The gate of Blood Castle opened.
Ggggggr…
Yuma stepped into Blood Castle.
He walked toward the castle gate, the largest and most formidable fortress in the Demon World.
Sstep─
Great Demon King Lilith and her demon army, along with Bell, stared intently at Yuma’s back as he walked alone towards the countless demons of Blood Castle.
Yuma stepped on the castle gate. Above the towering structures stood numerous soldiers, armed with swords, spears, axes, and shields, ready for battle.
Tension filled the air.
Yuma carefully looked at what appeared to be a raised platform.
‘That guy.’
On the platform stood a toad clad in dark yet sophisticated armor.
That toad was Berzette, the [Master of All Blessings].
[Lv.591] Berzette
Species: Great Demon King – Demon
Demon King Title: Master of All Blessings
Alignment: Evil
Ability: Innate Blessing
Level: God
Slightly higher level than Lilith.
Yuma quickly scanned the rest of the forces visible to him with Search Eye.
‘As expected.’
At least the direct descendants of Berzette, who were visible at the forefront, were absent.
There was no chance of any of them getting caught up in [Absolute Counter], ensuring the safety of their family members.
Chzzt─ Chzzt─
The massive Blood Castle, with countless demons standing on its peaks, emanated countless brutal energies that tore through the atmosphere.
Chzzt─!
The very air was crushed under the weight of the monstrous mana that mixed with malice, rippling throughout Blood Castle.
Having fully stepped inside Blood Castle, Yuma stood still even amidst the writhing, demonic mana.
“Human.”
A powerful, resonating voice erupted from the gaping mouth of the toad.
Immediately after those words, Berzette, the [Master of All Blessings], floated upward.
While it looked like a giant flying toad, no one could afford to underestimate its appearance. The overwhelming pressure from Berzette was anything but normal.
Berzette’s massive frame landed before Yuma.
Although they were facing each other, there was still a considerable distance between them.
“What is your name?”
Berzette’s low, deep voice rumbled across the ground.
“My name is Berzette. As you well know.”
“It’s Yuma.”
Berzette slowly nodded his toad head.
“So you killed two demon kings in the Intermediate World? It seems you’ve gotten quite full of yourself. But you know nothing about the true terror of this Demon World.”
Berzette grinned. The sinister aura he radiated was palpable as he continued.
“You will die now for daring to judge this Blood Castle and me through your narrow perspective.”
As Berzette’s words concluded, a crimson aura slithered up from beneath his feet.
Not just beneath his feet.
The ground.
Thousands of crimson lines writhed and swarmed behind Berzette.
Ssssss…
The mana, which had settled in the land of Blood Castle for a long time, was being gathered.
The immense mass of mana condensed behind Berzette began to take shape.
Kwadududung─!
Behind the giant toad, an even larger form of a red octopus emerged.
It evoked the image of the legendary sea creature, [Kraken].
The red figure possessed eight robust tentacles, exuding an indescribable dread. It resembled the legs of the great octopus, a disaster of the sea, [Kraken].
“Human.”
The tentacles began to move slowly.
“You should not have set foot in this Blood Castle.”
A realm exclusive to gods of the second tier or higher─Divine Domain.
Yuma had already encountered such a divine domain once.
The endless world of death unleashed by God Incrinew, Termination, was none other than Incrinew’s divine domain.
Right away, it was the deity of Incrinew.
And even the Great Demon Kings of the demon realm could unfold domains that fell into the same category as the divine realm.
Paradise.
The Great Demon King [Berzette] proclaimed paradise.
Paradise─Bloodline Landlord.
“You will absolutely not evade my attack.”
The giant red figure, the shadow of the Bloodline Landlord, pointed toward Yuma.
“Absolutely.”
Berzette’s preparations weren’t over yet.
Berzette bestowed all the blessings he possessed upon the Bloodline Landlord.
The golden eyes of the purple toad spun around.
-Blessing of Power
-Blessing of Accuracy
-Blessing of Penetration
-Blessing of Size
-Blessing of Speed
The height and size of the Bloodline Landlord grew. Enough to encompass the entire fortress.
“Die, human.”
Tentacles larger than the legs of the giant king, Ades, whom he had faced before.
Among the eight, three tentacles moved first, ferociously shaking the atmosphere of the demon realm just by their movement.
The three tentacles surged silently.
Straight ahead.
Right above.
Finally, from within the shadow of the Bloodline Landlord.
‘─Paradise.’
Yuma understood why Berzette was so certain he couldn’t evade his attack.
‘Once I set foot in this Bloodline Fortress, there’s nowhere those huge red tentacles can’t reach.’
The tentacles surged forward like whips, yet struck as stiffly as spears.
However, Berzette was under a stubborn misconception.
