King of Madness (4)
The streak of light that had been rending the giant’s abdomen and aiming for his heart was blocked by a massive hand.
Immediately after, five fingers larger than Heinrich’s height tore through the air to seize him, but—
Swish—
Enveloped in light for an instant, he vanished immediately from that spot.
The giant who had struck empty air gnashed his teeth, but there was no time to hesitate.
He immediately spun his body and swung his other hand.
Kuuuung—!
It collided with Halli’s fiercely charging physical onslaught, giving birth to a massive shockwave.
“Kwahahaha! Where are you looking, friend? Play with me!”
The atmosphere trembled and the ground twisted and screamed at the collision of energy backed by overwhelming mass.
But even in that moment, the chain of attacks did not cease.
Spirit arrows and magic endlessly raining down from the sky relentlessly bombarded the giant’s face, disturbing his keen senses.
Numerous True Blood vampires who had pushed their speed to the extreme repeatedly tore pieces from his massive body and withdrew in an instant.
“Grr, these annoying vermin!”
Guguguk—
In the midst of such frenzied coordination.
When it seemed the giant’s gaze was about to turn toward the others again, Halli quickly wrapped his entire body around that massive arm, sealing its movement.
Just as he had done until now.
The difference in their frames was so extreme that the opening created was not large, but that brief respite was enough time for the others to reorganize their formation and target the monster’s weak points.
Sswik—
In the fleeting moment when the giant’s focus was temporarily scattered.
Hainz II, having slipped through the gap in perception, revealed himself like a ghost.
In the air above the giant’s forearm.
Skakak—!
Simultaneously with his appearance, a blade of blood split the air like a whip.
And at the same timing, Briki’s attack launched from the ground drove precisely into the opposite side of the impact point.
It was an attack that would have ended with only a deep wound had it struck from one side alone, but the combined assault utilizing the thought-sharing of a subordinate relationship instantly created unparalleled synergy—
Kuung!
Finally.
The left arm, bus-sized and repeatedly mangled, was cleanly severed.
“Kuaaack! You insect-like things!”
The giant lost all reason and let out a bizarre scream brimming with rage.
The surrounding air was pushed away as a typhoon raged across the area.
As if reacting to his emotions, the madness from all directions began to be drawn toward him, centered on that very spot.
‘Krhgrh— Damn it, I don’t see an answer. Yes, this place shall be my death. If it has come to this, it cannot be helped.’
He had expected it to some degree, but achieving His will directly by himself had indeed been too much after all.
The revolutionary resigned himself thus, while steeling his heart to execute the final alternative.
‘But I cannot end it like this. I shall devote this body of mine to become a seed for the next generation.’
Having resolved himself to something, he—
From within the giant’s body overflowing with madness—severed on his own the something that had barely sustained him.
To be reborn as the complete ‘Madness’ that would lead this world to destruction.
***
Heinrich, who had moved behind the giant at some point.
Regardless of what the monster was doing, he did his best at what he could do now.
He quietly raised the holy sword gripped firmly in both hands.
Uuuuung—
「Blessing: Radiant Sword」, rising sharply to over 10 meters, supported by all manner of buffs and holy power from the Saintess.
He imbued that pillar of light with the power of 「Spatial Slash」 and cleanly sliced through the ankle of the monster whose reactions were somehow dulled.
Kuuuung—!
The massive body with its severed ankle collapsed, and a landslide-like shock swept through the surroundings.
The raid party did not miss that opportunity and mercilessly bit into the fallen giant’s weak point—his head—each in their own way.
Like hyenas trying to cut the breath of an elephant that had finally fallen.
‘This regeneration speed…’
But those pouring out attacks soon couldn’t help but frown involuntarily.
Thanks to the madness being drawn in real-time, the giant’s recovery had surged endlessly and had already surpassed the speed at which damage accumulated.
And finally.
[————!]
Eventually, as if madness had penetrated to the marrow, a roar devoid of even a shred of reason burst forth.
Except for Halli, whose heavy weight had been pressing down on that body, everyone else was flung far away.
“Kuh, what is he doing now?”
“Wait, that…!”
