The moment the expedition team and the king revealed their murderous intent to one another, the Hala Forest came to a standstill. The passing wind, the swaying tree branches, and the shaking grasses all stopped as if they were holding their breath to watch the scene.

“You are not moving.” The king appeared annoyed, but his eyes looked ice cold with the imminent battle on the horizon. “It’s only expected. There’s no way the rest of your body would be able to keep up with that cocky mouth of yours.”

Crackle! While the king was smirking at the expedition team, flames shot up. Seeing the ball of fire burning over Apoline’s palms, the king said in astonishment. “You fool. You think a single hair of mine would be affected by that—me, who came from the sun?”

Uncaring of what he said, Apoline produced another fireball in her other hand and threw it. She didn’t throw them at the king, but at the ground nearby. Boom! With a fiery path of fire and heavy smoke, the dirt on the ground shot up in a flurry. Simultaneously, Ru Amuh and Emmanuel quickly jumped forward. In an instant, Emmanuel checked the king’s sides amid the smoke and dust. He readied his stance and was about to pierce the king with his fleuret when he realized that his form was breaking. Emmanuel’s eyes widened, and he looked down; the king’s fist was in contact with the center of his stomach. ‘When did he?’

“Kuh—!” While thinking this, a pain so strong that he thought his inner organs were bursting came a second later. The king smirked and swung his elbow backward.

Tang. With a heavy sound, the sword aiming for his back fell. Ru Amuh staggered a couple of steps back at the enormous collision. Then the next thing he saw was the king’s leg kicking at him like a ray of light. Ru Amuh tried to avoid it, and he thought he could do it with his synesthesia ability. But as soon as he thought this, he felt a strong impact on his chest, chin, and temples all at once. Ru Amuh looked like he couldn’t believe what he was witnessing and weakly fell backward while spraying blood.

Though the king managed to instantly beat two guys, he didn’t rest. He quickly turned around and swung his arms. Chi-Woo approached the king without a sound but staggered when struck by the king’s whip-like forearm. As his body spun from the shock, Chi-Woo couldn’t hide his bewilderment. He had been closely observing the king’s movement. He saw the king turn his body around and swing his arm, but if he wasn’t mistaken, it appeared the king had several arms.

‘What?’ It was like the king was a thousand-hand bodhisattva. Dozens of strikes came at once, so Chi-Woo felt the impact stronger by several fold each time he was hit. He could now understand why Ru Amuh had been defeated without being able to put up a proper fight. There was no time to think. Chi-Woo looked forward blankly and saw a fist aim for him while leaving dozens of afterimages. It was then a memory flashed through Chi-Woo’s mind.

When he fought his brother in the image representation space, he had felt as if several kicks were aiming at him simultaneously. It was then Chi-Woo suddenly spun around and lowered his torso, all the while extending an arm. Tap! He clutched the king’s wrist. In that short time period, he succeeded in capturing the center of the afterimage.

“Ho! Two times now?” the king exclaimed in admiration, and his head suddenly swayed. It was because the moment Chi-Woo clutched his wrist, he tripped the king with his feet. Chi-Woo thought his attack would be effective when he saw the king’s head drop 90 degrees. But then the king swung his feet into the air like he was simply getting up from bed after lying down, thus recovering his posture.

Chi-Woo looked stunned as he clutched tightly onto the king’s wrist. But then the king used the axis of his clenched arm to spin in the air like a flying squirrel. Crunch! Drr! Drrr!

Chilling sounds rang as Chi-Woo’s bones twisted, and his skin ripped. But the king lightly landed on the ground and twisted his waist. After the king struck his forearm hard, Chi-Woo lost his grip on the king’s wrist.

“Teacher—kuh!” Ru Amuh hurriedly tried to run up to him seeing Chi-Woo struggle, but without even looking back, the king extended his leg back and did a spin kick. No sooner had Ru Amuh gotten up than the front of his foot got pushed back down. After barely managing to regain his balance, Chi-Woo raised his head. The king stood in the center of the three rushing at him. He looked arrogant and completely at ease.

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Chi-Woo heaved hard, and his countenance fell. He was enduring it for now, but the pain spreading throughout his body refused to subside. Though he had spread out as much of the impact of the king’s attacks as possible, it was still so painful. But besides the king’s enormous strength, it was his movements that were truly unbelievable. How could he do a back spin quickly while his body was facing forward? It didn’t make logical sense, at least not by human standards. The clash made it clear that this place was where common sense didn’t apply, just as Lakshasha had said. The king had absolutely no blind spots. He could attack in any direction he wanted at any time. Even while looking at Chi-Woo, Ru Amuh and Emmanuel felt as if the king was also staring at them.

