1361——————==

Soul of the Evil God (사신지혼)

Then Hermes, while inspecting his shattered crystal, suddenly raised one hand to the sky and shouted.

[“Flow of Shefa, reverse!”]

Chijijij

At the moment he shouted, the shattered crystal began to pull itself back together. The pieces, all broken, seemed to want to return to their original form, and seeing that spectacle snapped me back to reality.

‘Time manipulation spell! It reverses time without moving the Small Cycle!’

Clearly, moving the Small Cycle was too much burden for Hermes, so it seemed he was trying to restore the crystal staff through sub-power of time-space manipulation. Normally, I wouldn’t have instantly recognized the nature of his magic, but I immediately understood what Hermes intended and clenched my teeth to cast my power.

“As a servant of Jeon Wook, I command! You shall not reverse the flow of time!”

Twaaaak…!!

At that moment, the partially reattached crystal staff stopped piecing itself together right there.

‘Nice one! Our powers clashing prevents the restoration of the crystal staff.’

I felt triumphant, but soon Hermes swung his hand left and right and said.

[“Tehiru! Mundi! Connect the traces of Johar.”]

Kuung

“Kruak…!!”

At that moment, I felt an inexplicable spiritual storm wave over my entire body, and I realized I was being flung back with tremendous pressure.

‘W-what spell is this…?’

It was also an attack tied to cause and effect, and without any signs, I couldn’t evade or block it. As I was sent sprawling, I felt my flesh and spirit tearing apart as if forcefully separated. This overwhelming magical power coiled around my entire body, and it felt like the power itself had become chains, increasingly widening the gap between my flesh and spirit.

Creeeak!

Creeeak!

[Khuk… Ugh… Ohhh.]

I soon realized that it wasn’t just my voice but my soul that was half-torn as I pronounced the mystical language. A crazy spell that forcibly tore my body and soul apart! I understood why this spell was genuinely terrifying.

‘I had my divine power surrounding my body and was holding the Seven Luminaries, yet it pierced right through my magic resistance and put me in a death state?!’

Having seen countless sorcerers, I had hardly ever faced a spell of such power. Even those who called themselves great sorcerers would usually succumb to mere magic resistance after encountering something like Xuyou. The power of that spell was undoubtedly hundreds or thousands of times greater than that of sorcerers in the human realm.

Realizing Hermes’s spell had indeed reached the level of a transcendent, I quickly tried to summon the Four Great Spirit Deities.

[Dammit! Varuna, create a defensive barrier….]

But I hesitated when attempting to summon Varuna. It was because I realized in my head that it wasn’t the right tactical choice.

‘I’m being led to use a high-cost technique!’

I sensed that the bastard was aiming for a protracted battle. I understood that if I recklessly dispersed the Four Great Spirit Deities against such a powerful opponent, it would leave me in a worse position as time went on. So, I felt the need to find a more efficient way to get out of this situation. Eventually, I made my decision and resorted to another means.

[Soul Exchange Technique!]

Chiriring –

I felt the power of my spirit gather on both the left and right sides. Just after summoning the two potential energies that seemed to symbolize the yin and yang of Tai Chi, I used the Soul Exchange Technique to blast them towards my spirit.

Bang!

With a crisp clapping sound, I realized I had returned to my physical body while keeping my eyes closed. Opposing the spell that sought to forcibly tear my spirit apart, I used the suction power hidden within the Soul Exchange Technique to stitch the connection of my spirit back together.

‘This way, I can return to my body regardless of the power of the spell!’

I then opened my eyes slightly, clasping my hands in concentration.

With a whooshing sound, I heard the chains rattling in my ears. I detected the chains of the summoned spirit from the spell just used by Hermes and visualized in my mind grasping them with my intent.

Gotcha!

‘Caught it…!’

My intent’s hand caught the rough but sturdy chains of the spirit! In that moment, I realized this was also an Intent-Controlled Technique using the Intent Heavenly Pillar, and I immediately clenched the chains tightly with my intent and shouted.

