Chapter 80

Baek-seon, Lruyeh Aurusilena had kept the possibility of a situation like this in the back of her mind.

She hadn’t intentionally created it using a dimensional core, but that didn’t change the fact that this place was a Gate.

Which meant that the strongest demon in this location—

In other words, one of the Four Knights—had a high chance of being the boss.

Yet even after defeating the knight wielding the scythe, the scales, and the bow, there was no sign of the Gate closing.

The only one left was the ‘Rider of the Red Horse,’ holding a sword.

If that demon’s corpse served as the core maintaining the Gate, she would have to abandon the contract for now and seal it here.

If the Gate closed, her promise with Hayan would turn to nothing.

But that assumption was wrong.

None of the Four Knights was the boss.

No—those beings had never been arrangements meant to lead warriors who entered the temple to their deaths in the first place.

Because they had already been fighting another existence.

They had merely shifted priorities once she and Hayan closed the distance.

And she failed to realize that this act itself was what released the seal.

Kugugung!!

The moment the fourth knight drew its sword, the wall—or what she had thought was a wall—began to move.

The sword-bearing knight turned around too late, only to be shattered into pieces by something that fell from above in an instant.

What stabbed down from the darkness toward the ground was a gigantic beast’s leg.

A black-hued mountain goat’s hoof.

“I realize it now. The things that were erased never truly disappeared…!”

The instant the hoof struck the ground, a tremendous vibration swept through the area.

An overwhelming power that crushed the body of a demon once ranked as Special Grade in a single blow.

A beat too late, she raised every bone she had accumulated so far to brace for the incoming shockwave.

A pure white army that did not fear death burned away completely as it collided with the murky-colored tide.

She managed to hastily construct a safe zone, but the true attack hadn’t even begun yet.

This time, magical power began to gather in a swirling vortex centered on the spot where the two of them stood.

In this narrow underground space, there was nowhere to run.

Could she stop another falling hoof?

Just as she tried to squeeze out every last drop of her remaining mana, her face pale—

Hayan’s voice came from behind her.

“I thought it was an Archduke, so I got a little excited. Guess not.”

He was looking up at the black haze on the ceiling.

Both of his hands were clasped in front of his chest, ready to cast a spell at any moment.

Even for her, someone who had mastered black magic, the beastman-like form before them was something she had never seen.

The flow of mana surrounding him also took on a uniquely structured shape.

“Well, if that were Gamigin, there’s no way the subordinates would’ve been able to hold it back.”

He showed not the slightest fear of death.

In stark contrast to his casual expression and the vague tone that made it unclear whom he was speaking to, the density of mana around him continued to climb.

Low Rank, Mid Rank, High Rank, and beyond that.

It was output that only an Awakened of at least Transcendent rank could produce.

The consciousness and will of an Awakened who surpassed humanity drew close enough to grasp the stars themselves.

The presence of Outer Gods could be felt on the skin, and the Outer Gods, in turn, became aware of them.

Once that happened, one could impose their will upon the world itself.

As already confirmed in the Tower of Proof, the realm Hayan had reached was so high that it defied easy understanding.

Yet as time passed, she gradually began to uncover the true nature of his magic.

That was because her eyes—ones that could witness the deaths of soul and flesh after mastering black magic—

Had pierced through the path of sorcery Hayan had established by killing his own mind and body countless times.

“They’re coming.”

The black mountain goat’s hind leg fell.

This time, it was aimed precisely above their heads.

It wasn’t the Hooves of the Statue that crushed the heavens themselves, but if it hit head-on, even an Archduke wouldn’t come out unscathed.

Before the death that closed in by the second, Hayan formed his final hand seal.

And in that moment, Lruyeh began to vaguely grasp who he truly was.

The aged man who had once tried to kill an Outer God.

The master of the Red Tower who had sought to reach one.

The pioneer who tried to fly above their sky, only to have his wings broken and fall.

And the survivor who borrowed their power to protect those precious to him.

The will Hayan displayed—the symbol carved by his life—did not match any Transcendent-rank Awakened she knew.

As he looked up at the black hoof, he was also looking down.

As if gazing upon the colossal beings floating above the cosmos, from the perspective of a deeper darkness rooted even higher than them.

Observing. Unhurried.

Neither interfering nor submitting.

Like a pure seeker of the path.

He simply continued walking the thorn-covered road he had chosen long ago.

Even so, toward the unknown enemy that dared tread upon that road without knowing its place—

His hands, his eyes, and his mouth conveyed a single, unmistakable truth.

“Extreme Black Magic, Endless Outer Path.”

As if saying, ‘You can never reach me.’

Living in this harsh world, there are times when you’re forced to face the fact that blatantly wrong ideas have become widespread as common knowledge.

Like tentacles being evil, disgusting, and stupid monsters.

Or that Moon Ah-rin would soon become the Republic of Korea’s eighth Transcendent–rank Awakened.

Or that this year’s rookie in the Frontline Breakthrough Unit had a bizarre fetish for women’s feet.

All of that was just prejudice born from ignorance.

Recently, I’d been saddled with one particularly sad misunderstanding myself: that I enjoyed being stepped on.

Needless to say, for a noble Apostle of an Outer God, this was nothing short of humiliation.

Liking feet was one thing, but liking being trampled?

Even a passing tentacle would laugh at that.

Still, excessive denial can sometimes look like strong affirmation, so whenever I had to talk about it in public, I just pretended to like it.

