Chapter 130

'... This dream again.'

Thomas Andre was dreaming in a blue mist. It was the terrible nightmare that had tormented him his entire life.

["I am Thomas Andre! Do you think something like that could bring me down?!"]

In the dream, he was screaming at the top of his lungs while taking a one-sided beating. It was no longer a fight.

It was sheer, one-sided violence.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

There was nothing he could do against that horrifically overwhelming strength. No matter how desperately he resisted, all he received was more violence he could not withstand. However hard he tried, he simply could not defeat the man in his nightmare.

["I already told you."]

BOOM!

In the dream, the man always continued as he drove an uppercut into Thomas's jaw.

["It doesn't matter who you are."]

That chilling voice. Those emotionless eyes looking down at him from so far above.

He could never remember the face, but those eyes were etched into his mind so vividly that even after waking from the nightmare, he shuddered.

Before that gaze, he was nothing but the weak.

Thomas Andre had never understood that dream.

Who was he?

The UFC openweight champion. The Demon of the Ring, who had claimed the title of strongest human alive. An invincible powerhouse who had retired without ever suffering a single defeat, a tyrant who always looked down on opponents kneeling at his feet.

'That's who I am. Thomas Andre.'

And yet...

'Why in the world...?'

The endlessly recurring dream of his defeat had left Thomas Andre unable, even once, to truly believe that he was strong.

No, if anything...

'I'm weak.'

That was what Thomas Andre truly felt.

If the world ever learned that he lived with such thoughts, people would probably scoff. They would dismiss it as modesty or deceit.

Yet, astonishingly, it was his honest conviction.

'I'm weak.'

Thomas Andre sincerely believed himself weak.

No matter how much he trained his body or honed his techniques... Even after growing stronger and stronger until he stood at the summit, with everyone beneath his feet.

'I'm weak. Still.'

However hard he trained, however strong he grew, his thirst was never quenched. He was anxious, restless.

Even though he knew for certain that no one in the world could defeat him, the knowledge that he was still weak remained branded into his mind like an obsession.

Even awakening as an S-rank hunter had done nothing to change it.

Hunters were monsters with power beyond human comprehension. Even now that he had become an S-rank, one of the strongest of those monsters...

'Why?!'

He remained as restless as ever.

'Why am I so weak?!'

Even Thomas himself could not understand this obsession.

'Who the hell is that man?!'

The man in the nightmare returned whenever Thomas was about to forget him. Though he existed only in a dream, that insurmountable presence continued to torment him.

How absurd was that? A man who had awakened as an S-rank hunter, the pinnacle of humanity, was being tossed about by a mere dream.

'She might know something.'

Unable to endure it any longer, he finally sought out his old friend, Mrs. Norma Selner, and poured out his troubles. As a renowned shaman and prophet, surely she could give him some answers about his dream.

But Norma Selner's reply only confused him further. She gazed at him with a hint of pity and spoke.

["Thomas, what you're feeling stems from emptiness."]

["What does that mean?"]

["What once filled your vessel is gone. That's why you feel hollow."]

["I'm asking what the hell that means!"]

Prophets were always like this. However insistently he questioned her in his frustration, she offered nothing but impenetrable riddles.

Still, thanks to her, he had realized one thing for certain: his vessel was indeed empty. He had pursued strength his entire life to fill the resulting void.

And then, while fighting the magic beasts that had suddenly attacked him after he entered the Glacier Dungeon, it happened as gradually as clothes soaking through in a drizzle.

Without his even realizing it...

That empty space was filled.

'Yes! This was it!'

At that moment, Thomas Andre realized it. The something he had craved his entire life now filled him to the brim!

'Is this true power?!'

At last, the missing piece of his puzzle had fallen into place.

'I! Thomas Andre!'

[... Am now complete!]

BOOOOM!

Thomas Andre opened his eyes, escaping his floundering dreams. Instinctively, he understood the source of his power.

[O Itarim! Grant me strength!]

That instinct guided his body and mind along their ordained course.

He would personally teach those feeble humans the meaning of true terror! They dared attack him, too blind to recognize how magnificent his power had become!

――――――!

He fully unleashed the power filling him and began destroying everything in sight. Before that absolute might, the soldiers made of black shadows charging to stop him melted helplessly away.

Yet a small human with a faint but repulsive aura kept charging toward him, weaving through the shadow soldiers without stopping.

[RAAAAAH!]

Thomas Andre roared, pouring out his power. But even in the face of that overwhelming force, the small human did not retreat. He stared at Thomas with blazing eyes and murmured,

"Esil."

His voice reached Esil, who was with the Scavenger hunters.

"Come in."

WHOOOOSH!

[Vulcan's Horn devours a demon's soul.]

At that moment, Esil's spirit form transformed the two copies of Vulcan's Horn, making a pair of horns sprout from Suho's head.

[Equipping 'Item: Vulcan's Horn.']

['Buff: Destructive Urge' increases physical damage by 300%.]

"I'm going all out."

[Using 'Skill: Wind of the Grasslands.']

[Movement speed temporarily increases by 30%.]

[Attack speed temporarily increases by 30%.]

[Using 'Skill: Giant’s Armor.']

WHOOOOOSH!

Suho's silver hair fluttered in the cool breeze riding the blizzard. As he charged toward Thomas Andre—no, toward the ice dragon—his body grew larger with every step.

Then...

[Using 'Skill: Iron Body Arts.']

Black currents swirled around his arms. Gathering all that strength, Suho rammed into the ice dragon's massive body.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOOOM!

[How dare you—!]

Thomas Andre seethed. Of all things, the boy meant to challenge him with brute strength!

[You intend to pit your strength against ME?!]

