‘This giant is the owner of the Abyss?’
Seong Jihan’s eyes widened as he read the message.
The owner of the Abyss who had refused to release his sister despite the Arena’s owner’s promise to free her.
Hadn’t it been said that the Arena’s owner, one of the strongest in the void, had killed him countless times, yet he kept reviving, never breaking his resolve?
Seeing the true identity of the one holding his sister, Seong Jiah, Seong Jihan thought it rather fortunate.
‘It would be good to test my strength against him in the game before challenging him directly.’
If he could gather as much data about the Abyss’s owner here and then analyze it in the training ground of the void, it would be beneficial.
Deciding to fight, Seong Jihan observed his opponent closely.
‘Those red eyes embedded in the giant’s body… I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere.’
The massive eyeballs wriggling on the giant’s body.
Focusing on them, Seong Jihan soon thought they resembled those of ‘the Blood clan.’
Though lacking the vitality seen in the eyes of that clan, their form was similar.
‘Why would the eyes of the Blood clan be present on a being of the void?’
The identity of the Abyss’s owner remained a deep mystery.
‘First off.’
Fundamental Divine Arts,
Triad of Martial Mastery:
Mount Tai Suppression
Seong Jihan launched a light pre-emptive strike.
The void’s mist split apart, and a sword strike that seemed to bisect the world ensued.
But, an attack that had slain the apocalyptic beast Behemoth in one blow.
Swoosh…
It disappeared before it even reached the owner of the Abyss.
‘Indeed, no easy adversary.’
A foe perhaps too strong to face immediately upon becoming a Grandmaster.
While Seong Jihan was pondering this.
[…….]
The owner of the Abyss, without even looking at Seong Jihan, pressed his hands on the ground.
Whoosh…
As time passed, the mist of the void grew denser.
Leaving it alone might spread the void across the world.
‘But the extinction occurring after 24 hours wasn’t a phenomenon caused by the void…’
The phenomenon of the world distorting was distinctly different from the encroachment of the void.
Although it seemed the Abyss’s owner was a key point in this extinction, judging from the hint, his actions seemed unrelated to the extinction phenomenon Seong Jihan had experienced.
‘There’s too little information right now. Let’s go with full power for an attack.’
After a brief moment of deliberation, Seong Jihan opened his inventory.
What he took out were the Phoenix Flag and his half-mask
[The level needed to become a Constellation has been lowered to 768]
Turning on the Constellation traits and amplifying the void with the half-mask.
He channeled power into the Phoenix Flag.
Fundamental Divine Arts,
Heavenly Dragon Thunder Fire:
Dragon Thunder
The Phoenix Flag flickered brightly.
Within it, immense firepower was condensed.
Dragon Thunder, typically used as the flame of the heavens, was concentrated to a singular point, much like when facing the Constellation Longinus.
Even before being thrown, the Phoenix Flag emitted a fierce white flame.
‘…This still isn’t enough.’
Even as Seong Jihan witnessed the power contained in Dragon Thunder, he instinctively felt it.
The opponent was even stronger than Longinus.
This power alone was not enough.
Swoosh.
Seong Jihan took out another weapon from his inventory.
-A stick?
-Did Seong Jihan have such a weapon?
-That doesn’t seem useful against that giant eyeball creature…
It was the Divine Spear, inherited from Longinus.
Seong Jihan’s supreme offensive measure, the ‘Code of Destruction’.
The Divine Spear allowed for striking at a distance through the spear, acting as a conduit for the Destruction code without requiring close combat.
For 10 seconds, the aura of destruction flickered, and upon contact with a target, it served as a medium to obliterate the foe.
However, considering the Abyss’s owner had nullified even Mount Tai Suppression, solely relying on it might get intercepted midway.
‘Therefore, clear a path with the Phoenix Flag, then insert the Code of Destruction.’
Whoosh!
The Phoenix Flag, spewing white flames, moved first, burning all the void’s mist blocking the path.
