novelThe Transcendental Beings (7)
| ← Ch.253 | Ch.255 → |
It was a completely unexpected situation.
The transcendental being, the King of the Dead, who rules the north, and the Death Lord were involved?
He and the King of the Dead were similar as their power was based on 'death'. Muyoung, too, has completely harnessed the Death Lord's power as his own.
For this reason, Muyoung felt some level of familiarity with the King even though the transcendental beings were both wary and antagonistic, so it didn't appear to have been just a simple mistake.
However, Death Lord was in the 'Darkness'.
How did Death Lord, who was a being in the 'Darkness', come in contacts with the King of the Dead?
"Why were you sent here by Artanis?"
Muyoung could not resist asking.
If he has come to help then that would be the best response.
It was because one of the most difficult transcendental beings was the King of the Dead.
"We are to battle using only the 'Art of Death'. My god has said that he would cast out the loser."
However, what the King of the Dead has said was unexpected.
The end of the Art of Death meant combat.
Then, the King of the Dead was someone who also used the 'Art of Death'.
It was hard to believe that there was another one besides Muyoung, who had the same power.
'Renounced by the Death Lord. '
Muyoung fell into a deep thought. As a matter of fact, the King of the Dead was famous for isolation.
Even when the demon gods were going berserk, or when other transcendental beings would come forth, the King of the Dead did not make any moves from the high, cold mountains of the north.
Because of that, the north mountains were a territory that could not be attacked.
However, it was someone who was solitary who had shown up where Muyoung was.
That was how badly the Death Lord's power was coveted.
"I accept."
There was no reason to not accept it.
Of course, there was a high possibility that the loser of this battle would become whatever the winner wished. Perhaps, it was possible that the loser would be brought back as an undead.
However, Muyoung was confident.
At least, Muyoung was confident when it came to art.
Of course, Muyoung wouldn't be the only one who was confident.
The King of the Dead, too, of course. Every one of the 'dead' that he has brought with him was unusual.
Maybe, it was him who was keeping the tradition of Death Lord, rather than Muyoung.
That was, the ability to maximize the strength using the ingredients.
However, Muyoung valued the narratives.
No one knew for sure who would come out as the victor when their skills were completely different.
"The rules of the battle are simple. Using the same material, it would be who is able to create greater 'art'!"
It was art only in words as it really meant the battle of who was able to create the more powerful Death.
It was important to determine the standards in judging that creation, but it was worth a fight should the rules be applied fairly.
"I also have a condition."
Muyoung spoke, breaking a short silence.
Accepting the challenge was the natural thing to do, but accepting it on its face value alone was foolish.
Even more so in a situation like this.
"Speak."
The king of the dead was carefree.
It was as if he felt that his victory was obvious.
Certainly, if he had been anointed with the Art of Death from Death Lord, he would have been using that power much longer than Muyoung has.
On the other hand, the time that Muyoung has spent on mastering the Art of Death was much shorter.
He would hear Muyoung out.
Muyoung spoke as he looked around the area.
"I want to change the venue. Our 'art' is not something to be seen by others."
The Demon Gods and demon tribes. Everyone was looking at the two of them.
However, the power associated with the Art of Death was one of Muyoung's secret weapons.
As the powers of Luciferre and the arch angel Gabriel were revealed, at least he wanted to keep this one a secret. The Demon Gods did not know what this battle called 'Art' was about.
Besides, both the King of the Dead and Muyoung had already passed the point where it required a 3rd party's evaluation. There probably wasn't anyone there who understood that, either.
That was, other than the King of the Dead and Muyoung.
"That's appropriate."
The King of the Dead has accepted the request.
He then swung his sickle.
Shreeek!
As the sickle was swung, a black hole appeared next to him.
"Enter. No one will interrupt us in here."
The king of the dead entered through the hole, alone.
It was an unspoken pressure put on Muyoung for him to also follow, alone.
"Muyoung, I'll go with you."
Tacan tried to dissuade him. The motive of appearing suddenly and leading him away seemed suspicious.
However, Muyoung just shook his head.
"No, I must go alone."
*****
The pride of being a death artist and the future were riding on this battle.
