Chapter 205

Chapter 205 Benjamin, once known as Benjamin Luther, had been the renowned S-rank hero Blue Blood, who played a significant role in the war against the Demon Force. It was during the European Coup Incident that he had lost everything when Wurgen killed him. However, despite his death and the public's perception of him as a criminal who met a tragic end, Benjamin harbored no strong emotions. He had realized the futility of resistance early into Wurgen's enslavement of him, leading him to perceive the memories of his past life as a separate entity from himself. These memories are mine, but they don’t define who I am. The original Benjamin Luther had ceased to exist when he was resurrected, and only a reconstituted version of him remained. It wasn’t a viewpoint that all undead shared, but Benjamin had thought otherwise. And thanks to that unwavering loyalty to Wurgen of his, he earned the title of Chief Secretary. “Well done!” Yet, despite all of that, he was currently following the orders of someone younger, weaker, and, most importantly, not his master. It was an indescribably strange situation. Boom! Benjamin swung his fist with terrifying speed, and Nine counterattacked with Ewinia. Thud! Although their physical abilities were comparable, the Legendary weapon, Ewinia, made a significant difference. Each exchange split open Benjamin's fists, sending dark blue blood splattering everywhere. However, it was Nine, not Benjamin, who grimaced at the sight. Swish- Freezing midair, the sprayed dark blue blood rushed back to Benjamin's fists, transforming them into massive claws. And then Benjamin, who had been armed in the blink of an eye, clashed with Ewinia once again. Clang! The battle where Benjamin was being pushed back had suddenly become evenly matched. Now, with each clash, the already-ruined hotel shook from the shockwaves, getting closer and closer to collapse. Noticing, Benjamin quickly surveyed his surroundings before calmly telling Nine, “Let’s take this fight outside.” Bang! Bang! Bang! Dozens of dark blue bullets shot up from the ground, pelting Nine. The blood that Benjamin hadn't yet recalled from the ground was now being fired off at will, but Nine swiftly blocked each with Ewinia. He was cautious; while they weren’t extremely powerful, Nine knew that the bullets would burrow inside his body and hinder movement. Whoosh! But that left a brief opening for Benjamin to rush forward, and the two clashed once more. Boom! Kicking Nine in the abdomen, Benjamin sent him from the hotel's top floor to the ground below. Although he had paid a price—a large gash from his shoulder to his abdomen—it didn’t bother Benjamin much, being an undead. Ten seconds until full recovery... While the wound would heal quickly, he still needed to temporarily seal it so he could continue the battle, as Nine could return at any moment. Hmm... is this it? Narrowing his eyes, Se-Hoon lightly flicked his finger at Benjamin, who was about to jump down after Nine. Gurgle! Surging from the ground, the Netherworld’s darkness enveloped Benjamin’s body like a cloak, delving into his wound and healing it in an instant. “...!” Amazed by the instantaneous recovery, Benjamin stared wide-eyed at Se-Hoon. “Ah. I guessed it worked.” “...How did you manage to summon me?” Benjamin asked after a moment of hesitation. Benjamin was no ordinary undead; he was a part of Wurgen’s elite undead legion, the Einherjar. No outsider, not even Wurgen’s own children, should have been able to control him through necromancy. So how did Se-Hoon summon him and make him follow his orders? Staring at Benjamin, who was colored in disbelief, Se-Hoon calmly explained, “I used a bit of a loophole.” Unlike ordinary undead, which were created by infusing a soul into a corpse or an artificially made body, Benjamin’s creation process was different. That was obvious since even though it had lost some color, Benjamin’s body at the time of his death had remained perfectly preserved for decades without any signs of decay. Even an S-rank hero’s body wouldn’t be able to remain in such perfect condition after all these years. The first explanation one would think of was that it was because he was an undead, but even Legendary weapons dulled with use, let alone an S-rank hero's body. Therefore signs of repair should have been