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Chapter 318: Necronovix, the Four Lords of Hell (7)
Ketal charged forward, infusing his axe with aura and channeling immense power into it—the very force capable of killing all things.
Necronovix gathered demonic energy to defend, but his shield shattered under the impact, sending his body crashing into the earth.
BOOOOM!
“Ugh…”
Necronovix groaned softly.
As he tried to recover, Ketal’s axe struck down toward his head.
However, before the blow landed, Necronovix’s body dissolved into darkness and teleported away, narrowly escaping.
“You’re strong as I expected,”
Necronovix said with a faint smile.
“But I didn’t think you would possess that monstrous power. My plans have been thrown off quite a bit.”
“Tsk,”
Ketal clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Though he overwhelmed Necronovix, his expression showed no joy—only irritation.
“You said you came to kill me,”
Ketal growled.
“If that’s the case, I’d appreciate it if you’d take this fight seriously.”
“I’d like to,”
Necronovix replied with a wry smile.
“But even if I fight you seriously, it won’t be easy to win.”
Necronovix’s grin deepened.
“That’s why I’ve decided you’ll be dealt with later. For now, I have duties as a Lord of Hell to attend to.”
Corrupting the earth and staining it with evil—that was another of Necronovix’s reasons for descending.
“I’ll kill you afterwards, until then, take a breather.”
Ketal stomped the ground, his body accelerating instantly to close the gap between him and Necronovix.
Necronovix smirked.
SLASH.
Ketal’s axe sliced through Necronovix’s neck.
But it was meaningless—Necronovix had already escaped before the blade could sever him.
“Tch,”
Ketal frowned in frustration.
The battle was momentarily over.
From afar, onlookers who had been hesitantly observing now cautiously approach.
“Uh, um…”
“Are you…?”
Ketal surveyed the ruined battlefield where Necronovix had wreaked havoc, noting the survivors who had witnessed their battle.
“You… You’re not, by any chance, Ketal, are you?”
One of them stammered.
“Word has spread this far, I see. Yes, that’s me.”
“Oh, ohhhh!”
“The strongest barbarian born of the surface!”
“A genius who appeared like a comet!”
Cheers erupted from the crowd, who rushed forward to question Ketal.
Though he would have preferred to converse leisurely, there wasn’t time.
“Sorry, I have a lot to do. We’ll talk if the chance arises later.”
“Ah, yes?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a portal opened.
Ketal stepped through, arriving at a location where the Tower Master and Serena awaited.
“You’ve arrived!”
[So, you’re back—without a scratch, as usual.]
“Unlike you,”
Ketal remarked, observing the Tower Master’s battered state.
His body was riddled with fractures, injuries severe enough to render an ordinary person immobile.
Serena wasn’t in great shape either; though her wounds had been healed with holy energy, her strength had greatly diminished.
[That bastard’s already ridiculously strong, and he keeps appearing every three days. I’ve barely had time to rest. If Serena hadn’t helped, things could’ve been fatal.]
Serena had been aiding the Tower Master in fending off Necronovix.
Though her power alone was insufficient, her holy energy as a Holy Sword was a tremendous asset.
Without her, the Tower Master’s condition would have been even worse.
[Not that it changes the situation.]
Despite their desperate efforts, the situation was dire.
They could only defend two locations at most.
Necronovix had three avatars attacking simultaneously, making it impossible to protect all fronts.
The Sacred Grounds of the Fairies.
The Southern Dragon Council.
Various western religious churches.
Numerous battlefields had already fallen to Necronovix’s onslaught.
Despite their earlier gains after Ketal defeated Raphael, the surface forces were now being pushed back rapidly.
[Without the aid of the gods, there’s no way to defend that third front.]
“Can’t we get the Sun God’s saintess to help?”
[She could manage, but the demons are throwing everything they’ve got into this battle. Necronovix’s direct descent has spurred them to use all their resources, and they’re doing everything to hinder her movements. She doesn’t have the capacity to stop him.]
“That’s not good.”
Even if they defended two fronts, the third would always fall.
It was an unwinnable situation.
Still, they weren’t entirely passive.
While holding back Necronovix’s forces, they had been searching for a countermeasure.
