Chapter 453

Fwoosh!

Demons—one blinded by greed who killed his own friend, one who murdered for pleasure, one who collected the bodies of living humans—were all thrashing wildly in pain, engulfed in insatiable crimson flames.

It had been but an instant, and yet the indulgence and luxury streets of the City of Lights had been transformed into a hellscape where sinners were judged.

What... what the hell is going on...?

Owner stared at it all blankly. Why weren’t the surveillance systems working? What about the protective barriers? Could there perhaps be a traitor—no, in the first place, how could something like that be pulled off in the first place?

If only it was all just a nightmare, then it would’ve made sense. But... the searing heat and pain coursing through his body reminded him all too painfully that he wasn’t in a dream.

Why...

There was nothing here: it wasn’t a Six Great Demonic Realm and a Ten Evil wasn’t holed up here. All that this place had was a bunch of low-tier nobodies. Just why was there someone attacking so fiercely? Was it because of him? Was he being looked down upon? Because he wasn’t one of the Ten Evils?

Owner just couldn’t understand. However, there was one thing he did.

Crack-

No matter the reason and no matter the enemy, he couldn’t let them take what was his.

With the impending loss shattering his final hesitation, Owner turned and slammed his fist into one of the walls of his office.

Bang!

The blow smashed through a hidden wall panel to reveal a secret vault. From it, Owner retrieved a dark crimson magic stone that, having been specially crafted to corrupt heroes, could finally turn him into a demon.

Clench.

Owner’s eyes lit up with resolve.

I’ll never let anyone take the Black Arms away from me.

Even if the world were to end, he would never hand over his possessions to someone else. He was consumed by a deranged possessiveness, which had long since twisted his synesthetic mindscape.

And now, that twisted synesthetic mindscape resonated with the stone to unleash an omnidirectional wave of demonic aura. Then, Owner drove the stone into his own chest—

Boom-!

A fist punched straight through his solar plexus, shattering everything into pieces.

“...?”

The stone crumbled to dust. His right hand was mangled and destroyed.

Confused, Owner stared blankly down at the wreckage before slowly turning his head toward the one with a fist in his chest.

“You... You’re...”

Standing there as if it were the most natural thing in the world was Se-Hoon. He was completely relaxed, the sight putting a resentful expression on Owner’s face.

Just when I finally figured it out...

If only he had succeeded in turning into a demon, he might’ve survived and climbed his way up to the Ten Evils. But to think... to think that he had fallen so meaninglessly. Frustrated, Owner’s eyes burned with rage.

“Don’t beat yourself up too much about it. You would’ve died no matter what,” Se-Hoon indifferently replied, reading Owner’s thoughts from his face.

If even the current Ten Evils struggled to face Se-Hoon, it was obvious a low-ranked, freshly awakened demon had no chance.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“You... you son of a...”

Not bothering to allow Owner to finish his curse in defiance, Se-Hoon pulled his fist out.

Thud!

Owner’s lifeless body immediately collapsed to the ground and was consumed by the Flames of Atonement.

“...”

Sparing the burning remains a brief glance, Se-Hoon turned to the opponent he had passed by earlier.

“...”

It had been decades since Se-Hoon had seen the one standing amidst the Flames of Atonement, counting the years before he regressed. And yet, Se-Hoon felt his heart pound strangely at the sight of Immortal.

Am I... nervous? Or... excited?

Until now, he had thought his experience killing Immortal previously had been enough for his revenge. But now, in that moment, it felt as though it hadn’t been. The emotions were completely unexpected, making Se-Hoon’s expression turn faintly complicated.

“Did you come to avenge your parents?”

At Immortal’s words, Se-Hoon locked eyes with him. He had neither the strength nor the time for conversation the first time, having set a trap to kill Immortal on sight. But now he did.

“Yeah.”

“I see... that’s unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate?”

“If only I’d protected your parents back then, you would’ve come today not for vengeance, but to repay a debt.”

A completely unexpected answer.

“If that had happened, maybe you would’ve made me even stronger—”

“Enough.”

Lightly sweeping his hand across his face, Se-Hoon made a wry smile and muttered, “I shouldn’t have started a conversation with a demon like you in the first place.”

“What do you...”

Bam!

