Episode 102

Seolhwa Ryeon walked down the street, her expression pouty.

“I’m all alone now.”

The reason was quite simple.

She had wanted to go Mine hunting with the elder for the first time in a while, but he had already left.

Or maybe, she thought, she was being a nuisance. Even the elder needed his own time, especially on weekends.

She didn’t quite understand why, but she had heard that adults, especially men, value their alone time.

Seolhwa Ryeon glanced at her outfit for a moment.

She wore a sleeveless shirt with cut-off sleeves for comfort and a high-waisted black skirt, paired with black stockings. The two swords hanging by her skirt caught the eyes of passersby.

“Hey, what are you looking at!”

“Wow, crazy. She’s so pretty.”

Seolhwa Ryeon continued walking down the street.

Hunting Mines without the elder felt lonely.

“It wasn’t like this at first.”

At first, being alone was fine. Sometimes strong Mines appeared, and she faced death, but what did it matter? In this world, nothing was connected to her.

She killed Mines alone. It was a destiny that Seolhwa Ryeon had to unravel.

Hunting Mines in the city with the elder was an incomparable joy for her.

Some might say it’s just murder, but Mines were not people. They were pests that infest this world.

She hunted Mines with the elder, trying to make the world a better place.

As she walked, she saw it.

“….”

The elder was fighting a Mine.

Wrapped in golden flames, he battled the Mines.

Faith was the power of belief that constituted this world.

Faith was the struggling power before becoming divinity. This power was essentially the same, but its performance was worlds apart.

It’s like comparing a bicycle to an airplane, both facilitating people’s travel, but the difference is like heaven and earth. It’s the difference between special stats and conceptual stats. No matter how high the special stats are, they can’t beat the conceptual stats.

“Slowly.”

The divine and faith were akin to the magic of starlight.

They were filled with the pure power of belief in oneself, fueled by the power of imagination.

However, the power of the divine and faith must be imbued with one’s own power.

The God of Sky imbued it with the power of lightning.

The God of Struggle, with the power of struggle.

The God of Light, with the power of light.

If the magic of starlight was a finished masterpiece,

Then faith and divinity require “me” to be the main agent, painting on a blank canvas with my power.

“Defying Heaven is…”

I mixed the Energy of Defying Heaven with golden power. Defying Heaven resisted, as if insisting on being the sole agent, it rejected the power of faith. The power of faith resisted less but couldn’t merge. Indeed, the Energy of Defying Heaven cannot embrace the divine.

“Not yet.”

These two powers cannot be mixed.

Then, I decided to replace it with another power I possess. Combining it with the talent of the Sword Demon seemed promising.

I added the Spirit Flames of Heaven to my faith.

Whoosh!

The golden flames remained in my hand.

The Spirit Flames. They infused the weak power of faith with the nature of flames.

“Divinity…?”

The Mine, the villain, stared blankly at the combined flames in my hands. The golden flames, born from the laws of this world, the power of belief, and the sacred flame, now combined with the ‘burning’ nature of fire.

Faith was the counterpoint to the power from outer space.

This power was based on the laws of Earth. To manipulate these laws, divinity was required. Sometimes, beings called heroes reject it and impose their own laws on the world, distorting it.

All the laws of this world create the possibility of becoming sacred and becoming a ‘God’.

“Slowly.”

I merged faith with the Spirit Flames.

My control over Defying Heaven’s power stemmed from the power of conceptual stats. It’s a stat that governs the concept itself, but faith is a bit different. The same goes for the Spirit Flames. These two were powers unfamiliar to me.

Though slow, it had to be certain.

I needed to take one step at a time.

Sensing my intent, the villain shouted.

“Kill that bastard!”

“Kuooo!”

The Mine roared.

As if agreeing with the villain’s words.

Crack!

The muscles in the Mine’s arm grotesquely swelled. The Mine’s arm, already as big as an adult’s thigh, grew to the size of a truck, wrapped in a monstrous Ki wave. It was truly an overpowering force.

“It doesn’t matter.”

The fact that it was an enemy that must be killed hadn’t changed.

Screech!

The muscles compressed. Probably a special power of the Mine. The truck-like muscles shrank in an instant.

A single punch (一拳).

──────!

