Chapter 333

Words : 2237 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

Chapter 333 Reaching the outskirts of the city, Casper began erasing his traces. He broke his trail, using secret passages and facilities hidden in various buildings, all the while creating additional confusion by disguising himself with identities his subordinates had prepared in advance. With those methods, the investigator named Rachel vanished without a trace in no time at all, utterly astonishing the observing Se-Hoon. No wonder catching him was so difficult... At first glance, Casper had escaped using the body of a ten-year veteran investigator from the Heroes Association with the assistance of his local subordinates. But in truth, everything used for that “straightforward” plan had been prepared over a decade ago, making it practically impossible for even the Heroes Association to track him. If not for the boundary of dreams, it would have been tricky for me to track him, too. Mastery of dream mana had allowed him to hide in the boundary of dreams and reality, enabling him to pursue his opponent closely. It was essential for infiltration missions. With it, Se-Hoon had been able to follow his target on the bus. Outwardly, his target now appeared to be an elderly woman sitting by the window, dozing off, but her true identity was the mysterious entity that had shifted into Rachel’s body from Yuriel. Narrowing his eyes, Se-Hoon focused on her intently. That's a Magi, without a doubt. The Magi were the ones leading Succession: Melchior, Balthasar, and Casper. Over decades, Succession had passed down their accumulated knowledge and impressions, giving rise to sentient entities known as Magi. They were beings that were less like living creatures and more akin to special forms of power. This reminds me of how difficult it was back then to confirm their deaths due to their ability to transfer bodies... He recalled all of the mistakenly celebrated victories, unaware the Magi could transfer to new bodies, only to be blindsided by Succession later. The memories still filled him with anger, but it was thanks to those experiences that tailing the Magi had become second nature. Now that I’m thinking about it, this must be baffling for them. Though Se-Hoon knew all of their secrets due to being a regressor, the Magi most likely had no idea how their information was being leaked, making them paranoid. Pondering how he would proceed, Se-Hoon quietly waited until the bus came to a halt at a remote stop, where Casper disembarked. This is quite a remote area. It was a tranquil neighborhood, with only streetlights illuminating the otherwise dark surroundings. Following Casper, Se-Hoon surveyed his surroundings, which seemed like any other quiet town at night. But looking closer, the glint of countless eyes peeking through curtains betrayed its abnormality. So the entire town is part of Succession, huh? The glints likely belonged to those stationed to guard against potential tails. Succession was extremely thorough, both impressing and annoying Se-Hoon. Following behind, Se-Hoon stopped and watched when Casper eventually stopped in front of a house, unlocked the door, and went inside. But when Se-Hoon was about to follow him inside, he paused. This place seems quite tough to infiltrate. Staying outside, Se-Hoon inspected the entire house, which radiated with a web of spells. From the looks of it, he could still slip inside undetected within the boundary of dreams, but the risk was too great. This must be his final destination, anyway. Judging by how Casper wasn’t in a good condition after fleeing in such a hurry, it was safe to assume this was his base. Surveying the area instead, Se-Hoon walked upward into the sky as though ascending invisible stairs, eventually reaching a vantage point high enough to see the entire neighborhood. There, up in the sky, he returned from the boundary of dreams and took a deep breath of the brisk air, his body tingling from returning to reality. Looking further upward, Se-Hoon focused his vision on the clouds, where countless flows of possibilities began emerging, visible only to him. He had brought forth the power of Perception, allowing him to observe the potential futures across the world. Scanning them all, he honed in on his goal. Eliminate every enemy beneath me without letting a single one escape. To achieve such a goal, he needed to capture the perfect opportunity. That was when he saw it: a brilliant white light shot forward, cutting through the streams of possibilities. Unfortunately, it was buffeted by opposing flows, scattering before it could reach its target. The message was clear: it wasn’t time yet. A challenging task, I