Chapter 415
Chapter 415
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 415
Chapter Title: Demon World Great War (2)
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"...What?"
Hella's expression soured as she received the sudden news.
She was already swamped managing the front lines to keep them from collapsing everywhere and smoothly integrating the newly annexed territories. What was this bolt from the blue?
"How is that even possible?"
Her first reaction was disbelief.
No matter how powerful the Mad Dragon was, the Black Rock Duke was no pushover either.
He was the leader of a faction that had vied with Crusayer for supremacy at the top of the Demon World for ages.
For such a figure to fall so pathetically...
"Insane. Or has he completely given up?"
It meant the Mad Dragon Duke's scheme was anything but normal.
"We've lost contact with all the spies we planted under the Mad Dragon Duke. It seems..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [For now, I'll order all fronts to minimize accumulated damage and prepare for contingencies.] "Urgent report from a Demoniac survivor!"
The foundation of black magic was defying heaven.
Unlike conventional magic, which complied with the world's laws for efficient use, black magic twisted, deformed, and even directly opposed providence to achieve desired results.
Naturally, this came at a steep cost to the user.
Even wielding black mana alone corrupted the mind—a side effect of the practice.
Yet, for that immense burden, black magic granted otherworldly, destructive power.
And the most common way black mages distributed that burden was...
The more sacrifices offered as payment—and the greater their value—the more boundless the feats black magic could achieve.
About a millennium ago, a transcendent black mage had punched a hole into the abyss using sacrifices from several great cities—and even himself.
"...He didn't just sacrifice his own legions."
"Pardon? What do you...?"
Siana, standing nearby, asked in confusion at Hella's mutter, but Hella, lost in deep thought, didn't respond.
As the foremost authority on black magic in the dimensional realms, she was certain.
Yes, if that's the case, even overpowering a formidable foe like the Black Rock Duke in short order makes sense.
Most of the backlash from Immortal King Hans using black magic was borne by the "Immortal Heart."
Of course, possessing that heart carried its own colossal risks, so it wasn't entirely free.
Without "Mind Hub," his very existence would have been devoured long ago.
The Mad Dragon Duke had likely managed similarly until now.
A high dragon of his caliber could shrug off most costs.
But if he'd abandoned even self-preservation in utter desperation...
Sacrificing not just his followers, but himself—a transcendent high dragon who'd lived millennia, the Demon World's sole Mad Dragon, once called the strongest?
"...This just got complicated. I thought it'd wrap up easily when the Black Rock Duke reached out."
Hella sighed shortly, grimacing.
The result was the current chaos.
The prelude to the Demon World Great War had begun.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The war's nature had shifted.
From factional struggles over the Demon King's throne—
[Grrraaah!]
[Hungry... so hungry... cold... hungry...]
[Keeek! Ugh? Ack?]
To extermination battles against endless white monsters bursting from rifts in space.
"Hold the line!"
[No matter how many we kill, they keep coming.]
"Ngh—those monsters have insane mana resistance!"
One silver lining: this crisis let Helheim absorb many wandering demons who'd lost their anchors.
Each had reasons for drifting between factions, but they weren't fools.
Sticking with Hella beat being fodder for the Mad Dragon Duke, obviously. Helheim swelled rapidly with surrender requests pouring in.
To the point where no rival force could compare.
In that sense, this situation isn't all bad. The issue is how to deal with those monsters...
Where the Mad Dragon Duke's army had camped, only swarms of monsters remained.
Crusayer, the culprit and caster of this grand spell, had vanished.
They'd even checked the Dark Nest temple, but the underground ritual chamber's entrance was gone, as if its purpose was fulfilled—or relocated.
She figured the horde had limits; keep culling, and it'd end.
But that illusion shattered soon enough.
"...I see. So this was the goal from the start."
Unlike before, when the "Immortal King's Heart" and "Seed of Madness" appeared and vanished quickly.
These aberrant lifeforms poured infinitely across the Demon World from who-knows-where.
Devouring victims in their path, evolving into stronger horrors, they spread to engulf everything.
Already claiming 10% of the Demon World, it felt.
Crusayer, was this what you craved, wagering everything?
If the Demon God and Demon World rejected you.
If you could never become Demon King, no matter what.
Then you'd exterminate all life here and claim the world itself.
Hella's brow twitched, picturing the Mad Dragon no longer as a rival, but the world's invader.
So, you're flipping the board entirely?
The Demon King race was practically her victory already.
Crusayer's rampage was just sore-loser tantrum.
Which meant...
"This bastard's shitting on my perfectly laid table?"
