Chapter 350
Chapter 350
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 350
Chapter Title: Demon King of the Kanghwan Realm (2)
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In truth, Hans had been steadily examining the Heavenly Demon's corpse even before this.
No matter how busy Hans was, there was no way he'd just leave a top-grade material like the Heavenly Demon lying around untouched.
'A master's body that reached such heights isn't something you see every day. Not even from another expert at the Mystic Realm.'
The Transformation Realm, the pinnacle any human could achieve. And the Mystic Realm, where one transcended even those limits to become half an immortal.
The Heavenly Demon had been among the absolute elite of the Mystic Realm—perhaps even on the verge of the Divine Transformation Realm, a level akin to a demigod.
Though he'd met a tragic end midway, undone by Hans, who was little more than a natural disaster.
'That was probably the Reversal Heaven Lord's aim too. If the Heavenly Demon had truly ascended to the Divine Transformation Realm, the one who subjugated him would see their own stature explode accordingly.'
The Heavenly Demon hadn't risen solely through his own power.
He'd offered up the 'children of the dragon' arranged by the Kanghwan Realm's Main God as sacrifices, performing burnt offerings to receive power directly from the Reversal Heaven Lord!
Such rituals weren't mere one-time power transfers.
They left an indelible mark on the participant's soul, their accumulated stature, and the karma of their life—eternally recorded.
The Reversal Heaven Lord had undoubtedly gained a significant boost in stature just from receiving those offerings.
"And this... Hah! I have to admit, the bastard was impressive. But to think he'd even pull off something like this."
In his private lab, filled with meticulously prepared equipment, Hans let out a low murmur of admiration.
His Abyssal Eye, rippling with pitch-black energy like the pits of the underworld, bored into the Heavenly Demon laid out on the lab table.
'It wasn't just divine power he received. This is... a Unique Skill? He reactivated the Heavenly Demon's Unique Skill, even after he'd long lost his Awakener privileges and settled as a native?'
With Forbidden Truth in hand—and even a Scribe as a control subject—things invisible before now came into view.
The Heavenly Demon was dead, leaving only faint traces, but until recently, something beyond inner energy and divine power had pulsed through his spirit veins—a force standing above the world's principles.
'No wonder... Swallowing all those children of the dragon arranged by the Main God felt a bit off for mere sacrifices. So the divine power was just a byproduct.'
The Reversal Heaven Lord hadn't granted a new Unique Skill or revived Awakener status.
He'd merely awakened a dormant one temporarily, using sacrifices as the price.
But that alone was monumental.
Interfering with the inscrutable System itself was undeniable fact.
'And that Unique Skill... No wonder he went mad targeting the children of the dragon.'
The foundation of the Heavenly Demon's rapid rise in the Kanghwan Realm.
A skill granting genius aptitude for martial arts, swift mastery of killing techniques, instant adaptation to brutal training, and massive growth bonuses.
Heavenly Slaughter Star
It came with severe side effects, like corrupting the mind, but that hardly mattered to him.
For the Heavenly Demon, who'd hit a growth wall, it must have been the sweetest temptation imaginable.
"...A way to reactivate a dormant Unique Skill."
Hans's eyes darkened ominously.
This was a problem weighing on him too.
Didn't his forces teem with undead soldiers—former Awakeners who'd lost their Unique Skills upon death?
If they could reclaim their old powers...
"If that bastard could do it, there's no reason this body can't."
His arrogant pride ignited, Hans smirked, curling the corner of his mouth.
Whether the enemy's method was temporary or used sacrifices—none of that mattered now.
The fact remained: the bastard had succeeded where he hadn't.
From that day, Hans threw himself utterly into studying the sample.
An obsessive investigation down to single capillaries and cells.
To recycle it later, he limited methods to those minimizing damage to the corpse—but as the foremost authority in this field, that posed no real challenge.
"I see. So this is the Heavenly Demon Divine Art."
And unexpectedly, he reaped rewards.
By dissecting the mystical traces left in the Heavenly Demon's body, reverse-engineering the imprints on meridians and spirit veins, he'd successfully reconstructed the martial art he'd practiced in life.
'This'll be a huge help to Hugo.'
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art—one of the Kanghwan Realm's undisputed supreme techniques.
S+ rank at minimum, it would undoubtedly aid Hugo, bearer of Unnamed Art and Return of All Streams to the Sea, in perfecting his ideal martial path.
"Pfft—couldn't find it even ransacking the Heavenly Demon's secret vault. Where'd he hide it? To think I'd obtain it like this."
The Heavenly Demon's secret vault: the Demonic Cult's treasure trove, accessible only to the Cult Leader.
Once Hans seized control, naturally he'd cleaned it out thoroughly.
The manuals went to Hubert—possessor of Analysis and Cipher Decryption—for appraisal.
