Chapter 351
Chapter 351
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 351
Chapter Title: Demon King of the Reverse Heaven Realm (3)
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Sasasak—
In the pitch-black darkness shrouding the forest.
A group of shadowy figures moved silently yet swiftly through its heart, arrayed in perfect formation.
"Halt."
At that moment, the leader at the forefront raised one hand with a low command.
The rear ranks, who had been marching in flawless unison, stopped instantly without the slightest deviation.
"......"
In the midnight forest, where serenity and eeriness coexisted.
A breeze slipped through the dense trees, rustling leaves and underbrush noisily.
Amid the quiet stillness, broken only by that gentle murmur—
"...Battle stations."
That voice put a final period to the forest's peace.
Chaeng-chaechaeng—clang!
The moment the words left his mouth, weapons were drawn in unison, filling the air with the tense anticipation of an impending storm.
No one questioned the sudden order.
The commander who issued it had long proven his abilities, and blind obedience was ingrained in them like a deep-seated indoctrination.
And sure enough.
"Huh? Well now, we've already been spotted?"
Just as the group finished preparing for battle, a carefree voice drifted from the rear, utterly at odds with the razor-sharp tension pervading the surroundings.
"Guess things never go according to plan, huh? Stealth just isn't my style! Kahahaha!"
From the shadows between the thick trees, an intruder gradually revealed himself.
Bathed in the collective wariness of everyone present, the hulking barbarian warrior bellowed with boisterous laughter.
As if their reactions meant nothing to him, sauntering forward with the leisure of someone out for a stroll.
"...Priority target. Release all seals on the Heavenly Cadavers."
But those facing him couldn't afford to take the sight lightly.
Far from underestimating him, they couldn't tear their eyes away.
Basrak—crunch—
The massive man approached, calmly trampling the underfoot without a trace of tension or anxiety.
His entire body exuded a ferocious aura, billowing like smoke—instincts screaming that even a momentary glance away would invite a lethal pounce and a throat torn out.
"Hmm, fewer numbers than I expected?"
As the suffocating tension peaked, the giant—Halli—tilted his head and furrowed his brow while prowling forward like a beast before the hunt.
His eerie, oddly gleaming eyes slowly scanned the surroundings.
Roughly fifty in the group.
All peak experts at minimum, and with the jiangshi crawling from the coffins strapped to some of their backs, their total combat power was formidable...
But far short of his prior estimates.
And more importantly.
"...No sign of the one I'm after. Tsk, when did they slip her away?"
The target he sought, Jeogal Hye-mi, wasn't among them—not even a glimpse.
Nor hidden in one of those coffins holding the jiangshi.
He'd had his doubts from afar, but at this range, nothing could fool his senses.
'Putting together the intel, and tracking them here without signs of splitting up...'
Then he realized he'd been overly optimistic.
He'd tracked them by the unavoidable traces left by their large numbers.
But if a handful of stealth experts had whisked her away midway...
"Keh! What a pain. Would've been nice to wrap it all up here."
Halli scratched the back of his head with a grimace.
No matter how mighty the Demonic Cult's forces, dispersing them in this chaotic world—where threats could strike anytime, anywhere—was inefficient folly.
Especially since the Jeogal Clan they'd raided specialized in formation-based defense and lacked notable experts.
They couldn't have known he was pursuing, so with the distance already gained, no reason to split further—or so he'd thought.
"Well, no helping it now."
Smacking his lips amid the still-rigid atmosphere, Halli shook his head as he chattered on alone.
He'd missed the main goal, but it wasn't a total waste.
Plenty of leads stood before him now.
"Still, y'know, even I get a bit offended."
Unlike his light tone, an overwhelming pressure exploded outward, numbing their bodies.
Whether they surrendered meekly or fought to the end didn't matter.
He'd pry into their skulls and find something.
"So forgive me if I get a little rough? Kahahaha!"
Crack—crunch!
Amid his mad laughter, bones twisted with grotesque sounds as his muscular frame ballooned instantly.
No one would call that sight human.
"...A yokai! Deploy the Heavenly Cadavers! Bloodflesh Ghost Demon Squad, form the Heavenly Demon Chain Formation—!"
The commander, versed in anti-yokai tactics, barked urgently but faltered mid-sentence.
His indoctrinated calm shattered; pupils quaking as his gaze drifted upward.
Following the foe whose already towering eight-chi frame surged past twenty chi—over six meters.
"Kahat! Let's see what you've got?"
Not just larger, the giant—having shed human form entirely—grinned murderously down at them.
Now manifesting traits of Reverse Heaven yokai everywhere, the predator's true visage emerged.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "How did things come to this..."
Yarulhwan, the Demonic Cult's external operations chief strategist and Celestial Mechanism Demon Immortal.
Or rather, former strategist in this shifted heaven.
He now faced the greatest crisis of his not-insubstantial life.
"Heh heh heh, utterly absurd. Who'd have thought the Cult Leader—the Heavenly Demon on the cusp of Mythic Realm—would meet such an end."
