Leveling Up Alone

Kubera picked up Char and Harkan, and carried them behind Char’s throne where there was a small, not very noticeable altar.

Whoosh!

The altar swallowed up Char and Harkan, and burned with intense blue flames.

Krrr!

With that, the whole place began to shake.

“Oh, it’s already reacting. It’s finally time for my partner, the Dragon of Destruction, to appear before me. Hahaha! It’s truly a good thing that the Dragon of Destruction was merely sealed away and not destroyed since the previous lord who lived here wasn’t strong enough. If this Dragon of Destruction had been actually killed, my plan would’ve taken tens of thousands of years longer to complete.”

“Damnnnn ittttt!”

Whether Han-Yeol screamed or not, Kubera continued his monologue.

“At first, I was just like any other foolish god, doing my utmost to manage the power I was entrusted with. It seemed like the most natural thing for me to do. But one day, I began to wonder: Who am I? What am I doing wasting countless years maintaining the boring rules and order between dimensions? Then, the Dragon of Destruction approached me with an offer. He suggested we completely destroy this world and create a new one according to our own will. In that moment, I felt a spark and realized that this was what I truly desired. Managing the world created by the God of Creation is such a boring task. The Dragon of Destruction will become the God of Destruction, obliterating everything, and I will become the new God of Creation, reshaping the fallen world anew.”

With Kubera’s monologue, the pure contamination attribute grew stronger than any regular contamination attribute he had ever felt before.

Han-Yeol felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest as he watched the Dragon of Destruction he had sealed by sacrificing his life as Harkan come back to life.

[Khoooo!]

Krrr!

The Dragon of Destruction shook the surrounding area with just his roar.

‘It’s too late.’

Han-Yeol’s head dropped.

Even Kubera alone was too much to handle, and it seemed like winning was actually impossible for Han-Yeol. But now that the Dragon of Destruction had joined, it seemed hopeless.

‘Is it inevitable that both the Bastro Dimension and Earth will both perish as is?’

In fact, this whole thing might’ve been impossible to stop ever since Kubera, a god, had intervened. How could Han-Yeol, an ordinary(?) human, stop an entity that mocked and bullied other gods?

[Han-Yeol, it’s too early to give up.]

[Khaha! Of course it is.]

‘H-Huh?’

Just as Han-Yeol was about to lose hope, two familiar voices called out to him.

Crack!

The space next to Han-Yeol tore open, revealing two passageways. Two beings that he knew very well appeared inside them.

[Khaha, it’s been a long time since I’ve been to the middle realm.]

[Hi, Han-Yeol. It’s been a while.]

“A-Astaroth-nim, and Lucifer-nim?”

Han-Yeol’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected them to appear at all.

[Who dares to bind my Han-Yeol in such a thing?]

Shatter!

Astaroth pressed her palm into thin air and released the Restrain skill cast on Han-Yeol. He was stunned that a single touch from Astaroth’s palm could break the Restain skill that had immobilized him.

Thanks to the two of them showing up, Han-Yeol regained his sense of hope.

Since the fall of the dragons, the only beings capable of opposing gods were the Great Demons. Out of those, only the top four strongest demons could rival the gods. Among them, Lucifer, originally one of the top four demons, and Astaroth, whose rank had recently gone up, were high-ranking demons fully capable of challenging the gods.

“B-But why?”

However, Han-Yeol couldn't figure out why the two Great Demons, who normally couldn’t descend to the middle realm, had suddenly appeared at the same time.

[Hahaha! It’s simple, thanks to this barrier skill.]

“What?”

[That’s right, Han-Yeol. Kubera’s barrier acts to hide his divine powers, but it also makes this area feel like the demon world to us.]

“Huh?”

It felt like a miracle. Han-Yeol couldn't believe it. How could the barrier skill that Kubera developed and refined provide the same environment as the demon world?

[Even so, the reason we could appear here is thanks to our contract. No other god or even a demon king would know about this. It also took us quite some time to break through the barrier and get in.]

“Ah, I see.”

Han-Yeol was relieved as he felt like he could put up a good fight from now on.

[Khoooo!]

Krrr!

However, the fact that this endgame monster, the Dragon of Destruction, was resurrecting, didn’t change.

[Oh wow, so that’s the Dragon of Destruction. I kind of want to try and fight it.]

[Don’t be stupid, Lucifer. You know we’re here to stop Kubera, so how could you say that?]

[Geez, I was merely saying I want to, not that I was going to.]

[Hmph!]

After making a contract with the same human, the two of them also developed a personal friendship. This was a very different relationship than before when Astaroth used to sell her body.

[Han-Yeol.]

“Yes, Astaroth-nim.”

[Even though we’re both Great Demons, our opponent is a fallen god, so the two of us will have to join forces. We’ll have to leave the Dragon of Destruction to you.]

