power of SS-grade.

'But as those two spirits fight here, the Phoenix's Arrow is being enhanced.'

If things continue this way, it might aim for the power of SSS-grade.

Of course, the item itself might not reach that level of performance.

But, combined with Seong Jihan's strength, it could certainly manifest the power of SSS-grade.

'And if it's SSS-grade, I can strike the entities of this shadow world.'

From the description of the 'Veil of the Void' item worn by Seong Jihan, it said attacks below SS-grade can be evaded.

Which means, of course, that an SSS-grade attack would hit its mark.

Of course, it's just the nature of the Veil of the Void; he can still resist the attack, but...

'I have to at least try.'

He couldn't just get caught like this.

[You... a mere imitation, how did you obtain that power?]

[Submit peacefully, fake.]

Whooooosh!

As the white flames intensify, and the heat emanating from the Phoenix's Arrow reaches its peak,

'Now!'

Seong Jihan, from within the veil, lifted the arrow.

As he did, his camouflage was dispelled, and the robed entity in the shadow world widened its eyes.

"H-how are you here...?"

Before it could finish, Seong Jihan returned to the original world.

Where the robed entity stood was empty, but without hesitation, he threw his arrow, not at where the entity stood, but towards the sky.

Nameless Divine Arts, Divine Thunder Decree - Divine Judgement

Sssh!

Seong Jihan's right hand was instantly charred black.

The burn spread rapidly up his arm, searing every nerve.

Though he hadn't connected through the BattleNet connector, an intense pain consumed him.

'It was a success.'

Rather than wincing in pain, he looked up at the sky with a smile.

A circular hole opened in the azure sky.

Within it, a space filled with blinding white light was revealed.

"Damn... you fool!"

The Black Hand swiftly appeared before Seong Jihan, attempting to seize him.

One could feel the intense determination, thinking that capturing him was all that mattered.

But before the hand could touch him,

Flash!

From the space in the sky, a light blinked, and the iron hand was immediately engulfed in radiant light.

Up close, it seemed merely covered in light, but from a distance, it looked like a massive spear made of light had impaled the Black Hand.

'Got it.'

Among the Divine Thunder Decree martial arts, the Divine Judgement was paramount.

This martial art, which summoned a spear of light from the heavens, was the best at removing evil energy.

In reality, at his current Silver rank, he wouldn't even dare to use this superior skill.

However, thanks to Sophia's buff and the enhanced Phoenix's Arrow, he managed to use it, even if it cost him an arm.

Swoooosh!

Smoke rose from the Black Hand's metallic body.

"How can this..."

From there, the robed entity he saw in the shadow world emerged.

Its black robe, seemingly catching the light, was burning.

And then,

From the burning robe, a mysterious space was revealed, from which a pure white smoke emerged.

No, it wasn't just smoke.

More accurately, the horde of souls that Kill the King controlled was spewing out uncontrollably.

Witnessing this unbelievable sight, the robed figure burst into a mad laughter.

"Haha. Hahaha. Hahahaha!!"

"......."

"You're not a king! Yes... not a king!"

Soon, the robe burst into flames.

His existence vanished without a trace, and instead, the souls that sprang out clustered together.

They soon became legs, a torso, and arms.

A mass made up of countless souls.

It had limbs and a body.

But a mass without a head.

'Was the robe... a means to suppress his power?'

Seong Jihan dripped cold sweat as he looked at the opponent.

The size of the entity formed from clustered spirits was immense.

Its gigantic feet seemed like they could crumble the walls at any moment, and its headless neck reached the sky.

A scale of a different dimension.

It seemed even larger than the Apostle of Apocalypse, Behemoth.

[Hahaha! Here, I've found the being to be the 'head'!]

A massive red pair of lips appeared on the chest of the now-revealed enemy.

It roared joyfully at Seong Jihan.

Then, the remaining northern walls instantly turned to dust.

All other entities around, except for Seong Jihan, turned into dust and disappeared.

A force comparable to a natural disaster.

Even the Seong Jihan of his previous life wouldn't stand a chance against this foe.

Then,

Suddenly, the world stopped.

[An anomaly has been detected in the BattleNet system.]

A system message appeared.

[The 'Constellation of the Dead Star' has intruded into the game through illegitimate means.]

[Starting the expulsion process.]

'That's a Constellation?'

Seeing the system message identifying the opponent as the 'Constellation of the Dead Star', Seong Jihan couldn't hide his surprise.

It was his first time seeing the master of a star.

'It seems too weak to be called a Constellation.'

It was the strongest among the monsters he'd seen so far, but the ghostly mass seemed inadequate to hold the title of 'Constellation'.

'That can't be its full strength.'

Seong Jihan thought as he closely observed the Constellation of the Dead Star.

The spirits that made up the body, when seen from afar, looked merely like clustered smoke.

But on closer inspection, ghosts wearing crowns were all grotesquely intertwined, wearing agonizing expressions.

Kill the King.

