Ch.150Chapter 150 – Lucifer (5)

# [BREAKING NEWS: Humanity’s strongest party of four S-rank hunters has failed to repel Lucifer, one of the Four Heavenly Kings summoned in Rome. Psychic Jang Woo-yi and Pharaoh Muhammad have died, Zeus is unconscious, and the Teleporter has been severely injured in this shocking outcome…]

# [Despite Commander Moore using all 52 nuclear bombs owned by the Hunter Association without authorization and failing to kill Lucifer, Chairman Victor has expressed deep regret over the commander’s unauthorized actions…]

The S-rank was considered a symbol of invincibility for humanity. The deployment of S-rank hunters always guaranteed overwhelming victory.

That’s why when people heard that four S-rank hunters had gathered to take down a single boss, they had no doubt that the nine o’clock news would be filled with praise about how brilliantly the S-ranks fought, how powerful the boss they defeated was, and what a great victory humanity had achieved.

# [Meanwhile, experts analyze that Lucifer diverted the explosive force using the Teleporter’s spatial manipulation skill…]

The greater the expectation, the greater the shock.

This devastating defeat was reported to a nauseating degree. Yet the content was always updated with new information: the increasing number of casualties, injuries, and total damages. These figures, described in astronomical numbers, were too unfamiliar to humanity.

“Useless bastards.”

Kim Jae-min roughly threw the TV remote while cursing the S-ranks who fought Lucifer. Hong Ha-rin timidly attempted to defend them, feeling as if she was being scolded herself.

“But they did capture all the other fallen angels…”

“What good is taking out the minions when you can’t catch the king? That one Heavenly King is dozens of times stronger than all the other fallen angels combined. And he keeps getting stronger.”

His abilities were so shocking that Lucifer’s power became widely known to the public. The ability to copy others’ skills. Leaked bodycam footage of the battle had already spread across various online communities, with comments expressing shock while discussing how Lucifer used various techniques and how quickly he mimicked skills.

Kim Jae-min asked irritably, “Where the hell is Shin Jae-hyuk? Unlike me, his identity hasn’t been exposed, so he should be able to move freely, right?”

“Well, we’re not exactly sure… We understood he was returning directly after his France tour, but suddenly he chartered a private jet to Tibet…”

Hong Ha-rin answered nervously, uncharacteristically flustered by the subtle pressure emanating from Kim Jae-min. In truth, Kim Jae-min was seething with irritation. At this crucial moment, they couldn’t even contact Shin Jae-hyuk, let alone know his whereabouts.

‘If my mother had been hurt… I don’t know what I might have done.’

It was fortunate that Lucifer had invaded Rome. What if he had marched south from the Pyongyang Gate and attacked Seoul? For Kim Jae-min, whose mother’s safety was his top priority, it was an unbearable possibility even to think about.

“Then why did you come to see me? Surely you didn’t just come to tell me about Shin Jae-hyuk’s disappearance?”

“…President Park Ju-gwan asked me to remind you again about the order prohibiting you from joining the battle…”

“Damn politics.”

He had experienced countless instances of incompetent political maneuvering from the higher-ups in Eden too. Nobles who withdrew troops from the frontlines to protect their own territories. But this time, the incompetence of the higher-ups had truly crossed the line.

‘Korea is afraid of me getting stronger, so they prohibit my participation. It’s truly absurd.’

Even though four S-rank hunters had been defeated by Lucifer, the Association still hadn’t come to its senses and continued to check Korea’s power. They were making implausible plans about transporting nuclear weapons with awakened ones who possessed stealth skills, claiming they failed to kill Lucifer only because they couldn’t hit him with nukes.

Kim Jae-min recalled how he had dealt with such incompetence during his time as a hero. What did I do a hundred years ago? Right, I left the imperial palace and eliminated the threat myself.

‘The stronger Lucifer gets, the more danger my mother is in. Rather than risk that danger, I’d better handle this myself again…’

The magical energy in the room fluctuated. Kim Jae-min calculated the coordinates of Rome in his head.

“Wait, Hunter Kim Jae-min? Surely you’re not… Damn it.”

