The Return of the Legendary All-Master

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Jeong-Hoon was the master of the dimension.

On top of that, using Psyche, he unlocked the Creation Engine that had been sealed. As soon as he returned, he spread the Creation Engine around the entire Earth, thinning it out like a fine thread.

Of course, this wasn't something that could deceive the named entities.

The only reason he was able to detect Beelzebub's interference at all was entirely thanks to Psyche.

'Beelzebub intends to approach a human.'

Psyche's voice echoed in Jeong-Hoon's mind.

'How did you manage to find out?'

'Hehe, when you destroyed the puppet, I set it up so I could still maintain a line of communication.'

'…….'

'Don't worry too much. Once it activates, it will automatically disappear after one minute.'

As she said this, Psyche told him in detail who Beelzebub was planning to approach.

'Why are you telling me this?'

'Maybe because I want to earn your trust?'

'I hope you're not lying.'

'Of course not.'

After a minute passed, her voice disappeared completely.

Jeong-Hoon glanced at Tenebris and Baal chatting noisily behind him, then quietly sent a signal to James Marcus.

'James, there's something you need to do.'

Because the Creation Engine had been stretched around the entire Earth like a thread, James could hear Jeong-Hoon's voice.

'W-Who is this?'

James Marcus's bewildered voice came through.

'It's me. Ggul1.'

'Ggul1?! How are you—?'

'I'll explain later. Right now, there's something you need to do immediately.'

'…What is it?'

'Be jealous of me.'

'Jealous? What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden?'

Jeong-Hoon chuckled at the absurd reaction and continued.

'Because that's how Beelzebub will approach you.'

'Approach?'

'Looking at the type of human Beelzebub likes to target, you're the perfect fit. The emotion he craves the most is jealousy. If you strongly envy me, Beelzebub will definitely reach out to you.'

'…There needs to be a significant difference to feel jealousy. How am I supposed to pull that off?'

'Figure it out. If you succeed, I'll make you an Ultimate-grade piece of equipment.'

'Ultimate?'

'It's a grade above Celestial.'

'You're serious?!'

'I am.'

'…Alright.'

It didn't take long for him to decide.

James Marcus chose to side with Jeong-Hoon and soon succeeded in forging a contract with Beelzebub.

Jeong-Hoon honestly didn't expect him to pull it off.

"Master!"

Not long after, Thanatos became aware of James's presence.

Of course, Jeong-Hoon had perfectly hidden the fact that Beelzebub had approached James.

'There's a saying: to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies.'

Jeong-Hoon deliberately pretended not to know as he approached James Marcus, making sure to eliminate even the slightest chance of the plan being exposed.

As a result—

[You have acquired the ability: Whisper of Good and Evil.]

He successfully received the transfer of an ability called Whisper of Good and Evil.

"Hoo, my role ends here."

As soon as the transfer was complete, James Marcus collapsed.

Jeong-Hoon quickly caught him and used Divine Healing to treat him.

As the healing energy flowed in, James rapidly regained his senses.

"Ugh… I thought I was going to die just holding out."

"Well, I did hit you pretty hard. That's only natural."

"Haha… More importantly, what should I do now? Beelzebub is still constantly cursing me out."

James Marcus looked troubled as he sought help from Jeong-Hoon.

"Hmm, you'll have to figure that out yourself."

"…You're seriously unbelievable. You put me through all that and now you're just brushing me off?"

"I'm joking."

Jeong-Hoon released the Creation Engine and forcibly severed the contract.

Normally, a contract like this couldn't be broken, but Beelzebub didn't have strong authority over this particular deal.

That's why it had been made as a one-time contract.

The contract was cut cleanly, and James Marcus let out a deep breath of relief.

"Whew, I guess now I can explain things to my comrades?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

James Marcus told Jeong-Hoon that Sophia had completely misunderstood him.

Since the plan involved deceiving the named entities, he had no choice but to deceive his allies as well.

"Alright, let's hurry up and close the rift."

"I'll hand over the equipment later. Let me know if there's a specific type you want."

"I'm already looking forward to it."

Jeong-Hoon and James quickly made their way back to the main base.

Throughout the process, Tenebris and Baal stayed completely silent, and neither Mukho nor Anima even tried to make eye contact with Jeong-Hoon.

'Well… I guess they have every right to be angry.'

Even though there's a saying that you must deceive your allies to deceive your enemies, Jeong-Hoon still chose to keep it from them, despite knowing that even if they found out, they wouldn't tell anyone else.

"I'm sorry."

Jeong-Hoon offered them a sincere apology.

Finally, Tenebris, who had been completely silent until now, started grumbling.

<Seriously, isn't this too much? I staked everything on you. How could you lie to me?>

<I feel the same. Honestly, the sense of betrayal hit me like a tidal wave.>

Baal didn't even answer Jeong-Hoon. He simply nodded in agreement with Tenebris, clearly expressing his dissatisfaction.

'We were treated just like those other guys…'

'Master, no matter how I think about it, this just isn't right.'

Yeah…

They seemed to be truly, seriously upset.

"I'm sorry. Next time, I'll definitely tell you everything."

Jeong-Hoon sincerely apologized once again.

<Hmph, so what did you get out of it?>

"It's an ability called Whisper of Good and Evil."

<Oh? Really? It seems Beelzebub was quite eager to get his hands on you.>

Thanatos quickly cooled his anger and showed genuine interest.

<Thanatos! Are you really just going to let this go? He's definitely going to keep hiding things in the future!>

Baal protested in frustration, but Thanatos ignored him and focused entirely on Whisper of Good and Evil.

Baal slumped in disappointment, and Mukho and Anima quietly patted him as if to comfort him, saying they understood.