Yet, as it approached the owner of the Abyss, the firepower of the Phoenix Flag weakened rapidly.
And then,
Swoosh…
A few of the red eyes on the ground that had been observing the Phoenix Flag caused the spear’s firepower to diminish even further.
By the time the Phoenix Flag nearly reached the owner of the Abyss, most of the white flames emitted from the spear had already vanished.
Thunk!
Ineffectually striking a red eyeball and being deflected, the Phoenix Flag was flung aside.
-The power held within that weapon was beyond imagination, yet it was blocked…
-On our planet, the Abyss has never been formed, but are all owners of the Abyss this powerful?
-No, this is the first time I’ve seen an entity of the Abyss possessing such power.
-If every Abyss had beings like this, our world would have been doomed already;
-What’s such a monster doing on a low-tier race’s planet?
The Abyss had also appeared on many planets of the aliens.
Yet, among the owners of the Abyss, there has never been one so formidable.
As the alien viewers pondered the opponent, predicting Seong Jihan’s defeat, suddenly,
Thud!
Following closely behind the Phoenix Flag, the Divine Spear lodged into the right arm of the owner of the Abyss.
Instantly, the giant’s right arm cracked.
Boom! Boom!
The eyes on the arm wriggled and then exploded in unison, pouring blood from the arm.
-Uh…
-What’s happening? Why did it take damage?
-The real deal was the stick behind it…
-Seong Jihan… What even is this player?
The viewers were astonished as the mighty owner of the Abyss took damage.
However, Seong Jihan’s expression wasn’t bright.
‘Only the arm vanished. And only partially at that.’
The Code of Destruction was supposed to obliterate anything it touched.
Even the Constellation Longinus couldn’t withstand its power, yet for the owner of the Abyss, only a portion of his flesh was annulled.
He hoped continued attacks would eventually eradicate it but then,
Flash!
Where it vanished, white light emanated, and numerous red eyeballs sprung forth.
Subsequently, the missing flesh was regenerated by the red eyes.
The purple giant was regaining its former form.
Seong Jihan, closely observing, thought,
‘When it emerges from the light, it doesn’t seem to have a physical form.’
The red eyes, initially translucent as they emerged from the light, began to gain substance only after settling in the missing flesh.
‘If it’s an ethereal form when it comes from the light.’
Then,
‘I should use the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods. .’
Swoosh.
Seong Jihan ignited Eclipse, raising it into the air, embedding the sword into the void.
Fundamental Divine Arts,
Annihilation God’s Secret:
Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.
A pattern of Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods formed in the void.
Enhanced by his power, the pattern swiftly expanded.
And then,
Whoosh…
The translucent red eyes, instead of forming into flesh on the giant, were sucked in unison into the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.
The regeneration of the Abyss’s owner halted.
Seong Jihan nodded, realizing,
‘They were indeed ethereal forms.’
Would it mean facing the owner of the Abyss, annihilate while blocking regeneration with the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods was the answer?
As he figured out the basic strategy,
[The Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams…]
A voice flowed from the opponent, which had shown little reaction even as part of its body vanished.
Simultaneously.
Flash!
The red eyes, which had been observing the ground, all turned, looking at the pattern of Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.
And then,
Whirl. Whirl.
The red eyes observing Seong Jihan started spinning clockwise.
Initially moving slowly, the eyeballs quickly gained speed, and then,
[This time, I must…!]
The surrounding world suddenly wrinkled.
A phenomenon similar to the extinction 24 hours before.
As the world was sucked into the spinning eyeballs,
‘Was this the root cause of the extinction…’
The distortion of the world that had even consumed Seong Jihan.
Unlike the first game, however,
He was enduring it more easily.
The pattern of Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods he had created was blocking it.
‘Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods has this effect…!’
Using it as a shield to fight the enemy seemed feasible.
As Seong Jihan thought this and picked up the Divine Spear,
[You are not Dongbang Sak… Vanish.]
