Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 276

It happened in an instant.

Marvas, who had desperately tried to prevent Illeina from drawing the sword, was sent flying hundreds of meters with a sudden shockwave, crashing into a stone wall with a loud thump. The impact left a deep dent in the rock. Marvas’ head drooped. He didn’t even have time to register the pain from his twisted organs before losing consciousness.

A gray mist began to rise from the sheath at Illeina’s waist. Her gaze slowly shifted toward the demon sword. The fury in her eyes was unmistakable.

“Why did you do that?” she asked the sword, but that was the last thing she could say before being silenced by a searing headache. An unbearable agony left her unable to even part her lips, and with a heavy thud, she collapsed to her knees, writhing in pain.

“Guh, guuuh...”

That was just a warning from the demon sword. It projected a message to Illiena.

—How dare you question me? It seems you still do not understand who your master is.

Illeina grunted in pain. She had momentarily forgotten the fear that she should have felt.

Yes. This thing was a demon sword. A Hidden Piece that Solomon himself had once sealed away.

The sword slid out of its sheath, and the moment it did, Illeina was freed from her torment. She reached out with trembling fingers and grasped the blade.

A system message flickered briefly before vanishing.

[Status Window (Gray) has been activated.]

It was the very pinnacle the sword had once spoken of.

From the tips of her fingers, infinite power surged through her body. The playful demeanor she had displayed with Marvas just moments ago was completely gone, and now, her body was under the control of the demon sword Apophis.

“Kekeke.” Apophis snickered while Do-Jun watched the entire transformation unfold with calm eyes.

Illeina, or rather, Apophis, let out a distasteful chuckle. “You are the same as me, human.”

Do-Jun exuded no particular aura, but Apophis could sense it. It was a feeling of kinship. There were many who had a foundation in demonic energy, but Do-Jun was on a completely different level.

Apophis raised the sword and pointed it at Do-Jun. A dark energy surged from its entire being. The pinnacle power, the color gray, something everyone desired but no one could reach, began to gather in the blade.

“Human, you are strong. Unlike the rabble I’ve faced so far, I believe that if you had enough time to grow, you could reach the level of Baal. Maybe... you might even stand beside me in the realm of gray.”

Boom!

“I have been searching for you since the moment Agares died...” The ground beneath Apophis’ feet caved in with a deafening explosion. “To cross swords with you.”

The force emanating from Apophis was growing strong enough to fill the entire twelfth floor of the Core.

Watching Do-Jun remain utterly motionless, Apophis sneered. That reaction was only natural. Seeing such power would leave anyone speechless. Apophis thought that since his enemy wasn’t moving, he was about to strike first.

But then, the sword in his hand trembled. No—his entire hand was shaking.

His eyes wavered. What... What am I hesitating for? Let’s kill him. Strike him down.

And yet, he couldn’t move.

A question gnawed at his mind. Could it be... fear?

The great demon sword Apophis, cowering before a mere human? No, that would be ridiculous.

There was no one in the Core who could truly threaten him, the demon sword that had inherited a portion of the great King Solomon’s power. The only being that could have been considered a “danger” was the Overlord, and even he had vanished.

Blood trickled from Apophis’ palm as he clenched the sword tighter.

As if finally coming to his senses, the trembling ceased. Then he realized that his knees had almost buckled. Without even noticing, he had subconsciously acknowledged the hierarchy of power and nearly submitted.

Why...?

The snake coiled around Do-Jun’s wrist, the Status Window Snake, had no color. It meant he was completely unprotected. To activate the Core’s so-called “blessing,” one needed to use the snake to awaken their power.

Then why...? he thought.

What Apophis was feeling at that moment wasn't just unease, dread, or terror. He struggled to even stand as this unseen force tightened around him. The more he fought, the stronger it became.

This was the twelfth floor of the Core, his own domain, and the thick demonic energy suffocating the space was undoubtedly his own. And yet, it felt as though it would dissolve into nothing at any moment.

With a thud, Apophis finally dropped to his knees. His breathing grew ragged. He slowly looked up at the man who had been silently watching him all this time.

“I’ll grant your wish.” Those were Do-Jun’s first words, spoken in a voice utterly devoid of emotion. A deep, unwavering tone that echoed through the space.

“Ah... Ah...” Apophis’ throat constricted like a mute who had forgotten how to speak.

Apophis saw himself reflected in Do-Jun’s eyes, trembling with fear.

Then, a sword formed. Within Do-Jun’s heart, a single blade had been etched. It was an unseen sword, existing only in the mind.

One with the Blade—a skill spoken of only in legends.

W-what is this...? Apophis’ pupils dilated.

At this moment, Do-Jun seemed incomprehensibly vast. The Heavenly Demon Sword in Do-Jun’s inner pocket no longer existed in the physical realm. Although its form had vanished, it remained ever-present within him.

Finally, Apophis understood what Marvas had meant by an “irregular.” Why he had tried so desperately to stop Illeina from challenging the “King of Earth,” and why even the Overlord had chosen to bow down.

It’s all fading, Apophis realized.

The oppressive gray energy that had filled the twelfth floor, the very essence of his pinnacle, was vanishing like a mirage. Instead, another force took its place.

