Chapter 1291: Realm of Demonic Perversion (14)

KWA-A-A-A-ANG!!!!

The Altar of Clouds and the Temple of Blood shattered, and from within, a gigantic flame battleship burst forth.

The new form of the Sun Ship surged through the colliding, shattering domains, rocketing towards the murky sky of the Demonic Realm.

Even the Grand Spell Master and the Seventh Apostle watched Lennok, who stood at its heart.

KIIIIII-ING-!!!!

Their vision blurred sharply, and a ringing in their ears, like a swarm of bees, reverberated.

Something within them slowly cracked, an imprinted rupture of drying, shattering fragments.

An individuality that could not be erased. The origin of existence. An omen of two distinct Root Mindscapes forcibly intertwining and distorting.

Unique concepts, originally never meant to merge, temporarily combined under the rules of the Trait-type, only to be broken.

In that instant, cracks appeared, damaging the hierarchies of the two Transcendent beings, whose foundations lay in their Root Mindscapes.

CRACK.

“……!!!”

For the first time, the Grand Spell Master’s expression grotesquely distorted, and his waist snapped inward.

Even before fully grasping the situation, the Seeker’s intuition screamed that something was terribly wrong.

Fatal damage that undermined the hierarchy he had built over a lifetime as a high-level spellcaster. An unrealistic disruption that years of secluded recuperation or rest wouldn’t suffice to heal.

Recovery couldn’t even be guaranteed without expending nearly half of the “opportunities” remaining to the Yeonri Spell Master himself—

“……Ahahaha, cough.”

The moment Lariata coughed and lowered her head, a torrent of black blood gushed up her esophagus.

CHWAAAK!!!

“Urghhhk!!!”

Viscous fluids, as if all her organs and intestines had died and been expelled, mixed with the blood, sinking into a dark hue.

Shredded fragments of her internal organs mingled with the blood she vomited, splattering across the battleship.

Though her exterior remained intact, it was a tremendous hemorrhage, as if her entire internal body had been utterly ravaged by the previous attack.

“You…… bastard…….”

Unlike the Seventh Apostle, who freely spewed blood, the Yeonri Spell Master glared at Lennok with bloodshot eyes.

He struggled to suppress the hemorrhage, enduring even as black-tinged blood dribbled between his teeth.

But the Spell Master’s gaze at Lennok was filled more with shock than pain or fear.

“You, Chapman’s spellcraft… how did you—”

Lennok’s spellcraft, which had forcibly conjoined and overloaded the Root Mindscapes of the Grand Spell Master and the Seventh Apostle.

It was because the Yeonri Spell Master knew all too well whose spellcraft it originally was.

The Trait-type Conjunction Spellcraft of Avesta Chapman, once called the Order Alliance’s greatest Grand Spell Master.

The Yeonri Spell Master, sensing that the very power, considered one of the strongest potentials within the Alliance, was now wielded by the killer of the Conjunction Spell Master, convulsed with a devilish expression, raising his bloodshot gaze towards Lennok.

“Trait-type spellcraft is an independent law, belonging to no specific system. Therefore, its power goes beyond merely interfering with spellcraft or unique abilities; it directly affects mindscapes and will-thoughts.”

Lennok, who had released his clasped hands, spoke.

“Just like I forcibly conjoined and overloaded your Root Mindscapes right now.”

“Cough!!!!”

Lennok moved, watching the Yeonri Spell Master collapse to his knees, unable to endure and spewing blood.

“If it had merely been a clash or overlap of your domains, it wouldn’t have come to this. But by forcibly connecting the domains and overloading the Root Mindscapes, I could induce damage to the hierarchies that serve as their foundation.”

“Urghh……!!”

“It’s been a long time since I used it directly after the fight with Avesta Chapman, but it seems to have worked better than I expected.”

Lennok used his Domain not to counter the Apostle and Spell Master’s domains, but rather, to synchronize more deeply with their Root Mindscapes.

Through this, he perceived the Root Mindscapes that the Spell Master and Apostle had imprinted upon reality, and then directly captured them with Conjunction Spellcraft.

