chsdbacks Page 221
Page 221
"You're not the only one whose power I can command..."
Lak's jet-black robes trembled slightly, and thick black magic condensed into ripples that rapidly spread outwards.
These dark ripples, like the stench of rotting hyenas, quickly unleashed a chilling aura of black magic in the distance. Raven-shaped shadows converged towards the center of the magic circle, pressing close to the ground as they approached Lak, solidifying into figures clad in jet-black robes, and prostrating themselves at Lak's feet.
"My Lord!!!"
One by one, dark mages, their bodies radiating malevolent magical power, raised their heads, their eyes filled with fanaticism and reverence as they gazed upon the great being before them.
In their eyes, Lak, who was shrouded in the abyss, was a near-godlike being on the path of dark magic!
"Hmm, long time no see. Your mastery of dark magic hasn't declined. Not bad."
Lark glanced at the twenty-odd dark mages around him, their auras powerful, and nodded in satisfaction.
The twenty-odd dark mages present, under his tutelage, were now comparable to the most elite knights in the capital.
"Aside from that black magic squad in the capital, you are my entire core force. This operation to eliminate Mino is entrusted to you—"
Lak lowered his gaze. As the chief mage of the Round Tower, the black mages he trained were naturally the most talented elites.
Over the years, they have accumulated into a considerable force. If the number of people that the capital could hide were not limited, he would not have allowed these people to roam freely on the borders of the demon realm.
Thinking of the dark magic squad that had been wiped out, Lak's face twitched with heartache.
However, as the second safest point after the royal capital, the demon territory, these surviving dark mages are definitely the elite of the elite.
Right now, Lak is showing no mercy, gathering them all together:
"The fact that the demons were able to imprison Mino means that they added a power-blocking restriction to Mino's body. In the end, what will be teleported over is just an ordinary person who is powerless."
"Once the magic circle is activated, you don't need to hesitate at all, just start! Before I return, you must crush Mino into nothing but dust, understand?"
"—As you command, Your Excellency!!!"
The Black Mage Squad 2.0 spoke in unison, their tone fervent.
Their gazes met as they looked down, a burning intensity spreading across their faces: they had actually managed to participate in this operation that slaughtered the greatest warrior in human history!
And yet, the Chief before us has created such a powerful magic array that transcends law and reason! How awe-inspiring! What a magnificent feat that makes one's soul tremble!
The hands of the group of dark mages trembled with excitement.
To them, Chief Lac was a god-like figure.
But as a human, wasn't that strongest hero, who displayed the most terrifying light in nearly a thousand years, forcing all the dark mages to hide in the demon realm, also a near-godlike being to be feared?!
Now, everyone present has the opportunity to drag him down to earth and put him on the guillotine.
It was almost like... slaying a god.
If successful, in the minds of these dark sorcerers, it can be described in one word—
Miracle.
Chapter 324 Abyss Demons, Blood of Heroes
"Hehehe, interesting. In that case, I'll get involved too."
The power of the abyss began to stir within him, as if a venomous snake were about to emerge from his body, and "Darkness" let out an evil laugh.
“What are you going to do?” Lark asked.
“During this time, some of my memories have returned—I remember a ritual to summon abyssal demons, which can just add fuel to the fire in this drama.”
"The abyss... a demon?"
"That is the remaining abyssal power scattered deep underground. If I had to say, it would be a small part of the abyssal power that is left besides me as the main will."
"However, that guy who only has 10% of the power is just a savage mount that only knows destruction and has no reason."
"But, it's still better than you now, having lost all your essence—" Lark said calmly, delivering a precise bayonet strike.
"Hmph! Once I summon it, you'll know just how terrifying I am in my prime!!!" The Abyss Will gritted its teeth and said:
"Even the most powerful Lightborn cannot defeat the demons from the abyss; they will bring the most devastating disaster to the entire human kingdom!"
"Hehehe, I'm already looking forward to seeing just how much my power will grow after the Lightborn's strongest fighting force and the significant depletion of their race..."
"Oh?" Lark was finally intrigued.
"What ritual materials do you need? You should be able to gather them in a short time, right?"
“No need for that much trouble.” Within Lark, the power of “darkness” began to flow, its pitch-black hue spreading like ink towards the center of the magic circle, silent and eerie.
Soon, a deep black altar appeared at the center of the magic circle, exuding a strong abyssal aura.
"The time is ripe. All we need to do is awaken the abyssal demons from the earth. All we need is a small bait... a drop of extremely pure Lightborn blood, the blood of the 'hero' you speak of."
"A drop of blood?"
Lark's brow twitched, his tone turning cold and relaxed: "Don't even mention a single drop; even if you wanted an entire hero's corpse, I could easily make it happen."
The moment the magic circle is activated, the summoned Mino will be instantly killed by the black mages guarding the area.
By then, the blood from those gruesome deaths will probably soak the entire altar.
"Hehe, that's not necessary. After all, the key to summoning the Abyss Demons lies in the resonance between the Abysses, and a drop of Lightborn blood is just a catalyst."
The true core lies in the unbreakable bond between me and the demons of the abyss—a bond of mutual benefit and shared ruin.
Let's start from this step.
