Chapter 735

[I will protect this place that you sacrificed your life to protect until you stabilize that place and come back. Don't ever forget...]

That I love you.

"Ugh..."

The little girl slowly opened her eyes, waking from her slumber in a broken world. Leaning on an eroded tree that had long lost its light, she looked up in a daze.

The sky above her looked just like a broken ceiling, filled with cracks that sent debris flying down on the ground. Beyond the cracks was a dark and endless void—the gap between dimensions.

The dazed girl, who still looked half-asleep, grimaced.

"Head... hurts..."

Crack!!! Thud, thud!!!

As if reflecting what she was feeling, another huge crack that was several kilometers long tore the sky apart. The girl had been stuck in this place for quite some time.

"Hngh... Bored... So bored! So, so bored!!! How long will Eclipse have to wait!!!"

A black whirlwind appeared in front of her as she let out her irritation.

[Corrupted Ancient Dragon.]

"Neltarid! Eclipse is very bored right now! If you don't get Eclipse out of here right away, then Eclipse will get really mad!!!"

The broken surroundings collapsed even more, seemingly to prove that Eclipse wasn't simply bluffing. Even the tree that she had leaned on to sleep turned into smaller particles and disappeared with the wind.

"You better not make Eclipse upset."

[Oh haughty yet powerful dragon, rest assured that my servant has devoted themselves to freeing you from this world. They are doing everything they can.]

"Hmph! You can't do anything at all."

Eclipse's bluntness rendered the voice mute.

"Bored... So, so bored!!!" Eclipse whined. But no matter how much she whined and threw a tantrum, there was no one to see it.

[I will bestow upon you another salvation.]

"Another salvation?"

Light gathered from within the black whirlwinds. Then, the holy grail, which was filled with sparkling green liquid, appeared.

[Drink, Ancient Dragon. Make your own fate. I will give you what you need to move forward.]

"Neltarid, this..." Eclipse mumbled with a grave expression on her face, seemingly recognizing what the liquid was.

She seemed completely different from the whining child from earlier. After a moment of silence, she finally said, "It doesn't look tasty."

***

The red mutant was proving itself to be much smarter than what Davey and Arbit expected. It even sent out decoys to shake off their pursuit the moment it noticed them. Simply put, the red mutant had instinctively thrown some bait just so it could run away from Davey.

If Davey could freely harness and control the power of the Red Void—or his Taboo's Karma—then he would be able to catch the mutant despite the decoys and the disguise. However, that was currently impossible.

"What are the chances that another one of those things will pop out while you're out here?"

[Don't worry, my lord. I'm still physically in the Red Void, keeping the entrance to the void perfectly closed. I have simply divided my consciousness so I can stay by your side.]

After listening to Arbit, Davey looked down at the crushed jelly under his feet. Although it had been maintaining its shape, it quickly turned into jelly when its resistance waned. This was a camouflage technique that the red mutant had developed.

[Considering it has started to make decoys like this, it must be growing faster than we expected. This kind of accelerated growth means it's either a high-ranking mutant or has managed to devour some huge being.]

"What are the dangers and risks of letting this continue?"

[If it's a high-ranking mutant, at the rate that it's growing, we'll be in huge trouble if we take any longer to stop it.]

"That bad?"

[Lord Hercules had a hard time dealing with the King of Mutants, who had already spent ten thousand years growing at the time.]

"That guy?"

[He was also like you at first, my lord, but then he was forced to survive and live in extreme environments, enduring what must have been like countless hells time and again. Of course, the King of Mutants was a special being. Still, considering your current level of power, we can't ignore this mutant.]

However, to safely take down the mutant, Davey first had to gain free control over his Taboo's Karma.

"You always say that I'm the almighty ruler of the Red Void, but I don't even have a proper meat shield."

Davey was pondering over this matter when another very distracting thought popped up in his head. 'Eclipse and Hercules, huh...'

"No matter how hard I think about it, they look like they don't suit each other yet are meant to be together," he muttered to himself.

A gigantic man who always opted to be shirtless and a lively and playful girl who looked like a rich young lady. Davey felt like them standing together would be similar to an old tree and a cicada.

"They really don't suit each other." Davey clicked his tongue. He then looked at the cold sea in front of him. "Are we heading to Japan?"

