Chapter 412
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 412
Chapter Title: New Weapon (6)
It wasn't just one. There were two.
Rokan hadn't expected the Nether Realm to commit this much force, but perhaps because he'd just powered up, he oddly didn't feel much sense of crisis.
“Long time no see.”
“Long time no see? You gonna spin more of your bullshit with that foul mouth of yours!”
The one who snarled back at Rokan's friendly greeting was none other than the White Flame King.
He'd been the first to make contact with Rokan and even gave him a quest that allowed him to collect the soul orbs, but since he'd been betrayed—or not quite betrayed—it was only natural for him to explode like that.
But Rokan's thinking was a bit different.
‘Smoke screen?’
He could understand the other kings of the Nether Realm to some extent. They'd had their souls from their domains stolen and toyed with under the guise of an auction.
But the White Flame King? No. He'd actually profited.
Since the kings of the Nether Realm were on similar levels, losing soul orbs evenly at the auction meant little to each other, but he had the White Soul Tower.
A base on the surface world that served as an antenna to collect surface souls.
Even if the surface world's level was lower than the heavens, there were plenty of beings around levels 300 to 350, so the gains he'd quietly pocketed must have been substantial.
"You're saying some harsh words. This was all meant to get us on friendly terms. What if I gave them all to one guy and sparked a war?"
“Shut your mouth!”
Rokan tossed out a half-joking remark, but all he got back was a vicious roar.
He shrugged in response.
Rokan had sensed it too—the situation was beyond salvaging through talk.
They'd chased him all the way here to punish him, not to reclaim the soul orbs, right?
They had to know he’d used up all the soul orbs and essence of power.
Zzzzzzzt!
No questions asked.
That left just one thing they were after.
Rokan's divinity.
He'd only just built his world, but they intended to kill him and recover whatever divinity they could, unleashing their powers.
Due to the trait of users who could revive infinitely, from level 400 onward, death dropped a portion of one's divinity, just like it dropped experience before that. Like it had with the apostles.
From level 450, the scale was even greater.
One-tenth of their divinity vanished, making even a single death a massive blow.
“World: Night of a Hundred Ghosts.”
“World: Demon Dominion.”
That was why they were gearing up to kill Rokan over and over.
Proof lay in the powers they invoked.
From the start, they'd used their divinity and world powers to pressure Rokan with full force.
“Oh ho?”
[World: Night of a Hundred Ghosts confirmed.]
[World: Demon Dominion confirmed.]
They didn't hesitate to reveal their own worlds.
It must have been because the power Rokan had shown before felt far from negligible.
But they were overlooking one thing.
If the fight dragged into a clash of world powers, they might crush and invade if Rokan hastily revealed his own world out of impatience—but he had no such intention.
Tyrant's Battle Axe.
Rokan had more than enough skill to handle them with just that one weapon.
But he didn't even use that.
A better idea had come to him.
“Wish Token, use.”
“......?”
“......!”
The Black Flame King floated a question mark, while the White Flame King floated an exclamation point.
Wish Token.
It was like a blank contract.
As long as it didn't involve their existence or make them lose divinity, it forced compliance with whatever Rokan demanded—like an absolute command.
They'd handed it over thinking it was just a human's wish, using the White Soul Tower's construction as the condition, but now it was turning into a dagger aimed at them.
“White Flame King, kill the Black Flame King. Right now. That's my wish.”
“Damn it!”
Kwaaaaang!
The White Flame King's body moved on its own.
If their powers had been perfectly equal or if the White Flame King's divinity had been lower, it might have been nullified, but the White Flame King had steadily amplified his divinity through the White Soul Tower.
He'd kept it hidden from the other kings, but his divinity had grown to the point where he barely needed soul orbs anymore.
That was why he'd volunteered for this expedition.
Not to recover or claim the soul orbs himself, but to sabotage the other kings from getting them.
Thus, the White Flame King's world, Night of a Hundred Ghosts, targeted the Black Flame King.
Countless spirits belonging to the soul world ambushed him out of nowhere, starting to devour his demons.
“White Flame King, what the hell are you doing!”
“I can't help it, Black Flame King. I can't let my existence scatter!”
For something he "couldn't help," he wielded his power ferociously.
If he truly had no intent to harm him, he'd put on a show of a moderate fight and buy the Black Flame King an opening to attack Rokan—but he saw this as his chance too.
Kill the Black Flame King here and take his divinity and world? It would create a massive gap no soul orbs could fill.
Even if the remaining three Nether Realm kings ganged up, he'd gain power strong enough to face them alone.
Plus, Rokan had already used his Wish Token.
He couldn't wish to be spared or not attacked, so the White Flame King resolved to devour his divinity too and stop him.
Pretending to be overwhelmed, he began attacking the Black Flame King with full power.
“Kyaarrrgh!”
