Chapter 265
Chapter 265
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 265
Chapter Title: King of Madness (4)
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The trajectory of light slicing toward the giant's abdomen and heart was blocked by a massive hand.
Immediately after, five fingers larger than Heinrich himself pierced through the air, trying to seize him.
But—
Flash—
Enveloped in light in an instant, he vanished from the spot right away.
The giant gnashed its teeth in frustration at the empty grab, but there was no time to hesitate.
It whipped around instantly, swinging its opposite hand.
Boom—!
That clashed against Harley's ferocious charge, unleashing a massive shockwave.
"Kuhahaha! Where you lookin', buddy? Play with me!"
The air trembled and the ground warped, screaming from the collision of energy backed by overwhelming mass.
But even in that moment, the chain of attacks didn't stop.
Endless spirit arrows and spells rained down from the sky, relentlessly bombarding the giant's face and disrupting its keen senses.
True Blood vampires, pushing their speed to the limit, repeatedly tore chunks from its body and disengaged in a flash.
"Grrr, you annoying pests!"
Crunch—
Amid that chaotic barrage...
As the giant's gaze shifted toward the others again, Harley swiftly locked its massive arm with his entire body, sealing its movement.
Just as he had been doing all along.
The size difference was so extreme that the gap it created wasn't huge, but that brief respite was enough time for the others to regroup and target its weaknesses.
Swoosh—
In the fleeting moment the giant's focus wavered.
Heinz 2nd slipped into its perception gap, materializing like a ghost.
In the air above the giant's forearm.
Slash—!
The moment he appeared, blood blades whipped through the air like lashes.
At the same timing, Briki's attack from the ground struck precisely on the opposite side of the impact point.
It would have been a deep wound from either strike alone, but their synchronized assault, linked through shared intent, produced perfect synergy—
Boom!
Finally.
The bus-sized left arm, mangled countless times, was severed clean off.
"Kraaak! You worm-like bastards!"
The giant lost its reason, bellowing in rage.
The surrounding air was pushed away, whipping up a typhoon across the area.
And as if responding to its fury, the madness from all directions began swirling into it.
'Kuhuhu— Damn it, no way out. So this is where I die. No choice then.'
He had anticipated it to some degree, but it seemed he couldn't fulfill His will himself after all.
Resigning himself, the revolutionary steeled his heart for his final gambit.
'But I won't end it like this. I'll sacrifice this body to plant the seed for the next generation.'
With that resolve, he...
From within the giant's madness-filled body—severed the very thing sustaining him.
To be reborn as the complete 'madness' that would doom the world.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Heinrich had already moved behind the giant.
No matter what it was doing, he focused on giving his all to what he could do.
He raised the holy sword gripped firmly in both hands, poised calmly.
Vmmm—
Blessing: Light Sword, sharpened to over ten meters with buffs and holy power from the saintess.
Infusing it with Space Slash, he cleanly severed the sluggish giant's ankle.
Boom—!
The severed colossus toppled, sending a landslide-like shockwave sweeping the surroundings.
The raid party seized the chance, mercilessly tearing into its fallen weakness—the head—with their own methods.
Like hyenas closing in on a downed elephant's throat.
'This regeneration speed...'
But those pouring on attacks soon grimaced unwittingly.
The giant's recovery, fueled by the endless influx of madness, had surpassed the rate of accumulating damage.
And finally.
[————!]
Madness saturated to the bone, devoid of any reason—a primal roar erupted.
All but the hefty Harley pinning it down were flung far away.
"Tch, what now?"
"Wait, that's...!"
Whoooosh—
Immediately after, a fierce storm raged, forming a colossal red vortex centered on it.
Pure madness of immense density.
The overwhelming spectacle of all the world's madness converging blanketed everything.
"Kuh— Kyaaak!"
"Grk... High Lord...!"
"Mental corruption..."
In that thick aura.
As expected, negative effects began creeping over those exposed.
Even these transcendent powerhouses couldn't remain unaffected in such concentrated madness.
"Lord God—! Protect your children!"
The hero party, including the saintess, hurriedly invoked holy power to shake it off, but the vampires on the ground had no choice but to retreat beyond the domain.
As half-monstrous beings by nature, they were hit hardest by the madness.
'Not just that. This dense energy is interfering with other powers.'
Test attacks dissipated or halved in the surrounding torrent.
And weakened strikes couldn't meaningfully damage its skyrocketing regeneration and defenses.
Crunch—! Crack!
As they pondered their next move.
The giant's sudden transformation began.
Huddled at the storm's heart, absorbing ambient energy, twisting sounds echoed from its body.
Severed arm and leg regenerated in seconds, grotesque muscles swelled and compressed repeatedly, and its flesh kept growing larger.
[Kuhuhuhu— Kikikakakak!]
