The End of Delusion (4)
A fleeting instant.
A silence as if the entire world had stopped settled over the surroundings.
Only one thought surfaced in the minds of the practitioners advancing on the Seongcheon Yun Clan.
By an extraordinary coincidence, the hearts of everyone present had miraculously aligned.
‘What is this?’
At first, they could not understand it at all.
...No, that was not it.
In truth, understanding it itself was not especially difficult.
As practitioners who cultivated their mental imagery through chakra training, it made no sense that they would fail to sense such a vivid wave of mind.
Rather than something they could not understand...
It would be more accurate to call it something they “could not believe.”
‘I feel like I’m going to suffocate any second. What in the world is this...!’
An invisible storm of thoughts rose like a tidal wave from the center of the city and spread in every direction.
Before it, which swallowed the entire area in an instant, neither the resistance they had been so proud of nor the mental barriers they had armed so solidly were of any use.
—Stop.
It was only a single word.
Yet as the compelled will was engraved into their minds, the fighting spirit that had been swelling to its peak fizzled out as if doused in cold water.
Let alone moving forward, they could not even take a single step, their breath caught in their throats.
Among them, there were some who tried to resist that coercive force somehow, but such attempts did not last long.
“Hah, hah... Damn it! Th-the gaze...!”
“Grrrgh! It’s looking this way! What the hell is that?!”
If anything, those of lower realm were better off.
The ones who suddenly began convulsing and showing abnormal reactions were all strong individuals who had been confident in their own abilities.
Those who dug into that thought in order to resist it had no choice but to come face-to-face with something at the end.
Beyond the connection called “communication,” something incomprehensible that could not be defined in any particular way was quietly looking this way.
Even if it had no intention of causing harm, its immense presence alone was more than enough to be overwhelming.
Soldiers and warriors, completely rendered powerless regardless of their level of ability, lost all will to fight.
And thus, the war ended almost as soon as it began.
“...Amazing.”
A miracle achieved with a single word.
Ramyu, who had witnessed that feat from right beside him, looked up at Hun with sparkling eyes.
‘This is absolute power... The power that is absolutely necessary to make the world peaceful...’
Because she had opened the chakra of “World,” she could feel it far more sensitively than others.
How much karma had resided in that single word of Hun’s just now.
And how much effort he must have put in to build it up.
‘It felt as if not just Hun oppa alone, but more than ten people were shouting all at once.’
Of course, that had to be an absurd illusion.
It was proof that she herself was still lacking.
Resolving to devote herself even more from now on, she nodded firmly.
‘...It seems to have stimulated her properly, at least.’
Hun glanced sideways at Ramyu and crossed his arms solemnly, trying hard not to show his satisfaction.
A single blow with an impact that rivaled a practitioner of the Heavenly Gate.
As expected, it had been worth overdoing it a little by drawing on the mental strength of his other avatars as well.
“...Mr. Hun? What in the world is this...?”
At that moment, Lucette’s voice, unable to hide her bewilderment, came from behind.
When he turned around, he saw her looking at them in dismay, sparks of electricity crackling all over her body as if she had rushed over in haste.
“Could it be that you have ascended to the Heavenly Gate...? No, that can’t be. It’s hard enough to believe you’ve already reached the Deep Layer, but the Heavenly Gate... Still, what just happened...”
She rambled in confusion, then forced her eyes shut and took a deep breath.
Naturally, there was no way the Yun Clan would fail to notice such a powerful ripple that had begun from their own base.
When they observed the thought contained within it, they could not help but be astonished.
No matter how conservatively they judged it, its scale was utterly impossible unless one was a practitioner of the Heavenly Gate.
‘Even if he lowered its aggression as much as possible... To spread mental waves that even a Deep Layer practitioner could not easily ignore over such a vast range...’
If she had been the target, would she have been able to withstand it completely?
Honestly, even she could not be certain.
“I’m not at the Heavenly Gate yet. I merely added a little of the ability I possess as an otherworlder. Well, you can just think of it as a parlor trick.”
“...I see.”
Lucette, who had barely managed to accept that answer, gave an awkward smile.
Thinking about it carefully, even without chakra, he had reduced numerous Upper Layer practitioners to wrecks, and not long after entering the path, he had even toppled a Deep Layer practitioner.
Perhaps being surprised at each and every thing he did at this point was what was truly belated.
“Ah, and I think we’ll need some manpower... Would that be all right?”
“For cleaning up here, you mean? Don’t worry. This matter concerns our Yun Clan as well. Every department should already be responding with everything they have.”
“That too, of course, but...”
