Park Jun-hyuk was in denial as his all-out attack was effortlessly blocked.

“N-No way. That’s impossible. I practiced so much.” “No matter how well you practice, this world’s all about bloodlines and awakening. Whatever you try, it won’t matter against me.” “Hmph! But if you can’t hit me, it’s meaningless!”

The reincarnation of Cheok Jun-kyung looked as if he might have been reborn as Pikachu, scattering afterimages around me as he dodged my attacks. Given that he’s blessed by the constellation, he should be grateful for being acknowledged as Cheok Jun-kyung’s reincarnation. What is he trying to do here? Is he hoping to distract me and then stab me with his crescent blade? Does he think he’s going to say something like, “This is just an afterimage”? He’s not that type of character, and if he tries to pull that off...

I’m going to lose it.

I clenched my right fist and summoned the white flame, then drove a fire punch straight into Park Jun-hyuk’s midsection as he darted around.

Thunk!

Park Jun-hyuk, hit square in the stomach, was flung through the air, slamming straight into the barrier enclosing the testing area.

“Guh-huh!” “I’m faster than you, you fool.”

Even if he moves quickly in front of a dragon like me, I can see it all.

“It seems you don’t want to admit it, but no matter how strong you get, it’s useless. You’re only B-tier, no matter what you try, you little punk.” “Keep acting arrogant, and it’ll come back to bite you.”

Who’s he to talk?

“I can afford to be arrogant. Someone like you could never beat me.” “Kuh… ha, hahaha!”

He suddenly burst out laughing, clutching his stomach like a madman.

“Did this idiot finally lose it? Huh?”

An ominous killing aura radiated from Park Jun-hyuk’s body. Despite burning his magic circuits with the white flame, where is he getting this energy? No, this isn’t his own power. It’s a dark, foul energy. Calling it simply monster’s mana feels too dirty—it feels like… a sin. In the original, characters who wielded the power of sin emitted something like this.

“Alright, let’s see if you can withstand this power too! I bear a shard of the sin of Gluttony, one of the Seven Deadly Sins!” “You’re kidding me. Causality’s completely messed up. Gluttony, already?”

Though he claims to bear the power of Gluttony, it’s likely just a shard fragment. Even with causality warped, it’s unlikely Park Jun-hyuk could fully embody a sin. In the original, several villains absorbed fragments of sin, sparking public awareness of these entities.

“Yoo Eun-ha! Watch out!”

Choi Si-woo, who was evacuating people with the heroines, shouted.

“It’s fine.”

Park Jun-hyuk’s body began to grow. I could wait until he finished transforming, but it’s better to remove the fragment before that happens. Waiting for transformation or evolution might be common courtesy, but I’m a dragon. Human rules don’t apply to me.

So I drove another fire punch into Park Jun-hyuk’s solar plexus.

Crunch!

This time, he floated slightly in the air before crashing back down.

“Urgh!” “Look at you. You think you can handle that power? Pathetic.”

In the original, he was a troll, and now he’s straight up turned into a villain. Is he brave or just stupid? Exposing himself as a servant of sin in front of a crowd. When someone uses a shard of sin, their heart transforms, becoming the core. This allows them to wield the original sin’s power. Perhaps someone like Reyna or Han Su-ji could face him, but even Choi Si-woo could probably take him on.

I grabbed the now bulkier Park Jun-hyuk by the collar and slapped his cheek.

Smack!

“Did you really think gaining that power made you something special, huh?”

Come to think of it, my existence has really shaken up causality. It’s frustrating. Being this powerful without it would be odd, but that just makes things boring.

Crack!

I stomped down on his knee, shattering it.

“You think you’re strong, huh? That’s why you’re weak, you idiot.”

Crunch!

Next, I struck his solar plexus again.

“Sin, huh? If this were a battlefield, you’d be an incompetent ally, a worthless pawn under Hanseong’s flag. And now, trying to block with both arms? Put them down, unless you want them broken too. No? Alright.”

Snap!

I bent his elbow backward.

“Aargh!” “Say it again. Something about me getting hurt, right? You’re the one who’s taken so much damage that you’re barely human.”

Fortunately, the fragment hadn’t yet completely consumed his heart. Good—I can still extract it. It’ll end his career as a hunter, but that’s better than death. He may have been a nuisance, but he still contributed somewhat in the later parts.

I stomped the ground, kicking up dust, then used my dragon claw to forcibly tear out the black shard glowing red from Park Jun-hyuk’s chest.

Rip!

“Aagh!” “Consider it a mercy that I’m letting you live. Huh?”

But wait, he’s got more than one shard in him?

“How many shards did they put in this guy? Unbelievable.”

I managed to extract four, but there were still fragments plastered to his heart.

Boom!

The shards embedded in his body emitted a dark aura, as if to protect their host. It didn’t affect me, a dragon, but I sensed we’d moved into phase two. I took a few steps back.

“Did someone recognize Park Jun-hyuk’s ‘talent’?”

Even though Park Jun-hyuk was unconscious, the shards continued altering his body, bulking up his muscles and darkening his skin. The aura from the shards encased him, forming armor. He looked like a commander heading into battle.

Damn it. To face him, I’d have to use enough power for the hunters to notice. They might start questioning me.

