Chapter 57
A gigantic sphere rose within the dungeon, looking completely out of place, like a whoosh of magic!
It was smooth like a mirror, reflecting all light, and on one side, blood was splattered all over with a splash!
“Open it! Open it!!!”
Yoo Jin’s fist never stopped. Bam bam bam! His punches rained down with enough force to shatter even the largest boulders.
Even as flesh tore and fingers broke, he seemed unaffected.
Thud “It’s reflecting all the impacts…”
Alicia silently watched the scene, clicking her tongue. A barrier that sends all the shock back in the opposite direction. It meant there was no way to break through with physical force.
But Yoo Jin, constantly banging on a barrier that should be impenetrable, didn’t seem foolish; Mi Jeong was trapped inside.
Having seen what Mi Jeong meant to Yoo Jin, Alicia could somewhat empathize with his feelings right now.
“Calm down. Hitting it will only hurt your hands.”
“Let go! Let go of me!”
“Please, calm down. You need to conserve your strength right now.”
“Hah…”
Alicia jumped down from the ceiling, slowing her descent with wind magic, and hurriedly wrapped her arms around Yoo Jin’s waist, stopping him.
Someone had to talk him down. Otherwise, Yoo Jin would have kept punching until his hands and head shattered!
|Not a barrier or a wall. How strange. I can’t find a way to break it. What a pity, human.|
“…”
Though Alicia couldn’t find the words, she felt just like Ifrit.
She had no idea what this sphere was.
It looked like an object from another dimension.
Not knowing what it was made it seem even more impossible to break.
Mi Jeong would die.
Or maybe, she had already died.
“A…”
With a defeated expression, Yoo Jin lifted his hand to the sphere.
He put his battered hand on the blood-soaked mirror.
Seeing his unfocused eyes was agonizing.
From those eyes, he seemed to see Mi Jeong, making her heart ache too.
Alicia turned her head away from that feeling.
‘He really cared about her…’
He said she was just an object.
That he could discard her without a second thought since he bought her cheap.
That was a lie.
A lie that deceived even himself.
‘Now it’s wrong. I have to get revenge.’
She couldn’t lose focus.
Kali was also trapped in there.
This sphere wouldn’t last forever.
Once the barrier disappeared, they had to ambush and kill.
Revenge for Mi Jeong.
Just then, she was about to speak to shake Yoo Jin back to reality when…
“…”
The focus in Yoo Jin’s eyes returned.
Determination sparkling in his gaze.
Without saying a word, he picked up a ring that had dropped on the ground and slipped it onto the finger that already wore another ring.
Then, he brought his blood-soaked hand back to the sphere.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t break it with physical strength. But with telekinesis, maybe.”
“Huh?”
“Telekinesis isn’t a magic that applies force to an object; it’s a magic that moves objects. If I have enough mana, I can move anything.”
“That’s…”
That was a stretch.
Alicia’s mouth started to close as she tried to protest.
It was true, after all.
Telekinesis didn’t apply physical force.
It directly affected the object to move it.
But that was just a theoretical understanding.
The principle of moving an object with telekinesis was essentially about pushing the surrounding materials easily interfered with, like air.
Most of the power came from there.
The heavier and more complex the object, the closer it was to being impossible to interfere with telekinesis.
“Phew…”
But Yoo Jin didn’t care about any of that.
He didn’t care how likely it was.
If there was even a speck of possibility, there was no reason not to try.
“Ifrit. Help me just this once.”
With the help of the mana stone, mana control activated.
All the mana within his body gathered to Yoo Jin’s heart in an instant.
Suddenly, mana began to flow rapidly throughout his body, as if he were the only one left in the world.
With heightened concentration, he controlled the mana as if he could feel each drop of it.
“For the last time, help me.”
Telekinesis.
The one magic he had succeeded with just once.
That time was both his first and last.
Even he didn’t know how he had cast it.
He only wished to break free from this situation, and that desire had manifested into the shape of telekinesis before he knew it.
Even then, it was solely thanks to the Great Spirit’s assistance that he could activate it.
