Kwaaaaang!! Kwaaaaang!!
A barrage of cannon fire poured down on the spot where Heuseukak had been.
The successive explosions shook the surroundings.
A storm swept through.
Sinhyeok stared intently at the place where the black orc had stood.
“Is it dead?”
Twitch.
A faint movement.
Seeing it, Sinhyeok clicked his tongue.
“Damn it, does that thing ever die?”
Sinhyeok raised his hand again.
“Reload!”
Everyone moved busily.
Sinhyeok, too, checked the Gatling mana cannon.
But his eyes remained fixed on the black orc the entire time.
Heuseukak, who had been twitching as if trying to get up, staggered and finally collapsed.
“Phew, is it finally dead?”
Sinhyeok left the cannon alone for a moment and checked the enemy with Mapping.
[Beginning Mapping.]
The probing orb approached the place where the fallen enemy lay.
When it got close enough to confirm, the scene was gruesome.
The bombardment had gouged out the ground in several places,
and the orc, reduced to a pulp, lay there in a wretched heap.
‘It really looks dead.’
Just then, something mumbled from the fallen orc’s mouth.
Soon, the muttering ended, and its mouth closed.
“What’s it saying?”
Sinhyeok tensed, feeling that the creature’s muttering was ominous, but when nothing happened, he relaxed.
He thought it was merely its final death throes.
Since nothing else occurred, he lowered his guard against the threat.
“Everyone, just stay on alert!”
Standing atop the wall, Sinhyeok looked over the battlefield for a moment.
‘Looks like it’s over. I’ll go down and confirm it one last time.’
He hurried down and headed outside the fortress wall.
“We’ve got potato fertilizer overflowing.”
Avoiding the rotting corpses, he headed toward the place where he had seen the black orc earlier.
“Let’s make sure.”
[Material Synthesis - Iron Dagger.]
He synthesized a dagger and gripped it in his right hand.
With only a few steps left, he saw it.
“That’s the one.”
The suspicious orc that had appeared at the end.
He approached right up to its nose.
Bending one knee, he checked its breathing.
It was still. Definitely dead.
“Whew. I got nervous for nothing.”
Sinhyeok turned around, waved to everyone, and shouted.
“It’s over!”
At his powerful shout, everyone cheered.
“Waaaaah!”
Along with everyone’s excited cries, a strange vibration rang out.
It was similar to someone beating a drum.
Boom, boom.
“Hm?”
Boom boom boom. Boom boom boom. Boom boom boom.
The strange beating continued.
He hurriedly turned around.
The creature that had been sprawled out was not even breathing, yet its upper body was rising and falling on its own.
“What the hell.”
Looking closely, he saw something different yet familiar inside the black orc.
[Fragment of a Black Core.]
The system gave a definitive answer.
“It’s similar?”
It was similar to the way Sinhyeok had removed the core not long ago.
Because of that familiarity, he approached and observed it.
At the dangerous situation of the body heaving, Malakai and the old knight shouted at the same time.
“Young Captain!”
“Hey! Come back at once!”
Sinhyeok watched the thing trying to pierce through the flesh.
‘This is similar to what I saw before!’
Pak!
The fragment of the black core pierced through the flesh and emerged.
Wooooong.
It spread violent waves of dark mana, shaking the air around it.
“Khup!”
Sinhyeok was pushed back by the force.
But his eyes continued to observe the core.
[Accumulating information.]
[Information on the corresponding core is available.]
[Determined to be a portion of the Great Demon Paimon’s origin.]
Like an enchantment, countless runic words and unidentified languages were densely engraved on the core fragment.
[Confirmed to be a unique language combined with runic words.]
[Some runic words can be interpreted.]
[The function inferred when interpreting the runic words is……….]
Sinhyeok hurriedly backed away.
[To connect space to space and summon the owner of the origin.]
“Damn it!”
He quickly ran.
As he ran, Sinhyeok unconsciously looked up.
The faces of the residents on the fortress wall were pale.
Upon reaching the entrance, Sinhyeok turned around.
“…….”
A black magic circle that dominated the entire area was being engraved.
Complex formulae were drawn out three-dimensionally.
Before long, the formula was complete, and space twisted.
Beyond the distortion, a desolate desert of black sand could be seen.
Sssssss.
Beyond it was the Great Demon Paimon, quietly reading a book.
He closed the book and leisurely rose from his seat.
The black camel he had been leaning against also stood up and stared beyond the twisted space.
“We meet again.”
Paimon walked barefoot and slowly crossed through space.
“Paimon!”
The moment Sinhyeok saw him, the hatred and killing intent he had been suppressing burst forth.
[Magic Synthesis - Earth Spikes.]
The earth surrounding him transformed.
Spikes lunged toward him.
Having crossed over with ease, he did not even blink.
“My junior. Is this all you have learned and mastered in all this time?”
The spikes that had been flying fiercely melted away in vain.
“Paimon.”
Paimon, with an indifferent face, looked over Sinhyeok’s work.
“This is interesting. I remember seeing it before.”
Ignoring Sinhyeok standing on the wall, he examined the formations arranged on the ground, the enchantments, and some of the artifacts.
