Chapter 205

Chapter 205
## Chapter 205

Heaven’s Turn Society’s Master (2)

A gorgeous radiance from the setting sun filled his field of vision.

It was an incredible view capable of mesmerizing anyone, yet Hans was in no position to relax and enjoy it.

Snap!

The crimson light of the dusk was gradually but firmly suffocating him.

‘This is a critical situation.’

He subtly shifted his jaw, verifying that the freshly mended bone was properly set, and then cracked his neck.

‘If not for the “Immortal Heart”, I would have been completely wiped out.’

His upper jaw had been utterly vaporized by a strike of holy power, which shattered his mask at the same moment.

The exposed bone of his face, paired with the dark malice radiating from his form, produced an unimaginably terrifying presence.

“Do you intend to keep your remaining undead hidden? You still have a few ploys left, don’t you? Or are there boundaries to what you can do?”

[Hehehe, there is absolutely no need for that. Why don’t you exhibit what you are capable of instead?]

Even with his mangled form, Hans answered with utter certainty.

As long as his core remained undamaged, he could not die.

It was irrelevant whether his physical shell was ripped apart or pulverized; minor injuries meant nothing to him.

“Hmph, you possess quite the nerve.”

The Master sneered, beat his wings, and remained suspended in the sky.

A pair of massive snowy wings spread out, with a shimmering nimbus hovering behind his head.

And his blazing eyes seemed to slice right through the gloom, while his divine resonance blanketed his entire figure…

He appeared as the literal manifestation of a holy arbiter, sent down to wipe away wickedness.

Particularly with the skeletal abomination, Hans, exuding a malevolent resonance directly in front of him…

‘Hmm… This makes it look like I am the villain here.’

Even though the truth was completely the other way around!

He felt a sense of injustice, but the current scenario was unmistakably a clash between light and darkness.

Even if he was viewed as a dark hero back on Earth.

“I intended to conclude this swiftly, but your endless mending is becoming tedious. Shall I increase the velocity?”

The moment that thought crossed his mind,

The Master’s pitch dropped, and his divine energy erupted.

Simultaneously, the warped environment began to cave in from every angle, resembling an oncoming deluge.

Boom—!

Hans composedly attempted to anchor the dimensions and locate an escape route.

The environmental distortion was now interwoven with divine energy, making it far more troublesome to manipulate, but it remained within the capabilities of his arcane expertise.

Nevertheless, it required time.

By the time he believed he had shifted to a secure position, hundreds of blades forged from crimson divine energy were already cascading from the heavens.

‘This is absurd.’

Furthermore, the unrelenting environmental distortion persisted.

It was only logical that he was sustaining injuries.

‘This is the absolute worst shape my physical form has been in since I ascended as the Immortal King.’

He was indifferent to his body being shattered, but the persistent bombardment of concentrated divine energy was placing a heavy burden on his internal power management.

If this persisted, he would eventually hit his boundary in shielding his core.

‘I have accomplished enough for this encounter. I ought to pull back while the opportunity presents itself.’

It appeared to be the correct moment to retreat.

—

Boom—

Within an isolated pocket of that turbulent realm,

“Hmm, hmm! This is absolutely riveting!”

The disheveled, middle-aged individual, Doctor, was studying Hans through his “Eye of Truth”, nodding his head with intense fervor.

“Ah~ What a tragedy! I must cut him open to analyze him thoroughly! Yet capturing him while he breathes does not seem simple!”

However, even his “Eye of Truth”, which possessed the capability to deconstruct the framework of all spells and esoteric secrets, had its boundaries.

He had tailored it specifically for investigation, meaning it was quite inefficient at breaking down a target cloaked in a turbulent energetic torrent from a distance.

In simpler terms, he required the target’s compliance for an accurate assessment.

Whether that compliance was given willingly or extracted by force.

“Yulryeongja, I require your assistance!”

“…Me?”

Doctor’s abrupt declaration caused Yulryeongja, who had been silently watching Hahoe Mask, to shift his gaze toward him with a conflicted expression.

