Yu IlHan watched the clan masters fight the demons with a satisfied smile.
"Hm, very smooth."
[Kwhooooooooooooooh!]
"Smooth!? You think this is SMOOTH!? Yes, right now! We're 'smoothly' dying!"
Michael Smithson despaired. It felt like the tentacles battering against his shield would pierce him, along with the flimsy thing, at any moment. Yu IlHan tilted his head and called for Na YuNa.
"Miss YuNa."
"Okay, I won't let them die. Just enough so that they don't die."
"Devil! DEVILLLLLLL!"
[Krhaaaaaaaaaaaahk!]
Normally, the three would not be able to defeat the demon on their own. However, the holy maiden with unbelievably good looks and abilities backed them up, so they were boosted to the point where they could just barely confront it together!
"Wow, I can see their coordination and strength increasing."
"It's a good thing. If the others were able to resist even a little against this slowing magic, then I'd be able to bring them here and train them."
"Don't be too hurried about it, and let's raise them up first, son. We have plenty of time now."
"That's true, I guess...."
He couldn't look after them forever. Yu lHan left the three to Na YuNa and Erta and turned around. He still had a lot of other things to do.
"Then should I have a wonderful crafting time now?"
[But why are you looking at me, master?]
"Well, you probably know the reason more than I do."
The Flying Fortress experienced a lot during its growth. Thanks to the growth potential it had as a God-ranked artifact, it could now use the records it had absorbed to enhance its artifacts' functionality, boosting their durability, among other things.
However, that was not enough. Using materials from countless higher existences' remains in Yu IlHan's inventory, he could make it grow and reach greater heights!
[Any more is impossible, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!]
"The first will be 'Thousand Eyes'. You know what I'll do, right?"
[You insane master!]
Yu IlHan gathered all the remaining feathers of angels and fallen angels and started crafting 900 more mirrors. Mystic had grown until now, and she should be able to control a thousand mirrors at once!
[I can't, I cannot do it.]
"No, you can do it. If you don't, you won't be able to endure in the upcoming war!"
[Tyrant! You tyrant!]
Since he had experience making them before, he didn't require much time to make those mirrors. Yu IlHan's working speed, which grew faster the more he made them, was enough to attract the attention of others entering the barrier.
"Don't look at me and do your own thing, everyone."
"Yes!"
Yu IlHan made 900 mirrors in under 14 hours. Then, he seemed to ponder something before making another four of them. He used all the remaining materials to make four of the biggest and baddest mirrors!
[Why four? Is it because 1,004 (Angel)?] (T/N: 1,004 sounds the same as 'angel' in Korean)
"No, it's because the enemies would be surprised if they see four more even though it's called 'Thousand Eyes'."
[...Yeah, I did kinda expect it to be something like that.]
From Hundred Eyes to Thousand Eyes – the transformation in the artifact's scale and power also changed its rank. From Chaos to Demigod!
Yu IlHan was slightly disappointed, as he had been aiming for God rank, but since the Flying Fortress had been upgraded as he had originally intended, he decided to leave it there.
"Then what more should I add?"
[Master? Isn't your trust in me a little too high...?]
"I know precisely what you can and cannot handle, so don't worry about it."
[That makes me even more worried though!]
The majority of the higher existences in the Destruction Demon Army were those that evolved from monsters, and often their blood and flesh contained extreme poison. Moreover, each had unique properties, and when mixed with others, the level of poison sometimes changed.
Finally, they were the poison of higher existences and naturally worked against them as well. Among the Destruction Demon Army members, many attacked their enemies with the poison they possessed. Of course, Yu IlHan had the evolved version of Extreme Poison Resistance, Falling Down, so he wasn't affected by any of them!
Yes. The second method to upgrade the Flying Fortress was poison. There were plenty \of Destruction Demon Army bodies in his inventory, so he had enough materials as well.
"There are too many samples... should I try mixing them as I go along?"
[How are you going to test the toxicity?]
Yu IlHan replied with a smile at Mystic's very reasonable question.
"Simple, I just need to eat it. Falling Down contains Extreme poison resistance, so if I eat poison, I can train Falling Down as well, isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"
[Such a perverse plan. Oh, it's nothing new since it's master, I guess....]
First, he classified them according to the type of poison they had, and squeezed their carcasses dry of blood. Like that, he acquired several million litres of blood from a few thousand different types. At that point, Yu IlHan trusted his instincts and just started mixing them at random.
"No, this is too weak. This too, and this one is too weak as well"
[Don't throw it on the ground! The fortress is dissolving!]
"This is weak too... and hm, is this a little stronger?"
He set aside the mixtures that showed strong potential, then mixed them with each other and with weaker ones as well. It was literally about finding the most toxic poison from an infinite number of possibilities. Yu IlHan's work flowed on like that.
What was shocking was that when he got used to mixing the poisons, his hand movements became absurdly fast!
[You aren't normal!]
"Yes, I'm not normal!"
[Don't be so proud of it!]
