"Get away! That thing… it's more of a monster than I imagined," Seriniel said urgently.
She knew Soohyeok was highly skilled.
He had exceeded her expectations and earned her admiration.
Still, she hadn't expected him to face off against a creature of that caliber.
In Seriniel's judgment, Lee Woojin was one of the strongest among Earth's awakened individuals.
Maybe the Soohyeok of the future could handle him—but the current Soohyeok? It was a stretch.
And even Soohyeok partly agreed with her assessment.
'If I were to rank him among awakened, he'd be at least level 10.'
He looked like a third-rate extra and was a known criminal, but his abilities were almost unbelievable.
In terms of martial ability, he was at a peak level—comparable to Soohyeok himself.
But his physical toughness seemed to surpass even that.
'Is he at the Diamond Body level?'
His body reminded one of solid rock, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume he had reached Diamond Body—a level extremely difficult for martial artists. But Soohyeok knew well how unique and exceptional awakened powers could be.
"How dare you try to run!"
Bursting up from underground like a mole, a long blue arm shot out between them, and a booming voice echoed.
Boom!
The arm slammed into the ATV that Seriniel was riding.
"Ugh… my 800 million won ATV?"
Luckily, it was a dwarven make—tough and sturdy—so it wasn't crushed like tofu.
However, the steering column was grotesquely twisted, and the driver's seat had collapsed.
If an insurance adjuster saw it, they'd likely declare it a total loss.
"Seriniel, stay back."
Avoidance had never been Soohyeok's preferred method.
And now, he had even less reason to run.
"I'll make you regret being human."
Soohyeok's cold smile deepened, his eyes sharp as blades.
***
Boom!
Lee Woojin shot up from the ground, almost like it exploded beneath him.
Then, he sprang again.
A morph-type.
Among awakened abilities, morph-types stood near the top alongside elementalists.
And though Woojin used his physical abilities, he seemed to prefer cunning, almost petty fighting methods.
"Keuhaha!"
He'd vanish underground, only to launch sudden attacks from below. The intervals were so short, it was as if his natural affinity were that of a mole.
'Could he be a dual-ability user like Park Moogi?'
It wasn't suspicion—Soohyeok was nearly certain.
He evaded another lashing blue arm. Then, just before Woojin could leap again, Soohyeok darted forward. His palm struck Woojin's chest.
If the outer shell is hard, destroy the inside.
Using a high-level martial technique called Internal Destruction Palm, he attempted to finish it in one blow.
Soohyeok's inner energy surged through his palm and penetrated Woojin's body.
At that moment, the two exchanged emotions—hope and dread.
"…?!"
Soohyeok's eyes widened in surprise.
A twisted smile curled on Woojin's lips.
"You thought no one would be prepared for attacks like yours?"
Boom!
Woojin's raised arm came crashing down, creating a thunderous impact.
Dust clouds exploded upward, and Soohyeok's figure vanished from sight.
"Sir Warrior?!"
From a distance, Seriniel screamed in panic, watching for an opening.
"Kuhuh… kuhahaha…!"
Woojin burst out laughing, his body trembling.
His fingers still felt something—though faint.
If Soohyeok hadn't dodged in time, the blow must have buried him underground from sheer force.
Woojin's power was a particularly resilient form of stone morphing. From the moment he awakened, his body had been tougher than steel. Still, it wasn't perfect.
There are things harder than steel. Many weapons can cut it. And a soft interior—no matter how solid the outside—can always be a fatal weakness. Perhaps driven by that desire, Woojin awakened an incredibly rare second ability.
Stone Consumption.
As the name suggests, he could eat and digest stone.
At first, he didn't understand this power.
But the more stone he consumed, the tougher his body became. It didn't take long to realize that his insides could become as solid as the outside—surpassing even dwarven-forged steel.
He quickly became a high-tier awakened individual.
And using that power, he rose to become a Korean executive in the criminal guild Magnus.
Ordinary awakened earnings couldn't satisfy his insatiable greed.
Most notable was his abnormal sexual desire.
A lust for other species.
From beautiful elves to beastfolk—even dwarves—Woojin could never restrain himself.
Magnus, a massive criminal organization, specialized in the illegal kidnapping, confinement, and trafficking of other races.
It was the perfect place for someone like him.
Now, his twisted lust had turned toward Seriniel.
"Now it's your turn. Originally, I planned to take you away and savor you later…"
A grotesque blue tongue slithered across his lips.
Seriniel's body trembled in disgust, but her eyes burned with resolve.
'I must defeat this monster—and then save Warrior Soohyeok.'
