Chapter 215

The darkness that had blanketed the entire Forest Shrouded in Darkness, including Wood Drum Village, was gradually thinning.

The power the Dark Lord had spread throughout the forest for so long was being reclaimed.

A full ten hours.

After absorbing all the darkness in the forest for ten hours, the Dark Lord despaired at the fact that it had not even recovered half of its former power.

To think it had fallen so low. It was because its very essence had been absorbed.

- It's alright.

There is still room to recover.

An intruder who possesses the same power as that damn brat.

If it could just absorb that one, it would be able to restore its essence.

No, perhaps it could even gain a power that transcends the recovery of its essence.

Believing this without a doubt, the Dark Lord unleashed its power.

The dense darkness that had covered the entire forest soon coalesced to become the Dark Lord's body.

The pure power that could be called true darkness had been lost long ago.

However, with just its remaining essence, the power of a being worthy of the name 'Lord' manifested in the Forest Shrouded in Darkness.

As if the trees of the vast forest were bowing their heads, the darkness radiated and gathered into a single form.

A person?

No, from a certain perspective, it was a form that resembled a lizard.

Yet, it also bore a likeness to a human form.

The darkness, with the tail of a lizard and walking on two legs like a human, stirred and slowly began its march.

Kuuung.

Swaaaaaaa——.

With a single step, the darkness itself spread out, staining everything around it with darkness.

On that path stained black, the Dark Lord strolled leisurely, its gaze fixed on a single location.

Wood Drum Village, the place that the hateful brat, Helena, had protected to the very end.

It stepped towards that place.

And in that moment, a strange sensation grated on the Dark Lord's nerves.

- ……?

Darkness?

No, something even denser.

Beings that felt as if they existed somewhere between the living and the dead.

The undead slowly began to crawl out from the ground.

- Pathetic......?

The Dark Lord, about to say something, thinking them laughable, was soon left speechless by their sheer number.

It wasn't just one or two.

Tens?

Hundreds?

Thousands?

No, it wasn't even on that scale.

Tens of thousands of undead crawled out from the ground and beckoned towards the darkness.

Already dead, the undead, who cared nothing for death, charged, radiating an aura of darkness and teal as they rushed towards the Dark Lord, which was darkness itself.

A legion of tens of thousands, devoid of fear or reason.

An indescribable sense of disgust and fear seemed to rise from the scene.

But as if mocking them, the Dark Lord reached out and raised its arm.

Kwaaaaaaah——!!!

Darkness surged up from the ground like walls, countless spiked barriers rose and swept through the area.

Hundreds of undead were swept away.

Yet, it was only a minor disturbance to the tens of thousands of undead still remaining in the legion.

-…Damn.

If it still had its original power, that horde of undead would have been annihilated with just a gesture.

Losing its essence and thus the true power of a sovereign was a great loss.

But it couldn’t be helped.

This was its current state.

It had to resolve this situation as it was.

Thinking so, the Dark Lord spread both hands and extended the darkness enveloping its body to attack the undead legion.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga———!!!

Puk!

Shu-shu-shu-shu-shu———!!!

Chwa-ja-ja-ja-ja-ja———!!!

The darkness sometimes became a wave, sweeping the surroundings.

Sometimes it transformed into spikes that pierced everything.

Other times it became blades that cut and split all before them.

Yet the relentless legion of death did not diminish.

It was enough to make one feel disgusted.

-That's the power of that brat, huh?

The power that transcended death.

And then.

The Dark Lord, briefly recalling the past, shook its head.

The numbers were large.

But in the end, they were just insignificant undead scraps.

Existences unable to deal even the slightest damage to it.

Arrogant as it was, Helena’s power truly transcended all common sense.

To have inherited such immense strength and yet only use it in such a way.

Its victory was assured.

Just as the Dark Lord was about to fully unleash its strength, seeing the tens of thousands gathered around it.

It suddenly became aware of something strange.

A teal mist oozed from the undead legion.

Poison?

It was darkness and a sovereign.

What could poison do against it?

Just as it prepared to mock the notion, bright sparks ignited from the undead army.

It realized then that the mist wasn’t merely to spread poison.

-This is…!!!

Kwaaaaaaah————!!!

The moment the sparks ignited.

An intense explosion enveloped the entire undead legion.

The violent explosion created an immense heatwave.

The air around the epicenter was first pushed out by the blast, then sucked back in by the change in pressure, causing a black cloud to rise into a sinister mushroom shape.

The surrounding ground ruptured, and the nearby trees were all incinerated by the heatwave, turning to ash.

Even trees quite a distance away, untouched by the heat, were snapped and felled by the shockwave.

The power of the blast was evident even from a distance.

Kugugugugugugugu———!!!

The belated tremors that shook the ground and spread far and wide made its power undeniably clear.

The epicenter had formed a crater, as if a meteorite had struck.

And at the center of that crater, darkness was writhing and rising.

It seemed even the darkness could not withstand the explosion; it did not look to be in good condition.

-Kul-keok.

The Dark Lord coughed up blood.

The damage from the massive explosion was considerable.

It had defended itself with darkness in that split second, but there was no way it could block it all.

