#229
Aftermath (1)
There was no need to waste time trying to grasp the situation.
In truth, only my body had been asleep; my mind had practically remained awake the entire time.
Even if it had been split into nine pieces according to various inclinations.
“Ha! Well, this is something.”
The fragmented thoughts that had been flowing according to their respective personalities in various places began to settle into a single system in an instant.
Heinz II, who had joined hands with the Republic’s vice president and was preparing for the decisive battle against Obaipo.
Hubert, who was taking advantage of the chaotic political situation to expand the trading company even further.
Harris, who was sprawled out like a plant on a branch of the World Tree, absorbed in photosynthesis.
Howard, who had finally succeeded in receiving the dwarves’ secret techniques from Zaonic.
Hesperon, who had been comfortably learning magic under Riley’s daily attention.
Hugo, who had tended to the fallen main body and carried out his role on Earth in his stead.
On top of that, Harley, who, despite being battered to pieces from fighting many opponents, had ultimately taken down all the other demons and was now cackling madly while beating the lone Great Chieftain…
‘…It was only two days.’
Heinrich, tightly gripping the radiant holy sword amid the elation of having just reached transcendence.
And even Hans, who was in the middle of venting his rage with that holy sword piercing his chest.
‘How did things get this bad in just two days?’
I rubbed my face with both hands and let out another sigh.
Looking at that state of affairs, I simply couldn’t help but lament.
In the process of gathering my mind, the Abyss that had eaten into Hans’s thoughts briefly ran rampant, but thanks to the energy of the holy sword embedded in his body at just the right moment, that resistance did not last long and was suppressed in an instant.
‘Of course, even if it hadn’t been the holy sword, it wouldn’t have been a big problem.’
I turned my head slightly and checked again the message that had appeared before I lost consciousness.
《Your unique skill has grown and blossomed into possibility. You have acquired the special skill “Soul Firewall.”》
It was an ability that went beyond simply filtering out negative influences with “Mind Hub” as I had done until now; it literally built an inviolable barrier around the soul of the main body.
‘…With this, something like before will never happen again.’
Because I had struggled desperately to stop the backflow coming this way, it had grown to make me immune to mental contamination altogether.
I had just discovered a weakness in my ability and needed a countermeasure, so it saved me the trouble.
‘Now the remaining problem is how to clean up the current situation… I suppose.’
When my thoughts reached that point, my expression crumpled on its own.
Putting everything else aside, the accident Hans had caused this time had gone far beyond the line I had barely managed to maintain until now.
Countless lives had been snuffed out in vain amid the chaos, and even my comrade Geos had been swept up in it.
Since Hans, the one responsible, was also myself, there was no one else to blame, but…
Was this what it felt like to black out after drinking, cause a massive incident, and then come to your senses at the police station?
‘Damn it, if only that giant bastard hadn’t pulled that dirty trick!’
…Yes, if I looked at it that way, the root cause was the bastards who had forced the alcohol down my throat and made me cause a major accident.
The giant who had carried it out, the Revolutionary who had summoned him, and even the one behind them called the Master.
Strictly speaking, wasn’t I also just a victim here?
‘Haa— damn it.’
Of course, ignoring reality like that wouldn’t change anything.
Right now, before blaming others, cleaning up the situation came first.
***
[Kyaaaak——!]
Whoooong—
Along with the sharp roar of the Bone Dragon, which had sensed its master’s crisis, its massive body moved, and a fierce gale swept through the area.
Immediately after that wind passed by the Immortal King and the Hero, the battlefield naturally entered a lull.
The Immortal King Hans, who had quickly intervened by grabbing Heratos’s horn and climbing onto its head before retreating.
And the Hero Heinrich, who stood firm in front of his companions on the verge of exhaustion, gripping the holy sword.
As they quietly stared at each other amid the tension, the first to speak was the Immortal King.
[Kuhuhut— Indeed, not bad. Hero Heinrich. To think you would be capable of this much. I underestimated you far too much.]
He was laughing with his usual arrogant attitude, but Heinrich’s final blow had inflicted damage that even he could not ignore.
