Now that he had stepped onto the threshold, he only needed to take a single step, but something was making him hesitate.
It was caused partially by the mental fatigue accumulated through too many level ups, but there was also another reason.
A vague fear of being reborn as a new existence.
He had already become transcendent, chaos and then destruction but strangely, it wasn’t easy for him to take this final step before becoming a Hwanmong Ruler.
Maybe he might become a completely different type of existence from now.
It seemed unlikely but that hesitation was surprisingly powerful.
If Cardia hadn’t left Kang-jun in a petrified state, it might have taken him quite a while to decide to take this step.
In particular, the atrocity of turning Kang-jun’s head into a pendant had backfired.
It badly damaged Kang-jun’s pride. No matter how tired he was, he would still burst out in a tantrum.
In other words, Cardia pricked his pride and gave him a chance to become an absolute being in the dimensional system.
In the end, not half, but the whole prophecy came true.
[You have realized the essence of Hwanmong.]
[You have understood and can deal with Hwanmong energy.]
[Your war rating has risen to Hwanmong.]
[Charisma has permanently increased by 50.]
[Good Luck has permanently increased by 10.]
Lv.500 (MAX)
[War] Hwanmong
Health: 205070/205070
Hwanmong Energy: 201290/201290
Destruction power was transmuted into Hwanmong energy.
His war rating increased to Hwanmong and his charisma rose by 50 points! Furthermore, good luck also rose by 10 points.
However, his level remained unchanged.
Then a message immediately appeared.
[Enlightenment as a Hwanmong Ruler has given you a lot of experience, increasing your level greatly.]
It wasn’t a surprise to see his level rise.
Lv501, Lv502, Lv503...
His level rose indefinitely.
More messages kept popping up.
[You have reached an ultimate world beyond levels.]
[Your abilities will no longer be restricted by levels.]
[Your abilities will no longer be restricted by tools or equipment.]
Kang-jun’s status window changed after those messages appeared.
Lucan
[War] Hwanmong
Health: 500000/500000
Hwanmong Energy: 500000/500000
Good Luck: 31
Charisma: 115
His status window was very short. His level was no longer visible.
His health and Hwanmong energy reached 500,000 while his stats such as strength, intelligence, etc., had disappeared.
They no longer had an effect on his combat power. Therefore, there was no need for those stats to be displayed.
Only the unique stats of charisma and good luck remained.
‘Good luck and charisma are important to a Hwanmong Ruler.’
The one sad thing was that his stat bonuses from the Dimensional Sovereign Ring no longer applied.
In addition, any great equipment that he found wouldn’t have an effect.
If the water in the cup was full, that quantity of water wouldn’t increase no matter how much more water was poured in.
Of course, Kang-jun hadn’t reached the peak of everything.
Once he became a Hwanmong Ruler, he was able to see that the world of Hwanmong was never ending.
In other words, there were still ways for him to become stronger in the future.
In that case, it was like he could only expand the size of the vessel that contained the water, it couldn’t be increased anymore through equipment.
It was only possible with enlightenment.
It was clear that going one step further than a Hwanmong Ruler would be extremely difficult.
Anyways, once he became a Hwanmong Ruler, Kang-jun could tell that the dimensional system was bigger than he originally thought.
Infinite!
There was no way to express it other than that.
'Will there be an existence stronger than me?’
But within the area that Kang-jun could detect, no one had reached such a level.
After becoming a Hwanmong Ruler, the level of dimensions that he could perceive had broadened. Within that radius, there was only one who had reached a similar level to him.
It was the top demonic god, Cardia, who was standing right in front of him.
Surprisingly, she was almost as strong as the current Kang-jun.
They hadn’t fought yet but Kang-jun felt like he was superior to her.
'The prophecy that Cardia told him about is correct. Today is that day.’
On the other hand, Cardia stared at the stretching Kang-jun with a strange expression.
“How surprising. It isn’t so easy to unravel that curse. Is this the power of Hwanmong that the prophecy spoke about?”
"That's right."
Kang-jun laughed. However, his expression turned cold after he laughed.
“Great demonic god Cardia! No, top demonic god should suffice. Now that I’ve become a Hwanmong Ruler, you will never be able to get out of here. How about you become my servant?”
Cardia laughed like it was ridiculous.
"Do you think I would just freely let you do as you want? I don’t believe that the power of Hwanmong is that great.”
"If you don’t believe me then I will make you believe.”
Kang-jun moved his hand and the snow on the ground gathered together to form a sword.
"A sword? How interesting.”
Cardia’s eyes fell on the weapon hanging on her waist.
It was also a sword. A white sword.
As she grabbed the sword with one hand, Kang-jun felt an overwhelming momentum pouring out from her.
It was only natural.
Cardia had been a demonic god who was crazy about swordsmanship.
While other demonic gods poured themselves into their household members, she held a sword and devoted herself to swordsmanship.
Once she raised her sword, other demonic gods would back away.
After the enlightenment of her swordsmanship combined with the divine power of a demonic god, she overcame her limitations in the Abyss and reached the level of a top demonic god.
