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“This is getting way too crazy!”

We used the Transmission Technique to zip over to a hill near the Governor’s Office of the British Empire. Below us, we could see the massive grounds and buildings of the Governor’s Office, with airships floating by overhead, and soldiers standing guard with their sleek firearms. Of course, even those armed soldiers wouldn’t stop us, but an eerie vibe made us pause for a moment.

I could feel all eyes were on me. I took a moment to think before saying, “We need someone to draw their attention. We can’t just waltz through this barrier.”

“Leave that to me, Baek Woong. If it gets noisy, you all slip in,” Dr. Faust piped up while sporting a top hat and a black death doctor mask. He stepped up as our bait.

He clicked open his giant bag, and the next moment, it felt like his whole body transformed into a swirling mass of darkness, summoning a monstrous black beast next to him.

[Kraaaarrr.]

Dr. Faust, now looking like a demon, let out a bone-chilling roar and charged straight at the front of the Governor’s Office.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Every swipe of his claws tore apart space itself, and soldiers screamed in terror. Simultaneously, buildings crumbled like they were caught in a natural disaster.

‘His physical capabilities surpass even that of a High-Level Existence…!!’

How on Earth can he pull off such a transformation? This isn’t something you can explain with normal sorcery! Moreover, I didn’t feel a hint of magical power from him, so it didn’t seem like he was borrowing magic from the Old Ruler.

I asked in awe, “What is that ability?”

Berus replied with a bitter tone, “He’s Germany’s top scholar and a paradox. He studied the techniques created by humanity to fight against rulers but ended up becoming a living contradiction himself. We have to move before he gets too far gone.”

“Got it.”

There seemed to be a complicated backstory, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on Dr. Faust. With his level of power, he’d more than grab attention and let us slip away. What mattered now was taking advantage of this chaos to get inside.

PA-HAAT!

Using the Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s Transmission Technique, we all popped into the broad corridor inside the Governor’s Office. It was even larger than it looked from outside, bedecked in a dizzying combination of black and white. In front of us stood a blonde, blue-eyed man in noble attire, waiting with a smirk.

“The little rat from the East has come back… You won’t escape today.”

Thanks to the Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s Corpse Dissolution Technique, I easily understood his words. I shot back, “Who are you?”

“I am Fulcanelli, the Alchemist in service to ‘Him’…”

SWISH!

Fulcanelli’s entire body suddenly turned to sand and vanished. At the same time, space twisted and contorted chaotically, and countless lethal weapons launched toward us from all directions. But just then, Cheon Woo-jin pointed his finger forward and shouted, “Rapid Fire Incantation!!”

BOOM!

[Kraaaarrrr.]

Fulcanelli was flung back by the explosion, blood gushing from all over. He tried to attack by manipulating space, but with Cheon Woo-jin’s single incantation, he was gravely wounded. Even I, with less skill, could tell his magical power was collapsing, making it impossible for him to recover.

Fulcanelli cried out in disbelief, “N-no way! I used a piece of the Philosopher’s Stone for spatial magic… and I even had a Demon Path barrier set up here! How could it be shattered with a single spell…?”

“Rapid Fire Incantation!”

THWACK!

Cheon Woo-jin muttered the incantation again, as if Fulcanelli wasn’t even worth his time, and he turned completely into a paste. To Cheon Woo-jin, Demon Sorcerers were vile monsters who deserved no mercy.

Berus, watching this unfold, exclaimed in shock, “Fulcanelli was among the top five alchemists in the Western world, and a Demon Sorcerer… yet he was dispatched so easily!”

“I don’t have time to play around with trash like that.”

Cheon Woo-jin coldly muttered, clenching his fists. “Great virtue follows the path!”

KWAAAAANG!

In the next moment, the interior of the Governor’s Office completely shattered, with everything around us exploding like glass splinters.

[Kraaak!]

All across the crumbling space, remnants of the Demon Sorcerers fell, screaming, and where we stood turned into a treacherous landscape resembling Manjangan Cliff.

‘The whole Governor’s Office was a barrier and a manipulation of reality?’

It seemed that with a single blow, Cheon Woo-jin had crushed the barrier created by dozens of Demon Sorcerers. While Cheon Woo-jin’s skills were impressive, I felt a chill at the gravity of this fortress’s defenses.

‘If I had come here alone, I would have been caught in spatial magic…’

Rushing into the Governor’s Office unprepared was like exposing myself to the Eight Trigrams Formation. Without someone with sheer brute strength like Gong Gong or Cheon Woo-jin to shatter the barriers in advance, we wouldn’t stand a chance. Fulcanelli, the Grand Demon Sorcerer, seemed to have gambled his strength based on the power of these barriers, but he couldn’t have imagined Cheon Woo-jin’s true prowess.

After breaking the barrier of the Governor’s Office with one blow, Cheon Woo-jin said to me, “Save the strength of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman. As much as possible, I and the other companions will handle the fighting.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Their powers are immense, but they consume a lot of cause and effect. If you waste the power of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman here, you won’t be able to use it when you really need it.”

“……!! Understood.”

I flinched. In Dark Heaven Village, we fought without much worry about cause and effect, but this wasn’t the same on the earthly plane. The Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s strength reached a level that was definitely limited by cause and effect, and perhaps it could be consumable. As I steeled my expression, the Fire Dragon Incarnate spoke to me from within.

[Baek Woong! Use my strength for now. It will help.]

“Thank you!”

We quickly advanced and soon found ourselves facing a massive swamp that looked like chaos personified. The whole place was a corrupted void filled with magical energy, but this particular area was horrific. Bodies, half-alive and half-dead, were grotesquely torn apart, moaning in agony while evil tentacles and monsters roamed about.

