Chapter 253
Chapter 253
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 253
Chapter Title: ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■
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Slick, polluted sludge and the nauseating stench of blood.
And the gruesome sight of flesh chunks from the acid victims used in their rituals scattered about.
This was Cheontae Cave.
The Blood Duke had fled here in a last desperate struggle, and around the spot with the bizarre basalt formation Jang Hyun-deok had mentioned, he’d tried to perform some kind of ritual—
“Got you.”
[Net of Mist and Dew]
Shwaaa!
“Kraaaagh!”
The Blood Duke, ensnared in a net woven from mist and dew, slammed into the ground.
Compared to the other judges who could split the earth and call down lightning, it was almost ridiculous, but then again, close-quarters combat wasn’t his specialty.
I looked down at the Blood Duke rolling around in the mud pit that was Cheontae Cave’s swamp and said,
“Good. Hide-and-seek’s over. I win, right?”
“Uwaaaaa!”
Bound hand and foot, he writhed desperately, only to realize it was just sinking him deeper into the swamp’s filth. He turned to me.
“How? How already? What about Gyuseongma? The Captain? The Gourmet Expedition? The monk? My jiangshi!?”
“Hm? Were you too busy running ahead to notice?”
I raised my hand and pointed toward where the battle had taken place. Hmm, too far to see even if I pointed.
“They’re all down.”
“W-what? What? What!? Gyuseongma? Gyuseongma?”
“What’s with treating Gyuseongma like he’s something special? He’s not even from your cult.”
Sure, the kung fu master frog launching Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms from both hands while roaring Lion’s Roar as he nose-dove was pretty intimidating.
“Anyway, they’re all down.”
That Lion’s Roar was no different from Lee Chang-hyuk’s old [Sonic Impact]. I just bounced it back with [Sonic Distortion].
“Kung fu couldn’t block sonic attacks, after all.”
“The Cap-Cap-Captain? That woman could reflect magic, send magic right back—”
“I fought a guy recently who used the exact same trick, so I know the weaknesses.”
She could devour spells, sure, but only elemental or energy projectiles. Not shockwaves, curses, or spirit attacks.
Seonbu’s raw physicality let her shrug those off, which gave me trouble, but the Captain wasn’t quite that tough.
“Especially weak to spirit attacks.”
“N-no way…… My jiangshi? My jiangshi?”
“Oh, enough already! Next you’ll be asking about the family I left back home!”
I burned the jiangshi to ash with purification-infused fire magic, and buried anything that didn’t go down deep underground.
‘Even I have to admit I’m getting a bit too strong now.’
No. Thinking back, ever since wandering Bongilcheon with Seo Cheon-seul, no ordinary cultist or monster could stand in my way.
‘Unless madness gets in the way or an abyssal being steps in directly, I won’t lack for power.’
[Purifying Flames]
Roooar—
The pristine white flames I summoned began devouring the mana saturating Cheontae Cave’s swamp with corruption and pollution.
With this, the foundation for the [Blood Demon King] to project his power into this world was done?
This wasn’t just today’s work.
There were other holy sites where the [Blood Demon King] could exert influence, or spirit mediums talented enough to channel his power, but over several days, I’d methodically destroyed them all.
All that remained was the Blood Demon Cult’s leader, the Blood Duke, right before my eyes, and this weathered rock imbued with the legend of granting wishes.
‘Now, the real problem starts.’
The [Blood Demon King] already knew exactly what I was up to. From his perspective, he could just ignore whatever I did.
Which was why I now had to insult him, provoke his rage…… In a way, it was an utterly absurd stunt.
“Anyway, Mr. Blood Demon Cult Leader. Hurry up and play your next card.”
The Blood Duke’s face drained pale as his jaw trembled. He opened his mouth.
“Heaven, Strength, Cleave! By the ancient pact of the bloodline—”
No, that wasn’t speech. It was an incantation.
I raised my hand toward his face and activated a spell.
[Spell Block: Familiar Summon]
[L-Grade Accessory ‘Mask of Carcosa’ unique function, ‘Yellow Dominion,’ activates.
// Yellow Dominion: Adds ‘Spell Enhancement: Fear Infusion’ effect to certain spells.]
Boom!
“Gahk!”
The forming incantation shattered, and the backlash made him vomit blood.
“No way—that can’t be……”
He mumbled in apparent despair, but he couldn’t fool my hyper-attuned senses. Fear infusion wasn’t working yet, as expected.
‘Not yet, anyway.’
I caught the blood he’d spewed forming a strange geometric pattern and immediately cast another spell.
[Spell Block: Heart Explosion]
[Spell Enhancement: Fear Infusion]
Boom!
“Grraa…… Urrgh……”
The Blood Duke arched his back like a bow, shuddering.
“The Blood Heaven’s crimson fangs shall descend……”
[Spell Block: Blood Fang]
[Spell Enhancement: Fear Infusion]
And again. And again.
One more time.
No matter how many times he tried to cast, I crushed his spells, ground them to dust, then shoved forced terror down his throat.
“Hey, enough already. I don’t get off on inflicting pain like you lot.”
“W-what are you doing? I get it, you’re stronger than me! But you! What the hell are you!? This isn’t about power or abilities! How do you know every secret art of our Blood Demon Cult!?”
To successfully cast Spell Block, you needed superior mana and spell control, plus knowledge of the opponent’s incantation.
“That’s my ability.”
[Spell Mastery]. The trait that auto-acquires every spell from the hierarchies I’ve reached.
Of course, it couldn’t learn unique proprietary spells, but with his hands bound, the Blood Duke had none he could cast anyway.
“Shut up! No way! There’s a trick! Has to be!”
