Chapter 225
Chapter 225
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 226
Chapter Title: Primal God Arcana
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Blood and violence! Slaughter and massacre!"
"Stab, slash, slice, and dismember!"
"Warriors of the great Lord Helium!"
"Instill terror in our enemies! Sow fear among them!"
The demons who had crossed through the warp chanted in unison.
It was a kind of marching song meant to boost their allies' courage and morale while breaking the enemy's will.
At its center, Helium laughed uproariously.
"My valiant warriors! Press on without stopping!"
The land of Valhalla.
He already felt like its master, this fertile soil.
It made his mouth water.
Greed welled up within him.
The moment they emerged from the warp, he could sense the land's profound spiritual energy.
It was fertile ground on a level incomparable to the barren territory he had newly claimed.
Honestly, his own land was mostly lava fields, useless for anything proper.
He had to take it.
And to do that, he needed to kill its current lord.
"Never look back! Only charge forward! Even if you face mighty foes, do not fear! Your invincible sovereign, Helium, stands with you!"
Demon Lord Helium.
Right now, his confidence overflowed.
Empowered by his territory's strength, and with an extra wing to boot.
Besides, if his suspicions were correct, this place was practically empty.
At worst, maybe a ragtag bunch of lowly demons.
Aheta's greed was infamous among demons; he wouldn't have handed his territory to a strong one.
'Kneel. Then I'll kill you painlessly.'
A rosy future unfolded before him.
He bellowed war cries alongside his soldiers, advancing relentlessly.
No retreat. Once they started charging, they couldn't stop.
A slaughtering war machine that only knew straight ahead!
That was Helium's army.
And just then, something appeared in the distance.
"Time for slaughter!"
"Kuhahaha! Sweep them all away!"
"Kill them a...!"
"......!"
"......"
......The soldiers of Helium, marching as if to devour the world, came to an abrupt halt.
Helium did the same.
There was no way they could advance.
What they had spotted in the distance.
They thought it was some building, but no.
Time itself seemed frozen.
Helium turned his head, glaring at 'Cabron,' the one responsible for this mess.
"You son of a bitch......"
He muttered, small as an ant.
It was supposed to be empty land, he said.
Some pathetic demon must be its lord, propped up by Valhalla's power, at best a lesser demon who barely qualified as a Creator.
Cabron averted his gaze.
His body trembled, face paling.
What stood before them now was far from any demon.
"......Demons."
A heavy voice boomed.
The terrifying mana laced in that voice froze every demon in place.
Helium was no exception.
Though he bore the stature of a lord, not a common demon, the beings before him were monsters even seasoned lords couldn't handle.
Dragonkin!
Not just one, but a multitude stared them down.
Only one thought filled Helium's mind.
He had screamed himself hoarse: don't look back, just charge ahead.
'We're fucked.'
That was Helium's carefully considered conclusion.
Fucked.
Not just fucked—utterly, completely fucked.
Blood and violence?
Slaughter and massacre?
Now the demons were the ones about to get massacred.
"You have set foot in a place you must never invade."
The voice's owner, Ataraxia, had no intention of forgiving this.
He was purely enraged.
This 'land of Valhalla' was the Dragon God's domain.
Sepiro himself presided here.
For filthy demons to defile the domain of the most noble one.
Burning them all wouldn't sate his fury.
Guoooooo-!
Suddenly, a black sun rose above Ataraxia's head.
The moment it touched the ground, it would explode, annihilating the demons.
Even Drakan, head of the Sloth Clan, didn't stop him.
Normally, he would have.
Demons and dragons had an accord: no interference.
But.
"Ataraxia. If you're going to do it, wipe them out without leaving a single one."
"That's the plan."
......Kill them all, and no evidence remains.
Drakan, too, was deeply displeased by these filthy demons treading this land, before the great one.
That was when.
"Perfect timing."
Park Chan-woo stepped forward.
Question marks floated in the demons' and Helium's eyes.
'A human?'
'A mere human at the center of dragons......'
'A dragon disguised as human?'
It was possible.
No idea why human form, but clearly no ordinary being.
Under everyone's gaze, Park Chan-woo spoke.
"Demons. Defeat the 'Primal God' we created, and I'll spare you all."
"Wh-what's a... Primal God...?"
Helium forced down his fear and asked.
That instant.
Thud!
A massive dragon revealed itself, shaking the ground.
"......!!"
The demons could only gape in shock.
It dwarfed every dragon gathered here.
Its black-scaled form was so massive, even they had never seen the like.
"This is the Primal God, the Dragon of Hope, Arcana."
Dragon of Hope?
It looked more like despair incarnate, no matter how you sliced it.
On the other hand, some dragons reacted strangely.
Following the human's words, their eyes trembled uncontrollably, as if moved.
'...Why are the dragonkin suddenly like that?'
Neither the demons nor Helium could make sense of it.
But to the dragons, it was natural.
'......He said we made it.'
Drakan and several Sloth dragons had suspected the human was likely 'Dragon God Sepiro.'
Yet Sepiro called it something they made, acknowledging them as collaborators.
Impossible.
Dragon God Sepiro.
What kind of being was he?
He'd claim even a sliver of their wisdom as his own achievement.
Countless Sloth Clan researches became Sepiro's feats.
Never once had he said we made it together.
