Chapter 117
Boom-!!!
The mountains shook as if an earthquake had happened.
A huge force shook their surroundings.
"Mr. K-KangWoo?!
"KangWoo!"
The screams of the two girls spread but didn't reach KangWoo's ears.
A tornado made of demonic energy was surrounding his body.
'Ah.'
His head became blurry, and he felt as if he were floating on top of a vast sea.
Using six Authorities simultaneously had even been hard for him in Hell.
When the amount reached six, it wasn't a matter of demonic energy anymore.
You reached a limit on how much you could control and regulate the Authorities.
'Did I overdo it?'
There was no need to ask that. In reality, he was prepared for things to go wrong when he used five Authorities.
...But six?
Not only that, but he had used the strongest Authority he had, the Authority of Predation.
It wasn't something a rational person could do.
'This is quite dangerous.'
It was as if he'd put more air in a balloon that was about to explode.
He wouldn't have tried something so crazy even when he could fully use his strength.
It wouldn't have been weird if he died right then and his body exploded.
'But....'
He wasn't sure why, but he didn't regret his decision.
No, he wasn't even worried.
There had been a voice in his head saying that he should stop right there.
—But confidence that he didn't know the origin of replied, 'It's okay, I can keep going.'
Slash-
His hand that was placed on the black sphere was cut.
Black blood poured out, and the blood that leaked out of his hand entered the black sphere and mixed with it.
A distant sensation grew stronger.
His conscience became blurry.
He couldn't control the six Authorities anymore.
KangWoo gave up on the calculations.
But at that moment, something surprising happened.
'So it was this.'
His body was controlling the Authorities.
KangWoo understood why he had fully unlocked the Attribute 'Demonic Art of Creation' only after completing the Demonic Energy Body.
Controlling Authority...
Controlling an Authority with your instinct rather than your head.
—That was the real effect of the Extreme Demonic Energy Body.
No, it wouldn't be an overstatement to say that it was why he'd reached Extreme Demonic Energy Body.
The energy from the black sphere spread toward KangWoo's heart through his blood.
When he felt something 'connected,' he heard a clear bell sound.
Ting-
[You've successfully created 'Key of the Demonic Energy Sea (Transcendent-rank).']
He got a system message.
At that moment, the black sphere began shrinking.
[You've maxed out the capability of the 'Demonic Art of Creation.'!]
[Your Demonic Energy has gone up by 2.]
[You cannot use 'Demonic Art of Creation' anymore.]
"Woah."
KangWoo's eyes shone.
Thanks to the demonic energy stat increasing, it had reached 110 without buffs.
'It seems like the purpose of the Demonic Art of Creation was to create this.'
A black sphere appeared in his hand.
The form was similar to the 'Susanoo's Eye' Fujimoto Ryoma used.
A black crystal ball that was about the size of a ping-pong ball...
KangWoo checked out the information on the 'Key of the Demonic Energy Sea.'
[Equipment Information]
Name: Key of the Demonic Energy Sea
Rank: Transcendent (Attunement Done)
Type: Growth-type *When you fulfill certain conditions, it will get stronger.
Normal Effect: Unique Stat +3, Indestructible, Transformation, ??? * It hasn't been unlocked yet.
[Effect Explanation]
Indestructible: It can't be destroyed by any type of attack or impact.
Transformation: It can transform into any registered 'weapon.' It has 34% of the capability of a weapon created by using an Authority.
"Hmm..."
Hyun fell into thoughts.
He wasn't sure of it.
'A growth-type...'
It had good points.
Its rank was Transcendent, so it could probably keep getting stronger indefinitely.
But its effect at the moment wasn't as impressive as he wanted.
"No, wait."
KangWoo read the information window again.
He focused on the normal effects.
And among those was the explanation of 'Transformation.'
'If it's a weapon registered as a skill...'
All weapons he had created at least once had been registered as skills.
Bident, Gae Bolg, and even the most recent one, Gungnir, had been registered as skills.
'34% of the capability of a weapon created from using Authorities...'
* * *
The Gae Bolg he had created using the Demonic Art of Creation was about 20% of the capabilities of the original.
Considering that, an effectiveness of about 1.5 times more was extremely good.
'This is great.'
Just the effect of Transformation alone would be good enough to be qualified as Transcendent rank.
No, it was too good.
He could combine and create more weapons by combining Authorities and then use them based on the situation.
'Gae Bolg.'
He used a skill to test.
The black sphere that was as big as a ping pong ball started to change its form and became a dark red spear.
As KangWoo grabbed the Gae Bolg, he felt a stronger power than the one he'd felt from the one he'd created as a practice before.
'This is a scam.'
