Rumble
How many times had it been now?
The deafening roars from outside showed no signs of stopping.
'What's happening out there?'
Zhuge Huimei bit her lip, glancing out the window again. But she couldn't see anything beyond a thick darkness, as if a black curtain had been drawn.
This strange phenomenon had started soon after the sudden appearance of the dark clouds.
'It must be related to the clouds. That wasn't a natural occurrence. Most likely, a battle has broken out… But against whom? Could it be a rescue party...?'
Unable to grasp the situation, her mind raced with possibilities. A flicker of hope, previously extinguished, rekindled within her.
'…No, we don't have the resources for such a large-scale attack so soon. Could it be another faction? Are they trying to use us for their own purposes?'
Anxiety quickly replaced hope. Her experiences had made her naturally pessimistic.
'Or maybe it's not a battle at all. Perhaps it's a prelude to the main ritual, even if it's a bit noisy.'
Negative thoughts began to consume her. But amidst the chaos, Zhuge Huimei took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and stood up.
She didn't know what was happening, but if there was a change in the situation, she couldn't remain idle. This was her only chance.
'If I fail, I'll just be a sacrifice anyway. I might as well try something.'
Slowly opening the door, she cautiously stepped outside.
----------------
Woosh
Waves of death crashed relentlessly. The barren, energy-drained land was now saturated with a viscous death.
The one facing this onslaught couldn't remain unscathed.
'This won't do. I need… I need to find a way…!'
He couldn't just keep defending.
The Six-Headed Dragon gritted his teeth, desperately searching for a solution. But nothing he tried worked. The situation only worsened.
His defenses weakened, wounds appeared on his massive body, and blood splattered.
The deathly energy seeped into his wounds, rapidly rotting his flesh and blood. His regeneration was less than half its usual speed.
'If only I had a little more time!'
A few more days… No, even a single day would have made a difference. He should have hastened the ritual. His meticulous preparations to maximize the efficiency of the limited sacrifices had backfired spectacularly.
And now, the inevitable ruin approached.
Slice
Thud
One of his six heads was severed. A massive abyssal scythe cleaved through it, sending the red head tumbling to the ground.
The horrific energy clinging to the wound prevented regeneration.
[Gwaaaah! You! You filthy intruder! Everything would have been perfect if it weren't for you…! Why did you have to appear now?!]
His divinity, already unstable due to his incomplete ascension, wavered. His furious roar echoed, but it lacked its initial power.
Spurt
Another head fell. With only four heads remaining, his power fluctuated wildly, the energy within him clashing uncontrollably.
A side effect of his unnatural ascension.
'This is impossible! After everything I've endured!'
His rampaging body raged, but his mind clouded. Like that day, his last stand at Golden Hawk Island.
After a fierce battle against numerous dragons, he had escaped the mystical realm, severely injured. Seeking refuge, he chose the notorious Demonic Cult.
It was the perfect sanctuary, aligning with his nature and needs. But while recovering in human form, he realized something unsettling.
At the moment he completed his six heads, he had reached the Divine Ascension Realm. The legendary realm of myths, equivalent to the Divine Transformation Realm for martial artists.
Though forced to retreat after a costly battle against powerful foes before mastering his new power, he believed he could recover and take his revenge.
But his unnatural ascension had consequences.
'…I can't recover my realm?'
He could recover, but it would require an immense amount of karma. Equal to the number of dragons he had consumed to ascend, multiplied by six.
Ascending to divinity required a massive amount of karma. But six times that amount… No, even more, considering the dragons he had consumed since then.
It was impossible.
'Perhaps if I destroy the entire world… No, even that might not be enough.'
His growth was effectively stunted. He was stronger than before, but not a true Divine, stuck in a frustratingly ambiguous state.
If he revealed himself in this state, Golden Island would crush him before he could destroy the world.
'Damn it all!'
He couldn't grow any further. His boundless greed had led him to commit a transgression, sealing his potential!
He tried everything after joining the Demonic Heavenly Horse Cult. He delved into forbidden curses and secret arts, even those restricted within the cult. He performed wicked rituals and conducted unspeakable, bloody experiments.
He earned the title, Heavenly Horse Immortal, the demonic immortal who deceived the heavens.
And his efforts, fueled by countless sacrifices, finally bore fruit.
A way to overcome his limitations…
'Yes, I need to think differently. Not ascending through consumption, but devouring a fully ascended being and making their power my own…!'
Ironically, it was the same method he had used before. Devouring others and stealing their power.
Then, he found a candidate.
A being from another world with unique abilities and an unparalleled growth rate, possessing the Heavenly Killing Star, allowing it to grow stronger faster than others.
'Excellent.'
Time passed. As he predicted, the otherworldly being abandoned its name and became the Heavenly Demon, choosing to remain in this world and continue its rapid growth.
Reaching the peak of the Transcendent Realm, just shy of the Divine Transformation Realm.
'Just a little more… Just a little…'
Such talent, reaching his level in mere decades when he had spent millennia cultivating.
If he could seize the moment when that being finally ascended, devouring its karma, its realm, its potential, its future…
"Hmm, have you regained your senses? You've become quiet. Or have you finally given up?"
[…Huh?]