Immortal was sent flying through the window by Se-Hoon’s kick. Rushing after him, Se-Hoon closed the gap in a blink and swung the Stellar Radiance Blade, formed by the Celestial Infinity Blade.

Slash!

“Guh...!”

All sensation left Immortal’s limbs. Even his internal organs, except for his heart, were ripped apart.

He hadn’t let his guard down. He had just failed to react to a single strike. Yet, that one failure was all it took to bring him to the brink of death.

Realizing it was his chance to resist, Immortal glared at Se-Hoon with his destroyed eyes and unleashed his demonic aura.

Crack-crack-crack!

With the surge of energy, his severed limbs instantly regenerated and his entire body was darkening to a metallic crimson hue.

Immortal’s demonization—consuming ores to mutate his body into a metal with identical properties, an ability often seen as a lesser version of Eun-Ha’s unique ability—was taking place.

“I’ll make sure that this time...!”

Now fully regenerated and reinforced, Immortal slashed his claw-like nails at Se-Hoon as he rushed in.

Clang!

His nails were deflected violently off the sword, scattering sparks. Half of a nail had even been sliced clean off—but was regenerated in an instant as soon as Immortal concentrated his demonic energy.

All I need to do is hold out.

Their location, the new Black Arms base, was specifically designed as a trap to catch Se-Hoon. Although the timeline had moved up a bit, the base preparations were complete.

Soon enough, the troops from the Demon Force would arrive one after another.

I just need to hold out until Doppelganger joins in, then escape with the emergency device I got from Succession.

Calculating everything in a flash, Immortal slashed at Se-Hoon again to buy more time.

Whoosh!

The Stellar Radiance Blade gently sliced through his arm, gently slipping all the way through him and exiting out his shoulder.

“...?”

Yet he hadn’t been cut, leaving Immortal confused by the strange sensation of it simply passing... through? Just as he was about to shift his gaze to double-check, a faint line extended from his fingertip to his shoulder.

Splat-!

And then his right arm was cleanly split apart.

Flabbergasted, Immortal’s eyes flew wide open in shock. Not even an S-rank hero could cut through his body so cleanly. How had Se-Hoon sliced him apart in one blow?!

Did he... use a Perfect One’s power?

He didn’t know, but if he kept getting hit like that, Immortal knew there was no way he could survive.

“Damn it...!”

Now understanding that even stalling for time might cost him his life, Immortal immediately abandoned the idea and bit into his own arm.

Crunch!

A chunk of his arm, transformed into dark red metal, was torn off and swallowed. Immediately, a sinister energy surged through his entire body—and then Immortal did it again.

Crunch! Crack! Snap!

Devouring his own metal-transformed flesh to enhance his body over and over, Immortal, once just over two meters tall, swelled to nearly three. At the same time, his crimson hue deepened further, glowing ominously.

“Ugh... grhh...”

His pupils grew faint as the demonic aura stored within him erupted explosively in sync. Immortal was emitting power that was reaching the Ten Evils, and yet, Se-Hoon silently observed.

Didn’t know he could do that.

Was it something Immortal simply hadn’t had the chance to use before the regression? Or had the butterfly effect his regression had caused somehow strengthened Immortal further?

Regardless of which, Se-Hoon chose not to interfere and simply watched Immortal continue to devour himself and grow endlessly stronger.

“...”

Immortal lost his sense of self. Then he forgot how to speak. And eventually, he even forgot how to eat. Now a five-meter-tall giant made of blood-red metal, Immortal just stood vacantly until it instinctively turned its head to face Se-Hoon.

“Roarrr!”

All that was left was the primal instinct to eliminate those who threatened him.

Rumble!

His demonic aura, surpassing even the concentration of the Ten Evil’s, exploded across his body. It endlessly boosted his physical power, even snuffing out the Flames of Atonement.

And with that strength, Immortal charged Se-Hoon on instinct.

Fwoosh-

The Stellar Radiance Blade brushed past the Immortal’s body.

BOOM!!

Narrowly missing and struck the ground instead, Immortal’s fist sent a shockwave rattling the impact-absorption system of the surrounding barrier.

Rumble!

Cracks formed, making the barrier look as though it could collapse at any second. Turning around, Immortal regained his stance and readied another strike at Se-Hoon, who was quietly looking up at the looming giant.

This time...!

Immortal began gathering power. He had missed earlier because he’d lost his mind; but now he was lucid, so he would for certain hit the next... strike?

