<916 – Dark Shadow vs Dark Shadow (25)>
The return of the revolutionary’s power was extraordinary.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to handle such a massive quantity of souls by myself, and that burden of resentment coiled around my body without a care in the world.
It was a far superior build than mine, which could barely withstand the toll of memory sealing and awareness degradation piled on top.
‘So this is what it looks like when a revolutionary is used as a human bomb!’
Unlike the original build with a billion special attack build, this was an event possible only because he had died once and retrieved his soul from the Netherworld, so it made sense I wouldn’t have known in other rounds.
“But, Uncle. Why were you looking for Havi? Wasn’t it to mess with Professor Destroyer?”
“Exactly, I need her.”
“Huh?”
“If she’s around, I could trap the not-yet-dead Destroyer in a new trap, leading him to destruction based on the annihilation of his soul, making him crash down to my level.”
“Whoa! You’ve always been the same, both back then and now!”
“Fufufufu. If a person changes suddenly, they die.”
Already dead, though!
“Isn’t that just you liking Professor Destroyer?”
“I could call it a love-hate relationship. I want to kill him, but I need to do it myself to relieve my hatred. So I’m grateful he’s still alive.”
Still, the form of the Three Great Evils wasn’t something to scoff at.
They easily slaughtered the Grim Reapers and demons that had troubled us before, wielding souls like toys.
That meant my friends and I still had plenty to climb.
Is it even right to compare students to monsters aiming for the world’s pinnacle? That’s a tale before truly grasping the concept of graduation.
Fourth-year upperclassmen knew.
Without gathering such experiences beforehand, true graduation wouldn’t be achievable.
But now, the one who should worry about graduation looked like the God of Death, no matter how I saw it.
[10,110,2022 souls]
[38,940,474,249 souls]
[66,666,666,666 souls]
With a terrifying speed, the God of Death’s minions crumbled under the wave of spirits called forth by Chairman of the Foundation, gathering only enough energy of souls to refine into pain.
The chaotic colors of the souls shifted from black to a deep crimson before flowing over to the revolutionary.
“Fufufufu. Indeed, this is what I would expect from a Great Evil I acknowledge. To annihilate the individuality of souls with overwhelming dominion and turn them all into indistinguishable victims.”
“Do you recognize it?”
“The only wish remains the death that ends all pain, making the manipulation difficulty endlessly low. With this, the billion total assault or the ten war strategies of the annihilation of marriage aren’t a problem.”
“I specially took care of it. Whatever the past, right now, I’m working hard for my daughter. Honestly, our past wasn’t that bad. The secret of the failure of marriage annihilation is based on my ‘Directive Manipulation Art.’”
While the intimacy between the two Great Evils was separate, the God of Death began to take back the minions they had unleashed.
They sensed the fear of the Chairman of the Foundation, unable to match him in numbers, realizing an extraordinary awakening of a non-standard strongman.
However, the minion generation was no longer something the God of Death could simply shut off if he wished.
“Oh dear. Are you trying to end it already? With only a little over 10% of the required volume, I’m afraid it won’t satisfy this fortress. So let’s do this.”
Snap.
Snap.
Snap.
The contaminated Grim Reapers, who had turned into mere ‘units’ resembling Chairman of the Foundation, collectively snapped their fingers, amplifying the wave of the spirit.
With the combined amplification spirit attacks of dozens of Chairmen of the Foundation, the main body looked down at me.
“Among the powers received just now, there’s an interesting feature. It’s called [Disarray], passed down by Seonhwang. Isn’t it a pretty good feature for me, who
“Yikes?!”
“Oknodie. You should feel proud of this. It’s the outcome of the combined wisdom of two Paps.”
The wave containing the [Disarray] hit the God of Death’s spirit with a snap, shaking the inner instant-death realm that annihilates all existence, clearing out the center as if drawing a massive whirlpool.
The power of Papa pierced through the heart of the swirling realm effortlessly.
The energy of the God of Death.
Countless traces of death intertwined within that energy.
The minions, mummified as souls, writhed and bubbled up.
Soon, the realm surrounding the God of Death began to heave violently as millions of souls clamored to break free.
Hands reached out as if to tear at the boundary of the realm.
The demons poked their heads out without even potential for grabbing them.
Souls battered against the confines, unable to linger inside for even a moment, pushing against one another in a desperate bid to escape.
An overwhelming interference capability, shaking the dominion of the dead from the God of Death!
[First Wahyhiemhai. Was it greed to try to gather the strongest Grim Reaper candidate, who was ever so close to the top of the realm? If I can’t have it, I’d rather annihilate that existence.]
The God of Death’s instant-death realm formed like lightning and struck down with intense speed.
A sudden chill ran down my spine, being assaulted at a speed too great for human sensory perception to keep up.
If I had been struck by the same trick, I wonder if I would be safe. Well, I would be safe since there’s a way to prevent instant death.
Either way, that was certainly a blow that could bring about significant damage.
Boom!
Ziiiing…
Even the earth was scorched by that dreadful pit of death.
Looking down at the epicenter, Jiang glanced back at me.
He thought Papa was dead and was watching my reaction.
However, unlike shadows, Sing, who sensed the ‘origin,’ didn’t look back at me.
