“…!?”
Eurius, who was swallowed by Black Tortoise’s huge mouth, almost panicked when he saw his vision turn black.
But soon his sight brightened and the surrounding scenery was revealed.
‘Is this underwater?’
Black Tortoise’s body was filled with blue seawater.
There was no sign of any internal organs, and all he could see was blue seawater in all directions.
And the next moment, a system notification popped up.
Ding!
[You absorb Black Tortoise’s energy.]
Eurius felt a cold chill in his bones.
A stream of cold energy began to seep into his head.
That coldness soon spread throughout his body.
But that was only for a moment.
The coldness turned into a refreshing feeling.
At the same time, the water that filled the surroundings began to be sucked into Eurius.
Swoosh!
Ding!
Eurius didn’t know where in his body such a space existed, but the water that seemed endless was mostly absorbed into his body.
The space that was filled with blue seawater was covered with pitch-black darkness again.
The only thing left was a small blob of water that surrounded Eurius’s body.
‘Is it over?’
He blinked his eyes and the next notification sounded as if to answer him.
Ding!
[The absorbed energy is processed into a divine artifact.]
“Processed?”
Crack!
“Ugh!”
Eurius felt the pressure in the water blob increase rapidly.
The remaining water squeezed his whole body.
Eurius felt a lot of pain, but he opened his eyes wide when he saw what was happening to his body.
‘This is?’
Ding!
[You have been recognized as the owner of the Four Divine Artifacts: Formless Divine Armor.]
The water blob that surrounded Eurius’s body gradually became transparent and invisible to the eye. But it didn’t disappear.
‘So… this is why it’s called armor?’
He was now in the form of a thin and transparent membrane made of water covering his whole body.
A transparent armor made of Black Tortoise’s water energy!
That’s why it was named Formless Divine Armor.
When the armor was completed, another notification popped up.
[You have absorbed Black Tortoise’s pure power. The trait Black Tortoise Diamond Water Technique is created.]
[Four Divine Beasts: White Tiger Divine Artifact, Azure Dragon’s Breath, Vermilion Bird Fire Spirit Technique, Black Tortoise Diamond Water Technique]
[You have cleared the quest ‘Black Tortoise Movement’.]
[Your achievement increases.]
[Hoo!]
Along with the notification, Black Tortoise spat out Eurius from inside his body.
[The injection of the water artifact is complete.]
[Clang!]
Yellow Dragon also came out of Black Tortoise’s mouth with a splash. But unlike before, he looked strangely tired.
When asked why, he answered curtly.
[I had to gather several times more energy than you received. It would be strange if I wasn’t tired.]
He always grumbled, but he did everything for Eurius.
“Thanks anyway.”
Yellow Dragon snorted at Eurius’s gratitude.
[Hmph! You finally realized my greatness. Instead of thanking me, think about finding other divine artifacts.]
“Speaking of which, you said they were Four Divine Artifacts? There are three more of these things?”
But what did collecting the Four Divine Artifacts have to do with his lacking vessel?
Black Tortoise answered that question for him.
[The techniques that use our Four Divine Beasts’ energy were originally created to handle the divine artifacts. Without the divine artifacts, it is hard to exert even a tenth of their original power.]
[And to fuse the four energies, you need all four divine artifacts.]
Eurius nodded at the explanation of the two divine beasts.
The Four Directional Divine Artifacts and the Four Divine Weapons were inseparable from the start.
There must be other divine artifacts somewhere in this continent.
But there were more than one or two things that he was curious about.
“By the way, what is the chosen one that you mentioned earlier and why are you giving me this power?”
[…]
“Can’t you tell me?”
[…]
However, Black Tortoise remained silent.
He seemed friendly enough to answer, but he closed his mouth on this question.
[We cannot tell you.]
Yellow Dragon also added his words and Eurius gave up with a disappointed face.
It was not unexpected, actually.
‘If it was a question that he could answer, Yellow Dragon would have told me already.’
Soon, Black Tortoise opened his mouth again.
[Then, since I have completed all my tasks, I will return to the sea.]
[Oh. Goodbye. Be nice next time.]
Yellow Dragon answered dryly and Eurius also tried to express his gratitude again.
[Oh, I forgot one thing.]
“Forgot what?”
Thud!
A black object popped out of Black Tortoise’s mouth again.
