Chapter 449
Chapter 449
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 449
Chapter Title: Racial War (88)
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"What is this...?"
"Did the Demon God betray us?"
"A demon betraying another demon?"
"No, betrayal is everyday life for demons, but this is the racial war..."
All the races watching the broadcast, especially the demons, were stunned beyond belief.
This was a perfect variable that no one had accounted for.
Even the great Nine Lords had never anticipated betrayal from Gremory, one of their most loyal proxies.
Her defection caused the balance of power to crumble dramatically.
The central pillar of the hostile alliance had vanished.
It gave them all reason to suspect and blame each other.
"Gremory! You've truly lost your mind!"
Belred roared.
The density of attacks pouring fiercely toward Zero visibly thinned.
Zero didn't miss that fleeting opening.
His blue flames burned even more fiercely than before, beginning to press the remaining Demon Gods and the outer god.
Zero was seizing the momentum.
At that moment.
The sky wailed.
From the deepest thrones of the Abyss, the nine seats of authority, an irresistible, colossal power poured down upon the final battlefield.
It was fury.
The Nine Lords' unbearable rage at their plans unraveling and their authority being challenged.
"Graaaah!"
"This power...! The Lords themselves!"
Belred and Jepar, who had been fighting the outer god and running out of strength, along with all the other demons, began to blaze with dark crimson divinity.
Their wounds healed in an instant, and their depleted mana amplified to an incomparable degree.
It was no different from the great Nine Lords descending directly onto the battlefield.
"Kahahaha! Can you feel it? This is our true power!"
Belred laughed maniacally.
But it was a blatant rules violation.
All watching races realized it.
The demons had chosen to stop humanity and Zero over victory in the racial war.
A declaration that they would gladly shatter the Abyss's ancient rules to protect their pride.
"Are you that afraid?"
Zero smirked.
It was still the worst situation.
Gremory's joining was a variable even he hadn't foreseen.
He hadn't expected the great Nine Demons to throw the game and come out like this.
Demons loved games and craved victory, after all.
That alone proved how shocking Gremory's betrayal was to them.
Though her joining made things harder.
On the flip side, it also sparked hope.
'Park Chan-woo is the hope of all races.'
He had to protect that hope.
Keep it from extinguishing, ensure it could advance.
Pave the way for it.
Zero nodded.
Declaring he too would gladly burn his heart.
Abyssal Hellscape.
Across the battlefield, humanity's warriors fought their individual battles.
Each one battled without regard for death.
The solitary, sublime path Park Chan-woo had walked alone in their dreams.
They couldn't waste the power gained from his sacrifice.
At the very least, not in this final stand.
Shouldn't they share his burden and help him?
That single wish was their sole driving force.
Thanks to the perception magic Zero had cast, his scattered comrades began gathering one by one.
And a miracle occurred.
The more they gathered, the stronger they became.
Stronger exponentially: three together outstripped two, two outstripped one.
Humanity's true strength lay not in individual might, but in solidarity and bonds.
Their wills resonated, and the 'Wish' they held began to shine more brilliantly.
A golden aura of bonds enveloped them, blocking the demons' onslaughts and purifying the enemies' curses.
They seemed to pierce through the battlefield effortlessly.
Finding the Altar of Annihilation like this and ending this hellish war was the best move.
But at the battlefield's fiercest spot.
Where the sky tore and the earth quaked, that single aura emanating from the epicenter.
Zero.
Lee Hyuk-soo couldn't ignore it.
"...We must join him."
Han Shin objected to Lee Hyuk-soo's words.
"Are you sane? All the enemies will be concentrated there. Going now is suicide."
His words were logically sound.
"Rushing to the Altar of Annihilation like this is the way to save Zero and win the war."
But Lee Hyuk-soo shook his head.
"Zero is the Prophet's other half. We don't abandon comrades."
Adora, Han Min-oh, and all the other comrades nodded at his words.
Han Shin let out a hollow laugh at the sight, as if it was absurd.
'Have these guys all lost their brains collectively?'
The world reflected in his Death Spirit Eye showed a crystal-clear answer.
The fastest, most efficient path to victory.
The faint aura of the 'Altar of Annihilation' in the distance.
Right now, nothing blocked them.
The hostile alliance hadn't regrouped yet, reeling from Park Chan-woo's mythic aftermath.
Precisely, they were clustered in one place.
Find the altar like this, and this grueling war ends in victory.
Yet they ignored the obvious answer, choosing the most dangerous, foolish path.
To save a comrade, willingly throwing themselves into the jaws of death.
'Disgusting.'
Han Shin swallowed a curse inwardly.
