Chapter 228
Chapter 228
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 228
Chapter Title: Immortal King vs Hero Party (3)
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Heinrich... no, Han Seonghyeon’s primary feelings toward Geos were pity and a sense of kinship.
He had been in a similar position himself.
Beyond that, though he hadn’t shown it, there was a touch of admiration too.
Unlike himself, who had needed two years to recover and the power of his 「Avatar」 ability to do so, hadn’t Geos shaken off his fall through sheer force of will alone, rising again in no time?
Of course, their situations differed in terms of raw power and the presence of a clear target for revenge, but before that resolute determination—which burned like it would consume even his soul—such differences felt trivial.
Kuudududu—
But those were merely personal sentiments.
Having grasped the limitations of the refraction window during the process of acquiring 「Space Slash」, Heinrich hadn’t expected more than support from Geos from the start.
[Kuk, what is this now?!]
Thus, even he hadn’t anticipated the spatial distortion now blooming on the Immortal King’s chest.
The shock was no less for the one who had taken the attack head-on.
‘Chance!’
But Heinrich, already deeply immersed in the battle, shoved all stray thoughts aside and swung his holy sword at the fleeting opening before his eyes.
With its blade honed by maximally amplified light, channeling all the martial principles he had honed over time into 「Space Slash」.
[Kuh... no chance!]
Kugugung—
Yet in that instant, the colossal abyss surging wildly from the Immortal King’s body succeeded in shaking the sword’s tip, even as it melted away under the light enveloping the blade.
Chwaak! Hwaruruk—!
[Kuk! You worm—!]
Thanks to that, though his shoulder to opposite hip was sliced open and engulfed in sacred flames erupting from the wound, he managed to avoid a direct heart strike.
“Keok—!”
And a short distance away.
Geos, vomiting blood in the pose of having thrust his spear, gazed at Heinrich being repelled by the Immortal King’s momentum and muttered regretfully.
“...Too shallow.”
This was, naturally, his first time using this power.
Since it had only been theorized until now, some margin of error was inevitable in actual use.
‘Still, I’m getting a feel for it. If I get one more chance...’
Fortunately, he still had the energy for it.
If he used it now, he felt he could land a more solid blow this time...
[How dare you! You filthy pest—!]
Regrettably, it didn’t look like there would be another opportunity.
[Die!]
The Immortal King, who had maintained a leisurely air throughout the fight, extended a hand toward him in fury.
Though he had taken successive hits and even sacred flames gnawing at his body, he prioritized eliminating Geos over dealing with them.
“Wait...!”
“Lord Geos!”
Puhwaak—!
Before his comrades could react.
Abyssal thorns erupted from the ground, piercing his defenseless body through and through.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ‘...That was close. To think he’d pull such a cheap trick!’
Fortunately, the opponent’s attack had been just a hair shallow, and with his transcendent perception granting overwhelming temporal superiority, he had sensed the crisis instantly and reinforced the subspace around his heart.
If that strike had been even a bit more threatening, he wouldn’t have been able to properly block Heinrich’s follow-ups and would have been forced to withdraw then and there.
‘Because of that pest! To think this body would...!’
Naturally, he knew all about Geos too.
Though he punched above his weight thanks to his secret techniques, strictly speaking, Geos barely scraped into the mid-upper reaches of the extreme realm.
An opponent clearly inferior to Heinrich, Hari, the Saintess, and even the other two.
In other words, from the Immortal King’s perspective, he had been struck by an extra he’d never even bothered with before.
‘You’re courting death! ...I was planning to kill you all anyway.’
Just as he said.
In truth, from the beginning, he had intended to wipe out everyone except Heinrich and Hari right here.
Killing the Church of the Main God’s Saintess, the Elven Kingdom’s High Elf, and the great mage friend of the next emperor—what karma would that yield?
The backlash, combined with heightened fear of the Immortal King, would soon convert into overwhelming points!
‘Cooperation? Alliance? Unnecessary! If this body earns more karma than all the rest combined, that’s that!’
Ever since erecting mental barriers and severing connections, his already unstable thoughts had veered ever more extremely toward self-centered extremes.
The core goal of gathering points for power remained unchanged, but everything else had twisted into pure egoism.
[Kukuku— yes, too easy and it’s no fun.]
