The next few years.
The Itarim War.
[A new wave of apostle armies have arrived.]
Every year, the demonic spirits would work to improve the system's features, and now it is rather advanced compared to how it was before.
"Let's go, Suho."
"Yes, father."
"Have a safe trip." Cha Hae-in called out from the kitchen.
A gate was opened to the outer realm, and both of them entered and stepped onto the battlefield. The Shadow army and the soldiers of the Heavens are already on standby after dealing with the last wave, waiting for the assistance of the Monarchs.
"I am ready, Dad."
"Go ahead."
Suho extended his right hand and chanted.
"Arise."
[Shadow Extraction successful]
"Alright. Let's begin the process."
[Authority:Fruits of the World Tree. Creates a body and fits it with a resetted soul to give birth to a new being of the selected species.]
[The Guardian of the World Tree, The Monarch of Transcendance, Sung Suho, uses Authority: Transcendence to alter Authority:Fruits of the World Tree]
[Authority:Alter:Fruits of the World Tree. Repairs a damaged body and fits it with a shadow soldier with the respective soul to bring about its rebirth.]
[The shadow power allow the souls of the dead to retain their memories and emotions in the form of shadow soldiers]
[Identifying.]
[The soul of the shadow soldier and the physical body is a match]
[Repairing the body now]
[The body is repaired.]
It is in peak condition, just as how one is born from the fruits of the world tree. Suho used the powers of that ability to "repair" instead of "create".
[Placing the shadow soldier into the body now.]
[The process is complete. Please release the soul from its service as a shadow to grant the being its own free will.]
"Cancel Shadow Extraction"
[Shadow Extraction is cancelled]
"How did it go?" Suho asked the demonic spirit shadows.
"There seems to be no side effects, My liege. The resurrection is successful."
[You have learned a new skill. Authority:Resurrection]
"I guess it is. Now then."
[The Guardian of the World Tree,The Monarch of Transcendance Sung Suho uses skill:Shadow Extraction]
[The shadow soldiers and the physical bodies are present. Authority:Resurrection can now be used]
[Authority:Resurrection]
The soldiers of the Heavens began to resurrect one by one. The entire army has been restored to face the next wave of apostles. They can now revive infinitely with Suho's new skill that uses both the powers of the world tree and the shadow power.
"Thank you. You have solved a problem that has plagued us from the beginning of time. We are truly grateful for what you have done for us."
The Rulers bowed their heads to show their appreciation. Suho nodded his head in reply. Having the entire earth filled with shadow soldiers in the future is a little too dreary for him. It would be better for it to be filled with life, and this new skill that he has been working on for some time would solve that problem.
[Authority:Monarch's domain]
[The soldiers of the heavens resurrected by the World Tree and the shadow soldiers' stats have significantly increased]
"It's time to go all out."
Suho summoned a pair of high quality daggers made from Antares' Fang that his father had gifted him.
And Jinwoo who stood beside him took out daggers that were made up of a fang of an Itarim that he had slain, an Itarim that resembled like a dragon, and laced it intricately with the power of death. A perfect Itarim-killing weapon,indeed.
The Itarim have been sending down their armies with the aim to take Earth as its master. They must have thought sending countless armies would eventually befall the planet's defenders. It is a reasonable method that would have tired out a Monarch and defeat them, but the Shadow Monarch is a different matter. Jinwoo took care of the invading armies easily enough using his powers whose role was to eliminate all creations of the gods. Had the Itarim known that Jinwoo's shadow power was given by the Absolute Being for that purpose, they might have taken him on themselves, and would probably have defeated him and taken over Earth.
Due to their ignorance, they are now on the losing side. Suho, however, was born with the shadow power without given such a purpose, for he is not the king of the dead who was given the task to kill and ensure the death of all creations. Perhaps as the Monarch of Transcendance he could do what no one can and become strong enough to even take down the gods. Even the Shadow of the World Tree wholeheartedly agrees, prioritizing the revival of the World Tree would mean killing the Itarim for their nutrients.
"I will fix the souls that are corrupted, and cleanse those that are contaminated and make them part of the shadow army. For those with spiritual bodies like the apostles, Beru will handle them and use the devour skill on them. Leave the bodies intact so that I can turn them into rune stones."
