It did not take long for the entire clear sky to be blanketed by black clouds whose origin no one could guess.
Rumble—
At that sudden turn of events, even the seasoned Demon Cultists, veterans of countless hardships, could not help but have their gazes stolen by the sky for a moment.
No matter how infamous Beijing was as a Demonic Realm, none of them had ever heard of such a strange phenomenon occurring before.
“...What is that?”
Yelü Huan, the Heavenly Divination Demon Immortal, who had been busily preparing the ritual, also looked up at the sky with a stiff face at that unmistakable anomaly.
Manipulating the weather was not something that could be done at an ordinary level.
And to bring about such a dramatic change at such speed...
A list of candidates capable of causing such a phenomenon flashed rapidly through his mind.
But at the end, only one remained.
This phenomenon unfolding now—had he not heard of it just recently?
He had not seen it himself and had only heard of it by word of mouth, so he had assumed there had been some exaggeration mixed in...
“The Demon King.”
A mysterious monster who called himself the Demon King, slew the Heavenly Demon, seized the main mountain of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and, as if that were not enough, devoured every last foundation that remained there.
With the appearance of an unexpected variable, his vigilance shot to its peak, and his senses sharpened to a razor’s edge.
‘...This is not a phenomenon brought about by simple sorcery. Demonic energy so dense it can even force natural phenomena... How can demonic energy of this purity exist in the mortal world?’
Sensing the viscous energy packed within the dark clouds, his sense of crisis rang like an alarm bell.
And it was not mere demonic energy, but a power closer to the root of the concept of death itself. At that level, it should have been buried at the very bottom of the hells one only heard of in tales.
Yet something like that was roaming the world in broad daylight...
Rummmble—
But the situation did not even give Yelü Huan time to devise a countermeasure.
His eyebrows twitched as he felt the connections he had established through special means to communicate with his subordinates outside Beijing being severed one strand at a time.
“Ha, a formation...? No, wait. Don’t tell me he used those clouds to construct a formation in the sky?”
The severance of space through artificial means.
Now, those beneath those pitch-black clouds could neither request aid from outside nor leave without the caster’s permission.
At the manifestation of a mystery on such an absurdly vast scale, a hollow breath escaped his lips.
[“Indeed, you do have some discernment.”]
And as if answering his mutter.
An unfamiliar voice resounded throughout the entire space.
[“Khehehe— I wondered if it could be, but to think you truly were all gathered here.”]
A sinister laugh, as if it had crawled up from hell.
At that, the gazes of those who had been looking up at the sky were forcibly fixed on a single point in the air.
They had no choice but to do so.
Shudder—
Since when had he been there?
Beneath the sky covered in dark clouds.
There was an absolute being, floating leisurely as if reigning over the world, arrogantly looking down upon the earth where they stood.
“......!”
“...Mmm.”
Those who perceived him, who exuded an overwhelming presence as though the density of the space around him were different, unconsciously retreated several steps.
Even the demonic humans, who had undergone hellish training and even certain procedures to cut away fear, were no exception.
Their bodies were rigid, cold sweat poured down their skin, and goosebumps rose all over them.
It was not merely the response of facing a threat to their lives, but an instinctive reaction to an unknown menace that stimulated the soul itself.
[“Now— then.”]
Amid the silence steeped in a chilling air.
That being opened his mouth once more in a voice tinged with amusement.
[“Try entertaining me. Lowly insects.”]
It was the moment the Demon King from another world encountered the final remnants of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
***
There is a common image of a final boss as roughly depicted in media.
Not only do they possess overwhelming charisma, they also carry a sense of gravitas, do not move recklessly, and leave most matters to their subordinates.
‘In truth, when you have capable subordinates, it looks rather unsightly for the boss to personally handle every little thing. It’s inefficient in many ways, too.’
And that was precisely the appearance Hans was showing right now.
“Activate the Demon-Extermination Sealing Formation!”
[Kkakakakakak—!]
“Ghk, what in the world is that? What sort of sorcery is this!”
[Death! Those who do not follow the king deserve only death!]
“What...! They aren’t merely using their martial arts from life; they’re even maintaining their egos?”
[Kill them! Kill them!]
A large-scale war had broken out without warning in the middle of an uninhabited Demonic Realm.
Demonic humans and undead clashed, and jiangshi collided with jiangshi.
Even amid that chaos, Hans stood at ease with his arms crossed, merely nodding slightly as he observed the situation.
‘I still don’t quite have a feel for it. It feels like it’s almost there, but not quite...’
The Immortal King Hans was an especially unique individual among the avatars.
The martial force he possessed could be called top-tier even among all the avatars, but his true value was not limited simply to such personal combat ability.
The countless legions of undead under his command as the Lord of Death.