[We're going in the right direction, my lord. We have to quickly—]

"You said before that a decoy can't move independently, right?"

[Yes, my lord.]

"If I just keep chasing after that mutant, it'll just keep throwing decoys and running away."

[That's highly likely, yes.]

"Then it'd be better for us to dig a trap."

It was quite difficult and tiring to deal with such a tough opponent while it was running away.

-Contractor. I have already dealt with the unstable ground.

Hearing Earth Spirit King Gnoass, Davey immediately turned around. "I see."

Refusing to keep wasting his time doing unnecessary tasks, Davey cast a space leap magic and warped away.

Although he could just reverse summon Gnoass now, there was a Mythical Beast King that had not yet been put under his control.

"I sure came up with a stupid fucking way of training a fucking stupid dragon..."

Davey could just beat and use fear to control Behemoth, the stupidest out of all the Mythical Beast Kings and the only one who lived on instincts. However, he couldn't do the same to Shandra Minea. Although Shandra Minea was not that smart, it wasn't that stupid either. Davey had to tread cautiously.

Pop!

Upon arriving at his subordinates' worksite, Davey found countless Chinese soldiers surrounding Shandra Minea. It was simply sitting still, opting not to make any reckless moves or attacks, yet its presence was still overwhelming. It looked ready to attack at the slightest hint of a problem.

-Grrrrrrr...

Flashes of what seemed to be red magma flowed behind Shandra Minea's scale—an indication that it was not completely free from erosion and corruption yet. To make matters worse, being surrounded by countless humans—who were nothing but mere bugs by its standards—seemed to be making it quite unhappy as well.

Since Gnoass' power hadn't been enough to fix what the high-ranking Malicious Spirit had left behind, Davey had no choice but to take out Shandra Minea to help. However, at this rate, a catastrophe would likely soon unfold.

[What an amazing being.]

"Shandra Minea is hailed as the Groundburst Dragon."

[Hmm. It looks similar to our race, but our roots are different.]

"Since we have already taken it out, we might as well deal with its corruption."

[I'm sure you are more than capable of erasing any kind of power, even a miracle created by a god, my lord.]

Unlike what he had done with Megalodria before, Davey couldn't just solve this dragon's problem with words alone. The only solution that he could think of was to restrain Shandra Minea and force Urd's power out.

Boom!

Perhaps it was just a mistake in command, but the soldiers suddenly fired a cannon at Shandra Minea.

Bang!

A huge cloud of smoke bloomed as an explosion erupted on top of Shandra Minea's scale.

-Grrrrrr...

Anger filled its eyes.

"Annoying fucking bastards," Davey said.

Fire energy started to gather in the dragon's mouth. A moment later, it sent a gigantic breath towards the humans who dared attack it.

In response, Davey quickly drew a magic circle in the air, casting a defense magic.

[Absolute Shield]

Boom!!!

The shield blocked the attack, preventing it from hitting the humans. However, it still transmitted a powerful shock throughout his body.

"As expected, that beast really is extremely powerful.."

Engulfed with rage Shandra Minea completely destroyed the restriction magic that Davey had placed upon it. The once docile dragon then began to break and tear apart the entire city.

"Gnoass, catch it!"

Thud!!! Thud, thud!!!

The ground split apart, and a huge hand stretched out of it and restrained Shandra Minea. However, it only stopped the mythical beast for a moment. A Spirit King couldn't possibly hold down a rampaging Mythical Beast King.

-You damn bugs!!!

In its anger, Shandra Minea ended up using an incantation. Thankfully, a gap was created when Gnoass tried to suppress the mythical beast, allowing Davey to finally restrain it.

The Heavenly Demon's Card Album could continue to seal whoever or whatever Davey had sealed inside it before. Shandra Minea might have physically manifested outside, but a portion of was still inside the Card Album.

The card that had once sealed Shandra Minea instantly multiplied and unleashed gold chains. They then bound the rampaging mythical beast and began absorbing its power.

The Chinese military executives could only stare blankly as one man overwhelmed and shackled a monster powerful enough for them to consider a disaster.

Meanwhile, while watching Shandra Minea struggle to escape from the chains, Davey began to pity it.

"You've gotten weaker."

Comparing it to the power of Shandra Minea's clone before, Davey could tell that it had become ridiculously weak. Urd's corruption had clearly been putting a huge load on its body.