He felt that Papa’s ‘origin’ still stood intact.
“Oh dear. Did my clothes get ruined?”
As my suit ripped, my flesh was exposed.
The death energy, writhing as it tried to penetrate my body, got completely sucked into the fingernail of Chairman of the Foundation.
Once facing the end, the remnants of that soul; the remnants of the ‘contaminated World Tree’ connected over into Papa’s fingernail, extending ominous black branches.
[Nutrient Absorption]
[Dimensional Partition]
[Sleeping Power Unfolding]
In fact, that could no longer be called the World Tree.
It was a conscious connection devised by Papa to explore the potential of other worlds through the World Tree.
A root of his consciousness extending into multiple dimensions.
Humans study and master the operating principles of the World Tree to make it their own.
It would be quite a sight for primitive elves worshipping the World Tree to see Papa transformed into a human World Tree and either worship or scream in fear.
Can’t resist a good foreign reaction.
I’m curious, so I should definitely bring the elf professor next time and show them directly.
“I love scolding disobedient puppies, but I can’t let such a large adult dog just nibble at me. I’ll show you a special corporal punishment course from the Foundation.”
The death energy, concentrated in Papa’s fingernail, tore through the air away from him.
What split apart was the unique realm of Chairman of the Foundation.
The Higher Function of Contract.
The realm created from a Directive.
[Soul Contract]
[Effect: Collects the souls of those who failed to execute their final directives.]
Papa captured and dominated countless souls with pain.
While the average souls got burst and destroyed, the valuable ones were stored neatly, as collectors do.
The stored safe was within the seal of Emperor Papa, sealing away Chairman of the Foundation’s inner self.
It was possible to put souls in, but impossible to take them out — a tight jar.
That realm where souls had been endlessly put in crashed into the God of Death’s energy.
[Seal Breach]
Emperor Papa’s seal cracked under the influence of the proxy force contained within the God of Death.
Souls spilled out through that breach, rapidly boosting the stature of Chairman of the Foundation.
[World Domain Deployment]
[Beginning the Erosion of the Underworld]
Using the energy that transformed the realm into land of the dead on the God of Death now has special effects.
It begins to erode within the God of Death’s inherent territory, judged as ‘the realm of the dead.’
[Barrier Breach]
Immediately after breaking his own seal, the boundary of the God of Death’s realm barrier was destroyed, letting countless deaths rush into the world.
An overwhelming tsunami of spiritual pressure swept the academy grounds, akin to two previous waves.
Many students who didn’t know how to protect their souls almost lost their minds from the impact but barely sustained their existence thanks to the Principal’s protective spell that was cast somewhere.
Bwaaaaaa…
The souls, pouring out endlessly, screamed in equal measure to their escape, enslaved, and reworked into the revolutionary’s power.
[100 million, 23 souls]
[300 million, 30 million, 8825 souls]
[600 million, 9099, 431 souls]
The total number of souls surged terrifyingly.
Unable to bear the sight, the God of Death unusually split off a gigantic, direct manifestation tied to his divine class.
He didn’t dare glance away due to Sadako’s fierce hindrance, so he created a sort of doppelganger to fight in his stead.
[Vessel of Conquest]
[Vessel of War]
[Vessel of Famine]
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Death, Famine, War, and Conquest.
The God of Death, who ruled at the end, crafted this doppelganger from the powers of brother gods he once devoured.
I wonder if this is weighing heavily on Papa’s mind.
A shadow of worry, not from a loss of confidence, crossed his face.
“Perhaps I made a mistake. How dare you attempt to divide my ‘divine class’ before me.”
“Seems you just did a good deed.”
The ruler slyly accepting countless Old Gods’ powers.
The divine agent who regained his memories of the Man’s Representative emerged.
“Come. The remnants of the divine memories residing within me shall show you the new horizons of famine, war, and conquest that you desire.”
The divine agent, whose self hadn’t fully settled, forcibly attracted the three doppelgangers of the proxy class to himself.
At this rate, it didn’t seem like Professor Sadako but rather the Man’s Representative would be the final victor.
Caught in surprise, I accidentally tangled up the mana induction technique being deployed by the Man’s Representative.
Just a little bit, like I tugged on a single thread?
But the threads just kept coming out?
This isn’t my fault; it’s the fault of the poorly structured design by the Man’s Representative, right?
Honestly, if this sort of playful event caused a total unraveling, that would just be typical.
Anyway, the Man’s Representative, losing control, looked at me and Chairman of the Foundation with a face full of betrayal.
“Didn’t we say to join forces?”
“Then wouldn’t you have eaten your fill responsibly? Dashing in at the last minute to grab the side dishes will only earn you scorn.”
“Damn the Foundation, damn that Dark Prince…!”
The runaway spirit of the Man’s Representative exploded.
As Jiang caught the pouring red spiritual energy with his umbrella pulled from the shadows, he spoke.
“Oknodie.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve never snuck snacks, have I?”
“You definitely did!”
“…Not too many, right?”
“Not too many!”
“Not angry, right?”
“Not really? If you’re hungry, I could give you one?”
“…No. I’m not feeling it.”
Guess the intense workout has sapped my appetite.
Once it’s over, I need to make some soul food out of the monster souls instead of human souls for a little health boost!
