Chapter 374

Chapter 374
## Chapter 374

The Dragon’s Descendant (2)

The conflict ground to an abrupt standstill as every eye turned toward the arena of magnificent devastation.

“Good heavens…”

“Incredible!”

Through the swirling vortex of grit and fractured stone, the gathering stared at the immense, billowing cloud of smoke that had swallowed the metropolis, their expressions frozen in a blend of bewilderment and dread.

It was a phenomenon completely alien to their experience.

The explosive science of this land remained basic and rudimentary, making a detonation of this magnitude practically unimaginable through conventional means.

Yet this ruin had been wrought by the sheer vitality of a solitary entity.

‘…Could that truly be… a mythical dragon? Erasing an entire metropolis with a solitary strike… This defies all reason.’

Heavenly General Jeongcheon, a master of the Mysterious Realm representing the Northern Army—the grandest military dominion in the territory, commanding zones across Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu Provinces—clicked his tongue as his gaze narrowed.

He had lent his presence to this campaign due to its gravity and the explicit appeal of his master, given that their domain bordered Beijing… yet he retained absolute faith in his personal prowess.

His martial expertise, forged in the fires of endless skirmishes and campaigns, stood beyond reproach.

‘But against that… I would possess no prospects. Had that strike descended upon our legions… ’

He cast a glance toward the heavy glaive gripped in his palm, his brow twitching ever so slightly.

A master of the Mysterious Realm, an individual of unmatched capability, was traditionally likened to a one-man legion… but such praise was reserved for isolated duels.

He had never conceived of a singular manifestation of force capable of erasing a whole host in an instant.

‘Had I attempted to cleave through it… who can say. I might manage to endure the shockwave utilizing my protective barrier, provided I avoided the absolute center.’

Even so, he could offer no reassurance regarding the survival of his troops.

Furthermore, throwing oneself directly into the path of such a focused accumulation of force would be utter madness.

He sharpened his perception, squinting through the thinning haze and falling masonry toward the remnants of Beijing, offering a low grunt.

“Hmph.”

The initial feature to greet his sight was a staggering wound carved into the landscape.

An immense basin, its perimeters melted smooth and glassy, gleaming under the light where the devastating torrent of energy had torn through the soil.

‘A literal act of god.’

Confronted by such majesty, superior troop counts and heavily reinforced ramparts ceased to carry any weight.

To make matters worse, the assailant possessed the gift of flight, rendering their defensive strategies severely constrained.

High above, the dragons monitoring the theater from their elevated perimeters experienced an identical wave of realization.

[“Sigh…”]

[“That power is…”]

They exhaled sharply, their tones carrying a mixture of reverence and profound shock.

Even these creatures, whose lifetimes spanned centuries, had never borne witness to such sheer concentrated ruin.

It would have cost less effort to call forth a localized tempest, a tremor, or even open a volcanic fissure… but this… this was absolute, unrefined erasure, a manifestation far beyond their paradigm.

[“My word, what manner of creature is he?”]

Black Dragon, who had maintained a reserved posture until this juncture, finally voiced her fascination, her pupils gleaming with newfound fervor.

She had anticipated very little from Horus, an entity vastly her junior and merely a temporary surrogate for the Yellow Dragon… yet his performance, which had just obliterated a significant portion of the demon jiangshi and the frontline forces of the Demonic Cult, left her deeply startled.

‘An exceptionally grand manifestation! If he were simply to… release that upon every settlement of mankind… ’

What a truly magnificent exhibition of sparks that would provide!

Her vision, tinged with an unusual sort of reverence, remained locked on Horus as he hovered over the warzone before wheeling around to return to their position.

Consequently, the attention of the mortals and fiends scattered across the soil, alongside the dragons occupying the heavens,

…all drifted toward a solitary figure.

The extraordinary Yellow Dragon, whose staggering might had now been permanently etched into their consciousness.

—

Flap— Flap—

‘…I went too far, simply trying to make a theatrical arrival.’

Every sweep of his wings felt… incredibly burdensome.

He labored to mask his exhaustion, fully aware that every pair of eyes remained fixed upon him… yet Horus was far from rejuvenated.

That solitary exhalation, potent enough to reduce the greater part of a metropolis to cinders…

It was a display characteristic of an Ancient Dragon or an Elder Dragon, far exceeding the capacity of a standard Adult Dragon.

