Chapter 419
Thud!
Anushka’s headless body crumpled to the ground, allowing Se-Hoon to let out the breath he’d been holding.
“Phew...”
A sharp pain throbbed in his head, the precarious sensation of his body being torn apart still threatening to consume him. The lingering aftereffects of battle... it had been a while since he last felt them.
Frowning due to the pain, Se-Hoon looked down at himself.
I barely used it, and yet...
By harmonizing his body with his brain that had been sped up by the power of Premotion, he could wield it freely. And he had even used only a fraction of what he’d employed to pierce through the planet’s core. Yet, despite that, his body was still on the verge of breaking apart.
It’s not even on the verge.... My body was torn apart.
Had he not bound himself together with the power of Boundaries in time, pain wouldn’t have been the only consequence. Even with all his stats reaching S-rank, his body still felt as weak as paper.
Annoyed by his fragility, Se-Hoon scowled.
[Skill ‘Unity of Mind and Body (S)’ has been acquired.]
And just as he did, a notification message popped up before his eyes. Reading it, Se-Hoon raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.
Did I even do anything worthwhile to acquire a skill like this?
Judging by the circumstances, it would have to have resulted from his usage of Silver River, but that was all he knew. He couldn’t even guess what the exact effect would be. Curious, he was about to pull up the information message when he abruptly stopped upon seeing the Seeker approaching.
“Hmm...”
The Seeker looked down at Anushka’s corpse with an odd expression.
Seeing that, Se-Hoon spoke plainly. “If you try anything weird—”
“I’ll end up like that too, right? I’m not that clueless, so don’t worry.”
The Seeker waved a hand dismissively, examining the corpse while replaying the battle in her mind.
I knew she'd lose, but... I didn’t expect it to be this one-sided.
Sure, Anushka had been at a disadvantage from the start, fighting with her core heart destroyed. But even considering that, the outcome shouldn’t have been that drastically different. That should have especially been the case because of the end when her World Reformation had been at full power, unrestricted.
What in the world did he do?
Unless dodged or blocked in advance, the concept of “death” that was born from World Reformation was powerful enough to kill even a Perfect One. Yet Se-Hoon had brushed it off like nothing and counterattacked immediately. She simply could not comprehend how, despite witnessing it up close with her own eyes.
Maybe she figured something out right before she died...
Recalling the very end, the Seeker remembered how Anushka had seemed like she wanted to say something. Perhaps she had sensed something terrifying about Se-Hoon?
The Seeker mulled over her thoughts for a bit, then cautiously asked, “Hey, if it’s not too much trouble—”
“It is too much trouble.”
“...Then, just one thing—”
“If you’re going to be sorry, don’t say it.”
“...”
Se-Hoon rejected her outright without even listening. The Seeker trembled, biting her lip in indignation. Wasn’t it basic etiquette to at least pretend to listen before saying no?
“I’ve done so much for world peace.... Damn kids these days don’t know a thing about gratitude...” grumbled the Seeker, slumping to the ground.
Her appearance on the floor made Se-Hoon sigh. Then, after a moment of contemplation, he caved.
“...Fine, I’ll hear you out.”
“For real?”
The Seeker shot up from the ground as if she’d never been sulking in the first place.
Nodding in confirmation, Se-Hoon added one more clause. “But if it involves anything related to meddling with her corpse, I’ll toss you straight into the Netherworld.”
“...”
The Seeker remained silent. Then, after a few seconds, she silently turned away and sat back down, dejected.
Knew it.
From the way she had been eyeing the corpse, she already seemed suspicious. And just as he thought, it turned out that she had been planning to do something weird with it.
Shaking his head in exasperation, Se-Hoon immediately conjured Sacred Fire and scattered it over the corpse.
Fwoosh-
“Ahhh...”
A wistful cry escaped the Seeker as she watched Anushka’s body being erased by the Sacred Flames before finally disappearing altogether.
However, amidst the embers, a deep crimson glow remained. Anushka’s tongue, heart, and torso—once parts of the Seeker’s body—had been purified into pure energy by the Sacred Flames.
Glad I learned this from Li Kenxie.
Not only had the body been dealt with, but its remnants had also become easier to transport. Satisfied, Se-Hoon reached into the fire and grasped the crimson light—
Ba-dump.
A strange pulse resounded within his chest upon contact.
“...?!”
Something felt off. He immediately tried to pull his hand away... but the Seeker’s power had already seeped in.
Swish!
The energy surged up his arm, coiling around his heart.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
Something bizarre happened. Se-Hoon now felt two separate heartbeats, as if he had grown a second heart.
