The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 231

'Do it?'

-Understood.

Lee Shin quietly placed his hands on Kid No. 2's stomach and mouth, and Irehgue climbed onto his chest, coiled up, and crouched down.

As the two settled into their respective positions, two streams of internal energy flowed into Kid No. 2's body.

They both focused their consciousness on the information transmitted by the internal energy and examined the inside of No. 2's body.

The reason Kid No. 2 was whimpering as if about to die and suffering from a high fever was simply because the immense magic power was raging so fiercely that his frail body couldn't handle the burden.

Therefore, the solution to restoring No. 2's body was simple.

Woooong-

It was just a matter of changing the flow of magic power from a fierce torrent to a gentle stream so as not to burden the body.

Of course, it wasn't as simple as it sounded.

Although he had only taken a brief look, No. 2's body had been roughly treated without proper growth, so it was weak overall, and the meridians through which magic power flowed were also narrow.

On top of that, the struggle against the magic power seemed to have gone on for quite some time, as No. 2's body was now as fragile as wet traditional paper, unable to withstand even the slightest shock without tearing.

In other words, the task Lee Shin was about to perform was equivalent to controlling the flow of a rough ocean current and channeling it through a tube as narrow as a needle's eye without causing any shock to the tube.

Furthermore, considering the amount of magic power and the state of No. 2's body, this task needed to be performed not in one place, but in several places simultaneously.

Impossible.

Anyone with some knowledge would say so if they heard that such an unconventional level of control had to be performed on another person's body, not their own.

'Simple enough.'

However, Lee Shin actually moved his internal energy with a slight smile.

Woooooong-

'I just have to control the internal energy so he doesn't die.'

After obtaining the Heavenly Slaughter Body, Lee Shin felt that his senses for controlling all forms of ki had become much sharper than before.

When the premonition-like sense of the death line, informed by [Heavenly Slaughter], was added to that, the word 'im' disappeared from the task everyone had called impossible.

Originally, even for Lee Shin, he wouldn't have been able to declare success with such confidence.

But it was possible because No. 2 was the subject.

Normally, even if one mishandles another's ki and blood, it doesn't always lead to death.

Changes such as disabilities or distorted senses could occur.

But for No. 2 right now, there was no such thing.

The slightest mistake from Lee Shin meant immediate death.

There was no yellow zone, only a state of red and green zones. Because he had always walked that line, Lee Shin could save No. 2 using [Heavenly Slaughter].

Swoosh-

All senses become extremely sharp in the face of death.

For Lee Shin right now, No. 2's body was a kind of test.

A test of how skillfully he could handle his newly acquired power.

Grin-

'Then, it's only polite to handle it perfectly.'

With concentration pushed to its limit, he controlled the flow of magic power using the ultimate tool, the Heavenly Slaughter Body.

He traced the complex trajectory created by thread-like paths within the body without the slightest error.

Following Lee Shin's internal energy, dozens of streams of magic power moved simultaneously along their respective paths.

Then, the violently churning magic power began to gradually calm down.

Throb-!

He had only just taken the first step, but his head was already spinning.

At that, Lee Shin smiled and raised his concentration even further.

If he used [Mad Dragon] to unify his mind with Irehgue, he could sharpen his senses and process information faster.

But Lee Shin didn't.

Because there was a separate task that Irehgue had to do.

Woooooong-

While Lee Shin was calming the magic power, Irehgue used his internal energy to gradually refine No. 2's body.

'Listen carefully. These kids weren't accepted by me, but by you.'

Grin-

'So I'm only going to provide support this time. You take responsibility and handle this kid.'

-…Thinking about it again, how arrogant.

Irehgue recalled what Lee Shin had said earlier and frowned slightly.

But the slight frown soon turned into a fierce upward curve along with the corners of his mouth.

-Fine. This is the first subordinate I have ever had. Therefore, I shall personally raise him to be the strongest.

Irehgue's extended internal energy pierced through the gaps in the torrent and began to move in earnest.

Usually, when Irehgue was outside Lee Shin's body, he was in a state of borrowing Lee Shin's internal energy to form his shape.

As an aside, that was also why Irehgue always obediently circulated the cultivation method.

It was to gather the internal energy needed to reveal his form himself.

To return to the main story, the revealed Irehgue was merely in a state of maintaining his form by borrowing internal energy.

So, if he concentrated a little more, like this.

