A challenger of the same ranking SSS-. The battle against Asnat ended in vain. Yoon-seok picked a short victory, and as a result, Asnat was in an irreversible situation. That was why he was a little curious.
“Hey, what’s your power? The one where you swallowed magic. It’s not coming back yet. What happened?”
“…Are you talking about b Voracity}? Hmph. Once converted to AP, the magic never goes back until I die…”
Punch-!
“Oh, sorry. Don’t mind me, keep going.”
“…”
Yoon-seok solved his curiosity through one question or another to Asnat. He resisted at first but then started to answer steadily. He either loved to talk since birth, or he was aiming for something else in the midst of this.
‘…I have to take him around with me for 14 days, so I’ll have to stay alert.’
Yoon-seok regularly slapped the back of the head without letting his guard down. He thought it could be difficult when his stats returned to their original state after determining his combat condition. The Light of End had also entered its cooldown, and that guy also knew the effect of the Punishment Sword.
Yoon-seok refused to be bothered, however.
“In short, b Voracity} is a skill that can take someone else’s AP, whether it’s magic, life, or equipment?”
Yoon-seok asked questions focusing on Asnat’s skills and abilities, eventually laughing.
“What have you been doing all this time?”
Other than {Voracity}, his Unique Power and other things were very similar to Yoon-seok’s. Should he say that all of them were late bloomers? They all focused on growth rather than short-term combat capabilities, and unlike Yoon-seok, they were used as efficiently as possible. Well, that was his opinion.
Punch-!
Stats? It was certainly safe to say that it was overpowering. It would probably be difficult to find anyone with higher basic stats than him among the rankers. But that wasn’t all. He knew just by looking at their fight.
b Heart of the Destructive Monarch}, Lady’s Commandment, Punishment Sword, and Light of End. Although there were fraudulent links between those four main weapons, the direction of the fight would have headed differently if Asnat’s martial arts were at a higher level.
“Tsk, tsk. This is what happens when you only look for weak people day in and day out.”
Under Yoon-seok’s pitying gaze, Asnat remained silent. He didn’t just raise his stats with the AP he earned from {Voracity}; there were countless cards he had yet to use. But in the end, he was the one who lost.
“Never mind, tell me that now. You were talking about admins and whatnot. What’s that about? How did you know?”
Did his head lower due to Yoon-seok’s harshness? Asnat replied with a whimper.
“I killed my admin with my Unique Power and acquired some of his memories.”
Yoon-seok was shocked. He killed his admin? No matter how he thought about it, this guy wasn’t normal. However…
“What? You did that?”
Amusement flashed in Yoon-seok’s eyes.
“I want to listen to that in detail…”
How he killed them and what he gained. He might have to take it as a reference. Wasn’t it essential to check the latest status of the industry to become a master of one’s field?
Although he wasn’t telling him the whole truth because he still seemed to be looking for a chance to counterattack… after gaining an understanding of his approximate ability, Yoon-seok listened to how he murdered an admin. Then, he had one question left.
“So why are you here?”
“…I made a deal with the humans here. In return for eliminating their enemies, we decided to periodically find challengers with high magic purity.”
It was a deal, but he could guess. He probably illegally occupied the royal palace and grew jealous. The kings and nobles had no choice but to follow suit. He said he hadn’t found a talented challenger in the royal palace, but that was probably after he’d gotten rid of them.
“This is not the only place that I’ve made this deal with. Thanks to this, I just had to stop by and clean up.”
Asnat said in a prideful voice. However, it was only pathetic in Yoon-seok’s eyes. This was what he ended up as because he was busy wandering around eating. However, rather than mentioning this, Yoon-seok confirmed what he had been worried about.
“By the way, you mentioned the sixth-floor plaza? Was it you who killed all the people there?”
Before Yoon-seok arrived at the plaza, a massacre occurred. And Eld Carta took control to create his kingdom. Several duel challengers, including Jang Il, were named slaves, and Yoon-seok was also a victim before time rewound.