Perhaps I knew right from the start.

Perhaps Apophis had known it all along since Agares was effortlessly struck down by a sword qi from an unknown source. Agares had, after all, shared his power. Maybe he simply refused to accept that another sword could be greater than him.

Apophis looked up at Do-Jun, his mouth slightly open. No matter how much effort he put in, he would never reach the peak beyond the peak.

At that moment, a petal fluttered down.

Despite the barren land of the twelfth floor of the Core, devoid of trees or grass, an ink-black petal swayed in the wind.

One petal. Then another.

The world had fallen into a silence so absolute it felt as though time itself had stopped. From the sky, tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of petals descended, filling his vision.

Apophis stood dazed, staring at the spectacle unfolding in front of him. He didn’t fully understand, but it didn’t take long for him to realize that all of this, every single petal, was a sword. It felt as if it belonged to another world.

Though he stood in a straight line with the “King of Earth,” it felt as if Do-Jun was standing at an unfathomable height, looking down at him. This human’s power was completely otherworldly. This was a sword as much as Apophis was, yet one on a completely different path.

Apophis looked at Do-Jun’s wrist. Until just moments ago, the Status Window Snake had been colorless, but now it gleamed with the same black hue as the petals.

Unconsciously, Apophis let out a small, bitter laugh, remembering the words he had spoken to Illiena.

“It’s a tier above the purple you’re used to. This right here is the pinnacle.”

“When one reaches a hundred percent in their purple mastery, the door to the final stage, gray, opens.”

Above gray, there was yet another color—to Apophis, this was an earth-shattering revelation.

Rather than being shocked, he could only laugh in disbelief. I thought I was the greatest sword across all dimensions.

But this wasn’t just a difference of a step or two.

Apophis lifted his head to the sky. Once all the petals had fallen, he would likely be dead. His senses were fading. Everything he had achieved until now felt invalidated.

He felt the demonic energy radiating from Do-Jun’s hands.

Who could possibly stand up to this power?

The gap was simply too vast.

How could someone possess such power? Where had this man come from, and what was his goal? Apophis was simply curious. No amount of training on Earth could ever produce strength of this magnitude.

Slowly, Apophis closed his eyes and let go of the sword. Illeina regained control of her body but had used up too much of her qi and immediately collapsed. Left abandoned on the ground, Apophis faded amidst the swirling petals.

***

In the hidden Fissure in Six Blood Valley, where the forge of Hephaestus, the ancient Greek god, was located.

With the rhythmic pounding of a hammer, Hephaestus briefly turned his head to glance at Do-Jun.

Do-Jun sat beneath the shade of a tree, reading a piece of paper labeled “Daycare Newsletter.” Nearby, the Overlord tended to two unconscious demons. The tiny dragon scurried back and forth between them, placing damp towels on their foreheads. From what Do-Jun had heard, they had lost consciousness due to the demon sword. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“Ugh, such a hassle,” Yong-Yong clicked his tongue as he plopped down the damp towels.

Water dripped from the towels placed on Marvas’ and Illeina’s foreheads. Normally, the towels should have been wrung out first, but he had simply placed them as they were out of sheer laziness.

For some reason, Hephaestus felt it best to avoid eye contact and focus on his work.

Clang, clang.

Do-Jun had brought the demon sword Apophis to him. The sword was incredibly durable, but the flames rising from the forge melted even it.

Once again, Hephaestus was amazed. The spark of fire Do-Jun had given him in place of Ignium was so hot it could melt anything.

Putting his distracting thoughts aside, Hephaestus continued hammering. He left the hilt of the sword untouched. The blade, however, was being reforged into a new form.

What was it called again?

Ah, right. A gardening shovel.

Do-Jun had insisted he had a use for it and requested that the sword be reshaped into a gardening shovel.

However, the sword was particularly loud throughout the process.

—Aaaaaagh! What are you doing?! Hephaestuuuuus!

“I am merely following the orders of the King of Earth.”

—Ghh... Just kill me instead.

“Don’t complain to me. Take it up with the King of Earth.”

It had nothing to say on this.

Finally, it was quiet. Now, back to work.

A little while later, the demon sword was successfully reborn as a gardening shovel.

At the same time, Illeina, who had been lying unconscious, finally came to. Her forehead throbbed, but she forced herself into a sitting position. A damp towel slid off her forehead and fell onto her thigh.

“The hell is this...?”

She looked around. Where was she?

She climbed off the soft mattress.

What happened? she wondered.

She remembered everything clearly until she lost consciousness because of the demon sword. However, after that, when the sword took control of her body, her memory went blank. Beside her, Marvas was snoring so loudly he wouldn’t have noticed if someone carried him away.

“Oh! Right, where’s the demon sword?” she mumbled to herself, searching around the mattress.

And then, she locked eyes with Yong-Yong, who was scurrying across the floor.

What kind of monster is that? she wondered, staring at him.

In Yong-Yong’s tiny front claws was a gardening shovel.

“Your demon sword,” he said.

Huh? Is he talking to me?

“Has become Byeol’s gardening shovel.”