There are many people in the world who have lost their minds. Among them, a man famous worldwide: Steiner.
The notorious president of Lucia’s fan club and an S-rank ability user.
“Hehe, Lucia…!”
Holding an ultra-expensive camera, he was continuously shooting Lucia Valencia fighting in the distance through a telephoto lens.
“That’s…!”
He captured the moment her nun’s habit exploded and tore apart, a metallic suit instantly wrapping around her body.
Her fluttering silver hair, glowing blue eyes, and even the sword forged from energy. Steiner’s fingers trembled over the shutter.
“Ahh… this is a treasure for life…!”
But there was one thing that displeased him. The male bastard beside her. The fact that there was an Overlord named Jin Seoyoon.
“How dare a mere man stand beside Lucia…! This envious—no, damn bastard I want to kill…!”
When Jin Seoyoon’s face entered the frame through the telephoto lens, Steiner’s expression twisted.
‘Damn it, he’s an Overlord, so I can’t touch him recklessly…’
He had already commissioned assassinations multiple times, but even assassination groups from around the world all expressed reluctance and refused.
At that moment, a strange voice from beside him made Steiner flinch and turn his head.
“Ohh, Master’s lightning…!”
Next to him was a man wrapped entirely in bandages, holding a camera.
Steiner frowned and asked.
“Who the hell are you…?”
The man grinned through the bandages.
“This one is Ryu Jaho. Disciple of the great Overlord Jin Seoyoon-nim!”
Steiner scanned Ryu Jaho up and down before speaking.
“So you’re that famous Heavenly Demon of China.”
“Indeed!”
Ryu Jaho puffed out his chest proudly.
“So why are you here?”
“This one stands here to witness Master’s martial prowess and learn from it. And…”
Ryu Jaho pointed at his camera and continued.
“To let the whole world know of Master’s greatness, I am broadcasting it live.”
Steiner looked at Ryu Jaho in disbelief.
“…You’re here just to film a mere man? Ridiculous.”
“Then what the hell are you doing?”
“You asked for my identity? Then I’ll tell you—I am—”
Just as Steiner was about to say more, Ryu Jaho trembled and shouted.
“Ohh! Master’s lightning color has changed…! Crimson-black lightning!”
Steiner frowned.
“Are you ignoring me right now?”
“Shut up and focus! I’m filming an important moment!”
Steiner, dumbfounded, closed his mouth and let out a deep sigh.
“Crazy bastard…”
He felt it wasn’t worth wasting time arguing with such a lunatic.
He raised his camera again and focused on Lucia. Her figure visible through the telephoto lens was still perfect.
‘Ahh… as expected of Lucia-nim…’
He captured her fighting in real time. The blue energy sword slicing the monster, her silver hair fluttering in the wind.
But then.
“Huh…?”
Steiner’s hand stopped.
A strange sight was unfolding through the telephoto lens.
The monster, continuously battered by Lucia and Jin Seoyoon, suddenly raised both hands and grasped at the air.
“That’s…?”
Steiner hurriedly zoomed in.
-Riiip!
The monster tore the air in half, creating a hole large enough for a person to pass through.
***
“…It ran away?”
I looked at Lucia in disbelief.
Lucia was also staring at the spot where the monster disappeared with a dumbfounded expression.
“Did it just… tear space and escape?”
“Seems like it.”
I lowered my sword and sighed.
“This bastard’s attack power is pathetic, but its defense and regeneration are no joke.”
Lucia sighed and said.
“The reason its defense felt strong is because it partially absorbs our attacks and converts them into its own power.”
“The worst.”
Its attack power was clearly pathetic. But physical attacks didn’t work well on this monster.
I looked at the faint distorted trace in the air, like fine cracks in glass.
‘If I used my full power, I could have easily dealt with it…’
The problem was that Lucia was beside me, so I didn’t want to reveal all my cards.
Besides—
‘That woman is still slyly hiding her power.’
I could feel it while fighting together.
‘Yeah, she was blatantly trying to observe how you’d handle that monster.’
Biyeon agreed.
No matter how I thought about it, she seemed intent on confirming how much stronger I’d gotten in just a week.
‘We both held back and checked each other, and it escaped.’
I glanced at Lucia. She was looking at me too.
A short silence passed.
Lucia spoke first.
“Jin Seoyoon.”
“What.”
“I have something to say about your condition.”
“My condition?”
I frowned.
“Yeah. There’s a problem with your head.”
“…Are you saying I’m crazy right now?”
‘She’s right!’
Biyeon chimed in, shouting in my head.
Lucia shook her head.
“That’s not what I mean. When you fainted after fighting me before, I examined your body a bit.”
“And?”
“There’s a very tiny hole-like thing in your soul.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it? Right now in your soul—!”
Lucia’s voice rose.
