105 — Chapter 105

The situation on the battlefield was complex.

Within the illusory royal palace drifting in the silent night sky, chaos was swirling like a hurricane.

The King’s army, realizing that the sentries on the outer walls had been assassinated, immediately sounded the alarm. The Royal Guards who discovered their fallen comrades in the inner castle sealed the entrances and headed straight for the King’s chambers.

---

—The King is dead!

—Just hold on a little longer! We’re almost there!

Two units of the raid team were fighting with all their might to block the soldiers pouring in from the outside. Everyone was desperate, knowing they only had to hold out until the Thirteen Palaces of the Void left the Korean Peninsula, at which point they could exit through the Gate they had entered.

---

—Hey, I found more survivors! Bring a healer over here!

—Are you okay!? Where is Commander Ha Yeri of the Special Unit?

—She chased them into the secret room! We have to go tell her, quickly!

—Tell her what?

—Those guys aren’t just Awakened. Soon, they’ll…!

At the North Gate, the rescue operations for Unit 4 were in full swing. Having realized through the testimony of the conscious raid members that the Awakened of the Black Shadow Society were actually demons, Lee Hee-chan hurriedly tried to establish contact using a Channel.

However, communication failed to connect due to the mana flowing inside the Seed of Calamity. As he attempted to form hand seals to force the Channel open, he was suddenly forced to his knees by a massive surge of mana.

---

“We got him, right?”

“His head fell off, didn’t it?”

The audience chamber was also in a state of turmoil.

Kandu’s arms had been severed as the blood sphere was split by the Sword Immortal’s strike. Simultaneously, Alexei’s axe had claimed his head.

A human head lay fallen before the throne.

However, even though several Awakened had seen the King’s death with their own eyes, they could not let down their guard.

“Hey, something feels weird.”

“You too?”

“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

“I can’t stop shaking…”

Their muscles contracted involuntarily, sweat poured down, and it was difficult even to maintain their balance. It was enough to make them hallucinate that Kandu wasn’t dead and was still manipulating gravity.

Their bodies, which had crossed the line between life and death hundreds of times, were ringing alarm bells. It was a sense of déjà vu, similar to what they had felt earlier when infiltrating the inner castle.

But unlike before, when they couldn’t quite explain the sensation—now, every sense was clear.

And they were all issuing a single, ceaseless command.

“Who are those guys?”

“The Chinese bastards who attacked Unit 4…”

“Wait, the guy near the throne is our rookie?”

“Hey, Sae Pa—!”

A certain swordsman from The Old Gods’ Wound, who had reached the Middle Realm by eating nothing but Byeokgok energy bars and Byeokgok Zero Cola for four years, could not speak any further.

The sight of their rookie—stepping on the back of a man who appeared to be a member of the Black Shadow Society with a violet tentacle sprouted from his leg—was as if—

“Haah, haah. This is…”

Ha Yeri, who arrived a step late and drew her sword.

“…….”

Alexei, who had just completed his revenge.

“Hooh…”

Even the Sword Immortal, the only one who knew Hayan’s identity—or rather, the one who believed he knew.

A single thought dominated everyone’s mind.

The battlefield was complex, and one could be swept away by the storm if they let their guard down for even a second. In this state of chaotic impermanence, where numerous factions—humans and demons, kings and subordinates—were entangled:

To survive, they had to run away from that man right this instant.

“Hmm.”

Receiving everyone’s gaze, he leisurely lifted his head.

Until a moment ago, he was a member of the raid team and an Awakened from The Old Gods’ Wound—a green young swordsman with the unique name Sae Pa-ran.

But the moment he opened his mouth again.

“There are a lot of bugs here.”

His identity was nothing they knew.

---

『FEAR NOT! FEAR NOT! FEAR NOT!』

Mala-nim went wild inside my sleeve upon seeing me throw off all my masks for the first time in a long while.

Isn’t she being a bit too happy?

This was just my usual appearance when I roamed the Demon Realm. It wasn’t anything particularly special.

Anyone would end up like this if they spent fifteen years wandering the Demon Realm, tearing off tentacles for food.

When every existence is an enemy and the world itself urges your death, there is only one attitude to adopt to survive.

Show not a shred of mercy to those who get in your way.

Just like an Archduke.

“Kugh…”

K-Boom—!

The moment one of the subordinates trying to save Karzos opened his mouth, a tentacle was shoved down his throat.

His skull, ripped clean away, soared high over Ha Yeri’s head and smashed into the passage of the secret room, causing it to collapse.

While the ownerless body slumped powerlessly to the floor, not a single person moved. Everyone in the room felt it: a single wrong twitch of a finger meant death.

“A… A statement…!”

“…?”

“May I dare to address the Apostle of an Outer God…!”

Karzos, crushed beneath my foot, squirmed. He desperately pointed toward the throne he had been trying to climb just moments ago. It seemed he mistakenly assumed my purpose for being here was to become the King of the Thirteen Palaces of the Void.

“You are the only one truly worthy of being the master of that throne! I will take care of the rest of these bugs, so please, take your seat right now before this place leaves this land…!”

True to his nature as Furcas’s Familiar. Even when facing the Apostle of an Outer God—the enemy of all Archdukes—he was willing to bow his head like a servant just to stay alive. Yet, even in this situation, a sinister ulterior motive was hidden beneath his words.

