The Return of the Legendary All-Master

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

"Some mere human dares to humiliate me twice?!"

Boom!

The ground trembled violently.

The five Gods standing before him bowed their heads and trembled in fear.

To displease him now would mean annihilation.

Especially since their positions could be replaced at any time by the fragments below—there was no room for falling out of favor.

"Hah."

Beelzebub pressed his forehead with his hand.

The Primeval Demon.

And yet, even he had been outplayed twice by a mere human.

The first time had been a ploy to lure out the human chosen by Tenebris by using another human.

Of course, it wasn't easy to find a human worth using.

To obstruct a human who had claimed the position of a Dimensional Master, the candidate had to be of matching caliber.

In the midst of that, he found someone—skilled, full of potential, and even brimming with envy.

"Can I really surpass that human?"

There had been a fierce blaze of jealousy in that human's eyes.

Ah, yes.

That was it.

He lacked the authority to interfere directly, so he had to slip in through emotion. And with envy like that, the opportunity was real.

The contract was seamless.

The human was undoubtedly talented and quickly secured his footing. Beelzebub even confirmed the target entering the scene.

All that was needed was for him to endure until the timer hit zero.

Of course, it wasn't an easy task.

No matter how exceptional the lured human was, compared to the one who had earned the title of Master, he was barely worth the dirt under his nails.

That's why Beelzebub granted him the Whispers of Good and Evil.

The plan was to restrain the target through commands, then have his puppet arrive to completely bind him and drag him into the Divine Realm.

"And yet he transferred away?"

A mere human dared to mock me, Beelzebub?

Unforgivable.

"Oh my, why are you so upset?"

As if his rage wasn't already overflowing, the last person he wanted to see now appeared.

"Psyche."

At the mention of her name, Psyche gave a slight smirk and covered her mouth with her hand in mockery.

"You must've drunk a lot of water—no more thirst, huh? You look great."

"You damn wench. Did you come here just to mock me?"

"Quick on the uptake, aren't you?"

"You want to fight right now?"

"Do you think I came here for that? Well, if you want to, I wouldn't mind starting immediately."

The Gods flinched at Psyche's chilling words.

Beelzebub glared at her as though ready to kill, then turned his gaze away.

"Hmph, I tried to drag that damn Tenebris here by force, but I failed."

"You don't have to say it. I already know."

"……."

"More than that, I came here to make you a proposal."

"A proposal? Planning to spout nonsense again?"

He couldn't read her mind at all.

That's why he'd been outwitted by Psyche more than once.

If she hadn't contributed to the sealing of Tenebris, he would've sealed her away with Tenebris and waited for the right time to erase them both.

No—that's not right. It was only because Psyche joined that they were able to seal Tenebris in the first place.

Beelzebub suppressed his rage and waited for her to speak.

"I get that you're pissed at me, but shouldn't wiping out Tenebris completely come first?"

"That's why I'm willing to hear you out."

"I want the difficulty of the invasion to be increased."

"Invasion? Isn't Logos in charge of that?"

Logos was assigned to Earth, and the remaining Named were watching the Divine Realm like hawks.

The reason Beelzebub had tried to lure a human was to drag them into the Divine Realm and erase Tenebris, thus ending his boredom.

"So I'm saying we should move up the timeline."

"That'll be tough. I lost my authority. And for the difficulty to be increased, Logos would also have to pay a price."

"So you're just planning to sit back and watch?"

"……"

"The one who saw through your plan and even outplayed you with it—that guy won't be shaken by this level of invasion."

Everything Psyche said was true.

That human was unlike any other creation.

And yet…

Why did she feel so suspicious?

"You didn't interfere, did you?"

Beelzebub stared intensely at Psyche's face.

If there were even the slightest shift in her expression, he intended to catch it.

But her face remained perfectly calm.

"Any evidence?"

"What?"

"Why would I side with a human when the priority is to erase Tenebris?"

Psyche questioned him with a look of genuine confusion.

"Forget it, then."

"Forget it, huh… That's pretty offensive."

Her face slowly twisted in anger.

"Tsk, sorry."

Beelzebub quickly apologized.

There was nothing to gain from butting heads with Psyche.

"Mm, shut up."

The moment Psyche spoke those words, Beelzebub's face contorted in agony.

Because she had invoked death upon him.

Of course, Beelzebub wouldn't actually die, but the pain was real—she had set it up that way.

Still, Beelzebub soon shook off death and reached his hand out toward Psyche.

"Fine. I'll kill you right here and now."

"If you reach out, I'll make sure you can never use that arm again."

At Psyche's chilling warning, Beelzebub flinched.

With her personality, she'd never end it with just a warning.

In the end, Beelzebub had to retract the hand he had extended.

"Haa… alright, I get it. Sorry for doubting you."

"Why not keep doubting me? I feel like I could permanently disable at least one of your limbs right now."

"I said I was wrong, didn't I?"

"Tsk. Anyway, you're agreeing, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I can't be stuck watching over the Divine Realm forever."

He had no reason not to go along with Psyche's suggestion.

"Good. Then let's go."

"Go where?"

"We're gathering everyone and heading to Logos."

"You… don't tell me—?"

Beelzebub narrowed his eyes sharply.

"That don't tell me is exactly right."

Psyche smiled faintly and confirmed it with a killing blow of certainty before walking ahead.

* * *

Beelzebub's puppet had been annihilated, and Jeong-hoon was staring at the black liquid squirming atop his right hand.

[Source of Good and Evil]

– ?

Yet again, a power whose effects couldn't be understood from the description.

Worse, it was marked only with a question mark.

Whispers of Good and Evil at least had the brief description of "Temptation," but Source of Good and Evil didn't even have that.

Not that it mattered.

He had Tenebris on his side.

