My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness

Episode 95 The Abyss Opens (2)

The being crawling out of the hole in the ground was emitting dark magic power like black flames from its entire body, spreading an oppressive presence that made him feel like he would suffocate just by looking at it.

[Oh! Excellent! Truly magnificent! Hahaha—!]

Hans burst into laughter, impressed by its overwhelming majesty.

A skeletal dragon clad in black flames, wasn’t that a necromancer’s dream?

[Grooo—?]

As if reacting to his voice, the Bone Dragon, which had been busy twisting its body to escape the hole, turned its head and looked in Hans’s direction.

Their burning eyes met.

Hans, who was exchanging glances with it, softly called its name, imbuing his voice with dark magic power.

Wooong—

His call, as if rising from hell, spread with his will…

And the wave containing that strange resonance penetrated the Bone Dragon Entracio’s body.

The connection, starting from the Immortal King’s Heart, began to link with it according to the ancient pact passed down from previous generations.

And the contract passed down from his predecessors was newly overlaid here.

[Kraaagh—!]

The Bone Dragon flashed its purple eyes with a roar that shook the space.

It was an expression of joy, welcoming its new master after finally awakening from its long slumber.

‘It’s like I got a well-behaved pet. It’s actually kind of cute when you look at it closely?’

Smooth and shiny bones, joints with a wide range of motion, and even pretty purple eyes.

Perhaps because of Hans’s twisted sense of aesthetics, the giant, menacing skeleton started to look adorable.

As he was looking at it with satisfaction, waiting for it to completely emerge from the pit,

‘What’s this?’

He felt another energy.

[Grrrr—!]

And after a while, Entracio also seemed to sense the same energy, as it started to growl, looking in one direction.

It was an energy that was very stimulating yet familiar to Hans.

[The Main God Church?]

Holy power that pricked him even though they were still quite a distance away.

The Church’s elites, including multiple Paladins and even Archbishops, had personally come to this remote wasteland.

‘Well, it’s only natural.’

There was no way they wouldn’t have noticed a ritual of this scale, so it was inevitable for them to come here to grasp the situation.

‘What should I do…’

It wasn’t a good time to clash with them right now.

A direct confrontation with the Church had to be a more dramatic moment, and he needed to revise the scenario a bit because of the various variables that had occurred.

‘But if I use this opportunity well, I think I can create a good situation.’

Wasn’t the current situation perfect?

An anomaly was suddenly detected, and the abyss opened for the first time in a thousand years.

The members of the Main God Church, dispatched to the place where the ritual began out of their sense of duty to protect the continent…

But what appeared before them was the evil Immortal King, who sought to cover the continent in death!

The clash between light and darkness, good and evil.

The continent’s situation was on a knife’s edge, the threat of darkness slowly closing in!

What would be the fate of the world in the midst of this great crisis?

‘Hmm… It would be perfect for a trailer. The situation is good, the direction is good.’

Hans turned his head and looked at the Bone Dragon, which had completely emerged from the abyss.

The abyss’s size was decreasing even faster, perhaps because of its emergence.

‘Are there no more who can come out of this hole? It must have been quite a burden.’

Actually, the biggest cause would be the ‘madness’ that Oath of Heaven’s Defiance extracted from the abyss.

If most of it was shredded and couldn’t fully emerge, the burden on the gate to the abyss must have been significant.

It was fortunate that the Bone Dragon was able to escape in such a situation.

[Entracio.]

[Grrr—?]

The Bone Dragon, which had been growling while looking in the direction where holy power was felt at his call, tilted its head.

Hans lightly moved his body in the air and stood on top of its giant skull.

And he whispered softly, stroking the dragon’s horn next to him.

[You must have been frustrated, good work. Now fly freely. Show them what you are.]

Entracio’s eyes flashed at Hans’s words.

As he remembered the time he had spent drifting aimlessly in the timeless boundary, unable to even think, a sudden desire surged.

[Kraaaagh—!]

Flap—! Flap—!

A gale swept the surroundings as he flapped his wings with a roar filled with dark magic power.

His wings were tattered after becoming an undead, but every time they flapped, the surrounding dark magic power moved on its own, weaving the arcane art of ‘flight’.

And finally,

Boom—!

The Bone Dragon’s giant body broke through the hole in the ceiling, which was already enlarged, and soared into the sky where dawn was breaking.

The sky and horizon where light and darkness coexisted, the violently swirling wind, and the wasteland spreading vast beneath his eyes.

‘…This feels different.’

He could fly in the sky whenever he wanted, but it felt different to look down at the world while standing on the head of a giant dragon made of only bones.

[Kraaaagh—!]

It was because this was the Demon King himself, no matter how he looked at it.

And that Demon King, who had descended…

The members of the Main God Church, gathered below, were looking up at him with tense expressions.

The Church’s clergy, who arrived at the ritual site after crossing the wasteland in a few hours using the blessing of ‘Haste’.

_____________________

The first thing they heard…

[Kraaaagh—!]

Was a roar filled with immense dark magic power.

“What’s that sound…?”

“It seems like they haven’t left yet. Let’s prepare for battle.”

They were exhausted from the continuous forced march, but they were the Church’s elites.

Everyone except for those who were exhausted from continuously using Haste raised their holy power and immediately recovered to their best condition.

As they cautiously approached the ritual site…

Boom—!

The top of a hill exploded, and something black soared into the sky.

It quickly ascended high into the sky, its speed belying its giant size…

[Kraaaagh—!]

And roared again, emitting dark magic power like black flames from its entire body.

“…A Bone Dragon.”

“It was a monster I only saw in books…”

The clergy frowned at its overwhelming majesty, but their real opponent was someone else.

The being standing on the giant Bone Dragon’s skull, looking down at them.

