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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 176: Dark Heavenly Thunder
I reached out towards the rain-soaked sky.
The location was directly above Orcus's head.
Focusing on that single point, I concentrated mana.
Yin dimensional mana from the five circles gathered, threatening to burst.
A small black spot suddenly appeared in the sky.
Countless Dark Lightning strikes, concentrated and layered upon a single point.
Orcus, who was about to strike the Crazy Mage Squad and the White Horse Knight with his spear, paused.
He lifted his head towards the rainy sky.
Spear Qi soared high above his spear.
The same Spear Qi as that of knights who had reached 7 stars.
With a single spear strike, he could completely turn the tide of the battle, but Orcus did not swing his spear.
Instead, he began to stare intently at the single point in the sky.
A sense of confusion filled his eyes.
Saaaaaa—!
His growing bewilderment slowly shifted towards its source.
Finally, when his eyes met mine,
Orcus's red pupils suddenly widened.
The direction of the Spear Qi soaring above his spear shifted towards his head.
The Spear Qi surged vertically towards the black spot in the sky.
Simultaneously, I unleashed the completed spell.
This was magic solely for killing.
Yin dimensional mana.
5th Circle Reverse Incantation,
Dark Heavenly Thunder.
The fully concentrated black spot exploded in a momentary upheaval.
Paaaang—!
The waves of Dark Lightning, woven from countless strands, converged into a single black thunderbolt and struck down on Orcus's head.
A tremendous roar echoed as the Spear Qi and the thunderbolt clashed in an instant.
KukuKukuKuKung—!
A shockwave erupted, scattering raindrops like a waterfall in all directions. Monsters, knights, and mages alike were thrown back.
Pzzzt—!
A momentary clash, and then shock filled Orcus's eyes.
But that emotion was fleeting.
The black thunderbolt completely split the center of the Spear Qi and struck his head directly, as if to cleave it in two.
Crack—!
The black thunderbolt split Orcus vertically from head to toe in an instant, and then burrowed deep into the ground.
"..."
Magic Tower Alliance Classification: Unclassified species.
A higher entity that cannot be classified as a disaster-rank monster.
One of the monsters with a unique name that has appeared only three times in the history of the Demon Realm.
Orcus of Frenzy.
Countermeasures: Undetermined.
An entity requiring a knight who has reached at least the superhuman level.
The Unique Monster, Orcus, was dead.
"Kugh."
Black blood trickled from my mouth.
Only then did I feel the pain in my heart.
A pain as if someone was tightly gripping my heart with their hand.
I couldn't breathe properly.
Beeeee—!
The sound of the rain still rang in my ears like tinnitus.
"Ruin!"
Taylor, Blair, and Cliff ran towards me simultaneously.
Palge cast a light attribute spell and poured it into my heart.
"Not yet."
The eyes of the Crazy Mage Squad, who had crushed the Orc King's head, were still filled with madness.
They knew it too. That it wasn't over yet.
I looked up at the sky.
Rainwater poured down like a waterfall.
The Demon Realm's Core hadn't appeared.
There was still no sign of the magic circle breaking.
"...!"
Suddenly, I felt a subtle tremor.
The ground started to shake.
Beeeeeeeee—!
The rain began to pour down like a waterfall, so much so that I couldn't even see Taylor's face in front of me.
And then, as if an earthquake had struck, the ground completely split open and collapsed.
* * *
The surrounding scenery changed once again.
There were more people here.
The scene I had briefly witnessed when the 'Hexen's Tomb' collapsed.
The spectators and members of the Alliance who were entering from outside the barrier.
Those who had been swept away by the Demon Realm were now here.
Beeeeee—!
The sloping surface of a vast plateau with rain pouring down like a waterfall.
I knew instinctively.
This was it.
This was the lowest floor that the Half-masked bastard had mentioned.
Perhaps this was what the hellish realm looked like.
The thick smell of blood emanating from countless corpses.
The 'Black Clan' pouring down from the plateau like a flood.
Each one of them comparable to a heaven-rank monster or higher.
The Alliance mages and a few dispatched knights were struggling to hold on, but they were clearly outmatched.
There was no fear in the eyes of the monsters.
...No, these weren't the Black Clan I knew.
The eyes of all of them were completely black.
They had all been turned into demonic beings.
As if it were the most natural thing to do, the idiots charged forward.
They should have collapsed long ago after the clash with the Orc King, but the instincts ingrained in their bodies drove them on.
There was no hesitation in their eyes.
The Crazy Mage Squad.
5th Circle mana began to bloom from the tip of Makan's spear first.
I also ran out.
I felt someone grab my wrist, but I forcibly shook them off.
I moved in a straight line, driven by instinct, breaking through everything that obstructed my path.
Beeeeee—!
The ringing in my ears continued.
Suddenly, my eyes fell on a corpse lying to my left.
A man collapsed with a hole in his chest.
A red beard, and a glimpse of a crimson pattern on his clothes.
It was a familiar face.
I lifted my head and looked up the slope of the plateau.
At the very top of the plateau,
A figure stood with arms crossed, laughing.
A human with their face concealed by a gray mask.
...No, it had a human-like form, but it wasn't human.
My heart boiled with rage.
I grabbed my ears with both hands and ripped at them.
Although the rain was pouring down, soaking my face, I could no longer hear the ringing.
