Chapter 26
Lion Inside(6)
Their beginning was very weak. Beings that could not be called life forms, just masses of energy. Through a long time, they gradually condensed energy. Finally, that thing began to take form.
Very small, but they acquired a form that could be called a life form. Those small life forms had no reason. They just devoured each other according to instinct, only growing in size. Another long time passed. Those that devoured each other continued to grow.
Strong individuals survived. A cycle of surviving individuals becoming larger and stronger repeated. In that cycle, those wandering without purpose suddenly gained a slight sense of reason. At the same time, they realized that they did not need to fight among themselves. They naturally acquired the ability to traverse dimensions. They invaded other dimensions and consumed magical power there. The more they did so, the more their bodies grew and became stronger.
A world of thorough survival of the fittest. They wandered such a world for an uncountable amount of time. And now, he, who was one of them, finally broke through a probability of one in hundreds of millions and received a name.
Ulkall.
The meaning of being directly named by the Lord of Chaos Is clear. Ulkall now rules as a ruler, not a trivial being wandering in search of magical power Ulkall’s first goal as a ruler was the dimension called Earth, recently discovered. A newly discovered dimension is synonymous with a land of opportunity. Many named beings of chaos have sought Earth, but with no significant results. But Ulkall is different.
He is one who was directly named by the Lord of Chaos. Ulkall will instantly occupy Earth and absorb all magical power to become an even stronger being. For the day when he himself will become the Lord of Chaos…
As he tore through the dimensional rift, a meaty gunpowder smell wafted. Ulkall silently looked around.
“Aaaah! Save me!”
“Die! You sons of bitches!”
“Keraaa!”
Death and chaos flooded from all directions. He himself was once caught in such chaos, but now there is no need. There is nothing to gain by getting involved in such low-level fights. What Ulkall needs now is a true strong one. Those eyes fell on two humans.
“Hooo…”
Ulkall’s eyes showed a strange light when he saw one of the humans. Although he has eaten many human species from various dimensions, such a human with this level of magical power is rare.
“I shall leave that human for last.”
The more delicious the food, the more one saves it. Ulkall looked at the human woman swinging her sword on the battlefield.
Weaker in magical power than the human he first saw, but much stronger than other humans here.
“Good.”
A perfect target for the first hunt.
***
Ippotranslation
***
Han Se-yeon stared quietly at the sky. Countless monsters were pouring out from numerous rifts.
‘The largest rift that has occurred so far…’
She had traveled the world for three years and experienced several large-scale dimensional rifts. But the rift that occurred this time refused comparison with those before.
‘Especially that… I’ve never seen such a huge rift.’
A rift so massive it could be mistaken for the world splitting apart.
Its length was several kilometers. Staring at the rift, Han Se-yeon suddenly recalled
a past memory.
‘No, I’ve seen it once before.’
Come to think of it, she had seen a rift this massive. The day Kang Hyeon died three years ago. Agon had summoned a massive chaos monster. When it appeared, a rift of similar size occurred.
‘Could it be that such a monster is appearing again…’
Back then, only Kang Hyeon, who had stepped into the transcendent realm, could properly damage it. She wondered if they could block it if such a monster appeared again.
‘Kang Hyeon…’
Kang Hyeon had already rushed ahead to deal with the enemy leader Park Byung-geun. When she asked if there was any meaning in cutting down the enemy leader in this situation, Kang Hyeon laughed and replied:
-It’s fucking annoying. Rift or whatever, I’ll deal with that bastard first. She thought he was still the same person even as time passed.
‘Haaa… For now, I’ll focus on handling the monsters.’
In any case, the dimensional rift has occurred, and monsters are pouring out. Beings that endlessly seek magical power and devastate the world. No matter how massive the rift, it must have an end. Eventually, by cutting them down, this battle will end.
“Kraaaah!
A massive monster appeared, seemingly three times human height.
“Kill!”
“P-please spare me!”
Young soldiers rushing and getting torn apart. Other soldiers fleeing after seeing
their friends torn apart. In that chaotic moment, Han Se-yeon broke in.
Chwaaa!
Her flowing sword cleanly cut off the monster’s arm. But the monster has six arms.
The monster screamed and swung its remaining arms. In a situation where massive arms the size of its own torso were extending like lightning. Han Se-yeon moved with leisure. Lightly stepping and simultaneously avoiding attacks while swinging her sword to cut off the monster’s arms one by one. Each time a massive monster’s arm fell, small dust rose. But the black blood spraying from the arms gradually covered the dust.
Around Han Se-yeon, only black blood water remained.
Kuuung!
After its limbs were cut off, the monster’s body fell with its neck severed. The entire process took less than 10 seconds. From the soldiers’ perspective, they blinked a few times and the monster’s limbs were flying, its neck severed, and it was dead.
“Th-thank you!”
Leaving behind the trembling gratitude, Han Se-yeon immediately moved to handle
the next monster. At that moment.
“Impressive skill.”
A strange figure blocked Han Se-yeon’s path.
‘Who is this?’
Han Se-yeon, who stopped, looked at him. Based on appearance, he seemed closer to male, but she couldn’t even be sure if he was truly human.
The only certainty was the immeasurable magical power residing within him. Han Se-yeon looked at the enemy before her, never imagining he would be similar to the chaos monsters she had been cutting down.