Three or four poisons appeared and disappeared every second. The weaker poisons were thrown away, the stronger poisons were mass-produced, and new poisons, with the stronger poisons as the base, were produced again.
There wouldn't be so many poisons being created and destroyed in a single place throughout the entire history of the universe. No, in the first place, there was no precedent of someone killing so many higher existences with poison in their bodies!
"I came to see what IlHan was up to and... why do I see hell in one part of the Flying Fortress?"
"Liera, I get that you want to watch, but right now I'm busy, so go spar with the others or something."
Tens of thousands of jars of different-coloured poison, boiling alongside one another, looked frightening, and Liera's approach to him could be said to require considerable courage. Even she could not approach him past a certain distance.
"IlHan, that thing over there that's twitching by itself…. is poison, right?"
"Don't worry too much. It's just that a strand of life is about to be born in the poison."
"How is that a small issue!?"
"I can stop it; it's fine."
Monsters born from mana were common; therefore, those born in highly concentrated mana poison were not rare either. Yu IlHan stirred it, mercilessly trampling on the sign of life, and drank a ladleful.
"Hmm."
The moment he inhaled it, a spicy smell that was perhaps what a thousand-year-old mature fart would smell like hit his nose and his larynx, and the strong wave of hot poison that came along with it twitched like an eel and messed up his digestive system.
When Yu IlHan opened his mouth, unable to bear it, a thick green burp came out. A thousand years of love may suddenly disappear when one saw this.
"Hiik."
"I give it a 10/10 death points."
"...Are you alright?"
"Well, yeah of cou-."
Just as he was replying, a completely unexpected text appeared in his eyes.
[You have mastered the skill, Cooking. You are proficient in all kinds of cooking containing magic and mana. Water and fire attribute resistance and attack power increase by 30%.]
"Huh."
"What is it?"
Yu IlHan looked at the ladle in his hand silently before shrugging. Although it was quite surprising, it wasn't the first time something like this had happened, if he thought about it. In any case, his ability to concoct poisons grew, and his control of the fire and water attributes strengthened as well. So it was a good thing!
Liera sensed the change in him and asked him in confusion.
"IlHan, I feel like you've become stronger just now...?"
"You'll be frustrated if I say it, so I'll keep it a secret."
"...?"
Of course, not that anyone would eat poison just because the final element in training the Cooking skill was poison!
He sent Liera off before combining poison again. And after around three days, he acquired three types of poison that he liked and made about 20 litres each. Although this was extremely little compared to what he started with, Yu IlHan thought it was a success.
"Looks like if I get the affinity right, I may just be able to kill a 6th-class being with this too."
[The corpses of the Destruction Demon Army are so thin... even though they didn't reach the peaks of their worlds just to become mere poison ingredients!]
He created and installed additional traps using the poison on the Flying fortress and applied poison to most of the blades inside the fortress.
The worst part about this poison was that it contained faint hints of magic cooking within. Normally, it would be worse than any extreme poison, but it would transform as soon as Yu IlHan wished, attacking the enemy! Not only could this prevent allies from being killed by the poison, but it would also become possible to drive back the enemies efficiently.
"Above all, I can deceive the enemies, making them think that this is just some run-of-the-mill, weak poison."
[You're the evilest, master!]
However, Yu IlHan's evil plans had just begun. After he created the poison, he used the dried-out bodies of the Destruction Demon Army to reinforce the Flying fortress! As a result, the fortress's outer wall grew stronger, all artifacts sharpened, the weapons in the mansion were reinforced, and the number of traps increased.
Even after all that, there was not much difference in the information about the Flying fortress.
"Still no good...? The Flying fortress is the first one that made me dance so much!"
[You want to transcend the God-rank, right, master? It's impossible, so give it up.]
"Of course, I should give up if it's impossible. But I haven't tried the impossible until now!]
[You're being too stubborn!]
If the Destruction Demon Army didn't work, then he would only use the remains of higher existences from other factions! He upgraded the Flying Fortress using angels, fallen angels, and garden gatekeepers. The already absurd power of the Flying Fortress continued to increase.
Hundreds of 5th-class magic stones were added, and the holy region was enhanced as well. Right now, there was no meaning in counting artifacts anymore.
Despite that, the Flying Fortress stayed at God rank.
[I said it's impossible.]
"Fuu...."
Only then did Yu IlHan accept reality. Wasn't even the Heaven's Army unaware of something above the God rank? It was no wonder since Yu IlHan, the master of blacksmithing and mana crafting, couldn't do it either after all this time!
[You'll give up now, right?]
"Yes, now I should...." Yu IlHan muttered with a depressed voice.
"Do the impossible."
[Are you going to tell me that you didn't do the impossible until now, master!?]
"Of course."
Yu IlHan nodded seriously and raised his hand in the air. At that moment, a body that filled one region of the barrier appeared.
"Impossible refers to a situation where I have to invest this guy's remains."
[,,,,,,My god.]
That was none other than Kelatuke, a Chief Gatekeeper of the Garden of Sunset.