“Let’s do it right away.”
It was slow, but he could transmute.
‘Melting and synthesis are both proceeding smoothly.’
There was no denying the sluggish feeling, but it wasn’t enough to hinder the alchemy.
He placed the fruit and seed on his hand and focused.
‘Melting first.’
The senses throughout his body opened.
Everything became detailed and keen.
He reached out to peel away the World Tree’s outer layer.
Flash.
At the same time, sparks flew.
A mighty energy surged forth in a flood.
“Urgh!”
Swept away by the overflowing energy, Sinhyeok fell backward.
He stopped the transmutation for a moment and looked at the seed and fruit he had dropped.
“Mister!”
Baek Arin hurriedly ran over and cast Heal.
Sinhyeok looked down at his own body and saw his clothes torn away, his skin peeled back, and his muscles ripped apart.
Warm holy power enveloped his body.
Sinhyeok hadn’t even been able to see the structure of the mana.
“What the hell is that thing?”
More than the pain, Sinhyeok stared at those absurdly overwhelming materials.
‘If the system were here, it would’ve marked them as Mythic grade.’
He picked himself back up.
‘I’m seeing this through to the end.’
His stubbornness flared.
With the thought that he couldn’t lose, he rushed in again.
As expected, he was swept away by the overflowing energy once more, and the front of his body was left a complete mess again.
Baek Arin did not leave his side and continued using Heal.
“Mister, are you going to be all right?”
At her question, Sinhyeok shook his head.
“I’m not all right. But there’s no other way.”
He reached out again to touch the seed, but his hand trembled for an instant.
“Whew……”
He picked up the seed and fruit again and began with melting.
‘To see it in more detail, I need to melt the outside. Please.’
He hadn’t even truly started yet.
The moment the surface began to soften, signs of another flood appeared.
‘I’ll endure it. I have to endure it!’
As the energy surged, someone approached and grasped his wrist, lending him aid.
“Young Hero, the sea is not something you fight head-on. You must let it flow past.”
An energy resembling the azure sky moved in a strange way, diverting the overflowing energy to the side.
‘Thank you.’
He wanted to say it aloud, but he couldn’t.
Namgung Jincheon was helping him, but even so, it was overwhelming.
“Hup!”
Before he knew it, Namgung Jincheon was tensing his entire body and drawing upon all of his internal energy.
“Hraaaaaap!”
Namgung Jincheon’s face was turning red.
After holding on and holding on, Sinhyeok finally saw the internal mana structure.
In that instant, he witnessed an unfathomable complexity beyond description.
“Damn it……”
Tap.
Their strength gave out, and the two of them were flung away together.
“Ah! Now there are two of you!”
Baek Arin’s irritated voice rang out.
Recalling the mana structures of the seed and fruit he had seen, Sinhyeok cursed under his breath.
“Damn it. How am I supposed to touch something like that?”
‘They’re too small, there are way too many of them, and they’re damn complicated!’
No matter what substance he looked at, it was composed of mana particles of a normal size, so there was no difficulty in touching them or understanding them.
‘That’s different.’
Even to Sinhyeok’s senses, blessed with innate talent and Authority, it was clearly different.
‘It’s on another level.’
Namgung Jincheon slowly got up and hurriedly sat in the lotus position, calming his energy.
“Haaaaaa.”
Baek Arin urgently tried to use Heal on him as he sat cross-legged.
“Please lie still. I’ll treat you right away.”
With his eyes closed, Namgung Jincheon stopped her.
“Miss, I am fine.”
He steadied his breathing for a moment and began circulating his energy.
Soon after, Namgung Jincheon opened his eyes with a smile.
“Young Hero, it seems that thing is a mystical spirit pill? It contains quite pure spiritual energy.”
Sinhyeok looked at Namgung Jincheon.
Unlike before, the aura he gave off seemed somewhat different.
“I’m glad you gained something, at least. I think I’m completely screwed right now.”
Sinhyeok simply sprawled out flat on his back.
‘I can’t touch it, and I can’t see it either.’
He had run into two obstacles.
He blankly stared up at the murky sky.
‘Let’s think. How do I solve this?’
Having reached an impasse, Sinhyeok pondered the two problems.
‘Seeing it.’
The structure was too tiny and too complex to enter his sight.
“I think I can cover one of them with the Sensory Way……”
‘Just in case, I did learn one sure-kill technique from the Command Sergeant Major.’
But the other problem remained.
“How am I supposed to handle that?”
Sinhyeok looked at Namgung Jincheon, who had seemed pleased at receiving a fortuitous encounter, and asked.
“Sir, do you think you could receive a bit more of that fortuitous encounter?”
Namgung Jincheon looked troubled at Sinhyeok’s deliberate question.
“Any more would be excessive. Too much is as bad as too little.”
“Hmm……”
Namgung Jincheon waved his hands emphatically.
Irritation welled up in Sinhyeok at the final wall he had run into.