“Is that thing backed by some divine martial power?”

If a constellation had been supporting him, it wouldn’t have let him absorb sin shards. Perhaps he’s still unbound? What does the Akashic Records think?

[Park Jun-hyuk’s current constellation is the Martial God, Cheok Jun-kyung. However, Park Jun-hyuk has disregarded his constellation’s will, succumbing to the shard of Gluttony’s desires.]

“So, his own constellation couldn’t control him?”

Park Jun-hyuk likely tapped into a power similar to how Choi Si-woo activated his divine sword. But instead, he’s forcing his constellation’s strength through the shard’s influence. A martial god—just my luck.

Park Jun-hyuk earned his reputation as a troll for charging in headfirst, rarely using his head. Among male characters, he’s one of the strongest, likely second only to Choi Si-woo, thanks to his martial god awakening title.

“What a waste.”

In China, Gluttony’s constellation might be represented by Xiang Yu, but here in Korea, it’s Park Jun-hyuk—a martial god’s incomplete fragment, no less. But if he grows stronger, the true sin of Gluttony could descend upon him.

Outside the barrier, Choi Si-woo, Han Su-ji, and Reyna watched with concern. The spectators who had fled the stands were starting to sense something was off. If I don’t finish this soon, lives could be at risk.

[Sword of White Flame]

An authoritative voice, different from the Akashic Records, echoed. It must be the Martial God, now separated from Park Jun-hyuk.

[This is partly my fault. I was too lenient with him, only ever asking him to restrain himself. Let me end it through you.]

“So you’re a constellation? You know who I am, don’t you?”

If even the divine sword acknowledged me, would the Martial God be any different?

[It matters not who you are to me, a constellation. All I ask is that you stop that boy before he strays further.]

“Fine, but in return, teach me every one of your techniques.”

I may be powerful, but I lack any specialized techniques compared to other trainees. When it comes to pure swordsmanship, I’d be nothing to Choi Si-woo. But if I could master the Martial God’s swordsmanship, I’d lose some of my dragon’s aura and avoid suspicion as a creature.

[Agreed.]

Flash!

The Martial God’s essence entered me. Memories of his battles appeared before my eyes. He was a warrior among warriors, standing atop a pile of enemies at dusk, his blade never drying from the blood it shed, slaughtering endless commanders. He was indeed a god on the battlefield.

The memories ended there. If learning his techniques is all it takes to dispose of Park Jun-hyuk, I’d kill him a hundred times over. I’ll hand him over to Han Su-ji once it’s done.

“Oh, I feel lighter.”

Even though I was only holding a basic, unnamed magic-resistant sword, it felt like I was wielding a legendary blade. So, this is the power of the Martial God? Instinctively, I wrapped the sword in white flame.

“Kik… kiiiik.”

Park Jun-hyuk, now transformed into a black-armored general, twisted his body and slammed his crescent blade into the ground.

Boom!

True to the power of Gluttony, his strength was monstrous. The entire testing arena looked like it was about to collapse from the impact. His red eyes glinted from inside his helmet, and he muttered something under his breath, gripping the crescent blade before charging at me.

“Has he forgotten how to speak?”

Allowing the Martial God’s presence to guide me, I flowed through my movements with my sword, intercepting the crescent blade like a stream flowing around a rock.

Clang!

[Feel the strength of the mightiest sword of the Three Kingdoms!]

I could already feel it—the raw swordsmanship, free from any dragon’s power, allowing me to clash against the shard. After a few exchanges, Park Jun-hyuk showed signs of being pushed back. Despite the shorter reach of my sword compared to his crescent blade, I was holding my own.

Clang!

“That’s the Sword of White Flame.” “Even within that sinister aura, she’s facing him head-on with pure swordsmanship alone.” “Must be showing respect to Jun-hyuk’s ‘Martial God Mode.’”

The panicked murmur of the onlookers grated on my nerves. ‘Martial God Mode,’ my ass! Can’t they see that foul aura?

Battling him was becoming tedious. Park Jun-hyuk’s giant form left little room for weakness, his strikes covering almost all his blind spots. I couldn’t let this drag on; defeating Gluttony’s shard would be simple, but I couldn’t reveal my full power here. A drawn-out endurance battle was also risky, as the shard’s miasma would continue to harm those nearby.

[Close your eyes.]

“You want me to fight by sense alone? Not hard, but why bother?”

[You sense it, don’t you?]

Sense? What is this, Star Wars? Wait… there’s something there, distinct from my usual magic circuits. Even with my eyes shut, I could feel a dark, murky core.

“Is that… the shard?”

[One chance. When his crescent blade aims for your neck, your sword must cut into Park Jun-hyuk’s core.]

There was no real risk, but facing the overwhelming aura of the Korean peninsula’s strongest martial figure, I steadied my stance, waiting for the perfect moment.

“Kiiii-iiiik!”

Park Jun-hyuk hurtled toward me with a fierce roar.

Swoosh

His crescent blade shot toward my neck.

Slice!

The battle ended in a single stroke. My sword cleaved through Park Jun-hyuk’s chest and the embedded shard, shattering the miasmic armor that covered him as the shard’s power dissipated.