Chapter 42. The Seed Planted by Will (2)

[The Mana Seed system has bloomed.]

Ding dong...

A faint ringing sound.

But it didn't reach his ears.

Kim Jangcheol's upper body twitched.

It wasn't in response to the sound.

…...Crack!

Once again, thunder struck belatedly.

A powerful shock clenched his heart.

It rewound the threads of severed time.

The heart, which had almost stopped, began to beat again.

A dying instinctual will burst into flames.

Puff!

He moved.

His consciousness had already faded, yet his will remained clear.

He would survive.

He would get out of here alive.

If it meant doing that, then even if his heart stopped and restarted a hundred, a thousand times, he would not hesitate.

Even if it were only by a few centimeters.

Even if it was no more than a hand's breadth.

Little by little.

Even more little by little.

He would move forward.

His arms and legs moved. They flailed desperately. He clawed through the dirt, pushed aside the debris, forcibly creating space. Even though he was completely unconscious.

Meanwhile, messages continued to appear before his eyes.

Ding dong....

[A Mana Seed is being generated in your chest.]

[The Mana Seed amplifies all your stats by a fixed multiplier.]

[Having a Mana Seed means you are no longer bound by the limits of growth, just like a seed that will one day grow into a towering tree and bloom a radiant flower.]

[Furthermore, the Mana Seed can grow not only through Happy Point investments, but also through the actions and experiences you accumulate.]

Puff ...! Pussssh!

The messages kept appearing.

His limbs moved regardless.

Still with eyes shut.

Unable to hear anything.

A body that kept crawling forward endlessly.

At the end of it, breath depleted and the heart stopped.

"Ugh...."

Kim Jangcheol's movement came to a halt once again.

However, the scratches engraved onto his body as he struggled, and the will contained in the drops of blood flowing from them, did not permit him to give in or rest.

Crack!

Thunder dwelled in the newly spilled blood.

It awakened his entire body with a vivid will.

….Thump!

Once again, his heart revived.

A message knocked on his soul.

[You have experienced your fifth state of near-death and your fifth miraculous resurrection.]

[This experience is tempering your body and soul.]

[The Mana Seed is growing.]

[Mana Seed: Seed Stage (Lv. 2)]

[Current amplification multiplier of the Mana Seed: 1.2x]

[The power amplified by the Mana Seed supplies explosive vitality to your body.]

Kim Jangcheol still didn't see the messages.

His consciousness had already let go of the thread and could no longer hear anything. He was only stubbornly holding on to the will he had just before passing out.

...Puff!

Once more, his hand moved.

He crawled forward with more strength.

Eventually, he was depleted.

His heart stopped.

Blood spilled and carried thunder within it.

Flash. Revival. And more flailing.

Each time, new messages announced his growth.

Seen by no one.

Not even recognized by himself.

The messages, humble yet full of great potential, faintly lit up a space 152 meters beneath the collapsed Demon King's Castle.

***

"...Light it up!"

"Here! Over here!"

"Please, someone! Help us!"

It was a night of chaos.

Everyone was shouting.

Screams flew back and forth.

Some were running, some crying, others desperately trying to rescue their loved ones from the rubble.

Among them, Zephyros, suppressing the dazed feeling as best he could, held the baby dragon, Tbong, in his arms. And then he had to realize—

"Tbong?"

Tbong was trembling.

No, was it my arms holding him that were trembling?

Why?

"My lord...."

He had definitely seen it.

The sight of the Demon King Credos, whom he served, disappearing into the distant abyss. Falling beneath the collapsing foundation of the Demon King's Castle. Even the moment when despair-inducing amounts of debris and earth poured over where his fallen lord had landed.

"......."

Could he have survived?

Could he still be alive?

No.

Was there even a sliver of possibility…?

It was then.

Rumble!

While he was steeped in that despondent state, a sudden roar rose from beneath his feet. The ground shook violently in an instant. The balance broke.

And then… his entire body dropped downward.

"...!"

His heart dropped.

He realized—

It was too late.

Too late to dodge to safety.

Too late to reach for something.

'Damn it...'

He had never imagined the ground beneath him would suddenly give way.

With a chilling premonition, Zephyros tried to throw Tbong to safety, at the very least.

And then—

"Baal! Will save Zephyros!"

Grab!

A sudden, brutish hand clutched his entire neck.

His breath stopped.

His neck felt like it was going to snap.

His eyes bulged reflexively. He saw one of the Four Heavenly Kings—Baal. Dangling him in the air with one hand wrapped around his neck.

"Guh! Guhak...!"

"T-Tbong…..!"

He struggled.

But Baal didn't seem to care.

On the contrary, he smiled cheerfully and shouted at him.

"Baal! Move Zephyros to safe place!"

Boom—!

Baal leapt off somewhere.

Zephyros was still dangling from his hand by the neck, flailing.

It wasn't until Zephyros was on the verge of suffocation that he was finally released from Baal's grip.

"Ku, kuhuk! Gak! Guh!"

Where was this place?

The front courtyard of the Demon King's Castle?

He figured it must be, and glanced around.

Everything was a wreck.

The shock from the sudden collapse of the castle had reached all the way to the courtyard. Cracks ran through the ground in places, other spots had bulged up, and still others had sunk in. And from every direction, screams and urgent cries erupted in chaotic patterns.

