Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon
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‘Noisy.’
I walked down a street thick with a foul stench.
Beeeep!
The clamor of humans chattering and the grating noise from unidentified moving contraptions.
I scanned the surroundings thoroughly.
Towering structures piercing the sky, edifices crafted by grinding down all of nature.
This world seemed to be one that had delved into the mysteries of science to their extremes and advanced accordingly.
A place that had developed in a direction utterly different from the world I once knew.
Beeeep!
“Hey, you bastard! Blind or what? Can’t you see the red light?!”
Especially the racket from those silently moving vehicles grated on my nerves.
Why on earth would they build such idiotic noises into their functions?
“Hey! You wanna die?!”
The man who’d been bellowing from inside one of the vehicles finally climbed out and approached me.
He shoved at me with both hands, using all his might. Or rather, he reached out to shove.
Thud.
“What the fuck, some iron bar?!”
I didn’t budge an inch, and the man looked flustered, but his rage hadn’t subsided.
Click.
Thud, thud.
“You fucker, to the end… wha… wha….”
Splurt!
With the sound of blood spraying without direction, the man was cleaved precisely in half.
Kyaaack!
Screams erupted from those around us.
I liked this city.
Though it had advanced in a different direction, there were items and buildings everywhere reminiscent of my homeland.
A market wafting familiar food scents, people brimming with vitality—it was a lively space that made it hard to believe a tower had risen amid chaos.
“It had caught This Lord’s fancy, too.”
But what could be done?
The Central Plains of my memories had already perished. The martial world was no more here.
My apologies to the inhabitants of this dimension, but that was how it was.
A tower had appeared here as well.
If you must curse something, blame this vast universe. This Lord is merely a sinner of this place.
Click.
Shing.
With a beautiful sword cry, I slowly drew the Heavenly Demon Sword from my waist.
“This Lord regrets it too, nameless denizens of this dimension. This Lord wanted to enjoy a bit more sightseeing.”
The moment had come to fulfill my duty as a conqueror.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Boom! —Bang!
“It’s begun.”
The conqueror who had reached the pinnacle of technique, the Heavenly Demon, had appeared in Shanghai.
From the top of this skyscraper, the screams didn’t reach my ears.
But the fiercely rising flames and the black smoke they devoured were clearly visible even from here.
In the first run, we’d stopped the first conqueror, the Heavenly Demon, with Khan’s mutual destruction.
Shanghai back then had become a barren wasteland, its light lost even from space.
Second run.
I’d stepped forward first to block the Heavenly Demon, but due to Khan’s misunderstanding, it turned into a solo fight instead of a team effort, costing us dearly.
I was optimized for soloing to begin with, so syncing with Khan was tough, and he’d had to fight overly passively too.
In the end, Khan fell victim to the Heavenly Demon’s ultimate technique, suffering permanent disability, leaving the ‘alliance’ short on firepower.
This run’s goal: perfect fusion with Khan.
Block the Heavenly Demon’s attacks with the 65th floor boss, Ice Dragon King ‘Veil,’ join up, earn Khan’s trust, and swiftly strike together for minimal damage.
To that end, I had to wait until Khan engaged the Heavenly Demon.
Boom! —Slash.
Buildings sliced clean like tofu. Along what seemed to be the Heavenly Demon’s path, only rubble and raging flames remained.
Khan should be arriving soon.
“Veil, come forth.”
Veil emerged with clanking armor, kneeling before me.
Preparations complete. Even a conqueror was ultimately alone. No matter how heavenly his martial arts, the Heavenly Demon—who’d failed to conquer solo—couldn’t withstand our combined assault.
Boom!
‘But...’
Bang! Pop, pop!
“Why isn’t this bastard showing up?!”
By my experience, Khan’s appearance time had long passed. Some twist of fate—Khan was probably off boozing in a nearby flashy building instead of with his guild.
He should’ve been smashing windows and hurling iron spears by now.
“Kyaaack!”
Even after I’d descended, the screams hadn’t stopped.
Tzzt, —Slash.
Buildings still cleaved like tofu, gray fog and red flames engulfing all of Shanghai.
“Fuck this!”
I couldn’t wait forever.
Even if other climbers rushed in upon hearing the news, they’d just die pointlessly, weakening Earth’s overall strength.
“Damn Mongol barbarian fuck!”
In the end, I had to step up.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Click.
Clang!
“Hm?”
A knight in blue armor appeared before the sword-wielding hand could even extend, blocking the strike.
“Are you a puppet? I sense no will in you.”
“Graaaah!”
The roaring knight clashed with the sword master.
Clang, clang, clang!
Each sword collision sparked flames, blindly shredding the surrounding terrain.
Against a mindless puppet, the Heavenly Demon at the peak of technique needn’t reveal his true intent.
Just slightly alter trajectories—that would suffice.
Or so he thought.
“Kyaaak!”
“Jiangshi?”
Some felt familiar.
Exact replicas of the yokai I’d seen climbing the tower.
