I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 172

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

Chapter 172. The Succession Ceremony (2)
My heterochromatic eyes—one gleaming with the light of The Sun, the other dark as pitch—flashed as I studied my opponent.
‘B-.’
An Origin-grade stat had fallen to precisely that level. I could see the effort to match my power as evenly as possible—a stat born of deliberate restraint.
“Self-amplification through equivalence. Equal exchange.”
I manifested two buffs. The curse of Misfortune vanished, and the moment the immense law of destiny itself flowed into my hands, there was nothing left to fear.
Destiny bypassed both worst and second-worst outcomes, guiding me only down favorable paths, and soon a tremendous buff settled upon me.
My stats transcended a full tier in an instant. In terms of pure physical prowess and strength alone, I now surpassed the Heavenly Demon Emperor.
With this, all possible preparations were complete. Part of me wanted to activate Longinus and end it in one strike, but I abandoned that notion when the Apocalypse Celestial Demon said such a succession ceremony would not be permitted.
‘I wanted to fight anyway.’
The pitch-black gaze holding arrogance and pride fixed upon me.
Without anyone signaling the start, the Heavenly Demon Emperor and I moved simultaneously, advancing toward each other.
A sharp metallic whisper.
My blade drew from its sheath into my grip, and Man-byeon, which I wore, transformed into the Emperor’s dragon robe, draping the black Celestial Demon’s form.
The Heavenly Demon Emperor likewise unsheathed her sword. The blade of that aloof absolute being possessed a deceptively plain and unassuming appearance, yet the grace and power dwelling within it were far from negligible.
“Haaah….”
I exhaled deeply, then gradually quickened my pace, releasing the vital energies coursing through my body.
Light and darkness. Two forces that should never mingle flowed in harmony, coexisting as they coiled around me.
Heavenly Demon Holy Divine Art
First Form
White Night
A night without darkness. A world where light and shadow coexist. The first world revealed itself.
Darkness spread outward. The landscape within the barrier transformed in an instant.
Primordial demonic essence, gushing infinitely from the Demon God Territory, formed the backdrop of shadow. Light erupting from my body began to devour that darkness, expanding relentlessly.
As the light grew larger, as light and darkness mingled ever more, creating a new ashen world.
The power settling into me grew ever greater.
I grasped my blade with both hands and raised it high.
One strike. I carved downward, containing this ashen world within it. The world I had created split in two through that single blow.
Reading my intent and observing the attack, the Heavenly Demon Emperor—who had been walking with ease, pride, and arrogance—finally halted her stride and assumed a proper stance for the first time.
Reverse Heavenly Demon Art
The martial technique that had toppled heaven itself, that had cast down the great immortals dwelling in that very sky, revealed itself.
The Form of Heaven-Breaking
Shatter the heavens. The initial form channeling that power manifested.
Heaven’s Will Annihilated
The form unfolded—her initial technique bearing the will of heaven, the accomplishment of shattering the arrogant and prideful designs of those fools.
Her blade pointed downward. The instant its tip touched the sand of the Great Arena Martial Ground, overwhelming Celestial Demon essence erupted and gathered into the blade, and with a small vortex, an upward strike that shattered heaven itself met my descending blow before her eyes.
Shattered!
It broke. Though my stats held the advantage, the 8,500 years that the absolute being known as the Heavenly Demon Emperor had accumulated were more than enough not merely to narrow that gap but to seize superiority.
The ashen world crumbled. There was no time to admire the beautiful, brilliant shattering of the world I had created.
I charged forward immediately. I gripped the Ten Thousand Demons Sword even more powerfully and felt its weight. Drawing a deep breath, I prepared the strongest attack I could muster.
‘I’ll attempt it!’
Despite growing and advancing to such heights, I finally dare to unfold the second form of the Heavenly Demon Sacred Divine Art—something I never dared attempt before!
I activate two skills simultaneously, neither of which I have ever used until now.
Skill: Ten Thousand Extremes. The sole skill attached to the Ten Thousand Fates Divine Demon Sword and its most powerful trump card. This skill carries the meaning that after ten thousand trials of endurance, the single most powerful strike is born.
Skill: Wrath of the Heavens. A skill dwelling within the heart of the sky, which even now pulses ceaselessly, transmitting tremendous recovery and strength to me!
Originally a powerful rampage skill named Wrath of the Heavens, but when the Uranus profession evolved the heart of the sky into the source of the celestial realm, it became an even more formidable buff.
Temporarily, everything transcends its limits. Layering immense buffs upon myself and drawing upon the Giant Ant’s tremendous strength, I quietly close my eyes.
Silence. Stillness. Darkness.
Within that world, I search for a single thread of light.
Heavenly Demon Sacred Divine Art
My body begins to twist from within, unable to withstand the strain. I endure. The tremendous buffs forcibly attune my body to my will.
My stats are C+ rank, yet even that falls short of opening the second form.
Only after layering buffs upon buffs can I even attempt it—the Heavenly Demon Sacred Divine Art is unfathomably powerful.
In the darkness, I seek my own light.
Before regression, the light that sustained me in the pit of profound despair.
The two characters: hope.
I open my eyes wide. I release my stance. I drain the tension from my rigid body and envision it.
Second Form
The hope within despair I once dreamed of. The dream. The future.
The image of myself I had longed for, desired, and desperately coveted.
That world I wished would become reality, even for just a single moment.
Radiance of the Abyss
From the darkest place, the brightest light is born. The sword extends toward the Heavenly Demon Emperor.
Simultaneously, demonic energy erupts from my body, bursts forth from the Demon Realm, completely shrouding the formation in darkness.
A world of despair.
