------------------
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
------------------
Chapter 330
"Here."
What Baal took out was a black box.
"What’s that?"
Jeong-hoon tilted his head.
Why is the guy who’s supposed to stop me so desperate to hand over an item at the very end?
"Defeat me. Then you’ll find out."
"And if I lose?"
"The currently spawned Abnormal Dungeons. I’ll trigger all their penalties at once."
Penalty activation.
The only ones currently capable of clearing the Abnormal Dungeons are James Marcus’s party.
Even then, they can only clear dungeons below level 1,000.
Anything above that is impossible to clear.
And now he’s going to activate the penalties of every Abnormal Dungeon spawned around the world?
‘At least 50%.’
Even in the most conservative estimate, the damage would be 50%.
Once it goes over 50%, the pace of destruction will accelerate, and the world will face an irreversible outcome.
Of course, there was no choice.
If the first apocalypse isn’t stopped, Earth is finished.
"I accept."
"Good."
Baal grinned and tossed the box aside.
The box rolled across the floor, hit the wall, and ended up in a corner.
"What’s in it that you’re treating it so lightly?"
"Don’t worry. It’s something you absolutely need."
"Yeah? Then I guess I’ll just have to beat you no matter what."
Jeong-hoon started by activating Black Field and used every buff-type skill and item he had.
With that, his stats slightly surpassed Baal’s.
[Form One: Heavenly Demon’s Step is activated.]
Jeong-hoon stepped into the Heavenly Demon Lord’s Dominion and slashed down Leviathan from above.
Then Baal’s arms turned black as he struck out with his fists and knocked Leviathan away.
[Baal uses ‘Touch of the Archdemon.’]
Touch of the Archdemon.
A familiar ability.
When he visited the Demon Realm, one of the Demon Kings who had been waiting for Jeong-hoon.
Valos had used this exact ability—Touch of the Demon.
[Light Barrier is activated.]
As Jeong-hoon activated Light Barrier, a massive hand grabbed him.
Crack.
With pressure applied, cracks began to form in the Light Barrier.
[Form One: Heavenly Demon’s Step is activated.]
Activating Heavenly Demon’s Step, Jeong-hoon swung his sword in succession.
The clenched fist was ripped apart and vanished completely.
"Where do you think you’re going!"
Baal brought both hands together.
[Baal activates ‘Touch of the Archdemon.’]
A massive hand appeared once again and grabbed Jeong-hoon.
This time, there were two hands.
[Baal activates ‘Spear of Ruin.’]
Having determined that Jeong-hoon’s movement was sealed, Baal immediately took out his preferred black spear.
“Let’s see you endure this.”
With those words, Baal hurled the spear with all his might.
The spear rapidly grew in size, and sparks burst out around it.
[Baal uses ‘Lightning of Hell.’]
‘He’s layered the spear with an ability.’
Jeong-hoon quickly changed to Anima, drew the bowstring, and aimed at the incoming spear.
‘Ultimate Arrow.’
As the Ultimate Arrow was fired, it collided with the massive Spear of Ruin.
KWA-GWAGWAGWANG!
At that moment, a thunderous explosion tore at his eardrums, and a lightning strike crashed down upon Jeong-hoon.
‘Heavenly Demon Fist Style, First Star.’
Jeong-hoon used the invincibility effect granted by the technique to withstand the lightning strike.
Then he swung his sword, cutting through the Touch of the Archdemon, and stepped into the Heavenly Demon Lord’s Dominion, arriving in front of Baal.
[Baal uses ‘Shroud of Darkness.’]
With the lightning strike, a thick darkness spread over the area.
The highly condensed, powerful demonic energy dispersed around them, doubling the power of the shroud.
However, Baal raised both arms as if he had no intention to attack.
“It’s clear now. No human stronger than you will ever appear.”
“…What?”
Jeong-hoon narrowed his brow and asked.
