[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter 217: Interference (4)

The source of the Half-Saint Bloodline began to be absorbed into Kwon Hanul.

And with it came a wave of intense dizziness that overwhelmed him—his knee hit the ground.

“You think we’ve wasted all those long years doing nothing?!”

Holding the source of the Half-Saint Bloodline in his grasp, Azeth Hermes roared.

“Everyone reacts differently, but no one escapes the burden of absorbing a source! The greater the source, the greater the strain!”

The typically reserved Azeth Hermes looked almost giddy.

“Some suffer internal injuries, others pass out, and in the worst cases, they die! Either way, they end up incapacitated!”

And then, the source Azeth Hermes was holding vanished—absorbed completely into Kwon Hanul’s body.

“No matter how powerful you are, you won't be fine after taking in the Half-Saint Bloodline!”

As proof, Hanul remained kneeling, drenched in cold sweat.

“Now, both you and what’s inside you belong to me!”

Grinning broadly, Azeth Hermes approached Hanul—but three figures stepped between them.

“Oh?”

Azeth Hermes’s eyes curved into crescent moons as he looked at the Dark Shade Unit with mockery.

“Moths throwing themselves into the flame, are we? Trying to die with your captain?”

“Sh-Shut up!”

Kwon Hudon’s voice trembled.

“Y-You’re not taking Hanul!”

“That’s right, you creepy old pervert!”

“We’ve got enough on our plate. So quit your crap and get lost.”

Despite the provocations, Azeth Hermes's smile never faded—he knew the three were no match for him.

“Very well, you foolish little worms. I’ll be sure to use you as experimental material as well—”

His voice suddenly faltered. Eyes blank, he stared past the Dark Shade Unit.

“...Why is he fine?”

The squad turned to look behind them.

Kwon Hanul was already back on his feet—looking perfectly unscathed.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Then who the hell should I ask?!”

Azeth Hermes snapped.

“Do you even know what the Half-Saint Bloodline is?! Every single subject that tried to absorb it died, coughing up blood! It's power leagues above any other lineage! And yet how—”

“Oh, that part’s confusing to you? Good thing I know the answer.”

Hanul tapped his own chest.

“I already absorbed a similar bloodline before.”

“Sim...ilar?”

Azeth Hermes looked confused.

“You’re saying there’s another bloodline similar to the Half-Saint’s?”

“You act like you know everything, but turns out you’re just a clueless idiot.”

Hanul’s mockery made Azeth Hermes’s face twist in rage.

“You insolent brat! You dare talk back to me?!”

“Should you really be mouthing off in front of me?”

Hanul’s eyes sharpened, filled with killing intent.

He had no intention of letting his parents’ killer walk away.

“Y-You bastard!”

Azeth Hermes hastily began casting a spell—but before he could finish, Hanul’s hand was already around his neck.

“Guh!”

“I’d love to take my time killing you, but I’m in a hurry. Unfortunately, this’ll have to do.”

Azeth Hermes’s eyes widened as mana began surging into him—through the hand wrapped around his throat.

He struggled, raising his own magic to resist. But it was useless. Hanul’s mana overwhelmed his like a tidal wave swallowing a puddle.

That mana flooded Azeth Hermes’s entire body—from capillaries to the finest nerves.

“Y-You’re not…!”

The moment he realized Hanul’s intent, Azeth Hermes went pale.

“You… you monster! You sadistic devil—!”

“Coming from you, that means nothing.”

Without another word, Hanul detonated the mana he had injected.

It transformed into fire—and Azeth Hermes’s body burst into flames.

The agony of burning alive is already considered one of the worst pains a human can endure—but this was worse.

Every nerve in his body burned simultaneously, shattering Azeth Hermes’s mind completely.

“GAAAAAHHH!”

A scream tore through the air—but it was short-lived. His body turned to ash and scattered in the blink of an eye.

The body that had once been Azeth Hermes had vanished completely.

Hanul brushed his hands off.

“You son of a—!”

His physical body was gone—but Azeth Hermes’s soul remained.

“How dare he humiliate me like this?!”

Grinding his teeth, he trembled with rage.

But it wasn’t over yet. There was still a chance.

“As long as I reach the backup vessel... I can survive.”

Among the countless experiments Azeth Hermes had conducted through his organization Aeon, there was one contingency: a prepared vessel—a spare body to transfer his soul into in an emergency.

“As long as I live, I can rise again!”

And so, his soul began flying toward the hidden vessel.

Or… it tried to.

Until a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed him.

“I didn’t expect you to try something so bold.”

It wasn’t an illusion—Hanul had really grabbed his soul. And was staring directly at it.

“H-How...?!”

“I’ve got a lot of bloodlines in me. That comes with perks.”

’Half-Demon Blood’ detects the manifestation of magic.

