Episode 647. Extermination of the Demon Cult (5)

‘Even seeing him in person, I have no idea how to deal with him.’

Lee Hoyeon glared at the man before him, gathering his mana.

Even in the original work, there was no proper strategy for dealing with Maestro.

Because at the last moment, Maestro sacrifices his own life to summon the Demon King.

‘Maestro’s mana has a similar texture to my Sky-Piercing Palace.’

Maestro’s mana can even brainwash things without substance.

But that isn’t his will.

The mana surrounding Maestro’s body brainwashes even things he doesn’t perceive.

To be precise, it’s the power of brainwashing embedded within the mana itself that eliminates anything harmful to Maestro.

In terms of dominating a domain, it’s similar to Sky-Piercing Palace, which enhances mana control within a certain area.

The difference is that Maestro doesn’t need to perceive the mana.

‘Can I even break through that mana?’

The mana of Maestro, visible through my opened eyes, was incredibly dense.

It’s only natural, considering there are thousands of humans and demons here alone.

He even brainwashed influential figures worldwide single-handedly while running Pandemic before.

There’s no way mana like that would be light.

If, in a world without Lee Hoyeon, Maestro’s goal wasn’t to summon the Demon King but to destroy the human world, he might have achieved that task alone.

“… Tsk.”

Lee Hoyeon stopped his pointless thoughts and surveyed his surroundings.

The subjugation team had already begun fighting the demons.

Although the two demons and the remaining fiends were strong, the subjugation team’s strength was also beyond imagination.

The battle situation still seemed evenly matched.

‘I have to do this.’

The reason Lee Hoyeon took on Maestro was because he was safe from brainwashing.

If Maestro interfered, the evenly matched battle situation would collapse in an instant.

Even if one knew the brainwashing words, a moment’s hesitation could get their body cut in half.

That’s why Maestro cannot be allowed to go over there.

Thump-

My heart began to beat faster and faster.

The exhilaration of combat senses enveloping my entire body.

My senses sharpened, and my head grew cold.

In this state, I felt like I could defeat anyone.

Blood Beat.

My mana circuits expanded, and mana circulated rapidly throughout my body.

My head, cooled by ‘Clear Mental Power’, began to think of a way to defeat the man before me.

The tip of Sky-Piercing Palace, touching Maestro’s mana, trembled.

Just touching his mana showed signs of the magic about to collapse.

“You may not know it, but I’ve felt our destiny for a long time.”

Maestro looked at Lee Hoyeon and gave a sly smile.

When Maestro first saw Lee Hoyeon, he hadn’t yet submitted to destiny.

From then on, he shone differently from other humans.

Even now, having decided to dedicate his life to the Demon King-nim, his light hasn’t faded.

He will become the final gatekeeper of destiny for the Demon King-nim.

It doesn’t matter even if his own destiny is shattered as a result.

Now that the Demon King-nim’s descent is certain, Maestro has nothing left to lose.

“That damn destiny. Destiny. It’s noisy enough to kill me.”

This thing called destiny that bastard talks about.

Actually, Lee Hoyeon could understand it too.

The A-Class punk, Do Jin-hyuk.

The head of the Magic Research Department, Kim Hyundo.

When I first transmigrated into this world.

Lee Hoyeon remembers the punks who showed malice towards him even though he hadn’t done anything.

The fiend Felix, who targeted Lucy and Lumi.

The head of the Buyer Guild, Park Min-gyu, who made Nam Daeun his slave.

Vice President Shin Dongmin, who targeted Moon Surin.

The wizard Aiden, who liked Im Sol.

Irene, who loves her own brother.

Even among those who didn’t necessarily pick a fight with me, there are people in this world living with the exact same thoughts as in the original work.

Their lives are predetermined from the moment they are born.

Without anomalies like Lee Hoyeon, they would live the same lives no matter how many times this world repeats.

‘But it’s not like they can’t change it at all.’

Irene’s heart, which saw only her own brother and herself as objects of affection, changed.

Baek Ahyoung, who enjoyed being raped, changed into a woman who loved only herself.

This world is a game, but it’s not a game.

If it were a game played from outside the screen, maybe, but as long as I actually exist in this world, destiny can be changed.