At the incomprehensible act, Baal closed his eyes and answered.
“I just want to confirm one thing.”
“What?”
“You said it before, didn’t you? That you’d prove the crystal orb was wrong.”
The crystal orb.
[Your fate will not change. Accept the destiny that has been given to you.]
The Temple of Destiny.
Or rather, the Temple of Psyche, the Goddess of Destiny, where he had obtained the crystal orb.
That crystal orb had declared that Jeong-hoon could not change his fate.
At the time, Baal had read the inscription together with him.
“…What are you trying to say?”
“Can you prove it? If you can, I’ll gladly offer up my neck.”
“You… never intended to stop me in the first place.”
“That’s right. I attacked you only to set up this shroud.”
By casting the Spear of Ruin together with the Lightning of Hell, he released a massive amount of dark mana, enabling him to activate the Shroud of Darkness.
With this, he could momentarily blind and deafen Escanon.
Even if it only lasts three minutes, that’s enough.
“…Why are you going this far?”
“First, answer my question. Can you prove it?”
“…Yeah. No matter what, I’m going to end this game.”
Seeing Jeong-hoon’s resolute expression, Baal slowly nodded.
“Then strike me down.”
“Strike you?”
“Do that, and you’ll know everything.”
“……”
Without replying, Jeong-hoon slashed Baal’s neck with Leviathan.
As if he truly meant it, Baal didn’t resist at all.
His head fell, and his body collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
‘What… is this?’
‘I don’t understand…….’
Mukho and Anima were bewildered as they watched Baal calmly accept death.
Jeong-hoon was just as confused.
“…The one who tried so hard to capture me—why now, all of a sudden…”
What did he mean by you’ll know everything?
Even after cutting Baal down, nothing changed.
At that moment, the black box shoved into the corner began to emit a faint glow.
“…Don’t tell me it’s inside that?”
Jeong-hoon quickly approached the box.
[Box of ???]
-Contents unknown.
-Link with Baal has been severed.
-Can be opened immediately.
The box had been linked to Baal, but with Jeong-hoon having taken his life, the link was broken.
As a result, it could now be opened.
“This is it after all.”
Baal’s Shroud of Darkness was still in effect.
The fact that he even cast a shroud likely meant it had to be opened while hidden from his sight.
Jeong-hoon quickly opened the box.
“…This is?”
Inside the box were sigils.
And not just any sigils—sigils Jeong-hoon didn’t have.
[Completed Thief’s Sigil]
[Completed Mana Sigil]
[Completed Mage’s Sigil]
[Completed Commander’s Sigil]
All the sigils needed to craft the Overlord Titan were now gathered.
He’d planned to acquire them through the episodes, but ended up missing them due to the secret episode—only to find them here.
‘That bastard Baal… how did he know I was missing these?’
In addition to the sigils, there was also a single orb inside the box.
[Soul Orb]
-An orb in which countless souls lie dormant.
-When consumed, the memories of the souls can be accessed.
“Soul Orb?”
If it contains countless souls, then they must be the human souls Baal had collected over time.
To gather all those souls and condense them into a single orb…
What a sick hobby.
“Memories of the souls, huh…”
So this is what he meant by "you’ll know everything."
Jeong-hoon placed the orb into his mouth and swallowed it.
<So you’ve swallowed it.>
However, contrary to his expectation that the memories would flood in like a wave, Baal’s figure appeared before him.
“You… what are you exactly?”
<The Demon Realm’s Sovereign—Baal.>
“That’s not what I’m asking right now.”
<Heh… I like that shocked expression.>
“Why did you show up when I swallowed the Soul Orb?”
<Ah, that’s actually because that orb contains my own soul.>
“…What about the other souls?”
<They’re in here.>
Baal tapped on his belly with a grin.
“So then why are you going this far for me?”
<I’ll show you.>
Baal transmitted the memory of one soul to Jeong-hoon.
And then, countless memories began pouring in.
