Chapter 137 : External Field Trip (10)
Chapter 137: External Field Trip (10)
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Carl had pulled the being that resided within Laysis’ body toward himself because he saw a chance of victory.
‘In the world of mental images, I have the advantage.’
He had already experienced a battle inside this place once before.
Besha, who had led a horde of Demon Humans from the shadows.
And had he not clashed here with the demon that had been behind him?
Carl judged that what was dwelling inside Laysis’ body was a being equivalent to that demon he had encountered then.
He did not know why it was sealed inside this deep underground fortress temple, but it was not going to be easy to defeat.
‘For everyone to live, this is the only way.’
He had to drag it into the world of mental images and seize the upper hand based on his initiative.
For now, he had succeeded in pulling it inside.
Kwaaang!
Perhaps the creature had the same thought, for as soon as it entered the world of mental images, it scattered its power.
White lightning streaked with blue erupted in streams in every direction, shaking this world.
Carl exhaled lightly and tried to step forward while drawing on the power of the Primordial Unity Divine Art, but a certain presence stopped him in his tracks.
-Stay still.
"……!!"
This time, he was truly shocked.
It was the first voice he had ever heard inside the world of mental images.
‘Who is it?’
Inside here, there should only be himself and that being.
So who on earth could this voice belong to?
Carl refused the command and stepped forward, but soon he felt his mind grow faint.
‘This is…….’
It was the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
A realm far higher than his own, so far that he could not even fathom the gap.
No, could it not be said that it was the Heavenly Demon Divine Art itself?
Something closer to the source than what he had learned stopped his step and forbade it.
There was no hostility.
That was why Carl nodded quietly and stepped back.
‘What kind of mystery is this?’
Carl lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
What on earth was that blackened, condensed existence above?
Once again, all he could do was marvel at the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Kwaaang!
Meanwhile, on the ground, an enormous offensive was pouring down upon the white-haired woman.
Separate from the Demonic Energy falling from the heavens, bluish crystals of frost covered the land.
……If so, then what was the identity of that giant tree stretching up from the center?
Psshhhhh.
The cold air that burst forth from the spreading branches froze everything around, pressing the woman down.
Carl realized that this aura was extremely similar to the Extreme Yin Energy of the Bright Heaven Divine Art.
‘They said that when the Heavenly Demon Divine Art reached its peak, it manifested in the form of an Asura. But I have never heard such a thing about the Bright Heaven Divine Art…….’
Why then was it manifesting in the form of a tree?
Even recalling the verses carefully, there was no part that matched such a giant tree.
‘Bright Heaven, illuminating the sky.’
It was a name that felt the complete opposite of the Heavenly Demon.
Was it watching over the land with the light that brightened the sky?
So, nurtured by that radiance, such a tree had rooted itself here.
‘I’ll need to look deeper into this.’
Perhaps it was only conjecture.
He had thought he had the Bright Heaven Divine Art fully in his grasp, unlike the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, but now it seemed that too had been a mistake.
If it were so simple, it would not have been called a Divine Art like the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Perhaps this was a clue to surpassing his current realm.
[Kraaaagh!]
In the midst of Carl’s thoughts, a shrill cry rang out.
The woman pinned to the ground by the powers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the Bright Heaven Divine Art screamed, drenched in blood.
[Pathetic! A mere fragment, not even the original source, and you dare stretch your hand toward anyone? This is not a world you belong to! This causality will be borne directly by that one!]
-Laughable.
As if answering her blood-spewing scream, the Demonic Energy massed in the heavens also spoke.
The moment Carl looked up at it, he could only exhale a deep breath.
‘I can’t even measure it.’
What kind of martial attainment must one reach to achieve such a realm?
Carl felt as if a third eye had opened.
If this was not a providential encounter, then what was?
-That this seat would do such a thing.
Carl instinctively realized.
This was not merely the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
It was the Heavenly Demon itself dwelling within the Divine Art.
The very existence that had established that peerless martial art, bringing forth today’s Heavenly Demon.
Even if not the original, it was a part of its thought and will manifested here within his own world of mental images.
-Do you think I would care?
Kwaaang!
Once again, tremendous Demonic Energy poured down, crushing the earth.
The woman’s body twisted and began to crumble.
She seemed to struggle desperately in resistance, but the disparity in strength buried her flat into the ground.
Ssshhh.
The Demonic Energy pressing upon the ground began to fade.
As if its role was now over, the mass of black Demonic Energy in the world of mental images disappeared.
The Bingbaekmok, firmly rooted and scattering its crystals of frost, also dissolved into white light, fading away from its tips.
"……Ah."
Carl realized the situation belatedly and reached out his hand.
Even just a little, even for a moment, he wanted to converse.
But the presence that had filled the heavens had already long since vanished.
Except for the final instant, when its gaze lingered upon him briefly before departing, there was nothing left to sense.
‘So I am to handle everything beyond this point on my own judgment.’
Carl gave a bitter smile.
Truly, everything about it was fitting for the Heavenly Demon.
At the same time, his chest pounded.
If the Heavenly Demon Divine Art alone could reach such a realm, then how far could the Primordial Unity Divine Art take him?
Thud.
Carl descended to the ground.