One, then two more jiangshi appearing from somewhere, multiplying.
Before long, the fight was no longer one-on-one but many against the Heavenly Demon.
—Slash.
Unlike that mindless knight, the jiangshi weren’t that strong.
Low enough in power that a single swing of his sword would grant them rest.
“Someone wielding sorcery, it seems!”
Those low-grade jiangshi were no issue. But that iron-clad man was different.
Each clash made his sword blade tremble.
If that one had a soul, it would’ve been a fine match.
What a pity.
A soulless sword was mere beastly tool.
Yet the memories etched in that flesh and soul allowed such movements, thanks to its high realm.
“Annoying!”
The Heavenly Demon leaped high, eclipsing the moonlight.
His swung sword shadows manifested, targeting the lowly foes.
Heavenly Demon Sword Technique
4th Form: Demon Shadow Sword
Shooooaaa.
The sword shadows birthed with each swing of the Heavenly Demon hunted his adversaries like living things.
A scene like black rain pouring down.
When he lightly landed, only concrete-colored mist remained.
Clank.
“Haha! Still moving, puppet?!”
He rushed to finish the rising armor, but mist at his feet snared his ankle.
‘Sorcery?’
He’d anticipated some cowardly sorcerer watching since the jiangshi appeared.
But interfering with such filthy dark arts!
The armor, seemingly regaining senses, smashed down with its massive greatsword.
A knight wielding the mysteries of the heavy sword. Hard to believe it blocked the razor-thin Heavenly Demon Sword—such destructive power.
“Sorcerer! Where are you?! Show yourself honorably!”
No response came.
“This Lord will find you and send you all to the immortal realm!”
Grrr!
More jiangshi charging from somewhere.
The powerful armor and endless jiangshi waves.
“Do not mock this conqueror!”
An utterly unpleasant fight.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “He looks pretty pissed.”
Seems my binding and enhancement field spells poking at his blind spots had gotten under his skin.
“You think you’re madder than me?”
Me, slaving away alone because that fake chink who’s probably off whoring somewhere hasn’t shown his face despite his home base exploding?
Why won’t anyone understand my feelings?
‘Where the hell did this bastard go?!’
This run, I’d gathered strength quietly. Monopolized hidden pieces, even synced dates with last time to avoid phase 2 variables.
Yet the ranker who should’ve appeared inevitably hadn’t shown—fled overseas or something?
My plan for overwhelming joint assault to swiftly subdue the conqueror was dead in the water.
Shanghai was already damaged beyond recovery.
Should’ve engaged sooner if I’d known.
At least the silver lining: conqueror ‘Heavenly Demon’ excelled more in 1v1 against strong foes than against mobs.
Drag it into attrition, and victory’s mine.
“Found you! Cowardly sorcerer scum!”
Yeah, about time he found me.
I’d noticed him smashing cover one by one mid-fight.
Can’t hide forever.
I widened distance from the Heavenly Demon.
“Daring to mock This Lord?!”
“Whoa, he’s coming. Gotta be careful.”
Veil charged at the Heavenly Demon. First conqueror or not, he was a conqueror who’d proudly climbed the tower.
Clang!
No way he’d fall for such an obvious ambush from Veil.
“Grrrrr! You bastard!!!”
His glare at me over Veil’s shoulder was hilarious, but this was enough.
No longer darting everywhere like before—he was at least moving human-like now.
Attrition strategy succeeding for now.
Clang!
He shoved Veil back, bleeding, then rushed straight at me.
“Die!”
I’d seen it before. His swordsmanship’s fastest thrust: Instant Sword Thrust.
“Bone Shield.”
His blade halted against a bone wall rising from the ground—whose bones, who knows.
“Still with these tricks?!”
“Bone Spear.”
A high-speed spinning bone spear pierced through the wall, impaling his heart.
“Cough.”
“Falling for this again? No growth. For you.”
A familiar tower message popped up after slaying the first conqueror.
The Heavenly Demon was the lowest-tier among tower-sent conquerors anyway. Probably conquered with some fine subordinates.
Luckily, not a life-or-death fight at my current level. Strategically taken down, of course.
But the immediate issue was this.
Where the hell was that Mongol monkey?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Knock knock.
“Khan.”
“Yeah, come in.”
Khan’s secretary Xiao Hao was a woman whose calm demeanor was both her strength and charm.
Khan liked that about her and kept her as secretary, but her voice carried uncharacteristic urgency now.
He knew coming to him this late—when he’d return to China first thing tomorrow—must’ve been tough for her.
“What’s up?”
“Sorry for the late hour. It’s extremely urgent.”
Her sweat-soaked shirt suggested she’d run here.
Making me uneasy.
“Uh… Shanghai.”
“What about Shanghai?”
As she hemmed and hawed frustratingly, she finally spoke.
“Shanghai was just razed. And at the center…”
Xiao Hao handed Khan her documents. A single photo.
“Is Alex Scott.”
“Isn’t this guy totally insane?”