Chapter 70: Final Apostle (2)
[An impossible feat has been accomplished.]
The power of the Flame of Salvation left my body. In such a situation, I gasped as I crumbled on the floor.
It was a reckless gamble. I would have died if my plan didn't work. Fortunately, everything flowed just as intended.
[The compensation will delayed due to the impossible achievement.]
[Someone from the Administrator Buseau has started a nightmare accessment.]
So those 'people' were beginning to notice. A being from another dimension had entered and exited this worldline so the Administrator Buseau must have noticed this abnormality.
Even so, I wasn't worried because they wouldn't find anything.
[The constellation 'Mother of Dragons' is pleased with the destruction."
[The constellation 'Ruler of War and Wisdom' applauds your fighting spirit.]
[The constellation 'Great Demon of the East' is looking at you.]
(*N/B: Changed the true name of Agares to Great Demon of the East.)
[The constellation 'Architect of Chaos' feels like something is strange.]
....
[The angels of the Eden Society are looking at you.]
[The constellations are amazed by your performance.]
[50,000 coins has been sponsored.]
50,000 coins. I was shocked while looking at the sponsorship messages of the constellations. No one disliked money but the problem was that it was pouring in too much.
Wasn't there a saying for such a thing? It goes like misfortune turns into fortune, and fortune turns into misfortune or something along those lines.
Why wasn't Aurora managing the flow of messages? Ah, she must have been called by Administrator Buseau.
The black reaper died but there is no compensation for the hidden nightmare and lackey disappeared without a trace. What kind of cringe was this?
"Soo Jinyoung-nim."
Lee Dokho approached and looked at me with a strange expression. He was a reader so he must know about the Soo Jinyoung's Pheonix Flame. But I wasn't sure if he knew about the Flame of Judgement.
Would this person know the difference between the Judgement Flame and Pheonix Flame?
"Are you okay?"
From his expression, he seemed to be worried about my well being. So maybe he doesn't know the difference between the two skills.
...Well, If he knew about the Judgement Flame of Heaven, I would have to kill him here.
I closed my eyes and replied, "There was a strong backslash but I will manage somehow."
"I see."
"What about the others?"
"Oh, the party members managed to survive thanks to the hidden pieces. Everything seemed so scary~ but you managed to find the hidden pieces on time. You have my thanks for that."
"Stop talking nonsense. What about the apostles?"
"Ah, about that..." Lee Dokho scratched his cheek, "It seems none of them survived."
"What?"
My eyes widened.
"The black reaper killed most of them and your that flame ability of yours swept away the ones that got caught in the crossfire."
To confirm his words, I swept my gaze around and noticed there were only a few dead bodies scattered around. To be precise, most of them were reduced to ashes.
They died that easily? Since they were readers of Song of Nightmares, I thought they would put up more of a resistance against the Judgement Flame. But contrary to my expectations, they died without resistance.
As if reading my thoughts, Lee Dokho shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal.
"It's no wonder they couldn't put up much of a fight. Their opponent were hellish flames of 3000°C. Even someone like me would melt like a sugar sculpture if I were hit by such flames."
"You sound arrogant if you put it that way."
"Maybe so, but can you blame me? It's difficult to survive with just knowledge. Strength is what counts."
"Hmm...."
I narrowed my eyes at him. But I realised what he said was reasonable. Judgement Flame burns above 3000 degrees Celsius depending on the situation. At temperatures above 2000 Celsius, the human body would melt before it burned which meant the apostles would have died even if they raised their defence stats to the maximum.
Even though the Judgement Flame used here was somewhat lacking compared to its original power, it was still a destructive ability that could not be defeated at this stage.
I sighed. Perhaps my estimation of the apostles was too high from the beginning. Most of them were common readers that dropped off early. The problem was that 'person'.
"Soo Jinyoung-nim!"
My ears picked the voice of another character apart from Lee Dokho.
Jung Yunhee, Angelica, and Kagura. The party members were moving towards my direction.
"Soo Jinyoung-nim, are you okay? Did the death angel..."
"I'm fine. I didn't get hit."
Angelica seemed worried but she tried to hide it as much as possible. That's what I could tell from reading her expression.
In such a situation where there was an unknown variable roaming around, it would be dangerous if she screamed 'Kim Jakga' instead of 'Soo Jinyoung'.
"I didn't know Soo Jinyoung could defeat a death god on her own..." This time, it was Kagura that spoke.
I shrugged, "Why are you impressed with just that? A death god is not that strong in the grand scheme of things."
"W-What?"
Kagura seemed shocked. Not only her but also Angelica and Jung Yunhee while Lee Dokho shook his head.
Monsters were ranked from grade 9 to grade 0, with grade 9 being the weakest and grade 0 being the strongest. While grade 5 demons were frightening creatures, they couldn't compare to the real monsters above grade 3.
Even so, it was completely unreasonable to kill a grade 5 demon at the early stages. Even monsters Soo Jinyoung and Sung Jaewon would be completely powerless against a grade 5 demon at this stage.
Speaking of which...
Crack—
I stood up from the ground and I thought I heard a 'cracking' sound. Did a bone just crack just now? In any case, I stood upright and continued moving without showing a hint of weakness.
I walked towards the spot where the black reaper was slain and picked up a strange substance that was on the floor of the platform.
[5fh grade Black Reaper's Core.]
A core surrounded by an ominous dark light. The core's quality was high because it came from the underworld.
