Chapter 405
The Black Tower Incident had forced Se-Hoon to realize that the changes he had made to the world weren’t as significant as he had hoped.
Although he had expertly utilized his pre-regression knowledge to eliminate countless enemies and save even more people, in the grand scheme of things, it had only been less than a year—a fleeting moment.
Even if the world was playing out differently, there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t face destruction in thirty years, just as it had before.
If I disappear all of a sudden, that outcome becomes even more likely.
The world was set on a path toward annihilation, changing only because of how he had been acting as a variable. If that variable were to vanish? Then nothing would stop the world from reverting to its doomed fate.
When Wurgen had died, that reality had sunk deeply into Se-Hoon. Thus, to prevent such a situation from happening, he thought it best to forge something that could serve as his replacement.
And what he came up with was a specialized automaton that could perfectly replicate his abilities and be controlled from anywhere in the world.
BOOM!
The Warhound shattered Demon’s Edge’s head.
Taken by surprise, the creature wobbled. Its grotesque head, which had been stitched together beneath a white mask, had been obliterated without a trace. Immediately, Demon’s Edge lost all strength and his limbs collapsed like a puppet with severed strings.
The attack had come too fast for it to comprehend, severing his thoughts mid-process. As a result, he couldn’t even figure out that an enemy stood before him.
Demon’s Edge was left in a vulnerable state, one that the Warhound took to continue its barrage.
Its left hand, which had just crushed Demon’s Edge’s head, grabbed the creature’s regrowing stump—preventing its regeneration. Then, its right hand pierced straight through Demon’s Edge’s abdomen to shatter his heart.
Just like that, the Warhound had neutralized two of Demon’s Edge’s vital points in an instant. And, having weakened his regenerative abilities, it took advantage of the opening created to rip apart Demon’s Edge’s body further.
RIIIP!
In the blink of an eye, Demon’s Edge’s flesh and bone were torn away. His organs—completely different from those of a human—were destroyed one by one.
Experiencing the sheer brutality of the attack, Demon’s Edge instinctively tried to speed up his regeneration, but the damage already done was too great.
“So soft!”
Crack!
Each time the Warhound’s hand grazed it, the body crumbled apart like brittle clay. To an observer, the one sided domination would likely have looked as though Demon’s Edge had inexplicably grown weaker. But in truth, it was only because of the Warhound’s efficient and methodical dismantling which made it seem that way.
Click-
Behind the visor of its helmet, six glowing eyes meticulously analyzed everything—the enemy’s regeneration, mutations, and even the slightest hints of counterattacks—before transmitting every bit of the information to the core sealed inside the helmet which contained the Seeker’s mana.
Through that, it was relayed to Se-Hoon, who then made a decision that he relayed back to the Warhound through his power of Omniscience.
“Boundary Inversion.”
Whoosh-
By utilizing darkness mana, the Warhound replicated the power of Boundaries to erode Demon’s Edge by using the Netherworld itself. Immediately following up, it began using earth mana to imitate the power of Grace to unleash Divine Magic upon its enemy.
“Regeneration Neutralization.”
BOOM!
Just as the cursed swordsman’s heart and head were about to regenerate, a gray sphere crushed them again. The divine mana within also neutralized the demonic aura, further slowing its regeneration.
And at the very moment cracks formed across Demon’s Edge, the Warhound called upon fire mana to replicate the power of Anatta, igniting sacred flames.
Fwoosh!
Transparent flames surged through Demon’s Edge, spreading rapidly. Simultaneously, the Netherworld’s erosion and the divine purification intensified—they were amplifying each other.
The sacred flames, which purified corrupted minds, used the already-eroded and neutralized areas as focal points. From those locations, they burned away the remaining body to further weaken Demon’s Edge.
By no means were the Warhound’s abilities the genuine thing. They weren’t as powerful as those wielded by the Perfect Ones themselves, nor were they even as strong as when Se-Hoon used them. However, regardless of their strength, it could still flawlessly replicate those powers.
Even Se-Hoon’s greatest strength—which, in the first place, had never been raw power but his insight that had been refined through long years of experience—had been successfully reproduced by the Warhound.
BOOM!
It stepped forward to fill the void left by Se-Hoon—completely overwhelming Demon’s Edge.
Squelch-
Under the non-stop barrage, the monster’s body began breaking down. Se-Hoon instantly increased the Warhound’s power output, intensifying the attacks.