Not only were the holy flames that had started from his chest continuing to burn away his power, a considerable shock had also been transmitted to the “Immortal Heart” beyond subspace.
Of course, as he was called the Immortal King, he was not so fragile as to be neutralized the moment he allowed one blow to a vital point, but it was also true that he had received an unexpected critical hit.
As such, withdrawing around this point did not look too bad.
“This is only the beginning, Hannibal Strauss! Next time, I’ll split that heart for certain.”
[Bluffing will not work, Hero. Not only you, but your companions do not seem to be in very good condition either, do they? If we continue fighting like this, who do you think will be the one left standing in the end?]
“…Kuh!”
Just as he said, the Hero Party was in worse condition right now.
Heinrich only appeared relatively fine because he had reached transcendence; his armor and other equipment, as well as his body, were just as ragged.
The Saintess’s barrier, which had been protecting the party from the Abyssal energy filling the surroundings, was on the verge of breaking.
The companions, who had been forced to fight with all their might, were also gasping roughly and breaking out in cold sweat. No matter how one looked at it, it seemed impossible for them to continue the battle any longer.
[I have no intention of ending this amusement here, Hero. Wouldn’t the conquest of the continent be too dull if it were too easy?]
And more than anything else… Geos’s condition was extremely grave.
So much so that it would not be strange if his breath stopped at any moment.
[However, it is also true that this body personally stepped forward and was forced to withdraw, so I shall call the invasion that occurred in this region your victory. You may rejoice.]
The price he offered, as if showing generosity, was that the Immortal Army would not attack this southern region near Beorcen.
‘In truth, reconnaissance with ghosts isn’t easy here because of the shamans, and it’s hard to find anyone worth terrorizing anyway.’
Besides, the only targets that had existed, Balteon and his group, were currently in the middle of being smashed apart by Harley.
“…As long as the Lord God is with us, we will never stop and never collapse. I will make certain to cast you down to the bottom of the Abyss, Immortal King!”
[Hah— That would be amusing as well! Then I shall look forward to that day with pleasure.]
No sooner had those words ended than the darkness filling the space was sucked into Hans in an instant, and the endlessly vast surrounding space changed into the central hall of the mansion in the blink of an eye.
Flutter— flutter— Kwaaarung!
Then the huge body of the Bone Dragon, which had been hovering in the sky, smashed through the ceiling of the cramped building and soared into the heavens.
[Next time, I hope we can meet where I am, in the Immortal Castle. My one and only adversary, Heinrich Saint Landguard. Kuhahahah—!]
And the Immortal King leisurely disappeared across the night sky without even sparing a glance at the undead or demons still remaining.
As if he no longer cared what happened to those small fries.
‘Good. That was natural.’
When Hans’s figure had vanished from sight.
Just as Heinrich, having splendidly completed the first task, “the Immortal King’s withdrawal,” nodded heavily…
“Lord Geos! Please come to your senses!”
“Mr. Geos!”
“Saint, quickly, this way…!”
…The appointed time arrived.
***
Kwaang—!
A muscular giant four meters tall drove his fist down into someone whose build barely reached his chest.
“Kuhak! You monster!”
“Kahahahat! Who are you calling a monster? You little monster bastard!”
“Kh, you bastaaard—!”
A body covered entirely in blotchy black and purple corruption, with hideously swollen muscles bulging grotesquely.
Balteon, who looked like a monster itself no matter who saw him, tried to slander him by falsely pinning that label on him, but the magnificent warrior Harley (four meters) merely laughed heartily and threw another punch at him.
‘As expected, this size is just right! If I make myself any bigger, my agility drops, and against fast guys like this one, I’d be nothing but a sandbag.’
As soon as the battle began, the demon Balteon had swollen his body to its limits and charged at him, but there was no way he could compete in weight class against Harley, who could control his body at will with “Ultimate Evolved Lifeform.”
No, their levels were merely similar.
Compared to Balteon, who had raised his realm incompletely, Harley was superior in every aspect.
Moreover, after “Mad Tyrant” allowed him to convert “madness” into biological energy and replace the necessary calories, hadn’t the issue of combat endurance that had always held him back been resolved as well?
