Chapter 215
A sturdy iron door closed, and an Asian woman who walked out of the room locked it tightly.
She mumbled, “I’m not sure how long she’ll last. Without her, the future of Exorcist’s Travelogue is bleak.”
The woman remained frowning as she walked along an oriental hallway. She was Hong Lian, the leader of Clan Exorcist’s Travelogue. She had just visited Negrita, the Black Saintess, who possessed a prophecy D Weapon.
Exorcist’s Travelogue had been one of the countless ordinary clans until Hong Lian brought a black little girl one day. After that day, the clan experienced a golden age that never seemed to stop. The Black Saintess’s power was genuine, but all power came with a price. The more Negrita prophesied, the weaker she became, and she couldn’t hold out much longer.
“We can’t afford to reduce our client base. Besides...” Hong Lian trailed off as she grabbed a piece of paper from her pocket and opened it. She had written down the prophecy made from the letters that the Evil Spirit’s Ouija Board indicated. “I believe it’s been about half a year since it prophesied the Lost-All phenomenon.”
The Evil Spirit’s Ouija Board sometimes made a prophecy of its own accord when it wanted to tell them something.
D—I—S—A—S—T—E—R
D—E—S—T—R—U—C—T—I—O—N
D—E—S—P—A—I—R
D—E—A—T—H
9—0
“Disaster, destruction, despair, death, and... ninety.”
Hong Lian thought about what the prophecy meant, but the information provided was not enough to predict anything. All she knew was that something bad would happen, and that it was related to the number ninety.
“It could be ninety minutes, hours, days, or weeks,” she mumbled as she shook her head and placed the piece of paper back into her pocket.
It didn’t matter how she interpreted it; she would simply sell it to the highest bidder. From her experience, negative prophecies sold for higher. It was human nature to buy into negative futures over positive ones.
“Negrita might drop dead at any moment, so I should rake in as many Coins as possible,” Hong Lian mumbled as she smiled.
***
The Rite of the Plains continued overnight until the light of dawn shone. The bow, magic, fist, and spear matches ended. Namgung Min-Jae emerged victorious in the bow match after drawing his bow three hundred eighty-two times. Suwenci failed to strike Min-Jae’s arrow, and he happily accepted death as he closed his eyes, but Min-Jae’s focus had also dulled. The arrow pierced Suwenci’s flank, not his heart.
Humanity won the first match but lost the next two. A member of One Tree participated in the magic match and a member of Dongming participated in the fist match, but both failed to win. Nathaniel, the conjuration captain, was not a combatant, and Na Seong-Tae, the strongest conjurer of One Tree, was a captive. The result might have been different if Jan DaCosta had participated, but Nathaniel failed to overcome the orc shaman, Yi.
Koo Tin-Lok, a member of Dongming and a practitioner of the Snake Fist style, participated in the fist match. His punches seemed to slither like snakes, but he couldn’t have been against a worse opponent. He was against Cende, an orc master of the fist, and an eighth-class great warrior granted the title of Sahun. Tin-Lok spent the entire match just barely dodging Cende Sahun’s barrage of punches and lost.
With two losses under their belt, the Rite of the Plains would result in the humans’ defeat after one more loss. However, the atmosphere changed entirely after the spear match, which Li Xiu Xian, the Thunderclap Spear, seventy-eighth in the human ranking, participated in.
His reputation was not unfounded. He freely handled a spear crackling with white lightning, overwhelming his opponent. With that, he grabbed the second win for humanity, leaving the score two to two, a tie. All that remained was the sword match between Tasha and Cheon Seong-Hwi. All eyes were on them as everyone wondered who would win.
***
As the four matches progressed, Seong-Hwi had been all-in on persuading Tasha.
“Chwik. Gurun is... already dead?”
“That’s right. It’s good news for you all, isn't it?”
Tasha remained silent.
Seong-Hwi continued, “If you introduce me to Taidzu, I will tell you how to defeat Bodonchar and stop the civil war against the Tusk tribe.”