They were not merely numerous; his true power lay in that tremendous military force, which included even those who had reached the peak of a dimension—not only the ultimate stage, but transcendence itself.
After all, had the previous Immortal Kings not been able to scheme against the continent precisely because they had such abilities?
‘Of course, unlike in Auterica, where I inherited the legacy of my predecessors, there’s a limit to the undead I can command in the Ganghwan Realm, where I have no established foundation...’
But that was now a thing of the past.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, called without exaggeration the largest, strongest, and worst force in the Ganghwan Realm.
By wholly devouring their forces, which had grown even more bloated after absorbing even the Blood Cult, renowned as the foremost in jiangshi arts, what he had lacked was now more than sufficiently supplied.
“Grrk, they’re breaking through! Send in more jiangshi, quickly!”
“Impossible! Our cult’s jiangshi arts are the greatest in the world! If the level of the materials is the same, we should never be pushed back... Then why, why is there such a difference?”
“No, more importantly, isn’t that a yokai jiangshi produced by our cult? It must have been made through the same process, so what is this disparity!”
Perhaps because the shock was as great as the pride they held in being the best, the Demon Cult sorcerers handling the jiangshi all screamed at once and tore at their hair.
It could not be helped.
At a glance, jiangshi that appeared to be on a similar level were clashing, and every time they did, only the jiangshi under their control were being smashed one-sidedly. It was only natural.
‘Sorry, but they are not the same.’
To be precise, the materials were the same as they thought.
Most of the jiangshi he was currently commanding were those he had swept up from the piles in Gaehwa Palace at the main mountain of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The difference had arisen from whether or not additional processing had followed afterward.
‘It would have been more perfect if I could have used Auterica’s magic reagents as well, but not being able to use them is hardly a major problem for me. Above all, I have the power of the Abyss, which is practically almighty when it comes to undead.’
In any case, the process of using reagents was not very suitable for mass modification work.
He had injected the Abyss, which he could now handle like his own hands and feet, into the jiangshi, then used it as a medium to reinforce them through necromancy.
That was the whole story behind the phenomenon occurring now.
‘And... in that process, I obtained a new ability as well.’
-Individual Name: Hans
-Race: Undead (Immortal King)
-Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Persona」, 「Monstrous Strength」, 「Hyperesthesia」, 「Xenoglossy」, 「Sturdiness」, 「Limit Break」, 「Imitation」
-Individual Traits: 「Immortal Heart」, 「Unholy Sage」, 「Forbidden Truth」, 「Path of Magic」, 「Eye of the Abyss」, 「Mana Dominion」, 「Lord Who Defies Heaven」
-Special Notes: He inherited the ‘Immortal Heart,’ which contains the essence of the Abyss, and became the Immortal King, a calamity of the Auterica dimension. As he awakened divinity, a faint godhood began to sprout. Due to 「Lord Who Defies Heaven」, all restrictions on undead are eased.
「Lord Who Defies Heaven」 was an ability he had obtained while researching the corpses of the Heavenly Demon and the scribe, and later, while beginning to seriously delve into that field for the production of jiangshi.
It was a skill that had contributed greatly to completing the Karma Jiangshi and modifying the jiangshi of Gaehwa Palace.
The undead under his command affected by it would now possess strong resistance even to divine power, which could be called their weakness.
‘...And perhaps someday, I may be able to ignore the barriers between dimensions and move undead from another world elsewhere.’
He did not know whether the acquisition condition had been obtaining divinity as an undead, completely mastering the undead production method of another world, or both.
But at this point, that was not a very important matter.
“Oho? It finally worked.”
Thanks to that skill, which eased ‘all’ restrictions, he could now do things like this.
“Huh? Huhh? Kuaaaak—!”
“What is this?! Why did our jiangshi suddenly...!”
“That idiot had his control stolen! Everyone, stay sharp! If you think it won’t work, use the Dark Soul Talismans! One wrong move and all the jiangshi will go over to their side!”
The formation of the Demon Cultists instantly turned into a pandemonium.
A portion of the jiangshi group gathered to one side turned in unison, and several sorcerers who had been giving orders only moments before were torn to shreds on the spot.
But that lasted only briefly.
As black flames flared from the talismans drawn by those whose control had been shaken, the jiangshi hacking, which had been proceeding smoothly, began to falter once again.
‘A consumable that temporarily strengthens control. Well, fine. If the difficulty rises, the rate at which my proficiency increases will also grow faster. Let’s see how long you can hold out.’
In truth, their capabilities had already far exceeded his expectations.
This was the heart of Beijing, a place called a Demonic Realm.
Once, it had been blessed land where the Dragon Heart resided and the center of this world, but now it had become cursed earth, a black hole that sucked in the energy of the world.
