We had both finished our preparations, and the time for the final showdown had come.

Of course, Hektel was the first to make a move.

“Grand Hex: Death Transcendence.”

As soon as the spell was complete, an overwhelming aura of death surged towards me.

Ggong-sam-yi unleashed Cleansing Fire with all her might, and Black Yin used the power of a divine beast derived from the Haitai to create a barrier, but they seemed insignificant in the face of the despairing power before us.

Slash.

BAM!

Just as I realized that I had reached my limit and was about to pull Ggong-sam-yi and Black Yin into my shadow, the massive death curse struck me directly, leaving me no time to react.

“Kughhh!”

I couldn’t think straight. The strategy I had prepared, the next move I had planned in my head—everything was wiped away in an instant, without a trace.

It felt like my sanity was being torn to shreds.

In the midst of that excruciating pain, I unconsciously performed the task I had prepared, unaware of what I was even doing.

“Mirror of. . .Resentment. . .”

That was the last thing I remembered.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

𝔞𝔴ᴇʙ𝔰𝙩𝐨𝔯𝔦𝔢𝙨.𝚌𝔬𝚖

“Cough. Kukuku. To think that you could cast a reflection curse at the very end. . . . . . . .”

In the center of the training ground, which had been reduced to a scorched wasteland, Hektel muttered to himself as he wiped away the blood that had seeped out of his pitch-black skin.

“. . .You really are a tenacious bastard. It’s been a while since I’ve had such an enjoyable fight.”

In the end, Han Kang-yoon died.

Even in the moment of his death, he managed to activate the curse of returning resentment, but it wasn’t fully completed, so Hektel was able to avoid a fatal blow.

Of course, he had sustained serious injuries and would probably need to rest and recuperate for a while.

「𝙃𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙜𝙪𝙮.」

I first met him when I was hired to take care of the successor of Dae-jin Industries. And even then, there was something unusual about him.

「𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚, 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙.」

Hektel was clearly the stronger one. And it wasn’t just a small difference, it was a huge gap.

Despite this, Hektel had always felt a strange sense of crisis from Han Kang-yoon.

「𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩? 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮? 𝙉𝙤, 𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨.」

An unfounded conviction that if he didn’t kill him now, Han Kang-yoon would soon become a threat to him.

That’s why he had even used the Grand Hex, which he was reluctant to use against ordinary enemies.

「. . .𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.」

Whatever the case, Han Kang-yoon was dead. His breathing had completely stopped, and all signs of life had already left his body.

It was an undeniable, definitive death.

Hektel reached for the karma value stone at his waist and absorbed a few of the souls stored within.

“Haaaah.”

There was no doubt that he had overcome another hurdle with today’s battle.

Someday, he would be able to further darken the color of this karma value stone.

Hektel turned around without hesitation, about to leave the scene, when suddenly, an unidentified vibration echoed through the air.

Thump.

Thump.

It sounded like a heartbeat, or perhaps something else pulsating. It felt like someone was forcefully breathing life into a being that had just died.

Thump.

The source of the sound was Han Kang-yoon’s corpse, lying on the ground.

「. . .𝙉𝙤, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮.」

To be precise, it was the shadow stretching out from the corpse that was the epicenter.

Hektel, who had stopped in his tracks due to the incomprehensible situation, watched as Han Kang-yoon, who should have been dead, slowly rose to his feet.

Creak.

“Where are you going?”

“This can’t be happening. . . . . . . .”

“If it was going to end in just one phase, I wouldn’t have started it in the first place.”

Hektel’s anxiety, which had been vague all this time, was about to become a reality right here, right now.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

𝚊𝕨𝔢𝕓𝚜𝕥ȯ̇𝐫𝙞ᴇs.𝘤𝚘𝐦

「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧.」

It was clear that Hektel had taken a significant hit.

On top of that, he had just cast a Grand Hex, which was very draining.

It was obvious that he would no longer be able to exert the same dominance as before.

And in contrast, I had received a boost to all of my ability scores due to the effects of the second phase of Shadow Assimilation.

「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」

Ding!

