Chapter 313

Chapter 313
## Chapter 313

World’s Enemy (5)

Inequity defines this reality.

Certain souls enter existence granted every advantage, whereas others must scratch out survival from a state of total deprivation.

This divergence is not exclusive to sentient life.

Planets and planes of existence vary just as wildly.

A number of realms overflow with boundless vital force and intricate sorcery; others are basic and muted; still others possess immense raw energy yet suffer from a complete lack of variation.

Even so, a singular truth unites them.

Each is overseen and regulated by a reigning ‘god’ peculiar to that domain.

The sole anomaly is Earth, a place completely drained of any higher mystical essence.

When the Akasha System steps in, provoking individual awakenings and shifting those souls across dimensions, it is far from a simple act of benevolence.

It represents…

“Hmm.”

…A sharp snap of clarity, slicing cleanly through the mental haze.

As if stepping out from a pitch-black passage, his perceptions snapped into focus. Instinctively drawing in a deep breath, he surveyed his surroundings.

An unblemished, pale… rather, a bleached vacuum existed here, where the very notion of hue felt abstract and undefined.

This location was deeply intimate to him, a sanctuary he considered his true domicile.

“…Hmph, Earth.”

A voice devoid of recognizable age or gender rippled through the emptiness.

To be precise, this was his own private pocket dimension, engineered specifically to bypass the karmic weight of Earth’s causality, though such a distinction mattered little now.

‘Hahoe Mask.’

The image of that skeletal antagonist’s final moments flashed through his mind—specifically, that mocking grin as the entity buried its own fingers deep into its ribcage.

Stumbling upon that specific adversary within an entirely separate dimension had been completely unforeseen.

Forced by that sudden disruption, he had resorted to an extreme measure to extricate himself, severing his link to Auterica down to the last thread.

“An oversight on my part. This path is proving more troublesome than expected.”

The Master of Heaven’s Turn Society shut his eyes tight and squeezed his hands into fists.

A torrent of immense power thrummed within his veins once more, his physical form finally liberated from the suffocating constraints of that alien world.

Goooo—

Even so… a bitter pang of deprivation weighed heavily on his spirit.

Anticipating the setback did little to dull the sting of seeing months of calculated planning dissolve into nothing, along with a portion of his hoarded strength.

‘…Yet, identifying his existence prior to the final phase remains a victory.’

Intelligence dictated the outcome of all conflicts.

Viewed through that lens, unmasking his true opposition, Hahoe Mask—the persistent thorn sabotaging his designs—offered a massive strategic advantage.

Uncovering a critical hazard ahead of schedule justified the steep expenditure.

…Such was the narrative he used to soothe his anger.

Brooding over the past was a waste of energy. If he lost control, he might misdirect his malice toward an innocent bystander.

Clearing the irritating notions from his mind with a firm shake of his head, he pressed forward.

Crack—

A hairline fracture split the air in front of him.

An instant later, the void stood empty.

He materialized in a grand residential suite, furnished with extravagant decor, premium devices, and tasteful embellishments.

With soundless, measured strides, he walked directly toward his private study.

His homecoming to Earth was complete. His immediate priority was to reestablish communications with his agents and assess their progress.

Given the brief duration of his absence, he anticipated a stable status quo…

“Hold, Oracle. Repeat those words.”

-… Your will shall be done, Master.

…Regrettably, during that minor window of time, the Earth branch of the Heaven’s Turn Society had endured a sequence of catastrophic failures.

-Mere moments after your departure, Hahoe Mask executed a raid on the Shanghai sector. The regional director for East Asia, Yulryeongja, was eliminated…

Oracle delivered the grim ledger without a hint of emotion.

The political fallout gripping China and the destruction of multiple top-tier transcendent operatives were insignificant issues when weighed against the crises that followed.

“A South Korean vampire decimated our European sector? The Duke is confirmed dead? And Doctor suffered the same fate?”

-The intelligence is precise, Master.

The Master’s mouth tightened into a hard grimace as Oracle validated his darkest suspicions.

The losses sustained back in Auterica were irritating enough; to return home only to be inundated by a cascade of administrative disasters compounded the insult.

