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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 337
<Hm? What’s with that look?>
Sensing something off in Jeong-hoon’s expression, Tenebris asked cautiously.
“Why are you able to control the power in my energy center?”
<Ah, so that’s what’s bothering you?>
“Isn’t it obvious?”
If he could control it with his own hand, that meant the power could rampage on its own, regardless of Jeong-hoon’s will.
He’d already experienced it twice, so it was necessary to settle this matter here and now.
Alright, let’s see how he responds.
At Jeong-hoon’s cold stare, Tenebris showed signs of surrender.
<Don’t worry. Nothing like what you’re thinking will happen.>
“Nothing?”
<Yeah. The moment I awaken from the seal, I intended to transfer that power to you entirely.>
“So I should take that to mean you won’t be able to interfere afterward?”
<Of course.>
Jeong-hoon’s lips twitched.
“Then I can’t break the seal.”
<What…?>
“Why should I trust you enough to break it? You can interfere to this extent while still sealed, and I’m just supposed to believe that once it’s broken, you won’t do more?”
Tenebris’s power.
Thanks to this power, he was able to return and surpass the Sovereign level—that much remained true.
The problem was that this regression had been set to repeat by Tenebris in order to break his seal.
In the end, once the seal was undone, it was obvious what stance he would take.
<Damn it… So you're going to take them on in that state? Be reasonable!>
“Better than handing my body over to you.”
<What?>
“Isn’t your plan to use me as a vessel once the seal is broken?”
<What kind of nonsense is that? I told you, once the seal is broken, I’ll give you my full power!>
“Then give it to me now.”
<What?>
“Transfer it now. The fact that you’re still controlling it means it doesn’t belong to me yet.”
Now he understood why it hadn’t been usable.
Just claiming the power didn’t make him its owner.
The regressions triggered by his death and the resulting rampages—those were all part of Tenebris’s design.
‘In other words, even without breaking the seal, he can still pass the power to me.’
Perhaps because he’d hit the mark, Tenebris remained silent for a while.
“Answer me. Before I go back.”
<You… this is insurance. If I hand it over here, you might never break my seal.>
“Then is there any other option? Honestly, do you think anyone besides me could even make it this far?”
<……>
The process of breaking Tenebris’s seal was incredibly difficult.
You had to possess enough power to withstand destruction, accumulate named power in the process, follow the incantation to release the seal—and even then, you had to be able to endure the recoil of the release to finish it.
The one capable of withstanding that entire process was none other than the current Jeong-hoon.
“Choose. Are you going to transfer ownership, or stay trapped forever?”
<You little bastard…>
Jeong-hoon gave a slight smile.
The one holding the hilt wasn’t Tenebris—it was Jeong-hoon.
“This is your last chance.”
<...Promise me.>
“Fine. If you transfer ownership, I’ll release your seal.”
<Ha… damn it. Isn’t there any other way to earn your trust?>
Of course he had no choice but to hesitate.
If he fully handed over ownership, he’d be left with zero insurance.
‘But he doesn’t really have a choice.’
Jeong-hoon was certain he would hand over ownership.
Because if he missed this chance, who knew when the next opportunity to break the seal would come?
Then maybe he should push a little more.
“Oh, and I happened to hear something… That you tried to wipe out all the Transcendents and ended up sealed by the Named ones.”
<Ha? Who the hell said that crap?!>
That was what Lord Baal had told him.
Judging from Tenebris’s outrage, it seemed that wasn’t the truth.
“So you’re saying you were framed?”
<Of course! Why the hell would I do something like that?>
“Hm.”
“I’ll believe you, so hand over ownership. Then I’ll break the seal.”
Truthfully, whether or not he tried to eliminate the Transcendents didn’t matter to Jeong-hoon.
He only brought up the information Baal had shared to shorten Tenebris’s decision-making time.
Now that things had come this far, there was only one choice left for Tenebris.
Trust.
To fully transfer ownership to Jeong-hoon while asserting his innocence.
<…Ha, fine. But you must keep your promise.>
Having finished his deliberation, Tenebris finally gave his answer.
Then, the energy that had been heading toward his head suddenly lost direction and stopped.
Jeong-hoon slowly tried guiding that power toward his head.
‘It’s moving!’
The power that had previously been unusable now followed his will, as if it had belonged to him all along.
The ownership was clearly severed.
“What do I need to do now to recall the incantation?”
<Once it reaches your head, it’s set to surface naturally.>
“I see.”
Just as Tenebris had said, once the power reached his head, the incantations began to appear one by one.
Even at a glance, they were complex and difficult.
‘This won’t be easy.’
As expected, simply having the power wasn’t enough to break the seal.
In the worst case, the power could go berserk during the process and cripple his entire body—or even cost him his life.
Of course, since Jeong-hoon had Block, it wasn’t a major concern for him—but it still meant that breaking the seal was a complicated task.
It was clear now why Tenebris had tried to keep some insurance.
<…You’re not just going to walk away, are you?>
After handing over ownership, all Tenebris had left was trust.
Only the belief that Jeong-hoon would release his seal.
“What? You think I’ll just leave you here?”
In truth, now that he could use the power, it wouldn’t matter even if he didn’t release the seal.
But a promise was a promise.
Jeong-hoon stepped forward and stood at the center.
The center floor was filled with hieroglyphs—this was the spell that kept Tenebris sealed inside.
