Chapter 529
Chapter 529
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 529
Chapter Title: Omen of Catastrophe (3)
The middle-aged man's body staggered like a puppet with its strings severed before collapsing flat onto the floor.
Thud—
Not a shred of vitality remained within it.
The entity that had engulfed the entire northern half of the Korean Peninsula—an existence ranking at the pinnacle among transcendents purely by the danger of its ability—had perished pathetically, unable to mount even a semblance of resistance.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ But despite such a monumental achievement, Hans showed no particular reaction.
He simply gazed down at the corpse in silence—
[...Tch, resorting to such pathetic parlor tricks.]
—before spitting out a single remark laced with dissatisfaction.
"If you put it that way, it's a bit upsetting. Well, it was a parlor trick, to be fair."
An unfamiliar voice latched onto his mutter.
Hans's gaze shifted toward the source of the reply.
A young man in his twenties had suddenly appeared, clad in the uniform of a North Korean Party cadre.
But the moment Hans laid eyes on him, he instantly recognized who—or what—dwelled within.
[Kuhahat—using humans as playthings for puppets. Quite the refined hobby you've got there?]
The Usurper, North Korea's dominator.
He wasn't merely ruling this land as its leader.
Hundreds of Party cadres, Awakeners, and key national figures were wholly under his dominion.
To the extent that, should he will it, he could seize and wield their everything at any moment.
Naturally, that "everything" encompassed not just the host's life, but their abilities, unique skills, accumulated karma, and status as well.
"By the way, it looks like 'Last Scream' didn't land properly after all. It was one of my prouder moves."
A woman in her thirties, dressed in ostentatious garb, emerged behind the youth and picked up the thread with evident regret.
Hans glanced around at the Usurper's hosts materializing one by one, then raised the hand clutching something.
[Ah, so this is what you mean.]
An intangible something writhed desperately within his black-gloved fist.
But it couldn't endure the deathly aura assailing it from all sides for long, ultimately crumbling into oblivion.
[A karmic twist completed with one's own death as the trigger. Self-sacrifice... no, this reeks more of human offering. Using the host as the sacrifice?]
"Hah, you saw right through that too. Blocking Last Scream was one thing, but it seems Comrade Hwaetal has reached a far higher level than I'd imagined."
A bald Awakener in his thirties let out an impressed whistle.
As his primary host, the recently deceased middle-aged man had been among the highest-caliber Awakeners under his sway.
Not quite transcendent, but teetering on its brink—and unleashing a grand ritual with such a sacrifice should have been lethal even to one, yet he'd nullified it so effortlessly...
[Fuh, I am the sovereign of death. You thought a cheap trick keyed to death would work on me?]
"...Hm, I hadn't accounted for a scenario like this... What a headache. Death was the most reliable vector, but if that's sealed off... "
It signified that this Hwaetal's stature soared far beyond his projections.
No wonder the man had survived a direct clash with the Reverse Heaven Society Leader.
The hosts, calmly conceding their disadvantage, nodded in unison.
"No helping it, then. We'll push as far as we can."
Of course, admitting inferiority didn't equate to surrender.
Woooong—
A eerie vibration rippled through the now more than twenty gathered Awakeners.
Mental waves emanating from each body, unified under one mind, overlapped repeatedly, amplifying beyond their innate limits.
A forbidden technique ignited by expending elite Awakeners—each brimming with exceptional powers and vast karma.
Though the fleshly vessels lagged far behind in status, the transcendent mind inhabiting them forcibly hauled every one into elevated realms.
[Ho, now this is something.]
Hans uttered an exclamation as the colossal strain hammered his mental wards.
Impressive, even as mere reverberations without direct incursion.
The hosts' auras, surging explosively, were no less extraordinary.
'Body constraints impose limits, and that state won't hold long...'
An ordinary transcendent might well fall to them alone without much trouble.
...Naturally, such logic didn't apply to the decidedly unordinary Hans.
[Very well, still intent on resistance? Then you've left me no choice.]
Facing the Awakeners unleashing a barrage of abilities and skills upon him, an abyssal darkness began seeping from Hans's form.
Temperatures plummeted alongside the world's light dimming several shades, while air density spiked dramatically.
[Hah—no matter where you're skulking. If you plan to hole up till the bitter end...]
Within the all-consuming gloom, silhouettes rose one after another, their eyes agleam with chilling menace.
Each a nightmarish apex predator from their respective realms.
Horrific killing intent erupted from the elite undead who had endured face-to-face with the Reverse Heaven Society Leader.
"...No, hold on."
The advent of an utterly overwhelming force that screamed overkill.
The Usurper's hosts, mid-momentum swell, froze in collective dismay.
Already hard-pressed against one Hwaetal—now piling on these abominations? This was foul play, plain and simple.
[I'll yank that mind out by force!]
Hans, naturally, paid their reactions no heed.
For a Necromancer, summoning and commanding underlings was child's play.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "...As expected, a contest of raw power is beyond us."
The elderly man in the People's Army general's uniform gave a wry smile and shook his head.
He tugged his rank-insignia cap low over his brow, forcibly shrugging off the regret.
'Even so, I never dreamed we'd be brushed aside in a blink—without so much as a fight.'
The enemy's forces eclipsed his projections by leaps and bounds.
