Chapter 228
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 228
Chapter Title: Light of Darkness
The Royal Class were Demoncriers.
But they were different from the Demoncriers who had made direct contracts with demons.
They were Demoncriers who had contracted with none other than the Demon King himself.
That was why I thought they lacked the black tattoos marking a contract with the Demon King.
The Light of Darkness.
Until I met Frederick.
Frederick's form, growing larger with demonization, resembled the countless demons I'd seen in the Demon King's castle.
The difference was that glimpses of his human appearance flickered through amid the demonization.
Come to think of it, the demons in the Demon King's castle had all sorts of varied appearances.
Pureblood demons looked like the typical image—dark gray skin, horns protruding from their foreheads, massive bat wings.
But mixed-blood demons were different.
Skin that was black but mixed with other colors, horns of many types that weren't just sharp like the purebloods'.
And wings that reflected their racial traits, not just bat wings.
So then...
Frederick's form was the common look of a 1st or 2nd-tier Demon King's castle demon if humanity lost the war against the demon realm.
This world would be absorbed into the demon realm too, plunging us into the same hellish war.
Kwachak.
'I can't let that happen.'
I'd learned that the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Class—who had made direct contracts with the Demon King—could undergo demonization.
And unintentionally, through Frederick, I'd gained one more reason why we absolutely could not lose this war.
Gripping the Demon-Slaying Sword tight, Yong-un glared at Frederick, who was gaining ever-denser demonic energy and transforming physical abilities.
Frederick, having completed his demonization, returned the stare with his signature heavy expression.
"This time will be different. Don't blame me for killing you now that you've seen the secret."
Hwaaaak.
Black smoke billowed from Frederick's entire body.
Far denser and greater in volume than the smoke he'd produced in human form.
From within, Frederick—black flames flickering between his black horns—flashed his blackened eyes.
"So that's the difference between the 4th, 5th, 6th Royal Class and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd."
"Don't you already think so?"
"I thought the gap between the 1st-3rd and 4th-6th Royal Class was just a matter of contract depth, but you were hiding something far greater."
"Jealous?"
Frederick smirked for the first time.
Demonization had apparently changed even his taciturn, expressionless personality.
Yong-un snorted back at Frederick's cold, demon-like transformation.
"Hmph. Are you satisfied with your appearance right now?"
"This form is the only key to ruling this world. You lack it, but we possess it."
"Humans are strongest in their pure human form."
"You still can't face reality. Look again. We who hold the key rule over you, while you who lack it have cowered like dogs, too afraid to even bark at us for ages."
"I thought you were a pretty clever assassin, but maybe I was wrong. Can't you see yet who's the dog refusing reality?"
"Even after seeing this form..."
Frederick twisted his lips and spread the black smoke explosively.
He prepared to demonstrate a special skill unique to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Royal Class—one he'd never shown before—to prove the power gap.
But just as Frederick began readying his new skill, Yong-un murmured lowly.
Phantom Soul Extinction
Soon-to-be corpse in sight. Cold, emotionless gaze locks on.
"Eliminate it."
Frederick froze mid-sentence and quickly scanned his surroundings.
Of course, the demonic energy he'd gathered for his special skill had to be diverted to seal the gaps in the space created by the black smoke.
The moment Frederick tried to slip into the black smoke—
Chok!
Humanity's one and only Supreme One.
Phantom Soul Extinction's assault began at Yong-un's command.
Fresh blood—presumably Frederick's—spurted from the gap where half his body had melted into the black smoke.
He grimaced; the attack clearly wasn't superficial.
But Frederick's top priority now was entering the dimensional rift created by the space gap.
Without it, fighting Phantom Soul Extinction was impossible.
Ignoring the gush of blood, he manipulated the black smoke again to slip inside.
"Rat bastards..."
This attack was nothing.
Once inside, he could slaughter them all in a minute.
Even as dizziness and bleeding hit again, Frederick ignored it and shoved his face into the black smoke for the final push.
Chwararak.
"...!?"
Just the face in, and it would be over.
But then, a bizarre energy restrained his entire body, halting his stealth mid-motion.
Panic flashed briefly before hundreds of crimson-black threads appeared over his still-exposed face. Frederick's eyes widened.
"What... is this... Kkuk!"
Chok!
No time for words.
Even in that split second of opening his mouth, his body was shredded by Phantom Soul Extinction's attacks.
Frederick was bewildered.
He hadn't expected anyone besides other Royal Class to corner him like this.
But Yong-un was surprised too.
'Phantom Soul Extinction... has changed.'
It had only just accepted the Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy.
"Only" because it was the absolute martial art of the Sword Demon Yong-un, who had drenched the martial world in terror as a flesh phantom.
Yet a single shift in its cultivation method was enough to let the phantoms pressure a 3rd Royal Class, astonishing Yong-un.
'Still, a Royal Class is a Royal Class.'
This was a pureblood Royal Class that had turned regular Royals into fleeing cowards, heads bowed.
As Yong-un predicted, Phantom Soul Extinction's one-sided assault couldn't seal victory over Frederick.
Kuung!
Frederick's skill followed.
The activation of this utterly different special skill made not just the phantoms but Yong-un twitch his brow.
The black smoke drifting around, guarding Frederick, suddenly coalesced on his body. With a massive shockwave, it seized control of the entire area in an instant.
Truly instantaneous.
Even the phantoms, swift from mastering One Kill, were stunned by the speed—it reclaimed every inch of space they'd dominated, handing it back to Frederick.
One phantom attempting an attack was bounced from the Void Fusion Slaughter space.
Conversely, Frederick's face—peeking from the black smoke—smoothly crossed into the Void Fusion Slaughter space.