Eurius tilted his head when he saw it. It was a person.
“Is that the Ice Flame Sword Demon or whatever? Did he jump in with you?”
[You seem to know each other well. Normally, I would melt everyone except the chosen one in my stomach, but…]
Black Tortoise spoke calmly with a horrifying story.
[This human was a bit special. I felt the energy of a divine beast inside him, so I thought he might be a companion of the chosen one and spared his life.]
“Thank you.”
Eurius thanked him.
The Ice Flame Sword Demon was definitely using one of the Four Divine Weapons, the Vermilion Bird Fire Spirit Divine Skill.
Black Tortoise must have noticed that and saved him.
[I hope to see you again. May your work go well.]
Black Tortoise finished his business and dived into the middle of the lake again and slowly disappeared.
At the same time, Eurius’s consciousness flew back into the air.
Pop!
When he came to his senses, Eurius was standing in the same cave again, but there was no sign of Black Tortoise or Yellow Dragon, and the Yellow Dragon Sword was back on his waist.
And in front of his eyes, there was a black-clad person lying down and shivering slightly.
“…”
Eurius pondered for a moment and decided to wake up the Ice Flame Sword Demon first. But at that moment, a sharp voice rang in his ears.[Watch out!]
Shriek!
A cold blade passed by Eurius’s eyes in an instant.
The Ice Flame Sword Demon, who seemed to be unconscious, suddenly got up and attacked him like lightning.
He had been awake since Eurius was deep in thought.
He was one of the best swordsmen in the Dark Sect!
His attack was too fast to avoid. But surprisingly, it was the Ice Flame Sword Demon who was shocked.
Ting!
With a sound like paper ringing, his sword that contained a huge amount of inner power was lightly blocked.
And his blade bounced off without touching a single hair of Eurius.
A transparent ripple appeared where the blade was blocked, like throwing a stone on the water surface.
“Is this… could it be?”
He looked at Eurius with astonishment and killing intent in his eyes.
Eurius started to speak in a relaxed tone.
“How dare you swing your sword at your benefactor? Don’t you think that’s too much?”
“Benefactor?”
“Who do you think is the reason why you are alive?”
“Hmph! You’re just a fool for sparing your enemy.”
The Iceflame Sword Demon sneered and swung his sword like a gale, aiming at Eurius’s whole body.
His sword was ignited with flames as he used the Fire Spirit Technique of the Vermilion Bird Sect.
But Eurius did not draw his sword.
He wanted to test the power of the divine artifact at this opportunity.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sword split into three and targeted his head, chest, and neck, but they all bounced off.
“Kuh!”
The Iceflame Sword Demon bit his tongue and launched a more fierce attack, but it was futile.
No matter how sharp and fast the attack was, it was repelled as soon as it approached Eurius’s body with a transparent ripple.
[Formless Divine Armor-It symbolizes the defensive power of Black Tortoise, represented by the turtle’s shell. It protects the user from all external shocks.]
Eurius was quite surprised inwardly.
‘It’s an amazing defense. No ordinary attack can penetrate this armor.’
And it was not just a shield. Eurius countered the Iceflame Sword Demon’s sword with a light swing of his hand.
‘Was it called Black Tortoise Water Technique?’
Sizzle!
Eurius concentrated the water technique he received from Black Tortoise on his hand, and his hand was covered with cold frost and froze.
His hand that emitted cold frost and the Iceflame Sword Demon’s sword that burned with fire collided directly.
Boom!
A loud explosion erupted and thick steam rose up.
“Kuk!”
Surprisingly, the one who was pushed back was the Iceflame Sword Demon. He spat out a bowl of blood after being pushed back tens of meters. Eurius had repelled him with a martial art he had just learned without using a sword.
“Uh…”
The Iceflame Sword Demon wiped the blood from his mouth and glared at Eurius as if he wanted to kill him.
“You really have the Formless Divine Armor!”
Eurius’s eyes sparkled.
“Do you know its name?”
The Iceflame Sword Demon thought he was mocking him and his expression became even more twisted.
“Are there any fools who don’t know about the Four Directional Divine Artifacts? You must have known in advance since you obtained the divine artifact. You’re a funny guy.”
‘It seems that the Four Directional Divine Artifacts are quite well-known themselves. Is it because this is where Lee Cheongmun was active?’
