Hajin looks around. The once antiquated mansion has ended in ruins. The roof and walls are gone, except for a few stones. Even the crates that should be full of supplies and artifacts are gone. Everyone is battered to the inch of their life. Hajin is not entirely scathed, except Yi Yeonjun who is fairly unmoved.
Yi Byul is able to protect the others to the last second, but she seems to be having a difficult time as she must have consumed a lot of magic power. Moreover, Droon, the young teenager has it worse, he is bleeding from his ears and puking liquid. Cheok Jungyeon has a battle-frantic expression on his face, and Jin Yohan is severely serious.
Hajin cannot imagine Hyon Hyung being the Savant in front of him because of the cruel display.
"Yo~ yo~ yo~ Cannot even take a hit?" Savant reappears, prancing around as if the others don't matter.
"You took out a nuclear warhead, you savage..." Jain's voice comes from a few distance away. She must have just come recently in a hurry from seeing the explosion. "Who is this clown, Boss?"
At that moment, Savant takes out another nuclear warhead from his weird hat.
Yi Yeonjun acts the fastest. "Get rid of it." He sends Hajin through Phase Shift to Savant's side. And Hajin complies, he uses his [Setting Intervention] to compromise the nuclear warhead.
"That's not nice," Savant takes out a dagger and tosses it at Hajin.
Hajin feels his own weight shifting. He has been [Phase Shift]-ed again by Yi Yeonjun.
Yi Yeonjun reappears from where Hajin stands as if fighting to protect Hajin. "Die," Yi Yoenjun's hands glow a dreadful orange, blue, and white. He brings down his fist to Savant, but he hits nothing.
"Hey," Savant runs off to the other side while shouting. "You are strangely overprotective of the other guy. What's up? Is he your long-lost son or something?" As if to test this theory, Savant takes out a bazooka and fires it at Hajin. Again, Yi Yeonjun comes to Hajin's side, protecting Hajin.
"It is just a normal bazooka." Yi Yeonjjun murmurs to himself.
Hajin feels weird too. Why is Yi Yeonjun suddenly o protective of him when he knows of Hajin's time loop immortality? Hajin shelves his questions for now, analyzing as to what is Hyon's goal in even doing this.
A crescent green wave of pure wind rushes at Savant, but he simply reappears on the other side where the attack doesn't reach. Jin Yohamm rushes with the momentum of the tiger, but somehow, Savant always manages to dodge the attacks.
Cheok Jungyoen comes to the fray, pincering Savant from two sides.
"Ah~ fuck..." Savant vanishes into thin air, leaving Jungyeon and Yohan no targets for his aggression.
It is his invisibility, [Not Here]. It is an ability that Hajin cannot even see through [Observation and Reading].
Yi Byul spreads her shadow turning the floor dark and murky. She won't be able to feel Hyon's presence with just that, but she can react the fastest when he reappears. Contrary to expectation, Savant has no plans of reappearing. Out of nowhere, Yi Byul starts hurling blood.
A Queen of Spades is embedded into her back where her heart should be. Yi Byul keels over, but she powers through willpower. Hajin fires off his bullets frantically using his perception, and maybe some of his luck to his advantage.
Hajin cannot imagine that Hyon is actually this strong. He is reminded of Hyon's ridiculous record of having a 99% draw.
But now, he isn't Hyon. He is just Savant. Hajin realizes the guy must be pissed off with him, and that is why he is doing this. To be fair, Hajin is not expecting Hyon to be able to teleport to this place.
"Be careful, Hajin." Yi Yeonjun gives a word of warning. "Let's talk!"
With a thought, Yi Yoenjun uses his Phase Shift Gift to send everyone somewhere else. Within the blink of an eye, Hajin finds himself and the others in an abandoned factory. Yi Byul tends to her own wounds with Jain's help. Jin Yohan takes care of Droon, and Cheok Jungyeon is droning off.
***
I am not expecting Yi Yeonjun to be forced to talk with me. I will not be coming as so overwhelming if Yi Yeonjun decides to be more offensive, but he's clearly too passive and is even defending Hajin.
