The greatest advantage of absorbing the Monkey King’s exuviae was that Yeon-woo could now use the Five Elements properly. They harnessed the power of nature without needing to resort to Bian as a medium. The greater his magic power, the greater his control over nature would be. He could even cause natural disasters. If he combined this with his skills and powers, what would the result be?

* * *

A black-red arc split through the air. It moved so quickly that the green-haired Astraeus didn’t have time to react, nor was she even able to sense it coming. She had felt something flash, but it seemed like just another ordinary mortal like the players of Dis Pluto. But after she saw the power it contained, she realized too late that it wasn’t something she could ignore.

It was the holy power of multiple gods in the heavenly world who didn’t belong in Tartarus. She could feel the strength that any divine being at her level would hate: the Great Sage!

Why had that crazy bastard’s power shown up here? However, it was too late. The black-red power pierced through her divine artifact, Deneb. She had set up a barrier that could block most attacks but the Ruyi Bang shattered it easily. Deneb exploded, its pieces scattering. The monsters that Deneb summoned grew confused when the connection that pulled them through was disconnected.

Bang!

The attacks didn’t stop there.

[Wave of Fire – Simmering Spark]

[Heaven Bracket – Lightning Strike]

The Wave of Fire didn’t just produce one explosion. Two more explosions blasted out, destroying everything in their path. With the intense lightning of Heaven Bracket added to it, it was a disaster. Boom! Boom! Boom!

Hundreds of fire lightning bolts shot down into the holy territory, lighting up Tartarus, which had only ever known darkness. The explosions and heat that followed swept the monsters away.

[Sword Purification]

[Villain – Expel]

The fire and lightning rain included Vigrid’s option and fell precisely on the targeted enemies as Yeon-woo used Time Difference. Monsters melted in the fire. Without the guidance of Astraeus through Deneb, they were easy prey.

[Factors Conduction]

As the monsters died, curses spread, and those who were affected experienced debuffs. Other combat powers like Hogubyeolseong activated at the same time, combining with each other to exponentially increase the scale of destruction. The corpses of dead monsters piled up like snow.

[Agares laughs maniacally.]

……

[Vimalacitra compliments the scene you’ve created.]

[Vimalacitra expresses goodwill towards you and replaces the power he gave you with a stronger one.]

[The power ‘Black Gubitara’ has been created.]

[Black Gubitara]

[Rank: Power]

[Proficiency 0.3%]

[Description: A power that a demon of has presented to you. As an Asura whose only desire is to fight, Vimalacitra never let go of his sword even after becoming the king of kings and emperor. While on a short break, he looked down into the lower world and was intrigued by you.

He threw away his affiliation with the , discarded his position as the king of kings, and began to live as a nomad once again. Because of this, all gods and demons are afraid that the being who has terrorized them is roaming freely again.

As a gift to you, the one who has reinvigorated his original passion, he has gifted a power that he has never even given to his Apostles.]

[*Where Blood Flowers Bloom

Whenever enemies are spread over a large area, the user has a 35% chance to plant Blood Flowers. Blood Flowers gnaw at the life and soul of the enemy and cause damage by 30 points per second. Damage cannot be recovered. Instead, the user will be healed 1% with every Blood Flower that is planted.]

[*King of Asura

The user will have the upper hand over opponents, forcing them to bend with fear. The user’s attack power will increase with every strike. After 15 successive hits, the destructive power will increase tenfold.]

[*Wise Man’s Eyes

When the power is activated, Vimalacitra’s eyes will descend. The user will gain insight on using the knowledge of a demon with centuries of experience.]

The Black Gubitara that Vimalacitra gave him worked in harmony with Vigrid. It debuffed enemies within a large distance while buffing him. The recovery of his magic power would scale with the number of enemies. Yeon-woo liked the phrase “gnaw at the life and soul”. Depending on how he used it, it gave him power close to that of a divine being.

Since he might need to fight with divine beings in the future, it was a good weapon. The third option, Wise Man’s Eyes, was also an excellent advantage to someone like him, who needed multiple angles of attack. It was like Vimalacitra had made this power specially for Yeon-woo.

Boom!

After being swept away by the lightning fire, the monsters were now in agony as red Blood Flowers appeared all over them. They had suffered a seemingly endless attack that used Dragon Killer, then Flame Wheel, then Wave of Fire, then Lightning Strike, then Factors Conduction, and then Black Gubitara.

Yeon-woo felt all his health and magic power leaving him, but he would be able to regain his strength once his body absorbed the dying monsters. Furthermore, the barrage of attacks didn’t stop there.

「Factors…for…the enemies…who…will die.」 Inferno Sight opened in mid-air, and Boo appeared with a huge book of law.

[Hundun sends his blessing.]

[The power ‘Faceless Lawbook’ has been activated. The power of the Emerald Tablet has been combined with it.]

[The first page ‘How to Operate Marionettes’ has opened.]

The knowledge that he’d absorbed from the magicians of Necropolis was helping him find his way towards the Emerald Tablet. He still mostly used the Faceless Lawbook that Hundun gave Yeon-woo, his powers had greatly improved. The book of law spun around as it opened to the first page.

