Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: The Imugi Crawling in the Millennia-Old Abyss
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As the messages appeared, the existence scowled.
"Too fast. Didn't you tell me this shouldn't be happening at this speed? Well, I suppose they're just the lowly natives of some puny planet like this."
At the existence's words, those following behind him bowed their heads as if guilty of disloyalty, begging for mercy. It was indeed far quicker than they had anticipated.
"According to the information you provided, they should have just barely started the fourth stage by now. And yet it's already over..."
Where had the variable come from? The existence turned his head, scanning the surroundings.
To the northwest was the formation of what he vaguely remembered as the somewhat larger nation called China; to the northeast, Russia; and to the south, the tiny speck of a country whose name he could hardly recall—South Korea.
The existence glanced at all three directions before fixing his gaze on the northeast.
"As expected, a major power is making its move?"
The existence cast his gaze downward like someone overlooking from on high. There was only one spot from which all three nations' formations could be viewed at once.
That's right. The place where the existence stood was none other than Baekdu Mountain.
It was astonishing. To be on Baekdu Mountain amid a monster wave!
Wasn't that the very spot where the Imugi was awakening and stretching its coils?
"We're sorry. The magic emanating from the Imugi is too potent for communications to reach this far. We don't know the exact cause."
The existence clicked his tongue and nodded at the words of his subordinate. It wasn't a huge variable anyway. Annoying and irritating, sure, but nothing that would cause real problems.
"For insolent vermin like these to dare interfere with my plans."
The existence stared at the mist before him. Smoke that never seeped beyond the line he stood on. It was the Imugi's barrier.
The impenetrable barrier that, for 200 years since the Great Cataclysm and the emergence of disaster-class monsters, had claimed the lives of countless high-rank hunters and been deemed impossible to dispel.
The existence extended his hand. It was no human hand. The nails were long, the skin pale, and patches of crimson scales clung to it here and there.
Yes, beautiful, shimmering scales just like those of a reptile.
"As befits a creature doomed to crawl the earth for millennia, what a low and pathetic barrier. To dream of becoming one of our kind? Arrogant. But intriguing, all the same."
The existence slashed his hand downward. With that single motion, the barrier parted.
The mist split in two along the path of his hand, opening a way forward. The existence shook off his hand in disgust, then strode ahead with haughty arrogance, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Seven subordinates followed in his wake. How long had they walked?
Suddenly, the existence halted. His subordinates were puzzled but didn't dare ask. Questions born of lowly curiosity were what he despised most.
"It's coming."
Instead, the existence murmured softly. The place was so utterly silent that even his subordinates heard it. They looked ahead.
At that moment, the earth trembled, the fog fully receded, the climate shifted, thunder and lightning crashed down, and the roar of this land's enraged sovereign engulfed all of Baekdu Mountain.
-Kwaaaah!!!
The apex predator, the Imugi, had made its entrance.
"That... Asia's disaster-class monster!"
"What majesty—truly worthy of the disaster-class title!"
"An Imugi? That's no serpent; that's a full-on drag—!"
One subordinate who had blurted out the words clamped his mouth shut in panic. Flames erupted over his body, and without so much as a scream or struggle, he crumbled to ash.
"You insolent worm, comparing the great race to that pathetic serpent spawn?"
The existence, shaking off his hand, glared distastefully at the sky, the ground, the surrounding area—and finally at the Imugi, like a predator eyeing prey.
"Arrogant. You half-formed trash, daring to look down on me?"
The existence swept his hand downward. The colossal body, hundreds of meters long, slammed into the ground without meaningful resistance.
"Arrogant. Arrogant. Arrogant!"
A roar exploded from the existence's maw.
It dwarfed even the Imugi's bellow.
-Krarrararara!!!
The sky cleared. The barrier shattered. Mana in the air held its breath and quivered.
The Imugi slammed its head to the ground before the existence, eyes filled with awe and terror.
His subordinates bled from every orifice but clung to the items imbued with his protection, barely enduring.
Fear— the power granted only to paramount beings, forcing all lesser things to kneel—had manifested on Earth.
