Chapter 354
Chapter 354
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 354
Chapter Title: Rapidly Changing Situation (3)
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It didn't take long for the clear skies over the entire Northern Capital to be completely shrouded in black clouds from who-knows-where.
Ku-gu-gu-gung—
Even the battle-hardened demonic cultists, who had seen it all, couldn't help but have their gazes stolen by the sky in that sudden turn of events.
No matter that this was the infamous Demonic Realm of the Northern Capital— they'd never heard of anything like this phenomenon before.
"...What is that?"
Cheon Gi Ma Seon Yulhwan, who had been busily preparing the ritual, lifted his hardened gaze to the sky at the blatant anomaly.
Manipulating the weather wasn't something just anyone could do.
And to bring about such a dramatic change at this speed...
A list of candidates capable of causing such a phenomenon flashed through his mind.
But in the end, only one remained.
This very event—he'd only just heard about it recently, hadn't he?
He'd thought there must have been some exaggeration since he'd only heard it secondhand and hadn't seen it himself...
"Demon King."
The mysterious monster who called himself the Demon King, slew the Heavenly Demon, seized the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult headquarters—and that wasn't enough, he devoured every last remnant of their foundation there.
His wariness spiked to the extreme at this unexpected variable, sharpening his senses to a razor's edge.
'...This isn't just some sorcery. It's a dense demonic energy that even forces natural phenomena. How can demonic energy of such purity exist in this world?'
His sense of crisis rang alarm bells as he detected the thick aura filling the dark clouds.
Not just any demonic energy, but something closer to the root of the concept of death itself—something that belonged buried at the bottom of hell, by all accounts.
Yet here it was, strutting about in broad daylight...
Ku-ru-ru-rung—
But the situation gave Yulhwan no time to devise countermeasures.
His eyebrows twitched as the special links he'd set up to communicate with his subordinates outside the Northern Capital began snapping one by one.
"Hah, a formation...? No, wait. Did they use those clouds to set up a formation in the sky itself?"
A spatial severance caused by artificial means.
Now, everyone under those pitch-black thunderclouds could neither call for outside help nor leave without the caster's permission.
A ridiculous burst of mystic power on such a massive scale drew a disbelieving breath from his lips.
[“Indeed, you have a keen eye.”]
And as if answering his mutterings...
An unfamiliar voice echoed across the entire space.
[“Kuhuhuhat— I suspected as much, but to think you'd all really gathered here.”]
A chilling laugh, as if crawled up from the depths of hell.
The gazes lifted to the sky were forcibly fixed on a single point in the empty air.
They had no choice.
Ooo-suk—
How long had it been there?
Beneath the heavens cloaked in dark clouds.
Hovering leisurely as if ruling over the world, an absolute being arrogantly looked down upon the ground where they stood.
“......!”
“...Ugh.”
Those who sensed him—his overwhelming presence, as if the very density of space differed—instinctively stepped back several paces.
This included even the demonic beings who had undergone hellish training and procedures to purge fear.
Bodies rigidly frozen, cold sweat trickling down, goosebumps prickling across their skin.
It wasn't mere mortal peril; it was an instinctive reaction to an otherworldly threat that stimulated the soul itself.
[“Now then.”]
In the heavy silence thick with chill air...
The being spoke once more, his voice laced with amusement.
[“Entertain me, if you can. You pathetic worms.”]
It was the moment the Demon King from another world clashed with the last remnants of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
***
There was a common image of the final boss in media.
Possessing overwhelming charisma, of course, but also a weighty presence that kept them from moving lightly, delegating most matters to subordinates.
'Truth be told, if you have competent underlings, it looks bad for the boss to micromanage everything. It's inefficient in every way.'
And that was exactly the image Hans was projecting right now.
"Demonic Extermination Barrier Formation—activate!"
[Kkukakakak—!]
"Kuh, what the hell is that? What kind of madness is this?!"
[Kill! Only death for those who defy the King!]
"What...? Not only retaining their martial arts from life, but even their egos?!"
[Kill! Kill!]
A massive war erupting out of nowhere in the heart of the uninhabited Demonic Realm.
