Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

The Great War of Humans and Demons (12)

Abundant spiritual energy. Powerful mental strength.

Two summoned creatures of equal rank.

It was an excessive spec compared to other 5-star S-rank heroes.

These were numbers that wouldn’t be strange even if he achieved a breakthrough tomorrow morning.

The assessment of Mordu the Overlord, the green-skinned monster, that his fighting power was comparable to most Awakened, was no mere flattery.

The numbers showed it. And yet, he was weak.

He thought that if he accumulated practice with the Shindammu and Cheonmok Yeonhwa techniques, then attempted a breakthrough by obtaining the Jaharyeonggeun, it would be resolved.

He believed that breaking through to a new realm would fill in what was lacking.

‘Did I take a wrong turn somewhere?’

He didn’t know the starting point. He was even confused about which direction was correct. But the genius brain, enhanced by the experience of being a former Clohi ranker, quietly mused:

Perhaps Isaac’s method of hero development had been misaligned from the moment he obtained spiritual energy.

Swoosh!

A trajectory of death is drawn. It was an axe drenched in blood. The shadowy curtain surrounding the area is split wide open.

If Final Finish were activated, the two Emperor-class Greenkins would vanish without a trace.

The teeth and claws of the enhanced ultimate technique would tear through their massive bones and organs, and Ifrit’s blue flames would scatter their corpses as black ashes.

‘What went wrong?’

Hence, this battle was a review.

It was an introspective exploration, tracing back through builds and tech trees to observe oneself.

If breaking through to a new realm was merely a launching mechanism for using ‘Final Finish – Unlimited Mode’, that would be a bitter story in itself.

If possible, it should be the full package.

If he succeeds in breaking through his limits and reaches the realm of awakening, he should be able to attain skills worthy of being called absolute even without Final Finish.

Swish!

Under the great axe that cleaved through the inky waves, a sinister wooden club flew in and struck his forearm.

Clang!

The hardened body shook with the rebound. As he staggered from dizziness, a blood-colored giant force swept in.

Isaac quickly raised a forest of shadows.

Whoosh-

Crack!

As the tree of darkness split diagonally, an axe lodged into the hardened forearm. It was a heavy impact. An overwhelming destructive power.

But it was bearable.

The hardening skill enhanced by abundant spiritual energy had made his body as hard as adamantine.

His defense could be called excellent. He wore a hero suit set with a defense-oriented core, on top of abundant spiritual energy and combat skill hardening.

It was a result fitting the numbers.

This body could go toe-to-toe with Emperor-class monsters.

‘Isaac was never meant to be a hero in the first place.’

Isaac is a commander.

A commander directs the battlefield. He controls heroes to purify disasters, and uses commander skills and battle items at the right time and place.

Rather than a dealer or tank, he was closer to a supporter, and fundamentally, he doesn’t even appear on the combat screen.

Bang! Boom!

The pitch-black wooden club was swung mightily. His forearm ached and his head spun.

Creak-

The shadow forest bends.

It was a shadow domain that applied the wood attribute mystical powers of the Cheonmok Yeonhwa technique. The King of Shadows was useful in all situations. Proficient in both defense and offense.

He had obtained a hidden unique magic stone that should only be available in Season 2, in exchange for facing mortal danger.

“Urgh! You bastard!”

General Orcish took a trembling step forward. It was a powerful crowd control skill. It was easily suppressing the movements of the Emperor-class monster.

Even excluding pure combat power, Isaac was versatile. A hero capable of dealing damage, tanking, and supporting.

‘That’s why it’s ambiguous.’

Creak-

The dark waves gathered to form a spear tens of meters long. The shadow spearman that had grown wriggled and grasped it.

This is how the King of Shadows realizes the caster’s imagination into reality.

Bang!

The long weapon was fired towards Orcish, who was pinned down by shadows. That consumed 10% of his spiritual energy.

“Grr! This annoying…”

Skilled in grappling techniques. As hard as steel.

It wasn’t the capacity one would expect from a 5-star Ethereal.