At least, that’s what Yoo Jin believed.
|It’s impossible|
“…”
As Ifrit’s resolute answer returned, Yoo Jin squeezed his eyes shut.
He had never wanted something more desperately.
But he couldn’t give up just because he was turned down.
He kept his focus unwavering.
Now he had to hold on to the rapidly out-of-control mana and prepare to unleash it.
Just this once.
If he released it once, all his mana would be expended, and that would be it.
If he failed this time, there would be no next one.
|Back then, I didn’t help you. I won’t help you now either.|
“What?”
As Ifrit’s late reply echoed, his concentration nearly shattered.
Yoo Jin was dumbfounded, losing the words to respond.
To say he hadn’t helped at all!
When the mana stone touched his chest, had Ifrit not been playing a prank?
‘Was it truly my own power?!’
That seemed unimaginable.
After that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t use telekinesis twice.
“A!”
But Yoo Jin soon understood.
The essence of magic was to strongly conjure the needed visualization, guiding the mana to yield results.
If any impurities like other emotions mixed in, its effectiveness would greatly decrease.
That’s why meditation and mind control were emphasized during magic training.
He was required to become a monster, suppressing emotions and leaving only rationality.
All the failures he had faced were not due to any other reason.
There were just too many emotions.
Each repetition brought about a flood of conflicting emotions.
All affection and hatred turned into love-hate, all suffering and joy mingled together.
It felt like all emotions were fused into one.
He had to wipe them all away.
Even those buried in his subconscious.
It was an act nearly impossible.
“Just do it!”
Put another way, it wasn’t impossible.
Yoo Jin’s will clashed with that realization.
In a split second he didn’t even notice, everything but his desperate desire to save Mi Jeong vanished.
All emotions swirled around and disappeared.
And simultaneously…
“Whoa?!”
Kugugugu!
The sphere that should withstand all impacts,
began to crack!
Crash!
And just like that, the sphere shattered, leaving a hole.
Light poured in, revealing Mi Jeong’s face.
It looked like a faint emotion flickered across that usually expressionless face.
“…Yoo Jin?”
“Don’t touch my stuff.”
Yoo Jin gritted his teeth, murmuring.
He had never been this angry before.
If Mi Jeong had died, he might have lost his mind with rage!
Being alive was the only reason he could contain his fury.
|How could you break the Heavenly Armor Plate…! Ugh!|
Yoo Jin’s body flew like lightning and slammed Kali into the ground.
He had already exhausted his mana.
But despite the pain as his muscles spasmed,
he forced his unwilling body to move and thrust the dagger.
“Ah! No! I can’t die like this! I— I can’t die like this!!!”
“Ha! You realize this is your dog’s death, right? Just die, you pest!”
Crack.
The weakness seen through his trait.
The dagger pierced the poison sac inside her body.
Ahhhhhh!!!
A moment of her dying screams echoed.
And as Kali flailed on the ground with her sharp legs,
her movements came to a sudden stop.
Soon, the demonic energy seeping out of Kali’s body gathered in the air, forming a black sphere that thudded to the ground.
It was over.
One of the Four Heavenly Kings.
The druid Kali, who sought to dominate the World Tree and bring calamity, was killed by a mere human.
“…Yoo Jin.”
As Yoo Jin pulled out the dagger and turned around at the frail voice, he saw a pale-faced girl collapsing, her legs giving way.
Ignoring her bleeding knees, Mi Jeong crawled toward him.
When Yoo Jin moved to meet her, she threw herself at him.
“…Yoo Jin! Yoo Jin, Yoo Jin!”
“Are you really taking off the ring after I told you to die? So stupid.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? It’s my fault for giving a bad order. I didn’t expect you to listen so well. So here’s another order—listen closely now.”
“…Okay.”
“Don’t die. That’s an order.”
“…Okay! I won’t die! I swear I won’t die!”
Hiding her face in Yoo Jin’s chest,
Mi Jeong sobbed in response.
Crying without tears, she rubbed her face against his chest.
It seemed there was no way to easily pull Mi Jeong away.