Yuma never intended to evade the attack in the first place.
<Bullet Time>
Time flowed slowly.
Only from Yuma’s perspective.
<Super Focus─Oblivion>
He searched for the parrying point.
Just below the tip of the tentacle.
Yuma swung Balmung.
ZZZZZOOOOOOOM!
He deflected the tentacle that sprang out from the shadow with a sideways cut.
KA-BOOOOOM!
The transcendent red spear-like attack was deflected diagonally upward.
<Indomitable Will>
Even as the heavy pressure surged through the tip of his sword, he remained unshaken.
ZZZZZOOOOOOOM!
Finally, he also repelled the tentacle that came crashing down vertically like a lightning strike.
Three golden circular impacts erupted in succession.
Each one, a tentacle as large as a fortress, failed to touch Yuma and bounced away, something Berzette found hard to believe.
“…What?”
Then, something even more unbelievable happened.
The paradise he had created by gathering all the magic of this land, the Bloodline Landlord.
Faint, but unmistakably, a red aura that closely resembled the Bloodline Landlord’s figure was writhing like a flame behind Yuma.
<Absolute Counter>
SHRREEEEEEK─!
And from that red figure, three currents of energy stretched out.
Currents large enough to cover a whole fortress.
WHA-BOOOOOM─!
The red pillar, struck diagonally like a lightning bolt, crushed the Bloodline Landlord above Berzette.
And like a red blade of energy, two streams of energy stretched out.
The purple toad used its imprinted ability.
Just like Yuma, it activated the [Flash Imprint] received from Selene, exhibiting its teleportation ability.
POP─!
Berzette’s body flickered.
The two red blades, losing their target, crossed through empty air.
“Human…!”
As the [Master of All Blessings], Berzette gathered the full power of his magic into both hands in a mere moment.
One thing Berzette overlooked was that it wasn’t just his paradise that had the guiding ability.
The attack generated by [Absolute Counter] wouldn’t stop until it reached its target.
Absolutely.
KIYAAAAA─!
The two streams of red energy twisted their direction by 180 degrees. Berzette’s eyes shook violently.
Two strands of red energy twisted 180 degrees. Berzette’s eyes shook violently.
– Blessing of Absolute Defense
– Activation of Iron Wall’s Engraving Effect
– Blessing of Vajra
– Blessing of Merciful Healing
– Blessing of Tenacious Regeneration
Together with the Iron Wall’s engraving received from the deceased former head of the Engraved Family, all the defensive blessings he possessed were activated.
The overwhelming energy whipped toward Berzette, wrapping around his right leg.
“Uh…?”
Surely, he shouldn’t feel any pain. The stacked blessings were so strong that not even demon lords could inflict a scratch.
Crash!!!
So why was his bone shattering in an instant?
“Kghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”
The power contained in the energy extending from Yuma’s back was so immense that it easily shattered all those supreme blessings.
Thud.
It was being torn off.
His right leg, no, his entire lower body.
“Khaaaaaaaaaaak!!!”
Fwoosh──!
Bright red blood poured down like rain.
The lower body of the Great Demon King rolled around on the ground he once ruled over.
Boom!
The massive upper body and head of the giant toad crashed to the ground simultaneously.
“Ugh…! Haaak!!!!”
The Great Demon King.
It was hard to believe that such a being could emit a sound so grotesque.
A red flash swept through the head from which that moan erupted.
Kaaahhhhhhh────
──!
The ground itself was engulfed in the red flash.
What the flash did was not only vaporize the Great Demon King’s head.
The castle wall in the front was mercilessly destroyed. And in case of any unforeseen circumstances, over a hundred of Berzette’s direct elite demon guards lined up were turned into chunks of meat instantly.
Blood Echelon Sovereign.
Berzette’s breath was taken away by the power he had crafted into a great paradise.
Yuma slowly walked towards the purple toad, which had lost its lower body and head.
Snap! Crack!
“…….”
The demons of Blood Echelon stood still, watching Yuma dismember the upper body of the king they served.
As if they were cursed to turn to stone by medusa the moment their eyes met.
Fear of an unknown situation. Fear of an overwhelming gap.
It was a fear of the being that had just killed the Great Demon King and swiped away the strongest escort legion in Blood Echelon as if sweeping with a broom.
Shudder shudder shudder…!
General Katler of Blood Echelon stared blankly at his trembling gray legs.
It was a situation he had never experienced even once in a thousand years.
Yuma extracted the red gemstone, the heart of Berzette.
It was indeed larger than the Demon King’s heart.
Extracting the pure blood within this red crystal and putting it into a flask would provide material for fusion with a Dragon Heart.
Yuma put Berzette’s red gemstone into his spatial pocket.
Just as he was trying to decide what to do next—
“Yuma!!!”
