After Ten Millennia in Hell

Tap.

Oh Kang-Woo, who was flying using the Authority of Sky, landed at the foot of a deserted mountain. He sat on top of a flat rock and took out the Eye of Susanoo.

It was a bluish translucent sphere that looked like an egg.

'A Mythic-grade equipment.'

Although it looked like nothing more than a blue crystal ball from the outside, it was one of the few pieces of Mythic-grade equipment that existed in the world.

'Its power is limited, but if it's powerful enough to summon a god, it's worthy of being Mythic-grade.'

He was reminded of Susanoo, the giant whose body was made of wind.

Fujimoto Ryoma had become a World Ranker thanks to the equipment, but his base stats had been much lower than those of the average World Ranker. Yet, he had still been able to summon a being capable of threatening Kang-Woo, who had achieved the Ultimate Demonic Body.

There was no denying that this piece of Mythic-grade equipment was good. This meant it had most likely been made with material that matched its grade.

'The more Authorities I infuse into it, the stronger the equipment becomes.'

Kang-Woo read through the effects of his Sixth Awakening Trait, Demonic Art of Creation. He thought of the Gungnir, which he'd used in the fight against Susanoo.

'I can barely use four Authorities simultaneously at the moment.'

The amount of demonic energy required to use more than one Authority rose by a power of two[1]. Using four Authorities simultaneously required 16 times the demonic energy of using just one.

'But...'

Kang-Woo's gaze sharpened.

He wasn’t in combat right now. There was no need for him to maintain the Authorities while reading his opponent’s movements and counterattacking. He was able to focus purely on using his Authorities.

'I think I could push it up to five.'

Kang-Woo was a bit nervous. The dangers of demonic energy exhaustion were far worse than that of mana exhaustion. Demonic energy was what maintained a demon's body, so he could dry up and die like Ryoma if the demonic energy was completely depleted.

'I should practice first.'

Kang-Woo only had one piece of Mythic-grade material. It didn't say that the material would get destroyed if he failed, but he couldn’t be too careful.

"Kang-Woo, is there anything I can help with?"

"Make sure no one approaches me. I want to focus."

"Hm! Okay."

Echidna nodded and flew up to the sky, planning on erecting a barrier around the area.

"Let's begin," Kang-Woo said and extended his hand.

He would first start with the ones that he was used to.

Riiing.

[Activating 'Demonic Art of Creation.']

A complex magic circle appeared on the ground. The streams of demonic energy around him intertwined and created letters of a language that he had never seen before. Moving as though they were alive, the wriggling letters clustered in the air and formed a black sphere that was about the size of a basketball.

[The transmutation matrix has been formed.]

[If you would like to craft equipment of the Mythic grade or higher, please insert a suitable material!]

Kang-Woo placed his hands on top of the black sphere and roused the demonic energy within his body.

[No materials have been added. The maximum grade of the equipment crafted will be set to Legendary. The equipment will be destroyed if the Authorities used cannot be handled by the Legendary grade.]

"Gáe Bulg," Kang-Woo mumbled.

He closed his eyes, made a mental image, and merged three Authorities.

Now that he had the Ultimate Demonic Body, using three Authorities simultaneously was a piece of cake. Powerful demonic energy flowed out from him.

The transmutation matrix wriggled, and thick black smoke came out of it. The black sphere made of unknown letters cracked.

The crack grew increasingly bigger like that of a hatching egg. Then finally…

Crack.

The transmutation matrix cracked open, revealing a dark red spear.

Riiing.

[You have successfully crafted Gáe Bulg (Unique).]

"Wow."

Kang-Woo grabbed the dark red spear. Within it, he could feel the Authorities that he had just used.

'But like I thought, it’s not as great as the one created with the actual Authorities.'

It was only natural that there would be a difference between the Gáe Bulg that he'd created using demonic energy and one that he could use without demonic energy.

"But it isn't bad."

Kang-Woo grabbed the crafted Gáe Bulg and swung it around, unleashing blazing flames.

“Haap!” he shouted and thrust the spear at a nearby rock.

Boom!

The rock was destroyed, and black flames spewed in all directions.

"It has about 20% of its original power."

However, considering that he could use it with other Authorities, using it wouldn't be a bad choice. This version only had about 20% of the original's power. However, if it was used with the Authority of Titanic Might and the Authority of Haste, it could display more than 100% of the original version's power.

'It's too bad that it's Unique-grade, though.'

Kang-Woo looked at the crafted Gáe Bulg’s information window. The spear was only of the Unique grade, so it didn't raise his stat by an absolute value.

"Hmm…"

The equipment grade conditions for Demonic Art of Creation were harsher than he’d initially thought. Using three different Authorities simultaneously wasn't easy. It wasn't just an issue of the amount of demonic energy. Merging different Authorities was, in reality, near impossible.

Drawing a circle with one hand and a triangle with the other at the same time was already hard, but using different Authorities simultaneously was like drawing with one hand and writing with the other. It was only possible with Kang-Woo’s transcendent level of demonic energy control.

'But still, the reward is really good.'

The reward was so good that it was worth pushing himself for.

So, Kang-Woo decided to try to use five Authorities simultaneously.

"I'll have to practice a bit more first."

He had no intentions of trying to craft a piece of Mythic-grade equipment after only one attempt at creation.

Kang-Woo put the crafted Gáe Bulg down.

Echidna walked toward him and asked, "Kang-Woo, what kind of equipment are you thinking of making?"

"I'm not sure…"

Kang-Woo thought deeply about it.

'It would be best if it's a weapon.'

