**A few hours later, the team arrived at the base.**
The place wasn't large, and it was located beneath the foot of a mountain.
Reinhardt:
"So, what's the plan now?"
Kevin:
"We attack directly."
Martin:
"Let's hear Jin's opinion. Wait… where is he?"
They looked around for a moment, then turned to the others.
Aileen, holding a bag of popcorn:
"Oh, Jin? He's over there."
Reinhardt:
"Popcorn? Yeah, that's not strange anymore. Where is that idiot?"
Kevin:
"At the base gate."
Martin:
"What is that lunatic doing now?"
---
**At the base gate**
Two subordinates were standing guard, doing nothing. Jin suddenly appeared in front of them.
Jin:
"Hello. I want to go in."
Subordinate:
"Who are you?"
Subordinate 2:
"Report quickly—he's strong!"
Before they could move—
**[Silence]**
**[Shadow Bind]**
Jin sat down beside them, took out a cup of coffee, and spoke:
"Guys, the weather is nice today. It's warm.
Do you want to hear the story of when I was locked in a closed room for six months?"
The two subordinates were thinking of only one thing…
*He's insane!*
Jin looked at them for a moment.
"Guys, why aren't you answering me? Fine then.
Are there any victims inside? Yes or no."
The two subordinates tried to say no… but the spell was still active.
Jin looked for a moment, then approached one of them.
"Man, why aren't you talking? Answer me."
The poor subordinate shook his head in denial.
Jin:
"Hmmm… so you don't want to talk?"
Jin slapped him across the face.
Jin:
"Why aren't you answering me?"
The two miserable subordinates were crying, screaming in their minds:
*You sick lunatic! You're the one who did this to us!*
Jin:
"If you don't answer within three seconds, I'll torture you."
The two subordinates cried again.
*What is this person doing?!*
Jin:
"Three… one."
No one answered.
Jin raised his hand and formed a blade of aura on his fingers, then… pointed it downward at one of them.
The subordinate cried in his mind:
*You insane bastard, what are you doing?! Please—!*
Jin continued cutting down there, while the other subordinate watched in terror.
Subordinate 2 (in his mind):
*Ah—what is this?! Are they summoning a demon inside? It's right here in front of us!*
Jin, without interest:
"No answer? Fine… maybe we'll try the other one, he might—"
He was interrupted by a heavy wave of mana.
Jin (in his mind):
"Hm? Did they summon a demon or something?
It feels stronger than the one I faced in Canada… but how did they summon it?
I'm sure there are no sacrifices inside."
A priest stepped out, speaking arrogantly:
"So you're the idiot who came? Your mistake was not interrupting the summoning and—"
A sword was stabbed into his head.
The subordinate looked at Jin.
Jin:
"Hm. I still need practice moving swords with internal energy. That was slow."
The subordinate's terror deepened.
Then the rest of the group came out from inside.
---
**Moments earlier**
Martin:
"What's going on over there?"
Reinhardt:
"He's messing around. He's really messing around."
Kevin:
"He killed a supervisor without moving. What is that?"
Shuang Yu:
"Look, more are coming out!"
Jin's voice echoed in their minds telepathically:
"Fight them. I'll handle the demon."
The battle began.
The fight was difficult. The number of subordinates was large, and they weren't weak.
Martin:
"Damn it, these guys are nothing like the Holland battle."
Ten more minutes passed. Jin was still inside.
The injuries increased. Exhaustion grew.
Aileen:
"Jiiiin! What is he doing, for heaven's sake?!"
Then suddenly—
An explosion erupted from inside. A figure was thrown backward at high speed.
Jin planted his sword into the ground and barely stopped himself.
It was the Orichalcum Sword.
His left arm was injured.
Jin:
"Damn it… it's really strong."
He looked ahead. The demon had emerged.
Jin spoke to it:
"Hey, horned one. What's your rank in hell?"
This demon was different from the Canada incident.
The same disgusting mana, the same appearance and horns—but… its mind was different.
Demon:
"Human, are you talking to your enemy?"
The demon charged, and clashes followed one after another.
**Hybrid Art – Fourth Movement**
Blocked.
**Balance Sword Art – Third Movement**
The battle continued on all sides.
The fight was difficult for the team facing the subordinates and another priest.
Jin:
"Haa… so you're a Baron too."
Clash.
Demon:
"And you, human—are you truly human?"
Clash.
Jin:
"Yes. And I'm fighting you now."
Jin stopped talking and began fighting with everything he had.
**Lesser Heavenly Demon Art – First Movement**
Clash.
The demon thought to itself:
*This style… it makes mana resemble demons.
And that human's energy—it's extremely dark.
I cannot take him lightly.*
Jin, on the other hand, looked intensely focused—and also gloomy.
This was because of that sword art.
Unlike the true Heavenly Demon Art, which relied on destruction and absolute brutality,
the lesser art was different. It was a form of conditioning.
It did not rely on energy alone, but on emotions and sensations:
Hunger.
Thirst.
Pain.
Hatred.
Anger.
Because of that, the energy transformed into something resembling real demons.
Jin realized this while he was in the cave.
To learn the original art, he had to fully master the lesser art—
to experience all emotions and sensations, then transcend them.
The battle continued.
**Lesser Heavenly Demon Art – Second Movement**
Third.
Fourth.
Different styles.
Another.
Another.
And yet—
Jin couldn't control the battle.
His injuries worsened, and the two of them fell into the middle of the other fight.
Reinhardt shouted:
"Jin, I'll help—!"
Kevin quickly pulled Reinhardt's head down.
Jin unleashed a horizontal slash that cut down ten people behind them.
The team was nearing the end of their battle, completely exhausted.
Jin, however, kept going.
Wound.
Another wound.
Clash.
Thick snow scattered, and the ground shattered beneath them.
Jin was approaching defeat once again.
A powerful strike from the demon tore three gashes across Jin's abdomen.
Then—
Jin raised his hand.
Energy gathered, compressed again and again in his palm.
Darkness condensed.
The demon stared in shock.
*This… that power… it's greater than even Demon Kings. I must avoid it!*
Then—
Jin released his attack.
**Void Sphere – Rift**
Silence fell over the battlefield.
The subordinates had already fallen.
The priest had just collapsed.
The team was completely exhausted.
The ground behind the attack bore a terrifying scar—
70 meters of destruction, as if a dragon's breath had passed through.
At its end, the rift exploded into a circle with a diameter of 60 meters…
Completely destroyed.
As for the demon—
Demon:
"Huh? Where… where is my left arm? Why can't I regenerate?"
It looked at itself.
Its arm.
Its chest.
Its abdomen.
Even its legs.
Its entire left side… had vanished.
Even its heart had been destroyed by the attack.
The demon fell, saying in shock:
"How… how do you possess such power?"
The demon's body evaporated as its destroyed heart collapsed.
Jin stood, weighed down by injuries.
Blood flowed from his mouth and nose.
Wounds covered his entire body.
His eyes closed against his will, and he said:
"I… I don't even know myself."
And he collapsed unconscious.
---
**End of Chapter