Yuma heard Bell’s shout.
There was a tremble in that shout. Bell usually didn’t show such emotions in ordinary situations, indicating that something was seriously wrong.
Without hesitation, Yuma activated the ability of the Flash Engraving, [Blink].
Yuma’s body blinked.
With a teleport, Yuma instantly emerged outside of Blood Echelon and ran toward Bell.
Where Bell was looking with a shocked expression, there was a woman.
A woman whom Yuma could see was slowly dying with his own eyes.
Cough.
Crimson blood flowed from the woman’s mouth.
Blood splattered on her sprawled platinum hair.
Lying on Bell’s lap was Selene, the head of the Engraved family [Levine].
“Yuma! Se, Selene sister suddenly…!”
With tears welling up, Bell wiped the blood flowing from Selene’s mouth with her handkerchief.
I wiped the blood flowing from Selene’s mouth with a handkerchief while grumbling.
Duke Yuma knelt on his left knee and locked eyes with Selene, who smiled faintly.
“…Yuma, you kept your promise.”
Of course, she was talking about the promise to kill the Great Demon King Berzette.
Yuma slowly opened his mouth.
“…Yeah.”
It wasn’t hard to guess why Selene had ended up like this.
Selene’s silvery eyes held Yuma’s gaze.
“I’m sorry. I lied… The one bound by the Pact of Death is… Berzette, not the firstborn.”
In order to fully save the ten members of the awakened lineage, the Pact of Death had to be eliminated.
To eliminate the Pact of Death, the caster, the Great Demon King Berzette, had to be killed. In this process, if Berzette died, Selene, who was also a target of the [Pact of Death], would necessarily die as well.
The vigor began to fade from Selene’s eyes. A black flower started to bloom in her heart due to the Pact of Death— a black flower that completely drained the life of the pact’s target.
“The Pact of Death is a power bestowed upon the Great Demon King by the Demon Realm itself… There’s no way to escape it. So….”
Selene’s emaciated right hand caressed Yuma’s cheek.
Yuma felt an overwhelming coldness.
“This is an inevitable death… that no one can stop. So, it’s not your fault. Yuma.”
“Selene.”
Yuma felt choked, unable to find words.
He doubted Selene’s words, repeatedly questioning if it was true that this all connected to the firstborn and the Pact of Death. But despite the repeated inquiries, Selene calmly affirmed it was true.
So calmly that it was hard not to believe it. And he did believe it.
Determination.
The head of a family oppressed for over a hundred years was always ready to risk his life for the clan. So, he took it all in stride.
“…It was only, only yesterday. That freedom was so sweet… Yuma. Was it because I was with you? It feels like I’ve found meaning in life, but is that too grand… Maybe….”
More blood flowed.
Yuma used the handkerchief to wipe it away, glancing back at the Great Demon Lord Lilith, standing with a hardened expression behind him.
Tears welled up in his eyes. He carefully wiped away the tears.
“Is there really no way? Not even one?”
Lilith slowly shook her head, her red hair swaying.
“…Once the Pact of Death is established, it is absolute. Even the Great Demon King who cast it cannot undo it.”
Selene’s eyes lost all their light, becoming hazy.
Yuma tightly grasped Selene’s right hand.
Selene’s parched lips moved once more.
“This is the first time I couldn’t protect someone…?”
Selene felt the tremor in Yuma’s words. And she felt the tremor in his hand.
“I’m sorry.”
“…It’s not about not being able to protect me. It’s just that I have to die… So, Yuma… as long as you don’t lose anything going forward, that’s what matters….”
Selene’s fingers slowly brushed over Yuma’s hand, as if to comfort him.
She felt her eyes slowly closing. Her heartbeat began to falter.
“I’m embarrassed to ask this… but please pass this on to my younger brother, Uren… Tell him to inherit the position of head of the family during the succession ceremony… and to revive our clan… Just pass it on.”
“Got it. Don’t worry, the clan will persist.”
Yuma wanted to alleviate Selene’s worries even a little bit.
“Yes… Thank you.”
Selene smiled faintly.
“Ruben… Ehendel… Yuma.”
The trembling hand stilled completely.
Her eyes closed entirely.
Selene, the head of the Levine family from the awakened lineage, died.
“….”
Yuma stared at Selene for a long time.
He understood the meaning of her words.
– Ruben Ehendel.
– It means wishing eternal peace in the language of the awakened family.
– Farewell. [Don’tScrewMeOver], I always wish for your peace. I will engrave your grace and mercy.
Slowly, Yuma stood up.
His head was burning with overwhelming anger. He had to channel this rage somewhere. Yuma began to walk toward the Blood Clan once more.
In the crimson sky of the demon realm, a black star was falling.
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