The situation looked terrible, but there was no need to give up. It was unexpected that Nid had become a hero, but Nid had already used his ultimate. A hero had more health and defense than a champion, so it would be just like killing Kraken. Junhyuk couldn’t kill Nid with ordinary attacks, but he could buy time to kill him with his powers.

Just before the force field disappeared, he grabbed Sarang’s hand and teleported behind the enemies. Because the force field had disappeared, the enemies rushed at him, but he triggered his jumping skill.

At once, he jumped over the swamp, holding her as he ran. The enemies chased after him, and he smacked his lips.

Nid’s power having a short cooldown wouldn’t be balanced, so Junhyuk thought the cooldown should be long and decided that he would use his Spatial Slash as soon as it came off cooldown.

“We must both focus on Nid. If not, we won’t kill him.”

As Sarang ran, she nodded.

“We’ll paralyze him and burn him down. That’ll kill him.”

“Right. Let’s kill Nid first since he is a hero.”

Sarang nodded, and Junhyuk searched for the right moment. The allies had distanced themselves with the jump, and the enemies were chasing them, but they wouldn’t reach the allies in time.

Nid had 45 percent of his health. If the allies focused on him, they would kill him, and if they had Kilraden alone, they could kill him as well.

Junhyuk slowed down to let the enemies catch up. When they fell within range of his Spatial Slash, he just maintained the distance. The allies had used Thunderstorm first, so the two powers came off cooldown at the same time.

Junhyuk’s eyes met Sarang’s, and he turned and ran.

However, Junhyuk’s power wasn’t the only one to come off cooldown. He thought that Nid had been within range, but Nid was quickly retreating.

Meanwhile, Kilraden was fast approaching him, so Junhyuk swung the Frozen Rune Sword, pretending to use the Spatial Slash, at the champion, but Kilraden teleported.

The distance he covered was shorter than Junhyuk’s, but as soon as he appeared, he disappeared again.

Junhyuk thought Kilraden would reappear soon, but he didn’t, and Junhyuk scowled. He had thought Kilraden had stacked teleportations, but the champion had hidden.

Junhyuk clicked his tongue and measured the distance from Nid. After retreating, the hero was sixty meters away from him.

He thought that Kilraden had to be somewhere in between, but after three seconds hiding, he might be even closer, so Junhyuk grabbed Sarang’s hand and teleported. After distancing himself from them, he waited. Kilraden wouldn’t be able to close the gap in three seconds.

Junhyuk’s eyes widened as he looked ahead. Kilraden, grimacing, reappeared twenty meters from the allies.

The champion could close in with his two remaining teleports, but if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

Junhyuk whispered to Sarang, “Get ready for the teleport.”

Sarang touched his arm, but Kilraden had disappeared again. As the champion teleported, Junhyuk did the same.

The distance between the two groups, which had been ten meters, was back to thirty meters, and Kilraden realized that he couldn’t close in by teleporting. Nevertheless, he teleported again, using up all his teleportations.

“He’s made up his mind. Kill him!”

When Kilraden reappeared, Sarang shot an electric blast at him. If it worked, it would mean the end for Kilraden. The allies would combo him, and Kilraden wouldn’t survive.

The electric blast flew in Kilraden’s direction, and Kilraden turned translucent. At that moment, another Kilraden appeared right in front of Junhyuk. The allies had never seen that before.

That Kilraden was also translucent, like a dream, and as Junhyuk swung his sword at him instinctively, the sword merely pa.s.sed him by. However, Kilraden could attack and damage Junhyuk in that state.

Kilraden’s powers usually dealt 30 percent damage, but the damage from the attack was only 20 percent. However, the initial damage wasn’t the problem. The translucent figured attacked him nonstop. He swung his sword at Kilraden, but he seemed to be just an illusion. Yet, Kilraden could attack and damage him.

Junhyuk got hit twice and lost 40 percent of his health.

“You too?!” he shouted.

It was another unseen power. Not only Nid, but Kilraden had also become a hero. Kilraden seemed to have developed a doppelganger power, and its damage capacity was shocking.

In no time, Junhyuk had already lost 60 percent of his health. The damage was ferocious. Kilraden had also dodged Sarang’s electric blast, so he seemed to have perfect evasion in that state.

One of the doppelgangers, who no longer looked like an illusion, swung the dagger at Junhyuk’s neck. Junhyuk wasn’t ready for the attack. It was a critical hit, and he lost another 15 percent of his health.

After the ultimate ran out, the original reappeared. Seeing himself at low health, Junhyuk used the Spatial Slash. It landed as a critical hit, but the damage was only 53 percent, instead of the usual 73 percent. Kilraden’s health had increased.

