Chapter 296: Chapter 294

[...Kuaaa!]

The Apostle of Paradise barely managed to avoid dying from Cha Hae-In's attack, but he wasn't unscathed.

One-third of his torso,

One arm, from his shoulder to his waist, was completely severed.

And then came lightning!

Crackle!

The severed part was scattered as ashes like black charcoal, showing how powerful the attack was. Of course, it didn't matter if this body was destroyed. He could always change it. But the problem was something else.

'Why is the Ruler's power mixed with that woman's aura?!' The aftereffect was devastating. In the end, the Apostle of Paradise not only lost his severed body parts but also suffered damage to his soul within.

[How can a mere human...!]

[KIAAAAA—!]

A black shadow fell over the dumbfounded Apostle of Paradise. He gritted his teeth again as he saw it. The energy emanating from that shadow wyvern! That was definitely 'his' power! He didn't know what was going on, but what he had to do here didn't change at all. He must escape from this place somehow!

[Mouth of the Void!] The Apostle of Paradise screamed his last cry and he hurriedly moved his remaining arm to tear the surrounding dimensions haphazardly.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

VOOOOOM—!

Dimensional holes were torn open here and there, and dimensional storms, originating from those gaps, began to intertwine and swirl.

Whoosh—!

A terrifying hurricane swept through the dimensional gaps, striking Sung Il-Hwan and Cha Hae-In. If you were caught in this storm, you would become dust in the universe and wander forever.

[In the meantime...!] But...

Whoosh—!

Sung Il-Hwan skillfully dodged the dimensional storm and leaped upwards. His movements were smooth, as if he had been in this situation countless times.

Thud!

His feet lightly landed on the back of the shadow wyvern that Cha Hae-In was riding.

"Father!"

"Thank you, my dear daughter-in-law."

Sung Il-Hwan smiled warmly. And with the daggers gleaming in both hands, he glared at the Apostle of Paradise jumping in without hesitation. That figure, overlapping with Sung Jinwoo he once saw in outer space, completely destroyed the Apostle's of Paradise will to fight. Sung Il-Hwan's daggers swung mercilessly, and powerful attacks spread in all directions.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash—!

[Kuaaaaaaaaaa...!] A scream erupted from the Apostle of Paradise.

His fingers were severed joint by joint, his remaining arm was cut off. Then his legs. And finally, even his torso was mercilessly severed. A true dismemberment. And even his soul, hidden within that shabby body, was mercilessly slashed by Sung Il-Hwan's daggers.

[...!]

The Apostle of Paradise couldn't even scream anymore. In the dimensional gap, In the middle of this chaotic void, only the sound of flesh being torn and bones being crushed echoed.

Crackle!

Finally, his fragmented body began to crumble and scatter into the air. And then something amazing happened.

Whoosh—

The remains of the Apostle of Paradise, reduced to mere fragments, began to be sucked into Sung Il-Hwan's Starpieces. Who watched the sight nonchalantly.

"Is it being absorbed?"

Sung Il-Hwan's wounded body began to regenerate, absorbing the energy. His cracked skin healed. His crushed bones reconnected from within. His body slowly returned to its original state. Like cracks in a broken ceramic being filled and mended, His condition, which was being eroded by the twenty-three Starpiecess, began to improve.

'I can rest easy for a while.' Sung Il-Hwan let out a sigh of relief as the constant pain gradually subsided.

'I-I have to escape...!' Meanwhile, even in a situation where he was torn to shreds and only a handful of his soul remained, the Apostle of Paradise, tenacious like a weed, desperately searched for a way to survive.

Whoosh—

A jumbled dimensional storm. Countless holes visible beyond the torn dimensional gap. Beyond that chaotic void, The Apostle of Paradise barely managed to find the energy of the flowerpot he had planted.

Swish!

And he jumped in without hesitation.

Whoosh—

The dimensional wall rippled.

[...I did it!]

The Apostle of Paradise, barely crossing the dimensional wall, rejoiced with relief. He had managed to tear through the dimensional wall and escape with all his remaining strength! And they couldn't follow him. It was only natural. The hole he just passed through was too small! It was too small for powerful beings like them to pass through. This actually meant that the Apostle of Paradise himself had become that weak, but what did it matter? The important thing was that he survived once again!

[I can just gather strength again!]

He was a fragment, split from the main body. He was weak now, but he could recover his strength by finding and merging with other fragments that came to this universe. Of course, it wasn't always a good thing. The process of finding those fragments one by one was cumbersome, And when they merged, the one with less power would have their ego devoured. He didn't like that fact, but since all those egos originated from one main body, it wasn't a big deal. Survival was the priority. But the real problem was the Shadow Monarch.

[...Don't tell me we really lost the war?]

The Shadow Monarch won the war and returned here?

He won the war against all those Itarim?

Oh my god. It was a terrifying thought. But if that was the reality, his future held only inevitable death. He had never even imagined such a despairing perspective. Besides, why were there so many humans with the Ruler's power on this planet?!

