Chapter 440
Bang!
With a loud pop, the final fizzling out crimson star was gone, and the wave emitted by the Earth Weaving Loom ceased entirely.
Gone was the rage of the Sacred Flames, their momentum utterly disrupted.
“...”
Less than a minute—that was how long it had been since the Offering Ritual had moved to the second phase, and it had already come to an abrupt halt. Unable to process what he was seeing, Li Kenxie stared in disbelief. Right now, damage control wasn’t even on his mind.
“How...?”
A majority of the Seven Saints, including their leader Wu Lei, were seasoned veterans who had fought since in the initial war against the Demon Force. Even if they borrowed the power of their Sacred Equipment to reach their fame, they were still widely recognized as formidable S-rank heroes.
And having honed their talents over many years alongside their Sacred Equipment while taking all kinds of elixirs to enhance their physical capabilities, they were easily among the upper ranks in terms of even raw strength alone.
Such people had been annihilated? All of them? Despite being empowered by millions of souls and the Sacred Flames?
The outcome was simply too incomprehensible to make sense of, making Li Kenxie turn to the confidently standing Se-Hoon for answers.
“What did you do?”
“I told you just now, though? Your Sacred Equipment is complete and utter trash.”
“...”
Li Kenxie’s eyes twitched. Was he just trying to provoke him? Or... was there truly some flaw in his equipment that even he, the Sacred Craftsman himself, hadn’t recognized?
Not knowing which, Li Kenxie’s mind churned with questions as a wave of displeasure surged within him. Immediately, the Sacred Flames all over his body blazed fiercely in response to the emotion—which didn’t go unnoticed.
Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes.
So he’s not completely devoid of emotion after all.
When the Offering Ritual had first begun, Se-Hoon began assuming that conquering the Tower of Heroes had twisted Li Kenxie’s values entirely. But after their discussion about transcendence, that assumption began morphing.
And that was when he saw Li Kenxie react emotionally.
It’s not that he lacks emotions. They’re just burned away by the Sacred Flames every single time they surface.
It was an important distinction, one that separated the hero Li Kenxie from the Sacred Craftsman—and led to the extreme decision to sacrifice hundreds of millions of souls for the Offering Ritual.
If that’s the case...
If they existed, then perhaps even now, Li Kenxie wasn’t beyond persuasion.
Se-Hoon looked at the still-flabbergasted Li Kenxie and opened his mouth. “Do you really still not know the reason?”
“...I don’t,” Li Kenxie responded after a slight pause, letting out a sigh.
“Then I’ll tell you. It might be slightly different, but Caden most likely used the Sacred Equipment and the properties of the Sacred Flames to gain power from the souls.”
From what Se-Hoon theorized, Caden had altered the Sacred Equipment to act as an extension of Li Kenxie and led the souls to it with the Sacred Flames. And instead of stabilizing them like that, Caden additionally used the Sacred Equipment as relay points to connect everything to the Offering Ritual. Thanks to that, the burden was minimized while also allowing the wielders to access the strength of the souls and the Sacred Flames.
“But if used like that, the Sacred Equipment becomes unstable. There’s no way the souls could truly merge within them. Left without their greatest strength, the Seven Saints were wiped out that easily.”
Against an ordinary S-rank opponent, the Seven Saints would have overwhelmed them with brute force enhanced still by the Sacred Equipment. But when it came to beings who had either surpassed S-rank, much less those approaching transcendence, their strength despite all they gained was nothing but a sandcastle—easily destroyed.
“Dean Ryu can mimic the Sacred Flame’s power with her unique skill and resist it with Defiant Ember. Any of the Seven Saints would’ve been crushed by her in a single blow.”
“...”
“Aria’s sword aura would’ve cut through any in one stroke. And Jake, despite his lack of physical strength, would’ve used his wits to still secure a win with the power of Premotion that he now has.”
He hadn’t seen a single battle directly, but the time it took those three to win made it easy to infer how the fights had unfolded.
Recalling the crimson stars that had vanished earlier, Li Kenxie calmly asked, “Then who took out the others?”
“I’m not entirely sure... but probably the Three Dogs.”
They’d been instructed to follow Amir’s orders in emergencies. And he definitely would have recognized the Seven Saints as high-priority targets, meaning they must have split up and taken them down.
“I had a hunch... so they were your comrades, after all.”
“More or less. Those three are just... strong. If they’re fully prepared, they should be able to hunt down even a Perfect One.”
