Srrrk!
The sword swung.
A faint sensation carried through the blade’s edge.
He cut it properly.
He didn’t miss.
Origin Cleave isn’t about cutting the target.
It cuts what’s tangled up with the target.
More precisely, the rune ring.
It was exactly the sa as back when it was Avarice’s thought-form.
To make sothing that doesn’t belong to this world exist in this world, you have to twist multiple laws and form them into a single ring—and that is the rune ring. The mont you cut that knotted rune ring, the target vanishes like a mirage.
The Shiva in front of him was a mirage if anything was.
Because it wasn’t the main body, but an avatar.
Soon, a massive sword scar was carved across his body.
Hwaaaak!
Following the long trajectory where Origin Cleave swept past, an enormous amount of energy began to burst out of Shiva’s body.
There wasn’t a single physical cut. What Su-ho cut was only the rune ring that made up his body.
As energy started blasting out of Shiva, Shiva’s face—casually relaxed from start to finish—turned vicious for the first ti.
“This bastard dares...!!”
Kwaaaaaaang!!
The energy went wild.
The energy spilling out because the rune ring had been cut first sprayed out like bleeding, but after Shiva’s face twisted, it wasn’t bleeding anymore—it started spewing power like a supercar dumping full output, crazily blasting force.
Everything happened in an instant.
Su-ho’s arm, after drawing Origin Cleave, was still stuck in its recovery delay.
It was so short that the world that had flipped into black-and-white from using Origin Cleave still hadn’t even returned to its original colors.
But Shiva’s avatar moved.
Digging into a gap even shorter than an instant, like a ti traveler who alone could move freely in ti where everyone else was frozen, he openly furrowed his brow, dumped power, and raised his fist.
Then he thrust his fist toward Su-ho, and the extended fist detonated into Su-ho.
Kwaaaang!!
A trendous roar rang out.
The mont Shiva’s fist detonated into Su-ho, the black-and-white world snapped back to its original colors like a cara shutter firing, and Su-ho—still in the posture from swinging his arm for Origin Cleave—had his body twisted and got launched far away in the exact direction of Shiva’s punch.
“Ughh, fuck...”
Su-ho, who in his life had been launched the farthest by a punch, cursed without realizing it and groaned in pain.
But there was nothing he could do.
Because it really fucking hurt.
Damn it, even with Endurance it’s like this—how much would it have hurt if I hadn’t used Endurance?
Pukwaak!
The mont he thought that, blood sprayed from his mouth.
Wow, this is insane.
What kind of fist is that, for to cough up blood like I’m spitting up a mouthful from one punch?
Is this really the Overall Combat Power being standardized?
In his dizzy, reeling head, Su-ho desperately grabbed onto his senses and checked how much damage his body had taken.
It was serious.
It felt like all his ribs were broken—and not just his ribs, but his sternum, collarbone, shoulder, and arm, too.
'Heal. I need to use Heal...!'
Only when he regained even a shred of clear consciousness did he finally think of healing.
So he forced out a voice that wouldn’t co out and barely cast Heal. But then—
[ Heal activates. ]
[ You cannot recover due to the Karma of Destruction. ]
His recovery was refused.
Ah, this is driving crazy.
What is this now?
Karma of Destruction?
This is the first ti I’ve seen sothing like that.
So he ignored it and tried several more tis, but the result was the sa every ti.
'Ah, I’m seriously going crazy.'
If Heal doesn’t work right now, I’m dead.
He couldn’t think of any other thod.
Up to now, he’d trusted Heal and never even stocked things like healing recovery potions.
It hurts.
It’s been a really long ti since it hurt this much.
By how it feels, it seems like the first ti since he got hit by that damn witch’s Ten Thousand Poisons.
But that, too, was only for a mont.
As a bit more ti passed, maybe because of the endorphins flooding out from extre pain, the pain started to dull in a strange way.
This is driving crazy.
This can’t be happening.
Because that kind of comfort wasn’t just from endorphins—it was also proof that death was close.
How do I know?
Because I’ve died once, so I know.
Around the ti a wave of languor began to surge in like a tidal wave, Su-ho’s ears finally started picking up the sounds around him.
“Guuuuuh...!”
A scream?
No, more precisely, a groan.
He couldn’t hear it earlier, but now he could clearly hear it.
But whose was it?
Ah, right. There was Shiva.
When you’re about to die, your head’s a ss.
At that mont, Shiva’s face ca into Su-ho’s view.
More precisely, the top of Shiva’s head.
'Ah, that fucking bastard...!'
Why Su-ho cursed after seeing the top of Shiva’s head.
Because the number that was supposed to be 100 for Shiva’s Overall Combat Power was skyrocketing like crazy, blasting past 999 and breaking into four digits.
That fucking bastard.
No wonder the combat power was standardized and yet I ended up like this from one punch.
But before he could even protest that—
Thud.
Su-ho’s head rolled to the side.
Unable to overco the limit of his stamina, he finally blacked out.
The subspace went quiet.
It was so ti after Su-ho passed out.
Hwaaak!
A cluster of light that covered everything.
There was no wind.
What swept over the area like a gale was only pure white radiance.
At the center ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) of the radiance was Shiva, who had been hit by Origin Cleave.
The light gathered into one mass where Shiva had been, and there—just like Artemis had been—only a pale silhouette and a sacred-looking aura rippled like an aurora.
Between the faint silhouettes, two eyes opened.
The owner of those eyes was Shiva.
The real Shiva, not an avatar.
He hadn’t descended in person.
Like with Artemis, he had only descended a part of his will.
“....”
For a while, Shiva stared down at the unconscious Su-ho.
Then he flicked his hand once, and the mont he did, Su-ho’s body—nearly smashed to pieces—recovered in an instant.
His mind didn’t wake up.
