Chapter 780: Blood of the Demon God
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 780: Blood of the Demon God
"Gurgle, gurgle... %￥#%..."
The transformation within Divine Will continued. Deep shadows merged with his essence, eroding his shattered flesh. The sound of surging, viscous liquid shifted midway into a piercing, bizarre cacophony—like the whispers of a madman or the weeping of a traitor.
Candlelight flickered upon the walls. Thanks to Hamulein’s protection, these sole sources of light in the chamber had not been extinguished by the previous shockwaves.
However, as their dim glow fell upon that mass of shadows, the light inexplicably transformed into twisted, writhing lines. They looked like the crude sketches of a young child doodling with crayons, yet they were anchored firmly to reality—a sight so jarring and grotesque it made one’s skin crawl.
It wasn't just the light that was warping. With Divine Will at the center, the ground, the stones, and the dust—every tangible thing—began to visibly undergo distortion. Fissures sprouted from the floor; stones melted into a substance as thick as grease; drifting dust coalesced into a fog that swarmed like a frenzied hive of bees.
Perhaps even intangible things like the air had not escaped this change, though such microscopic aberrations were harder to detect.
"As revolting as ever."
Hamulein, of course, would not stand by and watch this transformation complete itself.
Her cold, arrogant voice cut through the chaotic noise like a sharp blade. With a graceful wave of the Calamity’s hand, a blinding torrent of light instantly took shape within the incredibly complex compound magic arrays behind her. There was no chanting, no guiding—yet this magic surpassed the scale and grandeur of anything a typical Truth-Tier mage could conjure.
On another level, the spell was compressed into an incredibly small area. The concentrated flood of radiant flame swept perfectly across the distorted land, once again surging over and drowning Divine Will. It was silent; beyond the target area, it didn't even kick up a breeze.
"So strong."
Sitting high upon the throne and watching the scene unfold, An couldn't help but widen her beautiful eyes.
As a maid of the Duke’s Estate, she had seen many powerful mages who associated with the household. Yet, none possessed the effortless elegance this Calamity—the symbol of ultimate violence and destruction—displayed in her spellcasting.
She was clearly a dragon, yet she seemed to understand magic better than any human.
"More troublesome than I thought."
Even after suppressing the distorted Divine Will with such a powerful spell, Hamulein’s solemn expression did not change.
"The noise hasn't stopped."
"I hear it."
Mela had also dropped her playful mood, her small face turning serious. "As expected, even that isn't enough to do anything?"
The magnificent torrent of light vanished in an instant, as fleeting as a falling star.
Literally, like a falling star.
In truth, the power of that single spell was terrifying enough to level an entire city in an instant. Though there were no grand explosions, that was merely proof of Hamulein’s exquisite control over her mana, ensuring not a single drop of power leaked out.
A successful direct hit of that caliber should have been enough to grind a true Crown Bearer to dust; even a thousand-year-old fossil couldn't withstand a flow of flame that melted all things.
But the enemy they faced now was no longer a simple Crown Bearer. It was...
"#%￥%..."
The noise continued, growing even more ear-piercing.
The moment the radiant flames vanished, it was as if a patch covering a breach had been torn away, causing the polluting distortion to spread outward at an even more terrifying speed.
Hamulein cut off the magic. In that span of less than a second, she felt as though her own magic was being contaminated and slipping from her control—a sensation that was rapidly crawling toward her physical body.
Even magic itself could be polluted, corroded, and twisted.
"Ah... everyone, do you hear it?"
Amidst the rising and falling viscous liquid, Divine Will slowly opened his eyes. Bizarre filth flowed within his pupils, yet his face remained entranced.
"Her voice... my King’s voice is becoming clearer and clearer!"
Large chunks of flesh had vanished from Divine Will’s chest; even the heart that should have been beating strongly was gone. This proved that Hamulein’s previous attempt to stop his "transformation" hadn't been entirely useless.
However, in contrast to his mangled physical body, those strange, viscous liquids were becoming markedly more active.
It felt as though... the attacks on Divine Will were actually helping "that thing" occupy his body more easily.
"..."
Hamulein remained silent for a moment before suddenly turning to Mela beside her. "Is this really just because of Demon God corruption?"
"What do you mean?"
"I’ve dealt with Demon God corruption more times than I can count. I have more experience in this than you do, and I can tell you clearly..." Hamulein stared into Mela’s eyes, the fury in her crimson-gold vertical pupils flickering like dancing flames. "This is absolutely not simple pollution. Rootless corruption cannot reach this level, not even if it comes from a Demon God. Therefore, whatever is inside Divine Will’s body right now is definitely something far more terrifying than ordinary pollution!"
"..."
"What are you hiding from me?"
