Conquest of Another World (2)
Olivia had been summoned to another world out of nowhere and saddled with a heavy burden.
At this very moment, she was steeped in profound emotion.
‘Death is rampant across the entire world. At this level, it does not pale even in comparison to the prime of our conquest of the continent alongside the previous Immortal King.’
No, considering that the front line back then had been concentrated in the western part of the continent, while here the situation was similar everywhere, it would not be an exaggeration to say it surpassed those days.
Given the nature of the undead, who grew stronger the denser the death energy became, this place was no different from the ideal battlefield for them.
‘I had always wondered where His Majesty went whenever he left his seat...’
Only now could she understand his actions.
Why the current Immortal King had not been so proactive in conquering Auterica.
Why he had dragged out the war and prioritized other matters.
‘To think he had already been preparing to advance into another dimension since then!’
A grand design no one in the Army of Immortality had anticipated.
Reproaching herself for her foolishness in daring to presume the thoughts of her great sovereign, she referred to the knowledge of a human named McCarthy and did her utmost to carry out the command her king had given her.
She did not care that her workload had increased.
After all, working all day long was something she was used to.
‘Whether I am there or here, the amount of work I handle in a day will not change anyway.’
More than that, she was deeply moved that, among all the high-ranking executives, the king had summoned her first.
Did this not prove that the king trusted and favored her the most?
[I must repay that trust without fail... Now, there is no time... Search every corner of this entire world...!]
Gooooo—
Wooooo—
Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions...
Around Olivia, who had soared high into the sky, waves of spirit bodies swirled and stretched out across the entire world.
Not only the ghosts that had already existed, but even the entities born under the influence of her power joined one after another, and the waves began to spread even farther.
Unfulfilled wishes, grudges over unjust deaths, lingering attachments left behind.
Because this was a world already ruined beyond repair and filled with grief, the lingering thoughts left behind by the dead—materials that met those conditions—were overflowing in abundance.
And her earnest movements.
Were more than enough to provoke the arrogant beings who had regarded this world as their playground and looked down on it.
***
A gigantic castle located in the center of the continent.
“The air is unusually unsettled today.”
Rapua, the great lord of the castle, frowned as he looked up at the sky beyond the window.
But soon, he lightly shook his head and hurriedly moved his feet.
Since he had just received his master’s summons, he had no time to spare for anything else.
Before others, he reigned as a king who stood at the pinnacle of the world and as a being who had transcended humanity, but in truth, he too was merely a slave.
Knock, knock—
Standing before the splendid door, he knocked respectfully and carefully stepped inside.
Within the spacious room, which was filled with all kinds of luxurious items just like the door, a massive man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out the window.
“You called for me?”
“Mm.”
With a heavy, low voice, the man slowly turned around.
He was over two meters tall, with skin so pitch-black that it was difficult to distinguish his features, blood-red tattoos densely engraved over it, and red eyes that gleamed like glass beads without pupils.
“Rapua.”
The terminal created by the “Great Demon of Infinity,” indisputably the strongest being in the current world, looked down at his contractor and spoke in a low voice.
“It seems some little rat is testing the waters.”
“A rat... you say?”
At Rapua’s question, he slowly extended one hand.
Though he had been standing with his hands behind his back from beginning to end, as if he had no idea when he had caught it, a whitish spirit body was already struggling in the middle of his pitch-black grasp.
“It is necromancy of a fairly high level. And this one was not the only one.”
“...Are you saying it dared to try to monitor this place with that?”
Rapua stared at the spirit body in disbelief and let out a hollow laugh.
The Great Demon of Infinity was a supreme being regarded as having no rival in the present age.
And yet, someone had dared to pull such a trick in the castle where such a being resided.
Whoever it was, he could only think it an idiotic act.
‘Who on earth is it? Destruction? Grief?’
The most likely candidates were the fellow Great Demons, “Destruction” and “Grief,” but Rapua soon erased that thought.
Though those two had ascended to the ranks of Great Demons like “Infinity,” the difference between them was still immense.
Unlike those two, who had newly risen in rank as the world fell into misery, the Great Demon of Infinity had already held that position for thousands of years.
Even if those two joined forces, it would be difficult for them to defeat his master.
