Chapter 235: An Eye for an Eye

Episode 235

Time manipulation.

It was a concept that even Kim Jinsung, who always considered the worst-case scenario, had never imagined.

He was stunned, his mind momentarily frozen by the unexpected ability.

[Snap out of it!]

Dantalian’s booming voice shook him out of his stupor.

‘…I need to warp out of here.’

He activated the ‘Dimensional Teleportation’ skill.

The scenery changed instantly.

He was no longer in the pitch-black darkness, but in the middle of a city, surrounded by buildings.

He appeared on the rooftop of one of the buildings, and

“What happened?”

Park Do-joon asked urgently from beside him.

“It was a complete failure.”

“Damn it…”

“We’re moving on to Plan B. The target is the Alpha Clan headquarters.”

Park Do-joon’s face contorted in dismay.

“The Alpha Clan?! Of all the clans, why the Alpha Clan headquarters?”

“Hurry up! We need to execute the plan before they regroup.”

“Damn it…”

He grumbled, but then quickly turned on his walkie-talkie and started reporting to someone.

“Plan B is in motion. I’ll report back as soon as the headquarters attack is ready.”

“Okay.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Kim Jinsung vanished from the rooftop.

He reappeared above the Alpha Clan headquarters,

using the ‘Complete Invisibility’ skill to observe the building from the air.

He was waiting for Park Do-joon’s signal to initiate Plan B.

‘Are you sure about this?’

He asked Dantalian, taking advantage of the brief lull.

[What? About Hemingston’s ability?]

‘Yes.’

[Yes, I’m sure.]

Dantalian continued,

[I was suspicious from the beginning, seeing him teleporting as if parts of the video were cut out.

Even Demon Gods leave traces when they move quickly. But Hemingston left no trace at all.

And when he blocked your attack at the end…]

He recalled the scene where Hemingston had blocked Kim Jinsung’s attack with a sword, despite being hit by an Abyss missile.

[I was certain that he was a time manipulator when I saw the sword appear out of nowhere.]

‘…There was no sword?’

[Think about it.]

He quickly replayed the events in his mind.

…It was true.

Hemingston hadn’t been carrying a sword anywhere on his body, not on his waist, his back, or in his hand.

‘He even attacked me with his bare hands at first.’

And then, he had suddenly swung a sword with all his might during their final clash.

Where did the sword come from? It hadn’t been on his body, and none of his subordinates had given it to him.

‘I didn’t even see him take it out of a subspace pocket or anything. So could it be…?’

[He’s a time manipulator.]

Dantalian interrupted him, his voice filled with conviction.

‘Are you absolutely sure? What if he has a different ability? Like the ability to teleport weapons from a subspace to his hand…’

[If he had such a trivial ability, how could he have attacked you twice, when you’re moving at the speed of light?]

He was silenced by Dantalian’s rebuttal.

[And I know someone who acts exactly like Hemingston.

‘He’ also has the ability to manipulate time.]

‘Really?’

[You need to use ‘his’ ability.]

Dantalian’s voice took on a familiar tone,

the tone he used when teaching him.

[Because the only way to defeat a time manipulator is to have the same ability.]

‘…How can I use time manipulation? And who is ‘he’?

[Remember what I taught you before I left the demon world dungeon yesterday?]

‘That’s…’

His eyes widened as he realized what Dantalian was talking about.

‘…Don’t tell me…’

[Yes. You know who ‘he’ is now.]

He nodded.

The only being he could summon with the ability Dantalian had taught him yesterday was…

At that moment,

– Everything is ready.

Park Do-joon’s voice came from his earpiece.

“Initiate Plan B.”

He swooped down towards the Alpha Clan headquarters.

* * *

Meanwhile,

“Phew…!”

“We’re alive…”

“Is everyone alright?”

The Vice Masters, who had escaped through the dimensional rift, were gathered in a secret location inside the Alpha Clan headquarters, sighing in relief.

The Alpha Clan members were quickly assessing the damage and reporting to Hemingston.

“Reporting, sir. We have 24 casualties, including 3 seriously injured. Fortunately, there are no fatalities, and the seriously injured are expected to make a full recovery.”

“What about the Vice Masters?”

“No casualties, sir.”

“Good. Everyone, return to your positions.”

“Yes, sir.”

