Martial God Regressed to Level 2

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 539

The Red Administrator.

Once on equal footing with the Green Administrator, but now fallen to an incomparable degree, having lost both his forces and administrator position.

However, the reason Yggdrasil remained cautious towards him was,

Because she had seen 'Hell', an infinite energy source.

If he completed this, he could surpass her and become a Permanent Administrator first.

'But he didn't seem that strong just earlier, so I thought Hell wasn't actually completed...'

So even when the Red Administrator poured out all his power at the end, she thought it was a final struggle.

His attack was undoubtedly powerful, engulfing heaven and earth in flames,

And instantly annihilating the elf forces led by the elders, but,

'That attack wasn't the problem. We just needed to input more.'

The planet turned into a fiery hell.

If forces entered here, they'd all burn to ashes the moment they came in,

But Yggdrasil didn't care about elf sacrifices.

She just needed to summon all of the World Tree Alliance's forces and push them in,

Until the opponent ran out of power.

Then, ultimately, victory would be hers.

That's what she thought until just now.

But.

Whoosh...!

When the Red Administrator stabbed his sword into the World Tree,

He instantly recovered the power he had just poured out.

No, even more than that.

[You... have you completed Hell?]

Instead of answering that question, the opponent moved his sword.

Then, the green portals all burst into flames at once.

The elf forces coming through burned and disappeared as soon as they emerged.

Sizzle!

Ultimately, most of the summoned portals were consumed by fire and vanished.

Except for one.

The massive green portal in the center of the sky.

Zing...

A World Tree pattern rose from the giant green portal.

[...This sword. It's unlike you.]

To use a sword that could annihilate countless summoned portals across the sky.

The Red one shouldn't have had such force.

As Yggdrasil harbored such doubts,

[Blue Administrator. Come to your senses.]

From inside that fiery pit,

The Red Administrator was warning Seong Jihan.

He had said he couldn't give advice if all the Red stat was used,

But after Seong Jihan absorbed the World Tree, he was still able to remain.

That was because,

[Red stat increases by 900.]

The S-rank World Tree showed a far superior increase compared to others.

This surpassed the 700 red that Seong Jihan had inwardly considered the limit.

As his ability grew excessively like that,

Seong Jihan was experiencing the side effects firsthand.

'So this is what it feels like to be drunk on power... This must be the sensation the Red Administrator talked about before.'

He recalled when he entered to seal HeavenNet.

-In here, every time the Red stat rises, you assimilate with HeavenNet. The feeling of unifying with the server is more intense than any pleasure. But... you seem fine.

That came up when he raised Red by 150 in HeavenNet.

Back then, Seong Jihan controlled it well through Blue.

But this time, as his ability jumped by 900 at once,

He felt an intense exhilaration unlike any before.

'Should I just undo the seal?'

Even slightly opening Blue-Red raised it by 900.

How much would it rise if fully opened?

If he kept using World Trees as fuel and continued accumulating this power,

It felt like there'd be no fearsome existence in BattleNet.

As this sensation intoxicated Seong Jihan,

The Red Administrator conveyed his will more clearly than before.

[Don't get drunk on power; quickly, use up Red. Do you intend to deviate from 'Seong Jihan' and unify with me?]

'I don't understand... Wouldn't that be good for you?'

[It's still too soon.]

Still, he said.

For the Red Administrator, this incident could be an opportunity, too.

But the picture he was drawing seemed to be looking further ahead.

'...Still, for now, our goals align.'

Right.

He couldn't merge with that Red guy, entranced by Hell's power.

Seong Jihan came to his senses and surveyed the sky.

Hiss...

Amidst all the vanished portals, Yggdrasil's pattern floated alone majestically.

Except for the color, it looked similar to the World Tree pattern that appeared on Earth's moon.

'Did Yggdrasil try to descend directly, then hesitate?'

It seemed she became wary after seeing him recover power with Blue and Red.

Seong Jihan decided to use the remaining Red towards that and come out.