He did that on purpose.
For a while, Shiva looked down at Su-ho.
Then he curled the corner of his mouth up.
Because he liked Su-ho.
'He’s really an interesting guy.'
To be honest, Shiva had been planning to ss with Su-ho a bit and then kill him.
Of course, not truly kill him—he wanted to kill him only inside his own space, so Su-ho could experience death once.
Because so existences beco stronger after experiencing death once.
This wasn’t because he wanted to show off his superiority as a Transcendent.
It was because he genuinely liked Su-ho, and that was why he wanted to do it.
If you really like a disciple, you don’t coddle them—you raise them to be strong.
So, to control his power as much as possible, he sent out an avatar, and even that avatar was given only the bare minimum power.
So he planned to spar with him a bit and then kill him, but what was this? The guy, unbelievably, cut the rune ring and severed the connection of power that existed between Shiva and his avatar.
Of course, Origin Cleave didn’t have enough power to sever it in one blow, nor did it sever it completely, but either way, he succeeded in landing a real hit on Shiva.
That was sothing Shiva truly hadn’t expected.
And so Shiva thought—
'This fight, honestly speaking, is my loss.'
More precisely, a loss created by arrogance.
Normally, he shouldn’t have allowed even one effective hit, yet he went beyond allowing an effective hit and let Shiva’s true self co out—if that isn’t a loss, what is?
Thanks to that, he no longer felt like killing him.
Because he realized this guy had the talent to grow infinitely even without Shiva forcing him to experience death.
Then I should give him the second reward.
When Shiva raised his hand, Su-ho’s body shone white again.
That was all the reward was.
At that mont, system notifications floated up at the edge of Shiva’s vision.
[ ■■ laughs, kekek. ]
[ ■■ laughs, kikik. ]
[ ■■■■ laughs silently. ]
Those notifications were from other Transcendents.
More precisely, notifications about Su-ho’s Successors.
They were all mocking Shiva for taking a hit.
Seeing that, Shiva snorted.
Because he had to admit what deserved admitting.
So he was even more excited for what ca next.
'I hope you keep living up to my expectations from here on out.'
Shiva snapped his fingers.
A massive black hole appeared between Shiva and the collapsed Su-ho, swallowed everything around it in one gulp, and the world went dark.
“Hk!”
At the sa ti, Su-ho jerked up as if waking from a nightmare.
His whole body was drenched in sweat.
After he forced down his ragged breathing and finally ca to his senses and looked around, he found himself sitting inside an open Infinity device.
“What the hell just happened...?”
Where’s Shiva? What about the test?
That was when it happened.
[ ■■’s test has ended. ]
[ ■■ has fully acknowledged your skill. ]
[ You have passed ■■’s test. ]
The test ended?
I went down in one hit.
But the system notifications clearly said he passed.
There was no way it was a lie.
The system didn’t joke about things like this.
Soon, the familiar procedures that were scheduled upon passing the test proceeded.
[ ■■’s will descends upon you. ]
[ Return to the Origin activates. ]
[ Congratulations! You have beco the Successor of ■■’s ‘Vacuum Flow’. ]
[ The information for the Destruction Fist Art changes. ]
[ You have mastered ‘Vacuum Flow Form 1 - Point (S )’. ]
[ You have achieved a great accomplishnt, and the system gifts you 10 bonus stats. ]
System notifications pouring down.
Only after seeing those notifications did it finally feel real that he’d truly passed the Succession test.
“Ha...”
The tension drained out of him.
As the tension drained, a stale breath spilled out.
Su-ho collapsed back down into the Infinity capsule and lay there.
“Shiva, you fucking Shiva...”
What a petty bastard.
He saw it clearly.
The ugliness of that guy, who, the mont he got hit by Origin Cleave, suddenly went into a surge, released the power-balance adjustnt, and threw a serious punch at him.
Why are all these god bastards like this?
Susanoo and Shiva—any of the guys who can throw power around are all like this.
'Still, I got Vacuum Flow...'
Su-ho checked Vacuum Flow’s information.
Thankfully, it was the Vacuum Flow he knew.
Vacuum Flow was the unique martial-arts skill of Shiva’s incarnation, and unlike Void Flow, which focused solely on slashing, and Hard Strike Flow, which focused solely on thrusting, Vacuum Flow was a highly versatile skill that had harmony in everything—attack, movent, defense, and other things.
“Then now that I’ve gotten Vacuum Flow, I guess that’s—”
Ah, wait.
The Succession ritual is the Succession ritual, but there’s one more thing I’m supposed to get from Shiva, right?
Su-ho lifted his head and looked up into empty space as he spoke.
“Wait. Don’t tell this is the end? Where’s the other reward?”
Shiva answered that question.
[ ■■ shrugs at your words. ]
He shrugs?
Hey, hold on.
You’re really going to do this?
Su-ho furrowed his brow and protested.
“You’re seriously going to pretend you don’t know? I saw it clearly. The mont you got cut once by Origin Cleave, you got pissed, released the balance adjustnt, and threw a serious punch at . You’re not thinking I didn’t see it, are you? I saw it clearly. The Overall Combat Power number above your avatar’s head was skyrocketing like crazy. Honestly, if you hadn’t released the balance adjustnt, it would’ve been worth trying a bit more, but seriously.”
At that mont—
[ ■■ laughs and says you’re right. ]
[ ■■ also laughs and says you’re correct. ]
[ ■■■■ says don’t be petty and hurry up and give it to him. ]
That’s it, good job!
When Su-ho formally protested, the other Successors joined forces and started taking Su-ho’s side.
Shiva was silent for a while, then answered.
[ ■■ laughs. ]
[ ■■ says he already gave the second reward, so you should look carefully. ]
“What, you little shit?!”
But after that, there was no answer.
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