Collecting the souls of kings to form its body?

'The scale is different, probably because it's an otherworldly Undead Legion.'

The entire body and limbs were made up of king spirits, forming the Constellation of the Dead Star.

However, the top part was different.

The neck was abruptly cut off in the middle, with no head formed.

Recalling the Constellation's earlier words, Seong Jihan thought, 'Does it want me to be the head?'

Under no circumstances did he want to be part of that.

While Seong Jihan was thinking,

The system actively expelled the Constellation.

Boom!

No matter if it was a Constellation, perhaps it couldn't resist the system.

The left arm made of spirits flew off.

Even though the world was still, the lips on the torso moved actively.

[Ah. Got it. I'll go. But before I do, I have a word for him!]

Boom! Boom!

Hearing those words, as if provoked, the system quickly blew off both its legs.

The towering image of the Constellation disappeared.

Only the torso and right arm remained.

[Ah, seriously... It's the system's fault for showing weakness! Why are you doing this to me?]

As if representing all thieves in the world, even as its body was breaking, the Constellation of the Dead Star continued to blabber.

Seeing the unmasked yet flippant Constellation of the Dead Star, Seong Jihan made a brief comment.

'So even that kind of guy can become a Constellation.'

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The right arm disappeared, and the Constellation's torso rapidly shrank.

Suddenly, the lips and that area were the only remains of the Constellation of the Dead Star.

Suddenly, he spat something out of his mouth.

[Ah. Got it. I'll give this to you. So, just have a little chat with that one, okay?]

What he spat out was the soul of the conqueror, who had just submitted to the Constellation of the Dead Star.

Then, for a moment, the system's expulsion procedure halted.

[The player Seong Jihan is given the choice to listen to the story of the Constellation.]

[If you listen to the story, you will receive a tremendous reward from the redeemed soul of the conqueror.

Through the system's mental protection, any mental contamination the opponent can inflict will be completely blocked.

The conqueror's soul is the core soul that constitutes the throat of the Constellation of the Dead Star. His power will be significantly weakened.

If player Seong Jihan listens to the story, additional rewards will also be given from the BattleNet system dimension.]

The system message had a slightly different tone than usual.

It felt like it would be good if he listened to the story.

'Is it that important to release the conqueror's soul from the Constellation?'

If it constitutes the throat, he must have been a significant king.

Seong Jihan chuckled and nodded.

Then,

[Oh. Our head. Impressive! You immediately accepted the proposal?]

The Constellation of the Dead Star played with its lips towards Seong Jihan.

"What's the story?"

[Head! Join me! You be the head! I'll be the heart! If you, who possesses the power of thunder, join, we will be complete!]

"I don't want to."

[Think about it! You can become a COnstellation! And that of a 'Dead Star', one of the most powerful in the universe! If we combine, we can make everything equal!]

Constellation? That thing?

Seong Jihan never dreamt of becoming the head of a ghost group.

"Just go."

[No. Don't you know what a Constellation is? How amazing it is... Geez! You can live forever! As the master of a star! Booming around!]

"Live forever with a noisy guy like you? That's hell."

[But you'd be the king of that hell! Okay, it's unfamiliar now. Right. We haven't become too close? Okay, let's start with names. What's your name? Oh right. I should introduce myself first, for this kind of thing. Okay. Hmm...]

The Constellation of the Dead Star rambled on.

[In this world... Karl Marx and Lenin have similar ideologies to me! Okay. I'm Karl Marx Lenin! You can specially call me Karlein! Wow, you're the first I've allowed to use a nickname! Honored?]

He sure talks a lot.

Seong Jihan resolved once more to never fuse with him.

"Okay. I've heard enough, now go."

[Huh? Why? Head, you're not fusing?]

Seong Jihan, not wanting to reply, lightly raised his middle finger.

Then the lips made a fuss.

[Oh my! That gesture... In this world, it means you want to merge with me, right?! I knew it~ You really wanted to be with me, right? Okay, come into my mouth?]

Shreeek!

Karlein opened his mouth wide and flicked his tongue.

He's really hard to communicate with.

"Now that I've heard the story, can you get rid of him?"

As Seong Jihan said this,

The expulsion process of the system began as if it had been waiting.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The body around the lips flew away.

The red lips began to wrinkle.

[Ah. It hurts! I'm going. I said I'm going!]

Unable to withstand the system's onslaught, the lips, trembling, bid their final goodbye to Seong Jihan.

[Head! I'll come to see you next time! I'll find you somehow!]

[A strong penalty is imposed on the Constellation of the Dead Star.]

[The Constellation of the Dead Star is prohibited from accessing this world.]

A BattleNet system message appeared in response to his words.

[Try to stop me! The head! Is! Mine!]

Leaving behind a final statement filled with obsession, Karlein disappeared.

And the world that had stopped began to move again.

At the same time,

[I-I... Am I really free?]

The conqueror's soul, spat out by the throne, looked at its body with disbelief.