The issue: the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the crown jewel, was missing.
'The Heavenly Demon's memories were missing it too. Was wondering what to do... This saves the trouble.'
And his research didn't stop there.
Soon analyzing the Scribe's corpse—the control subject—he grasped clues to the divinity linking back to the Reversal Heaven Lord.
'Without the divine fragment he stole in Outerica, this would've been tough. Lucky break.'
No need to explain the intimate bond between gods and apostles.
If lay believers were fans cheering from afar, apostles were managers working up close as hands and feet.
'Or more accurately, a one-sided, absolute superior-subordinate dynamic.'
Regardless, the key point now: an apostle-level betrayal struck deep even at the object of their faith.
Though one might argue a dead man's betrayal hardly counted—
"Kuhahaha! This body can make it happen!"
Forcing corruption to invert faith.
Rebirthing them as 'Godslayers' with extreme advantage over existing divinity.
The dead's will meant nothing before the ruler of death.
Domination, coercion, violation, subjugation.
That was Hans's specialty, as the Immortal King and Demon King.
Thus, he began undead conversion, meticulously manipulating the divine wounds in the two corpses.
Incorporating myriad secrets from Forbidden Truth, naturally.
Days later.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ A faint seed of divinity begins to sprout through the divinity. The entity's karma surpasses the threshold, imprinting its existence onto the Akasha System. Whether direct divine interference triggered it, a cryptic message appeared before him.
'...Wait, the Heavenly Demon already devoured countless children of the dragon, stealing their karma? Then inverting that could...'
As a bonus, he'd found a key to resolving the Kanghwan Realm's crisis.
The optimal bypass to the old method requiring children's sacrifices.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Though briefly summoned to Earth for urgent matters, the avatars each had plenty on their plates in their own domains.
Heinrich, unable to stray long as Outerica's Saint; Horus, engrossed absorbing the Kanghwan Realm's shamanic systems; Heinz 2nd, jetting between organizations across two worlds...
Even Harris, deployed first for the Scribe hunt due to his relative free time, had much to handle as an Elven Kingdom heavyweight. No need to mention the others' busyness.
And among them.
One avatar moved with particular frenzy upon returning to his post...
Papapat—
A massive barbarian warrior sliced through the pitch-black forest night like an arrow.
Harley was that very one.
"Tsk, damn. Should be getting close by now."
Storming forth like a gale, he halted with surprising lightness for his bulk, scratching his head.
His nose and ears twitched repeatedly, rescaning the surroundings.
"Hoo!"
With a deep breath, a new landscape formed in his mind—beyond mere sight.
A virtual world centered on him, woven from sound, vibrations, scents, magnetic fields, and super-senses.
The domain spanned the entire area, vast beyond measure.
"There it is!"
Spotting the faint trace he'd pursued, Harley's huge frame cleaved the air once more like wind.
Time had passed, and the trace-wipers were no amateurs, making pursuit tough—but Harley's tracking, infused with sensory beast physiology, defied worldly norms.
'Still took longer than expected. Without prior intel, it'd have been real trouble. Should've brought Harris to amp the search?'
The thought flickered, then vanished.
He'd experienced how the Kanghwan Realm's environment strained nature-sensitive Harris.
No need to push that far unless desperate.
'Impressive, the Zhuge Clan. Even with their base raided and chaos reigning, they still wield their intel network. A renowned house indeed.'
Plenty aided him now, no need for Harris.
The Zhuge Clan's Yungjung Mountain stronghold, wrecked by the Demonic Cult's strike force.
They'd activated their final formation, repelling the enemy.
Damage was heavy, but deploying zombies rivaling the Mystic Realm? Ending there was a stellar defense.
Only possible post that mystery expert Harris's rampage, after overhauling defenses.
'Tch, if only it'd stopped there.'
But trials didn't end.
Amid postwar chaos, a stealth elite squad infiltrated and abducted Zhuge Hyemi.
The current patriarch's precious daughter, snatched alongside the raid on their ironclad base.
Impossible to ignore, with eyes upon them.
They mobilized every external asset amid cleanup, pouring all into locating the attackers...
When outlines emerged, Hugo's group—from Shaolin—arrived at Yungjung Mountain.
That's when they learned base details, including the foes' estimated paths for Hugo.
'Cross-check with Demonic Cult intel for the outline. Track from there.'
A small elite unit, but numbers weren't trivial for hitting the Zhuge Clan.
More people meant limits to trace erasure, even for pros—
"...Found you."
Inevitable they'd slip.
"Heh, kahahaha! Whew, dragging it out more would've burst a vein!"
A group's presence, faint even to his senses, far off.
Harley laughed heartily, lips splitting wide.
Cold light gleamed in his eyes like a predator before the feast; jagged teeth dripped saliva splattering the ground.
"Alright—let's go."
The night of the hunt began.