It was Kang Yoon-Soo’s first time meeting Rumier Kazan in this life, but what did the alchemist mean by ‘it has been a while’? Did he mean that they had met before?

Kang Yoon-Soo asked in a low voice, “What do you mean by that? I’m sure this is the first time we’ve met.”

“Have you not lived for a thousand times? Then, you must have met me a couple of times already,” Rumier replied. Exactly as Sorden had said, the alchemist seemed to be aware of the fact that Kang Yoon-Soo had regressed.

Kang Yoon-Soo furrowed his brow and asked, “You… How much do you know?”

“I know about things even you are unaware of,” Rumier replied.

Kang Yoon-Soo stared at Rumier. The alchemist’s hair was disheveled, and his face could more accurately be described as pallid than white. He looked so frail it was as if his bones would break from a single tap, but his posture seemed to convey a strong presence. Rumier looked exactly how Kang Yoon-Soo remembered him to be in his previous lives, but he could not shake off the feeling that something felt amiss about the alchemist in this life.

“I met you over and over again whenever I regressed, just as you say, but this is the first time you’ve been aware of the fact that I’ve been regressing. How did you find out about it?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

Rumier did not respond to his question. Instead, he shifted his gaze toward Iris and said, “Hand the doppelganger over.”

“Answer me,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, raising his sword threateningly.

Berbal gritted its teeth, while Iris stuck close to Kang Yoon-Soo.

Rumier suddenly asked, “Are you curious as to how I am aware of so many things?”

Kang Yoon-Soo tightened his grip on his sword.

Rumier continued, “I have a partner that I work with. He whispered to me one day and told me everything there was to know about the world, and I agreed to work with him for his cause. That is also the reason why this will be your final life, and why so many variables appeared in your final life.”

‘Partner?’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. He suddenly remembered what Sylphia had told him—that the Demon Lord was not the enemy.

‘There is someone out there who knows about your regression and wants you dead.’

The alchemist’s so-called partner had created so many variables because they wanted Kang Yoon-Soo dead.

Kang Yoon-Soo asked in a low voice, “Who is your partner?”

“The most vicious and evil villain in the world,” Rumier said while taking a step forward. He added, “The King of All Things, Sirian. He is my partner.”

The King of All Things, Sirian… Kang Yoon-Soo had never expected to hear that name emerge from Rumier’s lips. Was the alchemist saying that Sirian was the one behind all of the changes in this final life? But why?

“What’s your goal?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“For the Demon Lord to destroy the world,” Rumier replied.

“Then all of you will die as well,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

It would be exactly as he said if the Demon Lord won. Everything would crumble, and everyone would die—everyone in this world.

Shaneth, Henrick, and even Iris.

Everyone would die, leaving behind nothing but destruction. Kang Yoon-Soo wanted to prevent that from happening.

However, Rumier seemed to have other ideas. He said, “That is how it should be.”

It was a very blunt response. Kang Yoon-Soo felt a very strong sense of revulsion, as the alchemist’s response seemingly invalidated all the struggles he had gone through.

The impending doom that would come no matter how much he struggled, and the despair he always felt in the face of the power that would take away everything beloved and precious to him… Rumier’s dismissive tone made it seem as if everything Kang Yoon-Soo had fought for was for naught.

Kang Yoon-Soo’s composure slowly started to crumble. He asked with a hint of hostility and anger in his voice, “Everyone has to die? What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

“All of us have to disappear. You, me, and even the King of All Things. That is the natural order that must be maintained,” Rumier said seriously.

Kang Yoon-Soo could no longer continue to listen to the alchemist while holding himself back. He readied his sword and said, “Explain everything in detail. What is your objective in capturing Iris alive? Explain the reason why the world has to be destroyed by the Demon Lord, too.”

“I know you will not stop even if I explain everything to you,” Rumier said.

Kang Yoon-Soo walked toward the alchemist, and Rumier walked toward the regressor. The distance between them started to close bit by bit.

