The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 40

"Hoo~"

Lee Shin took a small breath and focused.

Through the spar with Yeonhwa, he was able to shed one of the shells that had been surrounding him.

Whoosh-

'My spear is certainly simpler compared to the sword Yeonhwa showed me.'

Deflecting and parrying using the [Leaves] of the flames, and continuous thrusts and focused thrusts using the [Branches] of the lightning.

Those two were all that made up his spear art.

Hwoooong-

Even knowing that, he didn't have the slightest thought of changing his spear art.

That would be the same as giving up the path he had already decided to take and turning his steps in a different direction.

Hwoooong-

'So I will focus on making the color of the spear I have even deeper.'

Hwareureuk-

Flames bloomed from the spear he swung, creating a red trajectory in the air.

Red leaves bloomed from the red trajectory and scattered in the air.

The leaves scattering in the air drew a single circle.

'The flame I want is a flame that burns quietly, holding its heat, and shakes its surroundings to make them its own.'

Hwareureureuk-

The moment he decided what he wanted, the appearance of the flames falling from the air changed.

They burned quietly like a candle and became smaller than before.

But inside, they were burning fiercely, rotating the heat internally.

Then, the leaves themselves began to rotate as if they were dancing, and at the same time, the power of the circle the leaves were drawing also became stronger.

Hwiririk-

In that state, he rotated his wrist once more and drew a circle.

A huge single circle was drawn.

Even after drawing one circle, his spear did not stop and rotated once more to create another circle.

No, what was created this time was not a circle.

Something deeper.

The circles continued to overlap and connect, becoming a spiral line and creating a red vortex.

Flames scattered around him.

Flame Leaf Returning Step.

The flames flowing from his spear and the flames blooming from his body mixed into one, and his surroundings shimmered as if a person's dream had been brought out.

The flame of his, which had only been burning, was now imbued with the illusion that colored everything according to his will.

In that instant, he intuitively felt that his spear could now deflect Yeonhwa's sword in his memory.

'Next.'

Hwoooong-

His spear, from which the flames had disappeared, swept around strongly.

A fierce wind spread, and the brilliant flames that had adorned the night sky all scattered and disappeared.

After making his surroundings a blank slate, he corrected his stance and gripped his spear once more.

Pajijik-

Golden lightning appeared on his spear and slowly wrapped around it.

He lightly thrust the spear he was holding in that state into the air, and a golden straight line extended into the air.

He, who had retrieved the extended spear, thrust it into the air once more.

His spear, extending in succession, extended in different directions or gathered into one, continuing to extend.

'The lightning I want is not just simply fast, but a lightning that can change in various ways and pierce anything.'

The moment his consciousness laid down the answer, his hands moved naturally and unfolded that answer.

Pajijijik--!

His spear, which had been extending forward, suddenly changed its direction and bent to a completely different place.

Then, the straight line that his spear had been creating bent here and there, changing into something like the branches of a tree that continued to extend toward the sky.

His lightning, which had only been fast, was now imbued with the change that could aim for the desired prey in any situation.

In that instant, his spear pierced through Yeonhwa's defense in his memory and reached him.

His spear art, which had only been made up of form and style, was now filled with intent and will.

'Not enough.'

But he still felt that it was not enough.

It was good that he had refined each one, but it was far from what he wanted.

The aggressiveness and distortion of the flames.

The swiftness and irregularity of the lightning.

'I have to be able to bring out all of that whenever I want.'

He had keenly felt in his fight with Yeonhwa that if he didn't, no matter how much he grew the two, it would only be half-baked.

Creak- Creak-

His body, which had put out the urgent fire with a potion, began to creak once more.

But he did not stop his spear.

He had no intention of stopping, even if his body broke.

Hwoooooong-!

And the moment he purely wished for his spear to be completed.

A system message pierced his ears.

-[Madness] awakens and looks at you.

At the same time, he felt a certain change happening inside his body.

A different internal energy from the [Lightning] he was currently using.

[Flames], another pillar of the Flame Lightning Tree God Art, was created on one side of his dantian.

By the will of something other than his own.

Thud-

In that instant, he sat down on the spot and operated his cultivation method.

He himself did not know the reason.

He just instinctively thought he had to do so.

The place his mind, led by instinct, headed to was his dantian.

Originally, in his dantian, there was only one tree made of flames and lightning, which could be called the mental image of the [Flame Lightning Tree God Art].

But what he was seeing now was not that.

An egg the size of a soccer ball placed in front of the tree.

'The [Madness] that has grown into a new skill and the explanation of the changed [Madness].'

'The knack for madness that I've been using until now.'

'The situation just now.'

He, who had understood everything in an instant, let out a chuckle.

"I've heard of multiple personalities, but I didn't think I'd experience it myself."

He stared blankly at the egg in disbelief, and the egg, nestled in the arms of the Flame Lightning Tree, also continued to look at him.

In that strange standoff, he muttered as if curious.

"But is this one a son or a daughter?"

***

The sun rose to the center of the sky.

"Then I'll take your mother to the city first."

"Can you be trusted?"

"Yes. You can trust me."