A brief flash of light, and when Hong Ha-rin opened her eyes, Kim Jae-min had already vanished.

***

Above the Colosseum, Lucifer was refining the new powers he had acquired. Having received such diverse teachings recently, he needed time to review.

‘I’ve lost all my subordinates, but I’ve learned various techniques unknown in hell. A satisfactory exchange. However…’

Lucifer tried using various skills. As the skills manifested, the laws of the world twisted slightly before returning to normal.

‘…As expected, reaching divinity is still beyond me.’

Lucifer recalled Elohim’s ability. The power to manipulate the system, possible only for those with divinity. The ability to mold the world itself as desired—truly worthy of being called omnipotence.

Authority.

“Only authority can directly counter authority—not magic, martial arts, or skills. To gain the minimum qualification to face a god, I definitely need divinity.”

While deep in thought, Lucifer suddenly felt the magical energy nearby fluctuate. Space folded with a magical phenomenon, and someone emerged from within.

“You… I know who you are.”

Lucifer welcomed his new guest gladly. New teachers were always welcome. Even those who came to kill him were welcome to Lucifer. After all, the stronger the teacher, the more there was to learn.

Like the hero who slaughtered the previous Demon King.

“Show me how you defeated the previous Demon King, that ability. Hero.”

“…I’ll end this quickly without wasting time. Lucifer.”

The hero’s armor manifested from subspace, covering Kim Jae-min’s entire body. Deep blue magical circuits ran along every seam of the armor.

‘Haste, Strength, Levitation, Reflex Reinforce, Reckless, Trencancy…’

Dozens of enhancement spells stacked on his body. He felt the strain on his physical form, but the artifact armor assisted with the spells. Kim Jae-min, deploying his full power in an instant, moved.

With speed approaching teleportation, Kim Jae-min’s figure reached Lucifer. Behind him, an enormous number of magic circles had deployed.

“First, receive my greeting.”

Spells of a 9th-tier archmage—a level historically reached by only eight people—rained down like bombardment. Though the attack was launched at point-blank range, making it impossible to dodge, Lucifer blocked it with apparent ease. He lowered the spatial barrier that had supposedly blocked nuclear explosions and calmly asked:

“When will you show me the famous ‘Holy Sword’?”

“Well, fundamentally, I’m a mage.”

Divine power gathered in Kim Jae-min’s palm in an instant, and a beam shot out unexpectedly. Lucifer deflected the beam with his wings. Having once been an angel, he had high resistance to divine spells.

“This doesn’t seem like magic?”

“I’m a mage, but also a priest and a swordsman. Being a one-person party requires diverse abilities, you see.”

While continuing his magical bombardment, Kim Jae-min thought to himself. The enemy could copy techniques. Even if he landed an effective hit once, the same move wouldn’t work next time. He needed to look for a decisive opportunity to finish him in one go.

‘Let’s be careful.’

Though Kim Jae-min had defeated the Demon King, he never underestimated the power of the Four Heavenly Kings. He had only defeated one of them—Mammon, who had ambushed him during his first deployment.

After barely surviving alone against Mammon, who was considered the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings, Kim Jae-min concluded that even a hero would struggle against all four. So when he reached his peak strength, he infiltrated hell and targeted the leader of the demons while ignoring the Four Heavenly Kings.

Though he had never faced the other Heavenly Kings, he had been educated about their dangers until his ears bled. Cautiously, he unleashed a dense barrage of attacks, leaving no opening for counterattack.

“You still seem relaxed. Then, I’ll take the initiative.”

As Kim Jae-min kept hesitating to summon the Holy Sword, Lucifer took action. Lucifer’s wings extended in a straight line toward Kim Jae-min. From their tips, Zeus’s lightning shot out like a spider web.

‘Zeus’s? Lightning that decomposes matter. I can’t block this with ordinary magic.’

Kim Jae-min tried to use Blink after recognizing the danger in the lightning. In that split second, sensing spatial coordinates being disrupted, he hastily canceled the spell. Lucifer withdrew his palm with a disappointed expression.

“You’re quite perceptive.”

‘Those incompetent S-ranks… Instead of killing him, they just helped the enemy grow stronger.’

