Novel Full Chapter 488
Chapter 488
The deafening roars that had never once ceased since the beginning of the Demon Force’s assault went silent.
Everything underneath the chilling stillness that suddenly swept over the entire city, which settled heavily like a suffocating fog, came to a halt. Whether it was the monsters rampaging like mad beasts, the undead, or the heroes who had fought with unrelenting fury… all of them gazed in the same direction.
Woong-
An evil presence that seethed with madness.
By merely revealing itself and conveying its intent, a grotesque surge of its mana had been sent across the area—triggering the primal survival instinct of all, friend or foe.
Luize, too, felt the sharp, piercing presence stab into her entire body. It dug into her nerves like needles, making Luize clench her fists tightly.
Tuner…
The demon Se-Hoon had warned of; the one that Se-Hoon thought could be the most dangerous of the Ten Evils. Staring at the infamous figure, Luize’s mind raced with thoughts of how to respond.
“Hehehehehehehehehe…” The black-slime figure wearing the plague doctor mask trembled with a violent twitch. “Yes… this is it…. This is exactly the atmosphere I want when people see me. ‘We’re all doomed! Everyone’s going to die!’ kind of vibe!”
“…”
“But that bastard… that damn bastard who just grins like he’s reeled in a big catch or something every time…. Tsk, that guy just doesn’t know how to read the room.”
Hearing Tuner’s grumbles, clearly bad-mouthing someone who wasn’t present, Luize made a strange face. Unbidden, an image of Se-Hoon’s annoyingly smug grin had surfaced in her mind.
I guess… it can’t be anyone else.
Just how many people in the world could smile like that in front of Tuner, of all demons? Shown once again just how consistent Se-Hoon was—whether to friend or foe—Luize made out a wry, bitter smirk.
“Ahem. That’s enough complaints for now.”
Getting back on track, Tuner’s mask shifted slightly as he turned his gaze back to Luize.
“First off, let me give you some praise. I never imagined someone other than the Perfect Ones or Lee Se-Hoon would be able to detect the rift.”
“…”
“You’re not talentless, but you still seem a bit too inexperienced to have found it on your own… ah. Did you use that piece of scrap?”
Noticing Akasha, suspended in the air beside Luize, Tuner’s eyes twinkled with curiosity.
“…”
“From the look of it… a fragment, no—more like half, since the power is sealed. It’s not even properly forged, yet you have managed to utilize it to that extent…. You must have great compatibility with it.”
“…”
“Ah… no, that’s not it. In your case, it’s not so much compatibility as…” Trailing off, Tuner stared at Luize, his gaze seeming to peer through her steel choker—Hati—to see the scar beneath her neck. “…Yes, ‘adjusted’ would be the better word.”
Once tangled in Dawn’s projects and injected with the Seeker’s mana, Luize’s mana circuits had been corrupted. Thankfully, time had healed most of it, but some remnants lingered.
“It’s likely that the Seeker-like traits you possess bloomed from that experience, allowing you to handle that woman’s body better now.”
“…”
“Oh, I’m not saying it was just luck. If anything, that’s a compliment. How many people actually weaponized the remains of a monster that nearly took over their own body? Right~?”
“…”
Luize maintained her silence, simply staring back unflinchingly. Provocative as it was, Tuner’s tone didn’t faze Luize—which made him observe her more intently.
“Hmm… Seeing you like this on your own, you’re actually pretty decent. I guess I just overlooked you whenever Lee Se-Hoon was nearby.”
“…”
“Well, comparing anyone to that weirdo is… actually, more importantly—are you just going to keep listening like that? If you keep ignoring me, I’ll have stitched up all of those bastards around you, one by one.”
CRACK!
With those words, the arms of the patchwork giant Tuner’s slime rested on—Ymir, now grotesquely rebuilt—burst and released thousands of insectile arms like parasites. Now, thousands of arms twisted horrifyingly, causing any onlookers to flinch reflexively.
“Fine by me.”
Yet Luize was calm.
“Go ahead. Right now.”
Her voice was utterly flat, but her ice-blue eyes burned with intensity. Like a loyal hound who only recognized its master, she stared him down. She was well aware Tuner was undoubtedly a formidable opponent, but if he got distracted while pulling such stunts… then she might have a chance.
“…I see.”
Understanding what she was thinking from her eyes, Tuner paused before a knowing chuckle slipped from beneath the beak-like mask.
“Now I get why he keeps you around.”
Split-
Ymir’s abdomen tore open vertically, revealing a gaping maw. At the same time, the thousands of hands paired up and clapped together in synchronized formation—and formed a massive spell sigil together.
Seeing that sight, Luize opened her mouth to launch her incantation, but Tuner’s voice rang out first from the gaping mouth of Ymir.
“Wicked Art: Binding Rite of the Defiled Earth.”
Crack!
The space within a hundred-meter radius of Ymir shattered. From the cracks created, a black sludge spread out like a plague, swallowing everything around. The sky, the earth, and mana alike, all were warped by the defiled.
