Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Demon King Descent (5)
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The world comes to a standstill. My vision inverts, my body transforms. The way I perceive the world shifts entirely.
Before I know it, I'm standing before something. I crane my neck to gaze up at its presence.
It's enormous. An immensity beyond comprehension. Even tilting my head back all the way, I can't see its legs in full, and the scorching, radiant flames rising from its body are so arrogant and majestic they could rival the sun itself.
It opens its mouth. I can't see it, can't hear it, can't feel it—but I know.
It's speaking to me. And I respond in kind.
'Right before the battle.'
I instinctively recognize the being before me. A great existence tied to the skills I possess.
Now all dead or sealed away, reduced to a mere handful—the ancient ones from eons past.
The mighty race that wielded both wisdom and power: the Giant Gods.
'Among them, the Giant God of the Sun.'
Only then do the memories etch themselves into my mind. Until moments ago, I hadn't even realized I was me. But now it's different.
'Heracles!'
This is his memory. Showing me the ultimate attack I'd desperately wished for, firsthand!
I snap to attention, taking in every detail from this first-person view. From how this unfathomable Giant God wields the sun, to how Heracles shatters it—and the perfect, awe-inspiring strike he unleashes in turn.
The fight is brief. And brutal.
The Sun Giant God is powerful. The miniature suns raining from the sky scorch Heracles' skin, shred his muscles, and melt his bones.
But that's all it amounts to. Heracles' body has already transcended the mortal realm.
All those fatal wounds heal in an instant, as if they were nothing. He charges forward relentlessly. Retreat was never even a consideration.
I wonder if he'd ignore his own head getting blown off and keep running.
And then—Heracles kicks off the ground.
'Whoa~~!'
Incredible jumping power. Finally, the Giant God's upper body comes into view, its face revealing itself.
'Sun Eyes?'
No, something akin to them. Eyes that seem to hold the sun itself fixate on Heracles, brimming with ridicule, arrogance, and scorn.
An unstoppable attack prepares itself before the eyes of a being that never even entertains the notion of defeat.
It's massive. Not the Giant God's body—Heracles' fist, brimming with power.
The Sun Giant God? No, the true sun is the force packed into Heracles' fist.
He devours the Giant God's flames that burn flesh, compresses that power into his own, and unleashes it. His fist rises high into the sky.
This isn't some ordinary punch-draw-and-thrust technique. It's a sheer overwhelming smash that brings the sun crashing down.
Heracles' body, having soared to the heavens and gathered all its might, plummets back. His fist, infused with the sun's full power, descends upon the Giant God's form.
And that's it. My vision snaps back. The final scene: the giant who once claimed the sun's power for its own explodes, unable to withstand it.
"Gasp!"
My eyes snap open, and my body returns to me. Sounds flood in, perception restored to normal.
It wasn't experiencing that overwhelming power so much as witnessing it.
But that was more than enough. Time resumes, and before me stands the enemy—arrogant and smug as that Giant God, sneering down at me.
Exhale... Inhale!
I breathe deeply, steadying my mind into sharp focus. I can't reach that natural trance state from before, but with effort, I can brush its edge.
I accelerate my consciousness, honing my thoughts. My vision narrows; everything fades until only Veltas and his blood fiends remain.
'Demon God Body's efficiency is low.'
Veltas is a vampire, so his magic channels through blood—a different force altogether from pure demonic energy. Still, it's not entirely unrelated to demons, so I can dominate and resist it to some degree.
I seize that opening. Just once, I can pierce his assault. I pour everything into that single blow.
I imprint the memory into my flesh. I charge, channeling every nerve into my legs as I rush him.
"Come to die, have you?!"
Veltas mocks me like I'm some lunatic, certain I can't reach him. He flicks his hand, commanding his grotesque blood fiends—until I finish my run-up and launch myself skyward.
It's low. Pathetic compared to Heracles soaring to the Giant God's head. But still an insane height.
I vault twice the size of that massive bug-and-flower combo. Delight and scorn for my "foolish" choice flicker in Veltas' eyes.