They themselves would know that fact best of all, so it did not seem likely they would provoke this side with such foolish behavior for no reason.
‘Unless it is that Eternity, who has only been passed down in stories.’
The records passed down about the Great Demon of Eternity were, quite literally, no different from legends.
Born human, he had become a low-ranking demon and risen to the pinnacle as a Great Demon in a mere twenty-odd years.
In the end, he was said to have even killed “Slaughter” and “Terror,” who had sat upon the seats of Great Demons at the time just like Infinity. Then, about a hundred years ago, he had suddenly disappeared and never shown himself again—a being out of fantasy.
Had the traces he left behind not remained all over this ruined world, Rapua himself would not have believed it...
“You are thinking useless thoughts.”
“M-my apologies.”
Rapua’s thoughts were forced to stop midway at the chilling momentum he felt along with the cold voice.
Recalling that the Great Demon of Infinity did not particularly like stories about Eternity, he quickly gave the answer his master wanted.
“I will take measures immediately. I will thoroughly root out the source and warn them so that no one ever attempts such a thing again.”
“Hm.”
At those words, the black demon slowly nodded and turned his head.
Rapua inwardly let out a sigh of relief and stroked his chest, but the Great Demon of Infinity merely continued looking out the window with a cold gaze.
As he mulled over the alien sensation he had felt at his fingertips when he crushed the spirit body.
‘Necromancy... Necromancy.’
The demons of Dibore, who worshiped their own epithets above all else, did not particularly favor necromancy.
If they had power to waste on something like that, they would simply absorb every last trace of a spirit body’s energy and add it to their authority.
‘Perhaps someone like the “Demon of Wraiths” would be another matter, but as far as I know, there is no candidate capable of commanding spirit bodies at this level.’
‘And then there is this alien feeling.’
It reminded him of an unpleasant emotion he had forgotten until now.
Yes, like when he had faced that bastard Eternity about a hundred years ago.
‘No, there is no way he has returned. It was confirmed again and again at the time that the bastard, an otherworlder, vanished beyond the dimension.’
That dimensional wall was an absolute law no one could defy.
Even Eternity would not be able to cross it again.
Then could this be...
‘...Something feels unusual. It would be best to move cautiously until I grasp the details.’
Under his command were rows upon rows of brilliant demons.
Even if Destruction and Grief joined hands and invaded, they would not collapse easily.
Even if the opponent was someone else, they would be more than enough to buy the time needed to understand the situation properly.
And he was not the only one thinking that way.
The Great Demon of Destruction and the Great Demon of Grief, who were more wary of Infinity than anyone else in this world, suspected that he might be behind this incident.
In the end, as if they had conspired together, they sent the demons under their command forward rather than stepping out personally.
Amid the situation that was approaching the verge of explosion, the ruling powers of Dibore kept themselves guarded as though preparing for a long war, each devising countermeasures.
However, if there was one unfortunate piece of news for them—
[My King... This humble girl has carried out all the commands you bestowed...]
[Oh? That was faster than I expected.]
[Perhaps because of their confidence, or perhaps because they had no intention of hiding from the beginning... It was not very difficult to discover their locations...]
[Keuheheut— How delightful. I quite like that arrogance of theirs, believing that no one can touch them.]
It was that the true culprit behind this incident.
[I look forward to seeing what faces they make when that confidence is shattered to pieces.]
Had no intention whatsoever of dragging this out for long.
‘There is no need to waste time when the enemy is this clear.’
The conqueror who had invaded another world—the Immortal King Hans—looked down over the plains below.
The “Eye of the Abyss” opened within the eye sockets where his gaze blazed.
Before long, all the earth touched by that gaze was dyed black.
Immediately after.
“Kieeeek!”
[Heed the King’s call!]
“Grrrk!”
[Woooooo—!]
From within the darkness on the ground, countless shapes, large and small, began to rise one by one.
Not only human corpses and skeletons, but undead with the bodies of monsters, and even jiangshi made from yokai and martial artists.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
Pwaaak!
It did not stop there; the vengeful spirits that had died on this land over the long years were also being revived.
The bodies of the dead burst out, roughly tearing through the earth.
Perhaps because he had deliberately sought out an old battlefield where resentment had pooled the thickest, the number of undead that rose in this way was far from small.
