Chapter 677: Exuviation (2)

"This is no fun," Vimalacitra muttered to himself as he strolled down a path. Wherever he passed had the overwhelming odor of burnt flesh and blood from thousands of fallen gods, but Vimalacitra did not care at all. Everyone was hiding from him.

"This body of mine... Where is the being who will challenge and reinvigorate this body of mine?" The thought of clashing with another being further excited Vimalacitra. Countless years had passed since he was imprisoned in the Tower, so he had forgotten he was the Asura King.

During this long period of time, Vimalacitra continued to self-practice and train. He had done so to one day break free from the constraints of the Tower and challenge the Heavenly Demon once more.

Unlike the other gods and demons who carried a grudge against the Heavenly Demon, and considered it a curse to be constrained within the confines of the Tower, Vimalacitra did not care much about the constraints. No, rather, he enjoyed being locked up in the Tower. The confinement was no different than going into closed training. Furthermore, there was no better place where one could train without outside interference. Moreover, there were quite a few rather powerful beings if one just looked around, so there was no reason to be bored. Of course, those who were forcibly and unwittingly designated as Vimalacitra's opponents may have a different opinion, but Vimalacitra gave no thought.

Vimalacitra was a being who lived solely to fight. Fighting brought extreme joy, purpose, and direction to his life. Additionally, he regarded the victory at the end of an arduous and difficult battle the most valuable thing in life. Thus, his determination to one day defeat the Heavenly Demon became the primary driving force that kept him training and moving without rest... However, from a certain point, his motivation and driving force gradually declined.

The Heavenly Demon, who Vimalacitra thought would appear in front of him someday, never revealed himself to the heavenly world. All that was known about him was that he'd "fallen asleep."

Moreover, Vimalacitra, who had enjoyed the freedom to roam around and do whatever he wanted in the heavenly world, was eventually restricted after an agreement was made between Malach and L'Infernal to end large-scale fighting in the heavenly world. Although he could still strike fear in many gods and demons, Vimalacitra could no longer enjoy the chaos of constant warfare, no matter how wildly he acted.

This reality made Vimalacitra's wrath burst. Gods and demons were as incompatible as water and oil, and the heavenly world was too small for such great and powerful beings to be confined together. Being suppressed and oppressed by another was not something that any of them were used to, so Vimalacitra wanted the gods and demons to fight fiercely and vie for dominance. However, the gods and demons threw away such pride and tried to live a comfortable, peaceful life, as they had gotten used to confined life in the heavenly world. In the end, only silly pride and shrugging shoulders were left.

In Vimalacitra's eyes, the entire situation seemed worthless and meaningless. The gods and demons became chickens that laid eggs in a chicken coop. They had become pigs and cows locked up in small cages, and never knew when they would be disposed of. They had essentially become livestock.

Still, holding out some hope, Vimalacitra had once forcefully entered a godly society alone to see if he could spark a fire and create tension, but Vimalacitra soon disgustedly laid down his sword after seeing the pathetic behavior of the gods who could not even think of resisting properly. It was not worth fighting those excuses for gods, and swinging a sword at them was nothing less than a disservice and disgrace to the martial arts he had trained in and built up.

Afterward, Vimalacitra did not raise his sword again. Raising a sword against livestock gathered in a cage was meaningless and vain. Vimalacitra thought it better not to start such nonsense in the first place. Hence, Vimalacitra turned his back on the heavenly world and stopped paying any attention to it. It was an unexpected retirement. The many passing years since then had gradually eroded the hefty name of Vimalacitra from the gods and demons.

Then one day, quite by accident, Vimalacitra peered down into the lower world. He could not stand his boredom and happened to look down into the lower world to kill time. He had no expectations. Vimalacitra had gotten to the point where he contemplated suicide to escape such a repetitive and meaningless life of boredom... It was at that time he saw Yeon-woo, who ran around like a thunderbolt and hoped to seek revenge for his dead twin brother.

However, Vimalacitra did not even notice or pay attention to Yeon-woo's story. Among the numerous beings entering the Tower, every single existence had a similar personal history or story. But among all those in the lower world, Yeon-woo was particularly bright and sparkling.

To achieve his purpose, Yeon-woo regarded his own life and safety as a usable tool, a means to achieve a higher end. From time to time, Yeon-woo traded with transcendental beings and every so often threatened to blackmail them in moderation. He was able to achieve feats that others were not able to accomplish, and little by little, with each successive achievement, Yeon-woo developed himself and rose through the ranks.