"...Sigh, don't look at me like that. It’s not like I made Divine Will turn out this way." Mela gave a helpless sigh. "I didn't mean to hide anything from you. Actually, I only had a small suspicion at first. It was only after wandering around down there that the possibility grew a little bit—just a little... who knew that 'little bit' would suddenly trigger Divine Will’s phase two transformation?"
"Cut the crap. Get to the point."
"The point..." Mela’s lips twitched into a mirthless smile. "...Do you remember that battle?"
"Of course I do," Hamulein said expressionlessly. "As if it were yesterday."
There was only one battle Mela could be referring to at a time like this.
The great war a thousand years ago that decided the survival of the entire world.
A thousand years was enough time to erase many things. But some things could never be washed away.
For her, and even for Mela, the day the Demon God descended was a nightmare etched into the depths of their souls. Even after another thousand years, ten thousand years, or until the moment they lay in their graves, they could never forget it.
"Do you remember why we failed to completely kill the Demon God, even after we risked everything to defeat Him and even though the world itself was heavily scarred in that fight?" Mela asked again.
"Because the Demon God cannot be killed," Hamulein replied.
"Yes. The Demon God possesses immortality. We gave everything just to defeat Him, dismember Him, and seal His fragmented body," Mela said, her tone wistful.
It was a simple truth.
If the Demon God could have been killed, if all of it could have been ended, the world wouldn't still be struggling on the brink of collapse today, and the Church wouldn't still be counting down the Doomsday Clock.
The facts proved that the Demon God’s descent was only the beginning of the disaster, and that terrible chaos had, in fact, never truly ended. It merely hid in the shadows of the world in another form, waiting for the day it would return.
"What does that have to do with the current situation? Don't tell me a piece of the remains has already escaped," Hamulein’s gaze grew colder.
"..." Mela’s expression stiffened, and she said sheepishly, "Well... you’d have to ask the Life Church about that. Of course, one or two fragments breaking their seals wouldn't be a huge problem; after all, we prepared countermeasures back then."
"So, what are you trying to say?"
"My point is, we dismembered Him and sealed Him, but it seems that at that time, we overlooked something very important."
"Something important?"
"Yes. I used to think... that He wouldn't bleed."
"..."
Hamulein was stunned. Clearly, she hadn't expected such an answer.
Because she had never considered the question either.
She almost wanted to demand of Mela: You’re saying He can bleed? He was the Demon God, a high and mighty deity. Humanity had fought those evil gods for so long; when had anyone ever heard of a god bleeding?
The very nature of a "Deity" dictated that they did not bleed.
But after a brief moment of reflection, Hamulein felt a sudden realization. It wasn't actually that surprising.
Because this was the Demon God.
The name "Demon God" represented endless bizarreness, unspeakable distortion, and utterly inexplicable mutation.
When dealing with an existence that was the literal antithesis of rules and order, it was difficult to even perceive Him through a rational lens. Those who thought they understood Him a thousand years ago had all gone completely mad.
"So... the thing that turned Divine Will into this is the Demon God’s blood?"
"Who knows? Maybe it’s Demon God’s blood, or maybe it’s something conceptually similar to His blood. You understand—when it comes to 'Him,' it’s hard for us to even define what we’re looking at." Mela gave a self-deprecating laugh, her gaze falling back onto Divine Will. "However, I am certain of one thing now."
"What?"
"That compared to you—the person who has nearly killed him twice—the current Divine Will is still more interested in resurrecting that 'woman'... though I have no idea what 'she' will actually be once he brings her back. I wonder if she’ll give Divine Will that familiar, sweet smile."
"Sounds like some kind of dark humor that was popular a thousand years ago..."
Amidst the writhing, flowing viscous liquid, Divine Will slowly stood up.
He tilted his head back, his pale face still filled with that same piety and longing, as if he hadn't been affected by the two near-fatal wounds at all. His eyes didn't even register Hamulein’s presence.
There was only a spreading madness.
Terrifying pollution swirled violently around him. He had completely merged with it; only half of his torso maintained a human shape, looking like a giant beast extending bait from the deep sea.
"Don't worry, my King... I will... bring you back now."
Divine Will slowly reached out his hand... toward the Eternal Cycle.
Clang, clang—
Countless chains crashed down. Divine Will still held the authority to control the Eternal Cycle. At his command, the chains coiled and extended, and at their ends...
Were the countless souls on the verge of returning.
"Damn it!"
Hamulein’s figure blurred. Blinding magical radiance once again illuminated the entire throne space. Countless chains snapped one after another, and she even isolated the entire space, never forgetting to protect An on the other throne.
But when she reappeared, several scales that had been tainted by pollution—and had even sprouted teeth to gnaw on her—fell away, annihilated in the searing light.
"After all that talk, you’d better think of something," Hamulein said expressionlessly to Mela while blocking Divine Will’s movements. "Otherwise, what we’ll be facing next is Demon God’s blood that has devoured millions of Demon souls... and as you said, who knows what kind of monster will be born from that."