Chapter 122: Gathering (5)

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Heavenly Demon Divine Art – Soul-Seizing Technique.

It was the pinnacle of demonic arts that interfered with the opponent’s mind and soul.

Carl found the very existence of Besha rather interesting.

It was because this was the first time he had ever cast the Soul-Seizing Technique on someone who was already bound to another being.

Saaaaah.

The demonic energy pouring out from Carl’s entire body pressed down on Besha.

He was already incapacitated due to the Extreme Yin Energy of Bright Heaven Divine Art.

When additional pressure was applied to his whole body, Besha coughed up pitch-black blood and convulsed violently.

-No, no……!

Besha, who had been desperately resisting the Soul-Seizing Technique, finally rolled his eyes back.

At the same time, Carl’s consciousness was pulled inside.

Thunk.

When he came to, he found himself standing in a pitch-black space.

Taking a step forward, Carl looked around with curious eyes.

‘This is the first time I’ve experienced something like this.’

This dark space must have been a world created by Besha’s mental image.

Normally, when casting the Soul-Seizing Technique, he could observe the opponent’s thoughts and memories as if from the side.

But this was the first time since he had learned the Heavenly Demon Divine Art that he was actually moving within the mental image itself.

“Is it because this being had his soul taken by a demon?”

Whoosh.

Carl lightly waved his hand.

Then several of Besha’s memories floated up before his eyes and began replaying.

“Hm.”

The nearest memory was the scene of their recent battle.

Judging by his confidence, Besha must have been absolutely convinced of his victory.

But as time passed, he had desperately sought the demon, pleading for power.

Fwaah!

The demon answered that desperate call and bestowed power upon him.

Yet Besha was still defeated and captured here.

From the beginning, the gap between Carl and Besha had been too vast to overturn.

He hadn’t even thought of using Primordial Unity Divine Art.

In terms of pure strength, Matthias of the Seven Wings, whom Carl had fought in Erendal Forest, had been many times stronger.

Although that one relied mainly on tricks rather than pure martial arts.

“Hm.”

Carl stood in place, sifting through Besha’s memories.

As he had suspected, Besha seemed obsessed with dignity and refinement.

So much so that Carl wondered if he might have been born a noble.

The man had attempted to recruit Turgar, move the organization, and seize control of Lahan.

Srrrk.

Carl delved further back into the memories and soon found a familiar figure.

“…Lucas.”

It was the man he had seen before.

On a night steeped in deep darkness, under a faint crescent moon, the two had faced each other by a lake.

“Their voices…?”

But the sound of their conversation could not be heard.

Since this had never happened while using the Soul-Seizing Technique, Carl intensified his demonic energy.

“……”

Still, no sound came from their mouths.

In such a case…

“Could the memory be damaged?”

Impossible.

Even if one had forgotten, the Soul-Seizing Technique dragged out every memory buried deep in the unconscious.

If he couldn’t hear it, then someone must have deliberately erased this part.

Crackle.

Even crimson-black sparks began to erupt.

Carl quickly moved to earlier memories, but the images grew distorted until they were unrecognizable.

After swiping his hand a few more times, Carl clicked his tongue and smirked.

“So, this is the limit of what I’m allowed to see?”

Saaaah.

A bloody aura began to spread in the surrounding darkness.

Suddenly, the sky split open violently, and in the gap appeared a pair of blood-red eyes.

「You.」

It was a low, grotesque voice.

The echo was drawn out, like something speaking from deep inside a cavern, resounding in all directions.

‘So, Soul-Enticement.’

Carl felt his vision blur and his mind grow dizzy.

Just by looking into those eyes, he felt as if he were being sucked in.

Thud.

Carl instantly raised the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to protect his spirit.

In a world of mental images, strength was determined by willpower and force of spirit.

Had it been an ordinary person, merely meeting its gaze would have been enough to lose their mind.

「What are you?」

“Everyone keeps asking that. The answer is always the same, though.”

Carl shrugged his shoulders as he replied.

Despite the crushing pressure weighing down on him, he responded nonchalantly, making the red light in those eyes flare even more intensely.

「That power, what is it? Which demon did you contract with?」

“Haha.”

Even the demon itself seemed confused by the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Just like its contractor, it asked the same question.

Carl burst into laughter and spread both arms wide.

“Do I look like someone’s toy, bound in servitude?”

Kuuung─!

The energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art surged once more, reaching its peak.

Power that hadn’t even appeared during his fight with Besha now unfolded in this mental world.

The rising demonic energy blazed like a raging inferno, burning away the darkness blanketing the world.

That flame took the form of a monstrous specter, staring straight at the crimson eyes gazing down upon him.

“Do not dare treat me the same as your playthings.”

Thud.

When Carl took a single step, the very world of the mental image trembled.

He then stretched out his hand and grasped at the empty air.

“NOX, remember that name well.”

Srrng.

It had clearly been nothing but empty space.

But following Carl’s will, a sword appeared and was drawn into his hand.

Divine Sword Cheonroe.

The sword he had received from Justice was manifested through his will, forming a straight blade.

Fwaaaah!

All the demonic energy surging through Carl’s body was infused into the blade.

He stared straight at the eyes gazing down at him and swung the sword.

Heavenly Demon Divine Art – Secret Technique.

