“What?” Demens mumbled dumbfoundedly.
He thought, The ninety-eighth World Ranker? Did he seriously just say that? Does that mean he’s going to kill me? Who does this lowly human think he is?
“Keh... Kekeke...AHAHAHA! I don’t know where you obtained a rare curse like this from, but you’re sorely mistaken!” Demens shouted.
He was a Recorder—an individual with priority rights to write history in the Akashic Records over anyone with common caliber. His caliber may have temporarily fallen, but that fact did not change. He had realized his unique caliber, while his opponent was only of common caliber. That difference was absolute.
The corners of Seong-Hwi’s mouth rose after seeing Demens’s confident attitude.
“Right back at you. Do you think you’re the only one who is special? You’re sorely mistaken,” Seong-Hwi remarked.
[Operating Wings of Evolution.]
[Fourteen Wings.]
[Activating Item Skill: Perfect Save.]
[Releasing the stats stored inside the Absolute Crown.]
The iridescent Wings of Evolution sprouted like blades from Seong-Hwi’s back, and the golden Absolute Crown floating over Seong-Hwi’s head like a halo flashed. He released the Fruit of the World Tree’s power, which had been stored via the skill Perfect Save, commencing his overclocking.
[Strength S(19) → Strength S(23)]
[Magic S(16) → Magic S(21)]
[Destiny Force S(34) → Destiny Force S(39)]
...
The slot machine spun, and Seong-Hwi hit a jackpot.
[Cheon Seong-Hwi
Health: S(19+15) Strength: S(18+15)
Dexterity: S(11) Sense: S(1)
Magic: S(32) Destiny Force: S(53)
He had become a Hexa-S. The conditions to becoming a Spare Ranker were to have at least one S(99) stat or two stats at or above S(50). Seong-Hwi failed to meet either of those conditions, but it was merely a rule formed to discern the worthy from the unworthy. The sum of all of Seong-Hwi’s basic stats put him at a whopping S(164), and that was not all there was to it.
A silver star shone beside the purple Blood of Madness above Blood Castle’s crimson sky. The konpeito-shaped Desire rose, as if to show off its sense of presence. The spikes of Desire wriggled as if licking its lips, and as if not to lose, Blood of Madness flashed with a purple light. The sky rumbled and split into two from the battle of aura between the two stars.
“A... Recorder?” Demens mumbled in disbelief.
This man is a Recorder, like me! I thought Lee Kang-San was the only human unique caliber holder!
Seong-Hwi threw the Spear of Longinus at Demens while he was distracted and flew at him so rapidly that his wings were distorted.
“I’ll devour you!” he shouted.
***
“BASTARD!” Demens shouted, extracting his blood using Blood Control.
Large amounts of blood came out of his tens of thousands of pores and formed a wall to block Seong-Hwi’s spear.
“DIE!” he shouted as he waved his hand.
Hundreds of spears made of blood were generated, each enveloped by considerable amounts of mana and a fatalistic power. Blood Control was a basic race skill that any vampire could use, but it was powerful enough to destroy an entire city if used by a master.
The spears of blood flew toward Seong-Hwi, splitting the air.
“I have some experience in a war of attrition!” Seong-Hwi shouted as dozens of cards flew out of his Tarot Deck of Destiny.
Wands, Pentacles, and Swords, from Ace to Eight—thirty-six each, a total of 108—appeared. The Pentacles defended Seong-Hwi from the flying spears, the Wands spewed pillars of fire to shoot down the spears, and the Swords flew toward Demens. Demens extracted more of his blood; it was a mystery where all that blood was coming from.
The blood blocked the Swords and gathered.
“HAAAAAHHH!” Demens roared as he swung his arms.
A crescent blood slash flew toward Seong-Hwi with enough power to sever his torso from his legs. Seong-Hwi took a deep breath and accelerated instead of evading. The Wings of Evolution, which were distorting like flames, were covered in brown and white feathers after Seong-Hwi converted his Destiny Force to Kinetic Force. He outstretched his arms toward the crescent blood slash, his hands resembling a hawk’s talons.
[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]
A dark red aura enveloped his hands, and he grabbed the crescent slash. Rust instantly spread throughout the blood slash, and Seong-Hwi ripped it apart, turning the giant attack into a powder of rust.
