Chapter 261
Chapter 261
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 261
Chapter Title: Ultimate Secret Art
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon!
The absolute ruler's footwork that only the Heavenly Demon himself could employ.
Heavenly Demon.
He was the supreme sovereign, the absolute being.
The colossal figure who had created the Manseonjeon, a perfect world of the law of the jungle.
He had tamed Outer Gods that no one else could conquer, and his martial prowess was such that even the great lords dared not challenge him.
Naturally, in the era when the Heavenly Demon existed, demons wouldn't have dreamed of setting foot on the practitioner's mountain.
And.
The Divine Immortals were the Heavenly Demon's fervent 'followers' who had trailed in his wake.
Originally, Divine Immortals were those who had ascended to immortality through pure mastery of their arts.
Having reached the pinnacle realm, they became 'demigods.'
Thanks to that, they gained longevity, but their outlook on the world inevitably turned to utter boredom.
They severed all ties by creating their own Immortal Realm.
Thereafter, they devoted themselves solely to refining their cultivation, but with the Heavenly Demon's appearance, their boredom twisted into fanatical obsession.
They became zealous followers, pursuing him devotedly.
Thus, they could recognize it without fail.
The Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon.
For the absolute ruler had no need to move of his own accord.
Before the Heavenly Demon, all were mere challengers.
He sat enthroned, summoning every challenger to kneel before his seat of power.
The Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon was footwork created solely for that purpose.
It folded domains and crumpled worlds, forcing challengers to their knees—a supreme authority akin to the power of an absolute being.
But.
"...It can't be the Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon."
"It's fake!"
"You think you can fool us with such petty sorcery?"
The Divine Immortals immediately denied it.
The Heavenly Demon had vanished.
Without a single word, he had disappeared one day.
The Divine Immortals returned to the Immortal Realm, waiting endlessly for his return.
But for ages afterward, the Heavenly Demon never reappeared.
They had no choice but to accept it.
That the Heavenly Demon had abandoned them.
He had vanished without a trace or successor.
At the same time, the Divine Immortals thought.
-Let's create the true Heavenly Demon.
-Let's forge our eternal king, one who will never abandon us.
...So they resolved.
It was the conclusion born of their fanatical obsession with the Heavenly Demon.
Thus, Taebaek was born.
Erasing the old Heavenly Demon, he was being perfected as the one and only supreme sovereign.
Therefore, that 'Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon' couldn't possibly be real.
The true Heavenly Demon, their true king, was singular.
Only Taebaek, who had yet to hatch.
Moreover, this outward appearance was far removed from the Heavenly Demon they knew.
A noble yet erroneous being.
The perfect sacrificial offering for Taebaek!
It was merely imitating the Heavenly Demon.
Soon, the Divine Immortals thought further.
All their thoughts converged on one conclusion.
"I see."
"Indeed, no ordinary error."
"That level will easily surpass 'Informational' rank."
"Beyond 'Warning' into 'Standard' rank?"
"No 'Great Rift' has opened for that entity yet, so it seems still at 'Warning' rank."
The Divine Immortals calmed in an instant.
They were one and many, linked through Taebaek.
This allowed swift, certain shifts in their thinking.
Moreover.
...Even 'errors' had ranks.
Nearly all erroneous entities fell under 'Informational' rank.
As the term implied, 'impossible phenomena'—errors born of bugs—were called 'Informational Errors.'
The second tier was 'Warning' rank, for those that caused 'impossible events' of their own volition.
Those triggering heinous 'Great Rifts' were termed 'Standard Error' rank.
Of course, there were also 'Major Error' ranks that spawned multiple Great Rifts and 'Catastrophic Error' ranks that could annihilate the entire Abyss, but these had scarcely appeared since the Abyss's birth.
And this one, mimicking the vanished Heavenly Demon's martial art—an utter 'impossible phenomenon'—made Park Chan-woo a rare 'Warning' rank error.
Thus.
"We can complete the superior Heavenly Demon...!"
"The prey has walked right into our midst!"
Smiles crept across the lips of the Divine Immortals, who had initially been taken aback.
Now knowing it was an error, it was nothing more or less than fodder for Taebaek.
A 'Warning' rank error appeared once every millennium, if at all.
They had devoured countless errors before, but most were mere 'Informational' rank.
Feeding this one to Taebaek would accelerate his completion.
Guuuuung!
Kurururur!
Soon, the Divine Immortals' bodies swelled enormously.
Floating in the air like gods, they cupped their hands in a circle.
Then, dazzling particles gathered within the ring.
Kuwaaaaaang!
A single flash erupted.
Several massive beams of light hurtled toward Park Chan-woo.
