Chapter 307

Chapter 307
## Chapter 307

### Skirmish (2)

The Immortal Fortress, hidden deep within the rugged peaks of the Northern Mountains, had become the most forbidden zone in all of Auterica—a Citadel of death that served as the true stronghold of the Demon King.

Inside the grim stronghold, a woman rushed about her duties, suddenly letting out a heavy sigh.

“What is it this time?”

Her name was Siana, a succubus originating from the demon world. Through a twist of fate, she had unexpectedly risen to become a high-ranking executive within the ranks of the Immortal Army.

Halting her stride, she surveyed her chaotic surroundings and offered yet another weary sigh.

Currently, the Immortal Fortress was in absolute turmoil.

Their supreme commander, the Immortal King, had marched out alongside the elite core of their forces, leaving behind a massive void in leadership that multiplied the responsibilities of the remaining officers.

‘Olivia is away on some covert assignment, nowhere to be found. With the others absent as well, the paperwork just keeps multiplying!’

The only high-ranking executives left to manage the Immortal Fortress were herself, the Banshee Queen Olivia, and Arch-Lich Dwell McCain, who was currently occupied with overseeing the lower-tier undead units.

Compared to its usual state, the fortress was practically a ghost town.

Had the hero party chosen this exact moment to strike, the stronghold would be incredibly vulnerable. Yet, Siana felt no real sense of dread.

‘We have plenty of disposable meat shields. If worst comes to worst, I’ll just gather the valuables and make a run for it.’

To them, the Immortal Fortress functioned more as an iconic symbol than an irreplaceable strategic asset. As long as the Immortal King remained safe, constructing another base would be a simple matter.

Even so, she had to execute her current assignments properly to avoid facing the wrath of the King when he returned.

‘How did my life turn into this?’

She shook her head, forcing herself to hold back her next sigh.

While working under a striking and magnetic leader had its perks, she couldn’t help but feel frustrated by the lack of headway regarding her own secret ambitions. Lately, she had been entirely consumed by the administrative burdens of the Immortal Army.

‘I genuinely believed I could locate it with their resources… Where could it be hidden?’

Her motivation for joining the clandestine organization known as the Heaven’s Turn Society stemmed from that very search.

The Revolutionary had been the one to initiate contact, but she had willingly accepted the invitation because she harbored her own private goals.

She had previously requested assistance from Olivia, who controlled their intelligence network, but observing how the Banshee Queen was perpetually buried under mountains of work, Siana found it impossible to press the matter further.

How could she demand more favors when Olivia was already pushing herself to the brink, sleeping only in brief increments?

“Ugh! This is infuriating! I’ll push through this paperwork and find a way to blow off some steam afterward.”

Muttering complaints to herself, she quickened her pace once more.

The only reason she could tolerate this grueling routine was her personal outlet for stress, the deposed Crown Prince Simon. Without his presence, her tolerance would have shattered long ago.

‘I should have insisted on marching out with the main force. I could have enjoyed causing some real devastation.’

Though she did not specialize in direct warfare, Siana possessed capabilities that were far from weak. She was entirely certain she could perform better on the battlefield than a majority of the other commanders.

Nevertheless, the Immortal King Hans had his own distinct motives for ordering her to stay behind.

Meanwhile, far from the fortress in a secluded corner of the Ion Continent, deep within those same Northern Mountains…

A brutal conflict was raging—a savage, desperate struggle for survival involving the legions of the unliving.

—

Kaboom—!

An earth-shattering detonation vibrated through the sky and ground alike, unleashing a violent gale that possessed enough force to rip ancient trees from the soil as it roared across the terrain.

Two massive powers collided again and again, sending blinding bursts of illumination and echoing cracks of thunder rolling over the mountain peaks.

Though the engagement had only recently commenced, the surrounding geography was already scarred beyond recognition.

It was an absolute blessing that this clash was occurring in an isolated wilderness. Had such a confrontation taken place near civilized lands, an entire metropolis would have been wiped off the map.

Yet, in the center of this cataclysmic upheaval, Hans remained completely unmoving, his perception locked entirely onto his rival, the Master of Heaven’s Turn Society.

This remained true despite the fact that he lacked physical eyes to see.

“So, that explains your immense pride. Your strength has undeniably surged since our previous encounter in Japan.”

[“Kuhut, you, on the other hand, seem diminished compared to before. Show me something better.”]

“…Hmph, if you are so eager to witness it.”

Neither the Master nor Hans operated like traditional combatants, rendering their duel strangely motionless in posture yet spectacular in its manifestations.

