Chapter 442
“Damn it...”
A heavy silence settled over the ruins as Li Wen stared down at the now empty ground with a frown.
If he had known he’d get such an absurd answer, he wouldn’t have asked in the first place. The frustration gnawed at him, making him bite down hard on his lip.
Then, suddenly, he felt a gaze from beside him.
“...”
Snapping out of it, Li Wen blinked and looked around—only to find Li Fei staring intently at him. That was when it hit him: his daughter had woken up. Caught off guard, Li Wen met her gaze awkwardly.
“Um... uh... Do you know who I am?”
They hadn’t even met properly, let alone kept in touch. Could she really recognize him?
Thankfully, despite his worries, Li Fei dazedly muttered, “Daddy...?”
“Y-yeah! That’s right, I’m your dad!”
“Daddy... hmm...”
Looking at the father she’d only ever seen in photos or videos, Li Fei made a slightly troubled face.
“But he said I’m not supposed to meet you right now...”
“Huh?”
“Grandpa said if I met you now, you’d get hurt...”
“What do you mean—”
Before Li Wen could finish, his face just beginning to twist in confusion at the unfamiliar words, Se-Hoon stepped closer.
Tap.
With a light tap of his index finger on Li Fei’s forehead, her eyes gently closed. She looked so peaceful asleep that it was as if she had never woken up in the first place.
Seeing her state, Li Wen turned to look at Se-Hoon in surprise.
“Let’s talk more once we return. It’s a bit too chaotic around here to hold a proper conversation.”
“Ah, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“No worries. But more importantly...” Se-Hoon trailed off, looked Li Wen up and down to confirm he wasn’t hurt, then frostily glared at him. “Never again barge onto my battlefield without telling me in advance.”
While he could understand Li Wen’s urgency, given the situation, it was still completely reckless of him to stand in the way of the berserk Li Kenxie. And considering that Li Wen had only B-rank physical ability and absolutely no aptitude for the power of Anatta, that was especially the case. Had things gone even slightly wrong, he would have perished on the spot.
“Lea, you in particular. We’ll be having a serious talk about the topic later.”
“...I’m sorry.”
Having been observing from the Netherworld gate at Se-Hoon’s feet, Lea apologized immediately in a deflated voice. After all, it had been she who had helped Li Wen beyond the boundary, allowing him to enter the battlefield.
I thought she could only control the overall flow of power.... To think she was able to even manipulate the power of Boundaries itself.
Perhaps he had underestimated the full potential of the synergy between Lea’s unique skill, Phase Manifestation, and her Sphere.
Falling silent, Se-Hoon organized his thoughts.
“Um... Please don’t be too hard on her. It was me who practically forced her to let me out. She... had no choice,” Li Wen cautiously said after a moment, feeling bad that Lea was getting scolded because of him.
“...” Just staring quietly, Se-Hoon then let out a sigh after a brief pause. “Phew. Alright. Whatever the case, things ended well enough.”
Recalling how Li Kenxie had stopped himself from attacking and simply stood there during the final moments, Se-Hoon revised his last impression of the Sacred Craftsman.
“For now, please head to Babel via the Netherworld. Once things are settled, I’ll explain everything to you step by step.”
“Understood.”
With a nod, Li Wen obediently turned around to return to the Netherworld. But just before stepping in, he paused.
“Um... Is it okay if I ask you just one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“What did you... think of my father?”
He had always thought that, as his son, he understood the most about Li Kenxie. But after all that happened, he couldn’t help but wonder. Had he... had he ever truly known him at all?
Hearing the unmistakable doubt clearly conveyed in Li Wen’s voice, Se-Hoon gave his answer serious consideration.
“To most people... he would seem like a terrible, irresponsible man. Just as you said earlier.”
He disregarded his Five Element Equipment, ignored the Seven Saints, made innumerable sacrifices, and unremorsefully used billions of lives as offerings for his wish. No matter how many achievements he had as a Perfect One, Li Kenxie’s actions couldn’t be excused.
“But...”
Because Li Kenxie had reached the summit of the Tower of Heroes before completing his enlightenment, his cracked self had been immortalized as the law known under the name “Sacred Craftsman.”