He'd figured even elites could stall for time, but who could've foreseen a mass summon of those monstrosities?
'I didn't deploy my full arsenal either.'
Intruding into the foe's psyche hadn't even crossed his mind.
Diving headlong into a superior's mental domain risked utter ruin if mishandled.
Recalling the fate of hosts snared by Hwaetal made it a hundredfold wise restraint.
Himself nearly dragged out forcibly, just as the bastard warned.
'No helping it. That freak Hwaetal trades blows with the Reverse Heaven Leader, after all.'
Still, he'd harbored faint hopes.
Luckily, he'd withdrawn his mind before those dread talons closed; a hair less prowess, and oblivion would've claimed him.
Time-buying was the goal from the outset—victory or defeat secondary.
'Collapsed too swiftly to be comfortable... but we kicked things off right. Should suffice.'
He had another battlefield tilted in his favor.
His gaze, steeped in madness, fixed on the resplendent carnival of steel and flame unfurling before him.
Kwarung—! Kwang—!
Ku-gu-gung—
Explosions akin to the heavens crumbling thundered in succession.
At last, with preparations complete, the artillery batteries unleashed their barrage.
Soldiers enthralled by his mental pulses charged ahead heedless of life and limb, slashing the timeline far ahead of schedule.
"Aah—such beauty... but still wanting. To drown the whole Peninsula in flames...!"
This opening salvo wasn't isolated here.
Every battery arrayed along the southern Military Demarcation Line fired in unison.
To repay every soul on this soil with the exact torment of his own losses.
'Ruin the Peninsula next—China. Reverse Heaven won't stand idle... but who cares anymore.'
Otherworld transfer ignored venue or circumstance.
Be it rotting in a political prison under exquisite torture en route to death...
Or betrayed by trusted neighbors, spurned by the South in pleas for aid, bereft of all cherished, reduced to curses and malice toward the world...
No exceptions.
Under his command, the troops maneuvered with mechanical precision.
Reloading and repositioning for follow-ups flashed by in instants; batteries belched fire without cease.
"Hm?"
Amid the seamless flow, a creeping dissonance twitched his eyes.
'What...?'
The tail end of the batteries strung along the ridgeline fell abruptly silent.
No—not just there.
An uncanny hush, birthed at the fringes, crept inexorably toward his position.
Pung! Pung—!
Cannon roars persisted, yet unresponsive guns multiplied, the din unmistakably waning.
'Responses... severed? What's going on here?'
Control over his marionettes frayed one by one.
Fresh mental pulses yielded zilch.
They dissipated futilely, as if neutralized outright.
For the first time since transcendence, this inconceivable crisis bulged his eyes.
And at last.
Creak.
As if some switch tripped, the frenzied soldiers encircling him halted en masse.
Those tweaking missile trajectories, piloting laden trucks, fingers hovering over launch amid prep.
All entranced, frozen mid-motion, vacant stares locked on a single point.
'This presence...?'
Solely the Usurper-possessed general remained unscathed here.
Pummeling waves in bids to reclaim dominion, he at last confronted the chaos's architect.
"...What in the world is that?"
A silhouette materialized abruptly at the battery cluster's heart.
A enigmatic woman, opaque veil mantling her under-eyes, her very form radiating bewitching allure.
At the scene's jarring unreality, he barked an unwitting scoff.
'Is that even human?'
As though overhearing, her languid sweep halted upon him.
"Oh? There you are."
Her tone brimmed with delight, as if spotting a long-lost paramour.
Yet the Usurper's visage only stiffened.
He intuited the voice's eldritch magnetism—his ability's antithesis.
"Hiding out here too, huh?"
A Demon King, hybrid succubus bloodline honed to mesmerize minds innately.
Hela beamed at the Usurper.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Boosters sprouting across its frame hurled the Titan supersonically forth.
Within, Hesperon clenched his jaw, rapidly parsing the data overlays in his vision.
'Damn it—I thought I'd mobilized at top speed. But the bastard moved even faster than predicted.'
This crisis couldn't be dumped solely on Hans; time was razor-thin.
As if premeditated from jump, the sequence from onset to climax had flashed by like lightning striking dry tinder.
'Makes sense, with the Usurper meddling. He can bypass all chains of command and trigger instantly.'
Transform soldiers into unflinching automatons too—his forecasts skewing was par for the course.
Hela's preemptive dispatch neutralized batteries piecemeal, but inevitable delays accrued.
'If only we'd tracked that fleeing mind from the host cleanly...'
The Usurper's unique skill outstripped estimates—fatal oversight.
Like 「Avatar」, skills iteratively fortified neared the miraculous; even Hans struggled pinning a paranoid quarry.
'Should've dispatched Hundo too—with 「Mind Communication」 and communion chakra!'
Regrets rang hollow now.
Launched missiles streaked hither; intercept before impact paramount.
...A profoundly bitter truth:
North Korea was a nuclear state.
Myriad crimson trajectories bloomed across the cockpit displays.
Not all warheads nuclear, certes—but some undoubtedly were.
Which meant...
'Not one can slip through.'
A single nuke breaching spelled apocalypse beyond remedy.
No room for scruples.
"Phew, alright. Let's do this."
After steeling himself midair hover, Hesperon exhaled sharply.
A handful of idiosyncratically formed silhouettes began coalescing around him.