NOVEL NEXT Chapter 766
<766 – As a Warrior (12)>
The Seonhwang ruled as the Emperor of the Underworld, gaining several intriguing powers in the Underground World.
In the Field Dungeon of the Underworld.
Each monster appears in habitats befitting its theme, showcasing the powerful attributes or features residing deep within those habitats, annoying high-level hunting grounds.
The Seonhwang freely roamed this hunting ground, challenging upperclassman players who were out to tackle it as DLC content.
The Seonhwang was not a student.
Hence, he didn’t need to squeeze his time to map out efficient routes according to a schedule to return to the Academy or seek out items and functions to compensate for shortcomings in his Academy life.
Having experienced the peak of all riches and glory in the human world, the Seonhwang easily passed over most items and features with little thought.
Strong monsters of the Field Dungeon.
The strength of primal beastmen, a far cry from the beastmen of the surface.
A volume of numbers that poses a limit for an individual to break through.
Even a talented explorer has limits on provisions.
Such restrictions did not apply to the Seonhwang.
[Seonhwang's Report]
The Seonhwang possessed his own pocket dimension that accumulated the wealth of the Empire, vast enough to buy the entire Empire.
Above all, the strength he had built over a long history flowed through his blood and body mana, instilling a primal fear akin to that of a giant species, the Fearing, in his enemies.
He ascended to the throne of the oldest blood lord, the Vampire Emperor, and to the throne of the oldest anger lord, the Werewolf Emperor.
Gathered by countless powerful ancient beastmen who revered him as emperor, he collected various [Emperor Titles] and gained an unprecedented title enhancement effect in the history of the continent, unmatched by anyone.
This led to unique effects of the Underworld surpassing the collection effects he enjoyed on the surface.
[Master of Treasure]
[Master of Authority]
[Master of Gehenna]
The first ownership of all treasures belonging to Gehenna becomes the Seonhwang.
All conditions for acquiring powers and manifesting them belonging to Gehenna are waived for the Seonhwang.
All living beings in Gehenna bow in absolute obedience to the Seonhwang and cannot oppose his will.
[Wide-area Transmission - Anti-Magic Authority]
As a carefully crafted ‘gift’ was neutralized by one of the Seonhwang’s moves, the director beyond the heavens smiled a rough smile that belied his handsome face.
“Has the connection with the surface been severed all at once? Indeed, in the realm of [Domination], your interference cannot surpass. Then, here’s your second gift.”
Snap.
The moment the director snapped his fingers, a dozen black-clad individuals standing behind him threw themselves beneath the non-fair flight ship.
[Hyper Dive]
[Bombardment]
[Critical Hit]
[Arc Shooting Star]
The black-clad individuals unleashed lethal moves with the power akin to the grand magic of professors.
Upon seeing the figures revealed beneath their raised robes, the Seonhwang was once again amazed.
“Ho-ho. These are professors who died before Professor Sadako’s inauguration. Did you implant a false self and spirit into the corpses you stole from the poorly managed Gift Academy of the past? It seems your ridiculous schemes to mislead my foolish son were indeed the work of your foundation.”
“Will you seek revenge for Pake Hiuqmag, who returned to the Netherworld?”
“Of course not. The warmth of the professors’ hearts, who wish to teach what they couldn’t in life even in death, is commendable. Why should I stop those who would educate future generations even after they die, so that I wouldn’t take them under my wing and beat them to death out of frustration?”
The moves of the undead professors, which seemed poised to crash upon the ground, vanished beyond the vast hole opened on the surface.
Even the High Undead, who had belatedly stopped releasing their power in a bid to ascend, could not withstand the pull of Gehenna and was drawn in.
[End of the Earth]
[Abyssal Hole]
[Path to the Netherworld]
Having ascended as the ruler of Gehenna, the Seonhwang gained the right to open doors to special dimensional realms leading to the Netherworld.
Of course, this was not a right given unilaterally for his benefit.
Just as freedom comes with responsibility, rights come with obligations.
The cost of opening the path to the Netherworld is to construct a tribute tower dedicated to the Netherworld.
Until the entire price is paid, all resistance powers turn negative, increasing the probability of adverse status effects.
[Seonhwang's Report]
[Sacrificial Offering – Gold Tower]
However, the Seonhwang possessed immense wealth and assets to offset the costs demanded for using powerful authorities.
“Director of the Foundation. If you seek to determine whose accumulated power vies for supremacy between yours and mine, allow me to inform you of your insane blunder.”
“Indeed, this way, the cost-effectiveness is poor. I never imagined it was you who would borrow the power of God.”