Thus, it wasn’t ludicrous for Cardia to point her sword at Kang-jun.
"Feel free to use whatever swordsmanship technique you want.”
"If you wish.”
As soon as Kang-jun pulled out his sword and took the posture of Heaven’s Blood Sword Style, Cardia’s expression changed.
“What? That is the Heaven’s Blood Sword Style.”
"I’m surprised that you know this.”
"I made it when I was a great demonic god.”
"Stop talking nonsense. This is a style that Shadowless created.”
Heaven’s Blood Sword Style had helped him overcome transcendence to become a chaos being.
If he hadn’t received this sword technique then it would have been hard to reach here so quickly.
It was the greatest strength behind making Kang-jun who he was today.
That was the Heaven’s Blood Sword Style.
Yet Cardia said that she made it in the Abyss.
Cardia just laughed.
"Then don't believe me. I just made it and sprinkled it into the consciousness of people. If someone stumbled upon it then they would think they were the creator.”
"You sprinkled it into the consciousness?”
"It isn’t difficult. You should be able to do that now.”
Apparently, that was the case. Kang-jun gritted his teeth.
‘Damn! It was true.’
In the end, Shadowless was still Kang-jun’s mentor in the Heaven’s Blood Sword Style.
Yet it was something created by Cardia that she had sprinkled into Shadowless’ subconscious.
In other words, Cardia had transmitted it to Shadowless beyond time and space.
Of course, Shadowless didn’t know that.
Cardia laughed and laughed.
“Not only that. Perhaps the most useful thing I created in recent years was how to reach the realm of chaos. Even the celestial gods are practicing some of the sword techniques that I made.”
"It is an honour.”
It was an honour to meet the genius in swordsmanship who created so many of the sword techniques.
But a duel between warriors wasn’t just determined by the skill in swordsmanship.
A showdown between a top demonic god and a Hwanmong Ruler.
Kang-jun acknowledged that Cardia was a great genius with the sword but he still thought he would win this fight.
"Taste the feeling of being hit by the sword you created.
Kang-jun swung his sword.
Flash!
Heavenly Cut. However, it wasn’t the same as before as it turned into an absolute force that destroyed everything in front of it.
Pa pa pa pa!
The energy of Hwanmong formed the shape of a sword and the destruction power in the Abyss was scattered.
Of course, the space in front of Cardia also evaporated.
However, her body moved in a direction that Kang-jun hadn’t expected. She avoided it and then she swung her sword in retaliation.
‘How great. When did she move there?’
Kang-jun quickly moved his sword to block her attack.
Kakakaang!
At that moment, Cardia was pushed back. Blood was pouring from her mouth.
“What? That energy? Is it Hwanmong energy?”
“Yes.”
“Euh! What a scam.”
Cardia frowned.
She didn’t feel anything when she avoided Kang-jun’s attack. The power was beyond imagination but avoiding that attack wasn’t difficult for her.
However, a mysterious reaction occurred the moment her sword met Kang-jun’s.
Unbelievably, she received reflected damage.
It was a blow to her power that had reached the level of a top demonic god.
Not only had Kang-jun casually accepted the attack, he returned the damage!
It was like she inserted a sword into her body herself.
“Ulkeok!”
Cardia staggered as blood emerged from her mouth.
However, she instantly recovered. From then on, she tried to avoid meeting Kang-jun’s sword as much as possible while they fought.
Hwiiik! Papapapak - Flash!
Kang-jun was alert and also evaded her attacks.
‘It is really great.’
Cardia wasn’t someone he could win against just by becoming a Hwanmong Ruler.
Chwack! Chwaack! Puhak!
In the end, her sword struck Kang-jun numerous times and gave him some injuries.
But the injuries did little damage.
She stabbed her sword into his heart with all her energy, but Kang-jun’s skin was only slightly scratched and recovered quickly.
"No way! Something like this!”
"It doesn’t make sense. That is why it is called Hwanmong power. You can’t beat me, Cardia."
The power of Hwanmong coursing through Kang-jun’s body meant he wouldn’t get any serious injuries.
The slightest scratches or bruises caused by Cardia quickly disappeared.
As time passed, Cardia started to get cornered.
Her swordsmanship was better than Kang-jun but that wasn’t enough against the fraudulent power of Hwanmong.
No matter what Cardia did, Kang-jun didn’t budge.
Every time her sword clashed with Kang-jun’s, she was shocked and pushed back.
In the end, the damage accumulated and Kang-jun aimed a final blow at her after she slowed down.
“Now let’s end this, Cardia.”
Chwaack!
“Ugh!”
Blood spurted from Cardia’s chest. As she staggered, Kang-jun’s sword passed across her neck.
Seokeok!
“Euh! This...”
Cardia’s body trembled with disbelief.
She tried to gather destruction power around her neck but the power of Hwanmong scattered it.
“H-how vexing...”
After saying that, Cardia’s head flew off.
The two of the had been fighting on the snowy field, so her head was separated from her body and hit the snowy ground.
‘Finally finished.’
Kang-jun looked down at her.