“Wha—”
“HAAAAAHHH!” Seong-Hwi shouted as he unsheathed the Titanic Tide Kris, aiming for Demens’s heart before he snapped out of his confusion.
Demens instinctively created a blood shield using Blood Control, but it simply turned into a fine powder once it made contact with the Titanic Tide Kris enveloped by Rust of Ruin. Demens blocked the kris with his right hand and aimed for Seong-Hwi’s neck with his left hand, but Seong-Hwi let go of the kris without hesitation, dodged Demens’s attack, and kicked Demens’s flank with all his might.
Demens flew across the party hall, along with the echoing cracks of bone, and was smashed deep into the walls.
***
Seong-Hwi controlled his breathing and smiled widely. He said to himself, “It was a great choice, if I say so myself.”
It was only inevitable that he would choose Demens Rabies as the sacrifice for his entry into the world ranking. Demens was a vampire, a race hostile to humans, and one of the lowest-ranking World Rankers. Most importantly, Seong-Hwi had been certain that he could defeat him.
Seong-Hwi lovingly stared at the dark-red aura of Rust of Ruin enveloping his hands and remarked, “This skill is a nightmare for vampires.”
Roughly ten percent of the iron in the body was carried by myoglobin inside muscles and cytochromes inside cells. Thirty percent of it was stored inside the liver, intestines, spleen, bone marrow, and other organs, and the remaining sixty percent was carried by hemoglobin in the blood.
Nothing that contained even the tiniest amount of iron was free from Rust of Ruin’s Corrosion debuff. Of course, exceptions existed, such as the Iron Vein Seal, which Seong-Hwi had difficulty corroding. Hence, Seong-Hwi had asked Bafor about the Iron Vein Seal, which had resisted Rust of Ruin.
“That is the power of my star, Anvil. Although the seal was weakened due to time, I was shocked that you managed to break it.”
As Seong-Hwi had expected, it had been due to the power of Bafor’s unique caliber. Hence, to prepare for even the tiniest of variables, Seong-Hwi had made sure to inflict Demens with the Holy Blood of Degradation.
The power of Rust of Ruin might have been reduced if his star’s magnitude were smaller than mine, but now that his caliber was lowered, we are almost equal! Seong-Hwi shouted inwardly.
If Rust of Ruin was effective against the vampires, who used Blood Force for both offense and defense, Seong-Hwi was no different from their natural enemy. It was also why he had promoted the Rust of Ruin skill stat to S.
“I will use the Ninth Fiend’s signature skill in his past life to wipe you out, vampires,” Seong-Hwi said, believing it was the best way to use the skill.
“GAAAAAHHH! I WILL KILL YOU!!!” Demens shouted, pulling himself out of the hole in the wall he had been stuck inside, and charged at Seong-Hwi.
His appearance had completely changed. The twin moon tattoo on his left cheek was now covering his entire body; his former slender body was now muscular, and his height had grown to three meters. On top of that, the veins bulging from his entire body were as large as garden hoses and were pulsing with purple blood. Purple vapor rose from his body, leaving behind a contrail as Demens charged at Seong-Hwi.
[Activating Star Power: True Madblood Body.]
Demens boiled his madblood and amplified the Blood Force it contained severalfold, which anyone of the Rabies bloodline could perform to use their arcane art, Madblood Body. However, Demens had used the power of his star, Blood of Madness, to upgrade it. It was only possible for him because he had inherited the pure blood of Lord Mulleus, the primordial vampire.
Demens instantly arrived before Seong-Hwi and swung his fist, destroying the Pentacles as if they were cookies. Seong-Hwi grunted as he activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Indomitable Armor, one of the symbols of No.4 The Emperor]
Seong-Hwi raised his guard as a steel armor enveloped his entire body. He was blown backward, his feet leaving furrows on the party hall’s floor so deep that they reached his knees.
“I HAVE YOU NOW!” Demens shouted as he charged at Seong-Hwi again.
Seong-Hwi gritted his teeth and screamed, “I’M NO STRANGER TO HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT EITHER!”
[Converting Destiny Force to Battle Force.]
[Converting Destiny Force to Beast Force.]
[Converting Destiny Force to Seismic Force.]
[Activating Trait: Ten Thousand-Man Killer.]
...
The red Battle Force, which had been amplified through Bodonchar’s genes, gathered around Seong-Hwi’s right fist, and the brass-colored Seismic Force he had received from Tellus gathered around his left.