Inevitably, the exertion had inflicted a heavy strain upon his physical vessel.

‘Nonetheless, the impression was made.’

It would have been a massive blow to his dignity to engage in petty brawls alongside the ground troops.

The far superior strategy was to execute a breathtaking arrival and subsequently withdraw from active engagement.

The complication lay in the fact that he had overextended his thresholds via 「Limit Break」, and now, sustaining his mature configuration through the 「Elder Dragon’s Heart」 was becoming increasingly troublesome.

When all was said and done, he remained nothing more than a fledgling.

‘The outcome is acceptable. I have unlocked a fresh avenue of growth.’

This applied not merely to his martial efficacy, but to his actual physical maturation, which had previously been shackled by his brief lifespan…

He had at long last uncovered an answer to that persistent dilemma.

‘…Even if actualizing it demands a grace period. For now, I must concentrate on the immediate task.’

Horus turned his attention back toward the theater of war, focusing on the ranks of the Demonic Cult.

Even the unfeeling zealots of the Demonic Cult could not remain entirely indifferent after witnessing such a cataclysmic demonstration.

Had it not been for the presence of the jiangshi, who executed commands without a shred of hesitation, their formations would have completely shattered by this point.

‘In any case, that matter is reaching its conclusion. It is time to wrap this up.’

He had provided an adequate demonstration.

This overwhelming display would implant terror and extreme wariness within the minds of the alternative groups, while their mutual animosity toward the Demonic Cult would force them into alignment.

While it was a pity to forfeit the demon jiangshi and the premium specimens of the undead, they had not been harvested from Awakened souls, meaning their utility was confined strictly to this particular realm.

It made far more sense to expend them immediately while they maintained psychological leverage, rather than hoarding them indefinitely.

‘Resources must be utilized. Furthermore, unlike the situation in Auterica, my primary objective in this theater is mending a fractured reality. I possess numerous substitute paths should the need arise.’

He had successfully secured the essential methodologies, and the surviving remnants of the Demonic Cult—who would continue to function as a perpetual bogeyman—were firmly contained at their stronghold within the Tian Shan Mountains.

The solitary task left unfinished was the reclamation of the Dragon Heart.

“The Heavenly Demon manifests, let all creation bow!”

“Slaughter them!”

“Arggh! The Heavenly Demon!”

Nearly half a day had elapsed since the commencement of hostilities.

The grand campaign to decide the destiny of this realm was converging on its finale.

—

“Hehehe— So this is the final curtain. Regrettable, truly regrettable.”

Demon Sword Master Yeo Mun-cheol, a consecrated protector of the Heavenly Demon Cult, let out a raspy chuckle.

Sword Saint Namgung Woo stood before him, his features hardened into a grim mask as he answered.

“The end has arrived, Yeo Mun-cheol.”

“Cough—!”

A spray of dark, coagulated crimson erupted from the lips of the Demon Sword Master, his upper limbs hacked away, a blade driven squarely through his chest cavity.

Even so, the derisive grin upon his single-eyed countenance never faded.

“Hehehe… To think my journey terminates in this fashion on account of that… unclad barbarian. Had our duel been conducted without interference, the conclusion would be entirely altered, Namgung Woo.”

“Excuses belong to the defeated. You ought to have confined yourself to the training grounds if you wished to avoid a true battlefield.”

Their confrontation had persisted as a deadlock until this very hour.

Inevitably, the shifting fortunes of the wider battlefield had dictated the ultimate result.

“I shall take my leave now, Patriarch. Other sectors require my presence.”

The balancing factor.

A youth… indeed, an incredibly youthful man, his frame enveloped in a shimmering, serpentine dragon manifestation of inner force, offered a brief nod before launching himself skyward, his flight as elegant and seamless as a dragon threading the upper atmosphere.

The Demon Sword Master tracked his departure with a twitching lip, spitting out,

“Kuhut— To think a single limb was claimed by that… infant! Attaining the Master Realm prior to his mid-twenties? The cosmos is playing a cruel jest.”

The Sword Saint found himself in silent accord.

He had previously viewed his own male heir, who achieved the zenith of the Master Realm during his mid-twenties, as an absolute phenomenon… yet this particular youth shattered all known standards.