The Immortal King blocked the barrage of spirit arrows and Isea’s spells while suppressing the sacred flames consuming his body with the abyss.
He had thought his power alone sufficient, but now he had no intention of stubbornly holding out.
‘I don’t need many anyway.’
Aside from a few executives needed to defend immortality, the rest had finished war preparations and begun marching south, leaving things hectic.
But he had a lovable pet he could summon anytime.
[Come forth, Heratos.]
With those words.
[Kyaaaaak—!]
A massive, ferocious bone dragon tore through space and appeared.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Thanks to Riesta’s belated intervention, Geos avoided instant death and was evacuated to the rear.
Of course, with his body riddled through and corrupted by the abyss, he could die at any moment.
And right now, they couldn’t even devote full power to treating him.
[Kyaaaa—!]
Destructive essence poured from the airborne bone dragon Heratos’s maw, crashing down below.
“Intensive Barrier!”
“Lord of the Main God!”
Kwaaaang—!
Isea’s spell—now successfully controlled after the Immortal King showed an opening—and Riesta’s barrier, which held even as she clung to Geos’s life, blocked the breath.
“Horia, Equistine, Meiru, Dimanta!”
Lydia’s arrows, blending the four great elements of fire, wind, water, and earth, sniped the hovering Heratos.
The bone dragon’s addition piled onto their already desperate struggle.
Naturally, the Immortal King’s assault on the rear hadn’t ceased amid it all.
[Kukuku— what are you doing, Hero Heinrich? If you want to save your comrades, defeating me is your best bet?]
“You bastard...!”
And Heinrich realized.
Hans... Immortal King Hannibal Strauss truly intended to kill everyone here.
“Why...!”
The words slipped out unwittingly, but he clenched his teeth, unable to continue.
He had sensed the Immortal King’s poor state for a while, but words meant nothing to one who had truly become the Immortal King.
‘Hari...’
Hari, locked in a massive brawl with numerous demons outside the building barrier.
Having annihilated most lesser demons outclassed in tier and even slain a great warrior equivalent, she had maintained superiority throughout—but shaking off the remnants to come aid them wouldn’t be easy.
So what options remained now?
‘None...’
Blood trickled from lips he bit hard.
Despair spread through him like toxin: helplessness at being unable to resolve it himself, forced to rely on others.
‘...What Saint, what Hero? Without scripted plays, I can do nothing!’
Geos’s form, impaled by abyssal thorns, flashed in his mind.
He had recruited Geos to the hero party out of greed for his secret arts, but mainly due to that fragile, on-the-brink appearance.
Hoping someone with pain akin to his own would live on, fueled by rage if nothing else.
In that process, he had arranged for Geos to personally kill the surviving black mages of Oath of Reverse Heaven—especially those involved in the continental sacrifice ritual—his ‘true enemies.’
The remaining ones were probably just Valteon’s faction, who had opened rifts here in the south, and their revolutionary backers.
‘...I wanted to let him pull himself together before facing the final goal, the Immortal King.’
Heinrich squeezed his eyes shut against surging despair.
[Given up already? Hero. Kuhuhu— that could be fun too. Come, watch your comrades die together pleasantly. My worthy rival, Heinrich. I’ll show you mercy.]
Not just Geos teetering on death’s edge, but everyone else’s lives hung in peril.
Riesta, the Saintess he had met stepping into the Rosselia Main Temple before even becoming a Holy Knight.
Isea, fellow Korean awakener, early hero party member, and Hesferon’s teacher.
Lydia, who hadn’t been with them long but volunteered eagerly for this peril and knew Harris.
Yet he was so powerless now.
‘Lord of the Main God...’
Kwak—
Overwhelmed by surging emotion, he gripped and twisted the sword hilt with both hands.
Then, a sudden question rising, he slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the holy sword in his grasp.
A divine weapon that had elevated him—short of transcendence—to humanity’s pinnacle.
Yes.
He still hadn’t reached transcendence.
Why?
He acknowledged his shortcomings as a warrior.
But wasn’t he also a priest? One at the pinnacle, dubbed a ‘Saint’ after receiving the Great Blessing.
So why hadn’t he surmounted that wall?
‘The foremost condition of a priest, foundation of divine power.’
