Chapter 277
Chapter 277
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 277
Chapter Title: Hahoe Mask Returns (2)
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The top floor of a certain building in Shanghai.
Crackle—
A chilling cold that had never been there before began rapidly spreading through the space, which had always been filled with warmth, overtaking everything in its path.
Frost formed on the surfaces of objects, the air froze to the point where it was hard to breathe, and the barriers activating noisily ground to a halt with creaking protests.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ You seem to have been doing well. Your divine energy looks quite radiant. All of this happened the moment a single being appeared.
'How?'
Amid these bizarre phenomena,
the Ruler, master of the office, struggled to collect his scattered thoughts and glared at the uninvited guest before him.
'How did it get in here... No, questioning that now is pointless.'
It was already widely known that the Hahoe Mask was a master of black magic.
Naturally, the Reverse Heaven Association had prepared thorough countermeasures against him long ago, and the East Asia branch—where their areas of activity overlapped—had bolstered its usual security with black magic-specialized concealment spells...
'But all of it proved useless. Did we underestimate his capabilities?'
Gritting his teeth, the Ruler glanced sideways at the various barriers and facilities already activating as he slowly backed away.
Though there had been issues with concealment and entry prevention due to the unexpected raid, this was the control tower overseeing all of East Asia.
Could the security here really be that simple?
Woooong—!
Geerr—
Otherworld realm formation, spatial isolation, coordinate fixation, ability suppression, black mana restraint, holy altar construction...
It didn't take long for all the facilities that had begun activating one by one the moment the Hahoe Mask entered to fully manifest.
Synergy pursuing pure efficiency regardless of ability category.
A linked array of multiple spells possible only for the Reverse Heaven Association.
[Hoo—? Impressive indeed.]
Hans let out a low murmur of admiration as he slowly looked around.
Seeing this, he could understand why he hadn't been able to pinpoint the Ruler's location earlier.
He had encountered him twice before in his spirit form but couldn't track him down, which had puzzled him. But if he was hiding behind defenses like these, it made sense.
'What a shame. If I'd captured him the moment I entered, this would have been much easier.'
But unlike his leisurely posturing, Hans's mind was working busier than ever inside.
The initial plan to storm straight to the Ruler and capture him had failed due to spatial distortions different from what he'd observed outside.
He'd managed to veer off at the last moment and reach the office interior, but the barriers activating simultaneously prevented him from acting immediately.
'Still... this situation isn't so bad.'
The Ruler retreating warily and the dense array of security spells activating to protect him.
Hans calmly peered into the Reverse Heaven Association's signature composite spell array—one he'd seen several times before—through his Abyss Eye.
'Well, now...'
The information drawn in was instantly dismantled piece by piece via Path of the Sorcerer, Forbidden Knowledge, and Impure Sage.
'A feast fit for a king.'
The analyzed contents became nourishment for Path of the Sorcerer in full.
'I owe this skill to the Reverse Heaven Association in the first place.'
In the past—it had blossomed after devoted personal tutoring, sacrificing the Ruler's eye and leg along with excellent research materials.
And now, they were providing such vast teaching aids once more.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ How foolish. And ignorant. Did you think this could stop me? Dark malice leaked from the eyes hidden behind the Hahoe Mask.
With it, the energy bursting from his body shook the barriers, which began screaming deafeningly.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ I am death, who grows by devouring your fear—. Bam!
Rumble—
At that moment, a group of Awakeners burst through the office door.
All were at least Peak-rank, with one having fully reached the Transcendent level.
They knew full well one person alone couldn't defeat the Hahoe Mask.
They must have figured the barriers would hold until reinforcements arrived from other sites.
But.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ ...No one can escape it. That was merely their wishful thinking.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Kaboom—!
Another explosion rocked the space.
'Even with layers upon layers of barriers, the shockwaves are this strong.'
But the Ruler grimaced at the impacts from behind while hurriedly descending the stairs.
He was leaving the fight to the others and escaping himself.
His role had always been administrator, not combatant—a natural decision.
Of course, his unique skill Mental Image Projection was excellent, capable of destroying the mind regardless of physical weakness, but hadn't he learned the hard way that it didn't work on the Hahoe Mask?
'At great cost, no less.'
He glanced down at his legs, equipped with action-assist magic tools just like his right arm, moving diligently.
'The Shanghai branch will be shut down for a while. Even with precautions in place with the public security bureau, we've drawn too much attention. No good will come of unwanted scrutiny.'
China was vast with a huge population, so branches were scattered everywhere.
Transferring to any of them wouldn't hinder operations much.
All the necessities for his branch leader duties were in his head anyway.
'The problem is... the Hahoe Mask's rampage won't end with this one time.'
The Ruler's face twisted as he recalled the grotesque masked intruder once more.
China's Heavenly-rank Transcendents were mostly dispersed across the continent.
It made no sense to gather such powerhouses in one spot—it just wasted efficiency.
The issue was how long it would take to assemble them.
'Of all times, while the Chairman is away...!'
Just a day ago.
The Chairman had stayed on Earth considering the Hahoe Mask's reappearance.
But he'd just left, unable to waste more time.
What impeccable timing.
After grinding his teeth several times, the Ruler forcibly took deep breaths to calm himself.
Getting agitated now wouldn't help.