Seong-Hwi growled like a beast as the Beast Force forcibly brought out his latent potential. He vanished and reappeared before Demens midway in his charge. They engaged in an all-out brawl—Seong-Hwi landed a blow for each one Demens landed on him.
[Indomitable Armor destroyed.]
[Unavailable for 72 hours.]
Dark red bruises formed all over Seong-Hwi’s body once the Indomitable Armor that had been protecting him was destroyed. However, Demens was not in good condition either. He was experiencing excruciating pain due to the Ten Thousand-Killing Aura that permeated his body with every blow from Seong-Hwi.
“GAAAAAHHH!” Demens screamed from the pain as he boiled his madblood even more once he noticed he was getting slower.
Seong-Hwi’s Battle Force, a secondary force that grew stronger the more one fought, grew redder. The sounds of impact soon turned explosive as flesh started to burst with each blow. Blood splurted everywhere, which worked in Seong-Hwi’s favor.
[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]
Rust of Ruin invaded Demens’s body via his blood. The blood in his circulatory system corroded, becoming as sharp as glass fragments. They tore him apart from the inside and interfered with the madblood from boiling.
Demens groaned as fear lingered in his eyes, thinking he might lose. On the other hand, Seong-Hwi’s bloodied expression was filled with the madness of joy. Seong-Hwi’s madness seemed far denser than that of Demens, who had inherited the madness of Lord Mulleus.
“GRAAAAAHHH!” Seong-Hwi roared.
Soon enough, Seong-Hwi landed two to three blows for each one Demens landed. Demens grew slower while Seong-Hwi grew faster. Just then, the brass-colored Seismic Force enveloping his left fist subtly vibrated. It was Quake Force, Tellus’s signature ability.
Seong-Hwi’s left fist smashed into Demens’s solar plexus, and the energy of Quake Force radiated throughout Demens, shaking his organs.
“KURGH! BLEGHHH!” Demens vomited a bucket’s worth of blood as he retreated.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Seong-Hwi shouted.
[Converting Destiny Force to Holy Force.]
[Activating Race Skill: Orbis Repulsio.]
White rings made of Holy Force restrained the retreating Demens. Demens destroyed them in just a moment, but it had bought the time Seong-Hwi needed.
“HAAAAAHHH!” Seong-Hwi screamed as he converted his Destiny Force into the remaining secondary forces he had been saving.
[Converting Destiny Force to Draconic Mana.]
[Converting Destiny Force to Demon Force.]
[Converting Destiny Force to Chaos Mana.]
[Converting Destiny Force to Harmony Force.]
[Activating Race Skill: Harmony Rainbow.]
The highly individualistic Holy Force, Draconic Mana, Demon Force, and Chaos Mana became one within the iridescent Harmony Rainbow. Seong-Hwi grabbed the Harmony Rainbow like a saber and slashed Demens’s waist. Demens tried to boil his madblood to drive away the Harmony Rainbow, which had gone halfway through his waist.
“No, you don’t!” Seong-Hwi shouted, smiling as he canceled his skill.
[Canceling Race Skill: Harmony Rainbow.]
The Harmony Rainbow, which had been fusing the four secondary forces into one, vanished. The Holy Force repelled, the Demon Force devoured, the Draconic Mana exploded, and the Chaos Mana corrupted. The immense explosion from the recoil tore Demens’s upper body from his lower.
Demens grunted, trying to use Blood Control to reattach his upper and lower body. Since he was in his True Madblood Body state, he was confident it could restore his body like new as long as its parts were reattached within a few seconds. However, he was in the middle of combat.
“Who said you could do that?” Seong-Hwi said as he activated various skills.
[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]
[Chok Chun-Gyong the Unfortunate Martial God]
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Sword of Koksan.]
[Activating Exclusive Skill: Chok’s National Sword Technique.]
Seong-Hwi assumed the stance of Fierce Tiger Hides in the Forest as he leaped forward and sliced the chains of blood connecting Demens’s upper and lower body. Each end of the chains was corroded via Rust of Ruin.
“N-no—”
“Goodbye,” Seong-Hwi interjected as he assumed the stance of Direct Correspondence, piercing Demens’s heart.
Once Demens’s heart made its final contraction, Rust of Ruin used the blood from the heart to bloom like a flower as if to celebrate Seong-Hwi’s entry into the world ranking.
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