[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 424

When he came to his senses, a pure white ceiling came into view.

Jeong-hoon slowly sat up.

"…I'm sure I lost consciousness while facing Harmageddon."

In that moment, he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Jeong-hoon put a hand to his chest and frowned.

"Did I come here as a spirit again this time?"

If so, his physical body should still be in front of Harmageddon.

'Master!'

Just then, Mukho's voice came from behind him.

Jeong-hoon's head turned, and there were Mukho and Anima, blankly looking around.

'It seems you were moved here with your physical body intact.'

As Anima said, Jeong-hoon had been moved not as a spirit, but with his physical body. That was why Mukho and Anima, who were engraved on his items, were able to accompany him here.

Then who on earth had guided him here?

'The High God guided you!'

Tenebris's eyes widened as he shouted.

"The High God?"

Jeong-hoon tilted his head.

Harmageddon had clearly said that by arriving at the palace, he would be able to draw out the High God's will.

'Don't tell me that will came out and guided me here?'

He slowly began to walk forward.

'Hoh, you calculated this far? For that guy, that's quite something.'

Janus gave a short exclamation of admiration.

He was a god who had existed since the beginning of time, alongside Primatos. As such, he had no reverence for the High God.

'You bastard!'

Tenebris, annoyed by Janus's attitude, strode towards him.

'Do you want to die?'

Janus glared at Tenebris.

"Stop. This isn't the time to fight."

In the end, Jeong-hoon intervened and forcibly ended their war of nerves.

Now was not the time to fight. In any case, the fact that his physical body had visited this place meant that, one way or another, the High God's will had come out. He had to hurry and annihilate Harmageddon to prevent the destruction of Earth. To do that, he had to get out of this place.

"Why can't I see an end to this?"

It felt like he was just walking in circles, no matter how much he walked. It was the same even when he used the Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion to increase his speed. He couldn't see any way out of this place.

"Tenebris."

Jeong-hoon stopped walking and called Tenebris.

'What is it?'

"You said the High God guided me here, right?"

'Yes.'

"Then why isn't the High God appearing? And it's not like I can get out of here either… It just feels like I'm trapped."

'I don't know about that either.'

"You don't know?"

Jeong-hoon frowned at the unsatisfactory answer.

'But it's certain that the High God guided you! This is the High God's space!'

Tenebris hastily added an explanation.

"Right. So I'm curious as to why the High God brought me here."

'The Virtues.'

Just then, Janus blurted out.

"The Virtues?"

'Yes. Try to draw out the power of the Virtues.'

"I'm already wielding the power of the Virtues, though?"

'Ridiculous. You're not wielding the power of the Virtues at all.'

Not wielding it?

'What do you know to be spouting such nonsense!'

As if a button had been pushed, Tenebris jumped up and expressed his anger.

'Hmph, that guy is a real idiot. Shall we test right now if my words are a lie?'

'Fine! If I lose, I'll live as your lackey for the rest of my life!'

Tenebris was one of the angels created by the High God at the beginning of time. He had also formed a group with the angels who had committed crimes for the sake of the Divine Realm and had actively acted as a spy while living in the Demon Realm.

In that process, he had heard about the Virtues directly, so he was certain.

The Virtues were, quite literally, existence itself.

When all the Virtues were acquired, one would possess a presence comparable to that of the High God.

Although Jeong-hoon had made Light and Darkness coexist through Janus, the reason he could annihilate the Named was entirely thanks to the presence granted by the Virtues. This was because he would never be outmatched in terms of 'status.'

'Hey, did you hear that? This guy promised to be my lackey for life if he's wrong.'

Jeong-hoon nodded.

Janus, who had kept his mouth shut all this time. There was no reason to refuse when he could gain additional information about the Virtues.

'Tenebris, nice assist.'

Jeong-hoon expressed his gratitude inwardly, but Tenebris, oblivious, only glared at Janus.

'Now, the Virtues are, quite literally, the power of the High God split into seven. Things like Humility or Temperance are just names attached to hide their true power.'

"Is that so?"

'Take Humility, for example. You probably think it hides your existence, right?'

"Yeah."

'In truth, that Humility is Genesis.'

"Genesis?"

Genesis.

He said it was a cheat-like ability focused on life force recovery, where one's body and the energy it possesses are automatically restored. However, the reason Jeong-hoon had to use Divine Healing each time was because Humility had not manifested as Genesis. If it did manifest, the mask of Humility would disappear, and his presence would be revealed once again.

Janus explained the power of all the Virtues, from Genesis to Martial Prowess, Blazing Heaven, Abyssal Flow, Celestial Radiance, Deep Abyss, and finally, Fusion.

"Hmm, so how do I handle all this?"

'It's simple. You fuse all the Virtues you possess.'

Fusion.

Combining all the Virtues one possesses. Janus didn't explain what kind of change would occur.

"How do I feel the Virtues?"

'That's for you to figure out on your own.'

"Then you won't be able to prove that Tenebris's words were wrong, will you?"

The corners of Jeong-hoon's mouth lifted.

In contrast, Janus's brow furrowed.

'Are you threatening me right now?'

"It's not a threat, it's a fact. If what you said is true, you should have to prove it, right?"

'Ha, fine. I'll tell you. The Virtues are…'

Janus began his explanation of the Virtues.

In short, the Virtues are divided into three stages: Resonance, Assimilation, and Liberation.

