D.I.O

Chapter 242

Youngmin laughed.

“You all are just itching to die, aren’t you?”

“…!”

A soundless scream seemed to accompany Youngmin’s low voice as it emanated outward.

Even Shin Hyeon-ho was gasping for air, and he’d spent his entire life in the military and regularly participated in arduous battles against the aliens.

Click!

At that moment, a special task force member watching the situation from a distance released the safety on his sniper rifle.

The sniper realized that something unexpected had happened, so he acted according to the order given to him in advance.

He placed his finger on the rifle’s trigger and put the target in his crosshairs.

However…

The moment he was about to fire, he did not see the target but a large box cutter with sharp qi energy swirling about it.

“!?”

Shocked, the sniper leaned away from the scope and stepped back.

Before, the box cutter had filled his field of vision and extended beyond the scope’s boundaries, so he acted on the assumption that someone had approached and pointed the knife in front of his scope, but unexpectedly, there was no one in the vicinity.

“This… what’s going on?”

From afar, the viewer could only tell Youngmin was holding a box cutter.

Yet, if someone looked at Youngmin with harmful intent, Youngmin’s figure would disappear from view, leaving only the blackish-blue box cutter visible.

Unbelievably, the soldier had no way of attacking Youngmin, as the image of the knife covered the latter’s entire body.

“Could it be… Union with One’s Sword?”

As a member of the special task force and a user specializing in internal energy, the sniper recognized Youngmin’s level and the extent of his skills.

Youngmin had entered a state where his sword and body became one, and the distinction between the two was indistinguishable.

Moreover, even from hundreds of meters away, Youngmin’s ability didn’t seem to weaken. The soldier couldn’t believe that such a perfect union of sword and body could cause such an unbelievable [phenomenon]….

The soldier was unaware of this, but Youngmin was born with an affinity for a Celestial Star’s energy.

However, Youngmin could mask this quality by exerting complete control over his aura.

Originally, it should have been impossible to capture the energy of a Celestial Star, also called [Heaven-Sent Killer]. Yet, Youngmin had killed hundreds of thousands of enemies - no, maybe far more - in a unique environment and space. As such, he could wield the unruly energy of the Celestial Star.

With only his sword, Youngmin could defeat a stronger opponent. This was possible because he had unhesitatingly slaughtered an overwhelming number of enemies in the past.

And his colleagues and enemies who saw that madness gave him his nickname…

… The mad ghost swordsman - the Sword Demon.

“Go away.”

After coldly saying these two words, Youngmin turned around.

The Capital Defense commander, Shin Hyeon-ho, had already fallen into a state of sheer terror, and the soldiers who assisted and surrounded the commander didn’t even think of raising their heads, let alone catch Youngmin.

“I guess it’s going to get noisy from now on.”

Youngmin let out a small sigh as he entered the house.

When Arthur reached the transcendent realm, the somewhat stable situation around the world abruptly changed once more.

Masters received vast amounts of wealth to become superhuman for only an hour, and now, it was public knowledge that these individuals had the potential to become mythical beings.

A transcendent was a being who attained divine status, even if it was of a lower level.

Over tens of thousands of such low-level transcendents existed in the [Union], which dominated the entire universe. So, someone who had only recently transcended wasn’t treated as anything special.

However, Youngmin knew the tremendous significance of a transcendent’s presence on Earth. After all, everything on Earth had barren spiritual pathways.

Against transcendent beings, scientific weapons were of no use, and even nuclear force couldn’t harm a transcendent. Like this, the existing socio-political system and nation-state structures were now meaningless.

This was why Union Law stipulated that a civilization in the Second Stage or below should isolate its transcendents from the general population.josei

Since Earth had not expressly joined the Union, though, the organization in question had limited room to enforce Union Law. In addition, since Arthur was not a foreign being but a person born and raised on Earth, there was almost no way to separate him from the public. Even if Arthur decided to destroy Earth, no one could stop him.

“I hope he’s retained at least a fraction of his beliefs from when he acted as a knight of justice….”

Youngmin sighed and closed the door behind him.

