Chapter 375

Chapter 375. Reward from the Past (1)

Two days after the modest birthday party, the hunt resumed.

“You unscrupulous bastard!”

Damned System had found something additional—Temoria.

“I showed magnanimity and allowed you to seize an opportunity on this land, yet you repay kindness with betrayal?!”

He had hidden himself beyond the bounds of causality, creating a very sturdy and solid barrier of Patience.

Perhaps Temoria believed that if he lingered, Karlos might eventually change his mind.

That’s why he had no intention of leaving this place, establishing a safe area and hiding.

I had no intention of letting a visible target go.

“Did you really think you could talk about gratitude when all you needed was a meat shield to buy time?”

I went on the hunt without a second thought, now striving to penetrate the barrier Temoria had created.

It wasn’t easy piercing through the layered authority.

It was several times sturdier than the patience barriers crafted by apostles.

“Is this truly the god-made barrier?”

Yet, I wasn’t one to give up due to its strength.

Zhi-iiik, zhiik.

The crystallized puppet was significantly aiding in tearing Temoria’s authority apart.

Just like meticulously slicing through very thick and tough hide.

Every time I ripped one layer of the patience barrier, Temoria’s complexion turned paler.

Still, he didn’t launch a preemptive attack on me.

“Indeed, he’s in a disconnected state.”

The most significant strength and weakness of Temoria’s authority.

It was that the internal and external were disconnected, based on the barrier.

Due to the patience barrier he created, he couldn’t attack me, who was beyond it.

“He’s a fool ensnared by his wit.”

Unless he had another savior up his sleeve, he would only have to suck his thumb until I tore through all the barriers and got inside.

Or he could lift his power and come out to attack me first.

If it were in my nature, I would have chosen the latter.

I would have thought there was no need to stall since we had to face each other eventually.

But Temoria would choose differently.

“As the god of Patience, it’s only natural.”

His mythology half consisted of enduring, persisting, and holding on.

Thus, he would try to endure this time, too.

My prediction was almost accurate.

Whenever I tore one of the several layers of barrier, Temoria created a new one inside.

Once, twice, ten times, and up to hundreds of times.

“A tenacious fellow who doesn’t know surrender.”

Even someone like me, who doesn’t lose to others in persistence, found it exasperating.

Yet, I continued to silently tear the barrier and march on.

Finally, I stood over Temoria’s face, which had turned ashen at my feet.

The remaining distance between him and me was roughly about one meter.

I filled the crystallized puppet piercing the barrier with divinity.

Zhi-iiik, clip!

The puppet, starting to elongate while emitting sparking lightning, precisely targeted Temoria’s forehead.

Even if he stacked the layers of barrier repeatedly, it was just a matter of tearing through them.

If he were an unbreachable shield, I would be a spear penetrating everything.

“Let’s see who wins.”

Clenching my teeth, I poured more divinity into the puppet.

It was so dazzling that an average person might have gone blind.

The struggle between the one trying to block and the one trying to penetrate.

– Ugh!”

The one who stepped back at the end was the one trying to block.

Temoria, withdrawing all the barriers swiftly and pulling his body back, had widened eyes.

He sensed the puppet growing from his rear and moved urgently to the side, rolling on the ground.

My spear pursued him.

Crack.

The spear thrust into the spot where Temoria rolled.

Of course, it hadn’t caught Temoria.

He rolled on the ground once more to avoid it.

“Like a rat, right? It suits you well.”

I sneered intentionally to provoke the one who kept running away.

The glaring golden eyes looked at me, but Temoria’s defensive stance didn’t change.

“If we continue like this, it could take quite some time.”

If he continued to block, I also found it challenging to deliver a fatal blow easily.

How can I make him abandon defense and target me?

“I just need to offer bait.”

Bait that’s so tempting he can’t resist taking it.

From then on, I rushed Temoria like a madman, pretending to be in a hurry.

Bang, boom!

Every time I swung and stabbed the spear, I acted desperate by biting my lip and furrowing my brow.

And eventually, I started to reduce the use of authority little by little.

As if I was trying to save it due to insufficient divinity.

Divinity, unlike mana, is difficult for others to gauge.

The collection speed varies drastically depending on the number of believers and their faith.

Although Temoria was in a state where divinity hardly gathered, he had no appropriate way to ascertain my situation.

Therefore, my actions could sufficiently influence Temoria’s judgment.

“If he assumes that as a newly born divinity, the supply of divinity isn’t smooth, that would be great.”

The trap I laid was quite effective.

As I continuously reduced the use of authority and pretended to be impatient enough that the tip of my spear wobbled, as expected.

Temoria’s eyes glinted, and he threw his punch.

Divinity was abundant in it, a decisive blow that seemed extremely impactful at first glance.

I pretended to be in a rush before the dangerous strike.

However, inwardly, I leisurely looked around the situation.

Something like golden brass knuckles was glowing from Temoria’s hand.

“Was he a melee type?”

If the barrier turned ineffective, he wouldn’t be able to avoid engaging the enemy.

I thought he would have at least one way to protect himself.

I hadn’t expected it to be bare-handed combat.

I kept watch to the end, wondering if he might additionally craft a divine weapon.

However, there was no significant twist.

