hotmtlnovel Chapter 207 The Prelude to Chaos (2)
Chapter 207 The Prelude to Chaos (2)
Chapter 207 The Prelude to Chaos (2)
Episode 207 The Prelude to Chaos (2)
The TV, left on as background noise, faintly reached his ears.
Crash!
The objects on the table clattered to the floor.
“...Damn it! What the...!”
I braced myself against the table, gritting my teeth.
The once tidy living room was now a mess, but I didn’t have time to worry about such trivial things.
A sudden mental invasion by the abyss.
Hans, as the Immortal King, was practically immune to mental attacks, but this wasn’t an external attack, so his defenses were useless.
‘The moment I met his gaze... the abyss within Hans’s heart... my inner self... is resonating. This reaction is stronger than when I absorbed the fragments.’
Of course, even if his mental defenses were useless, it wasn’t a major problem.
His mental strength, enhanced by a massive amount of Karma, combined with the resources he could draw from his other avatars, gave him a transcendental level of mental power.
If he could just suppress the rampaging abyss and redirect it back to his main body, there would be no problem.
After all, the reason Hans could use the dangerous power of the Immortal King so freely was because of this cheat-like characteristic.
“Damn it, not now!”
...If it were a normal situation.
He had more than enough mental resources, but Hans’s inner self was too unstable and vulnerable right now.
‘I can’t suppress it. Not right after his mental world was damaged!’
All sorts of negative emotions erupted from within, like an explosion.
The negative feelings he had been suppressing, the grief of losing his family, the resentment towards the world, the anger towards the culprit, the despair for the future...
They were amplified several times over and surged towards the limits of his “Mind Hub”.
‘It’s going to overflow...!’
Countless thoughts raced through his mind.
Dismissal?
No, that would only postpone the problem.
The bomb was already planted within Hans, and the same thing would happen as soon as he was re-summoned.
And then, the ‘corrupted Hans’ would be right next to his defenseless main body.
‘Not to mention that he wouldn’t be able to control his aura properly, revealing his location! Unless I permanently seal Hans, it’s the worst option.’
No matter how many barriers he had set up around his house, they wouldn’t be enough to contain the energy currently emanating from Hans.
It was best to resolve this issue in Auterica... or more precisely, in the Immortal Fortress.
‘But I can’t let my mind be contaminated, that would defeat the purpose. I have to prevent that at all costs.’
The abyss, already past its limit, was pounding at the boundaries of his “Mind Hub”.
He stopped all his avatars’ activities and focused his entire mind on Hans.
He reinforced the damaged mental world to prevent further damage from Yulryeongja’s attack,
Strengthened his wavering “Clear Mind”, which was like a ship caught in a storm,
And reinforced the security of his “Mind Hub” while controlling his “Persona”.
He realized that there was some information mixed in with the overflowing abyss, but he didn’t have the time to focus on it.
‘This is dangerous. I need a solution...’
But even his best efforts were just buying time.
The situation was still dire.
As he desperately searched for a way out,
‘...Wait, what’s that?’
He suddenly sensed the orb that Yulryeongja had left behind, in Hans’s inner consciousness.
Despite the chaos raging around it, the orb remained calm and undisturbed.
‘Mental ability amplification. I don’t know if it’ll work in this situation, but... it’s better than nothing.’
This entire mess was because of that orb, wasn’t it?
He was desperate enough to try anything.
‘Oh? This might actually work?’
And as he grasped at that last straw, it exceeded his expectations.
It wasn’t a dramatic effect, as it wasn’t the intended use, but it was enough to help him block the overflow and seal the gap.
‘I’ll deal with the abyss that’s building up inside Hans later. For now, I need to reinforce the boundary and prevent the overflow. If I can just finish this...!’
A long and arduous battle against the abyss ensued.
How much time had passed?
He felt like it had been ages, but in reality, it couldn’t have been that long.
“Whew—”
His body felt heavy and languid, drenched in sweat.
The fact that he could feel these sensations meant that he had regained some mental clarity.
‘I did it...’
He glanced around, and as expected, not much time had passed. The surroundings looked the same.
[I’m fine, so shut up, Dwell. I need to think.]
[Gasp! Y-yes... Understood, my King.]
Hans ignored Dwell, who prostrated himself on the ground, and turned his gaze back to the giant’s head, which had a hole in its forehead.
The massive head was slowly crumbling as its core dissipated.
‘Ha! Mission? Lord? Ridiculous.’
He scoffed inwardly.
He hadn’t finished analyzing the information he had obtained, but he could roughly grasp the situation.
It seemed like both ‘death’ and ‘madness’ were designed to be controlled by someone.
The giant’s actions must have been an attempt to reset the Immortal King to his original state, to make him follow their will.
If he hadn’t been an avatar, he might have actually fallen for it.
‘I don’t care who you are. If you get in my way, I’ll eliminate you. Just like those Heaven’s Turn Society bastards.’
His goal had always been the same.
To obtain a massive amount of Karma through ‘Home Theater’ and use it to eradicate Heaven’s Turn Society on Earth.
That was the only reason he was doing all this.
‘But Heaven’s Turn Society isn’t as easy as I thought.’
Hans’s thoughts naturally drifted to them.
And the conclusion was obvious.
‘I need more Karma.’
He needed a more effective way to harvest Karma, not this half-assed method.
He had thought about it before, but he was no saint.
The ‘Han Seong-hyeon’ who had long since broken was capable of massacring countless people without a second thought.
‘It’s only natural. I’ve already killed so many.’
No matter how much “Mind Hub” filtered his emotions, the fact that he had taken lives remained.
But he had never felt any guilt, even though he had killed so many, directly and indirectly.
That was proof that he was already abnormal.
The reason he had tried to minimize civilian casualties... was just a self-serving excuse, a way to maintain a semblance of his humanity.
‘It’s ridiculous.’
But...
Now, the shackles were broken.
‘I need to improve my efficiency.’
His current methods were incredibly inefficient.
Home Theater, fine.
The confrontation between the hero and the Demon King, great.
But was he satisfied with the current scenario?
‘No way!’
What was he even doing?
Playing around with a few pawns, sending them out one by one like it was a game!
Even the Demon Kings in RPGs, who leveled up heroes by throwing minions at them, didn’t use such a half-assed strategy.
Look at the forces he had amassed in the Immortal Fortress.
The Immortal Army, growing endlessly with nowhere to go.
What a waste of resources!
He was dissatisfied with his current methods.
[Dwell McCain.]
[Yes! My King! Dwell is here!]
Dwell, who had been subtly trying to minimize his presence, shouted as he sensed a change in his master’s mood.
Hans stared at him, prostrating himself on the ground, and spoke.
[Summon the executives.]
[Yes! I will carry out your orders immediately!]
Dwell disappeared as soon as he finished speaking, as if he had been waiting for those words.
Hans, left alone in the laboratory, looked at the crumbling giant’s head and then turned his gaze to the ceiling.
There was nothing there but the black stone that was the Immortal Fortress’s default interior, but...
He whispered as if speaking to someone.
[I am Hannibal Strauss.]
Hans... no, the Immortal King, Hannibal Strauss.
[I will bring an end to this world.]
He began to extend his dark hand towards the continent.