Chapter 208: The Great Evil (7)
The world of darkness collided with the world of silver. The darkness swallowed the silver.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
It was as if one mental image was devouring another. What it showed was a strange terror. A mental image creates a world within oneself.
Whether hero, villain, or monster, this was the first thing they completed.
Even if one were to lose a limb, most would protect their mental image. Limbs can be regenerated in various ways, but healing a mental image is difficult. If the world of the mental image is destroyed, one would live as a vegetable.
However, the world of darkness devoured the mental image without a care.
It even devoured the mental image created by the great evil, Daji.
Crack.
A crack appeared on the silver moon.
Everyone who saw it was horrified.“Daji lost in the battle of mental images…?”
“As expected of the Heavenly Demon! No, he is not just a mere Heavenly Demon. He will become the strongest in history, past and present…!!”
Simultaneously, they felt the world of another mental image unfolding behind them.
“…Another mental image?”
“What…? Are there really three people here who can unfold a world of mental images?”
It was an absurd situation. Fortunately, the one unfolding the mental image behind them bore no hostility towards them. It was solely focused on one being—Daji.
A silver aura formed a new mental image. A figure of an empire greater than Daji’s world welcomed her.
[…Lies.]
Daji, stepping into that place, instinctively knew.
That her life would end here. The ones who set foot in this mental image were three beings.
–Welcome, fox. To my Märchen.
A silver-haired transcendent who kidnapped her here, smiling wickedly.
–Atone for tormenting Seo-ha with your death.
A woman of starlight gazed at her with a murderous expression.
The great evil could revive in the future. The method involved receiving the power of those in the position of the great evil, offering a sacrifice, and reconstructing the body. Of course, the loss of power during that time was inevitable, but the important thing was that the future was promised.
The problem was that while escaping the boundary, she had no choice but to bring her true form here.
–Die.
Even if she summoned her avatars, they would be severely wounded if touched by that starlight. The power that affirms all life was sure to kill her.
Tens of thousands of glowing spheres unfolded in the sky. The power within the silver orbs was weak, but their sheer number was akin to violence.
Daji instinctively knew that she was going to die.
But she was a monster.
[I will kill you all!!]
She wanted to take at least one more with her as a companion on her final journey.
[…! Unbelievable achievements have been accomplished.]
[…Calculating achievement contents.]
My legs gave out.
I let out a sigh of relief and lay down on the ground.
“The ground is dirty.”
“…I don’t have the strength to get up.”
Truly.
I had poured everything into creating the mental image.
“It can’t be helped…”
Kim Seo-hyun came over to me. She brushed off the surrounding sand with a wave of her hand and placed my head on her lap.
A soft feeling enveloped my head. It was pleasant.
“How… How does it feel?”
“It’s comfortable.”
I felt drowsy, sleep creeping in gently. The scenery wasn’t bad either. Moonlight streamed down through the center of a hole.
“She’s dead, right?”
“Yes, she’s dead.”
The multiple messages unfolding before my eyes were proof.
Indeed, we had successfully defeated one of the monsters known as the great evil.
‘…What an incredible achievement.’
With this, could I reach the highest rank? The highest rank doesn’t bring dramatic changes like becoming a transcendent or an upper rank. When I first reached the upper rank, I had a mental image, but it was so large that it simply ended with my physical stats increasing.
[The gaze of the great evil is fixed upon you.]
Let it watch.
Even if the Overlord suddenly charged at me, I wouldn’t be surprised. I had no strength left now.
[The will of the world is with you…]
[A title, "Savior," has been activated. An unimaginable great evil is coming toward you.]
…No, I didn’t mean that it should actually come!!
I jumped up in alarm.
“Seo-ha?”
“Everyone, prepare for battle!!”
I shouted as I drew the Black Heavenly Demon Sword. At the same time, I opened the special stat, Dragon.
“What?! Who’s coming now?”
“There’s nothing in the vicinity… No, wait? Really, someone else is coming?!”
Buzz!
Gram, imbued with the legacy of dragon slaying, wielded by Kim Seo-hyun, resonated.
‘Since Daji is dead, the one who would be the most enraged related to her would be coming. In that case…’
One of the great evils would be coming.