These fools sprinting to illogic's peak. Were they just stupid, or had their brains been hijacked by pointless emotions?
He didn't want to stay with them.
But his gaze drifted to Han Min-oh unbidden.
'Trash.'
He'd always called him that, always thought it.
But in the previous battle, against the celestial race, that trash had guarded his back.
With faint but clear resolve.
He'd thought it would hinder his perfect movements, but surprisingly, they synced well.
'Damn it.'
Han Shin bit his lip.
Had diving into lucid dream awakened some weird emotion?
He was always at the peak, had to be the best.
He wouldn't let trivial, unnecessary feelings ruin his perfect calculations.
But.
"...Hoo."
With a deep sigh, Han Shin ultimately stepped toward the illogical group.
He rationalized it to himself.
This wasn't emotion.
It was just the most efficient judgment to prevent those idiots from scattering and getting picked off.
But his steps felt heavier and stranger than ever.
The warriors reached the heart of hell.
It was pure chaos.
Zero, burning his existence as blue flames.
The massive dragon outer god roaring to devour him, and the Demon Gods rampaging madly with the great Nine Lords' authority.
A battlefield of gods, where space tore and laws screamed.
"...!"
The moment they saw it, Lee Hyuk-soo and his comrades leaped into the fray without hesitation.
Their arrival instantly flipped the precarious balance.
Lee Hyuk-soo's sword sliced the outer god's flesh, Adora's death eroded the Demon Gods' powers.
Han Min-oh's counter repelled the demons' assaults, Yoo Jin-seo and Aurum threw the enemies' minds into disarray.
Then.
In the midst of the fierce battle, Zero's cold voice echoed toward them.
"Fools. Why didn't you seek the Altar of Annihilation and come here instead?"
His tone carried a rebuke like anger.
He thought much like Han Shin.
While all enemies swarmed him, the others find the altar and reach the end.
That was the surest way to win.
He hadn't even factored in joining him to fight.
It was an uncertain outcome, an illogical choice.
To his reprimand, Lee Hyuk-soo replied firmly.
"Our great god would not have wanted even one straggler left behind."
"......"
"Victory built on a comrade's sacrifice is no true victory. That is the path the Prophet showed us."
At those words, a hollow smile tugged at Zero's lips.
"There is no future where everyone smiles. That's about as stupid as it gets."
But he smiled bitterly.
Incomprehensible, illogical humans.
'They've all... caught it, like a contagion. From that idiot.'
The virus called hope left by Park Chan-woo.
Maybe he had caught it too.
The battle was far more intense than imagined.
The enemies' momentum defied imagination.
They no longer fought for victory.
Rankings in the racial war or glory at the terminus were no longer in their sights.
Only humanity's extermination.
For that sole goal, they burned everything they had.
"Graaaah!"
The Demon Gods empowered by the great Nine Lords' authority, and the massive dragon outer god born of Sepiro's fury.
The destructive aftermath they unleashed seemed to shred even the unstable space-time of the Abyssal Hellscape.
"Damn it, there's no end to them!"
The giant clan's Hecarim barely blocked a demon king's fist that looked twice his size and roared.
The other alliances fared no better.
One by one, they began to fall.
The proud warriors of the five races who had stepped up to aid humanity.
Before the overwhelming might of the empowered Demon Gods and outer god, their resolve crumbled like sandcastles.
'How the hell... are we supposed to beat monsters that strong?'
Regret surged.
Why had their leader ordered them to ally with such monstrosities?
This wasn't help; it was pointless death.
In the midst of that chaos.
Fighting the fiercest battle was Han Shin.
"Kahahaha! Is that all you've got, human?!"
The frenzied Demon God Belred charged at him, laughing insanely.
Han Shin remained calm.
His Death Spirit Eyes perfectly read every movement and trajectory of Belred.
But it wasn't enough.
'The level gap is too wide.'
Were Demon Gods always this strong?
And without their domain's power, no less.
Even empowered by the Nine Lords, losing their innate 'domain power' meant they were effectively weakened.
Yet it was still overwhelming.
Insurmountable.
Wounds began accumulating on Han Shin's body, one by one.
Then.
The nearby dragon outer god opened its massive maw.
Han Shin instinctively knew he couldn't dodge.
Belred's cunning checks had sealed every escape.
'...This is it, then.'
Right then.
"Hyungnim!"
Han Min-oh blocked his path.
And unleashed a counter with everything he had.
But the opponent was far too strong.
Kwaaaaaaaa!
Han Min-oh's body couldn't withstand the chaotic breath and exploded.
Right before Han Shin's eyes.
To protect him.
Blood and flesh scattered across the battlefield amid screams.