Each one was an attack from demigod-level beings.
Moreover, this was their home turf.
In a place brimming with Immortal Realm energy, defeating Divine Immortals was nigh impossible.
Not even mighty demon gods could withstand a direct hit. The absolute light of annihilation incinerated all petty things, errors included—and it struck Park Chan-woo.
Park Chan-woo.
No, the Heavenly Demon raised his protective aura.
Juuuruk!
Black blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He had exceeded the limits of what this body could handle.
The body hadn't grown enough to fully accommodate the Heavenly Demon's power.
Mana was severely lacking as well.
He had demonstrated fist techniques, sword arts, and footwork, but none reached full power.
But that was fine.
The contract condition was singular.
Land one hit on Taebaek.
To that end, the Heavenly Demon first assessed this body's 'potential.'
A being who had drawn him forth.
He who should have been eternally sealed in the yin world had emerged into this one through Park Chan-woo's flesh.
Originally, he ought to have slumbered forever in the negative level's lower domains.
The fact that such a one had been summoned meant, in other words.
'As expected.'
An 'error' akin to—or surpassing—himself.
Yet no error on the Heavenly Demon's level could exist in the Abyss.
It would have been hunted by the nine great lords, triggered a Great Rift and vanished, or been confined like him in the 'Demon-Sealing God's Chalice.'
This 'Demon-Sealing God's Chalice' was such an artifact.
A deranged contraption that birthed errors.
And the worst chalice, ultimately imprisoning its creations eternally.
The Heavenly Demon had been sealed after using the 'Demon-Sealing God's Chalice.'
But... while new chalice masters occasionally summoned sealed entities.
This was the first time for him.
No new master had ever surpassed the Heavenly Demon.
They hadn't been errors beyond him.
'Perfectly concealed.'
This body's owner, Park Chan-woo, was different.
An error capable of summoning the Heavenly Demon, yet so frail.
Riddled with contradictions, but soon the Heavenly Demon grasped the reason.
Non-Existence.
It was concealing even Park Chan-woo's error.
For the first time, the Heavenly Demon felt intrigue.
Wasn't it fascinating?
What manner of error had compelled the God of Offerings to hide it so thoroughly?
Moreover, with a time limit... even 'death' at his side to evade all eyes.
Forcing an unnatural balance.
How could it not escape recognition as an error?
Even the great lords, error hunters, wouldn't notice.
An error, yet masked by inevitable death to appear otherwise.
Even if discovered, facing that absolute 'death' would give them pause.
That 'death' concealed Park Chan-woo's true nature while slaying or sealing the memories of any who peered too closely.
Of course, if he failed his purpose by the deadline, it would deliver true death.
In that case...
There had to be hidden power.
'Found it.'
The Heavenly Demon nodded once.
A sealed power not yet to be revealed.
A heart hidden premised on death.
It was Dragon God Sepiro's heart.
'Why is the Transcendent Dragon's heart sealed in this human?'
No mistaking it.
The Heavenly Demon had encountered the Transcendent Dragon.
That freakish monster was an error yet not—an enigma that first dealt him defeat.
The heart of Dragon God Sepiro being in Park Chan-woo meant.
'Do you intend to unleash a Catastrophic Error and destroy the Abyss, God of Offerings?'
Catastrophic Error.
A theoretical rank that had never manifested.
A Catastrophic Error would trigger 'Infinite Great Rifts.'
Annihilating the entire Abyss.
Was that the God of Offerings' desire?
Irrelevant.
It didn't matter.
His role was to land one hit using this power.
The issue was forcing out the heart's power might shatter Park Chan-woo's body.
Also, Dragon God Sepiro was highly likely to notice.
Then a curiosity arose.
'Dragon God Sepiro. I wonder if that one still possesses this heart.'
If yes, problem. If no, problem.
Identical hearts would mean the weaker annihilated upon clash.
If Sepiro lacked it...
It would return to its original owner upon encounter.
Either way, Park Chan-woo wouldn't survive.
Irrelevant.
Merely curiosity.
The God of Offerings, who summoned him, surely knew it wouldn't end pleasantly.
Yet did so anyway.
The Heavenly Demon forcibly drew forth the heart's energy.
Beyond the current maximum this body could wield.
Igniting all potential, unleashing it fully.
One strike would suffice.
What happened to Park Chan-woo afterward was none of his concern.
Kuaaaaaaaa!
The Immortal Realm quaked.
The Divine Immortals' flashes couldn't even graze the Heavenly Demon now.
In this fleeting moment, he was no different from a god.
Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon
The Heavenly Demon's strongest and final secret art has been unleashed.