Chapter 78: Energy Fusion (3)
—Listen well. This one is the supreme sword among supreme swords, the Thunder God Sword, which has accompanied the third to seventeenth sect leaders of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the foremost sect under heaven.
A solemn, dignified voice echoed widely through the boundless darkness of subspace.
Few were present to hear it, but the sword showed no concern whatsoever and continued speaking.
—A wandering swordsman rejected communion with this one and sealed me within the Abyss Prison. Yet I am the Thunder God Sword, the greatest among renowned blades. To prevent the annihilation of the world, I shall never give up—I will persuade that wandering swordsman once more.
Once called a demonic sword, the Thunder God Sword now flew freely through subspace, darting here and there.
It pierced through raging sandstorms, passed over raw graveyards where the faint stench of corpses lingered.
Finally, it discovered the group gathered before the malevolent hellfire brazier.
—Indeed, there are others here besides this one. How did you all come to be imprisoned in this place?
The Thunder God Sword circled excitedly around the people, delighted to encounter them.
Three pairs of eyes followed the sword’s swift movements.
Jacob was the first to speak.
“So the nonsense I’ve been hearing was coming from that sword?”
—Nonsense? How rude. This one is the Thunder God Sword, which served from the third sect leader of the Heavenly Thunder Sect…
The sword flared up indignantly and launched into another lengthy self-introduction. Jacob simply closed his eyes.
Though it was a language from an entirely different world, understanding it posed no problem.
Hunters could comprehend dungeon languages upon awakening—and since the Thunder God Sword originated from a dungeon, the same rule applied.
—Though this one briefly lost reason due to the demonic arts of the Heavenly Demon, leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult and sovereign of ten thousand demons, thanks to the secluded sage, I regained my original power.
The variant, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
“What was the name of the world you came from?”
—You wish to know the term for the entire world, not just nations? It was commonly called the Lower Realm, or the Mortal Realm.
At the Thunder God Sword’s answer, the variant turned to Jacob and Stalker.
“Ever heard of a dungeon by that name?”
“Nope. First time.”
“Sounds like one of those Asian martial arts novels. I’ve seen something like it once.”
Stalker said, eyes fixed on the wildly darting sword.
Dungeons manifested backgrounds from countless other dimensions.
Among them were ancient Eastern martial worlds straight out of wuxia tales.
—I am curious about the world you all inhabit. Could you describe it? As detailed as possible, if you please.
The Thunder God Sword zipped around energetically as it spoke.
At that moment, the variant—who had briefly closed his eyes—opened them again.
“The Great One orders us to capture that annoying fly.”
—Fly? Are there flies in this place as well?
“Catch that thing? It looks dangerous as hell just by looking at it.”
Stalker said, still tracking the sword with his eyes.
—Could it be that this one has been called a fly? Hmph… The morals of this world have truly fallen to the ground…
Tssss… tssss…
Pure white energy began to rise faintly from the Thunder God Sword’s blade.
The variant raised his black mana; Creep immediately enveloped both arms and legs.
Jacob and Stalker quietly retreated behind him.
Shuuk—
Creep extended from the variant’s outstretched arm like a stretched rubber band, attempting to ensnare the Thunder God Sword.
In that instant—
KRRRTS!
Pure white lightning erupted from the blade and shredded the Creep to pieces.
—Aah… How long has it been since I last crossed blades with another…!
The Thunder God Sword’s voice rang with exhilaration.
The variant remained calm, fully covering his body in Creep as he waited for the next opening.
—Where are you two going? Come at me all at once—it matters not! To face this one, you’ll need at least that much! Hahaha!
Regardless of the sword’s provocation, Jacob and Stalker had no intention of clashing with it.
If they still had their black mana intact, perhaps—but without it, they lacked any means of defense.
Especially Jacob, who was unarmed; retreat was clearly the wiser choice.
KWA-KWA-KWA—
The Thunder God Sword unleashed lightning that tore at the variant’s body.
Yet the Creep coating him acted as a shield, disintegrating in his place.
“……”
Though the variant’s face remained expressionless, inwardly he was deeply troubled.
Even at full power, he couldn’t so much as touch the sword, let alone capture it.
And the Thunder God Sword wasn’t even fighting seriously.
It was toying with them—like an adult humoring children.
“A formidable opponent. Now I understand why the Great One finds it so irritating.”
—The Great One finds me irritating? How disappointing. And who is this Great One? Perhaps the master of this prison?