Huh?

Why had he regained clarity? He hadn’t consumed any purifying metal? Wait, where had his overwhelming strength gone? Belatedly sensing something was very wrong, Immortal looked again at Se-Hoon.

Thump!

And at that point, the top half of his body—cut on the diagonal—slipped and fell to the ground.

“What... just happened...?”

Lying on the floor, Immortal shifted his gaze to the clean slice where his body had been severed. Just like when he lost his arm earlier, the cut was precise and smooth.

He couldn’t believe it. He had once been praised as having physical capabilities surpassing even the Ten Evils—how could he be cut so easily?

“How the hell did he do that...?”

Hearing Immortal’s mutter as he approached, Se-Hoon squatted in front of him.

“Don’t you remember what my job was?”

“Your... job?”

Why was he asking that now, of all times? As the Immortal lay there in confusion, Se-Hoon flicked a finger lightly against Immortal’s left shoulder.

Clang-!

“Ugh?!”

With the sharp ring of metal, his left shoulder was cleanly severed. Seeing the cut from up close, Immortal finally figured out how Se-Hoon had been slicing his body apart with such ease.

“Don’t tell me...you figured out the grain of my body...?”

“Living metal is still metal at its essence. You shouldn’t have focused only on the strengths of your enhancement—you should’ve thought about the weaknesses first.”

Immortal had fallen to Se-Hoon due to that before as well, oblivious to his own weakness. History had just repeated itself.

“...”

Se-Hoon stared quietly at his defeated nemesis lying on the ground.

I don’t feel happy or anything.... Why was my heart pounding earlier?

Confused by his own emotions, Se-Hoon paused for a bit before looking down again.

“Let me ask you one last thing.”

“...”

“Do you regret making this decision?”

To that question, Immortal gave him a puzzled look.

“Why... would I regret it?”

He simply sought pure strength—why should he regret such a thing? Hearing that utterly shameless response, Se-Hoon finally understood the strange feeling he had earlier.

I guess... it was relief.

So many butterfly effects had been triggered since he regressed. Naturally, some of his previous enemies had genuinely repented and sought atonement. And every time he saw them, Se-Hoon had a wonder in the back of his mind: what would he do if someone truly evil sincerely sought redemption?

Damn... what a mess.

That feeling... was an odd sense of relief from knowing his enemy was an irredeemable piece of garbage. However, it also came with a sense of guilt that bothered him, but Se-Hoon brushed it aside instead of overthinking it.

“Yeah. That’s good to know.”

In his mind, there was nothing more pointless than agonizing over things that never happened. And more importantly, his enemy had proven to himself that he was beyond saving, anyway.

Letting go of the last of those thoughts, Se-Hoon stood and spread Spirit Weaver

across the area.

Swish!

Pieces of the Immortal’s scattered body flew together as a black hole opened beneath them.

“I thought about just tossing you into the furnace... but that’d be too cruel. And besides, I’ve already done that once.”

“What—”

Crash!

Se-Hoon stomped on the Immortal’s mouth to shut him up, looking down at him with a frigid gaze.

“Anyway, until I come up with a better idea, you’re going to reflect on your sins in the Netherworld for a while. I’ll even send you some friends down there in case you get lonely.”

Swoosh-

Undead hands reached out from beyond the rift, each grabbing hold of a part of Immortal’s body.

Crunch!

Immortal’s eyes flew wide open in pain. Their grip was powerful, as if they were going to rip him limb from limb at any moment.

He looked up at Se-Hoon’s face.

Don’t tell me... he’s seriously not planning to...

Was... was Se-Hoon going to make him into an undead and torture him forever in the Netherworld?

Gazing at Se-Hoon as he slowly was dragged into the darkness, Immortal suddenly remembered what Tuner had once told him.

“You’re Lee Se-Hoon’s archnemesis, right? He probably won’t kill you off easily. Maybe consider offing yourself now.”

Only now did he realize that what he had dismissed as just a threat... was sincere advice.

No, wait...

Belatedly realizing what his future held, Immortal looked up wide-eyed.

And upon meeting Se-Hoon’s eyes, who kept him pinned underfoot, Se-Hoon calmly declared, “Please don’t regret the choices you’ve made. Not ever.”

Swoop.

And with that, Immortal vanished into the Netherworld.