「Heaven-Flow Twilight Flash」

This place no longer belonged to the demon alone.

If Besha’s soul was bound to the demon, then his mind had already been subdued by Carl.

That was why Carl too could move freely within this mental world.

Shiiiiik!

Tremendous demonic energy surged upward, flowing back into the sky.

The shockwave was so great that Carl wondered if such a thing could even be done in reality.

Soon the sharp strike of Heaven-Flow Twilight Flash slashed toward the eyes.

Kwwwaaaang!

Cracks split the darkness that covered the world.

The mental image collapsed, and before the technique could strike, the eyes shut tightly, never to open again.

But within the collapsing world, the demon spoke to Carl in a low voice.

「Until we meet again…….」

Unlike before, the voice was clear.

「So we shall.」

The words reached Carl’s ears with perfect clarity.

「My name is Alloces.」

「And I too have remembered your name, NOX.」

Had it acknowledged him for wielding the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?

Or had it accepted him as another type of demon?

After revealing its name, the demon disappeared.

“……”

Carl opened his eyes.

Before him, under the dark night sky, lay the ruins of Lahan’s collapsed buildings.

He had escaped the crumbling mental world and returned to reality.

‘Alloces.’

The moment he recalled that voice, Carl felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

He knew well what it meant for a demon to reveal its true name.

The problem was that the name he had heard belonged to an unexpected heavyweight.

‘To think it was one of the Demon Kings.’

In a dimension apart from the middle realm where the Artenia continent existed—there lay the Demon Realm, ruled by beings called Demon Kings.

Dozens of lords called themselves Demon Kings, clashing endlessly in that land of death.

Alloces was indeed one of the names of the Demon Kings known in the middle realm.

Who would have thought that a Demon King would stoop to pulling the strings of such underlings…

‘No, perhaps it was because of the Soul-Seizing Technique.’

It made no sense for a Demon King to be plotting in some back-alley underworld.

The demon Besha had contracted with was likely a lesser demon, a servant.

But because the Soul-Seizing Technique had directly interfered with the soul and spirit, it seemed to have drawn the Demon King’s curiosity.

“A Demon King, huh……”

The dark mental world had been a first for him.

And now he had even faced an absolute being such as a Demon King—surely another extraordinary experience.

‘On another level altogether.’

Even high demons—those slightly stronger than the lich or Death Knight he had fought in the Temple of the Fallen Heretic—paled in comparison.

The intelligence and presence he felt from this one were simply incomparable.

Its true body must have possessed strength on par with, or even beyond, an absolute grandmaster.

Unless the realm of the Primordial Unity Divine Art rose much higher, the second-rank state was hopelessly insufficient.

“……Cough.”

While Carl was still lingering in the afterglow of his encounter with the Demon King, Besha, freed from the Soul-Seizing Technique, spat up blood.

It was not a simple hemoptysis.

An enormous torrent of blood gushed from his mouth as if he were about to vomit his entrails.

“…….”

Carl looked down at Besha with cold eyes.

The creature’s existence had paid its worth by letting him experience the mental image and meet the Demon King.

‘Not only was the mental image shattered, but he was abandoned by his master as well.’

Besha writhed on the ground.

His jaw trembled as he tried to crawl away from Carl, but fleeing would have changed nothing.

Rustle.

The glossy skin gradually dried and became parched.

The once-shining black hair faded to white and lost its vitality until not a single strand remained.

In an instant his young and handsome appearance had been reduced to an old, shabby figure.

It was the miserable end of a plaything abandoned by a demon.

“P-please…….”

Realizing that the demon had forsaken him, Besha turned and crawled to Carl’s feet.

He had hoped that someone like Carl, who used a strange power resembling the demon’s, might help him.

But before that could happen, Besha’s head drooped, and he died.

Puff.

His body, having completely lost vitality, disintegrated into dust and scattered into the air with the blowing wind.

Carl, who had watched that ephemeral scene from beginning to end, slowly raised his head.

“…….”

Lahan’s organization members still remained in the vicinity.

They stood frozen, aghast at the spectacle that had unfolded before their eyes.

‘These ones……’

There was no need to kill them outright.

With the head of the Demon Humans dead and having seen his divine rank, they would spread terror to Turgar’s forces.

They would serve perfectly as a medium for that purpose, so he intended to spare them.

“Except for you lot.”

Ssh!

Carl struck the ground in a surprise stomp.

Even after Besha’s death, Demon Humans remained scattered about.

Whether they were waiting for an opportunity to attack or planning to flee and carry the news elsewhere was unclear.

Thunk!

The head of the nearest Demon Human exploded.

Carl stomped on the corpse, lifted his head, and addressed the gathered crowd.

“If you move, I will kill you.”

“……”

At that razor-sharp warning, the dozens of organization members around him froze.

The Demon Humans who had tried to blend into the crowd could not avoid Carl’s gaze.

The moment they felt their identities had been exposed, they risked everything and bolted, pounding away from the ground.

Thunk! Thunk!

Among the halted members, only the chilling sounds of heads bursting rang out.

Carl could have slain all the Demon Humans with a single blow, but he did not.

He needed to see how far the tunnels the rats had dug extended.

“Run far away.”

That way he could find them all at once.

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