God Of Killing And Destruction (1)

BOOOOM! THUUUUD!! WOOOM! WOOOM! WOOOOM!

It sounded as if the planet itself might be splitting apart.

The heavens and earth roared, and the ground echoed with a mournful cry.

Could this be the dawn of a new world?

As the dust settled, two men, each wounded in the chest and abdomen, stood back-to-back, continuously vomiting bright red blood and pieces of their insides from their mouths and noses.

Opposite them, a woman was belatedly visible, collapsed on the ground and gasping for breath.

“Heh heh heh. Cough! I told you it wouldn’t work! You brute.”

“Crazy old man. Whew… What can’t be done? Look at that woman over there. A couple more hits and she looks like she’ll be annihilated. Cough. Go and hit her twice more.”

“Heh heh heh heh. Cough! Cough! What do you mean, twice? I don’t even have the strength to lift a finger now. Cough, cough!”

“That’s why I always told you to exercise! You keep making excuses about being a mage and just run your mouth all day! Cough! Whew…”

Their banter continued, but neither the one scolding nor the one being scolded seemed to have the strength to lift a finger.

Yet, despite that, their unwavering eyes, if looks could kill, might have already torn the woman opposite them limb from limb.

“Whew… Crazy fools. They keep bothering me to the end. What kind of filthy energy is this?!”

The woman, who had been silent until then, suddenly acted like a madwoman and sliced off her own left arm from the shoulder.

She appeared to be in her mid-twenties at most. Her face was so beautiful that even without her left arm, one couldn’t help but call her beautiful.

As the severed arm fell to the ground, the eyes of the two men turned grim.

‘Wow! They said she wasn’t normal… What a tough woman. How can she cut off her own arm so easily…? Anyway, this is a big problem. If she had tried to expel the energy, there might have been hope.’

‘Geez. It’s over, it’s over. But still, she won’t be able to recover that easily severed arm, you witch.’

Contrary to their inner thoughts, the words that came out of their mouths were harsh.

“I told you she’s crazy. Why cut off an arm out of nowhere? Anyway, idiots with a bit of talent shouldn’t learn magic.”

“Are you saying that for me to hear? Don’t lump me with that woman. It’s offensive!”

Ignoring the men’s sarcasm, the beauty, who had been groaning to recover, suddenly stood up and approached them, venting her frustration.

“Damn it! Hahahaha. It’s not easy to recover, huh? Old men, I don’t want to kill you easily, but branding your souls or punishing them seems too harsh, and I might get consumed. What to do? Ah! Yes, that’ll work.”

The men laughed at the woman talking to herself.

The beauty’s gaze turned icy as she looked at the two men smiling as if they were satisfied.

“Live forever in the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’ There, you can neither die nor grow stronger. Because that place is governed by the ‘settings’ of a creator stronger than me. Enjoy your tedious life together.”

—20,000 years ago, the Battle of the Inferi Plains in the Demon Realm, an unrecorded chapter.

“Hey, who are you? Who’s laughing like a madman in front of someone else’s house and snooping around? What? Is my house funny to you?”

“…I am a representative.”

“Whose representative? Representative… huh? Was it messenger?”

“Yes.”

In the brief exchange of just a few words, an old man appeared in front of me without a sound, having come around from behind.

With a sullen expression, he stared intently at me, clearly displeased, as I stood frozen with tension.

Though I was ‘seeing’ the old man right in front of me, nothing registered in my senses.

Like a mirage, he was clearly visible but eluded detection, sending chills down my spine and cold sweat down my back.

“So, what brings a messenger here?”

I took out a yellow registration card from my pocket and respectfully offered it to the old man, stating my purpose for visiting.

“I came to receive instruction.”

“Instruction? Messenger, are you trying to become a herbalist?”

“No.”

“Then are you trying to become a hunter?”

“No.”

The old man clicked his tongue in frustration, looked up at the sky, then turned his back and walked over to sit on a bench, as if he didn’t care about a divine messenger.

“Then why have you come here? We are just old men barely surviving by gathering herbs and catching small animals.”

As I lifted my head at his curt voice, another old man magically appeared on the bench.

Where there had been nothing moments ago, a small table with simple snacks was set on the bench, and a barrel of liquor was placed on the ground beside it.

