***
***
[…Indeed, it’s time to acknowledge it.]
Thud! Thud!
Before Seong Jihan’s eyes, a woman petrified in a purple hue appeared.
She had a face very similar to Yoon seah.
It was a very familiar appearance to Seong Jihan.
[Your existence, which changed the future, is not an illusion.]
“…Noona, is that really you?”
Seong Jihan looked at her with a surprised expression as she moved freely in her petrified state.
‘Really, my noona… is really alive.’
Although he anticipated it by becoming the Witch of The Void after Yoon Seah’s Constellation Quest, The attire was exactly the same as the time she had used her ultimate self-sacrifice as a priestess.
But her whole body was bound by five chains.
In the center of her chest.
‘A lock….’
A black lock was intertwined with the chains, locked.
‘It’s filled with the aura of the Void.’
As powerful as Seong Jihan was, being assigned to Space 4, he had no confidence in breaking such a lock, bursting with such a fierce aura.
While he was absorbed in examining the chains and lock.
Swoosh…
From the forehead of the petrified Seong Jiah, a bright white light flashed and began to condense into a round mass.
The light eventually formed an eye of light.
Different from her stone eyes, the third eye wriggled like a real pupil.
“That is…”
[I’ve cut off outside observation for now.]
“Are you speaking of BattleTube?”
[Yes. Ordinary people would turn to stone at the mere sight of me.]
“I’m fine though.”
[You’re not an ordinary person, are you?]
With that, Seong Jiah pointed downwards.
[Can you release her for now?]
“Hmm. Do we really need to keep her alive? After all, the woman who enchanted brother-in-law got the powers from her.”
Bang!
Following his words, Seong Jiah kicked the succubus in the head.
“Ah! You… did you really hit me?!”
[Do you want to die?]
“Oh, no… You can hit me more. Witch. Kick me as much as you want.”
The succubus queen immediately bowed her head, and Seong Jiah kicked her head once more.
“This..Actually… hurts…”
[It was Shizuru and Yoon Sejin who erred. We can’t fully blame the woman who gave the powers. Besides, she’s the head of the Palace of Desire. If she disappears now, a major chaos will ensue.]
“Hmm. Chaos.”
[All the succubi and incubi will vie for the suddenly vacant throne. Earth is a planet weak to temptation. It will surely be the first to suffer. It’s fated for destruction, but we can’t let Seah be harmed before that…]
Thump!
Hearing this, Seong Jihan drew out his sword stuck in the ground.
Upon which, the half-bodied succubus queen’s body quickly regenerated.
“Ugh… you’re the witch’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“Should’ve known. A monster at a different caliber. If you’re like a witch, yes. If you’re from the ‘chosen’ bloodline….”
The succubus queen, who was saying something significant, winked at Seong Jihan.
“You are more tempting than I thought. Would you like to live with me in the Palace of Desire? If I conceive your child, an incredible being might be born….”
Bang!
Seong Jiah struck the succubus queen even harder than before this time.
Whoosh!
As the petrified foot brushed against the queen’s waist, her body disappeared entirely.
[Get away from my brother..]
“W-Witch. Why are you doing this? I should be an acceptable companion for your brother, right?”
[If you don’t disappear right now from my sight, I’ll kill you, regardless if the Palace of Desire turns into chaos or not.]
“Ah, I got it!”
The Succubus Queen turned her back swiftly under Seong Jiah’s menacing aura.
Nevertheless,
“You gained two more chains. What are you scheming?”
[None of your business.]
“Hmph… quite stubborn. You’re even gruff when I worry about you.”
After glancing at Jiah’s chains, the succubus queen added one more word before disappearing.
“Chains… are they bad?”
[I’ve used some power. It’s inevitable.]
“Should I break them? Seems like I could if I go all out.”
[No, never touch them. They’re far too dangerous.]
Why would she be carrying such things around?
Seong Jihan had such thoughts, but for now, he decided to respect her wishes.
