War God (1)

The training ground, which was usually full of blazing heat, was now filled only with a cold tension. That’s because the ones standing in the center of the training ground were Lee Hyo-ju and Hazel.

A duel between the two who, aside from Kim Han, were presumed to be the strongest in combat.

Unexpectedly, the rumor that Lee Hyo-ju had asked Hazel for this reached everyone, and people’s expectations were so high that all activity in the mansion came to a halt.

“Phew… Why did this rumor spread so much?”

“Hah! It’s obvious. Arun or Merus.”

Both women’s gazes turned at the same time to where Arun and Merus sat shoulder to shoulder.

Startled by their looks, Arun and Merus flinched and busied themselves pretending to stare off into the distance.

“Both of them.”

“Both, indeed.”

They decided to ask about responsibility later and instead looked at each other.

Including Naruan and Mae Young-ryeong, they were the women who spent the most time with Kim Han, who loved him as a romantic interest, who were representatives wielding the absolute powers of time and space, and who cherished a devoted love that always put Kim Han first.

“Because of the nature of our powers, there wasn’t a suitable opponent to spar with, so I asked her… I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”

“Hoho, this will be interesting too. Begin.”

“All right.”

Their gazes turned to Jimnas. Jimnas smiled broadly and raised his right arm.

As he lowered the arm he had raised, Jimnas’s divine power split the space between them, and his thick voice shouting “Begin!” rang out at the same time.

The moment Hazel heard Jimnas’s voice, she began dividing space multiple times.

Her quick judgement proved perfectly timed. Likewise, Lee Hyo-ju activated her power at the start, froze time, and launched spells.

Almost at the same moment Jimnas said “Begin,” sparks flew around Hazel and the spells fell to the ground, causing the gathered representatives and mages to murmur.

Nobody knew exactly what had happened or how. Even Merus was shaking his head.

Their techniques were that extraordinary. And so the duel had begun.

Jimnas himself couldn’t understand how the duel should proceed.

He was flustered, unsure when to intervene or how to stop them.

Lee Hyo-ju’s attacks and defenses froze or slowed time.

Hazel defended and attacked by dividing and slicing space.

Lee Hyo-ju was always fully prepared to stop time in response to Hazel’s spatial slicing attacks.

Her talent ‘Governing Gluttony’ shone.

By sensing Hazel’s movements, breath, and flow of force, Lee Hyo-ju’s anticipatory defenses were easily countering Hazel’s attacks—despite Hazel wielding the absolute power of space.

Hazel was no different.

She sliced the surrounding space into dozens of layers and separated them so that no matter what Lee Hyo-ju did, she couldn’t reach her.

It was an efficient method that prevented prolonged use of time-stopping abilities and was a technique only Hazel could use.

As a result, dozens of exchanges occurred in moments, and the spectators could do nothing but marvel.

After some time of this visually dizzying duel, the two women’s movements suddenly froze at the same time.

Lee Hyo-ju and Hazel’s eyes met.

And an intensity rose from both of their bodies like a storm.

It felt like waking from a terrifying dream. I had vivid memories of pain, but when I woke up, I felt none of it.

As I half-sat up, Bioss and Talis were manipulating divine power on either side of me.

“What is… this?”

But the two masters silently focused on controlling divine power.

A message indicating a change in status was displayed in the air, as if it had been there for a while.

The ‘Guardian’ message ended there. After that, representative messages continued.

“Uh…?”

A skill tailor-made for massacring commoners. Do you get skills like this when you reach this physical grade?

The more I read the skill descriptions, the more the warrior star Proy Rium from my past life came to mind. And the talent descriptions that followed confirmed it even more.

In short, the combination of ‘War God [Ex]’ and ‘Sixth Sense’ urges you to rush into the enemy ranks and wreak havoc.

It’s like my past life, but the difference is that the current skills are much more refined.

In my previous life I charged in trusting only brutal endurance, but the Tushin and Sixth Sense combo means: allow no strike and lead a slaughter of the enemy.

‘Huh… After all this, it’s the same place.’

I felt hollow, but also somewhat pleased.

Unlike before, trying to fight a solemn, technical battle felt stifling. I was the kind of person who preferred to be at the forefront, drinking the enemy’s blood in battle.

I swallowed a short hollow laugh and continued reading the descriptions of the synthesized skills.

“Transcending to Divinity? Are you insane? You’d be entering the celestial realm full of transcendants who are still below the true divine plane.”

“Foolish disciple, you still have that habit of muttering to yourself. You’d think you’d change as you grow.”

Maybe they heard me muttering as I read Divine Power Affinity’s description. Talis and Bioss rose with weary faces.

“Indeed.”

But they had no reply to my flippant answer.

When I looked, puzzled, both of them were staring at me blankly as if I were a strange object.

“Why…?”

“Phew… You’re disgusting, you know.”

“Indeed… a monster.”

Who are you calling a monster, and to whom…? Still, both masters’ expressions clearly showed they were fed up.

Just as I was about to argue, they urged me to get up and told me to leave.

When I said I still had personal matters to sort out, they insisted—no more talking, rest completely today.

“Don’t do anything for about a week and rest. Go to bed at a set time and wake at a set time. Your body is, to put it plainly, overheating. You need rest to stabilize. Better yet, focus on crafting, which you like.”

Talis dragged me along as I dawdled and we left the underground training hall.

But as soon as we took the magic circle up and arrived at the third-floor bedroom, we realized rest was impossible.

Because waves of power were surging from the training ground.

“Master, I’ll go first.”

“Tch. Fine.”

“Rest after you return.”

“Alright. Move!”

With a simple command my vision shifted, and when we arrived above the training ground I staggered, almost falling to the ground in a pathetic heap. The two women’s powers were colliding and throwing up tremendous turbulence of divine power.

“Phew…”

Just as the two women’s attacks—full of personal grievances—were about to clash, I threw myself between them.

『Marking points and lines where collisions of divine power will occur.』

I threw seven punches, each wrapped in the breaker, at the seven red-marked points.

Kuuuuung— Wuuu— Wuuu— Wuu—

The air ruptured and gusts blew; the echo of the roar spread farther like an echo. Dust rose like a desert whirlwind and then dissipated.

“What the hell is happening right now?”

“B-… partner?”

“Mr. Kim Han!!”

Even though both women had internal injuries and were spitting blood, the instant they spotted me they ran from both sides and hugged me tightly.

“Huh? Big—!!”

As soon as Naruan clung to my back, Arun charged in from the front, as if trying to embrace me.

Ting—

“I’m dead.”

When I told Arun in a murderous tone, he hurriedly stopped—apparently truly intending to hug me—then tumbled and rolled to land in front of me with a clatter.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll hear the story tomorrow. Today, I need to rest.”

With those words my vision went dark.

As my eyes closed, I thought I faintly heard someone calling my name.