It was absurd. To think this little brat would look down on Thomas Andre!

[Do you think the likes of you can stand against me?!]

BOOOOM!

Responding to his will, the ice dragon struck Suho with tremendous force. Just as it pressed down to crush him to death, Suho's eyes flashed beneath its weight.

'Ruler's Authority!'

WHOOSH!

The black currents enveloping his arms shot forward.

Then...

BOOM!

[...!]

An invisible hand.

Ruler's Authority, the power Suho had possessed since level one—and, according to Beru, had used proficiently since he was a toddler—slammed into one of the ice dragon's legs from the side.

Then...

CRUNCH!

CRACK!

The leg bent sideways and snapped. Unable to support its own immense weight, the ice dragon lurched to one side.

Then came the shoulder throw.

BOOOOM!

Turning that immense weight against it, Suho hurled the ice dragon with all his strength and shouted,

"Mom!"

Now...!

Cha Haein's eyes snapped up.

"Right."

She fired the Sword of Light, into which she had poured every ounce of her strength, at a single point.

Her target was Thomas Andre!

A brilliant flash erupted.

[Pathetic!]

Staring straight into the dazzling flash, Thomas Andre roared as sinister blue energy burst from his eyes.

ROOOOAR!

The ice dragon wrapped both wings around its body to block the full-powered Sword of Light hurtling toward it.

CRAAAAACK!

The light tore through thick ice, but at the center of that power, Cha Haein gritted her teeth.

'Too shallow again!'

Thomas Andre alone was difficult enough to handle, and now great masses of ice protected him.

But even this should be enough—for her son Suho's plan!

"We're here."

As the ice dragon was thrown over a shoulder, slammed down, and driven backward while withstanding the Sword of Light, the Spring Water of Echo Forest had come up behind it.

SPLASH!

The moment the ice dragon's hind foot stepped into the steaming hot spring...

―――――――!

The countless ice spirits composing its body recoiled in horror and began scattering in all directions.

[Ugh! What is this...?!]

The ice dragon's body suddenly began melting away at a tremendous speed, finally exposing Thomas Andre within. Bewilderment was plain on his face, but that was all.

[Such petty tricks!]

Only the ice surrounding him had vanished. Thomas Andre's own power remained intact.

No, he was vastly stronger than he had ever been!

[Hahaha! Well, what now?! You dare face me with an exhausted S-rank hunter and a bunch of small fry?!]

Laughing arrogantly, Thomas Andre landed before the hot spring and immediately unleashed his full strength.

[Reinforcement!]

The skill Reinforcement.

It was one of the basic skills used by countless tanks, but when Thomas Andre activated it, true terror descended upon the land.

Yet the moment he arrived here, Suho's entire plan was as good as complete.

From the outset, Suho had asked the King of the Snow Folk, the Monarch of Frost, one question.

'Does the Spring Water of Echo Forest work on Monarchs too?'

The Elixir of Life required three ingredients in total: Purified Blood of the Demon King, a Fragment of the World Tree, and Spring Water of Echo Forest.

He did not know what a Fragment of the World Tree was, but he knew exactly what the Spring Water of Echo Forest could do.

If the Spring Water of Echo Forest could purify even the blood of the Demon Monarch, what effect would it have on the apostle of Itarim currently suppressing Thomas Andre's mind?

Suho recalled something Beru had once told him. The god of their dimension had also been an Itarim, and the Rulers and Monarchs were beings that god had created by dividing light and darkness.

Then what about the apostles created by the other Itarim?

'What if the apostles of Itarim are beings similar to the Rulers and Monarchs?'

"What happens if I use the Spring Water of Echo Forest on that apostle of Itarim?"

Sillad, the Monarch of Frost, gave Suho a clear answer.

[The King of the Snow Folk, the Monarch of Frost, nods with a sinister smile.]

[The King of the Snow Folk, the Monarch of Frost, activates 'Sanctuary: Spring Water of Echo Forest.']

CRAAAAACK!

[...!]

At that moment, all the steam drifting above the hot spring froze at once and seized Thomas Andre.

[More petty tricks!]

CRUNCH!

As though it were beneath him, Thomas Andre shook off the frost encasing his body.

But even that frost was Spring Water of Echo Forest.

[Item: Spring Water of Echo Forest]

Acquisition Difficulty: ??

Type: Consumable

Mysterious spring water from Echo Forest.

Drinking it or applying it to the body neutralizes poison.

[...?!]

Now drenched in Spring Water of Echo Forest, Thomas Andre's eyes widened. Suddenly, his body began trembling, and he doubled over in agony.

[Aargh?! Wh-what have you done to me...?!]

"Purification."

The answer came from Sirka, who had caught up a moment later. Watching the forest spirits scatter away from the hot spring, she murmured,

"This sacred spring water will awaken a mind bewitched by an evil spirit. That's why this hot spring exists deep within the sanctuary."

[Aaargh! How dare you compare me to a mere spirit...!]

Of course, an apostle of Itarim was surely far superior to any mere spirit. But this Spring Water of Echo Forest was the sanctuary of the Monarch of Frost, a being on the same level as that apostle.

It was sacred water that could purify even the Demon Monarch's blood...

WHOOOOSH!

At last, the sinister blue energy could endure no longer and was expelled from Thomas Andre's body.

At that moment...

GULP.

Cha Haein, who had been drinking a mana potion supplied by Suho, regained her strength.

"So that's its true form."

Drawing upon all the mana in her body, she glared at the apostle of Itarim floating in the air.

And now...

Thomas Andre, his senses restored, also raised his head to glare at the apostle of Itarim.

"That crazy bastard dared to come after me?"

GRIND.

He ground his teeth, his face contorted with absolute fury.