Chapter 399: Alexander (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 399: Alexander (4)
This world.
The Earthly World, inhabited by humans, did not permit access from other dimensions.
It was a strict boundary established by the Chief God. Even if a passage to the Demon Realm were somehow opened, it was bound to vanish instantly. However, the passage Alexander revealed was different. Though it was too small and fractured for living creatures to cross, it was completely assimilating into the Earthly World.
Rumble.
Magic power surged.
Bolstered by the magic power bleeding from the Demon Realm passage, Alexander’s presence swelled. His eyes gleamed with a sinister light.
"My children, accept the blessing of darkness."
"Aaaargh!"
"Grrr."
The dead, brought back by Revive, let out harsh cries.
Their flesh writhed and swelled. One by one, those who had been mere ordinary soldiers mutated into forms comparable to giant monsters. The passage to the Demon Realm was not yet perfect, which was why he had bided his time. Yet, the change wrought upon the Earthly World by even a mere fraction of its power was dramatic.
Beyond the rift.
There lay the source of darkness.
Its mere existence explosively amplified the power of Alexander and his undead army.
"Roman Dmitry. You likely pride yourself on being the strongest human. If I were still bound by human standards, I might have lost to you. But look at me now. By accepting the power of the Demon Realm, I have reached a realm that mere mortals like you cannot even dare to covet."
Whoosh.
Magic power boiled.
As it cascaded in all directions, Alexander bared his naked hostility.
"So kneel before this grim reality."
"Kieeeek!"
"Grrr."
The dead lunged.
Swarming in numbers great enough to dye the surroundings black, the countless corpses bared their sharp fangs at Roman Dmitry all at once. It was a spectacular, horrifying sight. As they crashed down like a surging wave, Alexander spread his arms wide.
"Dark Punishment."
Boom!
Ruuuumble!
Dark Mana exploded.
The magic power drawn from the passage manifested through Alexander, sweeping forward in a devastating vortex.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The air tore apart.
The moment the dead swarmed Roman Dmitry, the Dark Mana shredded every being in the vicinity, sparing neither ally nor foe. It was an immense, indiscriminate destructive force. The giant undead were brutally ripped to pieces, yet even in that state, they tenaciously clawed at Roman Dmitry with whatever limbs they had left.
"Screeech!"
Flash.
Roman cut down the attacking dead one after another.
Their tough hides were effortlessly sliced apart as he faced the violently rushing Dark Mana head-on.
Crash!
Ruuumble!
A wave of power rippled outward.
His exploding aura pushed back the Dark Mana. He charged straight at Alexander, cleaving through every undead creature in his path. His speed made one doubt he was human. With every blink of an eye, the distance between them rapidly shrank, but a wide grin spread across Alexander's face.
"Yes, struggle to the bitter end."
Whoosh.
He clenched his fist.
Following his gesture, the Dark Mana swirled and transformed into thousands of sharp thorns, raining down upon Roman Dmitry.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Clang! Clang!
It was a fierce clash.
Despite the countless attacks raining down faster than the naked eye could track, Roman Dmitry did not allow a single blow to land. The dead threw themselves into the storm of Dark Mana just to reach him. It was an endless onslaught. No matter how many he cut down, more appeared. Even when he unleashed the Heavenly Demon Sword Technique to obliterate the surrounding space, more of the dead rushed in to fill the void.
That was not all.
Even the undead that had been torn to shreds began to regenerate.
As long as Dark Mana flowed from the Demon Realm passage, they would continuously heal and attack.
"Khehehe, how is it? This is merely a fraction of the future I envision. Foolish human. Accept reality. No matter how much you struggle, the fate of this world has already been decided. Illusion."
Shhh.
Alexander's presence split.
What started as two became four, then eight, multiplying until there were dozens of him.
And then.
"Hellfire."
Whoosh.
Roar!
They cast the magic simultaneously.
As thirty-two Alexanders unleashed Hellfire, a scorching blaze swept forward all at once, as if the world were being plunged into a fiery hell. It was a terrifying sight. Alexander was certain that even Roman Dmitry, despite his resistance to fire, could not guarantee his survival if caught in an inferno of this magnitude.
"Screeech!"
"Aaaargh!"
At the same time, the dead clung to Roman.
They threw their bodies at him to prevent his escape.