“Have you figured anything out?”
[We have… to an extent,]
The Tower Master replied, opening a portal and pulling out a corpse.
Ketal tilted his head curiously.
“What is this?”
[It’s the body left behind when Necronovix used up all its energy and withdrew. Normally, no trace would remain, but I intervened to leave this remnant.]
The Tower Master began explaining.
[This was a dark magician. Upon investigation, it turned out to be roughly at a superhuman level of power.]
Three avatars attacking the surface simultaneously.
A dark magician’s corpse left behind.
The conclusion was obvious.
“A possession.”
[More like using a body as a puppet. It’s not uncommon.]
Even the celestial beings like Materia had descended by borrowing Floris’s body, and
Federica had possessed the body of a saint.
Such methods were common for higher beings.
However, Necronovix’s distinction lay in his ability to control three such puppets simultaneously, with each being as powerful as his main body.
[How can such a thing even be possible with dark magic? It’s incomprehensible, but that’s not the issue. What matters is finding a way to counter it.]
Despite suspecting this method from the beginning, they had spent a week analyzing ways to combat it.
“So, what’s the solution?”
[It’s simple. Necronovix is controlling these puppets through dark magicians. Eliminate all dark magicians in this world, and he’ll lose his puppets.]
Ketal frowned.
“That sounds impossible.”
[Exactly,]
The Tower Master agreed bitterly.
Eliminating all the dark magicians in the world was an unattainable task.
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If it were possible, the forces of evil wouldn’t have been able to threaten the surface continually.
“Are there any restrictions on his possession?”
[There are. He can only possess magicians at a superhuman level or higher. That seems to be the minimum threshold.]
“Then we just need to eliminate the superhuman-level dark magicians.”
[That’s correct. But even that isn’t easy.]
Since Necronovix’s descent, all dark magicians had gone into hiding.
Even for the Tower Master, tracking them all down was nearly impossible, and there wasn’t enough time.
[Of course, there aren’t that many superhuman-level dark magicians. But if Necronovix wanted to, he could create more.]
Dark magicians gain power by receiving it from demons.
While twisted and unstable, this bestowed strength was sufficient for Necronovix’s purposes.
“It’s not a viable plan.”
[It’s not. But it’s the only option we’ve found.]
Necronovix could freely move between his puppets, rendering them nearly impossible to capture or defeat.
Eliminating his support system was the only conceivable solution.
[If we had even one more strong fighter capable of holding their own against him, it might change things,] the Tower Master lamented.
But until then, their predicament remained unchanged.
A single freely moving puppet provided the lacking power needed to contend with the Tower Master and Ketal.
This made it impossible to trace the puppet's true body.
In other words, if they could capture just one more puppet, Necronovix would lose his edge.
This would also allow the Tower Master to trace the puppet's true body's location.
[Well, even if we find it, the best we can do is reverse summon it. That’s frustrating.]
Killing a demon was impossible without divine aid.
The power of the Holy Sword was insufficient.
But Ketal answered simply.
“You don’t need to worry about that. Once the true body is found, I can kill it for sure.”
[Hmm? What do you mean by that?]
“It seems I’ve never shown this to you before.”
Ketal gripped his axe.
The Tower Master watched closely as something unfolded.
Then, aura appeared on the axe.
Vreeeeeeee!
The moment the aura came into view, the Tower Master instinctively cast dozens of layers of magic to shield himself.
Even then, as though still uneasy, he immediately widened the distance between them.
“…Even seeing it again, it’s unsettling,”
Muttered Serena as she hesitantly moved further away, her expression one of discomfort.
The Tower Master groaned.
[What… is that?]
It was his first time seeing it, but he could tell immediately.
That power could kill him.
It could destroy a lich like himself without needing to find his life vessel.
The Abomination grumbled.
[Don’t make a spectacle of me like this.]
“This should be power enough to satisfy even you.”
[But you won’t kill me, right? That would be meaningless.]
“You’re such a fussy guy.”
Hearing Ketal’s words, the Tower Master murmured.
[There’s something inside you, isn’t there?]
“An annoying tenant. Either way, killing won’t be an issue.”