Guoooo—
Immediately after, fierce winds raged, and a massive red vortex formed with the monster at its center.
It was madness itself at an overwhelming density.
An awe-inspiring spectacle of all the madness spread across the world concentrating and being drawn in enveloped the surroundings.
“Krrrgh— kyaaack!”
“K-kurk… High Lord…!”
“Mental erosion…”
Within such dense currents.
Naturally, those exposed to it gradually began to show negative effects.
They were all at least beyond the level of peak experts, but even they could not remain unaffected within such dense madness.
“O Lord! Please protect Your children!”
Of course, the hero party including the Saintess hurriedly received the protection of holy power and managed to shake it off, but the vampires on the ground had no choice but to hurriedly withdraw outside the area.
Because by their very nature they were no different from half-demons, they couldn’t help but be more strongly affected by the madness.
‘That’s not all. This dense concentration of energy is interfering with other energies.’
He fired off several attacks as a diversion, but they were all swept away by the fierce currents surrounding the area, weakened or disappearing entirely.
And with such weakened attacks, they could not deal meaningful damage to the monster whose regeneration and defense had already risen to extremes.
Ppudeudeuk—! Udeuk!
While they were worrying about what to do.
A sudden change began in the monster.
Before anyone knew, a twisting sound echoed from the giant’s body, crouched at the center of the storm and receiving the surrounding energy.
The severed arm and leg regenerated instantly, grotesquely writhing muscles proliferated and compressed repeatedly, and even amidst that, the body continued to grow larger.
[Krhhrhrh— Kkikikahak!]
Now, laughter devoid of even a shred of reason flowed from the monster’s mouth.
Having exceeded the amount of madness he could control on his own, it was as if his ego had been devoured, like the previous Undead Kings.
But that wasn’t what mattered now.
‘…No, no matter how much this is a Phase 2, this is too much.’
Any ordinary person couldn’t even approach.
Even if one approached, attack power dropped drastically in this space, making it difficult to pierce the monster’s hard outer shell.
And even if one inflicted damage on that body, it would recover instantly with near-immortal regeneration…
‘What do you mean, an invincibility state during transformation in reality?!’
Heinrich, who had swung the Radiant Sword several times using even Spatial Slash, subtly furrowed his brow.
As expected, that giant’s body, unlike the undead, did not take great damage from holy power.
He had held a sliver of hope because it was an energy that held superiority over madness, part of the Abyss, so the power reduction wouldn’t be significant.
But the trouble didn’t end there.
The giant evolving in real-time upon entering Phase 2 was troublesome enough, but he had just realized through another Avatar that an even bigger problem was occurring.
‘The flow of madness spread across the world is heading toward this place. And…’
Following that flow, signs were showing that a continent-scale migration of demons was beginning toward this place.
Naturally, Talak adjacent to the northern mountain range would receive devastating blows, and countless other cities would suffer great damage as well.
‘Damn it. I need to kill this thing as quickly as possible.’
Heinrich let out a short sigh.
Now there was no time to be picky about means or methods.
At this point, he had no choice but to resort to the final means he had been saving for emergencies…
‘Hm? Wait, this is…’
Just before he used that method.
Realizing something, he slowly turned his head.
And quietly gazed at one spot.
Guoooo—
That place was the center of this abnormal situation.
It was the destination of the red vortex being incessantly drawn in.
Right beside where the giant devouring all the world’s madness was…
‘Huh? Could this be?’
To be more precise.
It was Halli, stuck right beside the crouched giant, receiving the benefits of the madness along with it.
***
“Kahat! Aah—this is dizzying!”
Halli, who had inadvertently ended up getting a madness shower next to the giant, took a deep breath, intoxicated by the dense energy pressing in from all sides.
If what he had absorbed until now was like a gas, this was condensed to a concentration that could be considered liquid.
‘This is incredible.’
Halli already used 「Tyrant of Madness」 to accumulate madness from the atmosphere into his body.
But even he had never dreamed of causing such a phenomenon…
Halli quietly turned his gaze to look at the crouched white giant with a peculiar expression.
That massive white creature was still preoccupied with writhing here and there across its entire body as it tried to control the madness.
