Chapter 355
Chapter 355
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 355
Chapter Title: Heavenly Mechanism Demon Immortal (1)
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A ripple of unrest began to spread among the demonic cultists.
"...Lord Cult Leader?"
"Could he be a fake...? No, this aura is unmistakably the Heavenly Demon Divine Art of the Lord Cult Leader..."
"Is he really alive? Then does that mean the Strategist lied to us?"
Why had they severed contact with the Heavenly Demon Divine Church's headquarters and followed the Strategist into this mess?
Wasn't it to avoid being toyed with any longer by the enemy who had murdered their lord—the Heavenly Demon, the Cult Leader—and seized his position? To avenge their sovereign who had led them and restore the church to its former glory!
Now confronted with a situation that shook that very cause to its roots, even those who had struggled to maintain their composure amid the sudden war could no longer hide their bewilderment.
For the moment, the effect was confined to a portion of the battlefield, but if left unchecked, it would soon spread to the entire force.
"No, that's not the Cult Leader."
In that moment, a low voice from an elderly man drew all eyes to him at once.
The Strategist, Yahul Hwan, stared silently at the Heavenly Demon with his saurian yellow eyes.
With conviction in his tone, he spoke.
"...A jiangshi? Hah, impressive indeed. A jiangshi that not only possesses a sense of self but mimics the aura from life so convincingly it pretends to be among the living. Heh heh heh."
He let out a disbelieving chuckle, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.
He himself had been briefly taken aback by how much effort had gone into it, but upon closer inspection, the anomalies were clear.
Like that Ma Wang fellow, it was merely cloaked in artificially created vitality, but the unmistakable aura of death—something no living being could possess—saturated its core.
"Calling a perfectly alive person a jiangshi. It seems the Strategist has been under a lot of strain lately. I understand given the circumstances, but still."
"Ho, so you're saying he's the real Heavenly Demon?"
"Can't you tell just by looking? Tsk, he's gone senile good and proper."
"Hmmm... It seems his memory isn't fully intact. Looks like he scraped together some info from somewhere to impersonate the Cult Leader, but that might fool lowly warriors. It won't work on us who've spent years by his side."
"......"
Just as he said.
The demonic cultists who had been in turmoil moments ago now narrowed their eyes, watching the Heavenly Demon intently.
Sharp glints flashed in their gazes, as if determined not to miss a single movement.
'...Damn, I had my hopes up, but it looks like it's no good after all.'
Hans grimaced slightly at the sudden shift in the atmosphere around him.
He had injected it with memories extracted from the real Heavenly Demon and various cultists, thinking he'd done a decent job of imitation, but apparently, it wasn't nearly enough to fool those close aides.
'Reviving the dead exactly as they were is impossible, even for me now.'
Undead were, by nature, concentrations of grudges from their human days, twisted and corrupted.
While he could awaken divinity and make use of the body somehow, fully replicating the soul and ego of someone who had reached the pinnacle of the Profound Realm—and was even an apostle of the Oath of Reverse Heaven—was utterly beyond him.
"Tch. I thought I might get away easy."
Hans clicked his tongue as he looked down at the demonic cultists, their hostility now visibly rising as a conclusion was reached.
He had wanted to take them in as intact as possible, but that seemed like too much to ask.
In that case, all that remained was to demonstrate his power in earnest.
Shring—
As Hans's will transmitted, the actor who had stepped forward—the Heavenly Demon jiangshi—drew the fine sword from its waist.
"No helping it. Guiding my subordinates lost to demonic possession and delusion is also the duty of a Cult Leader."
It continued its passionate performance, refusing to give up until the end.
'Well, thinking about it, getting their recognition isn't all that important anyway.'
Just look at how Hans had come to dominate the Heavenly Demon Divine Church.
Had those there followed him because he was the Heavenly Demon?
No, not at all!
What mattered now wasn't some flimsy justification like that.
