[You have chosen to proceed.]
[The system will upload a patch to get rid of its bug.]
[The transformations are taking place!]
* * *
“Anyone who has a problem with me taking over this position should step up now!” Phante shouted powerfully, using Lion’s Roar. His voice was filled with fury and fighting spirit as if he were the king of beasts.
Although a month had passed, the Martial King’s funeral was still ongoing in order to pay respect to all of his achievements and successes. Since everyone agreed that the throne couldn’t be left empty, the new competition for the throne began. It would have normally been a festive and celebratory event, but no one was in high spirits this time.
Rage rose up in the tribe members after their sadness faded away. They wanted to begin a war for revenge unlike the one they had against Red Dragon, and they wanted a new tribe leader who would be strong and charismatic enough to lead their tribe. They wouldn’t allow just anyone to sit on the throne, and it was inevitable that Phante would step up.
Although he was also a member of Arthia, he didn’t concern himself with it since he’d already left and even received Yeon-woo’s permission to ally Arthia with the tribe.
As soon as the race for the throne began, Phante stepped up first and showcased his power. The ground shook, and blood-red lightning bolts rained down from the sky. The storm that began to whirl around him was so intense that it was difficult to stay rooted on the ground.
The tribe members’ eyes all widened. When they watched Phante repel Faceless’ attacks, they already knew that his martial abilities had improved vastly. However, they realized that his abilities were more outstanding than they’d initially thought.
It was clear how much experience he had gained from combat and how much training he had received from the Head Elder. When the Head Elder said Phante was as powerful as the young Martial King, the tribe members believed that he was only trying to show his disciple in a good light. However, the Head Elder hadn’t been exaggerating at all.
The royal family members who wanted to become the new king became nervous. Both the Martial King’s brothers and Phante’s brothers had prepared to enter the competition, but Phante already seemed like the clear winner. It was clear they wouldn’t have a chance to stay in one piece after fighting with him. Everyone glanced anxiously at each other.
“No one?” Crash, crash! The moment Phante’s fury and blood-red bolts lashed out, the entire village shook. A smile appeared on the Head Elder’s face.
A few of the contenders who had been glancing surreptitiously at each other squeezed their eyes together and stepped up. If they didn’t join now, the tribe members wouldn’t support them. Phante grinned toothily. He didn’t have any bad feelings toward them, and he saw them as a good way to demonstrate why he deserved to sit on the throne.
Boom! The competition to decide on the new king began.
* * *
[The patch is disrupting the user’s transformation.]
[The user is attempting to block the patch with a barrier.]
[The user has failed.]
[The user has failed.]
…
[The barrier has been destroyed.]
[The patch has successfully broken through. It is tracking the user’s source code and deleting it.]
[The user is attempting to activate a defense mechanism to resist the patch.]
[A new source code is being created.]
[The process has failed.]
[The process has failed.]
…
[The process has succeeded.]
[A new virus has successfully deleted and extracted the patch.]
[A barrier is preventing the approach of a new patch.]
* * *
“Dad, Dad! Mr. Phante is the new king!”
『Really? He talked up a storm about it. Looks like he really did it.』
Cha Jeong-woo’s vestige body looked up from the newspaper he was reading and smiled at Sesha, who had burst in through the door. He, Ananta, and Sesha were staying in the cottage as they rested and restored their magic power, and Phante occasionally visited them to keep them company.
Cha Jeong-woo and Phante had become good friends quickly after finding common ground as victims of Yeon-woo’s nasty temper. Phante had confidently told Cha Jeong-woo that he would follow his father’s footsteps, and it seemed he had finally reached his goal.
“Then what do I call Mr. Phante now? Mr. King Phante?”
Cha Jeong-woo stroked his adorable daughter’s head. His vestige body was healing at a rapid rate, and he could physically touch things now. 『Why don’t we call him Mr. King?』
“Mr. King?” Sesha tilted her head, thinking it was a strange name, but she soon smiled after deciding that she liked the way it sounded. “Okay. Hehehe. Mr. Phante is now Mr. King!”
Cha Jeong-woo wanted to see what Phante’s expression would be when he heard this. Just then, Ananta came up next to Cha Jeong-woo with a basketful of fruit. “What are you looking at?”
『Stories of the outside world.』
“What’s going on?”
『Nothing much. Things are all going as hyung ordered.』 Cha Jeong-woo’s vestige body closed the newspaper and tossed it on the table.
Arthia declares domination! The headline didn’t beat around the bush declaring who the new master of the Tower was. The long-standing rule of the Eight Clans was over. The newspaper announced that the world now belonged to Arthia. The pacification of the seventy-sixth floor was successfully finished, and the surviving forces of White Dragon and the Daud Brethren had been eliminated.
The Nine Kings now had a new roster.
Allforone.
Shadow King, Cha Yeon-woo.
Blood Sword, Kahn.
Foxy Tail, Doyle.
Martial King the Younger, Phante.
Demon Beauty, Edora.
Head Bishop, Hughl.
Sword Strategist, Leonhardt.
Moonchild.
Five of the nine spots were taken up by Arthia members or people related to Arthia. Ananta felt strange when she looked at it. Arthia, the fallen clan that Jeong-woo had founded, had risen again thanks to his brother, and all vengeance had been fulfilled. Other than Allforone, no one could harass them in the lower world anymore.
