[Orden’s Palace]

At the heart of the palace where the Monster King resided, two rays of magic power descended from the ceiling like lightning.

Orden calmly studied the intruders from his throne. One was surrounded in silver armor and the other was dressed in a simple martial arts uniform. The striking contrast between the two men, in addition to their superhuman strength, aroused Orden’s interest.

“…Heroes, I presume?” Orden’s deep voice rang out.

“Correct.”

Heynckes nodded and clutched his sword.

Chae Joochul flipped his folding fan open.

They had no intention of holding a conversation with Orden, but Orden seemed to have quite a few questions for them.

“I heard a select number of Heroes are called the Nine Stars. The name apparently refers to the nine saints. Are you the members of the Nine Stars?”

Heynckes shook his head at Orden’s question. “Three of the Nine Stars are already dead, one ran away, and the remaining four went into hiding. I’m afraid the Nine Stars no longer exist."

The public was not made aware of the deaths of Nine Stars. The Association publicly announced the heroic death of Shin Myungchul but concealed the deaths of other members who died of old age, side-effects, and illnesses. The Association wanted the Nine Stars to remain flawless to the eyes of the public.

“…Is that so?”

“But that’s no reason for you to be disappointed. I believe we’ll be enough to entertain you.”

Orden looked at Chae Joochul. Chae Joochul’s eyes were gleaming with dark magic power. The Immortal was now gathering up all of Africa’s vital energy while Heynckes bought him time.

“Looks like it’ll be fun.” Saying so, Orden grinned.

It was then.

Tzzzt—!

A fierce whirlwind surrounded Orden’s throne. Flame blazed up inside the biting wind. Orden dispelled the wind with his magic power.

Chweek—

Chae Joochul waved his fan. This time, electric currents rushed towards Orden. The attack poured in from all sides.

Orden willingly got up from the throne.

Kwaaaaa—!

Heynckes unleashed his Steel Spirit as he shot towards Orden. Orden witnessed the tremendous amount of magic power surrounding the Steel Spirit Sword.

Koong—!

Heynckes’s sword struck Orden’s fist.

Suddenly, something strange happened. The gauntlet surrounding Orden’s fist disintegrated on its own and was absorbed into the Steel Spirit.

This was the power of Steel Spirit that prevailed over every metal.

At that moment, Orden gave a small smile.

He had never felt so pressured before.

The thrilling sensation at his hand began to crawl up his arm.

His heart boiled with fighting spirit.

Immersed in a pleasant stimulation—

Orden was confident this fight would be one he could truly enjoy…..

**

[Please enter the nickname of the Player you wish to summon.]

Though she somehow managed to activate the item, she couldn’t possibly type in the middle of battle. Chae Nayun was busy just guarding herself against Park Hanho’s attacks.

Park Hanho was ruthless. His sword reinforcement was imbued with the indestructible attribute, and his unbreakable magic power made him shine in both offense and defense.

“——!”

Chae Nayun knew that the longer the fight prolonged, the less likely she was to win. For that reason, she instantaneously gathered all of her magic power in her sword.

Chae Nayun’s Gift— ‘Sea of Magic Power’ activated.

Her Gift eliminated all capacity limitations for magic power. It was one of the strongest sword-related Gifts.

Chae Nayun gathered the boundless magic power to her sword, even turning off her qi reinforcement. Even Park Hanho couldn’t help but hesitate, and though it was only for a moment, Chae Nayun didn't miss the opportunity and immediately exploded her magic power.

Clang—!

Her magic power turned into a huge pillar of fire that quickly spread to the rest of the laboratory. The explosion of magic power destroyed all of the lab equipment, and the impact sent Park Hanho flying across the room.

Now was her only chance.

Chae Nayun quickly activated the invitation letter.

[Extra7]

[Warning! You’re not allowed to summon forcefully when you’re in a battle zone.]

[Asking the target for the permission to summon….]

Crack—!

At that moment, she heard the cracking of bones.

“Ah….”

Chae Nayun felt a blow on her side. Yet there was no pain. This was a bad sign as it meant that her entire nervous system had been damaged along with her spine.

With a numbing sensation, Chae Nayun was thrown into the air.

Boom!

She crashed into a wall and fell to the ground.

“….”

Her arms and legs wouldn’t move. Blood spurted out of her mouth.

She received a critical injury.

Chae Nayun looked at the figure across the room with hazy eyes.

Amidst the crimson flames and the black smoke, she saw Tigris, the humanoid monster who attacked her. His eyes gave off a horrid glow.

—You managed to achieve your initial goal.