<There's probably no explanation for this ability.>

"Yeah. What exactly does this ability even do?"

Perhaps because it was a named ability, the description was extremely simple:

[Whisper of Good and Evil]

– Temptation

That was the entire explanation.

<It's one of Beelzebub's most powerful abilities. If you use that whisper, any opponent will eventually succumb to it.>

"Hm, but how come James didn't fall under its influence?"

<Put simply, it was because Beelzebub didn't have the authority. His influence was too limited to fully dominate James. Also, remember, I was the one who originally chose that human. He has the mental strength and resilience to withstand even repeated regressions. That's why it was possible.>

I see.

Jeong-Hoon glanced over at James, who was walking beside him.

Jeong-Hoon had only regressed once, but James had gone through it countless times.

Even after all that, the fact that he was still holding on was probably because of his extraordinary mental fortitude.

'Yeah, Baal really is just a fragment that broke off from Beelzebub.'

Baal had a similar ability called Devil's Whisper.

That ability could also seduce and deceive the opponent, but Whisper of Good and Evil was undoubtedly on a whole different level.

"We're almost at the main base."

Just as James said, since he had already cleared the area, they quickly reached the main camp.

But standing in front of the main camp were three puppets blocking the path.

<Beelzebub. They're his puppets.>

Thanatos instantly recognized them.

All three of Beelzebub's puppets had the appearance of cruel, vicious demons.

A pair of ram's horns protruded from their heads.

As the horns began to glow red, their eerie crimson eyes scanned over Jeong-Hoon and James.

Baal really is like a child compared to this.

Even though these were just puppets, they radiated an overwhelming presence that was on a whole different level from Baal.

"So these are the puppets he was talking about……"

James muttered quietly.

"Do you know anything about them?"

"Not really. All I know is he said he'd send his puppets to keep you from getting through."

"Is that so? Then wait here for a moment."

Jeong-Hoon stepped forward.

"What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to eliminate them."

With those words, he gripped Titan in his hand.

"That's a god-tier weapon…"

James let out a short gasp of admiration, while Jeong-Hoon gave a faint smile and wrapped the Creation Engine around himself.

"Don't get greedy. I only have this one."

"…Yeah, I know."

Jeong-Hoon stepped forward, using the Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion.

* * *

'Incredible.'

James Marcus couldn't track Jeong-Hoon's movements at all.

All he could vaguely register was that Jeong-Hoon had disappeared, and in an instant, one of the puppets had its neck severed.

The remaining puppets vanished just as quickly, followed by deafening explosions.

'Damn it, I'm so frustrated that I can't even see it happen!'

James's eyes couldn't keep up with the ferocity of the battle.

"Kuhuhu, do you really think struggling like that will change the outcome?"

Beelzebub, who was standing off to the side, mockingly sneered at Jeong-Hoon.

"You sure are relaxed. So that's why you targeted him to lure me in?"

"……"

Beelzebub's face stiffened coldly.

"If you're that confident, just sit tight. Don't bother me."

"You little…"

"I'll make good use of what you handed over."

Jeong-Hoon smiled faintly.

"Pfft, do you actually think that ability is permanent? I only gave it as a one-time use."

"Is that why you sent three puppets? To try to erase this ability no matter what?"

"……"

Beelzebub remained silent, as if Jeong-Hoon had struck a nerve.

"But what now? I don't even plan on using this ability anytime soon."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

Jeong-Hoon swung Titan.

A sword strike, infused with the Creation Engine, sliced off one of Beelzebub's horns.

The horn was cleanly severed, and as it fell to the ground, thick black liquid poured out, trying to engulf Jeong-Hoon.

But a barrier of light created using the Creation Engine completely blocked the liquid.

"Tch, so arrogant just because you can barely handle the Creation Engine."

"As long as I can destroy something as minor as a puppet, it's enough."

"Is that so?"

Beelzebub grinned wickedly and snapped his fingers.

In that instant, the barrier of light began to melt.

The black liquid, as if it had its own will, started creeping toward Jeong-Hoon and began to penetrate through.

Jeong-Hoon frantically struggled to shake off the black liquid, but it latched onto him a beat faster.

The liquid began to bubble furiously and in an instant, it engulfed his entire body, leaving only his face uncovered.

'Master!'

'Are you okay?!'

With a strained expression, Jeong-Hoon nodded.

'I'm fine. I'm going to use the ability I got earlier.'

'The ability?'

'You mean… right now?'

Since he'd promised not to deceive them anymore, he was telling them honestly.

But Beelzebub, unaware of this, looked at Jeong-Hoon with satisfaction and said confidently.

"I won't kill you just yet. When the timer hits zero, I'll drag you away with me."

"I don't think that's going to happen."

"What?"

[You have activated the Whisper of Good and Evil.]

The part about not using the ability had been a lie.

It was a bit of a waste, but what Jeong-Hoon wanted more was this power that had covered his body.

It might not match the true power of Beelzebub's original ability, but since it wasn't a one-time use, it was plenty valuable.

"Puhaha! You fool, using it right here for me!"

Having achieved his goal, Beelzebub burst into booming laughter.

"Hand over that ability and get lost quietly."

"Did you really think that would work on me…?"

The smile disappeared from Beelzebub's face.

The puppet's expression turned pale—the reason being that the black liquid covering Jeong-Hoon's body had quickly fallen away.

The liquid gathered into Jeong-Hoon's hand and vanished from sight.

"It worked, didn't it?"

Jeong-Hoon smirked.

"Damn it! How could the Creation Engine react to this?! What did you do?!"

"Why would I tell you that? Now get lost."

As Jeong-Hoon finished speaking, the remaining puppets twisted unnaturally and soon vanished completely.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]