My Alter Ego's Path to Greatness

< The Demon King of the Ganghwan Realm (2) >

In fact, he had been consistently examining Cheonma's corpse even before. No matter how busy Hans was, there was no way he would just leave a top-tier material like Cheonma untouched, right?

'Corpses of masters who have reached this level are not easily found. Even if it's another master of the same Profound Realm.'

The Hwagyeong (化境) realm, the end that humans could reach, and the Hyeon-gyeong (玄境) realm, which transcended even that limit, making one almost like a divine being. Cheonma was a supremely powerful master belonging to the top ranks of Hyeon-gyeong, possibly even capable of reaching the Sinhwagyeong (神化境) realm, a level akin to a demigod. Though he had futilely fallen midway, meeting Hans, who was no different from a natural disaster.

'Perhaps the Society Master's aim was also in that direction. If Cheonma had truly reached Sinhwagyeong, then the level of the one who subjugated him would also explosively increase by that much.'

Cheonma had not just accumulated power through his own strength alone. He had offered the 'Child of the Dragon' arranged by the main god of this Ganghwan Realm as a sacrifice, even performing a burnt offering ritual to the Society Master to receive power! Such rituals were not simply a one-time exchange of power. They were a brand that remained clearly and was eternally recorded in the soul of the subject, in their accumulated level, and in the karma of their life. Perhaps the Society Master had also achieved a considerable increase in level just by receiving the ritual offering.

"And this is…. Heh! I have to admit, that guy is something. But to think he could even do this."

In his personal lab filled with various self-prepared equipment, Hans muttered in quiet admiration. His 'Eyes of the Abyss', with their dark, abyss-like aura undulating, stared intently as if to pierce through Cheonma, who was on the examination table.

'He wasn't just bestowed with divine power. This is… a unique skill? To revive Cheonma's unique skill, who had already lost his rights as an Awakened One and become a Settler long ago?'

After obtaining 「Forbidden Truth」 and acquiring the Secretary as a control group, things he couldn't see before began to become visible. Although only faint traces remained now due to his death, until recently, in Cheonma's spiritual veins, not only internal energy and divine power, but also some power existing above the principles of the world was activated.

'No wonder… It was a bit ambiguous, considering he intercepted and sacrificed several Children of the Dragon, who were directly arranged by the main god. Was the divine power just a byproduct given in that process?'

The Society Master had not bestowed a new unique skill or revived the authority of an Awakened One. He had merely temporarily awakened a dormant unique skill for a certain period of time in exchange for a sacrifice. But even that was an incredible feat, nonetheless. No matter what anyone said, it was a clear fact that he had intervened in that system itself, which was the definition of unfathomable.

'And that unique skill is… indeed, there was a reason why that guy's eyes were bloodshot as he targeted the Children of the Dragon.'

The foundation of how Cheonma could rapidly grow stronger in the Ganghwan Realm. A skill that provided genius-level understanding of martial arts, aptitude for quickly mastering killing skills, a constitution that quickly adapted to any harsh training, and even granted massive growth boosts.

「Heavenly Killer Star」.

Side effects such as negatively impacting one's disposition were also significant, but such things would not have been a big problem for him. Perhaps for Cheonma, who was facing the limits of growth and feeling a wall, it was a temptation sweeter than anything else.

"...A method to revive dormant unique skills, huh…."

Hans's eyes dimmed darkly. In fact, this problem was also a homework assignment for him. Didn't he have countless undead soldiers of Awakened origin under his command who had lost their unique skills upon death? If all of them could regain the abilities they had in life….

"If that guy could do it, there's no reason this body can't."

Hans, his arrogant pride ignited, raised the corner of his lips. Whether the opponent had used sacrifices and it was only temporary, such things were not very important issues right now. The fact remained that the opponent had done something he had not yet accomplished. From that day on, Hans began to obsessively dedicate himself to research samples. A compulsive investigation that didn't overlook even a single capillary or cell. He had to limit the means to methods that would minimize damage to the corpse in order to reuse it later, but for him, who could be said to be the foremost authority in this field, that much was not a difficult task.

