Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Non-Human
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I laughed as I watched the Black Bone Sorcerer King's transformation.
He was changing.
His right arm and leg twisted grotesquely before swelling up like a balloon.
Then chunks of skin shattered and flew into the air...
What lay revealed beneath was no human body tissue.
It was hazy like mist stuffed inside, yet dark and murky in hue.
And yet it had a physical form, twice the size of his left arm, with long claw-like nails sprouting from the hand, giving it a hideous appearance like a pitchfork attached.
In particular, his half-distorted head sprouted large and small horn-like protrusions in jagged clusters.
It looked like what you'd get if you forcibly stitched dozens of water buffalo demons into a human shape.
Just like Gu Min-chae's final moments.
The bastard knew better than anyone that if he died by my hand, he'd become my eternal slave.
So even at the cost of losing his human reason, he had chosen this last resort.
"...Was I ever like that?"
Gu Min-chae, sensing something from afar, scowled with a rigid expression.
"No."
"That's a relief—"
"Uglier."
"......"
"Demonic freaks are like that, especially non-humans. Nothing's uglier than stripping off your human guise of your own accord."
Krurrrr...!!
A beastly growl leaked from the Black Bone Sorcerer King's mouth.
Saliva drooled from the corners of his lips.
"You might think that as a sorcerer, you can control a non-human's power.
But who knows. I've seen plenty over the years, and not one handled it properly."
Gu Min-chae's head drooped heavily.
I stared silently at the Black Bone Sorcerer King.
"Still, Osteoporosis, I figured since you'd been in the Gu clan for so long, you'd have more sense than that Gu bastard. This is pretty disappointing."
"Say what you will. Think what you want. But... no matter what... survival is what matters, isn't it...?"
The difference from Gu Min-chae's freakish state was that the Black Bone Sorcerer King retained enough reason to speak.
But looking into his eyes, gleaming pitch-black like embedded black pearls, I could declare with certainty that this was no longer the Black Bone Sorcerer King I knew.
He undoubtedly possessed the Black Bone Sorcerer King's memories and personality.
But that was it.
He wore the mask of the Black Bone Sorcerer King, but his very essence had completely transformed, altering his thought processes and perceptions beyond anything human.
Horned Ghost.
A half-human, half-ghost born only when ensnared by the Soul-Capturing Net of the Ghost Witch.
"And above all, Young Sect Leader, if killing you lets me extract information on resurrection... wouldn't I easily return to human form?"
"Oh, so you're betting your life on this final gamble?"
"Exactly. So—"
The Black Bone Sorcerer King's last remaining eye rolled back.
『Block this if you can!!』
The roar he unleashed no longer sounded human.
It was a guttural tongue that resonated in the soul.
Kwaaaang!
The Black Bone Sorcerer King stomped the wasteland floor ferociously.
No, by the time I registered the stomp, he was already behind me, slashing down with his claws.
Hundred Rending Demonic Hand Art.
Like the Hundred Rending Palms, it was a technique for mid-tier demonic cultivators, but infused with non-human brute strength, its power was on another level from the standard version.
It carried the swift, ferocious might of a true transcendent master.
Paaaang!
A monstrous screech tore through the air indiscriminately.
It sounded like thunderclaps or the wail of a folktale yokai.
"Young Sect Leader!!"
The lingering ghosts shouted urgently upon spotting me late, but I had already instinctively prepared a swift response.
The Heavenly Demon Tyrant Heart Technique sharpened all bodily nerves to a keen edge.
Thus, even if my eyes missed the Black Bone Sorcerer King's movements in his Red Dragon Demonic Body state, my other senses did not.
I spun my body, channeling core force into my feet.
The amplified leg strength from Thread Reversal loaded into the Fear Balloon.
The tightly folded Fear Balloon shot upward like a sword.
Kurrrrung!
Mara Heavenly Sword Form
Sword Thunder Soaring to Heaven
Red Dragon Core Art
Fire Dragon Poison Fang
Sword thunder manifested only when swinging the sword at extreme speeds.
Combined with the Red Dragon Core Art's fiery energy, the sword thunder now blazed with genuine crimson flames like a real thunderbolt of fire.
Kwaaaaang!
Kukukuku—
The impact was so immense that the ground beneath me sank, and I could see shockwaves rippling out with the flames.
My body was pushed back slightly, but my reinforced skeleton and muscles in the Red Dragon Demonic Body withstood the force trying to hurl me away.
No, rather, enraged at being pushed back by a mere non-human in raw power, the Red Dragon Core Art surged even fiercer.
Thump thump thump thump...!!
My heart pounded wildly. Blood raced through my veins, tensing every muscle.
The Heavenly Demon Tyrant Heart Technique awakened.
Flash!
My eyes blazed.
Mara Incarnate.
Mara Heavenly Sword Form
Sword Wind Mara
Chachachachacha!
Sword thunder wove a net across the sky in an instant.
A scorching gust struck the Black Bone Sorcerer King simultaneously.
But his movements remained elusive.
Every time he retreated and lashed out with Hundred Rending Demonic Hands, the Fear Balloon quivered, numbing my wrists.
Then he created a slight gap and kicked upward sharply.
A razor-edge strike like drawing a blade.
Hundred Rending Demonic Leg.
Paired with the Hundred Rending Demonic Hand Art, it was a demonic technique favored by mid-tier demonic cultivators emphasizing white strikes.
Its tenacious pursuit of marked strike points made direct clashes inadvisable.
I leaned my upper body back with Iron Plate Bridge technique, narrowly dodging the demonic kick.
