Chapter 680

[A huge amount of faith is being gathered through unknown channels!]

[A huge amount of faith is being gathered through unknown channels!]

...

[The faith level is rising at a rapid pace!]

[Warning! An excessive increase in faith levels can put a lot of strain on your soul. Manual control is required to smoothly regulate the faith level!]

[Warning! The soul is currently overloaded with a huge amount of faith. There's a risk that your soul might break down!]

...

[The 'Caution' level has been raised to the ''Guidance' level!]

[The 'Guidance' level has been raised to the 'Warning' level!]

…

[The 'Warning' level has been raised to 'Grave Warning'!]

[You've exceeded the level of faith that your soul can comprehend!]

[Removal of faith is currently underway. 3, 4... 6%...]

[Your holiness is becoming clear.]

[Your legends are becoming stronger.]

[The limit of the soul, which was in a 'Matured' state, has been lifted and the status has evolved. Current status: Enlightened.]

[The capacity of the faith level has increased significantly!]

[The exceeded faith is being re-absorbed. 88, 89%... 99.8%... 102.1%]

[You've exceeded the level of faith that your soul can comprehend!]

[Exuviation is progressing quickly. 12,13... 16%...]

[Your holiness...]

[Your legends...]

...

[Your soul, which was in the 'Enlightened' state, has evolved. Current status: Majestic.]

...

[You've exceeded the level of faith that your soul can comprehend!]

[Exuviation is progressing quickly. 19,20... 22%..]

Unlike the message which stated that the removal was progressing quickly, the exuviation was progressing so slowly that it resembled the speed of a turtle. Meanwhile, Yeon-woo's soul had achieved the highest status possible as a mortal, and he possessed two domains to strengthen.  

This was because the number of achievements required to turn into a legend was also exorbitant. If Yeon-woo were to transform all his achievements into legends, it would obviously take that much more time to fully achieve it. Furthermore, there was also some faith he extorted from Allforone. Even though it was only a 'part', it boasted an enormous amount far exceeding the limits that the soul could absorb. 

Despite the divine soul’s rapid change as the removal progressed, and not to mention that the vessel continued to expand, it was more than enough to fill the vessel up quickly. Yeon-woo was only able to withstand it because he was united with Kronos, who recovered his strength as king of gods. It was like Yeon-woo's soul was already in overload. Right at that moment, a new change was enacted. 

[The pressure of the faith level is increasing!]

[Warning! Your soul is in a critical state.]

[Warning! Your soul is wavering.]

...

[Your soul is resisting firmly due to the status of king of gods. The strain on the soul is overflowing into your body. The strain on your body has suddenly increased and your body is showing signs of breaking down.]

[The Draconic Factors are resisting!]

[The Demonic Factors are resisting!]

[The Divine Factors are resisting!]

[The Giant Factors are resisting!]

...

[The four Factors are closely interconnected to each other and withstanding the pressure as well as the aggravation.]

[You have exceeded the limit.]

[The connected network between the four factors is strengthening.]

[The network is becoming stronger.]

[The network is broadening.]

Yeon-woo's body, which possessed the absurd characteristic, the Giant Divine Demonic Dragon Body, was greeted with a new change. 

[The four factors have exceeded the critical point!]

[The 7th step awakening is beginning!]

From the removal followed by the awakening… Crackle, crackle! Thanks to that, Yeon-woo's body was changing with every given minute even when he was in the midst of charging towards Allforone. The terrible pain that resulted from that process was extreme, but he did not grimace in the slightest bit. It was as if he was only going to focus on killing Allforone for now.

Roar, roar, groar! Kwaak, crack, crackle! Every time Scythe was swung, a black and red sword thunder flashed and slashed, penetrated, squashed, and erased the golden brilliance created by Allforone over and over again. 