But the Black Flame King's resistance was no joke either.
There was a divinity gap, but they'd always had an implicit non-aggression pact as equals with knowledge of each other.
A war of attrition would mean defeat, but he could hold out for quite a while and even escape.
“Divinity Barrier.”
At that moment, Rokan, who had been spectating the fight, unleashed his divinity.
He mimicked what the Blue Dragon and apostles had used. Or closer to what Wild Storm had done.
Not quite a Colosseum, but a circular barrier trapped all three of them inside.
It was awkward since it was a power utterly different from destruction, but a reasonably sturdy barrier formed that blocked long-range spatial movement.
“Heh heh heh heh, you're digging your own grave!”
The Black Flame King tensed at the barrier's appearance, while the White Flame King showed madness.
He'd already planned to devour this guy and deal with Rokan, and now he'd boxed himself in.
Even if crude, a barrier tough enough to withstand the battle's aftermath would have consumed no small amount of divinity.
For Rokan, who'd only just reached Majesty Mastery, this must have depleted a huge chunk of his divinity.
Thinking everything was flowing in his favor, he no longer hid his fangs and fully revealed his power.
“How do you have this much divinity......! White Flame King, you were deceiving us all! Colluding with this human......!”
Puuung!
The White Flame King straight-up overwhelmed the Black Flame King with raw power and divinity.
As if declaring he wouldn't lose in a contest of strength, he unleashed all his hidden divinity to crush him.
The Black Flame King and his minions resisted desperately, but they couldn't avoid being pushed back bit by bit.
His world tangled with the other, demons snatched away one by one, only to fuel the White Flame King's power.
And the moment the Black Flame King's massive form began to crumple under the pressure, a single ray of light struck the White Flame King's back.
“Did you think I was just gonna watch?”
Gooooooo.
Rokan, having awakened all his power in the meantime, unleashed his first strike.
The ultimate blow infused with all his strength, skills, and even divinity.
Transcendent force bored into the White Flame King's body.
An unknown power like a black hole devoured his soul and divinity, swelling even stronger.
“Kraaaagh!”
It was partly because he'd been focused on the Black Flame King, but also because Rokan had approached using a power that concealed his presence and divinity.
Now that he'd gotten a feel for wielding divinity, it was possible.
“Damn human bastard!”
The White Flame King shook off the pain and retreated.
But his divinity had already taken heavy damage.
In a 2-on-1 from here, even he couldn't be confident.
“Oh, you're holding up well? Tch, still can't control the output.”
He'd missed a golden opportunity, but Rokan's face was full of leisure. The strike had been purely experimental.
He'd gained freedom in using divinity, but he still lacked data on how much to pour in for a given impact—so he'd tested a moderate amount, but it fell a bit short.
[Divinity: 3,000,000 consumed.]
Three million for one strike—seemed absurdly wasteful, but the power satisfied him plenty.
So what if he used five million, or ten?
With divinity to spare, Rokan twirled the Tyrant's Battle Axe with a relaxed expression, making both the White Flame King and Black Flame King hesitate.
The White Flame King because he couldn't gauge Rokan's capabilities, the Black Flame King because he couldn't tell who was enemy and who was ally.
“I'll say it clearly: you started this fight, White Flame King. I didn't want to battle the Nether Realm.”
Rokan tossed out a line exploiting that psychology.
Then, ignoring the Black Flame King's wariness, he charged at the White Flame King.
“Damn it, I'll help you for now!”
This flipped the Black Flame King's judgment.
His earlier suspicion that Rokan was using the White Flame King to backstab him reversed 180 degrees—he now thought Rokan was using him to kill the White Flame King.
He started believing that maybe, as Rokan said, he didn't want to make enemies of the Nether Realm.
That was why he'd fled and sought refuge in Yanken's domain, which countered them.
An idea unbecoming of a Nether Realm king infamous for wicked schemes, but one only possible because they'd lived as the strong.
The complacent, arrogant thought that he surely wouldn't want to fight them.
As the Black Flame King shifted from attacking both to supporting him, Rokan's lips twitched upward.
He didn't fully trust the bastard, but he swung the Battle Axe much more freely now.
“Shatter!”
Tyrannical, violent divinity pierced the White Flame King's soul.
It shattered his world and tore his divinity apart.
Transcendent aftereffects? A bit of divinity investment reset all skill cooldowns.
“Kraaaagh!”
The White Flame King hastily rallied his divinity, but his soul- and spirit-based authority didn't faze Rokan.
Unyielding Will.
Blocked by that all-purpose power, it had no effect, leaving him helplessly sliced apart.
Piece by piece.
The shaved-off divinity all flowed into Rokan's body, and the moment it fell below the Black Flame King's, Rokan struck again.
“Guh......! Why the hell......!”
Even as the Black Flame King shifted from support to more aggressive assault, his head came clean off.