Chapter 738

Oatgars, the Malicious Spirit who had suffered severe injuries from Davey's attack back in China, could not stop herself from shivering.

"Impossible... This is impossible..."

A one-sided slaughter—this was the perfect description of what had happened.

Although Oatgars had been sealed in slumber for a long time, she remained an object of fear. Hence, she firmly believed that no existence on earth could harm her. However, the human before her showed her how wrong she was.

Just recalling that human being was enough to make her shake and spiral into some sort of primal fear. She had never felt such terror before, not even when she participated in the Ancient Dragons' Great Battle.

"No... No, that only happened because I had just been summoned back then."

Wasn't that the case with the stupid muscle-brained Antares too? If the summoning hadn't weakened her, that human definitely couldn't have beaten her.

Having seen his power several times, Oatgars deluded herself into thinking that she would never lose against that human again. She would never, ever lose, especially since that human couldn't possibly grow much stronger in such a short period.

"Oatgars," someone called.

Oatgars silently turned her head toward the voice, noticing that a presence had appeared in the distance.

"L-Lord Katshi!"

"Are you okay?"

Oatgars hurriedly bowed and arranged her limp tentacles until they looked neat. Then, she said, "O-Of course! All of my preparations are now complete. That man will never beat me again!"

"No. You're still in danger. Do not forget—that horne is much stronger than any of the hornes we've dealt with in the past," Katshi said.

"Why are you so afraid of him, Lord Katshi? No matter how you look at it, isn't he just a horne? Once you and I regain our full power, then..."

"He is Freyja's representative. It wouldn't be strange if he's got another trick up his sleeve."

"Antares was only beaten because he was stupid," Oatgars insisted, firm in her belief.

"Still, please be cautious. There are only a few of our kind left."

"Hmph. If we don't have enough people, we can just create more weaker members of our race. You don't have to worry, Lord Katshi. He'll never find out about this place or what's in here. Even if he does somehow manage to find this place, he'll never be strong enough to get in our way."

"I am more worried about you, Oatgars."

Oatgars squeezed a few tears out. She looked as if Katshi, who was currently in the form of a boy, had deeply moved her.

With hands clasped together as if in prayer, Oatgars revered him. "Aaaah... My ruler, my lord Katshi. I will always follow and serve you."

Seeing her flushed face, Katshi quietly approached and gently embraced her head.

"Aaah... My fellow kin. That horne is currently active in the east. His failure to grasp our location and true rankings presents us with an opportunity. Don't worry, we'll be done preparing all of the plans and tricks before he realizes it."

Among the Malicious Spirits, Oatgars was ranked fourth, while Katshi was ranked first.

Soon, another high-ranking Malicious Spirit with an unidentified power appeared and bowed to Katshi. "Lord Katshi. The barrier you speak of has been completed."

"Glad to have you here, Reusel. What was that human organization's response?"

"They have told us that they would cooperate with the monsters and increase the number of mutants."

"Good. However, do not forget that hornes can lie with a straight face. Be careful. I have something urgent to deal with, so I will leave this place to you two," Katshi said. He then disappeared.

"Hmph. There's no way a horne can find this place."

Reusel, the other high-ranking Malicious Spirit, just remained quiet. Although he didn't like her, he believed she was right.

Ping-

At that moment, a wavelength suddenly appeared within their area of detection. Oatgars immediately jumped up, instinctively sensing the approaching crisis. At the same time, several spears made of white light rained down and pierced through the ground they were standing on.

"Keugh! What is this?!"

"We're under attack! How the hell did that bastard get here?!"

Although frightened, the two Malicious Spirits immediately unleashed their energy and prepared to counterattack.

The first to react was Reusel. Realizing who had launched the attack, Oatgars froze in fear, causing her to lag behind.

From Oatgars perspective, the air above her seemed to distort. However, she figured it wasn't just caused by a mere refraction or reflection of light.

In truth, it was caused by cognitive distortion, a power under the energy system that intercepted the perception of beings weaker than its caster. This higher power defied common sense.

Bzzt, bzzt...

The distortion in the air disappeared, revealing a young man.

'How the hell did he get here?!'

Looking down at them with a smirk was the hateful and frightening horne who had once almost killed Oatgars. Katshi had clearly told them that the man was in the East, completely unaware of their location, yet here he was!

Did Goddess Freyja tell him? No, that was impossible. Despite being a god, there were still things that even she could not do.

Boom!!!

"How dare you come to this place!!! I don't know how you found us, but I will make sure to beat you to a pulp!!!"

Reusel charged toward the human, leaving the frightened Oatgars behind. Although similar to Antares, he was as strong as the third-rank Malicious Spirit.

His existence was basically one full level higher than Oatgars at her full strength. Not only did his high defensive power make him almost invincible, but he could also gather all of it and release it as an attack strong enough to be considered a disaster.

Nevertheless, with just a slight wave of the horne's hand, all of Oatgars' predictions were completely overturned.

