〈 Thousand Horse Horse Ship (3) 〉
Kugugu Palace—
How many times has it been already?
The loud roar coming from outside never seemed to stop.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Jegal Hye-mi, who was biting her lip, looked out the window again.
But outside, there was only thick darkness, as if a black curtain had fallen, and nothing was visible to her eyes.
It was an abnormal phenomenon that occurred not long after the sky was suddenly covered with dark clouds.
‘I guess it has something to do with the dark clouds. Because it never happened naturally. The most likely thing is that a battle has occurred… but who is the opponent? Could it be that the rescue team came…!’
Since I couldn’t understand the situation accurately, I had a lot of random thoughts.
The hope that had withered in my heart raised its head again, and my anticipation grew, but—.
‘…No matter how much I think about it, we don’t have the luxury of carrying out an attack of this scale so quickly. So, is it really a different force? ‘Maybe they’re trying to use us as they please?’
The anxiety in my heart grew faster than that hope.
Because this was the situation she had been through so far.
It was inevitable that thoughts would naturally lean in a negative direction.
‘Or maybe there wasn’t a fight at all. Although it is a little noisy, it may be a process that takes place before the actual ritual begins.’
Pessimistic thoughts that slowly began to increase in size.
However, even in the midst of confusion, Zhuge Hyemi tried to calm her trembling heart and got up from her seat.
I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but if it’s true that something variable has occurred, I can’t just sit still like this.
If you want to try something, now is your only chance.
‘If I fail anyway, will it be nothing more than a sacrifice? In that case, it would be better to try something.’
She slowly opened the door to the guest room and carefully took a step forward.
***
Goooooh—
the waves of death are endless.
In the aftermath, the land, which was depleted of energy and was virtually a wasteland, has long since been covered with soggy death.
Of course, even those who faced the torrent head-on could never remain unharmed.
‘This can’t go on. There’s something… I have to find a way…!’
There was a limit to just holding on like this.
The six-headed dragon continued to grit his teeth and diligently seek a solution.
However, despite using various methods, nothing changed.
The situation just keeps getting worse as time passes.
The defenses that protected the body gradually faded, wounds appeared on the huge body, and fresh blood spurted out.
Another problem was that the regenerative power was not even half of what it normally was due to the energy of death that penetrated the body and instantly rotted blood and flesh.
‘If only I had just a little more leeway!’
If I had had just a few more days… or even just one more day, I wouldn’t have been so helpless.
If I had known this would happen, I would have hastened the ritual a little more…
Who would have thought that the best efforts to use the limited offerings as efficiently as possible would lead to this worst situation!
And eventually, the planned catastrophe began to approach.
Sigh—!
Coo!
One of his six heads was cut off.
A red head being slashed by a huge abyssal scythe and falling to the ground.
The terrible energy that stuck to that cross section continued to eat away at the vitality and persistently prevented the head from regenerating.
[Wow! Nenoom! You dirty intruder! If it weren’t for you, everything would have been perfect…! Why did it appear now?]
The balance is disturbed, and the godhead, which had maintained its imperfect form, is shaken.
The angry roar of the dragon spread out in all directions, but the force within it was nothing compared to the power it first showed.
Fu Chemistry—!
Another head fell off.
When the six heads became four, the body shook uncontrollably and the energy in the body became lost and clashed.
A side effect that occurred because the limit was not exceeded in a proper way.
‘This is ridiculous! ‘How have I endured until now!’
As my body ran wild, my mind gradually became blurred.
Just like when we escaped from Geumo Island and fought our final battle that day.
After a fierce battle with multiple dragons and escaping from the world with injuries, he came to his senses in a state of complete disrepair. The place he chose to recover was the Heavenly Demon Church, which was notorious even at the time.
A wonderful resting place that can be said to be the best match for him, both in terms of personality and condition.
However, after imitating himself as a human, he was able to instinctively feel one bad fact as he was left there to collect himself.
The moment he completed all the heads of the five dragons through predation, he clearly reached the state of success.
In terms of martial arts, it is a legendary state called Shinhwagyeong.
Although he had to retreat after suffering considerable damage while fighting powerful enemies without fully recovering his abilities, he thought that he could get revenge if he recovered from his injuries and regained his strength.
However, breaking the taboo and achieving abnormal growth was bound to have corresponding side effects.
‘…You can’t restore the state?’
To be precise, I was able to recover.
However, in order to do that, a truly enormous amount of additional karma was needed.
Just a multiple of the number of dragons he ate to increase his rank.