"Hahaha! Think jumping like that gets you to me? It'll only make dodging harder in midair!"
I know. Aerial maneuvers limit evasion. I'm well aware. But I leaped blatantly to rattle this cold, calculating bastard into dropping his guard, even for a split second.
'One chance.'
The incoming tentacles from the bugs and flower stems fill my sight as I raise my fist high, projecting my will.
'Stop!'
The power of Demon God Body manifests—the degraded echo of the primordial Demon God, the first of its kind. The blood-based attacks grind to a halt.
Absolute dominion over demons!
Vampires belong to the demonic realm but are an irregular half-breed, detached from it—so not total subjugation.
But channeling every ounce of focus creates this one fleeting gap.
The onslaught freezes in unison. The strain hits like a truck, shattering my near-trance focus with physical overload and mental fatigue.
My brain overloads from the excessive control; hot blood trickles from my nose. But I don't stop.
"What the—?!"
Now—while he's flustered—is the moment. I close my eyes, replay the memory, and hoist my clenched fists even higher.
Whoosh!
The sun ignites in my grasp. A tiny, compressed bomb forms perfectly between my locked hands.
My body plummets.
Fist Art
"This is insane!!"
Veltas reels in shock at the sight. His fiends—ones he trusted implicitly—are forcibly dominated and neutralized. And that fist's power? Impossible to ignore.
Of course. It's a replication of the greatest hero's ultimate technique. Not something he'd block easily.
"Damn you!"
Veltas spreads his wings to flee backward, reaching toward the battlefield where his puppets clash. The delicately balanced front cracks.
He'd been holding back, using less than half his power against me to conserve puppets—knowing full commitment would leave him vulnerable there. No more room for half-measures.
Even if I'm potentially SSS-Rank, he couldn't go all-out, and I hold near-absolute advantage matchup-wise. Victory seemed assured.
Plus that final lapse in vigilance.
The sun falls. A red barrier—like the one from before—flickers up, but too late.
Before it can fully form.
"Die, you mosquito bastard!"
The plummeting sun detonates. The blast is so immense, so violent, it drowns out all sound—even for human ears.
Just a piercing eeeee rings endlessly, blanketing the world. Amid the explosion, I feel the sun's flames wash over me as I peer downward.
Twitch. Jerk. Twitch.
"Freaky little shit."
He's alive. I knew he would be. He had to survive.
My goal is to shove this Demon King—sealed on sublevel 5—back to the demonic realm deep in the abyss.
I squat before Veltas, his once-pale vampire skin charred pitch-black beyond recognition.
He writhes nonstop, crawling toward his puppets. He'd burned through dozens on that barrier; the front was collapsing without them.
Saintess Isabelle and her disciple. Puppets versus Belial's legion and Min Cholong.
The 3v3 turned hopeless the instant the puppets thinned out critically. They were the only real offensive force—without them, inevitable.
Belial goes berserk, like he'd been waiting. Massacre time.
I look down at trembling Veltas and jab my index finger into him.
Sizzle!
Solar power sears his flesh; he shrieks in agony, a grotesque wail.
"Tell me. How do I send the Demon King back to the demonic realm?"
Fight fire with fire. Use Demon King Gamigin to handle those underground ticking time bombs.
Even weakened by descent and restricted in rank, after absorbing hundreds of humans, he'd be a match for the calamities.
Those disasters have been sealed so long—their combat sense dulled, power faded. Gamigin should win out.
Of course, returning to this world would take time. That underground isn't a cakewalk.
Bonus: when he emerges, he'll be battered too.
"Generously, one week."
Full sprint to sublevel 5 and back takes three days. Factor in fights? Minimum one week, max two.
'Two weeks, and I could finish him with Longinus...'
Things won't go that smoothly. My misfortune hasn't stirred yet, but no complacency.
So I need a way to send him back—or kill him—within that window.
Even gravely wounded, if he absorbs all those calamity deaths, Gamigin could regain his original power and beyond.
I have to find it. The method. Staring at the mopping-up battlefield, I stab my solar-charged finger into him again.