<Chapter 53. The Final Stage - 9>

While the two Emperors staked their lives on their brotherly spat, Lee Shin Woo released the magic circle, allowing him access to the passageway that led to the cave where the source of darkness was stored!

What's surprising was that neither Jissehanu nor Jirold had noticed him doing so! His Annihilation Flame was plenty overpowered!

"It's quite narrow."

"It really is. It's way too narrow."

"...Hey, you sound excited."

"Nope, not at all. I have no idea what you're talking about."

The two entered the cave. The cave was incredibly dark and was narrow enough that a person would find it difficult to pass through; therefore, Lee Shin Woo and Jin were forced to stick right next to each other.

Lately, Jin became noticeably excited whenever they engaged in 'skinship'. Because she was currently in a form that closely resembled her human self, he couldn't help but feel anxious. But he supposed that that wasn't really important right now.

"This is all Evil Eye (ore)."

"So that's why you're picking all of the ore and feeding it to your Titan Core. That's all well and good, but weren't you the one who said we should hurry?"

Not only were the cave walls lined with ore that was suffused with thick darkness magic, but they were all connected to the center of the cave... In other words, they were connected to the source of darkness. And if one were to enter this cave without permission, then the one in charge of this cave... The Emperor, would know they were here.

But because Lee Shin Woo had maxed out his darkness element, he could completely ignore it and feed all the Evil Eye to his Titan Core. It was all too easy for him to hide his activities from the Emperor.

"The Titan's all I can rely on if we find ourselves in a pinch. So long as I have this, we won't lose."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I wasn't complaining. Let's just get going."

Lee Shin Woo had already explained the new Titan to Jin already. When she'd first heard about it, she was worried that it might not even move properly, but Lee Shin Woo had been so excited that she decided to accept it, albeit bitterly.

'Moreover, he said he needs me to operate the Titan, so... Mm, will it really work? I'm a little happy that he brought me all the way here. ...Err, I guess this really isn't the time. I really have gone crazy.'

Jin knew how 'severe' her condition was. This was all Lee Shin Woo's fault; he's the one who'd told her that 'she could become human again'! So, it wasn't her fault at all!

Jin thought to herself, whilst changing her expression again and again. Seeing that, Lee Shin Woo became speechless. However, he didn't point it out. He was busy enough picking the Evil Eye ore from the surroundings and feeding it to the core.

But good things couldn't last forever. Everything has an end, and the cave had an end to it as well.

There was a small clearing at the end of the cave, large enough for them to take a breather, as well as a small bead at the center, which was small enough to fit in Lee Shin Woo's hand.

[Lv10 Source of Darkness - Lich Emperor's Life Vessel]

"Holy shit..."

"Is it because there's a ton of mana in there, even for you? Can you really handle this?"

"To think I'd get in so easily... It doesn't make any sense. I thought there would be a level 10 Steve here or something!"

"You didn't come here to screw around, did you!? Did you!?"

At this point, she couldn't tell whether Lee Shin Woo was happy or sad about this! After retorting, she sensed something approaching, so she raised her arm and protected him.

Her arm was instantaneously covered in dozens of layers of armor! Right after, she caught something, causing the layers of armor to shatter into thousands of pieces. It was a thick spear.

[As I thought.]

Followed by a weighty and serious voice resounding throughout the cave. It was a voice he'd heard just a little while ago.

[My intuition was right all along. To think you'd try to destroy the Empire. It seems like... you're not the real Archmage. I guess I'll never be able to look him in the eye.]

"...Bro, why are you coming out from there?"

He was so astonished that he couldn't help but retort. He briefly wondered whether he was seeing things or not.

[Lv8 Heaven Sundering General, Leofield Von Tariman - Elite Death Knight]

That's right. The Heaven Sundering General, Leofield Von Tariman, blocked their path as if he were protecting the source of darkness.

[My intuition's always been good. It's as if the wind spirits are whispering in my ears whenever there's danger... Whenever I sensed danger, all I needed to do was follow those whispers.]

Obviously, there were no such spirits around Leofield.

[It was the same this time too. Even though there was no mistaking that it was the Emperor speaking and commanding the troops, I felt a sense of déjà vu. Something felt strange; I was sure of it. However, I could not 'test' His Majesty as one of his loyal retainers. I didn't know what to do, but then... the wind led me here. Just now!]

He then thrust his spear towards them once more. But this time, Lee Shin Woo blocked it himself. Leofield's spear and his Death God's Shining Bone Sword clashed, causing his sword to creak. Yet, he was able to push him back with his blade. Truly a formidable spirit and strength.

"The wind led you here...? As I thought, you have an innate element of your own."

To think there was a guy who'd gone with the flow of the second act at the very last minute (everyone having innate elements). Lee Shin Woo was absolutely speechless. He had been so relieved that the Undead Emperor hadn't had an innate element, yet here he was, facing off against Leofield who had one!

Following Seagald's Annihilation Flame and the Archmage's Dark Space, it was a space-type innate element!

'Maybe an innate element is a foothold.'

'God herself wields the time element, so maybe combining time and space is a realm above the gods?'. Lee Shin Woo's mind briefly focused on that very question. However, the Heaven Sundering General, who'd reached the peak of martial arts, noticed this and thrust his spear to finish him during his lapse of attention.

Leofield's spear was surrounded by a wind that could cut through space itself! This thrust was backed by his trained, transcendent body, and his magic!

"Anyway... I think you're misunderstanding something."

[Keuk!?]

Lee Shin Woo easily repelled Leofield's thrust. He used his Assimilation skill with Jin, who was standing right beside him, to add her Agility to his own. ...Actually, it wasn't all because of his Assimilation skill.