He glanced at the alert window floating in one corner of his left artificial eye's vision.
🛡️ SCAN DATA 🛡️ Code Name: Hahoe Mask Energy Type: Black Mana + Death(?) Main Abilities: Black Magic, Undead, Spatial Movement, Barriers (General), etc. Origin Dimension: Unknown Unique Skill: Unknown ... • Detected Energy: 93,853,126
• Threat Level: S+
• Energy reaction exceeding gigaton-class ship reactors detected. Evacuate immediately.
These were the details output right after facing the Hahoe Mask.
Though called a scan, most of it was just整理ing the info lingering in his mind rather than direct analysis from the eye.
Even as a pinnacle of advanced magic engineering, it had limits against someone of the Hahoe Mask's caliber.
But the bottom section had a few immediately useful notes.
The values were still being measured and fluctuating in real time.
This artificial eye was from the Kallikas dimension, where magic engineering had advanced to space travel.
Here, "ship" meant massive interstellar vessels navigating celestial bodies.
'S+? Most Heavenly-ranks I've checked with this eye were A-grade at best...'
Of course, energy output didn't directly equal combat power.
In space wars pouring out massive energy, maybe—but in duels between masters controlling it with extreme efficiency, surpassing a threshold meant little difference.
Transcendents could effortlessly deflect incoming main cannon fire that they'd struggle to fully block.
Even accounting for that, a value in a different league gave immense pressure.
Especially to someone like the Ruler, who predicted the world through objective data and calculations.
'First, I need to escape this place. Tian Weiming is an A+ Heavenly-rank, so with the barriers and Earth-ranks' help, he should hold out quite a while.'
The fastest way to another site was via the top floor setup, but the Hahoe Mask forced him downward.
Normally, intruders would be warped to the basement regardless of entry point, allowing leisurely response until using the top-floor teleportation circle as a last resort.
'Damn, those measures blocked all my quick escape options...'
Who could've guessed such thorough preparations would hinder his own escape?
He vowed to redesign this if he reached another branch.
'Almost there...!'
Of course.
If he could escape.
Kaboom—!
A shockwave from the top floor, stronger than any before, swept through everything.
"Urk! What the—!"
Caught in it, the Ruler staggered, but his leg assists automatically stabilized him, sparing him a tumble.
However...
⚠️ HIGH-ENERGY APPROACH ALERT! ⚠️ • Detected Energy: 156,759,142 • Threat Level: SS- • Energy reaction equivalent to terra-class ship reactors detected. Initiate emergency evacuation sequence immediately. His luck ended there, as the updated alert reappeared before his eyes.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Keh—We meet again. You ran quite diligently, I see. The voice he'd heard just moments ago brushed his ears again.
Confirming the threat level, the Ruler squeezed his eyes shut.
Then, painfully opening them, he turned to face the speaker.
"...Tian Weiming."
It felt like ages had passed in his deliberations, but in reality, less than a few minutes had elapsed.
Yet the defenses had been breached this quickly—an utter unforeseen disaster.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Hm? ...Ah, that guy? But seeing behind the Hahoe Mask, the Ruler quickly realized what had happened.
Thud, thud—
Drag— Drag—
Mixed with the sounds of multiple footsteps came the noise of something being dragged across the floor...
A dozen shadowy figures emerged from the corridor's darkness.
'Those...!'
The Ruler ground his teeth upon seeing them.
An undead unit dripping pitch-black aura like ink.
He instantly gauged their levels.
'Heavenly-rank undead...! And the rest all Earth-rank? How did things like that get to Earth!'
They were 'Abyss Revenants' made from stockpiled Awakener corpses.
An elite squad of carefully selected specimens.
The lead undead, a death mage, slowly raised what it dragged in one hand.
"...Tian Weiming."
Below the grip on the hair was a face familiar to the Ruler.
The Heavenly-rank expert who had confidently stayed behind to buy time just moments ago.
The only change... was that not a spark of life remained on that face.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Kehhehe—Thanks to him, I got some fine material. This one will reborn splendidly too. Quite satisfying. "......"
The Death King, trailed by his corpse soldiers, let out a sinister chuckle from behind.
The powerless human before him, crushed by the overwhelming presence, could say nothing.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ But... You've got some fine stuff yourself, don't you? A pair of abyss-filled eyes scanned the Ruler's body.
He was a non-combat mental-type Awakener, not yet Transcendent, but still rare enough to be useful.
And above all...
'As I thought before. That eye is awfully tempting.'
A mechanical artificial eye: a faint blue ring around the rim, geometric patterns filling the iris, glowing mysteriously.
He'd never seen magic engineering of that caliber before, so his gaze lingered.
Dwarf avatar Howard was deep into magic engineering too, wasn't he?
And that wasn't all.
'He was in a wheelchair last time, I think. And that right arm.'
Look at those limbs moving so naturally, without issue!
And seamlessly under his clothes, no less.
'The ultimate powered exoskeleton.'
It would make a fine gift for Howard, who was upgrading his suit.
There was the issue of restrictions on using other worlds' magic tools, but that was for later.
With substantial gains, Hans chuckled in satisfaction once more.
Then he slowly approached the Ruler, extending one hand.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Go on, try running away again. "...Ha, you bastard... "
As expected.
Until Hans's hand touched his forehead, he couldn't escape.