Faith in the divine.
‘Is my faith worthy of transcendence?’
Fake faith injected via 「Mind Hub」 and 「Persona」, divine power granted by the Main God’s mercy.
Could Heinrich truly be called a Saint?
‘...Even the title of Saint was merely from receiving the Great Blessing.’
In essence, just a human convention.
Normally, one worthy of Great Blessing would have commensurate faith... but his case was special.
‘...Lord of the Main God.’
Heinrich gripped the holy sword firmly again.
And repeated the reckless challenge he had failed at countless times before.
[...Hoh? Planning to fight again? Fine by me. Kahat! Squirm all you want, Hero!]
Ignoring the Immortal King’s mockery and sneers, he leaped through space with a swing.
But it was effortlessly dismantled, and the narrowed distance yawned wide again in an instant.
‘Thinking this now is shameless, but...’
He charged without giving up, but accumulating damage from black magic and abyssal power left him increasingly bloodied.
‘Faith doesn’t come that easily, does it?’
Divine power from Riesta elevated his body further.
Maintaining barriers, healing, monitoring, and adding buffs—impressive for a ‘Saintess,’ save her lack of offense. A wry smile formed.
‘Yet I believe.’
No matter how Heinrich embodied stacked faith and convictions, lacking true piety would dilute its purity.
Yet under the Main God’s tacit approval, that sufficed for divine power.
Why was that possible?
‘That I can aid this world, Aouterica, cherished by the Main God.’
The answer was simple.
Because the Main God permitted it.
Then why grant him such favor?
‘I believe. That I can fulfill the Main God’s will.’
That too was straightforward.
As a special being from another world, able to contact the Main God even through loopholes, surely something was expected of him.
And it was likely something abyss-related.
‘I believe... in myself. In my potential. And in You, who believes in such a me.’
Not pure worship of the divine, but a somewhat twisted faith...
This was his best now.
‘You believe in me too, granting this power, right?’
His side exploded from an incoming abyss strike.
The pure white armor from becoming Saint, the near-impenetrable moving fortress ‘Guardian of Glory,’ was now tattered with holes everywhere.
‘So!’
The process repeated endlessly.
Approaching at all costs yielded no improvement, only worsening.
Excess abyss buildup now hindered divine power operation.
‘If I’m believing anyway, let’s go all in! We’ve built up goodwill—spot me some credit!’
I’ll strive to believe in You henceforth, so believe in me first.
Throwing such tantrums, ignoring exhausted limits, he pressed forward to the end, swinging his sword.
As if, with that faith alone, he would never halt.
[Kuhahaha— like a moth to flame, Hero... Hm?]
But what first answered that resolve.
Was the unexpected phenomenon he had experienced once before.
Kuudududu—
Space warping near the Immortal King’s chest.
Geos, battered to ruin, had risen at last, shaking off pleas, burning his final life in a secret art that destroyed space.
But.
[Kuh! You think I’ll fall for the same trick twice, Hannibal Strauss?!]
Yes, the Immortal King was such an unreasonable existence.
No matter a life-risking strike... unless the first ambush, utterly unforeseen, he wouldn’t fail to counter a repeat.
Drawing on transcendent perception and abyssal mastery of space, he applied force opposite the twist, forcibly mending the splitting space.
‘Far more refined than before. If hit undefended initially...’
He probably couldn’t have countered the follow-up holy sword, taking fatal damage and fleeing ignominiously.
But that was past.
Now, he had safely defended, and Heinrich couldn’t exploit the gap in his transcendent perception...
“I told you, Hans.”
Yet his calculations missed again.
Heinrich, toyed with until now, casually stepped into his ‘time’—
Puuk—
“I’d thrust this holy sword into that heart.”
[Guhk?! You, could it be...!]
Heinrich’s holy sword, shining more brilliantly than ever.
Pierced Immortal King Hannibal Strauss’s chest.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Smooth—
I sat up in bed.
An avatar is ultimately myself.
No matter occurring in a separate body, transcending existence’s limits wouldn’t leave the main body unaffected.
And such major events had happened three times in succession.
Waking earlier than planned was no surprise.
“Haa—.”
Yet what escaped was just a sigh.
“...What a mess.”
And with that.
The wills, scattered apart until now, gathered in one place.