Chapter 451: Chapter 450 - The Fragment of Devil Emperor!
The moment Luca’s warning echoed through the sanctuary, the entire chamber descended into chaos.
Ancient stone trembled violently beneath their feet as cracks spread across the enormous mural like fractures crawling through glass. The black corrupted mana pouring from the wall thickened rapidly, swallowing the chamber in darkness so dense that even breathing suddenly felt difficult.
The air itself screamed.
A horrifying metallic shriek echoed throughout the sanctuary while ancient seals carved into the surrounding walls shattered one after another beneath overwhelming pressure.
"BACK AWAY FROM THE MURAL!" Adrian shouted instantly.
Gravitational mana exploded outward from his body as several glowing rings around his fingers lit up simultaneously. A translucent blue barrier expanded around the group just as another surge of corrupted mana burst from the wall.
BOOOOM—!
The shockwave slammed into the barrier hard enough to make the entire chamber quake.
Several club members were thrown backward regardless, crashing against broken pillars while dust and debris rained from the ceiling above.
"T-this pressure...!" one senior gasped while struggling to stand.
"It’s like the mana itself is alive!"
Luca’s grip tightened around his twin sabers as his eyes locked onto the mural ahead.
Because it was moving.
The shadow depicted behind the Seven Heroes—
Was moving.
The massive black silhouette embedded within the wall slowly twisted unnaturally beneath the cracked stone surface while countless distorted eyes began opening one after another throughout the darkness.
Watching them.
Smiling at them.
A nauseating chill crawled down Luca’s spine.
Damn it...
Fragments of memory finally aligned completely inside his mind.
This was not merely a corrupted ruin.
It was one of the abandoned secondary sealing sites from the late Hero Era.
Not a prison for the Devil Emperor himself—
But for fragments.
Pieces of corrupted existence torn away during the ancient war and sealed separately to weaken the original body.
And according to the hidden lore—
Most of those fragments were never truly destroyed.
Only sleeping.
"Everyone!" Luca shouted sharply while staring at the mural. "Do not let that thing fully emerge!"
Several members immediately reacted.
Mana erupted throughout the sanctuary as weapons were drawn simultaneously.
One senior slammed his palms together before releasing blazing streams of fire toward the cracking wall while another launched compressed wind blades directly into the spreading corruption.
Explosions thundered throughout the chamber.
But—
The attacks disappeared.
Swallowed.
The darkness absorbed mana itself hungrily while distorted whispers suddenly filled the air around them.
Voices.
Hundreds of voices.
Layered together unnaturally.
"...Hungry..."
"...After so long..."
"...Living..."
Lilliane visibly paled.
"T-that thing is speaking..."
"No," Sylthara corrected sharply while silver mana gathered around her hands. "Those are the voices of the corrupted souls trapped within it."
Her usually calm expression had hardened completely now.
The dark elf’s silver eyes locked onto the spreading corruption while ancient mana from her clan began swirling around her body.
"We need to stop it before the seal breaks completely."
Another deafening crack echoed throughout the chamber.
Then—
The mural exploded.
STONE ERUPTED EVERYWHERE.
A massive wave of corrupted mana burst outward violently as enormous black tendrils shot from the shattered wall like living creatures. One of them pierced directly through a nearby pillar while another slammed toward the group with monstrous speed.
"MOVE!"
Luca launched himself forward instantly.
His twin sabers flashed.
BLACK AND WHITE LIGHT split through the darkness in a perfect cross-shaped arc, severing one of the incoming tendrils before it could strike Eric directly.
The severed piece writhed on the floor like a dying serpent before dissolving into black smoke.
Eric stumbled backward with widened eyes.
"T-thanks!"
"Focus!" Luca barked immediately.
More tendrils burst from the destroyed seal.
And then—
It began emerging.
A colossal humanoid figure slowly dragged itself outward from the darkness behind the mural, its body incomplete and malformed as though stitched together from shadows and corrupted flesh.
Its limbs were unnaturally long.
Its skin looked melted.
And where its face should have been—
There was only darkness filled with countless moving eyes.
The horrifying creature released a sound somewhere between a scream and laughter.
The entire sanctuary shook.
Several weaker club members nearly collapsed from the pressure alone.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" John shouted while barely maintaining his footing.
"A corrupted remnant!" Luca answered immediately while his mind raced. "A fragment sealed during the Hero Era!"
Adrian’s expression darkened sharply.
"A fragment from that era survived this long...?"
The creature suddenly moved.
FAST.
Far faster than something that enormous should have been capable of.
A tendril exploded toward one of the seniors from the side—
Only for spatial distortion to instantly twist the space itself.
SHHHHKKK—!
The tendril vanished midair before reappearing sliced apart several meters away.
Adrian stood calmly with one glowing hand raised, golden eyes completely focused now.
"Do not panic," he said coldly. "Form defensive layers and target the core corruption."
Lightning exploded around him immediately afterward.
BOOOOOOM—!
Blue-white lightning crashed through the sanctuary and slammed directly into the creature’s chest, blowing apart huge portions of darkness while gravitational distortions continuously tore through the surrounding corrupted mana.
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
Strong...
No wonder Adrian was considered one of Arcadia’s top fourth years.
But even then—
The creature regenerated almost instantly.
The torn darkness twisted violently before reconstructing itself while distorted laughter echoed again through the chamber.