Tasha stared at Seong-Hwi intently for a while and said, “Chwik. You are... not a warrior.”
“What good is being a warrior if you’re dead? I prefer a victory over a fair battle,” Seong-Hwi replied as if it were natural.
To him, the essence of battle was victory. He did not see a meaning in a battle that one did not win. No matter how he thought about it, there was no worth in a loss.
“Chwik, I see. This is how humans think.” Tasha’s eyes sank deeply. “However, chwik. We have our own way of thinking. You have insulted the Rite of the Plains upheld by the Great Subutai.”
“What?”
“Winner takes all. Chwik, I planned to take Gurun’s life if we won the Rite of the Plains, but you say Gurun is already dead.”
“So?”
“Are you telling me... to take part in a battle with no spoils? Chwik! How dare you mock a battle that I, Tasha Sahahun, have taken part in?!” Tasha shouted as he exuded immense amounts of aura.
[Operating Wings of Evolution.]
[Fourteen Wings.]
Seong-Hwi sprouted the fourteen Wings of Evolution to match Tasha’s aura and shouted, “What are you talking about? This is good for you! What is so bad about it?”
“Chwik! This is not a matter of good or bad! It is a matter of pride!”
“Pride doesn’t give you shit.”
“Unsheathe your blade! Chwik, you were never serious about the Rite of the Plains from the start. You simply saw it as a means to an end! Chwik! How dare you insult the God of War’s five covenants?!”
Seong-Hwi remained silent. Tasha was right. He had heard about the Rite of the Plains in his past life, but simply saw it as a series of battles to prevent things from escalating to war.
Dammit... I’ve miscalculated, Seong-Hwi thought as he clicked his tongue inwardly.
He did not expect that the orcs thought of the Rite of Plains as more than just a battle. It was difficult even for those of the same race and culture to understand each other, so it was only natural for it to be much more difficult to fully comprehend another race’s culture.
“Chwik! You have no respect or pride! Did you survive this far by relying only on petty tricks?” Tasha mocked.
“What... did you just say?”
“I can see how you’ve built up power. Chwik! You must have avoided and ran away from all your battles and became stronger through betrayals!”
“Hah!” Seong-Hwi scoffed as he grimaced.
He threw away the mask of kindness he had worn to persuade Tasha, revealing the face of a beast he had concealed deep inside.
[Activating Trait: Thousand-Man Killer.]
A dense bloodlust exuded from Seong-Hwi as he remarked ferociously, “You know nothing, damn orc... How dare you insult my destiny?”
He despised avoiding and running away above all else. He refused to have an orc he had only met today insult the agonizing path he had walked to grasp his destiny and shine brightly.
“Chwik! Hahaha! That expression is more like it. Let’s fight! Winner takes all!”
“Fine... I will persuade you again after I turn you into a bloody pulp.”
Their auras surged explosively, filling the entire surroundings.
***
Explosive clashes echoed throughout the plains. All anyone could see were flashes of light from the clashes of two entities moving so fast that they were invisible. All who witnessed the battle, whether they were humans or orcs, were left with their mouths agape.
“What the hell... is going on?”
“I can’t see them at all.”
“Holy shit... So, this is a battle between High Rankers... I’d die in less than a second.”
“Chwik! How can this be?! A human can follow Tasha Sahahun’s movements?!”
“Since when were humans... this strong?”
The battle between Tasha and Seong-Hwi was so advanced that they couldn’t even follow what was going on.
Xiu Xian watched the flashing of lights and mumbled, “I see... You have to be at least on that level to receive Lee Kang-San’s acknowledgement.”
Clashes echoed from left and right in the blink of an eye. Tasha’s crescent scimitar swing was interrupted by Seong-Hwi’s longsword. Seong-Hwi thrust his sword like a pouncing tiger, but Tasha smoothly deflected it using his scimitar’s curved edge. Xiu Xian felt like he was learning something just by watching the battle.
Tasha and Seong-Hwi, who had been clashing for a while, were pushed back as their feet furrowed the ground, and stopped.