Se-Hoon’s eyes twisted in disbelief. What the hell...?
When he had previously gotten his hands on the Seeker’s left and right arms, nothing similar had occurred. Why was there a peculiar blend of foreignness and unity within his body now?
Alas, he wasn’t given the time to process the contradiction.
Swoosh-!
A black blade shot out from the shadows, slashing toward his throat.
“...!”
An ambush—perfectly timed.
Caught off guard, Se-Hoon’s instincts reacted.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Despite the unfavorable situation, Se-Hoon forced his body to counterattack. In the blink of an eye, their swords had clashed dozens of times. Against the onslaught of the black obsidian blade, the Stellar Radiance Blade—summoned by the Celestial Infinity Blade—barely deflected the onslaught.
Of course, it was a decent defense considering the circumstances, but his opponent wasn’t easy, either.
Heroic Dance of the Nine Hells
Swish!
Doppelganger’s body split into dozens of shadows. In an instant, ghostly warriors surrounded him from all directions, their weapons raised.
Demonic Manifestation...!
Recalling the same transformation he had seen at Jason’s orchard, Se-Hoon understood: the enemy had come prepared, without a doubt.
His mind racing in that moment, Se-Hoon felt the need to make a split-second decision. There wasn’t enough time to deflect everything with his Stellar Radiance Blade. Furthermore, even if he could manage it, Doppelganger would immediately follow up with subsequent attacks.
Ba-dump.
To make things worse, his skills and powers weren’t responding as usual; the foreign energy intertwined with his heart was interfering.
Before the rapidly approaching incoming attacks, Se-Hoon’s mind raced to decide what to abandon and what to seize.
Clatter!
Chains suddenly shot out of the shadows on the ground. The Seeker, reacting a beat too late, had finished forming a mudra to restrain Doppelganger’s doppelgangers.
However, while the timing was flawless, the chains simply weren’t strong enough.
Clang!
The shadows effortlessly shook off the chains and continued their relentless assault, weapons slicing through the air. And as they did so, Doppelganger adjusted its stance, preparing for their next move.
This is my last chance.
If it missed the current opportunity, Doppelganger believed there would never be another to steal the Seeker’s body parts from Se-Hoon. The brief exchange moments ago had made that painfully clear.
Resolved, Doppelganger summoned every ounce of its power—
Squelch!
Se-Hoon’s left hand dug straight into his own solar plexus. Dumbfounded, Doppelganger froze at the shocking act of self-harm committed right as the enemy’s attacks were pouring in. He had wasted the brief reprieve the Seeker had bought him?
Why...?
Se-Hoon still had time to attack, defend, or dodge. Why did he throw that all away? Could it be the activation of some skill? No—there was no sign of mana movement.
Doppelganger’s instincts screamed in warning at the inexplicability of it all.
Squelch!
Yanking his hand free, Se-Hoon hurled something forward: a crimson orb, the size of a clenched fist.
Alarmed, Doppelganger instinctively moved to slice it apart, but then it felt it. The unique presence of a Perfect One. The faint pulse emanating from within.
No way...
Recognizing that the object was the Seeker’s heart, Doppelganger immediately twisted its attack trajectory away from the crimson orb. It then reached out, desperate to seize the ultimate prize...
“Unity of Mind and Body.”
Having been freed from his restraints, Se-Hoon lunged forward.
BOOM!
His attack carved through the battlefield like a blazing blue meteor. The impact ground the floor into dust, obscuring the battlefield momentarily.
Then, once the dust settled, the situation was revealed. Doppelganger lay sprawled on the ground with Se-Hoon looming over it, with Stellar Radiance embedded in Doppelganger’s solar plexus.
“Ugh...”
Doppelganger groaned, looking at Se-Hoon in disbelief. The battle had turned against it in the blink of an eye.
“It is somewhat ironic for me to say this, but... your body is monstrous.”
Doppelganger’s voice carried both admiration and horror. How was he moving that well despite his heart being destroyed?
“I’m just a little sturdier than most.”
“A little? You say such terrifying things so nonchalantly.” Doppelganger’s voice was laced with exhaustion.
Denying a response other than a shrug, Se-Hoon drove the Stellar Radiance deeper into Doppelganger.
Crunch!
The blade ravaged Doppelganger’s heart, shredding its insides. Not taking any chances, Se-Hoon also used the power of Boundaries to lock Doppelganger’s body in place, ensuring no escape.
And yet—despite being in the jaws of death—Doppelganger was calm.
“If this were any other occasion, this would be your victory.... But you’re out of luck today.”
“...What now?”
Woong!
A massive magic array unfolded beneath Doppelganger. It was intricately structured—something clearly prepared in advance.
