A slimy taint and the sickening stench of gore.
And the grisly site where fragments of sacrificial victims used in their rite lay scattered.
This is Cheontaedong.
Hyeolhu fought desperately all the way here, and around the uncanny basalt formation Jang Hyundeok mentioned, he tried to perform something like a ritual, but—
“Got you.”
[Mu Roji Net]
Sshhhhhh!
“Kraaaah!”
Hyeolhu is ensnared by the mist-and-dew net and slammed into the ground. Compared to other Judgers who split earth and summoned lightning, it’s almost laughable—but this guy’s specialty was never brute force.
I looked down at Hyeolhu floundering in the swamp of Cheontaedong and said,
“All right, game over. I win, right?”
“Waaaaaaah!”
He struggled, arms and legs bound, only to realize he was sinking into the mire—and he sputtered at me,
“How... how already? What about Gyuseongma and? What about Jo-jang? The Gourmet Expedition? Sangbulsa? My jiangshi!?”
“Huh? You were so busy running you didn’t notice?”
I raised a hand and pointed toward the battleground. Huh—can’t see from here.
“I knocked them all down.”
“W-w-what, what, what? What?? Gyuseongma? Gyuseongma!?”
“But Gyuseongma isn’t even part of your cult—why do you care so much?”
True, a kung fu–master frog flying at me with Dragon-Eighteen Strikes and roaring power—nose-busting style—was intimidating.
“But I still knocked him down.”
His roar was nothing special—like Chang-hyuk Lee’s old [Sonic Shock]. I just reflected it back with [Sonic Distortion].
“Kung fu couldn’t block a sonic attack.”
“Jo-jang, Jo-jang? That woman—the spell, the spell-reflecting technique—”
“I fought someone using exactly that technique recently, so I know the weakness.”
She can absorb magic, but only elemental or energy projectiles. Shock spells, curses, or spirits she can’t absorb.
Seon-bu’s physique let him shrug off even that, but Jo-jang isn’t that strong.
“She’s especially vulnerable to spirit-type attacks.”
“N-no way... What about my jiangshi? My jiangshi?”
“Ah, enough! At this rate you’ll ask about the family I left back home!”
I burned all the jiangshi with fire magic imbued with purification, and whatever remained I buried underground.
‘Even I admit this is overkill.’
No—it wasn’t surprising. Ever since I roamed Bongilcheon with Seo-cheon Seul, no mundane cultist or monster could stop me.
‘Unless the Madness itself interferes, or an Abyssal being moves directly, there’s no power shortage here.’
[Purifying Flames]
Whooooom—
The white flames I summoned began to incinerate the corrupted mana of the Cheontaedong swamp.
Is this the end of the foundation for the [Blood Demon King] to project power into the mortal realm?
This wasn’t done in a day.
There are other sanctified places where the [Blood Demon King] can exert influence, and mediums gifted with talent to receive his power—but over days I meticulously destroyed them all.
All that remains is the cult leader Hyeolhu before me, and this legendary massive basalt said to grant any wish.
‘Now, the real question begins.’
By now the [Blood Demon King] knows exactly what I intend. In truth, he could ignore me entirely.
So from here I must insult him, draw out his rage... in a sense, something utterly absurd.
“All right, cult leader. Show me your next card.”
Hyeolhu’s face went deathly pale. His jaw quivered as he spoke.
“Heaven, Power, Cleave! By the ancient blood-vow—”
No, that’s not speech; it’s an incantation.
I raised my hand toward his face and activated a spell.
[Spell Block: Servant Summoning]
[L-grade Accessory ‘Mask of Carcosa’ unique function ‘Yellow Domination’ activates.
// Yellow Domination: Adds the effect ‘Spell Boost: Fear Injection’ to certain spells.]
Bang!
“Guh—agh!”
The shock from dispelling his incantation sprays Hyeolhu’s blood.
“That... can’t be—this can’t be happening...”
He murmured in despair, but his panic can’t fool my heightened senses. As expected, fear injection doesn’t work.
‘Not yet.’
I noticed his spilled blood forming a strange sigil and immediately cast another spell.
[Spell Block: Heartburst]
[Spell Boost: Fear Injection]
Pow!
“Ugh... ughh...”
Hyeolhu trembled, his body arching like a bow.
“The scarlet fangs of the Blood Sky shall—”
[Spell Block: Blood Fang]
[Spell Boost: Fear Injection]
And again, and again.
He tried to cast repeatedly, but each time I shattered his incantation, crushed it, then forced it back upon him with terror.
“Stop it. I have no hobby of inflicting pain for fun like you do.”
“W-what are you doing? I... I knew you were stronger! But you! Who are you really? This isn’t about power or ESP! How do you know every dark art of our cult!?”
To successfully block a spell, one must have greater mana and control—and understand the opponent’s spell.
“That’s my ability.”
[Spell Mastery]. A trait that auto-learns every tier of spell I’ve reached.
Of course I can’t learn unique legendary spells, but bound like that, Hyeolhu has no unique incantations he can use.
“Shut up! This is absurd! There must be trickery! Definitely!”
“Think what you want.”
“Ugh... ughh...”
Vague fear flickers in his eyes.
Hyeolhu finally recognizes me as something beyond his comprehension.
Fear born of ignorance: What kind of monster is this? What will it do to me? What can it even do?
