Chapter 525
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 525
Chapter Title: Night of Madness
At first, no one understood what it meant.
Lilith?
Who was that?
But the minuscule few who knew the weight of that name swallowed hard.
The deepest heart of the demons' territory. The empty space where the thrones of the six overlords stood.
The lords, wrapped in despair and defeat, lifted their heads in unison as if by prior agreement.
In the center of their consciousness space, a jet-black egg that hadn't been there before was pulsating.
Inside it, a primordial being that had been slumbering was creating faint cracks, as if stretching upon waking.
[...Finally.]
The Lord of Black Glory whispered in a trembling voice.
His voice brimmed with irrepressible ecstasy.
The gamble had succeeded.
And the aftermath of that success was enough to overturn the entire battlefield.
The first to react were those who had been turning their backs on the demons.
The weakest link in the demon alliance. The cunning race that had been watching for a chance to side with Park Chan-woo the moment defeat was certain.
"Li, Lilith...?"
"No way, that name from the creation myths...?"
They recalled the name engraved on their oldest history books, the ancient tablets describing their race's origins.
The primordial being who created Abyss's 'night' and became the mother of all evil.
Some called her the other half of the Creator, while others recorded her as the true 'first evil'.
That name had always been in the realm of myth, a distant legend no one dared discuss as real.
And now, that legend had opened its eyes?
Kurrrrrrr!
From the demon hordes soaked in defeat, a ferocious cheer erupted, incomparable to before, filled with rapture.
"Our mother has returned!"
"The progenitor of all evil, the true Queen of Night, has descended!"
The fear vanished from their eyes.
Fanatical faith filled the void.
No matter how powerful Park Chan-woo was, he was ultimately just a new powerhouse of the era.
But Lilith was different.
She was a primordial being who had existed since the beginning of this Abyss.
Her very existence was history itself, the law itself.
Could a new myth dare challenge an ancient and great one?
"We can turn it all around!"
"The era of demons has not ended!"
The tide was shifting.
Even among the neutral races observing the war and some who had reluctantly joined the New World Alliance, subtle unrest began to stir.
Park Chan-woo was great.
But was he great enough to stand against the first demon?
The scales were tipping back to balance once more.
No, they were beginning to lean slightly toward the demons.
The weight of the three syllables 'Lilith' was that absolute.
In Park Chan-woo's jade throne. Zero spoke with his first emotionless, hardened expression.
"...This isn't good."
Before his eyes, a massive data hologram was analyzing the battlefield in real time.
The victory graph, which had shown a 9:1 overwhelming advantage for the New World Alliance just moments ago, plummeted uncontrollably the instant Lilith's name appeared.
6:4, 5:5, and finally 4:6.
In mere minutes, the tide had completely reversed.
"Their morale is surging. And our allies are wavering."
Before the unknown variable of Lilith, cracks were forming in the tower of trust Park Chan-woo had built.
...The moment he had been certain of victory.
The instant he believed the era of demons had ended and a new one had dawned.
A single name was dragging all that hope back into pitch-black despair.
The problem was how Lilith had revived.
Wasn't she a being who had vanished with the primordials?
A name faded into the annals of history, into myth.
Revival meant she had 'died' once before. And now she was alive again?
It must be the demons' achievement.
Their final hidden card, buried in their deepest depths.
Perhaps they had been aiming for this moment from the start.
Even the reckless sniper attempt on Abyss by the Lord of Black Glory might have been bait to buy time for this grand plan.
The absolute progenitor reigning above demon kings, demon gods, and great lords.
Park Chan-woo rose from his jade throne.
In his hand was now the 'Transcendent Star Guide' staff.
"I have to go now."
Park Chan-woo said firmly.
He knew where the enemy's heart lay.
If not now, their resistance would grow fiercer.
That would lead to even greater losses.
He had to stop it. Now was the optimal moment.
But Zero blocked his path.
"No."
"Step aside, Zero."
"You stepping out personally right now is the worst move."
Zero's eyes met Park Chan-woo's head-on for the first time.
Like two suns denying each other's existence, a taut tension crushed the Dragon God Temple.
"We need to assess the enemy first. Whether Lilith has truly revived, the depth of her power—we know nothing. Do you not realize that the moment you, our absolute center, vanish in this uncertain situation, the alliance is finished?"
It was a logically perfect rebuttal.
The name Lilith was fear incarnate.
The only one who could face that fear was Park Chan-woo.
If even he left his post?
The alliance would crumble like an army without its commander, and the wavering allied races would turn away without hesitation.
That was precisely the picture the demons desired most.
Park Chan-woo bit his lip.
Zero was right.
But.
Park Chan-woo's gaze turned to the battlefield.
Just the ripple from one name, Lilith, had made the war unpredictable once more.
The longer time passed, the more the demons' momentum would pierce the heavens, and the alliance forces would gradually collapse.
Someone had to stand against that massive tide.
With overwhelming power, shatter the illusion of that false myth, and show the terrified allies the possibility of victory once more.
"Who else but me can do it?"
His question was not arrogance.
It was cold recognition of reality.
In this alliance, he alone had the stature to face the primordial being called Lilith.
Not even Lee Hyuk-soo, Adora, or the clan leaders had reached that realm yet.
But Zero shook his head.
"Don't try to shoulder the entire war alone."
Zero admonished him.
"You've always been like this. Bearing every burden yourself, charging first into the most dangerous paths. But things are different now. You're no longer alone."