The crude words slipped from her lovely lips.
But it was spot-on.
His pointless meltdown was damaging spoils that should've been hers intact.
For someone so possessive, unacceptable!
"...Playing dirty, huh?"
Cold light flashed in her red eyes.
If he fought filthy, no need for courtesy.
I tried playing by Demon World rules for the Demon King contest...
But if he broke them first, gloves off.
Davidson and Hesferon's faces briefly crossed her mind, but she didn't flinch.
The temple was cheating anyway—null and void, she rationalized.
And deploying her full arsenal? Trivial compared to that.
Yeah, I'm innocent. Everything from now on is your fault.
In an unrestricted, all-out war...
No one in this world could oppose her.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hey! Who the hell are you...?"
"Wait, idiot! That's Hella's emblem on his armband!"
"Oh? S-sorry!"
"I'll discipline this fool! Carry on!"
In the tense Demon World battlefield, monsters surging at every gap.
A figure in a black robe with armband, hood low, inspected a melting white corpse, then straightened.
[Hmm, got the gist. Time to get serious.]
With a casual step, he stood alone in an empty clearing.
A pre-marked coordinate, ringed with barriers.
Black aura erupted from him—black flames of mana mingled with pure death energy, blanketing the area.
[Kukuku—hide if you can.]
Then, a sinister voice echoed from below.
Explosive momentum surged outward.
Tracking the abyss's kin.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Another coordinate.
The opera-masked man pulled a vial from his robes, pouring its contents into his palm.
"...Hmph, quality's mediocre for its rank. Dragon blood, my ass."
He rubbed the liquid, frowning slightly...
*Lick.*
Then closed his eyes.
Hella's prize from the Mad Dragon Duke fight.
Vile contamination from self-modification, but he sought the power within—not the taint.
The blood sovereign.
Through the medium, he traced the source, gaze locking one way.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Such events unfolded across the Demon World, spaced deliberately.
Like divvying territories for precise searches.
One organism wove fearlessly through white monsters.
"Sniff sniff!"
"Chomp—munch—!"
"Grrrngh!"
Three heads worked furiously.
The three-headed hound dashed like wind, biting and sniffing monster flesh repeatedly.
Mystic runes glowed faintly under its fur.
Blood-mad crimson in one eye, emerald gleam in another, scanning ceaselessly.
"Sniff!"
The "Seed of Madness" within resonated with abyss-spawned monsters, tracing their origin swiftly.
—Demolished Demoniac base.
Seized by monsters after evicting demons, now lifeless.
Whoosh—
Amid melting monster remains.
A man with radiant sword and beautiful wings of light prayed silently, eyes shut.
A holy veil repelled even the Demon World's stagnant yin energy.
His eyes snapped open, golden radiance exploding like the sun.
—Stratosphere, where earthly things seemed tiny.
Roooar—
A figure in full flame-spewing suit overlooked the ground.
Then extended his sole uncovered arm; black-stained bandages unraveled.
Geometric runes etched skin-deep, writhing black dragon.
Gazing at the curse-worthy limb, he sighed softly.
"...Hoo, find it."
[GRRAAAAAH—!]
With the command, the sealed dark soul freed—a former Demon King unleashed under the Demon World's violet sky.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ —The final preset coordinate.
"Sniff!"
A golden-haired child, seeming seven or eight, snorted back snot.
Air didn't suit him for long, but not a finicky high elf—short stay fine.
Fwosh—!
Flash of light; mid-sized car dragonet appeared.
The lustrous orb in its mouth glowed, body growing.
Don't know its clan...
Dragons shared some communion regardless of kin.
World balance demanded it.
Not perfect against an impure dragon, but pinpointing sufficed.
Others tracked the target too.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Hella's eyes flew open from meditation.
She rose, stretched lightly, and walked off.
"Lady Hella? Where to?"
Siana hurried after, amid monster frenzy; the shut-in suddenly moving warranted it.
Hella glanced casually, replying calmly.
"Tell the kids to hold as best they can. I'll finish quick and return."
"...Pardon?"
Hella grinned brightly at Siana's blank stare.
"Found where the bastard's hiding."
Tracking a determinedly concealed Crusayer wasn't easy.
Despite myriad methods, scant leads.
But linked pursuits across the Demon World rendered it futile.
Demon World map in her mind.
Six—no, seven including her—traces converged.
Overlaps refined, gaps filled; probes from seven points pinpointed one.
The sole intersection coordinate.
Wonder what sorry state he's in? Let's see that face.
Less than an hour since activating "Gather Individuals" in meditation.