Sepiro knew only himself.
He didn't even use the word we.
Of course, as their lord and god, they had no complaints.
Just no dissatisfaction.
Never once had they felt moved toward Sepiro either.
Yet now.
'We......!'
......We.
In their long lives, it was the first time hearing it.
Despite thousands of researches stolen, never once.
Eventually, it became normal.
All research materials and results became for Sepiro, not the Sloth Clan.
What could be more futile than unacknowledged achievements?
The clan grew even lazier, losing all drive.
But now, for the first time, recognition.
Words Sepiro would never say, had never said.
......Maybe not Sepiro?
'Ataraxia's reaction, tenfold division, and Arcana......'
But no matter how you looked, only Sepiro fit all this.
He must be operating a second body in secret.
The Dragon God's whims weren't new.
Ataraxia avoiding his name suggested secrecy.
'...So this is what recognition feels like.'
Quietly.
Drakan kept savoring the word we.
As if part of some grand Sepiro plan.
'Ahh! Dragon of Hope!!'
...Ataraxia felt a similar surge of emotion.
It was as good as direct acknowledgment from Sepiro.
Despair Clan.
You are the hope of dragonkind, of me!
Both he and Arcana were of the Despair Clan.
Sepiro kept only the Despair Clan close.
Sloth Clan? Drakan?
Mere helpers Ataraxia brought.
Only the Despair Clan had Sepiro's true permission to follow!
'Our clan is the hope!'
Officially recognized.
He couldn't help but shudder.
Of course, Park Chan-woo hadn't meant it that way.
"Otherwise, all of you right here......"
"W-wait! Just fight that one d-dragon... Primal God? And if we win, you really spare us all? How can we trust that?"
Helium asked desperately.
No chance against the dragons.
100,000 or 1 million or 10 million—war with them meant annihilation.
"I don't go back on my word."
Park Chan-woo shrugged.
"B-before the Messenger of Oaths, we could swear a p-pact......"
"Please, grant me permission to sweep away these distrustful vermin. O Great One."
Ataraxia cut in.
Mentioning the Messenger of Oaths?
That meant distrusting the Dragon God's word.
Foolish bugs, even when given a chance.
Such irredeemable demons needed burning.
"We believe! Completely!"
Helium nodded frantically.
One the dragons obeyed.
Must be top of dragon hierarchy.
Direct fight? Dead before breathing.
Better face just that one Primal God thing.
Thud!
Rooooar!
A colossal body, easily 20 meters.
Twice a typical castle dragon.
As Arcana advanced, the earth quaked and skies roiled.
All watched the Primal God Arcana in tense anticipation.
How much power would it show?
Could it surpass a Giant God's limits?
Honestly, Park Chan-woo was just as curious.
"It's do or die! Just take down that one!"
Helium rallied his troops.
Just one.
Over 100,000 demons charging together could handle it.
Shing!
Helium drew a greatsword larger than himself.
Shring!
Six more arms emerged from his body.
A minor lord, but his martial prowess rivaled top lords.
Weapons in every hand, he gathered mana and roared.
"Attack!"
"Waaaaah!"
A thunderous cheer.
And it began.
The merciless massacre.
Ziiing!
Ziiiing!
Countless magic circles etched around Primal God Arcana.
Far faster than any dragon's casting speed.
Arcana of Despair.
Legend said he wielded magic faster than any dragon in life.
Combining utterly different spells and blasting them wildly.
That was Arcana's greatest strength.
It let a single dragon reach the 'Lord of Great Evils' himself.
How many in the Abyss could pierce countless territories and demon kings to stand before a great lord?
Arcana achieved the unimaginable alone.
"...How many magic circles?"
"Over 20,000."
"......Was there ever a dragon who could do that?"
The watching dragons were aghast.
Soon, the circles blanketed the sky.
Not high-rank spells, but.
Whoooooooosh!
The heavens wailed.
Then.
Thud! Thud!
Kaboom!
Hundreds of thousands of lightning bolts crashed down.
"Gaaack!"
"Gurk! Gurgle!"
10,000 demons died instantly, no chance to resist.
It didn't stop.
Each sky-filling circle linked, forming one massive array.
"Linked magic?"
"That was just the prep?"
"No Giant God can do that."
"A true Primal God!"
The dragons grew excited.
Basic spells, sure, but linked magic was another realm.
No time to gawk.
From the enormous sky-spanning circle.
"Dragon's Breath?"
"No, that's......!"
"Insane! 'Pure Despair'!"
Rumble!
Rooooooar!
A thin black line stabbed the earth.
That was the start.
The line expanded instantly into a black pillar.
All swept within ceased to exist.
Pure Despair.
An ultra-high-rank spell none in the Despair Clan could use.
The clan's ultimate magic, lost after the 'Great War'!
But it wasn't over.
"Wait, those wings?"
"On the Primal God... not dragon wings?"
After Pure Despair, a massive pair of black wings sprouted from Arcana's back.
Not dragon wings—demon wings.
In that moment.
"Impossible......"
Drakan's voice trembled.
As Sloth Clan head, he knew what those wings were.
But why on the Primal God?
Impossible.
And rightly so, for those wings belonged to.
"The Lord of Great Evils......"
One of the nine great lords extant.
......The property of the 'Lord of Great Evils.'.