Thumbs Up, Level Up - Chapter 304

It felt alien.

This being fundamentally understood why it was born, far deeper than any human could. In that respect, as well as many others, it was different from the majority of living beings.

It was expected, considering that it was born as a divine entity created by the Gods.

Through their conversation, Ji-Cheok came to realize something.

‘I cannot kill this being through conventional means.’

It was already a divine entity created by the Gods. The Gods were essentially immortal, and it was impossible to kill them by ordinary means. Even if he managed to kill them, they would resurrect over time. Making sure that a God was completely annihilated was an excruciatingly difficult task.

[Are you thinking of fighting me?]

“I think having any further discussion is meaningless.”

Ji-Cheok’s Qi flowed through his entire body. He had already reached a state of perfect harmony with his swords, a state where the blades in his hands could cut through the world. He summoned every bit of his will that he could muster, channeling it into the swords as he declared to the Demon King,

“There will be no doom. I will crush you right here, right now”

[Show me your strength, then, if you can. If not, I shall bestow upon you your own doom.]

The battle began.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Ji-Cheok’s Likes were neigh-omnipotent, but even they could not respond to things that were beyond Ji-Cheok’s own perception and comprehension. Furthermore, while Likes could even go as far as distort causality, they naturally could not be used on things that Ji-Cheok himself was not aware of.

This was now the ultimate war, the final battle. They had to prevent the Moon from crashing into Earth, and they also could not allow the Demon King of the Apocalypse to set foot on the planet.

Flash! Flash!

Some of the Hunters who were frozen due to the ‘doom’ of the Demon King suddenly scattered into dust and disappeared.

Ji-Cheok’s Divine Intuition told him why this was happening. They had been consumed by their own doom. They had found happiness in the destiny offered by that being and accepted it with satisfaction. As a result, they vanished, cleanly and without the possibility of resurrection!

‘Damn it. This Demon King is ruthless! Not only am I fighting him, I am also fighting against the clock!’

He checked on Mu-Cheok, Ji-Byeok, Seong Kwang, Ha-Na, Ju-Ran, Bi-Ga, Adam, Bernade, Daniel, and other people that he knew. He confirmed that they had not vanished. They were frozen, but still intact. However, he did not know when they would be consumed by their own doom and disappear forever.

‘In that case…’

“I must defeat you!”

The power of his will filled his dual swords, allowing the Mind Sword to form. Ji-Cheok’s opening technique was his current most powerful: Cosmic Fracture!

The two swords crossed in an X-shape, dividing heaven and earth. The heaven-rending power split the body of the Demon King and the surface of the Moon beneath it!

Boom!

However, although the Demon King’s body bore the marks of Ji-Cheok’s attack, its wounds were not fatal.

As black smoke wafted from the wounds, the Demon King’s attack began!

With its crossed arms spread open, the two arms that were raised to create the video of Seong Kwang emitted a crimson glow.

Boom!

The two crimson-glowing arms unleashed uncountable red light arrows.

Ji-Cheok stood there for a moment, watching the mana arrows fall down like a rainstorm. Then, he moved at lightning speed.

Boom!

Breaking the sound barrier, Ji-Cheok flew toward the attack rather than away from it, swinging his two swords frantically. Each of these mana bolts had the power of a high-level destructive spell.

‘But the attack is too simple. I am sure this is not it!’

“Hmph!”

He flipped in the air like an acrobat, and his swords reached out like lightning. In the blink of an eye, he was within reach of the creature.

‘Feel the wrath of my Mind Sword!’

Clang!

His two swords were blocked by two swords.

The black swords that had just been summoned by the Demon King were long and thin. In comparison, they were actually much thicker than Ji-Cheok’s own, but they were so long that they looked like thin skewers.

Just like their thickness seemed rather incompatible with their length, their sheer size completely belied their speed. Ji-Cheok was instantly put on the back foot, forced to fully focus on blocking.