In fact, my chances of winning are less than 50% if the whole crew of Chameleon Troupe comes attacking at once. If that happens though, I am confident that I can just leave, and call it a draw. My goal in attacking the Chameleon Troupe like this is on the top is definitely me just wanting to do it. But that is not all.
Through this preposterous attack from me, I am able to get a feel of the other's strength. I am also able to give Hajin a chance to show his loyalty or something. On top of that, Hajin should be able to discern new information from my chaos-making. But it appears, I have something more to gain.
Yi Yeonjun stands in front of me with his imposing build. I disguise my tension with a dad joke. "What did the Evil Chicken lay?"
"..."
"The Deviled Eggs."
"..."
"And you mister, have hatched lots of Deviled Eggs. Yi Byul, that shadow girl, she is most interesting..."
Yi Yeonjun raises his aura, white light bursting from the cracks where he stands.
"We have a truce! Hell is not to interfere, before the falling! Heaven won't take kindly from this affront."
If I analyze his words, I am able to discern a lot of information from them. The most important is that I am able to verify the information Hajin shares through the [Orb of Solomon] through this.
"Wha~t? I am not even a DE~vil!"
"Don't take me for a fool. If you call yourself the 'Savant of Sloth', then that must mean you are a follower of Belphegor. I will be honest. This is the first time I am meeting who worships a Pinnacle Devil. Tell me, are there others like you?"
Isn't that interesting?
"Fuck you! You already switched sides, dumbass! Why are you expecting me to be so friendly to you!?"
I bluff, and it works.
Yi Yeonjun projects his curiosity to me. "I am simply curious. You don't have to be so stiff about it. Let's do some sharing. The reason I worshipped Baal is because I wanted to see the world end, but damn Devil abandoned me..."
"Poor you," I cannot believe it. Yi Yeonjun wants a heart-to-heart. I should indulge him, make something up. I use to copy Yi Yeonjun's madness. I should be able to squeeze more information out of him if we buddy-buddy. "I feel you, bro... For me, the reason I took Sloth as my modifier is fairly simple but ultimately ambitious."
I smile, only to be reminded Yi Yeonjun cannot see my smile. "Do you know? When everyone is resting and asleep, the world is beautifully at peace. That's the reason why I took Sloth as my modifier... it is because I advocate for World Peace."
"..." There is a sharp gleam in Yi Yeonjun's eyes. "I am the only one special. I thought of this as the truth. But clearly, their other mad people who will voluntarily fall so low as to get in touch with a mad evil. You are just like me."
Don't lump me with you. Moreover, why are you showing empathy? Aren't you a psychopath? I sigh in my mind.
Yi Yeonjun spreads his arm outward. What is this? Are you asking for a hug?
Yi Yeonjun smiles creepily. "Have you seen the strongest explosion from an atomic bomb?"
My eyes widen in shock. Yi Yeonjun detonates himself and explodes in front of me.
***
Yi Yeonjun hates being outdone, moreover, by a competition that is as pretentious as Savant. After he explodes himself, he sees nothing but a flat ash land from where his mansion used to stand. His clothes are also gone as it is incinerated by his extremely explosive power.
He opens a portal for him to meet with the others. However, when he exits the portal, he suddenly finds himself sitting back on his throne, and the mansion has returned for what it is. "What happened?"
"Savant has followed us there. He teleported to where you sent us. He kills Yi Byul first as she is weakened. And then he ends Jain with a few exchanges. Before he can get to me, I shoot myself to turn back time. You must have a reason why you are wary of him killing me."
"There is. Trust me, it is unpleasant. In fact, he might have a shortcut to send you to the Transcendent Plane."
Inwardly, Hajin doubts that.
Yi Yeonjun is making assumptions on the basis that Savant is like him, but he is severely wrong.
Hajin perfunctorily asks. "How?"
"He will kill you, and then drag your soul to Hell."
"But I am an Atheist..." Hajin weakly responds.
Announcement It is Prelims Exam Week for me, so I uploaded every chapter I had on the backlog as a mass release for this week. I couldn't post for this week, so these chapters should do. Moreover, I cannot promise to upload more next week though, so sorry about that.
