Chapter 2584 – 2584. The Ascension To The Light

As the One-Horned Black Water died, the magic protecting the city vanished.

The Northern Army I brought, which had been surrounding the city, entered as planned once the magic disappeared. Perhaps it was due to the One-Horned Black Water’s magic, but the city had no walls, allowing the Northern Army to enter easily. I watched from the city center.

The monsters’ resistance was present but meaningless. From the monsters’ perspective, the soldiers who could fight had already been drafted for the Jibang Fortress battle and were annihilated. Most of the monsters remaining in this city were just leftovers.

Even if there were some monsters who could fight, the Northern Army were elite soldiers hardened by the war against monsters. It was difficult for them to even run away, let alone resist.

A massacre began.

The Northern Army killed and looted the monsters. They began to violate the decent-looking female monsters.

There weren’t many beautiful female monsters. Even monsters that resembled humans were rare. Just because they had two legs, two arms, a torso, and a head didn’t make them human. Most had alien appearances.

Do monsters disguise themselves as humans? There was no reason for them to disguise themselves as humans in a monster city. If they disguised themselves as humans, they would be ostracized by the monsters. Even if they did disguise themselves, my Mind’s Eye of Gold would see through their true nature.

‘Are beautiful female monsters just a fantasy?’

I sighed and took out a chair from my inventory and sat down. I quietly focused on my breathing. I had used quite a bit of internal energy coming here, so I needed to replenish it.

‘I can’t openly circulate my energy here. The Northern Army? They’re just guys I met. I can’t trust them. I’ll do it in a simplified way.’

It wouldn’t be as efficient as doing it properly, but it would still replenish my depleted internal energy.

“General, the operation was a success.”

Commander On approached. In his hand, he held a monster’s head. It was a monster with sharp teeth and small horns. When I looked at its head with my Mind’s Eye of Gold, I saw its name.

“Mugak In-gwi, Eun-jeok?”

“You recognized him right away. As expected of the General. He’s the only son of the Six-Horned Demon King, Eun-hong. He tried to escape quietly, so we captured, interrogated, and killed him.”

“His son was in this city? He was such a nobody that I didn’t even know he was here.”

If he were strong, I would have found and killed him first.

“This city seems to have been the most special to the Six-Horned Demon King. We also got information about other cities, which are at least a hundred li away. Those cities have monster armies stationed, so it won’t be as easy as this battle.”

“So you’re saying we should be satisfied with this city and retreat.”

“Yes, General. A lot has happened today. The soldiers are quite exhausted, even if they don’t show it.”

I thought for a moment and nodded. The soldiers were indeed exhausted. If we recklessly stirred up other monster cities and suffered a defeat, all the achievements we had made so far would be for naught. It was right to retreat here.

“Understood. Once this city is cleared, we’ll retreat to Jibang Fortress. Did you find out the Six-Horned Demon King’s location?”

“We heard he’s holding a ritual in the Yellow Sea. They say there’s been a famine this year, so he’s trying to borrow the power of the immortals.”

“The Yellow Sea? A monster is holding a ritual for Habaek? He must be confident in his ritual.”

This world was different from the old days when immortals could easily use their power. It was difficult to hold a proper ritual, and even if they did, the chances of an immortal accepting it were slim. From an immortal’s perspective, it took a considerable amount of power to exert influence in the middle realm.

“The Six-Horned Demon King is said to be a distant descendant of Habaek.”

“A descendant… then he might be able to skip some of the ritual procedures.”

“Yes. Habaek, in particular, is an immortal who likes virgins. It seems they’re performing a human sacrifice by throwing virgins into the Yellow Sea to offer to Habaek.”

“A sacrifice… that must mean humans. The more beautiful they are, the more valuable they are as sacrifices. Ugh. Six-Horned Demon King. This bastard shouldn’t be left alive. Habaek. I want to kill that bastard too if I can.”

Commander On gasped and was startled.

“General! This is a place where Habaek has influence! Habaek might hear you!”

“What if he hears me? Let him hear me. Habaek, you son of a bitch.”

“……”

Commander On closed his mouth, as if looking at the sky. Of course, Habaek didn’t send any divine punishment my way.

“How long are you going to hold that head?”

“I brought it to offer to you, General.”

“I don’t need it. Just throw it away anywhere. …No, he’s the son of the Six-Horned Demon King, so hang it on a pole and display it. The Six-Horned Demon King will be pissed if he sees it.”