“Detail Doctor’s current status.”

-Following his self-resurrection protocols, his physical form is incubating within a reclamation chamber. Extraction is projected in roughly thirty days, however…

“Extend that quarantine to two or three months.”

-Understood and agreed.

The Master drummed his fingertips against the polished desktop, his eyelids lowered.

‘Hahoe Mask is one matter, but Phantom is operating in tandem?’

The reality that Doctor had fallen in battle against Phantom—the very vampire specimen he had intended to subjugate—carried little weight on its own.

The magnitude of these synchronized assaults fundamentally eclipsed the minor skirmishes previously fought in Korea and Japan.

These were no longer petty provocations occurring on the fringes of civilization; they represented a coordinated assault on their primary strongholds, an invasion of his sovereign territory.

-Furthermore, a separate development requires your attention…

“…Speak. What else has collapsed?”

His patience had already been pushed to its limit by the ongoing updates. What further complications could possibly remain?

-Visual verification will convey the situation more accurately than verbal description.

Simultaneously, a row of digital recordings materialized across his main display panels.

In terms of actual timing, these occurrences predated the current crisis, but the sudden executions of the regional directors and Doctor’s temporary demise had taken administrative precedence.

“A manifestation of sacred energy of that magnitude… on Earth?”

The initial playback captured the ruined landscape following a medical facility bombing in Korea, tracking the radiating shockwaves of a massive holy tempest.

The Master’s gaze sharpened with sudden fascination.

While it paled in comparison to his own inherent angelic divinity, the capacity of a mere mortal to channel such concentrated sacred force was genuinely remarkable.

Particularly here on Earth, where the natural laws actively stifled and choked out the manifestation of holy properties.

‘To achieve that output… given the atmospheric suppression of this planet… their combat capability must mirror the Champion of Auterica I battled moments ago.’

He recognized the validity of Oracle’s apprehension.

This specific variable demanded close observation.

‘Hold on.’

Yet, as the media file transitioned to reveal the documented identity of this so-called White Knight…

…the Master’s features turned utterly rigid.

A heavy stillness settled over the room, broken exclusively by the vocal track of the broadcast.

-“Indeed, my origins lie within the domain you label Auterica. To clarify, Earth is not my birthplace. I am a traveler from another realm.”

The memory was fresh, dating back a mere matter of hours.

There was no scenario in which he could fail to recognize the warrior who had driven a blade straight through his center.

Granted, a full facial identification had been obstructed by a protective visor…

-“My purpose here is the absolute eradication of corruption, acting as the instrument of the Divine. This mandate spans all realms, Auterica included.”

…but such a detail was superficial.

He locked his gaze onto the young figure on screen, whose expressions remained perfectly pleasant and accessible throughout the media query, before letting out a quiet, dark chuckle as he verified the unmistakable design of the armor plate.

“…Heh… Hehehe! This crosses into the realm of… absurdity.”

An involuntary burst of grim amusement escaped him.

He had categorized the individual as nothing more than a localized protector of Auterica… yet the truth hit much closer to home.

A transdimensional traveler embedding himself on Earth?

The concept was mathematically viable, particularly when factoring in his own operations and the anomalies surrounding Hahoe Mask.

Though inherently cynical about such cosmic alignments, he could not dispute the tangible evidence.

‘Directly from Auterica… Can this be dismissed as random probability?’

Preposterous.

Even if one isolated incident could be excused as a statistical anomaly, the overlapping shadow of Hahoe Mask shattered any illusions of randomness.

When anomalies compound repeatedly, they transform into absolute certainties.

That growing suspicion locked into absolute conviction the moment his eyes scanned the analytical data regarding ‘Phantom’ that Oracle had attached as a supplementary file.

Though a visor concealed the entity’s face, the underlying spiritual resonance—much like the White Knight’s—carried a deeply… identifiable trace.

‘Where did the calculation fail? What triggered this shift in the equation?’

The Master settled deep into his seat, completely immersed in strategic calculation.

He had historically occupied the role of the grand orchestrator, steering global paradigms and dictating the flow of history… yet this specific convergence had evaded his models.