Accompanied by a shockwave, the Mine’s arm lunged at me. A simple, forceful punch (鋼拳) without any finesse or depth. But with the Mine’s overwhelming physique, it became a dangerously powerful punch.

The villain also moved. Drawing a sword from within, a wave of energy flowed along the blade, shaping it. He swung it at me. The speed of the sword was unmatched. Quite a skillful technique. The sword split instantly, creating dozens of shadows. Each strike contained extraordinary power.

Proof that the villain too was a formidable opponent.

It was none of my concern.

I ridiculed them inside and focused on the battle.

I stimulated the senses of the Sword Demon.

Endlessly sharp sensations showed me the way.

“Focus.”

While creating the golden flames, I drew Black Heaven. Taking a large step forward, I infused Defying Heaven’s Energy into Black Heaven. My extreme control over Defying Heaven mimicked sword energy.

It was a false sword energy (僞劍氣). Defying Heaven’s Energy fluctuated. Like triggering the muscles in my arm, I swung the sword.

Zzzzzzzzzz!

Dozens of afterimages shattered with a single strike.

“Cough!”

The villain spat blood, looking at his shattered sword and his severed left arm in disbelief.

My body wasn’t in good shape either. Blood backflowed in my body, and Defying Heaven’s Energy became disordered. Meanwhile, the Mine’s fist was approaching.

Whoooosh!

The golden flames moved.

Faith was the law that formed this world. It exerted a particularly strong force against things not of this world, opposing them. The golden flames collided with the Mine’s fist.

Chiiiiick!

The golden flames broke the momentum of the punch. But that was it. The power was not yet perfectly merged.

But it bought time.

That was enough.

I moved my muscles using Black God Martial Arts. My body reacted faster than my brain, swinging Black Heaven. Defying Heaven’s Energy fluctuated as it collided with the Mine’s arm.

Boom!

The clash of sword and fist sounded like an exploding bomb. I gritted my teeth. Through the broken part of the mask around my left eye, I could see the Mine charging at me. Its expression was desperate, different from before.

“The Black Sword of Winter.”

I won’t use it.

Black Heaven was unique, but the Black Sword of Winter, used by the deputy leader of the Brigade of Eternal Heaven, was notoriously famous. It’s not yet time to fight the Brigade of Eternal Heaven properly.

I perceive the opponent with Divine Sight.

I tuned my body using Black God Martial Arts to match the opponent.

I forcibly controlled the reverse flow of blood.

I regulated the blood flow. Clean blood circulated smoothly, pushing the dead blood to one side, burning it with Defying Heaven’s Energy. I compressed and moved my muscles, conserving as much stamina as possible. I made my muscles and bones even more formidable.

Black God Martial Arts was a martial art of this nature from the beginning.

A physique that broke limits. Divine Sight perceived everything. Even with these two powers, it was hard to find an equal in the game.

“Even if the opponent is strong.”

“Kuoooooo!”

Boom!

The Mine roared and leaped high. Raising its arms, it smashed them down upon landing. Fragments infused with evil energy, countless shards attacked my body.

I dodged what I could with the finesse of Black Flash Sword Technique, perceiving the danger with Divine Sight, parrying the lethal attacks with Black Heaven.

Whoosh!

And then I gathered the power of faith again. The power of belief concentrated in my right hand.

Flicker.

Flames ignited. The properties of fire were infused in the golden sacredness. The power to annihilate evil transformed into the power to incinerate it.

The Mine’s arm targeted my neck. I twisted my body sideways, putting weight into it. I condensed the golden flames. My body, fortified by tuning with Black God Martial Arts, stored elasticity and unleashed explosive power in an instant. The Mine’s expression turned desperate. It was wary of Defying Heaven’s Energy, but more so of the golden flames.

The Mine lost its balance and forcibly turned its body.

Its body grotesquely tilted to the opposite side. I condensed Defying Heaven’s Energy in my foot and kicked with my right leg.

“Cough!”

The Mine’s leg stretched as much as it was kicked. I stimulated Defying Heaven’s Energy, aiming to tear the extended leg.

Crack.

With a displeasing sound, the Mine’s right leg was torn off.

“No…!”

As if sensing its impending death, the Mine screamed. I looked at it with an expressionless face, raising my right hand. The golden flames concentrated, burning.

Then I struck down on the Mine’s head with my right hand.