Chapter 683: The Oldest Bloodline (5)
“…Nether King’s disciple?”
Lennok’s hand, which had been clutching his will-thought in response to the black magic surrounding him, paused.
The Nether King of Pandemonium.
A Level 8 black wizard who transcended Hierarchy, and a Transcendent sorcerer who intervened in space-time through results.
A monster who roamed across the continent, destroying and annihilating cities and civilizations, reigning as an object of fear and terror.
But at the same time, he was also the one who constantly sought out talented individuals and was responsible for drawing Lennok into Pandemonium.
Could Myeong, who was cruelly ruthless toward anything that didn’t interest him, have taken on a new disciple late in life?
Lennok, who had even released the magic he held, watched Baegon with intrigued eyes.
“I see. So you’re Myeong’s disciple…”
For a long time, Myeong had tried to pull Lennok into Pandemonium, yet he never tried to make Lennok his disciple.
Perhaps it was because he vaguely sensed that the magic and systems Lennok had already mastered were different from his own.
That’s why Lennok, rather than learning black magic, had focused on questioning the secrets Myeong possessed.
However, he was well aware of how cold and demanding Myeong’s standards for ‘talent’ were.
If Myeong had truly chosen Baegon as his disciple, then what kind of rare and unique talent could Baegon possess?
“I was just going to investigate the Old Bloodline and leave, but it seems there’s something more interesting than I thought.”
Lennok’s eyes shone sharply as he openly observed Baegon, scrutinizing him from head to toe.
“Or are you, perhaps, connected to that ‘Old Bloodline’?”
He knew that someone from the Old Bloodline was utilizing the power of Annihilation’s Tree.
If the family inheriting that bloodline had taken Annihilation’s Tree as their symbol, there must be a secret beyond mere worship or faith.
Could it be that Baegon was chosen as Myeong’s disciple precisely because of that connection?
However, instead of answering Lennok’s question, Baegon stepped forward and urged Ermont.
“Finish the work, quickly!!”
“What a waste of effort, really…”
Ermont grumbled, yet continued working on something in front of the giant tree.
Despite his words, it was clear there was work to be completed here.
The moment Lennok tried to draw up his magic again to observe the scene.
Baegon twisted his body and stepped forward, pulling his finger like a trigger.
Creak!!
Following his gesture, spells in casting standby aligned sequentially. Dozens of black magic spells surrounding Lennok activated, rotating.
As if a key met a lock, dozens of spells, cast and preserved, perfectly blocked any escape path with precise timing.
Black Magic Series Unique Magic Multiple Manifestation Shadow Body
[Black Key [흑건]]
Almost simultaneously, they exploded, targeting Lennok’s vital points and breathing passages.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!!!
The illusion of dozens of enormous black pillars simultaneously rising from the spot.
Like assembling blocks, the black pillars formed a cubic shape, trapping and isolating Lennok.
Kiii-iiik…!!
Baegon, having confirmed Lennok’s presence within the perfectly sealed cube, clenched his right hand.
[Black Slaughter Shrine [흑살신전]]
Kwaaaaaah!!!
The cube mercilessly crumpled, squeezing its contents.
A horrific crushing force, powerful enough to leave not even a drop of blood for even the strongest physical superhuman.
However, no human blood squeezed out from under the Black Slaughter Shrine.
Instead, the four sides of the Black Key pillars, which were thought to be perfectly compressed, greatly heaved, and blue lightning leaked out.
Crraack!!
The moment he perceived it, a massive lightning hand burst forth, seizing and twisting open the cube’s opening.
Two enormous palms, incredibly large for being compressed within the Black Slaughter Shrine, protected Lennok as if cradling him.
From within, a wizard walked out, staff in hand, simultaneously deploying a quadruple lightning spell incantation.
[Divine Thunder Descent [뇌요신래]] [Binding Hand [주박수]] [Great Net of Thunder [대라전]] [Thunder Remnant Body [여뢰신]]
Pa-ji-ji-ji-ji-jik!!!!!
The giant’s two hands rotated as if vanishing on the spot, clashing directly before Lennok’s eyes.
Creation-type Unique Magic: Applied Alchemy Quadruple Consecration Complex Resonance
[Super Fusion [초융합]]
An enormous wave of thunder roared, incinerating and sweeping away all the black magic scattered around.
[Thunderclap [뇌명]]
KWA-AAAAAANG!!!
“Uwaaaah!!”
An immense concentration of magic, powerful enough to make even Ermont, who was tinkering among the tree trunks, sense death.