evident, but Benjamin’s body seemed as fresh as if he had just died yesterday. Se-Hoon had long had a hypothesis about the reason, and during their spar, he had managed to confirm it. “Since the darkness of the Netherworld created you and all of the Einherjar, I figured that if I tapped into that, I could control you as well.” Using the power of Boundaries, Wurgen preserved Benjamin’s soul in the state it was in immediately after death and infused it with the darkness of the Netherworld. By doing that, Wurgen pushed it against the boundary between life and death, allowing him to perfectly regenerate Benjamin's living body. It’s an insane method, to say the least. Benjamin was a perfect undead, one able to endlessly regenerate without losing strength as long as his soul remained intact. However, it required perfect utilization of the power of Boundaries—a feat only Wurgen could achieve. “Tapped into it...” “It sounds grand, but all I did was cause a bit of confusion to make you think Wurgen was the one summoning you.” After gathering a sufficient amount of the Netherworld's darkness, Se-Hoon had roughly visualized Benjamin’s body based on the information he had gathered from their previous spars. Then, using the Eternal Nocturne’s Phalanx as a medium, he attempted a summoning in Wurgen’s name. It was similar to the method he had used to summon the Vermillion Bird into the iron sparrow through ancient enchantments. After all, without the Eternal Nocturne’s Phalanx, it wouldn’t have been possible. And if Wurgen had decided to interfere, it wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. In essence, he was borrowing power with permission. Wurgen couldn’t really complain anyway, since it was another use of the Eternal Nocturne’s Phalanx. He would just have to swallow the bit of irritation from Se-Hoon finding some sort of loophole in his conditions. “...” Benjamin was at a loss for words. It sounded simple when explained, but if it actually was, the UD Group’s succession war would have ended long ago. If only he was the President’s son... Benjamin's thoughts grew more complex at the sight of Se-Hoon, who had perfectly mastered both the power of Boundaries and the manipulation of souls. “I think you should head down soon.” Se-Hoon glanced toward the chaotic city. Bang! A blast of wind erupted from a building nearby, reducing its outer walls to dust. The wind slash was so powerful that it instantly turned the entire building to dust. But that just made Se-Hoon’s eyes gleam. “He finally reveals himself.” Whoosh! A gust cleared away the dust, revealing Nine standing in the now empty lot. Connected to the web of blood, Benjamin's black heart pulsed. He was using a technique that disrupted the mana flow within the linked targets, rendering them unable to move. And thanks to a mere moment of distraction, Hraesvelgr was linked. Damn it...! Although it would also leave Benjamin unable to move, unlike Hraesvelgr, he had an ally—Se-Hoon. Realizing he was now at a severe disadvantage, Hraesvelgr desperately tried to escape. Boom! Instinctively looking up at the sight of the massive looming shadow, Hraesvelgr saw the hotel, which had been barely standing, now entirely engulfed in darkness and crumbling down upon it. Crash!! The overwhelming weight buried him in an instant and the darkness enveloped him. At that moment, Hraesvelgr sensed a strange disturbance. Following it, the debris that had been crushing it, as well as the dark blue blood that had bound it, abruptly disappeared. “What the...?” Confused, he scanned the pitch-black void in confusion and noticed something else. “The air... it’s gone?” The air, which was the source of his power, was completely absent. Now even more bewildered, Hraesvelgr’s gaze fixed on the darkness before it, where Benjamin was slowly emerging. And it was only once he saw that Benjamin’s wounds from the battle were fully healed that he finally realized where they were. Hraesvelgr’s eyes widened in horror. “This place... is it...?” “Yes. This is the Netherworld.” Calmly adjusting his clothing, Benjamin stared at Hraesvelgr and declared his sentence, “There’s no air here, and my power is at its peak. This place is perfect for dealing with you, which is why he sent you here.” Since Hraesvelgr gained infinite power from the air, just sending him to a