Chapter 179: Living Armor (4)

Chapter 179: Living Armor (4)

"Hissssssss."

—It was a frightening sound that was like leaking gas.

It had pitch-black armor covering its entire body and blue flames leaking through the gaps.

"It... It's here."

"Th-That thing is here!"

A deathly silence settled down in the cargo ship that was previously as noisy as a fish market.

The members of the Black Star organization that met eyes with its glimmering dark blue eyes froze in place and repeated 'it's here' like a broken record.

Living Armor...

It was the grim reaper sent by the 'Snakes' to punish them for daring to go against their will.

"A-Ahh."

Shiver—

Those that met eyes with the Living Armor started trembling like aspen trees.

It was the monster they encountered after arriving in Korea while running away from the Snakes.

At first, they'd laughed about how the notorious Snakes sent merely one monster to chase them down. But soon after, the situation changed once hundreds of their members were massacred by the grim reaper clad in pitch-black armor.

Its strength caused despair.

Every time its blue-flamed spear was swung, the Toads futilely lost their lives.

"S-Spare me. I don't want to die."

Huan urgently took action to deal with the Living Armor that far surpassed his expectations, but even he couldn't last long and had to run away.

—A monster not even the 5th-ranking Executor of the Black Star Organization could face.

The Toads had no choice but to hide from the grim reaper sent by the Snakes.

They seized and hid inside a massive cargo ship, but their hideout was discovered while they were in the middle of contemplating whether they should leave Korea or not.

"Ahhhhhhh!!"

One of their pale, shivering members screamed and turned away.

The moment he took a step while screaming for his life—

"Hisssssss!"

—the Living Armor's eyes glimmered, and an ominous sound hissed out.

Slash!—

The flame-engulfed spear pierced through the chest of the escapee in the blink of an eye.

"Eeek!"

"Sh-Shit!!"

They couldn't even see the motion of it thrusting its spear.

A flash of dark-blue light was just about all they could see.

It was no different from having the light switch turned off and on and discovering that someone in the room had died.

"Ahhhhh!!"

"D-Damn it!!"

"Run away! We need to run away!!"

Fear spread like poison.

When the panicked members tried to run away like moles exposed to cold...

Ba—ng!—

"Don't think that you'll be able to run without my permission!!"

The impact shook the massive cargo ship that was several hundred meters long.

Huan, who was previously ordering everyone to set sail after emerging from the bridge, opened his eyes wide and stared at his subordinates that were attempting to escape.

The muscles in his legs bloated so much that it was bizarre, and black mana enveloped his body.

Swish!—

Huan kicked surged forward and lifted one of the escapees.

"I will personally punish all those that try to escape!"

Crunch!—

He held the body of his subordinate and tore it in half.

"Eeeek!"

"A-Ahh."

They stopped running away and trembled in place after witnessing a person get torn in half.

The Living Armor was frightening, but Huan was also an existence of fear to them. After all, he had been brainwashing them for a long time.

"Fight!!" Huan shouted as the veins in his neck bulged.

He didn't know how someone was able to replicate his voice, but the only option he had remaining was to fight since the monster was aboard.

'It's too late to run now.'

He was able to escape last time thanks to the complicated alleys that were designed like a maze.

He couldn't escape in an open location like the port.

"Killing that monster is the one and only way to make it out of here alive!"

Huan threw the corpse that was leaking blood and intestines so that his subordinates could see clearly.

His subordinates that were in the middle of escaping from the Living Armor turned around one by one and gathered their mana.

Their skins began to turn lumpy.

The muscles in their legs bloated and pulsed like living organisms.

"Go forth, my warriors! Do not be afraid of one mere snake!"

Huan held his hand up high.

His heated voice rang out on the deck.

"I am the Heavenly Demon!! I am the one who will become the master of the Black Stars!"

"Yeaaaaah!"

They had heard those words so much that they were brainwashed.

It seemed that Huan's repeated efforts weren't in vain, as his subordinates that were once shivering in fear roared out and charged at the Living Armor.