He had displayed Peak Master Realm capability at the Shaolin Temple, advanced to the Transcendent Realm during the initial push by the Demonic Cult, and now stood firmly in the Master Realm…

Even allowing for his status as a traveler from another realm, such a trajectory defied belief.

It appeared as though providence itself was guiding his path.

‘He is destined to be the subsequent Heavenly Demon, without question.’

He monitored the youth as he cut a path across the warzone, his draconic aura pulsing and flashing in a breathtaking exhibition of raw capability and aesthetic brilliance.

He acted as a focal point, drawing the focus of everyone present like a powerful lodestone.

It extended beyond simple martial genius. There was an inexplicable quality… an aura of destiny.

‘A youthful champion rising to meet an age of chaos.’

He had already pulled off a monumental triumph by slipping into the heart of enemy territory to liberate the Dragon’s Children.

Had he failed, the unholy sacrament of the Demonic Cult might have achieved fruition, and even a martial victory on this field would have been hollow, leaving the world completely bereft of prospects.

Furthermore, he was currently actively participating on the front lines, reinforcing his compatriots…

“Hmph, it appears So-ran views him with considerable fascination.”

He stroked his facial hair thoughtfully, his expression growing contemplative.

His granddaughter, Namgung So-ran, was celebrated for her peerless grace, universally acknowledged as the preeminent beauty of Anhui Province.

Naturally, such a standard was entirely expected given the exceptional genetics of the Southern Palace Clan.

His own mother, his spouse, and his daughter-in-law had all been women of extraordinary visual appeal.

The sole complication was the youth’s status as a planar traveler, leaving his ultimate destination ambiguous.

‘Ultimately, a man settles where his affections reside. Should he choose to plant roots in this domain, his majesty remains uncompromised.’

Given his lack of kin, he could effortlessly be integrated into the lineage via matrimony.

As for Zhuge Hyemi, who might pose a challenge to this arrangement…

He dismissed the thought with a small shake of his head.

It was unseemly to find comfort in the tribulations of another house.

“I can practically hear your calculations from here…”

Slash—!

“I nearly neglected your presence.”

Jolted back to reality by the mocking words of the Demon Sword Master, the Sword Saint wrenched his steel from the villain’s chest and delivered a precise, decapitating stroke.

It appeared that even a mortal chest wound could not immediately halt a practitioner of the Mysterious Realm who utilized such perverted internal methodologies.

He pulverized the brain casing with a localized blast of Ki, subsequently destroying the heart and the internal energy center to ensure absolute finality.

“…”

Having finally concluded a multigenerational feud,

The Sword Saint permitted himself a brief moment of reflection with closed eyes, before opening them and leaping into the sky.

‘This is no time for idleness.’

He directed his trajectory toward the absolute epicenter of the conflict,

…the location where the definitive struggle against the Heavenly Demon was unfolding.

—

The momentum of the engagement shifted with astonishing velocity.

The stifling pressure of the unholy domain was being actively neutralized by the Five Dragons, while the arrival of the fiendish turncoats balanced the numerical equation.

The martial artists of the Murim Alliance, finally granted a moment to recover their footing, began coordinating their efforts, and this structural shift trickled up to the confrontations between the apex combatants.

The Demon Sword Master Yeo Mun-cheol met his demise at the hands of Sword Saint Namgung Woo, while the fearsome Blood Demon jiangshi was utterly dismantled by the Heavenly Crushing Sword Emperor.

Blood Asura was relieved of his duty to contain the master-tier undead, and the Kirin along with the remaining premium demon jiangshi were being systematically ground down by the allied front of the Murim Alliance and their fiendish allies.

Consequently, the entirety of that collective might and focused intent,

…began to center upon a solitary objective.

The Heavenly Demon, the ultimate adversary of this theater.

Kaboom—!

Rumble—

At the absolute heart of the engagement,

…a cataclysmic, earth-shattering struggle was playing out.

A collective assault directed at a solitary figure wrapped in a shroud of absolute darkness.

Yet even with numerical superiority, the challengers could not secure a decisive advantage.

“…Amitabha, I harbored reservations, but it appears you have entirely cast aside your human heritage to embrace the state of a fiend, Heavenly Demon.”

An unidentified, corruptive wellspring of energy was unceasingly restoring his reserves.