‘That should do it.’
Doubt and terror seized his mind, breeding despair. In that weakened state, no cultist can maintain power.
I turned my gaze to the void, speaking casually. Somewhere to my left, perhaps?
“Hey.”
An arbitrary direction—but I feel someone watching me from over there.
“Still staring? This guy, I do ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ what I want, right?”
What greater insult to one who claims divinity? I had long seized his temple, burned his chapels, destroyed his dogma, cornered and slaughtered his devotees.
Now the last cult leader has renounced his faith in sheer despair.
If he still resists, I’ll shatter that wish-granters’ rock. He won’t regain his mana—but as an Abyssal being, his standing will utterly collapse. For him, this game ends.
Whatever the form, it’s my victory.
[System: ‘Feast of Sacrifice’ trait activates.]
The moon above the sky turns blood-red, and crimson storm-clouds gather.
Hyeolhu utters a wordless gasp at the sight.
“H-how... how is the descent... beginning now?”
No ritual, no offering, no appointed hour—yet the descent event commences.
This is the very Blood Sky the cult longed for, but even Hyeolhu senses something is wrong.
“Alright, it comes. Hyundeok—”
“—Yes!”
I sense it: this mana.
Tracing the form of mana pouring from the sky with surreal perception, I find the frequency to weaken his power.
“It’s within expected range. Spin the third disk three times clockwise.”
For some reason Jang Hyundeok often confuses left and right, so I changed the signal.
“—Done, spun it!”
Kaaaash!!
A confining barrier emits a specific frequency high above the gorge.
[‘Abyssal Entity: Blood Demon King’ power is weakened.]
Of course this alone doesn’t end it. Even weakened, he’s an Abyssal being—and we must now contest with mental will, calculation, and mana.
‘He ultimately followed the same pattern to the end.’
This is a game. Once the most efficient pattern is found, no need to deviate.
I scattered mana-crystals to serve as catalysts and raised my mana.
Crackleleleree—
Sparks fly wildly from every side.
Shockwaves born of the world’s resistance to my mana erupt in all directions.
[System: ‘Feast of Sacrifice’ trait activates.]
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
Crackle—crackle—
Crackle—crackle—crackle—
Wait, this is strange.
The sparks spawn bizarre noise everywhere. A glitch phenomenon: multicolored digital noise.
This wasn’t the scenario I prepared, nor the previous pattern. Damn. I knew it was going too smoothly.
“Ah, aahh... waaaah!”
Hyeolhu begins uncanny moans, pointing at the sky.
“A-ahh! Sky! Sky!”
“Sky?”
“The moon! Moon! Mooooon! The moon!”
Crackle—
Sparks surge from all sides.
Damn, concentrate!
Fearing a lapse might fry my brain, I changed the dispersed mana into a converging field, forming a barrier around me and Hyeolhu so I could lift my head again.
What stood there was...
“What the hell is that?”
“A-ahh! The moon! The moon!”
The moon trembles, even contorts. The moon is supposed to be a distant satellite, its light merely reflected sunlight.
But what I see now is—
So it is—
The vast black membrane that had been ‘outputting’ the moon completely collapsed—and in its place...
I mean.
In place of the moon!
“Waaaaah! Aaaaargh! Waaaaah!”
Hyeolhu’s sanity shatters; he shrieks like a beast.
In place of the moon, something utterly alien appears.
[Predator: Feels Hunger.]
It was an immense message window.
“Huh—?”
What am I seeing?
The moon vanished...
Transformed into a message window?
“What on earth is happening?”
A bizarre message appears in the wrong position. In that sky, a giant message is displayed.
[Predator: Feels Hunger.]
Crackle—
[System: An error has occurred.]
[System: Halt, that action violates regulations.]
Again, a message appears at a random location.
[Predator: Feels Hunger.] [Predator: Feels Hunger.] [Predator: Feels Hunger.] [Predator: Feels Hunger.] [Predator: Feels Hunger.] [Predator: Feels Hunger.] [Predator: Feels Hunger.] [Predator: Feels Hunger.] [Predator: Feels Hunger.]
Countless messages cover the sky.
—“Waaaaah! Mage! Look at the sky! Waaaaah!”
Hyundeok’s scream echoes along the linked mana lines.
All the madness, the explosions, the magic, the cultists and my fight—it was all trivial.
[Stop. Cease immediately.]
Only then do I realize: these messages aren’t meant for me.
[Predator: I will grant your wish.]
Hundreds of message windows, ominously entangled in that sky, formed a grotesque smile. I don’t know what it means, but it was undoubtedly a smile.
I feel his will:
“You’re cramped. Step aside.”
Vrrrreee—
The sky cracks with a horrific sound.
Crackle—crackle—crackle—crackle—
A sparkstorm comparable to a mountain range—ah, what use is description now?
Sparks? The sky splits?
This isn’t that kind of scene. I have no words for this spectacle.
That is not [Predator of the Mountains]—the name no longer matters.
“■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■!”
As I utter his true name, he fixes me with his vast—vast—vast—eyes. A chilling grin in his gaze.
His gaze rips my mana, tears my flesh, slices away my pitiful flesh clinging to bones, shatters my bones, yanks out my brain and desecrates it. My soul is crushed.
The Abyssal Entity is not projecting a form into this world—it is entering in its true body, power, and name.