Bang! Boom!—

The effect of the stigma of Bufo was body strengthening.

The strength of their legs was especially amplified.

It was incredibly simple and plain, but that was why it displayed its might regardless of the situation.

"Die!"

A power that was as direct and absolute as 'strengthening the body' didn't exist.

A stigma that created lightning? A stigma that brought forth blizzards?

None of it mattered.

No matter how special your ability, it was useless if you didn't have a strong 'body' to back it up.

Huan spread his arms wide and shouted out like he was giving a speech.

"Fight! Die! Don't forget that the stigma of Bufo that you own is the best and most powerful stigma!"

""Woooaaaah!!""

The members of the Black Star Organization charged forth while roaring.

"Hisssss."

However, not much could be solved by spirit and enthusiasm alone.

Their necks were brutally severed once the Living Armor swung its spear.

"Hisssssssss!!"

Crack! Crush! Craaack!—

After piercing them from their pelvis up to their head while jumping, it caught a blade headed to its chest with one hand and twisted it.

Their swords weren't able to pierce its armor and bent like chopsticks.

It pulled the bent sword and roughly grasped the neck of the one attacking it.

Its helmet opened wide as it revealed its pure white teeth and a tongue drenched in blood.

Munch—

The Living Armor turned around in search of its next prey after swallowing half of the man's head.

"Ahhhhh!!"

At that moment, a certain Awakener grabbed onto the Living Armor's arm.

When the Living Armor's eyes shone as it was about to crush that Awakener's head—

"Die! I said, 'die', you fucking monster!!"

"Ahhhh!! Fuuuuuck!!"

"Dieeeeeeee!"

The Toads grabbed onto the Living Armor's body from all directions.

They shoved their fingers through the armor's gaps and tried to tear it off with their strength.

For the Living Armor, which had armor as its body, their act of trying to tear off its armor was basically the same as trying to separate skin and muscle with brute force.

"Hiss, hissss!"

The Living Armor twisted its body like it was swatting away annoying bugs.

Its movements were restricted for a moment.

"Huaaaaaa!!!"

Huan didn't miss that opportunity and leaped forward with a loud roar.

An opportunity was given to him for the price of his subordinates.

Crunch! Cruuunch!—

Black mana wrapped around the muscles of his bloated legs.

"Die, you fucking monster!!"

Booooom!!—

Huan's leg descended and struck the Living Armor like a comet.

The impact shook the cargo shop and left a big dent in the Living Armor.

"Uahahahaha! How dare you go against the Heavenly Demon!!"

Huan smiled brightly and continued raining down his explosive kicks.

His legs, strengthened by the stigma of Bufo, struck the Living Armor like a cannon.

The Living Armor was getting pushed back by his attacks.

"Hiss, hisss, hiss."

"The way you aren't able to recognize your own master is expected of that dumb bitch's servant!!"

Huan smirked and widened his shoulders.

—Huan Sukhothai.

As a member of the Thai Royal Family, he had lived his entire life with everyone revering and worshiping him.

It was the same after the gate leading to the Demon Realm was opened.

Though he wasn't able to get his hands on one of the 12 Zodiacs or a North Star, he was able to receive a Black Star's blessing and proudly climb to the ranks of an Executor in a large group known as the Black Star Organization.

However...

'I am the Heavenly Demon! Me, Huan Sukhothai!'

There was a certain existence he'd heard of while desiring to increase his forces and devour the whole Black Star Organization.

—The Heavenly Demon.

The absolute being who was said to have created the Black Star Organization and made the Black Stars bow their heads down before him.

There were a lot of rumors about the Heavenly Demon, but there was no one within the Black Star Organization who actually knew anything related to its existence in detail.

All they knew was that the 'Snake' fanatically followed the Heavenly Demon's will.

'The Heavenly Demon is just an illusion created by the Snake."

If the Heavenly Demon actually existed, it didn't make sense for them to not show up a single time during what was close to ten years.