“You have to be careful, especially of the afterimages,” Ru Amuh said weakly while picking himself up. As he said, it really felt as if they were battling a thousand-hand bodhisattva. It was difficult to believe that the king had gotten to this point by himself; absorbing Ismile’s physical information must’ve had a big influence on him. And though Ismile had told them to run as soon as they saw the king, Chi-Woo couldn’t help but curse Ismile inside his mind. How could he have helped an already strong enemy evolve even further?

“Cough, cough…”

The king smiled seeing Emmanuel get up while puking blood. “Look at the condition you are in already,” the king said mockingly and wiggled one arm. “The game is just getting started…!” Both his arms stretched like rubber. Seeing this, Chi-Woo suddenly recalled his master’s teachings that when two opponents of equal skills fought, the one with the weapon was at an advantage. What would happen if an opponent with already higher skills held a weapon then? Chi-Woo gritted his teeth. He felt that the king’s stretched arms were like weapons, and with them, the king would become two times stronger. Chi-Woo hesitated. The current prospects of battle prevented him from approaching.

“Chi-Woo!” From behind, a long piece of luggage came flying following Evelyn’s call. It was the bag that contained the weapons he bought at the buhguhbu’s blacksmith in Shalyh. As soon as he received the bag, Chi-Woo reached inside and pulled out anything he could grab. It was a longsword. Though it was nothing more than a hammered piece of steel, it was better than nothing.

“Oh, you got a weapon?” The king chuckled and stretched his neck sideways. “Let me see your skills now!” He yelled and swung one arm. It stretched and drew an S as it thrust forward. Chi-Woo tried to block the attack with all his might, but his expression contorted into one of complete shock when the sword made a grating sound and broke into pieces at the collision. Emmanuel took that opportunity to rush at the king again, but he had to quickly twist his body around when the king’s other arm came flying his way and grazed past his chest in an instant. Then the king withdrew his left arm and struck the approaching Ru Amuh, all the while chasing after Emmanuel like a snake with his right arm. Emmanuel scattered the impact of the first attack and blocked the second attack by holding up his foil horizontally, but he couldn’t predict the next attack.

The king’s elbow stretched out in strange ways and struck Emmanuel’s stomach like before. As Emmanuel’s form crumpled with a pained scream, the king pushed Ru Amuh back with a hit and swung his arm to the left widely. Chi-Woo threw away his broken sword and changed to a knuckle before rushing forward. Yet the weapon failed to overcome the shock of the king’s attacks and also broke apart. The king clutched Chi-Woo as he staggered about and kicked Chi-Woo’s completely exposed torso. Then he rotated both arms backward and clutched Ru Amuh by the collars and spun. Then, as soon as they met eyes, he jumped and stomped on the center of Ru Amuh’s stomach with both feet, sending him flying.

Though Emmanuel and Chi-Woo quickly rose to their feet, they couldn’t rush forward anymore. They simply stood with their backs pressed together in defense against the king. The king continued to ooze an easy confidence. Chi-Woo gritted his teeth while throwing away his knuckle and pulled out a spear. Though he already knew this wouldn’t change much from experience, there were no other options. Besides, if it wasn’t for the weapons, he would’ve already lost a couple of body parts by now.

It appeared that the king would no longer give them any opportunities. He seemed intent on not losing the initiative now and stretched his arms forward and backward to attack. Nothing changed dramatically. The king struck Emmanuel’s fleuret hard so that Emmanuel’s weight was shifted to the front. Then the king made an uppercut and struck Emmanuel’s jaws. With his other arm, he grabbed Chi-Woo’s swinging spear and broke it. Then he withdrew the arm he used to attack Emmanuel and struck Chi-Woo on the thigh. Chi-Woo dropped to one knee while heaving heavily, and the king instantly turned around, kicking him down with a foot. After approaching the king with his fastest speed possible, Ru Amuh lost his grip on his magic sword, and his body was shoved into the ground. He quickly tried to pick up his sword again, but the king didn’t let him.

Psh! The moment Ru Amuh dropped his sword, his stomach was already penetrated by the king’s hand. The king gently pulled out his fist, and Ru Amuh fell to his knees with his face pale.

