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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 335
‘The portal is disappearing…?’
Tenebris's power had begun forcibly erasing the portal.
‘No, it’s not just erasing the portal.’
It was forcibly expelling the dungeon that Escanon had taken over.
Jeong-hoon turned his head.
There, the previously varnished exit was reappearing.
‘Is this even possible?’
To drive Escanon out in a situation where it couldn’t even be operated?
Was it because the dungeon had originally belonged to Arandal and Escanon had seized it hastily?
As powerful as Tenebris’s power was, it felt strange that Escanon, the one who designed it, was being expelled without even resisting.
‘I’ll have to ask Tenebris about it later.’
There was no longer a reason to approach Escanon.
Jeong-hoon turned his body and headed for the exit.
< H-Hey! What did you just do?! >
Baal, with a shocked expression, pointed at the vanished portal.
“What do you mean, what? I erased it by force.”
< I’m asking how you did that! >
Even though he had betrayed him, Escanon was still the lord Baal once served.
A colossal being he couldn’t even dare look up at.
And yet this person had driven out that being so effortlessly?
Just how did he do it?
It was driving him mad with curiosity.
“Since it’s already been revealed, there’s no need to hide it.”
Jeong-hoon scratched his head and let out a sigh.
He had planned to use this power only when eliminating Escanon, if possible.
It was fortunate that he no longer had to seek out Escanon right away, but with Tenebris’s power now exposed to the world, there was no longer any reason to keep it hidden.
< Hide it? >
“Yeah. I said I didn’t gain anything from the place where Tenebris was sealed, remember?”
< …So there really was something. >
“I obtained his power.”
< The power of the Evil God?! >
Jeong-hoon nodded.
“That’s right.”
< Do you even know what that power is, and you still took it?! >
“Is there a problem? If I didn’t have it, I would’ve gone to face Escanon by now. And that would’ve started a fight I had little chance of winning.”
< That’s… >
Baal couldn’t refute that.
If not for this power, things would’ve gone exactly as Escanon had wanted.
“Whatever the case, I need this.”
< Think carefully. Right now, you might just be playing into Tenebris’s hands. >
“I don’t care.”
It was because of this power that he was able to regress, and that he had grown this far.
Even if he was being used, Jeong-hoon had no intention of giving up this power.
< …Alright. >
“Then let’s move on to the next thing.”
* * *
“Goddamn it!”
Bang!
As his fist slammed down on the table, the ground trembled.
The man who struck it glared furiously at something in the distance.
There was a mirror there, and through it, he could see a human effortlessly cutting down Transcendents.
“How the hell did this happen?”
Once his rage had settled a bit, doubt began to surface.
How could his own dungeon, the one he had taken control of, be seized like that?
He could understand how the man had suddenly grown stronger after the First Annihilation.
‘Baal… that bastard betrayed me.’
At a glance, it might look like Baal had been taken down, but he couldn’t fool his own eyes.
Baal had allowed himself to be defeated and switched sides.
He had suspected it when Baal kept carelessly giving things away to the human under the guise of wagers.
That the man was orchestrating something on a much larger scale.
Still, he was far from being a real threat.
Sure, the man had grown powerful enough to be dangerous, but that was it.
He might now be able to defeat the other Lords without much trouble, but he was still nowhere near strong enough to bring down a God-class being like himself.
Even so, the reason he had rushed things was because of what happened after the First Annihilation was stopped.
‘Just what did he gain from inside?’
He had seen the human enter the temple.
But from the midpoint onward, he could no longer track where the man was going.
That should’ve been impossible, since he was the one who created the temple—unless someone else intervened.
That was why he had decided to interfere with the dungeon and force the man to reveal himself.
But that plan had failed spectacularly.
‘Why are you interfering…’
A power strong enough to seize his territory without hesitation.
To blind the eyes of a God-class being—only a Named could do that.
Escanon had been under the illusion that the Named were protecting the humans.
<Escanon.>
At that moment, someone called out to Escanon.
Escanon closed his eyes slowly and replied.
“What is it.”
<What do you think? I dropped by because something really interesting seems to be going on.>
You bastard.
Escanon clenched his fist tighter.
“Stay out of it.”
<Kuhuhu, how could you let a mortal steal your domain? Don’t you have any pride?>
“……”
<I’m genuinely curious. What kind of human could make you lose control like that?>
“Mind your own business.”
<Heh, can’t do that. I just can’t help but wonder who on earth could bruise the pride of the great Escanon.>
“…Do as you please.”
* * *
Slice.
“Gaaaah!”
The Demon King-class transcendent Franz screamed and collapsed.
“That makes 113.”
“P-please… spare me…”
Franz, unbecoming of a Demon King-class, begged pitifully for his life.
“So you do fear death.”
Jeong-hoon scoffed as he brought Titan to Franz’s throat.
“P-please! I’ll give you anything you want!”
“It’s fine. Killing you and absorbing you is the best outcome.”
“Wait…! Guh!”
Franz couldn’t finish his sentence.
Jeong-hoon had pierced his throat with Titan.
[Using the Absorption Technique.]
[You have gained experience.]
[All stats have increased.]
He proceeded to absorb experience and stats using the Absorption Technique.
‘Good. I’ve surpassed level 3,000 with this.’
Was it because he kept hunting transcendent beings?
His level had surpassed 3,000, reaching 3,118.
All his stats exceeded 9,000, and his mana had gone over 10,000, nearing 11,000.
