Shocking news. Tidian's eyes narrowed. Sa Docheon had been defeated—this was an entirely unexpected situation.

‘That guy… was he the real deal?’

Heo Sungshik had clashed with Revolution Knight in various ways, both knowingly and unknowingly. In truth, Tidian had been too preoccupied with matters within mainland China to concern himself with events in Korea. The affairs unfolding in that small country held no significant importance in the grand scheme of things.

Li Xiaoguang seemed to consider Han Eunyoung a valuable asset and had continuously attempted to approach her, but to Tidian, she was merely a 6-Star superhuman. The power of death that she wielded was not particularly appealing to him.

However, for some reason, Xiaoguang seemed to need that power. In fact, Tidian wasn’t even certain why Xiaoguang had sought Han Eunyoung’s abilities in the first place, nor did he care much to find out. That was likely why he paid even less attention to the matter.

‘So Xiaoguang was obsessed with Korea because of that guy?’

He was someone Tidian would never have known about if not for Xiaoguang. The first time he became aware of Heo Sungshik’s existence was when Xiaoguang urgently headed to Korea after the Han Eunyoung incident and the failure to control Tenril.

Then came Xiaoguang’s death. That had been quite a shock. Even if he was incomplete, Xiaoguang had undeniably been a 7-Star superhuman. Which meant that Heo Sungshik, too, was a 7-Star superhuman.

‘I can’t just leave him alone.’

Tidian suddenly had that premonition. And when he later heard that the guy had even taken down the monster he had been secretly nurturing in Korea, he made up his mind. Even if he had to move Sa Docheon, he had to get rid of him.

Despite his soft spots, Sa Docheon’s strength was undeniable. He was among the world’s top ten superhumans.

When he set Sa Docheon in motion under the pretext of avenging Xiaoguang, Tidian thought he wouldn’t have to worry about the matter any further. But the result? Even Sa Docheon had been defeated.

‘How troublesome.’

If he could move himself, this wouldn’t even be an issue, but right now, he was unable to leave this place.

‘In that case…’

Annoyance crept onto Tidian’s face.

“…The Nine Children.”

One of the legacies Xiaoguang had left behind—an almost-complete project. He decided to bring it out.

‘If he overcomes even this, I’ll acknowledge him.’

That was his thought. If Heo Sungshik survived even this, he would be an even greater nuisance than Sword Emperor Hak Ilcheon and Martial Emperor Sevrant.

Hwooooong.

A massive whirlwind shot up into the sky. A tornado of such colossal size that it threatened to consume everything around it.

In front of that tornado stood a horde of red-skinned orcs.

“Chwi… Chwik… Ru… Run—”

The tornado rapidly grew in size, advancing in a straight line, devouring everything in its path.

“Gwaaaah—!”

The tornado, sweeping up everything in the surrounding terrain, swallowed dozens of orcs before them as well.

Crunch—

The sound of orc bones and flesh being ground apart reached even Heo Sungshik’s ears from a distance.

“Wow, this is… even more incredible than I expected.”

Indeed. The one who had created this scene was none other than Heo Sungshik. Having acquired the traits ‘Ruler of the Wind’ and ‘Manifestation,’ he had come to a Gate to hone his newly obtained power.

Red-skinned orcs. These 5-Star orcs that appeared in B-rank Gates were significantly stronger than ordinary orcs. Yet, they were being utterly shredded by a tornado Heo Sungshik had casually manifested.

“But the mana consumption is definitely high.”

—That’s why true mastery over Manifestation requires reaching the Flower Realm, meaning the 8-Star level. Normally, it should also consume significant mental energy… But somehow, you don’t seem to be affected much.

“Yeah, my mental energy consumption isn’t that high.”

—…That, too, is what they call talent. Of course, remnants of your past ascent to the Profound Realm may be influencing it, but even so, it’s unnatural for your level to be using this much Manifestation with such little mental strain.

“Hmm, is that so?”

Heo Sungshik had been hearing Heaven-Splitter praise his talent so often lately that he was starting to wonder if it was actually true. Even now, he didn’t quite grasp what was supposedly so remarkable about his abilities.

—It’s common for those with natural talent to be unaware of their own gifts. You are exactly like that. Furthermore, you lack a proper frame of reference…

That was true. There were no other 7-Star superhumans around him, nor had he ever seen anyone else wielding Manifestation.

Lately, he had begun to suspect that the power he witnessed from the 11 Thrones before his regression—when they had reached 8-Star—hadn’t been mere skills but rather a form of Manifestation.

—That is likely the case. The powers the 11 Thrones used were probably rooted in Manifestation.

“Hmm, if some of their abilities were based on Manifestation… my power is still far from enough.”

The abilities of the 11 Thrones, as Heo Sungshik remembered them, had been nothing short of natural disasters. They could conjure catastrophes with a mere gesture.

Compared to that, his power was nothing.

—Well, that’s because they had already reached the 8-Star level. Do you think they could have used such abilities when they were still at 7-Star?

That was true. He was still at 7-Star, yet he was comparing himself to the powers of the 11 Thrones when they had already ascended to 8-Star. That was ridiculous.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Nodding in agreement, Heo Sungshik turned his gaze to the remaining orcs before him.

“Chwi… Chwiik…”

A few orcs had narrowly survived outside the tornado’s range. Their eyes were filled with sheer terror. Faced with overwhelming power, their will to fight had been completely shattered.

Swish.

Without hesitation, Heo Sungshik swung his sword, cutting down the remaining orcs.

Deeper inside the dungeon, he soon encountered another orc settlement. This time, there were at least fifty orcs gathered.

Seeing them, Heo Sungshik’s eyes gleamed. Finally, he had the chance to test out (Heaven-Splitting) Wind Scar.

“Alright, then…”

Swish.

