Chapter 446 - Shadow King (2)
『Dreams...fade away.』 A black dragon appeared in the sky before vanishing among the dark clouds.
「Lowly...beings...」 Boo’s Inferno Sight appeared behind the floating castle. Far below, he could see countless bugs screaming at him with their swords raised. It was unacceptable that insects would reject his king, who was now starting to become a true Lord. 「Open.」
He opened dungeon portals along the illusory world that Nemesis was attempting to infringe. Innumerable undead poured from the sky like rain on the Elohim’s headquarters.
Thanks to Hanryeong’s attack a few days prior, the Elohim’s defenses were at their maximum, and many layers of barriers were spread out over them.
The outermost barrier had been crushed by the magic power radiated by Laputa, but there were still many barriers to pierce through. As a result, Boo set-up the dungeon portals within the barrier in the sky. The undead fell to the ground without any protective equipment, thrashing in the air as though they were sinking in water, their bodies exploding on the protective dome, leaving bloody clumps of flesh. Pewk. Thud.
Zombies and ghouls left green bloodstains, and broken limbs fell like snow as bones rolled down.
“What is he doing?”
“Ha! Looks like they’re having trouble getting in because of the godly graces we have. We were surprised for nothing.” The Elohim players smirked at the sight. Even though the attackers were undead, a lot of money had probably gone into supporting them. When the Elohim saw how they couldn’t even enter the barrier, they realized the advantages they were enjoying.
The Elohim received blessings and graces from many gods due to their birth. The barrier that protected their Outer Space had multiple blessings cast on it by gods. In particular, the great barrier set-up in the core possessed the folklore of many progenitors and ancient gods. It wasn’t something a mere mortal could get through. This was common knowledge that all the chosen people of Elohim had.
The sudden appearance of Laputa had caught them off guard and initially shocked them because of the trauma of the attack on the Elder Assembly. However, the defenses held, which was what was supposed to happen anyway. The attack on the Elder Assembly was an outlier that occurred because their enemies had managed to learn the coordinates from the deceased Magnus through unscrupulous means. Now that the coordinates were different, their enemies wouldn’t be able to pull off the same trick again.
“Everyone, get to your positions! The counterattack will begin soon!” The players regained their composure and moved to their posts, their heads filled with one thing: to bring down the arrogant Arthia through any means.
“You’ll learn soon enough who you’re attacking. You’ve chosen to walk to a hell you should have avoided.” Cheonho Ari, who was the defensive commander of Peals of the Great, had bloodshot eyes. He had seen his respected superiors killed one by one during the attack on the Elder Assembly, and he was raging with the desire for payback. Arthia? Heaven Wing? Their wings had already been clipped in the past. No matter how hard they tried to regrow them, it would be impossible for them to fly in the sky again.
To him, the sight of the undead unable to breach the barrier was proof of that. Thud. The enemies were stupid, so they only had a limited variety of attacks. That was the difference between the chosen people and the morons. They repeated the same actions over and over again, not realizing how futile it was. He could only laugh.
Thud thud. The longer he watched, the more he chuckled hollowly. Thud!
“What’s...that?” He unconsciously stiffened, feeling a strange sense of threat that he couldn’t place. Something was amiss. Arthia had already used thousands of the undead, at the very least. But it seemed like the flow of undead hadn’t stopped—it even looked like it was increasing.
The crushed bodies only added to the barrier until the dome was completely covered, blocking out all light. The occasional crunch and faint rumbles were the only indicators that the undead attack was still ongoing. Even if they were idiots, they should have realized that this method of breaching the barrier was pointless by now. It seemed impossible that they could afford to waste so many resources. However, they didn’t show any signs of stopping.
Suddenly, an ominous thought flashed through his head. “Everyone, repair the bar—!” Sss. Before he could finish, they could hear something burn across the sky.
Crack. A massive fissure appeared in the dome, splitting through the center and spreading out like a web. The weight of the undead was too much, and the barrier couldn’t take it.
Also, the undead exuded the strong toxin of decaying bodies. It had an intense toxicity and acidity—bolstered by Boo’s research and Yeon-woo’s skill, Poison Blood—that began to melt the barrier. The dangerous beings were being used to exhaust the Elohim, and even their sturdy barrier strengthened by blessings and graces couldn’t withstand it. It came crashing down. Crack!
Thud thud thud. The sight of the pieces of the undead falling through the cracks was so gruesome that it would make anyone with a weak stomach faint. And accompanied by the pungent smell and poison, the flood of the undead became a calamity for the Elohim.
“Wh-what is this?!”
“Aaaack!”
“My eyes! My eyes!”
“My arm! Aack! Healer! Where’s the healer! Aaaack!”
The Elohim players who had grown complacent were swept away by the toxins of the decaying bodies and Poison Blood. They began to scream. The priests and pontifices bustled around, casting purification magic, but the horrible, rotting poison was too much.
The pieces of the undead melted everything it touched. Players and rankers, as well as buildings and equipment, all melted at a quick pace. The castle was weakened, and the roofs collapsed. The headquarters of the Elohim were filled with the undead.
「Awaken.」 At Boo’s command, demonic energy wafted up between the pieces of the undead and connected to each other.
〈Fatality Exodus〉
It was a type of black magic that tied the fallen souls together as one and given new, deadly life. Boo had learned this skill after being promoted to an Elder Lich. Crack, crack. The undead began to rise, their bodies pieced together with random parts, and roared.
Some of the undead were dozens of meters tall. Giant Ghouls, Big Zombies, Skeleton Kings, and other superior-ranked undead moved forward to turn living beings into hideous creatures like themselves. Boom, boom, boom.
