Chapter 384

Chapter 384
## Chapter 384

Demons (2)

The authority of a Main God, who crafts an entire realm, is absolute.

They possess the right to initiate or conclude their world at a whim, executing an influence that borders on total omnipotence.

Rather than individual entities, they operate more like vast, incomprehensible mechanisms that dictate the destinies of everything they have fashioned.

Yet, even this near-limitless supremacy has its boundaries.

Their immense magnitude and scale prevent them from managing every minor occurrence or tiny detail within their realm.

An attempt to step in directly to rectify a trivial flaw could set off a catastrophic reaction, potentially tearing the fabric of the entire dimension apart.

Consequently, they usually prefer to watch from afar, allowing events to progress on their own, even when anomalies or glitches surface.

Certain deities maintain a completely passive stance, satisfied with merely preparing the environment and observing the performance, whereas others take a proactive approach, distributing their energy to form lesser divinities who oversee the world in their stead.

The Main God of Auterica belonged to the proactive category.

Following the formation of the world, it partitioned its divine energy, producing subordinate gods to supervise its handiwork more intimately.

These lesser divinities, while still bound by certain restrictions, acted with far greater frequency than the Main God, molding the territory to match their specific desires.

The World Tree, serving as the protector of nature’s fertility and cycles, brought forth the Elves.

The Titan, governing the domains of flame, metallurgy, and craftsmanship, brought forth the Dwarves.

The Beast God, presiding over creatures, wilderness, and hunting, brought forth the Beastmen.

The Sea God brought forth the Merfolk.

The God of Balance brought forth the Dragons.

Furthermore, a specific deity supervised mankind—short-lived but rapidly multiplying beings who served as an invaluable fountain of karma.

“Grrr— Demon God…”

“Huu… Haa… What exactly is that…?”

The Heavenly Gods and the Demonic Gods shared a similar nature.

The Heavens operated as a domain filled with unadulterated light energy, whereas the Demon World functioned as a domain of dark energy.

They generated Angels and Demons to populate these respective territories.

Thus, eras rolled by.

Strife paired with unity, warfare paired with advancement…

The denizens of Auterica carried out their existences, their behaviors producing karma, until their lives eventually ceased, leaving behind only their karmic remnants.

Peace was not constant, yet the world preserved a precarious equilibrium, advancing at a steady pace…

…right up until a particular deity, operating beneath the Main God, became excessively attached to its own creations, allowing its avarice and ambition to expand past all boundaries.

The fallout from this violation proved catastrophic.

It was, after all, a potent divinity whose leverage was magnified by the monumental quantity of karma yielded by its creations, the humans, vastly eclipsing the combined strength of numerous other deities.

The majority of the demi-human populations were expelled from their territories, coerced into relocating to an entirely different landmass.

The dragons, though scarce in number, possessed such immense strength that they remained largely unaffected, but even their power was insufficient against the rogue deity’s immediate interference.

Taking definitive action at last, the Main God wiped out the tainted divinity, locking it away inside the abyss, which served as a dimensional refuse bin.

The entity could not be utterly obliterated without endangering the stability of the entire universe, so its strength and historical records were wiped clean, its core locked away… but this was supposed to prevent further issues.

The abyss was intended to break down and disintegrate unwanted entities, converting them into nutrients to enrich the world.

…At least, that would have been the case had the entity remained passive for several tens of millennia.

While tens of millennia might represent a brief span for a divinity, to the tainted god, whose fixation on its human creations had become absolute, it felt like an eternity.

Its fixation, its yearning, its bottomless avarice…

…refused to diminish.

It persisted in extending its reach, stretching its leverage outward in every direction.

Its main focus centered on the landmass populated by mankind, though it recognized that placing all its reliance on a single location was a tactical error.

The abyss, after all, maintained links across the entire universe, its conduits and networks reaching into every corner.

[“Ah! Unpolluted air! This is… magnificent!”]

“Grr! Fall back!”

[“Slaughter them all! Relinquish their flesh and spirits as offerings!”]

“Blast it! I anticipated they would cause an uproar!”

“Fiends of the abyss…!”

And currently,

Within a specific sector of the Demon World,

…the refuse from the conduits was beginning to… spill over.

—

‘A conflict within the Demon World… ’

Hubert’s Trading Company, Office of the Chairman.

The fiend who had materialized without warning, Miyamoto Ken, had departed as silently as he arrived,

…leaving behind nothing but an assurance of his return and the vacant platters from the meal he had consumed.

In a sense, it was an encouraging indicator.

He possessed the capability to inflict devastation, yet he chose to withdraw peacefully, displaying no aggressive intent.

It was highly possible there lay an opportunity for a mutually advantageous collaboration…

Even so, Hubert maintained his guard.

‘He remains a demon.’

This concern extended beyond mere capability.

Fiends were notorious for their manipulation and trickery, possessing the skill to deceive even the sharpest minds.