In the first place, an enormous amount of karma was essential for a being to reach godhood.
But that’s six times more… no, you have to add up the number of prey that took place in the fight that followed.
What else is that but impossible?
‘It might be possible if we destroy the entire world… or maybe even that wouldn’t be enough.’
In effect, growth was completely halted.
He has definitely become much stronger than before, but he is in an ambiguous state, nowhere in between, not enough to be considered a success.
Perhaps, if it were to appear in this state, it would eventually be destroyed by the power of the Geumo Island that gathered before it could destroy the world.
‘What kind of bullshit situation is this?!’
It can’t grow any more.
I pursued greater heights by violating taboos with endless greed, but because of that, my possibilities were completely blocked!
Since then, there has been nothing I haven’t done while working as a member of the Heavenly Demon Church.
He delved into all kinds of abstinence and secret arts that were strictly controlled even among the demonic cults, and repeated bloody experiments that deviated from evil Dafa and heavenly law.
The nickname he earned in the process was Cheongimaseon (天欺魔仙).
It was a demonic hermit who deceived the sky.
And all those efforts, accompanied by the sacrifice of countless lives, have finally paid off.
The way out of the situation he is in is…
‘Yes, it is to think differently. If only I could make it mine by devouring others who have achieved complete godhood rather than achieving godhood through predation…!’
Ironically, it was the same way he had done it before.
Eating others and taking what they have.
While he was looking for a candidate, a person from another world caught his eye.
Not only is it equipped with special abilities, but its basic growth rate itself is unrivaled in another world. Among them, it possesses the power of a celestial being and becomes stronger much faster than others.
‘That’s great.’
Time passed like that.
As he expected, the other-worlder soon gave up his name and became a Heavenly Demon, gave up on returning, sat down in this world, and continued to grow steadily.
Right up to the end of Hyeon-gyeong, the stage just before Shinhwa-gyeong.
‘Just a little more….’
A genius talent that has been pursued through thousands of years of practice with only a few decades of training.
If such a person is aiming for the moment when a brilliant light finally sprouts.
If only he could swallow up the possibility and future of that karma and make it his own…!
“Hmm, have you come to your senses now? You suddenly became calm. Is it time to give up?”
[…Oh?]
My thoughts were interrupted by a mockery that seemed to pierce my brain.
My blurred mind slowly returned, and reality began to be clearly perceived through Yayul-Hwan’s eyes again.
The first thing I noticed was that the surroundings had suddenly become completely dark.
This was not simply a phenomenon caused by the dark clouds of the Magi and the Earth of Death, but a nighttime scene that had become completely midnight.
The fight that started in broad daylight had already lasted nearly half a day.
‘This is…’
Then Ya Yul-hwan, who was trying to turn his head in the direction from which the voice came, realized that he had collapsed on the floor.
Perhaps, due to the aftermath of my imperfect status being shaken, I lost my temper for a moment and went wild.
From the looks of it, the results didn’t seem to be very good.
Yayul-
Hwan’s eyes turned to the source of the pain that was now becoming familiar.
Not only had all the heads been cut off, but the Heavenly Demon was now standing over his rotting body, sinking a black sword into the nape of the one remaining green head.
[…Huh, this is so ridiculous. Although I guessed that we would fight one day, I never expected it to take this form.] A
hollow laugh escaped his lips.
The story, which was gradually building up tension and reaching its climax, suddenly takes a sharp turn due to the intervention of a third party, and in the end, one side becomes a gangster and plunges a sword into the other side’s neck.
If the storyteller had told such a random story, he would have had his tongue ripped out for talking nonsense.
‘The fact that the Heavenly Demon is here… means that they have already sorted out all the others.’
Looking around, there was no place where the noise of the battlefield could be heard anymore.
This means that all those who resisted until the end were executed, and only those who ultimately chose to submit were left.
Not only did he occupy the headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Church single-handedly with only the strongmen, but he also suppressed all of the elite units that had been dispatched to the outside world.
‘Really… this is a disaster in itself.’
Yayulhwan’s gaze turned to the culprit who ruined his plan.
A middle-aged man looking around his body with an interested expression, as if admiring a specimen displayed in a laboratory.
Although he was imitating the living, wearing a skin that felt alive, he was undoubtedly a dead person whose life had ended a long time ago.
And at the same time.
With that kind of body, he was also the one who gave birth to the godhood that he had lost sight of.
[Khuhuhu… That’s a shame. If I had eaten you, not only would I have regained my status, but I would have been able to wipe out the Geumodo guys with that otherworldly secret skill.]