The owner of the Abyss spoke as if disappointed.
Zzzing…
As the spinning eyes changed color, they collectively formed a single pattern.
A pattern anyone from the East Asian culture would recognize.
-What is that?
-The Taiji symbol…?
-Why is that showing up here;;
It was the Taiji.
As hundreds, thousands of Taiji formed in the vicinity, the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods shattered, and Seong Jihan’s body was directly sucked in.
[Humanity has faced extinction.]
[Would you like to retry the mission?]
[You have 1 attempt remaining.]
* * *
The owner of the Abyss was revealed in the second game.
His power left viewers, both alien and human, shocked.
-At this rate, he’s just below the Great Constellations… To think the Abyss had such a monster, astonishing.
-With that level of power, it doesn’t seem like he should be dispatched by the Abyss; what’s he doing there?
-Compared to humanity’s standing… the enemy is too mighty.
-Such presence assures extinction.
-Seong Jihan… We should scout him for our planet.
-But what did the owner of the Abyss say earlier? There was no translation.
Aliens, having witnessed the owner of the Abyss, affirmed humanity’s inevitable downfall, suggesting to recruit Seong Jihan,
-Taiji what now ㅡㅡ was that what caused humanity’s extinction?
-Those red eyes are creepy…
-Ah, this foe is too strong…
-But I think I’ve seen that Taiji in the Taiwan battle before.
-Ah, was it that Taiwanese player? The one who became an avatar.
-Right, right. That monster that tore apart a map.
A portion of the human viewers remembered the Taiwan battle upon seeing the Taiji.
Although the scale of a single map’s extinction and humanity’s extinction differed vastly.
The nature of distorting the world and consuming everything was similar to Dongbang Sak’s Taiji.
And Seong Jihan, who had experienced it firsthand, also recalled Dongbang Sak upon the final Taiji.
‘Mistaking Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods for the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, and being disappointed I’m not Dongbang Sak… the owner of the Abyss. There’s definitely a connection to Dongbang Sak.’
Even after avoiding demotion, humanity is doomed by the owner of the Abyss.
And the owner of the Abyss possesses a power akin to the highest-ranking constellations, using the Taiji Swordsmanship.
The red eyes seem related to the Blood clan and are weak against Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.
Yet, the opponent, who showed no interest in Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods, resolved to defeat him with full force…
Was this the outcome of the second attempt?
‘…This one truly seems unbeatable.’
Seong Jihan toggled the constellation traits OFF, contemplating this.
A foe vastly superior even compared to Longinus.
With his current power levels, it seemed utterly impossible to win.
This mission looked challenging,
Just as Seong Jihan thought to focus on gathering information about the owner of the Abyss rather than breaking the mission,
[Would you like to receive a hint for the mission?]
[It requires 200,000,000 GP.]
Another message asking if he’d like a hint arrived for Seong Jihan.
-They’re really milking him for all he’s got lol
-How much is going down the drain with this game? ㅡㅡ;
-Even with a hint, it doesn’t seem like he’d avoid death…
-But if it’s Seong Jihan, he might actually pull it off lol
And as the viewers anticipated,
‘I’ll take it.’
Seong Jihan immediately paid the doubled hint price.
Then,
[The owner of the Abyss ‘??’s weak spot is his head.]
A one-liner hint arrived.
-200 million GP for that hint, wow lol
-The head is the weak spot… isn’t that too obvious?
-lol with such a monster, you wouldn’t know where the weakness lies. Who said it’s always the head?
Despite the outrageous price, viewers debated whether the hint was that straightforward,
‘Worth the price.’
Seong Jihan chuckled upon seeing it.
The owner of the Abyss who ignored him until he attacked.
Attacking the revealed weak spot might lead to a different result in the second attempt.
‘It’s my last chance. I’ll target the head this time.’
With that mindset, Seong Jihan entered his last retry opportunity.