He raised his consciousness through a Domain Expansion Incantation, and then recreated the profound principles of Conjunction Spellcraft, which he had analyzed using Ouroboros, within his body.

He had been waiting for the precise moment when the Seventh Apostle and the Grand Spell Master elevated their will-thoughts and mindscapes to their absolute limits towards Lennok.

‘I understand the trick, but the control is still difficult… I need more practice.’

Lennok could use Conjunction Spellcraft because he had analyzed it with Ouroboros’s ability during his decisive battle with Avesta Chapman.

He had won by forcibly conjoining an artificial sun in the final moments, manifesting a Taiji Avatar that hastened the full bloom of Heavenly Flower Myriad Fragrance.

Yet, the Conjunction Spellcraft he had thus acquired was comprised of senses and rules that even Lennok found incredibly difficult to handle.

Perhaps because the Conjunction Spellcraft itself was thoroughly tailored to Chapman’s twisted sensibilities, the very sense of capturing concepts and targets to conjoin didn’t come naturally to him.

If he hadn’t stolen the trick of how the Conjunction Spell Master had conjoined and sealed the Blaiver Tower Lord’s Domain in the First Gate, he probably wouldn’t have managed it so well now.

“P-huhuhuhu…… You never intended to fight us fairly… from the start, did you?”

Lariata, sprawled on the ground, still spewing blood, grinned maniacally.

“Oh, dear, could it be… that we’ve truly fallen for the wiles… of a wicked human?”

“I didn’t want to waste much time against Transcendent beings who possess multiple extra lives.”

CRACK!!

Lennok stomped on her bat wings, instantly crushing joints and bones, and replied.

Lennok’s cold gaze returned to the Yeonri Spell Master, who was convulsing and spewing black blood.

“Even now, it’s the same. I overloaded your Root Mindscapes and shattered part of your hierarchy, yet instead of dying or becoming an imbecile, you’re somehow holding on.”

“…….”

“For not even being an Ascendant, enduring such backlash is utterly bothersome… So I’ll break you even more before I go.”

Building a hierarchy is like stacking a very precarious and unstable stone tower.

The higher it’s stacked, the more vulnerable it becomes to minor damage or backlash, and thus, the easier it is to collapse or break.

Given how fatally damage to one’s hierarchy affects high-level superhumans, both the Grand Spell Master and the Seventh Apostle should ordinarily have become imbeciles or invalids.

Nevertheless, neither of the two Transcendent beings had their minds or mindscapes broken; instead, they somehow endured, barely suppressed.

It must be related to the Yeonri Spell Master’s ability to transfer fatal damage to his domain, or the Seventh Apostle’s individuality, which lacked a clear hierarchy in the first place.

But it didn’t matter. As long as their Root Mindscapes were overloaded, they would find it difficult to freely use their primary spellcraft as before.

Even if they died and “revived” on the spot, it would be difficult to completely quell the overload with just one attempt.

That much was enough.

Now that these monsters, who possessed multiple extra chances, were broken and suffered irreparable damage from just one such chance.

If he could crush the Transcendent beings of the Alliance and the Cult into incapacitation here and now, and proceed to the deepest part of the Demonic Realm—

“No.”

At that moment, the Yeonri Spell Master, still steadily spewing black blood, spoke with an emotionless face.

“I… cannot… allow it. You will not enter the Demonic Realm.”

He convulsed as he struggled to stand, gripping his body, whose five senses and magical perception were distorted and breaking down.

A superhuman willpower that manipulated his body to stand, even as his central nervous system was shattered and his stimulation threshold overloaded.

“Do you think the achievements this Alliance risked its lives to conquer… will be so idly taken by you?”

“……Is that so?”

However, Lennok did not scoff at or take lightly the words of the Spell Master, who seemed to struggle just to stand.

It wasn’t mere bluster. A Transcendent being of that caliber would surely have something to rely on.

If the Transcendent beings who dominated the Central Front were indeed monsters like them, for whom one death was not enough for annihilation.

Then even in this moment of overwhelming defeat, they might still hold a means or secret plan to retain some chance of victory.