“Pfft—that sounds interesting. well? “If that were the case, I probably wouldn’t have ended up with an upset stomach.”
[Oh, that’s definitely a problem. It seems to be getting better now, but it would be difficult if I took more poison here.]
“It seems to be getting better…”
Demon King Hans slightly tilted his head at Yayul-hwan’s cheeky words.
Of course, as some time had passed, it was not surprising if the effect had diminished.
But…
‘In that state, if it were more than before, it wouldn’t have been any better.’
Not only were all the heads cut off except for the one in the center, but undead were chopping them up one by one on each section so that they could not even regenerate, and were digging into the abyss in real time.
Is that all?
The large body was so tattered that no intact part was left, and the abyss chains and shadow thorns that bound it to the floor were constantly infusing the energy of death and eating away at his vitality.
In fact, if it weren’t for his high status, he would have died a long time ago.
But if he felt like he was getting better…
‘I’m going to die soon. My senses are completely gone. Actually, it’s amazing that I’ve endured until now.’
He endured against Hans for more than ten hours.
Even though it was not a single person but a large number of undead were mobilized.
Considering that a significant number of undead and strongmen were destroyed to the point where recovery was impossible due to his rampage, it could be said that he was worthy of the name Hidden Boss.
[Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!] Yayul-hwan is
now writhing as if he’s lost his mind and laughing alone.
Hans, who was quietly watching the scene with strange eyes, slowly stroked his chin.
‘Six-headed dragon… no, greed.’
It’s an excellent material.
It is probably no exaggeration to say that it is the best material available in the Ganghwan world.
Since all the severed heads and female protagonists were neatly recovered, if desired, it would be possible to create an undead that embodies its original appearance.
‘But…’
His eyes turned to his surroundings.
A panorama completely devastated by a large-scale battle that lasted for a long time.
But what was important was not the appearance.
‘It’s the devil.’
I felt like I knew it when I came and saw it with my own eyes.
Why did this place become such a notorious place?
‘The situation is more serious than expected. When I measured the amount of energy being depleted from other places, I thought there was still a certain amount of leeway…’ At least
now, thanks to the energy coming from other dragon veins, I am holding on like this, and the power of the demonic spirit, which sucks the energy of the world like a black hole, is strong. It was more than I expected.
If the hole here cannot be filled somehow, all dragon veins will eventually reach their limit, and soon all the energy of the world will be sucked into this place.
In that case, it wasn’t just a problem for those who used energy.
In this world, energy is a means of demonstrating one’s abilities and at the same time is the basis of life.
If it were all depleted… what would ultimately remain would be the death of all living things.
‘Of course, the situation won’t get that much worse right away. Geumo Island is trying its best to delay it.’
However, as he could see the situation on Geumo Island in real time through Horus, he also knew that it would not last long.
Above all, it is said that there were even deaths during the ritual for that purpose.
‘We have to solve the problem before that happens. Of course, I have a method in mind… but if I also use that tom’s body as a sacrifice, I will be able to complete the task more reliably.’
The children of the dragon who were possessed by the dragon god, the karma Gangsi Cheonma who swallows karma, and even the body of Tamryong, who entered the divine realm.
New plans were being organized step by step in Hans’ head.
Then at some point.
“hmm?”
Tamryong Ya Yul-hwan’s voice, which was bursting with laughter, suddenly stopped.
Along with his life reaction that continued persistently as if it was about to go off.
“…He’s dead. “I wanted to see how much longer I could endure.”
Of course, I had already decided to use it in a different way, but I couldn’t help my curiosity as a wizard.
If there is nothing else to gain, shouldn’t we at least satisfy our thirst for knowledge?
…I thought so.
There wasn’t anything saved at all.
《Achievement achieved! I hunted the scourge of Kang Hwan-gye, ‘Greed’.》
《After devouring everything, I slain the demon dragon of annihilation who would have ate himself and led the world to destruction. As a reward, the special privilege “Power of Gluttony” is granted.》
《You have achieved an achievement and made a great impact on the world. Karma increases additionally. 》
New achievement window.
It was my first time seeing it in Kang Hwan-gye.
No, it’s not just that…
《Achievement achieved! I have become the ‘last yellow dragon’ left in this world.》
《I have become the one and only yellow dragon of the Kangwhan world. As a reward, you will receive the special “Yellow Dragon Orb”.》
《You have achieved the achievement and had a great impact on the world. Your karma will increase further.》
It was an unexpected one plus one event.