“It’s the manifestation of authority, not prayer magic. Although I’ve turned against the divine, utilizing the power arranged for my apostle by the god of Hell is not beyond the realm of possibility.”
When the foundation’s third barrage was launched, the director made his move.
“Then, I’ll close that authority for you.”
Disasters are distortions of mana waves.
As buried oil catches fire and burns for thousands of years, the results of phenomena transformed into their worst forms lead to ongoing mana disasters.
Divine power is also a type of divine mana, so theoretically, any divine authority can be reverse-engineered to trigger a mana disaster.
Powers that absorb all attacks into the Netherworld beyond Gehenna.
What might its counter be?
Absorbing powers that shouldn’t be absorbed.
A hole that expands uncontrollably, revealing Hell in the physical realm.
Among various methods, the director chose the ‘latter.’
[Summoning Magic – Progeny of the Primordial Giant]
As giants that couldn’t fit entirely into the massive hole writhed, the hole opened in Gehenna slowly widened.
As the range gradually broadened, the Seonhwang’s brow furrowed like a ship caught in a storm.
“Not bad. I won’t deny it. This was effective.”
As the Seonhwang retracted his power, the door leading to the Netherworld that had been expanding slammed shut.
The summoned progeny of the primordial giants caught in between wailed mournfully.
Not only the land on the mainland but also the blood spilled stained the nearby inland seas crimson.
“Seonhwang. Excluding Dragon Principal Omoshiroi, it seems you truly are the strongest human being blocking the foundation. I must admit I was somewhat impressed by your swift judgment.”
They recognized each other as rivals.
If this was a relationship of mutual competition and refinement at the Academy, it couldn’t be better.
But this was society beyond the Academy.
Moreover, the pinnacle of humanity.
A clash of powerful rulers vying for supremacy over the world.
One side cannot retreat until the other falls.
“However, the procedure is already set. With all the forces of magicians obliterated and mana disasters raging across this land, especially now that the power of the Netherworld dimensional realm is pervasive, [Dimensional Equipment] is no longer operational.”
“Hmm?”
While the Seonhwang failed to grasp the true meaning of this, Giselle, who had prepared for defense using dimensional equipment long ago, hurriedly grasped a sound-magnifying magical tool and called out to the Seonhwang.
“It’s a nuclear weapon!!”
“Ah, the one that evaporated a desert nation is coming.”
From the flagship of the foundation, the launch pad opened.
After a nuclear missile was launched towards the ground, it vanished through the dimensional gateway.
The distance and time needed for acceleration.
All of those processes were fulfilled in a different dimension.
The nuclear missile reappeared after reaching maximum acceleration, with a portal opening right near the target point.
A dimension-hopping nuclear missile, impossible to block or evade, plunged down to the ground.
[Dimensional Barrier]
The Seonhwang expanded the area encompassing him across the land, dispersing energy into the dimension he commanded.
No matter how grand magic may be, no magic can inflict total damage on him, who can mitigate and distribute the damage across multiple dimensions.
Every attribute energy has a corresponding dimension, and damage of the same attribute can be negated to the point of nearly nullifying the impact due to shock absorption.
[Shock Absorption]
[Barrier Absorption]
[Dimensional Absorption]
The dispersal of energy occurring at multiple phases alleviated most of the nuclear missile’s destructive force into the dimensions he had acquired for dragon hunting.
However, even with pure destructive force alone surpassing that of grand magic, damage that cannot be mitigated by any dimension resulted in severe rejection reactions across all dimensions.
[The giant race exhibits extreme counter-reaction.]
[The snowy mountain dimension severs its link with the Middle Realm.]
[The Netherworld dimension refuses to share the cost of the price you paid to close the gates of Hell.]
Even after all dimensional barriers had lost their light and extinguished, the Seonhwang withstood the shock solely with his inherent mana.
A human, an individual, negated the impact of a nuclear weapon solely with their power.
That alone was an unbelievable feat, but shock often comes with a backlash.
‘This is troublesome. I can’t take action until I recover from this shock.’
With the Seonhwang’s chances for retaliation sealed, the timing for the director’s strike surely became the ultimate and final blow.
“Seonhwang. You must have heard of it.”
“…?”
“You may have heard the rumors about the ‘Special Mentor’ of Oknodie, who annihilated the ghost army of revolutionaries in one blow and severed their breaths.”
The Seonhwang’s eyes widened.
The director’s smile grew ever deeper.
“The struggle ends here. Let me show you the strength of ‘that one’ who killed the revolutionary.”
Oknodie’s conjecture was correct.
The director had already discovered the summoning method for [Marine who Specializes in Strength All-in].