“It will also demoralize the monsters. I will do as you command, General.”

Commander On ordered his subordinates to display Mugak In-gwi’s head.

“Was my predecessor called General Mujin? How did General Mujin die?”

“General Mujin died in battle fighting Sagak Yeong-rok. He liked to drink excessively, but he was a very capable man.”

“General Mujin. If he was a general of the Northern Army, he must have been at least a manifestation of the Harmonious Realm.”

“Yes, that’s right. In that sense, I think General Thunder is truly amazing. Overcoming the difference in realm… is usually impossible.”

I had the peerless divine arts of the Thunder Heaven Style and the Demonic Heavenly Divine Art, as well as the Heavenly Gang Star System. On top of that, I had treasures like the Vajra Thunder, the Hundred Battle Spear, and the Cloud Dragon Armor set. I had even taken the Golden Wall Pill, so there was no way I could lose.

“Sagak Yeong-rok was strong and had annoying recovery, but he wasn’t that strong. Did he really lose to the likes of Sagak Yeong-rok?”

“The battlefield is full of variables. Sometimes things happen that defy common sense. I saw General Mujin’s last battle.”

“He fought Sagak Yeong-rok and got his head cut off.”

The Sagak Yeong-rok I saw was a deer monster. A monster with the body of a deer, not a human body. It didn’t even have weapons like swords or spears. But his head was cut off? Of course, it could have happened if he used magic.

“Ogak Damok intervened and cut off General Mujin’s head.”

“…Ogak Damok, you say? Something was definitely strange. But I don’t know much about Ogak Damok because there’s no information about her.”

“I killed Ogak Damok. She was an annoying monster who used illusions. General Mujin must have been ambushed and killed by her.”

I was able to survive because my instantaneous danger detection was activated in time. General Mujin wouldn’t have had the same power as me, so he must have died.

“Illusions… This is crazy. Am I still under an illusion?”

“If you were, I would have known. She seems to be a cautious one, so she probably only used illusions during battle to manipulate the situation.”

“To think there was such a monster in the enemy ranks… It’s chilling. I’m glad you took care of her, General.”

The looting was gradually coming to an end.

Suddenly, the sky began to darken.

I looked up at the sky. Dark clouds covered the sky, and it began to pour rain.

“General Thunder?”

“It’s not me.”

I hadn’t used the Cloud Control Command. There was no reason to use it. That was a cloud artificially created by another power. Because another power was being applied, it was difficult for me to control those dark clouds.

‘Did he anticipate my fighting style and make the first move?’

It was pouring rain. The amount of rainfall was so heavy that water was already pooling on the ground.

I shouted, putting internal energy into my voice.

“All troops, retreat from the city!!”

The soldiers who were looting in various parts of the city paused at my command. Then, they stopped looting and retreated out of the city. They were elite soldiers, so they followed orders well.

“Commander On, don’t get in the way here. Retreat and lead the troops.”

“General Thunder! Could this be…!”

“He’s here. He came himself, saving me the trouble.”

I stood up from the chair and gripped the Vajra Thunder and the Hundred Battle Spear.

Rumble, rumble…

Lightning flashed in the dark clouds. While the dark clouds themselves were difficult to control, controlling the lightning wasn’t that hard. The enemy’s power was controlling the dark clouds. To be precise, it was controlling water.

I lowered my gaze slightly.

A monster with six horns was floating in the sky. The monster, with a size of 3 meters, had a demonic face. In his right hand, he held a spear, and in his left, he held a mirror.

The Mind’s Eye of Gold revealed the names and uses of the spear and mirror held by the Six-Horned Demon King.

The Ghost Summoning Spear. A spear that summons ghosts.
The Yellow Sea Mirror. A mirror that controls water and the sea. The Yellow Sea Mirror was Habaek’s divine artifact. Since the Six-Horned Demon King had held a ritual for Habaek… it was clear that Habaek had lent him the divine artifact. The dark clouds pouring rain now were also the power of the Yellow Sea Mirror.

“What an absurd thing. I was only away for a moment… and all my disciples are dead, my son’s head has been cut off, and my loyal subjects have been massacred. As a king, I failed to save my people, so my sin is deep. I cannot bring my dead disciples and people back to life… so I will kill you, my enemy, to appease their spirits.”