Hun trailed off and turned his gaze toward the distance.
The Yun Clan would find out soon enough anyway, but since things had come to this, it seemed better to say it now.
“I think that much won’t be enough.”
And no sooner had those words ended—
Kuuuuung—!
A roar that began far away rang out faintly.
Lucette’s face hardened as she sensed that something was not right.
Then, before she even had time to say anything, her body, wreathed in lightning, vanished on the spot.
“...Well now, there’s no need to overreact that much.”
“Wasn’t everything over? Should we help too...?”
“Ah, it’s fine. It’s fine. That isn’t something like a war. That’s just...”
At Ramyu’s worried question, Hun shrugged.
Then, stroking his chin as he wondered how to put it, he lightly clapped his hands and raised the corners of his mouth in a grin.
“Right, it’s just a cleaning company doing some disinfection. For things like this, you just trust the experts and leave it to them.”
“......?”
Whether or not she tilted her head, unable to understand his words, he lifted his head and quietly looked up at the sky.
“Anyway, what fine weather. On a day like this, it’d be perfect to have a picnic under the cool shade of a tree.”
The sky today was particularly clear and blue.
Just like the future unfolding before them, that lofty sky was bright beyond measure.
***
A shabby-looking man with a bandit-like beard lay amid the rubble of a collapsed building, blankly staring at the sky beyond the gaping ceiling.
‘...Damn it all, it’s awfully clear out.’
How long had it been since he had looked up at the sky like this?
But that leisure did not last long.
If he did not get up immediately, he might end up lying there forever.
Becoming one with this land.
Kuuung—!
No sooner had he instinctively dodged than a thick leg slammed down into the spot where he had been lying.
Its form was clearly nothing more than a simple stomp, yet the result it caused had long since exceeded the ordinary.
Crack, crack—
Through the thickly rising dust, cracks in the earth spread like a spiderweb.
With a vibration like an earthquake and the ground sinking in, the building that had been barely holding on collapsed completely.
“Hoo, hoo... I’m going crazy. How did a mad monster like that end up clinging to me...?”
Spitting out the blood that surged up his throat, the man—the demonic path practitioner known as “Human Butcher”—muttered in despair.
The surroundings were already a pandemonium of collapsed buildings, as if a great earthquake had passed through.
It had happened in an instant.
The five Deep Layer practitioners and the double-digit number of Upper Layer practitioners who had participated in the Yun Clan expedition with him had been turned into bloody pulp without even putting up proper resistance.
Feeling the danger, he had immediately thrown himself back into a spatial fissure to flee, but...
The problem was that the giant who had suddenly barged in had seized him as if he had been waiting for that very moment, and crossed through space along with him.
“Keugh! Our attacks aren’t working...!”
“Human Butcher! You damned bastard! What the hell did you bring here?!”
“Kuaaaagh!”
What followed was exactly the scene before him now.
The hideout prepared to support this Yun Clan assault operation was being completely devastated.
By one single being.
“Kahahahaha—! So all you insects were gathered here!”
Clad like a barbarian, his openly exposed muscles writhed dynamically.
With a single casual gesture, everything blocking his path was torn apart, and no attack could weaken his robust body.
No chakra could be felt from him, nor did he possess any noteworthy weapon, but the pressure he gave off had already far surpassed that of most Heavenly Gate practitioners.
‘Damn it, rotten luck. If only it weren’t for that damned mental wave, none of this would’ve happened.’
Being held up there and having his return delayed had brought about this irreversible disaster.
The situation had already deteriorated beyond recovery.
The best thing he could do now was to flee as quickly as possible and get away from that moving calamity, but...
‘There’s no way that bastard will let me go so easily.’
He glanced down at his own butcher’s knife, now missing teeth in an unsightly manner, and smiled bitterly.
“Hey, friend! What are you doing here? After all the sincerity you showed by inviting me all the way here, let’s have another go together!”
At that moment, a hearty voice rang right beside his ear.
In reflex, Human Butcher swung the knife in his hand and cut at the neck of the opponent who had approached, but...
Kagagagak—!
That lethal strike, imbued with the Deep Layer chakra of murder and the Middle Layer chakra of slaughter, failed to even pierce the flesh of his neck, merely scattering tiny sparks.
That infamous cursed demon blade, which was said to inflict a fatal wound without fail on humans so long as it touched them!
‘...Heh, I wondered if it might be the case, but this monster... really isn’t human.’
So it was only natural that the power of murder, specialized in killing “humans,” did not work properly.
Given the difference in power, even if it had worked, it would have been difficult to produce any meaningful result.
