Chapter 311
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 311.
<The Return of the Evil Dragon>.
One of the many final events that exist in Heroes Road.
All of those events are frustratingly difficult, but The Return of the Evil Dragon is among the top-tier challenges.
There’s one reason for that.
‘The Authority of Corruption it possesses.’
Without any conditions, the moment it appears, it scatters its authority across the entire world.
Yoo Baek-jun looked at the screen right in front of him.
Using the intelligence network of his family, it was a screen displaying the situation across the globe.
―Wh-what the hell is that fog?!
―It’s moving like it’s alive……!
The black fog moved.
The thing slithered like living beings, and anything they touched—buildings—instantly rotted into pitch-black decay.
―Kwaaaaah!
―Ugh… Aaaaah!
―Th-the Statue of… Fuck!
The corrupted buildings collapsed.
People caught in the wreckage screamed, and some were crushed.
And then the fog approached.
―D-don’t come… Stay away!
―Kyaaaah!
The fog swallowed the people.
The sound of flesh melting was accompanied by agonizing screams.
But the disaster didn’t end there.
―Family Head……!
―E-everywhere…….
Beyond the screen displaying the world.
―Crack! Crunch!
Gates were appearing.
Monsters seemed ready to burst out at any moment. Yoo Baek-jun let out a sigh.
“I know. Proceed as planned.”
―Y-yes. Understood.
The intelligence officers reporting the situation muttered nervously, as if terrified.
Even for them, who had witnessed countless horrors, this was a situation beyond their ability to handle.
‘It would’ve been great if we could’ve stopped this beforehand, but that wasn’t possible.’
There’s no way to prevent the Evil Dragon’s descent in advance. The phenomena that occur upon its appearance are the same.
What’s even more terrifying is that these phenomena don’t stop there.
‘Second Impact.’
If the fog currently covering the world is considered the First Impact, there’s a separate Second Impact yet to come.
What Yoo Baek-jun aimed to stop was that. If the Second Impact were allowed to occur, there would be no turning back.
This world would be doomed.
‘Fitting for a final boss.’
Just as Yoo Tae-rang was in Part 1, the Evil Dragon was the final boss of Part 2.
If that monster could be killed, the ending could be reached. No—it could have been reached.
‘Now, I can’t be certain.’
There’s someone behind it.
Yoo Baek-jun was certain of it, and if that were the case, even after dealing with the Evil Dragon, another event could unfold.
“It told the demon to keep its promise. The outline is finally becoming clear.”
He didn’t know what that demon was.
But one thing was certain—if the Evil Dragon were killed, its true identity would be revealed.
Then, the course of action was clear.
“Kill the Evil Dragon.”
Yoo Baek-jun looked at the desolate land eroded between Japan and Korea, in the East Sea.
‘Dragon’s Land.’
Originally, it should have appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
But in the remaining time, Yoo Baek-jun had tracked down and eliminated the executives of the Black Shadow, drawing the Master’s attention.
And the Master had decided to deal with Yoo Baek-jun and the Sword Saint Family first.
‘So far, it’s gone according to plan.’
Yoo Baek-jun exhaled deeply and closed the secret manual he had been reading.
A secret manual passed down through generations of the Sword Saint Family.
It was the Sword Saint Family’s secret manual handed over by Yoo Moo-hak before he left.
Since emerging from the Tower of the Martial God until now, Yoo Baek-jun had devoted himself to mastering one skill contained within this manual.
And he had succeeded.
―Family Head, we’ve made contact with the other guilds and families.
―The preparations for the protective barrier are complete. It can be activated at any time.
“Is that so? Then get ready.”
Yoo Baek-jun stored the manual in subspace and stood up.
Now was the time to unleash everything.
“Prepare for deployment.”
Everything he had prepared until now.
* * *
The man stared blankly at the sky.
A turquoise sky, unlike anything he had ever seen before, was mercilessly pouring down black rain.
And the screams coming from all around.
