―There is a trait that can be acquired from ‘Half-Demon Han Eunyeong.’ Would you like to obtain ‘[SS-Rank] Army of Death’?

“Huh?”

Among the messages that appeared after defeating Han Eunyeong, the last one caught Sungshik’s attention.

“A trait? Ah.”

Sungshik realized something he hadn’t considered before. It had just now occurred to him that he could acquire Han Eunyeong’s trait.

That’s right. With Sungshik’s ‘Consumption’ skill, he could obtain Han Eunyeong’s ‘[SS-Rank] Army of Death’ trait.

“But… can I even use this?”

The question was a natural one. Traits like ‘Army of Death,’ which were based on dark magic, required the ability to manipulate dark energy to be used.

“I’ll acquire it for now.”

―Consuming…….

―Congratulations! You have acquired [SS-Rank] Army of Death.

The moment he decided to acquire it, the consumption process began, and soon, he had obtained the trait.

“Wow, I actually got this trait.”

Han Eunyeong was once considered the strongest among the eleven Constellations that all superhumans revered. Never did he think there would come a day when he would obtain her trait.

As he basked in this unexpected moment of awe, his gaze fell upon the ‘Fragment of the Black Moon’ he had just obtained.

“This is…”

He had seen this item before. It was the same kind he had obtained after defeating the mutated Lycanthrope in the mutation dungeon. However, this Fragment was much larger than the one he had acquired back then.

“Fragment of the Black Moon.”

Sungshik had no idea what this item was. He had never seen it in his past life. The only connection he could think of was the Third Night’s ruler—back then, the ruler was known as the ‘Four Witches of the Black Moon.’

“Now that I think about it… Demonization and mutated monsters started appearing around that time.”

It made sense. Even in his past life, there had been superhumans who underwent demonization and monsters that mutated. Coincidentally, this all started when the trial of the Third Night began.

“Maybe there really is a connection.”

His curiosity about the ‘Fragment of the Black Moon’ only deepened. Why had Han Eunyeong possessed this item? How had she obtained it?

“Revolution Knight.”

Sungshik’s thoughts turned to the Revolution Knight.

“Han Eunyeong must have made contact with the Revolution Knight.”

The most suspicious group, given the circumstances, was the Revolution Knight. There was no other plausible explanation.

As he was lost in thought, someone spoke up.

“Um… Thank you so much.”

The members of the Yongho guild had approached him and were expressing their gratitude.

“Thanks to you, we all survived.”

“You’re truly incredible. How… how do you have such power?!”

They were genuinely grateful. Their sincerity was evident just from the look on their faces. Some even seemed utterly captivated by Sungshik’s strength, looking at him with admiration and respect.

It was understandable. At this stage, there were only a handful of people in the world capable of displaying this level of power. The force Sungshik had demonstrated was something beyond their comprehension.

While most were in awe, there were a few who reacted differently.

“H-How is this possible? Was he always this strong?”

“Damn it, you said he was only around 3 or 4 stars!”

“T-That’s what I thought… but…”

“Didn’t we treat him like a nobody earlier?”

“…I didn’t.”

“Oh, look at this guy trying to save his own skin.”

These were the ones who had brought Sungshik here with Shin Jinwoo. When they had first encountered him, they had treated him as an unauthorized gate intruder and handled him roughly. Now, they were uneasy, having realized that Sungshik was one of the strongest individuals in the world.

In the world of superhumans, where strength dictated everything, offending such a powerful figure could mean a miserable fate.

Not to mention, if they angered a particularly ruthless superhuman, they could end up mysteriously dead one night.

Gulp.

The thought alone made them break into a cold sweat.

“Um… Sungshik, sir, we made a grave mistake before…”

Unable to bear the pressure any longer, they approached Sungshik to apologize.

“Huh?”

Sungshik tilted his head in confusion.

“Ah, so you were those guys.”

He hadn’t even recognized them at first. To be honest, he hadn’t given them a second thought—because, to him, they were insignificant.

“Yes, back then, we were rude to you…”

“Ah… well, it’s fine. It happens.”

Realizing why they were acting this way, Sungshik chuckled and waved them off. He had already forgotten their so-called rudeness.

However.

“By the way, where’s the guy who was with you back then?”

“Who…? Ah! You mean Team Leader Shin Jinwoo!”

The moment they realized he was asking about Shin Jinwoo, they rushed to find him at lightning speed.

‘T-These bastards!’

Meanwhile, Shin Jinwoo, who had been tending to his severed arm, had been watching from a distance.

‘Say I’m not here! Tell him I’m not around!’

He desperately signaled to the guild members with his eyes.

“Here he is! This is him!”

But the guild members immediately presented him to Sungshik.

“Ah……”

As Sungshik’s gaze landed on him, Shin Jinwoo’s mind went blank. His rough words and actions toward Sungshik earlier flashed through his mind.

‘I… I really screwed up…’

Now that he knew Sungshik was such a high-level superhuman, there was only one thing he could do—grovel. That was the only option for the weak.

Shin Jinwoo stammered, unsure of what to say. Seeing this, Sungshik smiled faintly and spoke.

“We have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”

After having a rather straightforward ‘settlement’ conversation with Shin Jinwoo, Sungshik let it go. Despite having lost an arm, Shin Jinwoo bowed his head repeatedly, begging for forgiveness.

Watching him even kneel despite his injuries, Sungshik briefly wondered if he was being too harsh. However, Shin Jinwoo went even further, offering Sungshik a generous amount of bear gall and bear paws from his own stock.

Sungshik decided to coolly forget about Shin Jinwoo’s rudeness. After all, he considered himself someone who was cool about these things. It was definitely not because the bear gallbladder and paws he had taken from Shin Jinwoo were worth over a million coins.