The conclusion he arrived at after a long time of contemplating was that the existence known as the 'Heavenly Demon' didn't actually exist.

In other words, there was a throne with no owner.

"And the only one who can sit on that very throne is me, Huan Sukhothai.'

From that point forward, Huan started to go around while calling himself the 'Heavenly Demon'.

There were two reasons behind it...

The first was in order to become the ruler of the Black Star Organization; the second was...

'Huhuhu. I'll show that arrogant bitch who her master should be."

—The Queen of Snakes.

She had emerald eyes and blond hair that looked to be made out of melted gold.

She was a woman with a delicate-looking, slim body who gave off a luscious atmosphere that was unlike her appearance.

Huan could not forget the shock on the day he first met her.

Even as someone who was born into royalty and had experienced countless women, he had never encountered a woman with such a particular charm.

—A poisonous apple.

Yes, she was a woman who possessed both beauty and danger at the same time.

'If I become the Heavenly Demon...'

He could get his hands on her.

He could own the Snake that had the poisonous apple in its belly.

That was the second reason why Huan decided to claim that he was the 'Heavenly Demon'.

Translator - Maccas

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

"Hahaha! Go and inform your master! Tell her that I am the real Heavenly—!"

Before Huan could end his sentence—

Fwoooosh!—

—dark-blue flames erupted from the gaps in its armor.

Flames engulfed Huan's subordinates that were stuck to its body.

"Ahhhhhh!"

"Kugh! Kuk!"

The Toads struggled while screaming out loud.

The Living Armor, covered entirely in blue flames, stared at Huan.

"H-Huh?"

Huan stepped back with a shocked expression.

The moment his eyes met with the dark-blue eyes glimmering in the gaps of the helmet, the thought that something was wrong crossed his mind.

"Kugh!"

When Huan urgently leaped backward—

Fwooosh!—

—the dark flames covering the Living Armor gathered at the blade of its spear.

"Wh-What?"

The flames gathered at the spear turned into the shape of a ghostly warhorse made of ominously burning dark-blue flames.

The Living Armor climbed onto the ghostly warhorse and charged toward Huan.

"Ahhhhhh!!"

The ghostly warhorse sprinted across the air like it ignored gravity at a frightening speed.

Once it arrived close to Huan, it raised its front feet of flames and violently stomped down.

Crunch!—

"Argh!"

Huan's chest caved in as blood spurted out, and the Living Armor raised its spear high to pierce his head.

Plop—

The 5th-ranking Executor of the Black Star Organization...

Huan Sukhothai's dream to become the Heavenly Demon ended just like that.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss."

The Living Armor tottered and breathed roughly like it was tired after eliminating Huan. It seemed like the aftereffect of summoning the ghostly warhorse caused the power behind its flames to weaken considerably.

Fwoosh—

The warhorse summoned by the Living Armor was absorbed into the spear and disappeared.

"Hisssss."

The Living Armor turned around in search of corpses to replenish its mana.

Crunch!—

It approached one of the corpses nearby and crushed its ribs to take out its heart.

Munch—

It opened its mouth wide and devoured the heart whole.

The condensed mana within the heart flowed into—

"...Hiss?"

There was none.

Despite munching down on the heart, it couldn't feel any mana in it.

"Hiss, hiss."

It tilted its head in confusion and feasted on Huan's heart next, who it had just killed, but the result was the same.

There was not a trace of mana left in the corpses, it was like fruit that had only its skin remaining.

"Hiss... why is there... hiss, no mana?"

A sullen voice came out through the Living Armor's helmet.

When it was searching the surroundings with its dark-blue eyes...

"Oh, what? You can even talk?"

"...!!"

The Living Armor urgently gripped its spear and turned around.

There was a man on top of the stacked containers looking down at it.

He had slightly droopy eyes and half-curly hair.

Despite having a gentle appearance, he gave off a dangerous, poisonous aura.

"I've had a very~ nice meal thanks to you."

Ohjin rubbed his belly and cackled out.

The black clouds that were spread out like fog slithered back into his body.