Without paying any mind to Halli right beside it.
‘Is this the confidence that no matter what trick I use, I cannot harm him?’
Or perhaps he couldn’t move even if he wanted to.
The seed of madness within that giant’s body was a fragment of the majority that had been ground away during the process of emerging from the Abyss.
But wouldn’t the process of forcibly pulling such things together to become one be far from simple?
Puuk— Swaak! Kwadeudeuk!
And that speculation became certainty as he tore, ripped, and smashed the giant’s body to his heart’s content.
Even when he continued attacking with all his might using the madness filling the surroundings, the monster remained crouched in the same posture without moving.
‘As expected, since Halli uses the same madness, there’s no power reduction. But that’s not enough.’
Far harder than ordinary giants, any deep wounds disappeared cleanly in less than a second.
To break through this, extreme attack power to smash the skull and pierce the weak point without giving him time to regenerate was needed, but even combining strength with his Avatars, it seemed difficult in his current state.
…No, it would have been difficult.
In a normal environment.
‘But it’s different here.’
Halli looked at the energy filling the surroundings and bared his teeth ferociously.
Without delay, he immediately drew in the surrounding madness with 「Tyrant of Madness」.
Not stopping there, he mobilized the resources of his other Avatars for the first time in a while, twisting part of the surrounding flow entirely toward himself.
Guoooo—
Soon, the core of the vortex surrounding them temporarily became two.
Unlike the giant drawing in madness with continent-wide influence, he only needed to focus his strength on adjusting part of the destination point, so he could wield power far more efficiently.
Perhaps because of that, the giant’s body lurched several times as if resisting, but of course Halli didn’t care in the slightest.
Ppudeudeuk— Bbadeuk!
A crashing sound came from his body due to the massive concentration of energy, but he recovered instantly.
In fact, there was no reason his 「Ultimate Evolved Lifeform」 should be inferior to the white giant in terms of physical quality, so it was only natural.
‘Now, we’re on equal footing.’
Feeling the energy fully filling his body, Halli lightly cracked his neck.
Next step.
He burned the abundant energy all at once, pouring it into the 「Mark of the Fighting King」 to raise all his abilities to their maximum.
And on top of that, he concentrated the madness-mingled 「Bio Aura」 beyond its limit onto a part of his body.
Specifically.
His shark-like protruding teeth.
Bbajik—
As enormous energy concentrated, even his maximally strengthened body couldn’t keep his teeth from shattering.
The damage was gradually restored by the ensuing regeneration.
And this process repeated several times.
Continuous destruction and regeneration.
And as the process continued, the 「Ultimate Evolved Lifeform」 gradually evolved the strength of the shattered teeth.
Until they could finally withstand the concentrated energy.
‘Good, then shall we begin?’
Halli’s strongest attack power.
It was the biting force derived from 「Gluttony」.
Thanks to that, hadn’t he once chewed dragon scales like snacks?
Of course, he had already confirmed that this alone couldn’t pierce the giant’s skull, but the situation was different now.
Kadeuk— Kadeuk—!
Halli moved his jaw, clashing his teeth together several times.
Merely that alone tore part of space, creating thin fissures in the air that vanished.
He nodded satisfactorily and prowled like a beast before the hunt, approaching the giant’s head, crouched politely like a well-prepared dinner table.
Matching his timing, Heinrich and Hainz II, who had pushed through the storm, also finished their preparations and took their stances.
“Kwahahaha! Now—be good, friend? Stay still.”
The giant seemed to writhe subtly, but it was probably just his imagination.
Halli’s jaw, deformed and extremely developed, tore open wide, and his pitch-black teeth, infused with massively concentrated madness and 「Bio Aura」, gleamed sharply.
“It’ll be over soon!”
A flashing sword of light and a blood-red stinger embedded themselves in one point of the skull.
And then sharp teeth dug straight into that spot.
Kwadeudeudeuk—!
It pierced through the hard defense in just a few attempts.
Finally reaching the seed of madness hidden inside.
And—
‘I will enjoy this meal!’
In other words.
Now.
I am the ‘King of Madness’.