Chapter 301

After Simon Eurasia's death.

Killian had long believed that Damian was the prince most suited to lead Eurasia.

He had said as much to Serena while they searched for this place.

Yet Damian, whom they found before a familiar-looking dungeon, was giving off Radiance.

Radiance was a trait that signified an Anomaly.

‘Why does someone pursuing the Monster Lord's dungeon have Radiance……?’

It would have been one thing if it were Evil Energy, but he should not have been suffused with Radiance.

‘What happened?’

Killian tried to understand Damian's condition.

As though mocking that thought.

"You seem surprised by my appearance."

Damian spoke with a broad grin.

"What astonishing power. To leap over a wall in an instant merely by combining it with Mana."

Damian gazed at the Mana and Radiance rising from his body with evident satisfaction.

Shhhk.

Killian's eyes, using Direction, were dyed with Mana.

Mana lines tangled chaotically around Damian. They led to the cave entrance.

"What happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened?"

"Why is a man pursuing the Monster Lord's dungeon consumed by the power of an Anomaly?"

"Consumed……?"

Damian tilted his head.

"I have this power perfectly under control."

Shhhk—

White Mana bloomed over the left hand he held out.

Fwoosh—

Radiance flared from his right hand.

Then.

Thud.

Damian stomped his foot.

Whoosh—

Evil energy flowed out of the cave.

It was a level that might be released by an 8-Star monster—a High Arch Lich.

‘This complicates matters.’

It would not be difficult to cut Damian down.

Even if he possessed the regenerative abilities of a high-ranking monster, Killian could cut him down with a single stroke if he wished.

But then Damian would die.

‘Of all people, Damian is the first opponent I have to face after reaching 9-Star.’

The fact that the man he had believed to be Eurasia's future was in such a state filled him with anger; he did not want to accept it.

It made even the tranquil clarity befitting a Superhuman seem meaningless in a situation like this.

"What happened to the White Knight Order?"

"They are accepting a new power for Eurasia."

‘At least they are not dead yet.’

That was fortunate, if nothing else.

They were elite knights who had spent years serving with subjugation forces and had gained immeasurable experience.

If they had all been wiped out, it would have left a bitter taste.

‘I will subdue Damian and enter the dungeon.’

With Hollyheart as it was now, there might be another way.

"Serena."

"Understood."

As though she had read his thoughts from a glance alone, Serena drew her sword.

"Classify Prince Damian as a Superhuman-class monster. Deploy the Formula with capture, not execution, as the objective."

At her command, the Extermination Squad scattered to the surrounding area with practiced ease. They had taken positions suitable for using Carpe Illusion.

"Would you like to go in yourself?"

Understanding Killian's intent, she made the suggestion.

Going in meant entering the Mind Image World.

Mana infused with Divine Power held extraordinary possibilities.

"Yes."

He intended to go in and see for himself.

If Damian had truly fallen under the encroachment of the Anomaly's power, there was no other way.

Damian was waiting at the dungeon entrance rather than inside.

It meant that he had no intention of allowing anyone inside. Even so, they needed to prepare for the worst.

Boom.

A barrier made of Divine Power blocked the dungeon entrance.

At the same time.

"Carpe Illusion."

Sizzle—

Green Mana rose from Serena's body.

A familiar wind blew.

When the wind had swept through once.

"Elvenheim."

Serena unfolded the territory she had grown even more familiar with.

The entire mountain range transformed into a forest of the fairy folk.

There was no time to admire her exceptional adaptability.

Damian raised his sword to break the Formula.

Regardless of the perfection of Carpe Illusion, Killian was certain that sword could not be allowed to touch the ground.

The Anomaly's curse amplified the power of its vessel.

CLANG!

Killian immediately drew Anima and blocked Damian's swinging sword.

Damian's arm, sword included, was torn away.

Shhhhhh—

Evil energy regenerated it.

Ordinarily, he would have had to clash swords and match the waves of Mana, but there was no need to do things that way now.

Officially, he was an Apostle of Murus, but he had wholly accepted the traces of the Gods and reached a new realm.

He had had to relinquish the Authorities he had worked so hard to obtain in order to return here, but he could at least imitate them.

Fwoooosh—

Hollyheart spun as Divine Power suffused Killian's body.

Crunch.

He drove his sword into Damian's body.

"I never thought I would have to use this against you."

He poured Divine Power into him with force.

The Divine Power he had poured in took the shape of a key inside Damian's mind.

"Open the door, Damian."

Crack!

He twisted the sword.

Click.

The Authority of Keys manifested.

Damian's Mind Image World opened.

***

‘He’ was a chosen being.

A king born with a great destiny.

Every monster in the mountain range bowed its head to him, and if he wished, he could even travel to mountain ranges hundreds of kilometers away.

That had been possible because of the ‘God’ who had taught him the meaning of his existence.

[You have been chosen.]

Those were the words spoken to him when he opened his eyes.

[I have left all your memories behind in preparation for your resurrection.]

As the God had said, he possessed every memory the moment he opened his eyes.

In his ‘first’ life, he had been incomplete.

He lacked strength and ability.

Yet he had been made king in that state. Every ruler of the mountain ranges bowed their heads before the Existence Force he radiated.

Riding that momentum, he raised a Wave, and the Continent was stained with blood.