When struck hard, he merely stumbled, and quickly hid in the shadow rainforest.

‘Fortunately, his attack skills are poor.’

It was annoying as hell. Literally. The guy was just prey that was annoying to hunt, still a tempting victim.

Swish.

General Orcish brushed off his chest where the shadow spear had stabbed. There was a scratch on the armor. But it didn’t break. It didn’t pierce through.

Whoosh-

Boom.

A black tiger and a blue firebird were summoned on either side of the prey. To summon two equal-rank creatures again. He was a guy with mysteriously abundant magical power.

‘But the attacks not working goes both ways.’

Above all, a sense of incongruity crept in.

A prey more heartless than the predator. The face that should have been steeped in fear, terror, and desperation was still etched with faint boredom and tedium.

“Mordu! We must end this with the next strike.”

There’s a sense of incongruity.

The guy’s attitude is not desirable. It’s discordant and eerily awkward.

His bored approach to battle was like that of a strategist overseeing a war.

Annoyance and fear.

Prey and predator.

The symmetrical concepts are about to be shaken. The annoyance of the prey that should have been subdued long ago dares to make the predators anxious.

Roar!

Overlord Mordu’s aura blazed like an active volcano. The blood-colored great axe, the legendary-grade weapon ‘Blood Sound’, let out a frenzied cry.

[Club-Axe Fusion Technique]

[Thunder Storm]

Crackle!

The weapons of the two Greenkin warriors who had been sweeping the battlefield with axe and club were imbued with brilliant lightning.

Clang!

The dynamically crossed weapons flashed. Explosive lightning pushed back the forest of shadows.

The history written by the Black Hammer tribe chief and the general who once ruled the wilderness spread widely, carried by thunder.

The axe and club seemed to shout. With this, the lifeline of the annoying prey would be cut.

Wooong!

“…!”

“What is this!?”

The true nature of the discomfort.

The unease that perhaps the roles of predator and prey had been reversed touched the skin of the Greenkin warriors.

The opponent had been hiding their true strength.

We’re going to die. We’re going to be eaten. We need to run away.

Roaaaar!

The black tiger’s ferocious beast roared.

Hair standing on end and consciousness blurring. The black tiger, which had been split and reverse-summoned with the blood-colored axe, had its rank increased by two levels.

It was a higher-level entity that shouldn’t exist in this small world.

The blue-flamed phoenix and the emotionless human species. Just looking at them made one feel like kneeling. Resistance was futile.

Whoosh—

Bang!

Mordu and Orcish leapt into the air simultaneously.

Isaac didn’t even bother to command his summons, merely waving his hand in the air.

Crunch!

Before they could even leave the village, the Greenkin Emperors were caught in the grip of shadows and reduced to near-death states.

It could hardly be called a fight.

This was the difference in rank between an Emperor and a late 6-star. It was like an adult man swatting a mosquito.

─Please, at least spare our primal spirit bodies!

─We’ll become your subordinates. We’ll form a soul contract, so please give us a chance to recover…!

“No need.”

Whoosh—

The primal spirit bodies residing in the highest-grade magic stones were completely annihilated by the shadows.

Isaac not only took the highest-grade magic stones from the corpses of Overlord Mordu and General Orcish, but also their molars and bones, and even thoroughly emptied their magical spaces.

Inside were also included refined Iron Jade stones and the blueprint for the unique weapon Star Cloud Sword that could be crafted from Iron Jade stones.

“So this is why they were so obsessed with Iron Jade stones.”

Including various other items, he had gained a total of 80,000 magic stones’ worth of profit from this journey.

While the Yurim wasn’t the land where the Purple Spirit Root was planted, he had acquired it through Overlord Mordu. Having achieved what he wanted, his interest in the Silver Sky Forest waned significantly.

Although the relationship with the White-faced Dragon, the strongest ethereal being in the Silver Sky Forest, was somewhat awkward, he could easily refuse the ancient ruin exploration by citing Earth’s circumstances.

