Chapter 216

The damned brat who had absorbed all of its essence and disappeared.

Now, that very brat appeared before its eyes.

Was she here to absorb its darkness again?

No, that couldn’t be the case.

Yet the young Helena looked at the Dark Lord and smiled brightly.

“Hello?”

It was just a single person stepping forward and greeting it.

But now—things were different.

“Hello?”

“Hello?”

Two, three?

No, even more.

Young Helena multiplied into hundreds, reaching out their hands.

In that moment, the Dark Lord realized that all of this was an illusion.

Or more precisely, it realized these were manifestations of the fear of Helena inside itself.

But understanding something in your mind is not the same as facing true terror.

Shuddering with fear, the Dark Lord swung darkness at these illusions, furiously attacking.

But none of its attacks landed.

On the contrary, one Helena slowly approached and attacked the Dark Lord.

If it were truly just an illusion, there would be no damage.

However…

Crunch!

-Keheok!

Its flesh seemed to be torn away, its darkness absorbed.

This wasn’t just a vision or fear, it was happening, for real.

Feeling this, the Dark Lord reflexively swallowed hard.

How was this possible?

These should have been illusions born of terror.

Had one of them become real?

Looking closely to confirm…

-’Only one of them is real and can attack.’

When only one approached and attacked, it was the real Helena.

Realizing that…

Even while shivering in fear, the Dark Lord quickly calculated and reached out towards the Helena who could attack.

But from behind, another Helena attacked.

-Keheok!

Only one was supposed to be real.

How could this happen?

Just as the Dark Lord hastily redirected its projectiles from the front to the rear Helena.

It took damage from the front Helena as well.

Crunch!

The pain and terror of having its darkness ripped away caused the Dark Lord’s eyes to shake violently in confusion.

What was happening?

Which one was the real one?

At that very moment, it was lost in such thoughts.

Once again, the young Helena appeared and grabbed one of the Dark Lord’s arms, smiling brightly.

The moment that pure, innocent smile sent a chill down the Dark Lord’s spine.

Kwaddeuddeuddeut!!!

-Kuaaaaaaaaak!!!

A horrific sound rang out from the Dark Lord’s right arm, and the arm fell off.

It seemed to have taken tremendous damage.

But in reality, the damage itself was small.

How the arm came off was incomprehensible.

The Dark Lord tried to raise darkness again to recreate its right arm.

But it did not form.

The body made of darkness would not restore itself.

As the Dark Lord lifted its head in confusion,

It saw the young Helena smiling sweetly while biting into its severed arm.

-Gi-give it back...!

Was it being drained of its darkness again?

It could actually feel its health and mana being absorbed somewhere.

Its essence of darkness had not been absorbed yet.

But not much remained either.

It had to recover from this state by any means.

The Dark Lord released all its darkness and attacked the surroundings.

Yet, only one Helena did not fall and kept sticking close, attacking.

The Dark Lord’s attacks did not hit at all, while the young Helena attacking it alone brought back memories of the past.

-Uaaaaaah!!!

It screamed at the frightening sight.

Then Helena multiplied again into many.

Some drew swords and charged in to attack.

Another struck thunder down.

Another opened her mouth and breathed out, leaving the Dark Lord battered and torn.

Amidst all directions filled with Helena, the red moon and abyss writhed and launched attacks as well.

Trapped in a world it could not understand, the Dark Lord screamed.

It tried to fight back using even the powers it had been saving.

But even that was not enough.

The master of darkness itself.

Could not be so easily.

So easily erased!

Because of that, the Dark Lord unleashed the power of its essence and transformed into its true form.

Then Phase 2 began and fear withdrew.

Its missing right arm grew back.

All fear and illusions vanished.

Yet the Dark Lord could see it.

The young Helena smiling before it gradually growing up, becoming a dignified woman smiling gently.

-Illu-illusion?

“Ahahaha! No way! Mr. Darkness, long time no see! I thought you had disappeared after absorbing me back then, but you’re still alive, huh?”

Smiling playfully as she spoke,

The Dark Lord looked at Helena with a sense of futility.

This was real.

Not an illusion or fear, but the real Helena.

Just from hearing her speak, it knew.

The Dark Lord wondered if the intruder was the grown Helena.

But that couldn’t be.

Helena looked weaker than ever, let alone from the past.

There was definitely something wrong.

If that was the case, then there might still be hope for the Dark Lord to survive.

Just as the Dark Lord was calculating,

A young man appeared before him.

A youth in black robes, wearing a indifferent expression, looking down at the Dark Lord from the crater.

When Seonghyun looked at the Dark Lord,

The Dark Lord’s two eyes trembled violently.

-Ha-have you already absorbed two lords...?

Right now, Seonghyun’s power was weak.

Weak, yet the quality held within was not weak at all.

He could feel the power of two lords, and it was even pushing past that.

No, that intruder was surely surpassing.

The lords.

The Dark Lord felt this and shouted.

-Are you really going to ‘surpass’ me? Is that why you came for me?

At the Dark Lord’s angry words, Helena looked coldly at it with a serious expression and put her index finger to her lips.

“Shh.”