"I see. This is Cheonma Shin-gong."

And in the process, he was able to obtain unexpected gains as well. After meticulously dissecting the traces of mystery left in Cheonma's body, he succeeded in reconstructing the martial arts he had mastered in life by reverse-engineering the traces engraved in his blood points and spiritual veins.

'This will be quite helpful for Hugo.'

Cheonma Shin-gong, recognized as one of the best unparalleled divine arts in the Ganghwan Realm. It was certainly S+ rank or higher if judged generously, and it would undoubtedly be of considerable help for Hugo, who possessed 「Nameless Technique」 and 「Return to Origin of Myriad Styles」, to complete the martial path he was pursuing.

"Puhuhu— I couldn't find it even after thoroughly searching Cheonma's Secret Trove, wondering where he had hidden it. To think I would obtain it like this."

Cheonma's Secret Trove was the treasure vault of the Cheonma Sect, which only the Sect Leader could enter. It was needless to say that Hans, who had seized control of the sect, had cleaned it out completely. Afterwards, the manuals were sent to Hubert, who possessed 「Analysis」 and 「Cipher Interpretation」, and had undergone appraisal once, but the problem was that Cheonma Shin-gong, which could be said to be the most important, was not included there.

'I was wondering what to do since even Cheonma's memories lacked information on that, but this saved me some trouble.'

Moreover, his research achievements did not end there. Not long after he began analyzing the Secretary's corpse, the control group following Cheonma, he was able to grasp a clue about the divinity connected to the Society Master.

'It would have been difficult if I hadn't had the divine power fragment that guy plundered in Auterika. I got lucky.'

There was no need to explain the strong connection between gods and apostles. If fans cheering for a star on media were ordinary believers, then apostles could be said to be like managers who moved closest to them, becoming their hands and feet.

'No, it's more accurate to see it as a more unilateral and absolute superior-subordinate relationship.'

In any case, the important fact in the current situation was that the defection of someone like an apostle was quite fatal even to the one they believed in. Of course, one might say, how could someone who is already dead betray anyone—.

"Kuhahahaha! This body is a being who can make even that possible!"

Reversal of faith using forced corruption. To be reborn as a 'Godslayer' with extreme counter-compatibility to the existing divinity through that. The will of the deceased in life, before one who ruled death, was meaningless. Domination, coercion, violation, and control. That was what Hans, the Undead King and Demon King, was best at.

Thus, he carefully adjusted the scars of divinity left in the two corpses and began the work of turning them into undead. Of course, it was only natural that it included all sorts of secret techniques he learned through 「Forbidden Truth」.

Several days later.

"Through divinity, a faint seed of divinity begins to sprout. The karma possessed by the individual crosses the critical point, and existence is engraved in the Akashic Records."

Whether direct intervention in divinity had become some kind of catalyst, a meaningful phrase floated before his eyes.

'…Wait, Cheonma is already a being who devoured several Children of the Dragon and plundered their karma, right? Then, if I use that in reverse—.'

As a bonus, he was able to find a clue to overcome the situation that this Ganghwan Realm was facing. An optimal method to bypass the existing method that presupposed the sacrifice of the Children of the Dragon.

Although they had been called together to handle urgent matters on Earth for a while, the Avatars were each busy with their own tasks in their respective locations. Heinrich, who could not leave his position as the Saint of Auterika for long, Horus the Dragon, who was busy absorbing the Ganghwan Realm's system of sorcery, Heinz II, who was managing organizations distributed across two worlds and running around busily, and so on…. Even Harris, who was relatively free and was the first to be投入 into the task of hunting the Secretary, was in a situation where he had much to attend to as an executive of the Elven Kingdom, so there was no need to even mention how busy the other individuals were.