None of the people who had faced off against Allforone so far was able to drive him to a corner like this. It was because no one living in the tower could escape the system's restraint. No matter what strength and power they possessed, they could never escape Allforone's grasp. Even though the Martial King possessed the ability to surpass him a long time ago, in the end, he was not able to overcome the domain known as All For One. However, Yeon-woo was different.

[The subject is not influenced by the system.]

[The command is not activating.]

『This is impossible!』Allforone’s shuddered in shock for the first time ever, since a ridiculous position had been established. 

By maintaining the state of an abuser, Yeon-woo was able to free half of himself from the restraints of the system, and the other half extorted faith in a subservient condition. 

[A mysterious force is continuously trying to hack into the Central Information Processing Device!]

"What do you mean impossible?" Yeon-woo smiled coldly as he pushed Allforone's logarithm to the side. "It's possible."

[A part of it has already been taken over.]

[Warning! Please defend yourself!]

[Warning! Please defend yourself!]

Whoooooong! As the storm of holy power swirling along Yeon-woo intensified, the black shadow quivered ominously and red flames soared several times above it, erasing the golden-colored matter. Then… Shiiiing! Yeon-woo released an attack and finally...

[Sword Thunder has succeeded in severing some of the veils of faith!]

[The domain, All For One, which constitutes the player, Vivasvat, is wavering briefly.]

[His appearance is showing!]

For the first time, the light that had surrounded Allforone for thousands of years was dispersed. The result was that the brightness weakened greatly as a significant amount of faith was extorted by Yeon-woo. To add to that, the veils of faith were partially severed too, which led to this outcome. 

The face which was revealed was one Yeon-woo was very familiar with, since it was the same face as Nocturne. However, the expression it displayed was more diverse than expected. There was astonishment, shock, disbelief, panic, and...fear. 

"In the end, you too..." As Yeon-woo stared at Allforone, he spoke coldly and pushed him as hard as he could. "...You are a human being."

Kroooooom… Allforone blocked Scythe with his right hand, and with his other hand, summoned and covered his whole body again with light.

However, Yeon-woo already knew full well of the wonders and mysteries that Allforone had at his disposal. No, rather, he stared at Allforone while laughing at him mockingly. It was because Yeon-woo realized that the reason why Allforone lived under the light was to hide his facial expressions and this sight of him from the outside world. Yeon-woo thought that Allforone wasn't much different from himself. ‘It’s a mask.’

Just as Yeon-woo covered his face to hide his identity, Allforone wanted to hide from the world. For him, the light played the role of a mask. The difference was that he wanted to hide deeper. Even when they were talking, he stuck to only using either omnidirectional voice or open speaking.

"I've felt this since before... You and I are too similar," Yeon-woo muttered extremely softly, but he increased the power of his sword thunder to the maximum.

『Nonsense!』However, Allforone growled and brought his hands together. The light, which had waned down a little, soared into the sky at once, creating a huge pillar of light. It was filled with the Fire of Origin. The tremendous light and heat were mixed with the storm, forming a lot of ripples. Then...

[The first 'Heavenly Demon Ruling Step' will be revealed!]

[Be careful of the shock!]

Once again, Allforone tried to step on the Heavenly Demon Ruling Steps. However, unlike before, Yeon-woo was the only target. The pressure that weighed down on the entire stage was about to crush his existence by only surrounding the space around him like wedges. At the same time...

[The system has determined the target as a bug and is attempting to expel the target!]

[The firewall has been raised to the highest level, level 9. All functions related to the Irregular have been stopped and blocked.]

[The vaccine has been raised to the highest level, level 9. The Irregular has been deemed as a virus and it is being erased and deleted.]

[An unknown power is trying to ignore the firewall!]

[An unknown power is strongly resisting the vaccine!]

However, Yeon-woo also pushed back roughly as if he was proclaiming that he would not lose to Allforone. The Yin Sword squeezed into the gap of the system and attempted to neutralize it. This was only part of the process.

['Pneuma's Sky' has been activated!]

[The spring of time, which has been firmly fixed, is rewinding quickly!]