see. However, giving the enemy too much time would allow them to regroup and possibly relocate. Still, even with the clock ticking, Se-Hoon maintained his composure, waiting for the right moment. And when the night passed and dawn finally began breaking out over the horizon, he finally saw his chance. Another white light cut through the streams of possibilities, forming a complete circle around the area. Recognizing that it was finally time, Se-Hoon drew a weapon from his Dream Storage, manifesting it in his hand. Then— “Infernal Purge.” The crimson blade streaked through the morning air, descending upon the town below. *** Deep underground in a vast laboratory, Casper stirred within a massive capsule filled with a crimson liquid. Gazing at his new host’s body, Rachel’s, he assessed its condition. It’s stabilizing. The parts of his knowledge and synesthetic mindscape that had been slipping away now felt solidified, and the body’s movements were becoming more natural. Still, not everything was perfect yet. The rushed transfer fused too much of Rachel’s personality with mine... Typically, the Magi and their hosts functioned like dual personalities, which made it easier to resist attacks targeting their synesthetic mindscape and allowed for smoother body transfers in emergencies. But forcing the separation now might weaken me. It’s better to wait. Given time, the fusion would stabilize, and their personalities could be separated safely. Thus, Casper dismissed his concerns and focused on gathering strength—at least until an intangible wave swept through the lab all of a sudden. Whoosh- His instincts triggered; Casper immediately shut down all conscious thought and entered a comatose state. It was a defensive technique akin to putting his existence in suspended animation, which was extremely useful against powerful synesthetic mindscape attacks like Apostate’s barrier skill. Fwoosh! And now as well. “Gahhhh!” Panicked cries and screams echoed in the lab as flames suddenly erupted within the lab, engulfing the researchers in translucent fire. “Rapid regeneration!” “Flame resistance!” “Curse removal!” Desperate, they tried healing their scorched bodies, heightening their flame resistance, and dispelling potential curses. They were the elite members of Succession under Casper, able to make judgments quickly despite the sudden chaos. Unfortunately, their efforts yielded no success, and the flames showed no sign of abating. Fwoosh! “The fire... it won’t go out!” “My mana...!” In fact, the mana they channeled to regenerate their bodies only fueled the flames, intensifying the fire instead of extinguishing it. Heightening their resistance did nothing either, leaving them exposed to the searing heat and pain. Attempts to dispel what they believed to be curses or magic also failed. With everything failing, the situation spiraled out of control as even the most level-headed researchers began panicking. Some still believed it was an illusion and cast meaningless dispelling spells, while others concluded it was all a dream and tried to wake themselves up by taking their own lives. What... what is this...? The laboratory, once a hub of research and discovery, was now a hellscape of chaos. Watching the pandemonium from within his semi-stasis in the incubation capsule, Casper couldn’t believe his eyes. Who could create such a devastating flame? Casper had studied countless heroes and demons but could think of no one. And his confusion only deepened when he noticed something familiar about the translucent flames clinging to the researchers. Those flames... don’t tell me... The fire looked eerily similar to the ones that had briefly burned Se-Hoon’s body at a Babel restaurant. He had only seen photographs, but the shape and nature were unmistakably similar. But that’s just simply absurd. The possibility that the chaos was from Se-Hoon’s attack felt unreal. He was sure he had erased every trace of his movements and had even shifted into Rachel’s body—something only Succession insiders would know. Yet if it was Se-Hoon’s attack, then he had somehow discovered everything and pursued him here? Unless... the information was leaked from inside? Casper’s face hardened as a new possibility dawned on him. Could someone within Succession have betrayed him, feeding Se-Hoon the details to eliminate him? Melchior... Balthasar...! He recalled the two who had been dissatisfied with his consolidation of power over Succession. Was it them? Grappling with his anger, Casper was trying to devise a solution when— Boom! More explosions echoed throughout the facility as unfamiliar creatures appeared, tearing apart the laboratory and clashing with one another in brutal