An exclamation came out of his mouth.
In that case, it was always better to use skills with a high basic spec.
—Because Gungnir's 34% was better than Gae Bolg's 34%.
'Gungnir.'
He used a skill created by combining four Authorities.
Ting-
[In its current state, you cannot convert it to a weapon created using 4 Authorities.]
"Ah, that's too bad."
He'd thought that the effect was unbelievably good, but as expected, he couldn't convert it to a weapon created using four Authorities.
There wasn't a reason to be disappointed.
'It isn't like I've fully unlocked all of the potential it has.'
The Key of the Demonic Energy Sea was a growth-type.
He wasn't sure what the conditions for it to grow were, but it meant that it could get stronger.
It was already too good as it was. He couldn't even imagine how much better it could get.
'It's worth being called Transcendent-rank.'
He was satisfied.
A smile appeared on his face.
KangWoo checked out its specs by looking it over.
He realized a few things.
'It can change forms to any weapon... Not only the ones registered as a skill.'
Of course, if it changed forms like that, it wouldn't have any special effects.
'It can only change into weapon-type skills.'
He had two types of skills...
Gae Bolg, Grahm, Bident, etc. were skills he used to create weapons and fight using the,. 'weapon-type skills.'
'Sky Break,' 'Earth Blades,' etc. were types of skills that were 'magic-type skills.'
The Key of the Demonic Energy Sea could only transform into weapon-type skills.
'That's already good enough.'
KangWoo transformed the Key of the Demonic Energy Sea into a ring and put it on the right middle finger.
'Demonic energy stat 113.'
If he added Kraken's Rage and Han Seol-ah's buff, it could reach 120.
"Good."
Becoming stronger meant that the number of things he could do increased, so it made him feel good.
He could even face a demon from the 9th hell at that moment.
"Mr. K-KangWoo, are you okay?" Han Seol-ah carefully asked.
"Yes. I'm okay."
"Oof. I was worried. I thought something had happened."
"It was nothing. Let's return to our house."
"Did you succeed in creating a weapon?"
KangWoo raised his hand.
The ring that was on his middle finger became a short sword.
"As you can see."
"Ah..."
After seeing a 'ring' on his finger made her tremble a bit, she let out a cough and then kept talking.
"I'm glad."
"Since I've succeeded, let's go back."
"Oh, yeah. Ms. YeonJoo called while you were creating the weapon."
"Chae YeonJoo?"
"Yes. She said she had some stuff to give you, so she asked you to go to the guild."
"Hmm... Okay."
KangWoo nodded and grabbed Han Seol-ah.
Her face became red as he used the Authority of Sky and flew.
"Then let's visit the Red Rose Guild first."
* * *
Click-
"Ah, you came?"
As he entered the office, Chae YeonJoo raised her head.
KangWoo sat on the chair.
"What do you have to give me?"
"Kurosaki Yurie sent a few items."
"Kurosaki Yurie did?"
"Yes. Kurosaki Yurie said she was sorry that the hero who had saved her almost became a criminal because of a witch hunt."
"It's not like she did that, so she shouldn't be sorry."
KangWoo let out a laugh in disbelief.
The one who'd tried to make him seen as a Demon Cult member had been Fujimoto Ryoma, not her.
"I also don't know. Why don't you accept it first?"
"Hmm... Okay, I'll do that."
He opened the box that Chae YeonJoo gave him.
First, there was a card with a letter.
[I'm really sorry about what happened. In this card, there's 30 million USD you can freely use, and this is my contact information. If you need help with anything, please feel free to call me. I will help Mr. KangWoo with whatever it is that you need.]
"What the..."
30 million USD?
That wasn't an amount of money she could easily use, even if she were the Emperor's granddaughter.
But on top of that, she was going to help him with anything he needed?
That wasn't something that the person who was doing the work of the sick Emperor should be doing.
'Why is she doing this?'
It was true that he'd saved her life...
But usually, people didn't do that much to pay a savior.
It was as if the person you'd saved from drowning had handed you their house as a way of saying thanks.
It was better than the opposite outcome, but still, he couldn't understand it.
"It seems like she liked you quite a bit. Hmph, you should be happy since you're receiving so much love from a princess."
Chae YeonJoo gave him a cold look as if she didn't like what she saw.
KangWoo gulped and looked at what else was inside the box.
"What's this?"
There was something that was frozen within the box.
He opened it and checked it out.
"Octopus...?"
There was an octopus that was the size of a person's head within the box.
He wasn't sure what magic device was inside the box, but despite it being frozen, the octopus inside it kept moving its eight tentacles.
"Why did she send an octopus?"
KangWoo looked at the box with a confused expression.