Therefore, the destiny that bastard talks about is bullshit.

Fwoosh-

I shaped the overflowing mana within my body into a barrier.

Runic Barrier.

However, the barrier touched by Maestro’s mana became limp and lost its power.

Lee Hoyeon withdrew the barrier’s mana and glared straight ahead.

Maestro began to move slowly.

His brainwashing ability was unique in the world and incredibly strong.

Even an ordinary human, the moment they are brainwashed, forgets fear and becomes a combatant who charges until death.

And strong brainwashing applies to Maestro himself as well.

Brainwashing inherently gets stronger the deeper it involves the mind.

If the target isn’t others but oneself, an even more perfect brainwashing can be cast.

“The power to destroy the world resides within me.”

The power filling Maestro’s body manifested.

The strong brainwashing forcibly pushed Maestro’s limits.

Maestro repeated this to himself and struck the air with his hand.

Fwaaang-!

It was different from a simple movement of mana.

Brainwashing space, the mana received the power of space, creating immense physical force.

“What the fuck…!”

Immense pressure crushing the mana of Sky-Piercing Palace.

Lee Hoyeon stepped back, analyzing the attack.

The power within his mana that brainwashed its surroundings dominated space, swallowing even the mana of Sky-Piercing Palace.

If I had to compare, it was similar to Nam Daeun’s Space Rend.

Maestro’s mana, which could even brainwash the intangible, pushed aside Lee Hoyeon’s mana as if stealing its place.

“… Eclipse.”

Lee Hoyeon frowned as he drew up his mana.

A black sun, burning hotly, revealed itself.

The black sun, devouring mass, charged towards Maestro, fully fueled by Lee Hoyeon’s mana.

“It’s useless.”

Kwaaang-!

With a light flick of his wrist, Eclipse was erased like an eraser.

That wasn’t the end of it.

The sun’s heat was contained within Maestro’s mana.

“Gah…!”

Lee Hoyeon focused on the mana at his fingertips, pushing back Maestro’s power.

The intense heat approached right before his nose and then vanished.

I could feel not only immense concentration but also my mana rapidly draining from within my body.

I felt it was a one-time power struggle.

I can’t win fighting like this.

He launches attacks that ignore defense, while reflecting attacks aimed at him.

I wondered what kind of guy he was, but Lee Hoyeon’s combat sense didn’t give up until the end.

‘Arcs won’t work.’

Maestro’s mana deflects even attacks he doesn’t perceive.

‘I want to save Eraser too.’

Eraser, the magic that erases mana.

If I used it, I could create an opening for a moment, but eventually, the magic called Eraser would also be brainwashed and lose its power instantly.

At the very least, I should save it for when I can inflict a fatal wound.

So, how can I create an opening?

Controlling space doesn’t work, nor does crushing him with overwhelming mana.

Since even unperceived things are reflected, multi-casting isn’t efficient either.

Fwaang-!

Maestro’s mana struck the spot where Lee Hoyeon had been standing.

The destructive power inherent in the mana itself was beyond imagination.

If it’s an unavoidable Space Rend, I have no choice but to dodge.

Lee Hoyeon retreated further and further, biting his lip.

‘Why is he so strong?’

Maestro was strong in the original work too, but I thought he was at most as strong as a single demon.

But the Maestro before Lee Hoyeon’s eyes was much stronger than that.

‘Is there really such a thing as destiny?’

This world is a game, but it’s not a game.

Already, Lee Hoyeon had surpassed the original Lee Hoyeon.

If the original world had been implemented as is, Lee Hoyeon wouldn’t have had to worry about his life.

However, the butterfly effect created by Lee Hoyeon’s growth had already become a typhoon.

The god of this world descended directly as the Demon King, and the demons appeared before Earth’s hunters could adapt to the Underworld’s mana.

‘There’s no reason why he wouldn’t change either.’

Lee Hoyeon didn’t lose focus until the end.

Maestro smiled faintly, watching him.

“It seems destiny is still on my side.”

“Shut up.”

“Check your surroundings. You won’t have any room to spare.”

Lee Hoyeon focused straight ahead, subtly rolling his eyes sideways.