Defensive equipment like the Black Pearl Coat were good and all, but the first thing that most people thought of when thinking about equipment was a weapon.

'The problem is...'

Kang-Woo didn't use just one type of weapon. He used different weapons based on the situation. The weapon he was most used to was a spear, but he mostly just threw it.

'Should I take this opportunity to choose a main weapon?'

Kang-Woo shook his head.

The reason why he had no main weapon wasn't that he hadn’t been able to find a good one. Instead, it was because it would limit his diverse battle tactics.

Kang-Woo was not like Kim Si-Hun or Tian Wuchen, who had mastered the use of one weapon. He liked to adapt his attacks based on the situations using the battle sense he had polished through countless battles.

"What’s on your mind, Kang-Woo?"

"I'm wondering about what weapon I should make."

Echidna tilted her head.

"Can't you make a weapon that can change form?" she asked while transforming her hand into a dragon's.

Kang-Woo's eyes shone.

"Hmm."

It was a simple and lucid solution. If the weapon could change forms, then he wouldn't need to worry about what weapon to create.

Kang-Woo patted Echidna’s head and praised, "Good idea."

"Hm! Hm!" Echidna snorted.

After gently stroking Echidna's hair for a while, Kang-Woo used the Demonic Art of Creation again. The crafted Gáe Bulg, which he'd placed on the ground, turned into dust and scattered away.

'A weapon that changes form...'

He would need much practice to have a clear image of it.

'I'm going to use the Eye of Susanoo only after I'm sure of what I'm doing.'

He didn't need to hurry. Practicing hard would never betray him.

Kang-Woo closed his eyes and reformed the transmutation matrix.

* * *

Three days later, Kang-Woo once again went to the mountain, this time with both Han Seol-Ah and Echidna.

"Here I go," Kang-Woo said.

"Okay!" Seol-Ah replied with a nod.

Before they arrived, she had heard about what Kang-Woo was planning to do, so she knew what she had to do to help him.

"Grace of Light!" she cast a buff.

Light flew out of her and entered Kang-Woo, boosting his unique stat.

"Kraken's Rage," Kang-Woo said.

The Black Pearl Coat shone, and an explosive amount of demonic energy surged from him. His Demonic Energy stat reached 116.

Kang-Woo closed his eyes.

'Demonic Art of Creation.'

A magic circle appeared on the ground, giving form to the transmutation matrix that was the size of a basketball. Kang-Woo grabbed the Eye of Susanoo without hesitation.

After practicing endlessly for the past three days, he was sure that he could make the weapon he wanted. He had prepared everything he could.

Kang-Woo pushed his hand into the transmutation matrix.

Riiing.

[Extracting the material from the Mythic-grade equipment. The condition has been fulfilled. You can craft a piece of Mythic-grade equipment or higher once. However, equipment of the Legendary grade or lower may be crafted if the crafting is attempted with an insufficient number of Authorities.]

"Fuuu."

Kang-Woo deeply exhaled and emptied his mind.

"Transformation, Spallation, Slashing, Hellfire, Storms."

He activated five Authorities.

Demonic energy flowed out of him like a falling tide. He was using 32 times more demonic energy than when he used only one Authority. His Demonic Energy stat had reached 116, but he was still having trouble maintaining five Authorities simultaneously.

"Kurgh..." Kang-Woo grunted.

His head felt like it was splitting open. Not only was he consuming a lot of demonic energy, but it was also exhausting his mental capacity to control those five Authorities.

'Focus.'

Kang-Woo ignored the pain. Just like he had practiced, he closed his eyes and focused on the image of the weapon that he wanted to make. It was a weapon that could freely change forms.

'Just hold on for a bit longer.'

He didn't need a lot of time to craft the weapon. He could feel the transmutation matrix wriggling around his hand.

Ten more seconds, and he'd be able to create the weapon he desired.

[Five Authorities have been confirmed. All of the conditions have been fulfilled. Crafting a piece of Mythic-grade equipment.]

There weren't many pieces of Mythic-grade equipment in the world… yet Kang-Woo was about to create a Mythic-grade weapon with his own hands.

"…"

There was a heavy silence as the seconds passed by.

Nine seconds…

He suddenly considered something.

Eight seconds…

If the weapons of the seven princes were categorized into equipment grades, Kang-Woo wondered what grade they would be given.

Seven seconds…

The princes were strong. They had been so strong that it made sense how none of them had been able to kill one another.

Six seconds…

Their innate strength certainly contributed to their overall power, but their Hell Armaments had a larger effect on it.

Five seconds…

The Hell Armaments had been said to have been created through the gathering of demonic energy for a very long time.

Four seconds…

No matter how much he thought about it, there was no way those weapons would only be of the Mythic grade.

Three seconds…

Kang-Woo had never used a Hell Armament before. The Hell Armaments were imbued with the princes’ souls, so they did not accept Kang-Woo as their master.

Two seconds…

He had been able to use the Hell Armaments to create a Gate to return to Earth. However, that had been because he had only used the power contained within them instead of using them as weapons.

One second…

'It's not enough.'

Kang-Woo suddenly became greedy.

He opened his eyes with an unquenchable thirst and an uncontrollable desire storming within him.

It wasn't enough. This wasn't enough to satisfy him.

He felt like his head was about to explode, and his demonic energy was depleting at a terrifying rate, but...

'It's not enough.'

He still wasn't satisfied.

Kang-Woo used a sixth Authority. He didn't even spend time thinking about which one to use.

Riiing.

[Authority of Predation has been added. Updating the conditions.]

[Crafting Transcendent-grade equipment.]

1. The power rule only applies to when using more than one authority. Just ignore the two to the power of one. ☜