Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 125

Theodren, who was conducting a ritual with his staff inserted into the iron box, appeared utterly defenseless.
The bipedal tiger monster bared its claws, emitting negative energy.
“You’ve managed to reach the command center. Though you’ll die by my hand here, is the World Stone inside that box?”
“It seems you’ve done your homework on me.”
“Hmph! The small world here maintains the celestial veil. From the beginning, your goal must have been the World Stone that sustains the veil. Treasures beyond your means will only shorten your life! Accept your fate quietly.”
– Gurgle. –
The tiger monster tilted a chalice filled with red blood, drenching itself. Immediately, a wave of corrupted energy surged through its body, as if a red demon had grown within it.
Despite this, the young man in heavy armor continued to mutter in an unknown language, never letting go of the staff in his right hand.
“If you wish to die gracefully, I’ll grant you a swift end!”
– Swoosh―. –
– Clang! –
Just before the tiger monster’s claws could pierce the young man’s back, two warriors made of complex machinery appeared like mirages and pushed the tiger monster away.
The two warriors were magic machine soldiers in the form of knights, each wielding a greatsword and a spear.
“Two mid-6-star magic machine soldiers! These must be the works of the mechanist Ellora!”
“Indeed. And not just any works. These are from the ‘Righteous Blade, Noble Spear’ series, of which only ten pairs were ever made. Each pair can stand against a late-6-star entity. Now, entertain yourself with them and leave me be.”
– Clang―. –
The swordsman and the spearman clashed their weapons. Blue flames erupted from their weapons, completely engulfing them in a blazing inferno.
The tiger monster, now cloaked in demonic energy, ground its teeth.
“Holy Flame! You knew I would come to this Grand Commander War.”
Meanwhile, the young man in heavy armor had no intention of further communicating with the tiger monster. He summoned multiple layers of magic circles, accelerating the unsealing of the ritual.
The tiger monster’s already hideous face twisted into a grotesque mask of rage.
“I will offer your head to my brothers’ graves. Haaap!”
– Slash―. –
– Clang! –
The tiger monster’s claws raked across the spearman’s chest, but the armor only sparked, leaving a long mark. The swordsman seized the opening, slashing horizontally at the monster’s exposed waist with his blazing holy flame sword.
– Swoosh―. –
– Whoosh! –
The tiger monster narrowly evaded the holy flame sword with a nimble leap. At the same time, crimson particles spewed from its maw, enveloping the two magic machine soldiers.
– Sizzle. –
As the crimson particles adhered to the intricate machinery, they began to rust almost instantly. The tiger monster let out a sinister chuckle and charged forward with ferocity.
– Clang! Clang! Clang! –
The relentless assault of the tiger monster’s coordinated attacks forced the swordsman and spearman back. The movements of the two magic machine soldiers became jerky and unnatural, unlike before.
The battle between the single monster and the two magic machine soldiers continued for another thirty minutes. Ultimately, the tiger monster, cloaked in demonic energy, pierced the core of the constructs with its claws, securing victory.
“Huff, huff. Now it’s your turn.”
– Rumble─. –
The ancient device, with the staff inserted, had transformed into a geometric structure resembling a dodecahedron, akin to a star.
– Wooooong─. –
As the young man in heavy armor infused it with a large amount of mana, the dodecahedron began to spin rapidly.
The tiger monster gritted its teeth and lunged, attempting to strike with its claws. However, the ancient magic inscribed on the structure activated, pinning its body down.
– Boom! –
“Ugh! You… you wretch. Another strange trick!”
Before the tiger monster could fully express its agony, the monsters that had followed it began to enter the interior of the triangular ancient structure one by one.
Surprisingly, among them were the elderly man in black robes and a frog-like monster. It seemed they had formed a temporary alliance with the monsters instead of being killed.
They combined their strength to lift the tiger monster, which was being crushed by gravity, and warily faced the young man in heavy armor, who was now filled with elation.
“Hahaha, hahahahaha!”
– Screech. Rumble. –
– Clank. –
The heavy friction sound of the massive machinery engaging echoed through the chamber. When the young man turned around, the monsters and the elderly man recoiled in shock.
To their horror, demonic wings, tattered and torn, were sprouting from his back.
– Ziiiiing. –
The ceiling of the ancient structure opened wide, and the upper space seemed to distort, revealing a colossal figure. It took the form of an 80-meter-tall giant, its skin a deep purple, with grotesquely torn wings sprouting from its back.
– Swoosh! –
A massive amount of negative energy slowly flowed from the lifeless giant into the young man in heavy armor.
The sight left the monsters and the elderly man in black robes trembling, their mouths agape in shock.
The elderly man muttered in a daze, “A… fallen angel. How could there be a fallen angel…?”
“Gojeok. You’ve been with me for a while, so I’ll give you a choice. Either do Oath of the Heart Demon and become my subordinate, or die here. The choice is yours.”
– Rumble──! –
The young man’s aura had already surpassed the 7-star level, rapidly approaching mid-7-star. The intense energy waves emanating from him made the monsters attempt to flee without looking back.
“You know it’s pointless.”
– Swoosh―. –
– Crunch! –
The purple threads shot out by the young man pierced each monster, causing their bodies to shrivel and compress grotesquely.
The mana stones extracted from their compressed corpses flew towards the young man, merging with him.
The horrifying scene made the frog-like monster and the elderly man in black robes fall to their knees, begging for mercy.
“Senior, please spare us! We will be your loyal servants.”
“We’ll do anything to survive!”
The young man smiled with satisfaction at the pleas of his former comrades.