Just before Temoria’s hand was about to hit my solar plexus, he flashed a grin full of anticipation.

He seemed to have no doubt that his attack would land.

Indeed, if I left it be, it would have landed since the situation was too late to avoid.

But unfortunately for Temoria, I had a trump card.

Time Freeze, whose cool-down had completed.

As soon as I used the function, astonishment was written in Temoria’s golden eyes.

Time stopped, and I grasped his outstretched fist targeting my solar plexus, releasing my pent-up divinity at once.

– Krrgh!”

At the same time, the Time Freeze also had expired.

“It only holds for one second.”

I had purchased a ten-second item, yet it was only one second.

My heart wanted to lodge a complaint to the Damned System about this defective product.

But aware that I was using what should be an amateur league item in a pro league.

I refrained from acting impulsively.

Barely holding in a sigh, the puppet surged in.

– Krrrrgh!”

Not only did it gnaw at Temoria’s hands filled with divinity, but it also remorselessly shredded and scorched his arm.

Additionally, the puppet entangled Temoria tightly, crystallized from head to toe.

Gripping his neck hard, I spoke in a plain tone.

“Just wondering, do you know where Finelpenia is?”

Temoria’s golden eyes began to waver.

The tremor, radiating slowly like a ripple across water, was clear.

The implication was simple enough.

– If… if I tell you.”

It probably meant he would sell out Finelpenia for his survival.

– Will you let me live?”

As expected, the answer flowed from Temoria just as I presumed.

I had no intention of criticizing or scorning him.

I would make the same choice if my survival were at stake.

Therefore, I answered with an indifferent tone.

“No.”

Puh-woosh!

Sharper spikes sprouted from the puppet enveloping Temoria.

– Hwaaargh!”

His scream echoed briefly as the puppet drove into him.

Then, from Temoria erupted an explosive surge of great divinity.

Such was the force that my body was flung backward.

During that fleeting moment, Temoria began his escape.

Of course, I had no plans to let him go and immediately gave chase.

Perhaps to shake off the pursuit, he dived straight into the material realm.

And where he arrived was in the heart of a monster legion.

“This one’s trying to use them to distract me and make his getaway.”

No way.

The unremarkable evolved species no longer stood as obstacles to me.

Without hesitation, I unleashed flame strike.

Bang, boom!

The lightning falling from the clear sky whitened everything in its vicinity.

It wasn’t hard to spot Temoria fleeing through the flames.

Boom!

The descending puppet expertly steered him toward my desired direction.

Soon, hiding my presence, I awaited Temoria and once more seized his throat.

– No, no!”

A desperate shout accompanied my strike aiming for his heart.

In a rush, Temoria wrapped himself with the patience barrier.

Zhi-iiik.

The puppet broke through again, spewing radiant sparks.

It looked like the crystallized state of the puppet had shattered like a bomb.

“Oh.”

It was a learning moment when overcharging with divinity broke the crystallization.

– Hwaaargh!”

Inside the patience barrier, the puppet wreaked havoc on Temoria.

Moments later.

Temoria finally faded away inside the patience barrier he had created.

Absorbing his status and divinity, I drew a long breath, sensing the presence of the Damned System.

《System Message》

Kang Hyunwoo, Kang Hyunwoo. We have found traces of Finelpenia.

The slightly urgent message was accompanied by good news.

“Really? Where?”

Since I was already in Bihar, I planned to purify and move to the said location immediately.

Instead of giving me the location, the System added something else.

《System Message》

It’s… a little odd.

My eyebrows raised automatically as I read the subsequent messages.

* * *

After finishing the hunt for Temoria.

Instead of pursuing Finelpenia, I returned to Earth for the time being.

I encountered those who were just about to go for a walk after lunch.

“Huh? Hyung?”

“Wow, you came earlier than expected!”

It was the twins and Yang Taeho.

Needing to organize my thoughts and desiring a breath of fresh air, I joined them on their walk.

“Woof!”

While holding onto Rice Cake’s leash, slowly walking, I ruminated over the conversation I had with the System.

“Finelpenia’s whereabouts are unclear.”

There were traces of divinity usage, but…

The surroundings were apparently a mess as if a battle had occurred.

What did that imply?

“Perhaps.”

Could it have been an Omby that fought with Finelpenia?

“If indeed that’s the case, she might already have been devoured.”

I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility.

“There’s no saying I’m the only Hunter.”

Wasn’t Sennoa, who had been following closely, gone from sight as well?

If someone started hunting gods, confident they wouldn’t vanish easily…

“I might have lost my turn.”

It was bitter news that had me tutting.

I stood still for a moment, engulfed in frustration.

Just then, Rice Cake, now gigantic, began barking at my left.

“Kheeoong!”

Yang Taeho grabbed the twins by their waists and swiftly moved away from the spot.

Turning my head slowly, I found someone staring directly at me.

Instead of mana, I sensed a faint status from this figure.

“A puppet.”

It was a puppet crafted with Omby’s status, not Agnotia’s.

An Omby replica had entered Earth.

Damned System.

**New Elements and Characters:**

– 테모리아 = Temoria (na)

– 피넬페니아 = Finelpenia (her)

– 백설기 = Rice Cake (it)

– 양태호 = Yang Taeho (he)

– 옴빈 = Omby (it)