But instead of taking time to investigate further, Lennok cast his gaze down towards the Demonic Realm spread out beneath his feet.

“It’s time.”

KWOO-A-A-A-ANG-!!!!

The Sun Ship explosively accelerated once more from its position, pressing down on the forms of the Apostle and the Spell Master.

“Ugh-!!!”

“Hah……!!”

KWO-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-!!!!

Even as the battle raged, the colossal form of Sun Ship Megiddo was traversing the skies of the Demonic Realm’s entrance.

The colossal ship, unshaken by their clash, began to charge straight into the heart of the Demonic Realm at immense speed.

Megiddo’s ferociously different maneuver than any before. The Spell Master sensed its ominous speed and turned his gaze.

“What is this? Don’t tell me—”

CRASH!!!

Another outpost established by the Alliance inside the Demonic Realm was engulfed in flames and incinerated.

A nearby makeshift altar of the Cult was crushed and shattered by the shockwave.

KWA-GWA-GANG!!!

It effortlessly bypassed the defensive line that the Alliance’s high-ranking spellcasters had painstakingly established over months.

It ignored the dense jungles and forests that the Cult’s priests had painstakingly cleared, offering themselves as sacrifices, and advanced.

The Sun Ship’s new form rapidly closed the gap on the Demonic Realm’s progress, which the Alliance and Cult had explored through immense investment.

“Wait, this fast—”

The Spell Master’s expression hardened at this impossibly swift and effortless “exploration speed.”

Even as the Sun Ship approached the Demonic Realm’s interior, the creatures of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors showed no reaction.

All the natural phenomena, demonic beasts, and corrupted organisms that obsessively tried to devour any human who trespassed within the Demonic Realm were nowhere to be seen.

It was an unbelievable phenomenon, as if the Demonic Realm itself was naturally “opening a path” the moment the Sun Ship appeared.

At this ominous scene, even the Seventh Apostle’s face momentarily lost its grin.

“You’re right, Yeonri Spell Master.”

Lennok, pulling out the Demonic Realm Travelogue, said.

“The Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors is a hell powered by death, a spacetime filled with negative properties. Here, there are no boundaries between day and night, and its flora and fauna sustain their life activities in accordance with the Demonic Realm’s negative energy.”

“…….”

“But, conversely… that also means that as long as day exists here, the life activities within the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors can be temporarily suppressed.”

“……No way.”

As the Spell Master’s sharp gaze turned towards the Sun Ship he was on, Lennok unfurled the travelogue.

Up until now, nothing had been written on its pages, but now, words appeared, as if scrawled in haste.

[The Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors is a hell where day and night do not exist; here, the concepts of day and night change according to the amount of malevolent and negative energy.]

[All life forms within the Demonic Realm are active during the night, when the concentration of malevolent energy is dense, and dormant during the day, when it is sparse.]

[Once a month, on the day the Shadow of the Star moves and the sun shines down, all life activity in the Demonic Realm ceases.]

Ethan’s last journal entry, written after traveling the Demonic Realm before his body was taken by Kaiser.

The most important reason Lennok had summoned the Sun Ship and first intervened in the Grand Spell Master and Seventh Apostle’s battle.

“The day that brings daytime to the Demonic Realm comes once a month. But you couldn’t possibly expect today, this very moment, to be that one day of the month.”

“……Martinez.”

“But, if there was a summoned entity that could replace the role of a ‘sun’ in any spacetime… wouldn’t it be possible to temporarily create daytime?”

“How far do you intend to go? You…!”

“Yeonri Spell Master. Is that truly a question?”

Lennok sneered.

“Of course, I must go to the very end of this Demonic Realm. This is what I prepared for that.”

KUOOO-O-O-O-O-O!!!!!

Megiddo’s flames fiercely blazed, casting a dazzling light upon the ground.

As if the colossal ship itself had become a burning sun, it scattered brilliant sunlight across the entire Demonic Realm, piercing through the flower mist.

The plants of the Demonic Realm, directly bathed in the blinding light that felt almost stark white, collectively began to react strangely.

KIEEEEE……

GRRRRRK-

THUD, THUD……!!

