Chapter 164: Festival (2)

The news that the festival had started began to lift the atmosphere.

Children gathered here and there, talking excitedly about the festival.

“Is Seo-ha participating in the singing contest this time? Even if he can’t sing well, with that face, I’m sure I’d fall for him.”

“What about his voice……”

“It has to be Seo-ha. But, I think Seo-hyun’s voice is androgynous, which might be okay too.”

A singing contest?

Sorry, but I was not participating.

“How about swordsmanship or other things?”

“Come to think of it, isn’t Seo-ha in the Occult Research Club? Is there anything going on with the occult?”

“I haven’t heard anything.”

“Well, can’t help it. I’ll have to sing instead of those two…”

“What nonsense. If you don’t want to die, just stay put.”

As befitting a festival, the students had a lot to prepare.

For some, it was an opportunity. They compensated for their lack of skills with other talents to gain popularity. Quite a sensible strategy.

‘I’m not planning on it though.’

At the Korea Hero School, festivals couldn’t be applied for by proxy. In other schools, someone would have been forced to participate, but at the Korea Hero School, it was voluntary.

Because there were too many volunteers.

Most people at this school might be called heroes, but few truly harbored the mission to save the world from the Mines.

Once, in a past life in South Korea, they might have wanted to be entertainers, BJ, streamers, or YouTubers.

But they were admitted to the world’s best school, which was different.

Let’s say there’s a game YouTuber.

Not only did the gaming YouTuber play well, but he also spoke well. If he was also polite and could dance and sing well?

He would gain more popularity than he otherwise might have.

That was the case for them. Being a hero was their main job, but adding hobbies to gain more popularity from others seemed better to them.

‘It’s not bad.’

If this world wasn’t headed for a destructive ending, I might have gone that way too.

But the end of this world signified the destruction of everything.

I silently exited the classroom, careful not to make any noise.

I had the feeling they would rope me into something if I got caught.

I was not inherently skilled in these matters, but my basic skills made it feasible.

After leaving the classroom, I made my way to the penthouse.

As usual, while I was deeply focused on training in the penthouse, Black Heaven spoke to me.

-You know, Master, you’ve never truly mastered swordsmanship in the traditional sense.

‘Well, that’s true.’

I agreed with Black Heaven’s observation.

I never received formal training from anyone.

Kim Seo-hyun taught me the fundamentals, and Black Heaven instructed me in swordsmanship, but Kim Seo-hyun covered only the very basics, and Black Heaven, lacking a physical form, could only offer verbal guidance.

‘Maybe my talent concealed that fact.’

With the talent of the Sword Demon, I was able to precisely follow Black Heaven’s instructions.

And as the Sword Demon evolved into the more balanced Sword Devil after absorbing the Sword Master, my capabilities expanded significantly.

-Then, as your teacher, I must take some responsibility. I’ve realized, after experimenting with the Spirit this time, that I can now manifest a portion of my power directly.

‘Really?’

That’s excellent news.

Her power was tremendously vast.

The level she achieved by single-handedly annihilating the Brigade of Eternal Heaven was difficult to estimate. Even the demon I summoned and defeated in a previous battle was no match for the Brigade of Eternal Heaven’s commander.

His vampire lineage also played a role.

The synergy between blood magic and vampire traits is notably strong on the vampire side.

-To accomplish this, we need to find a suitable space.

‘A space is required?’

-Yes. Ideally, a large area.

However, it should be somewhere with few people around.

I didn’t mention that Black Heaven enjoyed showing off, but finding such a place was challenging since the Mines were currently targeting me.

‘Let’s visit the workshop before we look for a place.’

-Understood.

While chatting with Black Heaven, I asked the Electronic Witch to search for a location.

Then, I made my way to my workshop, which housed various items. I entered because there were things that needed processing.

Inside the workshop, on a table,

Lay a claw emitting tremendous magical energy, asserting its presence.

Flauros’ Lepoard Claw.

The Claw of Flauros.

It harbors incredibly powerful magical energy. If used without refinement, there's a high chance it will erode the user from within and transform them into a Mine.

: When used as an ingredient, it unlocks Hunter’s Justice (A+).

: When consumed, it grants the Talent, Hunter’s Justice (A+), and significantly increases magical adjustment.

: When consumed, if not already a Mine, it forces progression to Mine state, resulting in loss of reason and forced initiation of Rampage (B).

This item was obtained from the Tower of Demons.

It was part of the loot dropped after defeating Flauros.

There were many byproducts.

Items such as Flauros’s eyeballs, skin, and tendons also fell.

Perhaps due to its demonic nature, the magical energy contained in each was immense. These items required separate processing by priests to remove the magic.

‘The more ingredients, the better.’

The Demon, Flauros, was captured solely by me, a claim strongly supported by Kim Seo-hyun and Sung Han-byul. The guilds didn’t dare touch my loot either.