Then I spun swiftly, targeting his side.
Kwaaaang!
The Black Bone Sorcerer King's left hand blocked the Fear Balloon.
It felt like pounding a solid wall. And that wall moved toward me.
Demonic Bone Demonic Palm.
Kurrrr—
Deflect, repel, parry.
Amid flowing the Black Bone Sorcerer King's instinct-driven assault, thin streaks of black light occasionally probed blind spots cunningly.
'Curse!'
No matter how much he'd surrendered his reason to become a non-human, at root he was a sorcerer.
He naturally resorted to curses that crippled foes.
Four streaks in total.
Blindness to blur vision, Sluggishness to slow movements, Confusion to induce errors in judgment, and Sleep Demon to weigh down eyelids.
Even one hit would disrupt focus.
Though the Heavenly Demon Tyrant Heart Technique erected a sturdy mental barrier, my current attainment fell short of full immunity, so these needed elimination first.
Paaat!
I widened the distance in a flash of speed, then scattered core force wildly.
Mara Heavenly Sword Form
Sword Force Random Shot
Pew pew pew pew beng!
The light streaks shattered, fragments exploding haphazardly in the air.
The pale ghostly mist wavered or thickened, blurring me and the Black Bone Sorcerer King.
But I glimpsed his shadow through the fog.
Shoulders squared, I launched toward it.
Shadow Step.
Gale Wind Dance: Gale Wind Barrage.
Kwaaaaang!!
The shockwave cleared the ghostly mist cleanly.
In its place, the original Black Bone Sorcerer King staggered back.
For the first time, he'd been pushed in a clash of strength.
Panic flickered in his eyes.
Seizing the moment, I unleashed my left palm like lightning.
Gale Blast Cannon.
This hammer technique, with half-curled fingers striking upward, condensed vast gale winds for tremendous destructive power.
Like slamming down an iron mallet.
Puuuung!
A hole the size of a human head tore through his right shoulder to chest.
『Kuhk... Damn it...!!』
The shock perhaps restored a flicker of reason to his black pearl-like eyes.
Fierce rage gleamed.
Undeterred, as I closed in for a follow-up, he stomped to anchor himself and hold ground.
Or tried to.
If not for his joints suddenly stiffening rigid.
Panic finally creased the Black Bone Sorcerer King's face for the first time.
『Could it be... Ice Soul Demonic Charm Art!?』
Heart-Piercing Ice Poison.
I'd planted an enhanced ice poison, amplified several times by Ice Soul Demonic Charm Art's origin, via Heavy Hand Technique alongside the earlier Gale Blast Cannon.
Tuned to my taste, it would spread from veins to heart in moments.
Thus, the Black Bone Sorcerer King's movements were far clumsier now.
"How about dying here? I could treat you real nice then."
I didn't miss the opening, sneering as I unfurled the Fear Balloon for a barrage of hidden weapons.
Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers using plum blossoms.
The sight of dozens of plum blossoms raining down at once like a celestial nymph sprinkling petals was utterly menacing.
Kwakwakwakwa kwang!
The Black Bone Sorcerer King hastily summoned sorcery, erecting a massive wall of fire from the ground beneath him.
Bi Fang's Flame Demon Wall.
Bi Fang was a freakish entity that sparked fires everywhere it passed, its unquenchable flames said to burn souls.
Thus, summoning it demanded a hefty price.
He must have been that desperate.
Needing to block Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers and melt the Heart-Piercing Ice Poison left him no choice.
But what could he do?
I'd anticipated even that.
The Flame Demon Wall successfully intercepted the frontal plum blossoms.
But hidden weapon arts weren't just straight throws.
They required trajectory control.
I twisted my left hand. The telekinetic threads linked to the plum blossoms shifted their paths.
Arcing around the Flame Demon Wall.
Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers detonated in the Black Bone Sorcerer King's blind spot all at once.
Kwakwakwa kwang!
『Kaaaaak!』
I saw the Black Bone Sorcerer King flung outside the Flame Demon Wall.
And naturally, I had already claimed that spot.
Kwarrrung!
The Fear Balloon, folded sword-like once more, spewed crimson flames in a thunderbolt downpour.
Puk!
Sword Thunder Single Flash sliced from his left shoulder to right flank.
Yet his tough heart hadn't been fully destroyed, still pounding visibly.
Just short by a hair again.
Paat!
The Black Bone Sorcerer King's form vanished, reappearing far off.
Haa...! Haa...! Haa...!
Half his body encased in ice poison, the other half half-melted from burns, he heaved ragged breaths in his gruesome state.
『Kuhuhuhu. Must sting, Young Sect Leader. You nearly finished me in one go, but let me slip again.』
The Black Bone Sorcerer King grinned, fangs bared.
Scars knitting visibly. Super-regeneration.
But I grinned too.
"No. The one disappointed is you."
『What—』
Mid-sentence, the Black Bone Sorcerer King's mouth gaped wide.
Jjeok!
A gruesome sound shook his flesh.
『Wh-what the—』
Jjeogeogeok—
Cracks from his chest spread across his entire body in seconds.
Scarlet heat gushed wildly from fissures engulfing even his head.
The ultra-compressed Red Dragon Qi's heat, loaded into the flash, exploded upon meeting Heart-Piercing Ice Poison.
No— Before he could scream, his body detonated.
Charrararak!
Charrararak!
Dozens of Golden Chain Locks, lying in wait for this chance, lunged in unison.
Reincarnation Demon God Chronicles