Chapter 262

Chapter 262
## Chapter 262

King of Madness (1)

An ordinary-sized silhouette clad in darkness stood opposite a pale leviathan matching the scale of a fifteen-story high-rise.

To compare this to the tale of David and Goliath would be an understatement.

Given the staggering disparity in magnitude, which made any notion of a fair contest seem absurd, an observer would instinctively wager everything on the colossus emerging victorious…

Yet, had anyone been present to look upon the theater of conflict, those assumptions would have instantly shattered.

Goooo—

A tide of obsidian malice radiated from the lesser form, overwhelming the gargantuan entity’s aura and drowning out the environment.

The spectacle inevitably forced a singular realization upon the mind.

It was an absolute, suffocating dominion that no living creature could hope to oppose.

The literal manifestation of ultimate doom.

‘Ah, this feels great.’

Positioned precisely where the expanding shadow bloomed, Hans stood straight, savoring the profound gratification that came with an unbridled torrent of capability.

Opportunities to engage in conflict without restraint had been exceedingly rare ever since he ascended as the Immortal King.

His confrontation with the leader of the Heaven’s Turn Society within Japan had come closest to an unrestricted duel, yet even during that encounter, various boundaries had kept him from exposing his true limits.

Furthermore, the majority of his engagements within Auterica had been dictated by the constraints of the overarching plot, and on the occasions he lost himself to rage, a lingering thread of intellect had stayed his hand from executing Heinrich.

He had never truly let himself go while in Auterica.

‘But now, things are different.’

They stood at the convergence point separating the terrestrial plane from the deep abyss.

A chaotic zone where reality itself was warped and tangled.

The Revolutionary had boasted that this particular domain magnified his personal capabilities…

However, that exact rule applied to Hans as well.

Crack—

A fierce, unbridled devastation tore outward.

The immediate reality buckled and collapsed, as the essence of demise woven into the abyssal air bared its teeth.

It struck with absolute malice, tearing into the exact space the behemoth occupied.

“Khehehe— Ah, yes… This is what the Immortal King should be! A being destined to bring about the end of the world should possess a fitting arrogance!”

Even when confronted by this terrifying exhibition of dominance, the leviathan remained entirely unshaken.

It projected an aura of crimson malice, pushing back the encroaching doom, and bared its teeth in a distorted, mocking sneer.

Shifting its weight backward, the entity dropped into a low stance…

And dissolved from view.

Kaboom—!

An instant later, a violent detonation shattered the space directly ahead of Hans, fracturing reality.

Two diametrically opposed dominions slammed together, their jagged claws raking against one another.

[Hoho? Not bad.]

“Kuhut— This is just the beginning!”

Crack—!

The creature’s talons shattered the protective field enveloping Hans, as the concentrated crimson insanity at its fingertips gouged through the obsidian doom.

Simultaneously, its alternate arm swung forward—.

Koooong!

A cataclysmic shockwave accompanied by a deafening thunderclap ripped across the battlefield.

A solitary strike warped the fabric of space, completely upending everything within a several-hundred-meter perimeter.

And yet.

Hans, having repositioned himself a short distance away, assessed the destruction and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.

True to its gargantuan nature, the creature’s destructive output correlated directly with its mass.

[Puh— This is going to be fun.]

Even so, he felt no inkling of apprehension.

He merely accepted this as the standard standard for a fellow denizen of the void.

It would have been quite unsatisfying had the creature proven flimsy.

‘Of course… ’

Exactly as he had promised, he intended to demonstrate the vast gulf in their respective statures.

Hans extended both arms deliberately, tapping into the underlying energy of demise that saturated the zone.

His core, the fountainhead of his authority, established a profound resonance with the deep void underlying reality, amplifying the feedback loops.

Consequently.

-Shriek—!

-Kyaaa—!

-Gurgle—!

A chorus of unnatural, horrifying wails rent the air.

Every facet of ‘demise’ encompassing the territory of his heightened influence answered the call, manifest as a cohesive force.

Perishing from the cold, burning alive, drowning beneath the waves, shattering detonations, dismemberment, crushing weight, succumbing to pestilence, starvation…

Every conceivable path to the grave took tangible shape, manifesting visibly within the realm.

They were neither animated corpses, nor phantoms, nor fiendish entities… but rather a collection of conceptual horrors.

Positioned above this surging tide of physical doom,

[Now then— let’s decide together.]