But astonishingly, the power of Lennok’s Thunderclap incinerated only Baegon’s spells, disappearing without touching a single fragment of Annihilation’s Tree.
“Insane…”
Ermont’s face turned purplish as he understood its meaning.
It was a powerful incantation of high-level black magic, capable of sweeping away an entire space, yet there wasn’t a single burn mark on Annihilation’s Tree’s branches.
The fact that he could control the speed and range of such a powerful multi-attribute shock magic down to the particle level.
“If I’m leaving a specimen, there’s no need to damage it, right?”
Lennok nodded, gazing at Baegon’s rigidly frozen face.
“I’ll humor you, as long as the tree isn’t harmed. I’m curious what kind of talent caught Myeong’s eye.”
“Don’t make me laugh…!!”
Baegon spat a low curse and began incanting another spell.
[Dark Prison Chain [암옥쇄]: Grotesque Shadow [괴영]] [Chariot of Decay [여후승차]]
Thick shadow chains erupted from beneath his feet, and using them as reins, jet-black chariots surged from all directions.
Koo-goo-goo-goo!!
Black, murky magic boiled between the rolling chariots, revolving around Lennok and searing black trails onto the ground.
Chiiiiiik!!
In an instant, he seized the black magic that had surged up and rushed towards Lennok.
“That brutish magic? I’ll just smash it before you can even use it!!”
Baegon’s figure, concealed in shadow, seized the chariot chains and moved at high speed.
He began relentlessly shattering Lennok’s shields, pounding them with barrage magic that he’d accumulated and cast in an instant.
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!!!
[Black Ruin [흑훼]] [Crush [구찰]]
Burning black will-thought gnawed at both the shields and the lightning magic, and darkness, spewed forth, surged and rubbed against space in all directions.
[Shadow Annihilation [음멸]]
Magic particles, draped in shadow, condensed and rotated, becoming a torrent of pitch-black fire that penetrated the underground cavern.
“Shatter!!”
KWA-AAAAANG!!!
Every single spell he unleashed possessed both top-tier power and speed in its offensive.
Especially the artistry of successfully casting and then controlling the timing to unleash them all at once—it could only be described as innate talent.
However, Lennok’s expression, as he looked at the dark flames surging up to his neck, showed no emotion whatsoever.
Pzzzt…!!
Lightning, erupting between his fingers, instantly swelled in size.
Intense blue lightning rapidly spread through the air, like ink bleeding through water.
BOOM!!
On the spot, it disintegrated into hundreds of fragments of lightning, scattering.
[Scattered Thunder Ray [분뢰사수]]
Jjeo-jeo-jeo-jeok!!!
An illusion of space shattering like glass; every single one of the hundreds of cracks spreading outwards was a fragment of surging lightning.
The moment he snapped his fingers to create the epicenter, all the lightning fragments pulsed as if they possessed their own will.
Eee-ji-ji-jik!!
They embraced and devoured the darkness assaulting from all directions. They surged faster than the black flashes emanating from above.
The moment the tendrils of thunder, erupting beyond sound, utterly shattered the dozens of black magic spells Baegon was manipulating.
[Converging Thunder [귀렴]]
The scattered fragments of lightning gathered before Baegon’s eyes with even greater speed than they had dispersed, then exploded.
KWA-AAAAANG!!
“Kuaaaah!!”
Baegon’s body, flung back by the force of the explosion, was caught and hung in the air by invisible threads of magic.
“Kahak!!”
“…I don’t understand.”
Lennok murmured, lifting Baegon by the throat with the threads of magic.
A mountain of black magic, super-high-speed incantations that were difficult to perceive, and stacked spells exploding.
His speed and power. Even his courage and audacity to engage in a spell duel head-on—there was nothing to criticize.
However, Lennok had devoured Baegon’s offensive head-on, then absorbed and unleashed it back at him.
Magic manipulation faster, heavier, more precise, and sharper than any spell Baegon had cast.
No matter how technically excellent and complete it was, there was a limit beyond which he could never surpass Lennok.
What Lennok had expected from Myeong’s disciple was not a wizard completed in such a predictable manner.
“This is Myeong’s disciple?”
“…!!!”
Baegon’s face flushed crimson with rage.
Perhaps it was because he realized that that single, unimpressed remark perfectly revealed the current situation.
“How dare you, how dare you…!!!”
The humiliation of being crushed by the one he had scoffed at. The powerlessness and fury of being unable to resolve this situation himself.
Emotions beyond their limits transformed into will-thought, unleashing out-of-control magic like a torrent.
“Kkuaa… Aaa…”
Pitch-black magic, rising from deep within Baegon’s wide-open throat, scattered like smoke.