“Plaza… that happened a long time ago. I heard you had a lot of fun there…”
Punch-!
“It’s not time yet. Why are you hitting me again!”
“…I’m pissed that you were the culprit.”
Asnat trembled at Yoon-seok’s honest answer. It wasn’t difficult to predict that his mind was spinning fast. No wonder, Yoon-seok didn’t even say a word. Nevertheless, he already knew that Yoon-seok would hit him every 15 seconds. He continued to collect information in secret.
‘Since he knows about b Predation}, he must be aware of why I haven’t killed him yet. Well, although he doesn’t know how much cooldown time is left.’
Yoon-seok looked into Asnat’s eyes again. There was no doubt since he had witnessed numerous deaths, that gaze didn’t belong to someone who gave up on living.
‘It seems like he’s trying to do something, but I can’t kill him. All I can do is watch without letting my guard down….’
“Asnat.”
“…How do you know my nickname?”
“There’s a way, so I know.”
Yoon-seok shrugged and smiled. Looking at that reaction, even though he knew about b Predation}, it seemed that he was unaware of {Death God}. Now that he’d taken everything he could, it was time to move on.
“Anyway, where can I find the duke who ran away?”
“…There is a hideout in the royal palace. He’s probably hiding there by now.”
“Really? Then take me there.”
Asnat took the lead, and Yoon-seok followed. He encountered countless attendants throughout the palace within that time, but it went smoothly. As soon as everyone saw the famous Asnat, they lowered their heads to the floor until he left.
Yoon-seok was speechless. He couldn’t even imagine what he had been doing here…
Punch-!
“Ahem.”
What was the point of walking with such a high head when he would be smacked every 15 seconds?
“Here it is.”
Soon, Asnat halted in front of a stairwell leading down to a basement. Was this the hideout he mentioned earlier? Seeing that there was a barrier made of magic, it didn’t seem like he was dragged to a strange place. But he had to be careful in everything.
“Open.”
Under Yoon-seok’s order, Asnat opened the door to the hideout, and a familiar voice called out. It was the voice of Duke Carpaine, who was waiting for him.
“A-as expected of Asnat! I trusted you! You won and came back!”
“Ahem.”
Asnat coughed dryly at his enthusiastic welcome. It looked like he was too embarrassed to say it…
Punch-!
Yoon-seok sighed and hit him in the back of his head, then stepped out beside Asnat.
“No, he got caught, too.”
“…!”
When their eyes met, Duke Carpaine convulsed.
Trembling momentarily as if he had a brain freeze, perhaps he understood the current situation in that short moment, as Duke Carpaine knelt while looking at Yoon-seok.
“Save me…!”
Yoon-seok smirked. The spirit that he must survive no matter what emanated from his eyes. Yoon-seok jumped straight to the point.
“I heard you have the item I’m looking for.”
“What’s that? If you tell me, I’ll give you anything!”
He spoke so enthusiastically he might try to make something that didn’t exist and give it to him. Yoon-seok slowly recited the information he heard from Britzmann. However, Duke Carpaine tilted his head. It looked like nothing came to mind.
“You received a vision to destroy it? What are you talking about… oh, I’m not saying there isn’t. I’m sure there is! Just give me a moment to think…”
Yoon-seok stared at him silently. Then, Duke Carpaine squeezed his head with all his might and finally remembered.
“…Oh! Are you talking about that painting?”
As expected, everything worked if he knocked hard enough.
“Painting?”
“Yes. There’s something my father used to say. It’s definitely just a crude painting, but a prophecy came, and so he kept it in a warehouse….”
He didn’t know that Gerssey’s relics were paintings, but that sounded right. Yoon-seok immediately attached Asura to Duke Carpaine, who said he would bring it back.
“Grr!”
It knew how to use the first technique, Heavenly Reign, without needing his help, so there wouldn’t be any mishaps with the duke. Even if he ran away, he registered his name in the list earlier.
‘I’m anxious about taking him with me.’