"Baal! Wants to see the Demon King! Where is Demon King?!"

Baal asked sternly.

Zephyros frowned.

And he spoke the truth without hiding anything.

"The Demon King... was struck down."

"Struck down?"

"He was ambushed by a massive plant stem…"

It was then.

Suddenly, the ground trembled.

The entire foundation where the Demon King's Castle once stood shook violently.

Just an aftershock of the collapse?

It wasn't.

Zephyros could tell.

"That's...."

A massive silhouette rose from underground.

A size rivaling the ruined Demon King's Castle. An overwhelming presence. Towering stalks. Destructive branches. A wave of grotesque appendages hanging from their ends. It stood tall like a colossal tree of destruction.

"Baal! Found something strange! That looks like the Second Star Master!"

"...."

It wasn't just a resemblance—it really was the Second Star Master.

Zephyros knew it the moment he saw it.

So did the rest of the Four Heavenly Kings who had rushed over.

"What in the world is going on?"

The first to ask the question was Hartok.

"Where is the Demon King? Where is he now?"

"...."

"Answer. Now!"

"…..He was struck down."

"What?"

"Most likely… by that thing…"

Zephyros pointed.

There stood the Second Star Master, revealing its immense form like a world tree.

Hartok's expression stiffened upon seeing it.

The Cold Monarch, Sirgi, spoke.

"Then the Second Star Master, has seized the throne."

"With force...? Drove Credos out?"

Asurat asked in disbelief.

But there was no need for an answer to that question. Everyone was already seeing it with their own eyes. There was no need for further explanation.

It was then.

Ruuumble...

The towering tree, reigning in place of the Demon King's Castle, the Second Star Master, opened its eyes. Then it looked down upon all the demons scrambling about in chaos beneath its stalks.

As if looking at a swarm of insects.

Or staring down at dust in the windowsill.

"...."

It was laughable.

Pitiful, even.

Just because one castle collapsed.

Just because a few were crushed under it.

The way they panicked and scrambled like that.

It was pathetic and pitiful.

The Four Heavenly Kings in the corner were no different. Nor was the Third Star Master, tied to a post near the edge of the fields.

All of them looked up at it with shocked eyes.

And that expression was amusing.

'Right. You must be confused. You must be wondering what happened to Credos.'

Credos was already dead.

The Second Star Master was certain.

He had fallen into an unfathomable abyss.

A massive amount of debris and earth had buried him.

No matter how powerful Credos was, there was no way he could have survived that.

"...."

Of course, it would be best to find his corpse and confirm it. But realistically, that didn't seem easy.

A single corpse beneath tens or hundreds of millions of tons of soil. It would be faster to find a needle in a desert.

Besides, right now, there was something far more urgent and important than finding the corpse of someone who was obviously dead.

That was...

'The sudden power vacuum caused by the Demon King's death and downfall. I must seize it.'

Exactly.

This moment could not be missed.

Right now, when no one had fully grasped the death and fall of Credos, a decisive blow had to be struck. It must be made clear to all of the abandoned land that it was now under new rule.

That was the first duty of a new Demon King who had overthrown the previous one and claimed the throne.

"All shall hear me."

…..Hear me!

…..Me!

A single softly spoken sentence.

Even that caused the air in the area to explode with turbulence. All demons except for the Four Heavenly Kings clutched their ears in pain at the deep, heavy roar. Tbong was so startled he buried his face deep into Zephyros's chest.

The Second Star Master continued the declaration.

"I have just now, killed Credos."

Ruuumble...

One of the Second Star Master's massive branches extended toward the ground. It lifted a spire that had been crushed and buried into the earth.

So that everyone could see it.

So that they could feel its power and authority.

"I am now the new Demon King, and the rightful owner of the throne."

"...."

No one could respond.

They only swallowed dryly and watched the Second Star Master's declaration.

"And so I declare, here and now. From this moment forward, as the master of the abandoned land, I shall use the field you've so diligently cultivated as fertilizer, and ascend to the level of gods."

Craackle...

The lifted spire began to crumble.

"And with the power thus gained, I shall lead you into a paradise of blood and slaughter—an invasion of the human world."

Craack!

The spire crumbled into dust and scattered.

Everyone remained silent, overcome with shivers.

And little by little, they began to realize.

That the Demon King they served until just a moment ago, Credos, seemed to be dead. That the Second Star Master, who killed him, had ascended as the new Demon King.

And now... the farming was canceled, and the invasion of the human world would resume.

"...."

The Four Heavenly Kings realized this as well.

The farming, stopped.

The human world invasion, resumed.

Something they had so longed for.

Something they had wished for.

Something they had even prayed for in their dreams.

It was like a wish come true.

If it became reality, there would be nothing more joyful.

But something felt strange.

Truly strange.

'Why is it… why...?'

Hartok's brow furrowed.

'The things we yearned for so much have come true, and yet...'

Sirgi bit her lower lip.

'Now that it's actually happening...'

Baal clenched his fist tightly.

'It's not making me… happy at all?'

Asurat's gaze trembled.

And all of them, thought the same thing.

'Why is it… making me so angry instead...?'

[T/L: Please support me and read extra chapters: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]