“Take care on your way.”

“Thank you very much!”

After that, Sungshik left the guild, receiving an extremely warm send-off from the Yongho guild members. Han Cheolsik was still unconscious, so he wasn’t able to meet the guild leader, but he couldn’t afford to wait around indefinitely. Since he had already achieved all of his objectives here, there was no reason to stay any longer.

‘This journey turned out to be much more eventful than I expected, but I gained a lot.’

Reaching 6-star status was one thing, but the greatest harvest was acquiring two things: the ‘Army of Death’ trait and the ‘Phoenix Heart Fragment.’

Unfortunately, the [SS-Rank] Army of Death trait was difficult to use in its entirety. As expected, to fully utilize it, ‘Dark Mana’ was required.

[SS-Rank] Army of Death

• Allows the summoning of the undead army of the 72nd Demon King, Murmur.
• Up to 3 armies can be summoned.
• With additional grimoires, up to 5 armies can be summoned.
• *Only through Dark Mana can the armies be fully summoned.

That was it. The essential requirement for summoning the Army of Death was Dark Mana. When Sungshik attempted to summon them using his own mana, more than half of the first army failed to manifest and instead regressed. Even the undead that did manage to appear could barely exert a third of their original strength, making for an unstable summoning.

“So this is a trait I can’t fully utilize.”

Well, that was disappointing. Maybe he should just throw it into ‘Synthesis’ later and combine it with another trait. If nothing else, he could at least fuse it with something else down the line.

At that moment of disappointment, a thought suddenly struck him.

‘The Black Moon Fragment.’

He recalled the description he had seen using Insight when he examined the Black Moon Fragment.

[?] Black Moon Fragment

• Unknown
• Perhaps if enough fragments are gathered, they can be combined into one?

‘It can be combined into one.’

Suddenly, Sungshik remembered the ‘Rune of the Full Moon’ he had received from Kim Subin. The phrase ‘can be combined into one’ reminded him of that rune.

His instincts told him that if he gathered the Black Moon Fragments, he might be able to obtain something akin to the ‘Rune of the Black Moon,’ comparable to the Rune of the Full Moon.

If he truly managed to obtain the Black Moon Rune, he might be able to absorb it as a trait, just like he had done with the Rune of the Full Moon. This wasn’t just a vague assumption—it was a strong conviction.

If that happened, Sungshik would be able to wield both ‘White Mana’ from the ‘Light Fragment’ and ‘Dark Mana’ as well. Until now, no Superhuman had ever wielded two opposing attributes simultaneously. He might be the first to step into that realm.

‘That would be interesting.’

Perhaps he could even fuse the two together. The legendary Ashen Mana, the origin and essence of chaos—this could be a clue to uncovering its secrets.

‘And as a bonus, I’ll finally be able to properly use [SS-Rank] Army of Death.’

Setting aside the practical benefits, the thrill of wielding the same power that the 11 Constellations once used sent a shiver of excitement down his spine.

‘Wait, so if I acquire additional grimoires, I can summon up to 5 armies?’

This was news to him.

‘Wasn’t the Army of Death limited to 3 armies?’

Back in the past, Han Eunyeong had only summoned up to 3 armies. Once she reached 8-star rank, the power gap became too great, and she started to fall behind among the 11 Constellations.

But it turned out that the 3 armies weren’t the limit. According to the description, the Army of Death trait itself wasn’t in its complete form.

‘So that’s why it was only SS-Rank.’

That explained it. Han Eunyeong’s trait, despite once putting her among the top of the 11 Constellations, was rated lower than some of the others’ traits because it wasn’t complete.

“Wait, then what does the 5th army summon?”

The 3rd army alone had already produced formidable undead, so it was hard to even imagine what the 5th army might bring forth.

‘Could it summon a Demon King?’

The possibility sent chills down his spine.

‘I have to get my hands on this.’

His curiosity alone was enough to make him determined to acquire the additional trait. Next, he turned his attention to the Phoenix Heart Fragment.

Phoenix Heart Fragment

• Rank: Legendary
• Description: The heart of the mythical phoenix. A fragment of the heart left behind when the phoenix first perished in legend. Though only a piece, it contains an immense amount of fire energy.
• Upon consumption, mana greatly increases. Fire attribute energy is additionally obtained. Fire resistance significantly improves.

Originally, Sungshik had planned to absorb it later. He had judged that he wasn’t fully prepared to handle its effects yet. However, he suddenly changed his mind. The reason was none other than his ‘Consumption’ trait.

As he looked at the Phoenix Heart Fragment, an alert appeared.

―You have confirmed the trait. You may absorb the ‘Phoenix Heart Fragment’ using [EX-Rank] Consumption. Y or N?

It explicitly stated that he could absorb the Phoenix Heart Fragment using his ‘Consumption’ trait. Until now, he had never absorbed an elixir-type item using Consumption. More precisely, it wasn’t that he had never done it—it had simply never been possible before.

‘Consumption’ was meant to extract traits from objects that met certain conditions. But now, it was telling him that he could absorb an elixir through it.

―You may absorb the ‘Phoenix Heart Fragment.’ Y or N?

He hesitated for a long time. He wasn’t sure if this was the right decision. But once again, Sungshik chose to trust his instincts.

‘I have a good feeling. I need to do this now.’

In the end, he made his choice and absorbed the Phoenix Heart Fragment on the spot. But had he made the wrong decision?

“Guhhhhhhh—!”

The moment he absorbed the Phoenix Heart Fragment using [EX-Rank] Consumption, unbearable pain engulfed his entire body, as if he were being scorched alive.