A hollow laugh escaped him in the cave, where a few lamps barely pushed back the gloom.
The calculations had been flawless.
He'd fully grasped the Murim Alliance attendees' makeup and power, even overcommitting forces for a clean sweep...
"Mad Demon, Mad Demon... We preempted variables, yet those two joined hands and stormed Shaolin Temple."
That Mad Demon—now Divine Mad Demon—a freak whose mere presence doomed the Shaolin op.
Without him, he'd have swept New Victory Sword, Sword Saint, and all present.
Their corpses reborn as jiangshi for the Cult, and the Leader unburdened upon return.
'Self-proclaimed King of Demons. Blankets the heavens in darkness at his arrival, wields unheard high sorcery, commands an army of black jiangshi mastering martial arts at will—the Lord of Death...'
Then the Demon King appeared, a cataclysm shattering the plan's foundation.
The Shaolin failure was minor, really.
A tweak to the op, but the true goal was securing the Dragon's Offspring, after all.
"But with the Leader slain, the plan's moot. Heh heh... Who knew the first step would be his funeral. His own grave."
The Heavenly Demon's death was undeniable.
The Demon King, seizing the Cult, first presented his corpse as proof.
No high executive was fool enough to doubt its authenticity.
'This time, it backfired.'
The leader boasting absolute authority via overwhelming might met a gruesome end.
The resulting fear spurred executives' defections.
Aiding the Demon King's swift takeover and premature purges.
Then contact with the covertly informing Tower of Heaven Lord cut off right around then.
'A shame. More intel would've helped. Severed all lines to evade traceback; hard to reach others now.'
He clicked his tongue, frowning.
His gaze shifted to the corner, to those within the custom formation.
'Dragon's Offspring...'
They were the op's start and end—newly secured, seven in total.
Fruits of long intelligence labors.
Normally shipped to the main base's prime dragon vein for ritual prep, but now occupied, plans changed.
Couldn't hand these premium sacrifices to that Demon King intact.
"Odd, though. Those two stand out from the rest."
A glint entered his eyes as he observed them.
The Demonic Cult excelled in sorcery too, and Strategist Yarulhwan had personally led the Leader's incineration rites.
He'd recognize it anywhere.
The faint, alien power traces lingering in the vibrant pair, unlike the wheezing others.
'Jeogal Clan's daughter and imperial bloodline.'
His eyes sharpened, piercing hidden truths.
That was no worldly energy—extraterrestrial.
He'd seen it flow from the Leader post-ritual many times.
'Properties differ greatly, but worth close scrutiny.'
Scanning the dismal cave once more, he returned his gaze to the formation.
With the Leader gone, prior rituals meant nothing.
Why not use all seven for himself...
"...Need an altar first. Not main base scale, but the largest dragon vein nearby..."
The lamps flickered, casting his grotesquely writhing shadow.
As if not human, but some otherworldly being.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A beast-headed upper body matted with shaggy fur, elongated razor claws.
A bestial yokai jiangshi akin to a werewolf lunged.
[Graaaah—!]
Its lifeless flesh, ignorant of pain, charged beyond limits, jaws unhinging to clamp down viciously on the intruder.
Kakagak! Crunch!
But from its maw came not rending flesh, only the grinding of something unyielding.
"Kahahat! This works great! Didn't expect it to be this good! Gotta test everything yourself, right?"
Shiiik—Kwang!
[Kkekek!]
Halli whipped the clinging yokai jiangshi like a flail, slamming it into the ground amid狂笑.
His forearms bore not his usual crimson dragon scales, but jet-black plating like a turtle's shell.
'Pure defense? This outclasses them. Lacks flexibility and spring for full coverage, but perfect for weapon-shield on key spots.'
The famed Black Tortoise carapace.
One inner core from Hans's Heavenly Demon Cult loot, bearing Hyeonmu's traits.
He'd acquired it sometime ago but held off against the archivist—unfamiliar then.
Can't debut an untested weapon on such foes.
This skirmish? Ideal live test for the new gear.
"Regenerating again...! Ugh, you monster!"
"Can't even scratch it without aura blasts, and it heals that fast?"
"Avoid the black shell! The rebound hurts us more!"
Violence from his overwhelming six-meter-plus frame spared neither jiangshi nor human.
"Kuhuk!"
"Guk!"
Demonic Cultists crumpled one by one, their resistors dwindling sharply.
And he wasn't just testing physical shifts this time.
"...Effective hits are dropping."
"He's growing? Right here?"
Not just his core physical might, but new techniques honing rapidly too.
'Didn't think Halli'd reap Heavenly Demon Divine Art benefits before Hugo. Famous ultimate arts live up to the hype.'
Recently, studying the Heavenly Demon's corpse yielded core insights aiding his Mad Emperor Heart Technique.
Both used rough, potent energies—synergizing well.
Refined through combat, fruition came.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity has gained enlightenment through repeated training. Acquired skill 「Mad Emperor Heart Technique (Revised)」. Transcendent physical prowess harmonized with optimal techniques.
That synergy felled even the last holdouts swiftly.