"...LIVING..."
"...WARM..."
"...FLESH..."
The thing lunged.
Luca immediately pushed mana through his body.
Core Compression activated fully.
The world sharpened.
His body exploded forward.
Stone shattered beneath his feet as he flashed across the chamber with terrifying speed, twin sabers rotating through his hands while moonlight-like mana gathered around the blades.
Then—
SLASH!
A perfect arc carved across the creature’s torso.
Black blood erupted.
The monster shrieked violently while corrupted mana exploded around Luca like a storm.
But before the creature could retaliate—
A silver dagger of mana pierced directly through one of its eyes.
Sylthara stood nearby with one hand raised, silver mana circles rotating beneath her feet.
"Left side!" she shouted sharply.
Luca reacted instantly.
Another tendril lunged from his blind spot—
Only for Eric and two seniors to intercept it together, their combined attacks smashing the corruption away before it could reach him.
The entire sanctuary became a battlefield.
Fire.
Lightning.
Spatial distortions.
Sword arcs.
Silver mana.
Explosions echoed endlessly while ancient ruins collapsed around them beneath the overwhelming clash between modern combatants and a nightmare surviving from the Hero Era itself.
And amidst all of it—
Luca’s thoughts raced dangerously.
This isn’t right...
Something felt wrong.
Fragments from the Hero Era were dangerous—
But not this active.
Not this stable after so many centuries.
Which meant—
His eyes widened slightly.
Something is still feeding it.
The realization sent a chill through Luca’s entire body even amidst the chaos raging throughout the sanctuary.
This thing was regenerating far too quickly.
Every wound they inflicted closed almost immediately beneath surging corrupted mana, the darkness constantly rebuilding itself as though connected to some endless source of energy hidden somewhere within the ruins.
Another violent explosion shook the chamber as Adrian’s lightning obliterated half of the creature’s upper torso, only for twisting black tendrils to drag the shattered remains back together seconds later.
"...It’s not slowing down at all!" one of the seniors shouted desperately while barely dodging a corrupted spike erupting from the ground beneath him.
The creature screeched again.
The sound itself felt wrong.
Like countless dying voices screaming together through rotting lungs.
Luca landed atop a broken pillar before immediately pushing off again, twin sabers flashing through the air as he severed another wave of tendrils rushing toward Lilliane and Sylthara.
"Don’t let the corruption touch your bodies!" he shouted sharply. "It spreads through mana contact!"
Several members immediately paled hearing that.
The remnant suddenly twisted unnaturally toward Luca.
All of its countless eyes focused on him simultaneously.
Then—
The pressure inside the sanctuary intensified violently.
Luca’s instincts screamed.
"MOVE!" Adrian roared instantly.
The world distorted.
A massive barrier appeared around half the chamber barely a moment before the creature unleashed a wave of black corruption outward like a tidal explosion.
BOOOOOOOOOOM—!
Ancient stone walls shattered instantly.
Entire pillars collapsed.
The barrier trembled violently beneath the impact while cracks spread across Adrian’s defense despite his overwhelming mana output.
Several members were still thrown backward from the shockwave, blood spilling from one senior’s mouth as he crashed against debris.
"Damn it—!" Eric growled while helping him up.
Dust and corrupted smoke filled the sanctuary.
Visibility dropped instantly.
And then—
Luca felt it.
A pulse.
Faint.
Deep beneath the chamber.
His crimson eyes narrowed sharply.
Underground...
The mana feeding the remnant was not coming from the creature itself.
It was beneath them.
The realization struck him immediately.
"The seal core!" Luca shouted suddenly.
Everyone looked toward him mid-battle.
"This thing is drawing power from something underground!" he continued while slicing apart another corrupted tendril lunging toward him. "As long as the source remains active, we can’t kill it!"
Adrian’s golden eyes sharpened instantly.
"Can you locate it?"
Luca clenched his jaw.
"...Not exactly."
Another tremor shook the sanctuary.
Then Sylthara suddenly spoke.
"The mural!"
Everyone’s attention shifted toward her.
The silver-haired dark elf stood near the shattered remains of the ancient wall, her pale eyes fixed on the glowing inscriptions spreading beneath the floor.
"The mana flow is converging there," she said sharply. "The seal itself is connected to something below the sanctuary!"
Adrian reacted immediately.
"Everyone!" he commanded coldly. "Create an opening!"
Mana exploded throughout the chamber again.
Lightning crashed downward.
Firestorms erupted.
Wind blades shredded through corrupted darkness while Luca and Adrian charged simultaneously toward the center of the battlefield.
The remnant shrieked violently as though realizing their intentions.
Tendrils burst from every direction.
Luca’s body blurred.
Moonlit saber arcs carved through the darkness in rapid succession while Adrian distorted space itself around them, warping incoming attacks away before they could reach the advancing group.
Closer.
Closer.
The shattered mural glowed brighter now.
Black corrupted lines spread beneath the floor like veins pulsing with living darkness.
Then—
Luca saw it.
Beneath the broken remains of the mural itself—
A massive circular formation.
And at its center—
Something was beating.
Like a heart.
A black crystal embedded deep within the ancient seal pulsed violently beneath layers of corruption, feeding endless mana upward into the remnant above them.
Luca’s eyes widened.
That’s the core—
But before anyone could react further—
The crystal cracked.
And the entire sanctuary suddenly fell silent.