“Aaaaah!”
―Ru-run! If it touches you, you’ll die!
―T-take me too! Wait……!
Buildings melting under the Authority of Corruption. People caught in the debris collapsed, flailing desperately.
The fog approached them.
―Ha, haha.”
The man, who had been staring blankly at the scene, let out a hollow laugh.
A laugh bordering on madness. His mind had gone blank, and he couldn’t move.
He didn’t even feel like trying.
‘Why did I come here again? Oh, right, I got a call this morning…….’
People fleeing ran past him. He remained motionless, staring vacantly ahead.
At the fog creeping closer.
‘I should… call Michelle. Since it’s my day off today, let’s go on a date…….’
But,
How had things ended up like this?
―Oh, fuck.”
In an instant, the fog reached him and swallowed his entire body.
And then the excruciating pain…
―Aaaaah… Huh?
Never came.
The moment the man was engulfed by the fog.
―Wh-what the…….
A spear of light shot through the turquoise clouds, piercing the heart of the city.
And then, light erupted.
Fwoooosh!
The light that burst from the city’s center spread outward, blocking the fog’s advance toward the people.
And then, astonishingly.
―I-it stopped?
The fog ceased moving.
The parts of the fog that couldn’t stop in time dissipated upon touching the light.
The man, still collapsed, watched the scene as someone reached out to him.
―Are you alright?
―Huh? Oh, yes. Who are you……?
―Head that way. Our knights will guide you.
A knight clad in armor.
He handed the man over to the other knights and raised his visor.
―It’s practically hell.
The new commander of the Hollow Knight Order muttered as he surveyed the surroundings.
The melting city and the people’s suffering were beyond horrifying.
‘I was skeptical, but I never imagined something like this would actually happen…….’
He thought of Yoo Baek-jun.
The man who had mocked him after he lost his father to the traitor Alastair.
That man had promised to help him kill Alastair and reclaim the knight order—and he had kept his word.
And when everything was over, he had asked for a favor in return.
‘Was it for this?’
David, the son of the former knight commander Leo, smiled bitterly.
‘He said it wouldn’t last long.’
The light blocking the fog wouldn’t hold for even an hour.
Even if they used all the reserve items Yoo Baek-jun had provided, it would only last about ten hours.
All they could do was rescue as many people as possible and hope things would be resolved.
“…….”
And there was one more warning the man had given.
David, looking ahead, suddenly shouted.
―Knights, assemble!
Where his gaze fell.
Beyond the fog blocked by the light, space itself was tearing apart.
The Hollow Knights instantly gathered around David.
―A Gate!
He drew his sword.
* * *
The same phenomenon was occurring all over the world.
In China, where the Sichuan Tang family resided, in Spain’s prestigious guilds, and in countless other nations—light erupted, blocking the fog.
―There’s something you all need to do.
Yoo Baek-jun had already predicted this catastrophe, so he had developed items capable of temporarily blocking the Authority of Corruption.
And he had entrusted them to guilds and families across the globe that he had aided.
That was how they had held it off—but.
Crack! Crunch!
The Evil Dragon’s descent didn’t stop at spreading corruption across the world.
Its arrival destabilized dimensions, causing dormant Gates near the East Sea to activate.
The result was horrifying.
―Groooar!
―Hehe. So much… food.
Monsters emerged from all directions.
The number of Gates that appeared was far from few, and the sheer number of monsters was overwhelming.
―Th-this is……
―There’s too many……
The coastline of Busan.
Hunters from the association, gathered there, were horrified at the monsters swarming in from all sides.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
―Insects, how bothersome.
―Tch, pointless resistance.
The Black Shadow, waiting on Dragon’s Land, began to move.
Countless members of the Black Shadow. And their executives—even the Dragonkin leading them.
―Find the source of that light!
―Yes!”
Black Shadow members with draconic traits charged forward under orders.
From the front, the Black Shadow attacked, while monsters assaulted the hunters from all sides.