After the reporter saluted and left, Hemingston looked around at the Vice Masters, who were still shaken by their encounter with the Demon Gods.

‘They might have been wiped out if I hadn’t been there.’

If he, who had experienced the final floor of the Demon Realm, hadn’t attended the meeting,

and if he hadn’t been able to use the ‘Time Reversal’ ability,

most of the Vice Masters would have been killed by the Demon Gods.

‘This just proves it. Demon Gods are beyond our capabilities.’

Even he, Hemingston, had chosen to flee, not fight.

How could the Vice Masters, who were much weaker than him, survive against the Demon Gods?

‘Fortunately, I was able to use Time Reversal to find out the coordinates and escape…’

▷ Time Reversal: Reverses time. Only the user retains their memories of the events that transpired.

The maximum time the user can reverse is 10 seconds.

As soon as he realized where they were, he had used the ‘Time Reversal’ ability to go back in time.

He returned to the 5th floor of the demon world dungeon, grabbed a ‘Dimensional Coordinate Calculator’ that had been placed near the meeting room,

and then immediately returned to the final floor of the Demon Realm. He quickly calculated the current coordinates and used ‘Time Reversal’ again.

He then prepared to open a dimensional rift to the Alpha Clan headquarters and opened it as soon as they arrived at the final floor.

‘I barely managed to escape with the help of my subordinates, but it was still dangerous. Especially that Kim Jinsung…’

His eyes darkened as he thought of Kim Jinsung.

He had used ‘Time Reversal’ and ‘Time Stop’ once each during his two encounters with Kim Jinsung.

He had first used it right after discovering Kim Jinsung’s location.

He had managed to pinpoint his location by tracing the flow of Demonic Energy towards the dimensional rift, but the rift had closed in the meantime.

So he had used ‘Time Reversal’ to go back 10 seconds and then used ‘Time Stop’.

▷ Time Stop: Stops the flow of time in the current dimension, allowing only the user to move.

The time limit is 0.01 seconds.

The time limit was extremely short, but it was enough to launch a surprise attack on Kim Jinsung.

It was only possible because of his high power level.

‘That bastard, he’s incredibly fast. I never thought I would have to use my ability again just to block one of his attacks…’

To be honest, he hadn’t been able to block Kim Jinsung’s final charge at first.

He had only reacted after Kim Jinsung had already charged and destroyed the dimensional rift. That was how fast he was.

He had used ‘Time Reversal’ to go back in time and then used ‘Time Stop’ to intercept him along his charge path. Otherwise, he might have been killed.

‘…At least we’re out of immediate danger.’

They had successfully returned to the Alpha Clan headquarters without any casualties.

Now that they were back on their home turf, they could prepare for any attack from Kim Jinsung’s side, much faster and safer than in the final floor of the Demon Realm.

“Thank you, Hemingston.”

Yoo Jun-ho approached him and bowed deeply, his gratitude sincere.

“We wouldn’t have survived if it weren’t for you.”

“Don’t let your guard down yet.”

Hemingston said firmly.

“Only Kim Jinsung appeared in the final floor of the Demon Realm. The others could attack the headquarters at any moment.”

“I know. I’ve already requested emergency reinforcements from all the Major Clans.

All the clans in the Center Zone will send their troops here within 10 minutes.”

“…Alright.”

He stared at Yoo Jun-ho, who was bowing his head.

‘He’s truly a remarkable talent. That old man from the Korean Clan wasn’t exaggerating when he praised him.’

He was calm and collected, even in a crisis, and his response to emergencies was swift and flexible.

Considering his proven individual abilities, he was a perfect leader, except for his lack of experience.

‘Duke has a long way to go to catch up…’

His gaze shifted to Duke, who was standing behind Yoo Jun-ho.

He was staring at Yoo Jun-ho’s back with a cold gaze, just like he had done in the 5th floor of the demon world dungeon.

At that moment,

*Woooong!*

A familiar sound came from the ceiling.

He looked up and saw a large warp magic circle forming.

‘How?!’

This was the Alpha Clan headquarters, a place where outsiders couldn’t enter without permission.

How could an unauthorized warp magic circle appear here?

‘Could it be those bastards from Kim Jinsung’s side again?’

As he was thinking,

someone appeared through the warp magic circle, and

“……!”

His eyes widened in shock.

That was…?!

—