The Return of the Legendary All-Master

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 307

[Black Soul]

- Type: Consumable

- Grade: ???

- Description: The source of demons.

- Effect: Randomly increases stats.

"Huh."

It was an item Jeong-hoon needed.

Weapons were good, but what truly allowed explosive use of those weapons were level and stats.

Though random, the Black Soul could be considered an elixir that increased stats.

"How do I use this?"

As Jeong-hoon tilted his head, a new message appeared.

[You can see the effect by swallowing the soul.]

So, it needed to be swallowed.

Without hesitation, Jeong-hoon gulped down the orb.

Then, changes began.

[Strength increases by 60.]

[Agility increases by 56.]

[Magic Power increases by 35.]

[You gain 1% of Dark Energy.]

Strength and Magic Power increased.

But what was this Dark Energy?

Jeong-hoon narrowed his eyes, looking at the newly generated energy bar.

The exterior of the bar was pitch black, while the inside was nearly empty.

To be precise, a small amount of black liquid had accumulated—this was the Dark Energy.

"What is Dark Energy?"

It was an energy he had never seen before.

'Hmm, if that reaches 100%, won't Master become a demon too?'

Mukho, who had been watching from the side, murmured.

"A demon, huh."

Jeong-hoon chuckled.

It wasn't an entirely impossible thought, but if that ever became a problem, he could simply avoid filling it to 100%.

'I can't give up on these rapid stat gains just because of some unease.'

With that thought, Jeong-hoon swallowed the remaining five souls.

Through this, he confirmed that each soul provided 1% of energy.

And that his stats increased insanely.

[Detailed Stats]

- Strength: 1,202 (+120) → 1,322

- Agility: 1,134 (+113) → 1,247

- Stamina: 1,113 (+112) → 1,225

- Defense: 1,069 (+106) → 1,175

- Wisdom: 1,038 (+103) → 1,141

- Magic Power: 1,432 (+143) → 1,575

- Divine Power: 1,251 (+125) → 1,376

- Mental Power: 1,011 (+104) → 1,115

After reaching Level 795 and consuming all the Black Souls, these were his stats.

Every stat had far surpassed 1,000, and his Magic Power was on the verge of breaking past 1,600.

In contrast, his Dark Energy had only accumulated to a mere 6%.

"This is good."

Jeong-hoon checked the results with satisfaction.

'Master, what do you plan to ask him?'

'The Architect.'

There was only one piece of information he wanted.

The Architect.

Once the episode was completed, he would be able to seek out the Architect.

To prepare for that encounter, he needed information.

'If he can’t provide the information, he mentioned he would offer the box capable of completing the Seven Deadly Sins.'

No matter what answer he received, Jeong-hoon would gain something out of it.

Now, it was time to seek out Baal.

Jeong-hoon scanned the Demon Realm using the scan map.

Baal’s massive fortress was located in the heart of the Demon Realm.

And the entrance he had just passed through wasn’t too far from that central area.

In other words, a little more movement would take him directly to Baal’s fortress.

Jeong-hoon stepped forward, using the Heavenly Demon Lord’s Dominion, heading toward the fortress.

* * *

A massive fortress towering high.

That was Baal’s dwelling.

Demons stood guard in front of the fortress gate, but as Jeong-hoon approached, they instinctively moved aside.

"Enter."

"The Lord is expecting you."

Despite their short words, they were on extreme alert around Jeong-hoon.

It was only natural.

Most of the demons, including six Demon Kings, had met their end at his hands.

If they made a wrong move here, they would be annihilated in an instant—so stepping aside was the best choice.

"Open it."

Jeong-hoon gestured toward the closed fortress gate with a nod.

The two demons who had moved aside quickly rushed to open the gate.

Creak—

As the gate opened, an immense presence crashed down on Jeong-hoon.

His body trembled slightly under the pressure.

However, with his level and stats having skyrocketed, it was far more bearable than when he had first faced Baal.

Jeong-hoon stepped forward into the fortress.

Those red eyes he had encountered before—

Their true form was here now.

'Master, be careful.'

'He might try to interfere again.'

Mukho and Anima remained on high alert, warning Jeong-hoon.

However, his thoughts differed from theirs.

'It's fine. I've eliminated all obstacles, and he won't be able to interfere directly anymore.'

Baal had likely intended to restrain him by using his subordinates in a roundabout way, but that plan had failed spectacularly, leaving him unable to intervene any further.

If he tried to obstruct him now, he wouldn’t even have an excuse.

As expected, there were no obstacles in the fortress.

It was eerily quiet, as if the demons had been cleared away in advance.

At last, he reached the highest level.

The higher he climbed, the stronger the oppressive energy pressing down on him became. By the time he reached the top, the sheer force was enough to make his entire body feel heavy.

'...Master, are you really sure about this?'

If the energy was already this overwhelming, what would happen when they faced each other?

'I told you, it's fine.'

Jeong-hoon smirked and pushed the door open with his hand.

Creak—

The door swung open.

And from within, a massive demon slowly revealed himself.

A colossal demon seated upon a throne.

The energy radiating from him was on an entirely different level compared to any demon Jeong-hoon had faced before.

"You must be Baal."

At Jeong-hoon's words, the demon’s closed eyes slowly opened.

The same crimson eyes he had seen through the gap before.

Those very same eyes now locked onto him.

"I never expected you to cross into the Demon Realm so easily."

Baal’s voice was laced with irritation.

"Right? I was supposed to be dragged here forcibly by the Demon Kings."

Jeong-hoon smirked, striking straight at the truth.