“Wait.”
I raised my hand to stop her.
“I get what you’re trying to say, but it’s fine now. It’s not something you need to worry about.”
“What…?”
Lucia looked bewildered.
“I already treated it. So don’t worry about it.”
“How did you treat it?”
Her eyes narrowed coldly.
“You don’t need to know, right? Honestly, we’re not exactly on good terms.”
I calmly drew the line. Lucia closed her mouth, unable to say more.
“Anyway, how are we going to deal with that monster?”
Lucia stared at me intently for a while before finally sighing slowly.
“…There’s no way to track it.”
“There are ability users who can track spatial movement.”
“That wasn’t normal spatial movement.”
Lucia pointed at the spot where the monster disappeared.
The faint distorted trace in space still remained.
“It fled into a dimensional rift. Tracking that is nearly impossible.”
“So we have no choice but to wait until it shows up again.”
“Exactly.”
“The worst.”
I sighed.
“But there’s one thing that’s certain.”
Lucia added.
“It needs energy. So… it will definitely appear again.”
“Can’t predict where it’ll show up?”
Lucia scanned the surroundings briefly and shook her head.
“Well… if we consider probabilities, it’s likely to target a city with a lot of people.”
“Meaning we don’t know where it’ll be targeted.”
There weren’t just one or two cities with lots of people.
She quietly nodded. Then she turned her back, averting her gaze from me.
“I’ll be going now. And…”
Lucia paused for a moment, then slowly turned her head to look at me.
“…I want to confirm if it’s really properly treated, so stop by when you have time.”
“I’ll think about it.”
I answered shortly.
Lucia said no more and lifted into the air. Blue energy wings unfolded from her back, and her body rose into the sky.
She quickly flew upward and soon disappeared from sight.
I stood still in place until she was completely out of view.
‘Is she gone?’
I checked the surroundings. Lucia was definitely far away. However, there was someone watching from afar.
‘Ryu Jaho.’
I didn’t know what he was doing from that distance, but that wasn’t important right now.
I activated the trait.
-Ding!
[Using trait ‘Descent’]
[Duration: 1 minute]
In an instant, the overwhelming power I enjoyed in the tower manifested directly in Reality.
‘1 minute is enough.’
I immediately began manipulating the surrounding space. From the outside, it would look like I was just standing there blankly.
No one would notice what I was doing.
I slowly approached the spot where the monster had disappeared.
The faint distorted trace in the air still remained, like fine cracks in a glass.
Just like the monster had done, I forcibly widened the spatial rift with my fingertips.
-Riiip!
A rift large enough for one person to barely pass through opened.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I reached my hand in.
Cold air, a wave of alien energy completely different from Reality, traveled up my fingertips.
And something was caught in my hand.
‘Got it.’
I forcefully pulled the squishy existence out.
The monster’s body was forcibly dragged out from the dimensional rift.
“Kieeeeeek—!”
The monster screamed and struggled. I firmly grabbed it by the nape of its neck.
“Let go…!”
“Pretty arrogant way of speaking. Should we start with a beating?”
I raised my fist.
“W-Wait—!”
“No time. Let’s just take a beating for 10 seconds.”
I only had 1 minute.
No, 10 seconds was plenty to handle this monster.
My empowered fist mercilessly struck the monster’s visible weak points in real time.
-Boom!
“Kiek!”
-Boom!
“Argh!”
-Boom! Boom! Boom!
The monster’s screams and the sound of bones crushing echoed. Two of its six red eyes burst, leaking blood and fluid. The tentacles on its back hung limply, and the monster’s massive body gradually slumped.
“Kiiik… stop… stop…”
I lifted it while still gripping its nape.
“Will you listen now?”
“Kiik… I’ll listen… I’ll listen to anything…”
The monster begged, fluid streaming from its eyes.
I lowered the monster to the ground and placed my palm on its head.
“W-What are you doing…?”
“Stay still.”
My power dug deep into its core.
“Kieeeeeek!”
The monster convulsed and screamed once more. But I didn’t stop.
My power engraved a mark of domination onto its very existence.
A black stigma pattern was deeply etched into the monster’s soul.
“Kiik… what… is this…”
“I engraved a domination mark on your core. You can no longer defy my commands.”
I looked down at it coldly and continued.
“Try betraying me once for fun. The moment you do, your very existence will vanish.”
“Kiik…”
The monster trembled all over, gripped by humiliation. I kicked the shaking creature lightly with my toe and said.
“Hey, introduce yourself now.”
“Y-Yes…?”
“Want me to say it twice? Tell me where you’re from, your name, where you’ve been hanging out—everything, you little shit.”
With every word I spoke, the monster’s head sank further into the ground. There was fear, but more than that, it seemed unbearable to endure the humiliation of the current situation.