At Yeonhwa's question, Cheon Yuhwa nodded lightly.

She wasn't particularly offended, knowing that he was asking not out of distrust for her, but out of concern for his mother.

"Don't worry. He's the vice guild master of our guild. He's not weak enough to be defeated by some clumsy guy."

Nevertheless, as he continued to tap his fingers nervously, she let out a light sigh.

'I knew he was endlessly weak when it came to his mother, but seeing it after a long time, it seems to have gotten worse.'

"You know it's better to send her to the city than to have her here."

"Haa, right."

As he nodded as if he couldn't help it, she smiled and said.

"Don't worry, I told them to let her get a massage at a luxury spa and then have a steak. Right?"

"Yes, I've already prepared everything."

At her words, Kim Jae-hyun, who had approached the two at some point, nodded.

"Son, it's good that you're doing what you want, but you have to be careful not to get hurt because your mom is worried, okay?"

From behind him, his mother, exuding a refined atmosphere, called him in an intellectual voice and lightly embraced him.

"...Yes, mother."

He blushed, but he couldn't bring himself to push his mother away and lightly hugged her back.

Chuckle-

And Cheon Yuhwa met his eyes, who was blushing with the corners of her mouth raised. 'A good sight.' she thought.

'If you don't want to be cut, move those eyes away right now.'

His eyes were so cold they seemed ready to swing a sword at her at any moment, but that didn't last long.

Squeeze-

"You have to get along with your friends. How can your mom go with a peaceful mind like this?"

His mother, who had noticed the situation, mediated between the two.

As he was at a loss for what to say, Cheon Yuhwa stepped in.

"Don't worry. I'll help if it gets dangerous."

"That's a relief. Thank you for helping me and my son like this."

At his mother's words, she smiled lightly.

"And you don't have to worry too much. Even though he looks so frail, he's a pretty strong guy. Well, he's weaker than me, though."

Ppajik-

"Don't talk nonsense in front of my mother."

"Hmm? But I can't lie."

"Hoo, so you're saying you were serious about that nonsense?"

"Chuckle, chuckle."

Hearing the conversation between her and Yeonhwa, his mother chuckled.

"Ah, I'm sorry. It's the first time I've seen my son talk so comfortably with someone his age."

His mother said, looking at her with a warm gaze, and he, while looking at his mother with a disapproving look, couldn't bring himself to say anything to her, so he quietly shut his mouth.

Looking at the two, she smiled.

The sight of him, who was like a single sword, becoming mushy in front of his mother was always fun.

"Now then, the rest will be well guided by my secretary."

"Yes. Please take care of her."

His mother said, lightly stroking his head one last time.

"Yeonhwa, I know you're strong. You've protected me since you were young. But apart from that, I'm worried, so be careful not to get hurt too badly."

"...Yes."

At his answer, his mother smiled as if relieved and got into the car that Kim Jae-hyun had brought while the three were talking.

"Then I'll contact you after arriving at the guild."

"Right, the road doesn't seem to be rough, but please be careful."

"I understand."

Leaving those words behind, Kim Jae-hyun drove the car away from their camp.

Yeonhwa stood there for a moment, watching the car disappear, and then asked Cheon Yuhwa.

"Are you fighting that guy today?"

"It seems so. The spars are twice, in the morning and in the evening, and you said you'd do the evening spar."

She said, looking at one side of the forest.

From a distance, someone was approaching this place.

Yeonhwa also felt it and was lost in thought, looking in that direction.

'Did his presence deepen so much overnight?'

"How is it? As I said, he seems to have enough potential, right?"

As if she had read his thoughts, she said with a small smile.

Yeonhwa let out a small sigh as if he didn't like it, but he soon nodded and obediently admitted.

"Right, he's not a guy I like, but it seems that guy is the one with the highest possibility of reaching the level we are at."

"It seems you've received a pretty good evaluation."

It was not her who answered his words.

Lee Shin, who had walked out of the forest, looked at the two and smiled broadly.

"It seems you were camping in the forest."

"Oh? Weren't we supposed to be speaking formally to each other? When did we decide to speak informally?"

"Well, it's funny if I'm the only one speaking formally when you're speaking informally with this guy. Let's just speak informally from now on."

Although Cheon Yuhwa said so, it was more because of the sense of incongruity with the future him.

Every time she saw him speaking formally to her, the future him came to mind, and it was annoying and irritating, so she had just told him to speak informally.

"Hmm... well, I don't mind."

He didn't care, so she nodded and let it go.

"So you're my opponent today?"

"That's right. But let's change the location a bit before we start the spar."

She said, pointing inside the dungeon.

At that, he nodded.

"Let's do that. There's no need to break the trees outside."

-And if it's inside the dungeon, I think I can deal with the audience for sure.

He sent a telepathic message to her and spread his senses wide around him.

Then, the presence of several people who were looking at this place from the top of the trees came into his hands as if he could touch them.

-A guild ranked number one is also inconvenient in many ways. Getting checked by other guilds like this.

At his telepathic message, she smiled lightly and conveyed her voice with her aura.

-They're not grand enough to be called a check.

(End of Chapter)