After Regressing, I Gained the Power of the Demonic Dragon - Chapter 48

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 48
The words filling the sky froze in an instant.
A deep hum resonated outward.
The scattered letters gathered above Sang Hyuk’s head.
The tolling of two cities faded into the distance, and the black sea and the enormous scales dissolved into light.
Beneath Sang Hyuk’s feet, a smooth black floor materialized.
Endless shelves stretched in all directions—towering endlessly upward and outward beyond the reach of sight.
Each shelf was densely packed with worn tomes, revised editions, scrolls, and nameless metal plates.
Every record emanated its own distinct luminescence.
The records nearby glowed faintly, while those stretching into the distant depths shimmered like countless stars.
Between the shelves wreathed in light, visions preserved within the records surfaced into view.
On one side, a colossal citadel crumbled to ruin. On another, a fleet of an unfamiliar race cut through the space between stars.
With each shift of Sang Hyuk’s gaze, the final moments of different worlds appeared and vanished in turn.
The histories of fallen worlds and the power left behind by beings whose names had never been known—all of it was recorded here.
As he beheld this sight, new text materialized before Sang Hyuk’s eyes.
[A new record has been completed.]
[Record title: <The Scales of Ruin – The Survival of Two Cities>]
[This is a new ending that contradicts existing records.]
「You have obtained 1 Uncharted Conquest Record.」
[Uncharted Conquest Records in possession: 1]
[You have acquired Reading Authorization for the Akashic Record.]
[Current Reading Authorization Level: 1]
[At Level 1, you may access basic records related to your current abilities.]
[Full Text Reading Attempts available: 1]
[Browsing the list and searching do not consume reading attempts.]
[One Full Text Reading Attempt is consumed only when you open a record’s full contents.]
[Unused reading attempts are retained until your next visit.]
[Your Reading Authorization Level rises with each additional Uncharted Conquest Record obtained.]
[Full Text Reading Attempts also increase by 1 each time.]
For now, he had only a single opportunity to read a full text.
But the status as a reader and the authorization already granted would remain with him.
Sang Hyuk gazed at the name of the newly created record.
Before his return, his past self could only watch as predetermined ruin unfolded.
But this time, he had reversed the ending forced upon the battlefield, and that choice had been newly inscribed in the universe’s records.
The consequence of saving two cities had opened a pathway to the cosmic archive.
Below that, another line appeared.
[The Akashic Record does not belong to the Infinite Tower.]
[It preserves records that existed in the universe or have been newly created.]
Sang Hyuk’s eyes narrowed.
The scale of what lay before him was entirely different from any reward or record stone he had encountered in the Tower thus far.
In those endless shelves, the records of Earth surely rested alongside those of other dimensions.
[Please state what you wish to search for.]
Sang Hyuk spoke the first name that came to mind.
“Final Apocalypse Dragon.”
A brilliant flare erupted.
A single distant shelf blazed with black light.
Yet that light did not approach him.
[Search query: <Final Apocalypse Dragon>]
[Related records exist.]
[Minimum Reading Authorization Level for the first record: 5]
[Current Reading Authorization Level: 1]
Insufficient clearance—he could not even verify the title.
Yet one truth was certain: the record existed.
From the record of the Outer Seal, the Final Apocalypse Dragon had annihilated an entire army of abyssal demons that had ravaged a world, erasing the dimensional rift with a single breath.
Then why had such a being been remembered only as a monster that destroyed countless planets?
Who were those who had sealed away the Outer Record, and why had the Final Apocalypse Dragon vanished?
The answers might lie here.
To access that record, he would need to fully conquer four more Uncharted Battle Zones.
But what Sang Hyuk longed to know was not merely the past of the Final Apocalypse Dragon.
‘Where did this heart beating within me come from?’
Sang Hyuk placed his hand over his chest.
Beneath his palm, his heart beat with a heavy, deliberate rhythm.
“The Heart of the Final Apocalypse Dragon.”
Thump!
This time, both Sang Hyuk’s heart and the bookshelves at the deepest recesses of his mind responded in unison.
From the darkness, a single blood-red light emerged with crystalline clarity, like a star cutting through shadow.
[Search query: <Heart of the Final Apocalypse Dragon>]
[Reader possesses <Heart of the Final Apocalypse Dragon>.]
[Related records exist.]
[Minimum Reading Authorization Level required: 9]
[Current Reading Authorization Level: 1]
Sang Hyuk’s gaze fixed on those words—authorization level 9.
Until now, the Infinite Tower had been unable to properly decode the information contained within the <Heart of the Final Apocalypse Dragon>.
