Chapter 236: Return

[Calculating achievements…]

[You have accomplished an unbelievable achievement! You have granted the Apostle, Ardavitri, eternal death.]

[However, since this feat took place in a peripheral dimension, only a few transcendents are aware of it.]

[The effect of your title, Savior, has been enhanced.]

[You have gained 100,000,000p.]

[You have obtained one EX-grade enhancement ticket.]

[Absolute stat Black (黑) has increased by 1.]

[Special stat Giant (巨神) has increased by 10.]

[Special stat Dragon (龍) has increased by 10.]

[Conceptual stat Alchemy has increased by 10.]

[Your status has deepened. The will of the world is paying attention to your narrative.]

[The narrative you have written raises your status. Your status deepens even further.]

[The effect of Heaven (?) has been activated. Some of the powers of the Apostle, Ardavitri, have been stolen.]

I stared blankly at the rewards.

Stealing part of the Apostle Ardavitri’s power?

[Your mind is being influenced by the powers of Ardavitri.]

It didn’t seem to be a lie—something had indeed settled within my mind. Both Destruction and Heaven’s Destruction grew slightly stronger, and the Black Sun became especially potent.

‘What is this?’

I looked at the talent called Heaven.

It was the first time I had seen such a talent.

Heaven

I knew the concept of “the heights of the sky.”

If transcendents escaped the world’s shackles and transcended through their own power, then above them layu the realm called Heaven.

However, this was a more alien force.

Absorbing the Apostle’s power was unheard of.

[Confirming the use of Absolute Authority Annihilation (Ex+++).]

[You have recreated the greatest and most glorious achievement you’ve ever accomplished.]

[Though this power has only manifested partially, the accomplishment itself remains unparalleled.]

[As a reward, you have gained the conceptual stat Seal.]

[The special stats Giant and Dragon have reached their maximum, evolving into the conceptual stat Giant Dragon.]

[Conceptual stat Alchemy has reached 100.]

[Confirming the presence of absolute stat White.]

‘What is this…’

The rewards were overwhelming.

I blinked in disbelief.

I had suddenly obtained a new conceptual stat, and Giant and Dragon had merged. While that was a good thing, it was unexpected.

‘Ah, I see.’

I understood the function of the Seal stat.

It was one of the requirements to obtain the absolute stat White.

[The soul dwelling within the Black Heavenly Demon Sword (S) synchronizes with its master.]

I had tried to avoid using the power of ash as much as possible.

‘Perhaps I should practice with it.’

But thinking of the ash’s destructive nature made me hesitate. It held a terrifying power that could destroy the world itself.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

After reviewing the rewards, I felt a slight sense of regret.

‘There’s no Summer Sword?’

Honestly, the rewards were already incredible. With the EX-grade enhancement ticket, I could upgrade another item to EX-grade.

While I was lost in thought, people began to gather.

“Seo-ha!”

The first person to catch my eye was Kim Seo-hyun.

She, once with sky-blue hair and eyes, now had silver hair and eyes.

After consuming the heart of a dragon held by a priestess, she had undergone many changes.

In terms of status, she had even surpassed me slightly, inheriting the martial arts of the priestess.

“You seem to be doing well.”

“All I have is a sturdy body.”

“That’s true. You were always quite violent.”

The Heavenly Demon blushed as she spoke.

“Anyway, while you were asleep, I searched the place where we fought the Apostle. That child tore through the dimension to emerge from there, so we needed to study it to find our way back.”

“And?”

“It will take some time. Even in the best case, it’ll be about three months.”

“Useless.”

“Do you think dimensional travel is that easy? This is why martial artists who dabble in magic are so…”

The Heavenly Demon and the Thousand Sorcerer bickered.

“Even returnees haven’t found a way to travel dimensions in nearly a hundred years. Do you have any idea how remarkable it is to find the coordinates in just three months?”

“How should I know?”

“I can find it.”

“With your power?”

“Yes, I have abilities specialized in dimensional travel.”

The Thousand Sorcerer gave me a long look and then nodded.

“Your abilities are hard to grasp.”

“You mean the one that pierced through the Apostle’s barrier?”

“Yes.”

I nodded toward The Heavenly Demon.

“Why do you speak so familiarly with The Heavenly Demon?”

“…”

I paused.

Explaining would require mentioning Black Heaven, which would make the story too long.

“Well, it’s because Seo-ha and I are unique beings… Actually, there’s a spirit in my sword, and it’s a future version of The Heavenly Demon. This Heavenly Demon is affected by that spirit.”

“Ah.”

Kim Seo-hyun quickly made a gesture indicating she understood.

“Good. Let’s head out. According to Seo Ga-yeon, three months have passed in the original dimension while we were away. We have a lot of work to do.”

“Work?”

“We need to conquer the Tower of Demons and deal with those Nazi bastards.”

It seemed a lot had happened while we were away.

“And we also need to negotiate with Veritas.”

I looked at Kim Seo-hyun, who gave me a playful wink.

-I didn’t tell Grandpa. Good, right?