Hajin looks around. The once antiquated mansion has ended in ruins. The roof and walls are gone, except for a few stones. Even the crates that should be full of supplies and artifacts are gone. Everyone is battered to the inch of their life. Hajin is not entirely scathed, except Yi Yeonjun who is fairly unmoved.
Yi Byul is able to protect the others to the last second, but she seems to be having a difficult time as she must have consumed a lot of magic power. Moreover, Droon, the young teenager has it worse, he is bleeding from his ears and puking liquid. Cheok Jungyeon has a battle-frantic expression on his face, and Jin Yohan is severely serious.
Hajin cannot imagine Hyon Hyung being the Savant in front of him because of the cruel display.
"Yo~ yo~ yo~ Cannot even take a hit?" Savant reappears, prancing around as if the others don't matter.
"You took out a nuclear warhead, you savage..." Jain's voice comes from a few distance away. She must have just come recently in a hurry from seeing the explosion. "Who is this clown, Boss?"
At that moment, Savant takes out another nuclear warhead from his weird hat.
Yi Yeonjun acts the fastest. "Get rid of it." He sends Hajin through Phase Shift to Savant's side. And Hajin complies, he uses his [Setting Intervention] to compromise the nuclear warhead.
"That's not nice," Savant takes out a dagger and tosses it at Hajin.
Hajin feels his own weight shifting. He has been [Phase Shift]-ed again by Yi Yeonjun.
Yi Yeonjun reappears from where Hajin stands as if fighting to protect Hajin. "Die," Yi Yoenjun's hands glow a dreadful orange, blue, and white. He brings down his fist to Savant, but he hits nothing.
"Hey," Savant runs off to the other side while shouting. "You are strangely overprotective of the other guy. What's up? Is he your long-lost son or something?" As if to test this theory, Savant takes out a bazooka and fires it at Hajin. Again, Yi Yeonjun comes to Hajin's side, protecting Hajin.
"It is just a normal bazooka." Yi Yeonjjun murmurs to himself.
Hajin feels weird too. Why is Yi Yeonjun suddenly o protective of him when he knows of Hajin's time loop immortality? Hajin shelves his questions for now, analyzing as to what is Hyon's goal in even doing this.
A crescent green wave of pure wind rushes at Savant, but he simply reappears on the other side where the attack doesn't reach. Jin Yohamm rushes with the momentum of the tiger, but somehow, Savant always manages to dodge the attacks.
Cheok Jungyoen comes to the fray, pincering Savant from two sides.
"Ah~ fuck..." Savant vanishes into thin air, leaving Jungyeon and Yohan no targets for his aggression.
It is his invisibility, [Not Here]. It is an ability that Hajin cannot even see through [Observation and Reading].
Yi Byul spreads her shadow turning the floor dark and murky. She won't be able to feel Hyon's presence with just that, but she can react the fastest when he reappears. Contrary to expectation, Savant has no plans of reappearing. Out of nowhere, Yi Byul starts hurling blood.
A Queen of Spades is embedded into her back where her heart should be. Yi Byul keels over, but she powers through willpower. Hajin fires off his bullets frantically using his perception, and maybe some of his luck to his advantage.
Hajin cannot imagine that Hyon is actually this strong. He is reminded of Hyon's ridiculous record of having a 99% draw.
But now, he isn't Hyon. He is just Savant. Hajin realizes the guy must be pissed off with him, and that is why he is doing this. To be fair, Hajin is not expecting Hyon to be able to teleport to this place.
"Be careful, Hajin." Yi Yeonjun gives a word of warning. "Let's talk!"
With a thought, Yi Yoenjun uses his Phase Shift Gift to send everyone somewhere else. Within the blink of an eye, Hajin finds himself and the others in an abandoned factory. Yi Byul tends to her own wounds with Jain's help. Jin Yohan takes care of Droon, and Cheok Jungyeon is droning off.
***
I am not expecting Yi Yeonjun to be forced to talk with me. I will not be coming as so overwhelming if Yi Yeonjun decides to be more offensive, but he's clearly too passive and is even defending Hajin.
