episode_0076

Chapter 76 – Incarnation of Fire

It was hot. And comfortable. That was the first thing I felt upon regaining my senses. Surrounded by endless flames, I was like a bird that had just hatched.

I looked around, unable to adapt to the suddenly bestowed infinite magical power of fire. But living beings instinctively realize their own weapons even without being taught. I quickly recognized the identity of the two different flames fighting for territory within my heart, and also understood what I needed to do.

‘I can’t handle it.’ The Phoenix flame, with its power of regeneration and purification, and the Red Dragon flame, with its power of wrath and destruction. Their natures were completely opposite. The Red Dragon flame burned itself, destroying my body, while the Phoenix flame burned itself, regenerating my body. The effects of these powers were so rapid that I didn’t feel even a flicker of pain. These powers were too vast for me to control.

‘Therefore, I’ll release it.’ I had to adjust the two flames to a level I could handle while maintaining their balance. Just then, an undead legion of over a thousand, including more than a hundred Death Knights that I had struggled against just moments ago, advanced from the front. I should have been tense at the sight, but I felt nothing at all. I simply relaxed and conjured an image in my mind.

Flames erupted! The flame, fed by the resource of my imagination, shot out from my shoulder blades as if it had been waiting for this moment, forming massive wings. A light flick of them instantly created a storm of fire that engulfed the undead. Not only skeletons but even Death Knights melted away like ice cream left out in the summer sun.

‘Amazing.’ Even the power of the Declaration of Rape, which had always given me a feeling of omnipotence, now felt insignificant. A sense of liberation beyond exhilaration. With this power, I was sure I could easily shatter even this damned fate that always held me and shook me as it pleased. But this was temporary. As I was about to succumb to the demonic nature of the power, I pulled myself back to composure and looked around.

‘Cain is… thankfully alive.’ One of his arms was eroded by magical poison, but with the Saintess’s divine power, it could be fully healed. No, to begin with, my Phoenix flame could purify and regenerate such low-grade poison immediately. I naturally defined Hersculer’s poison as ‘low-grade’.

Did he realize my inner thoughts? Hersculer turned the entire undead legion, which had been focused on Gion Cruise, completely towards me. “He must be eliminated.” His bloodshot eyes pierced me. He instinctively realized how threatening the power I possessed was to him.

Following Hersculer’s will, a Bone Dragon flew in at the very front. —Grrrroooaaar! It roared savagely, then condensed its breath in its maw and shot it out in the blink of an eye. The amount of magic contained within it was truly terrifying.

“Just a mere adult dragon.” But to me, who was currently wielding both the Phoenix flame that had absorbed natural magic for thousands of years and the Ancient Dragon flame, it was merely amusing. I lightly swung my Phoenix wing. Flames burst forth! A wall of pure and clean flames erupted from the tip of the wing. The characteristic of the Phoenix flame was purity. It didn’t mix with anything, and thus, it absolutely permitted no intrusion. The Bone Dragon’s breath caused no damage whatsoever and was purified and vanished by the pure flame.

I slowly observed my inner being. ‘Still too much.’ The magical power of the flames that had taken over my body was too vast; its end couldn’t even be estimated. As the breath vanished and thousands of legions advanced behind it, this time I swung the Red Dragon wing.

Whoosh! With an intense flow of magic, flames condensed into a sphere above my head. Like scooping water from the sea, I continuously drew out and concentrated magic. The fireball repeatedly expanded greatly and then compressed minutely. Its size never grew larger than 10 meters. Soon, by the time the undead reached right before me, a small sun had risen above my head.

“Go.” Rumble… The fireball, an impossibly vast amount of condensed flame, descended. Its speed didn’t seem fast, yet with every blink, it advanced rapidly towards the legion. The first to be swallowed by the sun was the Bone Dragon.

Flames roared! It tried to resist the sun by spewing its breath, but it was useless. All it did was vanish without being pushed back even an inch. Next, the sun touched the ground. —KABOOOOM! With an ear-splitting roar, a dazzling flash erupted, creating an immense blast of heat. So powerful was its might that the surrounding scenery, part of the Illusion Maze Barrier, shimmered vaguely as if about to collapse.

While the surroundings trembled as if in an earthquake, I calmly observed Hersculer. ‘I can’t let him get away.’ As soon as the undead legion vanished, he, realizing he had no chance, tried to escape. He persuaded Ethan to open a gate leading to a pre-calculated coordinate. I lightly kicked the ground. Whoosh! Flames erupting from my feet acted as a propellant, closing the distance to Hersculer in an instant. I unleashed flames towards the gate.

Flames roared! However, the flames enveloped Hersculer’s arm, not the gate. He intervened, throwing his arm as bait to the flames, then flung Ethan, who he was carrying on his shoulder, into the gate. “Hyun, see you later!” I ignored Ethan’s promise and focused my gaze on Hersculer.

“Fascinating. To wield both Phoenix and Dragon flames simultaneously. You will be a great threat to the Dark Cult in the future.” He calmly analyzed me even in a situation where his escape route was cut off. There was no fear of death visible in Hersculer. In a way, it was natural. After all, he wasn’t human. Hersculer’s true identity was an Archlich. An immortal undead, transcending humanity and death, that was his true form. He merely wore a shell; his soul was contained within a vessel and stored in a secret location known only to him. Of course, I knew that location.