It was a sight… that one of the first-generation undead heroes recognized all too well.
“It’s the Abyss! Everyone get away—!!!”
CRASH!
The Abyss of Demons—a force no different from a curse upon humanity—surged through the city, overtaking it in an instant and reshaping all it touched.
Screech!
Bathing in the demonic aura corrupting the land itself, the monster corpses began arising anew in mutated forms. The battlefield itself was being rewritten by Tuner’s will.
Realizing she was a step too late, Luize quickly switched her incantation mid-cast.
“Distortion.”
CRACK!
The perimeter around the land consumed by the swamp warped in an instant, sealing it off from the outside. Akasha then fluttered, forming new words in the air.
“Within this space, empower the Emperor of Ascension’s power.”
Woong!
Once the proclamation took hold, the spatial distortion Luize cast grew even stronger. The warped perimeter became clearer and clearer, solidifying into a visible translucent sphere.
I have to ride this momentum…!
Having sealed both the Abyss of Demons and Tuner inside, Luize focused her mana into the Ascension Ring and layered another incantation.
“Compression.”
Glush-
The Emperor of Ascension’s power wrapped around the sphere, slowly compressing it inwardly with the heavy sound of something rupturing.
Bam-
A powerful resistance pushed out from within, but Luize stacked more and more spatial-type incantations on top to suppress it, drawing in more and more mana.
If I miss this chance, there won’t be another.
Judging by the incomplete body and the way it used the giant for spellcasting, Tuner’s physical state had to be unstable. Most likely, the injuries from his battle with Se-Hoon hadn’t fully healed.
From how that thing came here… he must believe he can win a short fight.
Luize braced herself. Perhaps Tuner could fight for now, but Luize was sure there was no way he could last for a drawn-out battle. While she still didn’t know exactly what he intended to do with the Abyss of Demons, if Se-Hoon had warned her of Tuner, then it had to be something outrageous.
Ready to go as far as mana depletion if she had to, Luize began binding the hundreds of incantations together—
CREEEAK-
An ominous sound of something twisting.
“Compression Tuning.”
An incantation lingered in the air—not from Luize’s mouth but from within the translucent sphere of space. Focusing on it, everyone watched as the sphere that had been compressed to its absolute limit split open smoothly.
Krrrk-
Formed from the merging of the Tuner, Ymir, and the Abyss of Demons, a black sphere was revealed. It gave off an overwhelmingly ominous presence, sending out ripples of an unsettling stir.
“…Is that an egg?”
Entranced, the onlookers just froze as the suffocating, chest-constricting feeling consumed them.
“The magic you unleashed at full force to kill your enemy ended up helping them instead… What a meaningless ending, isn’t it~?” A cheerful voice sounded from within.
“…”
“Normally, such nonsense wouldn’t have worked… but that fool pulled off something rather amusing.”
Crack-
Part of the black sphere broke apart, revealing a mass of swirling, multicolored eyes that all met Luize’s gaze.
“I’m aiming to become a main character of the world—just like he is.”
Contrasting the one who was leading the world toward salvation, Tuner funneled all possibility toward annihilation.
The vast flow created by Heaven Eye’s seven arrows and the Golden Ring’s divine favor that radiated from them made Tuner chuckle.
“It’s such a childish wish, but that’s what makes it so appealing. Hehe, I think this will result in excellent~ data.”
Craaaack-!
The cracks across the black sphere became wider, and the air itself grew oppressively heavy. It was radiating such intense pressure that Luize felt pain just looking at it.
What did he… do to himself?
Tuner’s state wasn’t so he could merely recover from his injuries… he was transforming into something else entirely. Enduring the pressure, Luize hurried to cast another incanta—
“Shhh.”
“?!”
Before she could even gather the mana to realize her incantation, Tuner’s own incantation had completely dispersed it into nothing.
He overpowered me… in Incantation Magic?!
Luize froze in disbelief. To lose in her own domain, spell incantation, was utterly unthinkable.
“Your Incantation Magic isn’t bad, but I’ve seen something better before.”
“…”
“You don’t believe me? Want me to show you?”
Swish-
A massive crimson tongue, covered in densely carved magic circles, slithered out through the cracks of the black sphere like a snake.
The sight of it made Luize grimace instinctively—until she sensed something oddly familiar.
“That… no way…”
“That’s right.”
Tuner licked the air slowly with the enormous tongue, which distorted space itself.
“It’s a replica of the Voice: the Seeker’s tongue that Dawn once tried to transplant into you.”
“…”
“Ah, those were good times. It’s not every day you get to dissect a Perfect One. If it weren’t for those fanatic bastards, I could’ve played with the body a lot longer.”
In his lament, Tuner casually revealed that it had been him who had dissected and scattered the Seeker’s corpse.
“I even thought about trying it again with Ha Baek-Yeon’s corpse… but sigh, aside from the eyes, it wasn’t all that exciting.”