At the center of the crater, the woman who had tried to rise with her twisted joints and torn body looked up at him while gasping for breath.
[……Kugh, huk.]
She spat blood as if she could not even speak properly, suppressing her breath.
Seeing that pitiful sight, Carl twisted his lips.
"Not satisfying. I wanted to break you with my own strength."
[You, what on earth, what is within your body?]
"I don’t know either. But I can roughly guess what your true identity is."
A one-sided hatred toward heroes.
A godhood spoken of with her own lips.
And the seals of the underground fortress and temple.
The name that all these pointed to could only be one for now.
"Demigod Kailos. Was it that the evil god who was defeated by the heroes was sealed in this place?"
[Ha!]
Kailos twisted her face and sneered.
In truth, information about Kailos was extremely scarce.
Hardly anything was known to the world, and even Carl had been ignorant of it before enrolling in Bayern.
He had first encountered the name in an interpreted copy of ancient texts left behind by his club seniors.
Because Laysis had shown interest after reading it, Carl had joined in the research and come across the name Kailos.
Of course, it had been nothing more than one of academia’s hypotheses, speculation about the foe that the heroes once faced.
‘But to think it truly existed.’
Because a being at the level of a Demigod had entered his mental image, the Divine Arts had responded.
Was that the correct way to see it?
[I am nothing but a fragment.]
Even while dripping blood, Kailos cast a chilling smile at Carl.
[Just as the godhood from another world that dwells within you is scattered across the continent, so too is my godhood dispersed everywhere.]
"Separated and sealed. A common enough occurrence."
She was a being once called an evil god.
Even if they had been heroes, they would have shattered and scattered her into fragments to prevent any chance of revival.
Ssshh.
Even while staggering, Kailos rose to her feet.
She wiped the blood from her brow with her dress hem and looked at Carl with eyes that had become far calmer.
[With power that cannot even come close to that of a hero, you cannot possibly defeat me.]
"Really, I wonder if that is true."
Carl clenched his fist.
He possessed not one but three powers that bore the name of Divine Arts.
Would that not be enough to at least somewhat keep up?
"But I am curious. Why did the heroes not finish you, but merely seal you away?"
[……Hero, hero, hero!]
Kailos flared up.
[Stop with that talk of heroes! The tales known to the world are all dressed-up lies! On the side of justice, you say? There is no such thing! It was nothing but the vile deeds of scum who acted for their own gain.]
"Then for what did you oppose the heroes?"
The order of questions had been reversed.
The records inscribed in the texts said that the ancient evil god had clashed with the Creator for the seat of the main god, and that the heroes had aided the Creator in driving back the ancient evil god.
But Carl subtly took Kailos’ side and provoked her, hoping to draw out a little more of her story.
[If you insist on a reason, then it was for the greater cause. Had I not stepped forth, this world would already have perished. Though in the end, both sides were left empty-handed.]
Kailos ground her teeth with an expression full of hatred.
But soon, she looked at Carl and spoke with a twisted smile.
[But that too is finished now. The loathsome ones who called themselves heroes never kept their promise and imprisoned me in this place for eons. So now, I shall live for myself.]
Paaah!
Had she regained her strength in the meantime?
Blue light erupted from Kailos’ body as she soared into the sky.
[If you thought an oath between humans and a Demigod could stand, then you were gravely mistaken. Did you truly believe a mere human could force restrictions upon me!]
"Pathetic."
Carl furrowed his brow.
So this was what it meant to be a Demigod?
If one had reached a realm beyond humanity, then it should be natural to possess a fitting dignity and grace.
Yet Kailos still looked down upon Carl with that twisted smile.
[The moment I leave this world, I shall sever the life of the woman before you. Let us see if you can remain so composed then.]
Paaah!
Kailos turned into radiance and burst in all directions to escape the world of mental images.
But Carl did not permit it.
Even if he could not crush her outright with the disparity in strength, he still held control over this space.
‘Close every exit.’
All formed gateways were sealed, and beyond that, he even manifested chains of iron will wrapping around this world.
Unless Kailos killed him, she had no means to leave.
Jjjjeong!
Colliding with the wall of the world with all her might, Kailos seemed to realize the truth and came to a halt.
[How laughable. Do you think you can press me as those divine beings from another world did?]
"Divine beings? Ah, you mean the Divine Arts."
Were they called Divine Arts because they made humans akin to gods?
Even the fragment of the Heavenly Demon he had just seen could perhaps be considered a Demon Immortal.
"……."
As Carl slowly raised the Primordial Unity Divine Art and prepared for the final clash, he suddenly grasped a realization.
Facing such an exalted existence had reminded him of something so basic that he had nearly forgotten it.
"Primordial Unity, so that is why it is called Unity."
Carl’s eyes widened.
How absurd that he had not realized something so simple.
There was no need for it to remain at merely two.
It could be three, four, or even a hundred.
All of them were Primordial Unity.
The path of merging them into a single pole was the process toward that unity.
If so—
"Righteousness, Demonic, and Divine."
What would the form of the Single Pole born from uniting these three be?
Shhhhhh!
A tremendous suction force burst from Carl’s hand, and it began to draw in Kailos’ light.