―We’re being pushed back……!”
―Th-the numbers are too much!”
The enemy’s forces far exceeded what the command had initially estimated.
Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the hunters couldn’t hold their ground.
―Aaaaah!”
―Protect the rear! The mages are… Ugh!
The formation collapsed instantly, and the mages in the rear were ambushed.
The monsters’ indiscriminate attacks continued, spreading horrific screams.
―Damn it, are we too late……!
―Chang-woo!
Han Chang-woo and his comrades arrived belatedly to reinforce them.
But then.
Kwaaaaah!
―Guh?!
Something fell from the sky.
The shockwave spread in all directions, engulfing the monsters in the area.
The impact was so immense it felt like a meteor had struck.
―Wh-what the…….
And from the center of that shockwave, a woman rose to her feet.
“…….”
Wild, unkempt red hair and a feral aura.
A woman radiating a blood-red energy from her entire body.
―Graaaaah!
The Blood Demon, Blood-Rin.
She raised her ominous demonic sword high and slammed it into the ground.
Kwa-dudududuk!
The ground split open in the direction of her strike.
Fwoooosh!
Where the monsters stood.
From the fissure beneath their feet, blood surged before exploding.
Pillars of blood erupted, engulfing the monsters.
―Guh…!
―Kieeeek!
Blood-Rin transformed her sword into a serpentine-sword and charged forward.
And then, she began a merciless slaughter.
―Th-this human… Kyak!
It couldn’t even be called a battle.
Her serpentine-sword extended like a living thing, effortlessly slicing through enemies.
Dozens of spheres appeared around her, detonating with terrifying force.
Pools of blood rose from the ground, trapping the enemies’ feet.
And those monsters that somehow got close were enveloped in a blood-red mist, instantly drained of their blood before collapsing.
―Aaaaah!
―I-I don’t wanna fight! Spare me……!
It was a literal one-sided massacre.
Monsters who lost their will to fight fled back into the Gates they had emerged from.
―A m-monster…….
Someone watching muttered unconsciously.
But Blood-Rin paid no attention.
―When… will he come……?
Instead, she looked up at the sky.
Following her sudden action, the hunters who had been watching her also looked up.
The pitch-black sky, filled with monsters, showed nothing at first glance.
Among them were the Dragonkin of the Black Shadow.
―What is that woman?
―I-I don’t know. I’ll check right away—
―No, never mind. I’ll handle this myself. She’s an obstacle to the plan.”
A newly promoted Dragonkin executive, eager to prove himself, stepped forward.
But before he could even approach Blood-Rin.
Fzzzt!
A portal appeared before him.
A massive—truly enormous—portal. And before the Dragonkin could react.
Something emerged from it.
―What is…….
It was a colossal ship.
A pitch-black hull reminiscent of a whale, with massive sails.
Which made it all the more bizarre.
Why was a ship, meant to sail the seas, flying through the sky?
―Just what…….”
And its size.
It was so overwhelmingly large that it made the Dragonkin look like an insignificant insect.
He stared dumbfounded at the airship, then heard a sound.
Clank! Whiiir…….
The sound of Magical energy rotating.
And the sound of massive Magical cannons emerging from the ship’s hull.
Countless cannons aimed at the Dragonkin, who hadn’t even considered fleeing, as immense Magical energy gathered in their barrels.
And then.
―Guh! Evade……!
Kwaaaaah!
It fired a beam of light.
A colossal pillar of light engulfed the Dragonkin, who had tried to flee too late.
And that was the end.
Whooosh!
Where the Dragonkin had stood moments before, there was nothing left.
Only charred remnants remained.
And the same went for the Black Shadow members behind him.
―Eeeek……!
―Wh-where did they all go?!
Every enemy in the path of the light beam had been utterly annihilated.
A sight unlike anything they had ever seen.
The appearance of an entity beyond their comprehension filled the enemies with terror.
“Huh? Were there bugs or something?”
It was the airship’s first demonstration.