Even knowing they would be incinerated alongside him, the dead attacked relentlessly.
Finally.
Boom!
Roaaar!
The flames descended.
Seeing Roman Dmitry swallowed by the fire, Alexander wore a smile of pure ecstasy.
* * *
In that split second, Roman Dmitry could have avoided it.
But he did not.
Amidst the violently swirling flames and the explosively amplifying Dark Mana, memories of his past life surfaced in his mind. Roman Dmitry chose to let the fire consume him.
Boom!
Roaaar!
Intense heat washed over him.
Though he had reached the realm of Immunity to Heat and Cold, the destructive power of Hellfire was immense enough to scorch his skin and inflict pain. Yet, physical pain did not shake Roman Dmitry in the slightest. Crushing the skull of a charred but still-charging undead beneath his boot, he completely assimilated with the memories of his past life.
'The moment I reached the Realm of Heaven was just like this.'
That day, Baek Joong-hyuk had attained enlightenment.
A force too immense for a mortal to bear had surged through him. As he accepted nature itself, his body had begun to collapse.
In that moment, he had foreseen his own death.
Though Baek Joong-hyuk had survived countless battlefields and overcome every conceivable crisis, upon accepting the power of nature, he truly felt he might die. Blood had poured from his eyes, ears, and nose—from every orifice. His skin had melted and ruptured, completely losing its human form. He had fallen to his knees, his face pressed against the earth, trembling in agony so intense he couldn't even force out a groan.
Yet, even in the throes of such despair, he had swallowed the power of nature.
The moment he assimilated with it and took a step forward, Baek Joong-hyuk felt an omnipotent force surging through his entire being.
Could Alexander have ever anticipated this?
The space engulfed in flames.
The Dark Mana.
It was all so familiar.
The heat of Hellfire reminded him of the moment he accepted nature, and the Dark Mana shared an inherently similar essence with the power of the Heavenly Demon Cult. In truth, calling it "Dark Mana" was merely the standard of ordinary people. The Demon Realm did not represent the power of darkness; rather, it pursued the destructive forces existing in the world, which manifested in various ways and came to be labeled as Dark Mana.
Fundamentally, it was the same as the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Although many aspects were clearly different, the mere fact that they shared a similar essence was enough for Roman Dmitry.
He accepted the magic power.
He surrendered his body to the vortex of flames.
His duel with Alexander was a battle so immense that the mobilized soldiers dared not even approach. They believed that even Roman Dmitry could not guarantee his survival against such a foe. Indeed, Alexander was strong. Yet, absurdly, Roman Dmitry was using this life-and-death struggle as a mere training exercise.
If he had intended to end the fight quickly, it would have been over long ago.
Since the Alexander he faced was not yet at a level to make him feel a true sense of crisis, Roman Dmitry had simply played along to his opponent's tune. The flames violently flickered. Outside, Alexander, his face filled with ecstasy, could not possibly have anticipated the profound change occurring to Roman Dmitry within the inferno.
Thus, time passed.
The onlookers anticipated death, and Alexander was absolutely certain of his victory.
The violently exploding magic power and the wildly fluctuating life force lulled Alexander into the perfect illusion of triumph.
* * *
"Is it over?"
It was an anticlimactic end.
Alexander showed a somewhat disappointed reaction as the life force faded within the flames.
He had thought there would be something more.
Since Roman was an existence he had looked up to in his past life, he had hoped Roman would show something beyond expectations. Only then would there be a true thrill in defeating him. Proving how powerful his current self was while experiencing the ecstasy of obtaining Roman Dmitry's martial arts would have been truly magnificent.
In the end, he was just a human.
But just as Alexander was about to withdraw his magic power with a disappointed look, Roman Dmitry emerged, piercing through the flame-dyed space.
"...?!"
Whoosh.
Roar!
Alexander's eyes widened.
It was a shocking sight.
Roman Dmitry's entire body was engulfed in flames, yet his skin was not melting. Not even a single strand of his hair appeared to be burning. It was completely unrealistic. Casting Hellfire simultaneously by splitting his body with Illusion was a magic that no one should have been able to block. Seeing Roman Dmitry casually walk out of it as if it were nothing made Alexander's eyes tremble.
Danger.
At the blaring warning of his instincts, Alexander hurriedly tried to raise his magic power.
