VOLUME 10: CHAPTER 6

VOLUME 10: CHAPTER 6

[Demon Realm]

The White Mist Tundra was a vast, treeless plain located far south of the Demon Continent. Its subsoil was permanently frozen, and even the lesser demons, known to be capable of living through harsh conditions, avoided the region. 

This place was home to the Frost Giants, one of the largest and strongest demonic species in the entire Demon Realm. 

“You! Why are you doing this!” snarled a Frost Giant. 

An invisible force struck the Frost Giant from above, pierced through its protective frost armor, and vertically split its body in half. The Frost Giant’s body fell, hit the ground, and turned into shards of ice. Around them, over a dozen similar-looking corpses littered the ground. 

“I dislike repeating myself,” said the Demon Lord Barkuvara. Save for the four horns jutting out of his forehead, he resembled a muscular human. His slit-like, blood-red pupils coldly gazed at the Frost Giants who were fifteen times larger than him, “bring your tribe leader to me.”

The Demon Lord raised his right hand and pointed to the sky. As though the heavens were following his will, the sky screamed and split, and a vortex of mana spanning almost a kilometer in diameter formed above them. The vortex started sucking in the mana and the air in the surroundings. The ground rumbled and started forming cracks from the pressure exuded by the spell. 

“My patience is thin,” said the Demon Lord. “You have fifteen minutes.”

The Frost Giants trembled at this spectacle. Just a single look was more than enough for them to realize the degree of destruction that spell was going to create the moment it struck them. Just by the amount of mana alone, it was a spell capable of destroying mountains and altering the terrain.

They realized that this creature before them was no longer in the realm of a High Demon. 

They couldn’t understand how the world could permit such a monstrous demon be born into existence. 

The Frost Giants looked at each other. Although they knew they would die, none of them wished to forsake the leader of their tribe. They would all rather perish here than betray their kin. 

The Frost Giants roared. Without hesitation and fear of death, they charged toward the Demon Lord head-on. 

The Demon Lord frowned, displeased that the Frost Giants chose death instead of salvation. Coldly, he swung his arm, and an invisible force shot out and cleaved a Frost Giant’s body in half, splitting the ground under it, creating a half-kilometer-long fissure upon impact. He swung his arm again, killing another thirty-meter-tall Frost Giant. 

It was a surreal sight. 

A massacre. 

The dead bodies of the Frost Giants, which had turned into shards of ice, slowly formed small mountains. 

The Frost Giants couldn’t even touch the hem of the Demon Lord’s clothes. They all fell down without a fight, as though they were toddlers fighting against an adult. 

By the time almost a hundred Frost Giants had been slaughtered by the Demon Lord, a high-pitched voice was heard. 

“That’s enough!”

Looking at the source, the Demon Lord saw a five-meter-tall Frost Giant running in their direction. He was accompanied by two adult Frost Giants. 

“L-Leader!”

“W-Why! What are you doing here!”

The remaining Frost Giants were flustered upon seeing the young leader of their tribe. They glared at the two adult Frost Giants who accompanied the child. 

“Right and Left Guardians! What are you doing!”

“Why did you let the leader come out!”

The Left and Right Guardians looked conflicted. Judging by their expressions, it seemed that also did not wish to let the tribe leader to come to this battlefield. 

“If we knew it would be like this, we wouldn’t have entrusted the leader to the two of you!”

“Left and Right Guardians! Even if we were all to die, you should have prioritized the safety of the leader, no matter what!”

The tribe leader roared, “That’s enough!”

And the protests died out at once. 

The Frost Giants groaned, knelt, and lowered their heads before their tribe leader. They greeted their leader with deep voices. 

“We greet the tribe leader!”

“We greet the tribe leader!”

The tribe leader looked around him and surveyed the aftermath of the battle. Upon seeing the mountain of corpses, he clenched his fists in anger. He fearlessly walked toward the Demon Lord Barkuvara. “I know why you’re here. Follow me. I will lead the way.”

The Demon Lord observed the young Frost Giant. After several seconds, he said, “Very well. With this, you have just spared the lives of the members of your tribe.”

The Demon Lord willed the spell above them to dissipate. The sky stopped weeping, and the parted clouds reverted to their original state. The ground no longer rumbled and stopped forming cracks. 

“Come,” said the tribe leader. 

Following the tribe leader’s lead, they walked for several kilometers, eventually arriving at a three-hundred-meter-wide hole on the ground. The hole was so deep that it was sucking the cold air around them. 

“The Immortal Demon Barkuvara,” said the tribe leader. “One of the strongest Demon Lord in the history of this realm. I’ve heard from the previous tribe leader regarding your existence. A demon born from the Dragon Vein, the source of all mana in this world.”

The Demon Lord didn’t utter a reply. It simply stared at the hole on the ground. Although it was faint, from here, he could feel its presence. The thing he’d been looking for was indeed hidden in this place. 

“Where is your real body?” said the Frost Giant tribe leader. 

The Demon Lord said indifferently, “At the capital.”

The Left and Right Guardians, who’d been silently standing behind them, wore stupefied faces upon hearing this. They didn’t realize this before, but now that the tribe leader had mentioned it, the existence of the Demon Lord was faint, as though it was nothing but a shell. They couldn’t believe that the demon who’d been massacring the Frost Giants was a mere a duplicate. 

If the duplicate was already this strong, then how powerful was the original?

The Frost Giant leader sighed. “Underneath this massive hole is the entrance to the hidden chamber where one of your cores is stored. Although the previous tribe leader told me never to let you get your hands on it, I just can’t let you kill all of my people for the sake of that stupid artifact. But please, once you have it, don’t ever come back.”