“Now, that’s a bit hurtful. Acting before talking is a bad habit, you know. I’ll take this opportunity to thoroughly correct that nasty habit of yours.”
A grinding sound came from Harley’s rock-like fist.
Along with it, fighting spirit began to blaze like fire.
What happened next was all too obvious.
“Let’s wrap this up, friend. I may not look it, but I’m an extremely busy man, you know? I still have a whole lot to do.”
“Kehk! Keugh, cough!”
Gripping his neck with one large hand, Harley shrugged.
The noise of battle that had been loudly ringing in all directions had long since died down.
That was only natural, for he was now the only being standing on two feet in this place.
‘The troops dispatched from the Hongsan Kingdom and Cheonghae Kingdom might be another matter, but there’s no reason to show mercy to demonic path practitioners who are nothing but harmful.’
Unlike Hella, who was subtly versatile and could carry out various missions, all Harley could do was smash everything to pieces.
In a sense, it was only natural that he had been sent out for pest extermination.
‘Good. Then things on this side are roughly settled for now. All that remains is to contact the Yun Clan and have them clean up this hideout.’
It was a base used as a hideout by demonic path practitioners notorious for their wickedness.
He had dealt with them, but there was no telling what else might be hidden here, so an investigation and cleanup were essential.
Of course, that did not mean he could personally handle such a troublesome task.
In that sense, pushing it onto the Yun Clan, the party directly involved in this matter, was a very reasonable choice.
However, in order to do that, he first needed to convey the situation to the Yun Clan...
“...Huh?”
As he continued thinking, Harley blinked blankly.
The situation had been urgent, so he had crossed through space recklessly without thinking about what came next, but...
‘Now that I think about it, where is this? How do I get back?’
No, returning itself would be possible if he used “Hero’s Footsteps.”
The problem was that if he did, there would be no proper way to explain this location.
After staring endlessly up at the sky, he roughly scratched the back of his head.
“Wahahaha! Well, when a man strives to accomplish great things, things like this happen from time to time!”
Harley burst into hearty laughter.
Of course, he still had no real plan.
Fortunately, he did not need to come up with some method himself.
Lucette, who had sensed the anomaly and moved to the source of the noise, had examined the traces left there and immediately organized a pursuit party.
Unlike the previous attack, thanks to Harley utterly smashing the arrival point, it had not been particularly difficult to reverse-calculate the spatial coordinates.
And so, while Harley—who had done nothing but devour food like a freeloader ever since they brought in Great General Juryeong—was finally making himself useful in his own way.
Hella, who had begun tracking the mastermind before him, was also achieving meaningful results elsewhere.
***
An archipelago located in the southern part of the central continent of Saba-cheon, on one of its countless islands.
“Ha, hahaha... This is ridiculous.”
A dark-skinned black man sat slumped on the ground, his head bowed low as he let out a hollow laugh.
A dozen or so black magic circles were arrayed all around him, and countless chains extending from them wrapped tightly around his body.
They were proof of the reality that, in the end, he had lost.
‘To think I’d end up like this.’
It was something he had not even imagined until just a short while ago.
Whether it was Great General Yongseol of Cheonghae-guk, Great General Juryeong of Hongsan-guk, or even the Black King.
No matter who came at him, he had been confident that he would ultimately bring them to their knees and emerge victorious.
“Whew, what a troublesome ability. I very nearly let you get away for real.”
Before him, a bewitching woman sat cross-legged in midair, resting one hand against her cheek as she let out a small sigh.
Even so, perhaps because she had succeeded in catching him in the end, she did not seem displeased. The wings folded behind her back swayed gently, subtly revealing her delight.
“The ability to switch bodies freely through your hosts. No wonder it was so hard to seize your true form.”
Whenever it seemed he was about to be caught, he changed bodies; and when it seemed they had him cornered again, he moved to a host far away. Naturally, tracking him had taken that much longer.
If Hella had not been a Demon Lord—if she had lacked even one of the abilities to detect and pursue souls, or to forcibly anchor them...
They would still be continuing that sluggish chase even now.
‘A Demon Lord? A Demon Lord, you say? Why does a being like this exist in this world? And the mystic power she uses isn’t chakra either. Don’t tell me she’s from another world? A Demon Lord? What kind of nonsense is that!’
But complaining now would change nothing.
“Now, then.”
Uncrossing the legs she had folded in midair, she slowly approached him.
The mastermind, completely subdued and unable to move a muscle.
The being who had discarded his name along with his original body—Unknown.
“Let us have a more intimate conversation, shall we?”
Hella seized his chin and met his gaze, and a chilling gleam flared in her eyes.