"Keugh!"

The boy lightly threw a spear at Reusel, pinning him to the ground with blood dripping all over him. He didn't even have the chance to scream.

"This... This can't... be happe—"

"Oh, it certainly is."

Thud!!!

When the frightened Oatgars turned around and tried to run away, the young horne shot toward her and kicked her down to the ground. Unable to recover from the impact, Oatgars could only scream, aware that she could no longer escape.

"There's only two of you here? Shouldn't there be one more?"

The horne sounded as if he knew everything. How the hell did he know about this place? When did he even start making his way over? Oatgars had a lot of questions in her mind.

***

Davey believed that it would be best to attack the two Malicious Spirits in a grand manner. After all, the first one to make a move here would be able to guarantee victory. If he hit them with all his might, then he'd immediately gain the tide of the battle.

Looking around, he only saw two Malicious Spirits. Although he questioned where the other one disappeared to, Davey knew better than to let his guard down. He just silently prepared for his next magical attack while the two Malicious Spirits slowly stood up.

"Urk! You fucking horne bastard!!!"

Not long after, the bald Malicious Spirit rose from the ground and released an overwhelming amount of power. He then charged straight toward Davey, seemingly hoping to show how overwhelming his physical prowess was.

Although the Corona Destroyer had shattered the Malicious Spirit's defenses, it still seemed difficult to kill him with the bamboo spear alone even though it had as much destructive power as a nuclear weapon. Well, he supposed it was only natural. After all, high-ranking Malicious Spirits were strong enough to rival that of an ancient dragon.

Witnessing the unexpectedly feeble power that the Malicious Spirit had released, Davey felt as if he had just overestimated them. It was not that they were weak. Rather, they were simply no match for him. However, it wasn't as if he couldn't understand why. In the first place, their dimensional transfer wasn't stable enough to support their full power.

"Killing Sleesia has truly helped me in more ways than one."

Davey's chances of victory were more than high enough. Completely ignoring Oatgars' telekinetic powers, he shot forward and faced the Malicious Spirit charging toward him head-on.

[The Title: Destroyer has been equipped.]

Destroyer, Antares' power, began to surge and cover Davey.

Thud!!!

"Kghh... I can't believe I'm doing something like this."

Davey grabbed one of the Malicious Spirit's arms to restrain him. Then, he balled his hands into fists and began to punch and clash with the Malicious Spirit's.

"Let me commend you for your wonderful surprise attack! However, you must be dreaming if you think you can stop me with the power of a mere horne!" the Malicious Spirit screamed as he exerted more force.

Davey started to get pushed back. Although he had not yet warmed up, he felt quite ashamed for losing ground so easily in a showdown of brute force despite his numerous buffs.

"So you haven't warmed up yet."

The Malicious Spirit in front of Davey was physically much stronger than he had imagined. He seemed to be similar to Antares, who fought with brute force.

Antares was ranked fifth among the high-ranking Malicious Spirits. This meant that all the other high-ranking Malicious Spirits, Oatgars included, were superior to Antares in one way or another

To put it simply, Davey should never let his guard down or underestimate the enemy.

Bzzt...

bzzt...

Davey released the strength in his hands. The sight made the Malicious Spirit believe that his attempts to break Davey's arms and subdue him had finally borne fruit, weakening him enough to drag him around. However, the truth was that Davey was simply preparing to unleash the magic that he had cast in advance.

[9th Circle Devil Magic]

[King's Bone Spear]

Crack, crack, crack-!

The black devil mana in the air gathered, creating a spear made of bones. It then shot forward and pierced through the Malicious Spirit in front of Davey.

"Kghhk!!!"

Bang!!!

Right after, Davey landed a punch on the chest of the Malicious Spirit, whose movements had been delayed by the sudden attack. Taking that same opportunity, he kicked the Malicious Spirit away, widening the distance between them.

"I would be in quite an embarrassing situation if it weren't for you, Arbit."

[The Malicious Spirits... I did not expect Reusel to appear right after Oatgars... How are they still alive...]

Ignoring Arbit, who was still mumbling to himself in disbelief, Davey charged toward the Malicious Spirit named Reusel once again. Since he was having a hard time taking the guy down, he should ask others to pull their weight, no?

"Verdandi!!!"

Vwoooooong!!!

Answering Davey's call, an unidentified power spread out and distorted the reality of the surrounding area.

Bearing the closest resemblance to demonic techniques, Verdandi's powers were considered exceptional even among the violent and ferocious powers of the other Princesses of the Abyss Those who did not know the source of this power would have no other choice but to succumb to the force that would suddenly surge and engulf their entire being.

Her power distorted reality, instantly dominating and taking control of not only Reusel but also the entire battlefield. Just like that, the force weighing Davey down disappeared.

Verdandi had just reversed all of Reusel's senses, including his perception, and created a gap—albeit only a temporary one. It was during moments like this that Davey felt fortunate and grateful to have her on his side.