But the Akashic Record was different.
It had not only recognized the heart within his body with absolute precision, but also kept records of it.
What surprised him most was the authorization requirement itself.
The original record of the Final Apocalypse Dragon had required only level 5, yet the heart demanded level 9.
‘Why would the heart require higher access than the source?’
If it were merely a fragment of power left behind by the Final Apocalypse Dragon, there would be no reason it should demand authorization higher than the original entity itself.
The heart now beating in his chest might harbor secrets far deeper than the identity of the Final Apocalypse Dragon itself.
After the regression, every strength Sang Hyuk had gained and every step of growth had begun with this heart.
Accessing records pertaining to this heart required authorization far exceeding that needed for the dragon’s initial records.
When he reached authorization level 9, he might finally understand not only the past of the Final Apocalypse Dragon, but also why he had come to possess this heart in the first place.
Sang Hyuk searched for other terms, one by one.
Abyss Demon Clan.
Giant Orc.
Interdimensional species and civilizations.
Dimension League.
And finally, the Infinite Tower itself.
[Records related to <Abyss Demon Clan> exist.]
[Records related to <Giant Orc> exist.]
[Records pertaining to <Interdimensional species and civilizations> exist.]
[Records related to <Dimension League> exist.]
[Records related to <Infinite Tower> exist.]
[Cannot be accessed with current authorization level.]
Before the regression, he had known only their names and fragments of evidence—never their true origins or nature.
Among all of them, the Dimension League that had swept humanity away before any proper defense could be mounted, and the Infinite Tower that endlessly summoned people into its depths—he most desperately wanted to uncover their origins.
And now a path to those answers had opened before him.
With each Uncharted Battle Zone he conquered completely, he drew closer to truths that no one had ever reached before the regression.
The reward for fully conquering the first Uncharted Battle Zone was already substantial enough.
Yet the Akashic Record’s reward had not ended there.
Sang Hyuk still possessed one opportunity to view the full text of a record of his choosing.
“Show me the records I can access right now.”
As soon as Sang Hyuk spoke, countless record titles materialized before his eyes.
[Verifying records accessible with current authorization level.]
[<Scale Formation Process of Lower-Tier Dragons>]
[<Foundational Structure of Decay-Type Curses>]
[<Convergence and Dispersal of Dark Mana>]
[<Circulatory System of Mana-Predating Organisms>]
[<The Method by Which Ancient Bone Embraces Mana>]
[…….]
The list of records continued endlessly beyond that point.
All of them were foundational records that subtly aligned with the powers Sang Hyuk possessed.
As he scanned through the catalog, one name in particular seized his attention.
[<Record of the End Times Book 1: Seed of the Black Star>]
The moment he read that title, the <Black Art Record> within his mindscape trembled faintly.
[Classification: Primordial Record of the Apocalypse Phenomenon]
[Among all currently accessible records, this has the highest compatibility with <Black Art Record>.]
The instant Sang Hyuk selected that record, an ancient, thin black tome resting on a nearby shelf radiated with light.
The book withdrew itself from the shelf and came to rest before him.
On the cover was a small star carved in, its light long since dimmed.
[Reading the text will consume 1 reading attempt.]
[Do you wish to proceed?]
Sang Hyuk gazed at the black star etched on the cover.
He couldn’t know what it contained without reading it directly.
Still, the Archive had determined this record was the best match for the Black Art Record, and the Black Art Record had genuinely resonated in response.
There was every reason to use his first reading opportunity on this record.
‘Read.’
「Consuming 1 full text reading attempt.」
[Remaining full text reading attempts: 0]
The black book unfolded of its own accord.
Whoosh!
The endless pages dissolved, and a vast cosmos of stars materialized before him.
At the far end of Sang Hyuk’s gaze hung a single star—far larger and brighter than all the others.
The moment he looked upon it, time within the record accelerated.
The star’s brilliant light grew faint, and the flames that had consumed its surface gradually died away.
When the final light was extinguished.
Whooooom!
The massive star collapsed inward in a single cataclysmic instant.
The light and matter that composed the star spiraled together, sucked toward the center in a vortex.
Kabooom!
The outer layers of the star detonated in response, scattering countless fragments across the void.
When the explosion subsided, only a single black point remained where the star had been.
To Sang Hyuk’s distant eyes, it appeared smaller than a fingernail.
Then the fragments that had scattered in all directions began to slow.
They halted mid-flight, then started being pulled back toward the black point.
At first, only the nearest debris responded.