The Shadow Monarch's son!

The Shadow Monarch's father!

And what was with his wife?!

It was a truly abnormal family. But he was alive, so it was fine.

[...Haa. I almost got completely devoured.]

Yes. He would be satisfied with that for now. And he looked around. This place, where he arrived after using his last ounce of strength to connect the dimensional coordinates, was the villains' city in China where he had prepared a base in advance. Just like in North Korea, his cherished flowerpot was hidden in this land.

Thud—

The limp remains of his soul appeared in China. But...

[Wh-what? What's this...]

The problem was that the city reflected in the Apostle of Paradise's vision was quite different from what he remembered. It was already devastated. Buildings had collapsed, and the streets were a sea of blood.

'Don't tell me this place was also discovered...?'

An ominous feeling washed over him. No! What about the perception-impairing magic he cast? Why did things keep happening like this?! Perhaps because of what he had experienced, the Apostle of Paradise immediately thought of the worst-case scenario. First of all,

'I don't feel the Shadow Monarch's presence!' It was a relief. And then, he couldn't see the shadow soldiers led by his son either.

'Then what is it?'

'Who did this?!'

Buzz—

Just then, there was a noise from above. Looking up, he saw countless drones covering the sky. They were looking down at the entire land from high above through numerous camera lenses.

[What the...]

It was just absurd. Even if they were such crude objects, the perception-impairing magic was useless if they looked down from overhead like that. It was at that moment.

Grab—!

[...?!]

A strong hand suddenly appeared without warning and grabbed the Apostle of Paradise's soul from behind.

"Who are you?"

[...Who are you?!]

The Apostle of Paradise couldn't help but be bewildered. He felt a familiar energy from within the human who grabbed him. It was sudden, yet welcome.

'This is perfect!' Even without any Starpieces embedded, this human was also an excellent High Priest-level vessel! And,

[Human! A fragment of my soul is dwelling in your old body! Submit to me and offer that power...!]

Crack—!

[...Huh?]

Before he could even finish his sentence, the old human, without hesitation, mercilessly bit into the Apostle of Paradise's soul. It wasn't a metaphor; he literally bit, tore, and began to chew and swallow.

[Kyaa! Wh-what are you doing?!]

The remnants of his soul, already damaged, began to crumble and be destroyed in his mouth. That energy entered his body and was digested.

Munch, Munch... Gulp.

The old human swallowed the Apostle of Paradise whole... It was Liu Zhigang, the 6-star Hunter of China, he smacked his lips and muttered,

"Hmm. A familiar taste."

[You, don't tell me your ego...!]

As he was being devoured in real-time, the Apostle of Paradise finally realized that something was wrong. There was another one like Sung Il-Hwan here. An absurdly vast soul vessel! And there was also an empty space within this old man where a Ruler had once dwelled. And a fragment of his main body...

Was sleeping peacefully in a corner of that vessel. Instead of taking over, he was losing his ego and having his power stolen.

[H-how can this be?]

Just what kind of unknown power was at work? This old man was also a being who could skillfully use the apostle's power as his own! The Apostle of Paradise, who didn't even dream of the existence of the 'Spring Water of the Echo Forest' that Suho discovered, was just confused.

[Just what... are humans...]

Munch, Munch, Gulp.

Even a random old human he encountered was like this... The Apostle of Paradise, who usually looked down on the human race, died a meaningless death, feeling disillusioned and terrified of humans.

Whoosh—

"Tsk. So he was an apostle of Itarim after all. But his presence was too weak for that." Liu Zhigang smacked his lips and tilted his head.

He was too weak for an apostle of Itarim, and the absorbed energy was too insignificant. He immediately took out his phone and contacted Sung Suho.

"Ah, yes. It's me, Liu Zhigang. As you said, I persuaded our government, launched the drones, and found the villains' city. I'm currently searching for others besides this place, and I just happened to find and kill an apostle of Itarim..."

Phones these days were amazing. With real-time translation, it was more convenient to communicate than meeting in person. Liu Zhigang, as Suho requested, was finding and destroying all the 'flowerpots' hidden in China one by one. From Suho's perspective, it was a natural idea.

China had illegally flown numerous drones and filmed him when he was in India. He judged that if they reused those cameras, it would be easy to find the Apostle of Paradise's flowerpots from the sky. Of course, there was the troublesome process of persuading the Chinese government, but that was nothing for Liu Zhigang. Of course, he, who had spent his entire life training, didn't have the negotiation skills to persuade politicians. But if he destroyed one important building, wouldn't that be more persuasive than some words?

"...Ah, yes. You said you have a separate use for Elvenwood? Alright. Then I'll just cut off the roots and pull it out separately."

Liu Zhigang glanced up at the tree as he talked to Suho. The Elvenwood that was desperately resisting until just a moment ago was now eerily silent. It seemed like it stopped the moment he devoured the apostle of Itarim, but it didn't matter. He was in the middle of summoning all the Chinese Hunters with his outstanding 'political skills' and annihilating the villains.