Ignoring that, Seonghyun cast his skill.

The Tome of Destruction appeared, unfolding within Seonghyun’s hand the great and ominous forbidden magic that had been lost for now.

Piercingly white thunder was clenched in his palm, and as Seonghyun threw it like a spear,

The world seemed to bleach, losing all color, with only the pure white thunder shooting towards the Dark Lord.

Even the incarnation of darkness itself, the Dark Lord, lost its blackness and was dyed white.

It tried to reach out to the thunder,

But it could not.

[Sealed movement for 3 seconds by the Grip of the Abyss.]

[Hidden Raid Boss, ‘Forgotten Lord, Dark Lord’ attempts to resist.]

[Skill cannot be resisted.]

It could not move.

Then it tried to use a skill to evade.

Suddenly, a giant witch appeared behind it, chuckling madly.

Its mouth was sewn shut with teal thread.

[Sealed skills for 5 seconds by the Lord’s Silence.]

[Hidden Raid Boss, ‘Forgotten Lord, Dark Lord’ resists slightly.]

[Duration reduced to 2 seconds.]

Pierced by the white thunder, a large hole was torn in the Dark Lord’s abdomen.

Other vassals rushed in to attack the wound.

Helena also muttered while looking at the Dark Lord.

“How is it, Mr. Darkness? This is my disciple.”

While being pummeled by the vassals, the Dark Lord muttered as if it was absurd.

-...You are nothing but a monster.

Weaker than Helena when she was young.

That much was certain.

But the potential within.

Feeling a mysterious power that was hard to explain, the Dark Lord said,

“You are a monster.”

Hearing that, Helena frowned and said,

“Excuse me. There’s no one more fitting to be an Overlord than our Seonghyun.”

-…How far do you intend to ‘surpass’? What do you plan to become by ‘surpassing’ the lords?

At those words, Helena simply smiled.

“I don’t know. That’s up to our Seonghyun to decide.”

For Helena, who had ultimately not reached that end herself, it was an unknowable matter.

And as an NPC who could not go against the will of the world, Helena murmured unconsciously.

“It’s a cruel world~”

At that, the Dark Lord gave a dry laugh and had no choice but to agree.

But—

-That’s not your place to say. Demon King.

With those final words, the Dark Lord’s body completely collapsed.

All its darkness shattered and disappeared.

6.

Eventually, the Dark Lord’s body broke apart, spent from the vassals’ barrage and Seonghyun’s destruction.

A message appeared before Seonghyun’s eyes, announcing the end of battle.

[Hidden Raid Boss, ‘Forgotten Lord, Dark Lord’ has been vanquished.]

[Exclusive hidden raid boss of ‘Overlord’.]

[Replaced with special rewards.]

[‘Overlord’ story quest, ‘Assault of Darkness’ cleared.]

[Receiving rewards.]

[Massive experience obtained!]

[Level up!] ×2

[Reached level 170.]

[Achieved level in tens, activating Almighty-rank item, ‘Tome of the Overlord’.]

[Achieved level in tens, activating Almighty-rank item, ‘Tome of Blood’.]

[By reaching level 170, a new ‘Overlord’ skill is unlocked.]

[New skills and vanquishing rewards combined.]

[Acquired Almighty-rank skill, ‘Lord of Darkness’.]

[Almighty-rank skill, ‘Lord of Darkness’ scans the darkness-type skills of current user ‘Seonghyun’.]

[Conditions met.]

[‘Overlord’ 3rd Class Advancement (completed).]

[‘Overlord’ story quest ‘Helena’s Diary 1’ (completed).]

[More than 10 darkness-type skills (completed).]

[Almighty-rank skill, ‘Lord of Darkness,’ awakens true power.]

[Darkness-type skills merged into ‘Lord of Darkness’.]

[Integrated skills can still be used individually and also reproduced by ‘Lord of Darkness’.]

[Currently no diaries available for reproduction.]

[Exclusively for Overlord, the item ‘Helena’s Diary!’ is temporarily sealed.]

So many messages.

Reading all of them,

Seonghyun’s expression turned puzzled at seeing he had acquired a new lord-type skill.

‘Is this what the Dark Lord meant by ‘surpassing’?’

Skills integrated into one.

Not fully understanding the meaning, Seonghyun opened the skill immediately.

‘Lord of Darkness’

→《Almighty》

→[Lv 1][Growth-type]

[Complex]

Wherever his footsteps fall, the light fades, and when his voice echoes, darkness gains life.

→Exclusive skill for Overlord.

→Created by merging all previously used skills.

→All merged skills remain individually usable, and the ‘Lord of Darkness’ skill can also be used additionally.

→Can freely imagine and use the power of darkness as desired.

→Mana consumption is proportional to the amount freely used.

→Damage is determined proportionally to mana consumed.

“Huh?”

If this was real...

Seonghyun unconsciously raised his hand.

At the same moment, thinking of raising darkness,

Darkness bloomed in Seonghyun’s palm, forming the shape of a spear.

Should he call it the Dark Spear?

Seeing the form, Seonghyun was amazed.

Helena approached and said,

“Congratulations, you’ve surpassed it!”