CHAPTER 135: A World Turned Upside Down
A moment ago, Prycia had been in the sky.

Not the skies of Earth, but a higher, superior world. The Spirit Realm. Rooted there, she had been observing Earth through the surface of a placid lake.

She had a certain interest in Earth. She hadn't before, but that changed. It was because the interesting being she had met on the 3rd Floor was there.

Conversely, she had no interest in anything other than that being. She knew it was the star Jerakson was so obsessed with, but she didn’t know why. She couldn’t empathize with it at all.

‘A filthy world, devoid of order and filled with chaos.’

It wasn’t because Jerakson had ruined it. From the very beginning, that star had been disorderly. A truly beautiful world was one that was thoroughly managed and controlled by a divine being. Earth had a similar concept. It was called Heaven, or sometimes Sukhavati.

But Earth had no such being. There was no absolute ruler to manage an entire star, nor were there any gods. A star swarming only with mortals looked like nothing more than a nest of insects to her eyes in the Spirit Realm.

In contrast, her world was beautiful. A garden managed solely by her hand. The flowers blooming in profusion were as beautiful as she imagined, and the flowing streams and cool green shade were as refreshing as she desired.

‘Should I clean that place up like this, too?’

That was the thought that came to her. Just because a star was filthy didn't mean it had to stay that way forever. If someone took responsibility and cleaned it, it could become beautiful.

If Jerakson had succeeded, his power might have made it so, but he was dead. All that remained was a messy, abandoned star, left half-cleaned.

If not for the interesting being, Kang Jinwoo, she wouldn't have even considered taking over the cleaning duties. But once he caught her eye, she somehow felt a surge of motivation.

That’s why she had resorted to descending herself to advance her work, believing such a drastic measure was necessary to finish the job quickly.

Still, she was careful never to step foot on it directly. It was slated to become clean in the future, but for now, it was dirty. A filthy mire that felt like a mix of mud, insects, and excrement.

And yet.

“Kuaaaahhh!”

From the surface of the water she used to watch Earth, a branch from the World Tree shot out. It coiled around her neck, seized her limbs, and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into the water. It happened so suddenly that she was dragged down without a chance to resist.

And just like that, she was slammed into the mire. Into the disorderly lower world she had sworn never to set foot in.

Humiliation, shame, contempt. All sorts of emotions exploded within her, but she couldn't even afford to indulge in them. Attacks from the insects poured in from all sides. They were annoying, but more importantly, he was among the insects.

Kang Jinwoo. His sword sliced through the neck of Prycia, who had fallen into the mire.

‘I cut it!’

I felt the impact. A solid strike.

Blue blood spurted from the severed neck. The other Hunters' attacks weren't without effect either. Their assaults tore out feathers and snapped her wings, leaving Prycia a complete mess.

“This is our chance! Keep attacking!”

“Break all of her wings!”

A torrent of heavy firepower rained down, burning and breaking her wings. The Hunters didn't know she had been dragged down from the Spirit Realm. To them, it just looked like the enemy, who had been untouchable in the sky, had been ensnared by tree roots and brought crashing down.

A flying monster is a threat, but not so much when it's on the ground. A flying monster that has fallen to the earth is far weaker than a terrestrial one. Sticking to this basic principle, they saw this as their golden opportunity. Their reasoning was wrong, but the result was the same, so it didn't matter.

But Jinwoo had a strange feeling. No, it wasn’t a feeling, it was a certainty. He had cut her neck, but he hadn’t cut the Flame.

‘She’s still alive.’

Not only was she alive, but she hadn't taken much damage. The fall itself was a major blow, but there was no follow-up damage.

Jinwoo quickly pursued her Black Flame. The Flame, which had been as massive as her body, had now shrunk completely and was raging inside her.

‘Now!’

He thrust his sword toward the flame darting erratically. Shriiip! His sword sliced through her torso—whether it was steel or carapace, he couldn't tell—and touched the Flame.

But he couldn't cut it. Once again, the Flame dodged his sword and shot out from her sundered torso, scattering a brilliant light with a flash.

The Flame that emerged with the light took on a human form. A beautiful woman with turquoise hair. A goddess of stunning beauty, robed in light, her eyes gazing down upon the world.

But she was bizarre. She didn't seem like a being that existed in reality. The reason became clear soon enough. There were no dark parts on her form at all.

The areas hidden by her long hair, inside her sleeves, between her fingers—there were no shadows where they should have been. Everything was glowing. It was only natural that she felt unreal.

[Kang Jinwoo! And that damned World Tree!]

The woman, who seemed otherworldly, wore an all-too-real expression. Though her face, twisted in humiliation, was equally devoid of shadows, the emotion she spewed forth was intensely real.

“Wh-What the!”

“A person came out!”

“You crazy bastard! Does that look like a person to you?!”

The Hunters were momentarily stunned, but they made their decision quickly. Even if it had the form of a beautiful woman, ‘that thing’ with no shadows was utterly grotesque. No matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem human.

