Chapter 369
Chapter 369
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 369
Chapter Title: Racial War (8)
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"Humans, huh... To think they completely wiped out an entire race on their very first match."
The sly-eyed warrior from the Yorang tribe licked his lips as he muttered to himself.
His gaze lingered briefly on Lee Hyuk-soo and Adora before sliding toward the other seemingly weaker races.
To him, humanity was nothing more than an intriguing addition to his list of prey—nothing more, nothing less.
In stark contrast, some of the races who prided themselves on their "noble bloodlines" and looked down on the lesser races couldn't hide their displeasure.
"Hmph. Beating mere gremlins doesn't mean much. Wiping them out with such barbaric methods... utterly savage."
Contempt for humanity laced their voices.
However, the representatives of most lower-ranked races stared at the human team with eyes filled with terror.
Race Eliminator.
It wasn't just a fancy title.
It was a brutal stamp that reminded them of the horrifying reality that their own fates could end the same way.
Instinctively, they kept their distance from the human representatives, fidgeting anxiously at the thought of being targeted next.
The vast arena of the fierce battlefield seemed frozen in the wake of the gremlins' annihilation, every movement halted—but beneath that silence, the tense undercurrents of a cutthroat survival struggle writhed even more fiercely.
Each race sized up the others, calculated their next moves, and scrambled to devise strategies for survival.
"...We can't end up like the gremlins."
"We're still fine for now. Our race still has something to offer."
"As long as we don't get totally wiped out... If we can just push through to the next match somehow...!"
The gremlins' extinction was a stark warning etched vividly into their minds.
They had to avoid the "extinction tier" at all costs.
For that, they needed even a single victory—or at the very least, one "victory point."
"Our only choice is to pledge loyalty to 'them' and seek their protection."
"Do you even know what that costs?!"
"Then what do you suggest? Just sit here waiting to vanish like the gremlins?!"
Similar cries of despair and hushed discussions echoed everywhere.
Voluntarily submitting to a stronger race, or offering "something" in exchange for promised protection.
That was one of the few ways for the weaker races to survive this hellish racial war.
Of course, the price would be unimaginably horrific.
But more and more were coming to see it as better than total extinction.
The sly-eyed Yorang warrior continued scanning his surroundings, still licking his lips.
His eyes gleamed with calculations: which race would be the next prey, or which alliance might yield greater gains.
Meanwhile, chaos erupted among the "upper seeds" as well.
"Even the demons must participate in the 'racial war.'"
"How long do you plan to dodge it?"
"We saw it clearly. Your so-called 'Great Nine Lords' attacks don't work on the outer gods."
"If you can't handle the outer gods anymore, we can't recognize your demons' dominion over the Abyss."
A sharp, arrogant voice rang out from a floating island in one corner of the fierce battlefield arena, looking like their own private Olympus.
The speaker was a warrior from the Celestial Clan, his entire body radiating a dazzling glow as if made of pure crystal.
Around him, ancient giants, some dragonkin, and a few incomprehensible higher beings emanated auras of agreement.
These were the twelve mighty races forming the upper seeds of this racial war.
And the targets of their pressure were the "demon gods," exuding an aura of pitch-black darkness and sulfurous flames.
"The outer god issue will be handled by our 'Great Nine Lords.' This is none of your concern."
"What nonsense. Didn't you prove useless in the two consecutive 'great rifts'?"
This time, a massive golden lion beastkin representative from the Golden Lion Clan let out a mocking laugh.
"Have you forgotten how many privileges you've enjoyed in the Abyss under the pretext of maintaining its balance? But your incompetence has gone too far lately. You can't even handle a single outer god, throwing the entire Abyss into chaos."
The other upper seed representatives nodded in agreement.
"He's right. If the demons can't fulfill their role, you'll have to cede some of your Abyss dominion to us."
"Or prove your strength by joining this racial war directly. How long do you plan to lurk in the shadows, feeding off other races' blood?"
The twelve races' onslaught was relentless.
They had long harbored resentment toward the demons' privileges and influence in the Abyss.
They'd endured it under the excuse of blocking great rifts, but the demons' failure to stop two in a row had brought their incompetence to the surface.
The demon gods couldn't easily retort.