‘So, you know swords art too? Alright, let’s do this!’

Clang!

Swords clashed with swords, and as Ji-Cheok blocked the attack coming from the front, another one came from a blind spot and struck his side.

Thump!

‘Argh! That hurts!’

The bastard’s other two hands used magic to put pressure on him.

«Master! I shall join in the fight as well!»

Thankfully, Ji-Cheok had an extra pair of hands of his own. Cheok-Liang broke free from his neck and rushed through the air. A moment later, the spells he cast at breakneck speed kept the Demon King’s hands occupied.

‘Alright, now it’s even…’

[Meet your end.]

The moment Ji-Cheok heard its voice, his body abruptly froze.

‘Wait… This is…’

Boom!

Its sword struck down on his shoulder. With the size of that sword and the angle at which it struck down, it could have easily shattered his skull if not for a minute shift in position at the last moment.

“ARGH!”

Ji-Cheok felt tremendous pain. Simultaneously, he was sent flying and slammed into the ground.

«Master!»

‘I’m fine! I will not die so easily!’

“Hmph!”

He bounced back up from the ground.

‘This bastard is strong, as expected. It is simply strong.’

He had fought against opponents like Slow Forest Shade in the past, and he had battled the [Apostles_that_became_immortal] at the Kunlun Mountain afterward, but this Demon King was in a league of his own.

‘But… Why did I freeze when he said, “meet your end”? What kind of power is this?’

[Why are you trying to fight back? The end is inevitable.]

“Shut the hell up. I know the end is inevitable.”

[Then why are you trying so hard?]

“Why don’t you ask me why I bother eating and breathing? I’m going to die at some point anyway, no? Everyone, just like you said, will eventually die. That is the end. However… until we die, we all strive to live, we all cling to life as long as we can!

‘That is what a human is! That is humanity! That is ME!’

Channeling the powers of Soul Telekinesis, Augmented Qi, Mind Sword, Cthugha’s Steps, Heaven and Earth Chaotic Divine Art, and other attacking skills, Ji-Cheok infused all of these powers into his swords.

It would have been impossible for a human to do this, but he was a God, and he also had the power of his Likes.

[If you resist, then I shall use my full power to bring an end to you,] said the Demon King.

Its two swords crossed. They twisted and merged into one, which the Demon King held with both hands, and it looked at Ji-Cheok.

[Meet your end!]

“I am going to cut you in half!”

The Mind Origin Sword Realm was the superior form of the Mind Sword. That was what the God of War had told him. Ji-Cheok had yet to reach that realm, but thankfully…his Like tank was not depleted yet.

‘Die!!’

Crack!

Space was torn, and it felt like time was severed. Dimensions were ripped apart, revealing emptiness. It felt as if the strike could split even the Moon in half.

However, Ji-Cheok instinctively sensed that the Mind Origin Sword he had used for a moment hadn’t done the trick.

‘The attack is not strong enough! Is it because it was not the true Mind Origin Sword Realm?’

Fortunately, at least, the attack that Demon King had unleashed also disappeared into thin air.

‘Did I block it?’

Just then, a voice echoed in the emptiness of space.

«O Gravity of Annihilation, descend!»

Cheok-Liang fired a Class 9 Destruction Magic from the sky. Even Class 8 spells were insanely powerful; as for Class 9 Magic, that was comparable to the power of the Gods.

A purple light emerged from the sky and reached the Demon King. At that moment, everything around it was drawn into the purple sphere and compressed.

[Meet your end.]

However, as the Demon King once more declared doom upon them, the sphere suddenly disappeared. The slightly injured Demon King stood tall, seemingly unaffected by the pain or weakened in any way. Its shoulder was shattered and one of its arms was severed, yet it showed no signs of suffering.

[I see… You have the power to postpone the inevitable doom. However, by this point, the result is already set. You cannot defeat me.]

“What the hell are you talk—”

[Behold! The end that stands before you!]