Demonic beings clashed with undead, stiffened corpses collided with stiffened corpses.
Amid the chaos, Hans leisurely watched with arms crossed, merely nodding occasionally.
'Still not quite getting the hang of it. It's like it's on the verge but not quite...'
The Immortal King Hans was a particularly special entity among the avatars.
His personal combat power was top-tier among all avatars, but his true value went beyond mere individual strength.
The legions of undead under the Death Lord's command.
Not just in numbers, but including forces at the pinnacle of transcendence itself—that immense power was his real strength.
Wasn't that precisely why the previous Immortal Kings could scheme over the continent?
'Of course, unlike Outerica who inherited a legacy, there's a limit to the undead I can muster in the unfortified Strong Return Realm...'
But that was now a thing of the past.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—now rightfully called the largest, strongest, and worst force in the Strong Return Realm.
By fully absorbing their power, which had swollen even further after devouring the Blood Cult renowned for its stiffened corpse arts, he had more than filled every gap.
"Kuhk, they're breaking through! Throw in more stiffened corpses!"
"Impossible! Our cult's stiffened corpse arts are the world's best! With equivalent materials, we shouldn't lose... So why, why is the gap this wide?!"
"No, wait—that's one of our cult's yokai stiffened corpses, isn't it? Made through the same process, so what the hell is this disparity?!"
The demonic sorcerers handling the stiffened corpses tore at their hair, screaming in unison, their shock as great as their pride in being the best.
It was inevitable.
Even at a glance, the stiffened corpses seemed of similar quality, yet every clash ended with theirs unilaterally shattered.
'Sorry, but they're not equal.'
To be precise, the materials were exactly as they thought.
Most of the stiffened corpses he was deploying had been swept up from the piles in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult headquarters' Blossom Palace.
The difference came from the additional processes afterward.
'If I could use Outerica's magic reagents, they'd be even more perfect, but that's no big issue for me. Especially with the abyssal power that's practically omnipotent for undead.'
The reagent process wasn't ideal for mass modifications anyway.
Injecting the abyss—now as familiar as his own limbs—into the stiffened corpses and using it as a medium for death spirit arts to reinforce them.
That was the full story behind the current phenomenon.
'And... I gained a new ability in the process.'
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 📋 Entity Name: Hans 🧟 Race: Undead (Immortal King) ✨ Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Persona」, 「Brute Strength」, 「Hyperesthesia」, 「Xenoglossy」, 「Toughness」, 「Limit Break」, 「Mimicry」 💫 Entity Traits: 「Immortal Heart」, 「Impure Sage」, 「Forbidden Truth」, 「Path of the Sorcerer」, 「Eye of the Abyss」, 「Mana Domination」, 「Sovereign of Reverse Heaven」 📜 Special Notes: Inherited the 'Immortal Heart' infused with the abyss's essence, becoming the Immortal King—a calamity of the Outerica dimension. Awakened divinity has begun faintly germinating. 「Sovereign of Reverse Heaven」 alleviates all restrictions on undead. 「Sovereign of Reverse Heaven」 was a skill gained from studying the Heavenly Demon and scribe's corpses, then diving into stiffened corpse production.
It had greatly contributed to completing the karma stiffened corpses and modifying those in Blossom Palace.
The undead under its influence would now gain strong resistance even to holy power—their former weakness.
'...And perhaps later, it might let me ignore dimensional barriers to move this world's undead elsewhere.'
Whether the acquisition condition was gaining divinity as an undead, mastering another world's undead production, or both—he didn't know.
But it hardly mattered now.
"Oh? Finally."
Thanks to that skill alleviating all restrictions, he could now do things like this.
"Wha? Wh-what? Kuaaaak—!"
"What the—?! Why are our stiffened corpses suddenly...!"
"That idiot lost control! Everyone, stay sharp! If it looks bad, use the self-destruct seals! One slip and all the stiffened corpses will go over to them!"
The demonic cultists' lines turned into pandemonium in an instant.
A cluster of stiffened corpses on one side suddenly turned, shredding the sorcerers who'd been commanding them moments ago.
But only for a moment.