Yeon-woo's process of winning victory after victory through 'fight' started to thaw Vimalacitra's frozen heart and make it beat once more. Yes, that was what Vimalacitra had forgotten, what he had strived for. This was what Vimalacitra thought. So, he continued to quietly watch Yeon-woo.

Being inspired by Yeon-woo, Vimalacitra got up for the first time in thousands of years. He grabbed his sword and went out with the mindset of starting over. Like Yeon-woo, Vimalacitra decided to throw away everything that surrounded him. There was no longer any need for an affiliation with the Jie Sect or the status of being a demon. I am Vimalacitra. The great Asura King. Is there anything in the world that can stand in my way?

The gods who had vaguely remembered Vimalacitra's name hurriedly hid. Some demons, who judged that Vimalacitra must have been weakened from the passing of time, rushed to win fame but subsequently died. When hundreds of transcendent beings were slaughtered with his single sword, the heavenly world was thrown into chaos as everyone shuddered in fear once again.

Vimalacitra had not been idle with his martial arts during his long period of outside inactivity. Even if he had let go of his sword in his hand, he had always sharpened the sword in his heart.

Thus, Vimalacitra wandered all over the heavenly world under the guise of personal training, and he directly informed the whole world that he was still well alive. His slumbering senses had been awakened one by one. Moreover, he was hungry. Like a wild beast waking up from a long slumber and traversing a meadow to soothe an empty stomach, Vimalacitra searched for something to calm his seemingly insatiable appetite. Fortunately, a possible existence was about to appear.

Poof! Vimalacitra halted his steps. He stood in front of an emptiness that leaked out a powerful, violent storm of divine power. The powerful aura and power were sharp enough to force even him to draw strength into the hand holding his sword. Apparently, as Vimalacitra had hoped, his opponent not only realized all his powers but seemed to have achieved a more powerful state. So, when that being fully revealed itself...

"My name is Vimalacitra." Vimalacitra moved. "I prayed earnestly for you to come here."

Rumble! Boom! There was no need for Vimalacitra to wait for Yeon-woo's response. All Vimalacitra wanted was to release his pent-up energy and desire, and to enjoy this moment to the fullest.

***

A Demi-God was neither a transcendent being nor a mortal, but a being in a questionable, gray state.

This form, which had only gone through exuviation, could be considered a kind of transitional period in which the soul slowly takes shape as it matures to a complete state. In terms of a flower's life cycle, the period was like a bud that was about to slowly bloom.

Many gods and demons often called this transitional period a half-developed state. Moreover, depending on what kind of achievements the subject who achieved exuviation and what level of power one previously possessed, there was a wide range of power levels one could possess in this state.

Naturally, though, there were not many heavenly world beings that could compare with the achievements Cha Jeong-woo possessed, as he had recorded numerous feats.

Whoosh! Cha Jeong-woo ran. As his spirit form took shape and became clearer, a majestic power started swirling in him. The sharpened senses were telling Jeong-woo that he had reached a higher realm than he had ever achieved during his lifetime.

Bam! Cha Jeong-woo struck out with his sword, colliding with Allforone's hand. The explosive shockwave swept out in all directions.

『I think I know what you're aiming for, but it's useless.』 Allforone pushed Cha Jeong-woo away with all his might while shouting firmly. Dozens of beams of light exploded from his fingertips and streaked toward Cha Jeong-woo to imprison him.

Cha Jeong-woo lifted the Dragon Slayer that Henova had made for him. The ground was forcibly raised, deflecting the oncoming beams of light. As the wall of earth crumbled, a thick cloud of dust spread out.

『In the end, you're just a half-developed transcendent, are you not?』

Sss. Allforone silently appeared behind Cha Jeong-woo. His movement was different from one originated from magic, like teleport or blink. His movement was closer to moving by simply 'folding' space. It was one of the representative skills that symbolized Allforone: Shukuchi.

『You're not qualified.』

Whoosh! Seemingly at the same time, Allforone's palms struck out like lightning and hit Cha Jeong-woo's back. For a moment, Allforone's hands gave off a golden glow as they seemingly expanded a dozen times larger. It was a Great Handprint.

[An error has occurred! The transcension can no longer proceed.]

[An error has occurred! The transcension can no longer proceed.]

...

[You are not qualified to proceed further. Please try again after meeting all qualifications.]

[The transcension has stopped!]

