The Taste of Betrayal
The Harab Serapel Sect.
Their specialty was ‘space.’
“A wicked one who has trampled upon sacred ground.”
“Let us offer him as a sacrifice.”
Men with brown skin and white turbans—ostensibly devout Muslims. In truth, they were several of the Branches of Harab Serapel, their eyes gleaming with fanatic light.
Woooong!
A violet glow surged up from the ground. The fusion array that defined the Harab Serapel Sect had activated.
You have been forcibly incorporated into the domain of the Phased Sealed Otherworld Temple.
You are a being of reality. In this mirrored world, you cannot exert your full power. All stats have been reduced by 40%.
Elemental magic rearrangement speed has decreased by 20%.
The effect and casting speed of holy spells have decreased by 30%.
A flood of messages danced before my eyes.
It’s been a while.
The otherworld temple—Harab Serapel’s signature technique. The filthy sensation that wrapped around my entire body the moment I entered this domain felt just as repulsive now as it had before my regression.
“A barrier that separates the world?”
“It’s more accurate to say it overlays another world on top of this one.”
“I have seen the materialization of inner imagery before, but never anything like this.”
“Anyway, pull back your power. Since they’ve used that technique, no one outside will be able to tell what’s happening here.”
Nyx withdrew every last ounce of Polar Night she had spread in every direction.
The surrounding landscape warped. The blazing sun that had been pouring down just moments ago vanished without a trace, replaced by a heavy twilight. Between the fading rays of light, the silhouettes of all kinds of otherworldly monsters flickered into view.
Gloomy red eyes glowed from every side.
“Any ordinary person would lose the color of their soul just by being here.”
“Because this is an inverted world that should never have existed in the first place.”
Though it was incomplete, she added.
“Behold that heretic.”
“He hides his fear and pretends to be composed.”
“Become the cornerstone of the new order!”
The Branches of Harab Serapel shouted with absolute confidence.
Hmm.
These bastards… they weren’t beings summoned from the Tower.
“Have you abandoned the teachings of Allah and joined hands with heresy?”
“Hmph. Allah turned his back on our suffering.”
“What is wrong with writing a new law to replace this corrupted world!”
I let out a short sigh.
I now understood exactly how the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine had corrupted these Islamic extremists.
“I shall nourish myself with your blood.”
The turbaned Branches spread their hands. In their palms rested crimson stones.
“The smell of blood is unbearably strong,” Nyx frowned.
“They’re called bloodstones. Made by grinding up living beings.”
“And those living beings are…”
“Humans, obviously.”
“How utterly horrifying.”
Finally, some useful information.
Among the ten great Qlippoth sects, only Ga’ag Sheblah could handle bloodstones. Their specialty was human sacrifice and curses. Other sects could perform sacrifices too, but none matched Ga’ag Sheblah’s efficiency.
If local converts to Qlippoth were using bloodstones… then the Ga’ag Sheblah sect might be behind the string of disappearances happening all across Algeria.
“Come forth, darkness that devours light.”
“Send down your hunting hounds.”
Between the distorted scenery, monsters began to appear.
Ten-meter-tall beasts with bright red skin and elongated snouts. Hundreds of razor-sharp teeth reflected an eerie orange light, giving off a sinister aura. Long tentacles sprouted from their backs, the tips all pointing directly at me.
Fell Beasts.
The hunting hounds of Qlippoth had revealed themselves.
“Even Diamond-rank players cannot defeat these monsters.”
“Unbeliever, be judged according to your deeds.”
Bark! Bark!
Five Fell Beasts charged at me all at once. The world, twisted by the fusion array, shook violently.
“Their momentum is rather impressive.”
“They’re monsters you’d normally only see in S-rank Gates.”
“For someone saying that, you seem awfully calm.”
S-rank or whatever. They weren’t my opponents.
Dragon's Wings
Darkness-infused.
Crimson wings burst from my back. Deep crimson dark energy filled every inch of the skeletal frame created by the Primordial Dragon’s factor.
With a single flap of those red wings, the pack of Fell Beasts charging straight at me were sent tumbling backward with a loud crash.
“Yelp?!”
While the bounced-back beasts barked in confusion, I extended the wings even further and wrapped them around the creatures. The dark energy enveloping the Fell Beasts spun like a circular saw.
Crunch!
The horrifying sound swallowed their screams whole.
“Th-the hunting hounds of Qlippoth!”
“Impossible.”
“It’s an illusion. We’re seeing things.”
Whether the traitors babbled or not, I stroked my chin while observing the Dragon's Wings.
“Not bad in actual combat.”
To be able to take down five Fell Beasts without lifting a finger… aside from the heavy mana consumption, the efficiency was excellent.
“I’ve seen everything I needed to see. Time to wrap this up.”
Countless thorns formed along the surface of the wings. The Blessing of Greed wove together dark energy and Thorns Missiles.
Thousands of thorns had sprouted across the ten-meter wings.
A downpour of Thorns Missiles.
The barrage, now reinforced with dark energy, swept over the Branches of Harab Serapel.
Not a single scream escaped.