place without any would render him powerless. Crushing him with the debris had just been a feint from the start so Se-Hoon could transport him to the Netherworld. “He’s a pretty impressive guy,” muttered Hraesvelgr with a bitter smile on his face. “Yes, he's not someone you could ever hope to surpass.” Agreeing in a dry tone, Benjamin finished straightening his clothes and then looked back as a line began to form behind him. Slowly, it opened to create a massive gate that revealed Wurgen's undead army standing in formation. “So, you should die here.” At Benjamin's judgment, the army charged. *** “Huff... Huff...” On top of the debris piled up like a massive mountain, Se-Hoon was gasping for breath, bracing his body with his hands on the ground. His energy had almost entirely been depleted. Having been continuously using the power of Boundaries from the start of the battle until now, he was reaching his limit. It would be nice if Benjamin ended it soon... Unlike Wurgen, who could perfectly send a single individual beyond the Netherworld, Se-Hoon had to relocate the entire space and everything in it into the Netherworld. Then, to keep Hraesvelgr trapped there, he had to maintain a strong grip on the boundary. And every time Hraesvelgr caused trouble inside, it consumed more and more of his mana. Thud! He felt a faint vibration from within the debris. It seemed Hraesvelgr was attempting to break the boundary to escape, just as Eun-Ha had once done. Realizing that there was no time to idle around, Se-Hoon considered his options. The first was trusting Benjamin and the undead army to finish off Hraesvelgr, and the second was using his final move. Contemplating it briefly, his eyes soon became filled with determination. I can’t rely on other people’s creations. Whoosh! The moment he released the power of Boundaries, something shot up from within the debris, quickly grabbing Se-Hoon by the neck and launching itself into the air. Hraesvelgr was quite battered. His neck was nearly severed, his left eye socket was completely caved in, and his lower body had been completely torn away, leaving no trace. But despite his body, Hraesvelgr's left arm, created out of compressed wind, moved menacingly, clutching a green blade that emanated a deadly aura. At a glance, Hraesvelgr's appearance showed his relentless fight against thousands of undead. Stunned by his fierce presence, Se-Hoon just stared as a loud mechanical noise started coming from within Hraesvelgr's chest. Buzz! The cube within his shattered internal frame was spinning rapidly, drawing out what little power remained. Spatial teleportation? Was Hraesvelgr planning to take him hostage and escape? Realizing what was about to happen, Se-Hoon prepared to respond— Thunk! Ewinia suddenly pierced Se-Hoon’s heart. Mission... accomplished... He was unable to teleport Se-Hoon alive, so he decided to kill Se-Hoon first and transfer his Demon Eye, Ewinia, and his heart back to his master. Using the remaining bits of his strength, Hraesvelgr set the coordinates for his hideout. And that’s when he heard a voice. “So that’s where it is.” Se-Hoon, who had been hanging limp, smiled at him. “Thanks for letting me know.” Shocked that Se-Hoon was somehow still alive, Hraesvelgr frantically attempted to crush Se-Hoon's head with his temporarily formed left arm. Crack! But before he could, a pitch-black sword pierced through Se-Hoon’s chest into his, destroying his cube. Woong- The unfinished Legendary weapon, which had sliced through his daggers earlier, also shattered his cube in an instant, causing the energy meant for teleportation to fluctuate wildly as if about to explode. If I can just... If he could deal one significant blow to Se-Hoon, anything would do. Amid his fading consciousness, Hraesvelgr tried to accelerate his rampage. But Se-Hoon didn’t give him the chance. Soul Honing: Demonic Blood Art Crunch, crack- The black blood dripping from Se-Hoon’s chest clung to the jet-black sword, recreating the weapon based on the form imprinted in his soul. What then emerged was a cursed blade that seemed to darken darkness itself, as if it were about to consume everything in its path. Consuming the unfinished weapon, the cursed blade plunged deeper into the cube. Soul Weapon: Abyssal Blood A bottomless black void opened, sucking everything in.