“How mysterious. A human with a power far stronger than the magical energy I feel.
How is this possible?”
“Who are you…”
“Ulkall.”
Ulkall bowed slightly while looking at Han Seyeon.
“I am Ulkall, the ruler bestowed a name directly by the Lord of Chaos.”
Han Se-yeon tried to comprehend the meaning of Ulkall’s words.
‘The beings of chaos are monsters from dimensional rifts. Then the Lord would probably be something like a king of these monsters.’
The Ulkall before her eyes said he was named by the Lord, so in human terms, he would be in a status similar to a nobleman.
‘He might be the culprit behind this large-scale dimensional rift.’
He was definitely at least the commander of these monsters. Though this was the first time she had seen a monster with such outstanding intelligence. Han Se-yeon was almost certain her thoughts were correct based on the circumstances.
“Are you the commander of these monsters?”
“Commander… You could say something like that.”
“How do you know the human language?”
“This is not language, but a manifestation of will. You don’t seem low-level enough to not know such basic things. How strange.”
This was a misunderstanding from assuming that someone with Han Seyeon’s capabilities would naturally have outstanding magical knowledge.
“Did you cause this massive rift?”
“Yes. To steal the Earth’s magical energy, I’ve gone to the trouble of gathering these worthless beings to create this rift. Are all your questions resolved?”
“Let me ask one last thing.”
“Go ahead.”
Ulkall, who found this conversation interesting, readily responded to Han Se-yeon’s request.
“If I kill you, will all the monsters return to where they originally came from?”
“Hahahahaha! What a strange question. Not only will I not die, but even if I were to die, they would not stop. They need magical energy to survive and become stronger.”
Han Se-yeon nodded at Ulkal’s words.
“Thank you. Now die.”
A cold blade flew towards Ulkall’s neck
***
Ippotranslation
***
In terms of physical specs like strength and endurance, Han Se-yeon was not particularly outstanding. Of course, she was much stronger than ordinary ability users, but not to the point of transcending human limits. If compared, she would be at a level between Ahn Yu-seong and Shin Seong-ah. The reason she could once stand at the peak of South Korea was one thing.
Swoosh! Swooosh!
Overwhelming technique.
Perfectly controlling her body and magical energy, she cut down all enemies with sword skills honed to the extreme. As soon as the battle began, confusion appeared on Ulkall’s face.
‘Such a strange movement.’
Compared to himself, she was an incredibly slow and weak human. He thought he could easily handle her, but he was the one being handled.
Ting, Ting!
Han Se-yeon cleverly manipulated the amount of magical energy every time she swung her sword. Some attacks merely scratched Ulkall’s skin, while others cut almost deep enough to sever his body.
‘Why, why can’t I catch her!?’
Ulkall stretched out his arm to catch Han Se-yeon, who was swinging her sword like she was possessed, right in front of him. But his hand only cut through empty air.
Drip! Crunch!
Attacks that occasionally touched Han Se-yeon were deflected by her sword, which she used as a chain for counterattacks.
Wounds continuously formed on Ulkall’s body, and black blood splattered in all directions.
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
Ulkall let out a roar filled with rage. Han Se-yeon staggered momentarily from the magical energy in that scream.
“I was trying to conserve magical energy…! Don’t even think about dying peacefully.”
Beings of chaos fundamentally had a bodily structure that must consume magical energy. The only thing necessary for their survival was magical energy. To obtain that magical energy, they could only consume other life forms with magical energy. Therefore, beings of chaos extremely avoided attacks using magical energy. Because although powerful, it was equivalent to consuming their own life force.
“Kheuk…!”
But now, there was no other choice.
To deal with the human scurrying like a mouse, he had no option but to use magical energy. Ulkall retreated and stretched out his palm.
Numerous magical energy streams began to extend from his fingertips.
Weeeeeeee!
Dozens of black magical energy streams that looked dangerous at a glance covered Han Se-yeon. Feeling the power within them, Han Se-yeon gave up on striking back and focused on avoiding the attacks as much as possible.
“You cannot escape!”
The black magical energy pierced everything, chasing Han Se-yeon. Humans and monsters between Han Se-yeon and Ulkall were cleanly dismembered and died by the black magical energy.
Swoooosh!
The magical energy pouring from Ulkall’s both hands wildly tore through the battlefield.
Judging that further avoidance was impossible, Han Se-yeon quickly took a breath.
“Ugh…!”
She must cut it.
Without cutting through this black magical energy somehow, there was no chance of winning.
-You have enough talent. What you need from now on is just effort and experience.
She recalled the teachings from Vinus Karon.
Remembered his absolute sword that could cut through anything.
Swish!
Han Se-yeon’s sword was swung. Dozens of magical energy streams were cut and scattered in the air.
“Done!”
A miraculous success brought joy to Han Se-yeon’s eyes. But the brief joy soon turned to despair.
Squeeeeeak!
The black magical energy shot from Ulkall’s mouth had already reached right in front of her.
‘One more time’
She swung her sword at the magical energy again.
Swoooosh!
The sword cutting the black magical energy stream trembled.
‘No. The power is too strong…!‘
Ulkall’s magical energy was overwhelmingly powerful enough to completely cut through. There was a gap between them far greater than something that could be overcome by control.
Clang!
Eventually, her hand was torn, and her sword flew into empty space.