***

Humanity had to face enormous changes due to one individual, Arthur.

Yet, this wasn’t just limited to the real world.

“Damn it! Stop!”

“Oh, man, why did it become so difficult to earn gem points!”

Although the outside world went into a state of emergency, the overall atmosphere inside Dynamic Island hadn’t changed much. This was because DIO essentially had a fully automated, self-sustaining system that didn’t necessarily require an operator.

The situation was different for high-level users, especially those above the Master level. They had no choice but to feel that something had drastically shifted. The Grand Masters, always residing in the Holy Lands and offering users poignant advice, had disappeared.

And… most importantly, the missions disappeared.

Of course, this didn’t mean that all means of obtaining gem points had disappeared entirely. It was still possible to get gem points by defeating monsters.

Alas, only a few monsters dropped gem points.

General run-of-the-mill monsters which lacked critical reasoning abilities and only reacted to outside stimuli didn’t drop gem points; on the other hand, special monsters that moved with intelligence and autonomy did. Due to the few opportunities available, only those who accrued enough gem points before the changes could manifest. Most Masters had a tough time accruing enough gem points, and they wouldn’t be able to manifest for the foreseeable future. This, in turn, significantly restricted the number of Masters capable of manifesting.

However, the problem was that the aliens’ attacks continued.

It became difficult for humankind to utilize its Masters properly, or rather, because of that, the Legion and Grotesque’s attacks became more severe and destructive.

Although, unlike the first time the aliens attacked, when Earthlings were largely defenseless, the people of Earth did not suffer astronomical losses. Nowadays, nation states possessed various means of protection.

Even so, casualties were constantly piling up on the front lines due to the overwhelming difference in power.

“What’s wrong with you guys? You’ll have to work a little harder to get those gem points that you all covet so much.”

“Ah, Sungmuk! Bro, why are you being like this? We have no intention of fighting you! We came to defeat that Jooyoung guy or whatever his name is… why the hell did you pop out instead?”

“Also, this isn’t even your designated spawn area, bro! Why the hell are you here?! Dude, we’re not joking, bro… seriously, we need those gem points….”

When the users said this, the surrounding air changed.

An evil smile formed on the orc’s face. An orc, who typically had expressions challenging to read from a human’s point of view.

Clink!

Then, a plum blossom bloomed and brushed past all the users standing in a circle around Sungmuk.

The unfolding scene looked beautiful, and the soft scent of plum blossoms wafted in the air.

Yet, every bright plum leaf was the essence of extreme sharpness, capable of easily cutting through a modern tank. Not a single user survived the attack, and soon, all the gathered users turned into golden smoke and scattered.

“Who are you all to call me ‘bro?’”

The monsters that existed in Dynamic Island had a specific species level.

This was a designated level that corresponded with the species’ average combat power. Generally, the level of a species that its members were born and raised in usually set the upper limit of its development.

However, even if all users were equally human, their levels were different. Similarly, monsters were also graded according to their innate talents and subsequent efforts after birth.

A few monsters who could go above and beyond their species level entered the Warrior Class. In other words, these monsters had trained to become proficient in battle and learned to use mana. Next was the Fighter Class, wherein monsters were capable of displaying special abilities due to increased mana utilization. Beyond this was the Knight Class, monsters with unusual inborn skills that they worked to perfect. Then came the superpowers that were extraordinary and powerful enough to dominate the entire species, or the Hero Class monsters. These monsters attained enlightenment beyond the Master level.

And above all these designations was the Freedom Class, where even the restrictions placed on species no longer became an obstacle.

“Anyway… it looks like something went wrong in their world. Also, there haven’t been any DIO public announcements these days either… The overall atmosphere has changed dramatically.”

Sparks flew out as Sungmuk placed his Divine Red Sparrow Sword into its scabbard.

The fire attribute energy contained in the Divine Red Sparrow Sword had become more potent over time. Now, Sungmuk could create five or six flaming sword strikes simultaneously.

Sungmuk calmed the bustling energy in his sword and sat cross-legged on a nearby rock. Above his head was his title… a title that had recently changed.