I have to kill it before it fully awakens...!
It wasn’t part of the plan, but beings like the one before him had to be eliminated the moment an opportunity arose. Otherwise, there was no telling how things would spiral out of control later.
The onslaught continued for about ten seconds—Demon’s Edge would explode out of the magma, only to be sent plummeting back down with a shattered head.
Just like before, Demon’s Edge was left incapable of thought with his head destroyed. Yet, the Essence of the Sword within his body fully understood the situation.
The enemies before it were weaker than the monster it had previously fought. And yet, they were far more dangerous.
For the first time in battle, the Essence of the Sword within Demon’s Edge felt the premonition of death.
If things continue like this, I won’t be able to reach the end.
If things continue like this, I can’t complete my sword.
If things continue like this, I won’t fulfill my duty.
With death approaching, the Essence of the Sword awakened its most primal instinct—which made it merge with the Harbinger Shard and mutate Demon’s Edge’s body.
Crack-
Abandoning his meaningless regeneration, Demon’s Edge instinctively converted every remaining part of its body into pure Essence of the Sword. And in that instant, when its entire being became a singular entity both in form and concept...
Woong-
A grotesquely twisted greatsword ignored all laws of physics and came swinging down on the Warhound.
BAM!!!
The monstrous hound was sent crashing into the magma below. Remaining above, Demon’s Edge began reconstructing its body with his newfound respite.
Crack! Crunch!
His original three-meter frame compressed down to two meters. The crude stitches and jagged spikes that jutted from his body vanished without a trace. Even the grotesque, fleshy greatsword he had wielded now looked more refined—although a bizarre, otherworldly energy bled from its blade like blood.
“...”
Observing his transformed form, Demon’s Edge kicked off the ground and soared toward the top of the crater.
There, at the summit, heroes stood in formation. Each of them faced a crimson spear that was impaled into the ground before them. With just a glance, Demon’s Edge instantly realized their plan.
“Were they planning to take control of the volcano...?”
If they had succeeded, they wouldn’t have just taken over the Silent Volcano but all the power the planet itself supplied as well.
I was in far greater danger than I realized.
By the time that realization had struck, Demon’s Edge had raised his greatsword to strike—
WHOOSH-
A fist came barreling toward its face.
Having already closed the distance, Jason swung his fist with full force, disregarding the collateral damage around him.
Yet, Demon’s Edge just watched impassively until, waiting until the eerie sword aura flowing from his greatsword condensed inward...
Slash!
The gap Jason had tried to exploit was cleaved apart by the Sword of Destruction.
BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, dozens of exchanges unfolded between the two. Shockwaves tore through the crater, and at the end, Jason was sent flying backwards. He barely managed to stay atop the crater, skidding to a halt on its edge.
Drip-
“...”
Blood dripped from his fist—the first time Jason had been wounded since conquering a Tower of Heroes.
He lifted his gaze at the Demon’s Edge.
“What. Are you going to ask how I did it again?” Standing in midair without a single scratch, Demon’s Edge looked down at Jason, his voice eerily calm voice. “While I am still incomplete... at least I understand the power I wield. Unlike you.”
“...”
“Until now, you got by on a surface-level understanding of your power. After all, that alone made you an overwhelming force in battle.”
Demon’s Edge raised his greatsword once more. The unnatural aura within it boiled, churning with violent energy.
Woong!
Honing the power of the Sword of Destruction—which could cut down all things in existence—Demon’s Edge coldly and quietly exposed the truth.
“But because of that... you now can’t even land a single hit on me.”
Jason’s expression hardened.
He somehow found a counter to my power.
He didn’t know how exactly Demon’s Edge had figured it out, but he knew one thing for certain: his fists would no longer reach his opponent.
No... I could still force it to work.
If he did, however, the damage wouldn’t be limited to his opponent. The entire battlefield—no, the entire realm—would be obliterated by the backlash.
“...I see.”
He couldn’t afford to hold back anymore. Making his decision in a split second, Jason clenched his bloodied fist with all his strength.
Rumble!
Just the act of gathering power into his fist shook the entire crater, making it seem as if it would collapse at any moment. And in response, Demon’s Edge gathered his power as well.
Then, the two swung their fist and sword simultaneously without waiting for the other. Again, without either acting first, the two clashed at the same instant.
Space itself distorted, but the two monsters continued their battle without much interest in the situation around them. Their exchange was so intense that even their afterimages were impossible to follow.
