Chapter 305

Words : 2312 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

Chapter 305 Fwoosh! From the Netherworld beyond the boundary, Abgrund tore through the air, embedding itself in the chest of an assailant wielding an ax. Simultaneously, Aria unleashed a flurry of slashes with Glare, its blade radiating a golden aura, cutting down the remaining four assailants. It was a flawless counterattack, executable thanks to the opening created by the Veil of Whitespace. For ordinary humans, such an attack would have been fatal. However, the five assailants who ambushed the pair were not ordinary. Crack! Their eyes flashed with a deadly gleam as the veins in their hands gripping their weapons bulged, abruptly staunching their bleeding. For them, vital points had ceased to hold any significance. They were the elites of Offering, warriors who had merged themselves with high-quality Hero-tier—essentially Legendary—weapons through Synchronization Rituals. In other words, they were no longer human. With this level of injury...! Though they were deceived into taking the initiative, the wounds they suffered amounted to little more than scratches—they still had a chance. Readying themselves, the warriors drew out the power of their weapons, preparing to fight. “Abaddon.” A black void suddenly materialized in the middle of Abgrund. Woosh! Standing in the heart of the battlefield, the warrior pierced in the chest by Abgrund vanished in an instant, sucked into the void without leaving a single trace. The sight froze the remaining four. Was that some kind of illusion or a sealing technique? Their minds raced to process what they just saw. But unfortunately, the ominous aura emanating from the black void forced them to accept the harsh reality. He’s dead... for real?! What kind of weapon is that...? Abgrund wasn’t just any weapon. Designed for a single decisive moment in battle, it was capable of inflicting fatal wounds on even S-rank opponents. It was such a malevolent weapon that it shocked even the battle-hardened elites of Offering. “Do you guys still not get it?” Taking advantage of the fleeting opening created by their shock, a golden aura exploded outward, engulfing them. Boom! The surrounding trees all shattered into fragments, leaving a wide clearing in the dense jungle and exposing the remaining warriors. “Urgh...” “Gah... cough...” Similarly, the bodies of the Offering elites caught in it had also been shredded, blood pouring freely from their wounds. Ordinary humans would have succumbed long ago from, but they merely trembled in pain, their vitality undiminished. Hm... Seeing their unexpected resilience, Aria narrowed her eyes, while Se-Hoon flexed his shoulders, also focusing on the remaining four. So they’re enhanced through Synchronization Rituals.... They’re still as tough as I remember. Offering’s infamous combatants, those created to guard research facilities and capture humans for their offerings, didn’t have overwhelming raw power, but their tenacity and coordinated attacks made them uniquely troublesome. If Eun-Ha could lend us a hand, they’d have been annihilated by now.... No wonder they targeted us instead. Despite their tattered state, the four Offering elites calmly tightened their formation, encircling the two. Noticing their movements, Se-Hoon gripped his Forgefire Hammer and spoke to Aria. “Forget trying to find their vital points. Aim for their weapons. That’s their weakness.” “Oh, so that’s how it works,” Aria replied, her eyes glinting as she analyzed the situation. Offering’s elites all clutched their weapons tighter; they sensed the shift in her focus. The tension thickened, distant booms echoing through the jungle. Yet despite the atmosphere bristling with energy, Aria casually addressed Se-Hoon over her shoulder. “Go ahead and pick one. I’ll handle the rest.” On top of their irritating durability, the reactions of Offering’s elites suggested they were skilled in dueling. In a one-on-one fight, they were essentially S-rank opponents, so Aria figured Se-Hoon could only manage one, hence her suggestion. However... “Pick one? What nonsense is that?” Se-Hoon grinned, his tone dismissive. “It should be first come, first served.” Contrary to Aria’s proposal, he had no intention of splitting them evenly—he’d kill as many as he could. Staring at him in surprise, Aria’s expression soon shifted into a smirk. “That does sound fun.” The two lunged at their opponents. Boom! Aria's golden blade clashed with their weapons. And upon recognizing her prowess, Offering’s elites turned their focus to Se-Hoon instead. As long as we take him out, we win. They split their efforts; one would stall Aria while the other three charged Se-Hoon. Whoosh! Seeing a yellow spear lunge for