combat. The pandemonium within the lab had now taken on a new dimension, but Casper quickly grasped what had happened. They’re transforming into demons to resist the fire... those fools! The researchers, realizing that the flames stemmed from their own synesthetic mindscapes, should have entered a comatose state to suppress them. But by the time they understood, it was too late—the Flames of Atonement had already consumed them. Thus their desperate alternative was to corrupt their synesthetic mindscapes further, turning themselves into demons to neutralize the flames. “Die!!” “I’m going to devour all your powers!” Now demons, they used their innate regenerative abilities to endure the flames while they absorbed the power of others to extinguish them entirely. It was a strategy that relied on their ability to transfer power—the long studied subject of Succession. Boom! Boom! Boom! The battles among the researchers grew more intense, but while that was going on, a fully transformed demon burst into the recovery room where Casper lay, its entire body ablaze. “Heh... those idiots. The best prize is right here...” The demon’s greedy gaze fell on Casper’s incubation capsule, cursing Casper’s expression to darken. This piece of trash... If he awoke now, he could kill the demon instantly. However, the drawback was that the flames would latch onto his body as well. Frantically trying to find a way to survive, Casper’s mind raced through the decades of knowledge and power he had inherited. Fwoosh- But then a flame ignited near his heart, piercing through even his unconscious defenses. Noticing, Casper’s eyes widened in horror. “...Damn it.” Left with no other option now, he activated an emergency mechanism within the capsule. *** “...Wow.” Standing high above the town, Se-Hoon gazed at the scene below with a mix of awe and distaste. The entire neighborhood had been bathed in red. To an onlooker, it would have seemed like the area was illuminated by the light of the rising sun. But that was the case at all. Fwoosh! Above him, the Sin-Eclipsing Blade burned fiercely, its fire spreading through the sky and enveloping the town below. The crimson flames enveloped the sinners inside, manifesting the Flames of Atonement from within their synesthetic mindscapes. He couldn’t see the situation underground, but from the complete incineration of Succession’s forces above ground, it suggested a similar fate for those below. “It’d be neat if they all perished here...” But Se-Hoon doubted they would. His target, a creature that had inherited decades of malevolent knowledge, wouldn’t go down so easily. And as if on cue, the ground below trembled. Rumble- Buildings collapsed one by one, roads split apart, and a dark red liquid surged from the cracks like molten lava. Imbued with the Flames of Atonement, the red liquid seared everything in its path. “...So, he ended up transforming.” Se-Hoon’s expression tightened Boom! The houses beneath him exploded, and from the underground, a massive, grotesque mass of dark red flesh erupted into the air, spreading across the entire town in an instant. Everything in its path was devoured, transforming it into a horrifying form. Like the rest, Casper transformed into a demon, consuming all those underground, and now it was completed. Leaving not a single bit, decades of accumulated knowledge and synesthetic mindscapes had culminated in his monstrous body. ROOOAAAR! A thunderous roar shook the air, radiating malice and bloodlust. Though the creature’s voice was incomprehensible—its vocal cords yet unformed—its intent to annihilate everything in its path was unmistakable. Raising his guard, Se-Hoon studied the creature carefully, noting the Flames of Atonement still clinging to its massive body. Hmm. Those flames won’t cut it. The flames were causing steady damage, but Casper’s regenerative ability was too strong, threatening to drag the battle into a war of attrition. However, prolonging the fight could risk collateral damage and give Succession reinforcements time to arrive. In that case... Making a swift decision, Se-Hoon reached out toward the Sin-Eclipsing Blade, deactivating it and returning it to his hand. Thrum! At that moment, Casper’s grotesque body detected his location, extending a towering mass of flesh toward him like a meaty spire. Yet Se-Hoon didn’t counterattack, instead reaching out with his other hand. Woong- “Substitute player.” From the gate he opened, which connected the area to a pre-established location, a crimson comet hurtled through. Thud! Eun-Ha’s devastating kick smashed into the towering flesh, shattering it into oblivion on impact.

Chapter 333

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