Above the dark, demonic land, "darkness," like a leech, clung to Lak's body, overflowing with magical power, emitting a sinister laugh:
"It is time to unleash the abyss upon the entire world—"
……
"Strange... Really strange..."
The Demon King's Castle, top floor, bathed in rich moonlight.
Svir, who sees himself as the central control point of the Demon King's castle, lies quietly on the stone platform.
The pages of the book were flipped back and forth restlessly, as if the book were open but no answers could be found, making a somewhat inexplicable sound.
"What's wrong, Svir? Have the humans made another move?" The light tapping sound of the sword hilt on the stone steps grew closer. The Demon Sword Apophis looked at Svir's appearance and asked curiously:
"To be precise, not humans, but those dark magicians—"
Swell wrinkled the pages of the book, somewhat puzzled, and said:
"Those filthy rats who escaped from the human kingdom thought they were hiding well in the demon realm. In the past, I tolerated their existence in order to cause some trouble for the human kingdom, but today, for some reason... these cowardly creatures who never trust anyone have actually gathered together."
Swell unfolded the book, and a map of the demon border quickly appeared on the page, with more than twenty black dots surrounding an empty center, as if some ancient and evil ritual was being performed.
"Unfortunately, if the Demon King's army hadn't retreated to the second line of defense, I could have seen much more from the Demon King's castle. Now, it's as if a blurry black mist has shrouded everything..."
"Should I go and take a look? It will take some time, though," Apophis asked.
"No, never mind." Swell's pages snapped back to life, as if he had given up on thinking.
“Since he’s a black mage who sits at the same table with filthy and evil low-level monsters, he won’t have anything to do with the human kingdom. The most important thing now is to deal with the Sin Hero who has entered the Path of the Hero, Shana.”
“That’s true.” Apophis nodded.
"Kreitina asked me to assist you, saying that we should intercept that Sin Hero on the Path of the Hero."
"I heard you've been researching this for a while, Swell?"
"This is all thanks to you, Apophis." Swell gave Apophis a helpless look:
"As a sacred artifact that followed the Sword Hero through the Path of the Hero, you have successfully added a research item to the Demon Clan's major emergency plan: 'Resisting the Reckless Speedrunners' to prevent the tragedy of a thousand years ago from repeating itself."
"Sacred artifacts don't need to dwell on past glories." Apophis, his sword skin thickened, asked leisurely, seemingly unconcerned:
"So, after a thousand years, what countermeasures have you come up with, Swell?"
"There's no point in talking about countermeasures. The Path of the Hero is an extremely dangerous route even for demons. If someone like you or me were to enter, we would become books or iron swords that can't even float, let alone set up defenses on the Path of the Hero."
"Fortunately, the final section of the Path of the Hero is not as dangerous as the other sections, and we can complete some preparations there in a short time. The only tricky point is the law that prohibits holy power and magic..."
"Yes."
Apophis nodded in empathy: "Most of the human's power comes from holy power and skills, while the demon's power comes from magic power, as well as talents and authority that rely on magic power. Without these two, it's like babies fighting, unable to cause enough trouble for the hero on the path of the hero."
“You’re wrong about one thing, Apophis,” Swell’s tone suddenly became profound.
"I've always felt that the reason humans and demons use holy and magical power as tools to adapt to their environment is due to some kind of external stimulus. In reality, both humans and demons have the potential to reach the same level of power. If there were a world without holy and magical power, the tools of the human and demon races would likely undergo drastically different changes."
"The existence of holy power and magical power has actually hindered our development in other areas. For example, humanity's research into herbs and alchemy, its exploration of architecture and dynamics, and the development of the Human-Demon Eye by the Human-Demon race have all revealed more possibilities. However, because it is 'unnecessary,' progress and breakthroughs have been extremely slow..."
“I’ve learned a lot, Swell.”
Apophis nodded in approval, then glanced at the somewhat haughty, upright pages of Swell's book, and suddenly chuckled knowingly:
"It seems our strategist has already made a breakthrough in some area, hasn't he?"
Chapter 325 Why do you recognize me so much, you little brat?!
"It's not exactly a breakthrough, but I have indeed developed something with decent power by drawing on human alchemy and other areas of exploration."
"Even if one cannot utilize holy power and magical power, it can still be stimulated on the path of the hero... Times have changed, Apophis. The path of the hero today will be completely filled with that last bit of possibility, becoming a true dead end."
"All we need to do is lay deadly 'traps' at the end of the path of the hero, and we can push the hero who has fallen into mortal form into an abyss."
"Oh? What did you invent, Svir?" Apophis asked, intrigued.
Swell didn't keep us in suspense:
"Through alchemy, I discovered a black powder that can generate powerful explosive force out of thin air. When the dosage is sufficient, the impact force is equivalent to a mid-level explosive spell. I call it—gunpowder."
"Let alone ordinary humans, even high-ranking human knights can be blown away and fall into the abyss if caught off guard."
"But if I bury it on the path the hero is bound to take—bang!"
Swell drew a huge firework on the page: "That hero will pay a heavy price for her ignorance and carelessness."
"A genius invention, Swell," Apophis exclaimed.
"I didn't expect you to have completed the preparations so long ago. That makes things much simpler."
"But the gunpowder shouldn't malfunction or cause any accidents, right?"