A storm of impacts erupted, fists and sword aura colliding and canceling each other out. Anything caught in their wake was crushed and sliced apart.
Drip-
Droplets of blood splattered across the heroes’ faces and across the ground. Neither was clearly visible amidst the chaos, but they could all tell one thing: Jason was being pushed back by the monstrous swordsman.
A Perfect One was being overwhelmed by a Ten Evil—an unthinkable sight that froze the heroes in place.
“Keep going!”
But a voice snapped them out of their daze, ringing out across the crater.
The heroes turned toward the sound. They saw Jake standing firm, clutching a crimson spear while shouting with all his strength.
“He’s not losing—he’s protecting us! So just keep—”
Splatter!
Blood sprayed around Jake mid-sentence. Seeing that, the heroes finally understood.
Jason wasn’t being overwhelmed. No, he was throwing himself into battle—sacrificing his own body—to shield them from Demon’s Edge’s attacks.
“Damn it...!”
“Hurry up already...!”
Gritting their teeth, the heroes drove their crimson spears deeper into the ground.
Wong~
A faint resonance rippled through the entire crater.
This is...
The barely perceptible tremor seemed meaningless at first, but Demon’s Edge’s instincts screamed at him, filling him with a faint unease.
So, without hesitation, he immediately unleashed waves of sword aura across the entire crater.
CRASH!
However, Jason was faster. His fists obliterated every incoming slash, sending more blood flying. By now, his entire body was covered in wounds, drenching him red. Yet, he kept resisting, unwavering.
Frustrated by Jason’s persistence, Demon’s Edge roared.
“You pathetic, incomplete wretch...!”
Why couldn’t he get rid of someone like that? Why did such a pathetic power make him feel so uneasy?
As a surge of anxiety and unknown fear clawed at him, he abruptly understood. Just like Jason, he had reached the end but still couldn’t fully wield his power—he, too, was an unfinished wretch himself.
“Akashic.”
And worst of all, he had forgotten about the enemy submerged in magma.
Akashic, Distorted Law: Universal Mirage
Woong!
The resonance between the crimson spears was sent deep into the magma—straight to the Warhound that was encased in thousands of layered magic arrays. Within its armor, a gemstone pulsed.
Then the Eclipse Orb, Sung-Ha’s Fatestone, triggered a powerful chain reaction that spread a wave of energy across the entire Silent Volcano.
It even reached the black pillar of the Netherworld, and when it did...
“Complete Source Resonance.”
The magma and the Netherworld’s darkness became one.
RUMBLE!
The darkness swallowed the entire Silent Volcano, freezing the flowing magma beneath the ground. The Eclipse Orb, which had both fire and darkness mana imbued within, fully fused with the volcanic power and the Netherworld’s darkness—all through the Warhound.
This was... actually possible...?
All the energy that Demon’s Edge was being supplied from the planet was severed, and the demonic aura that had infused the Silent Volcano vanished in an instant.
Flabbergasted, Demon’s Edge could only stare in utter disbe—he instinctively jerked his head back.
WHOOSH!
A silver fist pierced the space where his head had been. Seeing it, Demon’s Edge finally understood how he had been ambushed earlier.
He’s mixing spatial magic with the power of Boundaries...!
Now he knew. Although he had been caught off guard the first time, he was ready for the next. He couldn’t predict what would happen next, but regardless, eliminating the enemy right in front of him was of utmost priority.
Ready, Demon’s Edge honed his greatsword further to finish off the Warhound. But just then, the Warhound pointed upward.
“Above you.”
Instinctively, Demon’s Edge’s gaze went upward.
SHUNK!
However, instead of above, Amir plunged a dagger of ice into his back from beyond the boundary. Demon’s Edge quickly turned to counter, but then Luize’s incantation rang out.
“Teleportation.”
A figure materialized in the sky above: Sung-Ha. With two short spears in hand, he hurled them down at Demon’s Edge’s skull.
“Hmph...!”
BOOM!
The impact shattered Demon’s Edge’s head. And, at the same time, frost spread from the frost dagger buried within his back, freezing him solid.
CRACK!
Yet, even that still wasn’t enough to finish off Demon’s Edge.
Unleashing his mana, Demon’s Edge forcibly shattered the ice. His head was gone, and yet he still retaliated with precision.
Ever since he had converted his entire body into Essence of the Sword, losing his head no longer impaired him.