Eurius realized that the Four Directional Divine Artifacts were legendary items, but the information was quite widely known.
And judging by the tone of the Iceflame Sword Demon, he also seemed to have come here knowing that there was a divine artifact here.
Snap!
He stretched out one hand.
“Hand it over to me. Then I’ll spare your life.”
“Why should I?”
Eurius shook his head.
It was a question that didn’t need to be thought about in the first place.
Why should he vomit out what he had eaten?
“I don’t know how you got the divine artifact, but it’s something that our sect has marked! Your skills are certainly amazing, but I guarantee you that once our sect starts tracking you, you will surely regret it.”
The Iceflame Sword Demon changed his strategy and tried to persuade him with a relaxed voice after withdrawing his killing intent.
“I refuse.”
“…!?”
But there was no way that such a threat would work on Eurius.
Rather, he almost fainted from shock at what he said next.
“You’re the one who has something to give me.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Eurius uttered a word lightly.
“Vermilion Bird!”
“What…!?”
The Iceflame Sword Demon was so surprised that he couldn’t finish his sentence.
“…”
He soon began to shiver uncontrollably.
“How did you know that?”
“…”
Eurius did not answer.
There was no point in telling him that he could just see it.
He would not believe it anyway.
Thud!
The Iceflame Swordmaster suddenly backed away.
His eyes, holding up his sword, were filled with even more intense killing intent than before.
“So you’ve been toying with me all this time!”
“What?”
“Shut up!”
He spoke harshly, but he felt despair in his heart.
He had not been suspicious of him because he was traveling with the Alliance of Justice, but now that he thought about it, he looked suspicious from the start.
‘Master, did he send you? I should have noticed when I saw his blond hair and blue eyes…’
Even at that moment, thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind, but he saw only one way out.
‘I have to knock him down somehow and escape from here!’
Kwaaaa!
He began to gather his energy with a desperate resolve.
***
Meanwhile, Eurius looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
[Palace Jade]
Current state: Despair, Desperation
‘Why is he acting like that?’
[Be careful. He seems to be making his last stand.]
Yellow Dragon advised him in a calm tone. He usually spoke like this when he faced a formidable opponent.
‘I’ll have to knock him out and interrogate him.’
[Wait!]
Yellow Dragon stopped him as he was about to draw his sword.
‘Why?’[Try out the divine skill on this occasion.]
‘Didn’t I already use it?’
Yellow Dragon clicked his tongue.
[Tsk! That’s not the true way to use the divine skill.]
‘…!?’
Eurius was talking to Yellow Dragon while the Iceflame Swordmaster was readying himself.
His specialty was the Unification Skill, a technique that combined two opposing energies to create a massive destructive force.
Whirr!
The Fire Spirit Skill that he mastered was one of the best skills among those that dealt with fire energy.
Ssssh!
The cold energy in his left hand was a rare demonic skill from the Dark Sect!
It was one of the best skills among those that dealt with yin energy, excluding the extinct Black Tortoise Sect’s Diamond Water Skill.
When these two skills collided, there were few who could withstand their destructive power.
How else would he hear that he had more pure destructive power than the Master of the Dark Sect?
But Yellow Dragon’s evaluation was blunt.
[His manipulation is sloppy. He has such a good constitution, but he wastes it like that.]
‘Huh? Constitution?’
Eurius felt a moment of curiosity, but his priority was to subdue his enemy.
‘Did he tell me to do it like this?’
He focused the skill he received from Black Tortoise on one spot and blew it into the Invisible Divine Armor.
The result was astonishing.
Crack!
Even before he released it, his surroundings were covered with frost and frozen.
“You bastard! Let’s die together!”
Rumble!
At that moment, Bingyeom Sword Devil charged in and clashed his two energies with a fierce force.
His power was incomparable to when he had blown up the head of the Three-headed Dragon earlier. That was because he had invested almost all of his true energy into this attack.
Whoosh!
The entire cave shook from the aftermath, and dust fell from the ceiling.
However, compared to Iceflame Sword Demon terrifying momentum, all Eurius did was stretch out his hand.
“Is this how it’s done?”
Swoosh.
Iceflame Sword Demon eyes widened as he saw Eurius casually extend his hand.
“What is this?”