"...The Demon Kings insisted on capturing you themselves."

The absurd excuse made him chuckle.

"Yeah, right. They were already waiting for me to arrive. Who do you think gave them that information?"

"They, like me, are Transcendents. Meaning they can observe humans like you."

Baal had prepared a plausible excuse.

He had probably planned to use it in case his scheme failed.

But Jeong-hoon wasn’t about to let him off so easily.

"Sorry, but that excuse won’t work. The Demon Kings already confessed."

"...Confessed?"

"You ordered them to subdue me and drag me here. If that’s not interference, then what is?"

"......"

Baal clenched his fist tightly.

Fools.

They dared to relay his exact command to a mere human?

If they were still alive, he would have torn out the mouth of the one who spilled the truth with his own hands.

"Either way, you lost the bet, and you also broke the clause about non-interference."

"......"

"So, I think it’s only fair to add an extra penalty."

"Penalty?"

"Yeah. The information you were supposed to give me—let’s make it two pieces instead of one."

Baal's eyes narrowed.

Having to reveal not just one but two pieces of information, without even knowing what Jeong-hoon wanted—he should have just stayed silent.

They say staying quiet gets you halfway there.

“…Fine.”

After a long moment of deliberation, Baal reluctantly nodded.

He had considered resisting until the end, but the longer he dragged this out, the worse it would be for him.

It was because of the penalty automatically set in place when the wager began.

That penalty was none other than annihilation.

That was why, up until now, even when making wagers, Baal had been extremely careful never to violate the terms.

This time, however, he had let his judgment waver because he was too eager to claim Jeong-hoon as his own. Even so, he had never once broken a clause.

But this time was different.

His opponent had caught him violating the terms of the wager.

If he refused to comply, Jeong-hoon would invoke the penalty, and Baal would be erased.

‘This isn’t an opponent I can just endure against.’

If he tried to hold out by refusing to provide the information, Jeong-hoon would undoubtedly trigger the penalty.

Right now, the best course of action was to accept his loss and hand over the compensation.

“Good. Then I won’t invoke the penalty.”

“…Thank you.”

“This is my first question.”

The first question.

“Speak.”

“Give me information about the Architect.”

Baal clenched his eyes shut.

It was one of the questions he had expected.

“That is…”

“If you can’t answer, you’ll have to hand over a Box.”

The Sin Box.

Baal had already given Jeong-hoon a Box.

That meant he would have to obtain another from a Demon Realm Sovereign to hand over.

Of course, he had prepared a spare Box just in case he couldn’t answer a question, but the real problem was the second question.

Even if he avoided answering by handing over a Box this time, there would still be one more question left.

And if he tried to evade again, he would have to give up another Box.

‘If I end up giving away two, he’ll have almost all of the Seven Deadly Sins.’

If that happened, divine punishment would surely fall upon him for surrendering so many Boxes.

No matter what he chose, he had to prepare for the worst possible outcome.

It was better to at least answer the first question.

The Architect’s information was supposed to be kept strictly confidential, but if that human kept going, he would inevitably reach that being anyway.

“…The Architect is someone who stands above me.”

“Above? You mean a rank higher than the Sovereigns?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me everything about him in detail.”

"Got it."

Baal nodded and snapped his fingers.

A message appeared before Jeong-hoon.

It contained information about the Architect.

[Escanon of the Apocalypse]

A familiar name.

‘Escanon…’

A transcendent being of the higher tier, surpassing even the Sovereign class.

A figure positioned just below the five Named Ones.

‘The master of the Escanon Temple, who once drove Earth to the brink of destruction.’

Also, the very one who sealed the Seven Deadly Sins by dividing them into seven separate Boxes.

To think that Escanon was the Architect behind this game…

"This is solid information, right?"

Jeong-hoon stared into Baal’s eyes as he asked.

"Yes. If I were to provide false information, the penalty would automatically trigger."

"Hmm. Okay."

"Then we can move on to the next question, right?"

Baal hurried to close out the first question.

"You’re an interesting one. You really thought you could end the first question with just this?"

Jeong-hoon glared at Baal in disbelief.

"…What? Is there a problem?"

"Are you joking? This doesn't tell me exactly what kind of being Escanon is."

"Isn’t that enough? You wanted information on the Architect, and I gave it to you."

"I told you clearly, didn’t I? Give me detailed information about him. Should I just trigger the penalty?"

What Jeong-hoon wanted was detailed information.

Not just a vague outline.

And Baal thought he could get away with skimming over the details?

"……"

"This is your last chance. Either you tell me everything about him, or you hand over a Box. Pick one."

Baal’s expression twisted in an instant.

"Damn it…"

This was truly a shitty situation.

He had been so focused on revealing the Architect’s identity that he brushed past the part about providing detailed information.

If he had paid more attention to that, he wouldn’t have been so quick to disclose Escanon’s identity.

‘There’s no choice…’

The Architect’s existence had already been exposed.

At this point, refusing to provide details and handing over a Box instead would just be laughable.

Baal clenched his eyes shut and snapped his fingers again.

This time, multiple messages appeared before Jeong-hoon.

They contained detailed information on Escanon—exactly what Jeong-hoon had demanded.

"You’re not hiding anything else, are you?"

Jeong-hoon carefully reviewed the messages as he asked.

"Of course not… I’ve given you everything I know."

"If there’s even a single lie, the penalty will activate immediately."

"Go ahead. I have nothing to hide."

He didn’t seem to be lying.

"Good. Then let’s move on to the second question right away."

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]