<To think you actually managed to acquire that.>

Tenebris muttered with an expression of disbelief.

"You know what this is, don't you?"

The reason Jeong-hoon had chosen this ability—

It was because of the power this liquid held.

If I had been even a little slower, I would've been erased.

Just moments ago, the liquid had engulfed his body.

In that instant, all the strength drained from him, and his legs rapidly went numb.

As if he no longer had legs.

Next were his waist and arms.

By the time only his head could still move, unimaginable pain had struck him.

That was when he realized—

This kind of power was more than enough to invest the Whispers of Good and Evil.

<It's literally a source. The abilities within it aren't strictly defined.>

"They're not defined?"

<Right. Beelzebub used it with a focus on destruction, but if you want, it can be used for something else entirely.>

"For example?"

<Hmm... well. I haven't really thought that far ahead.>

Tenebris had never coveted the abilities that Named individuals possessed.

So while it was aware of the power, it had never considered how best to use it.

"Okay. Got it."

If it could be used for other purposes, then maybe this would work too.

Jeong-hoon gave a command toward the liquid.

At that, it began to transform into a human figure identical to Jeong-hoon and soon stood before him.

"Speak."

At Jeong-hoon's order, the clone nodded and opened its mouth.

"Yes."

Pleased with the response, Jeong-hoon nodded in satisfaction.

'Whoa, what the—? It's exactly like the original!'

'That's the Source of Good and Evil? There's not even the slightest sense of unnaturalness.'

Mukho and Anima both couldn't stop expressing their amazement.

The reason was simple: the armor the clone wore was Mukho, and in its right hand, it was holding Anima.

<Hooh… this is definitely on another level compared to a standard clone.>

<So, what are you planning to do with the clone?>

"Just an experiment."

Jeong-hoon summoned Titan.

The clone, in turn, put away Anima and summoned Titan as well.

'Even the armament is perfectly replicated.'

Then how about the stats?

Jeong-hoon gave Titan a light swing.

A sharp slash cut toward the clone.

Clang!

The clone raised Titan from below and effortlessly deflected the slash.

'Okay, same stats as me.'

Up to this point, everything was extremely satisfying.

Then what about experience?

Jeong-hoon activated Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion and began swinging Titan in rapid succession.

Relentless sword strikes poured onto the clone.

Clang! Clang!

The clone blocked every blow.

When nearly half the strikes had been parried, the clone's gaze met Jeong-hoon's.

In that moment, it too stepped into Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion and closed the distance to Jeong-hoon.

'……!'

Jeong-hoon reflexively extended his left hand—the one not holding Titan.

Thwack.

That hand caught the clone's right wrist.

There, the energy of the Heavenly Demon rippled faintly.

'Sharp. If I hadn't reacted, it would've landed a solid blow to my solar plexus.'

This was good enough.

"That's enough. We're done here."

"Yes, understood."

At Jeong-hoon's command, the clone exited its combat stance.

It then calmly stood in front of him once again, silently awaiting further orders.

'This one's on a completely different level from the clones I've faced so far.'

Ordinary clones couldn't replicate their original's abilities at full capacity.

But this one—created using the Source of Good and Evil—had reproduced them nearly 100%.

"Can you transform into someone else?"

"No. That is not possible."

The clone shook its head.

"Hm? Why not?"

"Because I have no data."

"No data?"

"Yes."

It seemed that when Beelzebub commanded the clone to attack Jeong-hoon, it had extracted data during the process.

"So that means if you have the data, replication is possible?"

"Correct. If you're creating something entirely new, that can be done immediately. But to make an identical replica of someone specific, data is necessary."

"Okay. That's enough—go back to your original form."

"Yes."

The clone's body began to bubble violently and soon melted away.

The liquefied form flowed into Jeong-hoon's right hand and was absorbed.

"Totally worth investing Whispers of Good and Evil for a one-time ability, right?"

<Well… it still feels like a waste. Even if it was single-use, Whispers of Good and Evil could create all kinds of variables.>

Tenebris clicked its tongue in regret.

It wasn't wrong—Whispers of Good and Evil had indeed been immensely powerful.

"It's fine. Since I lost it, I'm going to make full use of this instead."

<How exactly?>

"I've got my ways."

<No, I mean—what are they?>

"You'll see soon."

<You're not trying to trick me again, are you? I swear, if you do, I'll be drowning in betrayal.>

"You won't have to worry about that."

Jeong-hoon turned and began walking forward.

Now that Beelzebub's puppet had been taken care of, the next step was to close this rift.

"W-Wait for me!"

James Marcus, who had been watching from a distance, hurried after him.

"An intruder!"

"Everyone, open fire!"

The rear had been eerily quiet up until now—because they were planning a surprise attack.

After realizing their main force had been annihilated, they had chosen ambush as their best strategy.

But they had picked the wrong targets.

James raised his shield and blocked every attack with ease, while Jeong-hoon walked forward with his hands behind his back, effortlessly enduring all the attacks.

"Is he… completely unharmed?!"

"He's a… a monster!"

Everyone in the rear looked at Jeong-hoon and recoiled in shock.

"You should've just gone home quietly."

Jeong-hoon muttered softly as he stepped into Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion, and in the blink of an eye, appeared in front of the rear unit.

"Gah!"

"N-Nooo…"

The soldiers who found themselves face to face with him froze in fear, trembling uncontrollably.

Tap.

Jeong-hoon sliced their necks with Titan.

His blade moved so fast it was unreadable even to the naked eye, and they died without feeling a hint of pain.

The total time it took to annihilate the rear?

Two minutes.

"Let's go."

Jeong-hoon swiftly cut through the rear line and advanced to the very back.

And finally, he stood before the rift.

He placed his hand on it.

Vmmmm—

The rift began to tremble violently—then it started to close.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]