"These are nothing but mere empty tricks!!!"

"You've just fallen for that 'empty trick,' then."

Reusel's eyes widened.

'The magic I cast earlier isn't the only one I prepared in advance.'

Davey kicked Reusel in the abdomen and drew Super Ribbon.

[Longsword]

[Masterpiece]

[No-named King]

Davey had once used this, the final sword technique of the Sword God, to defeat the demon world's Battle God Balrog.

The same sword that had cut down Perserque—making her breathe her last— appeared once again. This time, Davey released it with his enlightenment and in a state where he had completely recovered his strength. Although he used the same technique, an entirely different sword shot forward and cut Reusel. Right after, it also cut the entire city in half.

"Urk?!"

Davey was rendered speechless upon discovering that he had only been able to inflict a severe injury on Reusel despite having already broken his defenses earlier. If his defenses were still intact, Davey figured some of his attacks would have been completely nullified.

Although Reusel's power could be said to be weaker than Antares' at his perfect state, Antares would definitely be no match against this guy when it came to defense.

Since his power was the complete opposite of Ares' swordsmanship, which allowed one to trample on another and pressure them with force, Davey had no choice but to dig in and split him apart.

Gearing up for a third attack, the 82nd form of the Demonic Sword slowly formed in Davey's hand.

[Demonic Sword]

[82nd Form of the Sword]

[Void Descent Sword Technique]

Shiiing... Bang!!!

The sword was not only powerful. It was also so sharp and penetrative that it managed to pierce through Reusel.

"Keugh!"

Reusel staggered backward. He then looked in disbelief at the blood spurting out of his chest. His durable body, despite being able to endure the blow of the Longsword, finally cracked.

As Reusel gathered and covered him with his power to heal his injuries, Davey kicked his legs and knocked him to the ground. Climbing on top, he placed his hand on the pit of his enemy's stomach.

"Y-You bastard!!!"

"You're really harshing my mellow here."

Since Davey's soul and body had been synchronized, he could not be nervous or anxious. If he were, then he would have lost the confidence to face those damn bastards he called teachers.

"Well then, shall we see how long you can endure?"

Any 9th Circle Magic was divided into three levels: Comprehension, Realization, and Transcendence. But now, Davey could infinitely release power that was beyond that.

[Odin-style Modified Magic]

[9th Circle Fireball]

[Solar System]

This was the basic foundational magic from which the reverse magic White Nova and countless other insane system structures were derived. This was also one of the specialties of Odin, the Atrellia Continent's God of Magic. Davey believed it to be more than enough to take out Reusel.

A flame that looked like an extremely condensed sun instantly gathered in Davey's hands. Then, it slowly engulfed Davey until he looked like a Spirit of Fire.

Reusel's defenses were overwhelmingly powerful, and his vitality was beyond anyone's imagination. He was even capable of holding out against Super Ribbon's power.

However, if physical damage would not work, then Davey had no choice but to pile on abnormal statuses until his enemy died, right?

[Pyromaniac. Lend me your sword.]

Lavatein—the fire sword that could burn the whole world down and the sword that Fire Spirit King Ifrit handed to Spirit Queen Yuriana—slowly materialized in Davey's hands. Since it didn't truly belong to him, using it was putting quite a huge toll on his body. He couldn't care less about it, though.

Reusel, who had finally understood the danger in front of him, tried to run away from Davey. Unfortunately for him, it was already too late—Davey had already sealed and blocked his movements by striking his acupoints. When did this happen? When Davey knocked him down and overpowered him, of course!

The flames of Lavatein and the power of Solar System, Odin's magic, slowly fused inside Davey. At the same time, the flames in his hands began to grow stronger.

"This fire... Keheok?! W-What the hell?!"

The ultra-high heat of the flames pierced through Reusel, scorching him.

Davey took a short breath and stood up, leaving behind the Malicious Spirit who had collapsed.

Even though his body and soul had been synchronized, Davey still found it hard to replicate Odin's magic.

"So you're next, huh? Where did the other one go?"

Oatgars, the only Malicious Spirit left in the area, looked at Davey with fear.

""

The surroundings remained silent.

"I never expected that you would find and reach this place."

Feeling something with a horrifying momentum dart toward him, Davey twisted his body out of reflex.

Shwaaa-!

Just as he moved, an invisible and intangible blade passed by and cut Davey's cheek before disappearing. At the same time, a black-haired little boy slowly appeared in front of Davey.

"As expected, you've become very powerful. You even completely overwhelmed Reusel without revealing all of your hidden cards."

'When did he get here?' Davey wondered.

"I am Katshi, the king of Atlantis. I must treat you with respect and show you the courtesy that fits our statuses, no?"

The Malicious Spirit in front of Davey was unlike any other Malicious Spirit that he encountered before.

The terrifying and overwhelmingly heavy force of the strongest Malicious Spirit slowly spread and took control of the entire area.