Chapter 121: Monster Army (5) |
TL/Editor: Rungir
Schedule: none
Illustrations: none
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In the southern part of the empire lay a vast swamp near the border with the Demon Territory. Utekan Agnes, the Fourth Prince of the Empire and one of the Oma spirits, stood gazing at a structure rising from the center of the swamp – the Assassination Guild.
It was the calamity that Utekan had been tasked to subdue this time.
A small sigh escaped Utekan's lips. His eyes, filled with a complex light, were not strained by the task of subduing the disaster before him. Indeed, Utekan's eyes had been like this even before he arrived at this location.
'Zion Agnes.'
The very person who had been stirring his thoughts. The death of Hanosral, one of the Oma spirits, the exposure of his secret forces, and the purification of the Ascalon family – all were the doings of his accursed younger brother, Zion Agnes. And he had accomplished all of this in less than two weeks.
'As if things weren't complicated enough, now I have to deal directly with this calamity.'
Understandably, Utekan was frustrated. What infuriated him more was the uncertainty of what Zion Agnes might be scheming at this very moment.
Utekan detested the fact that he felt such anxiety because of a mere human.
'I must deal with this quickly.'
If this situation continued, their disadvantages would grow like a snowball. Therefore, he needed to break this chain of events, and killing Zion Agnes was essential to that.
'I'll handle it myself.'
Although Hanosral's death had left a vacancy among the Oma spirits, asking for support from the Demon Territory would only prove his incompetence. Therefore, Utekan was determined to eliminate Zion with his own hands.
'I'll have to step in personally.'
It was a luxury to remain idle against an opponent who had already killed an Oma spirit. And the situation was becoming increasingly urgent.
'Even if it lacks a solid justification and is a stretch.'
Utekan's eyes, glowing faintly, seemed to have reached a decision.
'First, I'll subdue this calamity and then gain the upper hand in the competition for the throne.'
With that thought, the moment Utekan reached out towards the Assassination Guild, the legion behind him began to move.
---
A human man with deep gray hair and eyes of the same hue. Horrible had never seen this man before, but he felt an immediate sense of familiarity.
He couldn't take his eyes off the man.
From the moment the man appeared at the edge of the swamp and pierced through his legion with terrifying speed, arriving right in front of him, Horrible's gaze was fixed solely on him.
And then, with a thunderous clash, their faces came close enough to hear each other's breathing.
Horrible realized the nature of the familiarity he felt.
Kinship.
This man, like himself, was born with the destiny of a ruler.
"Never thought there'd be another being like me."
As the Monster King muttered, his arm muscles instantly swelled to twice their size, then with a thunderous crash, he flung Zion away.
"Fascinating," Horrible said, speaking with perfect human diction as he watched Zion, suspended in mid-air.
The deep interest in his eyes confirmed his words.
"But even if born on the same path, there exists a difference."
Thus, Horrible thought, if he were to overpower this man, it would prove his path as a ruler was superior.
Of course, the idea of losing never crossed Horrible's mind.
"A fitting final battle before my advance to the continent..."
Before he could finish his sentence,
"Why so talkative?"
Whoosh!
Zion, who had been thrown away, vanished from his spot and reappeared right in front of Horrible.
In an instant, Zion's Eclaxia, free of any unnecessary motion, struck towards the Monster King's head.
The sequence was so fast it would be invisible to an ordinary person, but Horrible easily blocked Zion's sword strike with his arm.
Crrrash!
Zion's sword met resistance against Horrible's arm, now as hard as a diamond, creating shockwaves that vibrated the surrounding air.
Screeeech!
"You must have realized by now that you can't penetrate my skin with that."
Behind the sparks of friction, Horrible looked at Zion with twisted eyes.
But,
"I know that too."
Zion's eyes twisted even more intensely than the Monster King's.
The moment Horrible sensed something, the black energy swirling around Eclaxia explosively amplified, slicing through Horrible's forearm and plummeting towards his head.
"…!"
With widened eyes, the Monster King hastily twisted his body away, and then Boom!
The spot where he had been was struck by Zion's sword, creating a massive explosion.
The tremendous impact caused the elephant monster Horrible was riding to scream and fall to the side, crushing and killing dozens of other monsters unable to react in time.
The ground became unstable, but Zion's onslaught towards Horrible did not cease.
Slash, slash, slash!
A barrage of sword strikes, giving no chance for Horrible to regenerate his severed arm.
The black energy around Zion's sword amplified moment by moment, piercing through Horrible's defenses.
This display was very similar to using Eclipse, but it was not Eclipse.
Or, more accurately, it wasn't a complete Eclipse.
'Partial Eclipse.'
The principle was simple.
Not the entire body, but a part of it.
Not sustained, but for a moment.
By limiting the scope and duration to the extreme, it was a technique that minimized the strain on the body.
Zion had always contemplated the gap in combat ability following the use of Eclipse, and this was the solution.
Although it might not amplify power as much as a full Eclipse, it was much safer.