“What do you want from me?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“The doppelganger, and your death,” Rumier replied.

“I refuse to give you either,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“I expected you to say that,” Rumier replied.

The two men stared at each other, and a battle broke out almost instantly. The moment Kang Yoon-Soo tried to swing his sword at Rumier, Berbal dashed and swung his claws.

Clang!

The demon’s hard claws deflected the sword. Berbal said with a grimace, “I have never shown this much patience with my prey in front of me. Can I eat him now?”

“As long as you don’t touch the doppelganger,” Rumier replied.

“I thought I was going to die waiting!” Berbal shouted, spreading the six wings on its back and roaring, “Kruuuwaaaaah!” 

Berbal flew toward Kang Yoon-Soo immediately after, its six wings propelling it forward with tremendous force. Although Kang Yoon-Soo instinctively dodged, the demon was still a step faster than him.

“Kang Yoon-Soo!” Iris shouted, spreading her wings. She flew as quickly as she could and caught Kang Yoon-Soo after he was flung back by the demon.

Kang Yoon-Soo grimaced for a moment, but did not make a sound. He thought, ‘It seems as if my ribs are cracked.’

He felt excruciating pain in his chest, as if his lungs were about to be ripped apart, even though the demon’s attack had barely grazed him. Meanwhile, the demon prepared to strike once again.

Kang Yoon-Soo found it strange that a proud demon like Berbal was listening to Rumier’s commands. Whatever the reason was, he had to get rid of Berbal first before he could get any more answers from Rumier.

‘Berbal is a high-ranking demon.’

Berbal was a vicious and powerful monster, and it was also the demon they had to kill so they could reach the magic tower. However, it would not be easy to go up against the demon while his godly powers were sealed.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo was well aware of the demon’s weakness. Demons became weaker against light and holy power the higher their ranks were. Although the demon race was a powerful race that was gifted both physically and magically, their critical weaknesses were common knowledge. On top of that, Berbal was a demon that inhabited a mountain perpetually covered in fog, which would make it even more susceptible to light.

“Fwaaaaaah!” Iris exhaled dragon breath toward the demon.

However, Berbal did not even attempt to avoid the fire breath. In fact, the demon smiled and said, “This is the first time I’ve seen a doppelganger that can use a dragon’s breath.”

The demon snapped its fingers, and the dragon breath that was about to hit it suddenly made a sharp turn and flew toward Kang Yoon-Soo. However, Kang Yoon-Soo lowered his stance to dodge the breath, which narrowly passed over his head. He raised his right hand and burned something in his hand using the flames—it was an angel’s hair.

Fwooooosh!

A blinding pillar of light shot down from the heavens toward the foggy mountain.

[The angel, Yuriel, has descended.]

[This is the angel’s fourth descent onto the continent!]

[Time Remaining: 1 hour.]

The time Kang Yoon-Soo’s guardian angel could spend on the continent should have been increased by a full day after he became a god, but his godly powers had been sealed by the God Breaker.

Yuriel looked at Kang Yoon-Soo and exclaimed, “Thanks for calling me, insignificant god!” However, she tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Huh? But why can’t I feel the power of a god from you?”

Kang Yoon-Soo did not have the luxury to chat and immediately said, “Yuriel, fight against that demon.”

Berbal gritted its teeth and screamed, “Angel!”

The angel and demon races were always at odds with each other, which was why the demon immediately became hostile toward the angel without asking any questions.

Yuriel asked, “Is that a bad guy?”

Angels could be corrupted if they killed an innocent creature, which was why they tried to avoid killing anything as much as they could.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and replied, “Yeah.”

Only after confirming that Berbal was indeed an evil creature did Yuriel begin channeling a destructive holy light.