“Think what you want.”
“Ah, ugh……”
Vague fear flickered in his eyes.
The Blood Duke had finally recognized me as an incomprehensible existence.
Fear born of ignorance. What kind of monster is this guy? What’s he planning to do to me? What can he even do?
‘About right.’
The doubt and fear gripping his mind bred defeat and despair, and a weakened spirit couldn’t sustain a cultist’s power.
I turned my head slightly, gazing into empty space—around the left edge of my vision?
“Hey.”
Pointless direction, but somehow it felt like someone was watching me from there.
“Gonna keep watching? This guy’s mine to do with as I please?”
Was there greater insult to a self-proclaimed god? I’d already seized his cathedral, burned his temples, shattered his doctrines, cornered and killed his followers.
And now his last high priest had abandoned his faith in despair.
If he held out to the end, I’d destroy the weathered rock. I wouldn’t claim his mana, but as an abyssal being, his stature would plummet. He’d be barred from this game.
Either way, my victory.
[System: ‘Feast of Sacrifices’ trait activates.]
The moon overhead turned blood-red, and crimson thunderclouds gathered.
Seeing it, the Blood Duke cried out in shock.
“H-how? The descent…… it’s starting now?”
No ritual, no sacrifices, not even the right time, yet the descent event began.
The very Blood Heaven the Blood Demon Cult yearned for—but even the Blood Duke sensed something was wrong.
“Yes, you’ve come. Hyun-deok—”
- Yes!
I sensed it. This mana.
I probed the mana pouring from the sky with extrasensory perception, pinpointing the frequency to weaken his power.
“Not far off from expectations. Just rotate the third disc three times clockwise.”
For some reason, Jang Hyun-deok mixed up left and right, so I switched the signal.
- Yes, rotated!
Fwaaa!
From far up the canyon, a barrier of specific frequency emitted.
[Abyssal Being: Blood Demon King’s power weakens.]
Of course, that didn’t end it automatically. Weakened or not, he was still an abyssal being. Now came the clash of mental fortitude, computation, and mana.
‘Same pattern to the end, after all.’
This was a game. With the optimal pattern found, no need to deviate.
I scattered mana crystals into the air as mediums and channeled mana.
Pzzzt—
Sparks erupted massively from all sides.
The world’s structure rebelled against my mana, unleashing shockwaves everywhere.
[System: ‘Feast of Sacrifices’ trait activates.]
Pzzzzzt!
Zzzt—
Zzzzzzt—
Zzzzt— Zzzzzz— Zzzzt—
Wait, something’s wrong?
Sparks weren’t just flying; bizarre noise flooded from everywhere. Glitch-like multicolored static.
This wasn’t in my preparations or past patterns. Damn, it’d been going too smoothly.
“Ah, aah…… Uwaaaa!”
The Blood Duke pointed at the sky, emitting weird groans.
“Ah— aaah! The sky! The sky!”
“The sky?”
“The moon! Moooon! The moooon!”
Pzzzt!
Sparks surged from all directions.
Damn, focus!
One slip and my brain might burst. I shifted my expanding mana to convergence, forming a barrier around me and the Blood Duke, barely managing to look up.
What was there……
“What the hell is that?”
“Aa— aaaah! The moon! The moon!”
The moon wasn’t just rippling—it was distorting. The moon was a distant satellite, its light mere reflected sunlight.
But what I saw now—
That is—
The moon, ‘output’ onto a vast black veil, was utterly crushed—and in its place……
That is.
That is! Where the moon should be!
“Uwaaaaa! Aaaaaaagh! Uwaaaaaagh!”
The Blood Duke shrieked like a beast, his mind shattered.
Where the moon should be, something utterly wrong had appeared.
[Predator: Feels hunger.]
It was an enormous message window.
“Huh—?”
What was I seeing?
The moon was gone……
The moon had turned into a message window?
“What the hell’s happening?”
A message popped up in the wrong place. High in the sky, an incongruous giant message displayed.
[Predator: Feels hunger.]
Pzzzzzzzzzt!!
[System: An error has occurred.]
[System: Halt. That action violates regulations.]
Another message in the wrong spot.
[Predator: Feels hunger.] [Predator: Feels hunger.] [Predator: Feels hunger.] [Predator: Feels hunger.] [Predator: Feels hunger.] [Predator: Feels hunger.] [Predator: Feels hunger.] [Predator: Feels hunger.] [Predator: Feels hunger.]
A colossal swarm of messages blanketing the sky.
- Uwaaaaaagh! Wizard! The sky! The skyyy! Uwaaaaaagh!
Jang Hyun-deok’s scream transmitted along the mana link.
All the madness, explosions, magic, fights with cultists before—mere trifles.
[Stop. Cease immediately.]
Only then did I realize: those messages weren’t for me.
[Predator: I shall grant your wish.]
Hundreds of message windows twisting sinisterly across the sky formed a horrific, warped smile. I didn’t know what it meant, but it was definitely a smile.
I felt his will.
Make way. Move aside.
Zzzzzzzzt—
The sky tore with a gruesome screech.
Pzzzzzzzzzt— Sparks rivaling a mountain range in scale. Ah—what’s the point describing it?
Sparks? Sky splitting?
This wasn’t that. No language I had could describe the scene.
That was [Predator of the Mountains], no—titles meant nothing now.
“■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■!”
As I cried his true name, he—that colossal—colossal—colossal—eye fixed on me. A chilling gaze laced with a smile.
His gaze shredded my mana, flayed my skin, carved the wretched flesh from my bones, shattered them, scooped out my brain and ravaged it. My soul was crushed.
An abyssal being manifesting not as a projection, but in his true body, power, and name, entering this world.