"Understood, Young Monarch." Beru answered.
All was according to his plan. Beru would continue to grow stronger with every apostle he kills and every skill he gains, and the same goes for Suho. It is true that learning a few mere skills does not affect the strength of a monarch, but it's not the case for him. The Authority:Transcendance skill would allow him to max out his skills, no matter how weak they are at first. Each maxed out skill would be a force to be reckoned with, making Suho a lot more stronger in a short time.
And so the fight began.
Beru began slaughtering any apostles on sight.
Now then, to guarantee the victory of the war…..
[Authority: Rune Stone Creation]
[You have obtained Rune Stone: Dual Activate]
Suho crushed the rune stone with his hand.
[You have gained the skill: Dual Activate]
[Skill: Dual Activate allows the user to use the same skill on two targets at once]
"This is it!" Suho exclaimed. This was the skill he has been looking for. He would eventually find it amongst the endless number of apostles.
[Authority: Transcendance]
[Skill: Dual Activate has maxed out to Skill: Dual Activate Lv Max]
[Skill: Dual Activate Lv Max allows the user to use the same skill on all targets within radius at once]
"Yes!"
[Using Skill: Dual Activate Lv Max to lock on to all targets]
[Authority: Rune Stone Creation]
[You have obtained 126 new rune stones]
[You have learned 126 new skills]
"Hmm, Authority: Transcendance is also a skill, so maybe..."
[Authority:Transcendance allows the user to select one of their current skills and max it out immediately]
[Using Dual Activate Lv Max to allow Authority: Transcendence to select all of your current skills]
[Authority:Transcendance]
[All of your skills are maxed out]
[Passive Skill: Skill Fusion has activated]
[System is using Passive Skill: Skill Fusion to fuse similar skills to merge them into a more powerful one.]
[Warning. The limit to the monarch's vessel is almost reaching.]
[Urgent Quest: Level Up and grow stronger to be be able to contain more skills.]
"Looks like having many maxed out skills can quickly reach a monarch's vessel capacity, huh." Suho grinned to himself. If he was a character in a light novel, his powers would have been considered too overpowered and broken. Now that he has another reason to grow stronger, there was only one thing left to do.
"Esil."
"Yes, sir."
[The Queen of Demons, The Monarch of Gluttony Esil Radiru uses Authority:Gluttony]
[The experience you gain from defeating enemies will be tripled]
[Setting has been changed. The nutrients from defeating any Itarim would go to the player as experience instead of the World Tree]
"Time to level up."
It was only a matter of time before the apostles fell to the growing shadow army and the soldiers of the heavens who were revived endlessly, and the remaining forces had no choice but to retreat.
[You have defeated an Itarim]
[Calculating experience points…..]
[The amount of experience yielded far exceeds the capacity of the Monarch's vessel]
[Transferring the remaining percentage of experience points to the World Tree as nutrients.]
[The World Tree's recovery rate has increased to 50.63%]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
"Hoh? Is the amount of experience points too much for my body to handle? It seems like I can only level up 10 times at once."
(Interesting. Which means if I reach the point where I can take all of an Itarim's experience points with my own body, I will be physically as strong as them. With my ability to max out any skills I learn, I can rival the Itarim with their abilities instead of bypassing or erasing them. It would even be possible to turn an Itarim I defeat into a rune stone to gain a skill related to creation. That way, we can put a stop to this war. There are still an endless number of Itarim to deal with.)
Suho grinned. For him, the sooner the war ends the better. To achieve that goal he would aim to grow to become more powerful than the Itarim, to become a higher being that would take control of these so-called gods and put them in their place.
"Let's head back, Dad. Mom is waiting for us."
Suho opened the gate again and both of them returned to Earth in an instant.
"Looks like they are back. Let's set the table, Hae-in dear."
"Yes, Mother." Cha Hae-in replied.
"Yo, Suho." Sung Ilhwan waved his hand.
"Grandpa and Grandma. It has been a while."
It was the family's reunion dinner today. The family sat around the table and started their meal in earnest, chatting pleasantly and giving off a pleasant and warm atmosphere.
Jinwoo grinned.
One day, he would achieve the peace that he sought, a peace created with human hands without the interference of Otherworlders or gods. It was within his reach.