The movements of the worm-like writhing tree roots slowed, and the eye-stalked vines slowly closed their eyes.

The tooth-bearing flowers that chewed on humans closed their buds, ceasing all activity. Even the wailing cries that had echoed from somewhere abruptly cut off.

The air everywhere suddenly grew heavy and quiet, as if the vast Demonic Realm had momentarily fallen asleep.

Meanwhile, Megiddo’s new form rapidly began to penetrate thousands of meters deep into the Demonic Realm.

JJEONG-EONG-EONG!!!!

The Alliance’s barriers and spellcraft collided with Megiddo’s hull and were utterly shattered.

The Cult’s prayer spellcraft and blessings, hung in the Demonic Realm’s sky, were crushed and lost their efficacy, causing priests to vomit blood.

Each time Megiddo charged towards the deepest part of the Demonic Realm, the outposts of the Alliance and Cult, who had been engrossed in exploration and pioneering, were swept away, and spellcasters and priests died.

It was a bizarre sight: the cultivated interior of the Demonic Realm, painstakingly explored by the Alliance and Cult, was continuously breached and bypassed at this very moment.

KWO-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA!!!!!

“……No. I will not allow it.”

The Spell Master said coldly.

“If you dare, with just one precious artifact, intend to completely bypass all the time and effort the Alliance has invested—”

“Ahaha, I agree with that.”

Lariata, still grinning maniacally while sprawled on the ground, cut in.

The Seventh Apostle, lying on her back, laughed coldly with gleaming eyes.

“As this chain-smoker says, that won’t do. This place has seen no small investment from the Cult’s side either.”

“…….”

“If you arrive at the end of this hell first with just one ship, our Cult would simply become dogs chasing chickens, wouldn’t we? That’s a different story. It’s too cowardly.”

“Indeed.”

Lennok looked down at the Seventh Apostle with a chilling gaze and chuckled.

“You seem to have rested enough, haven’t you?”

“Huhu, this is why I find quick-witted humans so disgustingly delightful.”

Lariata gave a cold smile.

“I really should have killed you back at the First Gate.”

KWA-A-A-A-ANG!!!!

Sticky blood surged, and thick smoke exploded.

The Yeonri Spell Master seized the double-edged greatsword plunged into the Sun Ship’s deck, and Lariata gripped her fallen pipe in a reverse hold.

Even as their mindscapes overloaded and hierarchies shattered, the two Transcendent beings demonstrated monstrous recovery, quickly restoring only their physical bodies and charging forward.

But instead of reacting to the Spell Master and Apostle’s attacks as they charged with their weapons, Lennok extended both hands and conjured flames.

The moment he clasped the flames, just as the double-edged greatsword and pipe were about to pierce Lennok’s temple and spine.

Two flashes of blue light accelerated at immense speed, piercing through the forms of the Grand Spell Master and the Apostle.

Aldrima Sword-Magic Style, Form 0

True Blood Unveiling: Blood Magic Barrage

[Sacred Dissection Cannon]

TA-A-A-ANG!!!!

Aileen’s shot, using True Blood as a bullet, targeting the Transcendent beings’ spiritual presence and hierarchy.

A move that directly struck at their broken hierarchies, taking advantage of the backlash from their Root Mindscapes’ collapse.

“……!!!!”

At that critical moment, the two monsters, whose weak points were exploited by a fourth party, finally reeled, their consciousnesses momentarily shaken.

Lennok, having “shaved” the flames held in his hands, drew out mana from within the thick blood-mist.

“Mist holding moisture… cools down well.”

Lennok, with his hands pressed together, exhaled cold air and whispered.

“Freeze.”

KIIIIII-ING!!!!!

Flame-Heat Unique Magic

Property Reversal, Decasing Manifestation

Ice-Stillness Ability

White-Winged Star

[Capture & Binding: Minor Celestial Star]

The heat and flames flowing from Lennok’s center began to freeze bright blue and condense.

A bizarre phenomenon, as if the ceaselessly surging flames everywhere, and even the combustion armament’s flames, were freezing solid.

At the same time, the dense mist all around synchronized, instantly enveloping the Apostle and the Spell Master, forming white wings.