Isaac, having left the workshop, spoke with spiritual power:

“You are free now. Return to where you lived or stay here as you wish.”

The village slaves and Greenkins were too afraid to even look up at Isaac.

Even if they had participated in human butchery, it would have been forced labor under Overlord Mordu’s orders.

He didn’t want to punish the helpless civilians for the sin of fratricide they had committed.

‘May you live well.’

Unintentionally, he had purged the disaster known as Overlord Mordu. The outsider’s help ended here. The rest was up to the Silver Sky Forest.

“Noah, I’m returning to Earth.”

Flash!

Isaac was enveloped in brilliant light.

When the intense light faded, his figure was nowhere to be seen.

====

***

====

Republic of Korea.

Champion Citadel.

Today, unfamiliar faces occupied the seats usually taken by the association’s executives.

Their races and attire were diverse. The auras they exuded were also varied.

The eyes of the Machine Commander, the next Hero Association President who stood beside Sword Emperor Baek Mu-seong, Korea’s first awakened, flashed a cold blue.

‘This is a scene I’ve only imagined. A true Earth Alliance.’

Temporary World Hero Association.

In fact, a practical world alliance had already begun.

The resolute will to control global disasters and aim for a better future under one government and one association had moved global society.

As the elites from around the world were gathered, their profiles were nothing short of spectacular.

The Eternal Hero, The One, and Vanguard and Queen flanking him. Even Robert Stonewell, the president of the American Hero Association.

America’s representative S-class heroes, accounting for half of the world’s only six awakened beings.

It was a display befitting the birthplace of heroes.

‘Now I can really feel that Japan has surpassed China.’

Across from the American contingent.

A samurai with two swords at his waist yawns widely. This was Musashi, Japan’s awakened.

“Yawn~ I’m sleepy.”

He remained carefree even in the face of humanity’s fate. For an absolute being who had achieved the ultimate by roaming through deadly situations, his behavior was rather frivolous.

“Oh come on, please maintain some dignity?”

The brown-haired bob-cut girl sitting next to him grumbled. Japan’s S-class dark hero, Fear, seemed to have a close relationship with Musashi.

‘It should have been a reassuring presence originally.’

On the other hand, China’s representative was only Jincheon Noeje, who had become the temporary leader of the martial arts alliance.

Caught in a series of ultra-high-grade disasters, China had lost its awakened Master Cheongun and former alliance leader Woo Hwa-jin, along with other S-class heroes.

Unfortunately, the list of casualties also included Korea’s heroes God Hand and Yeom-je. It was a shared pain of fellow sufferers.

There were many other notable heroes as well.

India’s strongest S-class hero Indra, Europe’s representative S-class hero Storm, and even Knight, the symbol of peace in the Middle East.

The cream of the crop of heroes from around the world had gathered. Right here, at the Champion Citadel, the headquarters of the Korean Hero Association.

Boom!

“…He’s here.”

Everyone’s heads turned towards the eastern sky.

Crackle!

Rip.

The barrier surrounding the Champion Citadel tore like paper. Through the gap, a demon with four wings came flying in.

Crash!

He made a dramatic entrance by unnecessarily shattering the glass windows. The demon’s eccentric nature was fully on display.

It was Nakhal, the Great Demon General of the Northern Demons.

Slurp.

The monster of heaven-defying power licked his lips.

The Sword Emperor, who had clashed with him once before, frowned.

The Great Demon General looked around and asked:

“Where is the Great Cultivator?”

“If you’re referring to Sir Isaac, he’s away at the moment.”

“Away? Tsk, to think the representative of the adjacent world would be missing from negotiations. You’ve got some nerve. Preparing such a feast and making me wait.”

“That remains to be seen. Don’t underestimate our heroes’ ‘talents’.”

The Sword Emperor’s eyes flashed a cold blue.

The Great Demon General, despite his foul temper, was here today in the capacity of an envoy.

Rustle.

He unfurled a red scroll.

“You have two choices. Choose wisely.”