Junhyuk didn’t stop attacking. He thought he had to finish Kilraden now that he was close, but Kilraden countered, stabbing him on the neck, and Junhyuk’s vision became blurry. However, he saw the thunderbolts crashing on Kilraden. The a.s.sa.s.sin lost 43 percent of his health, leaving him with 4 percent.

Junhyuk tried to smile, but the world turned black.

“Holy s.h.i.t.”

The entire world was dark, and it was not easy for him to keep his ego and get out of that. He had to get out of the thick emptiness, and his soul would grow naturally.

This time, however, he felt something as he tried to leave the emptiness that he had never felt before. It felt familiar in some way.

Junhyuk felt its existence and focused on it. The light was coming toward his consciousness and getting brighter, as if trying to swallow him whole.

He knew then what he was feeling. Inside his body, the living spirit had swallowed his mana, and it was now a gigantic, blue wild beast of light. That was the living spirit, and Junhyuk tried to flee from that place.

However, the living spirit chased after him crazily. The blue wild beast of light had sharp fangs and a ma.s.sive body. Inside of it, was the mana energy.

The beast was larger than ever before. When the living spirit had been his own, it had felt so much smaller than what was in front of him.

And that’s when he knew that he had made a mistake in thinking that he had controlled the living spirit. It was then that he learned what Artlan had meant by him having to control the living spirit once it was fully grown. At the same time, Junhyuk thought that if he could control it, he could become a hero.

Nothing on Earth scared him. Monsters were dangerous, but he had fought them. He had killed A-ranked monsters as well, so he would acquire the energy from the living spirit. The Dimensional Battlefield would restrain him, but he would be even stronger on Earth.

However, could he control the living spirit at that moment? The living spirit was shocking, gigantic and ferocious, and he was just fleeing from it through the thick emptiness at that moment.

Then, he felt it. What had he learned from his death so far? Had he just simply wanted to live and searched, with his awareness, for the bright white light all this time?

No, that wasn’t it. Junhyuk had protected his ego, and it had become bigger. The process had not simply increased his soul. So, Junhyuk stopped running and turned around. Two enemies had already become heroes, so even if he purchased the new equipment, it would be a clean sweep.

The living spirit stopped and bared its fangs. Junhyuk raised his hands slowly. He did not like that he wasn’t holding his swords, but suddenly, swords appeared in his hands.

What was that? How could he summon his swords in that place? He thought about many possibilities and then looked at the living spirit.

The spirit roared angrily.

The roar didn’t make a sound however, but the whole place shook with it. Junhyuk took a step forward. Faced with such strong presence, he made his own presence know. And walked ferociously.

The living spirit’s claws clashed against his swords. It was laughing at his swordsmanship.

Bouncing off, Junhyuk gritted his teeth. The living spirit opened its ma.s.sive maw against him, which he kept from shutting with his hands. His hands were pierced by the fangs, and a sharp pain shot down his arms, but he ignored it.

He pushed down on the living spirit’s jaw.

Craack!

The jaw opened wider, and he placed his foot on it to try and pry it open even more. Then, he put his hand inside the spirit’s mouth. Junhyuk couldn’t reach the spirit’s brain, but he felt something else.

At that moment, he remembered what he felt when he first received the living spirit. As Junhyuk grabbed it and stared at it, the ma.s.sive body disappeared. He could now feel everything inside of him.

No one had taught him how, but he had eaten it whole, the pounding heart of the living spirit.

The ferocious pounding spread through his chest, and he balled his hands into fists.

He felt strength, strength beyond his imagination, strength he’d never felt before, even while training with the spirit.

Had he absorbed that much mana?

Junhyuk still felt the emptiness surrounding him, but the mana spread all over his body. It was a type of strength that belonged only to heroes, and it was filling his body now.

Junhyuk focused on the light, and suddenly, speckles of white light sprinkled over his head. Up to that point, he had had to get out of the emptiness by himself, but this time, after absorbing the living spirit, he did so automatically and in an instant.

As he felt the light surround him, he summoned his equipment. Junhyuk was at full strength, and it was different from when he had trained with the spirit.

Because he hadn’t activated a new power, Junhyuk hadn’t become a hero. However, he had the strength of a hero, and he felt it all over his body. For the first time, he felt restrained in the Dimensional Battlefield, and he realized that his strength wouldn’t break those chains. He knew he was different from before.

[Champion Junhyuk Lee deployed.]

When the door opened, he walked out and murmured, “You are all dead now.”