“A wise decision. While I use the key to activate the World Stone’s power, you two will explore the structure of this command center. We’ve acquired a massive ship; we need to know how to operate it.”
The elderly man in black robes and the frog-like monster were nearly overwhelmed by the young man’s bold declaration. Despite having the key, the idea of owning an ancient ship seemed preposterous.
They could only speculate that the young man’s ancestors were significant figures related to the ancient ship, but they dared not ask.
Swoosh.
The colossal body of the fallen angel began to shrink, and the young man’s power level was now approaching 8-star.
He withdrew the staff and inserted it into a circular disc at the lowest part of the command center.
Immediately, irregular green lights flickered around them, and a holographic image appeared in midair.
The hologram displayed intricate schematics and data about the ancient ship, revealing its vast capabilities and complex systems. The young man, now fully in control, studied the information with keen interest.
=
The hologram took the form of a woman. When the young man in heavy armor muttered something in an alien language, the ship’s systems activated.
The hologram responded in the same alien language, and a screen appeared in midair, displaying a map of the entire small world.
[1%]
[2%]
[3%]
…
Below the map, a mysterious percentage was displayed, slowly increasing. Astonishingly, the percentage seemed to indicate the progress of the Celestial Canopy’s dissolution. As time passed, the massive veil began to disappear from the central sky.
“Once the veil is lifted, we can start by ruling this land. The neighboring realms are bothersome, so we’ll just annihilate them.”
The young man, having absorbed the remains of the fallen angel, spoke of domination and destruction as if they were trivial matters.
– Wooooong―. –
The veil had already receded by over 20%, creating a large hole in the center of the Celestial Canopy. The small world’s demise seemed imminent, as the zoomed-in screen showed various monsters howling in distress.
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***
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My head throbbed, and I felt so lethargic that I couldn’t bring myself to do anything. After a nap, I felt somewhat better, though it seemed like I had narrowly avoided a complete mental breakdown.
‘I shouldn’t use it often.’
The Final Finish Unlimited Mode consumed an enormous amount of mental energy. If I had used this unrestricted version from the first day of my possession, instead of the limited Final Finish, my mental defenses would have crumbled, turning me into a monster on the spot.
I pushed aside the inexplicable pink blanket and struggled to sit up. Ophelia was dozing off beside me. She must have been exhausted from dealing with the Sacred Tree’s persona right after facing the King of Shadows.
Looking back, it had been an incredibly grueling journey. It was hard to believe I had survived until now.
‘So that’s what the progress meant.’
The reason I couldn’t kill a 6-star or higher entity in one strike with the Final Finish wasn’t because of the quest, but because I hadn’t progressed through a certain narrative assigned only to Isaac.
‘The key was my mindset.’
The system had given me numerous trials. I had overcome them with great difficulty, and when faced with death, I chose to become a hero again.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that the system had been meticulously designed to gaslight me into becoming a warrior. But thanks to it, I had come to understand who I was and what I wanted.
“Mmm… Huh? Ah! You’re awake!”
“Thanks to you, I slept well.”
“No, it’s an immense honor for our Grace family to serve a noble angel!”
An angel, huh? So that’s the conclusion this time.
From ‘child’ to ‘hero’ to ‘angel.’ The evolution of my titles had been quite tumultuous.
“I still can’t believe it. A novice saintess like me, on my first mission, gets to accompany an angel! My family won’t believe it.”
Would an explanation even matter?
I had devoured the 200-level Sacred Tree Salarotse using shadows. To easily handle a 200-level entity, one would need to be at least at the level of an immortal, angel, or demon lord.
Among those, an angel was the least morally compromised.
‘But still, this is a bit much.’
Even so, the misconception had to have its limits. What kind of angel? Angels are supposed to be the epitome of good, vanquishing evil.
“Angel, my foot. Think whatever you want.”
“Ah! Yes, I’ll be careful.”
She seemed to take it as a warning not to mention my status carelessly. I gave up trying to correct her. I just wanted to get home safely.
Swoosh.
I drew the Karna Blade.
By using the Final Finish—Unlimited Mode, I had become the rightful owner of the complete key.
「Karna Blade (Fully Unleashed)」
▶ Classification: Weapon ⇨ Sword
▶ Grade: Legendary
▶ Description: The key of the Vice-Captain of The Trial’s Ark.
▶ Effect: Consumes life force to amplify attack power and store a large amount of mana. Also grants control over ‘The Trial’s Ark.’
The method to control the Ark was automatically implanted in my mind. With the ability to control the Ark’s system, nothing could stand in my way.
‘It feels like I’m being led along, though.’
Only after the limiter was removed did the key become fully unleashed. The system’s arrangement was harsh, but everything was likely the will of an omnipotent heaven.
If purchasing the Karna Blade at the expo was part of the system’s design, how could someone like me defy such profound and meticulous heavenly arrangements? Perhaps, if I ever reached the level where I could be called a ‘god,’ things might be different.
– Swoosh…! –
It was at that moment that I sensed an overwhelming surge of negative energy from afar. Just when I thought it was all over, something else had emerged.
“Isaac! This is… Ah, so that’s why…”
Could you just explain instead of understanding it all by yourself? It seemed like an incredibly powerful monster had appeared.
‘It’s coming from the direction of the command center.’
I raised the Karna Blade and accessed the command system. A holographic window appeared in midair, allowing me to input commands.
‘Teleport. Command Center. Isaac. Ophelia.’
Using the ancient language of The Trial’s Ark, I entered the teleportation command, location, and names.
– Wooooong―. –
– Flash! –
Soon, we were enveloped in a brilliant white light.