"You played me well..."
The crimson-black threads of Kim Gu fluttering from Frederick's body proved the binding force had released.
Then, with fury twisting his face, Frederick glared at the phantoms as if ready to kill them all.
"Now it's my turn."
A contract with a demon turns an ordinary person into a superhuman Hunter-level fighter.
It elevates a Hunter to high-rank Hunter level.
That's all for contracts with demons.
But what if it's a contract with the Demon King himself...?
Not even one like the 4th, 5th, 6th Royal Class, granted mere use of one of the Demon King's authorities!
A contract granting demonization itself—use of a fragment of the Demon King's power proper.
How strong would that power be?
The phantoms empowered by Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy were witnessing it firsthand.
The absolute ruler dominating the demon realm, apex predator of all dimensions.
Through Frederick channeling that Demon King's power.
Chiiiiiik!
The Poison Witch's deadly venom—now laced with Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy's crimson-black poison—dissipated against Frederick's casual wave of black smoke.
Tu-tung! Tu-tu-tung!
Kim Gu's crimson-black threads, which had briefly bound him, snapped effortlessly again and again.
Kung!
Cheonil's nails, wrapped in Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy, shattered from one punch.
Waaaak!
Myung-su's twin daggers, cloaked in crimson-black sword aura, scattered without reaching Frederick amid his roar.
"Is that... the Demon King's power?"
Sung-min gripped his sharp daggers but couldn't muster the nerve to attack.
What skill had he used?
The black smoke's rapid expansion had turned Frederick into a completely different being.
The certainty of landing attacks evaporated.
He even seemed gigantic, like facing a towering wall.
As the phantoms hesitated, Frederick smirked.
"This is my power. Standing at the pinnacle of all worlds! A power no one can surpass—mine alone!"
Now I understood why other Royal Class feared the 1st, 2nd, 3rd pureblood Royals.
They were monsters incarnate.
Just as all phantoms lost the will to attack—
Chaak!
One phantom leaped Frederick's wall, severing his arm.
The Five Ghost Phantom, blue claws cloaked in crimson-black Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy, nullifying all.
Barum sliced off one arm and shifted behind Frederick.
"Who said it's a power no one can surpass?"
"How dare you!!"
Had he forgotten pain?
Despite the severed arm, Frederick didn't grimace. Blood gushing, he thrust the stump toward Barum.
It regenerated instantly into a perfect arm, seizing Barum's throat.
Puk!
Arms regenerating this fast?
A bewildering assault, yet Barum—as if anticipating—jammed his blue claws into the arm's midpoint.
Strength drained from Frederick's arm.
Barum smirked briefly, then glared wide-eyed.
"There's only one being in this world no one can surpass."
"You mean the Demon King...?"
"The Supreme One! Sole lord! And we are the only assassins guarding his back."
Frederick's brow twitched.
His other hand gripped Barum's embedded hand and snapped it.
Ududuk!
As Barum grimaced in pain, Frederick's hand clamped his face, slamming him toward the ground.
But perhaps Barum's final words—
Chwaruruk! Chiiiiiik!
The disheartened phantoms, their best efforts nullified, surged as one.
The arm slamming down was blocked by Kim Gu's crimson-black threads. The Poison Witch's venom melted Frederick's remaining arm that had broken Barum's.
"These damn rats..."
But the phantoms' assault didn't end there.
As Frederick ground his teeth, the Dancer stepped before him.
"You again..."
Frederick tried crushing the cold-eyed Dancer, but grimaced at her hand on his abdomen.
Her shadow swallowed Frederick whole from the bleached Void Fusion Slaughter space.
Sswuk!
His blackened vision cleared.
Regaining senses, Frederick realized he'd been ejected from the Void Fusion Slaughter space.
Grimacing, he swung to swat the Dancer away.
His regenerated arms became hammers plummeting toward her head.
Chok!
But they were severed mid-fall—by Myung-su's twin daggers and Barum's blue claws—soaring into the air.
Shock at the two phantoms' boldness and speed outside the space was fleeting.
Puk! Pu-puk!
Sung-min and Cheonil appeared on Frederick's shoulders, dagger to left throat, claws to right.
"Guk!"
With a short death rattle, Frederick staggered, strength fleeing.
Myung-su and Barum severed his legs.
Kung!
Frederick's knees hit the ground.
The pureblood Royal Class no regular Royal could touch.
The Light of Darkness, Frederick, knelt.
The phantoms who felled him knelt in unison, facing the same direction.
"...?!"
He wanted to scream what nonsense this was, but no words came.
Raising his head, Frederick locked eyes with the figure before him and widened his own.
"Yo, Yong-un..."
"We pay respects to the Supreme One!"
The phantoms' unified cry followed.
Seeing Yong-un's hand—infused with ultimate intent—raised over his head, Frederick was speechless.
"This is enough... I can entrust my back to you."
"We are in awe...!"
The phantoms voiced their swelling pride in harmony.
Phantom Soul Extinction was an assassin group of unique souls with varied pasts.
Assassins bonded by shared pain.
At last, the Ghost Assassins had earned Yong-un's true recognition, beyond Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy.
"Phantom Soul Extinction, the Ghost Assassins. This is how you live."
Hwaaaak.
The ultimate intent atop Frederick's head blazed brighter, slowly whitening his eyes.
Yong-un smiled at the bowing Ghost Assassins.
"Now... I'll entrust my back—and my family's—to you."
"Supreme One..."
"From here on, protect me no matter who comes. That's your mission."
"We shall uphold the Supreme One's command!"
As the Ghost Assassins bowed again—
Yong-un had already infiltrated Frederick's memories via the Soul Subjugation Art.