Muyoung had intended to take everything from Death Lord and also gain the King of the Dead.
Cheating did not occur to him.
The only solution was to face it head on.
'He came of his own volition. I should face it personally, by myself. '
He walked towards the black hole.
Then the underlings of the King of the Dead surrounded Muyoung. They were determined to not let anyone else enter through the hole.
Even the Demon Gods could not move hastily.
It seemed as if the King of the Dead has brought all of his troops with him.
By looking purely at the numbers, they were as many as there were demons.
Of course, if they were to engage in direct confrontation, the Demon Gods would be superior, but they would still suffer significant damages.
It was because every one of the undead were the personal creations of the King of the Dead.
"I'll be right back."
As soon as Muyoung entered the hole.
Whirl!
The black hole disappeared without a trace.
It was a feeding ground.
The dungeon was filled with crying monsters in cages.
"I've captured them for this battle. From the lowest of the goblins, to the highest of the dragons. If any of the ingredients are needed, you may use them at will."
The King of the Dead said as if he was being generous.
The dungeon was much more spacious then anyone could have imagined, and there were monsters that Muyoung has never seen before.
It looked as if all the monsters of the demon world were kept there.
'Impressive. '
Not only by the sheer numbers, but he was awed by the fact that this many types were collected.
Muyoung walked around the feeding ground. The ranks of the monsters rose higher as Muyoung walked towards the end, and dragons were positioned at the end.
Fire dragon, water dragon, earth dragon, light dragon...
Even those legendary ones like Phoenix and Griffin!
"What should I make?"
"That will be assigned by Artanis."
The Death Lord will tell us that himself?
It was then.
~Complete a Chimera by using every ingredient. ~
~Time limit - 72 hours~
The words that appeared before his eyes.
They were different than the usual writings.
It was an incredibly bad writing as if the Death Lord had scrawled it himself.
Although he did not appear in person, it was obvious that this, too, was considered a test.
"Chimera..."
The king of the dead began to move as if he had anticipated it to certain level.
He then moved to collect the needed ingredients from the cages.
'This battle, I'm at a disadvantage. '
The feeding ground was spacious.
It was as big as a good sized city.
To prepare this type of facility in the dungeon was incredible, but what was more important was that the King of the Dead knew precisely where everything was located.
Truly... this was a disadvantageous fight. It could never be fair.
Yet, it wasn't possible to halt a fight that has already started.
And all this while, the clock was ticking.
Kraaahk!
Graaahk!
The phoenix was chosen first by him. Phoenix and the fire dragon. It was obvious from the get go that he wanted to make the top level chimera by using the best ingredients.
Was he going to make a fire god?
'Chimera, the collective being of countless number of monsters. '
It was a difficult task. Unlike the simple undead, making a chimera was a complex process as it was done by putting together the strengths of many monsters.
However, there was a possibility of side effects if, for instance, inharmonious bodies were forcibly fused together. The combination also needed to be considered carefully.
Certainly, good ingredients were helpful in creating a good chimera.
Even though this was an unshakable truth, it was somewhat different than what Muyoung wanted.
Muyoung walked over to the cage of an orc lord with red feather. The orc lord seemed to have some sort of a story.
"What is your name?"
Muyoung tried to engage in a conversation.
The King of the Dead could not understand what Muyoug was up to.
For over 24 hours, Muyoung has been talking with the monsters.
There were nearly ten thousand monsters in the feeding ground. Was he going to talk to every one of them?
'Cannot understand. '
It was getting harder and harder to understand as time went by.
At any rate, the Art of Death was the power of control.
The undead becomes absolutely obedient when it was created by the power of control.
The prior memory and spirit would both vanish into thin air.
Even having them was useless.
It was better to come up with a better combination by using better ingredients.
There was not enough time even to think about it, yet all that Muyoung did was converse like a mad man. What was more surprising was the fact that the monsters were responding to Muyoung's conversations.
Being able to assimilate, or perhaps, share emotions. Muyoung had such capabilities.
However, they were skills which were useless in making a chimera.
| ← Ch. 253 | Ch. 255 → |