It was a skill that became possible only after the recent advancement of his Black Star Energy to the fourth stage.
Crash!
Zion was deploying this 'Partial Eclipse' even more efficiently, activating it precisely at the moment it made contact with Horrible's body.
It was a near-divine technique, a realm unattainable even for a lifetime of training by the most skilled warriors, yet Zion executed it with incredible ease.
"Ugh!"
Perhaps this was why he was called the King of Monsters?
Creak!
Even while being pushed back, Horrible, with his innate sense, found an opening and transformed his arms to strike at Zion.
The forelegs of a Rock Drake, among the top-tier Drakes known for their immense physical strength, Horrible's arms could tear apart even level 7 high-tier defensive magic as if it were paper. However, the moment his arms were about to reach Zion, swish-
A black soul thread stealthily extended from Zion's left hand and burrowed into Horrible's forearm.
In an instant, thunk!
As if caught by something, Horrible's arm lost its power and stopped moving.
"What...!"
Despite witnessing it, disbelief and shock filled Horrible's eyes, but there was no one to answer him.
Seizing the moment, Zion lunged inward, slashing diagonally upwards with his sword.
Crackle!
The black mist, amplified by the Partial Eclipse, surged along Zion's blade, tearing through Horrible's sturdy body with ease.
"Argh!"
Even amid the tremendous pain and his scream, the Monster King counterattacked Zion once more.
This time, Horrible's legs, sprouting hundreds of blade-like protrusions like millennia-old steel, extended towards Zion. But again, thunk!
The same result – his legs lost power and stopped right beside Zion.
Slice!
Once again, Zion's Eclaxia drew a dark line, effortlessly slicing through Horrible's legs.
'Effective.'
Thinking this, Zion continued his relentless assault on the staggering, off-balance Horrible.
Horrible, though naturally born, was essentially a chimera, meaning his body composition was fundamentally flawed.
This allowed him the advantage of freely transforming his body, but conversely, it also meant there were many vulnerabilities to exploit.
Zion's method was straightforward.
Insert the black soul thread into those vulnerabilities, then use the Black Star Energy to disrupt and neutralize some of Horrible's body-transforming and moving power.
This too was possible only because the Black Star Energy had risen to the fourth stage and because Horrible was a chimera.
'It may well be a strategy.'
It was something only Zion himself could do, rendering it of little significance to others.
'I'll quickly burst one of his hearts.'
With that thought, Zion's movements accelerated even more.
Whirrrr!
Various techniques of Black Star Energy like Mingling Shadows, Black Vortex, and Night Slash burst forth from Zion's sword, relentlessly assaulting Horrible, giving him no room to breathe.
Monster King Horrible.
His personal power, excluding his legion, was stronger than the former King of Illusionary Forces, but the current Zion had grown to an incomparable extent.
The advancement of Black Star Energy from two stars to four was like opening two new worlds.
"What is this...!"
Horrible, overwhelmed by Zion's relentless attacks, spilled out his bewildered cries.
All thoughts of kinship or proving himself had vanished from his mind. Each relentless attack from Zion was a lethal blow; there was no room for any other thoughts.
Instead, his mind was filled with the dread of death.
Crack!
"Argh!"
The regeneration speed was getting slower with the continuous attacks.
In truth, Horrible had never engaged in a proper battle.
Or, more precisely, he had never faced an opponent of equal or superior skill.
He had been overwhelmingly powerful since birth, and all the monsters around him had only bowed their heads in his presence.
A frog in a well.
That was the most fitting description for Horrible at the moment.
'At this rate, I might really...'
He had never encountered anyone who could push him to this extent, nor anyone born with the same destiny of a ruler. He had no idea how to respond.
'Is he really born with the same destiny of a ruler?'
What if that wasn't the case?
What if he was not a ruler or a peak existence, but just a bit stronger than others, and the human before him was the one who truly embodied that destiny?
It was a thought that negated his very purpose, but the current situation left no other explanation.
Rooooar!
The cries of the monsters reached Horrible's ears.
Their sounds were no longer filled with the excitement of slaughter but were instead tinged with pain and fear.
Screeeech!
"Keep pushing! Don't miss this opportunity!!!"
The suddenly appearing Evil Hand's legion and the human legion persistently counterattacking.
Slash!
And the man and knights who had penetrated from the side to the center.
The supposedly invincible Monster Legion was gradually crumbling under attacks from three directions.
Moreover, without Horrible, there was no one to control the Monster Legion, accelerating their collapse.
'It's dangerous.'
Both the legion and himself.
Everything seemed on the brink of collapse, like it could shatter at any moment.
Along with this realization, a primal instinct for survival began surging from the depths of Horrible's heart.
'I must find a way to escape from here at any cost.'
Creak!
With that thought, Horrible's entire body began to swell, manifesting the traits of dozens of different monsters.
In a last desperate effort, the Monster King interwove these traits into one and prepared to unleash them all at Zion.
But a fraction of a moment faster,
"You should have moved quicker."
Zion's Eclaxia shattered Horrible's heart.