“Kuhahahat! You’re sturdy, sturdy indeed! Let’s keep going until something breaks!”
“Kkeueuk! You beast of a man!”
On top of that, he used the amplification effect of “Chalkos-Style Combat Imprint” and the “Bio Aura” drawn out through his overwhelming vitality, as well as the irregular supernatural ability “Jewel Eye: Coercion.”
It was by no means coincidence that he had somehow crushed every demon in a battle of one against many.
In such a situation, there was no way Balteon, left alone, could defeat Harley when they had failed to do so even with numbers on their side.
In the end, from the moment the mansion’s barrier collapsed and the Immortal King departed, he had begun to show even greater signs of agitation…
“…Krrrk, you were only rampaging like a beast until just a moment ago…! Damn it! You cunning bastard, was that opening you showed intentional…?”
Not long after, he ended up subdued with his neck caught in Harley’s hand.
His crushed limbs were twisted under the continuous external pressure of “Jewel Eye: Coercion” so that they could not regenerate.
“Mm, that’s…”
At the sight of him grinding his teeth as if wronged, Harley, whose reason had returned enough for him to hold a normal conversation now that the main body had awakened, scratched the back of his head.
That really had just been him rampaging without thinking, so he had nothing in particular to say.
However, as the battle came to an end, the senses that had been concentrated on a narrow point to detect even the movement of a single muscle fiber of his enemy loosened.
The moment Harley’s keen perception began to recognize a wider and more distant range…
‘Huh? There are more survivors than I thought.’
He realized that not only the warriors who had come with him, but also quite a number of survivors were hiding throughout the city.
And that most of them were looking this way with a strangely excited air.
‘Oho?’
His gaze, which had been scratching the back of his head, turned toward the vicious-looking, blotchy monster whose throat was held in his hand.
Toward Balteon, the root cause of the upheaval in the South, the symbol of dictatorship and oppression, and the ringleader of evil.
“Hahahahat—!”
Harley, who immediately grasped the situation, burst into a satisfied laugh without realizing it.
Harley, whose desire to show off and streak of madness had been as abundant as his wildness since time immemorial.
As if deliberately making sure those around him could hear, he answered Balteon’s question in a booming yet clear voice.
“Of course! Balteon, you were already in the palm of this Lord Harley’s hand long ago! Indeed, this body is the true warrior and hunter, so it’s only natural! Kaha-hat-hat!”
In the history of the South, this moment would surely be quite monumental.
While subduing him with one hand, Harley subtly tensed various parts of his body to show off his physical beauty to the spectators around him.
‘Hm, come to think of it.’
In the midst of that, as his eyes fell on the imprints carved across his body, the conversation he had had with Great Shaman Morna suddenly passed through his mind.
The promise that if he solved the South’s problem, she would engrave the “Fighting King’s Imprint” on him.
To be honest, now that he had even reached transcendence, he wondered how much help it would be, but the rarity of an imprint no one had been able to carve for hundreds of years was worth enduring various annoyances.
‘And the South’s problem is practically over once this Balteon is dealt with.’
Now that the head had been cut off, it wouldn’t be that difficult to deal with the remnants.
Considering that the energy of that old Great Shaman woman could also be faintly felt within the city, it seemed she had somehow managed to hide safely inside the barrier even amid this calamity.
At any rate, this could be considered the completion of the request.
But before that.
‘Balteon, the southern branch chief of the Oath of Defying Heaven and the main culprit behind the opening of the Abyssal Gate. Someone of his level should make a fairly decent gift.’
“Kkeueueu! What are you— kkeuk!”
Crunch! Crack!
Harley crushed the bastard’s body a bit more thoroughly, meticulously eliminating any dangerous factors.
Since he had to keep him alive a little longer, it was a delicate touch meant to cut off at the source anything that could cause an unforeseen situation.
“Phew, done. Then let’s go!”
And with Balteon’s body thoroughly packaged by “Jewel Eye: Coercion” dragging along the ground…
He headed toward the central mansion, where silence had begun to settle before he knew it.