Overwhelming firepower. The enemies couldn’t even put up a proper resistance before they were swallowed by the rain of thorns and lost all form.
“How dull.”
“The Harab Serapel Sect relies far more on their fusion arrays than their original abilities.”
Their primary method was to summon monsters or manifest Qlippoth’s power within an otherworld space.
The Branches of Harab Serapel who had been breathing just moments ago were people who had been incorporated through a baptism ritual. In other words, they had originally been humans of Earth.
“Can those who don’t even properly understand the structure of the inverted world truly draw out its full power?”
I smiled bitterly.
Traitors of humanity. Seeing the ones who had driven the world into chaos in my previous life gave me complicated feelings.
I reached out toward the mangled Branches of Harab Serapel.
“Didn’t you say Devour doesn’t work on the same species?”
“The moment they handed their souls over to Qlippoth, they stopped being human.”
The Branches of Harab Serapel. Receiving the baptism and becoming a “branch” meant they had become the same kind of existence as the Qlippoth sects that had crossed over through the Tower or Gates.
In other words—
“Devour works just fine.”
You traitors.
You won’t even leave behind corpses. I’ll chew you down to the bone.
* * *
Pop!
Every time I took a step, the scenery changed rapidly.
“Are you not going to use a vehicle?”
“My legs are faster.”
The cities near the Sahara Desert didn’t have many high-rise buildings. Because sand-laden winds blew constantly, people avoided constructing tall structures. Thanks to that, moving across rooftops was much easier.
“I cannot deny that.”
One hundred and fifty kilometers per hour. There probably wasn’t a single car in the crowded city that could reach that speed.
“Hehe, looking down from up here has its own charm.”
“What charm?”
“Go even faster.”
“If I do, the buildings will collapse.”
I might accidentally destroy innocent rooftops during takeoff or landing. Adjusting my strength with every step was already difficult enough.
“By the way, are you planning to move alone?”
“I’m the only one who can detect the fusion arrays.”
The fusion arrays installed by Harab Serapel were protected by a special wavelength that prevented their energy from leaking outside. Even I, who had fought them endlessly in my previous life, could only barely detect them with practiced skill. Teaching others how to read the structure and wavelength of the arrays would be difficult, and even if I did, it would take them a long time to use it properly.
“So I have to do it myself.”
“Tsk tsk. What’s the point of having subordinates, then?”
“Did you think Qlippoth would move this quickly?”
If I had taught it to Jiyoung or Ping Lei, who were sensitive to mana flow, things would have been much easier. But they say regret is always a day late. In this situation, I had no choice but to run around myself.
In a single day, I had destroyed fifteen fusion arrays. I hadn’t just gone to the major cities—I had also stopped by small villages. During the process of destroying the arrays, I had fought three more battles.
◈ Skill — Memorize has been added.
Memorize
Grade: ★★★
Type: Active
Stores magic. A small amount of mana is consumed while maintaining Memorize.
*Reusable every 6 hours.
*Storage slots — 0/3
“I got it faster than I expected.”
I grinned.
It was an unexpected gain that came from Qlippoth’s invasion being moved forward. And I had obtained a pretty decent skill, too.
I immediately used Memorize.
Solar Explosion has been memorized.
The scale of the magic is large.
Maximum storage time is 144 hours.
“Tsk. Seven days, huh.”
“Is that not enough?”
“The cooldown is six hours. It’s a little disappointing.”
A large-scale destruction spell. Even Avalanche, a skill of the same class, probably wouldn’t have a very long maintenance time either. I should be satisfied with having gained a reserve.
“You look quite pleased.”
“When I’m executing traitors who betrayed humanity, I deserve at least some reward.”
Although acquiring Master of Magic had dramatically increased my mana rearrangement speed, being able to unleash powerful spells without any prior preparation was an enormous advantage.
Storing spells like Blink that could help me escape dangerous situations would be useful too.
Ring~♬ Ririring~♬
An outdated ringtone flowed from my pocket. It was the cell phone Madam had given me right after I arrived.
“What is it?”
“Your advice was correct.”
“You already caught their tail?”
“Have you forgotten who we are?”
“Black Network. I know.”
I chuckled. A competent ally was beneficial to me as well.
I had destroyed every fusion array installed in this area. Finding traces of the missing people—or rather, the human sacrifice victims—could safely be left to Madam.
“Where are you right now, Mister Yu?”
“I came to visit the neighboring village.”
“Pardon?”
“I found traces of Qlippoth.”
While taking down the Branches of Harab Serapel, I had collected a few pieces of evidence. With this, I could at least prove that I was doing my share of the work.
“You were hiding things from us, weren’t you?”
“Even I need to keep at least one trade secret.”
“Well, fine.”
“I’m going to take a bit of personal time. Is that alright?”
“If anything urgent comes up, I’ll contact you.”
Since I had already done my part, she could at least understand this much.
After ending the call, I looked around. A desert with no signs of human presence. This place would let me move my body without worrying about prying eyes.
Nyx glanced at me with a puzzled look.
“What are you planning to do?”
“I need to learn the latter half of the Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts.”
I strode purposefully toward the desert.