…The Immortal King, their absolute master, delivered his judgment.

[How you will die.]

The punishment of the insolent challenger had officially commenced.

—

When the secondary void portal ruptured and poured madness across the terrestrial sphere,

The vast majority of that essence dissolved, incapable of taking physical shape due to the flawed nature of the invocation.

Only a minuscule remnant, the absolute nucleus, managed to embed itself within the physical vessel of the summoner.

That precise artifact was the Seed of Madness, serving as the cornerstone for the Revolutionary’s altered state.

“Khahahaha! As expected… but this is… troublesome! Khehehe!”

Thus, while the essence of insanity proved highly effective at inciting widespread turmoil, its concentrated lethality as a singular entity remained deficient.

He had utilized the void giants to offset that specific inadequacy, yet even those additions proved insufficient when standing against the Immortal King.

‘Madness is inferior to death in terms of its level.’

Kaboom—

The pitch-black and blood-colored forces collided once more, fracturing the immediate environment.

Yet neither side gained a definitive advantage.

The Revolutionary offered a mocking grin, observing the Immortal King drift backward amidst a vortex of dark current.

He could decipher the trajectories of power pouring from the Immortal King, intercept the intent driving his maneuvers, and even alter the local geometry to his benefit through spoken commands…

Crack—! Whoosh!

Suddenly, an entity that had fastened onto his left shoulder erupted into fierce flames, disintegrating into cinders.

Carving away a piece of his flesh in the process.

Concurrently, his right flank ruptured violently, and the digits of his left foot were completely splintered.

Assaults of this nature had been executing non-stop, without reprieve, from the very start.

He redirected and countered, anticipating their paths and underlying purpose.

Nevertheless, the doom saturating this pocket dimension, along with the anomalies it birthed, pursued him relentlessly, tearing into his frame before dispersing.

Like an inescapable decree of destiny.

Naturally, he wasn’t merely absorbing damage without a response.

He used the madness to push his physical limits, boosted his cellular mending capabilities, and actively fractured the surrounding space.

‘The problem is that none of it is working! Oh, God! Forgive my incompetence!’

Furthermore, his cellular restoration possessed clear thresholds. He was incapable of matching the pace of the unending offensive.

It was solely due to the divine authority of his deity that he managed to preserve his intellect.

Bereft of that anchor, he would have surrendered entirely to the overwhelming insanity, degenerating into a feral brute.

To put it plainly.

He had exhausted his strategies.

Wooong—

Compounding his dire situation, the Immortal King’s offensive showed no signs of abating.

A massive runic array materialized around him.

Rumble—!

Its geometry and inscriptions, forged from the dark void, ignited with radiance, locking down the immediate vicinity and binding him fast.

Had this conflict occurred outside the boundary zone, a clash of this magnitude would have obliterated an entire empire.

[You’re surprisingly resilient.]

Even under these conditions, the titan refused to collapse.

Its vessel was broken and lacerated, yet it maintained the capacity to mend if granted a brief reprieve.

Having endured to this juncture, the Revolutionary finally managed to discern a vital truth.

“Khehehe, so that’s how it is. No wonder I couldn’t get my sense of smell back.”

The White Giant clicked its tongue, its bifurcated sensory organ darting out into the air.

A peculiar expression manifested across its features.

“You were the one who had him.”

Following countless exchanges, by refining his perception to its absolute limit, he had verified the connection.

A distinct thread tied the Immortal King directly to ‘that specific entity.’

An intrinsic, profound alignment that far surpassed a casual association.

‘It wouldn’t have been possible outside this space, where His power is amplified. If I had my sense of smell, I would have noticed it sooner. Oh, God!’

Regardless of the difficulties encountered, he had successfully extracted the necessary intelligence.

Now, his sole objective was to depart from this domain, reclaim his olfactory capabilities, and entirely dismantle his remaining restrictions.

Should he accomplish that, he might very well attain the necessary power to overcome the Immortal King…

Kaboom—!

His internal calculations shattered under an abrupt eruption of force.

[I can hear your thoughts from here.]

The status quo remained unaltered.

His physical form was devastated and his restorative threshold was collapsing, yet the Immortal King maintained absolute control over the territory, his presence completely suffocating.

[It doesn’t matter what you’re planning.]

An immense concentration of energy gathered, weaving a fresh hex of absolute ruination.

Simultaneously, the doom native to this domain continued to erode the colossus’s framework.