But his advance was stopped by an alliance of humans.

A knight's sword severed his neck.

Several centuries later, he was granted a ‘second’ life.

The humans had been weakened by territorial wars among themselves.

In contrast, the mountain monsters had bred for a long time, and their strength had surpassed what it had been before.

His strength and abilities were still insufficient, but the timing was favorable.

With the second Wave, he succeeded in advancing as far as the center of the Continent.

But then, one whom the humans called a Superhuman stood in his way.

The allied forces, led by the Superhuman, collided head-on with the great monster army.

For every ten who clashed, nine lost their lives.

The one survivor ultimately reached him.

Thus, he met death once more.

The third and fourth times were no different.

His advance was thwarted again and again by human alliances.

It was truly strange.

The humans, who had become the Continent's masters, had weakened their strength through wars among themselves.

Even after experiencing the Great War and subjugating monsters at every opportunity , they could not keep pace with the monsters' rate of reproduction.

Yet they endured every Wave and kept coming at him.

The knights whom humans called heroes invariably severed his head.

He was indignant.

He did not like the way humans stood in his path every time.

In another sense, it was fortunate.

He grew stronger through defeat.

At first, he had merely stabilized at 8-Star by human standards.

In the second life, his level was similar, but he became able to use Evil Energy on equal footing with Mana.

In the third life, he had mastered 8-Star by human standards, and in the fourth, he finally reached 9-Star.

He had become a being that no one but a 9-Star Knight could cut down.

Furthermore, his mastery of Evil Energy surpassed the magic humans used and reached a level comparable to the Gods' Authorities.

He could truly be called the master of the mountain ranges.

The one who returned the memories of his previous three lives to him was always the ‘God.’

[My brothers call me ‘Lord.’]

‘Lord.’

The world called him the Monster Lord.

The moment that thought entered his mind, he realized that his three lives had not been coincidence.

The Lord's mouth, in a face devoid of features, stretched into a long grin.

[‘I’ am the one who made ‘you.’]

The Lord had created the Monster Lord.

That was what he was saying.

‘Why?’

[The world's laws are too unstable for you to ask that question.]

‘……?’

[This is the level you earned through three deaths.]

The Existence Force humans called 9-Star was a key that granted access to countless secrets.

The Lord told him one truth that he had been unable to say in previous lives.

[Go beyond 9-Star.]

He gave a single example.

[Adamas.]

A being that had rejected a mortal life and attained the Presence of Transcendence.

It was also the sword held by the hero who had ended his previous three lives.

At the end of his three deaths, he learned the truth of the world. Yet without exception, the human hero had crossed the limit by borrowing the Magic Sword's power.

Thus, the fourth life ended.

When he opened his eyes again, he instinctively knew that several centuries had passed.

Whoosh—

The Evil Energy emanating from his body was denser than ever, and a faceless God waited before him.

‘Will I be defeated again this time?’

The Lord, who had seen through his thoughts, shook his head.

[This time is different.]

He asked what would be different.

[Perfect.]

The level called 9-Star Master.

A body that no equal being could cut down.

The ability to travel freely among hundreds of mountain ranges.

[That is my Authority.]

The Lord told him that it was an ability that had blossomed because of the lofty level he had reached through four deaths.

‘…….’

He looked down at his hands.

Skin so white it was pale.

Five fingers on one hand.

His reflection in the smoothly polished cave wall was no different from a human's.

[This time will be different.]

Like a parent speaking to a child, the Lord spoke in a benevolent voice.

His Evil Energy settled.

It was as the Lord had said.

This time was different from before.

An existence that was neither monster, human, nor God.

The Anomaly aided him.

Several Gods granted him territories.

The levels of the monsters inhabiting the mountain ranges rose higher than ever, following his own, while humans still failed to unite.

The Empire had maintained its might for a thousand years.

The one who stood in his way was not the king who held the greatest power.

In the fifth life, he encountered the strongest knight.

Edan Eurasia.

A man of equal level, who possessed Adamas, the sword that had severed his head four times.

He would be the obstacle in this life.

At the same time, a thought occurred to him. The moment he overcame that man, he would attain the Presence of Transcendence and finally fulfill his destiny.

Thus, they fought a battle in which life and death changed hands.

At its end.

"Palantir."

[Palantir.]

A slash that poured all his Karma into the Magic Sword.

Contrary to the Lord's assurance that every card had been perfectly prepared, he met his end at Edan Eurasia's hands.

Then he opened his eyes again.

His memories remained intact.

For some reason, the Lord was nowhere to be seen.

‘Nothing changes.’

The meaning of his existence was to become the Continent's ruler.

And, at last.

The Lord who had created him…….

"……"

A man stood before Killian.

He had the same silver hair as Killian and had stepped into the realm of Superhumans through his own strength.

"Damian."

Damian's eyes were half-open.

His lips curved as though he had met a welcome face.

There was no need to search for the reason behind the sense of incongruity he felt from that familiar face.

The memory he had seen in Damian Eurasia's Mind Image World belonged not to Damian, but to another.

[Did you get a good look?]

The being who had reached the threshold of transcendence in his sixth life asked.

His bloodshot red eyes seemed to pierce Killian's soul.

[Adamas.]

The Monster Lord asked.