“As is evident, that Smile Mask continues to mend himself unless we obliterate the center of his chest. Yet if we destroy his heart, we forfeit an invaluable specimen! It would be a catastrophic loss to the world! We cannot permit that! We must take him alive!”

“But there is no method to accomplish that, is there?”

“Why shouldn’t there be? The ideal candidate is standing right beside me!”

Doctor smirked, staring at him with a look of pure glee.

Yulryeongja felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

His expertise lay in psychic dominance and confinement, but he had already met with failure once before when facing Hahoe Mask.

Replaying that memory, he attempted to rationally state his position.

He needed to present it clearly and straightforwardly for the lunatic to comprehend.

“As you are well aware, I am reduced to this state because I suffered a defeat during a conflict against Hahoe Mask within the psychic realm. I still have not recovered from the trauma inflicted upon my consciousness, and my physical vessel is in a wretched state. You are the very person who evaluated me, Doctor.”

He scowled and cast his gaze down at his own form.

He possessed a mechanical substitute eye to replace the one he had surrendered, his once powerful limbs were now withered, confining him to a wheelchair, and there were even flaws within his vital organs, causing him to spit up blood periodically.

Requesting him to infiltrate Hahoe Mask’s consciousness once more under these circumstances was equivalent to ordering his demise!

“Yes! I comprehend! I entirely comprehend! Yet that is precisely why you must execute this, Yulryeongja!”

Be that as it may, his logical presentation failed to register with the maniac.

However, there was a specific motive behind why he had raised the topic…

“Retribution, do you not desire it?”

The individual with the manic gaze murmured enticingly, a sinister grin playing upon his features.

“I can assist you. I possess a rudimentary concept of how to achieve it. I have even fashioned a tool in advance! Hehehehehe!”

Upon absorbing those words, Yulryeongja cast another glance toward Hahoe Mask…

And gave a determined nod, taking the object that Doctor held out to him.

—

In the thick of the clash,

“Oh? It appears he is preparing a maneuver.”

The Master’s sudden observation caused Hans to cock his head.

It did not appear as though the comment was directed at him.

“Very well. Let us witness what you can achieve, Yulryeongja.”

Yet the Master pressed on, seemingly indifferent to his opponent’s confusion.

And a brief moment later, Hans finally recognized the identity of the person being addressed.

Whish—

Identical to the previous instance when the middle-aged foreigner arrived, a figure materialized out of thin air.

He was seated in a wheelchair, his lower limbs apparently incapacitated.

The Master must have warped the environment once more, given that Hans had been unable to perceive his approach.

‘…This is aggravating. My perception is obstructed, making me feel utterly blind. And… Yulryeongja?’

He had undoubtedly encountered that title previously while parsing data.

He was the individual commanding the entirety of the East Asia sector.

‘That person is Yulryeongja? He possesses a distinct optical trait. Is he a voyager from a technologically sophisticated realm?… Hold on, this resonance… it feels familiar… ’

As Hans heightened his vigilance,

His hollow sockets locked onto the man’s sight line—.

Flash—!

And he instantly materialized directly in front of an individual he had crossed paths with before, within a realm dominated by shadow.

-It has been some time, Hahoe Mask. You appear to be thriving. I have been enduring agony every single day following that encounter.

A mangled spectral silhouette, radiating a sickly green tint, with a missing limb and innumerable lacerations.

‘It is that degenerate from before.’

He was the entity that had been concealing himself within the consciousness of a Heaven’s Turn Society associate, monitoring him while he was managing the Blood Alliance extremists.

[Hehehe! Indeed, it has been a while. You still draw breath? I assumed you might have expired.]

In truth, he felt a modicum of appreciation toward the figure.

Hans had managed to secure the “Path of Magic” and expand his capabilities precisely due to the remnant of consciousness the man had left behind.

‘I assumed he was merely a high-ranking member, but I did not foresee him being the East Asia regional chief. I failed to identify him because his resonance was entirely distinct back then.’

He had been so consumed by the ‘Immortal King’s Fragment’ that he had not paid him much mind, but even during that period, he had been remarkable.