“…”
“That’s why I now have high hopes for Lee Se-Hoon.”
Grinning, Tuner looked through the gap to meet Luize’s gaze head-on.
“I bet his corpse will be just brimming~ with creative inspiration.”
Hearing Tuner’s plans, Luize’s eyes widened. However, she quickly composed herself and, without a word, reached into her void pocket to pull out a long staff inlaid with a black gem.
“Oh? That’s the weapon he made for you? Looks quite clunky and unfinished—”
“That’s enough.”
Luize’s voice was now tinged with a deadly calm, dripping with icy venom.
“Just die.”
RUMBLE-
The mana in the surroundings roared to life, turning the world itself hostile toward Tuner. Luize wasn’t just proclaiming her will—she was assimilating the world to match her intent.
Every single one of her incantations would now be imbued with an overwhelming synesthetic mindscape that could only belong to those who had ascended.
“Ahh… this is wonderful…. This thrill… It’s the first time I’ve felt this since then…” Tuner’s voice trembled with delight.
The rush of life that only came when standing on the edge of death, the taste of mortal danger.
At long last, Tuner felt the same thrill that he had only experienced when he faced Se-Hoon over the water that one time.
Slurp-
Tuner licked the hostility directed at him, savoring its flavor and heightening the urgency of the moment. He could feel the transformation of his body speeding up.
Entrusting everything to the karmic flow triggered by Heaven Eye, Tuner shifted his focus and looked through the Seeker’s eye.
Akashic True Form: All-Form Observation
RUMBLE-
As the entire world came into Tuner’s view, darkness burst from the cracking sphere and swallowed all in its path. Following it, countless stars lit up the now dark sky, as if the cosmos had descended to earth in a truly mystical sight.
Clench-
However, Luize could see the truth: the stars, no, the “eyes” were staring down at her from above. They were analyzing her, dissecting her.
Luize gritted her teeth.
My normal incantations won’t cut it.
To overcome her current situation, she needed something on par—or even stronger than—Tuner’s incantation that was drawn from the Seeker’s power.
“Phew…”
Wetting her dry lips with her tongue, Luize pictured the Golden Ring that existed beyond the darkened sky. She needed something close to omnipotence, something she could perceive ever since learning about divinity and divine mana from Se-Hoon.
Luize lowered her gaze and met the Tuner’s eye. He made no further moves, clearly waiting for her next move.
And thus she made her resolve.
“—”
A declaration to the world itself—Divine Speech—pierced through Tuner.
***
Boom!
“Ugh?!”
Startled by a small explosion from the Sphere, Lea quickly layered additional enchantments.
Sizzle-
Thankfully, she was able to stabilize the wavering Sphere on the verge of vanishing, but that didn’t absolve her confusion.
“What… what did she just use…?”
Just moments ago, Luize’s image had faded out entirely. And now, there wasn’t even a trace of it reconnecting. The halo and enchantments used to relay her battlefield had been destroyed completely.
Can I really just leave it like this?
The demon Luize was fighting—Tuner—was a monstrous threat, even to Lea’s observing eyes from afar. Let alone winning, it didn’t seem like escape was even an option for Luize.
Because of that, Lea wanted to send backup immediately, but things elsewhere weren’t going smoothly either. Just when the monster suppression was seemingly progressing, new forces emerged and friendly units started making mistakes. Once again, the tide had been turned entirely.
Something’s not right.
Not just one or two but on all fronts. It was almost as if… fortune itself had turned against them. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
There were too many areas to support now, making Lea hesitate—
“It’s fine.”
Leaning against a black pillar, Se-Hoon’s tired voice cut in.
“Luize and the others… they’ll be alright. Focus on helping everyone else first.”
Although his eyes were closed, Se-Hoon was speaking with absolute certainty, like he could see all.
“…Okay. I’ll do that.”
Deciding to trust him after some brief hesitation, Lea returned to adjusting the enchantments and ordering the undead forces.
In the meantime, Se-Hoon brushed a hand over the corner of his eyes.
The wounds are all healed…
And yet, something inexplicable still trickled from his eyes like tears. Part of him wanted to open them, just to check properly—but he didn’t. He had a gut feeling: the moment he opened his eyes, whatever had changed inside him would affect the entire world.
I need to figure out what this is before things go even further off track.
Focusing once more on the strange sensation that only he could feel, Se-Hoon went back to investigating it.
But then, all of a sudden, he raised his head toward the forest for a long while before he finally spoke. “…You’ve been watching long enough. Come out already.”
“…Huh?”
Startled by Se-Hoon’s sudden words, Lea turned her head toward him.
“Still as sharp as ever.”
And that was when a voice—unfamiliar, yet oddly familiar to her—echoed from behind.
Lea’s eyes went wide as she slowly turned.
“Long time no see, Lea.”
From within the forest stepped out a smiling humanoid automaton: Puppeteer.