Granted, Ken was a… altered demon, meaning the standard assumption might not perfectly fit his circumstances… but he had resided within the Demon World for a generation. There was no telling how deeply he had been… impacted by it.

‘He could be putting on a facade of cooperation, biding his time for the perfect moment to strike.’

Reflecting on it, such a scenario wouldn’t be entirely disadvantageous.

He was currently monitoring the unfolding events, waiting for the optimal second to move… but should they breach boundaries first, he would strike back without a second thought, seizing everything in their possession.

“Um… Chairman?”

“Hmm?”

Pulled from his reflections, Hubert looked up at the sound of his title.

“Are you doing alright? That… individual who just departed…”

Diana, his highly efficient aide who managed the bulk of the enterprise’s daily operations, stood before him with a look of concern clouding her features.

‘She picked up on it.’

It felt like only yesterday when he initially encountered her—a weak, undernourished youth in a minor settlement overseen by vampires… but she had shot up and gained maturity, courtesy of proper sustenance and attention. She was virtually a young woman by now.

‘Furthermore, her… extraordinary sense of smell appears to have sharpened.’

Even his True Blood vampire protector had failed to detect a thing…

It appeared she had picked up on the true nature of the fiendish visitor.

That explained her heightened anxiety.

“Ah, I am fine. A strategy is in place.”

“I am relieved to hear that… however… I cannot certain if I am merely overthinking… but a sense of dread surrounds him.”

“A sense of dread?”

“…More akin to… a premonition. Something… deeply concerning.”

“Hmm.”

Hubert rubbed his chin in deep contemplation.

Diana was marked not only by an ‘extraordinary sense of smell’ but also by an ‘unfortunate predisposition’—a quality that drew calamity toward her.

She had managed to evade the bulk of its consequences through her association with Hubert, a traveler from another world who disregarded destiny… yet her insights still held considerable significance. She was, essentially, an authority on calamity.

“Do not fret.”

He had experienced a shred of reluctance.

It was hardly a path he could select without careful thought.

Yet her observations provided the final push he required to resolve his path.

“I possess a… countermeasure.”

He intended to exhaust every available option.

—

I scanned the assortment of goods presented within the 『Karma Shop Ver.2』, a peculiar wave of reminiscence rolling through me.

‘…Excellent. My reserves are sufficient.’

His Karma total, following the rejuvenation of Ganghwange, had hovered around 9.5 million.

Now, a handful of days later by Earth’s calendar, the figure had climbed past 13 million.

‘No significant occurrences have transpired aside from the standard commerce of Hubert’s Trading Company.’

The velocity of this expansion was staggering.

It was the combined outcome of his various maneuvers and their enduring consequences.

Simply watching the digits multiply in real time provided a sensation of… fulfillment, independent of actual sustenance.

“Time to begin.”

Possessing this degree of capital left no room for hesitation.

『Unique Skill Enhancement (2,000,000)』

He finalized the selection without a moment’s pause.

“Hmm.”

An identical migraine—a sharp, boring ache that tore straight through his fortified mental boundaries—assaulted his consciousness.

Simultaneously, his perception, already immense and far-reaching, stretched even further, ascending to loftier tiers.

《The parameters of your unique skill and its associated traits have been upgraded. The operational radius for manifestation of your avatars has expanded.》

Following a brief pause,

…a notification, identical to the one displayed during his prior advancement, materialized.

His unique skill along with its companion traits received an upgrade, and the distance for manifesting his avatars, which had previously topped out at roughly 60 kilometers, had grown exponentially.

‘…Close to 300 kilometers at this point?’

That spanned the bulk of the Korean territory.

He could now manifest his avatars anywhere across that expanse with a mere shift in focus.

‘The subsequent advancement demands 3 million.’

He winced slightly at the 1 million surge in cost, but he quickly dismissed the irritation.

He possessed an abundance of Karma points; his genuine deficit lay in the time required to adjust to these amplified traits.

‘Besides, I have more pressing matters to attend to.’

He could finally construct an additional avatar.

A substantial period had elapsed since his last creation, given that the recent advancements had merely amplified his current arsenal.

“My eleventh avatar.”

Every requisite preparation had already been executed.

Inhaling deeply, he directed his steps toward the subterranean level.

Wooong—

The subterranean chamber vibrated with a subtle, supernatural resonance produced by the numerous enchantment arrays and wards he had implemented.

Their collective purpose was to bottle up and mask the internal fluctuations of energy.

While his dwelling already benefited from multiple tiers of defense, this specific vault was far more fortified, reinforced by intricate and potent enchantments.

‘Even if Hans fails to suppress his presence, it will remain undetected within this space.’

Naturally, it lacked the capability to utterly stifle his absolute limit of power… but it functioned perfectly for masking his whereabouts.

The expenditure required to construct this chamber, regarding both rare components and master craftsmanship, had been monumental.

“Now then.”

He had already settled on the archetype for his subsequent avatar.

Furthermore, he held the required components.

“It is time to employ this.”