Realizing that, Se-Hoon, wary of getting caught up in it, jumped back.
Flash!
A crimson light flared, and Doppelganger was gone without a trace.
“...”
Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes at the bloodstains left behind.
“Huh? Where’d that bastard go?”
Arriving a few moments too late, the Seeker glanced around in confusion.
“It ran away.”
“What?! No way—wait. What about the Heart? Tell me you still have it,” the Seeker panicked, turning to Se-Hoon urgently.
And without a single word, Se-Hoon just pointed to the gaping hole in his solar plexus.
“Ah.Ahh...”
Among the body parts retrieved, the heart was just as crucial as the tongue. Yet it had just been stolen, making the Seeker slump in defeat.
Meanwhile, Se-Hoon was busy replaying the last few moments in his mind.
Something doesn’t add up.
At first, the ambush could have been dismissed as Doppelganger seizing a mere opportune moment.
But Doppelganger’s escape—its use of the heart—felt too precise to be a coincidence.
It seemed to know exactly what it was doing.
If Doppelganger had prior knowledge about the Seeker’s body... who had given it to him?
Is there a traitor among the Regions? No, that doesn’t seem right...
As Se-Hoon pondered over the source of the leak, the Seeker sank to the ground with her head in her hands.
“I still can’t believe you just threw it away like that! Who the hell throws the heart like it’s some toy? It’s not a damn LEGO piece...”
Glancing at the Seeker, Se-Hoon responded calmly. “It happens. No need to dwell on it.”
But at those words, the Seeker’s eyes immediately narrowed.
How the hell is he so nonchalant about this?
He should at least pretend to regret it.
Has he gotten cocky after killing a Perfect One and a Harbinger of Destruction...? Wait. Cocky?
A sudden realization struck the Seeker. Was Se-Hoon really the type to make careless mistakes? Recalling everything she knew about Se-Hoon, the Seeker paused.
And at that moment, Se-Hoon smirked.
“One correction, though. I didn’t lose it.”
His gaze shifted toward the distance, where he could still sense the heart’s faint presence.
“They just took the bait.”
***
A small factory on the outskirts of Wuhan, China, was a seemingly ordinary place. Yet deep inside, a secret meeting of the Demon Force was taking place.
“This is the Seeker’s heart,” Doppelganger announced, casually tossing the crimson orb forward.
Catching it, Caden began examining it with fascination.
“...Now I see why you called it the perfect material.”
Among all of the vessels they had used so far, the one he held in his hands now was beyond exceptional.
“How... was... Lee Se-Hoon’s reaction...?”
A fragmented voice resounded from the crystal ball on the table, the light flickering.
“When he came into contact with the heart, he reacted strangely. Just like you predicted.”
“Hmm... So his compatibility must be high.... Perhaps we... should have taken him instead...”
The voice trailed off, tinged with regret.
In contrast, Doppelganger remained wary.
“Be careful not to underestimate him.”
“Oh? You sound... shaken. Was it that painful?” The voice teased him.
Yet Doppelganger didn’t react, just silently pulling off its coat—revealing its injuries.
Drip-
A deep wound covered his torso, the cut still gnawing away at the flesh like a brand. The wound was so severe that even Demonic Manifestation struggled to suppress it.
“Wow... You’d be dead if you went there barehanded, huh...?”
“In terms of raw power, he’s more dangerous than even the Perfect Ones. But more than that... killing him is near impossible.”
Unlike the Perfect Ones, who each had their implicit weaknesses with their powers, Se-Hoon possessed far too many abilities. He was so well-rounded that it was nearly impossible to exploit a single flaw.
“Ahh... That guy... really is a nightmare... How the hell was something... like him even born...?”
Ignoring the voice filled with disbelief, Doppelganger changed the subject.
“What about the eyes?”
“Succession secured them... I’ll be taking the left one...”
“And the recovery time?”
“The torso? A month at most. The left eye? ...Much longer.”
With the new information, Doppelganger assessed their remaining forces.
Of the Ten Evils, only itself, Heaven Eye, and Puppeteer were combat-ready. Tuner and Beast King were still recovering. And the Golden Wheel and Elder Lord refused to act.
Of the Watchers, they had lost significant strength as a whole.
This is bleak. But it doesn’t change what I have to do.
Ignoring the pain, Doppelganger turned to Caden.
“How is the forging process going?”
“Oh, right. I forgot to mention.”
Caden carefully placed the Heart into a secure container.
“Your request has been accepted.”
Doppelganger’s eyes widened.
“...Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
Caden smiled.
“My master will personally forge your sword.”