Past Life Returner

Although the status window didn’t specify it, Devi’s Sword had become more powerful after it sliced apart more Baclans. While it used to be limited to a one-dimensional trajectory, now…!

Swoosh-

It flew out in a straight line and turned around after blowing off the head of the man who was trying to kill Seong-Il. Then, it began to draw a large circle. The trajectory resembled a vortex, and it expanded at the same speed. Screams rose from the places where the blade passed.

It was still the Final Stage of Act One. Those in the Establishment, such as captains and vice-captains, were at the level where most of them could survive at least one pass from Devi’s Sword, but they had already lost their defensive barriers in the battle against Seong-Il. While their blood gushed out like a fountain, the regular combatants lost their necks as their protective barriers were poor. Those who tried to dodge ended up with their upper bodies cut in half instead.

Devi’s Sword couldn’t be retrieved automatically after it had been sent out. At any rate, I didn’t need to get it back quickly either. The wave of death in the frontline of the encirclement continued endlessly. Every time the torn bodies that lost their necks fell over, the men who entered the next trajectory died without fail. Therefore, everyone in the next layer knew that it was their turn soon.

"Aaaaaah!”

"Get out of the way!”

The surroundings quickly turned into a chaotic pandemonium. The majority of them were turning around to run away. Meanwhile, the trajectory that the blade was making wasn’t the only thing causing them to flee. The blade also created a sharp wind that stretched out mercilessly as it flew around. The air blew against me, showering me with the smell of blood and fear of those who would die soon.

A few minutes later, the screams didn’t stop even though Devi’s Sword had disappeared. People were still freaking out as they hadn’t realized that the death wave had ended. The previous situation had terrified and overwhelmed them. Therefore, they didn’t even seem to know what they were vocalizing.

"Ugh… Aaaah!”

One guy, who fortunately hadn’t been in my weapon’s previous trajectory, babbled like an idiot. He was quite lucky and had filled the empty spot between dead bodies. The ones who were alive had stiff bodies, standing as if they were being forced to. A few were turning their heads around and looking beyond the point where Devi’s Sword had vanished. They must have been begging to the gods to save them. Some lucky folks were still alive as Devi’s Sword had finally disappeared. I had expected their exact reaction to the massacre, which had suddenly started and stopped.

A commotion broke out. While some of them attempted to get into a formation with their comrades, others tried to escape through the retreat route by breaking through the human wall. Meanwhile, the lucky ones who had survived my first attack were frozen there like statues. It looked like they were afraid that they had stepped on a landmine that would kill them as soon as they took their feet off. They simply looked around aimlessly in a horrified and dumbstruck manner.

How come you guys tried to kill me when you can’t even fight back properly? I can’t believe you almost killed my guy. You ungrateful bastards… I saved so many of your lives.

***

I turned to the bodies of those who had directly dealt with Seong-Il. I recognized some of the crests, but there were some newly added ones. One thing that was clear was that these ten squads were the Establishments of the Final Stage of Act One.

Beyond the hundreds of corpses in the middle, most of the guys who were ordering the others in a flustered manner to maintain the formation wore the same crest. In the past, multiple groups had been united into one force in the Final Stage of Act One. The System had intended for this to happen. Fortunately, it naturally happened when we dealt with the corps that poured out of gates. Therefore, the Sky Guild had already unified the different forces into or was at least in the process of doing so. After all, the leaders had been accompanied by twenty thousand people…

Anyway, I was also the cause of the current mess because I had provided them with a reason to attack. I made them think that they could fight me. That was my fault, so I couldn’t let this end like this! These idiots still believed that numbers could trump an overwhelming gulf in level and class, which was laughable!

Tat!

I jumped up.

"Follow my command, Shield Squad!” screeched one fellow.

I first targeted the shouting man and the area around him. The first layer in the encirclement had been formed by the Gold and Satellite Squads, and they had been swept away by Devi’s Sword. This guy and his group were in the second layer.

He screamed, “Get into the formation right…!”

He swung his knife first with a ghostly pale face. That was his last moment.

"Aaaargh!”

He howled as if the sky had fallen. A burning tail had wrapped around him, lifting him up into the air as he haplessly struggled.

[You have used the Road of the King of Hell.]

Within seconds, all he could see were hellish flames. To be exact, the fire was engulfing his squad members, and it was blazing across several layers of siege. I pulled out Ra’s Sun Sword, but he was already dead. As soon as I undid the tail, a burnt body collapsed on the ground. I raised my head to the front, and I could only see burning people running around.

"Help me! Aaaaah! Heal! Heaaaaal!”

I could barely see any blood as the flames had engulfed the entire area, but it was the only thing I could smell every time I swung Ra’s Sword. The Road of the King of Hell had also raised up flames, so I saw a road filled with redness. This path was filled with ashes and it was my absolute territory. Their retreat had been blocked as the road stretched out to the entrance of the nearby boundary. They had been enjoying transcendent growth as I had modified the System, but they had only reached the Final Stage of Act One, so they were not a match for me.