Kim Jae-min inwardly clicked his tongue and used magic. 6th-tier magic, Magnetic Field. Dozens of pairs of magic circles deployed in a spiral pattern, bending the lightning in an unexpected direction.

Meanwhile, Lucifer attacked relentlessly. Perhaps wanting to use the techniques he had learned, he now employed the Pharaoh’s skill. He even had materials left by the Pharaoh when he died. A massive dust cloud rose, and a wave of sand surged.

From within the wave of sand rising to the sky, the upper body of a giant sand soldier emerged. Kim Jae-min prepared grand magic while avoiding the pursuing palm.

7th-tier magic, Rain Field.

From the 7th tier onward, one can manipulate weather, earning the title of archmage. Dark clouds instantly covered the clear sky, and torrential rain poured down. The giant sand soldier, hit by the raindrops, melted into sloppy mud.

“…This has poor maintenance efficiency. Well, that’s fine. I still have many other skills.”

Before Lucifer could use another skill, Kim Jae-min charged in. He emitted cold energy from his palm, stirring the rain-filled air. The raindrops that touched his hand clumped together and froze, forming a long ice sword in his hand.

A sword strike demonstrating that Kim Jae-min was not just an archmage but also a sword master was unleashed. The ice sword grew longer as it absorbed raindrops while being swung. An attack that distorted distance perception. Lucifer grumbled:

“I don’t like physical combat… I’ll use this instead.”

Lucifer flicked the tip of his wing. Spears, swords, and other weapons embedded in the ground flew through the air like a swarm of wasps, cutting through the ice sword.

“Gear Sword? No, the psychic’s telekinesis.”

Kim Jae-min recognized the technique often used by Jang Woo-yi. He knew several other techniques that Jang Woo-yi occasionally used. Suddenly remembering one such technique, Kim Jae-min hastily vacated his position. The space where Kim Jae-min had been a second ago was distorted by a telekinetic bullet.

Kim Jae-min focused his senses on avoiding the mine-like exploding telekinetic bullets and flying cold weapons. In a situation where Blink was sealed, such a volume-based offensive push was truly annoying.

‘But conversely, the main body’s defense is open.’

The best defense is offense. Kim Jae-min faithfully implemented that old saying.

Kim Jae-min saw the optimal path. After sacrificing his left thigh to one rapidly approaching spear, he pierced straight through the network of cold weapons and telekinetic force.

The ice sword, now grown to the size of a greatsword, was covered with something exclusive to sword masters. The sword aura extended just an inch beyond the blade’s tip, but raindrops obscured that boundary, making it difficult to detect the aura’s presence.

“You seem to enjoy quite rough fighting…! Not very elegant.”

“Got you. Hellflame—”

The sacrifice of one leg was worth it. The moment the sword aura finally penetrated the telekinetic barrier, the moment all of Lucifer’s attention was focused on the sword, plasma resembling the fearsome flames of hell poured through the gap.

An incredible explosion that justified the extreme difficulty of the 9th tier shattered the barrier in one go. It was a force that would have been fatal even to a Heavenly King if it had hit directly. The cold weapons that had been flying fell to the ground with a clatter.

‘Did I get him? No, at the moment the spell broke through the barrier, surely…’

When the aftermath of the explosion subsided moments later, Kim Jae-min confirmed Lucifer’s position, now thirty meters away. He had used the Teleporter’s skill to escape the attack range.

Though he hadn’t landed an effective hit on Lucifer, Kim Jae-min wore a satisfied smile. Just before Lucifer used spatial movement, Kim Jae-min had seen the force holding the flying spears and swords disappear.

While healing his thigh with a divine spell, Kim Jae-min nodded toward the cold weapons that had fallen to the ground.

“So that ability isn’t perfect either. It seems you can’t use multiple skills simultaneously.”

“…Not bad. Truly worthy of being called a hero. I thought only a Demon King or a god could face me in this world, but against me, you’ve managed this much…”

“I’m gradually gaining the upper hand. How long can your composure last?”