[The Server Back-Up has occurred.]

[The activation of 'Heavenly Demon Reuling Step' has been forcefully canceled!]

Allforone tried to restrain Yeon-woo's existence by somehow activating the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps. Yeon-woo was able to leisurely escape by forcefully nullifying it, and then he went on the offensive again. The golden brilliance and the dark red darkness repeatedly clashed.

Krooooom...! The fight between the two, which enveloped the stage, was an intense confrontation where both sides were evenly matched. 

* * *

「Hohoho! As expected of our master! It was a good choice to follow him after death!」Laplace excitedly jumped in place, watching the shadow covering the world of light. He was having so much fun he could die. After recovering from the cancellation of the Heavenly Demon Ruling Steps, Laplace’s emotions surged violently as he gazed at the unprecedented great battle that was about to unfold.  

The Vampiric Lord and Count Ferenc were also exhilarated while watching Yeon-woo. Even the dragons of death, ghost giants, Dis Pluto, and Olympus paid close attention. All his familiars stopped fighting and were looking at Yeon-woo and Allforone. The shadow which enveloped the light was raging wildly. 

Even the gods who barely survived after dying outside the world of light looked at Yeon-woo with a blank gaze. Even the creator gods and the supreme gods who were trying to become the one and only god was no exception either. They were all in awe. 

However, only Cha Jeong-woo was different. His expression was stiff. It was hard to believe that this was the reaction coming from the person who was the happiest when his older brother appeared. 

「What's the matter?」Only Lana, who belatedly noticed Cha Jeong-woo's expression, asked carefully. 

『Lana, this is...!』Cha Jeong-woo was trying to say something in an urgent tone.

[Due to an unknown force, the system key has obtained the highest management level.]

With the authority of the High Guardian, all beings on the 77th floor have been forcefully expelled!]

An emergency message popped up over their retinas all of a sudden, and all of them were submerged in a ray of light.

Flash!

[You've the Outer District.]

And the place where Cha Jeong-woo and the others appeared was outside the tower, rather than another floor.

"W-What is going on...?"

"What is this? What happened all of a sudden?"

Cha Jeong-woo included, all the members of Arthia on the 77th floor were walking about in confusion. The fallen outside the tower also seemed surprised as they were wondering what the hell had happened. 

[All players on the 76th floor have been forcefully expelled!]

[All players on the 75th floor have been forcefully expelled!]

...

[All players on the 1st floor have been forcefully expelled!]

However, when everyone realized that all the players active in the tower were kicked out, the confusion only grew even further.

[All the Gods who were sent to the 98th floor are violently protesting to the Central Bureau to find out what the hell is going on!]

[All the demons watching the situation on the 77th floor are asking the Central Bureau as the screen darkened!]

The Central Bureau has announced that they are trying to figure out the current situation and the cause behind it!]

[Metatron, the celestial scribe of 'Malach', is silent.]

[Baal, the head of 'L'Infernal', is silent.]

The message stated that both the gods and the demons were kicked out. Even the Central Bureau had no inkling on the reason, and Metatron and Baal were also being silent.

"...What?"

"Then doesn't that mean that there's no one in the Tower right now?"

An unimaginable nummber of players looked at the tower which was still standing high with eyes full of fear. They knew that something...was about to happen. Just then...

Shwrkk-

"T-The shadow is coming down!"

"From the 77th to the 1st floor, everything is being submerged!"

The shadow gradually leaking out from the 77th floor slid down the surface of the tower. As if it had fallen into a bucket full of ink, the lower part of the tower, commonly referred to as the lower floors, was completely submerged in shadow.

[What the hell is...!] While Lana's voice quavered because she did not know the reason behind this occurrence, Cha Jeong-woo recalled something as he saw the shadow gradually form into a round shape after the lower floors were encroached by the shadow. It was like...

[The Black King is looking at the world with a big laugh.]

[The Heavenly Demon is staring at the world in silence.]

...It looked like an 'egg'.