That said, setting Ha Yeri aside, having some gigantic monster whose face and name I didn’t even know try to crush me with its hoof was something I absolutely could not forgive.

Jjeoeong!

The moment Endless Outer Path activated, the massive mountain goat’s foot froze above my head, unable to descend any further.

Its torso was in front of me, yet its leg was falling from directly above—joint movement that made no physical sense.

Among the monsters that dwell in the Demon Realm, there are some freakish ones that can twist their entire bodies to move like that.

But this time was different.

This phenomenon occurred because only part of its true body had been manifested.

“Manifestation” was a term originally used when something that did not exist took on form.

Much like how an Archduke, who normally acts through an avatar body, reveals their true presence when they choose to manifest.

In other words, this thing was no mere monster.

By rank, it would’ve been classified as Special Grade, a being with power surpassing most ordinary retainers.

If I had to find an Earth equivalent, it’d probably be something like Gargantua.

And the fact that a creature on that level was sealed within the Temple of Eternity meant only one thing.

It had challenged Gamigin’s seat—the position of the Archduke of Necromancy.

Kugugugung!

“Oh wow, it’s trying to come down again? Don’t put your weight into it.”

A monstrously rare demon beast that had wandered the Demon Realm for ages, accumulating power until it gained intelligence and a sense of self.

Still, it didn’t really look all that smart.

I hadn’t seen many cases like it, so I didn’t know the exact reason, but in terms of sheer strength, it clearly didn’t measure up to a true Archduke.

One solid ‘Gate Punch’ from Flauros and it’d probably calm right down.

Under normal circumstances, I’d have just detonated an extreme point and let it fall into eternal rest, but two factors made me hesitate.

First, it really did seem like this thing was the boss sustaining the Gate.

Second was the frantic shouting of Mala-nim wriggling violently inside my sleeve.

『Fear not!』

“A Star Scar? It has a Star Scar? Really?”

『Not! Not!』

Honestly, I’d been half-expecting it.

The Tomb of Eternity was a place where a lot of demons had died even in the Demon Realm, so beyond grave goods, there was a good chance something useful might be left behind.

Last time, I’d turned back without checking underground.

I’d thought that if I got really lucky, I might find a Star Scar—so the thought that there actually was one made this feel unreal.

It was like I’d opened my dorm window in the morning and a whole bundle of tentacles had rolled in.

“All right, let’s see…”

First, I needed to subdue this thing.

I could leave it to Lruyeh, who still had magic reserves left, but that would take too long.

This Gate was Baek-seon’s personal property—she’d purchased it herself.

If the authorities found out something this dangerous was lurking inside, they might pressure her to shut the Gate down.

And if something like this ever escaped outside, it’d be a catastrophe.

That would spiral into conflict between top-ranking guilds and the Bureau, and possibly even tensions between the Seven Immortals and the Special Unit.

Better to keep this quiet.

“By any chance, do you like tentacle stuff?”

“What is that?”

Until Yoo Se-byeol and the others arrived, I had no choice but to use tentacles to clean this up.

So I asked for her understanding.

When I raised both hands toward the ceiling, countless bundles of tentacles burst out from inside my sleeves.

The 51st Tentacle, Binding Tentacle.

It really, really, really, really, really loved restraining things.

Not only could it restrict physical movement, it could also seal abilities and magic.

“Heave—ho!”

Thousands—no, tens of thousands—of tentacles vanished into the darkness.

A moment later, with a ripping sound as space itself split open, something enormous dropped down in front of us.

What the tentacles brought back, wrapped up tightly like a ball, was the body of the monster sealed here.

The head of a black mountain goat shaped like a demon.

Seeing the thick, sticky mucus clinging to it, Lruyeh commented flatly,

“You’re a perverted man.”

“I asked because I didn’t want to hear that.”

Was it time to clear up yet another tragic misunderstanding?

It was fine. I was used to it now.

Even if my ability involved tentacles, that alone wasn’t a reason to be hated.

There were no bad tentacles in this world.

And really, carrying around animated skeletons wasn’t much better.

In that sense, we could understand each other.

“You didn’t use that on other people too, right? Like to silence them. Or humiliate them.”

“Hm… I did use it on the Sword Immortal.”

From my perspective, I’d meant I pulled it out when fighting the strongest Awakened I knew.

From her perspective, that explanation backfired badly.

What little color remained drained completely from Lruyeh’s already pale, exhausted face.

“Lruyeh?”

“You’re a terrifying man. I mean that sincerely.”

“You’re misunderstanding something.”

“Could you not come closer? I don’t want to misunderstand you—or understand you.”

I was not understood.

The skull she was holding rattled, its jaw clacking as if laughing.

You’re the same, you know. What’re you laughing for.

Leaving the cackling skull behind, I examined the monster’s head the Binding Tentacle had brought back.

A goat’s head with massive horns growing from its temples.

From the severed neck, black smoke billowed, like a body abandoned by its soul.

As I turned it this way and that, Lruyeh, standing behind me, spoke up.

“One horn is missing.”

“Huh? You’re right.”

Had it snapped off on something while being dragged?

That didn’t sound right—demonic horns weren’t that fragile.

Judging by the worn surface of the break, it looked like it had been severed a long time ago.

“Wait a second… this feels familiar.”

As I stared at the cross-section, someone suddenly came to mind.

A subordinate of Gamigin.

One horn missing.

Its true power lost for reasons unknown.

A certain demon whose staple diet was Choco Pies.