“Ah, this is damn exhausting.”
He wanted to smash something, and just then, Jegal Seun came into view.
He was waving his fan, lingering about as if telling Sinhyeok to look at him.
‘I really want to make a bet for a forehead flick and hit him just once.’
He wasn’t simply entering his line of sight; he was weaving back and forth in front of him with an infuriating smile.
At a glance, he was clearly a man dying to “offer advice.”
“Haaaaa. Please speak. What is it you’re so eager to say?”
Having been singled out, Jegal Seun raised his hand high and immediately ran over.
“Young Hero, that is not how you do it.”
‘I knew it, this man!’
He bristled. Sinhyeok smiled and pushed him toward the seed.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“No! That’s not what I meant! I said it because I can provide appropriate assistance!”
Sinhyeok stopped pushing for the moment and asked again.
“How, exactly?”
“How? Are you not seeing it even now? What is a formation? It is a wondrous art that draws forth mysteries by redefining the energy of all things under heaven.”
He waved his fan and showed off the bearing of an immortal.
“Are you saying that seriously? Or are you just saying whatever comes to mind because you wanted to say something?”
At the blunt question, Jegal Seun faltered for an instant.
“Now, now. Trust me, Young Hero. No matter how much of a fool I may seem, I do not speak empty words.”
Sinhyeok decided to trust him for now.
So he moved closer and asked for the alternative.
“What method do you have?”
“We will disperse it. By properly combining the Eight Trigrams, we divert the repulsion of that spiritual energy.”
“Oh……?”
Just hearing it, it sounded quite perfect.
“Can that just be done? I don’t think any medium used to disperse it would be able to endure.”
At Sinhyeok’s pointed remark, Jegal Seun grew flustered.
“Were you perhaps planning to disperse it with something like stones?”
“Haha! As if I would do such a thing!”
Jegal Seun quietly swept his fan to indicate everyone.
“Originally, formations were military tactics performed with people.”
“……”
Sinhyeok quietly spoke into his ear.
“That’s a crime.”
“If they don’t know, it’s fine. And if they get hit by just the right amount, it’s a fortuitous encounter.”
The two glanced around for a moment, then nodded.
“Then please prepare it. I have preparations of my own to make.”
“Very well!”
Jegal Seun ran off excitedly.
Gathering everyone, he shouted.
“Now, now! Everyone, gather around! There is a very important matter at hand!”
Namgung Jincheon, who had been beside him, subtly pulled Sohye out of the group.
“Young Hero, my granddaughter is not allowed.”
He had heard the entire scheme.
Namgung Sohye looked up at her grandfather with a puzzled face.
“Grandfather, what is it?”
“There is such a thing. Just watch.”
“Uung?”
Sinhyeok quietly nodded and waited for Jegal Seun to prepare properly as he made the rest of his own preparations.
‘The secret technique of the Sensory Way.’
It was something that used only one thing.
The senses had the characteristic that, as one disappeared, the rest were amplified.
‘If I block the five senses, the sixth sense, what they call qi sense—the sense that sees and handles mana—will be amplified to an insane degree.’
In the past, when he had refused to come train no matter what, the Command Sergeant Major had barged in and taught him this.
‘Back then, he personally blocked them with something like acupoint sealing.’
There was someone here who seemed capable of recreating exactly that technique now.
Sinhyeok asked Namgung Jincheon, who was holding Sohye, for one favor.
“Um, Sir Namgung Jincheon?”
When called, Namgung Jincheon looked at Sinhyeok.
“What is it?”
“I’d like to ask you for one favor.”
Sinhyeok approached him and explained in detail.
“Haha, what a wondrous technique. To handle the senses in such a way.”
Namgung Jincheon nodded.
“I shall do so. Should I do it now?”
Sinhyeok nodded. He sat on the ground and calmly waited for his touch.
“I will seal your acupoints at once.”
After several movements of his hand, Sinhyeok’s senses were blocked one by one.
He could not hear, and last of all, even his sight closed off.
‘This is so suffocating I’m going crazy.’
He could neither see nor hear anything.
Only one thing remained: his sixth sense.
Only mana could be felt.
The composition within the energy brushing past the air, even the mana particle structure of this unique doomed world.
He could see it in far greater detail.
‘Enough now.’
As time passed, it became clearer and clearer, but he also grew afraid.
It felt as though the void would swallow him whole.
Soon his senses returned, and Namgung Jincheon placed a hand on Sinhyeok’s shoulder as he was drenched in cold sweat.
“Young Hero, are you all right?”
When the hand touched his shoulder, Sinhyeok flinched.
Sinhyeok nodded and wiped his sweat with his sleeve.
“Yes. Please do it one more time later.”
While Sinhyeok blocked his five senses and adapted, Jegal Seun also finished his preparations.
Everyone was standing in strange positions.
He waved his hand and pointed to the center.
“Young Hero! Work here!”