Black fog settled on the ground containing the massive number of souls in the Despair of the Black King. The souls entered the bodies of the dead monsters. The corpses began to move.

「Wake…up.」 At Boo’s command, each corpse rose like a doll with vague eyes. They ran towards the monsters closest to them. Already tied to the battlefield by the Blood Flowers, the monsters fell from the attack of the possessed corpses. The monster invasion that had seemed to be on the verge of overwhelming the holy territory collapsed as the monsters’ souls were all bound to the Despair of the Black King and added to Boo’s power.

The Bone Dragon appeared in the sky and was spewing Poison Breath.

[Cernunnos’ is giving his Factors.]

[A holy soul is awakening.]

The blue spirit, Rebecca, glowed and split through the air in the form of a sharp wind. Shanon and Hanryeong used their signature skills in combination with the Factors of the gods of war and brought down the monsters at a quick pace.

Soon, the holy territory was overwhelmed by Yeon-woo’s power—or more accurately, the power of the Black King. Only war and death existed.

[Agares slaps his knees at your accomplishment.]

[Nergal smiles in satisfaction at the countless deaths.]

…..

[The gods of death chuckle.]

[The demons of war begin to assess you.]

[You are currently being evaluated. Depending on the outcome, you may receive various benefits and Factors.]

[The gods of death compliment you.]

[The demons of death wonder if they have any stronger powers.]

[There is currently a discussion about you. Depending on the outcome, your level will be decided.]

Yeon-woo remembered a conversation he’d once had with the Martial King as they looked at the unbelievable carnage he’d created.

“How do you go from an ordinary player to a king?” At the time, Yeon-woo didn’t know how he was supposed to catch up to the Martial King and asked him this question. He hadn’t been expecting a comprehensive answer since the Martial King always replied with “By being strong” or “Doing your best”. For Yeon-woo, who wasn’t naturally talented, someone like the Martial King seemed to be beyond his reach.

“By becoming a natural disaster.” The Martial King was telling him to be as powerful as a typhoon, earthquake, or volcano—something that couldn’t be stopped by man.

‘In a way…this is a natural disaster.’ Yeon-woo thought that he was getting close. Even though he was far from the Martial King, who blew away half a city with one punch, Yeon-woo felt like he was approaching natural disaster territory. He was one step closer to becoming one of the Nine Kings.

Swish! The Ruyi Bang spear returned. Urrrng, urrrrng! The black Vigrid and the white Ruyi Bang trembled. The sight of the two colors coalescing was glorious. Yeon-woo looked and met Hades’ eyes.

The always cynical Hades nodded at Yeon-woo and resumed swinging his sword at the Titans. The space seemed to shake, and five of the Titans were blown away until their bodies were lodged into a mountainside.

“You!” Astraeus, who had lost her divine artifact Deneb and her creatures, shouted in fury. She dashed at him with a murderous aura.

The other Titans had swallowed the light of the dead Kronos and turned into Giant gods, but Astraeus considered it foolish to transform her body so drastically. Instead, she had collected Kronos’ light into Deneb, and the monsters she’d summoned were all from Kronos. Deneb’s destruction meant that she had lost all of her power. She didn’t know how her siblings would react, so she was furious and ready to kill Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo reignited his magic power and gripped Vigrid and the Ruyi Bang, which were still combined as a long-spear. The divine being was flying towards him, and it was impossible for him to fight her. However, there was no way to escape, and he had no choice but to face her directly. Strangely, he felt a surge of confidence. ‘I don’t think I’ll lose.’

Was his ego inflated because of the disasters he had caused? That wasn’t it, though.

[A message from Agares has arrived.]

[Message: Hmph! I see those losers in the land of death with their heads in the ground are trying to touch what’s mine.]

[A message from Agares has arrived.]

[Message: Accept me! Let me in! Then I’ll help you smack the face of that loser. How’s that? I don’t think it’s a bad offer for you.]

The lower-level divine being named Ray whom Yeon-woo had met when he first arrived in Tartarus had introduced himself as the captain of Dis Pluto. At the time, Yeon-woo thought he was weaker than he’d expected.

Neither the Martial King nor the Summer Queen had been able to reach a divine level, and to Yeon-woo, the idea seemed impossible. He thought divine beings like Hermes, Athena, and Agares were out of his reach. In fact, the Titan named Perses was as strong as they were. However, Ray definitely wasn’t even close to the Martial King. He had the same aura as the Nine Kings, but he wouldn’t be able to touch the coattails of the Martial King or the Summer Queen.

Why was that? He knew that not all divine beings were the same, but he wondered how they could be weaker than mortals. Astraeus was one of them. Without her artifact, she was only as powerful as Ray, or maybe just a little bit stronger. At this moment, about 900 gods and demons were connected with Yeon-woo through their Channels.

[Wicked Devil]

He chose Agares’ power. His will to fight began to simmer, and a bestial personality took over.

[Black Gubitara – Wise Man’s Eyes]

He pulled down Vimalacitra’s insight. The world he saw through Draconic Eyes and Fiery Golden Eyes turned into a world of black and white. Taking a step into the new world, he sent the Ruyi Bang shooting forward. Vigrid exploded with black Aura, and black flames erupted around him.