Chapter 197
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“Prophecy doesn’t work? Even with your power?”
Dongbang Sak raised his eyebrows in surprise.
The prophet Pythia had made prophecies dating back to ancient times. As the fourth female priestess of the Greek Delphi Temple, she demonstrated chilling predictive abilities through divine inspiration.
The powerful of each nation wanted to make her their own. When the clutches of the powerful posed a threat to her personal safety, the Wandering Martial God took her as his seed.
‘The prophecy that was snatched from her by the Martial God was her last prophecy.’
After becoming the Martial God’s seed and living immortal, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a woman, she actively participated in history under various names as humanity’s greatest prophet.
However, after becoming the Martial God’s seed, there was only one prophecy she could not make – ‘The End’.
The right to see the end of humanity was deprived from her by the Martial God.
“I wonder if this…… might have something to do with ‘the end’.”
“Is that so? Hmm… this guy is rather preventing the extinction of humanity though. He maintained the BattleNet rankings this time too.”
“The end of humanity and the extinction you’re talking about are different. The extinction hosted by the Witch of the Void this time is carried out as BattleNet’s penalty. Humanity’s end has more diverse possibilities.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know, I can’t see it. Ask the master who took away my abilities.”
As if he could ask the Martial God.
Longinus frowned.
“…Isn’t it just that he can’t be seen because he has the constellation’s abilities? He possesses the power of a star after all.”
“Constellation? This person has a constellation too? No way… Hmmm….”
Pythia looked at Seong Jihan with interest.
“If it’s because of a Constellation, the prophecy might work if I see him directly.”
“Seeing directly won’t work. No matter how the tutorial is over, it’s impossible for us to intervene on Earth directly.”
“Is that so? Isn’t there a way? It’s a pity….”
From the photo it seems prophecy doesn’t work so she really wants to try it directly face to face.
Pythia did not hide her attachment.
Seeing her, Dongbang Sak opened his mouth.
“There is a way.”
“What is it?”
“As constellations, we can if we find a sponsor to unite with us.”
“Oh… unite? Is that possible?”
“If there’s someone with Gifts well-matched to ours, it’s possible. I found one in Taiwan, Longinus found his in Russia.”
“He’s called Berserker Vladimir right? I want to unite with this guy quickly and give that punk a good beating.”
Bang!
As Longinus made a fist and smiled sinisterly, Pythia grasped the situation.
“Ah, it’s to watch through the BattleNet World Competition. Hmm… watching through BattleNet, prophecy should be possible right? I should find a target to unite with too.”
Then closing both eyes, light sparkled on Pythia’s forehead. The sparks formed a third eye.
Swish!
The white eyes scanned around once then she opened her eyes again.
“I need to find a target in the Northeast Asia League right? To match with his country.”
“That’s right.”
“The one that matches me is on the eastern island country.”
“What, already found them…?”
“Yes. I used the Divine Eyes.”
Then Pythia slightly lifted the corners of her mouth.
“Then, shall we bet who gets the first hit?”
“…You plan to fight too?”
“Yes. It’s annoying that prophecy doesn’t work on him. I want to discipline him too.”
Dongbang Sak stroked his beard.
She’s a prophet but can she fight well too?
‘She has experience acting as Jeanne d’Arc though…’
Then, Longinus intervened.
“But what about the Witch of the Void?”
“I already sent a message. Told them to crack down on witches well.”
“….That’s it?”
“They’ll probably take their precautions, right? The new Witch of the Void will be easier to handle than me.”
“That’s true.”
Compared to Pythia who lived a long life and experienced many hardships, the new Witch of the Void would be easier to use indeed.
“Then let’s leave that issue to them and go discipline that brat.”
“Ok~~”
And so the three servants of the Martial God began intervening in the Northeast Asia League in earnest.
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The fourth dungeon.
“Finally the last one….”
Christopher had a serious expression upon finding the final giant dungeon’s core.
“Illusions related to Yoon Seah appeared in the 2nd, Sword King in the 3rd… I wonder what will appear this time.”
“Will Jihan appear? But the illusions so far seem like bad ending lists… Maybe it’s better if nothing appears….”
“Hmm, let’s see. Seah.”
“Ok.”
What scene will appear?
Yoon Seah summoned Void Arrow with a nervous expression.
