Chapter 366
Chapter 366
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 366
Chapter Title: Racial War (5)
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163.
The opponent he'd dared call a "lesser race" and urged to surrender was, in fact, a transcendent powerhouse nearly 30 levels above him.
The Gremlins' cries, hailing him as their tribe's strongest warrior and their last hope just moments ago, along with his own bravado, had instantly turned into a laughingstock.
Even the red lights from the unstable mechanical devices writhing on his body seemed to tremble in terror.
The madness in his eyes was now overshadowed by utter disbelief, despair, and the shadow of death.
"No... way."
"Aren't humans participating in the Racial War for the first time?"
"Their world only recently made contact with the expanding Abyss...!"
"Could they be innate superiors?"
Grulrku's mind went completely blank.
A realm his kind had never reached in hundreds, even thousands of years.
Even the mightiest warrior in Gremlin history, passed down through legends from ancient times, hadn't surpassed level 160.
And now, a representative from a newborn race on their very first outing?
No matter the blessings of "first participation."
...It transcended despair into the realm of the incomprehensible.
The overheated mechanical devices enveloping Krulrk's body dimmed their red glow as if cowed by fear.
His last hope, his pride as the strongest warrior—everything shattered to pieces.
"Surrender."
Adora said impassively.
A gap so vast it stripped away even the will to fight.
Charging in would be utterly pointless.
A torrent of emotions crossed Grulrku's twisted face.
Terror, despair, rage, and the faintest flicker of remaining pride.
In this moment when everything he believed in was denied, he might have regretted not going all out in a suicide attack like the first warrior, Shatoml.
But it was too late.
The black, chilling mana pouring from Adora seemed poised to devour even the flames of hell, allowing no rebellion.
"It would be better to survive and prepare for the next war."
Her final advice—and mercy.
Just as Grulrka had once urged her to surrender.
There was no need to stake their lives needlessly.
"Kh... kuhuhu. Kuhahaha!"
Suddenly, Grulrku burst into mad laughter.
It was the laugh of a deranged soul, a cry of one who had abandoned all.
The mechanical devices plastered across his body flared like final embers, spewing smoke.
"Surrender? To we Gremlins... such a word does not exist! If we can't win... we die together! Glory to the Gremlins!"
That was Grulrku's final cry.
Gathering every last drop of his life force and mechanical power, he literally turned himself into a blazing projectile and charged at Adora in a final assault.
Gwoooooooong!
His body emitted unstable energy far beyond limits, rumbling with a sound like it would explode at any moment.
Adora simply watched Grulrku's last desperate struggle.
Her red eyes held no hint of agitation or excitement.
A gaze as if beholding an inevitable sequence.
"...Pointless."
Adora murmured softly and lightly swung the Staff of the Flesh Throne.
In that instant, the massive black flames of death rising around her surged forward like a giant maw, engulfing Grulrku.
Kwaaaaaang-!
Instead of clashing with his red flames, the black fire futilely devoured everything of Grulrku's.
His final charge, the rampaging mechanical energy, even his scream—all sucked into silent blackness, vanishing without a trace.
Like a moth plunging into a midsummer flame, Grulrku was gone.
The inferno of hellfire still raged fiercely, but an eerie silence enveloped Adora at its center.
As the black death flames gently dissipated around her, she lowered her staff as if nothing had happened.
Not even a scorch mark from the flames marred her skin.
An overwhelming, utterly anticlimactic second victory.
"Adora, well done."
Lee Hyuk-soo's voice carried genuine admiration and relief.
Even he hadn't anticipated such dominance under the worst condition of "Flame Resistance 0."
Her power remained hard to gauge.
Yoo Jin-seo quietly checked Adora's condition, but found no signs of fatigue or injury.
As if she'd just returned from a casual stroll.
Adora, expressionless as ever, simply caressed the Staff of the Flesh Throne.
"...A monstrous woman."
Reaper Johnson muttered in a low voice.
Awe mingled with a hint of envy in his eyes.
While Han Shin had barely won a brutal fight, Adora had toyed with her opponent without exaggeration.
"No... no way..."
"Grulrku gone so pointlessly...!"
In stark contrast, a deep silence beyond despair settled over the Gremlin tribe's camp.
With their strongest warrior vanishing so futilely, only hopelessness remained.
The eight surviving Gremlins couldn't even meet each other's eyes, heads bowed like condemned prisoners awaiting execution.
Even the mechanical devices on their bodies had fallen completely silent, emitting no faint lights.
"...It's over."
One Gremlin murmured blankly at the void, eyes empty.
His voice held no emotion.
Only the hollowness of total surrender.
"We have... no future now. The Gremlin race ends here."
"No! We still have... eight left! There has to be some way!"
