Side Story 56. Poison With Poison, Evil With Evil 3

It was silent.

Heavy silence befell the land that seemed to explode from the otherwordly god’s descent.

It wasn’t because of the otherworldly god but because of another existence.

No matter how unstable the summoning was due to the layers of restrictions, an otherworldly god was still an otherworldly god. It couldn’t help but wonder who was producing such crushing pressure and where it was coming from.

He looked around carefully but failed to see anything of note. There was only a man standing still with a spear in hand.

Crack!

At that moment, a spark flared up from the tip of the black spear. It was not golden but crimson red lightning.

Next, Seol Jihu’s hair floated up, dancing. The rubble around him also stirred and started rising into the air as if gravity was reversed. Meanwhile, Seol Jihu’s complexion repeatedly went back and forth between red and blue.

A strange, indescribable rumbling filled the area.

The otherworldly god, who was watching the situation unfold, felt something was off. It felt that it needed to do something but just did not know what.

It was only then that the otherworldly god identified the unfamiliar emotion that seized control of it.

Perplexity. Fear.

It was certainly only facing a mere human being. So why did it feel demonic energy dyed in madness? Feeling fiendish gluttony on top of this, the otherworldly god became lost for words.

At that moment, the otherworldly god curled up following its instinct. The giant’s body distorted into a large sphere.

After a quick pulsation, immeasurable beams of light shot out of the surface of the sphere. The beams covered the sky in an instant and blanketed the land in darkness.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Explosions suddenly erupted in the sky. Holes instantaneously appeared on the spotless beams of light before they disappeared completely.

Just what happened?

The otherworldly god caught sight of something long spreading out like an umbrella and then quickly going back toward Seol Jihu.

It was at that moment that Seol Jihu bent his knees and lowered his posture.

In the next moment, the otherworldly god returned to its giant form and threw a punch at full force.

Kwang!

However, it had no effect. Though his lightning-fast attack made it seem like there was no distance between them, its fist was stopped right in front of Seol Jihu’s face.

A palm had blocked its path.

Those without knowledge of the situation would have been absolutely flabbergasted. After all, a giant’s fist that even pierced through the sky was blocked by a tiny being.

It was only then that the otherworldly god could clearly see six arms that stopped its attack along with Seol Jihu’s hand and the image of a multi-faced being behind him.

Asora, Asorak, and Asuryun.

—Krrrr?

Seeing the three faces, even the otherworldly god was shocked.

One of the Eight Legions protecting Dharma and the existence also known as Ahura, appearing in the text of Zoroastrianism. Though it initially had the title Asu, being born from breath and life, it was corrupted in a battle with an evil god and gained the moniker Sura.

The new divinity born thus was Asura.

A being of such origin had acknowledged a lowly human as its master and was lending him its power?

The otherworldly god found it hard to believe but had no choice but to accept the reality in front of it. It was neither exaggerating nor comparing differences. The existence in front of it was undoubtedly overflowing with energy that could uproot mountains and encompass worlds.

Frightened, the otherworldly god fell back. It finally realized that it must not hold back in fighting this opponent. Even attempting mutual destruction seemed difficult. It would have to risk complete extinction.

—Kuoooooooo!

The otherworldly god let out a fierce roar. However, Seol Jihu did not move an inch. Every hair on his body was standing.

Seol Jihu grinned. It was the smile of a Yasha, bearing its blood-ridden fangs. He then moved his body little by little, almost like he was mocking his opponent or dancing in joy.

A demon rarely displayed its emotions. It only did so on one occasion — when there was something it desired.

One had to be wary of a smiling demon even more.

Because a demon smiled since it could achieve its goal.

One had to be even warier of a dancing demon.

Because it was dancing in joy from being able to exact vengeance.

Above all, one had to be most wary of a smiling, dancing demon.

Seol Jihu was smiling and dancing. He was overflowing with joy at the thought of harming his enemy.

Next, Seol Jihu stabbed the spear in his hand into the ground. As if to respond to its master, Asura’s six hands struck down.

Wooooong.

Seven blood-colored, sun-like orbs shot out from the ground. That wasn’t all. The orbs multiplied. From 7 to 49, from 49 to 343, from 343 to 2401… In the blink of an eye, they covered the entire area. The rough, bumpy scene resembled a hilly terrain.

Soon, Seol Jihu and Asura simultaneously spread out their arms.

Then, no sound was heard.

The otherworldly god could only see the thousands of orbs exploding at the same time. Next, the energy compressed inside them burst out and rushed toward it.

A heaven-shaking thunder erupted belatedly.

—GUUUAAAAAAAAK!

The otherworldly god shrieked, having taken the full force of Seol Jihu’s Supernova Explosion that evolved with the power of Sura.