“Is this your chain!”

Kwah!

The spirit’s chains flew and whipped through the air around Hermes. However, I couldn’t strike Hermes because a colorful defensive barrier had already been summoned around him. That was undoubtedly a divine-level sorcery, so a mere spirit’s chain was insufficient.

Then, Hermes suddenly protruded a red gem from his forehead, accompanied by a glowing red aura as he spoke.

[You’re quite accustomed to sorcery battles. Who’s been advising you?]

“Advising? I can take you down solo!”

[Kuhuh… As expected, if you mastered Soul Exchange Technique, you’d be unaffected by spirit-killing spells!]

Hermes laughed, then suddenly glanced sharply in another direction.

[But Lee Kwang doesn’t know the Soul Exchange Technique.]

Oh no!

In that moment, a chill ran down my spine. Hermes’s gaze was accurately aimed at Lee Kwang, who was standing a distance away. I realized that if Hermes cast an evil spell, Lee Kwang would be instantly killed no matter what he did, and I shouted out.

“Lee Kwang!! Run!”

Crackle –

The next moment, a red lightning bolt struck the very spot where Lee Kwang had been standing. No human reaction time could evade that thunderbolt, so I thought Lee Kwang was dead. Without a doubt, the raw destructive power of lightning plus the follow-up Force of Spirit-Killing would forcibly tear apart the soul just like I had just experienced!

But in that nick of time, Lee Kwang had dodged somewhere. No, it would be more accurate to say he anticipated it from the start and moved using the maximum application of Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique.

[It’s useless!]

And the spot where Lee Kwang dodged was not far from me, as Hermes’s red lightning struck the ground once before flying at Lee Kwang with the speed of light.

Kwah!!

Hermes sneered.

[Did you think you could dodge my spell at lightning speed like the Thunder God? Even a giant would be instantly killed by the divine thunder summoned through power.]

“……!!”

[Now that I’ve dealt with a pesky bug, let’s have a proper match, Reborn One…. Huh?]

At that moment, Hermes’s face twisted as if in shock. It was because everyone saw Lee Kwang standing up, brushing off his clothes as if nothing had happened. Lee Kwang opened his mouth, apparently unfazed.

“Good shield you’ve got there.”

Standing before Lee Kwang was none other than King Dae Jo Young. Caught off guard by the sudden situation, Lee Kwang had flown behind King Dae Jo Young, and when the divine thunder followed him, Dae Jo Young must have blocked it.

Crackle

Pzzzz!

Dae Jo Young’s armor glowed crimson and showed signs of burning around the shoulders and sides due to the thunder. Even Dae Jo Young himself seemed heavily injured, his face turned dark as he coughed up blood.

“Gah… Huh.”

Staggering, Dae Jo Young eventually knelt, shaking all over. The power of the divine thunder boasted by Hermes must have left him combat ineffective with a single strike. Witnessing this, Hermes’s eyes shone with interest as he spoke.

[…Lee Kwang, I’m starting to like you.]

“Is that so?”

Ignoring Dae Jo Young, who had been unexpectedly attacked, Lee Kwang grinned and suddenly shouted toward somewhere.

“How long will you keep probing the situation? If you don’t step out, I’ll come over to you next!”

Who was he talking to?

I was puzzled, but in an instant, I sensed something in the air. Lost in focus on Hermes, I had missed a very subtle presence. And Lee Kwang, unlike me, seemed to have the leisure to notice that a third party was present.

However, there was no answer to Lee Kwang’s shouting, and Hermes, with his glowing red aura, spoke.

[Try dodging one more time!]

Crackle!!

Once again, without warning, the divine thunder was released at the speed of light, and Lee Kwang’s sword style also moved ahead of it. Seeing this, I clearly realized one thing.

‘No doubt about it.’

Lee Kwang had predicted the killing intent Hermes was sending and dodged that first! Of course, any Peak Expert would do this, but Lee Kwang was predicting the attack’s direction at least three moves ahead. This was a realm comparable to mere illusions even for a master of the Realm of Intent, and there was no guarantee that even an Absolute Realm master could succeed.