A voice seeped into her consciousness, but she wasn’t sure where it was coming from. The fire began to melt the floor tiles, and she could feel the heat on her skin. She felt as if her consciousness was melting.

—Die with pride.

She saw Park Hanho raise his sword. Shin Jonghak and Yun Seung-Ah rushed to save her, only to be blocked by Tigris.

The sword descended slowly.

She felt as if the whole world had slowed down.

Everything was in a slow motion…. It all felt surreal.

Suddenly a question arose in her mind.

‘Shouldn’t my life flash before my eyes right about now? But it’s not, which must mean that I’m not destined to die here. I still have so much I need to do.

…No.

More importantly, I can’t help but be angry at myself.

Even after all that training, this is all I can do.

I spent so long training under Yoo Sihyuk and Heynckes to become strong. To be able to endure everything. It wasn’t so that I could fall at a place like this….’

Chae Nayun recalled the promise she made to herself.

She clenched her fists without giving up. Intense anger and a sense of resolution boiled in her heart.

Wooong….

Maybe it was the magic power responding to her will. A mysterious magic power began to gather around her clenched fists. Contrary to the standard azure magic power, this one glowed in all sorts of colors.

The colors reflected against each other, leaving only white in the end.

The white magic power encompassed Chae Nayun’s whole body.

This was by far the brightest and the strongest ‘qi reinforcement’.

And, at that moment.

Woooong— With a strange vibration, a portal appeared in the center of the flames. Chae Nayun, Park Hanho, and Tigris all turned their gazes to the portal.

There were two people inside. Unfortunately, due to the thick flames and the heavy smoke, Chae Nayun couldn’t see their faces.

However, she was sure of one thing….

Kwang—!

She heard an explosion, then smelled the combustion of magic power.

—Kuek!

At the same time, she heard Park Hanho’s scream.

Their fight was put on hold.

Tap, tap— The sound of footsteps disrupted the temporary silence.

The footsteps stopped at Chae Nayun.

Chae Nayun barely managed to raise her head and look up.

Kim Hajin was there.

**

[Basilisk Dungeon Exit]

I gathered up any and everything that could possibly be useful and left the dungeon. ‘Maybe I should head over to Orden’s Palace—’ I thought when something unexpected happened.

Guoooo….

A strange energy, one that was neither magic power nor spirit power, appeared before my eyes in the shape of an ellipse about 2m tall.

“…What the heck is this?”

If I had to say, it looked like a portal.

I frowned as I carefully scrutinized it. Suddenly, a system window popped up.

[Lv.5 Invitation Letter to the Love Room — Nayunjajangman wishes to invite you.]

[Warning! NayunJajangman is currently in an extremely dangerous battle zone.]

[This portal will disappear in 5 minutes.]

The first word I saw was ‘Nayunjajangman’, and I subconsciously flinched. I threw a glance at Jin Sahyuk and proceeded to read the rest of the messages.

“…”

—Nayunjajangman is currently in an extremely dangerous battle zone.

This sentence weighed heavily on my mind.

I had the feeling that Chae Nayun was trying to summon me using an effective good from the Tower of Wish….

…I looked at Jin Sahyuk.

She was still swooning over the [Alexander III’s Cape].

“Hey.”

I tapped Jin Sahyuk on the shoulder.

“What do you want…. Wha, What’s that?”

Jin Sahyuk widened her eyes, only now realizing the sudden appearance of a portal.

I pointed at the portal and said, “Why don’t we go in together? I think this is connected to Orden’s palace.”

Jin Sahyuk looked into the portal and carefully studied it until her eyes were tinged with blue by the portal’s glow.

“No, I can’t.”

Jin Sahyuk shook her head.

“Why not?”

“I can tell from the direction of magic currents that this portal is a one-way portal designed for one traveler. Two people can’t travel through it.”

“…Wow. You analyzed the portal that quickly?”

“I’m more amazing than you think.”

I let Jin Sahyuk relish her moment of glory and activated my Authority.

With the last update, I was now able to activate [Setting Intervention] without a medium such as a smartwatch.

===

[Portal to the Love Room] [Special]

—A portal created by ‘Nayunjajangman’ to summon ‘Extra7’.

—Only ‘Extra7’ can use this portal.

===

All I needed to do was to change the second description to 「Only ‘Extra7’ and his companion can use this portal」….

[35 SP is required to change the setting.]

The cost was only 35 SP.

I modified the setting, and immediately, the shape of the portal changed.

“…What the.”

Having noticed the change in the portal, Jin Sahyuk raised her eyebrows.

“How did you do that? The fundamental structure of magic power changed.”

“How’s that? Now two people can use this, right?”

“Yeah, but this doesn’t make any sen—”

“Geez, you talk a lot..”

