Chapter 284
Chapter 284
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 284
Chapter Title: 4 Great Demon Kings (2)
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Mana erupted from the Dragon Heart, spreading throughout Iota's entire body.
Crack.
With the sound of bones twisting, Iota's physique began to change.
His scrawny shoulders split wide open, and his chest muscles swelled massively. His spindly limbs thickened to an unbelievable degree.
The body that had seemed like it would snap in a mere breeze transformed into a muscular frame that could withstand even a typhoon.
-Kuh, it's been a while since I've awakened this flesh.
Even his voice had changed.
The childish, carefree tone deepened into something thick and solemn.
It wasn't just his appearance that had altered.
An immense vitality now emanated from Iota. It felt like gazing at a volcano on the verge of eruption, boiling with energy ready to explode at any moment.
Undead weren't supposed to possess life force. Yet here was the impossible unfolding before their eyes.
-Demian Haksen, now I'll smash you to pieces.
Iota slowly raised both hands. He lifted them to his face and began folding his fingers starting from the pinkies.
A fist.
The moment it formed, Iota kicked off the ground with both feet.
He shot forward in a straight line, thrusting his fist at Demian.
Demian twisted his waist to the side, dodging the punch. The debris behind him was obliterated.
Even though the fist hadn't connected. It was purely the shockwave from the blow.
Iota retracted his extended fist. He stepped forward, closing in on Demian.
A barrage followed.
Each time Iota threw a punch, buildings shattered from the pressure.
These weren't instinctive attacks like those of a monster. They had proper form and technique.
Shockingly, Iota was employing fist fighting arts.
-Amazed? Well, everyone always saw me as just a brute monster!
Iota shouted in excitement.
-I'm no idiot who relies solely on raw strength! I've mastered techniques no one else can match! Even Master Class fighters would scoff at them!
Demian's mind flashed back to the past at Iota's declaration.
[Demian Haksen, my knight, do you see? These are the greatest masterpieces I've created.]
Back when he was a Death Knight, Dorgo had summoned Demian to introduce the Four Great Demon Kings.
[Of course, they're nowhere near your level! Still, these four are worthy of the title of strongest.]
True to his words, the Four Great Demon Kings had racked up tremendous achievements.
In every war, they slaughtered tens of thousands of soldiers. They piled up mountains of corpses and feasted gleefully on souls.
Their brutality was so repulsive that it was hard to stomach. Demian had barely suppressed his urge to vomit.
[Actually, I've spent the last few hundred years trying to perfect these guys, but I failed. I couldn't create souls worthy of these bodies. But recently, I finally succeeded. Do you know the secret?]
Demian hadn't cared in the slightest. But at the time, his ego had been sealed by Dorgo.
Trapped within his own body, Demian had no choice but to listen to Dorgo's ramblings.
[It was thanks to you.]
An unwelcome truth forced its way into his ears.
[These guys were made by mimicking your soul. Thanks to that, they inherited a fraction of your genius. Just scraps, mind you.]
How could he even describe the disgust Demian had felt upon hearing that?
He was already Dorgo's slave, massacring innocents. He'd slain noble knights and desecrated their bodies.
And now, these horrific monsters had been born because of him.
[In a way, you could call these our children.]
That memory surged up, igniting a fierce emotion deep in Demian's chest.
Getting swept up in passion mid-battle was the mark of an amateur.
But this time, he couldn't hold it back. Demian's eyes turned bloodshot.
-How long do you plan to keep running?!
Iota bellowed, swinging his fist at Demian's face.
In that instant, the scenery before him blurred past. At the same time, Iota's head slammed into the ground.
-...Huh?
Iota wore an expression of utter confusion.
It was no wonder. He was the one who had thrown the punch, so why...?
Iota lifted his head. Dirt clinging to his face fell to the ground.
There stood Demian, fist clenched.
"It's really something, isn't it?"
Demian spoke as he stored Yeomyeong back into his subspace.
"Every time I'm tangled up with you lot, it sours my mood. And it keeps hitting new highs."
A swordsman dropping his sword mid-fight?
Iota cocked his head at the incomprehensible action.
-Demian Haksen, have you lost your mind?
Demian ignored him. Instead, he began weaving the mana flowing through his body.
Demian had pored over the countless secret manuals stored in the Holy Order.
As a result, he achieved a minor breakthrough.