In fact, my chances of winning are less than 50% if the whole crew of Chameleon Troupe comes attacking at once. If that happens though, I am confident that I can just leave, and call it a draw. My goal in attacking the Chameleon Troupe like this is on the top is definitely me just wanting to do it. But that is not all.
Through this preposterous attack from me, I am able to get a feel of the other's strength. I am also able to give Hajin a chance to show his loyalty or something. On top of that, Hajin should be able to discern new information from my chaos-making. But it appears, I have something more to gain.
Yi Yeonjun stands in front of me with his imposing build. I disguise my tension with a dad joke. "What did the Evil Chicken lay?"
"..."
"The Deviled Eggs."
"..."
"And you mister, have hatched lots of Deviled Eggs. Yi Byul, that shadow girl, she is most interesting..."
Yi Yeonjun raises his aura, white light bursting from the cracks where he stands.
"We have a truce! Hell is not to interfere, before the falling! Heaven won't take kindly from this affront."
If I analyze his words, I am able to discern a lot of information from them. The most important is that I am able to verify the information Hajin shares through the [Orb of Solomon] through this.
"Wha~t? I am not even a DE~vil!"
"Don't take me for a fool. If you call yourself the 'Savant of Sloth', then that must mean you are a follower of Belphegor. I will be honest. This is the first time I am meeting who worships a Pinnacle Devil. Tell me, are there others like you?"
Isn't that interesting?
"Fuck you! You already switched sides, dumbass! Why are you expecting me to be so friendly to you!?"
I bluff, and it works.
Yi Yeonjun projects his curiosity to me. "I am simply curious. You don't have to be so stiff about it. Let's do some sharing. The reason I worshipped Baal is because I wanted to see the world end, but damn Devil abandoned me..."
"Poor you," I cannot believe it. Yi Yeonjun wants a heart-to-heart. I should indulge him, make something up. I use to copy Yi Yeonjun's madness. I should be able to squeeze more information out of him if we buddy-buddy. "I feel you, bro... For me, the reason I took Sloth as my modifier is fairly simple but ultimately ambitious."
I smile, only to be reminded Yi Yeonjun cannot see my smile. "Do you know? When everyone is resting and asleep, the world is beautifully at peace. That's the reason why I took Sloth as my modifier... it is because I advocate for World Peace."
"..." There is a sharp gleam in Yi Yeonjun's eyes. "I am the only one special. I thought of this as the truth. But clearly, their other mad people who will voluntarily fall so low as to get in touch with a mad evil. You are just like me."
Don't lump me with you. Moreover, why are you showing empathy? Aren't you a psychopath? I sigh in my mind.
Yi Yeonjun spreads his arm outward. What is this? Are you asking for a hug?
Yi Yeonjun smiles creepily. "Have you seen the strongest explosion from an atomic bomb?"
My eyes widen in shock. Yi Yeonjun detonates himself and explodes in front of me.
***
Yi Yeonjun hates being outdone, moreover, by a competition that is as pretentious as Savant. After he explodes himself, he sees nothing but a flat ash land from where his mansion used to stand. His clothes are also gone as it is incinerated by his extremely explosive power.
He opens a portal for him to meet with the others. However, when he exits the portal, he suddenly finds himself sitting back on his throne, and the mansion has returned for what it is. "What happened?"
"Savant has followed us there. He teleported to where you sent us. He kills Yi Byul first as she is weakened. And then he ends Jain with a few exchanges. Before he can get to me, I shoot myself to turn back time. You must have a reason why you are wary of him killing me."
"There is. Trust me, it is unpleasant. In fact, he might have a shortcut to send you to the Transcendent Plane."
Inwardly, Hajin doubts that.
Yi Yeonjun is making assumptions on the basis that Savant is like him, but he is severely wrong.
Hajin perfunctorily asks. "How?"
"He will kill you, and then drag your soul to Hell."
"But I am an Atheist..." Hajin weakly responds.
Announcement It is Prelims Exam Week for me, so I uploaded every chapter I had on the backlog as a mass release for this week. I couldn't post for this week, so these chapters should do. Moreover, I cannot promise to upload more next week though, so sorry about that.