Upon learning that Lucifer’s ability wasn’t omnipotent, Kim Jae-min’s offensive became even bolder. Along with an intense battle of wits conducted beneath the surface, magic and skills were exchanged. Kim Jae-min cleverly exploited Lucifer’s penalty of only being able to use one copied skill at a time, pressing Lucifer with multi-directional attacks that forced multitasking.

The air was displaced as attacks collided with attacks. The continuous collisions of enormous forces led to meaningful air movement. Due to the updraft, increasingly dark storm clouds gathered in the sky.

When the storm clouds were at their darkest, Kim Jae-min finally brought out his trump card. He muttered habitually to himself:

“A hero is one who cuts down the evil before him.”

Kim Jae-min, who had been exchanging sword strikes with Lucifer’s wings, suddenly dropped his ice sword and assumed an upper stance with empty hands. Particles of light gathered above his empty hands. Materialized divine power condensed into the form of a sword.

“The Holy Sword…!”

Lucifer exclaimed with delight as he observed the manifestation of the Holy Sword. He wasn’t just happy because a learning opportunity had finally arrived.

Lucifer was clearly losing. Though Lucifer knew various skills and techniques, he couldn’t freely apply them all. He merely imitated the results others had achieved.

In contrast, Kim Jae-min, though having fewer techniques than Lucifer, knew how to efficiently kill enemies using various magic and swordsmanship. Being a hero meant studying how to kill demons for a lifetime. Even seemingly trivial techniques, when combined with other magic in Kim Jae-min’s hands, produced remarkable effects.

The longer the battle continued, the more Lucifer was gripped by the intuition of defeat. In this situation, Kim Jae-min played his trump card. It was a crisis but also an opportunity. The Holy Sword was known as the hero’s signature technique. If he could just learn that, there might be a chance for reversal…

‘Huh?’

A pillar of light shot up toward the center of the storm clouds. An incredible torrent of power. A path of light, as if connecting heaven and earth, emanated from the Holy Sword.

“Why?”

Lucifer stammered in confusion. Confusion was plainly visible on his face.

He couldn’t grasp the principle. Though observing with his own eyes, he couldn’t replicate it. This wasn’t the first time he had experienced this.

The moment he fought Elohim. It was similar to the aura Elohim had emitted from his entire body.

“Could it be… divinity? No, it’s something different. You, what exactly are you…?”

“The Demon King called this ‘pseudo-divinity.’ He said it’s an imperfect state maintained only when the Holy Sword manifests, where faith that should be received from many is sustained by the faith of just one person. I don’t really understand such explanations, but I know one thing for sure. You can’t copy this technique.”

Kim Jae-min smiled bitterly. So this can’t be imitated after all. A sword made by molding one person’s soul. Her unwavering trust materialized in the form of a sword. This, more than anything, is the product of a miracle. The final miracle she left for me…

Lucifer seemed to interpret Kim Jae-min’s bitter smile, reminiscing about the past, as mockery. His beautiful face contorted with ugly jealousy. Lucifer’s composure shattered.

“A mortal, daring to—!”

The title of arrogance is permitted only to the strong. Lucifer had lived his entire life as a strong being and took infinite pride in it. The pride of being different from mere crawling creatures. However, the moment he witnessed the hero’s Holy Sword, the moment his certainty in his own superiority wavered, Lucifer’s reason was paralyzed by irrational thinking.

I absolutely cannot lose.

Lucifer desperately brought out one technique. A technique mimicking humanity’s worst weapon. A final move he had sealed away until now because it was so powerful that even Lucifer himself couldn’t control it. A miniature sun formed in the hand of Lucifer, who was prepared for self-destruction.

His hand holding the fireball rapidly melted away in the heat reaching a million degrees Celsius, revealing muscle and bone. But Lucifer, swirling with all sorts of emotions like hatred, hostility, jealousy, and arrogance, didn’t feel such pain. His mind was filled only with the killing intent to definitely destroy the hero who had reached a realm closer to divinity than himself.

When the fireball swelled to a size that could be believed to be the sun descended to earth, Kim Jae-min struck down with the pillar of light at full power. In accelerated consciousness, in a world tinged with monochrome, a distant strike cutting through the sun connected heaven and earth.

Light collided with light.

And…