"W-Wait!!!"

Davey heard someone try to stop him, but he still continued approaching Shandra Minea. With a short and rough exhale, he then placed his hand on its nose.

'What the hell happened at the Lux Continent?'

"Quiet down. I'll free you from the corruption."

In response, Shandra Minea began to struggle again. Feeling as if he had told the mythical beast what needed to be said, Davey completely restricted its movements with his hand.

Afterward, Davey began to read its memories.

[Out of the way. He said he would let me know where my sister is as long as I destroy this place.]

[Impudent bastard!!!]

[Damn it! She's a monster! With the contractor gone, we were bound to eventually reach our limits. Now, we have finally done just that. We have grown too arrogant!]

[Shandra Minea!!! Behemoth's mind has been corrupted! Take Behemoth down while I deal with that woman!]

In Shandra Minea's memories, Urd had been desperately destroying their world. Based on all the available information, Davey judged that the earth dragon left for the part of the sea with the weakest current to deal with the sea dragon Behemoth. Meanwhile, Megalodria dealt with Urd alone.

Digging even deeper into Shandra Minea's memories, he saw something black and dark looking at him. It seemed to be Urd's corruption.

"So you're watching."

Davey didn't expect Urd to be able to look back at him through the power of corruption that she had left behind. Fortunately, since he sealed Shandra Minea in his card, she still hadn't caught on to where Verdandi was.

Davey reached out to the power of this damn Princess of the Abyss, who was still observing him fearlessly.

Although the power of the Abyss was overwhelmingly superior to Davey's powers, it did not apply to the Red Void. Furthermore, the primary characteristic of Davey's power of taboo was decomposition. In some ways, it could be said that this characteristic was more suitable for Urd than Hercules.

Boom!!!

Davey covered his palm with the power of taboo and began to excise the remnants of Urd's power. In response, the black fragments of corruption drilled into Davey's consciousness as if they were trying to devour him bit by bit. However, it did not take too long for it to be pushed back by Versha's power and Rho Aias' Curse of Rejection, which were flowing inside him.

Davey grabbed the power of corruption with his bare hands and lifted it to get a better look at it. He then tore it apart without a word.

Bang!!!

At the same time, the restriction placed upon Shandra Minea's consciousness disappeared. Its mind, blackened by the corruption, once again turned bright. When Shandra Minea lost consciousness and fell to the ground, Davey immediately sealed it back into the cart.

Ignoring those who tried to approach him, he then took a light and leisurely step forward.

Pop!

Before they could even say anything, he was already back in Korea.

Dealing with the Illuminati was starting to make Davey feel as if he was facing something much bigger. However, it didn't really matter.

"Master Davey," Rinne called, her face devoid of expression.

The moment he arrived, she peeked out of the roof of the mansion where Hyun-Ah was living. Perhaps she had been waiting for Davey to return.

"Rinne reports that nothing worthy of note has happened—"

[Oh my goodness!!! Is that Lady Rinne?!!] old man Arbit, who was sitting on Davey's shoulder, yelled in shock.

Ah.

Davey had forgotten the fact that Rinne was a member of a race called Sephiroth and that she lived and existed at the same time as Priestess Freyja.

***

Coast of Okinawa, Japan.

Chao Huang, whom the red mutant had encroached upon and corrupted, had swam all the way to the coast of Okinawa from Shanghai. It bent its head in strange ways as it looked around the coast.

Slurp!!!

It flicked its tongue as if it was licking the crumbs of whatever it had just eaten. Then, with a loud burp, it spat something out.

"Hungry..." it muttered, its voice much clearer now.

The red mutant then shuddered, remembering the horrible being that was chasing after it. Seemingly coming up with an idea, Chao Huang turned its head to the side.

Not long after, it began to mutate once more.

The mutant twisted until it completely turned into jelly. Its body was certainly complete, wholly different from the mutant that the Illuminati had created using black magic and borrowing energy from the Red Void. This one looked more like a real human, not some homunculus made to mimic their flexibility and softness.

The mutant bent, twisted, and shook until it had finally assumed the shape of a human. However, instead of Chao Huang or some other Chinese soldier or Awakened, it had copied the appearance of... Davey O'Rowane.

As soon as it had morphed into Davey, it also began to release air similar to him.