<Isn’t it a bit of a waste to kill him?>
Franz had quite the collection of items for a Demon King-class.
Had he taken those items in exchange for sparing his life, it might have been more profitable.
But Jeong-hoon had no such intention.
“This isn’t the time to think about profit.”
Closing the abnormal dungeon to erase the penalty and accumulating even a little of the Name’s power took priority.
<Hmm, so how much power have you gathered?>
“Still not enough.”
Tenebris had asked him to gather as much as possible.
That meant it didn’t even know how much power was needed to break the seal.
So he couldn’t afford to be satisfied here.
The subjugation continued, and before long, Jeong-hoon had reached level 4,000.
And the second Annihilation was drawing near.
* * *
“Hoona!”
Just before the second Annihilation began—
Jeong-hoon reunited with everyone, including his mother.
“Looks like you’ve had some results.”
Everyone had bright expressions, and Jeong-hoon instinctively knew they had succeeded in gathering all the energy.
“Yes. We’ve successfully gathered the full 100%.”
“Yes! Now we’re able to challenge the power of the Heavens.”
Jeong-hoon smiled faintly and poured cold water on their excitement.
“If you fail, you’ll have to gather it all over again. So you must succeed.”
“I-if we fail, does it go back to 0%?”
Bong-Goo asked back with a shocked expression.
“Yes. If you fail, it resets to 0%. So succeed no matter what.”
“May I ask… how hard it is?”
“It’s pretty rough. After all, it’s about breaking through your limits.”
“Wow…”
Bong-Goo’s face quickly turned grim.
They barely managed to gather 100%, and if they fail, they have to do it all over again?
That was worse than death.
“Wait… does that mean you’re going to stop the second Annihilation all by yourself too?”
Ha-Jin, who had been quietly listening, suddenly jumped in.
After stopping the first Annihilation, now the second was already about to begin.
And Jeong-hoon intended to stop that one himself too.
“I’m the only one who can stop it.”
“No… still.”
“Want to see my level right now?”
“Huh? What about your level… huh?!”
After checking Jeong-hoon’s level, Ha-Jin’s eyes widened.
Last he saw, Jeong-hoon’s level was 795.
He’d heard that it had gone up a lot, so he assumed it was just under 1,000—but what was this absurd number?
Everyone else, including Ha-Jin, had the same reaction.
Especially Yeo Min-Ji, who stood there with her mouth wide open, unable to close it.
“F-f-four thousand?”
“Yes. I passed 4,000 while closing all the abnormal dungeons.”
Jeong-hoon had closed not just Korea’s, but abnormal dungeons across the entire world to raise his level.
The total number of subjugations was 422.
A result of non-stop effort without rest.
Now that he’d accumulated some of Tenebris’s power, maybe if he hunted more transcendent beings during the second Annihilation, he’d be able to break the seal.
“Hyung-nim… what on earth happened?”
“Don’t try to dig too deep. What matters is that right now, your job is to reach the Celestial Realm.”
“Ah… yes.”
Bong-Goo nodded slowly with a dazed face.
“That goes for the rest of you too. While I handle the second Annihilation, I hope you’ll finish ascending.”
Honestly, it didn’t matter if the others—including his mother—didn’t reach the Celestial Realm.
After the Annihilation, they’d have to face Escanon, and the only one capable of that was Jeong-hoon.
Even so, he wanted to empower them—because no one knew what the future held.
“I’m sorry… it feels like I’m placing all the burden on my son.”
His mother patted Jeong-hoon’s shoulder with a bitter expression.
“It’s okay. I’ll be back soon.”
Jeong-hoon spoke confidently to reassure his mother.
His mother silently gazed at her son for a moment, then gave a small smile and nodded.
“…Alright. We’ll succeed and return as well.”
“Yes.”
* * *
[Second Annihilation: Do you wish to enter ???]
As expected, it was different from the Second Annihilation he saw through Psyche’s pocket watch.
What he saw back then was Darkhan.
A Demon King-class transcendent and a member of the Dragonkin—Darkhan.
But the Second Annihilation before him now provided no information.
<Escanon is probably lying in wait.>
“That might be.”
<I’m certain. He tried to summon you and failed. His pride must’ve taken a hit.>
“That does make sense.”
The fact that he couldn’t read any information meant a high-ranking being was hiding.
Just as Baal said, there was a real chance Escanon would appear.
<What are you going to do? You’ve got a better chance than before, but… it won’t be an easy fight.>
“I have to go anyway.”
After preventing Escanon’s interference, he had gained about 1,000 more levels.
It would be a battle with better odds than before.
‘I’m going in.’
As Jeong-hoon expressed his intent to enter, the portal swallowed him.
His vision went dark, then brightened again—and waiting before him wasn’t Escanon, but a transcendent named Espada.
<Espada…? Why is that here?>
Baal furrowed his brow.
‘Why? Who is that?’
<Not Escanon, but like me, a Sovereign. Annoying as it is, that one’s a few tiers above me. He rules over the 12 Infernal Realms.>
‘Really? Then this must not be the realm Escanon rules over.’
<Right. That one serves Abaddon, who stands on equal footing with Escanon.>
‘Abaddon…’
A familiar name.
The transcendent who obliterated the place where Mukho had been.
That transcendent’s name was Abaddon.
<It’s fine. With the strength you have now, you’ll be more than enough to take it down.>
With Jeong-hoon’s current power, even being several tiers above Baal wouldn’t be a problem.
‘Then let’s get started.’
Jeong-hoon summoned Titan and stepped forward.
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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