Chapter 216 : Conference (8)
Chapter 216 : Conference (8)
“We’ve completed the perimeter lockdown. Unless they escape underground, there’s no way out.”
“Maintain the Heaven’s Net.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
With that response, Nine’s figure vanished into the darkness.
“For a rat, he sure dug an awful lot of tunnels.”
Carl let out a snort and scanned his surroundings.
Thanks to Vento, they had thoroughly taken care of one of Origin’s branches.
Since they hadn’t even been prepared for the raid, it was handled swiftly, and they even secured a large volume of information and assets.
All of it was thanks to Vento.
‘We won’t be able to wipe out Origin in one night, though.’
Origin had existed even before NOX.
They were in league with the forces of the Demon Realm, so their roots must run deep into far darker places.
Wiping out Origin in a single night was impossible, but they could at least find clues.
If they could map out the scattered strongholds, they might be able to strike all at once and sever their limbs.
‘It’d be great if the Holy Nation stepped in more actively.’
He hated the idea of those aligned with the Demon Realm roaming around freely.
In terms of the Central Plains, it was like those who colluded with the Demonic Sect—utter degenerates.
Vermin who abandoned their beliefs and even their lives for money or personal goals.
Among them were several who had met their end at Carl’s hands.
Thanks to that, he’d clashed with the Demonic Sect’s elites more than once.
– Master, we’ve found him.
Step.
Carl began to move.
Tonight felt unusually short.
It hadn’t seemed long since the banquet and conference began, yet dawn was already approaching.
‘Once morning comes, I have to return to the academy.’
He had lectures scheduled from the morning.
In the afternoon, there was also a meeting with the delegation to prepare for the Walpurgis Night Festival.
Somehow, life in Artenia felt busier than back in the Central Plains.
“So let’s end this game of tag now.”
Whooooom─!
A massive surge of energy concentrated into Carl’s sword.
And when a single arc of that energy was swung, the storeroom door that had blocked his path split diagonally.
Naturally, the interior was empty.
Sweeping the ground with his eyes, Carl found a passage leading underground in the corner of the storeroom.
Boom.
With a single light stomp, Carl broke the entrance open and leapt inside.
KABOOOM─!
An explosion erupted at the same time, sweeping through the surroundings.
It seemed to have been rigged to detonate if the entrance was forced open.
He’d predicted as much, so Carl protected himself with Aura Blade and crossed through the flames.
“……”
The scent of the Thousand-Mile Tracking Fragrance reached his nose.
The passage below had been built with multiple routes to evade pursuers, but Carl chose the right direction without hesitation and sped through.
He needed to hurry if he wanted to finish everything before dawn.
Bang!
He smashed through another steel door blocking his path and stepped inside.
“You’ve built some strange things under the capital.”
Given the vastness of the land, it made sense they’d installed various facilities.
Did they really think they wouldn’t be discovered?
Carl snorted and thrust his sword forward.
Crack.
The wall, made of thick alloy, split open, revealing the interior space.
It looked like a research lab, and Vento turned toward Carl with a shocked expression.
“How? How did you find me so quickly?”
“Your foul stench stung my nose. How could I not smell it?”
“……”
Vento furrowed his brows.
He was certain they had used some kind of tracking spell or artifact on him.
So he’d dealt with all of that before entering this lab—how had they tracked him again?
“You look like you’re wondering.”
Carl slowly raised his sword.
No matter how skilled they were, they couldn’t completely mask the scent of the Thousand-Mile Tracking Fragrance.
To nullify it, they’d need to use a special counter-agent or burn off their skin to erase the scent soaked into it.
Swoooosh!
An overwhelming wave of energy burst from Carl’s entire body.
It was a declaration that he would allow no further escape.
Those who had rushed forward to defend the lab collapsed unconscious from that force alone.
“……”
Vento’s face grew grim.
‘He was hiding his strength?’
The feeling was on a completely different level from back at the mansion.
He had known Carl was strong, but this surpassed all expected standards.
“……”
Vento glanced at the researchers beside him.
Even if he didn’t know about the rest, he absolutely couldn’t be captured himself.
So the moment the researchers put Black Beads into their mouths to chew—
Shwik─!
A blindingly fast slash tore through the air.
Before they could swallow the Black Beads, all of the researchers’ heads were sliced off and rolled across the floor.
“What now? You didn’t get to take the Black Beads.”
“……Damn.”
Vento frowned.
Whether Black Beads or Mana Beads, they were only effective after ingestion.
He hadn’t expected Carl to chase him down this quickly, so his preparations had been delayed.
This place was supposed to be just a brief stop to resupply on reagents before moving on.
‘What do I do?’
Vento was at a loss.
His only option now was to hold out until Origin’s backup arrived.
The Black Beads were one of Origin’s core ventures.
They must’ve already dispatched support to protect their person in charge—him.
If he could endure until they arrived, he might survive.
Unfortunately, the blade was already too close.
“Haah……”
Letting out a deep sigh, Vento looked at Carl.
“You really are troublesome. You ruined our plans—couldn’t you just leave it at that instead of chasing me all the way here?”
“I like to tie up loose ends.”
“For that, NOX will be destroyed. And you along with it.”
Vento opened the vial.
After a moment of hesitation, he drank it before Carl could move.
Clang!
He tossed aside the now-empty vial and wiped his lips.
It was a concentrated extract of demonic energy used to make Black Beads.
Each Black Bead required just a single drop of this to be diluted—it was that potent.