Because that chair wasn’t just for anyone.

『FEAR NOT.』

However, I slowly moved toward the throne. Mala-nim also told me to do as I pleased, saying “fear not.”

A kingdom of blood where only those who gorged themselves on the blood of their own kind were allowed to reign. Seeing how Karzos had rushed out to sit here, he must have satisfied the condition as well.

If so, there was one thing he overlooked.

I, too, had eaten ‘tentacles’ until I was sick of them.

Until I was absolutely sick of them.

And I did so while considering myself a human no different from a tentacle.

“It’s quite hard. Satisfied now?”

“Ah…!”

The moment I sat on the throne, the last spark of hope vanished from everyone’s eyes.

“Y-You did well! Now, if you just stay still, I will take care of those—”

“You’re noisy.”

“Pardon?”

“The bug is being noisy, Karzos.”

His pupils dilated until they seemed ready to tear. He clearly hadn’t expected me to know his name.

“I-I’m sorr—!”

Thwack!

Karma. And the 97th strand, the Massage Tentacle.

In an instant, the manifested Extreme Demonic Path distorted his time, followed by a hardened tentacle that punched a massive hole through his chest.

If I told him he was noisy, he should have kept his mouth shut. He provoked my temper by wagging his tongue for nothing. I wasn’t as broad-minded as Flauros, who was willing to overlook things three times.

The Sword Immortal, seeing the tentacle that had once patted his shoulder at Mount Cheonsan now pulverizing a human ribcage, let out an involuntary dry laugh.

As Karzos’s body lost its ability to sustain life, Mala-nim informed me that the fellow wasn’t completely dead.

『FEAR NOT.』

『I know. It’s just an empty shell of a body, like last time.』

First at the Sea of Decay, and now here—is wearing human skins his hobby? Using a principle similar to the dolls the witches use in the Council, his true body wasn’t here.

Of course, if I had used Extreme Magic—Singularity, I could have ignored that and dealt profound damage to his soul itself. But there were too many familiar faces around for that. Even setting aside the mage Lee Hee-chan, someone with sharp eyes like Ha Yeri or a long-time comrade like Alexei would surely recognize the technique.

『I didn’t particularly plan on killing him until he summons Furcas anyway, so it’s fine. And…』

Even without using that, it didn’t hinder my future plans. The moment I sat on the throne, I became the master of this place. Though members of the Black Shadow Society remained, none would dare try to take the seat.

Considering my promise to the Sword Immortal fulfilled, I had one more piece of business left.

The third force—no, the existence—that Ha Yeri had anticipated beyond humans and demons. Making a full-scale appearance to the world as the Apostle of an Outer God.

“Let’s see… one noisy bug cleared out.”

I crossed my legs and looked over the faces of the raid members.

“What are you all?”

Their eyes were thick with tension, fear, and despair.

‘Sae Pa-ran, our rookie is…’

‘Get it together, you idiot. Does that look like a human to you? A human like that never existed from the start.’

‘What do we do?’

‘Now that he’s ascended the throne, we can’t just back down.’

I can hear you. I can hear all of you.

Naturally, I had zero intention of reigning as King and turning Seoul into a holy land for unpowered paragliding. I simply wanted to show them, here in this place where so many guilds were gathered.

The existence of an Apostle of an Outer God who hunts Archdukes.

The possibility that if they utilize him well, they can avoid the future where humanity is destroyed.

‘Elder, what should we do?’

‘Heh heh, that man is dangerous. If we don’t stop him here by any means necessary, humanity might be in danger…’

‘I-Is that true!?’

‘Might be… might not be… who knows. I’m getting old and senile, I can’t tell. But it feels like it might be true.’

‘Kugh, everyone, prepare to throw your lives away. This is our grave!’

Wait, this old man?

You know who I am!

It would have been enough to just keep the tension up, but because I was being serious, I could clearly see he was getting an itch to test his own strength against mine.

After waiting with patience, Ha Yeri, who was leading the raid team, finally stepped forward.

“I was aware of your existence.”

She didn’t tremble, nor did she lower her eyes; she looked up at me with a dignified posture. It seemed she judged that she shouldn’t start from a low position for the upcoming negotiation.

“I am Ha Yeri, Commander of the 2nd Division of the Special Unit, the Counterintelligence and Operations branch under the Ability Management Bureau. May I ask your name?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“To have a conversation, shouldn’t we at least hear each other’s names?”

Ha Yeri gestured for the troops to back off. Having watched her for a long time, I could see the hidden intent in her minor word choices and actions. It was a strategy to remind me that she was the one qualified to lead these forces, while simultaneously trying to resolve the situation naturally through dialogue.

“Should I call you Sae Pa-ran… no, the Apostle of an Outer God?”

“Do whatever you want.”

Perhaps thinking she’d end up like the Black Shadow Society guys if she showed even a hint of hostility, she wasn’t holding a weapon. It meant she couldn’t use ‘Minor Justice’ to discern the truth or lies in my words.

It was like an ant standing before an elephant.

“First, I would like to offer my thanks. You are the one who annihilated the Archduke of Flame, are you not?”

Despite the situation, Ha Yeri calmly used respectful language as she asked me the question.