Their respective auras slammed into one another, their personal domains stretching outward and wrestling for dominance like two empires fighting over territory.

Rumble—

Flash!

The blinding, twilight-colored radiance of the proud angel, emanating from a pair of colossal wings, began to swallow the shifting shadows, while the profound, abyss-like dark of the sinister Demon King twisted and churned to engulf the crimson illumination.

The spectacle resembled the ancient wars of creation described in legends—a primal collision of illumination and shadow so grand that any mortal seeking dominion could only stare in paralyzed astonishment.

‘…I am gradually losing ground. Had my commanders not provided backup, I would have fallen by now.’

Within this chaotic display that mirrored a natural cataclysm, the elite battalions of the undead, which Hans had meticulously assembled for this strike, were being torn apart.

[“Kyaaa—!”]

[“Disperse! Evade the core of the explosions! Keep your focus!”]

[“Incantation array finalized. Target parameters calculated. Mana resonance maximized. Launching.”]

Even as the violent shockwaves tore the atmosphere apart and a relentless torrent of sacred power rained down, the unliving units threw themselves forward without a hint of fear, fighting to carve out the briefest distractions for their monarch and executing his decrees instantly.

Back when he had battled the Master in Japan, Hans had been ensnared within the adversary’s localized domain—an isolated dimension where he was subjected to a continuous onslaught of spatial fractures…

‘…This scenario is far more manageable.’

Naturally, several elements accounted for this shift, including his deliberate strategy and the choice of terrain… but the assistance rendered by his underlings played a monumental role.

The undead naturally possessed distinct vulnerabilities due to their constitution… yet they also held incredible advantages.

They harbored no dread of oblivion, experienced no fatigue, required no nourishment, and…

Thump—

The essence of death that saturated the battlefield began to vibrate, connecting with the scattered remnants of the fallen soldiers.

Swish—

Swish—!

The broken pieces, overflowing with deathly energy, rushed toward one another, reconstructing their physical frames.

Soldiers who had been shattered into splinters, their vessels seemingly ruined past the point of utility, reversed their state to match their original forms, utilizing spare components to replace what had been vaporized.

It looked exactly as if time itself were flowing backward.

This was an ultimate, forbidden art, executable solely by the Immortal King who commanded the realm of the deceased, and his loyal thralls who overrode the finality of demise.

‘However, this mechanism requires at least a fragment of their physical form to remain intact.’

For that reason, despite his unrelenting attempts to piece them back together, the tally of completely obliterated undead continued to climb.

He exerted his dark necromantic arts to shield them from total erasure…

“Huu, they possess the tenacity of vermin.”

…But his rival was far too perceptive to overlook the pattern.

A massive beam of brilliance tore through the heavens, suddenly crashing down upon the cluster of Liches positioning themselves in the rear lines.

Kaboom—!

The descending pillar of light, carrying the immense weight of a heavily charged spell, obliterated the ground below.

The outcome for any unliving entity caught within that radius was absolute.

Even the Arch-Lich Kellypa, a prominent figure among his commanders, was caught in the blast, but Hans allowed himself no time for grief.

‘Losses cannot be avoided.’

Fulfilling his primary goal was the only metric that mattered.

Seizing the fleeting window of opportunity, his magical energy erupted, temporarily paralyzing the Master’s physical form.

[“Koooo—!”]

[“Kyaaa—!”]

Simultaneously, a pair of pitch-black torrents of energy erupted from the heavens above.

Rumble—!

It was the Death Breath, expelled simultaneously by the Bone Dragons Entracio and Heratos.

This condensed manifestation of ruin, packed with an overwhelming volume of necromantic force, completely swallowed the Master, impacting the earth precisely where he stood.

“…Tsk, troublesome.”

Yet, even an area-of-effect strike of that magnitude, bearing such massive destructive force, failed to inflict a decisive wound.

Whoosh—

A fierce wind pressure cleared away the rising clouds of grit and stone, revealing…

…the Master, spreading his grand white wings to brush away the clinging, dark residues of necromancy as if they were mere specks of dirt.

Acting as though the assault was trivial.

‘…It still falls short, then?’

Even with the Master’s current strength being constrained, the fundamental advantage of opposing magical properties remained a factor.

The Master, despite channeling the authority of an alien deity, still commanded holy power, which theoretically meant he should suffer immense damage from death energy.

‘Nevertheless, that strike achieved more than simple damage.’

The concentrated necromantic energy carried by the Death Breath had seeped into the terrain, blanketing the environment in a dark, sludge-like miasma.

