Chapter 292

Chapter 292

Jae-Hyeok had suspected as much upon discovering the flymice were demon kin, but the appearance of the high-level demon had basically confirmed it:

This gate must connect to world fragment of hell.

In fact, Jae-Hyeok wasn’t much surprised by the existence of hell. He’d long known of the existence of demons, and every monster had to come from somewhere, after all.

“Blackening...”

Wilhelm rose, and the citizens in the distance screamed at the sight.

"Kyaaaak!"

“A demon...! It is really a demon!”

“R-run away! We will become demons too!”

For the general public, demons were unknown beings. And seeing Wilhelm resurrect filled them with terror. It was fortunate that the Association and the military had prepared evacuation routes in advance.

Otherwise, the fleeing citizens would’ve trampled over one another in their panic to escape.

Wlhelm retrieved his head and kept it in the crook of his arm.

“Denovine... and the Yaksha’s son...! Did you think I would give up obediently? I will definitely take you to hell as well.”

Blackening...

It was a power gained through a demon contract that bestowed the contractee with the qualities of a demon.

Roooooar!

Wilhelm pulsed with demonic energy, his aura burning like black flames.

“Vera.”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He called for his lich but for some reason, it wasn’t nearby.

Was it wiped out already?

Startled, Wilhelm expanded his senses even further, only to freeze in shock.

“Move faster. Wait, you–the tree would look better over there.”

His legion hadn’t been destroyed, but...

“Why? Why are you repairing the Yaksha’s house?”

Destroying the Kang family mansion was about his only victory today, yet now, even that was being undone, and it was by his own army no less.

Lich Vera’s gaze turned, then looked down to meet Wilhelm’s eyes.

“......?”

“Vera, you! Destroy the Kang family immediately!”

Wilhelm shouted at the confused Vera. However, Vera and the hundreds of undead didn’t react. They withdrew their gaze as if a dog were barking and returned to focusing on the mansion’s restoration.

Having converted into a demon, Wilhelm had entirely lost his human mana and aura, so the undead no longer recognized him as the same being.

Wilhelm gritted his teeth.

“Stupid fools! Fine, then. Things that have outlived their usefulness should be destroyed.”

The whites of Wilhelm’s eyes turned black.

Combined with the golden glow from his Bloodline Skill, his eyes looked even more inhuman.

“Bone Explosion.”

-......!

Magic circle flared to life on Vera and the rest of the undead’s ribs.

Hundreds of low-ranking undead began exploding like accelerating dominoes, t.

Baaaaaang!

The death knights were the next to detonate, and the entire area shook as if struck by an earthquake.

The explosions sent cracks spreading across Vera’s mana barrier; at the same time, its bones around the engraved magic circle splintered.

The light in Vera’s eyes dimmed. “Temporary commander... it seems I will be unable to carry out your order.”

“...Goodbye, great magician.”

Theodore spoke in an uncharacteristically heavy voice.

Lich Vera... a being once been human, yet cursed by Wilhelm to a life of eternal service. It’s existence was truly unfortunate.

Vera nodded just as the cracks along its bones filled with blaring light. Then—

Boom!

The explosion of a liche’s mana core was immense. Thankfully, Vera had cast a layered mana barrier before its death, containing the explosion and sparing the Kang mansion. If not for its efforts, the explosion would’ve swept all the way into downtown Seoul.

Theodore quietly watched as the legion’s ashes fluttered like grey snow.

Meanwhile, Wilhelm scoffed.

“Useless till the very end. Kang Jae-Hyeok, Denovine—I will erase you myself. No, I will erase all of Korea!

Hahahahah

!... Thought you could kill me and get away with it? All you will join me in hell!”

Clang!

Wilhelm charged forward and collided with the Thunder Emperor.

The grudge between them reached the depths of Wilhelm’s bones. Jae-Hyeok had claimed his head and would perish miserably for it—but that was mere desert; Denovine, the main course, was first.

The Thunder Emperor summoned a whip and held it taut, deflecting Wilhelm’s bone blade.

“You fool! How could you sell your soul to a demon! Are you not a duke? Where is your pride? Are personal grudges more important than the honor of the Baus family?”