“Block them! Block!” Cheonho Ari screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to stop Fatality Undead. But when he saw the gigantic shadows that over their heads, his eyes widened. A greater calamity they couldn’t resist tilted its head back with its mouth wide open—the Bone Dragon.
The cursed undead created from the Summer Queen’s corpse spewed its Breath at them. Cheonho Ari’s thoughts immediately froze. Roar!
No player, castle, or building was left behind after the Breath swept past. Only poison and black haze wavered in the air.
* * *
「I feel this every time, but our queen’s actions are so violent. And she acts so high and mighty at all other times.」 As the Fatality Undead covered the ground and the Bone Dragon spewed Acid Breath from the sky, Shanon shook his head as he watched the rapidly falling Elohim from the edge of Laputa.
The Bone Dragon was an important tool for Yeon-woo, but after the Summer Queen’s vestige took over, Yeon-woo hadn’t been able to use it efficiently. Unlike Shanon and Hanryeong, who were tightly bound to the Black King’s power, she had more freedom and could easily reject his commands.
However, she wasn’t behaving like she normally did. After announcing her participation, the Summer Queen rapidly crushed the Elohim.
「Heaven Wing’s clones must’ve been that shocking to her.」 Hanryeong replied in a relatively calmer manner as he watched the battlefield.
Shanon narrowed his Inferno Sight. 「It’s that right? Our queen...」
「Don’t finish that sentence. Her ears are already bright red; she might be listening to this conversation.」
「Hehe. Vieira Dune, Ananta, and the Summer Queen...Heaven Wing, what a ladies’ man, am I right? On the other hand, King Temper is always popular with the guys. I don’t know how twin brothers can be such polar opposites.」 Shanon grinned, thinking of Yeon-woo, who was probably in the middle of a bunch of men at the moment.
Hanryeong slowly began to pull out his swords. 「Always with the gibberish. Let’s get started, as well.」
「Let’s do it.」 Shanon turned to look at the orderly Dis Pluto standing behind him. They were all sitting atop Phantom Steeds and Deceased Fliers. 「Alright, let’s all wreak havoc! Let the party begin!」
「The blessing of death to everyone who falls in love with our lord!」
「The blessing of death!」
「Let’s go!」
With Shanon and Hanryeong at the lead, Dis Pluto descended onto the land of death with Nemesis’ blessing. Behind them, shadows flickered, and Spirit Guai dispersed. The other clans under Arthia grew drunk with excitement as they watched.
“Are you gonna let them take everything? Let’s prove ourselves and bring victory to our lord!”
“We had to live with stopped breaths after the fall of Arthia; this is our chance for revenge! Brothers, rise!”
Using the Shade Wing given to them by Brahm, they moved speedily and laid traps in the sky.
“How dare you, lowly scumbags!”
“Gods, please bestow blessings upon me!”
Meanwhile, the members of the Elder Assembly furiously prepared for battle, their auras mixing and spreading along the ground. They cherished this ancient territory that had been passed down with the spirit and soul of their ancestors. They couldn’t allow mongrel riffraff to step foot on their holy land. They stomped on the ground and soared up to the sky. Boom!
Both sides clashed in mid-air. However, some things began to stand out. Rumble! Among the fancy Effects, blood-red lightning bolts tore three of the Elders apart and tossed them to the ground.
“Hahaha! Is there anyone who’ll fight me here?! Is it you? Or you?” Phante smiled viciously, as he took out his red lightning. The ground shook and the atmosphere trembled with his laughter. The enemies around him stepped back, overpowered by his spirit. Phante didn’t bat an eye at them, not caring about small fish.
He only sought the strong. He had begged the Head Elder to teach Blood Lightning for one reason: to become stronger. He needed to use this uncontrollable, overflowing strength. Then, he spotted the most powerful player in his vicinity and instantly speeded towards him. “There you are.”
Boom! His target was the location where all the Elders had gathered. It was the perfect place for him to go berserk.
In the meantime, Yeon-woo looked down at the battlefield through an omniscient lens, using the Dragon Root of Laputa linked to the Vision Network. Uballa’s system was an artificial intelligence with all the knowledge of the Draconic species. It could support its master by organizing numerous pieces of information. It even had functions that could analyze and differentiate different threats.
Yeon-woo managed to spot several suspicious locations where the leaders of the Elohim and the Devil Army were gathered. ‘I don’t need to go easy on them at all.’
He had no intentions of hiding his full power. He was going to crush the Elohim and the Devil Army with Arthia’s maximum power, anyway. He needed to push them from the beginning and tighten his grasp on their necks. They wouldn’t know what struck them.
“Come.” He unfurled Sky Wings, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw 666 messages and a small timer pop up. Crunch.
[Nergal accepts your summons.]
[King of Seven Hells accepts your summons.]
[Osiris accepts your summons.]
...
[All gods of death are with you.]
[All demons of death are with you.]
[Your divine position ‘Throne of Death’ has awakened.]
Feeling the enhanced strength of the Demonic Divine Draconic Body and the holiness of the Throne of Death, he brandished Vigrid, which vibrated as if it would break any moment. Urrrng.
[The power bound to the Throne of Death ‘Hell Tribulation’ is being displayed.]
[The hidden true name of ‘Vigrid-???’ Durendal is released.]
[Folklore: Gust of Wind]
Hellfire plummeted to the ground. Whoosh!
[Dragon Breath]
He only had one target: the Elder Assembly, which was composed of the leaders and core members of the Elohim.
The Breath of dragons descended over them.