Soon even the beams of light that stretched across the far reaches bent like bowstrings, dragged toward the black point.
As the fragments drew closer to it, they accelerated.
Fragments converging from all sides collided and shattered, and even the light that erupted from those collisions was sucked into the black point.
An entire massive star had vanished, yet the black point’s size remained utterly unchanged.
It pulled at everything around it without end, just as it had first appeared.
Though Sang Hyuk was merely observing the record, he felt his own body tugged forward.
Sang Hyuk seared into his memory exactly how the black point drew in the surrounding light and matter.
In that instant, the Black Art Record in his mind’s eye unfurled of its own accord.
The first line already bore the Decay he had inherited.
On the empty line below, a single small black dot appeared.
The point drew in the surrounding characters, gradually taking shape.
Soon, two characters were inscribed clearly on the second line.
Dark Star.
「Inscribing the primordial record into the Black Art Record.」
「The foundational Black Art Dark Star has been registered.」
[Dark Star]
[Creates a small black star at a designated location.]
[The black star attracts nearby enemies and incoming attacks for a short duration.]
[Only one can be maintained at a time.]
[The stronger and more powerful the target, the weaker the attraction becomes.]
[Currently unusable.]
[Unlock requirement: Lv.50]
[Current level: Lv.31]
Sang Hyuk read through the Dark Star description again.
It differed fundamentally in application from Decay, which weakened the target directly.
This was a Black Art that gathered nearby enemies and incoming attacks into a single point.
It was akin to creating a small black hole.
Use Decay to slow a single powerful opponent.
Use Dark Star to gather scattered enemies and attacks to one location.
Then use Annihilation to strike down those drawn to that single point.
Wielding all three forces in concert would allow him to face far more enemies alone than before.
Then a new notification appeared below the Dark Star description.
[You have read the first record of the Record of the End Times Book 1: Seed of the Black Star.]
[Your Reading Authorization Level will increase as you progress, allowing you to select higher-tier records.]
[]
[Minimum Reading Authorization Level: Stage 4]
[]
[Minimum Reading Authorization Level: Stage 8]
Sang Hyuk’s eyes blazed with light.
was not the end.
True to its name—Seed of the Black Star—it was merely the beginning of the power recorded in the Record of the End Times.
Funeral of the Planets.
And Galaxy Requiem.
From the titles alone, he could sense how vast the Black Art’s scale would become.
Of course, even , the lowest tier, remained beyond his reach.
But that was fine.
As long as he climbed one floor each day without fail, reaching level fifty was only a matter of time.
When that moment came, he would be able to wield the first Black Art obtained from the Record of the End Times in its entirety.
The sea of stars faded, and the endless shelves emerged once more.
The black tome, its reading complete, closed of its own accord and returned to its place.
With it came guidance regarding the next authorization level.
[Next Reading Authorization Level: Stage 2]
[Condition for Level Advancement: Acquire 1 additional Uncharted Conquest Record]
[Current Uncharted Conquest Records Possessed: 1]
[Stage 2 Expanded Reading Range]
– Records of Two-Dimensional Civilizations
– Search materials related to observation records possessed by the reader
Sang Hyuk recalled the Magic Eye Recording Stone in his inventory.
Within it lay numerous observations of artifacts and magical structures he had documented in the Tower and outside.
There were still plenty of traces whose nature and purpose remained unknown.
But once his authorization rose to Stage 2, he could search for materials connected to the structures he had personally recorded.
This meant he could verify the original forms of artifacts obtained in the Tower, or even how the vanished two-dimensional civilizations had wielded their power.
Finding even one piece correctly could aid not only his own growth, but also Il-sung’s research and the strengthening of South Korea’s military capacity.
His immediate path was clear.
Climb one floor each day and maintain his SSS Records.
First, unlock the second Uncharted Battle Zone to raise the Akashic Record’s authorization to Stage 2, then reach level fifty to unlock .
Beyond that, as he conquered Uncharted zones one by one, he could examine the records of the Final Apocalypse Dragon at Stage 5.
And when he finally reached Stage 9, he would touch upon the secrets harbored within the heart he carried.
Thump!
The Heart of the Final Apocalypse Dragon beat powerfully, as if answering Sang Hyuk’s resolve.
He gazed at the blood-red light shimmering in the deepest reaches, then ended his reading.
「First reading of the Akashic Record concluded.」
The endless shelves and black floor scattered into fragments of light.
What remained until the very end was the crimson brilliance connected to the Heart of the Final Apocalypse Dragon.
Flash!
「Exiting the first Uncharted Battle Zone.」

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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