Necronovix always fled when fighting Ketal.
The reason was simple—to avoid being struck by the Abomination.
This meant the Abomination could kill Necronovix.
The Tower Master let out a hollow laugh.
[Truly extraordinary… Still, that power you just showed—it seems similar to what Necronovix wields.]
“He claimed to have mimicked my power. But it’s just that—a mimicry. It’s no problem for me.”
The Tower Master was taken aback.
That one of the four great Lords of Hell, Necronovix, would stoop to imitating the techniques of a mere barbarian?
And yet, having witnessed it himself, he couldn’t argue.
The aura Ketal displayed was deeper and more distinct than the darkness Necronovix had ever wielded.
[This makes no sense… It’s an affront to my pride as a Tower Master. Regardless, the problem of killing has been resolved. Now, all that remains is… finding a way to capture that last puppet.]
A way to capture Necronovix’s puppet.
With such a card, they could counter him.
But such a card did not exist in this world.
[What a headache… I’ll have to track down and crush every black magician one by one to figure it out.]
The Tower Master clicked his tongue.
* * *
At the same time.
On the far eastern edge of a continent surrounded by a deep, vast ocean.
It was typically a bustling resort area, but now it was completely deserted.
From the sea, something emerged onto the continent.
Splaash!
The seawater split, and a thick hand pressed against the ground.
The figure revealed itself on the surface.
“Ha, hahaha!”
Laughter burst out, and light flickered in ash-gray eyes.
“Finally! Finally, I’ve arrived! Feeble world outside! I have come here!”
“Be quiet,”
Said a figure next to it, grimacing.
Another figure ignored their conversation entirely and curiously handled the sand.
“What’s this? It’s so soft.”
After a moment, the figure clenched a handful of sand and shoved it into its mouth.
Chewing thoughtfully, it nodded.
“Not bad. The outside world is overflowing with food.”
“Really? The king said sand isn’t edible.”
“That’s just the king’s taste. His cooking is quite delicious, after all.”
“True. I miss the king’s cooking.”
“Why not ask him to feed you again?”
The three beings fully revealed themselves on the land.
They had humanoid shapes with bulging muscles.
Their ash-gray hair swayed in the wind, and their gray eyes gazed at the world.
One had short hair and a rough, intimidating face.
Another had a more intellectual look by comparison.
The last was a woman.
Though slender compared to the men, one could immediately sense dormant strength beneath her frame.
The woman muttered in fascination.
“It’s warm. Feels like being inside a hut.”
“Hahaha! King, we’ve arrived. We’ve followed you here to this world.”
“Hmm. I want to see the things the king spoke of. A massive village, was it?”
The two excitedly murmured while the intellectual barbarian calmed them.
“Don’t get too excited. Have you forgotten the words of the elders? Our purpose here is to find the king.”
“Well, that’s true. But how do we find the king?”
“…”
At this question, silence lingered.
It seemed none of them had given much thought to how they would locate their king.
“No need to overthink it,”
Said the rough barbarian, still chewing sand.
“We’ll just walk wherever our feet take us. Eventually, we’ll find the king.”
“Ooh!”
“As expected of the brain our king personally taught! So clever!”
Despite the crude method, the other two marveled as though the idea was ingenious.
“But what if the things of this world block our way? Even if the king appears, he might beg us not to cause havoc.”
“Well, that’s simple.”
The intellectual barbarian grinned, revealing his teeth.
“We’ll just kill them all.”
“Is that okay? The king warned us, remember? He wasn’t joking—he’d smash our heads in.”
“It’s fine. He once explained something called self-defense to me. If something blocks us, we can kill it without issue.”
“Ooh! That’s brilliant!”
“Indeed, Brain! It’s good we brought you along.”
“Now then.”
The three revealed their teeth in feral grins, their emotions surging violently.
The sand trembled, and the water rippled.
“Let’s go find the king.”
“Hahaha! King, we’ve arrived. You’ll be overjoyed to see us, won’t you?”
“Of course! You’ll praise us happily!”
“Maybe even hug us?”
“Definitely! Let’s go!”
The barbarians of the White Snowfields.
The three began their march across the continent.
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