“Mr. Ru Amuh!” Chi-Woo ran forward in shock, but the king caught Chi-Woo and threw him like a piece of luggage. Then the king looked around. Emmanuel was unconscious on the ground, sprawling with his arms and legs wide apart. Chi-Woo was rolling on the ground, and Ru Amuh had his head hanging low while kneeling. The king looked satisfied with the three’s condition. Hawa and Yeriel also appeared paralyzed seeing marbles and arrows just pop out of his body. None of Hawa’s attacks even worked on him. He didn’t pay attention to them as if he thought they weren’t worth evading and didn’t care even if he was hit. It was the same for Yeriel. Though she supported her teammates as much as possible, she couldn’t use any large-scale techniques out of worry that her companions fighting in close proximity would get swept into her attack. And Apoline’s elemental expertise made her powers completely useless against the king.

Silence flowed across the surroundings. The entire expedition team was at a loss for words. Though three formidable heroes had fought together, they were all pushed back overwhelmingly. The king had yet to display his full power and seemed to have fought them with a similar level of strength. Yet the situation reached this state. Ismile hadn’t exaggerated one bit. It was as he said, and they understood why Lakshasha had trembled so hard with fear before.

“…Hmph.” The king snorted and turned around. Leaving the three, he stomped toward the remaining four. He closed the distance with just a couple of steps. Hawa pulled out her dagger as the last desperate attempt and kicked off the ground. Yeriel also pulled out her beads and cast them.

Shaaa—! Chains came out of the beads and surrounded the king. The king looked at the chains with interest. Then he swirled around and led Hawa inside the chains’ reach. He also moved so quickly that he managed to reel Yeriel in while she was pulling out a new bead. Then he turned toward Apoline, who was preparing magic even while knowing it wasn’t going to work, and pushed her to where he’d gathered Hawa and Yeriel. In an instant, the three ladies were standing where the king had been with their arms and legs tightly bound by thick chains.

Then the king appeared mid-air and stomped down in the middle of where the chains connected. Pulled by the force, the three clashed against each other and fell.

“This was what was going to happen anyways.” The king wiped his hands and smiled. “Truthfully, I don’t really care what you humans blabber. I know it’s just cheap nonsense said to provoke me,” the king said while looking down at Yeriel, whose whole body was tied up and had a red mark on her face.

“…But.” The king looked toward one side. He walked toward the prone Chi-Woo and said, “It was difficult to hear you talk about the qualifications of a king and whatnot.” The king crouched down. “Tell me. Do you think I look like a king now?”

“…”

Chi-Woo barely managed to raise his head and let out a humorless laugh. To think he would be pushed back to this extent even after achieving unification with his surroundings. Truthfully, Chi-Woo knew that when he fought his brother in the image representation space, it wasn’t his brother’s true skills. And Ismile went easy on him considering his circumstances. It was only because he managed to achieve unification that he was able to join the expedition a bit later, and he had to admit the fact that he was still far lacking compared to a monster like the king.

A question Chi-Woo had asked himself before came to mind: what kind of beings the Sernitas must be that they could make monsters like this?

“I definitely didn’t underestimate you but…” Chi-Woo managed to continue. “I didn’t think you were at this level.”

The king looked a bit taken aback. It was a strange string of words to accept at face value.

“What do you mean…?” Before he could finish his sentence, Chi-Woo’s pupils shone with white light. At that moment, the king sensed a grave atmosphere and backed away a couple of steps.

“?”

Then his face stiffened.

“What was that just now…?” The king couldn’t understand it. The only thing he knew was that he backed away feeling fear—him, who was not just anybody else, but the king.

“Why?” The king felt a mysterious sense of discomfort while looking down at Chi-Woo. He had originally planned to display the king’s generosity once more so that they would do his bidding. But now, the king felt something like hesitation for the first time in his life. For reasons he couldn’t understand, he felt that he couldn’t let things be. All his instincts yelled at him to take care of this man before everyone else.

“…Why…?” Though this man was a bit better than the others in his group, he wasn’t at the level of the human male the king had fought before. It couldn’t be helped. He should kill this male this instant. Deciding that he couldn’t ignore his instincts, the king lifted his foot. He was about to stomp down on Chi-Woo when he suddenly looked around in surprise. It wasn’t only the king. Chi-Woo did the same as a woman walked toward them, step by step. Evelyn was approaching them with her whole body wrapped in bright light.

“…What?” the king exclaimed, sensing the strong holy energy around her. “Isn’t this energy…? How could you…?”

The next moment, Evelyn raised her head and stretched out both hands to the sky.