The vast reservoir of spiritual energy within the World Tree surged like an endless ocean—an ancient power that had accumulated since time immemorial. It was unlike anything Lee Seong-jun had ever encountered. The moment it entered his meridians, his Qi channels ignited as though molten lava were coursing through them.
His skin flushed crimson. White steam billowed from his head as his entire body trembled under the strain.
"...!!"
Every nerve screamed in agony, but Lee Seong-jun did not yield. Pain was a natural part of ascension. Power demanded a price, and he was prepared to pay it.
He steadied his breathing and allowed the flood of energy to saturate every inch of his body. The pain became rhythm, the chaos became flow.
'To break through the wall… and reach a new world.'
He invoked the Mugeuk Hyulshim Gong.
The scattered spirits converged at his core, gathering as if drawn by an invisible force. The ground beneath him shuddered, and even the roots of the colossal World Tree quaked from the sheer power being condensed within him.
'Now!'
With a thunderous roar that echoed within his mind, Lee Seong-jun pushed his spirit to its limit.
Bang!
His energy erupted upward like a volcanic storm. A red radiance filled the world around him, and within that crimson sea, a brilliant green aura surged to meet it.
The two forces collided.
The clash was cataclysmic—each impact birthing a new explosion of light and force. The pain was excruciating, enough to tear body and soul apart, yet Lee Seong-jun endured.
'It's… filling me.'
The explosions bloomed across the void like fireworks, scattering countless fragments of power that became twinkling stars. Each fragment carried a part of his essence, a part of his will.
A new universe was being born.
'So this is… the world beyond.'
The Mythic Realm—the place where gods create their own worlds and inscribe their legends into existence.
If the Mind Realm was the foundation where one's spirit existed, then the Mythic Realm was where that spirit became creation itself.
'It must be filled.'
The universe inside him was vast, infinite—an empty cosmos that reflected his insatiable ambition.
'I'll take it all in.'
He clenched his fists as a monstrous greed awakened within him. The blood that had once been his curse now became his flame, fueling his defiance against the limits of existence.
The explosions multiplied—once, twice, a thousand times—until counting was meaningless. Every detonation shattered another boundary within him. Blood dripped from his lips, but his eyes blazed brighter than ever.
And then—
Stars began to move.
Beams of light connected one to another, weaving constellations that illuminated the inner cosmos. The power flowed through his upper, middle, and lower dantian, uniting body and soul as one.
A blinding radiance burst from him.
Every fiber of his being trembled—not from pain, but from exhilaration.
At last, he opened his eyes.
"…I did it."
A quiet smile crossed his lips. And in response, the system chimed cheerfully in his mind.
He had ascended.
He had become myth.
While Lee Seong-jun challenged divinity itself, the world outside was collapsing into chaos.
The elves were locked in a desperate struggle for survival. The battlefield of Lusotu burned with magic and blood.
Though their numbers were vast, the difference in strength was overwhelming. It was no battle—it was annihilation.
At the center stood Anna Ferris, her presence the only thing keeping the elven army from being crushed outright.
"Fall back!" she commanded, her voice sharp and cold.
A massive shockwave burst from her palm, tearing through the ranks of lizardmen.
Gorgon, the scaled emperor of the enemy host, laughed thunderously.
"You think that pitiful power can subdue me!?"
He raised his colossal tail high above the clouds and brought it crashing down.
The air itself screamed.
Anna's hands moved in a blur. A shield of mana erupted around her just as the tail struck. The ground quaked beneath her feet, yet she did not yield.
"Pierce through."
Her mana condensed into a spear of azure light and shot forward, striking Gorgon square in the chest. Scales shattered, but only shallowly.
Anna clicked her tongue. "Tch. Not enough."
Though she fought with precision and fury, the tide of battle had already turned. The elves were bleeding out. Their emperor, Wihgrat, stood drenched in blood, barely holding against the Water Emperor Gastova.
Anna's heart pounded. It's collapsing.
Reason told her to retreat. The logical choice was to abandon this doomed world. But reason meant nothing when she imagined him—Lee Seong-jun—mourning what was lost.
She clenched her fists. "No… I won't let him see that."
The decision was made.
"Eurgh…!"
Anna's body erupted with blue fire as she unleashed her full strength. Her bones groaned, her muscles screamed. Two pairs of horns sprouted from her head, her limbs stretched, and her flesh hardened into scales of silver light.
Her roar split the heavens.
"—KRAAAAAAAAAA!"
Dragon Fear.
An aura so ancient and overwhelming that every living creature trembled before it. The enemy ranks faltered; even Gorgon and Gastova hesitated, their eyes wide. The lesser monsters turned and fled in blind terror.
For a fleeting moment, the elves had hope.
But Anna knew—it wouldn't last.
The power she wielded was incomplete, her form unstable. Her opponents were already recovering their composure.
-This is the dragon race… but weaker than the legends.
-Then let us slay this imitation and claim the heavens for ourselves!
Still, she smiled. That moment of hesitation was enough.
"Hold the line!" she roared. "Protect the World Tree with everything you have!"
Wihgrat steadied his breath and glanced toward the glowing roots. He could feel it—the pulse of the World Tree's divine power.
'He's breaking through… Lee Seong-jun is succeeding.'
A myth was being born beneath their feet.
The only thing they could do now was buy time.
"As Emperor of the Elves," Wihgrat declared, his voice echoing through the forest, "I command you—protect the World Tree, even if it costs your lives!"
The elves roared in unison.
"For our land! For nature!"
The forest itself seemed to respond, wind and light rallying around them.
But across the battlefield, the enemy's morale surged once more.
-They're bluffing!
-The dragon is weakened—this is our chance!
Anna glared at the advancing horde, her silver scales gleaming under the burning sky.
"Come then," she whispered. "Let's see who falls first."
And as the roar of battle consumed the world, deep within the World Tree, a new sun rose—
the dawn of a god born from blood and defiance.