Blood trickles from my nose due to the strain on my body, but I ignore it. The exhilaration of unfolding this second form far outweighs the pain.
The world completely darkened. Within despair where not even an inch ahead is visible.
Light. Hope blooms softly yet brilliantly from the tip of my sword.
“This is the world I lived through.”
The light seemed trivial if one thought it so. Yes, that small glow was precisely the hope I desired. Small, insignificant, ordinary hope that anyone could possess. Simply my younger sibling awakening, my parents surviving, and growing together in an ordinary household.
The kind of life ordinary people live ordinarily.
Greatness? Uniqueness? I never dared dream of such things.
That hope dwells in my sword. Small yet powerful, it becomes strength that propels me forward.
“I don’t know what world you lived in. Shin Yu-ah. For me, this darkness alone was the despair that remained before me. This small light was my only hope. Simply dreaming was happiness.”
I mutter flatly to myself. As if venting, as if questioning why I couldn’t awaken, I release just a little—a very little—of my resentment.
“I should have tried just a bit harder. I should have remembered myself. I should have thought of my parents. We were family.”
The sword draws back.
“A great Heavenly Demon Emperor? Magnificent. Remarkable. But what exactly remains for you in the end?”
Greatness? Mythology? Nobility?
Solitude? Loneliness? Strangeness?
“Still… you did well. You’re amazing, my Younger Sibling. You really are the best. But leave the rest to your older brother now.”
Light converges into a single point. Hope had begun from the smallest of yearnings.
Ash-grey miracles aid the light. Through the miracle of regression, it became twisted and warped into something extraordinary.
I draw my blade. A thrust. Light cuts through darkness. The man who had desired ordinariness had grown to such immense proportions and reached this place.
“Let’s go together. I’m done with this torment of false hope.”
My pitiful Younger Sibling. Trapped in this prison called the Supreme Martial Realm, unable to die, living alone in desolation. Now your older brother will save you. Just as I did when we were young, I’ll sweep away everything that stands in your way.
Hope erases Despair. Darkness retreats. As if it lacks the confidence to face light that has grown so immense.
As if I had driven away the darkness of Misfortune’s curse, light illuminated the world. And in that brightened world, the Heavenly Demon Emperor prepared an attack that poured forth everything.
With tears streaming down both eyes, vomiting forth turbulent emotions, drenched in longing.
Celestial Demon Absolute Divine Art
Ultimate
Demonic Heaven
Black sky and radiant hope collided, and the outcome was predetermined. Hope never falls to defeat. Not when facing darkness.
I shattered everything of my Younger Sibling, who didn’t even know why they were crying. Mercilessly.
The black sky born from the hands of the absolute—the Heavenly Demon Emperor—shatters brutally against the light called hope.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, older brother.”
Light became hope, and began devouring the absolute who had been lonely and forlorn, unable to recall someone they yearned for.
In that final moment, the absolute recalled that face through the miracle of hope that vanquishes darkness.
And accepted the end willingly. It was not cruel. Rather, it was beautiful.
Bright, earnest, and beautiful—the light of hope announces the end of an entire era.
“We’ll meet soon. My Younger Sibling. Then I’ll hold you tight. You did well. Rest now.”
Watching the body fade away in the light, I smiled brightly.
“Yes.”
With those words, my Younger Sibling died.
The great Heavenly Demon Emperor, who had reigned as the absolute over the Supreme Martial Realm for more than 8,500 years, returned to dust.
And as if waiting for this moment, the world came to a stop.
***
The Subordinate’s injured body loses its balance and collapses. Their frame trembles violently. Even my overwhelming regenerative power cannot easily mend such grievous wounds.
Yet that was beyond my concern. I turned my gaze toward the world. Everything had frozen in place.
“Damn it.”
Not long ago, I witnessed this exact phenomenon. A harbinger of the arrival of an existence capable of commanding time and space itself, bending them to its will.
And as expected.
The world is consumed. The Jigo Murim—that distant, incomprehensible dimension—is devoured by an immense and fathomless mist.
The moment I beheld that mist, I felt it. That existence. The Concept Divine Seat!
〚Concept Divine Seat: The primordial chaos of disorder gazes down upon you.〛
It was colossal. Unfathomable. Overwhelming.
The clouds enveloping the Jigo Murim acknowledge my presence and observe me. As if appraising—much as the Father of the Oldest Dream had done—it scrutinizes me with deliberate intent.
【Remarkable.】
It speaks.
Needless to say, I am denied the right to respond. Suppressed by the sheer disparity in power, I cannot even muster a groan.
【You shattered my curse so thoroughly. An existence that has seized the power to traverse dimensions.】
It observes with evident fascination, and upon concluding its examination, it displays favor. Once again.
【The wager is yours to claim. Your daughter has been saved by your son and cast off the curse.】
I dwell upon those words for a long moment before a flash of recognition strikes my mind.
Surely! The Father of the Oldest Dream spoke in precisely this manner.
【The.wager.is.your.victory.Your.son.has.overcome.the.curse.of.fate.My.defeat.】
‘You’—singular. Not ‘you all’. In other words, one of my Parents.
And the other Parent must have wagered with a different Concept Divine Seat!
‘Did both of them separately meet with different Concept Divine Seats and make wagers?’
【I must bestow a reward.】
The mist seeps into the location where my Younger Sibling’s body lies, where only two souls remain.
The two souls—Cheon Yu-hwa’s soul and Shin Yu-ah’s soul—are forcibly merged by the mist.
【The greatest soul I have ever created. I shall grant it everything this soul possesses in full. Moreover, my curse shall become a blessing, eternally blessing your daughter without limit.】
Creation! It can create even souls?
I comprehend less and less what manner of being this is. Yet the reward for my Younger Sibling concludes, and its gaze turns toward me.
【Now then, what shall I do with your son?】
The Concept Divine Seat smiles wickedly.

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