From their perspective, it was the claim of Kim Seo-hyun, the young lord set to inherit the Cheoncheon Guild, and they didn’t want to challenge me, who, despite being as young as Kim Seo-hyun, had achieved the incredible feat of killing a demon.

‘I should visit the Tower of Demons again sometime.’

The Tower of Demons was sealed off afterward.

There were testimonies and evidence of the demons’ resurrection. The guilds were preoccupied. The byproducts possessed by the demons had tremendous effects.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

And so, large-scale assaults on the Tower of Demons were actively underway.

I knew I had to visit there at some point.

The demon kept mentioning me until its dying breath.

‘Maybe it knows something.’

I recalled meeting the Apostle in China before.

That being harbored no malice towards me. Instead, there was joy, as if it were greeting a comrade.

To learn about the Energy of Defying Heaven and the Talent, Divinity, climbing the Tower of Demons was a necessary task.

‘But first, I need to increase my power.’

I touched an earring, the Whisper of the Spirits. It had an effect that served as a stepping stone, but now, it’s not such a remarkable earring.

‘I’ll have to turn it into an earring.’

Before that, I needed to gather the materials first.

Arranging for priests was easy. There was Saint, but he was not cooperative. He believed the principal forcibly turned his sister into a doll.

‘I’ll ask the dean to handle the blacksmithing.’

I had done many favors in the meantime.

Perhaps because of that, he would grant this request. The materials were also very rare, now hard-to-obtain demonic materials, so the likelihood of acceptance was very high.

Ziing.

Just then, my cellphone rang.

-I’ve secured a location. How about here?

The place the Electronic Witch showed me was a secluded forest.

I was concerned that hunters or heroes might be attracted here because of the nearby mountain where monsters appeared, but this area was home to monsters that required more effort than the money was worth.

“Not bad.”

-OK~. Then I’ll secure this area.

That was an odd way to phrase it. Securing it?

‘I guess we’re not buying the whole place.’

Perhaps it’s a space that required some permission. In games, merely intruding wasn’t an issue, but in reality, these matters were a bit more complicated.

Soon enough, the Electronic Witch would handle it somehow. That thought comforted me.

Using a warp gate, I quickly made my way into the forest.

Since the route nearby was a bit far, I called a taxi and headed there.

As we got close to the forest, Black Heaven sat on my shoulder.

-This place seems suitable.

She indicated with her eyes as she spoke.

She meant for me to use Spirit.

I nodded.

A massive swirl of Energy of Defying Heaven began to take shape, like molding clay. It soon formed a complete figure from the swirl.

With long hair reaching down to the waist and black eyes.

A confident smile appeared on her face.

It was another method of using Spirit.

Forming a shape with Energy of Defying Heaven and then activating Black Heaven’s Nyeom (念) into it made it usable.

“This is my body…”

-I saw it last time too, but it’s really a crude method. If it weren’t for Seo-ha, it would be impossible.

‘Compared to the previous Heavenly Demon?’

-There’s no comparison. Seo-ha is far superior.

That was nice to hear.

I looked at Black Heaven.

“Huh, I’m sorry, Master, but it would be troubling if you fell for me.”

“I haven’t fallen for you.”

“Haha, no need to deny it. It’s natural for a man of the Master’s age to be attracted to this body.”

As Black Heaven spouted nonsense, I reached for the Black Heavenly Demon Sword.

Then Black Heaven flinched and looked at me.

“Understood. Let’s move on to the lesson.”

She spoke sullenly, then stood beside me.

“First, the Master needs to know this. Normally, you would practice swordsmanship while laying the foundations, but the Master has skipped that process with his talent. You’ve bypassed the basics that you would have gained through training in Black God Martial Arts.”

“That’s right.”

“But, in fact, that’s not so important. With the talent the Master has, skipping such things shouldn’t be a problem. Problems usually arise when someone overlooks the basics and lacks fundamental abilities.”

Black Heaven said as she grabbed the Black Heavenly Demon Sword.

“What the Master needs, therefore, is observation. Depending on how those above fight, and how it resonates with the Master, your thoughts will change.”

The atmosphere shifted.

The moment I touched the sword spirit in that place, I encountered the Orga Sword, which I had felt did not exist.

It was the image of an absolute being destined to rule the world.

“Therefore, at first, you bend. Focusing on one thing isn’t bad.”

Black Heaven lightly swung the Black Heavenly Demon Sword.

From left to right. An effortlessly light movement. Yet, the subtlety contained within was anything but light.

Sshhk.

A sound followed, as if something was being sliced, and half of the forest was split. The space that Black Heaven cut did not stop there; it even split half of the mountain behind the forest.

“Too bad. If it were my original body, I could have done more.”

I could only stare at the scene in dismay.

“Haha, how about it, Master? Have you fallen for me?”

“We shouldn’t be destroying this place.”

“…Master?”

More importantly, considering the destruction of the forest and half the mountain, it was crucial to figure out how much compensation would be necessary.

I looked at Black Heaven.

Black Heaven was, as ever, simply Black Heaven.