Most monsters had scattered to the three flanks at the Imugi's command, but the lowly beasts still lingering on the mountain dropped dead on the spot from the Fear.
"By nature, the great race must possess commensurate nobility and pride. You... are pathetic. A filthy thing that slithers on the dirt. Yet unmistakably, our blood flows in your veins. Yes, that's enough. I thought you unqualified, but you possess the bare minimum."
The existence approached the trembling Imugi, sensing its impending doom, and stroked its body.
"Normally, I'd kill you just for bearing that faint bloodline. But today, I'm the one in need. Damn it all, with things going awry and one short, as it were."
An unholy blaze gathered in the existence's hand—flames mighty enough to incinerate not just an Imugi, but the entire world!
"Choose. Surrender your Yeouiju and live, or perish with it? Don't squander the chance granted by a great one, you worthless cur."
The Imugi bowed its head and chose. No hesitation. It knew this was its last shot.
The Yeouiju—the essence of the power that had elevated her, a mere mutant serpent, to Imugi status.
A sort of inner core. Akin to the Dragon Heart that existence possessed. But such essences could be regenerated. Death ended even that.
Having wandered countless dimensions via the Abyss and amassed near-completion toward ascension, losing the Yeouiju meant starting over from millennia of toil...
But death meant no retries at all.
The Imugi opened its maw. Light gathered within, manifesting a massive orb.
The existence infused it with power, satisfied. The orb floated into the air and was sucked into the open subspace behind him.
"A great one never breaks his word. Crawl the earth for another millennium, you worthless serpent. I'm curious about your journey's end."
The existence withdrew. At once, the Imugi's enormous body shrank to a quarter its size. Still massive, but tiny by comparison.
He pointed south at the diminished beast.
"Go south. Devour everything those small things have and struggle once more."
In the existence's mind, the landmasses blurred into vague shapes. The smallest was South Korea. Thus, he sent the Imugi there.
"Trash though you may be, you're still better than the lowly vermin infesting this place, carrying even a drop of our blood. And I'm curious about your end."
The Imugi rose. Terribly weakened. Not as frail as when it first formed its Yeouiju, but weak nonetheless.
It was no longer one of this world's top predators. For a fallen apex beast, only venomous survival instinct remained in a world of eat-or-be-eaten.
The Imugi rose. Sorcery activated, lifting it into the air.
It could have felt wronged. Enraged. Irritated. But it didn't. Or rather, couldn't?
In any case, the ever-polite Imugi flew south as directed. To forge another Yeouiju. To slaughter the wretched natives here and accrue karma.
'They were always worthless anyway.'
The Imugi remembered clearly. A world where not even a century had passed since the Abyss opened. No being stronger than itself could exist.
That's why it had chosen this world, bargained with the system, and entered as a dungeon.
Even stripped of 90% of its karma-laden Yeouiju, the remaining 10% infused in its flesh was enough to raze a small nation.
So the Imugi believed. Thus, it accelerated.
Quickly devour those battling its minions, then descend further to claim new territory!
Its savage, wicked nature—suppressed by longing for its longed-for kin, the dragons—surfaced.
Its jet-black scales gleamed with power. The Imugi's maw opened. A roar echoed.
-Kwaaaah!!!
The waiting monsters lost their reason and rampaged madly. The system detected the anomaly and tried to block the Imugi and the frenzied horde charging after it.
"This much is a small price for amusement."
At the existence's word, the system's restraint lifted. The Imugi joined the monster horde and surged south.
From the fifth wave to the tenth—every monster yet to come poured forth.
Not content with that, a small crimson scale the existence tore from his arm touched the Imugi, turning some of its black scales red.
"In case of variables, consider this a gift. Worthless trash though you are, since you dream of dragonhood, show me what you can do."
The Imugi roared. Red dragon power flooded in, bringing overwhelming omnipotence. It couldn't fathom why such a being needed its measly core.
A variable. A change from before the regression. The Imugi's power wasn't fully restored, but at least 80% had returned.
No more hesitation. With this strength, it could reclaim apex predator status without shame.
And so, a variable intruded into the monster wave. Before the hunters resting after clearing the fourth wave, a new message appeared.