his legs, Se-Hoon countered swiftly, swinging his hammer. Clang! He successfully deflected the spear, which recoiled, but a blue saber and a purple scythe simultaneously followed up without missing a beat, striking toward his back. Yet Se-Hoon didn’t dodge. Instead, he just wrapped a transparent fabric—the Veil of Whitespace—around his back. Slash! “?!” The saber and scythe phased through Se-Hoon as though he wasn’t there, colliding with each other instead. Ignoring the two, Se-Hoon unleashed a flurry of strikes with his Celestial Infinity Blade, not allowing the spear-wielding enemy to react. Clang! Clang! White and gold blades—White Light and Golden Origin—both made from Celestial Infinity Blade, danced through the air, pushing the spearman into a corner. Se-Hoon wielded them with uncanny precision, forcing the warrior, armed with the Thunder Spear, to frown. Using your little tricks again, huh?! While Se-Hoon’s attacks were sharp, they lacked the force to kill. And since that was the case, he decided to just give up on dodging, gathering the power of his weapon instead. Rumble! Lightning crackled at the tip of the spear as the spearman prepared a wide-range attack. His eyes never left Se-Hoon, observing Se-Hoon’s movements carefully. Judging by how he’s only swinging his left arm, there should be a set limit to how much he can cover with that spatial magic of his. Of course, Se-Hoon theoretically could just block every angle as he had before again, but doing so would likely drain significant energy. Yet it was a trade-off the spearman was willing to try to exploit. Boom! The spearman charged forward, targeting Se-Hoon directly despite still being harassed by the unyielding sword auras. Seeing that, the other two figured out the strategy and also drew out their weapons’ full power and charged. Seeing the powerful coordinated attack closing in on him, Se-Hoon simply raised his hand instead of retreating. Swoosh. Activating Metamorphosing Dreams, he bended the reality around him as he weaved his own dreams into the battlefield. He could see lightning bolts striking, rivers of blades surging forward, and venomous mists coiling around him—countless figments of dreams played back in an instant. And among them all, there was one specific one: the dream Se-Hoon sought. Whoosh! The coordinated attack missed and the three Offering elites collided in a massive explosion, their full attacks wasted on the empty air. BOOM! Sent flying by their own allies’ attacks, the three struggled to comprehend what had happened. What the hell is this nonsense?! How could none of those hit? Reeling in disbelief, they suddenly heard Se-Hoon's voice ring out. “Gale Acceleration.” In an instant, Se-Hoon’s Incantation Inscription etched itself into the bodies of the elites wielding the blue saber and purple scythe. Woosh! And a moment later, a gale burst forth from the inscriptions, flinging the two warriors far into the distance. Now isolated, the spearman narrowed his eyes. Is he prioritizing me first? Though he didn’t understand what Se-Hoon was planning, the spearman vowed not to fall easily. Gripping his spear tightly, he steadied himself and glared at Se-Hoon. “Well, well. They flew pretty far,” Se-Hoon remarked with a casual air to him. “...” The Thunder Spear wielder frowned, failing to understand why Se-Hoon wasn’t attacking. He was being so nonchalant, as though he’d abandoned all pretense of a fight. It unbelievably frustrated the spearman, making him uncontrollably shout, “What the hell are you doing?! You should be trying to take me down before those two come back, no?” However, Se-Hoon returned his question with a blank expression. “Why should I?” His confusion seemed genuine, as though the idea was entirely foreign to him. It made the spearman’s face twist with anger and humiliation. He felt as if he were being toyed with, like a child’s plaything, by such a puny human. What is he even thinking... Paralyzed by the unknown, the spearman couldn’t attack or flee, his pale face betraying his growing despair. Just then, Se-Hoon broke the silence calmly. “I think you’re misunderstanding something. Those two won’t be coming back.” “...What?” “I sent them to someone who’ll take care of them for me.” Boom! Right as Se-Hoon finished his speech, a distant roar echoed. At first, the spearman thought it came from the direction of Eun-Ha and the Exuviation monsters, but when he looked, that wasn’t the case. It had actually come from the direction where his comrades had been flung, dumbfounding him. And at that sight, Se-Hoon helpfully explained. “They’ll be dead soon, courtesy of some S-rank heroes over there.” The spearman’s eyes widened at the reveal—the ones who had come for the Verdant Lotus Spear would