Chapter 72: Becoming a Celebrity (1)
“Oh! The one who is called the strongest of the exorcists?”
The police responded to Kang-jun’s name and the people murmured.
“Omo! The man solved dozens of spirit possession cases in one day!”
“Really? Is he that person in the article?”
Recently, the thing that people feared the most in the world was evil spirits.
Humans possessed by evil spirits couldn’t resist them! However, the exorcists were able to destroy the evil spirits.
Therefore, people were enthusiastic about exorcists. They were like heroes saving humanity from a crisis.
People were at risk due to the actions of those possessed by evil spirits. Many of those people posted on SNS about the activities of the exorcists who saved them. Kang-jun, who had resolved many incidents, was overwhelmingly popular compared to other exorcists.
Additionally, someone called him the silver-haired exorcist. Many people considered Kang-jun to be the strongest exorcist.
‘Who gave me the nickname of silver-haired exorcist?’
Kang-jun laughed bitterly.
Then one of the policemen asked.
"Then can you explain a bit of the situation now?"
“It is a situation where the exorcists are being pushed. Any more delay can lead to an irreversible situation. The slightest slip can cause a tremendous number of victims.”
The policeman paled but looked determined.
“Then can you win?”
"Of course."
Once Kang-jun replied confidently, the path in front of him opened.
"Then exorcist-nim, please do this.”
The people shouted.
“Exorcist-nim! Work hard!”
"Please chase away the evil!”
“I’ll be expecting your victory!”
It was awkward but he received strength from the cheering.
Kang-jun formed tight fists and walked toward the sovereigns.
‘I didn’t know I would be fighting the ghoul lord.’
20 minutes before Kang-jun arrived.
In the vast space that was the battlefield, the corpses of many monsters were scattered.
The monsters weren’t monsters but the troops summoned by the sovereigns who challenged the ghoul lord.
Surprisingly, they were all dead.
On one side, Jang Seo-yeon was groaning.
"Oh, how did the ghoul lord...?”
She had confidently entered to kill the evil spirits.
Despite confirming that the sovereigns who had arrived first were defeated, she was confident of her victory.
Yet, her opponent turned out to be the ghoul lord.
‘I should have listened to him.’
Jang Seo-yeon sighed. If she had entered with Kang-jun, the situation wouldn’t be like this. She regretted it vaguely.
All of her troops had died and only the sovereign was left. It was impossible to fight the ghoul lord as she had suffered extreme injuries and lost her combat power.
Her black magic energy was depleted and her health was at the very bottom.
It would be difficult to recover any more using potions.
The other sovereigns had been killed. They were already dead when she entered.
Now, she would soon die.
“Kukakaka! Lowlife trash!”
The ghoul lord approached.
Jang Seo-yeon lost her spirit.
Would she die here?
Her mind was filled with despair. If she died, then everything she did in reality and in Hwanmong would be wasted.
‘If I could just wait until he comes...?’
Jang Seo-yeon suddenly thought of Kang-jun. If was a vague idea but Kang-jun might be able to win against the ghoul lord.
However, even if that was possible, she would die before he arrived.
It was because time flowed differently between reality and the battlefield. A long battle here was just a snap of a finger in reality, so it was impossible to survive until Kang-jun came.
It was at that moment.
Hwakak!
All of a sudden, her necklace started shining.
[Time Necklace]
-Rating: Only one
-A sign that you are a sovereign in Hwanmong.
-Agility +5 when worn.
-The wearer can receive the Protection of Time.
-Sovereign Title: Avia
It was her sovereign token.
She had only seen it shining once.
Before the red moon appeared, she had been fighting to occupy a nearby building when time started flowing very slowly.
Protection of Time was used.As a result, she was able to win.
It was a great ability but the problem was that it couldn’t be used as she willed.
She thought it was just activated accidentally. It wasn’t triggered even when she was killed by the vampire lord.
So, she hadn’t expected the blessing to be activated. Yet, now, her necklace was shining.
‘Perhaps?’
The light from the necklace faded away.
It felt like the stopped time was flowing again but nothing had changed.
Kung! Kung! Kung!
The ghoul lord was still coming toward her.
At that time, she saw a message.
[Fight with an ally, Sovereign Lucan from the Hwanmong Defense Troops 439th Army.]
It was like a miracle to her.
Suuk.
Kang-jun frowned as soon as he entered the battlefield.
There were only dead bodies everywhere.
There was only one living existence. It was the ghoul lord.
No, there was one more.
“Ah.”
When he turned his head after hearing a slight moan, he saw a woman gasping.
Her armour was covered in blood. There was a woman sitting on the ground while holding a broken spear.
She was Jang Seo-yeon, Sovereign Avia.
"You were alive?”
Kang-jun was amazed. He had naturally thought she was dead.
Jang Seo-yeon just stared at him blankly. It was because she had no strength to speak.