I check the remaining SP.

[SP 7,045]

I’d gathered quite a bit of SP before I knew it.

Thinking back, I’ve accomplished quite a lot recently. I infiltrated Orden’s Palace, rescued the spy, and defeated the Basilisk….

Anyways, before entering the portal, I decided to create a new Gift. It made sense to prepare another weapon before going into enemy territory.

It wouldn’t take long. I had thought of this Gift a long time ago, even before [Buster Call]. All I needed to do was to copy and paste the setting for the new [Active Gift] that was already in my head.

===

[Constraints and Amplifications] [Intermediate-rank]

—Constraints

*Apply temporary ‘constraints’ to the user’s body.

—Amplification

*Temporarily increase the user’s strength in proportion to the applied ‘constraints’.

===

The gist of this Gift was simple.

Lose your left arm, strengthen your right arm.

Lose your eyesight, heighten your other senses.

The reason I came up with this Gift was because I relied on weapons completely in a fight.

I could let someone break my hand, but I couldn’t risk them breaking the [Desert Eagle] or [Temujin’s Bow Blessed By Horus].

With this Gift, I planned to sacrifice my left arm to enhance [Desert Eagle], and my sight to strengthen [Temujin’s Bow Blessed By Horus].

I came up with this Gift to enhance my weapons, not me.

[You need 4000 SP to create this Gift.]

[Would you like to proceed?]

4000 SP was only the bare minimum.

I invested all the remaining SP to further enhance the Gift.

[You spent a total of 7045 SP to create the Gift ‘Constraints and Amplifications’.]

[Congratulations! You have been blessed with good luck again.]

[10% of your investment has been returned to you. The rank of your Gift has increased drastically.]

===

[Constraints and Amplifications] [high-rank]

—Constraints

*Apply temporary ‘constraints’ to the user’s body.

—Amplifications

*Temporarily increase the target’s strength in proportion to the applied ‘constraints’.

—Profitable Exchange

*Increase ‘Amplification’ performance by 77%.

—Side-Effect Alleviation

*The side-effects of this Gift, including the cooldown period, are slightly improved.

===

“…Good.”

I was happy with the results.

In addition to the new Gift, I made [Basilisk’s Poisonous Shotgun Shell] with the SP I got back. I then took out the Desert Eagle, switched it to a shotgun, loaded it with the new bullets, and activated [Constraints and Amplifications].

My constraints were my ‘left arm’ and my ‘left eye’.

The target for amplification was the ‘Desert Eagle’.

At the next moment, I could feel my field of vision shrinking. Fortunately, one eye was all I needed to activate Thousand-Mile Eyes.

It was a bit uncomfortable not being able to use my left arm, but using only one arm to shoot didn’t decrease its power whatsoever.

“Let’s go.”

With the gun in my hand, I pointed at the portal with my chin. But Jin Sahyuk only stared at me with a strange look on her face.

“…What’s that?”

“What do you mean?”

“What happened to your left arm?”

“Ah, this?”

My left arm was limp.

It had also turned completely black because of the constraints.

“I can’t use it right now.”

“What? What does that mean—”

“Shush.”

I aimed my gun at Jin Sahyuk.

“Just go in. It’s going to hurt if you get shot.”

“…Psycho.”

Jin Sahyuk put on a sour face but jumped into the portal anyways. I followed behind her.

Whoosh—

I expected the portal to take us to a heated battlefield, but I didn’t expect it to be this different.

We were surrounded by fire in a laboratory filled with the smell of blood.

“…!”

Flames blazed up as if trying to devour us alive.

However, the fire was the least of my concerns right now.

I saw Park Hanho pointing his sword at Chae Nayun who was lying on the floor.

I immediately activated [Bullet Time] and [Pinnacle-rank Instant Acceleration].

Even the flames stopped moving as the world slowed down. I immediately infused all of the remaining streaks of Stigma into my gun.

….

The Stigma-filled shotgun began to glow green. It was the color of the [Basilisk’s Shotgun Shell] that was loaded in the gun.

I had no reason to hesitate.

I held the gun with one hand, aimed it at Park Hanho, and pulled the trigger.

…Click.

Kwaaaaaa—!

The poisonous bullet blasted out from the muzzle of the gun.

The massive wind pressure pushed not only me but also Jin Sahyuk back.

“Uwoaah—” Jin Sahyuk yelled before she disappeared from my view.

“Aah!”

Even I hadn’t expected this much power.

Fortunately, Aether encompassed me before I got hurt.

The bullet continued to travel forward, swallowing Park Hanho entirely.

The blast resembled the Basilisk’s breath attack.