It was a plain fact that the Great Nine Lords' attacks didn't work on outer gods, shaking the demons' prestige.
Starting an all-out war with the other upper races here would yield unpredictable results.
No matter how numerous and powerful the demons were, the twelve races united could be unstoppable.
To quell their discontent, the demons had to act.
【Participate in the racial war】
A voice echoed from behind the demon gods.
It was hard to pinpoint who, but one thing was clear.
"...The Great Nine Lords have spoken."
"We are to join the 'racial war' as well."
With those words, the nine demon gods ended their standoff with the upper seed races.
The pitch-black darkness and sulfurous flames enveloping them faded away, and they melted into their shadows as if they'd never been there.
As if whispering, "Your little game ends here. Now witness true war."
Their abrupt departure left the Celestial Clan rep, Golden Lion warrior, and other twelve-race warriors—who had just been pressuring them fiercely—momentarily stunned.
They'd wanted the demons to join or lose face.
But participation by direct "order" wasn't what they'd expected.
It meant the demons and Great Nine Lords knew this wouldn't resolve easily.
A stir rippled through the other upper seed representatives.
The demons' entry was a massive variable that could upend the entire racial war.
No one could predict how they'd participate or what destructive power they'd unleash.
They might pose a more direct, immediate threat than even the outer gods.
And soon enough.
As the system announcement ended, the fierce battlefield arena fell into a deathly silence, as if frozen solid.
Gremory of Lament, Red Knight Zepar, Frenzied Beled!
Just their names alone struck terror into the hearts of the Abyss's lower races—three demon gods.
And following them, the seven demon kings.
Each epithet symbolized despair and ruin.
Moments ago, these demons had their faces rubbed in the dirt by the upper seeds, but the representatives they fielded for full participation were overwhelmingly imposing.
The demons shared a single thought.
It was time to show them.
The demons' true power—an overwhelming gap no one would dare mention again.
It was the prelude to a one-sided massacre.
Even the Celestial Clan rep, Golden Lion king, and twelve-race warriors who'd pressured the demons into joining stood rigid.
"...Did they foresee this?"
"Moving as if they were waiting from the start."
Perhaps the demons had anticipated the twelve races' reactions.
That's why they'd relinquished administrative authority and joined directly.
With their strongest forces, no less.
Gremory of Lament, Red Knight Zepar, Frenzied Beled.
Each name embodied disasters that had brought despair and destruction to countless races throughout Abyss history.
They weren't mere powerhouses.
Shadows of the 'Great Nine Lords,' maintainers—and sometimes destroyers—of the Abyss's order itself.
They effectively oversaw the entire Abyss from the shadows, like its true masters.
Normally, they never appeared in "trivial" games like the racial war.
To demon gods, it was like weeding their garden or watching dogfights to alleviate boredom.
For them to suspend administrative rights and step in as warriors meant this was no ordinary crisis.
"...Hah. Even Gremory of Lament?"
For the first time, shock beyond bewilderment flashed across the Celestial Clan rep's crystalline face.
He'd pressured the demons to undermine their authority and seize Abyss influence, but this was far from his expectations.
Especially Gremory of Lament.
Among the demon gods, the only one called "queen." Her other epithet was...
The Gate Locker.
That was Gremory, Queen of Lament's true name.
Unlike other demon gods, she rarely stepped to the forefront to flaunt power or mediate disputes.
But once she moved, the result was always the annihilation of one or more worlds.
The phrase "locking the gate" fit perfectly.
Her "lament" wasn't mere emotion.
It was a curse and authority that shook existences to their roots, eroded the laws of worlds, and reduced them to nothingness.
The other demon gods were ruthless and merciless too, but Gremory's destruction was on another scale in scope and method.
She was said to devour worlds without emotion, like a child smashing sandcastles, then seek new seeds of lament in the resulting void.
In pure combat prowess, she always ranked in the top five among demon gods.
To the twelve races, she was one of the trickiest demons.
Even other demon kings and gods shunned her, warning that getting close to Gremory of Lament led to gruesome ends.
Kuuuung!
A "gate" appeared in midair and opened.
And from within, she emerged.
Her form was beauty beyond this world, hard to describe in words.
A demon god wearing a crooked golden crown, her body draped in white lace.
Gremory of Lament.