The situation had been rather perilous until he successfully redirected the remnant against his attacker.

And even at this moment, his capacity to breach the psychic sanctuary with a mere glance was deeply unsettling.

He was forced to expend a massive quantity of power to fracture his psychic barriers, meaning external time had virtually ground to a halt, and it could not be sustained for long.

[You fled during our last encounter, and now you return? It appears that thrashing was insufficient.]

He had been intending to pull back regardless, and now a source of nourishment had presented itself to him.

It was a perfect chance to elevate his strength and eliminate a premium asset of the Heaven’s Turn Society, so Hans concentrated his psychic reserves, swelling his ethereal profile as he closed the distance to the man.

-I suspected you harbored a malevolent entity sealed within you. But the ‘death’ of existence… Well, I suppose the distinction is negligible. And you have grown considerably more potent since our last meeting.

Yulryeongja dispassionately studied Hans, who was nearing him, his colossal silhouette constructed from concentrated void energy.

He exhibited zero signs of terror, despite the manifest peril.

[Hmph! You undoubtedly possess a hidden contingency.]

Hans halted his advance and gradually elevated his pressure.

He did not strictly require this precaution, but it was wiser to be prudent than reckless.

Naturally, he remembered to ready ‘Dismiss’, just to be completely certain.

-I would stand no chance against you in a straightforward conflict of wills.

However, his adversary was not so easily intimidated.

Regardless of how much lethality was woven into his strike, it was inadequate to shatter the man’s psychic bulwarks in a handful of strikes…

-Doctor is truly magnificent. To think he engineered an instrument of this caliber capable of functioning within the spiritual landscape.

Yulryeongja murmured with deep respect, staring at the sphere resting in his palm.

-Let us discover precisely how long you can endure.

And a radiant green luminescence burst from the sphere, blanketing the entire domain.

Whish—

It penetrated to the absolute lowest depths of Hans’s spiritual sanctuary…

Acting like a subversion tactic, detonating an explosive within a confinement facility to liberate the captives.

—

“…Confound it, what is the meaning of this?”

I grimaced and rapidly reinforced my “Mind Hub”, experiencing a sudden deluge of data.

And I gently kneaded my brow, feeling a faint throbbing pain, prior to dispassionately evaluating the circumstances.

I was momentarily startled by the abrupt torrent of data, but my distinct capability and psychic characteristics, bolstered by an immense quantity of Karma, were not so fragile as to be broken by this.

‘Naturally! I have dedicated so much Karma to this!’

Nevertheless, even though it did not constitute an existential crisis, it remained far too hazardous to confront the Master of Heaven’s Turn Society in this condition.

Conceivably, that had been their objective from the start.

“Tsk, I ought to conclude my business here. I believed I could extract additional benefits, but it does not justify the hazard.”

I resolved to minimize my damages and recalled Hans, then kneaded my brow once more.

Hans’s spiritual sanctuary was secure for the moment, but he nonetheless required an interval to mend after that violent disruption.

He would be forced to allocate a duration to recuperating within the Immortal Fortress located in Auterica.

‘On the bright side, the perpetrator did not escape unscathed either. He will be incapable of executing the identical maneuver a second time.’

Yulryeongja, who had penetrated Hans’s consciousness.

It appeared he had intended to retreat the instant the disruption he initiated manifested…

But it was merely a localized triumph, meaning he was unable to break away entirely undamaged.

He succeeded in breaking contact, but he was forced to abandon his right upper limb, alongside the sphere.

It must have been an agonizing ordeal for him.

‘That sphere… It appeared quite remarkable. Ought I to transport it to Auterica to investigate its properties?’

I momentarily contemplated the remaining Heaven’s Turn Society assets operating in Japan, but dismantling them was an enterprise for the distant future.

I possessed an abundance of time, so I could gradually formulate a strategy utilizing the data I had extracted.

And with that, Hans retreated to the Immortal Fortress in Auterica, carrying along a piece of Yulryeongja’s consciousness and the enigmatic sphere he had left behind.

The startled responses of the Heaven’s Turn Society administrators were the absolute least of his priorities.