The enormous tree looming above their heads tilted its branches in response to that magic.
Creak!!
Glen’s corpses, hanging among hundreds of branches, surrounded Lennok and Baegon, descending.
Glen’s corpses, absorbed and killed by the fragments of Annihilation’s Tree, began to raise their hands and form hand signs.
The moment Lennok realized that these hand signs were performing the incantation that Baegon himself should have been doing.
Baegon, whose pupils had turned completely black, spewed a sticky darkness from his gut onto the spot.
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
Domain Expansion Black Magic Hierarchy Conceptual Manifestation
[Shadow-Scattered Nurturing Illusion Map [음쇄육상도]]
Paaaa-at!!
Domain expansion, unbelievable for someone who had managed to cast while being throttled.
Baegon’s spewed darkness devoured its surroundings, trapping Lennok’s form in a darkness so profound that not an inch ahead could be seen.
Inside the Domain, everything felt muffled, as if his five senses were paralyzed.
“Khaha, ahahahahaha!!”
Baegon laughed maniacally, continuously spewing black matter from his throat.
The Shadow-Scattered Nurturing Illusion Map, a power whose efficiency was ridiculously low even after Baegon had completed the spell, rendering it unusable.
However, with the help of Annihilation’s Tree, drawn by Baegon’s emotions, he was now able to fully unleash the power of the Domain that theoretically could exist.
The ability of the Shadow-Scattered Nurturing Illusion Map was to forcibly convert all matter within its boundaries into black magic.
“Die…!!!”
Something writhed above Lennok’s head, and then an eye opened, streaming black tears.
[Dark Pupil: Dim Eye [암정동공: 회안]]
The eye, weeping black tears, decomposed everything it illuminated, converting it into black magic.
Glen’s corpses. The sandy ground Lennok stood on, the oil barrier and shields.
And even Lennok’s magic.
Jjeo-jeo-jeo-jeo-jeok!!!
The magic of that wizard, leaning on his staff, gradually began to turn into black magic.
Baegon’s face grotesquely twisted with base elation as he realized this.
“It’s working, it’s… working!!!”
A high-level wizard. Especially a sorcerer using a different system, such interference with internal magic was fatal.
If the foundation of a towering structure became unstable, its collapse would be equally immense.
What if it was a being whose very body barely survived, clinging to life support?
Even the slightest tremor could transform into a vibration that shook their very existence.
He could kill that wizard with his Domain.
The moment Baegon intuited this, endlessly spewing dark lumps and laughing maniacally.
Baegon’s limbs, which had been perfectly assimilated into the Domain, stiffened and froze.
“…Huh?”
At the same time, before the darkness he had spewed could even hit the ground, it suddenly began to be pulled somewhere.
Kii-gi-gi-gi…!!
The black magic filling the Domain converged into a single point, as if drawn by an invisible gravitational force.
The immense black magic, gathered in Lennok’s hand, compressed into a single point and rotated fiercely.
Each time the wizard, with an expressionless face, slowly clenched and unclenched his fist, the black magic filling the Domain disappeared as if sucked away.
Swaaah…!!
And the moment all the black magic in the area was completely sucked away and vanished as if extinguished.
A tiny black droplet floated in Lennok’s hand.
The Shadow-Scattered Nurturing Illusion Map’s Domain, which had disappeared as if a lie. Amidst it, Baegon stood rigidly, as if frozen.
Lennok shook his head, looking at Baegon, who stared blankly.
“Still not quite right.”
“W-What…?”
Lennok smiled, looking at Baegon, who screamed and strained to speak.
“This was the only black magic I learned indirectly from Myeong.”
That was when he first encountered Myeong after dealing with Eden, the Cigar Bang Gang leader.
The black droplet Myeong had used to block Lennok’s attack.
Black magic that sealed and hardened space itself, blocking all attacks.
Lennok had allowed his magic to be converted into black magic, then gathered all the black magic within the Domain to manifest the only black magic remaining in his memory.
The black magic he could genuinely say he had learned directly from Myeong.
Ermont sat down, shaking his head in disbelief.
“What a devilish idea. Why don’t you just become the villain yourself?”
“N-No way… That can’t be…”
Baegon was still bleeding profusely from the backlash of his magic being forcefully dispelled, even as he choked for air.
Lennok manipulated the magical threads throttling Baegon’s neck, slamming his body headfirst into the ground.
U-ji-ji-jik!!
“Cough!!”
Lennok, dispelling even the top-tier black eye magic in a head-on confrontation.