‘It probably won’t mean much, though.’ Now that I knew Ethan Gloucester was a Transmigrator, most of the information regarding the Dark Cult could be considered useless. As I confronted Hersculer, Cain approached.

“Hersculer…!” “Hmm… what a shame. It was a golden opportunity to revive Revios. I should have brought more apostles.” Despite Cain’s fierce demeanor, he completely ignored him and simply said what he had to say. At this, Cain couldn’t hold back his rage and immediately struck Hersculer’s heart. Thwack! With a heavy impact sound, an invisible aura exploded from within, tearing through skin and muscle, shredding his heart. Blood spurted like a fountain from Hersculer’s mouth.

“Is this the end? What a pity. A real pity.” He observed me with lingering regret in his eyes, then suddenly began to emit green magical energy. It was a prelude to an explosion. I quickly unleashed flames before the self-destruction could occur. The Phoenix flame purified the magical poison, and the flame of destruction burned it down to its magical units, preventing it from having any effect whatsoever. In the end, Hersculer vanished uselessly, melting away without causing any damage.

“Damn it… damn it!” Cain burst out in frustration at the sight. His top priority objective was achieved, but his last moment with Yuliana had been too miserable. Unable to even retrieve his lover’s corpse due to Hersculer’s deception, he gritted his teeth and swore revenge. After a moment, he calmed his emotions and looked at me.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I could kill Hersculer.” “It’s nothing. It was just his shell, after all. More importantly, could you give me your arm?” “My arm? Why?” Cain grew wary at the sudden request. I didn’t need to touch it directly, so I answered by regenerating his arm. He looked at his regrown arm as if nothing had happened, surprised, then bowed his head.

“I misunderstood. My apologies.” “It’s fine. More importantly, I have a favor to ask you.” “A favor? What is it?” Cain tilted his head, looking at me using overly friendly language for someone I’d just met. After a moment of thought, I removed my mask. My brilliant silver hair turned black, and my dazzling golden eyes returned to silver. Cain was astonished.

“You…! What on earth happened?” “There are some circumstances. Anyway, I’m planning to learn the Mu-geuk Cheon-ri Gong right now, so please help me. I need to stabilize the Phoenix flame and the Red Dragon flame.” “…I understand. We’ll talk about the details later. Sit on the ground.” As I followed his instruction, Cain placed his hand on my back and infused magic. He quickly assessed my condition.

-“The two powers are fighting. Destruction and regeneration. They are perfectly opposing forces. You know the saying, ‘the end is a new beginning,’ right? It means extremes connect. This energy, though of the same flame attribute, possesses opposing concepts. It can certainly be gathered and contained in one place. Envision the image of mutual growth and circulate your magic according to the Mu-geuk Cheon-ri Gong’s incantations. I will assist you.” The moment I heard the word ‘mutual growth’, the image of the Taegeuk symbol naturally came to mind.

‘A thousand paths to reach the extreme of nothingness.’ Among those paths, there would be mutual growth and mutual opposition. Strongly reciting the incantations of Mu-geuk Cheon-ri Gong, I moved the two powers according to the image of Taegeuk. At first, the two magical energies acted separately, but according to the incantations of Mu-geuk Cheon-ri Gong, they converged into one, slowly beginning to take shape. Finally, the Taegeuk settled in my middle dantian.

‘Taegeuk Hwasin Gong.’ A new divine art, branched off from the Mu-geuk Cheon-ri Gong and created solely for me. Having completed the full circulation just like that, I opened my eyes, confirming that the Phoenix flame and Red Dragon flame were in perfect balance. For an instant, a bright light burst from my eyes, illuminating the surroundings. Cain carefully removed his hand from my back.

“You’ve worked hard. Continue to strive even harder in the future.” “Thank you.” While expressing gratitude, I couldn’t contain my curiosity and opened the status window.

* Ruan Friuli Level – 108 (+4) Strength: 119 (+5) Stamina: 110 (+4) Durability: 104 (+2) Senses: 93 (+6) Magic Power: 423 (+343) *

First and foremost, what caught my eye was magic power. By awakening the Phoenix egg, I had absorbed an unimaginable amount of magic power. Considering that this was the remaining magic power even after greatly depleting it, it showed how much energy was contained within the Phoenix egg. ‘Well, I still can’t use all of it, though.’

Although the Red Dragon flame was currently dormant, it was a dangerous power that could bare its fangs at me at any time. It would be a huge problem if I were to draw out too much magic and lose control. Unless I wanted to commit suicide, it was best not to even think about mobilizing all that magic power for the time being. Next, my gaze went to the skill section.

[Incarnation of Fire – Awakens the power of all flames.] ┗Super Regeneration ┗Flame of Purity ┗Dragon Fear ┗Flame of Destruction These must be the skills I used just now. Perhaps I wouldn’t be able to unleash transcendent power like before, but at the very least, a level far surpassing my current realm would be possible. Maybe I wouldn’t need to rely on the Declaration of Rape anymore.

‘Perhaps?’ If an enemy appeared that even Incarnation of Fire couldn’t handle, I would ultimately have no choice but to use the Declaration of Rape, but surely such a situation wouldn’t arise easily? I would have to test it out sometime when I had the leisure. As I was examining the skill window, lost in thought, a presence approached. Turning my head, I saw Gion Cruise, wielding a greatsword easily over two meters long.