But before he could think any further, he felt his full-powered energy dissipate like a bubble.
“…!?”
Crackle!
A dreadful coldness poured out from Eurius’s palm.
It not only swallowed Iceflame Sword Demon attack, but also spread throughout the cave.
And a few seconds later!
“…”
Eurius blinked his eyes silently.
He couldn’t believe what he had done, even though it was his own action.
[You did pretty well for your first time. This is how you use the divine artifact.]
“Ah!”
Eurius came to his senses at the words of the Yellow Dragon.
This was the power of the Four Divine Artifacts.
The divine artifact of Black Tortoise, which governed water and coldness, amplified the power of the corresponding energy by tens or hundreds of times.
Sssss
The cave was still filled with a faint coldness, making it impossible for ordinary people to approach.
The entire space, which was hundreds of square meters wide, was covered with frost and ice.
And in the center of it, there was an ice statue standing. It was none other than Bingyeom Sword Devil. He had frozen in the middle of his charge.
‘Is he dead?’
[Hmph! He has the energy of Vermilion Bird, so he won’t die from that.]
Creak!
As soon as those words were spoken, steam rose from the ice statue.
The ice melted quickly, and Bingyeom Sword Devil collapsed on his knees.
“Huff… Huff… Who are you?”
He gasped for breath, but he still tried to lift his head and look at Eurius.
“Huh?”
But Eurius tilted his head at his voice.
Originally, Iceflame Sword Demon voice was rough and dull like a man’s. But now…
“Are you a woman? Then why are you dressed as a man?”
He realized that the hood that had covered his mouth was shattered by the ice.
The voice that had changed was too thin and high-pitched to belong to a man who had used a voice changer.
And the face that was revealed when the hood broke was too pretty to be a man’s.
But she… or rather, he did not seem to have any intention of answering his question.
Instead, he shouted again in a voice filled with resentment.
“Never mind that, who are you?”
He was so wronged that he felt like going crazy.
The artifact he had been aiming for was snatched away by someone else, and he was so overwhelmed by the ice that he could barely move his hand.
If the other party was an expert hidden by the Dark Sect to monitor him, he would have no choice but to die without a fight.
When no answer came, he was in a dilemma. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to have a hard time opening his mouth with force.
But surprisingly, the Yellow Dragon gave him another clue.
[Ah! Come to think of it, that Vermilion Bird bastard liked human females, right?]
‘What?’
[Show him what you have learned as a test. Maybe he will react.]
He first raised the breath of the Azure Dragon.
The Azure Dragon among the divine beasts symbolized wind and air (空)!
The Ice Flame Sword Demon’s eyes sparkled slightly when he saw the gentle breeze-like energy rising.
“The breath of the Azure Dragon? Are you an expert of Jegal Sae Ga?”
But when he saw the next energy that he raised, he couldn’t help but open his mouth wide.
A fierce beast-like energy surged from his whole body.
“The White Tiger’s Protection Technique of the Royal Golden Army!”
And when he showed him the cold energy of the Black Tortoise as well, the Ice Flame Sword Demon was trembling slightly.
“The three martial arts of Lee Cheong Mun’s investigation! Then who are you…?”
“They call me Death’s Body in Jegal Sae Ga, do you know that?”
Boom!
When he heard that answer, he slammed his head on the ground.
At that moment, his name changed in his eyes.
“I, Gung Jeok Yeong of Yellow Star Intelligence, greet you, my lord!”
“…!?”
‘What? Yellow Star Intelligence? The royal information organization of Hwan Empire?’
He was as surprised as him.
He remembered the explanation he had heard from the martial artists who had joined the Death’s Body Association after accepting Jegal Sae Ga as his subordinate.
***
It was when he first accepted Jegal Sae Ga as his subordinate and listened to the explanation of the martial artists who belonged to the Death’s Body Association.
“There are two major information organizations in the martial world. Jegal Sae Ga’s Hyun Wol Jeon and Gae Bang.”
“Didn’t you say that there was also an information organization in Ju Jak Mu Mun, which had lost contact?”
“That’s right. It’s not a force in the martial world, so it’s not well known in general…”
Jegal Un Hyun made a worried expression and continued.
“There is no contact now, but there is Yellow Star Intelligence, an information organization directly under the royal family. They are called the eyes and ears of the Hwan Empire’s royal family.”