Meanwhile, the contemporary Mad Demon, who had served as the vanguard up to this juncture, was demonstrating signs of deep physical exhaustion, his spiritual pressure flickering.

“The man is devoid of reason. Converting his own flesh into a jiangshi merely to force an entry into the Divine Transformation Realm… What madness possessed him?”

“Was he truly intent on this? I presumed he was merely employing some manner of forbidden esoteric methodology. His insanity eclipses our darkest estimates.”

The Heavenly Demon, similarly taxed by the endless exchange of blows, could no longer perfectly mask his necrotic essence beneath his chaotic internal reserves.

Those who had previously maintained skepticism were finally confronted with the grim reality, gasping in revulsion, yet—.

“…An immense harvest of lives.”

…the Heavenly Demon merely surveyed the surrounding landscape, his countenance completely detached.

Uncounted casualties from both the mortal alliance and the fiendish host littered the shattered topography, the atmosphere saturated with the iron scent of slaughter… yet he remained entirely unaffected.

“Ah, you find yourselves intrigued by the rationale behind my choice of ascension, correct?”

It was as though every variable was unfolding precisely as intended.

The aberration masquerading as a mortal peeled back his lips in a feral sneer.

As if the period for subterfuge had drawn to a close, the necrotic pressure that had previously lingered at the margins of his presence expanded exponentially, swallowing his entire form.

“I have come into possession of an item… of extraordinary utility. Beyond measure.”

Goooo—

An opaque, bottomless pressure, reminiscent of the lowest pits of damnation, erupted from his person.

As the surrounding martial artists instinctively stepped back, crossing their arms in defensive postures,

[“Hold, that frequency belongs to…!”]

…White Dragon, who had been entirely occupied with mending the localized spatial fractures, let out an urgent shout of recognition.

It was an unmistakable energy signature, one he had directly encountered in an earlier epoch.

Tam (Greed), the perpetual bane of the Golden Island Sect, the entity responsible for consuming multiple draconic entities through the absolute application of Gluttony.

He could detect that dormant malice rooted deep within the unholy domain beneath the foundations of Beijing.

Furthermore, he could perceive an active tether connecting that malice directly to the Heavenly Demon.

[“Preposterous!”]

[“Could that be… the foundation of his stamina?! We must sever the connection immediately! Should he fully channel that resonance…!”]

However, the intervention of the White Dragon came a fraction too late.

Before a single defender could adjust their stance, the Heavenly Demon, shrouded in absolute shadow, materialized instantly beyond the perimeter established by the apex masters.

“Ah!”

He had secured Zhuge Hyemi, a member of the Dragon’s Children, firmly by her throat.

“Every prerequisite has achieved fulfillment.”

A landscape saturated by slaughter, radiating concentrated negative resonance.

Tam, the apex predator whose lingering malice endured despite his physical termination.

And his personal vessel, which had crossed the threshold of mortality to become an instrument of the grave.

“Relinquish your cosmic accumulation.”

The Heavenly Demon, now functioning as a Karma Jiangshi—an entity whose spiritual identity had been entirely supplanted by the destiny he had violently harvested—began drawing out the essence of the Dragon’s Child—.

“Not while I draw breath!”

Swish—

…And in that precise heartbeat, a sharp exclamation, paired with the whistle of a slicing blade,

…cut through the atmosphere.

“Are you unharmed, Young Mistress Zhuge?”

“Cough, huff… Y-Young Master Ha…?”

The youthful vanguard, arriving without warning, had amputated the grasping limb of the Heavenly Demon, pulling Zhuge Hyemi clear of danger and securing her within his protective embrace as he fell back.

Seizing the sudden opening, the masters of the Mysterious Realm instantly re-established their perimeter around the Heavenly Demon, who stood staring at his stump of an arm, his expression twisted in a mask of pure rage and thwarted ambition.

“…You… You persist in disrupting my designs…!”

He bellowed in unbridled fury, recognizing that an absolute triumph had slipped through his fingers.

Simultaneously, the draconic entities hovering above began their descent, their eyes locked onto his position, their pupils burning with an icy, unforgiving light.

‘…The trap is sprung.’

Horus, the Gold Dragon, his vision flashing with calculation,

…perceived that every element was finally positioned to achieve the genuine resolution.