As black flames ignited from the talismans they pulled out amid faltering control, the smooth stiffened corpse hijacking began to stutter.
'Consumables that temporarily boost control, huh. Fine by me. Higher difficulty means faster proficiency gain. Let's see how long you can hold out.'
In truth, their capabilities had already exceeded expectations.
This was the heart of the Northern Capital, called the Demonic Realm.
Once blessed land centered around Yongsim, now a cursed earth—a black hole sucking in the world's energy.
"Hmm, but no matter how I look, they don't seem greatly affected by it."
He didn't use qi anyway, so it was irrelevant to him, but weren't they beings of this world?
Yet observing their energy through 「Eye of the Abyss」, Hans quickly understood why.
'...I see. An effect of sacrificing dragon spawn too, huh. Come to think of it, Shaolin said the demonic cultists facing them had unstable inner power.'
This seemed to be an extension of that.
His senses spread wide as he narrowed his eyes at them briefly, scanning the surroundings in an instant.
'Found them. Jegal Hye-mi and Ju Kang-in are both safe. And others... total seven? You've gathered quite a few.'
Of course, he had to find the dragon spawn anyway, so less hassle was all good.
Confirming their positions, he shifted his gaze elsewhere.
To where this place's powerhouses were.
Including the one-eyed elder he'd met at Shaolin—the Ghost Sword Demon Emperor—and all the demonic cult elites dispatched from headquarters.
Not just humans, but high-grade stiffened corpses reportedly smuggled out.
'That's... yeah. The one made using the Blood Demon by the Blossom Palace Lord? There seem to be four or five at the Flower Realm level. How long have they been preparing?'
A world of endless conflict where death was routine.
Even experts who wouldn't die easily in peace were constantly dragged into fights and perished.
Acquiring high-grade corpses wouldn't have been hard.
'And that one's the Demonic Cult's strategist, Cheon Gi Ma Seon Yulhwan.'
Hans's gaze turned to the one staring up at him with a stern face.
An elderly man with the air of an immortal, long white beard flowing.
But the power faintly emanating from him was not to be underestimated.
His energy reserves seemed greater than even the Heavenly Demon's.
Even accounting for him being a sorcerer rather than a warrior, it was excessively so.
"I see. You're no human."
Hans easily grasped the reason.
Yulhwan's lips twitched at the arrogant words tossed down.
"Hahaha, speaks the pot to the kettle. You're no human either, are you? No— you're even worse. You don't seem alive at all."
The elder's pupils turned sickly yellow, splitting vertically with an eerie glow.
The Heavenly Demon had only barely noticed after some fighting, yet this carefully prepared disguise was pierced instantly—Hans tilted his head.
"Hmm? A dragon, perhaps? Why is a dragon here with the demonic cult instead of Gold Jade Island?"
"That's my question. You seem from another world, so why come here? This world's already crumbling. Nothing to gain."
Questions flew without answering each other.
As the parallel conversation dragged on, Hans's expression soured slightly.
Truthfully, meekly answering an enemy's questions would be the weird part.
In other words, this dialogue was perfectly natural.
He knew that full well.
However...
'...It's pissing me off a bit?'
He might seem laid-back due to his absolute strength, but strictly speaking, his patience wasn't that long.
He rarely needed it, finding answers himself in most situations.
'Why am I even bothering with polite talk?'
If he wanted answers, he could just force them out.
If that failed, crack open their mind like always.
Regaining his initial resolve, Hans heavily nodded.
No need to waste more time.
'Come forth.'
As his will moved...
Kkul-leong—
The ground below, now shrouded in shadows, rumbled massively.
And right after, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness, parting it like water.
'Heavenly Demon.'
With a face and build utterly familiar—impossible not to recognize—for those present.
Their bodies froze at the bizarre sight, having been warily watching the anomaly.
"Long time no see, strategist."
"...Cult Leader? I heard you were dead..."
"Must've heard nonsense somewhere. You should rip out that informant's tongue. As you see, I'm perfectly fine."
Even his strategist Yulhwan was no exception.
The Heavenly Demon—identical to life in every way—curled his lips, surveying the surroundings.
As if boasting his survival to the frozen subordinates staring his way.