[This vassal Karam shall receive my lord’s command.]
[For the glory of the King—! Infinite terror upon this world—!]
[...Please, your orders...]
[Kuooooooo——!]
And at their very forefront.
The executives of the Army of Immortality, who had crossed dimensions in response to the Immortal King’s summons, prostrated themselves on the ground all at once, while bone dragons took to the sky and began circling widely.
Not only had the effects of skills including “Heaven-Defying Monarch” been applied, but as they were dependents connected to Hans, who had sprouted the divinity of “Death,” the aura they emitted was on a completely different level from when they had first been gathered.
The presence flowing from the executives gathered in one place was enough to make even space tremble in fine ripples.
The death energy filling the world and the power of the abyss transmitted from the Immortal King created a synergy, and the black flames blazing over their entire bodies flared violently.
“...Glory to the Lord of Death.”
“Ahh! My lord!”
And among them were also included the jiangshi into which he had poured exceptional effort, the Heavenly Demon, the Scribe, and many other Abyss Revenants.
In other words, most of the undead forces Hans had gathered until now had all assembled here.
[There is no need for a long speech.]
A voice rang out across the plains crawling with undead.
At the same time, the space that had been filled with all kinds of noise was instantly engulfed in silence.
The gazes of an enormous number of undead all focused on one place.
[I have no interest in dogs that have already yielded to power.]
The only human present, McCarthy, who had frozen solid and could barely breathe at the astonishing sight, swallowed with difficulty.
He struggled to ignore the pain in his left arm and eye, which were forcibly holding his mind together on the verge of fainting.
That declaration just now was, for the humans of this world who were barely scraping by, no different from their final lifeline.
The humans, already in utter decline, could never have survived against this great army.
‘So this is... the King of the Dead, the Ruler of Death, who looks down on even Great Demons.’
Beneath the ashen sky, the great conqueror floated high above, looking down upon his proud army.
With every word he spoke, the martial spirit of his dependents surged upward without end.
[Slaughter every last demon bastard ruling this world—!]
And the moment his final words ended.
[Uoooooo——!]
[Slaughter! Slaughter! Slaughter!]
[Coordinates set! Activate the gates immediately! We strike fast and finish fast!]
With fierce roars, the Army of Immortality scattered around its executives and began advancing all at once.
A war against the entire world, declared without proclamation.
Since they had already been preparing for war for a long time, and had even pinpointed precise coordinates, the movements of the great army flowed as naturally as water.
And as a result.
One hundred fifty-eight.
That was the number of demons revered in this world as untouchable beings who were hunted down in only a few days.
***
There was a great difference between the demons of Dibore and those of Auterica.
If the demon race residing in Auterica’s Demon Realm felt like a different species with a somewhat unusual ecology, then in Dibore, they were closer to the more fundamental image of “demons.”
Transcendent evil itself, akin to a kind of phenomenon incomprehensible from a mortal’s perspective.
‘The Executioner was originally a human awakened one, so it did not show very much.’
Every demon had an epithet given to them.
It was both the name that referred to that being and their authority, as well as a status that indirectly indicated their rank.
‘Originally, this world was maintained by demon hunters operating in the shadows to eliminate demon contractors. Now it has completely become a dark fantasy setting.’
Demons residing in hell could not be defeated by ordinary means.
From the beginning, they revealed their presence by granting power to contractors rather than acting directly, so they were not beings that could be dealt with.
The problem began when, for some reason, the demons of hell were released into the world and became able to roam freely to their hearts’ content.
Due to the collapsed power balance, the world instantly descended into utter ruin.
The demons who had risen from hell to the surface also had to endure all sorts of weakening, such as losing their immortality, but between them and the world, there existed a wall that could never be overcome by that alone.
And the beings who had taken the lead in driving the world toward destruction were those called “Great Demons.”
They were entities on a completely different level from ordinary demons, all of whom possessed powerful authorities; they were no different from sovereigns who reigned above them.
And one of those great Great Demons, the “Great Demon of Grief,” was now.
[Kuhah! You are quite troublesome indeed. Is this what it means to be a Great Demon?]
[Keuheuheuheuk— What are you? Why is an irregular like you in this world!]
With his neck caught in a bony hand, he was steeped in futile grief at the unreasonable violence that had come for him.