Sinhyeok stood, picked up the seed and fruit, and headed to the center.
Everyone looked at him with bewildered faces.
“None of you know what this is for?”
“Not in detail. So hurry and do it. If I think it’s dangerous, I’ll cut it off, so don’t worry.”
“……”
If he cut it off, Sinhyeok would have to bear all the backlash himself.
Jegal Seun casually patted Sinhyeok on the back.
“Now! Hurry! Quickly save the world!”
“Sss.”
With a doubtful expression, Sinhyeok headed to the center.
He set down the seed and fruit for a moment and looked around.
Whether they knew or did not know, they were smiling as they looked at him.
‘If this goes wrong, I’m screwed.’
That thought dominated his mind.
Trusting them, Sinhyeok attempted the synthesis again.
“Whew.”
After he exhaled and finished preparing, Namgung Jincheon approached to seal his acupoints.
“Tell me when you are ready.”
“Please do it right away!”
After several movements of his hand, his senses slowly began to be blocked.
When sight was the last to vanish, the void arrived.
He was aware only of the fact that something existed at his fingertips.
Carefully following his memory, he attempted to melt it.
Whoooosh.
An explosive flood of energy immediately erupted.
Even with only his sixth sense remaining, he felt it vividly.
‘Quickly!’
The surging energies of the two World Trees scattered outward and were guided along their paths.
‘I have to hurry.’
He swiftly observed the inside.
One side was curled into a round shape, holding something within,
and the other had half of it broken and stained by something else.
‘That side is the system…… and this side is Ichan’s seed!’
He stared closely at the seed.
Half of it had been stained by something.
‘I’ll scrape it away.’
The moment he tried to flick it off with his hand and pull it aside, an unexpected malice reached Sinhyeok.
‘So we meet here.’
It was a familiar voice.
Sinhyeok’s entire body began to stiffen.
‘Have you gotten used to transmutation? Is it manageable?’
Pretending to be friendly, it kept asking about alchemy.
The more it did, the stiffer Sinhyeok’s body became, and his mind gradually grew faint.
‘Why are you working so hard? I simply cannot understand.’
‘Get out, get out!’
‘Hahahaha. Yes, that which cannot be understood is what makes humans human.’
It felt as if his mind would go out.
At that moment, another will intervened.
‘Hmmmm.’
Paimon’s will faded beneath the gradually swelling will of the Father Tree.
‘……Khehe. Then I’ll see you again.’
His mind became clear once more.
Then, for a moment, everything around him stopped, and someone’s figure appeared.
A massive, opaque black tree stood firmly rooted.
Before it, a man with long black hair was gazing at Sinhyeok.
‘Please take good care of my son.’
Soon his form scattered.
When Sinhyeok came back to himself, he perceived the two materials he was touching.
‘Now!’
Suddenly, both materials were obedient.
The stiff and rough materials had grown gentle, as if urging him to touch them quickly.
Naturally, Sinhyeok overlaid the fruit of Yggdrasil onto Ichan’s World Tree seed.
‘Quickly, quickly!’
His hands grew urgent.
* * *
The residents assigned around Sinhyeok and the rest of the group were gradually reaching their limits.
“Is this truly right!?”
The old knight looked at Jegal Seun with a troubled expression.
“J-just endure a little longer!”
But everyone was beginning to look burdened.
Even the ordinary people were receiving considerable stimulation from such a distinct flood of energy.
Then the decisive moment came when Paimon’s malice revealed itself.
Black-stained demonic power spread through the surroundings in an instant.
Seeing it, Jegal Seun’s eyes went round.
“A d-demon’s descent!”
Someone’s mocking laughter rang out briefly, and then a branch twisted.
Jegal Seun and Namgung Jincheon stared at the boundary.
“It’s coming! Young Hero!”
Namgung Jincheon urgently called out to Sinhyeok, who had his eyes closed and was concentrating.
“Brother Namgung!”
Jegal Seun, while adjusting the formation, called Namgung Jincheon.
“What do we do!?”
Namgung Jincheon could not possibly choose, and his gaze moved back and forth.
“Aaaaah! Seriously!”
Baek Arin and Ichan shouted firmly with unwavering expressions.
“Maintain it!”
“Mister will pull it off! Hold on!”
At those words, everyone endured the violent torrent of energy while staring at the monsters rushing toward them.
Baek Arin gulped as she watched the wave of boss mobs arrive within striking distance.
“Mister, you’re late. You’re seriously really late. Hurry!”
Ichan stamped his feet anxiously as he watched.
“Brother! Hurry, hurry!”
At that moment, an opaque black seed formed in Sinhyeok’s hand.
It dropped to the ground with a tap.
“It’s done!”
Along with Ichan’s cheer, the small world they were standing in, the city of Fergana, vanished.
“Graaaaaah!”
The swarming monsters stared blankly at the place where the vanished world had been.
“Grrrr.”