Even Se-Hoon, often called a monster by others, had to admit that if he were to go up against the Three Dogs under the wrong circumstances, surviving would be a miracle.
“Even a Perfect One...”
For saying such hubris, Li Kenxie would have incinerated anyone with Sacred Flames. Coming from Se-Hoon, however, who had subdued the rampaging Wurgen and even defeated multiple Harbingers of Destruction with transcendent strength...
Recalling those events, Li Kenxie gazed at Se-Hoon with now much calmer eyes.
“Alright. Then who’s the last one?”
“Hmm...”
Se-Hoon made an uncertain expression. The original plan had been to dispatch the Warhound to the final target, and it had indeed been en route. But before it could arrive, someone else had already taken out the last of the Seven Saints.
If there is anyone who could do that right now...
A sudden hunch hit him. His head snapping toward the sky, Se-Hoon activated the power of Perception and watched with eyes full of wonder the pure white trajectory he caught streaking across the sky.
No way... Ha Baek-Yeon?
At the discovery of Baek-Yeon’s intervention, a flick of surprise flashed past Se-Hoon’s face—understandably so. For a direct confrontation with Demon Force, maybe. But for her to step in during a situation involving heroes? That hadn’t happened in a long time.
I thought she would just watch from the sidelines since she didn’t interfere even during the Offering Ritual.... What could have changed her mind?
He didn’t have a single idea about what she was thinking. But that was for later. Right now, his focus had to remain on Li Kenxie, who stood right in front of him.
Organizing his thoughts, Se-Hoon looked back at the man awaiting his answer. “It seems it was the Visionary.”
“...What?” Not expecting such an answer, Li Kenxie was taken aback. But then, as if something clicked, he quietly muttered, “So she made her choice...”
He let out a bitter laugh. Baek-Yeon had acted because the moments now were her “turning point.” That, if true, meant one thing: the conclusion of the Offering Ritual had already been decided—
No... That’s precisely why I can’t stop now.
With that thought, the ceaselessly flickering Sacred Flames across Li Kenxie’s body finally calmed.
And in turn, Se-Hoon’s expression hardened. He had instantly realized that Li Kenxie—who had been considering the situation since the beginning—had made his decision.
“Can I ask why you are so obsessed with finding the answer?”
But before that, he still had to know. What possibly was so important that Li Kenxie would sacrifice hundreds of millions and still refuse to give up even when cornered?
“...I don’t know.”Li Kenxie’s voice was serene. “And that’s precisely why I must find out.”
He thrust both hands into his chest without hesitation.
Woong!
Because his entire body had long-since been transmuted into Sacred Flames, no blood splattered.
“...”
Se-Hoon silently watched as Li Kenxie slowly pulled his hands out, bringing out a transparent crystal that looked as though it were forged from the Sacred Flames themself. Feeling the power emanating from it, Se-Hoon’s eyes widened.
Sacred Flames Heart Hammer
The orb—Li Kenxie’s essence—took the form of a flaming hammer and hammered the burning land.
Clang!
Flame stuck flame, yet a clear metallic clang rang out.
Rumble-
At the same time, the Sacred Flames that had quieted upon the Seven Saints’ deaths began to surge once more.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Watching as the Offering Ritual progressed bit by bit with each strike, Se-Hoon didn’t take long to understand what Li Kenxie was doing.
He’s actually using his essence to forge the vessel...
Although it was slightly different, it resembled how Li Kenxie had used the Seeker’s Left Arm to forge the Beads of Omniscience. It seemed with the Seven Saints and their Sacred Equipment removed, the backup plan to forge the vessel had to be put into play.
In terms of quality, though, the result would be on an entirely different level.
Clang!
Li Kenxie continued to hammer the ground—or more precisely, the ley lines beneath it—and each time, tremendous power surged in from all over China. The Sacred Flames were gathering through the ley lines, heating and tempering the vessel.
And while that was going on, the souls above were converging around the Earth Weaving Loom.
Clack, clack.
The gathered souls were woven into a red cloth that wrapped around Li Fei’s body. The cloth then rose into the sky and spiraled into a glowing sphere, absorbing every last soul rushing in from across China.
It was clear: the loom, or rather Li Fei, had become the core that drew all the souls together.
“How could you...?!”
Regardless of how much Li Fei had mastered Defiant Ember to protect her synesthetic mindscape, there was no way she could withstand that volume of souls.
Se-Hoon gave Li Kenxie a deathly glare, furious that he was essentially crushing his granddaughter beneath the weight of hundreds of millions of souls without a second thought.