He had successfully merged and evolved all the mana cultivation methods he had learned into one.
Tyrant's Power Accumulation Technique, Face of Iron Skin, Crimson Star Radiance Pill, Harmonizing Infinite Art.
Plus the myriad secret manuals from the Holy Order.
He fused them all into a single mana cultivation method.
Five Wheels Harmony Art (悟輪調和功).
Demian spun the woven mana. Soon, a single circuit formed within his body.
"One Wheel."
Not a rotation, but a wheel.
Unlike the Harmonizing Infinite Art, no resonance hummed.
Instead, all the mana around him was sucked toward Demian.
External and internal cycled together.
Body and mana cycled together.
Finally, it all unified into one cycle.
"As payback for dredging up those shitty memories, I'll beat you to death."
Blue flames ignited in Demian's eyes.
-It won't make a difference...
Iota's face caved in as he was sent flying backward. Demian had closed the gap and thrown the punch.
-Kraaak!
But thanks to the dragon scales, the damage wasn't severe.
Iota quickly regained his senses and swung at Demian.
Or tried to. If Demian had still been in front of him.
-Where the hell... Gahk!
An elbow had buried itself in his solar plexus. The impact bent Iota's waist.
-I told you it's useless!
Iota reached for Demian, intending to grab him and smash him into the ground.
That's when Demian unleashed a punch from the opposite side. It struck Iota's solar plexus again.
In that moment, a thunderous boom erupted from within Iota's body. He spat blood and was pushed back.
Demian immediately kicked off the ground. He leaped diagonally, driving his knee into Iota's eye.
The bones around the eye shattered, and the eyeball burst. Red blood sprayed everywhere.
-Kyaaak!
A scream tore from Iota's mouth. He clutched his ruined eye with his palm and yelled.
-This... this can't be! How could I... lose to a mere human?!
Five Wheels Harmony Art.
The new mana cultivation method Demian had created granted explosive speed and power.
Enough to overwhelm even Iota, who had awakened his dragon flesh.
-Don't get cocky! I can still get stronger!
Iota pulsed his heart, drawing out more of the dragon's mana.
His movements accelerated. Afterimages trailed with every step.
Countless afterimages surrounded Demian Haksen. They all swung fists simultaneously.
Impossible to discern illusion from reality.
But the moment he extended his punch, Iota felt the sky flip upside down.
Before he could comprehend it, heaven and earth inverted. He crashed into the ground.
Iota's body was tougher than the earth, so the impact was minimal. But the follow-up attack was the problem.
Demian raised his foot. Ominous mana gathered at the sole.
-Demian Haksen...!
The moment Iota screamed in hatred, Demian stomped down with full force.
Shattering Wave.
The Fortress Breaker realm amplified the shock exponentially.
A deafening explosion ripped through as the ground shattered in a chain reaction. A deep crater formed in the fortress's center.
Dust billowed up from the crater's depths. Someone emerged from within.
"Hoo, now I'm starting to feel better."
Demian brushed the dirt from his clothes.
"I'm not usually this irritable. It's just that dealing with Dorgo and his crap pisses me off like nothing else."
Demian was muttering his brief complaint when mana erupted from the crater. A colossal pillar of power pierced the sky.
A massive roar echoed at the same time. Clouds streaming across the heavens tore apart and vanished.
Something thrust up from the crater.
It was gigantic, like a giant's arm. But unlike a true giant's limb, scales covered the entire forearm.
It resembled the dragons from legend.
-Demian Haksen!
The voice booming from the crater shook the entire world.
-Stay right there! I'll devour you the moment I get up!
Something began rising from the crater. The ground trembled just from its movement.
"Yeah, you're not going down that easily."
Demian opened his subspace and drew Yeomyeong.
He was done venting. Now it was time to kill the bastard for real.
That's when it happened.
The sky split open longwise, then tore wide to either side.
The rift didn't reveal the fortress—it showed a landscape thick with forest.
Three figures emerged from within: two men and a woman.
All beautiful, yet somehow unnatural. Above all, they exuded an inexplicable revulsion.
Seeing them, Demian murmured softly.
"...Epsilon, Lambda, Theta."
Few in the present day would know those names.
They weren't supposed to exist in this era.
The Four Great Demon Kings.
The nightmares of the War of Ruin had appeared.