“We need some backup here!”
The Warhound lunged, locking onto Demon’s Edge.
Seizing that moment, Sung-Ha and Amir launched themselves forward as well.
“Acceleration.”
Boom!
Luize reinforced their movement with her incantation, allowing them to reach an insurmountable speed. Then, their spears and dagger struck in coordination with the Warhound’s assault.
CRACK! BOOM!
The Warhound struck first, disrupting Demon’s Edge’s stance. Sung-Ha’s spear pierced his body as a follow-up, shaking his core. Then Amir’s dagger finished the combination, severing the flow of power within him.
However, Demon’s Edge didn’t flinch, instantly shifting his focus and slashing down to eliminate the two—
WHOOSH!
But Luize pulled them back just in time. In the gap they left, the Warhound surged forward.
CRACK! CRACK! BOOM!
A resonance between two strikes shook Demon’s Edge’s very being. An overwhelming coldness seeped into his synesthetic mindscape, suppressing even his newly empowered body. Luize countered his attacks as if it were second nature. Se-Hoon imitated the powers of Perfect Ones and shattered the body that had reached the realm of the Harbingers of Destruction as if it were nothing.
Who... are these people...?
Even Jason, a Perfect One, had failed to overwhelm him in direct combat. Yet now, he couldn’t even mount a proper counterattack—he was being completely dominated.
The way they attacked him was too precise, too familiar. It was almost as if they had killed countless beings like him before.
And in that moment, he realized.
I’m going to die.
The power he had cultivated for decades—the strength he had amassed by devouring the flesh, blood, and souls of his kin—would all end here, just one step short of completion.
I can’t let that happen...
Even if it meant his own death, he wouldn’t allow that to happen. With every ounce of willpower, he resisted.
But it was pointless. A crushing sense of helplessness wrapped around him as the shadow of death loomed before him—
Absolutely not...! He screamed in his mind.
He realized it didn’t have to be him. As long as there was someone worthy, someone who sought the true form of the Essence of the Sword, then his will would be passed down.
As desperation burned violently within him, he heard a voice softly whispering in his mind.
“Is that really enough?”
He answered the voice without pause.
Yes.
“Then define that as your ‘destruction.’ Once you do, you should be able to succeed.”
It was an incomprehensible command. But as if responding to its true master, the Essence of the Sword moved on its own.
BOOM!
Demon’s Edge’s body exploded, obliterated without a trace. His very being was being consumed by the greatsword, by the Essence of the Sword converging into its core.
Woong!
Finally, the sword was now complete. It trembled with an ominous, resonant tone. At long last, the Sword of Destruction could seek its chosen successor.
Slash!
It cut through space itself and appeared right in front of Aria.
Seeing it, Aria tried to dodge... but her body refused to move.
It wasn’t exhaustion from battle; her very flesh and soul were bound by something, like a law that declared her very existence was meant to receive the sword.
Why...?!
Her face twisted in confusion.
Unable to dodge, she watched the Sword of Destruction shoot forward, aiming for her heart.
Squelch!
A sickening sound echoed through the air—but it wasn’t Aria who was pierced.
“!?”
Aria’s eyes widened in horror.
I... wanted to knock it away in style...
Jake, having thrown himself in front of the attack at the last moment, stared at his sister and let out a bitter smile.
Alas, that was just his limit. Perhaps if their positions had been reversed, his sister probably would have done it flawlessly.
But Jake quickly dismissed the notion, regarding it as a meaningless thought passing through his mind.
He opened his mouth. “I’m sorr—”
BOOM!
Jake’s heart exploded, completely consumed by the sword’s power.
CRACK- CRACK-
A tremendous force erupted from Jake’s body.
The Sword of Destruction was now shrinking, seemingly being devoured by something far more ominous.
It radiated an energy that was now on an entirely different level. Jake’s own blade in his synesthetic mindscape had been completely absorbed, reshaping him into something completely new.
Stupefied, Aria could only watch. Her mind refused to process what was happening.
“Aria!”
A voice cut through the chaos.
“!”
Snapping back to her senses, Aria turned toward Se-Hoon, who had ripped through space to appear before her.
“Grab it!”
He gave an urgent, groundless order. But knowing it was no time for hesitation, Aria obeyed—there was no other choice.
She reached out toward the Sword of Destruction.
Woong-
Her fingers closed around the hilt, and darkness consumed the world.