All the preparations that could be done in the waiting room were over. Before he left, he decided to check the achievements he recently completed.
ăList of Achievementsă
Devil (Remove the devil from the 14th-floor mission) +500LP.
Expert (Avoid 10,000 attacks in a row) + 350LP.
Submerged Dragon (Self-evaluation SS grade achieved by evaluation adjustment) +500LP
His LP, which had fallen to 850, was restored to 2,200 after accomplishing those three achievements.
ââŚâ
Yoon-seokâs eyes stopped as he read through them. The Achievement Submerged Dragon, for reference, was the achievement fulfilled when the duel with the beast-man assassin ended. To be honest, he didnât understand.
âIâm in SS grade now?â
He learned from a while ago that there was a self-evaluation. At the last auction, he heard that Cheon-ma received the SSS grade and the King of Steel received a SS grade. At that time, he thought he had a long way to go. Since then, he didnât complete any achievements related to self-evaluation, so his interest naturally shifted away from the topic.
But he still wondered about it sometimes. If the evaluation was still being evaluated in real-time, wouldnât it have risen much more since then?
âDoes it mean that Iâm only at this level by the Towerâs judgment?â
His prediction was only half right. Although he was still being evaluated, it wasnât until he reached the 17th floor that he was on the same level as the King of Steel. Yoon-seok wasnât dull enough to not notice what this fact meant.
âThereâs still a lot more monsters left on top for me to surpass and overcomeâŚ.â
It was reasonable doubt. The world was wide, with four dimensions gathered here. But self-evaluation SS grade meant he was one level from SSS grade where Cheon-ma was. The corners of his lips lifted slightly.
âThis is fun.â
The fierce and urgent battle he went through every floor in the early days was like an illusion, and he had no proper opponents since he crossed the 10th floor. He often overflowed with anger, but he also thought it was sometimes boring. But he realized again that he just didnât get to meet the right opponent.
Was that why? Indeed, after a long time, he felt motivated.
âLetâs go up.â
Nothing changed; he would ascend even higher with his efforts. But, if he started to feel that the process would be more enjoyable, was it a sign that something was broken in him as a human? Well, maybe, but it wasnât important. He had a feeling those he would meet in the future would be similar to him.
ăGet ready. The duel will begin soon.ă
The intense heat blaring down from the sky. However, his body had transformed to the point where he couldnât feel the heat or burning pain in his eyes.
ăCountdown is starting.ă
Yoon-seokâs eyes were directed toward his foe for the three given seconds out of habit.
ă3.ă
The duel opponent on the 17th floor was also a recreated challenger. He heard it from Sword Demon that this was the case until the 19th floor, so there werenât any doubts. BecauseâŚ
ă2.ă
This opponent was one of the six major forces in the Union Square and the head of the January Clan, where all members were from Moorim. It was the Sword Demon, Jeong Dae-woon, himself.
ă1.ă
He thought it was an incredible coincidence. Well, the number of challenges would continue to decrease as he ascended, so it was a higher probability than winning the lottery.
ăSTART!ă
The moment the duel started, the Sword Demon Jeong Dae-woonâs eyes flashed, and his body disappeared. The movement was so fast that even Yoon-seok couldnât keep track. Yet, he did not falter and immediately spread Skywrath Energy out wide to check their location.
âBack.â
There wasnât even a shifting sound. When Yoon-seok slightly twisted his neck to the side, a black blade swung in that direction.
Clank.
Yoon-seok put his hand on his sword, but did he feel something instinctively? Subsequently, Sword Demon, who was about to make another attack, widened the distance.
âA black energy. In many ways, you must be an ominous man.â
Yoon-seok smiled. Although he said that, he was smiling as if he was having fun.
âItâs been a while since Iâve had an interesting opponent.â
Yoon-seok drew his swords and fixed his gaze on Sword Demon.
ââŚâ
There was no need to fight. If he revealed the Heavenly Sword, he would immediately kneel in a prone position, as he did in the square before. After that, if he told him that he was now a recreated being, he would soon understand and do what Yoon-seok wanted. He had the means to understand the current situation. And yet.
That wasnât fun.
Whoooosh!
Yoon-seok instilled Skywrath Energy into his blade. Thanks to the newly obtained b Dark Knight}, the sword energy turned black like ink. Honestly, he didnât like the color, but he couldnât deny that he was stronger than before.
Tadak.
Yoon-seok kicked off the ground. Not holding back for the sake of training, but with all his might.
Boooooom-!
Yoon-seok shot forward as fast as a jet. For ordinary people, they couldnât even chase his afterimage, but the Sword Demon wasnât an ordinary person.
Shift.
His eyes followed the path along with Yoon-seokâs sword. He was watching him without missing anything, and he could avoid it. But his choice was to gently lift his sword to face Yoon-seok head-on.
