[The entire Demon Faction receives the Blessing of the Void.]

Everyone was given the Blessing of the Void, the main reason Platinum users sought to subdue Count Naseed in the Valley of the End map.

‘That’s not the important thing.’

After all, the enemy’s base was already nearly half destroyed.

All they had to do was destroy the main camp, so the Blessing of the Void hardly mattered.

[The blessing from Count Naseed, who devoured the divine beast, is enhanced.]

[The Blessing of the Void surpasses the player’s level by far, extending the limits of one’s abilities.]

[All stats increase by 1.]

“What?!”

All stats +1?

Seong Jihan’s eyes widened in surprise.

Being rewarded with a stat point increase?

Such a generous reward was truly rare.

The BattleNet system was notoriously stingy with stat points.

[Even if you receive the Blessing of the Void again in the future, there will be no increase in stats.]

Although a message appeared saying that capturing Count Naseed again wouldn’t result in any stat increase, it was still a significant gain.

“Wow…!”

“Uncle, they increased our stats…!”

Not only Seong Jihan, but Sophia, Yoon Seah, and Masied, who were far away, also seemed greatly surprised.

[You have completed the ‘Linked Quest – Trace of the Apostle (2)’.]

[You have obtained the ‘Veil of the Void’ as a reward.]

[You have been rewarded with 50,000 Achievement Points.]

[The next linked quest, ‘Gaze of Destruction’, will be available in the Gold League.]

Seong Jihan checked out the additional rewards.

Setting aside the Achievement Points, he was curious about the use of the Veil of the Void.

‘It’s directly in the inventory.’

It wouldn’t be appropriate to check items while broadcasting.

He decided to inspect the Veil of the Void after the game ended.

‘The next linked quest is the Gaze of Destruction, huh?’

Although it was a linked quest, it didn’t mean it would immediately appear upon entering the Gold League.

After all, the event with Count Naseed occurred by chance as they passed by the riverbank.

‘I need to explore the map well once I get promoted to Gold.’

Seong Jihan was about to wrap up the reward summary.

However, there was still another reward.

[Your Shadow Sword stat increases by 3.]

Seong Jihan tilted his head.

He had already milked Count Naseed for all he’s worth, so why was there a sudden increase now?

‘How much has Shadow Sword increased just today?’

It was good he didn’t invest stat points into Shadow Sword.

Investments should be in Unique rather than Rare.

Firmly resolved not to invest stats into Shadow Sword in the future, Seong Jihan gazed at his now much stronger Shadow Sword.

The once fluid form of the sword transformed into a more solid black blade.

Inside the sword, Ariel, who was resonating more than usual, exclaimed,

[What is this power…!]

“…Why?”

[The technique you just used! What’s its name?!]

Ariel, who resided in the sword, asked with an excited voice.

This was a complete 180 from her usually calm demeanor.

“It’s called Ascension of the Black Shadow.”

[The Black Shadow Ascension… Is this the pinnacle of the martial arts you can deploy?]

Seong Jihan chuckled softly and shook his head.

“No, there’s something even more potent.”

[Something… more than this?]

“Yes.”

[That’s impossible…]

“What is?”

[It’s not appropriate to discuss it here. Let’s finish the game first.]

Because they were in the middle of a broadcast?

Seong Jihan shrugged.

“Alright.”

The game was almost over anyway. With the Blessing of the Void in their favor, it was easy to finish the game even without Barren.

“Everyone, let’s go.”

“Yes!!”

“Got it!!”

“Alright, alright, uncle. Let’s finish this quickly!”

Perhaps the increase in all stats by +1 excited everyone.

But there was someone who wasn’t part of this celebration.

[This is ridiculous! An all-stat +1?? I didn’t get the blessing!]

Barren spewed anger in the party chat. Due to his death, he missed the Blessing of the Void and didn’t get the additional stat effect.

– All stats increase?

– What? There’s such a reward?

– So if a Silver Rank kills Count Naseed, they get stat points?

When it became known that Seong Jihan’s party all received a +1 in all stats, the viewers were astonished.

Receiving stats for defeating a monster? They’d never seen such a thing while watching BattleNet.

– So… does this mean that Silvers have to raid Count Naseed?

– Lol, besides Seong Jihan, who else can defeat Count Naseed?

– Did you see Barren go down? He’s supposed to be Silver rank 2 lol.

– Lmao, he was a dominant character before Seong Jihan came along, but he’s just fodder now.

Though Seong Jihan generously explained on broadcast how to get the all-stat increase, excluding him, no other Silver had the capability.

[Heavenly Demon Wang Lin has donated 10,000GP.]

[Jihan sir!! Please, can I join the party again just once more? You don’t need to do any dungeons. I promise…!]

[Mihail has donated 10,000GP.]

[Me too!! Please!! Ahhh, I should’ve had better luck today!!]

Watching the two previous party members begging, Seong Jihan felt slightly guilty.

He had invited Barren, thinking he was the strongest among the four Silvers.

But instead of helping, he was a complete troll.

If he’d known, he would’ve included one of the other two.

“Well, let’s have a party if we get a chance.”

[Heavenly Demon Wang Lin has donated 10,000GP.]

[Jihan big bro!! Thank you! Thank you!]

