The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 275

Originally, it was a vast space where a huge mountain stood.

There, a white temple, literally carved out of the mountain, was located.

In the huge temple, gold, boasting a beautiful luster that would shake even the mind of an enlightened monk with worldly desires, was piled up like a mountain.

If someone were to see the scene unfolding here, the landscape created by the mountain of gold that filled the temple was so fantastic that they would doubt if they were dreaming.

But in fact, the expression 'mountain of gold' was a clumsy answer that failed to capture even the outwardly revealed truth.

Such an answer had emerged only because the person standing before it was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the golden mountain and could not picture the whole in their mind.

In fact, the mountain of gold they faced was just a part, and its true form was.

Thump- thump-

A Gold Dragon, sleeping with its body, so huge it couldn't be taken in at a glance, lying on the ground.

The sight of the Gold Dragon sleeping with its body on the ground was astonishingly beautiful.

A beautiful dignity and pressure, as if it had been crafted by melting the finest gold and then coated with jewel powder to add sparkle, emanated from the Gold Dragon's entire body.

It was at that moment.

The two eyes of the Gold Dragon, which had been sleeping without even making a sound of breathing, quietly revealed themselves to the world.

It had simply opened its eyes that had been closed while sleeping; other than that, the Gold Dragon made no movement.

But with that alone, everything surrounding the Gold Dragon changed.

An overwhelming presence, as if to say that the only proper life existing in the world was itself, filled the world.

The Gold Dragon, not bothering to hide such a presence, quietly moved its eyes.

The Gold Dragon looked at the distant sky, holding it in its eyes, and then slightly moved its mouth.

"Has a being from another dimension come."

If someone belonging to the church had seen this sight now, they would have been so shocked that their legs would have given out.

It was an event that happened about once every ten years for him to wake up due to a sudden situation.

But to go beyond that and utter a single word was the first time in hundreds of years.

But the Gold Dragon had no interest in any of that.

He was the one revered by the church as the son of God, the proxy who conveyed God's will, but he had no interest or attachment to the church.

A peculiar white ant, a little different from the common black ants that spread and live in the world.

That was about how the Gold Dragon saw the humans belonging to the church.

Then and now, the object of the Gold Dragon's attention was singular.

'Is Father not saying anything.'

Confirming that fact, the Gold Dragon withdrew its interest from the affairs of the world.

He was, after all, a tool that moved to listen to his father's command and carry it out.

If there was no command from his father, he had no intention of moving, no matter what storm raged in this world and what happened.

Having thus sorted out the situation unfolding in the world, the Gold Dragon slowly closed its eyes again.

He had to maintain this body for as long as possible to hear his father's command, which he did not know when would come again.

Thus, the huge Gold Dragon entered the world of dreams again.

Waiting for his father's words that would come someday.

◎ ◎ ◎

A long time ago, when Lee Shin had made a contract with Cheon Yuhwa's guild and was visiting dungeons all over the country with Eun Yeonwoo, there was something Eun Yeonwoo used to say to him.

"Hyung-nim, can't you please fight a little more gently when you fight monsters?"

At that time, Lee Shin's answer was always the same.

"Hmm? I don't think so. This is the best I can do."

Lee Shin said in a drawling voice, as if it were too much trouble to even reply.

"But this is unfair. What did I do to make you whine like that?"

"Are you asking because you really don't know? The one who fights so viciously every time that even a berserker mad with blood would be put to shame?"

Eun Yeonwoo sighed, placing a hand on his forehead.

"A berserker? Have you ever seen someone fight as cleanly as I do?"

Lee Shin said so and pointed at himself with his finger.

Even though he had just finished a battle, Lee Shin's clothes were spotlessly clean, without a single drop of blood, let alone a speck of dust.

"Don't just look at your own clothes, look at where you fought too, will you?"

Eun Yeonwoo pointed with his finger to the place where Lee Shin had fought the monster a moment ago.

That place, in a word, was disastrous.

The field was stained bright red with the blood of the monster cut by Lee Shin's spear.

On top of that, the severed body parts of the monster were scattered here and there, boasting a grotesque sight.

Lee Shin, who had been looking at it for a moment, tilted his head and asked.

"Isn't it more convenient for you that I hunt like that? The blood is moderately drained, and it's cut into pieces for easy handling."

"Stop talking as if you hunted like that for my sake, will you? And stop changing the subject when you know that's not what I'm talking about."

Eun Yeonwoo said so and turned his head to look at the place where the monster's corpses were mangled.

The visual aspect alone was a horrific sight, enough to become a trauma for most people.

But if that was all, Eun Yeonwoo would not have said this to Lee Shin.

Because Eun Yeonwoo had built up a tolerance for cruelty by seeing even worse environments as a matter of course since his old game days.

'I don't even know how one has to fight to create this kind of atmosphere.'

What Eun Yeonwoo was pointing out now was the dense remnant of killing intent that still remained with the fishy smell of blood, even though a considerable amount of time had passed since the battle ended.

"Haa... Thanks to you, I feel like I'm entering a cemetery in the middle of the night every time."

Eun Yeonwoo said, calming the goosebumps that had risen on his skin with one hand.