Swoooosh-

It was also possible to send his consciousness into the internal energy that had entered another's body, feeling and thinking as if he had entered directly.

It was a method possible because he was not Irehgue with a clear main body like Lee Shin.

Without any of the limitations Lee Shin had, Irehgue moved through No. 2's body, creating rough flames and lightning.

If Lee Shin was working to control the water inside by holding the trembling of the vessel with his hands, what Irehgue was about to do now was to reinforce the cracked vessel and make it stronger.

Irehgue moved by referencing the body of No. 1 he had checked earlier.

Using intense heat, he melted the impurities blocking the narrow blood vessels and fine meridians, widening the paths for magic power to flow more smoothly.

Using the destructive power of lightning, he shattered the blockages that were tightly sealing the meridians and forced open the closed gates.

Irehgue moved his internal energy as delicately and precisely as if moving his own body, giving no shock to No. 2's body.

Cough-! Cough-!

However, it was impossible to give no shock at all, so No. 2's body twitched slightly, and he coughed.

Each time he coughed, magic power tried to escape through his open mouth, but it was blocked by Lee Shin's hand, which he had placed over his mouth in advance, and returned into his body.

'I've gone this far, he won't fail, right?'

Lee Shin supported Irehgue with the thought of teasing him to death if he failed, and Irehgue concentrated with all his might with the sole intention of getting one over on Lee Shin.

As the two were concentrating as if competing, the eyes of No. 1, who was watching the situation from afar with anxious eyes, gradually widened.

The energy that had always flowed out from his brother's entire body like a heat haze since he had gotten sick.

He could feel that energy gradually disappearing and being gathered back into his brother's body.

At first, he was worried seeing that, but when he saw his brother's face, which had been contorted in pain, gradually become peaceful, he could feel relieved.

After confirming his brother's safety, No. 1 slightly turned his eyes to look at Lee Shin.

His mouth seemed to be smiling slightly, but sweat was pouring from his entire body, and blood was dripping from his nose.

It was a sight that made it clear to anyone that he was currently pushing himself to perform a difficult task.

'Just what is that guy?'

A person with the characteristics of a half-dragon, half-human is a public enemy attacked by all beings.

That was why Lee Shin was the first person to treat him so casually, as if it were nothing, and to help them by sacrificing himself.

No. 1's sharp eyes stared intently at Lee Shin.

But the hostility that had been in those eyes had faded a little.

◎ ◎ ◎

'It hurts… it's hard…'

No. 2 muttered softly in his hazy mind.

He wanted to scream out loud, but he no longer had the energy or strength to do so.

In his dazed mind, he couldn't feel the passage of time, nor hunger.

While it felt like everything in his body was broken and in a mess, the pain of tiny needles piercing his entire body and the resulting heat were all too clear.

The pain was so terrible that a thought had taken root in a corner of his mind and wouldn't disappear: if he just gave up resisting, he could be at ease.

For No. 2, who was exhausted from the continuous pain, it was an enormous temptation.

Grit-

'No, I can't.'

But No. 2 gritted his teeth, forcibly ignored that option, and gripped the thread of life he was holding even tighter.

His only family, who had always been there for him. He couldn't choose the option of leaving all the burden to that family and becoming comfortable alone.

No. 2 kept struggling to get out of the current situation somehow.

But no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't find even a clue to a solution, let alone the solution itself.

Therefore, No. 2 just quietly gritted his teeth and endured all this pain, hoping for a vague miracle.

Even when the wall named 'limit' came before the miracle he was waiting for, No. 2 didn't give up and held on until the end.

Just when it became difficult to even tell if he was holding the thread properly or not.

'Huh?'

No. 2 felt his body become a little more comfortable and the heat disappear.

It wasn't his imagination.

It was only a little, but the pain was definitely fading and disappearing.

The pain hadn't completely disappeared.

But what followed was different from what had come before.

As if massaging a foot that had been overworked from walking a lot, a refreshing feeling followed the pain.

'Who is it?'

No. 2 became curious about the owner of the hands that were taking care of him.

Because in a world where everyone except his family was an enemy, it was the owner of a warm hand that had suddenly appeared.

With that curiosity, No. 2 reached out his hand towards the area where he felt the heat.

The moment No. 2's hand touched the area near his chest.

'Ah…'

No. 2 saw another form along with a thrilling sensation.