However,

'I won't be able to inflict damage by pouring out Red like before.'

Even when he consumed 500 Red stat and set the whole world ablaze,

And after absorbing the World Tree, when he swung his sword intoxicated,

Yggdrasil's portal that hadn't taken any damage at all.

To damage that, a more precise attack was needed.

Whoosh...

The Phoenix Flag rose above Seong Jihan's head.

Infinite Annihilation God

Heavenly Dragon Thunder Fire,

Crimson Thunder cannon

The flames spread across the planet and began gathering inside the spear.

The Phoenix Flag didn't just release power recklessly but gathered it into one.

Though the spear contained the flames of heaven and earth,

Crackle...

It just flashed red electricity a few times, without growing any larger.

Compared to the flames that had spread across the sky and earth,

It looked truly insignificant.

However,

[To gather that immense power into a single point... Have you absorbed Blue's martial arts, too?]

Yggdrasil knew this was more threatening.

And also that the original Red Administrator could never do this.

The doubt she had when seeing the sword earlier,

Now, it had become a certainty.

And,

Whoosh!

As the Phoenix Flag containing crimson thunder stabbed into the portal with Yggdrasil's pattern,

Crackle...!

The green portal was instantly filled with red lightning.

Then, the portal that hadn't budged to any attack,

Began collapsing all at once.

[...This is troublesome.]

The brilliant rainbow colors faded, and Yggdrasil's pattern crumbled into pieces.

From within, her voice echoed, cracking.

[You shouldn't be good at combat, too.]

With those final words,

Crackle...!

The portal vanished, engulfed in crimson thunder.

As Seong Jihan reached his hand towards it,

The Phoenix Flag returned to him.

[300 Red stat is consumed.]

So this was how much ability was consumed using Crimson Thunder Cannon.

'I thought more would be used, but rather the consumption decreased as the Red value rose sharply.'

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

When the red value jumped up, he should had been more careful when pouring out power.

Seong Jihan felt his senses come back under control as he looked at the Red stat set to 600.

[So this is how to use power...]

The Red Administrator muttered, seemingly impressed by how the Phoenix Flag collapsed Yggdrasil's portal.

'This guy, is he sticking around just to see how martial arts are used?'

Didn't he reject the golden opportunity to take over the body earlier?

Thinking that, Seong Jihan asked him a question.

"By the way, how did you become a BattleNet administrator when you're not even good at combat?"

[Hah. The standard of me not being good at combat only applies to administrators. Lower constellations are easy.]

"But you were beaten by Dongbang Sak."

[...That's because that guy possessed administrator-level martial prowess.]

Well, that's true.

Dongbang Sak should be considered an exception.

Thinking that, Seong Jihan looked around.

The planet that had been lush with greenery,

Was now wholly transformed into black ashes.

This resulted even with Seong Jihan gathering the flames with the Phoenix Flag.

If left alone, wouldn't fire have eventually covered the entire planet?

'Well, I've become an arsonist on a planetary scale.'

Seong Jihan smiled bitterly as he prepared to return.

He came to dangle bait for the White Administrator but encountered Yggdrasil too.

It was quite a mess.

[It would be best to only absorb up to A-rank for a while.]

"Right. I should be careful until I can control Blue and Red more precisely."

[Then I'll be going back...]

As the Red Administrator said that and sank into Hell,

Seong Jihan soon returned as well.

* * *

The next day.

On the official member board of the BattleNet community,

A notice was posted.

[At the request of the World Tree Alliance, we are taking down the 'World Tree Alliance Territory Update' post.]

Since the creation of the official member community,

This World Tree Alliance territory notice had always been pinned at the top.

As this useful post that prevented other players from recklessly entering dangerous areas was taken down,

Players became curious.

-??

-Why are they suddenly taking it down?

-Wasn't the Alliance just tolerating it?

-Yeah, I heard they left it up to keep random people from causing trouble by entering.