‘Anyway, Noona, she’s much stronger than I thought.’
The succubus queen’s main body was a quite powerful existence.
Seong Jihan managed to subdue her easily because he possessed the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods, but without it, it would have been a challenge.
Yet Seong Jiah dealt with the succubus queen effortlessly with a mere kick. It was beyond Seong Jihan’s comprehension just how strong she had become.
Seong Jihan briefly watched where the succubus queen had vanished, then asked her.
“But what’s this about a chosen Bloodline?”
[…It’s too complicated to explain now. In short, a being like me, who’s likely to embrace the void.]
“The Void? Why us?”
Seong Jihan wondered, his family was just an ordinary Korean household.
Why did he suddenly become the chosen one?
Was there a secret about the hidden bloodline?
[I don’t know either. Our parents were regular people.]
“Hmm…”
[But more importantly, Jihan. I can’t stay here for long, so let me get to the point quickly.]
Flash! Flash!
The third eye emitted even brighter light, focusing on Seong Jihan.
[Void Stat. Don’t raise it anymore.]
“Why?”
[I’m going to save you and Seah from destruction. But if your void powers are too strong, you can’t enter the sanctuary.]
Zzzzzing!
With that, a blue hologram materialized in front of Seong Jiah.
The sanctuary, consisting of circular modules, looked small enough to accommodate only one or two people at a glance.
[Through this, I will send both of you to another planet. A planet where a similar humanoid species lives… Even so, it should be suitable for settling.]
‘Looks like I’ve been excluded from the salvation list.’
Seong Jihan sighed and asked her.
“Destruction? Isn’t humanity smoothly sailing in BattleNet now?”
[Because you led the opening match to victory, that was a momentary illusion. The Apostle of the End is already convinced of humanity’s destruction and is preparing for it.]
With that, Jiah looked towards the entrance of the mid-boss room.
[How were the races that broke in a little while ago?]
“It was easy.”
[…Don’t use you as a benchmark. Compare the extraterrestrial races with humans, not you.]
“If we compare them as a whole? Most of the races invading are much stronger than humans.”
The races infiltrating the Hell Devil Palace.
Even the weakest among them, from Ariel’s perspective, were at least intermediate level.
While Jihan could defeat them with a single shot, each of them had their own strengths.
All of them far exceeded the basic specs of humans.
[That’s right. Originally, humans should not be invited to the BattleNet. The individual combat power is too low for that.]
“But why were we invited then?”
[I don’t know… But one thing is certain. Humans can’t overcome the Space League.]
Seong Jihan nodded his head.
The extinction of humanity.
Wasn’t that a future he had experienced in his previous life?
However,
“As long as I’m with them, it won’t happen. I’m affiliated with humans, so there won’t be such a thing.”
[…Since when did my little brother become so confident?]
“It’s been a while.”
[Haa… Hey, seriously. Listen to your Noona!]
Seong Jihan chuckled and changed the subject.
“As for me, it’s fine. But how can we return you to your original state?”
[Me? As a witch of the Void… I can’t return to my original state.]
“Noona, you know you slightly avoided my gaze just now? It’s a habit when you lie.”
[…Since it’s an impossible task anyway.]
“What’s the method then? Breaking the chains? Or maybe… eliminating the master of the Abyss?”
[You! Don’t even dream about that. If you touch him, you’ll only accelerate the inevitable destruction!]
Ssssss…
Seong Jiah repeatedly emphasized, her figure fading.
[…Remember my advice. Never… raise the Void. Don’t touch the Abyss either until I save you both.]
With those words, Seong Jiah disappeared.
With the disappearance of the purple barrier, the viewers’ chats began to roll in.
-Oh, the screen is back!
-There’s lag on BattleTube too, huh?
-It’s not lag, the screen is just blocked, I guess?
-What happened?
People who had been watching Seong Jihan’s channel for a long time casually brushed it off as something that sometimes happened.
-…A powerful entity intervened.
-The investigation team couldn’t observe it. What happened?
