3rd Cycle: The Triple Technique did not lead to death by the Tower Master.
During the 3rd cycle, he was caught in a difficult situation, trapped between the Three Great Families.
Although he wasn’t in a position where he had to flee like someone with a death order, it was still bothersome being caught between these factions.
So he temporarily left.
There was time left before the Tower Master’s invasion, and he lacked proficiency in simultaneously using his three unique abilities.
Thus, he visited the African Demon Realm to train.
There, he began honing his skills by battling a higher-ranked monster.
And then he died.
There were many reasons for it.
He fought with a high-ranking Alpha entity and found himself surrounded by a horde of monsters.
With no backup, he had to face them alone, sneaking in without support.
That was the indirect cause.
The direct cause was that the three unique abilities, activated recklessly all at once, clashed against each other.
The resulting backlash was uncontrollable, leading to his death.
The ‘Triple Technique’ can be fatal if misused.
As with the early cycles, there’s inherent danger and burden to bear.
“I need to unleash it up close.”
He understood the risk.
Yet he didn’t back down.
“No time to practice the Triple Technique... same with Taesan. I have to get in close and unleash it with the first strike.”
He could estimate the minimum power level.
If he detonated it up close, he was certain he could kill.
The maximum power? Unknown. He only knew it could kill.
So, he advanced to ensure the kill.
—Sssss!
The venom dragon, momentarily retreating from damage, roared.
Massive mana surged forth, with half cloaking the dragon like armor, while the rest oozed as toxic liquid from between its scales.
Then came the charge. The enormous body of the venom dragon closed the distance instantly.
Its jaws opened, firing a barrage from within its throat.
Though a mere deterrent attack, it was a lethal strike capable of instant death for Lee Hayul.
Fear welled up, but he didn’t retreat.
He spread his wings, their colors shimmering in the night sky.
The spirits residing in the Sky Wings moved at his will.
A form of spiritualization channeled through the Sky Wings.
Handling spirits had always been easy, but in this quasi-spiritualized state, it was even smoother and faster.
He flapped his wings.
The spirits of lightning and fire moved.
Fire propelled him forward, and sparks of lightning crackled along the wings, accelerating him further.
The harsh winds did not sweep him back. A spirit of wind opened the way ahead, pushing him forward while stoking the fire.
A barrage of shots rained down upon him.
He could observe all trajectories. As long as he matched their speed, he could dodge them all.
Unlike before, he didn’t try to intercept them directly.
He simply weaved through the gaps between attacks with his wings.
The attacks narrowly brushed past him.
Out of hundreds of shots, none struck.
Crack! His body screamed in pain. Suddenly, patches of his skin blackened.
He had evaded all attacks, even dispelling the venom in various ways. Yet small amounts accumulated, nearing a critical threshold.
“......”
Fear rose within him.
Still, he did not back down.
He had come here to stop the resurrection of the Two-Headed Venom Dragon as a death servant.
He had disrupted the branch of the Death God Cult preparing the ritual.
There had been no indication that the Venom Dragon would arise during this period.
Common sense dictated it was impossible.
They likely lacked enough sacrifices.
If they had enough, there would be no reason to leave behind a branch that risked exposure.
They probably hadn’t collected enough by-products from the Venom Dragon either.
An investigation confirmed that people had been scurrying around in the shadows to gather the dragon’s remains.
The immediate resurrection ritual was impossible. No matter what they did, they couldn’t raise the Venom Dragon right now.
Understanding this, he came to further delay the timing.
But the Two-Headed Venom Dragon arose as an incomplete death servant.
Countless lesser servants rose, causing the dungeon to go berserk from the influence.
It was different from what had happened in Sipnaja.
Lee Hayul felt a sense of responsibility for this disaster.
So he didn’t retreat. It was too shameful to run for his own life after contributing to this situation.
The venom dragon opened its jaws.
Crack! Its lips split as its maw opened wide, much wider than before.
A forewarning of mana. Every hair on his body stood on end.
From that wide-open mouth came a torrent of mana, far more powerful than before.
“Space.”
He formed a spatial barrier directly in front of the dragon’s mouth. Crack! Pain shot through his head; the overuse of power made his brain feel like it would burst.
The surging venom was blocked by the barrier and splashed back onto the dragon’s face.
—Sssss!
The venom dragon immediately moved. The spatial barrier was a fixed one, so as its head shifted, more venom spilled forth.
In that brief opening, he closed the distance even further.
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A wave of mana... a flood of venom surged forth.
Lee Hayul extended his left arm.
He channeled mana recklessly into the prosthetic arm. Fwoosh! The golden engravings on its surface grew darker.
“Power manifestation, Protection.”
Powers are forces borrowed from external sources.
The most notable are the powers of the Tower, but top-tier artifacts also possess powers of high caliber.
Upon connecting, he received some information. Though he couldn’t learn everything, he could immediately manifest the basics.
The Proof of Protection manifested. Mana gathered at his shoulder, condensing like armor.
Simultaneously, a golden barrier formed around Lee Hayul. He flapped his wings in quick succession, accelerating.
“Closer, even closer.”
With acrobatic maneuvers, he approached, shielded by the barrier. Using every defense available, he protected himself from the venom.
The golden barrier gradually melted away. Layers of defensive spells shredded apart. The thick aura surrounding him dispersed as it decayed.
He was poisoned.
His skin necrotized.
Dark blood seeped from his seven orifices. Gritting his teeth, he flew toward the dragon’s head.
“...I’m here.”
He reached the optimal distance.
His vision blurred.
He opened his eyes. Part of his sickly gray irises had turned a murky green.