She knew that the world had changed when she opened her eyes again, but it was fascinating to see it for herself.
『The Sea of Time is still in the dark.』 Cha Jeong-woo’s vestige body frowned at the thorn in their side. They were the ones who had controlled everything from behind the scenes, and they were led by a person Ananta both loved and despised at the same time.
Because it was impossible to know what their plans were, it was of utmost importance to find them.
『Anyway, how are you feeling?』
“I’m fine. The Head Elder said my recovery was fast.”
『That’s a relief.』
After Ananta woke up, the Head Elder brought out a significant number of elixirs from the tribe’s treasury and gave them to her. She managed to recover quickly after the other elders gave their permission to let her use the elixirs, and she was almost back at her peak strength.
『I’ve also replenished a lot of my magic power. Then…we should get started, huh?』
Ananta nodded solemnly.
『Hyung said to wait until he returns, but we can’t push it back any longer.』
Yeon-woo was showing no signs of coming out of his training. However, there was still no news of Brahm, and their worries grew by the day. It was possible that he had disappeared while chasing after the Sea of Time, but it was just as likely that he had gone missing like Zeus and Odin since Brahm was Deva’s creator god, Brahma. Although only those who were afflicted by the Heavenly Demon Disease had disappeared, they needed to consider everything.
They told Sesha that they would be taking a short trip, and they asked Edora to take care of her while they were gone. If only the two of them were going on the journey, the danger would be great, but another person had agreed to come along, so they weren’t too worried.
『Then let’s go.』
Ananta nodded and picked up the ticking pocket watch from the table, putting it in her pocket. When they stepped outside, the Head Elder was already waiting for them, wiping his glasses.
“Are you ready?” Just like Heaven Wing, the Blood Red Philosopher who had once been a legend of the Tower had come out of retirement.
* * *
[The transformation process has increased its speed due to an unknown factor. It is reaching its final steps.]
[The current percentage is 89%, 90%, 91%…96%.]
…
[The transformation is complete.]
[Final percentage: 103.1%]
[The energy of yin has been gathered together as one.]
[Your existence has been created.]
Yeon-woo slowly opened his eyes. ‘How…much time has passed?’ Thanks to Time Difference, his mental processes had worked very quickly, and since his ego and consciousness had been cut off during the transformation, he had no memory of what had happened. He could have been deleted without a trace.
‘But I succeeded.’ Yeon-woo could feel that his body had changed completely. His divine soul had been taken apart and reconstructed. All impurities had vanished, and he had taken on the nature of yin. His soul had already matured so his divine level wasn’t too different, but it and his body had been reborn.
[A god of <Olympus>, Thanatos, looks at you with admiring eyes.]
[A god of <Memphis>, Osiris, wishes to create a Book of the Dead for you.]
[A god of the <Chan Sect>, The King of Seven Hells, bows to you.]
[A god of <Ea>, Nergal, exclaims at your soul.]
[A god of <Deva>, Ksitigarbha, wishes to request something of you.]
…
[A demon of <Niflheim>, Hel, wets her lips. She shudders in delight.]
[Aesma-daeva is sure that you are the worthy and true successor of the Black King.]
…
[All gods of death wonder at you.]
[All demons of death worship you.]
[The spring of death has been fully restored.]
[The spring of death has been strengthened and now fits into the cog of all the divine powers of death in the heavenly world.]
[The concept of ‘death’ is in your grasp!]
Yeon-woo named his soul “Yin Soul”. He had changed the very foundation of his soul to the qualities of yin to awaken the Yin Sword, and through this, his divine power of death had been strengthened. No being in the heavenly world could compare to his divine power, and it was only natural that the lofty gods and demons of death would lower themselves to him.
If he exuviated now, his yin soul would bloom and he would be reborn as a conceptual god with the power of death. All the divine powers of death would be at his feet. As if welcoming his awakening, Athena appeared from shadows.
Whoosh!
[‘Shadow Domain’ has been designated automatically.]
[Your chief Apostle is descending!]
“Greetings to the supreme god of Olympus. I congratulate you on behalf of the lower gods. I have come to give a report on the progress of your instructions.” Athena didn’t dare lift her head.
It wasn’t that Yeon-woo’s level had changed, but strangely, she felt as if her soul would freeze if she looked at him. The atmosphere around him had completely changed, and she even felt a bit fearful, so she quickly pulled out the four heads she had been keeping safe all this time.
The heads had vivid expressions of shock, as if they had just died. They were the heads of Thor, Heimdal, and the other leaders of Asgard.
“Asgard has been completely destroyed, and their holy territory has been turned into a land of death as you commanded. Olympus and its allies are chasing after the groups that have escaped and are on guard against those wary of us after Asgard’s destruction.”
Yeon-woo nodded without any response as if he had expected nothing less. Then, he brushed his hands together and crushed Thor’s head, letting Athen absorb the dispersing holy power.
Swoosh! Athena’s eyes widened. The holy power of Thor and the other supreme gods of Asgard were remarkable, but Yeon-woo had given it to her so nonchalantly without taking any for himself. She was moved almost to tears.
Yeon-woo had never doubted that Asgard would be destroyed, and anything less would have made him feel disappointed in Athena. However, there was something more important to him right now. “How much time has passed since I began training?”
Athena bowed lower. “Approximately two years.”