ââŚâ
Come to think of it, he was curious. The Sword Demon Jeong Dae-woon, 6th-generation chief of the January ClanâŚwhat were his real skills to be acknowledged by Cheon-ma? Sadly, he couldnât properly check because he suddenly accepted him as the Co-Sect Leader. However, Yoon-seok still remembered clearly.
He had only suffered minor injuries after receiving the red tsunami with his bare body. Of course, at that time, Yoon-seok had just arrived on the 12th floor, and he didnât have Divine Ultimatum. Well, this was still on the 17th floor, so his foe wouldnât be as strong as then.
Whikkkkkkk. Whik!
Right before their swords collided, as their sword energies met and coiled around each other, they very softly clashed.
âItâs flowing?â
A momentary collision. With that alone, Yoon-seok read the intention of his sword and instilled more energy into his own.
Whoooooosh!
Softness overcomes hardness, but that was also when the level was right. The output of oneâs sword energy was based on the magic stat, so Yoon-seok was confident. No one on the same floor could surpass him in terms of magic.
ââŚ!â
The Sword Demonâs expression changed. However, Yoon-seok could feel his anguish by looking at his energy, not his expression. He tried to push the flow to the side, but it wouldnât budge.
At first, he didnât believe it. For Strength to beat Gentleness, he must have at least a few strategies. But he couldnât even slightly turn it? Him, the Sword Demon Jeong Dae-woon?
âMountain Moving Strength!â
He shouted as he pushed, and Yoon-seokâs sword was slowly shoved to the side. Mountain Moving Strength was a skill sold in the store with the effect of temporarily increasing strength. He didnât know what characteristics would appear as the rank increased, but the main function wouldnât have changed much.
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âSince I pushed with magic, heâs going to make up with strength?â
It was simple but effective. Yoon-seokâs sword was slowly pushed to the side.
Slash!
An inch. No more or less, it passed by Sword Demonâs cheeks at an interval of just an inch. As he looked at the outer wall dug out like soft tofu, Sword Demonâs eyes turned to question marks, but he focused on the immediate situation.
It was a wise choice.
âSword of Destruction.â
A dark red line was drawn over his blade-like blood. Unique Skill or a power? It was a command he never heard of, so it was probably one of the two. One thing for sure was that he was going to take this seriously.
Whikkk!
Yoon-seok felt it intuitively. If he fell for that attack, he wouldnât be able to just ignore it. That wasnât the end, however.
âHell Gateway.â
As the sun turned dark, the blue sky turned red.
Drip. Drip. Drippppp.
A black liquid dripped from the sky.
ăAll healing effects are lost.ă
ăIf injured by the Evil Saint, one random ability will drop by one level.ă
ăBody adapts to the new environment.ă
ăAll geographic penalties are reduced by 50%.ă
Yoon-seok tilted his head. Evil Saint? The penalty was terrifying, but what did it mean? He would find out soon.
Jingle!
A bell rang out. At the same time, a ghostly blade appeared from thin air, aimed at Yoon-seok.
âIf I get hit by that, will my stats decrease?â
If so, it was a fairly good ability. But, all he had to do was not to be hit.
Slash!
Yoon-seok instinctively cut down the evil spirit. ThenâŚ
âCoooooooooâŚâŚ!â
The entire arena began to shake. What was that? If he killed that Evil Saint, would the field-effect be released?
âThatâs too boringâŚâ
While Yoon-seok was thinking about how he should rate this skill, Jeong Dae-woon trembled.
âHe slashed the Evil SaintâŚ?â
That was a spiritual being of the Hell Gateway, a Unique Power of his contracted admin. Even if the spectral blade hit, only the stats were affected, not the body. Conversely, physical attacks couldnât hit the spirit; that was the scariest part about Hell Gateway.
But what was this? He never heard the Evil Saint scream before.
âCome to think of it; it happened beforeâŚâ
The Sword Demon recalled how Yoon-seok broke the outer wall of the arena. The arena, protected by the system, shouldnât break under any circumstances.
âHe must have an ability related to this.â
It wasnât strange to have such a thing as the Tower was filled with all sorts of extraordinary beings. Besides, now wasnât the time to be lost in thought.
âCoooooooooooâŚâŚ!â
If this continued, the Evil Saint would die. The man he encountered now was the strongest enemy he had ever met. Perhaps he would have to risk his life to cross the line, but he wasnât afraid. Even if the Grim Reaper approached and cut off his head, he would smile and continue to fight.
He didnât gain the nickname Sword Demon on a fluke.
âDemonic Body.â
A red-green haze began to spread from Sword Demonâs body. Yoon-seok focused on the spirit, belatedly noticed, and shifted his attention.
â10 minutes. Iâll kill you in 10 minutes.â
That ferocious momentum was quite unusual to Yoon-seok. But he smiled.
ââŚâ
It was because he just came up with an amazing way to utilize the Evil Saint.