It had been 10 years.
“10 years?”
Lee Sungmin was dumbfounded, so he couldn’t help but have his voice crack. He thought it would be 5 years at most, but it turned out to be an entire decade.
Repeating it in a quiet voice, Lee Sungmin shook his head and laughed in vain.
Did he seriously have to believe that he had been sealed in the land of Germane for ten whole years? But if that had truly been the case…. Who had done it?
“Who sealed me?”
“……I’m not sure. It was technically sorcery that had sealed you, not magic. Also, it’s not common for Wizards or Priests to be able to pull off such a complex seal. ”
“Frau….”
Lee Sungmin understood what happened finally. There was also Frau present on that fateful day.
Abel may have died by giving up all of his remaining life force to use the last of the Weiss’ spells, but Frau did not die that day.
Kim Jonghyun’s spell of reversion was something even Abel could not stop as he had already passed away at the last moment. As a result, Lee Sungmin had completely turned into a monster who had lost all reason and had no signs of regaining his former self.
It seems that Frau sealed Lee Sungmin to prevent any further tragedies from occurring.
‘I’m glad at least Frau didn’t die fighting me.’ (T/N : honestly very surprised Frau didn’t die as well fighting against Lee Sungmin.)
“Who are you?”
Lee Sungmin looked at Lao Shen and asked. After he asked the question, Lee Sungmin turned his head slowly and looked around.
There were dozens of vampires. The Lycanthropes were also no longer drinking. Before they knew it, they also approached and stood near Lee Sungmin and folded their arms with confrontational looks.
Lee Sungmin also noticed several Dark Wizards and martial artists. Lee Sungmin raised his finger and pointed at the Orthodox martial artists who were either dead or kneeling captive.
“What are they doing?”
He had just woken up after 10 years, so he had a lot of questions. It was annoying to answer each question one-by-one, but Lao Shen tried his best not to show his hidden emotions.
It was because he wanted to give as friendly an impression to Lee Sungmin as possible.
“……My name is Lao Shen. I’m a blood descendent of the Vampire Queen herself.”
The Vampire Queen, Geniella. Lee Sungmin’s eyes narrowed at the mention of being her direct descendent.
“We came all the way to the far south to unseal you.”
“Are those humans part of Predator as well then?”
“No way. How can a human be a member of Predator? These are the errand boys we needed for temporary measures.”
Lao Shen replied, glancing at the warriors of the Blood Alliance. They didn’t give a hint of displeasure at the word ‘errand boy’.
He then pointed with his finger in the same direction as Lee Sungmin was, pointing to the Orthodox martial artists who were being held captive.
“These are Orthodox Martial Artists. They had heard somewhere that we’re doing something in this city, and they were trying to sabotage us. So I kept them here with us.”
“Why are some of them dead?”
Lee Sungmin asked, pointing to those who fell and died as they were sacrificed. Lao Shen smirked at the remark.
“They were used to unseal the seal placed on you. Our Dark Wizards weren’t exactly the best when it comes to seals created by sorcery so we had to resort to a different method.”
People died to unseal Lee Sungmin. Obviously, Lee Sungmin did not feel very good hearing about this.
However, he was not brazen enough to argue against Lao Shen about why he killed innocent people. Lee Sungmin nodded and asked a question.
“Is it the Vampire Queen who told you to unseal me?”
“……Yes.”
After a brief silence, Lao Shen replied. It was a lie. Geniella gave no such order to Lao Shen to unseal Lee Sungmin specifically.
“Where is she then?”
“The Queen is in her mansion in the north.”
“Why didn’t she come in person?”
“She said that she wanted to wait for you to come to her.”
Lao Shen replied. Lee Sungmin laughed at the words. She wanted to wait? Should he have expected a different answer or wasn’t that exactly like Geniella’s nature? Or did she actually have another target she was aiming for by undoing the seal? Was there a reason why she couldn’t move South at the current time? Naturally, Lee Sungmin wouldn’t go North just because Geniella asked for him to. Perhaps Geniella knew that as well and didn’t come down.
Unless she comes forward herself, there was no way Lee Sungmin would go north on his own accord unless he was crazy. The Vampire Queen was someone who was horrendously vile and cruel. Even now it would be difficult to face her.
“What if I don’t want to go?”
“……I’ll have to take you by force.”
Lao Shen murmured.
But it was a lie.
Geniella did not say anything about unsealing Lee Sungmin or a seal in the first place. There was nothing about using force as well. This was all just a fabricated lie that was made up on the spot.
Geniella, even before she had her powers of foresight, could not see through Lee Sungmin’s future. Therefore, she wanted nothing but to make sure that if he became powerful, that he became an ally, rather than an enemy.
However, a year ago, Geniella had lost that ability because the timeline had caught up.
From that point on, she had not left her mansion even once. The telepathic connection that she shared with all of her direct blood descendants was almost severed, and they ended up being neglected and ignored as she went into solitude.
Lao Shen was one of the many blood descendants who was moving independently and out of his own self-interest. He borrowed the Queen’s name and was able to attract some werewolves of the Lycathrope Tribe to join his cause and even was able to get some of the Dark Wizards from the Blood Alliance.
