Chapter 135: Apostle

At that moment, it felt as though a tremendous pressure was bearing down on my entire body. It might have been coming from the Overlord.

‘Why did he have to bring Ara along…’

It was somewhat awkward to show this side of myself to Kim Ara.

She definitely harbored feelings for me that went beyond mere affection.

‘But first, I need to find a way out of this situation.’

How do I escape?

I was aware of Kim Seo-hyun trying to snuggle up to me.

What should I do?- In a moment of panic, my body moved on its own, and Kim Seo-hyun’s panties ended up landing on my face.

‘…Why are these so damp?’

It seemed to have a slightly fishy taste.

There was also a sour smell.

[「Master of Seduction (B+)」 and 「Authority of the Devil (C)」 proficiency has increased.]

[The two talents combine to evolve into 「Seductive Devil (A)」.]

My head was hot. Lust seemed to be taking control of my body. I could feel the blood in my Black God Martial Arts physique circulating rapidly.

While tuning my physique, I forcibly maintained my composure with the Talent, True Heart.

Forcibly calming down. I was able to objectively assess my situation from a third-person perspective.

‘I should be able to survive now.’

It was because of one of my talents, Infinite Stamina.

While it was a good talent that nurtured passion towards achieving any goal, it’s dangerous to have when close to a woman.

I needed to get out of here.

I disentangled Kim Seo-hyun’s thighs and legs from me.

“Seo-hyun, move your legs first…”

No matter how I thought about it, the only way to get out of this situation seemed to be for Kim Seo-hyun to come to her senses. There was also the option of moving my body down through her legs, but that was too embarrassing.

‘No, is there anything left to be embarrassed about…’

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Kim Seo-hyun lifted her legs with a flushed face. Now I noticed that the front part of her panties was extremely damp. I calmed myself once more with True Heart and got up.

“…What’s going on?”

It was an overwhelming presence. Movements that seemed to contain fundamentally different life forces. The seed of origin within me reacted strongly.

Kim Ara came into view.

Her violet eyes seemed to harbor something vast. It was as though she might have awakened to the true power of the source energy.

‘But that should happen when the Overlord dies, feeling intense emotions.’

A user of the special stat Origin needed to feel a wave of intense emotions. Then, as they understood more of the Origin’s power, signs of awakening appeared.

So, it couldn’t be happening now. Kim Ara hasn’t lost something precious. The Overlord was still alive and well.

Yet, I found myself taking a step back involuntarily.

“That’s…”

“Aren’t you going to ask if I’m a woman?”

Kim Seo-hyun asked, with a smirk.

No, that couldn’t be.

Kim Seo-hyun was a character of goodwill. A being who fought for humanity to the end, believing in humans.

But Kim Seo-hyun’s current appearance was unfamiliar.

“I just found out. I thought we were just guys hanging out, but I didn’t know you were a woman.”

“I’m a bit disappointed too. If Seo-ha’s grades were just a little worse, we could have been roommates.”

“That’s a crime, though.”

“Is it?”

Kim Seo-hyun laughed with a heheh sound.

“But why is Ara here?”

“I heard the planes couldn’t take off for a while because of the monsters. I came to meet Seo-ha, along with Papa.”

“Papa?”

Kim Seo-hyun caught on to Kim Ara’s words.

As if wondering, Papa boy-no, Papa girl?

‘…What’s happening.’

It must be a misunderstanding. I ignored the warning ringing from the Sword Demon and looked towards the Overlord.

The Overlord looked at me with complex eyes.

He seemed conflicted, sympathetic, and as if he wanted to kill me.

‘…Did he notice Ara’s feelings?’

I wisely kept my mouth shut and followed the Overlord, standing next to Kim Seo-hyun.

The party took a flight to the Overlord’s home. As monsters swarmed in, the Overlord, waiting atop the plane, swept away the flying monsters with a single strike.

“Sometimes, it’s not bad to stretch out like this.”

The place the Overlord called home was a palace, and an immensely magnificent one at that.

-It resembles the palace of the previous owner.

-Indeed. The unnecessarily vast space and the number of servants exceeding a hundred were similar as well.

Eternal Heaven agreed with Black Heaven.

“How is it? The land here is cheap, so I went ahead and built this mansion.”

“That’s impressive.”

I responded appropriately to the Overlord’s prideful comment.

“Did you come to China because of what my younger sibling said?”

“Yes.”

“I saw the Phoenix burning in black flames.”

“How was it?”

“It reminded me of your power.”

“……”

I fell silent for a moment.

Coming from someone else, I might have doubted, but the Overlord himself said it. The power that the Phoenix wielded was similar to mine.

Then, it must be true.

‘He achieved the Heaven Defying Body?’