Ermont subtly glanced around, then scrambled to a corner of the room where Lennok’s gaze wouldn’t reach.
“K-Ugh, ugh…”
Lennok, with Baegon convulsing beneath his foot, eyes rolled back, looked up.
“Explain. Why is Myeong’s disciple here?”
Given how much he had received from Myeong personally, Lennok couldn’t kill Baegon outright.
If Baegon truly was Myeong’s disciple, as he claimed, Lennok was willing to let it slide with a punishment that would ensure he could never rise again.
“Well, about that…”
Just as Ermont sighed and began to explain.
The black tree looming above the three of them began to tremble violently.
Jwaaaak!!
At the same time, it grotesquely sucked up energy and life force from both its roots and branches, greedily devouring the oil and Glen’s corpses.
The moment the energy distorted as if it would burst from over-concentration.
The tree trunk that Ermont had been facing moments before split open, revealing something from within.
Creak!!
Inside the tree, a dark black coffin could be seen, allowing not a single speck of light.
Its seams were impossibly smooth and precise, unbelievable for something made without human hands.
An eerie presence that seemed to suck in not only the surrounding magic but also the consciousness of anyone who looked at it.
It was as if someone could open that coffin and walk out at any moment.
Ermont shrugged.
“That’s what it was for, you see.”
“…”
The moment Lennok was about to step toward the coffin.
“Cough, cough!!”
Baegon, covered in blood, stood before the coffin faster than Lennok.
Ermont let out a small sigh and put a hand to his forehead.
“…Oh, no.”
“It’s over. The plan ends here.”
Baegon glared at Ermont and Lennok simultaneously.
“I’ll tell Master everything that happened here, and then I’ll kill you both.”
“That coffin seems to be connected to Myeong.”
“…”
“Was the reason you brought Myeong’s disciple here because you needed him to make that coffin?”
At Lennok’s words, Ermont’s expression twisted as if he had bitten into something sour.
“Yes, just fucking tell him everything!!”
“Same goes for you, old man.”
Baegon scoffed at Ermont.
“You prolong your life by relying on Master’s grace, yet you dare betray me!!”
Ermont sighed and put a hand to his forehead.
“How can we betray each other when we never trusted each other in the first place?”
“Shut up!!”
Baegon gripped the coffin doors with both hands, channeling his magic.
Crunch!
Black fluid oozed from between his fingernails under the pressure, and the veins on the back of his hands all burst.
But Baegon laughed maniacally, pulling hard on the coffin door.
“It’s over. The Nether King will descend to this place!!”
[You, your name was Van, right?]
Ermont quietly sent a message to Lennok, still in his sighing posture.
[Couldn’t we forget the recent skirmish for a moment and cooperate?]
“…”
[That crazy bastard is going to summon the black wizard here. If this continues, we’re all going to die.]
Lennok didn’t answer, so Ermont whispered again, in an urgent tone.
[You can just destroy it. If he finds out things didn’t go according to plan, I don’t think I can handle his anger…]
“Alright. Go ahead and open it.”
“E-Eh?!”
Lennok ignored Ermont, who gasped, forgetting his message, and nodded.
“If it’s Myeong I know, he wouldn’t be someone who wouldn’t explain the situation after it comes to this.”
While the coffin was unusual, it wasn’t something he couldn’t destroy if he wanted to.
If Baegon could use the coffin’s power to summon Myeong, Lennok was willing to watch for a while.
Baegon gnashed his teeth and channeled his magic, having heard Lennok’s relaxed reply.
“…Don’t make me laugh. How long do you think you can stay so relaxed…!!!”
“…”
“You’re not Master’s disciple, I am!! I am the Nether King’s successor!!! I…!!!!”
Kiii-iiik…!!
With hands whose fingers were crushed and flesh oozing, he desperately pulled open the coffin door with all his might.
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
The moment he shed tears of blood and opened the coffin door with all his strength.
Baegon’s body was flung back at subsonic speed by the shockwave that erupted from within the coffin.
Eee-ji-ji-jik!!
Ignoring Baegon, who lay miserably on the ground with broken limbs, Lennok silently watched the opened coffin.
The Black Coffin, completed by sucking the energy of Annihilation’s Tree, Akrotilinea, and hundreds of Glen’s lives.
What kind of power did it contain?
“…”
Only an endless, profound darkness was there.
A dark will-thought, oozing and melting as if sticky.
A mass of darkness that sank without end, delving into the depths of the unconscious.
“Master!!!”
Baegon cried out desperately.
“Master!! Please help me!!!”
[…]
At that moment, he felt something in the darkness shift its gaze.