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chapter 92
[Myth. “The Lord of All Things” exercises dominion over all frost attributes within the dungeon!]
The moment it was revealed that Xu Changyou had possessed Zhang Baiyan,
everything froze, as if the world itself had stopped.
The savage blizzard halted.
The volcano’s rumbling subsided.
Xu Changyou’s mythic legacy was the Jade Emperor.
The Jade Emperor—chief deity of <Celestial Teachings>, sovereign over all things.
He could control and dominate everything he acquired.
That was why he could so freely wield the Saint’s Relic of the Snow Queen, despite its entirely different nature and origin.
It also meant he could rule over those who had sworn loyalty to him.
This was the very mechanism that allowed him to possess Zhang Baiyan.
“……”
“It’s been a while since we last met. Aren’t you going to say something? Talking all by myself feels awkward, you know.”
But Lee Hyun simply stared at Xu Changyou in silence.
If they ever met again one day,
he had thought there would be so much he wanted to say.
So many questions he wanted to ask.
Yet now, all of it felt meaningless.
All he could do was barely suppress the rage boiling up inside his chest.
[Suppressed emotions erupt.]
[The wrath of the Duokshini boils ever fiercer.]
Crackle! Zzzzt!
“If you’re speechless because you’re happy to see me, that’s al—”
“…You.”
When Lee Hyun finally managed to get his first words out,
his voice was ragged, broken.
“You haven’t changed a bit.”
Xu Changyou laughed.
“Finally, some words! But saying I haven’t changed—that’s supposed to be a compliment?”
“Still shameless. Still only saying what you want. That’s why I’m actually relieved.”
“Relieved?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Hyun forced a smile, pushing all his emotions deep down.
“Because you’re still the same bastard. That means I can kill you without hesitation.”
“What? Kill me? You? Pahahahaha!”
Xu Changyou’s laughter roared across the field.
It was a double-voiced resonance—his own voice layered with Zhang Baiyan’s.
It was grotesque.
“That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard! You’ve gotten witty while I wasn’t looking.”
His lips twisted into a smirk.
“Four years ago you couldn’t kill me. You couldn’t do anything but lose Brother Suchan right before your eyes.”
Moon Suchan.
The name prodded deep into Lee Hyun’s trauma.
“So this time, who will you sacrifice nex—”
He couldn’t finish.
Lee Hyun was already upon him, axe swinging with merciless force.
“Don’t you dare defile my brother’s name with your filthy mouth.”
[The Duokshini’s Rage erupts!]
Boom!
The axe swung down, brimming with bluish-white lightning.
Xu Changyou twisted his body lazily, evading.
“Filthy mouth? Hah. Hearing the truth must sting, doesn’t it?”
The moment his foot struck the ground—
Shaaak!
Jagged ice spikes suddenly jutted up, blocking Lee Hyun’s approach.
Whoooosh!
A beat later, Xu Changyou spread his right hand and slammed it down.
A hand pale as snow.
A curse that froze all it touched—
The Ring of Absolute Frost.
Booooom!
Lee Hyun raised his left-hand axe, intercepting the strike.
Lightning surged violently, but the freezing power was even faster.
Crack—crackkkk!
From the axe to his left shoulder, his entire arm was sealed in ice.
The chill sank into his muscles, freezing even his mana circuits—
[You are afflicted by the Great Curse: Ring of Absolute Frost. Ice Poison infiltrates your body.]
[Curse Immunity (SS) negates the Ring of Absolute Frost.]
[The dispelled Ice Poison is absorbed into your mana.]
The ice instantly melted, lightning bursting out even wilder in rebound.
Rrrruuuumble!
Xu Changyou widened the distance.
An ice wall erupted, only to shatter moments later.
“As I thought. Just as I suspected.”
He narrowed his eyes at Lee Hyun.
“You’ve completely broken free from the curse of frost, haven’t you?”
Lee Hyun didn’t bother replying.
Instead—
Fwoooosh!
[Frenzied Strike (S) activated! Attempting Bull Rush!]
Like a maddened bull, Lee Hyun charged forward, smashing through every obstacle—
the frozen ground, the ice pillars, the arrow volleys.
Lightning rained down in relentless bombardment.
Xu Changyou laughed, exhilarated.
“Not only freed yourself, but absorbed it—made it yours? Something that even I took forever to master?”
Slaaash!
Lee Hyun’s axe shattered his sword, carving past to slice at his neck.
But—
Shatter—
The Xu Changyou he cut through disintegrated into ice.
The real one stood upon an ice spire some distance away.
A skill of the Snow Queen—Ice Clone.
“Hah. For someone of the opposite element to wield it like this… fascinating.”
He glanced at his right arm.
Though he had evaded, he had not escaped unscathed.
His arm had turned blue, rotting away.
[Curse Inscription: Venom Infection, Mana Consumption]
Lee Hyun had reversed the mana flow through Xu Changyou’s skill, cursing his true body.
A counterattack that demanded deep mastery of frost magic.
Crackle—crack!
Xu Changyou froze his own mana in the arm to halt the spread, glaring calmly.
If he didn’t cure it—or kill Lee Hyun—he’d lose that arm forever.
“Indeed… not killing you back then was my greatest mistake. Even when you were crippled afterward, I should’ve finished you off like Qinglei. Leave you alone, and you’ll fill four years of lost time in no time.”
