Chapter 281

〈 Chapter 281 〉 Part 1, Chapter 12, Section 27

Third Attempt.

Even after going berserk in monster form, Callipera was taken down with a single strike. Swinging the Heaven-Piercing Halberd, she tried to fight me one-on-one as a martial artist.

“I am the strongest martial artist on this land!!”

Snap.

I just flicked my finger and burned Callipera to ashes. In that moment, I conquered the entire region of Wei Country.

Fourth Attempt.

Terrified of my flames, Callipera ran away immediately upon resurrecting. After clearing out all the monsters holed up in the fortress, I chased her while swimming along the Yangtze River.

“AAHHH! Don’t follow me, you monster!!”

“This is worse than even the Illusory Dragons.”

I grabbed Callipera by the neck before she could swim halfway across the Yangtze and hurled her high into the heaven. As she flailed about, I swung my blazing Deokbate like a fiery baseball bat, sending her exploding into pieces.

KIEEEEEEEK!!

“Hmph. Still no core.”

For the fourth attempt, Callipera’s core still didn’t appear. Since there was no way to gather cores, I turned the entire swarm of locusts covering the Wu region into a sea of fire. Just burned them all together with their cores.

Fifth Attempt.

“Hey! Can’t we have a proper one-on-one duel?”

“Do you realize fighting me will reset your experience points?”

“You’re someone who kills with a single hit anyway, what’s so hard about that?”

Deokbae showed surprising confidence and transformed into a Flame Giant to wrestle with a giant locust across the plains. But his confidence was short-lived as a single blow tore off his leg, then Callipera swallowed him whole in flames.

“Keheheh! Now I’m immune to fire too!”

“Nah, that’s my flame.”

I made Chang-yeom explode from within Callipera’s stomach. She began roasting from the inside out, turning into a crispy-on-the-inside, moist-on-the-outside locust roast. Though I was curious about the taste, being a monster tainted by the Cube, it would surely cause magical contamination upon contact.

Still no core. I set fire to the entire mountain-surrounded Bashu region for about 35 days, thoroughly roasting every monster across the continent.

“Ah, this is getting boring. Let’s just finish it.”

Deokbae looked like he’d been sickened by nothing but the smell of roasting locusts for 35 days straight.

“Did you really think farming S-Rank cores would be this easy? Fifty tries are standard, you know.”

“A week per resurrection…that’s 350 days…an entire year of this?”

“That’s why you just eat cubes and explode. Don’t worry so much. There’s always a way out.”

Though it was disappointing not to obtain the rare Light-attribute S-Rank core, I couldn’t afford to waste time on Callipera, let alone spend it with Deokbae.

I considered getting another cube and throwing Deokbae outside to relax with Chang-yeom for a month, but Chang-yeom had asked not to be disturbed until she captured Karna.

“Hurry up and catch Karna already. Let’s make this last attempt and go home.”

Sixth Attempt.

Callipera waited for me at Horogwan, wielding the Heaven-Piercing Halberd. Despite being unable to defeat me even in her superior monster form, she maintained her human body, showing some degree of determination.

“Why insist on fighting me as a human?”

“…I’m human. Someday, I’ll escape this world and return to my original one!”

Suddenly remembering, this is the typical mindset of those who fall into different worlds. Though it’s different from mine.

“Even if you return, wouldn’t your life probably just be a pile of crap anyway? Is there really any need to go back?”

“Shut up! I’m still going back! No matter what happens!!”

Callipera raised the Heaven-Piercing Halberd toward me, shouting with resolve. It’s admirable how determined she is, even knowing she’ll die.

“If you really mean ‘no matter what’…”

“YES!!”

Then this changes things. With Deokbate resting casually on my shoulder, I took a deep breath.

“Then show me your full strength. If you can beat me, I’ll take you out of this world.”

“If I kill you, I can escape from here! Come on!”

Callipera demonstrated her prowess by swinging the halberd in an X-pattern. Her determined gaze reminded me somewhat of the Light Blade technique I faced during my ultimate battle.

“Alright then. Here I come.”

I lifted the Deokbate toward Callipera with one hand, pointing its tip directly at her heart.

“Not me. This.”

BANG—!!

I released the handle, and the Deokbate shot out like a massive bullet. Blue flames erupted from beneath the handle like a rocket, propelling it faster than light toward Callipera.

“Wha-!”

Before Callipera could say anything, she swung the halberd. The blade cut through the air, aiming to deflect the approaching bat. The light-attribute magic power emanating from the blade seemed ready to split the Deokbate in two.

“Sorry about this.”

I slightly moved my finger to the side.

WHOOSH!

The halberd slashed through empty air. The Deokbate gracefully curved like a living fish, slipping past the blade.

“Sorry for scaring you earlier about not moving around. My bad.”

PUUUUUSH!!

The Deokbate pierced perfectly through Callipera’s heart. It entered between her chest and armpit, exiting through her shoulder in a diagonal line. At the end of the bat, Callipera’s heart was burning.

SWOOSH!

As the Deokbate fell, a yellow-gold Core hung from its tip. I triumphantly greeted Callipera while picking it up.

“Good thing it came out this time. I was planning to leave without it otherwise.”

“What…what is…this…”

With a thud, Callipera knelt, spitting out blood. The Heaven-Piercing Halberd rolled uselessly on the ground as she looked at me with fading eyes.

“I’ll take you out of this world. I promise.”

“…thank…you…”

Thud. Callipera collapsed forward, meeting her end. The S-Rank monster guarding the Cube couldn’t escape the world even after losing the Cube.

“Now that the Core has appeared, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

I skipped over and picked up both the Deokbate and the S-Rank Core. While Calipella might resurrect again, repeating this cycle won’t happen even if I unify the world.

