Leveling Up Alone

“Hmm?”

Han-Yeol looked around his surroundings after sensing the immense mana.

‘I think I’ve felt this mana before… Why does it feel so familiar?’

[H-Heok! H-Han-Yeol-nim! T-This mana is!]

‘What’s wrong? It does feel familiar, but I can’t really put a finger on it…’

[A-Angel! It’s an angel!]

“Ah!”

Han-Yeol would usually keep his conversations with Karvis private in his mind, but what Karvis said made him gasp out loud from shock.

‘An angel?! Why an angel?!’

The thought of the mana belonging to an angel did cross Han-Yeol’s mind. After all, he had fought against the angel serving Kubera in a dungeon in the past and suffered greatly in that battle. He did consider that there could be angels in Kubera’s presence, but he did not expect the angel at all, as he thought only Kubera and the Dragon of Destruction were there.

Shockingly, the angels suddenly made their appearance.

‘Damn it!’ Han-Yeol roared inwardly.

The angels flapped their wings and raised their weapons at Han-Yeol.

“Kiki!”

Han-Yeol was serious for a few seconds, but he soon started snickering like a demon again.

“Yes, at least be like this to keep things interesting.”

[Foolish creature. This is the end of your arrogance.]

[Lord Kubera has spoken! You shall now die!]

Ziiiing!

The angels unleashed their light attribute mana all over the place.

‘Light… Kikiki!’

Han-Yeol was currently in demon form, so the light attribute of the angels should be highly effective against him. However, Han-Yeol was not one hundred percent a demon, and he still possessed the light attribute in his skill tree.

[Hey, Human. Do you want our help? We might not have joined the Transdimensional Space Association, but the demon world is still a part of it as a whole. We can summon the demons if you’d like.]

[...]

Lucifer asked Han-Yeol if he wanted help from the demon world, but strangely enough, Astaroth was quiet for some reason. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest as if observing the situation. Based on her temperament so far, she should be kicking up a fuss by now, offering to summon the demons too.

“No, it is alright.”

[Hmm? It’s alright?]

Lucifer thought Han-Yeol would immediately accept his offer, but he was slightly flustered when his offer was rejected.

“Kiki! So what if it’s not alright?”

[Hmm… I’m more worried about your mental state now.]

“Kiki! Kikiki!”

Lucifer was starting to get concerned about Han-Yeol’s mental well-being after he turned into a demon. Even he, a demon lord, found it erratic that Han-Yeol would be serious for a moment and then suddenly start cackling like a demon out of the blue.

[Don’t drop your guard just because we are against a human. We will end this battle swiftly, as that is Lord Kubera’s wish.]

[Yes, we understand.]

Woooong!

The angels serving Kubera were all armed with lances crafted from silver. The dozens of angels aimed their lances at Han-Yeol—the sight of them would send shivers down anyone’s spine.

[Attack!]

[Attaaaack!]

Wooong! Bam!

The army of angels serving Kubera, the Valkyries, charged at Han-Yeol without leaving any gaps for him to escape, and it seemed that Han-Yeol would be skewered by the fierce charge.

The Valkyries’ charge might seem like a piercing attack at first, but they suddenly gathered their mana at the tip of their lances and would explode the moment they thrust them.

[Is it over?]

[That was too easy.]

The Valkyries retreated a few steps after the explosions and waited for the smoke to clear.

[Hmm?!]

[As expected.]

Boom!

A shockwave erupted from where Han-Yeol was standing, and the smoke cleared up instantaneously.

Ziiiiing!

[W-What?!]

[H-How can this be?]

The Valkyries should be calm at all times, but they were flustered at what they witnessed.

The Valkyrie Captain raised her voice, and the angels finally calmed down.

[Calm down!]

[...]

They were flustered earlier because Han-Yeol’s appearance after the smoke cleared was simply too shocking.

[Oh?]

[What’s that?]

“...”

Even Astaroth, Lucifer, and Kubera were surprised after seeing Han-Yeol’s appearance.

Wooong!

Han-Yeol was standing with both arms slightly apart with his palms facing up, and an orb made out of darkness was in one hand while an orb made out of light was in the other.

Even the magic-loving demons could conjure a ball of light if they wished to, but there was no way the orb of light Han-Yeol conjured was ordinary.

[Wow… Just who in the world is he? I didn’t expect him to use both the powers of darkness and the powers of purification at the same time.]

Was it even possible to wield the power of pure darkness that demons relied on and the pure powers of light that angels used? Even Lucifer and Astaroth, who had reached the pinnacle of the demon world and could no longer remember how many years they had lived, could not recall ever seeing something like that.

In fact, even Kubera found the phenomenon in front of him impossible.

However, Han-Yeol was currently doing the impossible right in front of their eyes.

“Let darkness and light become one.”

Shwooong!

The surprise was far from over, as he did not simply wield both powers. Han-Yeol’s body reverted to that of a human, and he absorbed the two orbs of darkness and light into his body.

[I-Is that?!]

[...Really?!]

“...”

The two polar opposite energies did not conflict with each other. Instead, they harmonized together in Han-Yeol’s body.

Woooong!

Han-Yeol’s body started to change bit by bit. One eye turned golden while the other turned purple. His hair turned silver, and his body was riddled with black and white tattoos.

Chwak!

