The Black Pharaoh Awakens
The ground-shaking impact rippled across the plains.
It had been roughly half a day since the battle against the Crawling One began.
「……!」
The black tide had visibly shrunk. Compared to its first appearance, it was now only about a quarter of its original size.
Not much left, partner.
“Now the real fight begins, doesn’t it?”
I wiped the sweat beading on my forehead with the back of my hand.
Yeah. So far, it had been manageable.
All I had to do was avoid getting devoured by the Crawling One.
The madness that constantly gnawed at my mind. The occasional direct hits from tentacles or spells. None of them had been fatal.
「……」
Chrrrrrr!
The widely spread black waves suddenly converged into a single point.
“Phase two begins.”
Even though the Crawling One was a monster formed from countless fused souls, there was still a central axis among them.
The soul at the heart of that pitch-black vortex was far more powerful than the wailing, will-less wraiths surrounding it.
“Nephren-Ka, the Black Pharaoh.”
The Crawling Chaos. A mortal who had served the Outer God Nyarlathotep. In exchange for resurrection and eternal life, he wandered the Dreamlands as a monster until the appointed time arrived.
As his will grew stronger, the black waves that had only surged mindlessly began to writhe and take on a human shape.
“It’s only polite to interrupt someone while they’re transforming, right?”
I raised the Ars Goetia once more.
If the creature registered as a single ‘entity,’ then it was finally time to use the spells I had been saving.
Amducias’s Melody
Dantalion’s Illusion
The seventy-two demons. The curse that fully manifested the power of the constellations belonging to the Pandemonium activated.
The Crawling One staggered in the middle of its transformation.
No—
The Black Pharaoh glared at me with eyes that had not yet fully formed.
“What are you gonna do, just stare at me like that?”
「…….」
Nyx’s lament drifted past my ear.
This goddess really knows how to say the most carefree things at the worst times.
The Crawling One was part of an Outer God. To be precise, it was more like sweat, grime, or some other filthy byproduct.
“Still, that doesn’t mean I can afford to underestimate it.”
My body was drenched in sweat. The longer I faced the Crawling One, the worse the mental contamination became.
Physical damage could somehow be recovered using Mutation, Regeneration, and the Blessing of the Earth Mother Goddess. But the mental fatigue that accumulated from fighting an entity from beyond the universe was impossible to shake off.
“I already told you. That’s what makes it even more dangerous.”
Phase one was a battle of endurance.
And the real threat was phase two.
“If things get bad, I’m running.”
“I’m serious.”
“If it’s stronger than I expected, yes.”
What mattered most in a fight against the Black Pharaoh was his ‘experience.’ If I tested the waters and realized I couldn’t win, I had to turn tail and run without hesitation.
Because that thing was essentially a superior version of me.
The transformation was complete. The Black Pharaoh now held a long staff in one hand and the ankh (☥), symbol of resurrection, in the other. A tall headdress sat upon his head.
It looked exactly like something you’d see in a special Egyptian exhibition.
His golden-yellow eyes gleamed with malice.
“Hey, isn’t it a bit pathetic to strike a pose after I already hit you with one curse?”
“Using your master’s name instead of your own. How original.”
The Black Pharaoh swung his ankh.
A black current swept across the plains. Above the dry-ice-like mist covering the ground, sand soldiers began to emerge one by one.
Who said I’d just sit here and let him summon his minions?
I deployed my Dark Shadow Body and sliced through the sand soldiers with the maximum power of Polar Night I could muster.
“Yeah. I do.”
The moment his staff touched the ground, the newly created sand soldiers all exploded at once.
The force was too powerful to simply deflect with my Dark Shadow Body. I immediately reverted to my original form and covered my entire body with Metal Reflection Armor and Dark Shadow Fighting Spirit.
Ting ting ting ting!
A cacophony rang out like beans popping in a frying pan.
Wow. That hurt like hell.
I know.
But if I gave him time to raise those soldiers, I’d never be able to win.
Crack!
The Black Pharaoh’s shoulders swelled. On those shoulders, now the size of bowling balls, mouths resembling human lips formed.
Two mouths muttering in ancient tongues. Forgotten sorceries from a bygone era activated.
Kwaaaaaang!
Lightning struck from a clear sky. Scorching flames coiled around my body.
“Damn it. This is exactly why I can’t give him time.”
“Ancient sorcery has the upper hand in compatibility against regular magic.”
Magic twists the laws of the world, but the things clinging to the Black Pharaoh’s shoulders were imitating divine miracles.
In the era when ancient shamans could produce miracles with nothing but incantations, their spells stood above magic in terms of rank. Even with equal power, I had to defend with a spell from a higher tier.
Thunder Net Sorcery - Brain Net
A wide net of lightning spread out. It collided with the shamans’ ancient spells and canceled them out on the spot.
Thank goodness the Seon Magic I prepared while charging worked.
I activated Cloud Flow Steps once again. The instant I reached the Black Pharaoh’s vicinity, his ankh glowed again.
A crocodile’s maw burst from his abdomen. The black crocodile opened its jaws wide and snapped down.
Bang!
The crocodile bit empty air.
Right before the crocodile could bite me, I had used Cloud Flow Steps at full power to change direction.
Of course. If I hadn’t already fought the Black Pharaoh before, I would have been bitten just now.