And the main consciousness of Yeobongseon, embodied by Callipera, now rests within the Core.

Natural-born monsters.

Unlike cadre-created monsters, these are individuals chosen by the Cube to guard it, like Yeobongseon, who went mad and became monstrous under its influence.

“But right now, I’ve got both the Cube and the Core – two birds with one stone.”

I revived Deokbae with the Deokbate. His hair still gleamed in the evening sunset.

“…Did I become A-Rank?”

“Nope. Still B-Rank.”

“AAAARGH!!”

Despite serving as my weapon for about 36 days, slaying tens of thousands of E-Rank locusts, and repeatedly piercing the heart of an S-Rank beauty, he hasn’t grown beyond B-Rank.

“That’s strange. Aren’t your required experience points unusually high?”

“How should I know?! Guess I’ve got tremendous potential!”

“Even so, you’re more efficient as my weapon. Just give up already.”

If Jo Deokbae becomes an S-Rank persistent monster, I plan to make a stone tablet out of him. The same kind of stone tablet Phoenix showed in the spirit realm – maybe I can create one using Jo Deokbae.

“Well, let’s escape then. We’ve gotten what we wanted, plus a bonus.”

I attempted to transform Deokbae into a Core, causing him to panic.

“Hey! Doesn’t this transformation process result in mana loss?”

“Who knows? I’ve never been turned into a weapon myself. Even if there is loss, it’s better than dropping to zero, right?”

“Don’t be so irresponsible! I killed ten thousand locusts!”

“They’re E-Rank. Killing millions of E-Ranks won’t measure up to even one A-Rank.”

We were just hunting Es while waiting for Callipera to respawn anyway. They were essentially useless for experience or cores.

The only benefit was gaining extensive combat experience. I approached Deokbae from behind and transformed him into a Core.

“Hey!”

“It’s better to become a Core, don’t you think? It’d be pitiful for Callipera’s fragments if we left the world like this.”

Starting a new game with an entirely destroyed continent would be cruel, so let’s reset the world. Transforming my body into a monster form, I gathered mana into one point.

[Should I use the Cube too?]

I extracted mana from the Cube. Though polluted mana surged during the process, it was purified by the flames of Chang-yeom surrounding the Cube and began coalescing in front of me.

[Ending scenes always need explosions.]

Let’s go nuclear.

Using the Cube’s mana as well, I twisted the stabilized mana core.

[KABOOM.]

Explosion radius: the entire world.

The entire China continent manifested by Callipera’s consciousness turned into ashes in a solar explosion.

* * *

“Cough, cough!”

Spitting out ash from my mouth, I crossed over through the ‘Gate.’ Though I destroyed all of China, this only applied to the ‘other dimension,’ having no effect on reality.

“Tch, making such a fuss about bringing it.”

Dragging the net bag on my back along the floor, I pulled it toward me. Leaving part of the net outside, I grabbed the roughly door-sized ‘Gate’ on both sides and forced it open.

SQUEEEEAK!!

Magic power burst forth as the gate stretched sideways. The narrow gate loosened under my strength, and with my foot on it, I pulled the mana-filled net with all my might.

“Uno, dos, tres—GO!!”

With a shout, I pulled the net with all my strength. Though it nearly ripped apart where it was caught on the gate, I successfully retrieved the net stuck on the threshold at the last moment.

“Then, closing…”

Cough, cough.

The damaged gate creaked and spat out ash. Through the gap I’d widened, remnants from the exploded continent flowed in.

GURRRRRGLE—

“…”

Echoes of the nuclear explosion could still be heard beyond the gate. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the gate on both sides.

SQUEEEEEEEEEK!!

To others, it might look like I’m doing a mime act of pulling at empty air, but I’m currently crumpling the portal to the second dimension from both sides.

SQUEEZE—BOOM.

The sole path to the other dimension closed like a sliding door. Though its shape was significantly distorted compared to the beginning, when Callipera resurrects, the world will also revive, becoming a proper dungeon once more.

“Sealed until then.”

Without anyone noticing, I piled the E-Rank Cores I brought over the gate to create a small hill. They were stacked high enough to slide down briefly, blocking the gate, and I stood atop the E-Rank Core hill, stretching my arms toward the sky.

“Perfect timing.”

The sun was just setting beyond the horizon. Enjoying the warm sunlight, I kicked the solid blue barrier below to check its condition.

‘Anyone trying to tear through the barrier will face the era of burning locusts.’

“And let’s cover it up with something else. Hehehe.”

I summoned Baek Cheongyoung, who was likely enjoying himself immensely with the Black Sand Gall.

[What is the matter?]

Baek Cheongyoung covered his mouth with the black ox mask as usual, responding leisurely to my call, though I could faintly hear the Black Sand Gall screaming.

“What were you doing just now?”

[…Uh, Xiao Lin made a model for us, and our Illusory Dragon Group was testing it…]

“…With Xiao Lin’s magic, shouldn’t it be transparent?”

[Yes. Thanks to which, shining light makes the inside completely visible.]

Dear heavens. Baek Cheongyoung was indulging in affairs far beyond my imagination. Who would have thought he’d do such a thing.

“Alright then. Handle your side however you want. I have a favor to ask, and I’ll repay you.”

[What is it?]

I pointed at the Light-attribute S-Rank Core in my hand and the numerous E-Rank Cores spread below.

“Borrow some land here. To build a Core production factory.”

[…So you’ve taken down Horogwan, have you? Very well.]

The crescent moon-like eyes visible above the black ox mask curved gently.

Shortly after.

Using the power of the Cube and mana, a small factory site was established on the old Horogwan grounds.

What it produces is a secret known only to me and the Illusory Dragon Group.