Then, like before, purple spreads out.
and then the last illusion appeared before everyone.
‘This is…’
A bleak land engulfed by darkness.
This was a sight Seong Jihan could never forget in his lifetime.
[There are no more lower leagues available.]
[You have been expelled from the Space League.]
[NO.4212. Humanity has been classified as a worthless species. Deletion will begin.]
Humanity losing the relegation battle and being deleted.
“Please… save us….”
His American First colleagues were engulfed by darkness.
[All of humanity has been deleted.]
[You are the last survivor.]
In the final moments.
When Seong Jihan lay alone on the ground with his limbs engulfed by the darkness.
[It’s over.]
Flash!
A brilliant being appeared before him.
An indistinct figure surrounded by brilliant, colorful lights.
But seeing him, Seong Jihan instinctively felt,
‘Is this… the Martial God…?’
From the first sight, surging enmity from deep in his chest.
Seeing the being of light, Seong Jihan felt hatred.
It was far stronger than when he saw Shizuru who tormented him in this life.
Why am I acting like this? It surprised even himself.
[Is this your limit?]
Swish!
The being of light looking down at Seong Jihan.
He slowly stretched out a hand.
[Seed. Enter my body.]
Then,
Whooosh…!
Seong Jihan’s body instantly turned into light and got sucked into his palm.
The Wandering Martial God gripped his now light-filled palm then
Faced the sky and drew a line with his finger and,
The Earth’s sky, engulfed by darkness, completely split open.
The hidden sunlight exploded out, pouring down.
The world brightened in an instant with that one movement.
Seeing the power he unleashed, one incantation crossed Seong Jihan’s mind.
‘…Could this be the Total Annihilation Horizontal Sweep?’
The ultimate technique of the sideways chop in the nameless divine art’s basic skill, Triad of Martial Mastery – Total Annihilation Horizontal Sweep
The Martial God mimicked that skill with a single finger.
The previously shut sky completely opened.
‘To defeat such an adversary…’
He thought he had grown much stronger.
Yet the gap between him and the Martial God was still as immense as heaven and earth.
As Seong Jihan shuddered at the Martial God’s power.
[…You are still lacking.]
Looking at the wide open sky, he spoke unsatisfactorily.
[But… the end is in sight.]
Flash!
With that, his figure disappeared.
And the illusion ended.
‘So that’s why noona said he was a monster…..’
The Martial God’s power which opened the sky again.
Among opponents faced so far, it was clearly overwhelming.
To fight an opponent of that level over a skill?
It was just suicidal competition.
‘…Strange. This enmity isn’t subsiding.’
Seong Jihan was surprised again by his own emotions.
Despite the difference in power being enough to give up everything.
Somehow,
He felt he could fight him.
‘Alright, let’s win.’
Seong Jihan strengthened his resolve.
And in this illusion, organized the difference from his past life.
‘…There was no vote this time.’
The vote which gave him a chance to challenge again.
The 3 Approval, 1 Opposition vote which let him return to the past did not appear this time.
What was the difference between that time and this illusion?
As Seong Jihan contemplated this.
“Uh… is this whole humans-being-eradicated thing really happening?”
“If Jihan was the last survivor, then I died too it seems.”
“No… but seriously, does expulsion from the Space League mean the end of humanity?”
“So, oppa, was BattleNet always this dangerous?”
“I hope the illusion… is just an illusion.”
The people who saw the illusion started discussing it one by one.
Maybe because they saw that future of humanity’s extinction, everyone had the gravest expressions yet.
However,
“In the end there was just a flash of light then it ended… I wonder what happened?”
“Uncle, did you see anything else?”
Besides Seong Jihan, no one properly saw the Martial God’s actions.
“Not sure.”
“But seeing the illusion, it really seems like a bad ending list. Sheesh… is mom just watching stuff like this trapped? It’s probably bad mentally.”
With illusions of her broken family and humanity’s extinction.
Even a sane person would go crazy watching stuff like that.
“No clues about Jiah appeared but… now that all giant dungeons are gone, we can enter the Abyss.”
“Right. Let’s quickly save her. Mom’s probably there right?”
“Before that, Ariel.”
Swish…
As Seong Jihan called Ariel, Shadow Sword disappeared and she revealed herself.