[Mihail has donated 10,000GP.]

[Ahhh!! Seong Jihan is the best!! I love you, take me with you!!]

‘I never thought of Mihail that way… People can be so strange.’ Seong Jihan furrowed his brow.

“But to summon Count Naseed, you need the fragments of the Archangel’s sword and the Death God’s scythe. Without those, there’s nothing I can do.”

[Heavenly Demon Wang Lin has donated 10,000GP.]

[Of course! Just giving us the opportunity is more than enough!!]

[Mihail has donated 10,000GP.]

[I’ll get it! So we just need to destroy what’s in that base?]

“Yes. Try it.”

Unless one is Seong Jihan, it would be almost impossible to get at the Silver level.

Yet, in hope, he urged the two patrons.

[I… made a mistake earlier…]

How great the effect of All-stat +1 was.

Suddenly, Barren apologized in the party chat.

[Is there… another chance? I’ll even pay the GP!]

“Ah, why did you do that?”

Sophia sighed after seeing Barren’s chat.

Half of it goes when people just stay still, but what a loss for making a fuss.

“Ignore him. Focus on the base.”

“Of course. Jihan!”

Sophia responded with a bright smile.

‘Seong Jihan is truly the best warrior.’

Right now, Ito Ryuhei of Japan is considered the strongest warrior.

But she was sure.

Seong Jihan will be the one to dethrone the reigning Sword King.

‘I really like him.’

Sophia’s gaze never left Seong Jihan.

At first, she became his fan simply because she liked the Warrior class.

But seeing him up close made her want him even more.

‘How can I get closer to him?’

Until the Angel Faction’s main base was destroyed,

Sophia’s eyes followed only Seong Jihan.

* * * * *

After the game ended,

Ariel, unlike usual, appeared from Seong Jihan’s arm with a serious face.

“Let’s continue our earlier conversation.”

“About the Ascension of Black Shadow?”

“Yes.”

Ariel placed her palm on Seong Jihan’s arm.

Shooooo~

A shadow energy flowed out slightly, and the eclipse appeared.

“The dark power you use is very similar to the Shadow Queen’s.”

“Yeah. I heard that before.”

Unlike other Constellations bound to stars, the Wandering Martial God created his own star, known as the Battleground Star.

The Wandering Martial God, in the star known as the Constellation’s Tomb, preserved and siphoned power from the Constellations, rendering them neither alive nor dead.

‘I guessed that Dark Shadow Technique might actually be the power of the Shadow Queen.’

It was a few years from now when Seong Jihan originally obtained the nameless martial art.

In those few years, it was believed that the Shadow Queen was suppressed by the Wandering Martial God, her power was taken, and he created the Dark Shadow Technique.

“The martial art you used earlier… It’s eerily similar to the Shadow Queen’s ultimate power. Of course, the total amount of dark magic is incomparable to the constellation… but the way you use the power is chillingly similar.”

“You said something similar during the Dark Soul Vortex.”

“Yes. The Wandering Martial God absorbing the Shadow Queen’s power must have been predestined. I’m curious how you know of that power even before its absorption.”

“I don’t know either.”

“I didn’t expect you to tell me. But I’m curious…”

Ariel’s eyes shone brightly.

“About the martial art you said is stronger than the Ascension of Black Shadow.”

“I can’t show that now. I barely used Dark Ascension with a buff.”

“I see… Can you at least tell me its name?”

“The name? You’re curious about the martial art’s name?”

“Yes.”

Ariel looked at Seong Jihan with a desperate expression that was uncommon for her.

She was so curious about the name of the martial art.

Was she trying to find clues to further develop the power of the Shadow Queen from that name?

However.

‘If that’s her intention… she’s completely off the mark.’

The most powerful martial art within the Dark Shadow Technique.

The name of the ultimate technique was exceedingly simple.

There’s no way to get any hint from that.

“You want me to just tell you straight up?”

“Of course not. In exchange, I will tell you about the elves.”

“The elves?”

“Yes. From what I’ve heard, earthlings seem to think very lightly of elves. They say elves are kind, right?”

Did she recall Yoon Seah saying that elves are probably kind?

With a meaningful smile, Ariel spoke as if she was revealing a great secret.

‘I already knew that.’

Of course, as a returnee, Seong Jihan was already aware of this information.

‘Still, having more information about elves would be better.’

Once the tutorial ends and they enter the Space League, the biggest enemy of humanity will be the elves.

There might be information from Ariel that even Seong Jihan didn’t know.

“Alright. Tell me first.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

Ariel smirked and began speaking.

“Let me show you an elf first.”

As Ariel spread her right palm, a figure emerged in the air.

Pale skin, long golden hair, elongated ears, and a face as beautiful as the so-called goddess Ito Shizuru.

“That’s the exact image of the elf we know.”

“Really? Then do you know this as well?”

Swoosh!

When Ariel spread her left palm too,

The figure of the elf from earlier began multiplying one by one.

All had the same appearance and physique.

They all stared emotionlessly at Seong Jihan.

“Every elf looks like this.”

“…Every elf?”

Seong Jihan frowned.

This isn’t what he knew.

“Yes. Any elf that doesn’t look like this is discarded.”

Saying that, Ariel pointed to herself.

“Just like us Dark Elves.”