#265
King of Madness (4)
The trajectory of light aimed at the giant’s abdomen and heart was blocked by a colossal hand.
Immediately afterward, five fingers larger than Heinrich’s body pierced the air in an attempt to grab him.
Paaat—
Enveloped in light, he instantly vanished from the spot.
The giant ground its teeth in frustration but had no time to hesitate.
It quickly turned its body and swung its other hand.
Kuooong—!
This collided violently with Harley’s aggressive assault, creating a massive shockwave.
“Khaha! Where are you looking, friend? Let’s play!”
The atmosphere shook under the overwhelming mass-based energy clash, and the ground twisted while screaming.
But even in that moment, the chain of attacks continued relentlessly.
From the sky, a continuous barrage of spirit arrows and magic bombarded the giant’s face, disturbing its sensitive senses.
Numerous Trueblood vampires, accelerating to their limits, quickly tore pieces off its body and retreated, repeating the process.
“Grrr, these annoying vermin!”
Gguguk—
In the chaos of the frantic attacks, as the giant’s gaze began to shift to others, Harley swiftly gripped that colossal arm to immobilize its movement.
Just like he had before.
Given the extreme size difference, the gap created was not very large, but that brief reprieve was enough time for others to regroup and target the giant’s weaknesses.
Swish—
Just as the giant’s nerves momentarily wavered.
Heinz II appeared, like a ghost, exploiting the gap in perception.
In the air above the giant’s forearm.
Skachak—!
With his appearance, the Blood Blade sliced through the air like a whip.
At the same time, Briki’s attack launched from the ground struck precisely on the opposite side of the impact point.
Had it not been for the combined attack utilizing their shared consciousness, one side’s attack alone would have only left a deep wound, but the synergy of their collaboration created an unparalleled force—.
Kuooong!
Finally.
The giant’s left arm, which had been slashed multiple times and was the size of a bus, was severed cleanly.
“Graaah! You insect-like creatures!”
The enraged giant let out a maddened roar, losing all reason.
The surrounding air was forced away, creating a whirlwind, and it seemed as if madness began to seep in from all directions, drawn to the center of its emotions.
Cough—!
‘Damn it, I see no way out. Yes, this is where I die. It cannot be helped.’
As expected, it seemed that realizing the will of that being directly was too much for him.
The revolutionist resigned himself while solidifying his resolve for a final alternative.
‘But I cannot end it like this. I will become the seed for the next generation.’
Having made that decision, he severed whatever it was that had been supporting him within the giant’s body filled with madness.
To be reborn as pure ‘madness’ that would lead this world to ruin.
*
By now, Heinrich had moved behind the giant.
No matter what the beast was doing, he focused on doing everything he could.
He firmly raised the Holy Sword he held in both hands.
Whuum—
The Blessing: Radiant Blade, supported by all sorts of buffs and Holy Power from the saintess, shot upward over ten meters, sharp and glimmering.
He infused the power of Space Slash into that pillar of light and, for some reason, managed to slice the sluggish giant’s ankle.
Kuooong—!
The behemoth crumpled as its ankle was severed, and the shockwave swept the surroundings like a landslide.
The raid party seized the opportunity without hesitation and relentlessly tore into the giant’s vulnerable head with their own methods.
Like hyenas trying to cut off the breathing of a fallen elephant.
This regeneration speed…
However, those pouring in their attacks couldn’t help but frown.
Due to the madness that had been absorbing continuously, the giant’s recovery rate had now exceeded the cumulative damage they were inflicting.
And finally.
[————!]
The madness surged right to the marrow, unleashing a roar that revealed not a shred of reason.
With the exception of Harley, who was pinned by the giant’s massive weight, everyone else was flung away.
“Cough, what now?”
“Wait, that…!”
Gooooh—
Just after, a raging storm whipped around as a gigantic red vortex formed around the giant.
It was pure madness of extraordinary density.
An overwhelming sight was unfolding as all the madness in the world converged and was sucked into the whirlwind.
“Grrr— Kaah!”
“C-Creak… High Lord…!”
“Mind erosion…”
In such thick currents,
It was natural that those exposed began to show negative effects.
All of them were at least ultra-powerful beings, but even they couldn’t remain unaffected in such dense madness.
“Holy God—! Please protect your children!”
Of course, the hero party, including the saintess, quickly received the blessings of Holy Power to shake it off, but the vampires on the ground had no choice but to retreat hastily outside the area.
Being half-demon by nature, they were affected even more strongly by the madness.
‘Not only that. This dense energy is obstructing other energies.’
They tried to launch a few attacks as a countermeasure, but all of them were swept away or completely erased by the violent currents surrounding them.
And with such diminished attacks, they couldn’t inflict meaningful damage on the already soaring regeneration and defense of the giant.
Crack—! Snap!
While they were pondering what to do.
Suddenly, a change within the giant began.
From the center of the storm, a sound echoed as the giant, hunched and absorbing the surrounding energies, began to twist.
The severed arms and legs rapidly regenerated, muscles grotesquely writhing in growth and compression, while its body continued to grow larger.
Grrrhh— Kiikikak—!
Now, a mocking laugh devoid of even a hint of reason flowed from the giant’s mouth.
Having exceeded the amount of madness it could control, it was as if its ego had been devoured, like the previous Undead Kings.
But what mattered now was not that.
‘…No, even if it’s a second phase, this is too much.’
For most, approaching was impossible.
Even if they did approach, their attack powers would drop drastically, making it hard to pierce the giant’s sturdy exterior.
And even if they managed to inflict damage, the nearly-immortal recovery capabilities would handle it in no time…
‘What does it mean to be invincible while transforming in reality?’
Having swung his radiant blade several times with Space Slash, Heinrich furrowed his brow.