cut down his allies. It was a result Se-Hoon had ensured by using his power of Perception. “...” The distant roar subsided. And at the newfound silence, the spearman let out a bitter laugh and turned back to Se-Hoon. “Then what about me? What are you going to do about me?” To that, Se-Hoon simply gestured behind him. “That way.” Immediately, the spearman sensed a rapidly approaching presence. Turning around, he gritted his teeth and thrust his spear toward the oncoming blade. Slice But the golden slash just tore through the spear and bisected the spearman’s body all in one clean motion. Standing behind him, Aria flicked Glare to clear it of blood. “That was a little too easy,” she said, her voice tinged with curiosity. Smirking, Se-Hoon replied, “I added a bit of seasoning.” The earlier clash between his hammer and the spear had left a subtle fracture in the weapon, one Aria exploited with surgical precision. I would’ve had to hammer away at it a few more times to break it. The slashing force of her sword is still as sharp as ever. The golden aura that was imbued in Glare, which seemed to deny the very existence of everything it touched, shone as brightly as ever. It still wasn’t as refined as it had been before the regression, but its growth was evident. BOOM! Turning toward Eun-Ha’s direction at the thunderous roar, Se-Hoon gestured to Aria. “I need to check something. Can you head over there and lend a hand?” Hesitant to agree, Aria paused before nodding in the end. “Alright.” She then dashed off without complaint, likely calculating how well she could complement Eun-Ha’s overbearing fighting style. They never did get along, but they somehow worked well together in a fight, Se-Hoon thought, recalling their past. He then shook away the memory, turning his attention to his body. No injuries. Mana and stamina also seem fine... Abgrund was powered by stored darkness mana from the Netherworld, and the Veil of Whitespace and Metamorphosing Dreams were used sparingly, minimizing their mana consumption. Only his use of the power of Perception left him slightly dizzy, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t recover from. Now then... Se-Hoon looked up in the sky, activating the power of Boundaries to create a foothold midair. He propelled himself upward, using it as a step, and took in the view of the Idigna Rainforest from above. Eun-Ha’s battle stretched out before him, a scorched wasteland hundreds of meters across. And amidst the devastation, he spotted her and Aria coordinating against their remaining foes. They should be wrapped up soon. The dragonkin lay dead, its corpse reduced to smears of blood, while the black serpent barely clung to life, transforming into mist to evade Eun-Ha’s relentless strikes. And now, with Aria joining the fray, the tide would be decisively turned. The Verdant Lotus Spear is intact... but it seems that demon fled. Though he could’ve tracked her down, Se-Hoon turned his gaze upward instead, feeling the faint presence observing him growing unmistakably hostile. I’ve shown him what I’ve got. He shouldn’t retreat now. Certain of his adversary’s intentions, Se-Hoon fixed his gaze on the sky, piercing through the black veil that cloaked the person within it. “Shall we have a chat, traitor sunbae?” With a smirk, Se-Hoon beckoned his next opponent with a flick of his finger. *** A black veil spread like a curtain across the entire rainforest. And from within it, Apostate observed Se-Hoon with a detached air. The entire plan has gone south. Apostate had orchestrated this entire plan: use Apophis to hijack Se-Hoon’s undead army, attempt to overload Eun-Ha with one of Offering’s weapons, and then launch a surprise attack on Se-Hoon from within the black veil. Not a single one had gone his way, each countered with almost eerie precision. On the surface, it seemed like he simply reacted well in every moment... But was it really possible for a human being to respond so perfectly? The thought unsettled him, but Apostate quickly shook it off. It doesn’t matter. The plans were merely tools to gauge Se-Hoon’s strength and allies. Regardless of their success, it was now time for him to take Se-Hoon’s life personally. Drawing out a split black ring from his side, Apostate stared coldly at Se-Hoon, who stood below, looking up at him. Grand Archbishop, huh... A disdainful smirk curled beneath Apostate’s mask, deciding to show the pretender the cost of betrayal. Raising his divine mana to its zenith, Apostate declared his law. “Sanctuary Proclamation: Cathedral of Penitence.” And immediately after, an inverted cathedral materialized within the veil. Its ominous presence blotted out the entire sky.

Chapter 305

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