[You’re not escaping. You’ll die here.]

The behemoth’s expression contorted into a smirk upon hearing that sentence.

Departing this realm to reach his intended objective was not an action that could be executed instantly.

And the Immortal King had no intention of allowing a delay.

This meant he would be unable to dissolve his limitations while the Immortal King remained present to contest him.

As the engagement reignited…

The trajectory of Hans’s reflections was similarly growing more convoluted.

The Revolutionary’s comment regarding the ‘sense of smell’ had struck a chord with an old recollection.

‘Diana.’

A young woman endowed with an extraordinary olfactory talent, capable of discerning the distinct scent of a living soul.

He had maintained an interest in her, intrigued by her traits and their underlying lineage…

‘Was it related to the Revolutionary? No, more precisely, to the banished god.’

Though currently confined within the deep void, that entity remained a deity.

The scale of his influence was beyond calculation.

‘So, that’s the “power” he was talking about. Does the giant possess all the other senses except for smell? Then… ’

The confrontation was rapidly approaching its climax.

Hans drove the titan backward, sorting through the newly acquired data within his consciousness.

Just as he anticipated an imminent conclusion to the fight,

《The XXed XXX gazes upon you.》

…An unpredicted anomaly manifested.

Thump—

A monumental pulsation vibrated through the fabric of the domain.

It was a solitary pulse, yet its magnitude sufficed to distort the entire environment.

The dark energy that had saturated the area instantly dissolved, and the runic arrays Hans had been constructing shattered into fragments.

[What the…?!]

The event mirrored an environmental catastrophe.

Hans exerted himself to stabilize his internal energy, fighting to keep the titan suppressed…

Thump—

Yet his counter-measures proved ineffective, as a secondary pulsation warped the immediate space, its kinetic waves completely overwhelming.

Despite the deep void anchoring his coordinates, he perceived his entire form being dragged down into the lower strata.

‘This is insane! He can interfere from that far away?!’

Even taking into account that this was the boundary zone, situated far closer to the void than the mortal earth, it defied belief that a deity exiled for such an age could project this level of authority!

The situation grew worse.

Hans clamped his teeth together as he perceived his entity being pulled downward.

As he scanned his options for an escape route,

“Oh, my Lord! Your will be done!”

The Revolutionary pressed his palms together in a reverent gesture, then shifted his posture, moving toward a specific vector.

[Where do you think you’re going?!]

Disregarding the downward gravity, Hans hurled a condensed blade of doom directly at the titan…

‘Damn it! What is this?!’

…Yet his strike glided straight through the colossus as if it were a mirage, the warped geometry altering its trajectory completely.

His vessel, strained from the exertion of the previous maneuver, plunged down yet another stratum.

“Khehehe— Immortal King, a wanderer lost in the dimensions. A heretic who defies His will, despite receiving His grace.”

While Hans battled to stabilize his position and break free from the downward current,

The colossus, having finalized its preparations, pivoted to look back at him, its fractured form rapidly closing up.

“His will is with me. It seems you weren’t destined to be my demise. Khehehe!”

With a mocking laugh, the titan dissolved into a fissure that had split open across the distorted architecture of space.

Its objective was unmistakable.

[Kuh—! That insolent bastard…!]

Hans attempted to concentrate his consciousness to intervene, but the unrelenting downward pull demanded his full attention.

‘Damn it! I’m busy enough as it is!’

Remaining here was pointless; it would achieve nothing beyond depleting his cognitive reserves.

He possessed no time to squander on a fruitless struggle against the current.

‘You’ll pay for this later.’

Hans’s form, sinking deeper into the dark void…

Vanished entirely from the domain.

—

In the vicinity of the Steel Fortress, situated along the northern perimeter of the Tulk Kingdom.

Zzzzt—

An ominous phenomenon began to unfold.

“What? What is that…?”

“Wait… Is that…?”

“Emergency! Emergency! Report this immediately!”

A colossal tear manifested within the firmament, of such proportions that it could be easily seen from the ramparts of the stronghold, regardless of the span separating them.

It was far more than a simple tear.

Crack—!

A disturbing, rendering noise reverberated through the sky as the fissure forced itself open.

Koooong!

Emerging from the center of the rift, a colossus possessing an immaculate, chalk-white frame stepped forth.

“Khehehe—! Ah, finally!”

The King of Madness set his foot upon the mortal earth for the very first time.