Indeed, unlike undead, the giant’s body showed little harm from Holy Power.
The only edge was the energy that dominated the madness of the Abyss, so the reduction in power wasn’t significant, giving him some hope.
But the troubles didn’t end there.
Although the giant was evolving in real-time due to entering the second phase, he had just realized that an even bigger problem was arising through another avatar.
‘The currents of madness spreading across the world are being drawn towards this place. And…’
Following that flow, a continental-scale migration of monsters was showing signs of beginning towards this very area.
Naturally, Tarak, adjacent to the Northern Mountain Range, would suffer catastrophic damage, and many other cities would too.
‘Damn it. I need to take it down as quickly as possible.’
Heinrich let out a short sigh.
There was no longer any room to hold back methods.
At this point, he had to resort to the ultimate measure he had been saving just in case…
‘Hmm? Wait a second, this…’
But just before he used that method.
Realizing something, he slowly turned his head.
And fixed his gaze on one particular spot.
Gooooh—
That place was the very center of the crisis.
The final destination of the red vortex, which was continuously sucking everything in.
Where the giant devouring all the madness in the world was located… and right beside it.
‘Huh? Maybe this is…?’
To be more precise.
Right next to the hunched behemoth, Harley was mindlessly basking in the madness.
*
“Cough! Ah— this is quite intoxicating!”
Caught unexpectedly in the giant’s madness shower, Harley took a deep breath of the thick energy flooding in from all around.
While what he had absorbed up until now could be likened to gas, this was so condensed it could be considered liquid.
‘This is amazing.’
Not to mention, Harley had been accumulating madness in his body using Tyrant of Madness regularly.
Yet even he had never dreamed of experiencing something like this…
Harley shifted his gaze to the coiled white giant, watching it with peculiar interest.
That immense white life form was still writhing all over, preoccupied with absorbing the madness.
It seemed utterly unconcerned that he was right next to it.
‘Is it confidence that it can’t harm itself by any means?’
Or perhaps it was simply unable to move even if it wanted to.
The seed of madness within that giant’s body consisted mostly of fragments ground up from the process of emanating out of the Abyss.
And forcibly gathering those fragments into one wouldn’t be a simple task, that much was clear.
Pwooosh—! Crack! Smash!
And that suspicion was confirmed as he mercilessly attacked the giant’s body, tearing, smashing, and breaking it.
Despite pouring everything into his attacks utilizing the madness surrounding him, it remained hunched, not budging an inch.
‘Sure enough, since I’m using the same madness, there’s no drop in power. But that’s not enough.’
Much more solid than typical giants, any deep wound he inflicted fully vanished in less than a second.
To break through that, he would need to deliver an ultra-powerful strike that could crush its skull and pierce its weak points, but under the current circumstances, even teaming up with his avatars seemed difficult.
…Or rather, it would have been.
In a normal environment, that was.
‘But not here.’
Spotting the energy swirling around him, Harley bared his teeth fiercely.
Without hesitation, he immediately drew as much madness as possible with Tyrant of Madness.
Not stopping there, he summoned all his other avatars’ resources, twisting a portion of the surrounding flow toward himself.
Gooooh—
Soon, the core of the whirlpool surrounding him temporarily split into two.
Unlike the giant, who had a global influence as it gathered madness, Harley could focus all his efforts solely on manipulating part of the destination, allowing for a much more efficient use of power.
Perhaps due to that, the giant’s body lurched a few times as if in resistance, but of course, Harley didn’t care one bit.
Crack—! Snap!
With the massive concentration of energy, something shattered within him, then instantly healed.
Given that his “Ultimate Evolved Lifeform” had no reason to lag behind the white giant in terms of physical quality, that was only to be expected.
‘Alright, now we’re on equal footing.’
Feeling the energy surging within him, Harley casually twisted his neck.
Next phase.
He poured all of the surplus energy into Engraving of the Dragon King, maximizing all his abilities.
Following that, he concentrated the mixed madness-infused Biotic Aura beyond its limit into part of his body.
Exactly.
Into the teeth that jutted out like those of a shark.
Snaps—
As an immense amount of energy gathered, those teeth, even though they were highly enhanced, couldn’t hold up and broke away.
But that damage was gradually restored by the ensuing regeneration.
And that process repeated several times.
Continuing destruction and regeneration.
As that process continued, the “Ultimate Evolved Lifeform” gradually evolved the strength of the broken teeth.
Until they could withstand the concentrated energy.
‘Good, now it’s time to get started.’
Harley’s ultimate power came from the might born of Devour.
Thanks to that, he had once chewed through dragon scales like they were cookies, right?
Of course, he also had confirmed that that alone wouldn’t pierce the giant’s skull, but now the situation was different.
Click— Click—!
Moving his jaw, Harley collided his teeth several times.
Just that was enough to tear apart part of space, leaving thin cracks in the air that quickly vanished.
He nodded in satisfaction and, like a predator on the verge of a feast, strolled over towards the giant’s head, which was calmly hunched, like a well-laid dining table.
Harley was soon joined by Heinrich and Heinz II, who, having pushed through the storm, were also readying themselves.
“Khaha! Now—be good, friend! Just stay still.”
The giant seemed to twitch slightly, but it was probably just his imagination.
With the transformed and extremely developed jaw of Harley ripping wide open, the overwhelmingly condensed madness and Biotic Aura-infused crimson teeth glimmered sharply.
“It’ll be over quick!”
As the gleaming sword of light and blood-red fangs sank into one point of the skull.
Then sharp teeth began to burrow right through.
Crack—!
In just a few strikes, the solid defense was pierced.
Finally, it reached the seed of madness hiding within.
And—
I’m ready to feast!
So now.
I am the ‘King of Madness.’
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