'Only force. As long as I have overwhelming power to bend everything to my will, nothing else matters.'
If they wouldn't acknowledge it, he'd make them acknowledge it by force.
If he declared that jiangshi the Heavenly Demon, then from that moment, it was the Heavenly Demon, no matter what anyone said.
Sure, there would be some loss of manpower in the process, but he had more than enough strength to see his will through.
Rooooar—
Pitch-black energy surged from the Heavenly Demon's body in thick streams.
It was the aura stemming from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the signature technique symbolizing the Heavenly Demon Divine Church's leader, but its nature differed slightly from the inner energy he had wielded in life.
Darker and more sinister than before, it was a destructive force thick with the stench of death.
And that wasn't all backing his prowess.
The unique skill Heavenly Killing Star, which aided all combat-related actions including martial arts at the cost of mental side effects.
Activated through some method, it compensated for the unavoidable decline from the ego's corruption and instead pushed every potential in the body to extremes beyond limits.
The Heavenly Demon, cloaked in black flame-like sword aura across his entire body, smiled ferociously and flicked his sword.
"The beasts I raised to fight outsiders now turn on their master. No choice but to wield the whip."
Kwaaa—
As a ferocious storm erupted and blade-like momentum began shredding in all directions, those nearby hurriedly fell back.
A phenomenon caused merely by unleashing his energy.
The one-eyed elder, the Ghost Sword Demon Emperor, who had been quietly observing, stepped forward with a rigidly tense face.
"...Strategist, do you know what that is? It defies all common sense. Even if the Cult Leader was on the verge of ascension, it's still just a jiangshi... Doesn't it feel like the Cult Leader has come back to life?"
"Hah, no clue at all. What otherworldly sorcery could make this possible? An army of the dead wielding their full lifetime power without degradation. Heh! ...If I had that power..."
"Strategist?"
The Ghost Sword Demon Emperor frowned at the trailing words, but Yahul Hwan's mouth stayed shut.
He merely alternated his strange gaze between the Heavenly Demon and Hans.
"Enough chit-chat. Any further conversation—"
The Heavenly Demon's low voice cut through their exchange, resounding across the field.
Immediately after, the sword wrapped in blazing black sword aura like burning flames slowly rose toward the sky.
"—will happen after you kneel before me."
The momentum shot up over ten meters as if piercing the heavens, then came crashing straight down.
Kwaaaang—!
The ground split with a deafening roar and earthquake-like tremors.
It was the signal flare for the all-out clash between the two sides' full forces.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Kugugung—
One step.
The surrounding atmosphere compressed, forcing those resisting to their knees in prostration.
Shaaa—!
One sword.
Those blocking the path split apart with space itself, foul blood spraying everywhere.
Kwaang!
One hand.
The one-eyed elder barely countered with a groan, sent flying back.
The Blood Demon jiangshi and numerous Heavenly Elite jiangshi followed in his wake, but even they could only just hold the line.
Rather, their departure created gaps in manpower, causing other parts of the battlefield to be relentlessly pushed back.
All these changes stemmed from the jiangshi wearing the Heavenly Demon's guise newly entering the fray.
'This is bad.'
At the sight, the Heavenly Mechanism Demon Immortal Yahul Hwan grimaced and shook his head.
The Heavenly Demon was the undisputed supreme master under heaven.
For such a figure to appear without any loss in ability—no, perhaps even stronger in lethality—it could be said this situation had been foreseeable.
"Kukuku—Still got some leisure, huh? Daydreaming right in front of me."
Of course, now wasn't the time to watch from the sidelines like an outsider.
Death in human form was striding right up to him.
"Heh heh heh, not leisure. Just pondering how to turn this around. But... no answers in sight."
"I am magnanimous. And I quite like talented people who know their place. If you grovel now, I might let it slide."
"Oh! Tempting offer, but..."
Their conversation continued in a bizarre calm, as if detached from the chaotic battlefield around them.