“I think I saw the mayflies of a world called murim use something like this. You added magic and objects to increase its power.”
Having finished his appraisal, Paimon observed the fortress wall.
“Pathetic. What an ignorant thing to do. Do you have mental strength to spare?”
The cannons atop the wall condensed mana all at once.
Paimon smiled and looked at Sinhyeok at the entrance.
“Even with a fragment of great creation in your hands, this is all you can manage?”
Sinhyeok stared at him with a hardened face.
“There truly was no point in waiting. You are no different after all.”
Shoong.
The firing was quiet.
Paimon sneered and flicked his finger.
Whoooong.
Countless cannon shells filled the air, following the gesture of his hand.
“It’s almost pitiful if you think such crude toys can reach a demon.”
Tap.
He sent them all back exactly as they were.
“Dodge!”
Sinhyeok hurriedly shouted upward.
At the same time, he activated synthesis.
[Magic Synthesis - Stone Shield.]
He reassembled the fortress wall to cover the people.
Kwa-kwa-kwaang!
“Khup.”
Sinhyeok consumed an enormous amount of mental strength in his haste to cover such a wide area.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Paimon approached the staggering Sinhyeok.
“Because you are ignorant, your mental strength dries up from such little tricks. Understand this. The more ignorant one is, the more wasteful one becomes.”
Sinhyeok raised the earth.
“You still have not understood.”
Paimon lightly scattered the earth and reached Sinhyeok.
“It is difficult to comprehend. How did a half-wit like you manage to survive until the very end?”
Sinhyeok faced him, who had somehow come close.
“I survived because I’m me, you bastard!”
Then he drew his dagger and threw himself forward.
“You’ve sold off all your alchemy.”
An iron whip surged from the earth and bound Sinhyeok.
“Keuk.”
Paimon pulled the bound Sinhyeok closer and looked at the people beyond the entrance.
“You who will crumble to dust.”
He smiled as he stared at them.
“Do you know this? You are people who have seized a great legacy.”
Paimon looked at Hong Ichan and the martial artists of murim.
“In an age truly far back in primordial times, there existed only one world.”
“…….”
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
“In that world, there was only one god, and that god created various creatures and humans in his own image.”
Paimon continued the strange story.
“Those humans sought to imitate and follow the god’s great figure. Some did so with their bodies.”
Paimon’s gaze turned to Jegal Seyun and Namgung Jincheon.
“Some with their mouths.”
His gaze moved to Malakai.
“And others with their hands.”
Lastly, he stared at Sinhyeok.
“Those who imitated with their bodies called themselves martial artists, and those who imitated with their mouths called themselves mages.”
Then he chuckled and asked Sinhyeok, whose neck was being squeezed.
“Do you know what those who imitated god with their hands were called?”
“Kk, kkeuk.”
[Warning.]
[The Supreme Dragon’s Blessing is activating.]
[The distance is too great.]
[Implementing an appropriate countermeasure.]
[Summoning a pet in close proximity.]
‘Bl… ue?’
Paimon stared at Sinhyeok with a delighted expression.
“Alchemists. In reverence for those great beings, they were given the name Alchemist.”
He chuckled, then burst into loud laughter.
“Kahahaha! But look at the state of you people! Having lost that great legacy, you cling to inferior filth like worms!”
Sinhyeok’s face grew paler and paler.
[Summoning…….]
[The distance is too great.]
[20 seconds until summoning.]
[19 seconds.]
[18 seconds.]
[17 seconds.]
Paimon looked directly at Sinhyeok and smiled.
“Foolish human. Die as you are. Inferior beings like you have no right to hold that great legacy in your hands.”
“5 seconds.”
“4 seconds.”
“3 seconds.”
Seeing Sinhyeok muttering under his breath, Paimon brought his ear closer.
“What did you say?”
“1… second.”
[Summoning Blue Jjambap Tiger.]
The area shook.
The trembling of space intensified.
“Ugh!?”
Paimon lost his balance due to the shaking ground.
‘Now!’
Seizing the opening, Sinhyeok activated melting.
The iron choking his neck went soft.
“You!”
Paimon noticed Sinhyeok slipping through the opening.
Thud!
The dagger stabbed into his heart.
Paimon staggered.
“H-how can this be.”
‘Is he dead?’
Sinhyeok watched in confusion, then saw Paimon smiling.
“If you thought I would die, how unfortunate.”
He casually pulled out the dagger and tossed it away.
“Such trivial acts do not work on a demon.”
The wound closed back up.
With a sneer, he reached out to kill Sinhyeok.
“This is annoying, so I shall end it.”
Sinhyeok looked behind Paimon and smiled.
“I see. Death is approaching, so you must be happy.”
“No. I’m proud because I’m looking at the dignified Blue, you bastard.”
The considerably large Blue was glaring at Paimon.
The system automatically displayed Blue’s status window.