Divinity was the purification of one's soul. However, though Cha Jeong-woo's vestige body was qualified, the most important condition, the soul, was lost. Naturally, the conditions were unsatisfactory to complete transcendence. Allforone pointed this reality out, but...

『Well...』

Boom! Cha Jeong-woo used his improved agile senses to turn to the opposite side and swung out with Dragon Slayer. He used <Random Shooting> to release all the magic spells he had memorized so far.

『...what of it?』

Among the magic spells, there were many skills and divine-level magic spells that he had not mastered during his lifetime. Among the many repeated lives in the pocket watch, there were quite a few skills and spells that were acquired during the numerous lives as a magician and priest.. Moreover, possessing the Perfect Adaptability trait, Jeong-woo inevitably had a stable and well-developed base.

However, all of Jeong-woo's spells were shot out to merely offset the shockwave of Allforone's Great Handprint, even fractionally if not entirely. Cha Jeong-woo was able to buy enough breathing room and time to pull his body back as far as possible to prepare for his decisive strike.

『Whatever. I like how I am. I get to smile, laugh, and spend time with my brother, father, and everyone else.』

<Sky Wings>

<Wave of Light>

『I'm able to do things that I couldn't do on Earth. Who are you to judge whether I'm qualified or not? You're such an old-fashioned bastard!』

The pair of wings Cha Jeong-woo had completed long ago ran along his back, amplifying his magic and divine power to the maximum, and he compressed it to the extreme on the tip of his sword before exploding it. Flash. Pure white lights, boasting a completely different color from that of Allforone's, traversed past Allforone's golden light wall.

Allforone utilized Shukuchi to avoid Jeong-woo's attack and appeared in Cha Jeong-woo's blind spot. Allforone then exploded out with another Great Handprint strike, a formidable attack that only a few gods could properly deal with. Allforone was planning to subdue Cha Jeong-Woo with this attack. He had no intention of killing Jeong-woo because Allforone felt sorry for the soulless child who constantly suffered through the cursed wheel of fate. However, since the child had achieved exuviation, Jeong-woo would have to be locked up in a 'prison'.

Clang! Cha Jeong-woo simply turned to the side as if he expected the attack and once again deflected the Great Handprint strike.

『Can you just keep your hands off of us?』

Allforone suddenly got the feeling that something was amiss. Even though Jeong-woo's transcension had stopped progressing, the divine power surrounding Cha Jeong-woo continued to be amplified exponentially. Even the blow Allforone had just delivered was not something Jeong-woo should have easily blocked, since the last strike possessed enough power to instantly annihilate most gods...

'Could it be?' At that moment, Allforone suddenly noticed something strange.

『You've just figured it out? You old fogey, you're really slow. Being quick to adapt to changes is the trend these days, but you're so behind. Tsk tsk!』 Cha Jeong-woo swung once again and sent out another Wave of Light. The rays of light divided into dozens of branches, each containing a different characteristic. No, to be more exact, each possessed its own divine power.

While Allforone parried the rays of light one by one by encircling them with his golden light, he opened Thousand Li Eyes to look up into the seventy-eight floor. The links between Allforone and the various elder and conceptual gods, who had been extremely active to oust him in recent years...were now all directed towards Cha Jeong-woo.

[Fragments of Zehirete protect you!]

[Fragments of N'tse-Kaambl are bestowing blessings upon you!]

[Fragments of Xexanoth grant you grace!]

...

『What's going on...?』

The elder gods, existences who were so old that it was rare to find anyone who still remembered them, were empowering Cha Jeong-woo. Though eons had passed, and even though their egos had faded, the fragments of the elder gods' existences gave power to Jeong-woo as if he was their apostle.

Cha Jeong-woo was receiving blessings from countless beings. It was like the days of old when Yeon-woo contained the gods and demons of death within his body.

Just like the time when Yeon-woo acquired the powers and skills of thousands of gods and demons at once, Jeong-woo was now showing a similar appearance. If there was a difference, the beings that Cha Jeong-woo was representing as a vessel were more supreme beings that were different from common divine beings.

Of course, Allforone's voice had slightly quavered as he voiced his surprise.

『Surprising, no?』 Cha Jeong-woo teasingly stated at the frowning Allforone.『You must be. I was surprised as well.』

As the Dragon Slayer was dyed with waves of light once more, it shone brilliantly in a multitude of colors. The sword trembled as if it was about to explode at any moment. It was as if a dragon was crying.

『All these uncles want to help me all of a sudden... They're calling me the rightful heir of the 'Day' or some such thing...』

『...!』