“That thing is the main body!”

“Kill it!”

The first thing to strike was a bolt of lightning. Was that Reinhardt? The other Hunters didn’t stay idle either. The ground rose up, melted into lava, and poured down. Shards of ice flew everywhere, diffusely reflecting the light Prycia scattered.

Among them was someone who raised thick roots to bind Prycia. It was Chartia. At some point, she had arrived and was now raising forests and trees from the White Land to restrict Prycia's movements.

[Hmph.]

Prycia just scoffed. Not the lightning, not the lava, nothing could penetrate the light she wore. Chartia’s trees suddenly lost their nutrients and shriveled up.

[To think you would try to bind me with things raised from my own land.]

Looking closely, the White Land where the trees had been planted was turning black. Prycia had re-corrupted the White Land she had once restored.

“Kyah!”

The light Prycia fired cut down the withered trees, causing them to topple. Chartia screamed, but she wasn't hurt.

However, Chartia couldn't use her power as usual on the blackened earth. On pure land, she had the strength to fight several S-class Hunters, but on tainted land, that wasn't the case. Her power had a weakness: it depended on the condition of the earth.

It was similar to the Island incident. The situation was different, but the result was the same. Even with dozens of S-class Hunters attacking, they couldn't land a single scratch on Prycia.

Floating in the air with her light, she glared down at the Hunters with cold eyes. When her gaze fell on Jinwoo, her icy expression shattered and twisted into one of utter distortion.

[I thought you were a somewhat amusing being, but to dare drag me down to a place like this.]

She spoke, twisting the corner of her mouth up. Her expression was anything but amused.

Jinwoo raised his sword. As mana gathered in the blade, the clouds in the sky began to move. The God-Welcoming Spell he had learned from Kanok.

“Kang Jinwoo! Lightning doesn’t work!” Reinhardt shouted from somewhere. It was the cry of a man who had unleashed countless lightning bolts, none of which had any effect.

‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’

He swallowed his rage. He never thought he would experience such an emotional shift at his age. That was how immense his feeling of powerlessness was.

‘Again, just like with the Island.’

He thought he had reached the top when he became an S-class Hunter. It wasn't quite the pinnacle, but he believed he had reached a sufficient level for a man.

Even the dragons of the 5th Floor couldn't take his lightning lightly. It wasn't that he had ever defeated a dragon one-on-one, but he was strong enough to pose a threat to them. He believed that with just three people like him, they could easily take down a dragon.

There was no one left to block his path. Except for S-class Hunters stronger than him.

That confidence was shattered for the first time during the Island incident. And today was the second time.

[Do you think something like that will work?]

Prycia sneered. She no longer spoke in a formal tone. This was much better. She seemed more human now than when they met on the 3rd Floor. Not that it was a compliment to her.

‘Lightning from above won’t work.’

A normal attack won't be effective. The skies of Earth didn't contain lightning powerful enough to tarnish her light.

But Jinwoo had another sky. The Seed he had taken from Jerakson, who was called the God of the Sky.

It was a world in itself. It contained a vast sky that could rival Earth's. Wasn't Jerakson himself sealed within it, completely unaware?

He released the power of the Seed. A new world unfolded with Jinwoo at its center.

In that moment, heaven and earth were inverted. The only two present who felt it clearly were Jinwoo and Prycia.

Only a few of the other S-class Hunters noticed a faint, strange sensation. Reinhardt, who had just been stewing in his powerlessness, knew that Jinwoo had done ‘something.’ But he didn’t know what it was.

Chartia, who had been watching Jinwoo and the World Tree he had summoned, felt something similar. She noticed a little more than Reinhardt, perhaps because she had known Jinwoo for longer. But even she didn't perceive it clearly.

Ultimately, everyone was offstage. Most of the S-class Hunters didn't even notice the stage itself. Only those like Reinhardt and Chartia felt a sense of unease.

Onstage stood Jinwoo and Prycia.

[You… don't tell me…]

The world had been inverted around Jinwoo. Prycia, who had been in the air, was now beneath Jinwoo’s feet. Above her, the sky unfurled from Jinwoo's hand, bringing with it ominous storm clouds.

‘The God-Welcoming Spell.’

To the Goblins, lightning was an object of terror, but also a benefactor that brought them fire. That was why they worshipped lightning as a god and left behind this spell.

The sky Jinwoo unfurled contained a different kind of energy from a normal sky. The power of the Seed. The power of Erosion.

Originally, it was meant to deceive the trapped Jerakson, but now it was being used to create a more powerful bolt of lightning.

KRA-KRA-KA-KOW!

The sword Jinwoo finally brought down was wreathed in black lightning.

[Block…! Kyaaaahhh!]

For a moment, she tried to block it by condensing her light, but Jinwoo’s sword cut through the light with ease, leaving a massive wound on her body. From her shoulder down to her waist. It was an injury so severe that it would have been no surprise if her body had split in two.