The Thunder God Sword flared up again at the variant’s words.
“I’ve seen all kinds of lunatics in my life, but this is a new kind of crazy.”
Jacob muttered, staring at the sword.
Talkative, hyperactive, eccentric personality—and not even human, just a sword.
Even during his time in GODS, he had never encountered anything quite like it.
KRRRRRUMBLE!
A blinding flash erupted from the Thunder God Sword and struck the variant head-on.
BOOM!
The freshly regenerated Creep coating his body exploded outward in an instant, sending the variant’s form floating into the air.
“Khk…”
The variant coughed up blood, eyes vacant.
At that moment, Stalker—who had retreated—pointed at the sword and shouted,
“Anu, rise!”
The jackal, which had been lying down resting, slowly stood.
It had already been given the name “Anu” and seemed successfully tamed.
It was no longer in its humanoid form standing on two legs, but had reverted to a beast walking on all fours.
Though training had only just begun, it already obeyed Stalker’s commands remarkably well.
—Oh? A wolf? No, it looks too gentle for a wolf. Too fierce to be a fox. What a strange creature indeed.
The Thunder God Sword circled Anu, marveling at its appearance with genuine curiosity.
“Anu, bite!”
At Stalker’s next command—
“Awoooo!”
Anu threw its head back in a howl and launched itself toward the sword in midair.
Tssss—
Its body shifted mid-leap into humanoid form, summoning a halberd into its hands.
CLANG!
The blade and halberd collided with a deafening roar.
—Not an ordinary beast, but a yōkai. Stronger and quicker than it appears.
KRRTS—KRRRTS—
White lightning coiling around the sword scraped against the halberd; Anu flinched for a split second.
The next instant—
BOOOOM!
The Thunder God Sword unleashed lightning in all directions.
Anu, charred pitch-black, was hurled far away.
Crackle—
The variant spun Creep around his body to barely deflect the lightning, but took a direct hit and dropped to one knee.
Jacob and Stalker—who had no proper means of defense—were already sprawled on the ground.
Fortunately, they had retreated far enough from the epicenter to avoid serious injury.
With everyone down, the Thunder God Sword spun gleefully in place.
—What a pity, what a pity. If your skills had been just a little better, we could have exchanged a few more proper blows.
Tssss—
For a moment, black sparks flickered along the blade, but they were instantly overwhelmed by white ones.
—The malevolent aura keeps irritating this one. Wandering swordsman, are you listening? I would like to speak with you again.
***
『This demonic sword is polluting subspace. It definitely has a mental world, yet the imprint refuses to take. It’s defective trash.』
The tentacles’ voice was thick with irritation—an emotional outburst Jin-young had never heard from them before.
‘It does talk a lot. But it won’t last long, so just endure it a little longer.’
On the flight back to Korea, Jin-young had grown so tired of the sword’s nonstop chattering that he’d shoved it into subspace.
Since Shin Soo-jeong’s enhancement would eventually wear off, he planned to take it out again later.
The problem was not knowing exactly when that would be.
While receiving her enhancement, the sword had greedily absorbed a massive amount of mana—making the exact duration unpredictable.
Still, according to her, it wouldn’t exceed 24 hours.
And since subspace time flow didn’t affect it, there was no real cause for worry.
『Jacob and the others were all defeated by the sword. If you don’t discard it soon, someone will die.』
‘They’re not the type to die that easily, so don’t worry. I’ll pull it out once I’m done here.’
『Hellfire research is nearly complete. Only fusion remains, so I’d prefer to proceed quickly.』
‘It’ll be done soon.’
Knock knock.
When Jin-young knocked, a voice from inside called him in.
He opened the door to find Information Chief Ho—looking unusually cheerful.
The moment the chief saw Jin-young, he broke into a wide grin.
“Ah, you’re finally here. Come in, sit down. Want anything to drink? Tea? Coffee?”
At the unfamiliar friendliness, Jin-young narrowed his eyes.
“Chief… have you been drinking?”
“Drinking on duty? No way. Oh, do you want some? I’ve got a bottle of good whiskey I’ve been saving.”
“No need.”
At Jin-young’s refusal, Chief Ho raised an eyebrow but quickly returned to smiling.
“Well, suit yourself. Still, thanks to you, I’m in a great mood.”
“Thanks to me?”
Jin-young sat down, voice puzzled.
“Yeah. You probably heard—I had a meeting with CIA Deputy Director Lily Dalton yesterday.”
“I heard it happened right after the assembly ended.”