"Hyung-nim, you might not know because you only go to dungeons in remote areas that people don't visit often, but if you cause a ruckus like this in other dungeons, rumors will spread on the internet right away."

"Really?"

Lee Shin answered Eun Yeonwoo's words half-heartedly while reading a novel on his pad.

Seeing him, Eun Yeonwoo sighed as if he had expected this and prepared to butcher the monster's corpse.

"But do you know this?"

Just then, Lee Shin caught Eun Yeonwoo's foot with a low voice.

"That I'm actually fighting very rationally every time I fight?"

At that, Eun Yeonwoo, who had a tense expression, wore a look of disbelief at Lee Shin's following words.

"You talk big for someone who becomes a single beast every time you fight."

Eun Yeonwoo said, waving his hand with a look that said he shouldn't have listened.

"I'm telling you, that's the result of fighting very rationally."

"Ha, if this is the result of fighting rationally, I wonder what would happen if you fought with your mind let go."

Recalling that far, Lee Shin realized why that memory had suddenly come to mind and let out a small laugh.

"If he were here, I would have shown him until he was sick of it... What a lucky guy."

And with that muttering as the last.

Lee Shin let go of the thread of reason he had always maintained so firmly and sharply.

-Tsk.

Irhegue, feeling Lee Shin's mind gradually sinking, clicked his tongue lightly.

Then, he naturally released [Dragon Madness], separated his mind from Lee Shin, and temporarily took refuge in the [Yagong].

As [Dragon Madness] was released, Lee Shin's physical abilities decreased.

But since Lee Shin had brought in enough stats through [Demonic Ghost] to fully digest the enlightenment of LV. 6, it didn't matter much.

Of course, there was a decrease in combat power.

But Irhegue considered it the right decision to release [Dragon Madness] and move his mind to the [Yagong], even taking that into account.

Because that way, he could better support Lee Shin, who was about to go on a rampage.

And for Irhegue, this was not only a strategic decision thinking of the next move, but also an evacuation.

-I can't let my mind be devoured by those killing intents too.

Although he had now grown into a separate mind with a sense of self, Irhegue was originally a being derived from Lee Shin's mind.

Therefore, Irhegue was the only other who knew all the secrets Lee Shin had kept until now and could empathize with his situation.

And he was the only being who knew exactly what was happening in Lee Shin's body right now.

Lee Shin had let go of the thread of reason he had always been pulling tautly in every moment to not be consumed by killing intent.

To fall into it and devour what was inside to create his own way of killing, no, way of slaughtering.

-But it is unknown when a consciousness once submerged in the sea of killing intent can return, no, it is not even certain that it can return.

Irhegue muttered so and observed Lee Shin's change through a single thread connected to him.

-And it is also unknown how a body completely consumed by killing intent will change.

At the same time as Irhegue muttered so.

The killing intent that filled Lee Shin's body now began to stretch out and fill the space.

"Hmm, a monster devoured by killing intent... This time it's a bit cliché."

The Sword of the Sea said so, but he did not let his guard down and put more strength into the hand gripping his sword.

The Sword of the Earth also tensed his entire body's muscles so that he could react to the movements of Lee Shin and the Sword of the Sea at any time.

And Lee Shin, whose entire body was completely consumed by killing intent, stood there quietly without saying a word.

And then he raised his head and looked at the two.

[Dragon Madness] was released, and Irhegue had temporarily taken refuge in the [Yagong].

Therefore, it was certain that Lee Shin had now returned to a normal human body.

And yet, Lee Shin's eyes, which were staring at the Sword of the Earth and the Sword of the Sea, had turned black and were leaking a crimson light from within their pupils.

"Hey."

Seeing him, the Sword of the Sea called out to the Sword of the Earth in a low voice.

"Doesn't that remind you of something? I think you would know."

"...Unexpected. You knew too?"

The Sword of the Earth answered the Sword of the Sea's words so.

"Of course I know. The main technique of your Behemoth family is martial arts, so I did some research once to see if I could find your weakness."

"You say that so shamelessly in front of me."

The Sword of the Sea shrugged his shoulders and brushed off the Sword of the Earth's words.

"Anyway, as I was diligently researching your weakness and martial arts, I happened to read something, and among the records of the dimensions you ate, there was a pretty hot one."

Having said that much, the Sword of the Sea pointed at Lee Shin with his finger and said.

"To my eyes, that guy and this guy look the same. What do you think?"

The Sword of the Earth did not answer his question.

But the Sword of the Earth quietly agreed with the Sword of the Sea's words inwardly and looked at Lee Shin with calm eyes.

As if receiving water pouring from something huge and overflowing, Lee Shin was now shooting out a rough and dense killing intent in all directions.

"Hey, I don't remember well, what did they call that guy in the book?"

"...Heavenly Killing Star."

The Sword of the Earth answered while wrapping the sword aura he had been cloaking his sword with around his body to create a protective aura.

"In the book I saw, they called him the monster that kills the sky."

"A monster that kills the sky, how unnecessarily grand. Well, still..."

The Sword of the Sea lightly loosened his body, which was gradually stiffening from the overwhelming killing intent he was experiencing for the first time in his life, and said.

"The expression 'monster' seems to be accurate, at least.”

(End of Chapter)