-Yes. Though it’s incomplete, she offered her own realm as a sacrifice, all out of a desire to resemble the Heavenly Demon. That’s why it’s hard to gauge her true power. Among all those we’ve opposed, she remains the greatest unknown.

‘How strong has she become?’

-That’s hard to say. In the US, I saw her with the dragon, among the Four Gods who escort the Heavenly Demon. Considering her realm, she must be at least of a higher realm…

Eternal Heaven trailed off, a look of uncertainty on his face.

At least of a higher realm.

‘It still seems worth a try.’

I opened my status window to check the Conceptual Stats.

Conceptual Stats.

Defying Heaven: 80.

Conceptual Stats, literally, controlled the power related to them.

Eternal Heaven and Black Heaven continued. My ability to control Defying Heaven surpassed that of the Heavenly Demon.

‘If we wield the same power, the one with Conceptual or Special Stats has the advantage.’

If I were to fight the Phoenix, my chances of winning were high.

The Phoenix’s power could do nothing to me, while my power could be fatal to it.

I looked down to check another Conceptual Stat.

Alchemy: 5. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Conceptual Stat: Alchemy.

This stat, created by combining Faith and Talent Stats, performed miracles of alchemy.

‘When I first dabbled in alchemy, I wondered if it was too powerful.’

When the Emperor asked for help repairing her puppets.

I experimented with Alchemy. And Alchemy brought me tremendous power beyond my expectations.

‘I managed to create quite a few artifacts because of it.’

The artifacts were almost forced out using Alchemy.

My artifacts are vast, but in the end, they are vessels that I can fill.

“Welcome.”

As we entered, a woman in purple greeted us. A smaller and older version of Kim Ara. However, it was clear whose genes Kim Ara had inherited most from.

I greeted her politely.

“I am Lee Seo-ha, a friend of Ara.”

“Yes, I know. Ara has told me a lot about you, and you’re quite famous these days, aren’t you?”

She looked at me with warm eyes. I felt embarrassed and scratched my cheek.

“I’ll show you to your room. Feel at home here.”

“That’s right. This is where our honeymoon begins.”

“……”

Kim Ara’s half-serious flirting left me dizzy.

Entering the room, there were robes available.

-It’s a traditional Chinese martial arts uniform. Would you like to try it on, Mr. Seo-ha?

Eternal Heaven asked with a rare excited expression. I unfolded the martial arts uniform. It resembled the kimono worn in Japan.

Trying it on, it didn’t feel bad.

‘This is basically a kimono?’

I examined it but found no particular features. I put on wooden sandals and stepped outside. The servants were bustling about.

-Master?

Black Heaven looked at me as if I were odd.

‘What’s this?’

I felt a strange sensation.

As if someone was calling out to me from somewhere.

‘What is it?’

It was a foreign feeling.

Yet, it was also familiar. Within that dissonance, I realized one thing. This phenomenon was the same as when those from the Veritas Sect called out to me.

“……”

I stared intently at one spot.

Click.

A switch flipped inside the domain, and the world began to be dyed in the hues of mana. However, there was nothing unusual. This was the Overlord’s territory. It was natural for there to be no one doing anything out of the ordinary here.

“What’s the matter?”

“I felt a strange sensation.”

“A strange sensation?”

“As if someone is desperately searching for me.”

“……”

The Overlord’s expression became strange.

“Do you have any idea where that might be?”

“……Yes.”

“That’s absurd.”

The Overlord’s expression changed again, reminiscing about something long past.

“Looking at you sometimes reminds me of myself. I was over 10 years older than you are now. It was a time when dimensions overlapped. Back then, I was a coward. I got backstabbed by someone I trusted in business and ended up shouldering the blame.”

After that, the Overlord spoke about his life story for about 20 minutes.

I had a foreboding feeling that the night would be over if I continued listening, so I interrupted him.

“At that time, I encountered an event that shook my destiny…”

“Is this story related to Faith?”

“Right.”

The Overlord paused, annoyed at being interrupted, then spoke to me.

“Faith is the power of belief. It’s an abstract power, but it also exists within the laws of the world. It’s a way to transform others’ beliefs into your own power. I didn’t like it, but…wait, did you by any chance embrace Faith?”

I said nothing and just opened my hand.

Whooosh!

A golden sphere gathered in my palm.

It was Alchemy transformed into a Conceptual State.

“…This is Faith? It seems a bit different.”

The Overlord commented while observing the power of Alchemy.

“Then just follow that power. I’ll specially assist you.”

“No, thanks.”

The power calling me now was not that of Alchemy.

Woong.

The profane power residing in my body reacted.

Defying Heaven.

Right now, it felt as if Defying Heaven was the one calling out to me.