Zero's gaze turned outside the Dragon God Temple, to the countless alliance warriors burning with battle spirit, awaiting their god's command.
"There are others besides you who desperately want victory in this war. They too stand here staking their worlds and convictions. Don't underestimate their will. Give them a chance to prove themselves."
Those words pierced Park Chan-woo's deepest core.
Trust.
He had always said he trusted his comrades.
But looking back, he had never truly entrusted everything to them even once.
He always foresaw one step ahead, calculated every variable, and tried to lead them down the safest path.
The most dangerous role was always reserved for himself.
It was the responsibility of a leader, but also perhaps an ingrained distrust carved unknowingly from countless failures and betrayals.
Perhaps a stubborn arrogance that only he could resolve everything.
"...I understand, Zero."
Park Chan-woo sighed and took a step back.
At that moment.
On the battlefield, an unexpected movement began.
"Kwaaaaaah!"
A massive roar tore through the demons' cheers and shook the entire battlefield.
The New World Alliance's vanguard, the giants' shield wall, parted as a single mountain range walked forth.
The giants' clan leader, Hecate.
He did not wait for Park Chan-woo's command.
He judged and moved on his own.
In his hand was a colossal stone pillar carved from the earth itself.
"Foolish demons!"
Hecate's voice boomed like thunder.
"Do you dream of victory clinging to some worn-out old tale? If you've forgotten, this body shall teach you once more! Who is the master of the new era, and whose god you must kneel before!"
He was not alone.
Behind Hecate, thousands of giant elite warriors lined up like a fortress wall.
Kurrrrrrr!
The giant horde led by Hecate charged mercilessly toward the demon lines, like a massive fortress wall on the move.
Crushing and pulverizing everything in their path.
A crack formed in the demon front lines, which had been pushing relentlessly.
Before the giants' overwhelming breakthrough power, the demons' momentum, fueled by numbers and morale, faltered.
But.
In the deepest part of the demon formation.
From the jet-black egg surrounded by the six overlords, a voice finally emerged.
—You are a nuisance.
A girl's voice.
Young, yet languid, as if carrying all the world's weariness and ennui.
With that single word.
Hecate's massive body, shaking the earth in its charge, halted abruptly in midair.
As if seized by an invisible giant hand.
"Kuh... ugh...!"
Hecate's face twisted in agony.
His body wouldn't move.
Regardless of his will, every muscle in his body was hardening like stone.
Soon, the jet-black egg cracked its shell, and a figure emerged from within.
A girl in a black dress darker than darkness itself.
Pallid skin without a trace of blood, and void-like crimson eyes.
Her appearance seemed so frail and precarious, utterly mismatched with the grandiose name 'primordial'.
But the moment she appeared on the battlefield, all sounds of war fell silent once more.
She was not Lilith.
Or rather, she was Lilith, but not the Lilith they knew.
Toward Hecate looking up at her, the girl extended her hand as if annoyed.
—How noisy.
Hecate's massive body crumpled like paper in midair, then plummeted like a meteor into the center of the battlefield.
The earth cratered massively like a volcano, burying the giant's body within.
A horrific sound of bones shattering and muscles tearing echoed, but he barely managed to prevent total bodily collapse.
"...You."
Hecate rose from the dust, gazing up at the airborne girl in disbelief.
The primordial chaos, mother of all evil.
But the being before him now was different.
The origin of her aura was the same, but her form and will were all too familiar.
"...Gremory?"
One of the 72 demon gods, the Queen of Sorrow, Gremory.
The demon god who had betrayed her kin to side with Park Chan-woo in the interspecies war, supposed to be imprisoned in the eternal prison.
She had appeared on the battlefield bearing Lilith's name.
The New World Alliance and demon alliance—every being on the battlefield was plunged into confusion.
What in the world was this situation?
Was that being Lilith or Gremory?
Or had Lilith's soul descended by borrowing Gremory's body?
"......"
Gremory—no, Lilith—floating in the air seemed utterly indifferent to their confusion.
She merely gazed down vacantly at the carnage she had wrought.
With an attitude as natural and indifferent as stepping on an ant beneath her feet.
Only then did everyone realize.
That being was no longer Gremory.
Even if the shell was Gremory's, the soul within had already transformed into something entirely different.
—I shall show you the true night.
She extended her hand toward the sky.
Every being on the battlefield held their breath.
In the terror of not knowing what would happen, they could only look up at the heavens.
At first, nothing occurred.
But soon, someone spotted it first and screamed.
"Th-that is...!"
The demons' territory, the blood-red sky.
In its center, something new had appeared.
A moon.
But not an ordinary moon.
It was the 'Moon of Death', emanating the pale light of a skull.
Screaming souls' faces were etched like patterns on its surface, and merely basking in its eerie glow seemed to freeze the spirit.
...This was merely the beginning.
A second moon rose.
Drenched entirely in crimson bloodlight, the 'Blood Moon'.
The third was the green 'Plague Moon', corrupting all it touched.
The fourth was the purple 'Madness Moon', devouring the minds of all living things.
Fear. Betrayal. Despair. Sorrow...
Thirteen negative concepts filled the demons' sky, each manifesting as a moon.
The sun lost its light, and the world plunged into the chilling, grotesque glow of the thirteen moons.
The entire sky had become a colossal curse, looming over them.
And it began.
The true night of madness.