Roar!

Its broken arm regenerated in an instant, and its body grew even larger. Simultaneously, the aura it was radiating increased several times.

‘Wait… What is going on?’

[The time for the end has come. Every time they embrace the end, I grow stronger.]

‘What?’

The Demon King pointed at the Hunters, who were disappearing one by one. They were being consumed by their own doom!

‘This bastard…It’s leveling up by killing Hunters!’

“Hmph!”

Obviously, Ji-Cheok could not let that happen. Strengthening his resolve, he pointed his sword at the Demon King.

[Meet your end.]

It pointed its finger at him in return, and at the same time, Ji-Cheok found himself unable to move even a little.

‘That’s the same skill as before! Before, I could not move for just a moment, but now…’

Boom!

Ji-Cheok heard the sound of something exploding. After that, he regained his movement and thrust his swords forward. However, in the meantime, the Demon King had moved back and was now emitting a bright light.

‘Damn it…’

[The end signifies the culmination of consequences. Since you are a God, I cannot truly bring the end upon you, but I can still enforce it for a brief moment. That is the reason why you could not move. And now, I have become even stronger.]

It reached out its hand.

[Meet your end!]

A fraction of a second later, Ji-Cheok’s arm disappeared. One entire arm simply vanished, and the cut section of his shoulder showed not flesh and blood, but darkness. There was no pain, but he had no sensation in his arm.

“Keuk! You bastard…!”

[The end has come to you, [GodTube_superstar]. Come, embrace the end.]

Ji-Cheok gritted his teeth, struggling to figure out a way to defeat this guy.

‘What should I do? What should I do to beat this bastard?’

[Now. This is the end.]

It raised its hand and pointed at him.

Flash!

That was when it happened.

Right above the head of the Demon King, the dimension wall shattered, and fragments scattered around like shards of glass.

Someone emerged from the fissure, swinging a greatsword right at the Demon King. The greatsword was over two meters long and seemed to be made of thick steel plates welded together.

“Give me your head, you fucker!”

Ji-Cheok understood the newcomer’s words perfectly, but not thanks to the translation skill. The man spoke in Korean.

His greatsword cleanly severed one of the arms of the Demon King.

[Meet your end!]

“That ain’t gonna work on me, you idiot!”

Despite the Demon King using its power of the apocalypse, when the anonymous man used his greatsword to shield himself, it emitted a blue light. A wave of black energy exploded and scattered everywhere.

‘No way… Is that really him? How can he just pop out from another dimension?’’

“I.L.?”

Also known as ‘That Hunter’, he was the one who had been globally recognized as the undisputed number one Hunter before Ji-Cheok appeared!

Although he was known to be Korean, he was also known for not operating in Korea.

‘’Wait. Why is he here all of a sudden?’

“God damn it! Stop being surprised and help me out! I have a Strategy Guide, but I can’t kill this guy alone!”

I.L.’s words punched some sense into Ji-Cheok, who grabbed his swords.

‘He’s right. This is not the time to be surprised. How he appeared and why the power of apocalypse doesn’t work on him is not important right now! In that case, I can attack—’

Rumble!

Just then, the lunar surface shattered beneath their feet. The scale was much larger and more massive than I.L.’s emergence. It was a dimensional rift spanning kilometers. And from there, something started to pour out.

“Nyahahaha! I hope I’m not too late, Mr. Umji!”

Darkness wings made up of Specters stretched for hundreds of meters, and a body entwined with countless indiscernible Specters rose into the sky. From the rift, pale Undead beings crawled out and rushed toward the feet of the Demon King.

“Reable!”

“I thought the final quest might be a bit tough, so I made some small preparations~ Here we go! This is it!”

‘Did Reable bring I.L.? I feel so grateful that I am about to cry!’

“Nice, Reable! I’ll join in too!”

Earlier, it had seemed like there was no way to defeat the Demon King.

‘But with these guys, I might just be able to do it.’