A red dragon enveloped in a warm golden light.

Strangely, the dragon's eyes were different colors, but No. 2 felt an inexplicable comfort and relief in them and smiled faintly without realizing it.

Then, raising his head slightly, No. 2 looked at the dragon's form and noticed that the horns on the dragon's head looked exactly like his own.

Why was that?

Since birth, No. 2 had always thought of his horns as a curse.

That's why he had always thought of them as a brand of a curse, but…

'Looking at it like that, it seems a little cool.'

It was the moment No. 2 affirmed a part of himself that he had been denying ever since he was born.

Swooooo-

It was also the moment when the instinct that had been suppressed beneath his subconscious was drawn out.

Kuuuuooo-

The dormant dragon's blood, the dragon's instinct within it, stretched slightly and began to open its eyes.

◎ ◎ ◎

Kuuuuooo-

-Hmm?

'Huh?'

Lee Shin and Irehgue simultaneously felt the small change that occurred in No. 2's body and their eyes widened.

The flow of magic power, which had been moving according to their will, began to change slightly.

As if some kind of will was gradually seeping into the magic power that had only been raging like a huge storm, its movement began to change.

It was surprising enough that he was suddenly trying to control this immense magic power in such a terrible physical state, but what happened next was even more surprising.

The magic power that had spread throughout his body slowly seeped into No. 2's body.

Then, his exhausted body began to slowly recover, and strength began to seep into it.

It was a surprising event.

Although it was a method Lee Shin often used, it was only possible because the power of skills and the environment of the system were combined.

What Irehgue had just done was like skipping the complex process and long time required for external cultivation and just taking the results.

No, it was much more effective than training in external cultivation as a martial artist.

'No, he's not even using internal energy that has been adapted to his body through steady training, he's just using magic power, and this is the efficiency?'

The moment Lee Shin muttered inwardly in disbelief, another word came to mind along with the word 'magic power'.

Dragon.

The creature most familiar with magic power, possessing an innate sense to handle magic as if breathing from birth.

As soon as their thoughts reached that point, Lee Shin and Irehgue moved instantly.

Lee Shin helped the movement of magic power so that it could spread evenly throughout the body, and Irehgue drew internal energy from Lee Shin's dantian and made it seep into No. 2's body.

Normally, spreading internal energy into another's body like this was a shortcut to qi deviation.

Furthermore, the internal energies Lee Shin possessed were all of extreme yang nature, so it was dangerous, but Irehgue ignored such theories.

Because he was confident that he could somehow handle it even if something went wrong.

Flames raged fiercely, burning the impurities that filled the body, and lightning flashed ferociously, breaking the walls that blocked the meridians.

The vessel that No. 2 possessed rapidly grew larger and harder.

Such a change did not just end internally.

Crack-

Crack-crack-

No. 2's horn, which had been broken by something, was restored with a bizarre sound and then began to grow even larger.

Meanwhile, his bones were distorted and then realigned, and his skin and muscles were torn and then regenerated.

The existing things were broken and re-established, and through the gaps, the waste products that had accumulated in his body came out, emitting a foul odor.

Although Lee Shin had once gone through the process called 'bone and marrow cleansing', even in his eyes, this was bizarre.

'This is less like bone and marrow cleansing… it looks more like a change of species from human to non-human, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.'

While Lee Shin was marveling at this, Irehgue quietly concentrated.

The internal energy that Irehgue had spread through the body to clear the paths had already been absorbed by No. 2 and spread throughout his body.

Thanks to that, Irehgue was now outside No. 2 again, acting as a relay connecting Lee Shin's dantian and No. 2, and pouring Lee Shin's internal energy into No. 2's body.

Thump-!

Amidst such changes, along with a huge heartbeat, the magic power flowing through No. 2's body began to move once again.

The magic powers that had spread throughout his body concentrated in his chest, next to his heart, as if drawn by a vortex.

The magic power, concentrated at one point, soon took on a spherical shape and created a core of magic power.

The core of magic power thus created throbbed along with the heart and spread magic power throughout the body, just as Lee Shin had done a little while ago.

The moment they saw it, the two naturally thought of one word in their minds.

'Dragon Heart.'

And at the same time as they thought of that word.

-Ah…

Woooooong-

Irehgue let out a small gasp at the shock that struck his mind.

It was the light of enlightenment that Irehgue had experienced for the first time since establishing his ego.