The terrain had effectively transformed to favor Hans’s abilities.

“This is… quite fascinating.”

As the conflict reignited with even greater ferocity, the exchange of blows grew increasingly destructive.

After trading several massive impacts—one of which triggered a massive rockslide by shattering a distant ridge—the Master spoke, his peculiar, gender-neutral voice tinged with genuine intrigue.

“You appeared entirely ready for this encounter. How did you anticipate my arrival? Or was this territory simply your primary stronghold?”

From his perspective, it was a perfectly logical mystery.

He had slipped into this reality without creating a single ripple or leaving any trace of his passage after breaking through the abyssal boundary.

It was an advanced concealment method he had likely perfected across his journeys through various dimensions.

Yet, almost the moment his feet touched Auterica, his presence had been compromised.

‘…And it is highly unusual to be received by a fully deployed army, explicitly arrayed for war.’

Based on his tone, it appeared he had never encountered such immediate opposition before.

Then again… how could he have guessed that the Saintess, receiving revelations from the Main God, would detect his breach, or that every faction on the continent, regardless of their rivalries, would unite to stand against him?

[“Puh— Who can say? Perhaps I was merely hunting in the area and crossed paths with you by chance. Lady Luck smiles upon me.”]

Hans, however, had absolutely no intention of revealing the truth.

He simply offered a low laugh, throwing his arms wide open.

“…Tsk, it matters little. I am rapidly adapting to the limitations of this world. Let us bring this to a conclusion.”

Clearly irritated by the evasive response, the Master unleashed his true pressure, causing the gravity of his presence to multiply.

Goooo—

While Hans could withstand the weight, the oppressive aura began to take a severe toll on his undead thralls, who were already pushed past their breaking points.

Roughly a third of his entire force had been utterly wiped out beyond any hope of restoration, and the survivors had been brought back to life so many times that their physical structures were deteriorating and their reflexes were faltering.

Even Heratos, one of his magnificent Bone Dragons, had sustained catastrophic trauma, forcing the creature to retreat back into Hans’s core for vital restoration.

Given that these soldiers were the elite veterans who had survived the horrors of the Great War, the attrition rate was devastating.

Should they lose any more units, the structural integrity of the ‘Immortal Army’ would face total collapse.

Facing that critical threshold—.

‘Let us look… With this current state… ‘

The Immortal King Hans calmly scanned his adversary utilizing his 「Abyssal Eye」.

While the vast gap in their raw power prevented him from reading every detail, it provided enough clarity to evaluate his opponent’s structural stamina.

‘…Perfect. He is far from his peak condition. His physical recovery speed has dropped noticeably, and he is exhibiting clear signs of fatigue.’

It was the inevitable result of the battle.

Hans had thrown every resource at his disposal into the fray.

In truth, Hans himself had sustained far more severe structural damage during this fight than when Heinrich had driven the sacred blade straight through his heart.

Of course, if the duel dragged out indefinitely, he would eventually face defeat… but there was no reason to prolong the engagement to that point.

[“You seem rather rushed. Why don’t we pause for a brief conversation?”]

“Ha! Do not insult my intelligence. At a time like this?”

[“Kkuk kuk— Well, I shall not insist if you lack the inclination. I have successfully detained you for an adequate duration anyway.”]

The words carried an underlying trap.

The Master of Heaven’s Turn Society narrowed his gaze, instantly detecting that something was amiss.

An expression of displeasure crossed his features.

Whoosh—

In tandem with a sudden swirl of air, the active undead and the fragments of the fallen dissolved into plumes of dark mist, rushing directly into Hans’s form.

It was a high-speed extraction spell designed for undead forces, an art that only he could execute.

“Are you attempting to flee once more?”

[“Flee… you say?”]

“I gave you my word. I will finish the duel we began back on Earth, right here. Do you truly believe you can slip through my fingers a second time?”

As the words left his mouth, a strange barrier of energy began to crystallize, locking down the surrounding dimensions.

The containment was not completely solidified due to the lingering miasma of death energy, but the perimeter would be entirely sealed within moments.

It appeared he had studied Hans’s prior deployment of ‘Dismissal’, as this spatial lock was vastly more secure than his previous attempts.

[“Kkuk kuk— It appears you have misread the situation entirely.”]

However, there was one major misconception that required correcting.

This movement was not a retreat.

Rather, it was…

「Avatar Assembly」

…merely a brief intermission, for he had alternative visitors preparing to arrive.

A minor courtesy extended to a heavily occupied modern gentleman.