Kang Yoon-Soo did not expect Yuriel to lose against the demon. Although the demon had a higher level than Yuriel, she was still an angel in the end. At the very least, he had managed to come up with a strategy in a split second. He planned to ambush Rumier while Yuriel was keeping the demon busy, thinking confidently, ‘I can take Rumier on.’

Although Rumier Kazan was a skilled alchemist, Kang Yoon-Soo was certain he could beat him in a fight. Subduing the alchemist would not be difficult at all as long as the demon was out of his way.

However, the plan failed.

As the angel and the demon were about to clash, Yuriel fired a beam of light from her hands. However, Rumier quickly intervened and threw a thick, dirty cloth toward the light. The alchemist seemed to have infused the cloth with magic, as it accurately followed the light beam, maneuvering directly into its path.

“Huh?” Yuriel exclaimed, trying to change the direction of the light beam, but it was too late.

“Guaaah!”

Screams emerged from within the cloth that the alchemist threw, and smoke began to rise from it. Several small creatures squirmed beneath it before abruptly ceasing all movement, seemingly dead.

Yuriel’s face turned ghastly pale as she witnessed what had just happened.

Rumier said coldly, “Demons are not the only ones with a critical weakness. Angels have theirs too.”

The cloth soon unraveled itself, revealing its contents for all to see—they were dead fairies. They had all died after being hit by the angel’s light.

Tears started welling up Yuriel’s eyes as she cried out, “N-No…!”

She had even been scared of killing the Vampire Lord, who was infamous for his evil deeds, but she had just killed innocent creatures without any justification.

[Yuriel has killed 32 innocent fairies!]

[A harsh penalty will be applied to the angel for her sins!]

[Yuriel has become a fallen angel!]

“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!” 

Yuriel’s scream reverberated across the entire mountain. The light that surrounded her body slowly faded away, and her soft white wings slowly turned black and lost their luster. She slowly descended to the ground while lamenting in despair, “I killed… Sniff… Sniff… I killed those innocent fairies…!”

[Your guardian angel, Yuriel, has become a fallen angel.]

[A fallen angel has to save a number of souls equal to the ones she has slain to be redeemed.]

[Her remaining time on the continent has been reduced to five minutes.]

[Yuriel has lost all of her holy power.]

It was the corruption of an angel!

Kang Yoon-Soo had never seen an angel’s fall before. Not only did fallen angels lose their holy powers, their time on the continent was significantly reduced as well. He finally realized why Yuriel had been so scared of becoming corrupted after seeing the penalties that were applied to her.

Berbal raised his hand toward Yuriel, who was slumped on the ground, trembling. Berbal said, “Serves you right, angel. I guess I’ll be able to taste a delicacy and have some fun today.”

Yuriel had lost the holy power that would let her fight against the demon, making her nothing but a damsel in distress in Berbal’s eyes.

Just as Berbal’s large black hands were about to grab the fallen angel, however, Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly intervened. He muttered, “Annihilation Slash.”

Clang!

As Kang Yoon-Soo slashed the demon’s hand with his strongest skill, Iris swooped in and carried Yuriel away from the demon.

“You insignificant creatures sure love to struggle,” Berbal grumbled. The demon grimaced for a moment before swinging its claws at the human. However, Kang Yoon-Soo used Annihilation Slash once again and his blade clashed against the demon’s claws.

Clang!

Baaam!

Kang Yoon-Soo was flung back by the clash with the demon. He felt his wrist tingling after the impact, which had left his sword vibrating.

Iris, who had been consoling Yuriel, quickly looked back and worriedly exclaimed, “Kang Yoon-Soo! Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. He looked at Yuriel after standing up. It seemed that the angel could not get over the shock of taking innocent lives, which was evident in her lifeless eyes.

‘This was unexpected…’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought, biting his lip.