The continent’s calamity, the embodiment of death, the returned fear—.

“The Immortal King, Hans…!”

He was looking down at the ground with an arrogant expression.

[Hehehe— Aren’t those the Church’s lackeys? What brings you all the way here?]

His voice clearly reached their ears, even though he was high in the sky.

It was a sound that stimulated primal fear just by hearing it, but there was no one here weak enough to be shaken by that.

“You’re asking even though you know?”

“Hans, the corrupted dark mage who defied the laws of nature! I will take your head!”

The priests naturally stepped back behind the Paladins and holy knights, who drew their weapons and stepped forward, raising their holy power and reciting prayers.

And while they were preparing for battle, Archbishop Latiaus secretly transmitted the current situation to the Roselia Cathedral using holy magic.

Their safety was uncertain now that they had encountered the Immortal King again, so he was leaving information, hoping it would be helpful in case of emergency.

After finishing that process, Archbishop Latiaus shouted at Hans, his voice imbued with holy power.

“Immortal King! We came here after learning that the abyss was opened here.”

[Oh— And?]

“And countless sacrificial rituals were performed throughout the continent because of it. Countless people were sacrificed for this single ritual. And the damage that will befall the continent due to the abyss’s influence is immeasurable.”

The Archbishop spoke through gritted teeth, his voice filled with suppressed anger, and glared at Hans with his shining eyes.

“And all of this, is your doing?”

The Archbishop finished speaking with a firm expression, full of conviction.

It was just a formality to boost the morale of his group, he wasn’t really asking for an answer.

After all, wasn’t the Immortal King the one who sought to cover the continent in death?

But Hans answered his question sincerely.

[Hehehe— That’s a question that doesn’t need to be asked! Who else in this world could do such a thing besides me? Hahaha!]

It was a statement that seemed to readily admit it, but it wasn’t a lie.

‘There’s no need to ask.’ wasn’t the answer, and ‘Who else could do it?’ was a literal question.

‘Actually, I’m curious too.’

He didn’t know anything other than that Oath of Heaven’s Defiance was behind it, so he wanted to know who actually did it.

‘Judging by the spells engraved at the ritual site earlier, it’s definitely not an ordinary genius.’

Just by looking at the traces, he could tell that it was someone who had reached a high level of mastery through long research and enlightenment.

He would have to thoroughly investigate that person while tracking down Oath of Heaven’s Defiance.

If they were that skilled, they would be more than qualified to be one of the Four Heavenly Kings!

While Hans was thinking that, the Church’s reaction became sharper.

“As expected, that bastard…!”

“Calm down. It’s what we expected.”

The holy knights and paladins raised their weapons, emitting a murderous aura, and the priests chanted prayers, raising their holy power.

They prepared for battle with the resolve to die.

They knew they had no chance of winning against the Immortal King now, but they had no choice.

They couldn’t escape him in this wasteland, and they didn’t want to in the first place.

Their faith didn’t waver even in the face of death.

As the atmosphere gradually heightened,

[Ah— Everyone, calm down. I have no intention of fighting now. I just came here to announce my return and give you a warning.]

“What…? What trick are you pulling?!”

Hans, who was standing on top of Entracio’s skull and looking down at them, spoke nonchalantly at their heated reaction.

[So, the holy knight who pierced my heart… Heinrich Landguard, is he doing well?]

“Sir Landguard?”

He subtly changed the subject because it would be troublesome if a fight broke out now.

To Heinrich, the opponent of Immortal King Hans.

‘I should subtly remind them of his name, in case they forgot.’

It wasn’t a bad thing because those here were all high-ranking members of the Church.

[My plans were disrupted because of him, so I had to go through a lot of trouble. I prepared a surprise gift as a reward, but it’s a shame he’s not here.]

He naturally exaggerated Heinrich’s achievements and bragged about how much he cared about him.

On the stage set up by someone else.

‘But I need to wrap things up soon. What would be a good way to leave a lasting impression… Ah! That’s it.’

As the Immortal King, he needed to end things strongly to leave a deep impression.

[I wanted to see his face again, but it can’t be helped. Tell Heinrich Landguard that there won’t be any luck like last time when we meet again.]

Hans spoke and ordered the Bone Dragon, Entracio, to ascend slowly.

“Where are you going, Immortal King…!”

[Hehehe… The existing order will be destroyed, and a new era will come, remember that, dogs of the Church.]

Black energy, emanating from him, covered the sky as if to engulf the breaking dawn.

[I, Hannibal Strauss, am— the end of this continent!]

As he was about to conclude this unexpected encounter by subtly promoting his cool name,

[It’s a shame to leave like this, so I’ll give you one last gift.]

An enormous amount of dark magic power from the corrupted heart of the Bone Dragon, Entracio, which was ascending, instantly concentrated in its mouth.

Whoosh—

It was Death Breath, the strongest attack the Bone Dragon could use.

“Breath! We can’t dodge! Brace yourselves!”

“…As Saint Hyeon said, any harm beyond this line…”

The dark magic power gathered in its mouth, swirling and condensing repeatedly along with the endless flow of energy…

Finally took the form of destruction.

[Kuo—!]

Whoosh—!

An enormous amount of death energy erupted from the Bone Dragon’s mouth, sweeping across a wide area.

An earthquake occurred from the instantaneous pressure, and debris scattered in all directions as the ground was overturned.

The black air current, which looked like fire, liquid, and smoke, turned the already barren wasteland into a land of death where nothing could survive.

It was an excessive attack for a farewell, but it was really just a light greeting.

‘They’re all strong individuals gathered together, there’s no way they would die from just one attack.’

It was just a light performance to leave a strong impression.

‘Hehehe… As expected, Bone Dragons are cool.’

Although there was a bit of personal preference involved.

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