-So now that it's down, we can cause trouble?

-Try it if you want to die lol

As discussions about the Alliance directly requesting the notice removal were ongoing,

-I heard this is related to a terrorist attack?

-Someone posted images of a burned Alliance planet, one of the 'Roots of the World Tree' planets that was attacked.

-Huh? But you can't observe that area, it's blocked.

-The jamming system collapsed, so you can see it now.

-Whoa, it's true, you can see it now. OMG.

News spread on the board that one of the World Tree Alliance's planets had fallen.

And it was one of the founding planets that had been with the Alliance from the beginning.

Known as one of the 'Roots of the World Tree', news of its terrorist attack set the previously quiet board on fire.

-I'm a mercenary who was driven out after the Alliance took my planet... This is so satisfying lolol.

-Be careful; you might get identified.

-Nah, it's fine, there are tons of constellations like that lol

-Which noble soul is fighting against the Alliance's tyranny? I wish I could support them if BattleTube was on...

-Rumors say the Red Administrator has been resurrected? The completely burned traces match the authority of fire.

-What? Really?

-That guy really keeps coming back to life lol

With the traces of the burned planet,

The Red Administrator was most frequently named as the suspect for this attack.

While the board's opinion was that it was good the World Tree Alliance was getting hit,

The prevailing view was that it would ultimately be suppressed.

After all, the World Tree Alliance held the largest share of power in the current BattleNet,

While the Red Administrator was just an individual without forces, who had recently escaped being sealed on Earth.

-But I don't understand... What's the point of fighting the World Tree Alliance? There are plenty of easier targets.

-For real, it doesn't seem like Red; Red isn't that stupid.

-If it's the Red Administrator, maybe he came up with a way to fight the Alliance.

-Anyway, it's nice to have a huge topic drop on the quiet board lol

As the previously quiet official member board was buzzing with activity,

At the core of the World Tree Alliance,

An emergency meeting of the highest level was being held in the Council of Elders.

At the head seat of the meeting room,

An elf with completely green hair,

Yggdrasil sat with her legs crossed.

Crackle...

She gazed with interest at her left hand, where red electricity was rising.

"It's still remaining."

The final blow dealt by the Red Administrator.

Not only did it shatter the portal, but it even affected part of Yggdrasil's body as she was trying to manifest.

Even after a day, the crimson thunder still flashed on her body.

Of course, if Yggdrasil really tried to extinguish it, she could,

'But then I couldn't analyze it.'

The traces left by the opponent.

She needed to figure it out for certain.

"After analyzing the video data of the Blue Administrator, Seong Jihan."

"The spear form shown by the Red Administrator at the end matches the Blue spear, Phoenix Flag."

"The sword strike that cut the portal is also related to the basic techniques used by the Blue Administrator or the former Martial God."

"I see..."

The Red Administrator.

Did he devour Seong Jihan and obtain his martial arts too?

'If Hell is activated on top of that, he's invincible.'

Possessing an infinite energy source,

And being able to use it effectively as the Red Administrator.

There was no answer even if they tried to overwhelm him with their forces.

Instead, he would keep growing stronger while using World Trees as nourishment.

But,

'Why isn't he doing that?'

If all those conditions were activated,

He should have done it as soon as he was freed.

Why did he only blow up one S-rank this time and disappear?

As Yggdrasil was pondering the opponent's actions,

Crackle...

The red electricity began eating away at her hand again.

The crimson thunder that wouldn't easily disappear.

Seeing that, Yggdrasil thought.

'This is also a trace of the red... I should test what we've prepared.'

She opened her mouth.

"How much is Earth's Blue Sword prepared?"

"Still... 25 percent is the maximum, I've heard."

"Is that so? We have a long way to go."

She replied like that and raised her left hand.

"Let's experiment to extinguish this crimson thunder with the Blue Sword."

"Then..."

Snap.

As she detached her hand at the wrist,

She smiled.

"Send this to Earth."

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]