-And the Succubus Queen was subdued so easily? Who exactly was that?
-I have 20 diamonds. I shouldn’t attempt to conquer this place…
-We’re withdrawing.
The extraterrestrial investigation team that had entered Seong Jihan’s channel couldn’t help but be amazed by this phenomenon.
-Ah, extraterrestrial guests are leaving in droves;
-Is it that big of a deal if the screen gets blocked?
-Seems like it lolol
-Just because they are acting like this, I’m curious about what happened.
As people wondered, the extraterrestrial investigation team left the chat room in a flash.
And, as much as they left, the frequency of the mid-boss room’s door opening also decreased.
-Now the gap with first place won’t close.
-What do we do… ㅠㅠ
-Just wait, new visitors will come in.
-No, if you wait a bit, more suckers will come in.
-It’s a short break ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
While viewers chattered about the sudden departure of the extraterrestrial investigation team, Seong Jihan recalled the recent events.
‘Noona is definitely alive.’
Even though she was in the form of a powerful petrified statue rather than her priestess appearance, she was alive somewhere.
‘Refuge, huh…’
Until recently, Seong Jiah dismissed him and Yoon Seah as illusions, yet secretly prepared an escape for them.
While Seong Jihan thought his noona was admirable, he had a negative view of her intentions.
‘Even if humanity is destroyed and Seah and I survive, would it have any meaning?’
[Demon God:- Main Character moment?]
Listening to Seong Jiah, it seemed like the refuge was limited to sending the two of them somewhere.
Even if they went to another planet, what would they do among these different races?
‘Looks like I won’t be listening to my Noona this time, either.’
Seong Jihan erased the possibility of escape from his mind and decided to focus on battling on BattleNet as he is now.
And…
‘The next target is the Abyss.’
Let’s do what she told me not to do again.
He smirked mischievously.
* * *
Special Dungeon Game, the last day.
“It’s quiet with visitors.”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Seong Jihan yawned, spinning his spear.
After Seong Jiah visited, the frequency of extraterrestrial visitors decreased due to some rumor circulating.
-You’re still first though?
-True, but with a 20,000 point difference, you’ll solidify it, right?
-Oh, and have you heard the news? We just won the Taiwan match~
“We won the Taiwan match? I was sorry I couldn’t participate because of this map, but it worked out well.”
National team matches held two or three times a month.
Seong Jihan would participate in almost all of them, when possible however, his absence from the special dungeon map, where monsters could be summoned, was unavoidable.
-It’s alright. With the Sword King around, there’s no need to worry about a match with Taiwan .
However, the relatively weak Taiwanese team,
Coach Noh Youngjun even visited the chat to tell Seong Jihan to not worry and focus on his game.
-Still, I was worried when that insane old man won the first game single-handedly, lol
-I thought so too… He was really strong
-Still, he only came out for one match and didn’t come out again.
-Yep, Taiwanese media reported that the old man fainted after one game lol
-The Sword King wanted to face him, and regretted that he collapsed.
-It’s fortunate from the Korean perspective.
During the Taiwan match without Seong Jihan, something remarkable seemed to have happened.
Korean viewers were abuzz about the “Taiwanese Old man.”
‘Old man? Was there a powerful player among the elderly…?’
Gifts were given randomly, but the number given differed significantly depending on age.
Especially for those over 60, the amount was almost non-existent.
In Seong Jihan’s memory, there were almost no outstanding elderly players.
Especially in the Asian region, there was not a single one…
‘I should watch the match later.’
While Seong Jihan was showing interest in a player who was not in his memory, the boss room door that had been closed for a while began to open.
Rumble…
-The guest is finally here!
-Why did you take so long to come?
Viewers welcomed the invader,
Everyone looked at the door, wondering which race would be cut down in one blow this time.
[From now on, this legion takes over here!]
-Huh?
-Why are they coming out here?
The Artemus Legion, which slipped to second place because of Seong Jihan, revealed themselves at the entrance.
***
***