【Han Kang-yoon】

▶Level 35(41)

▶Ability Scores

【Stamina: C+(B-)】

【Spiritual power: B-(A-)】

【Spellcraft: B-(A)】

【Mental Strength: B+(A+)】

▶Traits(5/10)

【Shadow Assimilation(S)】

【Spirit Absorption(A)】

【Challenger(B+)】

【Mental Spellbook(B)】

【Revived Person(B-)】

I was certain.

That Hektel, no matter what he did, could never defeat me now.

“This is. . .impossible! Humans can’t escape death. Such a spell doesn’t exist in this world.”

Hektel seemed unusually flustered, and that wasn’t surprising.

Honestly, even I thought the second phase of the Shadow Assimilation trait was a bit overpowered.

「𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙤𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙙, 𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙚.」

Originally, with the amount of Shadow Assimilation trait power I had left after Yeongwol Island, I couldn’t have guaranteed that I would be able to activate the second phase.

However, the doppelganger created by the voodoo seed had helped me.

I had managed to recover more of the trait’s power than before, so of course the second phase would activate.

“I told you.”

“. . . . . . . .”

“You’ll definitely regret this.”

“Grrrugh!”

Hektel must have realized during the battle that he wasn’t a good match for me.

That’s why he knew that now that the situation had changed, he would never be able to defeat me.

“Stealth Art: Camouflage Painting!”

Judging from the fact that he was using a stealth spell and an illusion spell at the same time, it seemed like he intended to escape from this place for now.

However, I had anticipated this and wasn’t about to let Hektel run away so easily.

“Spectral Ghost Wolf.”

Screech!

BOOM!

“Kughhh!”

A signature spell of the Bi-hyeong, boasting high speed and sharp power.

Hektel, who had been hit by it, gasped in disbelief.

“How did you. . .learn that spell. . . . . . . .”

“If I said I learned it from Bi-hyeong, would you believe me?”

“Kuk, huh. What a ridiculous joke.”

But it wasn’t a lie. To be exact, it was a spell that Bi-hyeong, who would later appear in a side story of the Exorcism series, had personally taught the player.

Hektel hurriedly tried to get up from his fAlan state, but he didn’t seem to be in good condition.

In that case, I would just finish him off here. I gathered the spiritual power flowing through my body and quietly began to chant an incantation.

“Death Realm Illusion Curse.”

“You bastard. . . . . . . !”

A high-level curse spell that erodes the opponent’s body and soul with a powerful curse. It was the same spell that Hektel had used against me during the previous battle at Dae-jin Industries.

“Death Realm Illu. . . . . . .Kughhh!”

Hektel also hurriedly began to cast the same spell, but I was faster.

“Deathly Fragrance Poison.”

Screech!

Swoosh!

In the end, Hektel was hit directly by the powerful curse and was sent flying, landing on the cold ground.

“Kughhh, aagh.”

Crackle.

Sizzle.

Ugly curse marks squirmed and crawled all over his body.

And streams of crimson blood began to flow from his five orifices.

All of these things signaled that Hektel’s end was near.

“I-Impossible. How could I. . .end up like this. . . . . . . .”

The light of life faded from Hektel’s eyes, and the karma value stones hanging from his waist fell to the ground in front of me, one by one, as if in shock.

Click.

Tick.

Thud.

I let out a bitter laugh and picked up one of them, showing it to Hektel.

The bead, which had been dyed a dark purple due to the influence of his karma value, was gradually fading and turning completely black.

“H-how. . .is this possible. . . . . . . .”

A complex mix of emotions flickered across Hektel’s eyes for a moment.

The joy of finally finding the realm he had been aiming for.

But also the despair of knowing that he could no longer reach it.

And finally, the fear of an unknown existence that he had never known before.

I slowly raised my hand, absorbing all of these emotions with my eyes, and cast a spell to bid Hektel farewell.

“Actually, I’m the one who manipulated Cheong So-ha to kill Bi-hyeong.”

Spirit Devourer.

With that, the soul of Hektel, the warlock who was a member of the Yahwak and known as the Devil of Illinois, completely vanished from his body.