Due to that, Li Kenxie had become someone unable to recognize the problem nor fix it. In that case, was it truly fair to judge such a being as if he were still human? It was a question where the answer would likely differ depending on the answerer’s personal values, but Se-Hoon summarized his simply.
“To me, he’s simply a pitiful man.”
He had no intention of denying or justifying Li Kenxie’s sins. Still, he alone remembered the kind-hearted nature the man once possessed. At the very least, he could feel sorry for how far things had gone astray.
“...Thank you.”
Li Wen gave a polite bow and crossed into the Netherworld with Li Fei nestled in his arms. Although he didn’t look fully convinced, his expression had softened somewhat—his thoughts were settling down.
What a complicated issue...
Sealing the boundary, Se-Hoon spoke to Lea in the Netherworld. “How’s the situation like over there?”
“Most of the souls caught in the Offering Ritual have been recovered. A few slipped away, but they were merely hiding criminals.”
Se-Hoon was not Wurgen, who had revived the dead instantly through the Heavenshrouded Eyes of the Netherworld; he couldn’t replicate that feat. That was why, instead, he had brought the souls into the Netherworld and would have the Blessing of the Eternal revive them.
Of course, any criminals who didn’t meet the criteria would die in the process.
“Hm... That’s a hassle.”
However, they still couldn’t blindly label those dead as criminals without proper investigation, despite errors being unlikely with the Blessing of the Eternal acting as a universal law.
And especially because Se-Hoon had a general understanding of the conditions required to receive the Blessing of the Eternal, he knew it would be best to carry out a proper investigation still—just in case.
If we do look into it and find nothing wrong... that in itself could be a problem, too.
Perhaps not now, but in the distant future, it would be known that people who hadn’t committed crimes would be eligible for revival through the blessing. Once that happened, sooner or later, someone would suggest a radical idea: “Just kill them first and sort it out later.”
Well, that’s a discussion for another time.
Shaking the thought away, Se-Hoon switched topics.
“How are the others?”
Scattered across China, the six individuals had taken down the Seven Saints. And while dealing with the Seven Saints wouldn’t have been too difficult for them, assisting Se-Hoon by resonating with him to support the power of Boundaries must have been a significant burden.
Taking a moment, Lea began checking on people in multiple places before calmly replying, “No one seems to be injured, but they all are experiencing headaches. Probably because of the massive spike in mental load over a short period. It’s not something to worry about too much.”
“Hm...”
Se-Hoon fell into thought.
The Heavenshrouded Eyes of the Netherworld really required quite a load.
Even with Lea’s support dividing the strain among the seven of them, in addition to himself, the side effects of using Wurgen’s Final Revelation lingered.
It reminded Se-Hoon once again. Contrary to what he thought—that he’d grown used to the power of Boundaries—the gap between an ordinary hero and a Perfect One was all too clear.
I’ll need to prepare more thoroughly next time.
With a decent grasp of the situation now, Se-Hoon scanned the surroundings briefly before asking Lea, “Anything else unusual?”
“Hmm... There’s nothing showing up on the Sphere. Is something bothering you?”
At her question, Se-Hoon took another look at the Earth Weaving Loom standing alone in the ruins—and the ley lines running beneath it.
Forged using the heart of the Seeker, the ominous vessel—left unfinished when the Offering Ritual was cut short and Li Kenxie was killed—held Se-Hoon’s gaze for a moment.
“I think I’ll have to go see it for myself. For now, help me finish cleaning up the area.”
“Got it. Call me if you need anything,” Lea affirmed, before her presence from the Netherworld faded.
Se-Hoon walked over to the Earth Weaving Loom.
Is Earthweaver... gone?
He examined the loom lightly, wondering if the Offering Ritual had damaged it. But the only notable change was that the ownership bound to Luo Mingmei had vanished.
Maybe the Earthweaver was a fusion of Li Kenxie and Luo Mingmei’s synesthetic mindscapes.
He had thought it odd that the androgynous appearance and the expression it had worn while embracing Li Fei didn’t quite match Li Kenxie. If his theory was correct, though, then along with the fact that Earthweaver appeared six years ago—on the day Luo Mingmei died—it could all be explained.
Maybe a soul had inhabited it.
Recalling the final whisper he’d heard while extracting Li Fei, Se-Hoon placed a hand on the Earth Weaving Loom and looked down at the heart of the Seeker that was lying unusually still deep inside the ley lines below.