Wooong—

The moment he pulled the object from his dimensional vault,

…the arrays across the floor flared with brilliance, their resonance swelling as they reacted to the object’s presence.

An isolated forearm, bound in silver links consecrated by an elite priest, pinned down and immobilized by a multitude of metallic spikes.

The ‘Right Arm of the 14th Demon King, L’rei’e’, conserved within the 「Golden Treasury」—the inheritance of the Gold Dragons that Horus had come to possess.

‘…Stunning.’

Even after a millennium of confinement and suppression, the sinister resonance pulsing from the limb remained incredibly potent.

Had the arrays been absent, the Guardians would have converged on his dwelling instantly.

“Now…”

He prepared to trigger 「Customization」…

…but first, he navigated through the 『Item Purchase』 interface to locate an additional object.

An intermediate phase remained.

『Horn containing the essence of the 14th Demon King, L’rei’e (4,080,000)』

The object had demanded over 5 million Karma points when he initially noted it.

Even now, priced beyond 4 million, the cost remained exceptionally steep.

He had never anticipated actually acquiring such an item…

‘…Still, circumstances shift.’

Up to this juncture, he had relied on an isolated catalyst for every individual avatar.

That method had proven entirely sufficient for isolating a particular lineage.

‘Yet with my upgraded unique skill and the refined parameters of “Customization”, alternative routes have become accessible.’

He now possessed the ability to merge multiple catalysts sharing identical origins to forge a far more… tailored avatar.

What if those specific catalysts happened to be… fragments of a Demon King?

Moreover, not just any random entity, but the 14th Demon King, L’rei’e, whose might was rumored to rival an Immortal King during their golden era?

‘In any case, I already command ten avatars. Initiating the process completely from the bottom feels somewhat… monotonous.’

Accelerated progression was highly popular in the gaming community lately.

There existed no logical barrier preventing him from adopting the same strategy.

Beaming faintly, he carefully positioned a set of dark horns at the core of the enchantment array.

Measuring roughly 30 centimeters in length, their structure was graceful and curved.

Likely due to the preservation of his ‘essence’, the latent energy they radiated far surpassed that of the secured forearm.

Wooong—!

The subterranean arrays pulsed and flared, their hum rising in pitch.

A delicate shimmer, resembling a nimbus, encircled the horns.

The containment arrays appeared to be… holding firm, a testament to the massive capital he had funneled into their creation.

‘Excellent. It would prove troublesome if they hit their breaking point now.’

He retained one final component.

Extracting a compact, transparent vial encircled by a delicate silver link carved with microscopic blessings, he tipped it slowly.

A dark sphere, resembling a miniature eye, shifted within the glass.

Its crimson pupil locked onto his vision.

“The Eye of the 14th Demon King, L’rei’e.”

This was an asset he had secured from the Roselia Temple, the sacred ground of the Main God Church.

Their containment efforts hadn’t stopped with the relic of the Immortal King.

They had similarly secured a piece of the Demon King’s remains dating back a millennium, and Heinrich had… quietly… salvaged it under the pretense of total disposal.

‘…In truth, it isn’t an outright fabrication. It will be entirely dissolved from this reality shortly.’

As a consequence of these actions, he now held three distinct catalysts.

The horn, the right forearm, and the eye belonging to the 14th Demon King, L’rei’e.

Given that the horn preserved the entity’s core essence, it formed the ultimate array, optimizing their collective harmony.

‘…This promises to be… fascinating.’

He could afford no further delays; the containment arrays were beginning to show signs of strain.

With mounting anticipation, he initiated 「Customization」.

Moments later…

“Huh? What is the meaning of this?”

—

The manifestation phase for the avatar reached its conclusion.

An unparalleled tide of energy flooded through his frame.

It represented an unfamiliar strength anchored within an unfamiliar vessel, yet adapting required minimal effort.

He possessed extensive familiarity with guiding high-tier avatars.

A stride, followed by another…

He paced forward deliberately, a peculiar sensation of disorientation creeping over him.

This phenomenon accompanied every instance of avatar creation, yet this specific occasion felt… distinct.

Halting before a mirror, he inspected his form.

A set of dark horns curved upward from the sides of his temples.

Garnet eyes glowed with an eerie, sinister illumination.

A pair of dark wings burst from beneath his attire, shredding the textile.

His appearance mirrored that of… a Demon King.

However, an unforeseen factor had disrupted the 「Customization」 phase—.

Presumably because he had concentrated too many catalysts from an identical, overwhelming entity, his capacity to alter the vessel’s physical traits had been heavily restricted.

Minor modifications were permissible, but the primary attributes remained… unchangeable.

“The 14th Demon King, L’rei’e.”

Such as the set of dark horns.

Or the garnet eyes.

Or…

“…A female?”

…the avatar’s physical gender.

“Sigh… I failed to anticipate this outcome.”

The striking figure in the glass, her look ethereal and fiendish, released a quiet breath.

Her tone, musical and alluring, possessed the quality to make anyone’s breath catch.