The core can be used to make item belonging to the high class. For example, it can be processed by a blacksmith to make a sword or exchanged in the 'shop' for a high price.
Since my weapon was destroyed, I should probably use the core to create a new weapon. A sword would be good since the quality of the crafting material was high.
But what about a defensive wear? No, buying any form of defensive wear will be a waste of money since I have chosen the Fool's route.
Obtaining a grade 5 demon core in the beginning stages was good, great even. But it was strange.
A grade 5 demon was killed but all I received was the core. Something was definitely wrong.
Didn't a similar scene occur in the Song of Nightmares? I activated a skill and made a comparison in my head.
[Exclusive skill 'Omniscient Wall' has activated.]
[Your thought processing speed has increased due to excessive immersion.]
The mental storage opened and pages began turning inside my head. I went through them one by one until I found the desired page.
「 Zylvar, one of the Twelve Zodiacs of the Administration Buseau, kept tapping his finger on the surface of his table and his brows were furrowed.
The source of his frustration was the document in front of him, with the name "Anomaly Soo Jinyoung" prominently displayed at the top.
'An anomaly, huh... the constellations are beginning to notice but it seems none of them knows about her identify as an reincarnator. It's good at the moment, but how long will it last.'
The document was filled with complaints from various constellations about the player Soo Jinyoung. They ranged from "Why is this person so strong?" to "Is the system broken? She must be hacking somehow!" Most notably, there were grievances from constellations whose Incarnations had died miserably at her hands—some of them even from powerful constellations.
It was natural. To begin with, a reincarnator competing with other players was not fair in the least. If they somehow die in a fight, they can always start from the beginning again. Well, they were also at risk of losing everything and starting again from the beginning. Even so, the experience and skills does not disappear.
It was the same with someone having the knowledge of 20,000 grimories stored inside their head but does not possess the talent to put them into practical use. But it can also be said that the person in question can use that knowledge to give himself a better talent for sorcery. And despite how unfair it seemed, it didn't violate any of the rules.
But the matter of Soo Jinyoung was different yet it was something beyond their influence. In such a situation, the Twelve Zodiacs of the Administration Bureau were powerless to intervene. All they could do was watch.
Zylvar sighed as he closed the report and tossed it into the trash bin. Meanwhile, the lackey beside him was visibly panicking.
"Um, excuse me, boss..."
"Forget about it. Since I said so, everything will be fine."
"But what about the assessment?"
"There won't be one. The constellation backing this person is someone we can't afford to challenge."
"The Twelve Zodiacs can't go against a single constellation? Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Zylvar chuckled at the lackey's nervousness.
"You don't need to apologize. The strength of the Twelve Zodiacs isn't what makes us powerful—it's our influence and authority over the system. But even that is meaningless against this constellation."
"What do you mean, Sir?"
"Let me put it simply. Even If every constellation in the Milky Way united to target this constellation, they would all fail miserably."
"What?"
Even though Zylvar tried to simplify it, the lackey was even more confused. The explanation was more complex than it seemed.
This universe does not end with solar system, and new constellations were born on the regular. Thus, it was safe to say that there were countless of them. The idea of gathering all the constellations was already impossible, and yet Zylvar said even such a force would fail to take out a single constellation.
The lackey's tiny brain struggled to process this. Was the boss messing with him, or was he serious?
With Zylvar's mischievous personality, it was hard to tell for sure. Perhaps the boss was just pulling his leg. In the end, the Lackey reached the conclusion that his boss was just messing with him as he usually does.
"Boss, boss!!"
Suddenly, the door swung open and another Lackey entered the room while holding a document.
Zylvar became even more irritated. Look how that person just opened his door wide. He calmed down and opened his mouth.
"What is it?"
"Someone has demanded for an accessment of this person!"
"What's the name of this person?"
"Sung Jaewon!"
"Sung Jaewon?" The name didn't register at first, but then Zylvar remembered it was on the list of important players.
He clicked his tongue and his irritation deepened.
"First, it was Soo Jinyoung. Now, it's Sung Jaewon. Who requested for this accessment?"
"It's the Intermediate Lackey posted in Japan."
"What? Why is that person sticking their nose into where it doesn't belong?"
"Um, um..."
"Damnit, you guys are really pissing me off!"
"Um, I'm sorry, Lord Zylvar..."
"WHY IS IT YOUR FIRST INSTINCT TO APOLOGIZE!? MORE IMPORTANTLY, LOOK AT THIS!"
Zylvar pulled out another document and shoved it in the lackey's face. The lackey panicked.
"T-That."
"WHY ARE THE SALES RATE LIKE THIS ESPECIALLY IN USA, SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN! WHY ARE THE SALES LIKE THIS WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY RICH INCARNATIONS IN SUCH PLACES!"
"B-But..."
"SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY EXCUSES FROM THAT MOUTH! FIX THIS QUICKLY!"
"Yes, I'm sorry. I'll..."
"AND STOP APOLOGIZING!" 」
That scenario occurred when the constellations suspected Soo Jinyoung and reported to the Lackey to perform an accessment.
It was similar to my situation. But it was different since I borrowed strength from another dimension so my case was more serious than Soo Jinyoung at the time. I expected this but it would be difficult if I was found out.
Suddenly, I heard a trembling voice in my ear.
[You... You... What the hell did you do?]
Aurora. She spoke directly into my mind using private communication.