Then, the highlight of his transformation was the identical wings that sprouted on his back—one was white while the other was black. This was the appearance of a completely new race that had not existed in the entire universe.

[Was this even possible?]

[Astaroth.]

[Hmm?]

[Try pinching me. I’d like to see if I’m currently dreaming or not.]

Kwachik!

Astaroth would not deny the offer to inflict pain on someone willingly asking for it.

[Argh! Damn it! That hurts!]

[So this isn’t a dream?]

[Damn it! Yeah, it’s not!]

Lucifer teared up a bit after confirming that he was not dreaming.

Meanwhile, Kubera had not uttered a single word since, but neither Astaroth nor Lucifer paid attention to him. The two demon lords were much more interested in the mystery surrounding Han-Yeol’s sudden transformation.

“Phew… I didn’t expect this to be possible.”

[Congratulations, Han-Yeol-nim. You have surpassed another wall.]

‘Thanks, Karvis.’

[It is my pleasure.]

Whoosh!

Gusts of wind blew around Han-Yeol. The winds were silver and black, so they were not that different from the ones that blew whenever Han-Yeol turned into a demon.

However, the sheer quality and quantity of mana he could feel surging throughout his body completely differed from before.

Also, Han-Yeol could clearly see it.

Ding!

[You have unlocked the ultimate secret of Skill Combination and combined darkness and light into one.]

[You are the first creature to go against the principle set by the God of Creation and combine the uncombinable elements together.]

[You have discovered a new power that has never existed in the entire universe.]

[Affinity toward Light and Darkness has been set to 100%]

[You have obtained a new attribute: Chaos.]

[Affinity toward Chaos has been set to 100%]

[You may infuse the Chaos Attribute to all of your skills.]

[You have obtained the title Lion of Chaos.]

[All of your stats have been adjusted.]

[You have obtained the power to destroy angels and demons.]

Han-Yeol smirked after reading the string of messages that appeared in front of his eyes.

‘Chaos…’

He thought that the new attribute he gained was quite interesting.

[What should we do, Captain?]

The angels sounded the same even after witnessing Han-Yeol’s shocking transformation, but anyone sensitive to others' emotions could easily tell that they felt anxious.

An angel was always calm and did not experience emotional fluctuations. All the more, the Valkyries were elite of the elites, so they had near-perfect control over their emotions. However, they could not help but be shaken and feel nervous the moment they witnessed an unprecedented universal phenomenon.

Kubera, Astaroth, and Lucifer had no idea what was happening, so the angels would not know either.

[What do you mean? Our mission is simple: we have to kill that human.]

[Yes, Captain!]

Indeed, they were caught off guard by Han-Yeol’s sudden transformation, but they did not lose sight of their mission.

[Lord Kubera has sentenced you to death, human!]

Chwak!

The Valkyries raised their lances, spread their wings like they did earlier, and charged toward Han-Yeol. This time, their attack carried a far stronger force than the one earlier, as the Valkyries squeezed every ounce of their strength so as not to fail twice.

The angels were calm creatures, but that did not mean they were not competitive. The Valkyries refused to fail again and swore to kill Han-Yeol with this attack.

Haaaap!

The Valkyries raised their voices and thrust their lances at Han-Yeol. Even a high-ranking demon would find it difficult to evade their attack.

“Hmm… Why does your attack feel so weak this time?” Han-Yeol muttered.

[Hmm?!]

[W-What?]

[Impossible…!]

Han-Yeol blocked the Valkyries’ with a barrier he conjured with just the wave of his hand, and they could no longer take even a step closer to him. The combined attack of the Valkyries getting blocked by a hastily conjured barrier was unheard of, and this dealt a huge blow to their pride.

[Again!]

[Yes, Captain!]

Whoosh!

The Valkyries retreated and prepared to attack once again. This time, they gathered their mana with the resolve to kill Han-Yeol once and for all.

To be precise, they tried to gather their mana.

“Hey, we can only attack once per turn. You shouldn’t cheat like that, you know?”

[What?]

Shwak!

Han-Yeol suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of one of the angels.

[Die!]

The angel was not flustered and immediately thrust her lance at Han-Yeol.

Shwiiik!

Thud!

[Hmm?!]

The angel put all her strength behind the attack, but Han-Yeol easily grabbed the lance with his bare hands.

[D-Damn it–!]

Chwak!

The angel could not finish her words as her head flew in the blink of an eye. Han-Yeol swung his sword so fast that the angel was unaware she was dead.

Gasp!

The Valkyries could no longer keep their calm this time. They knew Han-Yeol was a formidable foe based on his battle against the Dragon of Destruction, but they did not expect him to kill an angel with a single strike.

[Don’t face him alone! Work together!]

[Yes, Captain!]

Han-Yeol felt fear toward the angels when he first encountered one at the dungeon, but the same angels looked so weak and pathetic to him now. In fact, he could not help but feel sorry for them while watching them scramble and rush to their deaths just because someone commanded them to.

“Hey, you guys are so troublesome,” Han-Yeol grumbled.

Puuuuk!

Kyahh!

Han-Yeol was a little far away from the Valkyries, but he suddenly appeared in front of another angel and stabbed his sword into her heart, instantly erasing her existence.

[S-She disappeared?!]

[H-How can this be?!]