“Do you really think you have the power to do so?”
Lee Sungmin asked, staring at Lao Shen with emotionless eyes.
The situation was rather unusual. Tang Ah-Hui at least thought so as she gulped down her saliva.
She couldn’t tell whether the situation was good or bad for them. Murong Chae was staring at Lee Sungmin with bloodshot eyes.
“…Help me!”
After a brief period of silence, Murong Chae suddenly shouted.
“I’m Murong Chae! The brother of Murong Seojin that you killed!”
Lee Sungmin’s shoulders trembled at the words. He slowly turned his head to look at Murong Chae. Murong Chae gulped when he saw Lee Sungmin’s eyes shining with their golden hue.
Murong Chae. It had been 10 years, but he had changed a lot. His physique, his face. Looking at Murong Chae, Lee Sungmin felt a little bit bitter.
Lee Sungmin did not kill his sister like Murong Chae claimed. His father had also died, but that was not Lee Sungmin’s fault either. He had been blinded by rage and did not even think about the repercussions of his actions.
“You’ve grown up a lot.”
Lee Sungmin looked back towards Lao Shen, as he muttered the words under his breath.
“I don’t think you need to keep them here any longer, do you?”
“If you come with us, we won’t hurt them.”
“Isn’t there something you’re forgetting?”
The corners of Lee Sungmin’s mouth as he asked the question to Lao Shen, slightly curved upwards.
“You can’t force me to do anything. You wouldn’t be able to even if the Vampire Queen, herself, came here.”
“………You’re the one who thinks we’re a joke. I see now.”
Lao Shen’s eyebrows furrowed.
He looked down on Lee Sungmin. The opponent was the man who overthrew Volander, one of the Five Black Stars of Predator and was the monarch of the Death Knights within Predator.
Lao Shen felt that he had prepared enough to face against Lee Sungmin. Lao Shen was the 5th direct descendant of Geniella, and meant he was the fifth strongest Vampire in all of Eria.
Not only that, but the other Vampires that were brought with him were high-ranking Vampires in terms of strength despite not being direct descendants of the Queen. Aside from them, he had also brought a large group of werewolves that boosted better physical abilities than other monsters.
Although Lao Shen wanted to try and convince Juwon as well, that was another problem since Juwon for some reason had disappeared a year ago and had not been heard from and nobody had known about his whereabouts. There was also the Blood Alliance martial artists and Dark Wizards which boasted a strong force as well.
Lee Sung-min smirked. As Lao Shen said, the current forces present were definitely enough to face off against a Transcendent Martial Artist.
The Dark Wizards and Martial Artists of the Blood Alliance might have posed a threat when he was in the very early stages of Transcendence, but the monsters would have posed a threat even as he had grown accustomed to the Realm of Transcendence. But… there was one thing they had overlooked.
“I don’t want to fight you. If you’ll come with me…….”
Lee Sungmin had inherited the knowledge of the strongest Martial Artist to ever live, and was now with a body that had zero conflict with any of the foreign powers inside of him.Each party wanted something different. Lee Sungmin wanted nothing to do with them, and they wanted Lee Sungmin for some reason. They would not see eye to eye, and both Lao Shen and Lee Sungmin knew that.
Now the question was simple : who would be the first to move?
Lee Sungmin glanced at his hand, which was without a spear. It was a little disappointing if he was being honest. Coming out of this seal feeling better than ever made him want to swing his spear without restraint but…
‘There’s nothing I can do about it.’
Lee Sungmin’s body disappeared in front of Lao Shen’s eyes.
WHA-BOOM!
In the place where Lee SUngmin was just standing, the air tore apart with a fierce gust and an explosion rang out.
Shockwaves reverberated outwards from Lee Sungmin breaking the speed of sound, causing the martial artists from the Blood Alliance, who were some of the weaker forces, to fall to the ground with their ears bleeding as they screamed.
As the screaming ensued, Lee Sungmin prepared to move again. His mere movement had already become a widespread attack causing massive damage in the area of effect.
Lowering his posture, Lee Sungmin’s image re-appeared in front of the warriors of the Blood Alliance.
“Oh my god!”
The Dark Wizard, who made eye contact with Lee Sungmin, hurriedly gripped the staff in his hands. Before he or any of the other Dark Wizards behind him could even move their hands to cast a spell, Lee Sungmin had already passed them and all of their bodies had been tossed up into the air.
At that point they were already unconscious. Lee Sungmin didn’t even have to hit them directly.
“Shit…. he’s fast!”
Lao Shen kicked the ground belatedly realizing the situation. The twenty Vampires who had been brought with him followed in the footsteps of Lao Shen.
The Lycanthropes started their transformations the minute Lee Sungmin’s body had disappeared and had finished them successfully, howling like beasts.
“WROAAAAAH!”
The werewolves of the Lycanthrope Tribe kicked the ground and leaped up into the air. Lee Sungmin tried to swing his spear out of habit again, realizing he had no spear and grumbled to himself in dissatisfaction.