As the colossal pure white wings settled upon the Sun Ship, they froze the very space itself.

JJEONG-EONG-EONG-EONG!!!!!!

“……This can’t be. You—”

“AHAHAHAHA!!! No way, Ice—!!”

The Yeonri Spell Master, realizing the nature of the spellcraft just before his entire body froze, glared at Lennok.

Lariata Armush’s form stared intently at Lennok, laughing madly.

The two forms froze almost simultaneously, their consciousnesses momentarily bound.

The cold white wings exploded into rotation, flinging them back into the distant beyond.

PA-A-A-A-ANG!!!!

It was an expulsion mixed with the profound principles of spatial severance, not physical force. The two frozen Transcendent beings were forcibly pushed back and scattered hundreds of meters into the sky.

Scattering cold, fragmented ice, they vanished like a flash into the dense, distant jungle whose location couldn’t even be discerned.

As the Sun Ship accelerated, their traces quickly disappeared beyond recognition.

Lennok looked down at them and lightly cracked his neck.

“Shall we see if they can survive falling hundreds of meters with their entire bodies frozen?”

“…Martinez.”

Only then did Aileen stagger forward, planting her gunblade into the deck with effort.

Standing beside Lennok, she muttered, looking down at the ground with a bewildered expression.

“I’ve been thinking since yesterday, but you’re far nastier than the Agency ever estimated.”

“…….”

“If you wanted to insult the Alliance and the Cult, it was a magnificent display… but is this truly enough?”

While a domain battle raged on the Sun Ship, he alone evaded the Alliance and Cult’s pursuit, and in the end, even sniped and interfered with the Apostle and Spell Master.

Lennok had confirmed Aileen’s skill at the seabed terminal, so he hadn’t stopped her intervention, but she, too, understood the situation properly now.

“Ice Magic. I thought you were trying to hide it as much as possible. To just freeze those monsters and make them fall using that….”

“If I wanted to hide it perfectly, I wouldn’t have used it at the seabed terminal.”

Lennok turned around.

“It doesn’t matter if the Central Council knows I can handle opposing attributes. I don’t particularly obsess over concealing it, and either way, it won’t be a problem for psychological warfare.”

“…….”

“I used Ice Magic for the same reason. Both the Seventh Apostle and the Grand Spell Master possess extra lives, so they are surely hiding powerful spellcraft or abilities triggered by ‘death’.”

Although he had achieved an overwhelming victory using Conjunction Spellcraft, his opponents were monsters far transcending hierarchy.

They were geniuses with not only immense willpower and vitality but also extraordinarily powerful innate spiritual presence and talent.

Above all, both were Transcendent beings who inherently possessed traits or abilities to negate or substitute death.

The fact that neither the Spell Master nor the Apostle attempted recovery through “suicide” after their defeat surely meant that such an action was a hidden hand they were concealing.

“To completely kill either the Yeonri Spell Master or the Seventh Apostle would require more time and continuous mana expenditure. In the current situation, that’s likely exactly what they want.”

“So, it’s a matter of time, then….”

To suppress the resistance of the Spell Master and Apostle and completely kill them here would, in any case, require more time and mana.

And for Lennok, who was heading straight to the deepest part of the Demonic Realm using the Sun Ship, that was not the top priority.

“For now, it’s enough to simply crush them enough to prevent the Cult and Alliance from chasing us. What’s important is reaching the deepest part of the Demonic Realm within the Sun Ship’s summoning duration, and besides…”

Lennok, turning his gaze towards the direction the Sun Ship was heading, spoke.

“By then, the conclusion will already have been reached, one way or another.”

“…….”

KOO-GOO-GOO-GOO-GOO!!!!!

Beyond the flower mist, which stretched thick to the horizon, a faintly visible shape was approaching.

The central institution of the Ars Nova Empire’s Imperial Palace, located in the deepest part of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors.

The Mausoleum where the corpse of the Empire’s Grand General lay dormant was visible in the distance.

“Let’s go.”

Lennok’s gaze deepened.

“Today, right here, we will conclude the conquest of the Demonic Realm.”