“Hmm, but no matter how I look at it, those fellows don’t seem to be greatly affected by it.”
He himself did not use qi to begin with, so it did not matter, but were they not all beings who belonged to this world?
However, as Hans quietly examined their energy with 「Eye of the Abyss」, he soon understood the reason.
‘...I see. So that, too, is the effect of offering the children of the dragon as sacrifices. Come to think of it, they said the internal energy of those who fought the Demon Cultists at Shaolin Temple had also wavered.’
It seemed this was another extension of that.
As he swept his narrowed eyes over them for a moment, his senses spread widely and scanned the surroundings in an instant.
‘Found them. Zhuge Hyemi and Ju Gangin are both safe. And the others as well... seven in total? They gathered quite a lot.’
Of course, since he had to find the children of the dragon anyway, it saved him trouble and was not a bad thing.
Having confirmed the locations of his targets, he shifted his gaze and looked elsewhere.
Toward the place where the strong ones here were gathered.
The one-eyed old man he had once encountered at Shaolin Temple, the Ghost Sword Demon Emperor, and all the Demon Cult experts who had been dispatched outside the main mountain were here.
Not only humans, but also the high-grade jiangshi that had been taken outside.
‘That is... I see. Is that the jiangshi the Lord of Gaehwa Palace made using the Blood Demon? There seem to be five or six jiangshi at the Transformation Realm level as well. Just how long have they been preparing?’
This was a world where conflict never ceased and death was a daily occurrence.
A world where experts who would not have died easily in a peaceful state were frequently dragged into fights and killed.
It would not have been very difficult to obtain corpses of high caliber.
‘And that man is the Demon Cult’s strategist, the Heavenly Divination Demon Immortal Yelü Huan.’
Hans’s gaze turned toward the one looking up at him with a stiff face.
An old man with the air of an immortal, his pure white beard grown long.
However, the power faintly felt within his body was absolutely not something that could be taken lightly.
No matter how he looked at it, the sheer amount of that energy exceeded even the Heavenly Demon’s.
Even taking into account that he was not a martial artist but a sorcerer, it was more than a little excessive.
“I see. You are not human.”
Hans was able to identify the cause without difficulty.
At the words he tossed out while arrogantly looking down below, the corners of Yelü Huan’s mouth twitched.
“Heh heh heh, the same could be said of you. You aren’t human either, are you? No, if anything, you’re even worse. From the looks of it, you don’t seem to be a living being at all.”
The old man’s pupils, turned a vivid yellow, split vertically and gave off an uncanny light.
Even the Heavenly Demon had only barely noticed after the fight had progressed to a certain point, so when the disguise Hans had put some effort into preparing was seen through at once, his head tilted to the side.
“Hmm? Are you perhaps a dragon? Why is a dragon in the Demonic Cult instead of Geumodo?”
“That is what I should be asking. From the looks of it, you came from another world. Why have you come here? This is a world already falling apart. There should be nothing much for you to gain.”
A situation in which neither answered the other’s words, only continuing to ask questions.
After that parallel exchange continued a few more times, Hans’s expression creased slightly.
In truth, it would have been stranger for an enemy to obediently answer questions asked of them.
In other words, this conversation was perfectly natural, with nothing strange about it at all.
He was well aware of that fact.
However...
‘...This is getting a little irritating.’
Because he had always shown the composure of an absolute powerhouse, he tended to appear relaxed, but strictly speaking, his patience was not particularly long.
In most situations, he had found the answers himself, so there had not been many occasions for him to exercise patience in the first place.
‘Come to think of it, why am I peacefully chatting away?’
If there was an answer he wanted, he could just force it out of them.
And if even that failed, he could simply open up their head and look inside, as he usually did.
Having gathered his lax mind and returned to his original resolve, Hans nodded heavily.
There was no need to waste any more time.
‘Come out.’
The moment his will stirred.
Gloop—
The ground below, now covered in shadow, heaved greatly.
Immediately afterward, as though pushing through the darkness on the floor, a human figure slowly walked out from within it.
‘Heavenly Demon.’
With a face and physique exceedingly familiar to those present, utterly impossible to mistake.
The bodies of those who had been closely watching the sudden abnormal phenomenon stiffened at that unexpected sight.
“It has been a while, Strategist.”
“...Cult Leader? I was told you had definitely died...”
“It seems you heard some nonsense somewhere. You had best rip out the tongue of the one who brought you that information. Am I not perfectly fine?”
That included Yaryul Hwan, who had been his strategist.
The Heavenly Demon, looking exactly as he had in life from every angle, raised the corners of his mouth and looked around.
As if showing off his well-being to his subordinates, who had frozen while staring at him.