A dense fog blocked his sight, with his status screen updating in the corner of his view.
And beyond it, darkness loomed. It was the same darkness he had seen in Sipnaja.
He clenched his teeth, summoning his mana. His core trembled as it released its power, nearly shattering.
“Homogenization, Guhwa Flame.”
Part of his mana transformed in nature.
The Guhwa Flame erupted from his right arm. As his emotions surged, he concentrated the heat in his right hand, keeping it from spreading through his body.
“Homogenization, Changhae.”
While manifesting the Guhwa Flame, he activated Changhae.
Crunch! The Guhwa Flame and Changhae collided within him, alternating between intense heat and cold. His heightened emotions settled, then surged again.
His body creaked. His internal organs were crushed. His mind grew hazier.
A counterforce.
Like a unicorn and bicorn clashing, or light and darkness consuming each other.
The Guhwa Flame and Changhae collided, creating a repulsive effect. If excessive, this repulsion could tear his body apart.
But it wasn’t all negative. If he could control the counterforce, it would grant output otherwise impossible to achieve.
Moreover, there was an amplifying effect.
The Guhwa Flame evaporated Changhae, and Changhae extinguished the Guhwa Flame.
In other words,
The Guhwa Flame could melt the freezing Changhae, while Changhae could calm the Guhwa Flame, which burned anything, even itself.
The same applied to Taesan.
They affected each other. Repulsion drove them apart, and amplification brought them together.
The 3rd Cycle’s Triple Technique utilized both repulsion and amplification.
“Homogenize...”
He drew out more mana. He closely observed how Ji-yeon’s Taesan was manifested and imitated it.
“Taesan.”
His mana changed to an earthy property, not standing on the ground, yet feeling closer to it.
“...Huh?”
His perception changed.
Lee Hayul’s mouth opened.
Blood leaked from his orifices, and blackish blood oozed from cracks in his skin. His circuits ruptured. His senses dulled.
But he was not afraid.
Lee Hayul felt life emanating from the earth. Even as he succumbed to poison, he sensed the vitality of the ground beneath him.
The death servant emitting venom had none of this. The dead... those who were not of life did not carry this vitality.
Within himself... he felt a vitality just as limited as the venom dragon’s.
“......”
Unyielding, Lee Hayul manipulated his mana.
He forced the energies of Guhwa Flame, Changhae, and Taesan into the tip of his right hand.
—Crunch!
His right arm twisted, contorting like a beast trapped in a snare, swollen and misshapen.
The forces clashed.
Guhwa Flame repelled Changhae, Changhae repelled Taesan, and Taesan repelled Guhwa Flame.
And then,
Changhae calmed the Guhwa Flame, the Guhwa Flame ignited Taesan’s vitality, and Taesan sprouted life under Changhae’s water energy.
Repulsion and amplification. The energies magnified endlessly.
The three energies converged at his fingertip, forming a mass no bigger than a fingernail.
Sensing an unprecedented danger from this tiny force, the venom dragon’s eyes widened.
Before it could react, Lee Hayul unleashed the tightly contained force forward.
The Triple Technique.
The tangled energies unraveled in a surge.
The mixed colors darkened, engulfing the area around them.
The venom dragon’s massive form was swallowed by the black sphere.
The sphere continued expanding without end.
There was no explosion.
In the blink of an eye, it spread, consuming everything around it violently.
Soil, rocks, air, clouds, venomous fluid... nothing escaped.
Caught in that force, not even fragments of a corpse would remain.
Lee Hayul’s body wavered weakly. He was swept into the current.
His wings flapped wildly against the torrent.
The spirits struggled to shield their master, desperately fluttering the wings.
But only for a moment.
One by one, the spirits slipped away from the Sky Wings as his consciousness faded, dissolving the spiritualization.
“Mani...festa...tion... Space...”
Just before he was swept away,
Lee Hayul barely managed to activate a spatial leap. A vortex of space emerged in the air, engulfing his figure.
The coordinates warped.
.
.
A sudden crack appeared above the mist-covered lake.
Rip- Out of the dark space, split open to the left and right, Lee Hayul’s limp figure slipped out.
Splash!
Lee Hayul’s lifeless body plunged into the lake.
The surface rippled wildly. Yellow leaves floated on the lake’s surface, swaying with the disturbance.
After a while, the surface regained its calm.
Bubble, bubble...
Instead, air bubbles rose to the surface. Lee Hayul, submerged in the lake, didn’t float back up but continued to sink to the bottom.
The Mana Lake.
This lake held a concentration of pure mana so rare it was difficult to find outside.
That mana-infused water seeped into Lee Hayul’s wounds, circulating through him as his blood and the lake water interchanged and replenished each other.
Gurgle... The lake’s water level gradually lowered.
His hair turned white.
[Savior Adjustment System: Pioneer Path]
[Quest "Two-Headed Venom Dragon" completed]
[Partial completion of Quest "Demonification of China"]
[A large amount of points has been obtained]
...
[Savior Adjustment System: Salvation Path]
[Checking the outcome of a salvation performed with goodwill]
[A large amount of points has been obtained]
...
[The "Curse of the Beautiful Tragic Fate" activates]
[Consumed vitality restores the body]
[...Significant loss of the body detected]
[Immediate recovery is not possible]
[The body size is reduced]
...
[The Tower Master of Growth weeps as the power "Growth" is activated]
[The savior’s body grows]
[A large amount of points has been used]
...
[The Tower Master of Harmony is shocked as the power "Harmony" is activated]
[Adjusting between the savior’s body and the power of Growth]
[A large amount of points has been used]