Without a word, like farmers enjoying a break with rice wine in a quiet countryside field, the two old men began pouring and competitively gulping down their drinks.

“I wish to learn ‘God of Killing’ and ‘Destruction.’”

Wooong!

As soon as I finished speaking, the air around us vibrated.

However, the two old men still didn’t look at me, pouring drinks into each other’s cups as if they were completely unaware of what was happening.

As soon as the trembling cry of the air stopped, I felt a pressure bearing down on both my shoulders.

I couldn’t figure out what kind of technique it was, but the force squeezing my entire body made it hard to breathe.

I endured and endured, suppressing the groan that threatened to escape.

As time passed, the pressure intensified, and the sweat that began to trickle from my forehead had long since started to seep from my entire body.

Crack.

My bones screamed, and I clenched my teeth harder against the temptation to kneel and collapse to the ground.

It was definitely not gravity magic. I couldn’t detect any flow of divine power, and it wasn’t the mechanism of gravity magic that I was most familiar with since my previous life.

The pressure bearing down was immense, and even though the divine power within me was mine, it wouldn’t budge.

Drip… Drip… Drip… Drip… Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip.

The sweat that had been falling drop by drop began to fall more and more like water from a broken faucet.

When the sweat that started to fall like rain began to pool on the hard floor, I felt the pressure that had been crushing my entire body disappear.

I staggered slightly at the sudden disappearance of the pressure on me but managed to keep my balance and not fall disgracefully. The sigh I let out as I wiped the sweat from my forehead seemed to say I was exhausted.

“Where did you…? Tsk. No, what do you plan to do by learning that?”

I hesitated for a moment at the old man’s question.

I thought about lying, but somehow my instincts and insight warned me not to speak falsehoods.

“I plan to cut the power of those crazy women and madwomen in half.”

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, with a short and powerful momentum, the old man’s index finger, with whom I had been conversing, was lightly pressing near my heart, while the palm of the silent old man was gently wrapped around my neck.

“The method?”

“…I will succeed. I can reduce the power of at least two years to half, at most to 30%. When that time comes, I can personally grant you both eternal rest. Will you pass it on to me?”

A sharp pain was felt in my chest and neck.

The backlash of ‘settings’ hadn’t occurred yet, and the two remained calm.

“The method?”

“…If not me, if not this time, there will never be another chance. Will you pass it on to me?”

Blood flowed from my chest, and the smell of burning flesh wafted from my neck.

Would it have been different if I had worn equipment? No. Surely, it would have just put unnecessary holes in the equipment.

As the pain increased, though I couldn’t tell about the old man behind me, the arm of the old man in front of me trembled slightly.

However, neither I nor he avoided it.

“The method?”

“I will ask one last time. Will you… pass it on to me?”

A thick killing intent seemed to sharpen into blades, pressing against my entire body. Is this why they say killing intent alone can kill or save a person?

I thought I had grown stronger, but I felt overwhelmed by a strength of a different dimension.

The conclusion reached by Argus’s Eye aligned with my own thoughts.

They cannot inflict greater harm on me. The ‘settings’ won’t allow such things to happen.

That’s why they’re trying to intimidate me with threats.

“…Tough guy.”

“What did I say? Expecting respect for elders from the young these days is too much!”

“Isn’t that what I should be saying? I’ve got a hole in my chest and my neck is stinging!”

The two old men grumbled. However, I see hope in the fact that they are engaging with me instead of ignoring me like before.

I also grumbled, pointing precisely at my chest and neck, and they looked at me for a moment as if I were an oddity.

“…Hmph!”

“Here you go!”

The old man, who had maintained silence despite all the chatter until now, threw a lump of divine power at me.

I briefly considered dodging it, but my insight advised against it.

Moreover, thinking that if it were an attack using divine power, the recoil on the old man would be significant, I watched the lump flying towards me.

The lump of divine power, neither too fast nor too slow, melted away like snow as soon as it touched my body and began to heal my wounds.

Even though my regenerative ability was beyond human level due to Heavenly Strength, this unique and peculiar healing magic instantly cured not only the area around my chest but also the burn wounds on my neck that were oozing pus.

“Oh ho?”

“Ho?”