Black fangs were revealed between my lips.
A demon.
I rotated all the circles in my heart in reverse.
Wheeeeeeng—
Black lightning concentrated into a single point above the demon's head.
Yin dimensional mana.
Just before I unleashed the lightning concentrated in the black spot in the sky,
A sudden, explosive pain surged through my heart.
"Keugh!"
I covered my mouth with both hands.
Black blood poured out, flowing over my palms.
My body couldn't hold on any longer.
At that moment, three humans sprang out from beneath the ground where I was standing. Demonic Soul Humans exploding forth.
With a feeling of my body floating up into the air— Booong— I was flung backward.
"..."
I crashed onto the ground where the groaning injured and the most corpses were gathered.
Kwaang—!
As soon as I tried to rotate the circles in my heart in reverse, black blood gushed out once more.
"Kugh!"
I had reached my limit.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get up.
I tried to exhale, but I couldn't.
All I could see was the rainy sky.
I turned my head.
My eyes met with the man lying next to me.
Why the hell was this idiot lying here like this?
Suddenly, one of the approaching 'Black Clan' thrust a black dagger towards Haengsu' neck.
I reached out instinctively.
Crack—!
The dagger pierced through my wrist instead of Haengsu' neck.
The 'Black Clan' member turned their head and thrust the dagger towards my neck.
Crack—!
The dagger plunged into Chano's chest instead, as he threw himself on top of me.
Chano screamed, but I could only see his mouth move. I couldn't hear his voice at all.
Just as the Black Clan member was about to thrust the dagger again,
Their head exploded.
It was Taylor.
"..."
I managed to turn my head and look around. The squad members were nearby.
They were lying on the slope of the plateau, those who had advanced to the front lines, swept away by the explosion just like me.
Some of them were severely injured by the Demonic Soul Human's self-destruction. Every one of them was covered in blood.
Those crouching, those collapsed, those vomiting blood. All of them were dying in their own way, muttering something with their mouths and reaching out with their clenched fists towards the sky.
I looked at Chano again.
Why did he do this?
Was this another act of his misplaced goodwill?
Chano, impaled through the chest, was trying to say something.
I still couldn't hear his voice.
I slapped my ear.
I wanted to hear him. I really wanted to hear him.
Shwaaaaaaa—!
The pouring rain reached my ears.
Chano coughed up blood and continued speaking.
"...Thank you for helping me. Andersen died in my place. I didn't want to hide anymore. I have a confession to make. You see... I was never actually in the LA mercenary group."
"..."
As I pushed myself up from the ground, Taylor grabbed my wrist.
"Let go."
I met Taylor's eyes as he stubbornly held onto my wrist.
Taylor shook his head.
"Don't go."
"Bullshit."
Suddenly, Taylor looked at Haengsu.
Then his gaze fell on my wrist, pierced by the dagger, and then back to me.
"...You stay here. You need to stay here more than me."
Taylor's eyes held a different expression than before.
After a long moment of eye contact, Taylor suddenly bowed his head.
"Please. Just this once, yield."
"..."
"Young Master."
Taylor looked at Blair and Cliff, then pointed at me.
"Escort the Young Master."
Taylor immediately turned his back and started walking towards the higher ground of the plateau.
This too was Samael's will.
Countless demonic beings were still pouring down the slope.
In the meantime, the number of Alliance members and dispatched knights had noticeably decreased once again.
I saw a man.
Closest to the demon.
Perhaps it was because the rain was pouring down so heavily.
It was only now, with my limited vision, that I noticed him.
A man wielding a sword, surrounded by countless demonic beings.
He wasn't able to advance forward, but he wasn't being pushed back either against the overwhelming number of enemies.
The dark longsword he wielded seemed familiar.
"Haa—!"
I exhaled the rough breath that had built up in my lungs.
I looked up at the pouring sky.
Once again, I couldn't hear the sound of the rain.
The blood flowing from Chano's chest mixed with sweat, staining my hand crimson.
The red blood flowing from the countless injured and dead bodies mixed with the rainwater.
My vision was dyed red.
This moment, this crimson landscape surrounding me, created by the corpses drenched in sweat and blood, wasn't the past, but the present.
The Crazy Mage Squad and the White Horse Knight were engaged in a desperate struggle beneath the plateau.
"Remember the crimson rain."
Wheeeeng—
I opened the circle.
The powerful image engraved in my mind rotated the circle in my heart in the forward direction.
I no longer felt any pain.
Looking beyond the plateau, I rose to my feet.
The fallen Crazy Mage Squad members looked at me simultaneously, as did Blair and Cliff.
I started walking.
I passed Taylor, who was walking ahead.
He hurriedly grabbed my wrist and was about to shout something, but then he suddenly started staring at me intently.
I continued to look beyond the plateau.
The countless corpses covering the plateau, the sea of blood created by the rainwater flowing over them.
"Even if I perish today, atop this mountain of blood."
I remember that day.
This wasn't a funeral march mourning the past.
It was a marching song advancing towards the present.
Wheeeeeng—
One, two, three, four,... five....
The mana in the atmosphere, spread widely all around, condensed richly around me.
A circle formed as the mana flowing through my heart reached saturation.
...Six.
Remembering their backs, I recited the last verse.
"I shall advance without fail."
6th Circle, Bard's Song.
The Song of Samael.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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