And among them, there was one Avatar who was particularly bustling as soon as he returned to his original position….

Papat—

A hulking barbarian warrior cutting through the forest in the dead of night, where not a single ray of moonlight penetrated, like a meteor. Harley was the one in question.

"Tsk, geez. We should be getting close soon at this rate."

He stopped his storm-like dash with steps as light as his build would not suggest, scratching the back of his head roughly. Then, his nose and ears twitched incessantly, once again absorbing information from the surroundings.

"Hueup!"

With a deep breath, a scenery different from what he saw with his eyes was constructed in his mind. A virtual world made up of sounds, vibrations, smells, magnetic fields, and other extrasensory perceptions, centered around himself. The area it encompassed boasted an enormous breadth, encompassing the entire region.

"Bingo, this way!"

And within it, Harley's large body, having found the very faint traces he was pursuing, once again cleaved through the air like the wind. Although the time that had passed was quite long and those who erased the traces were also not of ordinary skill, Harley's tracking ability, which had completely taken in the physical information of beasts specialized in sensory perception, was far beyond the common sense of this world.

'But it still took longer than I expected. It would have been really difficult if I didn't have prior information. Should I have really brought Harris along and put more effort into the search?'

Such thoughts briefly flashed through his mind, but he quickly shook them off. It was already a well-experienced fact that the environment of the Ganghwan Realm had a negative impact on Harris, who was sensitive to nature. Unless it was a truly unavoidable situation, there was no need to push himself that far in the current situation.

'Still, the Jegal Clan is amazing. Even in a chaotic situation where their base was attacked, they still have the capacity to operate intelligence forces like this. Is that what a prestigious clan is like?'

Even if Harris didn't step forward, there were many people to help him now. The Jegal Clan of Yungjung Mountain, which had become a mess due to the Demonic Sect's special forces attack. They were able to repel the bandits' attack by even activating the final formation set up at their base. Although there was considerable damage in the process, considering that the enemies had even brought Jiangshi comparable to the Profound Realm to the fore, it was rather a successful defense that ended only at that level. That was also possible because they had undergone a process of overhauling and reorganizing the formations on a large scale after the rampage of the mysterious master of mysteries, Harris, not too long ago.

'Tch, it would have been good if it had ended there.'

But their ordeal did not end there. In the midst of the chaos that engulfed the entire clan due to the sudden war, it was revealed that Jegal Hyemi had eventually been kidnapped by a small number of secretly infiltrated elite troops. Along with the attack on the Jegal Clan's base, which they prided themselves on as an impregnable fortress, it was an incident in which even the precious daughter of the current Clan Head was kidnapped.

It was a situation where they could not simply stand still, even considering public opinion. They desperately mobilized external secret lines while trying to manage the chaos, in order to find out the location of the attackers…. And at the moment when some outline was formed, Hugo and his party, who had hurriedly departed from Shaolin Temple, arrived at Yungjung Mountain. It was then that they heard about the events that had taken place at the main family, and naturally, the information Hugo heard also included the estimated movement route of the enemies.

'By cross-referencing that information with the information obtained from the Demonic Sect, a rough outline will emerge. I just need to track from there.'

Even if they were composed of elite troops, the number of Demonic Sect special forces who attacked the Jegal Clan was by no means small. Such a scale was only natural for an operation to attack a power like the Jegal Clan. And the more personnel there were, the more limitations there were, even if experts erased the traces—.

"...Found them."

Thus, it was only natural that their tail would be caught like this.

"Keukeut, kahahahat! Ah, if I had dragged this out any longer, I would have died of frustration!"

A group of presences felt from a distance so far that even his senses could barely detect them. Harley's lips stretched wide as he burst into refreshing laughter at that. Cold light flickered in his eyes like those of a predator about to devour its prey, and saliva dripping from his toothed jaws dripped onto the floor.

"Now— then, let's go."

The night of the hunt had begun.