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A huge explosion rocked the entire city, and a burst of cold wind battered the Players.

“...”

When they opened their eyes, they gulped while staring nervously at the cloud of dust.

‘Please, let this be the end. Please be dead…!’

“Ah…”

However, a massive silhouette emerged from the cloud of dust, eliciting gasps of despair from the crowd.

“I have to admit, that attack was dangerous even for me,” the emperor said. His voice wasn’t calm anymore. He sounded listless as if he had lost something precious. “I wasn’t planning on using them like this…”

“Haaa… haaa…” The exhausted Frost Queen was leaning against a street lamp. She stared at the Red Dragon in disbelief. “No way… this is absurd! How come you’re still alive after getting hit by Fragarach…?”

The Frost Queen had judged that the divine power she possessed was enough to kill the emperor using Fragarach, and she had also launched the attack at the perfect opportunity.

In other words, it didn’t make sense that the emperor was still alive.

“You bastard… what have you done?!” the Frost Queen shouted upon realizing that something was off.

“Ha...” The emperor sighed lightly. The Frost Queen’s attack was so strong that he could only sacrifice them to withstand the Frost Queen’s Fragarach. “Well, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

“...What?”

“I simply used my spare lives ahead of time,” said the emperor.

The Frost Queen’s eyes quivered. She knew exactly what he meant.

“No way. Don’t tell me that you…”

“Tsk! I was planning on using them to take the final step to Transcendence.”

“You… you sacrificed the lives of all the Overminds and failures on this planet…?”

“So what?!” The Red Dragon roared. “I will sacrifice them in the end, anyway!”

“You monster… How brazen of you to call yourself the emperor of an empire…” muttered the Frost Queen while covering her mouth with both of her hands.

The emperor chuckled and jeered, “You must be pretty upset that you couldn\'t kill me.”

The emperor looked around. He had also sacrificed a ton of Force to block Fragarach, but there was still enough Force in the air for him to use.

“Unfortunately, this is your harsh reality. It is over, and it is your defeat.”

The emperor’s words weighed heavily on the Frost Queen’s shoulders.

The Players were so exhausted that they could no longer stand up, while the emperor looked more energetic than ever after devouring the Force of every Overmind on the continent.

“I will devour all of you, and I’ll also head downstairs to devour your friends and families.” The emperor was serious. He couldn’t allow the Players to rest in peace, even in the afterlife.

“I won’t let that happen.”

“...Contractor?” the Frost Queen exclaimed, but her expression abruptly darkened.

‘He will have to fight the emperor by himself… the Players are too exhausted to continue.’

“I’m sorry,” said the Frost Queen with a sad look.

“What’s up with that apology?” Seo Jun-Ho asked before saying blandly, “Anyway, I should thank you.”

“I’m apologizing because I ruined the plan… I got too impatient and made a mistake…”

“It’s okay, Frost,” said Seo Jun-Ho.

The Frost Queen looked up, and her anxiousness seemed to melt at the sight of her trusty contractor.

“I’ll wrap it up for you and for everyone.”

“But—” the Frost Queen caught herself. ‘How?’

Seo Jun-Ho had recovered, and he seemed to be at his peak condition.

‘But the emperor has recovered as well...’

In fact, the emperor’s Force had gotten even stronger than before.

“Intuition is telling me that he’s at his limits as well.”

‘I can feel it.’

The emperor looked like he was fine, but he was exhausted as well. He even suffered a serious injury that would require him to rest for several months at the very least just to recover from it.

Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes.

‘I have to end this in one blow. We’re going to attack each other with our strongest attacks, and the loser is the one who breaks first.’

“Overclocking.”

Rumble!

A rumbling noise echoed from within Seo Jun-Ho as he instantly raised Overclocking’s output to 405%.

An intense pain engulfed him at once, but he had long gotten used to it.

‘Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to defeat him.’

Seo Jun-Ho was aware of the emperor’s true strength.

‘Sung-Jun only managed to kill him in an ambush.’

However, he had to fight the emperor in a direct confrontation.

‘I have to be determined. I need to be prepared… to lose everything.’

Seo Jun-Ho’s gaze shone firm and fiercely.

He opened his mouth slowly and spat, “Dignity of an Emperor.”

Rumble!

Seo Jun-Ho was now a pseudo-transcendent.

‘Now, I can win.’

“I think I can do it once.” Seo Jun-Ho squeezed as much magic as he could into his magic circuit.

“Argh!”

Seo Jun-Ho’s face turned ugly as a terrible pain washed over him. He bit his tongue lightly to remain steadfast against the pain.

‘Just once… not one more, not one less. Just once… it should be enough.’

“Hm?” The emperor frowned at the appalling energy. ‘I think I know what he’s trying to do here.’

The emperor figured that Seo Jun-Ho was planning to end everything in one blow.

‘Should I dodge it?’ The emperor contemplated it briefly before shaking his head, but it wasn’t because he felt like his pride would get hurt if he were to dodge Seo Jun-Ho’s attack.

‘I don’t know if I can dodge it. If I attempt to dodge it, I might get annihilated. I have to take this seriously.’ Indeed, the energy that Seo Jun-Ho was emitting was so overwhelming that the emperor decided to take Seo Jun-Ho’s next attack seriously.