No, the dodging method Lee Kwang was executing right now was perhaps the best way a martial artist could evade against sorcerers and demon sorcerers! At the same time, I realized that Lee Kwang’s momentary speed might be nearing that of the Thunder Spirit, thanks to the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique.

‘I can’t just stand by!’

So at that moment, I attacked Hermes. Drawing upon the Spirit Power of the Six Needs, I charged in with Xuyou and Fire Spirit, unleashing Infinite Slash at Hermes.

Kkaang!!

“……!!”

What?!

I was shocked when the amplified slash could not break through Hermes’s defensive barrier and bounced back. I could hear Hermes taunting me.

[This is the strongest defensive spell, confident even against the Three Sovereigns. Do you think you’ve come this far?]

I didn’t reply and instead focused on the Tydaht Eight Trigrams that were floating in the air, using one hand to manipulate and spread the scroll. Then, I utilized my intent, widening my eyes, and unleashed the power of Tydaht.

Spell nullification!

I thought that Tydaht’s unique power could disable Hermes’s barrier, but contrary to my expectations, Hermes’s defense didn’t budge even slightly. In that moment, I sensed something was wrong.

‘Tydaht’s power isn’t taking effect…!’

What’s going on? No matter how magical it is, it should be no match for Tydaht’s spell nullification…

Could it be that this bastard’s magic is somehow different?!

Kwahbang!!!

Then, shortly after, the strike aimed at Lee Kwang echoed with a different, heavier explosion. The explosion rang from over thirty meters away, hidden in the forest where it couldn’t be seen at a glance.

‘Did I just block it head-on?’

But then Lee Kwang would definitely die. Hermes’s magic held unimaginable power, and without a proper countermeasure against sorcery, he would surely die. I observed anxiously until unexpectedly, the situation unfolded differently.

Swoosh –

I could see something flying through the air. Unlike the speed of the lightning that was a flash of light, this was moving slowly enough to be spotted by even a first-class expert. However, despite its slow speed, its trajectory was incredibly stable, and it didn’t take long for the thrown object to reach Hermes.

Hermes blankly stared at the projectile until his red aura twisted in panic.

[No…!!]

Thwack!!

The next moment, Hermes’s barrier was completely penetrated, and his entire body was skewered as if on a stick, flying away somewhere. Moments later, there was a gigantic explosion.

Kwahwahwah!!

[Kraaaaaaak!!]

Thick black smoke billowed from Hermes’s body, and we could see him glowing from afar. And somehow, Lee Kwang landed next to me and said.

“Is this guy also a companion of the master?”

“……..”

I recognized the face of the person who had arrived alongside Lee Kwang, looking pale and drained of all strength but undeniably familiar.

“Zhuge Hyun. You used Vajra, didn’t you?”

Indeed.

It was none other than Zhuge Hyun!

Having hidden stealthily, he likely reflected Hermes’s strike using Vajra when Lee Kwang inadvertently flew over there, causing the divine thunder to pursue him.

Zhuge Hyun chuckled faintly despite looking pale.

“Haha… I never expected to use Vajra in a place like this…”

“……..”

“How regretful…”

The moment I heard his words, I realized a certain fact. However, I couldn’t bring myself to voice it, so I assessed Zhuge Hyun’s condition while calculating the remaining time of his life in my head.

‘Vajra drained all his life and strength. Just like a bee dies after stinging, Zhuge Hyun will soon meet his end….’

That was a scenario I had already predicted. That’s why Zhuge Hyun had intended to use Vajra against the formidable foe Nailatop, but unexpectedly cast it on Hermes instead.

I gazed intently at Zhuge Hyun and said.

“So it was you who deliberately followed me here to kill me with Vajra at the Heavenly Altar.”

“……..”

At my speculation, Zhuge Hyun weakly nodded.

“…That was the contract between me and Vajra….”