“Tell me a bit about the Abyss.”
“I don’t know the details about the Abyss either. Since Void manipulates that region, it changes a lot.”
“Hmm. Is there anything we should prepare?”
“With the surrounding dungeons cleared, entering should be possible. How about scouting first? With you and the Sword King, no matter what enemies appear you can still escape.”
“Good idea. We don’t know what might jump out in the Abyss, so brother-in-law and I should check their strength first.”
No matter how strong the enemies appearing in the Abyss, Seong Jihan and the Sword King could handle it.
Like when first exploring the giant dungeons, the team let Seong Jihan and Sword King enter first.
“I’ll….”
“You wait over there.”
“Tsk, need to hurry up and become a diamond.”
After making Yoon Seah wait at a distance, Seong Jihan and the Sword King entered the Abyss scouting.
Unlike the dungeon portals, the Abyss was in a rift in the ground.
Powerful monsters popped out from the scarlet rift but
“How annoying.”
Nameless Divine Art, Triad of Martial Mastery – Total Annihilation Horizontal Sweep
Imitating the Martial God’s Total Annihilation Horizontal Sweep from the earlier illusion,
Seong Jihan mowed down the monsters like fallen leaves in autumn wind.
‘As expected, I’m not at that level yet.’
Unlike the Martial God severing the sky with a finger.
At full strength, Seong Jihan could only cut down hundreds or thousands.
Of course cutting hundreds and thousands was still astonishing to others.
But with the Martial God as comparison, Seong Jihan felt his skills more lacking than ever.
‘I need to train the basics again.’
Like that, Seong Jihan took the lead, wildly culling monsters until arriving at the Abyss’ entrance.
Seong Jihan looked at the rift below, seething with crimson energy.
“Let’s go in, Brother-in-law.”
“Yeah.”
Whoosh!
And Seong Jihan and Sword King jumped in together but
[The owner of the Abyss has changed the entry conditions for the Abyss.]
[Only players belonging to the Grand Master League can enter the Abyss.]
[You are in the Platinum League.]
[Unable to enter the Abyss.]
Thud!
Both bounced off the crimson barrier, bodies flung back.
“…What? Grand Master League?”
The Master League and Grand Master League were added when BattleNet entered the main game.
The Abyss required Grand Master rank, completely blocking the two from even entering.
“Are they… kidding me!”
The Sword King unleashed his full power, pouring out his white blade against the rift with all his might however,
Cling! Cling!
The barrier blocking the rift effortlessly deflected all of the sword strikes.
[Sudden changes in conditions have significantly reduced the activity range of the Abyss.]
[The appearing monsters from the Abyss are weakened.]
Due to the abrupt change in conditions, the Abyss received its own penalty. While from the perspective of Korea, it was advantageous to have fewer monsters coming from North Korea, for Seong Jihan and his party who were trying to rescue Jiah, it was a bizarre change.
“Brother-in-law… Can we break it together?”
“Sure. Let’s try.”
The two poured all their efforts into shaking the rift, unwilling to give up, but the barrier did not even flinch.
After three hours of such efforts,
“Wha…what? We can’t enter?”
Having heard the situation, Yoon Seah’s party looked at the rift with bewildered expressions.
Only Grand Masters can enter?
What’s with that requirement?
“Ah seriously… Mom! I’m here! Open the door! Void Arrow!”
Along with Seong Jihan and Sword King’s frenzied attacks.
Yoon Seah also shot an arrow trying to help.
Her power was far weaker than the two but
Swish…
Since it was void-attribute, it didn’t bounce off like other attacks.
“Oh… it’s working?”
Seeing that, Yoon Seah kept shooting Void Arrows but
“…It’s not working.”
The void arrows only got absorbed, unable to penetrate the barrier.
Despite investing days, Seong Jihan’s party ultimately got no results.
“…It’s hopeless. Let’s retreat for now.”
“…Yeah.”
Blocked by the Abyss entry requirements before their eyes, Seong Jihan’s party retreated.
“We need to level up.”
“Right… Grand Master League huh….”
While everyone felt frustrated, trying to meet the entry conditions,
“Wait a minute… my constellation is…”
Yoon Seah, who had been sulking beside them, opened her eyes as if she couldn’t believe it.
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