“I’ve never seen Dalton so submissive in my entire career. She said they’d accept every single one of our demands. Of course, there’s always a chance they’ll backtrack later.”
Chief Ho still looked moved, eyes misty as he recalled yesterday’s events.
“Why the sudden change of heart from her?”
“Why else? Because of the performance you put on at the assembly. No one saw it in person, but word travels fast.”
He was clearly referring to how Jin-young had forced Kyle and the Zero-grades to their knees and repelled the prophet Lyle.
“So she got scared of me?”
“Exactly. I used to get so stressed thinking you only caused trouble, but yesterday? All that built-up stress just melted away.”
Chief Ho had spent countless sleepless nights cleaning up Jin-young’s messes.
When he first heard about the assembly incident, his vision had gone dark.
But the moment the ever-arrogant CIA bowed its head first—he still couldn’t forget that scene.
“So you’re saying I can keep beating people up without consequences?”
“That’s… well…”
Chief Ho, who had been chattering excitedly, suddenly turned serious and began to ponder.
Jin-young continued regardless.
“Is that all you wanted to tell me?”
“…I’ll think more carefully about whether you can keep beating people up and get back to you.”
“Do whatever you want. I’m going to meet the other agents and run some training—check their progress too.”
As Jin-young stood to leave, Chief Ho hurriedly spoke up.
“Ah, by the way—Deputy Director Kim from the secret lab was looking for you.”
***
“Come in, come in—our hero.”
The moment Jin-young arrived at the secret research lab, Deputy Director Kim Jeong-moon greeted him warmly.
He had business at the lab anyway, and Kim Jeong-moon looked to be in an excellent mood.
“You seem to be in a good mood too, Deputy Director.”
“Of course I am. Thanks to the white mana you provided, we’re very close to developing healing potions that surpass anything we’ve made before. We’re calling them ‘Elixirs.’”
“That’s great news. Like I said last time—I’ll lend you the orb.”
Jin-young retrieved the gray orb from subspace—the one he had borrowed back from Yoon Soo-ho—and handed it over.
“Ohhh, thank you. Now we can start collaborating with Shin Yang Group’s dungeon material development team.”
“Anything else besides the Elixir?”
“Of course. We can begin full-scale production of the Creep suppressant right away. With a bit more research, we might even create semi-permanent light sources.”
“Understood.”
Jin-young nodded and headed toward the training area set up in one corner of the lab.
The entire room was lined with solid black steel—where Hong Jun-su had once trained Eun Ji-eun.
Since he was already here, he figured he might as well test something in the training room.
“I’ll borrow this place for a bit.”
“You have full permission to use anything here—no need to ask. I’ll go study the orb.”
“Yes. Good luck.”
Kim Jeong-moon hurried off, clutching the orb tightly.
Jin-young stepped into the pitch-black training room.
Currently unused, it was an empty space—no people, no equipment.
It had been designed for Eun Ji-eun’s rampaging red mana and ice abilities, so for security reasons (and because cameras would just get destroyed anyway), no surveillance had been installed.
Hong Jun-su, having completed rehabilitation, was resting at home.
Eun Ji-eun was reportedly preparing to join the Intelligence Department as an agent.
He’d probably meet her soon as a secret agent.
With those thoughts in mind, Jin-young summoned the black brazier from subspace.
Dark crimson hellfire burned fiercely within.
The hostile mana emissions and grotesque voice of Prophet Lyle were gone.
The tentacles’ mental assault must have broken his spirit completely.
At that moment, the tentacles spoke.
『The reason hellfire never extinguishes is simple. It is a cycle of energy.』
‘A cycle of energy, huh.’
Within the flames, energy endlessly circulated, granting it eternal life.
Lyle’s soul embedded in the hellfire was likely part of that cycle.
He was curious how the soul had been infused in the first place.
But there was something more urgent.
Shuuut—
Simplified portals opened on either side of the brazier.
Two tentacles shot out.
Chwararak—
They simultaneously wrapped around the brazier from both sides.
Jin-young began raising his psionic energy.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAAAA—
He instantly increased the output, generating an invisible storm that filled the training room.
At the same time, black mana poured from the tentacles, completely enveloping the Furnace of Life.
Hwaaaaak—
Under the tentacles’ power, the hellfire flared violently for a moment.
Soon after, the psionic energy bursting from Jin-young’s body flooded the entire training room.
『Beginning the energy fusion attempt now.』
The sword is hilarious af😂
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