When one realizes their essence, the Virtues slumbering in Jeong-hoon's subconscious begin to react and, accordingly, resonate.

Assimilation refers to raising that Virtue from the subconscious to the conscious level.

In that state, one liberates the Virtue that has risen to consciousness.

When all seven Virtues are awakened in that manner and combined into one, the High God's will reacts.

"Alright. Then I'll begin."

Jeong-hoon closed his eyes and concentrated.

First, he entered his subconscious. To be precise, he was calling out the Virtues within his subconscious. He said they would react just by thinking about them, so if that was true, a signal should come.

Creak—

In that moment, Jeong-hoon heard the sound of something opening in his mind.

As he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could see a small mass of light rising within.

Jeong-hoon slowly guided the mass to come closer to him.

'If I rush, I'll fail.'

He emptied his mind and guided the Virtues to rise to consciousness on their own.

As if responding to Jeong-hoon's will, the mass of light poked its head between the boundary of the subconscious and consciousness.

The Virtue that had poked its head out easily rose to the surface of consciousness and began to resonate with Jeong-hoon.

The resonating mass of light cracked on its surface, and with a shattering sound, it erupted in a rainbow-colored aura and blazed fiercely.

Jeong-hoon approached the flames and slowly reached out his hand.

Then, the blazing flames climbed up Jeong-hoon's hand and wrapped around his body, circling rapidly like a vortex.

'So this is the true Virtue.'

Resonance, and this current stage was Assimilation.

Finally, he would liberate the assimilated Virtue.

Whoosh—

When he completely liberated the power of the Virtue, the flames blazed fiercely, as if to burn his entire consciousness.

Along with that, his mind cleared, and information about Genesis was automatically inputted.

'So what Janus said was true.'

Because he hadn't properly utilized the Virtues, he had struggled to face them.

But from now on, it would be different.

Because he had unlocked his true power.

Jeong-hoon slowly opened his closed eyes.

'How was it…?'

In front of him, Tenebris was checking Jeong-hoon's condition with a nervous face.

Jeong-hoon smirked and shook his head.

"Tenebris, you lost."

'What…?'

"As Janus said, I succeeded in drawing out the true power of the Virtues."

'Th-That's impossible!'

"It's true."

Jeong-hoon raised his right hand, and a brilliant flame of light blazed upon it.

'What's that?'

"It's the Genesis that Janus mentioned."

Genesis.

The flame of life.

That flame blazed in Jeong-hoon's right hand, showing off its presence.

At the intense power of the light, Tenebris was crushed.

'To think that I was wrong…'

'Puhaha! You said you'd live as my lackey for life, didn't you? You'd better give up any thought of returning to the Divine Realm.'

'What…?'

'Because we're going to the Demon Realm. You can just serve me for the rest of your life.'

'Aaaah! I take it back! I take it all back!'

'Don't be ridiculous. I gave you all the information I didn't want to, just to make you submit. You'd better just say 'I'm so screwed' and be done with it.'

They get along well.

Jeong-hoon smirked and liberated the remaining Virtues in the same way.

And finally, Fusion.

The ability to combine the liberated Virtues into one.

The seven flames, including Fusion, merged into one, doubling in size and taking on a brilliant light.

In that moment.

Click.

With the sound of a lock being undone, a great light engulfed Jeong-hoon.

Jeong-hoon instinctively squeezed his eyes shut, and a voice was heard in his mind.

'Child, you've finally come this far.'

It was a warm voice that put his mind at ease.

"The High God?"

'Yes. I am Primatos, who created the Divine Realm.'

"...Why did you choose to annihilate yourself?"

He wanted to ask.

It was hard to accept that he had chosen annihilation simply to select the next High God.

'I wanted to see.'

"Pardon?"

Jeong-hoon was slightly taken aback.

He should be giving him a reason. Was he suddenly confessing his love?

'I wanted to see with my own two eyes whether I was right or wrong.'

"Ah."

'I created a perfect and flawless Divine Realm. But the angels I created chose evil.'

"So you annihilated yourself and asked another to judge them?"

'…Yes.'

"That's irresponsible."

How many dimensions had been destroyed because of his choice? How many lives had been lost?

Jeong-hoon couldn't see Primatos in a favorable light. If he had judged them himself, none of this would have happened.

'I am sorry.'

At Primatos's apology, Jeong-hoon let out a deep sigh.

"For the record, I have no intention of becoming the High God or anything like that."

'Why is that?'

"I will live as a human and die as a human."

The reason Jeong-hoon was so obsessed with power was to regain peace. If he could regain peace, he wanted to return to an ordinary life, not as a being who transcended humanity, but to live like a person.

'…I see. If that is your will, then I cannot force you.'

Regret dripped from Primatos's voice.

Jeong-hoon was the first one to come this far. With his strong mental fortitude, Jeong-hoon was a suitable candidate for the next High God, but since he had refused, he couldn't be forced into the position.

"Take the seat of the High God yourself again."

'Hmm?'

"When I've snuffed out Harmageddon's life, I will return these Virtues to you."

The power of the Virtues was Primatos himself. So wouldn't there be a way to resurrect Primatos through the Virtues?

'Unfortunately, that is impossible. I have already been annihilated.'

"Is that so?"

'In any case, the Virtues are now yours. So I will not oppose how you use them.'

Jeong-hoon nodded.

"Yes. Then let's end all of this now."

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]