He had never expected Rumier to be aware of the angels’ weakness as well. The alchemist in front of him was on a different level compared to the previous foes he had faced. One of Kang Yoon-Soo’s greatest strengths was the fact that he had information from his previous lives that allowed him to beat opponents stronger than him, but Rumier seemed to be aware of all that, as well as other things that even Kang Yoon-Soo was unaware of. Although Rumier was merely a weak alchemist, such opponents were usually the most difficult ones to deal with.

‘This life is the first time I’ve seen Helkin using the God Breaker, now that I think about it. It seems as if the god-killing sword was Rumier’s work,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. He had no idea how the alchemist had managed to pull it off, but he was certain that Rumier was aware of every single move he was about to make. ‘I’m sure he wasn’t able to notice the smallest, most insignificant details, though.’

Rumier would have abducted Iris in a much simpler way if he had been able to see through even the smallest of things Kang Yoon-Soo did, but the alchemist had not done that.

Kang Yoon-Soo extended his right hand toward the demon and muttered, “Summon Light.”

A blinding light shot out from his hand, forming into the Spirit of Light. Light would not be as strong as an angel, but she was more than enough to keep the demon at bay for a while.

Berbal grimaced and groaned, “Ugh, light again?”

Kang Yoon-Soo commanded, “Light, keep the demon busy.”

Light’s normally radiant smile had disappeared after she got into an argument with Sharp. She simply nodded and replied, “Alright.”

She fired a beam of light toward the demon, but Berbal instantly dodged it.

While Light was keeping the demon busy, Kang Yoon-Soo walked over to the angel and called her name. “Yuriel.”

“I killed them… I killed those innocent fairies… with my own hands…” Yuriel muttered, wallowing in guilt. It would be difficult for her to participate in combat in her current state.

Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly said, “Don’t feel guilty about it.”

“I’m really sorry… Insignificant god…” Yuriel murmured before looking up at Kang Yoon-Soo with her puffy eyes. Just then, her time on the continent ran out, and she disappeared in a pillar of light.

“Be careful!” Iris shouted urgently.

Kang Yoon-Soo quickly swung his sword, but Berbal was a step ahead of him.

Sukeok!

The demon’s claws managed to slash a deep wound across Kang Yoon-Soo’s abdomen. Kang Yoon-Soo staggered backward while bleeding, and Berbal picked up Light in one hand like a ragdoll before tossing her toward a tree.

“Kyaaaaah!” Light screamed before slamming against the tree. The impact instantly exhausted her life force, and she was forcibly recalled back to the summon dimension.

“The light that spirit was shooting was annoying, but I just had to keep avoiding it,” Berbal grumbled, clicking his tongue.

Rumier took a step forward and said, “Hand over the doppelganger, Kang Yoon-Soo. Then, I can promise you a painless death.”

Kang Yoon-Soo’s breathing was ragged, and he only had one trick left up his sleeves. He had to stall for time until his companions managed to restore his godly powers.

“Rumier, I know your aim is to capture the doppelganger,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Rumier had previously ordered Berbal not to harm the doppelganger. Kang Yoon-Soo had no idea why the alchemist would say something like that, but he was certain that Rumier’s main goal was to capture Iris alive.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly grabbed Iris’ hand and pulled her over to him.

Iris, who had been on guard and ready to fight at a moment’s notice, was perplexed. She looked at him and asked softly, “Kang Yoon-Soo…?”

“I’ll give you pie later,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, before abruptly pulling her closer and placing his sword against her neck. He then said to Rumier, “If you’re aware of my regression… You must be aware that I’ve killed this doppelganger countless times in my previous lives.”

Berbal growled, “You despicable coward!”

Rumier asked in a low voice, “What do you think you are doing?”

“I’ll kill this doppelganger if you take one more step toward me,” Kang Yoon-Soo said threateningly, putting some pressure on the blade.

A thin line of blood appeared on Iris’ smooth neck, and her face turned ghastly pale. She muttered, “Kang Yoon-Soo is a really bad person.”

That was right. Kang Yoon-Soo had taken his own companion hostage at that moment.