The Frost Giant leader knew that giving this core to the Immortal Demon would grant himhis strength back, but he no longer cared for the repercussions. Even if the entire Demon Realm or the Human Realm was turned upside-down, it did not matter as long as his people remained unharmed. 

The Demon Lord remained silent. Without uttering a reply, he jumped into the hole. For several minutes, he remained falling. Upon reaching the ground, he saw the massive crystal door leading to the hidden chamber. He pushed it open with brute strength and entered. The inside was empty, save for the stone altar in the middle. On top of the altar was a fist-size white gemstone. 

“Finally,” said the Demon Lord. 

He walked toward the altar and placed his hand on the gemstone. Immediately, the gemstone glowed, and the fraction of the soul he’d stored inside it was sucked back into his body. 

The Demon Lord had lost seven souls from his fight against Evander Alaester over a millennium ago, and he’d lost another two from his fight against the Arzomos Tribe. 

After consuming one of them, there was now a total of five soul artifacts scattered all throughout the Demon Realm remaining. As long as even one of these soul artifacts remained, the Demon Lord would not die, even if his body was destroyed by his opponent. As a being born from the Dragon Vein, as long as these soul artifacts existed, he would be able to reconstruct his body from the mana in the environment. This was the reason why the Arzomos chose to seal him back then, instead of killing his physical body. 

“This should be enough,” said the Demon Lord. 

Just a single soul fragment was enough for him to reconstruct his current body completely. Now, all that’s left was for him to deliver this soul fragment to the original body in the capital. 

***

[Demon Realm – Capital of the Kingdom]

“Oh, Absolute One,” said Elrenar as he prostrated before the throne. “I’ve come to make a report.”

“Speak,” said the Demon Lord Barkuvara. 

“Chief Muuka, my right-hand man, has found the spell responsible for the destruction of the Great Cavern,” said Elrenar. 

It was a scandalous incident that brought shame to the Red Tower. Not only did they lose over a hundred thousand flesh eaters, the Great Cavern, where the portal was located, was also destroyed in the process. 

“If you’ll permit the Chief Researcher to lay sight on your visage,” said Elrenar, “He’ll be delighted to expound on the events that happened on that day, Absolute One. He would also like to discuss with you some of his other findings regarding the portal.”

The Demon Lord said, “Very well. Let him in.”

Upon receiving permission from the Demon Lord, Chief Muuka entered the throne room and immediately prostrated on the floor. He started explaining to the Demon Lord everything that he’d found out regarding the incident in the Great Cavern several months ago. 

According to the Chief Researcher, the spell used to slaughter the flesh eaters was not a grand scale spell or pinnacle-grade magic. Instead, over a hundred eight-tier explosion spells were cast around the barrier. And the moment the portal was opened and the Lord of the Corrupted Land stepped foot outside, the trap was activated. 

“Absolute One,” said Chief Muuka. “I believe that this human, this unknown magician, held strength comparable to a High Demon.”

Had other tribe leaders heard this, they would have ridiculed the Chief Researcher for his poor judgment and for overestimating his opponent. But Elrenar and the Demon Lord held the same belief. Although the spell used was only eight-tier, the human had cast over a hundred of them. Just the amount of mana needed for that guaranteed the strength of the unknown magician. 

“A powerful human,” said the Demon Lord. “This is contrary to the reports given to me by Plagas.”

Elrenar didn’t miss this chance. He said, “If you’ll permit me, I’ll drag Plagas here at once. Lying to you, Absolute One, is unforgivable! He should be punished, Lord!”

Indeed, this transgression was punishable by death. But the Demon Lord knew that although Plagas was the weakest among the major tribe leaders, his power would be needed in conquering the Human Realm. The ability of the parasitic nests to indefinitely propagate would be powerful tool in their conquest. 

“It’s fine. I shall let this, just once, pass,” said the Demon Lord. “More importantly, I heard that you’ve managed to replicate the technique used by the Arzomos Tribe to alter the portal.”

Chief Muuka didn’t lift his head. “Yes, Absolute One. With the help of the Red Tower,” he didn’t forget to include his master, Elrenar, and the Red Tower in his accomplishments, “I’ve managed to create a method capable of relocating the portal in the Human Realm. Although it isn’t perfect, as it’s merely creating an unstable duplicate, it should be enough for us to send our armies to the human lands.”

Chief Muuka expounded. “With this method, we’ll be able to temporarily disable the portal hovering above the ocean and relocate it on land. It’ll last only several hours at most before it reverts to its former state, but it should be enough for us to send our armies across.”

The Demon Lords’ eyes glimmered for a moment. For the first time, he showed interest. Although he was heralded as one of the strongest demons in existence, he did not have the ability or the intelligence to tweak the portal to such state. Without the presence of this Chief Researcher, it would have probably taken them years before they could even reconnect the severed path of the portal to the mana well. 

The Demon Lord could even say that this Chief Researcher contributed the most to the prologue of this battle. 

The Demon Lord said, “An intelligent demon capable of altering the portal to this extent. Impressive. Raise your head.”

Chief Muuka slowly raised his head. 

The Demon Lord said, “The artifact previously owned by the Lord of the Corrupted Land no longer has an owner. I hereby declare you to be its new master. Together with the wraiths, parasitic demons, and a few million lesser demons from our kingdom, go to the human land, erect a Corrupted Tower, and repopulate the flesh eaters. To ensure your safety, I shall also send several Fire Giants to serve as your guards in this battle.”

Muuka shivered in delight. 

Truthfully, he was coveting the artifact capable of summoning a corrupted tower. He hadn’t expected the Demon Lord to give it to him as a reward.