Fwoosh-
Just then, a small flame rose from Li Fei’s chest. At a glance, it looked like a Sacred Flame—but both Se-Hoon and Li Kenxie knew it was different.
Taken aback, they watched the unfamiliar flame slowly grow as if to shield Li Fei, spreading via the souls connected to the loom and devouring everything.
Woong!
In a flash, the soul-woven cloth was turned a light brown by the flame. The spherical part of the cloth also started unraveling into threads that gently wrapped around Li Fei and the loom. Only then did it begin to draw in all the incoming souls once again—except to embrace and protect Li Fei for certain.
“...It can’t be.”
Se-Hoon gaped at the scene unfolding before his eyes in stunned realization.
“...”
Meanwhile, Li Kenxie gazed blankly at the sight before him. Why had Luo Mingmei said “thank goodness” in her final moments? No matter how many times he’d asked himself that question, he couldn’t figure it out.
“So it really was there all along...”
Now, though, he knew, seeing the surreal sight before him. That day, Luo Mingmei hadn’t vanished beyond the state of anatta. All along, she hadembedded herself within Li Fei’s soul.
She had been thankful she could guard her sole daughter with her flames the entire time.
Clench-
Li Kenxie unconsciously tightened his grip on the hammer in his hand. Anatta was not the end. He could still find his truest, purest self...!
Reaffirming his conviction, Li Kenxie poured everything into the head of his hammer and swung again.
Clang!
The Offering Ritual accelerated even further. Yet...
“This is perfect...” Se-Hoon muttered under his breath.
Li Kenxie was forging the vessel with his very essence while Luo Mingmei’s synesthetic mindscape gathered and harmonized the souls into one perfect whole.
Hundreds of millions of civilians, along with hundreds of high-ranking heroes and one Perfect One, were all offered as sacrifices to forge that one piece of equipment.
Even Se-Hoon didn’t know what kind of weapon would emerge, but what he did know was one thing: it would far surpass the ultimate weapon that the Destroyer of Moralities had once obtained from Offering.
...Yeah. This should be enough.
Li Kenxie’s intentions, the final unpredictable variable, and even details about the new Offering Ritual had all been confirmed. Se-Hoon clenched his right fist. Now it was his time to make a decision.
Woong!
The Hero’s Ring flared in response to his resolve, shooting a golden beam into the sky.
BOOM!
Responding, a massive pillar of light pierced through the Sacred Flames and souls in the sky, encircling Se-Hoon. A power from another dimension surged out in every direction, shaking the atmosphere.
So he’s finally making his move...!
Given how composed he had remained up until now, Li Kenxie knew it would be no ordinary one.
Tensing, Li Kenxie watched as Se-Hoon brought his hands together into a seal.
“Boundary Inversion.”
RUMBLE!
With that quiet chant, Se-Hoon’s shadow spread across the entire industrial complex. The world was shrouded in darkness—no, the Netherworld itself was oozing into the world of the living through the shadow. Its unceasing darkness surged from the earth, pushing back the Sacred Flames.
Nothing, not even the sky, was spared by the Netherworld.
The sheer raw amount left Li Kenxie stunned. It was almost as if... as if... he were facing Wurgen once again. And on top of the shock from that, Li Kenxie was left at a loss.
Why invoke the power of Boundaries?
Wurgen’s power had always placed Se-Hoon at a disadvantage. In contests of strength, especially, the nature of the Sacred Flames made it even more lopsided. Just why was Se-Hoon choosing to use Wurgen’s power now?
“...!”
As Li Kenxie was trying to find out, something suddenly caught his eye. At some point, black pillars had risen throughout the industrial complex in positions that were almost... arranged? Li Kenxie’s expression quickly darkened; something was wrong.
In the meantime, Se-Hoon had been busy scanning the Offering Ritual’s core formation once again. Designed by Caden and later polished by Li Kenxie, the facilities of the industrial complex were supposed to serve as the foundation—only to be destroyed during the turmoil of the Earth Weaving Loom.
But despite that, the black pillars prepared in the Netherworld emerged atop them nonetheless and naturally meshed with the remnants.
Woong!
Like that, a new Offering Ritual had been layered atop the old one. And using the activation authority that had been used to threaten him until now, Se-Hoon forcibly triggered it.
Infinite Reincarnation: Heaven-Shrouded Eyes of the Netherworld
Countless eyes opened one by one across the blackened sky, and, with each one that closed again, the souls trapped by the Sacred Flames were pulled out and revived.