Gone was the smirking trickster.
In his place: narrow, snake-like eyes.
The Xu Changyou Lee Hyun remembered.
“And now—you’re warming up, aren’t you? Planning to unleash Thunder Demon soon?”
Thunder Demon.
Lee Hyun’s proudest authority.
With all five skills unlocked, he could weave them into one at any moment.
But Thunder Demon was built for a single killing blow—
most effective in a short battle.
Timing was everything.
“Honestly, I don’t like my odds right now. How about we stop here and settle this next time?”
Lee Hyun no longer answered.
Only—
Crackle! Crackle-crack-crack!
He kept adding more heat to the bluish-white lightning engulfing him.
The Duokshini’s deep breath fueled the fire.
His heat soared beyond all prior limits.
[Your emotions have reached their limit. The Duokshini’s rage nears maximum temperature.]
[Wrath blazes violently.]
[Mana circuits overheat, converting to lightning attribute.]
[‘Trait: Frozen Man’ activates, adjusting your body to withstand the eruption.]
…
[All five skills have linked together. The Duokshini’s Deep Breath (S+) has reached 100% mastery.]
[All requirements to unlock your Authority have been met.]
[Would you like to open your Authority?]
Lee Hyun was now fully shrouded in bluish-white lightning.
The distinctions between the Duokshini’s Wrath, Phantoms, and Mantle blurred.
Compressed light, blinding as it surged.
Through the storm of radiance, only his Golden Pupils gleamed.
“Even if you kill me now, it won’t be me who dies—it’ll be Baiyin. He’s a fool, but he’s still my loyal little brother. You think I’d abandon him here?”
“……”
“So here’s the deal. You look after your comrades and juniors. I’ll take Baiyan and leave. Otherwise, keep fighting and this volcano blows. You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you? Dungeon Break—better stop it.”
From the moment Zhang Baiyan tried to capture the Vermilion Horse King, the volcano had been building pressure.
Only the Ring of Absolute Frost had kept it suppressed.
But now, extreme swings between fire and frost had pushed the caldera to its limit.
One wrong move, and it would erupt—
triggering a dungeon break.
Yet—
Crackle!
Rrrrrruumble!
Lee Hyun answered with action.
A pillar of bluish-white lightning burst skyward, like a dragon ascending.
Unlike normal lightning that strikes downward, this was an upward Blue Jet, tearing open the heavens.
The column struck the sky, spreading waves sideways.
Clouds scattered. Bluish-white bolts writhed across the horizon.
The entire world was dyed in lightning.
Rrrumble—Rrrruuumble.
Thunder roared, as if about to rain down fire.
A sudden cataclysmic shift in weather.
Lee Hyun’s Authority—
Duok-Raigui (Thunder Demon).
[Authority Unlocked.]
[Duok-Raigui (SS) has been created!]
[Duok-Raigui]
“The God Who Crushes Heads.”
An ancient legend of a being who smashed skulls and brought calamity wherever it appeared.
The greater the suffering it inflicted, the more bizarre phenomena spread across the land, tainting the world in disaster.
The Day Goblin was only a stepping stone, evolving into this god of calamity.
-
Type: Authority
-
Origin: The Curse of the Seven-Star Rock
“…So you really want to take this to the end?”
Xu Changyou grimaced as the situation spun beyond his control.
But Lee Hyun only smiled.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Xu Changyou. Or should I say… Shi Changyou.”
『I don’t know what you’re talking about, Xu Changyou. Or should I say… Shi Changyou.』
Every word Lee Hyun spoke resonated with heavy echo.
This world of light and thunder repeated his will in every direction.
“You’re the one who wanted to go all the way. Not me.”
“……”
“So let’s find out—who’s the real madman.”
Kwoooom!
Lee Hyun, blazing like a man of light, charged forward.
The heat, once past its threshold, now burned exponentially hotter.
Just moving scorched the land, producing waves of searing wind.
Standing nearby meant burns—lungs cooking from the heat.
The icy ground shattered instantly.
Even the volcano trembled, earthquakes ripping through it.
The god of calamity had manifested.
“Yes! Perfect! If I leave now, I’ll regret it! I’ll kill you here instead!!”
Xu Changyou’s face twisted into a demonic snarl as he drew out all his power.
Fwoooosh!
Snow-white blizzards raged around him, clashing against thunder and flame.
[Myth. “The Lord of All Things” seizes control of the volcano and triggers its eruption!]
[The Jade Emperor punishes the insolent mortal who rejected the teachings of <Celestial Teachings>.]
[Celestial Furnace consumes causality points.]
[The Fire Spirit slumbering in the <Nest of the Three-Legged Crow> awakens.]
[The Fire Spirit explodes. Volcanic eruption imminent.]
[Warning! Dungeon Break imminent! Evacuate the area!]
[Warning!]
Rrrruuumble…!!
The volcano heaved.
Magma surged faster through the cracks, quakes escalating into violent convulsions.
Xu Changyou intended to trigger the eruption fully, burying Lee Hyun beneath molten rock.
[Warning! Dungeon Break occurring…]
But just as the new red dungeon message appeared—
another message overlaid it.
[Legacy: The Tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon fires its curse!]
Bang!
Through the thunderous chaos, a gunshot cracked faintly.
In that instant, Xu Changyou’s left eye burst.