For the structural fate of the planet to deviate so violently, a massive nexus of hidden elements had to be shifting in unison.

Was this not the exact reason Oracle maintained a constant, vigilant watch over every localized sector?

“…No, the warning signs were present. The very emergence of Hahoe Mask deviated from standard parameters.”

An unclassified practitioner of negative sorcery appearing from the shadows of South Korea—a territory long considered a blind spot in their global net—and launching an unprovoked war of attrition against his organization.

That single entity served as the catalyst for every subsequent variable.

Perhaps… a genuine adversary had finally stepped onto the board.

Crack—

The Master pushed away from his desk and stood upright.

His physical form dissolved into a tear in the fabric of space, pulling back into the safety of his isolated sanctuary.

Minimizing his physical footprint on Earth was imperative to prevent further disruption to local causality metrics.

‘Do not assume for a moment that I intend to concede the field.’

His timelines might require recalibration, but the ultimate end state remained unaltered.

He would persist in anchoring his roots deeper into Earth’s infrastructure, harvesting divine energy by consuming the latent futures of alternate realities.

If those individuals cast themselves as the guardians appointed by cosmic design,

Then he would play the part of the insurgent, breaking the strings of destiny.

The ultimate adversary of creation.

—

The internal state he was experiencing at this precise moment could be distilled into one definitive concept.

‘Vindicated.’

This was not a somatic sensation, like a stomach completely filled after a feast.

It was an entirely psychological gratification, an intense wave of existential peace.

Consider the reality of the situation…

『Karma Owned – 5,520,398』

…His previously depleted coffers were now bursting at the seams.

Finding himself in any state other than pure euphoria would be impossible.

‘I scraped the absolute bottom of the barrel to prepare for the showdown with the Master…’

The circumstances had left no room for conservation.

He had systematically converted the entirety of his accumulated currency into raw attributes and masteries, squeezing every conceivable advantage out of his build to guarantee survival.

‘I retained only the bare minimum required to activate “Avatar Assembly” and force a “Skill Cooldown Reset”.’

Yet now, with the dust finally settling from the conflict, his balance soared well past the 5.5 million threshold!

A broad grin stretched across his face.

Taking a seat, he turned his entire focus toward optimizing the allocation of this unprecedented fortune.

‘Upgrading the Unique Skill… Improbable at this juncture. The acquisition of “Avatar Assembly” is far too recent.’

The financial barrier for the next tier sat at a flat 2 million.

While his balance could easily absorb the blow, structural limitations suggested a mandatory adaptation period was required before the system would permit further elevation.

‘In that case…’

His attention drifted toward the listing for 『Dimensional Barrier Weakening (6,000,000)』.

Reviewing his historical data, the function seemed designed to compress the fundamental distance separating distinct planes of reality.

Mitigating the atmospheric penalties imposed on divine invocations, void manipulation, and manifestation arts represented merely the surface utility of the feature.

‘Gaining entry to Ganghwange would have been completely mathematically locked without it.’

Naturally, success had required a precise alignment of multiple variables, but initializing “Dimensional Barrier Weakening” had served as the foundational bedrock for the entire operation.

‘If I invest further resources into its progression…’

The systemic penalties governing foreign powers would inevitably degrade even further.

Concurrently, it might streamline the process of anchoring personal recollections to navigate toward unvisited sectors of the cosmos.

Yet, what hidden mechanics lay beyond that threshold…?

‘The only path to clarity is execution.’

The wait would not be extensive.

His accumulation curve for Karma was climbing exponentially. Achieving the target balance was a matter of short order.

Then, his eyes drifted toward an alternate option on the interface.

『Random Other Skill Acquisition (500,000)』

The systematic ability lottery.

Gulp—

An involuntary dryness caught in his throat, forcing him to swallow.

His historical attempts had yielded 「Xenoglossy」 and 「Sturdiness」.

The former had proven to be an absolute competitive triumph, while the latter… a complete waste of capital.

‘Statistically, I am sitting at a perfect equilibrium.’

A literal net-zero outcome.

Which mathematically implied—the real sequence was only beginning now!

‘One more pull.’

A solitary, definitive roll of the dice.

…It was time to tip the scales back in his favor.