The emperor asked, “Human, do you know the ramifications of what you’re trying to do here? You’ll lose everything if you do that.”

“I know.”

“...”

The emperor nodded. Seo Jun-Ho was an enemy, but he couldn’t help but acknowledge him.

‘Unfortunately, victory belongs to me.’

It was inevitable.

The emperor nodded once more and beckoned. “Come, my enemy.”

Boom!

A typhoon of Force manifested, and the Red Dragon stood in the eye of the storm.

“...All right.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded.

“Sigh.” Seo Jun-Ho exhaled and took a step forward.

Swoosh!

His figure abruptly vanished, and before anyone could comprehend what was going on, Seo Jun-Ho reappeared right under the Red Dragon’s nose.

‘Overclocking: 1000%’

Seo Jun-Ho gnashed his teeth and threw all caution to the wind in a gamble that would finish the battle once and for all, consequences be damned.

As a result, Seo Jun-Ho’s sword move briefly reached the same level as Sung-Jun’s.

“...!”

A typhoon of Force and magic collided with each other.

Hundreds of Players stared nervously at the battle, but all they could see were the typhoon of Force and magic. They failed to witness the pivotal sword move that would decide the outcome of the battle.

In the blink of an eye, the legendary exchange of moves ended.

“Ah… argh!” The emperor coughed up a mouthful of blood. Moments later, his massive figure split in half and collapsed to the ground.

Boom!

“...”

However, Seo Jun-Ho’s condition wasn’t any better.

In fact, he was in the worst condition he had ever been.

‘Damn it…’

The emperor was right, He had ended up losing everything. His muscles had been torn apart, and his magic circuit was horribly mangled. He would never be able to wield a sword or circulate even a particle of magic ever again.

Seo Jun-Ho lost everything in just one sword move.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho’s condition was so bad that the Players couldn’t bring themselves to cheer.

“W-w-where is the message?”

“He’s dead, right?”

The Players panicked.

The emperor had clearly perished, but the System still hadn’t announced their victory.

However, they soon discovered why…

- This is why my victory is inevitable.

A gray sphere appeared in front of Seo Jun-Ho.

‘The emperor?’

Seo Jun-Ho instinctively realized that the gray sphere was the emperor’s true body.

[You have encountered the boss monster of Frontier-23, Kineos Mullibach.]

[Once defeated, safe zones will appear in Frontier-23.]

- I am the epitome of excellence. It’s been a long time since I abandoned my fleshly body.

“This is unfair!” the Frost Queen roared. ‘This is absurd…! What did my contractor sacrifice his everything for?!’

- You are indeed a trifling human being. You are easily swayed by useless things such as feelings and affection. However, I must admit you fought well. I acknowledge you.

Splat!

A sharp spear emerged from the gray sphere and pierced Seo Jun-Ho’s heart.

‘Ah…’

Seo Jun-Ho’s life flashed briefly in his mind like a panorama.

“...”

Blood spurted out of his orifices, but Seo Jun-Ho remained standing.

He felt cold; death was approaching.

‘Is this what dying feels like?’

Seo Jun-Ho was scared. However, he couldn’t embrace death just yet.

“...I know.”

- What?

“I finally know… why I’m… so… desperate.”

The answer was simple.

“...Everything.”

Everything that had led him all the way here was what had made him so desperate. His parents, his late colleagues, and his admirers, whom he wanted to protect at all costs.

They were the impetus for his desperation.

- Is that so?

The emperor sounded calm. He was no longer interested in Seo Jun-Ho.

- How lame.

“And that’s why...” Seo Jun-Ho’s dull eyes suddenly shone fiercely like a candle flame, desperately trying to withstand the darkness amidst the tempest until the winds no longer blew. “And that is why I can’t stop here…”

-...No way! This is absurd!

A dying—no, a corpse was trying to kill him. The emperor couldn’t quite comprehend just how strong was the will that was driving Seo Jun-Ho into wielding his sword, even though he had already perished.

However, one thing was for sure—his will transcended both mind and the mortal coil.

-...

The emperor was briefly overwhelmed by the desperation of the corpse in front of him.

“I… cannot… die.”

And similar to Sung-Jun, the System responded to Seo Jun-Ho’s transcendent will.

~

[The lowest-level Death Resistance has been activated.]

[You have resisted death.]

[You’ve recovered from some of your injuries.]

~

- ...!

Kineos Mullibach was horrified.

“It’s a pity, but it seems that…” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes burned even fiercer than ever as he hurled White Dragon at the gray sphere. “The world doesn’t want me to die just yet.”

White Dragon carried not even a single particle of magic as it pierced the gray sphere, but the emperor had abandoned his fleshly body, and his true body had zero defense, so it exploded like a water balloon upon being hit by White Dragon.

~

[Congratulations! You have defeated Frontier-23’s Boss Monster, Kineos Mullibach.]

[You’ve obtained the title: Death’s Phobia (S).]

[Safe zones will now appear in the Frontier-23 area.]

[Star Destruction…]

[...]

~

Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes upon seeing the System messages.

‘Ah…’

It took a terribly long time, but the 7th Floor was finally cleared.