Wilhelm laughed. “Honor? Steeped in the fires of war, the Bause lineage only values strength and victory—that is our honor.”

In the past two-hundred years, those who’d risen and fallen from the family throne were more than Wilhelm could count—and succession was not lineal; family branches mixed; any and all who awoke the Necromancer Bloodline qualified for succession rights. Wilhelm, like his father before, had earned the ducal title through talent, wit, and ruthless cunning—while those who barred his way, preaching of morals and family honor, had been the first to die.

In fact, Wilhelm’s lineage was only distantly related to the family founder, Agnus. But so what? Outsiders were none the wiser, while internally, it only proved the main branch was weak, unfit to lead.

Of course such squabbles were in the past. Now that he was reborn as a demon, now that he held absolute power—family meant nothing to him.

“I lead them to glory. Anyone bearing the surname Baus should bow and scrape at my feet.”

“You’ve fallen beyond redemption!”

The Thunder Emperor spread out his Thunder Wings. Touched by the Firebird’s Essence, the crackling light from which they were made was tinged with dancing streaks of orange.

“Shock Wave.”

He thrust his palm and unleashed a wave of lightning before swinging his lightning whip.

First paralyze, then sunder with the whip—it was a winning strategy, or so it should be—but the Thunder Emperor was not the only one who’d grown. Now reborn as a demon, Wilhelm’s speed and power had grown by several levels.

“Too slow.”

Wilhelm left behind black afterimages before appearing behind the Thunder Emperor.

“......?!”

The startled Thunder Emperor urgently tried to retreat, but the difference in speed was decisive.

Dozens of bone spikes erupted from Wilhelm’s body, causing dozens of holes to appear in the Thunder Emperor.

"Kukukuk.

Kuhahat!

Be my nourishment!”

The bones embedded in the Thunder Emperor’s body grew grotesquely like hoses sucking in liquid.

In truth, they were draining his blood and mana.

“Once I’m done with Korea, Britain and France are next! Then I’ll visit your precious United States. Be reborn in undeath, join my new legion, and watch it happen. Watch what will become of the ones who tormented me! Witness me, without fail, become the king of the world...!”

A contract with a demon...

Truth be told, it hadn’t been Wilhelm’s first choice. But now that his body was beyond repair, only demonic energy could sustain him. For him, one path remained—and that was to embrace his rebirth. Be it man or demon, he, Wilhelm, was determined to become the greatest of his kind!

“Demons are greater than gods! Take a good look! I, Wilhelm, am the masterpiece!”

Wilhelm absorbed the Thunder Emperor’s mana as wild fantasies filled his heart and mind—fantasies of founding an undead empire, of ruling the world, and of blessing all the world’s National Treasures, one by one, with eternal undeath.

Were it not for Jae-Hyeok, Wilhelm’s wild dreams might have been possible.

[Iyarugt reacts to a demon’s soul!]

Jae-Hyeok moved his sword according to Iyarugt’s guidance, and as if a knife through paper, both Wilhelm and the little demon in his arms separated into thirty-three pieces.

Ah.

Jae-Hyeok recognized the trajectories of his blade.

They belonged to Hell Sword.

So that’s it. Like parts of a whole, the true sword intent behind Hell Sword is for killing demons.

Jae-Hyeok was certain then: the demon residing within Iyarugt had slain countless demons.

Keeping it close will be of great help.

Jae-Hyeok vowed to one day track down that unknown demon.

“

That sword...

How can a human use that... sword...”

The little demon’s scattered flesh pulsed weakly before growing completely still.

[Gorul, a subordinate of the 33rd Great Demon, has been killed in a single blow!]

[Legendary achievement!]

[All stats increased by 10.]

[Your level has risen by 5.]

[Iyarugt has absorbed demonic power and has grown stronger.]

[You have reached level 161.]

[The second thunder tribulation is coming!]

Rumble!

The gate vanished, and the first rays of morning light peaked through—only to then vanish behind dark clouds.

“D-don’t tell me?”

The surrounding players were even more shocked than when the demon had appeared.

IN just a few days, Jae-Hyeok had already gained ten levels?