People died because they couldn’t get out, and no one could come in. The sides of the red road were empty. Of course, not all of them were frozen with fear. Those who were right beside the road were busy backing away, but those in the middle layers and air were starting to attack me. Rays of light with a restraint effect, explosives, and various energies arced through the air. A crazy number of messages had popped up on my notification window as well.

[The opponent couldn’t see through you. (Skill, Night Eye)]

[The opponent couldn’t see through you. (Skill, Night Eye)]

…

[The opponent couldn’t see through you. (Skill, Night Eye)]

I cut the energy restraints off and wrapped the explosives in a fiery tail. Then I destroyed the skills of those who had tried to check my status window and jumped between them while avoiding their attacks. I sliced, kicked and threw people away. Cut arms and loose heads flew around everywhere, scattering copious amounts of blood.

Bang!

Devi’s Sword had turned into an explosive and hit the ground. I was in the air when that happened and saw the huge explosion sweeping people straight into hell. The people here had never experienced or witnessed such a sea of fire. They had adapted to this world by dealing with monster waves, spires, and corps, so they must have felt confident and proud of themselves. All of that would have vanished by now. Pieces of broken buildings poured down with piles of dirt, and flames covered the entire street and all kinds of buildings.

When the world became enveloped in flames, they lost their fighting spirits. All of them were running around, attempting to escape. Some of them even ran to the boundary where the road was obviously blocked by the Road of the King of Hell. Not a single person was in command anymore.

"There is only one enemy! One person! Don’t back off! Never back off! Attack! You motherfuckers! Attack him!”

The guy who had shouted that and those who tried to follow his order were trampled on by the crowd until they ended up dead in the ground. It was so bad that it was difficult to recognize their faces after the stampede had passed. If there was a guy who was still alive after that, he would have really lost his breath then.

I was the only devil in the sea of fire. There were two types of people who encountered me. One was trying to run away more frantically, and the other just sank to the ground helplessly. Still, everyone was begging me to save them, but the crests that they wore determined their ultimate fates. Until now, they must have worn them to show off their power and status.

***

I could stand anywhere and be untouched. The village was quite small, and one of the roads out was currently blocked by the Road of the King of Hell. They were slow. I wanted those who were trying to escape from town to die immediately. Anyone else who tried to run away ended up beheaded by an energy that had suddenly appeared. Following that, bolts of lightning pierced them multiple times.

"Odin!”

"Odin!”

"Odiiiin! Please. Please don’t kill us!”

The three boundaries began to fill with people kneeling on the ground. A few minutes later, the only people who were walking around were the only ones I had ordered to pull out the injured ones. The dead were abandoned on the ground, and only the wounded were sent back to their squads. Nearly twenty thousand people were in one space, but everyone remained silent.

Thud!

Only the sound of the burning buildings crumbling could be heard from the center of the town. Seong-Il was being supported by Ja-Seong. While members of the top ten squads were either dead or in the process of dying, Seong-Il must have protected Ja-Seong as the teen had saved his life once before. A few of the remaining lucky ones who had crests on their clothing were called out to meet me in the front.

One guy gasped, “This… this was… planned by… Joo Pan-Seok, Kang… Joo-Hyuk, and Kang Ki-Nam… We… We

This guy was indeed lucky. He was the captain of a squad, and he had already lost consciousness before I got here. He only came to his senses when the whole situation was over.

I eyed him coldly. “So?”

"Es…especially, Kang Joo-Hyuk took the threat to the top of the hierarchy pyramid more seriously than the new cracks from below. O…Odin… You

"Cracks from below?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

The man couldn’t speak properly and flinched whenever I took a breath. It was natural for silence to reign wherever I looked. Finally, he carefully opened his mouth as if he couldn’t bear such a stifling atmosphere.

"A… after the System was modified… The Sky conference was held. The agenda was to control the hunting grounds and increase the registration tax for the new squad members

I lightly tapped a rock in response, and the guy swallowed his saliva multiple times before lowering his head. I could guess what had happened even without his unsaid explanation. It was an inevitable conflict. Yeon-Hee, Seong-Il, the two women, Lee Soo-Ah and Shin Kyung-Ah, who couldn’t escape from Doom Arukuda’s control, and I had risked our lives on the mainland of Baclans recklessly. We did so even though we knew we were probably not strong enough to win. Against all odds, we had managed to succeed. Despite all that, this was what I got in return.

I put in so much effort to change things to motivate all the Awakened to work hard. I went through Baclan hell for this, but these jerks were trying to render my efforts worthless?

I was more furious about their desire to maintain the status quo than their act of trying to kill me. I no longer had any reason to dedicate my time and power to protect them. I continued to speak not only to the guy who was kneeling in front of me but to all the lucky ones who had also survived.

"Convince me. Tell me why I shouldn’t just kill all of you right now.”