Jeong-hoon instinctively closed his eyes.
* * *
<Siegfried>
The memory flowing in now belonged to Siegfried.
Jeong-hoon had thought Siegfried died after losing a bet to Baal—but the memory unfolding now told a completely different story.
‘What you said before. Is that offer still valid?’
‘Yeah.’
The scene Jeong-hoon saw was a conversation between Siegfried and Baal.
‘Then I’ll make the investment.’
‘Oh? You’re giving up quickly.’
‘I can’t finish this with my own hands anyway. So I want to pass it on to the next person.’
‘You trust me now?’
Baal, seated on his throne, grinned and rested his chin on his hand.
Siegfried let out a short sigh and shrugged.
‘What choice do I have? There’s only one option left.’
‘Human, look at this.’
What Baal took out was the very same Soul Orb that Jeong-hoon had just swallowed.
But its energy seemed weaker—it looked like it hadn’t been fully completed yet.
‘What is that?’
‘A collection of human souls. You’ll end up in here too.’
‘…….’
‘I will pass this on to someone worthy.’
‘Alright.’
‘Even after seeing this, you still accept it?’
‘The bet isn’t over yet. You know that, right?’
‘Of course.’
A bet?
What kind of bet did they even make?
The answer was revealed quickly.
‘If the one you call your lord falls, then I win the bet.’
‘Right. And if I take that seat, I’ll grant you reincarnation.’
‘Promise me.’
‘…Fine. And don’t forget—it must be a peaceful world.’
‘I promise peace, at least for as long as you live.’
That was the end of Siegfried’s memory.
Afterward, the memories of others began flowing in as well, but every one of them ended similarly—with Siegfried’s conclusion.
Jeong-hoon opened the eyes he had closed.
<So? Got the gist of it?>
In front of him, Baal stood with arms crossed, waiting for Jeong-hoon’s reaction.
“Yeah. I get what you want now.”
He’s trying to dethrone Escanon.
That explains why he fully backed Jeong-hoon through this bet, why he approached Hajin and even saved him when he was in danger.
Jeong-hoon had written him off as just a lunatic obsessed with gambling—but he didn’t expect this kind of hidden agenda.
<In any case, I’ve bet everything on you.>
“So you’re not actually dead.”
<Of course not. You think I’d let myself be beheaded that easily? It was all just a ploy to fool Escanon.>
To think he spent all that time feigning loyalty, all while plotting betrayal.
A demon is still a demon.
“…Wait, then what would’ve happened if I’d lost the bet midway?”
<I would’ve used you to upgrade the Soul Orb. A powerful soul like yours makes it much stronger.>
Now it made sense why he had such an obsessive hunger for souls.
“But there’s one problem. If I go up against Escanon right now, I’ll lose 100% for sure.”
<You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll start transferring the power stored in the souls to you from now on.>
“Is that so?”
<Just give it a bit. First, I need to stabilize the Soul Orb. Swallowing it made the energy a little unstable.>
“Got it.”
The corners of Jeong-hoon’s lips curled upward at the thought of getting even stronger.
But it still wasn’t enough.
To face someone on Escanon’s level—someone of the Jecheon-class—he needed even greater power.
‘I still have a chance.’
A mysterious power he’d soon encounter.
If he could gain that too, the whole story might change.
‘And if I add in the Overlord Titan.’
The Overlord Titan, which could now be forged with all the gathered Marks.
Jeong-hoon took out every single one of his Marks.
<Heh… impressive. I didn’t expect you to have gathered that many completed Marks.>
“How did you even know I was missing Marks?”
<I am Baal. It wasn’t hard to find that out.>
It wasn’t a satisfying answer, but he let it go for now.
“Alright then, just hurry up and stabilize it.”
<I will.>
While Baal worked on stabilizing the Soul Orb, Jeong-hoon would begin forging the Overlord Titan.
------------------
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
------------------