“Time to wrap this up.”
Drawing in Silver River, he began pulling the entire ley line network upward.
Rumble...
The once-still surroundings shook violently, threatening to collapse again. Yet Se-Hoon continued, creating newly formed cracks in the ground that revealed a shimmering red energy.
The Seeker’s heart and the ley line network—tangled with Sacred Flames and the essence of Li Kenxie—had interwoven to form an incomplete vessel.
Securing both components tightly with Silver River, Se-Hoon began lifting it toward the surface—
Thump-!
An ominous sound echoed, a prelude to the fierce pulse that followed. The previously dormant vessel began thrashing violently.
Rumble!
The ley line surged like volcanic magma, bringing with it a heavy resistance from below. However, despite the feeling that someone was trying to drag it back down, Se-Hoon didn’t panic.
In fact, he smirked.
“Knew it.”
He had long deduced, based on various clues, that Doppelganger was working with Caden. Yet Doppelganger hadn’t shown itself even after Caden’s death and the collapse of the Offering Ritual, leading to only one conclusion that could be drawn.
The Demon Force was prepared for failure.
There were only two targets worth seizing now: him or the incomplete vessel. Everything was going as expected. Se-Hoon looked down with cold eyes.
“Now.”
“Yes, sir, on it.”
The Seeker—managing the planetary control system in Terra’s place at the boundary between the outer and inner cores—flapped its wings.
Rumble!
Immediately, a portion of the planet’s power surged up toward Se-Hoon’s location, lifting the vessel toward the surface.
What are you going to do now?
Would they reveal their hidden card to seize the vessel? Or would they simply give up? Either way, Se-Hoon had nothing to lose.
Eyes gleaming, he watched the vessel slowly rise—
Blood Demon Art: Blood Pact Dissolution
Fwoosh-
A drop of blood lingering in Se-Hoon’s heart fizzled away like foam.
“...!”
The strange sensation made Se-Hoon’s eyes widen, and he froze for just a brief second. But that second had been all the vessel needed to regain its freedom—and explode with all its power.
BOOOM!
A crimson explosion swept through the area. The shockwave roared out in every direction.
When the dust settled and the light gradually faded, the center of the blast came into view. Standing there at the center of a massive crater, at least a kilometer wide, was Se-Hoon, completely unscathed.
“...”
Having used the power of Boundaries and Metamorphosing Dreams, he had effortlessly deflected the explosion.
That sensation just now... He quietly looked down at his chest.
He’d felt something foreign in his heart. His brows furrowed, Se-Hoon soon realized what it was and turned his eyes downward.
There, on the torn earth, lay something strange: a translucent crimson orb, as if molded from Sacred Flames.
Se-Hoon picked it up and examined it calmly.
“...Didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”
He stared at the split vessel, a strange look on his face.
***
In the southern region of South America, the exact spot where Wuhan was on the other side of the world, the land was twisted and corrupted by demonic aura. Here, nothing but distorted life could grow.
Yet two figures were standing in confrontation amidst the tainted lands.
“Answer me,” Doppelganger demanded, hand on the hilt at its waist. “Why did you destroy the vessel?”
The other figure, with a cigarette between her lips, glanced at the crimson orb in her hand.
“If we kept holding out there, we would’ve lost everything. Better to destroy it than let them take it,” Meirin answered casually.
“Wasn’t that too rash of a decision?”
“Rash? You’re the one being greedy. Just look at the situation.”
The cover from Heaven Eye was blocked from the start by the Visionary, and the explosion triggered by the heart of the Seeker had caused minor damage, at best. If they’d kept pushing, Se-Hoon would’ve countered immediately, and the losses would’ve been far worse.
“And I guarantee: if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have recovered even half of it.”
They had only managed to retrieve half of the vessel solely thanks to the Blood Pact between her and Se-Hoon—specifically the clause about “understanding each other’s positions,” which had created a loophole.
Because of that, Meirin spoke with confidence. She had done nothing wrong.
“...And you claim you can make it with just that?” Doppelganger asked after a moment of silence.
The vessel was incomplete, and now even split in two. Could it really still serve as the foundation for their last-ditch move?
In response, Meirin indifferently glanced down at the crimson orb in her hand once again.
“Of course. This is more than enough.”