“You should have listened.”
Kang-jun poured an intermediate health potion on her body, then he placed another potion in her hand and said,
"Drink this and hold on for as long as you can. In the meantime, I will deal with it.”
“......”
Jang Seo-yeon nodded without saying anything. She seemed more lively after having the potion poured on her. Once her injuries were treated, her health started to rise.
She regained enough strength to drink the potion in her hand.
Snap!
Her body was half-dead but her eyes were alive.
‘I thought I would die.’
If she hadn’t had the Protection of Time, she wouldn’t be in this world anymore.
The defeated sovereigns would go to hell.
She would go through unimaginable suffering there.
In the meantime, Kang-jun was confronting the ghoul lord.
The ghoul lord identified Kang-jun and cried out.
“Kududuk! You came here just to die!"
The ghoul lord considered it a disgrace that he had died from the attack of an insignificant human sovereign.
"It is you who came here to die again. You should have just quietly stayed dead.”
Kang-jun grabbed the Vampire Lord’s sword and watched the ghoul lord.
If the ghoul lord contained its previous ghoul lord, then it would be impossible for him to win by himself. However, the resurrected ghoul lord was weaker.
“Kakakakat! Lowly being! Now, I will let you know your limits.”
The eyes of the ghoul lord turned blue-black. It rushed toward Kang-jun and started using its fists.
Swing swing swing! Kwang kwang kwang!
Its fists started flying!
The movement speed of the ghoul lord was faster than its fists.
However, Kang-jun avoided all of the ghoul lord’s attacks lightly.
Hadn’t his level increased during this time? Or was it because the resurrected ghoul lord was weak?
Kang-jun read all of the ghoul lord’s actions and moved before the attack arrived.
Then he aimed a skill at the approaching ghoul lord.
‘Heavenly Cut!’
Flash!
The strength was incomparable to before, thanks to the power of the Vampire Lord’s Sword.
Paaack!
"Kuooooh!”
A deep line formed on the ghoul lord’s head and black blood started spurting out.
Flash! Sukeok!
Kang-jun followed it with another Heavenly Cut to the ghoul lord’s ankle.
“Kuoooh!”
The ghoul lord fell to its knees and at that moment, Kang-jun leapt forward with his sword.
Flash!
The body of the ghoul lord trembled and its head fell to the ground.
‘The end? It was less scary than I thought.’
The resurrected ghoul lord wasn’t weak. His attacks were much more powerful than the vampire lord’s clone.
However, Kang-jun was much stronger than he had been in that fight and he now had a legend ranked weapon. From the beginning, the resurrected ghoul lord wasn’t Kang-jun’s match.
‘Not even at a lord level.’
When he destroyed the vampire lord’s clone, his level went up but now, he didn’t get any experience.
‘Wait! My experience hasn’t gone up.’
Kang-jun intuitively sensed that something was wrong.
If the ghoul lord was dead, he should have received at least the normal amount of experience. However, the experience gauge was still the same.
“Kukukukuku!”
Evil laughter emerged from the mouth of the ghoul lord and Kang-jun knew the battle hadn’t ended.
“Kuoooohhhh!”
A black aura wrapped around its body parts and its head soon started to merge again with the body.
The ghoul lord jumped up and glared at Kang-jun.
Those eyes. Why did he feel like two suns were blazing in a huge space?
Kang-jun’s heart thumped suddenly.
‘What is that guy? It absolutely isn’t the ghoul lord.’
It definitely didn’t seem like the ghoul lord.
“Are you called Sovereign Lucan?”
The voice gave off a sense of evil but also something Kang-jun had never felt before.
Kang-jun felt a feeling of hopelessness the moment he heard the voice. However, he clenched his fists and asked.
“Who are you?”
The opponent laughed at him.
"I am the lord of the one you just killed.”
Kang-jun’s expression became stiff.
'The lord of the ghoul lord?’
Did he truly hear those words?
He was the person who made the red moon rise in Hwanmong.
‘The Second Demon King Colladikus? That is impossible!’
The strong presence called the Second Demon King.
He had appeared right now?
‘It is ridiculous.’
However, he asked to confirm it.
“Are you the Second Demon King Colladikus?”
"It is amazing that you know my name.”
The eyes of the ghoul lord shone and Kang-jun felt his mood sink.
He really was the Second Demon King! How could he win?
Then he heard the voice of the Second Demon King again.
"If you know my name, then you know what I am.”
“What are you trying to say?”
"Kneel in front of me. Swear your allegiance to me and I will spare you."
“......”
“You are being deceived. Once I take over Hwanmong, you won’t need to do any more missions. I will give you eternal life. How about it?"
Kang-jun trembled. He truly feared the Second Demon King and now Kang-jun was being urged to swear allegiance to him.
However, Kang-jun clenched his teeth and endured it.
"Shut up! I would rather die than do something like that.”