Heo Sungshik raised Heaven-Splitting Divine Sword. Then, he slashed downward vertically, activating his skill.

“(Heaven-Splitting) Wind Scar.”

Whooosh.

From the sword he swung vertically, countless blades of wind erupted forth. This time, they were distinctly different. Faster, infused with an even stronger force, and far more ferocious.

Because of that, the cutting power of the wind blades had increased beyond imagination.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

The orcs caught in the wind blades were sliced apart without even managing to scream. They were shredded as easily as cutting tofu.

Red-skinned orcs were known to have exceptionally tough skin, making slashing attacks with blades an inefficient strategy. Anyone who had fought against these orcs before would have widened their eyes in disbelief at this scene.

"Well, I expected it, but the difference is really noticeable."

Sungshik's satisfaction with gaining the Ruler of the Wind trait skyrocketed. He had anticipated an improvement, but this exceeded expectations! Even the mana consumption seemed to have decreased.

―So this is why superhumans keep singing praises about traits.

Even Heaven-Splitter, a devoted follower of Heaven-Splitting Martial Arts, clicked his tongue in amazement.

"Getting traits is definitely important."

Sungshik nodded in satisfaction. Even if he had used Heaven-Splitting Wind Scar without the Ruler of the Wind, the result before him would have been the same.

However, the difference wasn’t in the outcome itself but in the level of power used to achieve it. He could clearly feel that the tool he wielded had been elevated to another level.

'At this level…'

Sungshik was certain. The number of enemies weaker than him would no longer matter. He had now reached the point where he had achieved his goal in preparation for the upcoming Gate Break.

'I can definitely hold off a few regions on my own.'

Even just in Korea, dozens of large-scale Gate Breaks were about to occur. Among them, Sungshik could hold down a few regions alone. As long as it wasn’t an S-rank or higher Gate, he estimated that he could reclaim the area by himself.

It was an incredibly satisfying conclusion. As his abilities deepened, his confidence grew as well.

'At this rate, even the 11 Thrones…'

He felt that he had already reached a level capable of rivaling the strongest among the 11 Thrones. The moment when he would surpass them didn’t seem far off.

'And then, once more.'

The supreme realm of 9-Star. The thought that he could once again reach that realm brought an unconscious smile to his lips.

Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye. The superhuman community, which had been in an uproar over the clash between Sungshik and Sa Docheon, soon moved on to other events.

In the end, it became an incident that left behind only speculation. For Sungshik, the fact that his involvement remained undiscovered meant avoiding unnecessary trouble.

And now, the time to raid the mutated A-rank Gate was just around the corner.

―Hello? Sungshik! Hey! You know we're going to raid the Gate tomorrow, right?

"Of course~ I know. I've already prepared everything."

―Ooh! Look at you, so well-prepared. Just like a model student!

Sungshik chuckled at the comment.

"What do you mean, model student? Subin, you're more of a model student than me. By the way, have the raid members been decided?"

―Yep, everything’s set! Oh, and I have something to tell you about that! This time, we're hiring more mercenaries and getting support from another guild to form the raid team.

"Huh? Another guild? Which one?"

―It’s called the Nati guild, one of the top-ranked guilds. Since the Gate we’re raiding is in Yangyang, and there were some unusual events there recently, some of our leaders thought it would be best to collaborate with them.

"Oh, so it's in Yangyang? I thought it was in Suwon."

That was new information. Since Shining guild’s headquarters was in Suwon, he had just assumed it was under their jurisdiction.

Hearing that the raid team was being reinforced due to the Yangyang incident, Sungshik couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. In a way, he was partly responsible for that event. Even if he was also a victim, it still felt awkward.

―Yeah. Technically, it’s under government control, but one of our guild members happened to discover it, so we claimed the right to raid it. However, since the Nati guild is the biggest guild near Yangyang, they apparently pressured us into sharing the raid.

"Ah, I see how it is."

―Yep! So we also recruited five more mercenaries. The final team composition will be 15 members from Shining guild, 10 from Nati guild, and 10 mercenaries.

"Whoa, that's a lot of people."

Of course, the last time Baekdu guild raided an A-rank Gate, there had been around 60 participants. But in that case, the team had included 20 5-Star superhumans, while the remaining 40 had been mostly mercenaries of 4-Star or 4-Star+ rank. This was a completely different scenario in terms of quality.

―Right now, including me, only five of us in Shining guild are 4-Star. Everyone else is 5-Star or higher. The mercenaries and Nati guild members are all 5-Star and above too.

For this raid, out of 35 participants, 30 were at least 5-Star. On top of that, the team included Kang Hanil, a 6-Star, as well as Seo Haneul and two other 5-Star+ ranked superhumans, making the overall strength significantly higher.

―So, we'll probably divide into Team A and Team B! Team A will handle the main raid, while Team B provides backup support!

Since the dungeon inside the Gate wasn't that large, having all 30 fighters attacking at once wasn’t ideal. The team was split into two, with Team A consisting of the strongest 15 members, led by Kang Hanil, to clear the dungeon.

After ending the call with Kim Subin, Sungshik opened his palm.

Fwoosh.

Whoooosh.

A small flame flared up in his hand, swirling into a miniature fire tornado.

Crackle.

Even just looking at the sheer power of its mana sent shivers down the spine. With this power, even a mutated A-rank Gate would be easy to handle.

"What a shame."

Gazing at the fire, Sungshik muttered. Then, clenching his outstretched hand, he extinguished the raging mana.

The reason for his disappointment? He had been assigned to Team B.

'With Kang Hanil leading the raid team, I’ll just be sitting in the back twiddling my thumbs.'

He expected to just watch from the sidelines.

But at that moment, no one knew.

That this raid was not going to be as simple as they had thought.