Across from the swamp stood a sinister older Demon Sorcerer, who looked at us with unsettling eyes and said, [Have you come to save your master, the Guardian? But all of our comrades are here, as well as every member of the Golden Dawn and the Rosicrucian Society; you will soon meet your demise!]

He emitted a soundwave, likely utilizing the unique somatic mesmerism of the Otherworldly Race. And one by one, ‘members’ began appearing around the Demon Sorcerer, releasing magical power that was anything but ordinary. Berus said with a look of dread, “Those guys have all made wicked contracts. This isn’t going to be easy.”

“……”

It was clear that without the help of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, we’d struggle to deal with them. Just one hit from their magic could spell certain doom.

‘Are these all Demon Sorcerers?’

I had to summon the power of the Fire Dragon Incarnate to resist their magic and fight them off. Just as we readied ourselves for battle, Tang San grinned wickedly.

“Are they idiots?”

“What?”

“The fight’s already over.”

WHOOSH!

[Kraaaarrr…]

The next moment, a green flame, like burning oil, erupted from the bodies of the Demon Sorcerers. It wasn’t just flames; it was a horrific spectacle where it looked like they were spewing toxic fire from within. Their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths began to melt away as they burned alive. It was an agonizing sight to behold.

Tang San wore a cruel smile. “The greatest of the Ten Deadly Poisons from the Four Talents Sect, Divine Immortal Waste! I’ve spread it into the air, and those fools are completely unprepared for the poison!”

“……!!”

Divine Immortal Waste! That was a legendary deadly poison, so challenging to create that the Four Talents Sect couldn’t even manage it due to the tremendous losses during its production. Although one of the Ten Deadly Poisons, unlike the others, the process had so many sacrifices that it was ultimately sealed away. But Tang San was a genius, and after destroying the sect, he somehow managed to recover and recreate the Divine Immortal Waste.

The Demon Sorcerers twisted and convulsed as if insects caught on a hook, perish one after another. A few resorted to submitting their bodies to the Otherworldly Race or transforming into monsters to hold on. But by then, their formation was heavily fractured, and we all charged in to begin our massacre.

“Die!”

THWACK!

Slicing off one demon sorcerer’s head, I recoiled as tentacles spewed from its severed neck like a bubbling foam. The Fire Dragon Incarnate’s flames quickly incinerated the tentacles, but it was a gruesome sight to witness.

‘Damn. What do these guys think their bodies are? They’ve turned themselves into tentacle blobs!’

Still, to gain direct power from the Old Ruler or the High-Level Existence, they might have had to do such things. It seemed common for them to sacrifice their bodies and blood, transforming them into tentacles to enhance their abilities. The case of Zhuge Sa, who achieved a pinnacle of power while maintaining a human form, was indeed a rarity.

SHHUUU!

About forty or so Demon Sorcerers down, the rest began to use Transmission Technique, appearing from all sides. This place was undoubtedly their stronghold, and they were flooding in endlessly. Just then, Cheon Woo-jin was about to unleash a grand spell, but Tang San stopped him.

“Leave the poisoning to me. These fools can’t seem to expel poison with their breathing technique or internal power like ordinary martial artists.”

SWISH!

Tang San mixed the Divine Immortal Waste and the Ten Deadly Poisons into the air, poisoning the Demon Sorcerers. It was clear they were incredibly vulnerable to poison; typically, martial artists would activate their internal power to resist poisons, then cut down the poison sorcerers, but they offered no such resistance. Even the most powerful-looking ones quickly succumbed to the poison and morphed into tentacle monsters.

Yet, I couldn’t help but admire Tang San’s prowess over the poison as a martial artist. Using poison art is quite a delicate skill, and in such an open space, one could easily poison their allies too. But Tang San exhibited a miraculous control, affecting only the enemies.

As the slaughter continued unabated, suddenly—

BOOM!

The ground rumbled heavily, and a figure enveloped in Divine Light descended from the sky. It was clear they possessed immense power and appeared to be of Eastern origin, wearing a furious expression as they addressed us.

[How dare you do this!]

In that split second, Tang San slyly attempted to unleash the Divine Immortal Waste to poison the newcomer, but this individual fired a beam of light at him, as though dismissing his actions.

THWAAACK!

“Ugh.”

Tang San froze for a moment as the light hit him, looking paralyzed. Then he chuckled weakly.

“Cough, cough, guess I’ll have to change the poison’s name… You can’t kill an Immortal.”

“Right? Next time, I’ll let you know.”

I kind of brushed off Tang San’s comment as I turned my attention back to the new enemy. “You are the Great Immortal and the descendant of Jeon Wook, yet you commit such heinous acts in the West?”

He coldly replied, [I don’t know how you figured out my identity.]

“You’re an upper existence of the Celestial Realm in the East; why would you stoop to this?”

He cackled, [Kekekekeke… you think a mere human can comprehend my ambitions?]

He shouted with glee, [Chang Hyun succeeded during our promise and has taken control of the East… Five centuries ahead of schedule! Now, I will seize the West and become a new Deity!]

“……”

GUGUGUGU!

A monstrous energy radiated from his body. It was an overwhelming force, even exceeding that of a Force of Nature, wrapping around him like a whirlwind generated by his magical practices.

[The Golden Crow was always mine. Anyone who interferes will die!]

And thus stood before me, the leader of Western Demon Sorcerers—Peng Zuo, the oldest existence in the world, the Great Immortal and direct descendant of the gods!

 

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