The mocking voice jolted him back to reality. His clouded mind cleared, and he perceived his surroundings.
Darkness enveloped him. Not just the demonic clouds and the death-saturated earth, but true night. The battle, which had begun in broad daylight, had lasted nearly half a day.
'This is…'
As he tried to turn towards the voice, he realized he was lying on the ground.
He must have lost control and rampaged when his unstable realm wavered. The results seemed unfavorable.
A familiar throbbing pain drew his attention. All but one of his heads were gone, their stumps rotting. The Heavenly Demon stood atop his mangled body, a black sword plunged into the neck of his remaining green head.
[…Hah, how ironic. I knew we would fight someday, but I never imagined it would be like this.]
A hollow laugh escaped his lips. The carefully crafted narrative, building towards a climactic confrontation, had been derailed by a third party, ending with one turned into a jiangshi and impaled by the other.
If a storyteller presented such a poorly constructed narrative, he would rip out their tongue.
'If the Heavenly Demon is here… He's already dealt with the others.'
The sounds of battle were gone. Those who resisted had been eliminated, leaving only those who submitted.
The Demon King had not only conquered the Demonic Cult's headquarters with just his jiangshi army but also subdued the elite forces dispatched outside.
'Truly… a calamity.'
Ya Yulhwan glared at the one who had ruined his plans. A middle-aged man, examining his body with a curious expression, like a specimen in a laboratory.
He wore the guise of a living being, but he was undoubtedly dead, his life extinguished long ago.
And yet, he had achieved the divinity that Yayul Huan had so desperately sought.
[Kuh-huhu… What a waste. If I had devoured you, I could have regained my realm and used your otherworldly sorcery to wipe out Golden Island.]
"Pfft— That's amusing. Perhaps you would have died from indigestion."
[Ah, that would be a problem. I'm just starting to feel better. Eating more poison wouldn't be wise.]
"Starting to feel better…"
The Demon King, Hans, tilted his head at Yayul Huan's casual remark. It wasn't strange for the effects to wear off after some time.
However…
'In his condition, he should be worse off, not better.'
All but one of his heads were gone, their stumps infested with undead, constantly hacking away and injecting abyssal energy to prevent regeneration.
His massive body was mangled beyond recognition, bound by abyssal chains and shadow thorns that constantly drained his life force.
He should have been dead long ago if not for his high realm.
If he felt he was recovering…
'He's about to die. His senses are completely gone. It's amazing he lasted this long.'
He had endured for over ten hours against Hans and his army of undead.
Considering the number of undead and jiangshi he had destroyed beyond recovery, he had lived up to his reputation as a hidden boss.
[Kuh-huhuhu— Fuhaha!]
Yayul Huan convulsed, laughing deliriously. Hans watched him with a strange look, stroking his chin.
'The Six-Headed Dragon… No, Greed.'
An excellent specimen. Perhaps the best material available in Ganghwan-gye.
He had retrieved the severed heads and Dragon Orbs. He could create an undead replica of Yayul Huan in his prime.
'However…'
His gaze swept over the surroundings. The landscape was utterly devastated by the prolonged battle. But that wasn't the important part.
'A demonic realm.'
Seeing it firsthand, he finally understood why this place was so notorious.
'It's worse than I expected. Based on the rate of energy depletion elsewhere, I thought there was some leeway…'
The remaining dragon veins were barely keeping the world afloat. This demonic realm was a black hole, devouring energy at an alarming rate.
If he didn't seal this hole, the other dragon veins would eventually be depleted, and all the world's energy would be sucked into this place.
That wouldn't just affect those who used internal energy. Internal Energy was the source of all mystical power and the foundation of life in this world.
If it was depleted… all life would perish.
'Of course, it won't happen overnight. Golden Hawk Island is working to slow it down.'
But Hans, witnessing the situation through Horus, knew it wouldn't last. They had already suffered casualties during the ritual to contain the demonic realm.
'I need to solve this problem before it's too late. I have a plan… And Greed's body will be a useful sacrifice.'
The Dragon Children chosen by the Dragon God, the karma-devouring Heavenly Demon Jiangshi, and the corpse of the Greed Dragon, who had touched divinity.
A new plan began to form in Hans's mind.
Then—
"Hmm?"
Ya Yulhwan's laughter abruptly ceased. Along with his fading life force.
"…He's dead. I wanted to see how much longer he could last."
He had already decided on a different use for the body, but his curiosity as a mage lingered. If he couldn't gain more power, he could at least satisfy his thirst for knowledge.
Or so he thought.
He did gain something.
"Achievement Unlocked! Hunted 'Greed,' the Calamity of Ganghwange."
"You have slain the apocalyptic dragon of annihilation who, after devouring all things, consumed even itself, leading the world to ruin. You are awarded the special perk 「Power of Gluttony」."
"You have significantly impacted the world by achieving this achievement. Karma increased."
A new achievement notification. His first in Ganghwange.
But that wasn't all…
"Achievement Unlocked! Became the 'Last Yellow Dragon' in this world."
"You are now the only Yellow Dragon in Ganghwan-gye. You are awarded the special perk 「Yellow Dragon's Orb」."
"You have significantly impacted the world by achieving this achievement. Karma increased."
An unexpected bonus.