It tried to resist by rousing its energy, but Seol Jihu’s energy was exceptionally fierce and immensely gluttonous. Not only did it devour its divine power, but it also seemed to destroy it wholly.

The otherworldly god, who was only barely maintaining its existence in the grand act of destruction, flinched. A long beam of red light was drawn in its sight.

Seol Jihu rushed in without stopping and mercilessly swung down the Sura Demon Spear from its head to toe.

The imperial palace was cut in half, as did the earth below it.

Seol Jihu glanced up, his expression distorting instantly.

The bisected halves of the otherworldly god were reattaching themselves.

Seol Jihu shot up recklessly. He had chosen the most simple, brute-force method. At the same time, it was very effective.

Chwek!

The Sura Demon Spear cut the otherworldly god in half again. Seol Jihu flew back toward the enemy without rest. Up, down, up, up, down. He also cut left, right, and diagonally, cleaving the otherworldly god ceaselessly.

Bloodred light flickered all over the sky as it coiled around the otherworldly god, like a spider wrapping its prey in silk.

It did not take a long time until the otherworldly god’s reattaching body turned into a shredded rag.

—Guak! Guaaaaaak!

The attack seemed to be effective as the otherwordly god screamed in pain. It was already in an unstable state. Now that its physical body was being destroyed, its energy was quickly scattering away.

Of course, it did not just take a beating. Rather than forcefully gathering the scattered energy, the otherworldly god focused on maintaining the connection.

Then, it took that energy and indiscriminately swung it at Seol Jihu.

A terrifying storm raged.

The might of an attack containing a god’s essence was so powerful that just brushing against it could make one’s body explode. And now, hundreds of such attacks were rushing in from all sides.

The past Seol Jihu would have focused on dodging the attacks while eyeing for an opportunity for a counterattack. The current Seol Jihu, however, did not fall back. He gripped the Sura Demon Spear tight and jumped inside.

His arm and the six hands behind him spun in a circle.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

What happened next was hardly believable. Not only did hundreds of essences explode upon touching Seol Jihu, but the ones far away also exploded.

Seol Jihu wasn’t unharmed. As the otherworldly god had launched the attack by shaving off its divinity built up through countless years, the aftershock of their explosions was nothing to laugh at.

As Seol Jihu still had a frail human being’s body, his flesh tore, and blood streamed down his nostrils, mouth, and ears. He could only remain intact due to Asura and the Spear God energy’s protection. Otherwise, his body would have exploded long ago.

Seol Jihu’s eyes became bloodshot. Then, they turned completed blood red. Dyed in blood, he truly looked like a devil wearing the flesh of a human.

With a hint of anger, the Sura Demon Spear changed. The wriggling spear tip transformed into the shape of a giant scythe. It was so large that the blade could easily wrap around the giant.

Shwing!

A light swing cut down everything within a several dozen meter radius. Dust and dirt flew up, swept away by the wind, and trees and rocks were uprooted.

The otherworldly god’s imposing figure was also cut in half. This time, its energy didn’t just scatter but was annihilated.

Though the otherworldly god managed to reconnect its body forcefully, it staggered from the shock, unable to regain its balance.

Having swept through the area, Seol Jihu stretched out his hand. The Sura Demon Spear transformed yet again. Stretching out like Sun Wukong’s magical staff, it quickly approached the otherworldly god.

At that moment, the energy swirling around the otherworldly god also changed. From the left came the hot radiation of lava, and from the right came the freezing cold air.

Next, when the otherworldly god fused the two energies, the cold and heat exploded with a boom and spread out in all directions.

The Sura Demon Spear stopped advancing at the same time. Absorbing the blood flowing from Seol Jihu’s injuries, the spear tip split into dozens of offshoots and spewed out blood.

The offshoots then connected as one and pushed forward together.

Kwaaaaaaaa!

A clamorous boom resounded.

The palm of a demon with dozens of fingers clashed into the energy of cold and heat in a magnificent display of tug-of-war. The two energies pushed against each other for a long time before the victor was decided by the demon’s hand pushing forward.

The blood-red fingers wrapped around the otherworldly god’s body.

—Guuuuuuuuu!

The otherworldly god shrieked as the fingers squeezed hard.

Spotting an opportunity for victory, Seol Jihu’s eyes shot open. Though his face was pale, his eyes flashed like he was looking at a captured prey.

When he raised his spear, the demonic hand connected to the Sura Demon Spear also went up. Aiming the spear as though it was a gun, Seol Jihu jumped into the air.

Puk!

The Sura Demon Spear stabbed into the center of the summoning circle where the otherworldly god’s body was bound by the demonic hand.

The otherworldly god flopped like a fish out of water.