“Get that filthy mouth away from me.”
I kicked the crocodile’s jaw with the Phoenix Kick. It staggered violently.
Even though I infused it with inner energy, that was all it took to throw off its balance.
“The guy looks like a mage but he’s actually an all-rounder.”
A monster that possessed every ability of the beings it had devoured while existing as the Crawling One. Now that the core of the collective—the Black Pharaoh—had awakened, it could use those powers actively.
“Controlling sand soldiers is his original ability. The rest aren’t.”
One of the Black Pharaoh’s arms stretched out long. A mantis arm. The scythe-like left arm sliced through space.
I can’t dodge this one.
I lightly struck the side of the scythe with Biikdaebungjang. The trajectory that had been aiming for my neck twisted sharply.
The ancient darkness stains your vision.
The ancient fever consumes your body.
My vision darkened. The fever interfered with my nervous system, preventing me from moving as I wished.
The ancient shamans clinging to both of the Black Pharaoh’s shoulders. Their curse couldn’t be easily nullified even by rotating divine power.
This doesn’t even qualify as dangerous. Just because my eyes are a little blurry doesn’t mean I can’t fight!
I relied on my sixth sense. Instead of my hazy senses, I moved my body using only the experience I had built up until now.
“Goddess, be my eyes for a moment.”
What a refreshingly straightforward description.
What I felt through my sixth sense was something like a huge wall closing in. The Black Pharaoh must have manifested the hand of an ogre or a giant.
Dodging would be easy, but—
“Retreating won’t solve anything.”
I raised a dark blade condensed with the power of Polar Night.
Slice!
The moment I unleashed Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword, hot liquid splattered across my entire body.
Black contamination seeps in.
Your blood grows turbid. If the curse is not lifted, you may transform into a monster.
If I got dragon blood on me I’d be cursed with immortality or something. But the blood of the Crawling One—no, the Black Pharaoh—carried a curse that transformed its victim into an entity from beyond the universe.
“You need the blessing of an Elder God. In other words, a constellation-level being, right?”
“I have a cheat sheet.”
Knowledge from before my regression. Was there any strategy guide better than that?
“That’s why I said it’s useless.”
Acidic blood detects external interference.
The blood assimilated with your body burns away the curse’s power.
Hssssss!
The curse’s energy burned and vanished.
“Not telling.”
At the very least, curses that altered the nature of ‘blood’ didn’t work on me.
I had already synchronized the essence of the King Slime with my body, which was based on an ancient species’ physique.
A single ray of light pierced through my pitch-black vision.
Damn ancient curse. Even with divine power, it still took several seconds.
“Let me teach you that you shouldn’t give guarantees so carelessly.”
The second round against the Crawling One. As expected, it wasn’t going to be easy.
* * *
Kwaaaang! Boom!
Explosions rang out in succession. Part of the plain had been completely transformed.
Nephren-Ka. The Black Pharaoh was no pushover.
“Who the hell created such a hideous hybrid?”
“This isn’t the time for wordplay… whoa!”
Slice!
The scythe brushed past my nape by a hair’s breadth. The attack that had manifested a mantis arm had grazed my skin.
If I had reacted even a fraction slower, my head would have been severed.
The Black Pharaoh used not only his original ability to summon sand soldiers, but also the abilities of every creature he had absorbed.
A monster that had wandered the western Dreamlands for countless years. The number of beings he had absorbed far exceeded the essences I had devoured since my regression.
Attack patterns. Stats. There wasn’t a single category in which I surpassed the Black Pharaoh.
“Ugh!”
My arm, which had collided head-on, snapped. I grit my teeth and restored the broken bone using Mutation.
The moment I gave him even the slightest opening, he summoned sand soldiers and overwhelmed me with sheer numbers.
I wanted to use Raise Dead, but there weren’t any corpses.
“I’m not nearly as bad as that guy.”
Come on, what kind of person does she take me for? Comparing me to the Crawling One is a bit much.
He was my superior counterpart, but once I used all the skills I had been saving, the tide of battle reversed.
Fury of the Vengeful Ghost
A buff that blocked mental interference and doubled my stats.
Void Mirror
I had deliberately saved the skill that reflected absorbed essences and temporarily took on their original forms.
All of it was for fighting the Black Pharaoh!
“Goddess.”
Nyx, assimilated with Polar Night, wielded the power with far sharper and more refined control than before, pressuring the Black Pharaoh.
“We can’t give him any more time.”
What the Black Pharaoh lacked was ‘experience.’ He had absorbed countless abilities, yet he couldn’t utilize them at one hundred percent.
It was the only area where he differed from me.
The longer the battle dragged on, the more familiar he became with his own powers.
Therefore—
“I’m pouring everything I have into ending this now.”
I planned to settle the fight while the Black Pharaoh’s hands and feet were still clumsy. If I didn’t, I would be the one to lose.
Even at this very moment, the Black Pharaoh was adapting to my attacks and growing accustomed to using his abilities. The more time I gave him, the more disadvantageous it became for me.
I simultaneously manifested the essences of a Tyrannosaurus and an Orc. With arms that had grown slightly longer, I unleashed my martial arts.
The Black Pharaoh stepped back in visible panic, but—
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I shook the earth with Baektaek Army Subduing Kick to cut off his escape route.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
I devoured the Black Pharaoh whole.