She began casting a spell—one of her most powerful.
If given time, she was confident she could prepare a grand spell strong enough to defeat Lee Woojin.
'All I can do is ask the spirits for help.'
Seriniel had braced herself to make sacrifices—even of the spirits. She began bringing her hands together in focus when—
"Whoa, damn. That actually surprised me. Heavier than I thought."
"…!!"
"Warrior Yang Soohyeok?!"
Soohyeok's voice rang out from somewhere.
Naturally, both their eyes shifted to the right.
There stood Soohyeok, raising his left elbow and rubbing it.
"He really is strong. It's been a while since I got launched from someone overpowering my force like that."
"Y-You… how…?!"
"No need to be so shocked. Ever hear the saying? Softness overcomes hardness."
"Tai Chi" – The soft can overcome the strong.
That kind of principle also exists in martial arts.
Redirecting an overwhelming force with a soft, flowing counter to disperse its power.
Had he executed it perfectly, it would've been Woojin who got sent flying.
Still, even Soohyeok had been caught off guard earlier.
He hadn't expected even his Internal Destruction Palm to fail.
"You could probably go toe-to-toe with Park Moogi. What's your actual rank? Twelfth-tier?"
Woojin said nothing.
He was, in fact, unregistered with the official Awakeners' Association.
But even apart from that, he couldn't speak.
Soohyeok's cold gaze now bound him tightly.
A massive presence had begun to weigh down on Woojin's shoulders.
"…I'll admit it now. I let my guard down. Who'd have guessed a guy who looks like a squid could be this strong? You're not even one of the well-known ones… Ha. I can't believe I made such a mistake. Hidden masters really do exist in every era, huh. Tch."
Soohyeok clicked his tongue and stepped forward.
Woojin tensed and raised both arms in preparation.
"Don't."
With that voice, Soohyeok's foot stomped the ground heavily.
Boom—!
The impact was so strong it sent tremors through the ground.
His foot pointed directly at Woojin.
Shockingly, Woojin froze in place—completely.
As though he'd been locked in place by a pressure point, or a sealing art.
"If we'd met two weeks ago, you'd have given me a real hard time."
Objectively, Woojin was a powerful foe, no less threatening than Park Moogi.
Without an ultra-advanced martial technique like Hundred Steps Divine Fist, subduing him would've been extremely difficult.
If it weren't for the evolved version of the Heaven-Earth Unity Technique and the full purification of his body, Soohyeok would've still been struggling to re-enter that ultra-high realm.
In truth, he still lacked the total amount of inner energy.
But the speed at which he regenerated inner energy had reached a peak far beyond most.
That's why Soohyeok could pour out energy without reserve.
He fully realized this when he tore through the thick roof of the SUW headquarters.
So, he didn't hesitate.
He unleashed a top-tier martial art—one he'd already become skilled enough in to use without trouble.
A hidden ultimate technique within the Eight-Trigram Divine Steps:
Martial Immortal Descent.
With the eight directions united into a single flow, Soohyeok stood at the center of a Tai Chi pattern—his toe carrying the aura of an absolute being. It was not merely momentum. It was the power of existence itself.
Its power far exceeded the current peak state of Soohyeok's martial arts.
It was a recreation of the very presence Soohyeok had once embodied back on the Hwan Continent.
This wasn't the kind of "aura" that Park Moogi had felt—it was something real.
This power existed.
And as immense as that power was, Martial Immortal Descent did have weaknesses.
The biggest drawback? Enormous energy consumption.
But that no longer mattered.
Soohyeok's internal energy had reached nearly a 60-year cultivation level. With the aid of his system and the efficiency of his perfected martial arts, his energy recovery speed was now in a different league entirely—bordering on the miraculous.
Even the vast energy drain from Martial Immortal Descent didn't push him to his limits anymore. It shocked even Soohyeok.
With this power… he was confident he could crush Park Moogi next time.
"Grr… grrrhh…"
As Soohyeok slowly advanced, Woojin shook and moaned, trembling in raw terror. He had no will to resist the overwhelming presence of a true absolute being. Fear was all he had left.
Drip.
By the time Soohyeok was close enough for their eyes to meet, urine trickled down between Woojin's legs.
His spirit had already been shattered—he was utterly incapable of fighting back.
Shattering this immobile stone was now child's play for Soohyeok.
"You know something? Every space in this world is made up of lines. But those lines aren't infinite. They bend, they break, they reconnect. And do you know what we call the gaps between those lines?"
Soohyeok stood calmly before Woojin and said—
"They're called junctions."
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]