The subjugation team’s fight, which had seemed evenly matched, was getting worse.

The people were constantly being pushed back by the combined assault of the two demons and the fiends.

The corpses of fiends and humans were increasing around them, but the demons weren’t getting properly injured.

In a situation like that, they would have called for reinforcements… but at this rate, the subjugation team might be wiped out before reinforcements even arrive.

The worst-case scenario would be them launching a combined assault on Lee Hoyeon after the subjugation team is annihilated.

I have to defeat that guy before then.

“Gah…!”

Maestro didn’t give Lee Hoyeon time to think.

Kwaang-!

Lee Hoyeon retreated backward again.

Perhaps reacting a bit late, a tingling sensation lingered on my fingertips.

It seems I was briefly exposed to Maestro’s mana.

‘Fucking hurts.’

It just grazed me slightly, but it feels like my bones are broken.

It wasn’t a sharp attack like Karkas’, but it felt like being hit by a giant club.

If I took a direct hit, my body would probably shatter.

‘… Huh?’

But something was strange.

Maestro’s attack swallows mana and becomes stronger by receiving the power of that space.

‘The mana within my body is still intact.’

The force that rushed forward, pushing aside space and mana, couldn’t damage Lee Hoyeon’s mana.

That’s when I could realize it.

His destructive power is real.

The physical force created by swallowing space and mana is something even Lee Hoyeon cannot block.

However, the mana within his own body isn’t brainwashed.

‘It must be because of Clear Mental Power.’

Lee Hoyeon isn’t brainwashed.

That means the mana inside Lee Hoyeon’s body also resists Maestro’s brainwashing.

For a fleeting moment, Lee Hoyeon accelerated his thoughts rapidly.

He gathered the mana spread throughout his body towards his heart.

‘If I draw mana outwards, Maestro will steal it.’

But what if Maestro’s opponent was Karkas, who isn’t affected by brainwashing?

Karkas would probably cut Maestro in half without even knowing what brainwashing is.

‘I was being too cautious.’

He didn’t need to fear Maestro’s brainwashing at all.

Because this body itself was a weapon.

Lee Hoyeon rapidly circulated his mana.

His mana circuits expanded, amplifying the mana within his body.

At the same time, he narrowed the range of the Runic Barrier and Sky-Piercing Palace to the absolute limit.

He recalled Rebecca, who had approached rapidly while clad in the Runic Barrier.

Even a mage could pull off that kind of combat.

‘Closer to the body. No, it needs to become one with the body.’

Even at that moment, Maestro didn’t let Lee Hoyeon freely cast magic.

Maestro, aided by the mana and space from all directions, created a storm of mana.

A storm containing brainwashing mana cannot be blocked by a barrier.

‘Future Sight.’

Lee Hoyeon’s eyes shone gold.

Fwaaah-

His pupils shone brightly, momentarily expanding his senses.

He focused all his nerves on the Maestro before him, predicting his next move.

The unavoidable storm of mana attacking from all sides.

Maestro was certain that this attack could never be blocked.

Kwaaang-!!!!

The shockwave, strengthened by their collision, washed over Lee Hoyeon’s body.

The randomly spreading impact seemed impossible to avoid.

Lee Hoyeon saw a future where his body would be crushed the moment he was exposed to that attack.

However, just before the immense impact reached Lee Hoyeon’s body.

Lee Hoyeon accelerated within the Runic Barrier and detonated the mana inside his body all at once.

A golden flash pierced the gaps between the storm in an instant.

The light headed towards Maestro’s body.

“……!”

Seeing Lee Hoyeon charging directly at him, Maestro’s eyes widened.

Although Lee Hoyeon used strange combat methods, Maestro never imagined he would actually charge in directly.

Maestro gritted his teeth and drew up his mana.

He gathered the brainwashing mana, the surrounding space, and even building materials from everywhere to create a wall.

In that state, he intended to use the air behind him to gain distance, moving over ten meters away.

‘Eraser.’

But the moment Maestro took a step back.

The barrier vanished, and Lee Hoyeon’s form was already before him.

Fwaaang-!

With a tremendous roar, Lee Hoyeon’s fist struck Maestro’s body.