<You can’t try it recklessly! One mistake and something serious could happen.>
Jeong-hoon nodded and took out his decoding lens.
However, the complex and obscure incantation couldn’t be deciphered even with the lens.
He needed to decode it first to find the starting point.
“Where am I supposed to start?”
<You have to begin with the character that means 'Law/Order’ in the center.>
“律?”
Jeong-hoon pointed to the characters one by one with his finger.
<No, that’s ‘Dragon’. That one’s ‘Wealth’… Yes, that's one.>
“Okay.”
Matching the hieroglyphs with the corresponding characters wasn’t too difficult.
He kept comparing for a while, then began to dismantle the spell.
Since it shared the same structure as a barrier, the process was slow, but it was being clearly undone.
‘Then let’s begin.’
He was fully prepared.
Now it was time to release Tenebris’s seal.
<Please.>
At his earnest plea, Jeong-hoon reached out and touched the hieroglyph representing ‘Law’.
He channeled Tenebris’s power, stored in his lower energy center, to his fingertips.
Sparks burst violently from the character, emitting a brilliant light.
‘If I take my hand off now, it’ll be dangerous.’
If he removed his hand while the power was flowing, it would go out of control immediately.
Jeong-hoon then moved to the next character, which meant ‘Father’.
The sparks flared even more fiercely, enveloping Jeong-hoon’s entire body.
<Hang in there!>
All Tenebris could do was cheer him on.
‘I need to focus… You’re being noisy.’
Of course, that encouragement didn’t help Jeong-hoon at all.
Without losing focus, Jeong-hoon quickly moved on to the next character.
As the characters connected, sparks surged through the entire space with growing intensity, but Jeong-hoon kept working—activating Ultimate Aura and a barrier of light to continue the process.
Once all the characters of the deciphered spell were undone, two massive hieroglyphs were revealed.
‘Release.’
The characters read: Release.
Jeong-hoon slammed his fist into the ground.
Ku-goo-goong—
Then, all the hieroglyphs except for the glowing ones lost their power and sank beneath the ground.
<It worked! It worked!>
A voice filled with exhilaration rang out as the ground began to tremble.
Ku-goo-goong—
It was hard to stay balanced, as if an earthquake had struck.
‘Master! Look below!’
At Mukho’s words, Jeong-hoon’s gaze dropped downward.
‘…What is that?’
Below, vivid red eyes were staring straight up at Jeong-hoon.
<Thank you.>
Along with those words of gratitude, the massive eyes curved like a crescent moon.
At the same time, something like red thorns shot out from the eyes, aiming straight for Jeong-hoon’s chest.
‘Master!’
Mukho shouted urgently, but Jeong-hoon didn’t move.
There wasn’t the slightest hint of killing intent in the thorns.
As if to show there was no intention of attack, the thorns stopped in front of his chest, and from their tips, energy began to flow and seep into his body.
[You have acquired 0.1% of Divine Energy.]
[You have acquired 0.2% of Divine Energy.]
[You have acquired 0.22% of Divine Energy.]
‘D-Divine Energy is accumulating?’
Tenebris.
Was he planning to transfer this energy once the seal was broken?
<Take it. I can’t give you much since most of my power’s been stolen, but still.>
With those words, Tenebris continued to pour all of his energy into him.
* * *
After quite some time had passed, the messages about acquired energy finally stopped.
The total energy he had gathered amounted to 37.54%.
He had never imagined he would gain nearly 40% of the energy here.
And then, another change occurred.
<Hooh, now that I’m inside, it feels pretty cozy, doesn’t it?>
Just like Baal, Tenebris had now entered Jeong-hoon’s body and begun to parasitize him.
The enormous red eyes now stood before Jeong-hoon in the form of a man in his late twenties.
Long purple hair that reached down to his waist.
Eyes slanted like a snake’s.
And between them, gleaming red pupils.
Jeong-hoon looked at him, baffled, and asked,
“Why the hell did you come into my body?”
<I told you. I’ve got no power left, remember? So I’m going to piggyback on you and get my revenge.>
“I don’t remember you saying that.”
<Is now really the time to argue about that? You said you wanted to fight them and end this damn game, didn’t you?>
“That’s that, and this is this.”
<So petty… Then how about I tell you the story I didn’t get to say before, in exchange for letting this slide?>
With that, Tenebris began explaining in detail how he had been able to make contact with both James Marcus and Jeong-hoon in this place.
“So, to put it simply, you were able to move space itself?”
<Something like that. You might think you approached me unconsciously, but in truth, I lured you here. Same goes for the one before you.>
Come to think of it, Jeong-hoon had entered the place where Tenebris was sealed under the pretense of needing to claim a reward.
He hadn’t doubted that for a moment—he never even considered it might’ve been bait.
“And you were able to avoid everyone’s pursuit because you still had power left?”
<Correct. And that ability is still active.>
“You mean…?”
<Right. Because I’m with you now, the ones up above can’t properly track you.>
“Hooh.”
He really liked the sound of that.
Jeong-hoon had known that the ones above had been keeping an eye on him.
The reason Escanon had moved up the timeline was because he didn’t like the way Jeong-hoon was acting.
‘But if Tenebris being inside me can completely blind their eyes…’
That meant he could run wild even more freely.
<Isn’t that good enough reason for us to stick together?>
“…I’ll be counting on you.”
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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