Its form was battered and torn to shreds.

Its essence was already wounded, preventing full recovery, and now the shock had scattered half of the darkness it had barely managed to gather.

Only half of its darkness remained.

Could it defeat the intruder who inherited Helena’s power with this?

Just as that anxiety washed over it, the Dark Lord had a thought.

-To launch... an attack of this magnitude means that one cannot be unscathed either.

There was no way it could be fine after unleashing such an attack.

At the very least, it must have exhausted most of its power.

Believing this, the Dark Lord forced itself to its feet.

It would tear that goddamn Wood Drum Village to shreds, no matter what.

Just as it moved to take a step with that single-minded purpose, something incomprehensible happened.

Several beings appeared, surrounding it as if in a siege.

-Peeeeeeeh——!!!

One even appeared in the sky to watch over the Dark Lord.

Furthermore, each one was a formidable being with extraordinary power.

The Dark Lord watched them, unable to understand.

This was a power it had never seen from the Helena of the past.

No, perhaps it was one of the powers she had yet to manifest as a child.

As the vassals revealed themselves, the Dark Lord’s expression crumpled.

It, too, had once commanded countless vassals.

But the one who had absorbed all of them was the original master of this power.

Wasn't it Helena?

-Vassals…….

Each one was an extraordinary individual.

But in other words, it meant that individually, they were no match for it.

The Dark Lord’s eyes widened as it unleashed its power.

The darkness surged and spread around it, and with a single gesture, it created and fired a multitude of dark projectiles.

The bullets of darkness were shot towards the vassals gathered around, but.

Fiora, who had appeared earlier, formed her two hands into a large shield and blocked all the darkness.

Tadadadadadang!!!

The sound of metal being struck fiercely echoed as the dark projectiles hammered against the shield.

Yet, Fiora’s arms remained unharmed.

As the darkness bullets disappeared, Fiora’s arms returned to their original form, instantly transforming into two spears.

Watching this rapid transformation, the Dark Lord could not hide its shock and exclaimed.

-Shapeshifter?

Born from the darkness, the royal race known as the kings of all doppelgangers.

All races born from darkness, meaning, the Dark Lord itself, were naturally expected to serve it.

But even that shapeshifter had become the vassal of its adversary?

Was it because it had lost the essence of darkness?

Though it had not lost the title of sovereign itself.

For such a thing to happen.

The Dark Lord shouted in disbelief.

-I shall reclaim my rightful power!!!

As the indignant Dark Lord raised its hands, teal spears shot forth, flying straight at it.

But the Dark Lord effortlessly swatted aside the teal spear with a mere gesture, then spread its darkness.

The darkness bent to its will, transforming into mighty blades that swept through the area.

Swasasasasasa———!!!

Dark blades swung with the sheer strength to cut down everything nearby.

Yet an old demon charged at those blades.

More than a foolhardy act courting death, the fierce will and powerful aura blooming within the old demon, Drakhanos, stained the blades a deep red.

At the same time, as Drakhanos drew its blade and swung at the dark blades.

Shek.

Without any resistance, the dark blades were sliced through.

-Wha, what!?

Its own darkness blades, created with painstaking care, cut so simply?

Beyond the shapeshifter, how had it made a contract with a demon of such strength?

An incomprehensible phenomenon.

At that moment, the Dark Lord’s consciousness sped up to an unimaginable pace.

Or perhaps, in contrast, the slow air gave the illusion that the world had slowed.

The Dark Lord felt it.

A gigantic thunderbolt falling from its head.

-‘Damn.’

It couldn’t evade.

Even in this slow world, there was no way to avoid the rapidly descending lightning heralding its doom.

Transferring oneself through darkness was also not easy.

The timing was perfect for a strike just before teleporting.

It might have been possible had it spotted the thunderbolt in the sky and prepared accordingly.

But there was no choice—it had to block it.

As the Dark Lord drew up darkness to raise a shield against the thunderbolt.

The lightning struck just at the right moment.

Pa-ji-ji-ji-ji-ji——!!!

The lightning tore through the air but was blocked by darkness, dissipating its force and scattering into the atmosphere.

Just as the Dark Lord barely managed to block and again tried to extend its darkness to attack the vassals, something else fell from above its head.

It was the red moon that had been hanging in the sky all along—something the Dark Lord had missed because it was only focusing on the thunderbolt.

The red moon radiated its energy vividly and fired a crimson beam straight at the Dark Lord.

Kwaaaaaaaa——!!!

A terrifying red beam that could melt everything.

But the Dark Lord could only stare blankly.

Having instantly switched from defense to offense by spreading its darkness, it was now difficult to block again.

The red moon’s beam struck the Dark Lord.

It gritted its teeth as it felt the intense heat.

Each strike moved with the precision of machine parts, coming to attack it.

Damn bastards.

I'll tear each one apart.

Just as the Dark Lord was about to move with those thoughts,

“Hello, Mr. Darkness?”

-Y-You?!

Helena, in her childlike form, greeted the Dark Lord.

And in that moment,

The eyes lurking deep in the abyss far away opened, locking gaze with the Dark Lord.