“Chwik! Enough with the testing clashes.”
“Fine by me. You had better give everything you have, or you’ll die.”
“Ahahaha! That’s my line! Show me your full power!”
The purple Tu’s Heroic Soul, holding a giant scimitar, appeared behind Tasha, and Seong-Hwi’s Wings of Evolution blasted a blinding iridescent light. Those watching the battle were shocked by the enormous wave of mana pulsing from them and quickly increased their distance from them.
“Urgh! Get back!”
“Get away from them! We’ll die if we get caught up in that!”
“Chwik! What a battle!”
Tasha roared as he ragingly swung his scimitar, and Tu’s Heroic Soul did the same. Dozens of Hawk’s Flight flew toward Seong-Hwi. Cards that flew out from the Tarot Deck of Destiny and revolved around Seong-Hwi as they shone with a golden light.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Ace of Swords]
[Two of Swords]
...
[Eight of Swords]
Thirty-six light blue swords, infused with the power of wind, appeared and flew like missiles toward Tasha’s slashes, exploding as they clashed in the middle. Dry leaves and dust scattered as Tasha and Seong-Hwi charged at each other. Mana exploded with each clash of their swords.
Just then, the Wings of Evolution were dyed gold, and the hexagonal veins turned into a dragon scale pattern.
[Converting Destiny Force to Draconic Mana.]
“Chwik! Such overwhelming mana!” Tasha shouted, sensing the sudden exponential rise in Seong-Hwi’s mana, as he drew out more Battle Force.
Battle Force grew stronger the longer one remained in battle, befitting a berserker. Tasha roared as Tu’s Heroic Soul grew larger and more vivid. Then, the heroic soul, which had been moving the same way as Tasha, suddenly swung its scimitar differently.
“Dammit!” Seong-Hwi shouted.
He had to be much more vigilant now that he was facing a monster with four arms. He immediately activated another skill.
[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]
Rust of Ruin wrapped the Sword of Koksan, emitting an unsettling dark-red light.
“Chwik?” Tasha expressed confusion, realizing his sword was rusting with each clash against his opponent.
His scimitar was an artifact named Untimely Eve, and it unfortunately contained iron, the prey of Rust of Ruin. The mortal enemy of iron cried ecstatically.
“Chwik! You have quite the arsenal of annoying skills!”
Tasha protected the Untimely Eve with mana to keep it from rusting as much as possible and mainly attacked with Tu’s Heroic Soul since its scimitar wouldn’t rust. However, it only increased Tasha’s consumption of mana and Battle Force, and his attacks became simpler.
An opening! Seong-Hwi shouted inwardly.
“Haaaaah!” he shouted as he focused entirely on the Wings of Evolution.
[Terminating conversion.]
[Converting Destiny Force to Demon Force.]
[Converting Destiny Force to Holy Force.]
[Converting Destiny Force to Harmony Force.]
Seong-Hwi terminated the Draconic Mana conversion and filled six wings each with Demon Force and Holy Force. He then filled the remaining two wings with Harmony Force and activated a fairy race skill.
[Activating Race Skill: Harmony Rainbow.]
Demon Force and Holy Force, complete opposites of one another, filled the Sword of Koksan. The clashing of the two energies was about to destroy the sword, but the Harmony Rainbow enveloped the sword and temporarily stabilized the two clashing energies. This was the first time Seong-Hwi had attempted something like this.
“This is the end!” he shouted.
“Chwik!”
Seong-Hwi swung down the Sword of Koksan, mixed with black and white, using Step Forth and Kill. Tasha widened his eyes, shocked by the power imbued in Seong-Hwi’s sword, and quickly mobilized Tu’s Heroic Soul. The Sword of Koksan slashed the heroic soul’s scimitar and right arm, reaching the Untimely Eve. The scimitar then immediately began to corrode because of Rust of Ruin, forcing Tasha to jump backward.
“Dammit!” Tasha shouted as he pushed the ground with the left hand of Tu’s Heroic Soul. He flew through the air like a bird and landed gracefully at the rear.