[Status Window]
Name: Blue Jjambap Tiger (LV.499)
Strength: ——
Agility: ——
Stamina: ——
Mana: ——
Traits: Melting, Predation
[Owned Skills]
=========================
Melting (LV.MAX)
Internal Synthesis (LV.MAX)
Regeneration (LV.MAX)
Proliferation (LV.MAX)
Clairvoyance (LV.MAX)
Aura (LV.MAX)
Breath (LV.MAX)
Natural Resonance (LV.MAX)
Steel Skin (LV.MAX)
Hellfire (LV.MAX)
Poison Smoke (LV.MAX)
==========================
Overwhelming stats.
In truth, what had reached its limit was its level.
“That’s insane.”
Blue let out a low growl toward Paimon, who was hostile to Sinhyeok.
“Grrrr.”
A terrifying force flowed from the sound.
At the killing intent that made his skin tremble, Paimon let out a hollow laugh.
“What kind of mongrel is this?”
When he looked back, Blue, whose silver fur stood out, had its mouth open.
The surrounding mana was being sucked in.
Mana condensed intensely, blending with Blue’s unique attributes.
Thick poison smoke and flame coexisted as they compressed fiercely.
“Oh?”
Blue paid no heed and fired its breath at Paimon.
“Ah? Uh?!”
Paimon smiled and changed positions.
In the end, the one facing the breath was Sinhyeok.
Slump.
The fired breath melted away.
Blue immediately twisted its body and aimed at Paimon once more.
“Krahaang!”
Its wide-open fangs targeted him.
Paimon flicked his finger.
“Absolute Shield.”
An unbreakable infinite barrier wrapped around him in a sphere.
Kwa-ddeuk.
Blue’s teeth slowly melted away the 8th Circle shield.
“Truly a magnificent sight. To think a masterpiece like you came from the hands of such a fool.”
Paimon looked at the silver Blue with eyes full of greed.
“I must have you.”
Blue laughed derisively and pierced through the shield.
“Hahaha!”
Just as Paimon laughed and tried to seize Blue,
he felt lightning flowing through the air.
“…Lightning?”
Namgung Jincheon was erupting with thunder qi.
“I… know you.”
He was dyeing even a single strand of his hair with Heavenly Thunder Qi.
“The name that vermin cried out when it struck the Namgung Clan—was it not yours?”
Paimon chuckled.
“It was likely one of my dregs. Should I have remembered that?”
“You should have!”
Blue’s breath approached right above Paimon’s head.
“Die!”
Filled with rage, Namgung Jincheon swung his sword imbued with sword aura.
Above was Blue’s breath.
Beside him was Namgung Jincheon’s Heavenly Thunder Astral Qi.
It closed in at the same time.
“Hahaha! How fun!”
Laughing like a madman, Paimon hurriedly looked back.
The black desert he had come from was trembling.
“Well, now.”
With a regretful look, Paimon shifted space.
Boom!
The Heavenly Thunder Astral Qi and the Breath collided.
Paimon could not hide his disappointment.
“I suppose I’ll have to play with you next time.”
“Are you running away?! Get back here, you son of a bitch!”
Paimon waved at Sinhyeok, whose face was twisted with rage.
“See you again.”
Space closed.
And on the ground lay the shattered pieces of Heuseukak’s core.
“Damn it, damn it! Aaaaaaaaargh!”
Having let the bastard go, Sinhyeok’s suppressed rage burst forth.
“Namgung……!”
Namgung Jincheon, his face bitter, dispelled the Heavenly Thunder Astral Qi.
Then he collapsed to the ground.
* * *
“What a shame.”
Looking at the trembling black desert, Paimon called the camel.
The camel approached and offered itself to him.
“It is an important time. It can’t be helped.”
When he placed his hand on the camel, the tremors stopped.
Several messages appeared before his eyes.
[Remote core system has been normalized.]
[Restarting the halted core expansion project.]
“It won’t be long.”
He gazed at the countless Gates surrounding Earth and smiled darkly.
“The day I devour that, I will become a true god.”
Humming cheerfully, Paimon called Elisa.
“Yes.”
She appeared and paid her respects to Paimon.
“The remaining forces?”
“At present, around one thousand Demon Kings. The ten million or so demons withdrawn for rear support are the last of them.”
“Not enough.”
Elisa lowered her head.
“Most of our forces are being used in the invasion of Earth.”
“Tch. And we cannot use the remaining troops either.”
With a regretful expression, Paimon thought of Sinhyeok of the World of Destruction.
“Elisa. Go to the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.”
“Pardon?”
“Deliver news of the bastards from the World of Destruction to the demons who were driven out.”
Her expression turned uneasy.
“Will that be all right? If those demons get their hands on the Fragment of Creation…”
“Even if they do, it will be pearls before swine. Not only will they fail to understand its value, they will not be able to use it.”
Elisa quietly accepted his words.
As Paimon adjusted the cores surrounding Earth, he said,
“The invasion is proceeding smoothly, I trust?”
“It is advancing without issue. Before long, it seems all governments will collapse.”
“Good.”
Paimon smiled in satisfaction.
“Yggdrasil. Struggle all you like; in the end, you will fall into my hands.”
He stroked the camel.
At his touch, the camel opened its mouth and spat something out.
[Discharging proliferated core.]
Paimon took it.
“Everything is going smoothly.”