Another cried desperately, but all trembled powerlessly.
No one echoed his plea.
They all knew.
If even Grulrku fell so helplessly, they had no chance.
"What... what did we do so wrong? We just wanted to survive. Why must only we endure such trials...?"
A young Gremlin finally broke, sobbing.
His wails weighed down the others' silence even further.
"How much stronger can we get? Amid these curses. Amid endless plundering. What more do you want to take, Abyss?!"
Hundreds of years of defeat.
Generations of stacked curses and penalties.
They were born into despair as their fate.
This Racial War had been their last thread of hope, now cruelly severed.
"Rise."
That was when Lee Hyuk-soo spoke.
"Fight to the end."
His words rippled through the Gremlin camp's cold silence.
The eight bowed Gremlins slowly, very slowly, lifted their heads.
"...What?"
The young one who'd sobbed first reacted.
His voice still steeped in despair, questioning as if he couldn't comprehend.
"Are you... telling us to fight now?"
Another muttered in a trembling voice.
His eyes held wariness toward Lee Hyuk-soo, suspicion it might just be mockery.
Two crushing defeats.
No chance left, especially after their champion's futile end.
Yet the enemy leader—the human who'd treated them like bugs—was telling them to rise and fight.
Even humanity's team showed confusion.
"Lee Hyuk-soo, what are you doing?"
Adriana eyed him puzzled.
Reaper Johnson let out a disbelieving chuckle, while Ling Ling sharply probed his intent.
Only Han Shin watched impassively.
"Human...! How dare you insult us!"
One Gremlin shouted in fury.
Madness flickered in his eyes again.
He took it as an affront to the loser's pride.
"Whether we fight or not is none of your business! Even in death, we reject your filthy pity!"
But Lee Hyuk-soo ignored the rage.
"Insult? Pity? No."
His voice remained low and calm, yet its weight pressed directly on their souls.
"You stand here as warriors. Then show a warrior's pride until the last moment. Is your tribe's final ember to flicker out so meaninglessly?"
His gaze swept over the eight Gremlins one by one.
"Rise. And throw everything you have at us. That is the final courtesy to your tribe—and your duty as warriors."
No coercion or scorn in his words.
Only a solemn demand toward the opponent—or perhaps a dying race's final will.
The Gremlins were bewildered.
What was this human's true intent?
Did he truly wish to see their last resistance?
Or was it just another cruel game?
"Without regret. Without shame. Clash with all your might. This war isn't just for you. Remember your kin are watching."
His final words struck deep into the despairing Gremlins' hearts.
No mockery, no pity.
It was one warrior's respect to another, one race's salute to a fading one—the cruelest form of encouragement.
Fight and die honorably?
Or dream of a miracle until the end?
The first to respond was the one who'd raged at Lee Hyuk-soo.
He still ground his teeth, but the raw madness in his eyes had shifted to another light.
"...Human."
His voice sank low.
"You'll regret those words."
And the eldest-looking Gremlin staggered forward once more.
His gaunt frame seemed ready to collapse, but his eyes blazed like unquenchable fire.
"Yes... the human is right. We are Gremlins. Even in defeat and oblivion, we must fight as Gremlins until the end."
His gaze turned to his kin.
"Lift your heads, my brothers! Our children, and whatever remnants of our tribe watch from somewhere in the Abyss—they're watching! Shall we show them how pitiful and weak the Gremlins' end was?!"
At his cry, the others began raising their heads one by one.
Deep despair lingered in their eyes, but now a desperate resolve burned alongside it.
Tears had dried; only venom remained.
"Kuhuhu... yes, good. If we're to die, let's leave our bite marks on those arrogant humans!"
"Pour out everything we have left! Etch terror into their memories, with our names!"
Their voices were no longer pleas.
It was the desperate death throes of the forsaken—the dirge of a dying race.
Humanity's team watched silently.
Lee Hyuk-soo's intent was unclear, but his words had undeniably reignited the Gremlins' dying embers.
Adora remained expressionless, but faint interest glinted in her red eyes.
Would Park Chan-woo have enjoyed this, or scorned it?
'...Now I see why he chose you.'
Lee Hyuk-soo, clad in Baal's sacred gear.
He embodied Park Chan-woo's will.
Even why Park Chan-woo chose him.
Lee Hyuk-soo was the hero Park Chan-woo dreamed of becoming.
The hope and great hero humanity needed, one he couldn't be but longed to be.
He'd passed that dream to Lee Hyuk-soo.
The elder Gremlin stepped forward.
"The third... will be me. I'll show those humans my final flame."
His appearance was still wretched, but the aura he exuded burned fiercer than any Gremlin before.
"...I'll go."
Finally, Lee Hyuk-soo stepped forward.