Although it was unfamiliar to not use a spear in his hands, it did not mean that Lee Sungmin had no talent in hand-to-hand combat. Lee Sungmin inherited his master’s marital sea of knowledge. Sima Ryunju was a man known as the Demonic Emperor and the strongest martial artist in all of Eria. The Dark Storm Arts was originally a martial art technique created by Sima Ryunju in the form of hand-to-hand combat.
Lao Shen’s extended hand reached out towards Lee Sungmin in mid-air. All the movements seemed slow to Lee Sungmin’s eyes.
On the other hand, Lee Sungmin’s hands were moving at a fast speed in the slowed down world within his vision.
Lee Sungmin jerked his hand swiftly and wrapped his grip around the forearm of Lao Shen. Grabbing a hold of Lao Shen’s wrist, Lee Sungmin quickly twisted it at an irregular angle. His movements did not end there. Twisting his waist like an elastic rubber band, Lee Sungmin clenched his thigh muscles and kicked out at the air.
Splurt!
Lee Sungmin didn’t even need to look to know what had happened to the point of contact with his leg. His leg swung and crushed an incoming Vampire’s head like a watermelon. Lee Sungmin contorted the grip on Lao Shen’s wrist and bent the entire forearm down to the bone.
Lee Sungmin felt a presence coming from the side, but as soon as he noticed it, he had already disappeared and a purple streak of lightning was left in his place.
He reappeared in the center of the group of werewolves from the Lycanthrope Tribe. They became flustered but quickly roared fiercely as they prepared to attack Lee Sungmin.
WHA-BOOM!
Lee Sungmin’s internal energy around his body exploded outwards. When Lee Sungmin raised both hands, a shockwave burst forth.
KA-BANG!
A series of tendrils from the lightning that exploded from Lee Sungmin’s hands penetrated the werewolves bodies.
“Keruk!”
When it came to the Five Factions within Predator, the werewolves had by far the strongest and most durable physiques when transformed. However, even they were forced to spit up blood at Lee Sungmin’s onslaught.
They rushed toward Lee Sungmin, regenerating their bleeding wounds in an instant. Through the gaps in the bodies, several pairs of red eyes glimmered behind the bodies of the werewolves. The Vampires steadily moved in behind the werewolves by using them as shields.
Lao Shen and Lee Sungmin’s eyes met.
But there was something amiss, Lao Shen thought.
At that moment, Lao Shen certainly felt it. Lee Sungmin had been sealed for ten whole years. Naturally, Lao Shen had believed that Lee Sungmin would be weaker than then due to the aftermath of his 10-year-long seal.
But seeing Lee Sungmin rampaging in front of him at that very moment, Lao Shen realized just how wrong he had been. The 10-year seal did not weaken Lee Sungmin. Rather, his body had completely transformed into a monster’s while keeping his mind wholly intact. If anything, he had been strengthened immensely.
KA-KRACK!
The bodies of the Werewolves, which the Vampires used as shields, were torn apart by the waves of lightning from the Dark Storm Arts.
Lee Sungmin was approaching. Lao Shen clenched his teeth and reached out. His hand was wrapped in a red coating of internal energy as he reached out for Lee Sungmin’s hand that had gripped his other hand.
BA-BOOM!
Lao Shen made a fatal misjudgment of his own strength in comparison to Lee Sungmin’s. His body was flung back through several buildings causing them to turn into rubble upon impact.
“Lao Shen!”
Rebecca screamed. Geniella’s fifth direct descendant had fallen so easily and so sloppily. It was over before anything had even begun.
Although it is not a moonlit night when the Vampire’s physical prowess would rise, Lao Shen would easily be able to dispose of heaps of Peak Martial Artists all by himself. The Werewolves were flung back as well and slowly got up, albeit raggedly.
They were also fatally wounded but not killed. Seeing this however, made them think Lee Sungmin was toying with them and they became enraged. Rebecca and other Vampires attacked Lee Sungmin with intent to kill.
[What a bunch of fools.]
Heoju grumbled. Lee Sungmin also sympathized with what Heoju said. Lee Sungmin’s agenda briefly flashed in his mind as he had a moment to think about what he needed to do.
It didn’t take too long for Lee Sungmin to finish the battle.
Blood from the Werewolves and Vampires was flung about everywhere. The Dark Wizards and martial artists from the Blood Alliance who were only bleeding from their ears and had fainted were in a relatively better position. Lee Sungmin approached the prisoners, shaking off the blood from his body. The Vampires and Werewolves were not dead, but their wounds were not regenerating nearly as fast as before and that was enough.
The fact that Lao Shen was the fifth direct descendant of Geniella was the sole reason Lee Sungmin did not kill them. He didn’t want to provoke Geniella for nothing.
“Hic……Hic…….”
Tanh Ah-Hui trembled at the sight of Lee Sungmin approaching the group of prisoners. Lee Sungmin’s performance in that short period of time made everyone present frightfully aware of their weaknesses. Was it even possible for a person to move like that? Was any of that even martial arts?“Are you okay?”
Tang Ah-Hui, who had fallen down, smelled like piss.
Lee Sungmin pretended not to be aware of it, and released the prisoners from their captivity.