The two men caught their breath as they stared at each other. The exhilarating, fast-paced battle deeply moved every orc and human witnessing it.
“W-whoooooaaa!”
“Chwik! Tasha! Tasha!”
“Cheon Seong-Hwi! Cheon Seong-Hwi!”
“This is amazing!”
“He’s on par with—no, he’s overpowering the orc High Ranker!”
It had been a while since Tasha encountered an opponent who had driven him to this extent.
“Chwik! Aha! Ahahaha! Cheon Seong-Hwi! Cheon Seong-Hwi! Marvelous! There are no flaws in your swordsmanship, mana, skill usage, battle sense, or stats!”
He was in a very good mood because he was experiencing such an advanced battle. The man before him did not let himself be controlled by stats and skills; a battle against one who had perfect control over their arsenal was always a treat.
“His swordsmanship is impressive. Many Jurchens used swords of that shape, but not many had mastery over them.”
Seong-Hwi agreed with Chok Chun-Gyong’s voice echoing in his head.
“As expected of an orc tribe’s master warrior, a tenth-tier Sahahun,” he mumbled.
Seong-Hwi was stronger, but his opponent was not far behind him.
At this rate, he’ll suffer a critical injury. Worst-case scenario, I might kill him.
Seong-Hwi needed to think of the events after this battle. He had not come to kill Tasha; he needed his cooperation to meet Taidzu, the leader of the orc rebels.
I need... more power! More overwhelming power!
His heart pounded ferociously, his adrenaline levels skyrocketed, and he could feel his blood circulating throughout his body faster. A golden light began to shine from his solar plexus; the power of the Fruit of the World Tree was seeping out through the openings between the Grace Period Chains. Seong-Hwi recalled Lina calling this overclocking, but ignored her warning.
[Unleashing 1% of the Fruit of the World Tree.]
[Magic S(1) → Magic S(6)]
[Unleashing 2% of the Fruit of the World Tree.]
[Magic S(6) → Magic S(12)]
[Unleashing 3% of the Fruit of the World Tree.]
[Destiny Force S(4) → Destiny Force S(10)]
[Unleashing 4% of the Fruit of the World Tree.]
[Sense A(8) → Sense A(99)]
[Unleashing 5% of the Fruit of the World Tree.]
[Magic S(12) → Magic S(19)]
“Guuuuurghhh!” Seong-Hwi groaned as he endured pain equivalent to being eaten alive by fire ants.
His stats rose exponentially. He felt like he would be a match for a Spare Ranker if he unleashed the Fruit’s power to its current maximum, ten percent.
“Chwik! Ahahahaha! You’re a monster! It looks like I will die today!” Tasha shouted as he laughed ecstatically, sensing Seong-Hwi’s overwhelming rise in power.
However, he did not stay still either. Tu’s Heroic Soul behind him had already recovered its right arm and had grown over ten meters tall. He was having such a blast that he had already forgotten why he was here and was more than happy to die here.
“Chwik! Tasha! Tasha! Tasha!”
“Show the human the power of the Hawk tribe, Master Tasha!”
“Whoooaaa! Win, Record Breaker!”
“I’m sorry I called you a serial killer! You are the hope of humanity!”
Orcs and humans, having forgotten they were enemies, cheered for the two combatants. They all instinctively knew that the next clash would be the last. A sparking tension lingered between Tasha and Seong-Hwi.
“Chwik! Let us finish this!”
“Huff! I win!”
As Tasha and Seong-Hwi were about to charge at each other, an ear-splitting scream interrupted the tension.
“Chwik! This is what you get!”
“KYAAAH! NA SEONG-TAE!!!”
All eyes shifted from Tasha and Seong-Hwi to the source of the scream. An orc with a spear embedded in his right shoulder was smiling triumphantly after severing Seong-Tae’s right arm, and Hwa-Yeon was rushing toward Seong-Tae as she screamed. An atmosphere of confusion immediately filled the surroundings.