Was it surprising that I didn’t dodge? Strange exclamations flowed from the mouths of the two old men.

Regardless, I carefully checked the condition of my chest and the back of my neck where the wounds had been.

My fingers dug in, but there was no trace of the burns. If not for the torn clothes and bloodstains, it would be hard to believe.

After confirming there was nothing wrong with my body, I silently walked over to the bench where the two old men were observing my actions and took a seat on one side.

“Huh!”

“What are you doing?”

I looked at the two bewildered old men with a blank expression, then tapped the edge of the table lightly with my finger and spoke.

“Well, if there’s no tea for the guest, you should at least offer some liquor.”

“Geez! These days, young people…”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

Despite their gruff complaints, a small white bowl for me was already placed on the little table.

The liquor jar on the ground beside the bench floated up by itself, pouring a full serving into my bowl and the bowls of the two old men before returning to its place.

As I watched the seemingly self-moving liquor jar with interest, the skill ‘Argus’s Eye’ activated, quickly analyzing the mechanism of the divine power surrounding the jar.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re looking when you’re sharing a table with your elders?”

“What did I say?! I told you all young people these days are like that!”

“Ugh… I’m sorry. But did you know? The statement that young people are a problem has been found in ancient murals, too.”

“Hmph!”

The talent ‘Insight’ and the skill ‘Argus’s Eye’ activated at random times, seemingly without my control, perhaps because I wasn’t yet accustomed to them.

Of course, I don’t think it’s a bad thing.

Just like when I met Benialis and his minions a while ago, it certainly helped, and unlike before when I would easily get excited, my reasoning, which now surpasses 100, seems to be working properly.

‘These monstrous old men.’

It’s not a skill or talent that shows outwardly. It’s just a process of calculation in my head, yet they notice it and scold me like this, making the formidable abilities of these two old men more astonishing than the talents and skills that activate on their own.

Perhaps because I had just endured their formidable killing intent, my mouth felt dry and I was thirsty, so I awkwardly gulped down the yellow liquid in the bowl.

The medicinal scent and the unique spicy aroma of grain liquor filled my mouth. Surprised by the sweet and pleasant taste and aroma, I looked at the two old men.

“You’re drinking well. Why? Is it better than you thought?”

“Do you know a thing or two about the taste of liquor?”

“…Yes, it’s good. What are you doing being still? The glass is empty.”

I retorted to their teasing with teasing of my own.

For some reason, I feel drawn to these two eccentric old men. They’re rough and prickly nature.

But there’s no negative emotion like hatred or animosity in them. It’s like my previous life where I deliberately pushed everyone away except Lee Hyo-ju.

“Pour yourself a drink, you rascal!”

“Exactly! If you stole someone else’s skill and learned it, you should learn to use it.”

“…Ugh.”

Ah… these prickly old men.

Now that the stage is set, it wouldn’t be bad to dance a wild dance. Who knows, if I make a mistake, they might even give me some advice.

I fully unleashed my divine power to envelop the barrel of liquor. Then, as I lifted it with a supporting feeling…

“Huh?”

“Puhahaha!”

“Kekekeke!”

The barrel didn’t budge. Quite a bit of divine power was poured in.

As I looked at the unmoving barrel curiously, the frivolous laughter of two old men echoed.

“Hey! You fool. How can you spread divine power and not sense someone else’s divine power?”

“You dimwit! Kehahaha.”

At those words, I spread my divine power around the barrel and felt another mass of divine power pressing heavily on top of it. These old geezers!!

“…Sigh. These old folks, really…”

“Hmph! Do you think you can win if you fight?”

“Why don’t you drop the act and have a go!”

His tone was typical of a street thug. It’s not a metaphor or satire. He really rolled up his sleeves as if ready to fight.

“…Forget it.”

“Coward! Anyway, what do you plan to do about those women?”

Suddenly, his tone turned serious.

In response, I straightened up from leaning to one side and lowered my voice to answer.

“At least half, and if luck is on our side, reduce their power by 30% to lower their rank.”

“Are you confident?”

“It’s not easy for sure.”

“If we equip ‘God of Killing’ and ’Destruction, the success rate is clearly over 80%. There are other preparations needed, but those can only be ready in five years.”

“Hmm…”

“Alright!”