A sneer devoid of reason leaked from its maw.
Having exceeded controllable madness, its ego eroded like past Immortal Kings.
But that wasn't the priority now.
'...No, even for phase 2, this is too much.'
No one could approach.
Even if they did, attack power plummeted here, struggling to pierce its tough hide.
And any damage was healed instantly by near-immortal regeneration...
'Invincible during transformation? What kind of reality is this!'
Heinrich frowned, swinging the light sword with Space Slash several times.
As expected, unlike undead, its flesh resisted holy power well.
He'd hoped the abyss-derived madness affinity would minimize loss, but...
And the trouble didn't end there.
The evolving phase 2 giant was headache enough, but he'd just sensed a bigger issue via another avatar.
'The world's madness flows here. And...'
Following it, continental-scale monster migrations targeted this spot.
Tarak, bordering the northern mountains, would be devastated, along with countless cities.
'Damn. Need to kill it fast.'
Heinrich sighed shortly.
No more holding back his trump card.
But right before invoking it...
'Hm? Wait, this...'
Realizing something, he slowly turned his head.
And stared at one spot.
Whoooosh—
The epicenter of the crisis.
The endpoint of the ceaselessly swirling red vortex.
Right beside the giant devouring all madness...
'Huh? Could this work?'
More precisely.
Harley, blankly stuck beside the huddled colossus, basking in the madness windfall.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Kahat! Ahh— this hits the spot!"
Caught in the madness shower beside the giant by chance, Harley deeply inhaled the dense energy flooding from all sides.
If what he'd absorbed before was gas, this was liquid-level condensation.
'Impressive.'
He'd long accumulated ambient madness via Mad Tyrant.
Even he had never dreamed of triggering something like this...
Harley glanced at the huddled white giant with a peculiar look.
The massive white lifeform writhed all over, wholly focused on gathering madness.
Utterly ignoring him right beside it.
'Confident no one can harm it?'
Or perhaps it couldn't move even if it wanted to.
The madness seeds in its body were fragments pulverized emerging from the abyss.
Forcing them to reunite wouldn't be simple, right?
Stab— Slash! Crunch!
That guess solidified as he tore, ripped, and smashed its body freely.
Despite full-power attacks using surrounding madness, it stayed huddled motionless.
'As expected, same madness means no power drop. But not enough.'
Tougher than normal giants, any deep wounds vanished in under a second.
To break through, he needed overwhelming force to smash its skull and pierce vitals before regeneration—tough even combining avatars now.
...Or it would have been.
In normal conditions.
'But here, it's different.'
Harley bared his fangs savagely at the abundant energy.
Without delay, he invoked Mad Tyrant to suck in surrounding madness indiscriminately.
Not stopping there, he mobilized other avatars' resources for the first time in ages, twisting part of the flow toward himself.
Whoooosh—
Suddenly, the vortex core split into two.
Unlike the giant drawing continental madness, he focused on claiming a share at the endpoint—far more efficient.
The giant's body rippled in backlash several times, but Harley ignored it utterly.
Crunch— Crack!
Vast energy concentration cracked his body sounds, healed instantly.
In raw flesh quality, his Ultimate Evolved Lifeform was no inferior—natural.
'Now we're equals.'
Feeling the fullness within, Harley cracked his neck lightly.
Next phase.
He burned the abundant energy at once, pouring into Stamp of the Fighting King to max all abilities.
Then layered madness-infused Bio-Aura beyond limits into one body part.
His shark-like teeth.
Crack—
Immense density shattered even his enhanced teeth despite reinforced body.
But regeneration slowly repaired the damage.
And that cycle repeated.
Endless destruction and rebirth.
With each, Ultimate Evolved Lifeform evolved the teeth's durability gradually.
Until they could withstand the concentrated energy.
'Good. Time to start?'
Harley's strongest attack.
Gluttony's biting force.
Which once crunched dragon scales like snacks.
Alone, it couldn't pierce the skull—he'd confirmed that—but now was different.
Clack— Clack—!
Snapping jaws collided teeth several times.
Space tore faintly, cracks flickering in the air.
Satisfied, he nodded, stalking like a predator to the giant's head—huddled like a served meal.
Heinrich and Heinz 2nd, pushing through the storm, took positions ready.
"Kuhahaha! Good boy, buddy? Stay put."
The giant twitched subtly—probably imagination.
His hyper-evolved jaw split wide, ebony fangs dense with madness and Bio-Aura gleaming sharply.
"It'll be quick!"
Flashing light sword and blood awl stabbed one skull spot.
Then razor teeth burrowed in.
Crunch—!
In mere bites, it pierced the sturdy defense.
Finally reaching the hidden madness seed within.
And—
'Bon appétit!'
So.
Now.
I am the 'King of Madness'.