To absorb all of it at once...
Thump.
His heart thundered so violently it felt as though it might burst.
A crackling black energy spread across his skin, invading his entire body and bringing an almost maddening euphoria.
“Ahh, aaaah……”
With his head tilted back, Vento let out a sound that was either a scream or a cry of joy.
As it was still a prototype, he hadn’t wanted to use it directly, but circumstances had driven him into a corner.
If he were lucky, his abilities would manifest in a new form; if not, he would transform into a monster like the other Demon Humans before him.
Fortunately, Vento was among the lucky ones.
Shhhhk.
A plume of pale white smoke billowed out from behind his back.
‘Mana?’
Carl instantly recognized it as Vento’s mana.
It was a considerable amount—why was he expelling the mana that was within him?
‘Did he take an elixir that explodes latent power?’
From the looks of it, he had consumed something several stages above the Black Beads, yet expelled all the mana that should have been amplified?
Carl narrowed his eyes and observed Vento.
Crunch, crick.
Vento’s transformation was dramatic.
All his muscles began to swell, and his body gradually grew larger.
His limbs stretched longer, his fingernails turned pitch black, sharpening into claw-like points.
Eventually, when he raised his head, a small horn had sprouted from his forehead.
“……Hoo.”
The transformation that had caused unbearable euphoria and immense pain finally ended.
Drenched in sweat, Vento exhaled a long breath and raised his head.
“I feel like I should thank you.”
“Thank me?”
“Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have dared try it. It’s all thanks to you.”
Vento grinned.
Jagged teeth jutted out, exposing a face that was no longer human.
“So you’ve become a Demon Human?”
“I became that long ago. Don’t compare me to such things.”
Clench.
As he lightly clenched his fist, thick demonic energy surged upward.
He wasn’t an incomplete existence like a Demon Human.
He had fully shed his human form and evolved into a perfect being, enveloped in demonic energy.
“A demon—I’ve become a demon itself. This is incredible. I never imagined it would turn out like this.”
“……”
Carl slowly raised his sword.
He had waited for Vento’s transformation precisely for this reason.
‘Since I’ll have to face more of Origin’s members in the future.’
If there were transformations like this, it would be wise to study them in advance.
Ideally, he wanted to secure Vento’s transformed body and bring it back to NOX for research.
“We’ll find out soon enough whether you’re any different from a Demon Human.”
“Yes, I’m curious too. Against someone of your caliber…”
Shff.
“…I wonder how I’ll feel.”
“……!”
At the sound of a voice behind him carried by a gust of wind, Carl’s eyes widened.
He immediately swung his sword behind him, but Vento was already atop a table.
“Well, well. My speed’s become so fast I can’t even control it. So this is the view you all were seeing. It’s absolutely delightful.”
“……”
Carl’s eyes darkened.
It was hard to keep up with the movements.
Even with an elixir that exploded latent power, such a drastic rise in ability was rare.
‘It’s like he really has become a different species, just as he claimed…’
The method for dealing with someone who had pushed their latent power to the limit was simple.
Time would solve the problem—just hold out without fully engaging, and they would collapse on their own.
But this one...
‘If it drags on, it’s dangerous.’
Standing still and gazing up at Vento, Carl let go of his composure and activated the Primordial Unity Divine Art.
Fwoosh.
As Carl chased him, Vento stuck out his tongue and launched off the ground again.
He had meant to toy with him through superior speed, yet somehow the distance didn’t widen.
“You’re keeping up with this too?”
How much strength had this man been hiding?
He was shocked, but at the same time, his confidence swelled from having drawn out his opponent’s true power.
Clang─!
Sword and claw collided.
Before, he would have been overwhelmed, but now they stood evenly matched without budging an inch.
“Hahahaha! What now! Your sword can’t even cut m—!”
“Demon Seal.”
BOOM!
The force of the sword changed.
Heaven-Flow Sword Technique, Fifth Form: Demon Seal.
A dominating slash meant to crush the target unfolded through Carl’s sword.
Crunch.
Vento’s foot sank into the ground.
Yet not even a hairline crack formed on the claws he had thrust out—that was shocking.
‘Even the body transformed?’
Had he truly become a demon?
In any case, it was clear this fight must not be drawn out.
The fortunate thing was that Vento hadn’t yet realized the full extent of his power or learned to control it.
That gap was what Carl would exploit.
RUMBLE─!
The swiftest sword strike in the Heaven-Flow Sword Technique pierced the air with a thunderclap.
Vento’s claw was deflected, pierced through, and he was slammed into the wall.
“……Guh!”
The energy flowing through the blade ravaged his insides.
Vento coughed up black blood and grabbed Carl’s sword with a twisted face.
“Y-You…!”
“If I can’t cut you from the outside, I’ll shake you apart from within.”
It was a tried and true method passed down in the Central Plains for defeating enemies focused on external defense.
To that, Carl added divine power from Kylos.
If the impact of the Primordial Unity Technique was combined with divine power, the damage would be doubled.
“……Aaaaaaaaagh!”
It seemed even more effective than expected.
As the divine power flowed directly into his body, Vento convulsed and thrashed violently.
He flailed his limbs so wildly he smashed everything around him.
“Stop! Stop! Stoooop!”
“If you gain something, you must lose something.”
The power gained through demonic energy came with the fatal weakness of divine power.
“This is your karma.”
Carl twisted his lips as he looked down at the convulsing Vento.