But...
Flash.
He couldn't react.
With a single flash, his head flew off.
He hadn't felt any special wave of power. Suddenly, his vision spun, and his head plummeted to the ground.
Thud.
Roll.
"...W-what is this?"
He was flustered.
Although his severed head was absorbed back into his main body, Alexander could not immediately react.
Roman Dmitry stood right before his eyes.
Looking at the regenerating head, Roman uttered words that Alexander could not comprehend.
"When I reached the Realm of Heaven, no one in the world could block my strike. Alexander. If you are truly an immortal being, endure this to the end. Because I intend to see for myself just how much of my power you can withstand."
Shift.
He changed his stance.
It was nothing special.
The first step of the Heavenly Demon's Sovereign Step.
Heavenly Demon Sword Technique - First Half First Form.
It was simple.
Yet, the moment that power—the same technique he had used even against ordinary soldiers—was expressed through his sword, a completely different scene unfolded.
Flash.
The world did not flash, nor was there a massive explosion.
But the moment Alexander felt something slice through his body—
"Aaaargh!"
An intense agony, as if his very soul were being obliterated, wracked him. Blood spurted from Alexander's body, and he collapsed to his knees.
* * *
Cough.
Drip, drip.
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
It was unbelievable.
His physical body was nothing but a shell.
He was using Dark Mana to maintain a corpse that should have died long ago. As long as Dark Mana was continuously supplied, Alexander would never die. That was why he remained unharmed even when his head flew off. With the passage to the Demon Realm now open, Alexander could truly be declared invincible.
Yet, here he was, spitting up thick blood.
As the blackened blood dripped from his lips, Alexander raised his head with trembling eyes.
"...H-how?"
The strike just now had severed his very existence.
With both his physical vessel and his magic power torn apart, his body—maintained solely by Dark Mana—could no longer endure.
Roman Dmitry looked down at him coldly.
"In the end, is this your limit?"
A single strike.
Alexander had endured it.
In truth, he deserved plenty of recognition for that alone, but he had merely survived the attack; he had no strength left to fight any further. It was disappointing. Roman Dmitry had hoped his opponent would be stronger than this. Just like in his past life, once he reached the Realm of Heaven, there was no one in the world who could oppose him.
Alexander was lost for words.
He could not accept reality.
When he had first stepped onto this battlefield, he had never imagined he would meet such a futile end.
"Alexander. There is undoubtedly someone behind you. The entity that granted you Dark Mana and watches the Earthly World from beyond the passage to the Demon Realm, waiting for an opportunity. I hope that entity is strong enough to satisfy me. So, give me information about it. From the very beginning, your role amounted to nothing more than that."
Whoosh.
The Phantom Demon Art.
He seized control of Alexander's consciousness.
Forcefully suppressing Alexander's mind, he began absorbing his memories.
Within the Abyss, Roman Dmitry peered into eons of time.
* * *
It was overbearing.
His mind was violently seized.
Overwhelmed by an immense sense of helplessness, Alexander did not resist to the bitter end; instead, he completely surrendered his mental world.
'Roman Dmitry. You are an existence I could not even dare to fathom. So take everything of mine. Peer into the truth within my head, and in return, grant me even a single clue to your true identity.'
He mustered his last remaining ounce of strength.
The moment his mind was seized, he attempted to read Roman Dmitry's memories.
Just what was Roman's true identity?
It was something that could never be understood by Alexander's common sense, nor by the common sense of Kim Pan-seok, who had been nothing but an ignorant fool.
Rumble.
The resistance of the mental barrier was immense.
Even though Alexander had completely surrendered his mind and offered up his soul, penetrating Roman Dmitry's memories was impossible. Roman was an existence that far exceeded human standards to begin with. With such a formidable mental barrier, it was impossible to make Roman Dmitry submit using any kind of mental magic.
Therefore, Alexander aimed for only one thing.
Not some grand secret, but the name Roman Dmitry must have held in his past life.
Alexander clung pitifully and tenaciously to a memory fragment that even Roman Dmitry would not have classified as anything special.
It was then.
In his fading mind, a single name surfaced.
'Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk.'
Instantly, Alexander's eyes flew wide open.
The title of Heavenly Demon.
It was a name that defied imagination—a name one must not even dare to imagine.