A crystalline chime echoed through the air.
[Congratulations! You have successfully created a vast universe within your inner world and entered the realm of the Mythic Stage.]
[You have passed the final ordeal of the World Tree.]
[Blessing of the World Tree bestowed.]
[All stats — Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Blood — increase by 50.]
[Most spirits will now revere and follow 'Lee Seong-jun'.]
Soft emerald light flowed around Seong-jun, the World Tree's spiritual blessing swirling in graceful arcs as though the tree itself were congratulating him.
But he wasn't watching. His consciousness was focused inward, reading the next flood of messages with narrowed eyes.
[Force System has detected a new transformation in user 'Lee Seong-jun'.]
[All stats increase by 100.]
[Hidden status 'Willpower (意念)' has been unlocked.]
[The power and potential of Willpower are limitless. Within the bounds of your Mind, Qi, and Body, you may wield any power — but remember: great strength demands a price.]
Seong-jun's lips curved faintly.
He had expected something extraordinary, but to think even Willpower could be systematized…
That word — 意念 — the force that allowed one to bend the world through sheer intent.
It was the power of miracles.
The soldier who had endured countless battlefields, the child who had survived a ten-story fall unscathed — they all had, for an instant, drawn upon this hidden potential.
Most people never grasped it, hence the name: the power of miracles.
But those who reached the Mythic Realm could harness it freely, shaping their will into attacks that transcended physical form.
A technique imbued with Willpower could not be blocked by ordinary martial arts.
It wasn't simply about overwhelming force — it was about rewriting the very rules of the world.
A spear that pierced anything.
A shield that defied all assaults.
Such were the miracles that mythic masters could manifest.
"Not bad," Seong-jun murmured, an amused gleam in his crimson eyes.
If the Enlightened were saints who brushed divinity, then the Mythic were demigods.
And now, he had joined their ranks.
Normally, those who first entered the Mythic Realm struggled to control their newfound power.
But Seong-jun was no novice — he had already tread this path once before, when he was the Demon God.
With his experience, knowledge, and the instincts of one who had surpassed mortality itself, he could wield Willpower more efficiently than anyone alive.
'Let's take it a step further.'
He would merge this divine will into his own martial art — the Sura Reverse Heavenly Technique, a power that already defied the natural order.
To infuse it with miracle-born energy… even Seong-jun couldn't predict what would happen.
'But one thing's certain,' he thought, eyes flashing.
'Even the gods will tremble before it.'
He had no reason to fear the lofty beings who ruled above.
Even if the arrogant deities of heaven descended upon him, he would meet them head-on.
"Then… it's time to return."
His trials were over, but his task in the Elf and Lusotu dimensions was not.
Drawing a slow breath, he stood — and the sealed trees before him parted, light spilling through the cracks.
A sharp metallic scent hit him instantly.
"…Blood?"
The wind carried the heavy stench of the battlefield.
Seong-jun's face hardened.
Without hesitation, he took to the air, energy surging beneath his feet as he sped toward the raging conflict.
Across the battlefield, despair reigned.
"This is the end."
The Water Emperor, Gastovara, sneered coldly.
Though the elves still held their line around the dragon, their resistance was crumbling.
Anna's breath came in ragged gasps, her dragon form dimming as fatigue overtook her.
Even the Elf Emperor, Wihgrat, was little more than a blood-soaked shadow of himself.
"It's useless, Elf Emperor. Stop struggling and accept reality."
Gastovara's words were not arrogance, but fact.
Wihgrat's body was shredded, his legs trembling violently — it was a miracle he remained standing at all.
Yet even now, his eyes burned with defiance.
"Not… yet. It's not over!"
Gastovara's expression twisted in mock pity.
"The strong rule the cosmos. The weak perish. Your kind will vanish, and Lusotu will become the foundation for our reclamation of Pangea."
Water surged beneath his feet, spiraling upward into a massive tornado.
There was nowhere left to run, and Wihgrat lacked the strength to resist.
Still, he smiled faintly.
'…He's done it.'
From deep within the World Tree, an immense force pulsed outward — the proof that Lee Seong-jun had transcended the final wall.
A new myth had been born.
'Lord Seong-jun… truly extraordinary.'
Even from afar, Wihgrat could feel that overwhelming divinity.
He had no doubt — this man would one day defy the very logic of the universe.
The Elf Emperor closed his eyes.
'The Elves… and Lusotu… will survive.'
He no longer regretted anything.
The tornado filled his vision.
He waited for pain that never came.
'Strange… no pain?'
When he opened his eyes again, the battlefield was silent.
Then—
Shaaang!
A crimson streak tore through the sky, faster than sound.
The raging vortexes vanished as if erased.
Gastovara froze, disbelief twisting his features.
"Who… who are you?"
A suffocating pressure crashed down like a tidal wave.
Every creature on the battlefield felt it — the sheer presence of a being beyond mortal comprehension.
Even Wihgrat, a seasoned emperor, could barely breathe.
And then he saw him.
Red hair. Crimson eyes.
A figure exuding the majesty and terror of a god — or a demon.
"M–Ma… Demon King…" Gastovara stammered.
The realization struck all at once.
The soldiers — elves, lizardmen, monsters — stared in awe and terror.
"L–Lord Seong-jun!" Wihgrat cried.
Seong-jun turned, a faint smile curving his lips.
"Sorry. I'm a little late."
The Elf Emperor's chest tightened — relief, gratitude, and something close to reverence.
"Please… take care of our people."
Seong-jun didn't answer with words. He simply looked forward.
"Are you the Demon King Laszlo warned us about?"
Gastovara's voice trembled within his mind.
He didn't get to finish.
BOOM!
Seong-jun vanished from sight — and a moment later, Gastovara's body was hurled through the air, a shockwave ripping through the battlefield.
Before the echoes faded, Seong-jun's figure blurred once more, pursuing his foe faster than sound.
Gastovara's last words were lost in the wind.