‘Half-Demon Blood’ captures the soul’s movement.

Hanul squeezed tightly.

“Goodbye.”

The soul twisted—then popped.

A scream echoed across space.

Only after confirming that Azeth Hermes had completely ceased to exist did Hanul withdraw his gaze.

“Uh... Captain? What are you doing?” Mei Hong asked, puzzled.

From their perspective, Hanul had suddenly started grabbing at thin air and muttering to himself.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Turning back to the group, Hanul faced the Sand Prison Vault again.

Azeth Hermes was gone—but the real issue remained.

He still had to open the relic and help Kwon Seonwoo.

“Hanul, there’s no way that traitor—Kwon Hyuk—could have taken down the Chairman, right?”

Kwon Hudon’s concern was valid. Kwon Seonwoo’s martial prowess was exceptional.

But Hanul shook his head.

“If that were true, the Sand Prison Vault would’ve already opened.”

There are only two ways to open the relic:

The wielder reactivates it.

The wielder dies.

Given the gap in power, the outcome should’ve been decided already. The fact that the relic remained sealed meant something was still happening inside.

“Damn it. I need to find some way…”

Hanul grew anxious. A bad feeling gnawed at him.

But once a relic was sealed, no one could open it from the outside.

Or so it was believed.

At that moment, the scattered remnants of Azeth Hermes’s destroyed soul began reassembling—and were absorbed into Hanul’s body.

And then, knowledge began pouring into his mind.

“…”

It wasn’t ordinary knowledge—it was vast, incomprehensibly vast. Far too much for any human.

“This... isn’t human knowledge.”

It was Azeth Hermes’s knowledge—but not originally his.

It had come from the demon that Hanul had once slain.

The demon’s knowledge had been passed on—through Azeth Hermes—to him.

“Ha…”

Demonic knowledge is notoriously incomprehensible to humans. Even after all those years, Azeth Hermes had barely grasped a fraction of it.

But Hanul was different. He carried the Half-Demon Bloodline and the Vessel within him.

He couldn’t understand everything—but he understood a lot.

“Now I get it.”

A vision surfaced in Hanul’s mind: a massive wall from the realm of the unconscious.

In that wall were slots—each one housing the source of a bloodline.

All but one were filled. Next to the Half-Demon Bloodline’s source, there was an empty slot.

And into that slot, the Half-Saint Bloodline settled.

In that instant, a change occurred inside him.

“H-Hanul?”

Seeing that transformation, Kwon Hudon gasped. Mei Hong and Gaël Garcia looked just as stunned.

“Y-Your eyes…”

“They’re glowing!”

Hanul’s irises radiated golden light—more precisely, a halo of light poured out from them.

He reached out and grabbed the Sand Prison Vault—and issued a command.

Transferring authority over ‘Sand Prison Vault’.

Open ‘Sand Prison Vault’?

Hanul immediately selected: Open.

The relic unlocked, and the sealed mana within exploded outward.

A storm swept the area, kicking up dust and debris. Hanul and the Dark Shade Unit shielded their eyes and braced themselves.

Then—something flew out and landed in Hanul’s arms.

Startled, he looked down.

“Hayun?”

“Lord Kwon Hanul?”

Both were stunned to see each other.

“How did you get here?! What happened to the barrier?!”

“It’s over now. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

But before they could speak further, darkness suddenly blanketed the world.

–Why has the Sand Prison Vault opened? I never gave the command.

A massive dragon had blotted out the sun—its shadow engulfed everything.

–Oh? Isn’t that my dear nephew?

The dragon looked down at Hanul, grinning.

But Hanul frowned in confusion.

It didn’t look like a real dragon—its scales were uneven, its teeth jagged. It looked like a creature trying to be a dragon, and failing.

–Don’t tell me you did something again? You always surprise people, don’t you?

The overly familiar tone made Hanul scowl.

“…Kwon Hyuk?”

–Tsk tsk! Nephew, you shouldn’t speak your uncle’s name so casually! That’s not polite!

The dragon—Kwon Hyuk—laughed uproariously.

–Heard Hyukcheon was in danger, so you rushed over. But looks like I beat you to it.

Kwon Hyuk bent down and grabbed Kwon Seonwoo’s head—then raised his other hand.

Seonwoo’s mana flowed out and coalesced into a glowing orb.

But this wasn’t just any orb.

It was Seonwoo’s Dragon Pearl.

–At last. It’s mine.

Kwon Hyuk’s eyes sparkled with greed as he swallowed the Dragon Pearl whole.

His throat bulged as it slid down.

And then—transformation.

Scales grew into place. Jagged teeth aligned. That malformed imitation turned into a true dragon.

–Yes!

Kwon Hyuk twisted his body, roaring with uncontainable joy.

–At last, I have acquired the power of the True Bloodline!

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]