But their situation was far from peaceful on the surface.
Pajijik— Pajik—!
Sparks continually erupted at the spatial boundary, resisting the encroaching aura of death.
Yet that boundary was visibly receding, and it was clear it wouldn't hold long before being consumed by death.
"Still, I don't think that'll work. My nature won't let me stomach someone above me."
At that moment, the carefree laughter faded from Yahul Hwan's yellow eyes as they gleamed strangely.
It was not the look of one resigned to defeat.
"Ho? Yet you've served the Heavenly Demon for ages."
"Ah, that? Well, that's no big deal."
The energy within the elder's body began to writhe.
Vast power swelled, shedding the restraints binding his form.
"He was the only one in this world shielded by that 'otherworldly divinity' who could conceal my existence. Staying by his side let me rack up karma easily. And above all..."
No trace of his prior immortal sage demeanor remained in his continuing words.
Moreover, the energy expanding far beyond expectations bloated grotesquely.
"Wouldn't I need to put in that much effort for the best emergency rations?"
Greed and hunger twisted into madness flickered across his grinning face.
Hans's eyes narrowed at the sight.
The final boss of this Kanghwan Realm, the Heavenly Demon, had long since been dealt with.
Or so he thought...
'The mid-boss I thought was actually the hidden boss?'
Hans's mind raced.
The Heavenly Demon, stripped of his dragon heart by the Oath of Reverse Heaven's leader and an apostle born of settlers, seeking to devour this world.
Their intent was obvious: colonize this world to elevate their divinity further.
'...But who would've thought there was someone preparing to stab them in the back from much earlier.'
The enigmatic yokai—Yahul Hwan, Heavenly Mechanism Demon Immortal—who had served as the Heavenly Demon Divine Church's Strategist for decades, overseeing all activities from right beside him, aiding his growth.
How grand a scheme had he been plotting?
Even willing to let the world he lived in crumble, all to help the Heavenly Demon surpass his limits.
"Of course, you struck first and ruined my long-laid plans."
"Pfft—Sorry about that."
"Not content with that, you chased me here to meddle... How could I possibly follow you?"
"Hmmm, so what's your point? No surrender, fight to the end?"
"Heh heh heh, you could see it that way."
Yahul Hwan's form distorted and collapsed as he replied nonchalantly.
Yet his mouth kept moving relentlessly.
"With things as they are, I can't afford to hold back either."
His human shape vanished completely, his body surging upward rapidly.
In an instant, it exceeded ten meters and kept climbing.
Kwaduduk—
Hans stepped back slightly, watching with narrowed eyes.
'...Attacks aren't landing.'
True to habit, he had slammed death mana into it the moment the transformation began, but this time, some strange principle deflected it—no proper hit.
They said this world's main god was the Dragon God; apparently, some world law tied to that was at play.
[No need to hide my identity struggling in a situation like this.]
But that was only for a fleeting instant.
In the blink of an eye, the fully transformed being gazed down from above.
A long body covered in scales, bulging eyes, razor-sharp teeth, and horns thrusting upward.
As Hans had suspected, it took the form of a dragon.
What he hadn't anticipated, however...
"...A hydra? No, a six-headed dragon."
Was that it had more than one head writhing about.
And not just any six heads.
Red, blue, white, black, yellow—and at the center, a green one.
Each of the six heads even clutched its own yeouiju orb.
'Dragons only have one yeouiju each, right...?'
As Hans furrowed his brow at the discrepancy from the intel via Horus.
The fierce battle raging across the battlefield halted abruptly at the sudden appearance of the colossal monster dragon in its midst.
[No choice now. No, this is perfect. I'll devour you and seize that otherworldly sorcery too! With that power added to mine, no more need to hold back!]
Kwarurung—!
A storm whipped up by the six-headed dragon's roar shook the atmosphere violently.
The true hidden boss of the Kanghwan Realm had revealed itself.