The Vicious Abomination.
The Chu Overlord, Xiang Yu.
Rumble…!!
The structure and breath collided, piercing through the ceiling.
Among the scenes visible there, an anomaly occurred. A part of the mountain vanished, revealing a being about 3 meters tall.
[Who killed Daji–!!]
The voice came with a deafening roar.
From the direction of the pierced ceiling, a being with wings spread wide was flying with overwhelming momentum.
It was the Vicious Abomination.
‘…I’ll have to use it.’
I prepared the dragon’s speech. Long ago, the six dragons taught me, and they gave me one dragon’s speech. If my life was in danger, it would save me once. It was a way to call nearby dragons. At least three out of the six dragons would come, they had said.
‘It would have been better if they had come with Daji.’
If that were the case, I wouldn’t have hesitated to use it.
But such things were unrealistic. The great evils mostly acted individually. Unless there was a grand cause like attacking the Hundred Temple, there was no reason for them to gather.
Thump.
Just as I was about to activate the dragon’s speech.
The blood within me, deeply rooted, stopped me.
‘…Are they coming?’
A clear sensation halted me.
[Hmm?]
Next, Xiang Yu’s momentum weakened.
No, that wasn’t it. Xiang Yu was focusing on one side. As if he was wary that some presence would soon overwhelm him.
“Is reinforcement coming…?”
“It’s too far away. But, why…?”
The others thought it was reinforcement due to Xiang Yu’s demeanor.
Only Seonghwi reacted differently. Ershil, who had somehow come to stand beside me, showed a tense expression.
“We, we need to get out of here quickly.”
“What’s coming?”
“Reinforcements.”
I calmed the panicking Ershil and Kim Seo-hyun as I spoke.
One side of the sky darkened.
As if the night sky had been painted over with a black brush, the entire night sky turned dark.
“Heehee.”
A strange sound came from a being standing in that darkened sky.
[Why are you here?]
“Heehee, you, you, what did you do to our Seo-ha?”
[Don’t you normally refrain from interfering with human society to deal with the rifts?]
“How, how much pain must he have endured. Tormenting that poor child.”
The two only said what they wanted to say.
The appearance of the being standing in the night sky was incomplete. Most of their clothes were torn, and the left arm was burned by something. Half of the horns protruding from their head were shattered.
However, their presence was undeniable.
It was as if they gathered all the shadows of the world. It felt like they were dyeing everything around them black.
–If the master’s power were slightly weakened, it might feel like that.
–The density of the Energy of Defying Heaven is overwhelming. Even though I’ve seen it sporadically over the past month, to have dominance similar to Seo-ha’s…
Black Heaven and Eternal Heaven muttered in admiration.
[Dragon. If you leave now, I won’t harm you.]
“Harm me? Did I hear that wrong?”
The being tilted their head as if puzzled.
“Someone like you?”
It was like a 12-year-old child had heard an ant threaten them.
The energy overflowed, bursting out in all directions.
Everything around began to ‘flow.’ No, it was the shadows that engulfed everything around that began to flow. The density of the power felt was rising exponentially.
The ruler of all the world’s shadows, the Shadow Dragon.
The being, in the form of a woman, stood at the pinnacle. As shadows scattered, they formed the shape of a dragon with the form of a snake.
[Did the beings from another realm teach you wrong? You think someone like you can harm me? I might accept the antics of those heretics.]
Boom!!
An invisible force struck the Vicious Abomination.
[You! I’ll kill you!!]
[You think so? Are you relying on the ones behind you? Do you think I’m the only one here to protect our Seo-ha?]
[…….]
From a distance.
I could sense gazes. They were gazes from above the stars. While fighting against monsters of heretic level in the rift, five beings were sending their gazes.
[What… What is that being, that you all protect so fiercely?]
[What’s it to you?]
With those words, the shadow surged. Gathering into one shape, it rose.
[Tch, just you wait!!]
The Vicious Abomination saw this and fled somewhere.
…Come to think of it, all the Vicious Abomination had ever done was flee.
I let out a sigh of relief and lay back on Kim Seo-hyun’s lap.
“Hee, heehee. Seo-ha’s sleeping face….”
It seemed like I heard a strange voice as I drifted off.