He had to prevent dimensional shift with Lady’s Commandment, but he still didn’t know his other skills. Yoon-seok periodically hit Asnat and turned to another person who remained in the hideout.
“Are you the king?”
“T, that’s right…”
When Yoon-seok asked, the middle-aged man wearing a crown replied with a flinch. The Crown Prince of the Katlan Empire was confident, but he couldn’t feel any dignity from this man. He didn’t feel like a villain either. Still, there was one question he wanted to ask of the king of this vile country.
“What do you think of this country?”
“…W-what do you mean?”
Yoon-seok phrased it clearly without room for interpretation.
“I mean, if this place should exist.”
Here, humans were treated like beasts.
They didn’t value anything but themselves, and they thought it was natural to take away others’ things. That was what everyone here did. Of course, they wouldn’t have done that from the start. It was just that they naturally turned out this way after being raised in this country.
But was this country worth leaving in this world?
The king finally said.
“…No matter what anyone says, we have our laws.”
Yoon-seok laughed coldly. Well, an evil law was still a law. It was just a matter of regional and cultural diversity; was that what he meant? If so, even if he was barking up the wrong tree, he’d been barking at it for a long time.
“The law?”
The king’s face turned white.
“I heard that you helped the s-slaves in the plaza. I will liberate all slaves in my country and prohibit them by law.”
“You don’t have to make excuses. You have already answered.”
Clatter!
Yoon-seok took out the Judgment Sword. Then, the king threw away his pride and knelt.
“…Save me. I’ll beg you like this.”
It was strange. The same went for the duke and now the king. What difference did kneeling make? Yoon-seok looked down at him and asked.
“Do you want to live that badly?”
“…How are there people who don’t want to live?”
How can there be someone who didn’t want to live? The king replied as if it was a matter of course, but in fact, many of them didn’t. Facing a hellish life, many chose to die.
“I’ll give you anything. It would benefit you more than killing me.”
“Anything…”
Yoon-seok quietly pondered the king’s suggestion. The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it was.
“What can you give me?”
“Just tell me. What do you want?”
The answer was set.
“The things most precious to you.”
The king’s brow narrowed at Yoon-seok’s answer. Then, when he walked over to the corner and touched the floor, the floor sank away to reveal stairs.
“It’s a staircase to the royal treasure-house where the treasures of the Geronian royal family are stored. Each item contains the history of the royal family, which is more important than my life.”
They were more precious than his own life. For now, what he was doing was funny, so he let him be, but the more he listened, the more intriguing he found it. If it was that precious, would he give it to him so easily?
Thud, thud.
Yoon-seok led Asnat, who was watching their conversation with interest, down the stairs. As the king said, many treasures were stored there: glittering jewels and armaments exuding pure magic.
Yoon-seok asked again to confirm.
“Is wealth the most precious thing to you?”
“…That’s right.”
Yoon-seok invoked his magic without lifting a finger, and the surrounding treasures were destroyed.
「You destroyed something precious」
「Acquired 200WP.」
「Acquired 150WP.」
「Acquired 300WP.」
「Acquired 750WP.」
Yoon-seok read the numbers one by one. 8,750WP in total. Still, perhaps the riches were precious, but it wasn’t worth as much as Ashton’s family photo.
“Wrong.”
“…C-country! I will give you this country.”
“After wealth, it’s power…”
Intangible, but there was a way to check.
Crackkkkkkkkk-!
Yoon-seok moved his magic to surround the entire royal palace, collapsing it. There was no falling debris. The entire building, which was judged to be destroyed, turned into powder and scattered.
「You destroyed something precious.」
「Acquired 50,000WP.」
An amount higher than Ashton’s family photo. It seemed like he cherished it a lot. But this was wrong, too.
“…Are you done now?”
The king staggered and asked, but Yoon-seok shook his head. Then the king let his anger burst out.
“Y-you planned to ridicule me with lies from the start!”
He didn’t lie. He just didn’t say it even though he knew. How could he offer the most precious thing in exchange for sparing his life?
Slash-!
After all, the thing most precious to this man was his own life.
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