She conveyed this with a sly expression.

Honestly, I was at the point where I didn’t care if it got revealed.

The association already seemed to suspect something, and the Sword Queen appeared to be certain of it.

“Shall we head out?”

“Let’s.”

I opened a portal.

The place where we had fought the Apostle was marked, making it easy to locate.

Zzzrrip!

With the sound of something tearing, the space before me split open, revealing a new scene.

“…Sacheon.”

“Let’s move quickly.”

I got out of bed and entered the dimensional space.

We immediately traveled to Sacheon.

Before us lay an enormous crater.

In my battle against the Apostle, the force I unleashed created a hole nearly 100 meters deep, leaving behind this crater.

“…Chilling.”

The Heavenly Demon gave me a look.

A glance that suggested she wanted to spar with me. She would probably get along well with the Overlord.

“This is the place.”

Using my senses, I quickly found the spot where Seo Ga-yeon had emerged.

It felt like a scar—a sign of dimensional travel, where the space, though torn, had naturally started to heal.

I tore it open again, reconnecting the dimension.

And with that, we left Murim behind.

I heard that a lot had happened over the past three months.

“Sorry, but I need to head out first.”

The Thousand Sorcerer left those words behind and departed, seemingly worried about the guild.

After saying farewell, I welcomed the group into the guild and received a report from the Electronic Witch.

[The most significant event would be that Seo Ga-yeon, with the help of the Overlord, Ershil, and Hong Yu-hwa, managed to defeat one of the Seven Evils.]

“One of the Seven Evils?”

[Yes, the Cursed Sorcerer, Zanark.]

I had suspected as much.

Seo Ga-yeon had grown too powerful.

If she managed to defeat Daji and even slay Zanark, she could now be considered among the highest ranks.

[They all gained new titles in the process. Hong Yu-hwa was given the title of Usurper, Ershil the title of Merchen, and Seo Ga-yeon the title of Guide.]

These were all good titles.

[By the way, who is that person?]

The Electronic Witch was staring at the Heavenly Demon.

“She’s… a new guild member, but also a transcendent.”

[…]

The Electronic Witch gave me a stunned look.

I laughed it off and explained a few things.

“There will be three new recruits joining the guild: Eternal Heaven, The Heavenly Demon, and Kim Seo-hyun.”

[I know about Kim Seo-hyun, but who are Eternal Heaven and The Heavenly Demon?]

“Are they your pets, Seo-ha?”

Eternal Heaven flicked her seven tails playfully as she lay sprawled across the desk.

“They’re both peak-level fighters and transcendents… but how do we determine their salaries?”

Ignoring Eternal Heaven’s comment, I turned to the Electronic Witch for advice.

She looked troubled.

[For peak-level fighters, we can refer to the precedents set by other guilds. But as for transcendents… there’s no standard since they’re at the very top of existence.]

“That’s true.”

That was the dilemma.

The Heavenly Demon had mentioned wanting a salary of 40 million won, but how could I offer just that?

If it were 400 billion won, maybe I could manage, but paying that much in cash continuously was impossible.

[Here’s the current budget.]

The Electronic Witch showed me the account balance.

One trillion won was in the guild’s treasury.

…How did we accumulate so much?

[It’s because the alchemists keep selling potions. Only two or three people have managed to replicate your potion recipes—one of whom is your disciple.]

“Ah…”

[Everyone is paying through the nose to use the recipes, which are licensed on a global scale… and that’s after we spent a lot upgrading all our facilities.]

I tried to erase the memory of blowing off the guild’s roof during a previous experiment as I looked back at the Electronic Witch.

“So, should we just pay them?”

“Training.”

The Heavenly Demon suddenly spoke.

“Once a day will do.”

“I think my body won’t survive that.”

“…Once a week?”

“Let’s make it once a month.”

“No! At least once a week!”

“Once a month.”

“You got me all excited, and now you want to limit it to once a month?”

“Once a month.”

“…Every two weeks?”

“Once a month.”

The Heavenly Demon glared at me in frustration.

At that moment, I felt a familiar presence approaching the door.

[…Seo-ha.]

The Electronic Witch set aside her secretary mode and cautiously called my name.

I closed my mouth and turned toward the door.

Using Nyeom to open it, I saw a woman with flaming red hair and eyes that glowed like a crimson flame staring at me.

“So, right after returning, you’ve already invited another woman here, and now you’re playing around without even seeing me?”

“We were just talking about training.”

“Really?”

Her ruby-like eyes turned toward The Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon smirked meaningfully and said to me:

“Every two weeks.”

“Deal.”

“Yes, we were talking about training.”

The Heavenly Demon told Hong Yu-hwa.

“I thought so.”

After a brief glance at The Heavenly Demon, Hong Yu-hwa approached me.

“It’s been a while.”

“It has.”

As usual, Hong Yu-hwa wore a beautiful dress, a blend of blue and black, with a sword strapped to her waist.

‘…A sword?’

The first thing I noticed was the red blade.

It was… Summer.

No, it was the Summer Sword.