The Six-Horned Demon King shook the mirror in his left hand. Light flashed from the mirror. The rainwater that had been soaking the ground rose into the sky. The muddy yellow water, mixed with dirt, flowed together and became a giant sword, falling towards me.

I gripped the Hundred Battle Spear. Lightning crackled and gathered at the tip of the spear.

Thunder Heaven Style, Crushing Wave Barrier.

I thrust the spear towards the falling sword of water. Crushing Wave Barrier cut off the flow of water. The water that had formed the shape of a sword lost its power and fell to the ground.

I took advantage of the gap and aimed the Vajra Thunder at the Six-Horned Demon King.

Thunder Heaven Style, Electromagnetic Cannon.

The Vajra Thunder was fired. Faster than the blink of an eye, the Vajra Thunder reached the Six-Horned Demon King.

Clang!

The Six-Horned Demon King deflected the Vajra Thunder with his spear.

I frowned. The Vajra Thunder had clearly aimed for his head. But the trajectory of the Vajra Thunder had slightly deviated to the right and collided with the spear swung by the Six-Horned Demon King, bouncing off.

Did I, with the [Shooting] trait, make a mistake in aiming? That couldn’t be.

“Did you use magic? I can’t see it with my eyes… so you must have used magic before coming here.”

Since I hadn’t directly seen him use magic, it was difficult to immediately grasp exactly what kind of magic he had used.

“I was enraged, but I did not lose my composure. I came here prepared for battle.”

“Is that so? Let’s see how well you’ve prepared.”

Rumble!

Lightning fell from the dark clouds. The rainwater around the Six-Horned Demon King gathered in an instant and blocked the lightning. The lightning struck relentlessly. But it couldn’t penetrate the shield made of water.

I was about to use Thunder Heaven’s Command, but I lost control of the dark clouds.

‘Even if I use the Cloud Control Command, it will be difficult. The Yellow Sea Mirror. That damned divine artifact is a divine artifact, but… the Six-Horned Demon King’s realm is higher than mine.’

I gave up on controlling the dark clouds. Instead, I would resonate the lightning within the dark clouds. Even if I couldn’t use Thunder Heaven’s Command, it would be helpful later.

“Do you think I’ll just watch?”

The Six-Horned Demon King’s mirror reflected the dark clouds. The dark clouds were divided into 36 equal parts. The lightning within them lost its power and disappeared.

“Did you suppress the thunder energy by covering it with water energy? It was possible because there was lightning in the dark clouds.”

His skill in handling water energy was better than I had thought.

‘A close-quarters battle would be better.’

Thunder Heaven Style, Flying Thunder God.

I first threw the Hundred Battle Spear, then wrapped my body in lightning and soared towards the Six-Horned Demon King. The Six-Horned Demon King easily deflected the Hundred Battle Spear. I aimed for that small gap. I summoned the Fire Lotus Flying Blades, gripped them, and threw them.

Clang!

They were blocked by the Yellow Sea Mirror. There wasn’t even a scratch on the mirror’s surface. It was much harder than I had expected.

I was about to swing my sword again, but my body froze. The Six-Horned Demon King’s magic had intervened.

“Let me tell you your fate. Your fate is very ominous today. Be careful of water.”

The Yellow Sea Mirror reflected me.

‘This is bad.’

In an instant, I was sucked into the mirror. There wasn’t even time to use the Heavenly Heart.

I was in the sea.

‘I was careless. I never thought the Yellow Sea Mirror would have this kind of ability.’

Perhaps because my realm was low, I hadn’t been able to fully grasp the true power of the Yellow Sea Mirror, a divine artifact of the immortals, even with my Mind’s Eye of Gold.

I looked around. There was only seawater. There were fish swimming around, so even though it was inside the mirror, an ecosystem had been formed.

‘It’s a relief that I have the blessing of water. The way out of here… is it below?’

I could see it through my Mind’s Eye of Gold.

I swam downwards. Perhaps because it was a special space, my body felt heavy. I couldn’t use even half of my usual strength.

‘I’d like to use a space-movement scroll, but it probably won’t work here since it’s a special isolated space.’

I continued to descend, and then a shark with a demonic face appeared and blocked my path.

I immediately realized that this was a ghost controlled by the Six-Horned Demon King. The demonic-faced shark opened its mouth and charged at me.