“I understand. I think I can do that much.”

[Haha, Han-Yeol, aren’t you reliable?]

“Ahaha.”

From the day Astaroth officially made a contract with Han-Yeol, her affection for him hit its peak, leading her to treat him with great familiarity. It had been a long time since he’d seen Astaroth, but for some reason, he felt comfortable around her even though she was a demon.

‘Well, I was demonized myself, so I guess it makes sense.’

“Hoo, hoo, hmph.”

Slap!

Han-Yeol slapped his cheeks with both hands. He felt his cheeks heat up.

“Get your act together, Han-Yeol!”

The strong slap on his cheeks brought him back to his senses.

His body was still screaming. If it were normal pain, a single shot of healing would’ve taken care of it, but his fatigue was caused by his body overloading itself with excessive mana.

‘The best thing to use at a time like this is…’

Han-Yeol took one mana stone from his pocket.

He had fought many battles in the past, hunting not only contaminants but also monsters freed from the contamination attribute by the power of purification. Among them was a monster that was not as strong as Hydra, but it was still quite powerful.

After slaying the powerful monster, Han-Yeol acquired a top-grade mana stone, a valuable item that would fetch a substantial sum if auctioned off on Earth.

Crack!

But for Han-Yeol, it was a good source of protein(?).

‘Mana Absorption!’

Woooong!

Possessing this skill was one of the three reasons why Han-Yeol was so good as a Hunter.

Even with his fast mana recovery rate due to his walking skill, there were times when excessive mana consumption caused his mana to drop sharply. In fact, other hunters would have no choice but to stop all action and rest if they were about to run out of mana. However, no matter how fast or how often Han-Yeol’s mana dropped, he could always restore it with his skill of absorbing mana stones.

His self healing skill also made him almost physically immortal. On top of that, he also had the mana restoration skill, so the only way to beat him was to kill him instantly in one try. In this sense, it wasn’t an exaggeration to call Han-Yeol’s abilities fraudulent.

‘But what’s the point when I can’t do anything because my opponent is too strong?’

[Luckily, Lucifer and Astaroth came to help, so we can breathe a sigh of relief,] Karvis said.

‘I guess.’

“Hey, Tia… Oh right, she’s not here anymore…”

Han-Yeol called out Tia’s name out of habit, but realized a bit late that she was no longer in this world.

His clenched fists trembled. He could feel the anger he had forgotten about rising again.

“Ugh!”

Black energy began to surge around Han-Yeol, as he was incredibly angry.

All humans had both negative and positive emotions, but only a select few could materialize these emotions when they reached their peak. However, being the select few wasn’t always a good thing. Especially when negative emotions materialized, anyone could be consumed by those very emotions.

As Han-Yeol was working to suppress his anger as best as he could, Astaroth approached him to change his course of action.

[Han-Yeol, focus.]

“Ugh, yes?”

[Anger can consume you, but you can utilize it as strength as well.]

“B-But…”

Han-Yeol couldn't accept Astaroth’s advice easily. To him, the materialized black energy of anger only caused him to lose his rationality and go on a rampage, temporarily increasing his power but ultimately leading his body to collapse. Han-Yeol found it hard to believe that something so uncontrollable could be a source of strength.

[It’s natural to be skeptical, but just trust me, Han-Yeol.]

“Ah…”

Astaroth was so friendly that Han-Yeol forgot who she was for a moment.

[Kehe, this is interesting. I knew you were one hell of a guy, but I didn’t expect you to be this incredible. Truly befitting of a human who made a contract with the Demon King.]

“Huh?”

From Astaroth to Lucifer, Han-Yeol couldn’t understand what they were saying.

[We saw it all. We witnessed you becoming a demon in a fit of rage.]

“Ah, I see.”

[If you truly had no talent, your mana would’ve gone out of control the moment the demonization process began, and you would’ve died without leaving a trace.]

“Huh!”

This was definitely shocking.

Han-Yeol spread his hands to see if he was really alive, or if he had already died and become a spirit.

‘Phew, at least I’m still alive.’

Seeing himself with his Demon Eyes, he was clearly still a normal human being.

He let out a huge sigh of relief. Dying in battle was one thing, but dying by being consumed by power out of his control was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

[Khehe, Han-Yeol really is one funny human.]

Astaroth thought it was cute that Han-Yeol was freaking out all by himself.

“S-So you’re saying that if I focus, I can make this demonization completely my own and use it to my advantage?”

[Of course. You’ve already overcome demonization once, which means you have the talent to control it.]

Just as Astaroth finished, Lucifer joined in.

[That’s right. Hehehe. I’ve lived in the demon world for countless years, observing beings from the human world and various middle realms, but I’ve never seen anyone withstand demonization like you did. Are you really human?]

This was a question Han-Yeol received often, and not just from Lucifer.

“Of course I am…”