—Gyaaak! Gyaaaaaak!

It cried out, realizing its divinity was breaking along with the summoning circle. It struggled, refusing to give up, but it was in vain.

Asora shed tears, Asorak laughed in madness, and Asuryun glared imposingly. Next, each of them swung their arms.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Seol Jihu’s Sura Demon Spear and the six hands of Asura mercilessly bombarded the otherworldly god.

The otherworldly god’s futile struggles slowly subsided until its body shook lifelessly each time it was hit by an explosive force. Now, it was no different than hitting a corpse that was tied up to a punching bag.

It was then. A piece of the otherworldly god’s body that fell down moved stealthily. It did not scatter away into nothingness like the other pieces.

It scurried across the ground, avoiding detection. Having given up the main body, the remnant piece of the otherworldly god’s divinity had one purpose.

To acquire a body.

It needed a new body that could survive on this planet.

Of course, it wasn’t so easy. The body had to meet several requirements. For one, the owner of the body had to be weak so that it could possess the body in its weakened state. Second, the owner of the body had to be someone the demonic human being could not easily kill even if he noticed its possession.

If it could not find such a body, its fate would undoubtedly be total destruction. Thankfully, it was able to find the perfect target.

Seol Jihu raised his head, believing everything was over. He then narrowed his eyes, noticing a piece of flesh silently moving toward the expedition team.

“!”

Seeing it racing straight toward Seo Yuhui, Seol Jihu shouted in rage. He immediately realized what the otherworldly god was planning.

Though he tried to pull his hand out, it was not easy to pull out the Sura Demon Spear, which was connected to the universe beyond Paradise.

Besides, it was already too late.

Seo Yuhui was the same. In the blink of an eye, before she had any time to react, the piece of flesh hurled toward her stomach. All she could do was chant a holy spell and instinctively wrap her hands around her belly.

Next, as a peal of laughter filled with evil intent rang out, Seo Yuhui shut her eyes. Then….

Pak!

“….”

With a short thud, the surroundings became silent.

Seo Yuhui slowly opened her eyes. They widened in an instant.

What she saw first were the World Tree’s branches and dense leaves embracing her body protectively. Members of the expedition team were also standing in front of her.

“Cough!”

Philip Muller fell to his knee, coughing out blood. It was a side-effect of summoning Avaritia.

“I should at least do this much.”

Meeting Seo Yuhui’s eyes, Philip Muller struggled out a smile.

“I might not be able to help him out in battle… but I can at least be a shield….”

Shaking his head, he wiped the blood on his mouth.

“I never thought the enemy would be like this… but I also can’t believe we won.”

White Tiger muttered in disbelief. The battle he just witnessed was quite literally heaven-and-earth-shattering.

It was only then that Seo Yuhui turned her gaze forward. Thankfully, the otherworldly god’s last resort had failed to reach her.

Avaritia was not used as a shield either. After all, the piece of flesh was stabbed into the earth by the half-broken Spear of Purity. Seol Jihu had moved the broken Spear of Purity at the last second and sent it flying.

The sound of footsteps rang out. A foot soaked in blood stomped down on the piece of flesh. As it twisted left and right, faint smoke rose from the flesh before it disappeared.

Seo Yuhui stared at Seol Jihu. The otherworldly god was nowhere to be seen. The summoning circle encompassing the sky had also broken down and turned faint.

Seol Jihu’s bloodshot eyes slowly returned to normal.

Clang!

The Sura Demon Spear slipped out of his hand as viscous, fresh blood fell to the ground.

“…Are you okay?”

A calm voice came out of Seol Jihu’s mouth. It was only then that a hint of rosiness returned to Seo Yuhui’s pale face.

“Yeah….”

She eked out a reply before plopping down on the spot.

Just like that, another battle had ended.

….No, the battle was over, but there was more work to be done.

“Eh?”

Philip Muller blinked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Avaritia-nim has…”

Philip Muller stammered at Cinzia’s question.

“Huh? You want me to wait? Why?”

Noticing a peculiar change in the atmosphere, Cinzia looked around. It wasn’t just her. Members of the expedition team and even Seol Jihu did the same.

‘This energy….’

The Seven Sins.

The seven gods of Paradise had descended around them.

Seol Jihu thought he had experienced something similar before. Now he realized the atmosphere was similar to Stage 3 of the Banquet. The only difference was that he had trouble even remaining standing back then while he was perfectly fine now.

Why did the Seven Sins appear now when the fight was over?

Seol Jihu was about to grab the Sura Demon Spear again but stopped.

He did not feel any hostility or evil intent from the Seven Sins. Instead, he felt extreme respect and admiration, like they hesitated even to lift their heads in front of him.