[The Manatization skill has become Lv9, and Health and Magic have increased by 40.]

And thus, his stats had reached 25,493. He only needed 107 more stat points to reach level 9.

[What...!? Just a little while ago, you didn't have such strength...!?]

"I made it. Or should I say, I switched it with my overwhelming magic stat."

Lee Shin Woo extended his hand, grabbed onto the spear (which was facing his sword), and forcefully pulled. With Manatization, he had converted his 10,000 or so Magic into Strength, which resulted in... such power that he felt like he could squash an entire mountain, allowing him to easily steal Leofield's spear away from him.

[Kuhahk!?]

"There."

Leofield's eyes widened, but Lee Shin Woo just gripped the spear, unconcerned.

The artifact, which was created by using the most precious metal in the Empire, infused with the Archmage's magic, and had achieved so many feats with the Heaven Sundering General, as well as transcending its limitations and growing... was futilely crumpled up within Lee Shin Woo's hand.

[This can't be...]

"The reason I let you live was because you're needed on the surface to make the battle look realistic. What am I supposed to do with you now, you blockhead?"

[You, you're not...]

"Yep. I'm not afraid of you one bit. Sorry, but you can't beat me. I guess you could call it a dog's death."

In the past, Dana and Seira had warned him again and again about the dangers of the Heaven Sundering General, Leofield Von Tariman. Of course, at the time, Lee Shin Woo had just laughed it off.

And just a short while ago, he could somewhat understand what they were talking about. He was sure that if he were exposed, then it would all be because of this guy. So, he was definitely one scary bastard.

However, he wasn't worried about his power; only his intuition. Lee Shin Woo wanted everything to go perfectly, so he'd been wary of him! At the very least, he needed to not be exposed until he had tricked the Emperor!

[I'll die a dog's death, you say...!?]

"Yep."

His 'play' was already a success. So even if Leofield were to block his path, if Lee Shin Woo were to use his full power, then... He actually found it quite hilarious that Leofield would be so willing to attack him when he couldn't even gauge the difference in their strength.

He wasn't even level 9, yet he wanted to defeat him? He had mastered three elements, wielded six innate elements, and even had Manatization as well. What a joke.

"I don't even need to use the Titan to beat you. If you wanted to even give me a bit of a hard time, then you should've come for me before I killed Seagald. If you came then, you might've had a chance. Yeah, you might've even taken two of my lives."

[That cannot be. My spear was tempered so that it can be used to protect His Majesty at all times...]

"Sorry, but I don't have time. You've really wasted a lot of my time already."

Lee Shin Woo wasn't going to listen anymore. At any rate, the target was huge and the space was large. He launched a Shining Bone Sword; piercing through Leofield's body. Obviously, one of the Heavenly Commanders wouldn't fall from just one attack. Because of that, he launched twenty more of them, which he'd prepared earlier. It was simple, so long as he used the darkness element's link ability.

Then, the Heaven Sundering General obviously disappeared without a trace.

[You have hunted a member of the 12 Generals, the Lv8 Heaven Sundering General, Leofield Von Tariman! All contributing heroes gain 50,000,000 Perium and all stats are increased by 100! You have acquired 15 permits to God's secret shop. Proficiency in all combat-related skills has increased significantly!]

[Through God's grace, the Invisible Heart skill's maximum level has increased by 6. The Invisible Heart skill's level cannot be raised any higher.]

[You have not yet met the conditions for a level up. You must prove that you are worthy of the karma that you have chosen.]

Ah, as he thought. He'd definitely reached the 25,600 stat benchmark, yet he hadn't leveled up! This was the first time he'd ever experienced this, so he was a bit perplexed, but he could understand why it happened.

He'd been gaining stats so quickly! On the contrary, he was more surprised that he hadn't gone through any obstacles when leveling up in the past. But it was ok. He could still win with ease.

"You... just now..."

"Ah, you mean killing him? It was easy since I stole his weapon and attacked while he was confused."

"Is it really that simple?"

"That's the truth, so how else can I explain? I already told you how to take advantage of your opponent's openings, right?"

"You..."

If he were acting whilst fighting, then no one would be able to distinguish between his truth or lies. Then again, it was because he had the proper abilities to support his acting that made it so flawless.

Because he was far stronger than the Heaven Sundering General, his bluffs were more effective than usual. The Heaven Sundering General could do nothing but lay down and die. Truthfully, his dramatic actions had confused the Heaven Sundering General and prevented him from moving; and he was soon able to strike him down.

Even so, Jin wasn't able to comprehend what he'd done, even though she had been watching from right beside him. She was shocked by the sequence of events spanning a few seconds, as well as how naturally and quickly he'd killed the Heaven Sundering General.

"Shin Woo, you're really..."

"You can talk all you want later. Let's focus on what's in front of us."

Lee Shin Woo focused on the burst of mana that he felt from outside. As expected, the Heaven Sundering General dying inside here had let Jissehanu know that there was an intruder. Thus, he tried to get over here immediately, but Jirold had seized that opportunity and counterattacked, turning the tides.

This wasn't good. If Jirold managed to kill Jissehanu, then he'd appear right in front of them!

"Hey, can't you just use the Titan to kill both Jirold and Jissehanu...?"

"You never know! What if, after killing them, a level 10 Steve shows up!"

"You really like Steve, don't you!?"

Jin threw a fit, yet she readied herself to protect him anyway. In the midst of this, Lee Shin Woo finally placed his hand on the life vessel. Then, a huge, a truly huge amount of mana flooded his body.

"Ugh..."

Lee Shin Woo could feel it.

That this wasn't something he could just absorb.

That he was totally screwed.