Chapter 138: Apostle (4)
Chapter 138: Apostle (4)
The Overlord told Lee Seo-ha he was going home first but didn’t leave.
“Because it seems Ara is on my mind.”
A daughter so precious that holding her in one’s eyes would cause no pain, the fruit of his and his wife’s love.
However, most men around her are worthless.
Mostly those who would faint just by his glance. Above all, he possessed a body and talent that made him want to take them as disciples.
Knowing that one day his daughter would leave, the Overlord wished she would marry the right man.
“That guy seems okay.”
Thinking so…
The Overlord moved. Towards his daughter and a girl named Kim Seo-hyun.
“What are you doing here?”“…I followed Seo-ha.”
“You don’t need to worry about him.”
Dismissing it like that, the Overlord watched Lee Seo-ha fight an entity called Phoenix, dominating throughout. While the root of the power they used was the same, Lee Seo-ha was completely overwhelming.
“But why?”
He felt something ominous.
Becoming a transcendent, one gained a power similar to foresight of the future. If he felt ominous, it meant something bad was about to happen soon.
The Overlord looked around.
There was something grim nearby.
[The Sixth Sense is activated.]
[You feel an ominous future event.]
“I’m not good at this.”
Among the transcendents, he was second to none. In fact, most transcendents disliked fighting him.
Because most of his abilities were specialized for combat.
However, that’s why the Overlord felt he wasn’t good at things like this. While he was sharpening his senses and looking around…
He saw Kim Seo-hyun staring at a certain place.
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Dangerous, you say?”
The Overlord stared at Kim Seo-hyun.
She was also special. Her power was mixed and still weak, but at some point, she would show tremendous growth.
“Or become nothing at all.”
The Overlord stared at her for a moment. She didn’t seem to be lying.
“Then let’s move. It seems there won’t be any problems over there.”
He looked at Lee Seo-ha, who was playing with his opponent while dominating the game. Yet, his vigilant eyes also made him seem quite reliable.
The Overlord headed towards the cave.
“……”
A sharp, bloody scent assaulted his senses.
“Crazy bastards.”
The Overlord’s face contorted in disgust. Just how many people had to be killed for such a ghastly smell to emerge?
He clenched his fist, his expression hardening. The methods of the Mines always exceeded imagination, for they possessed unidentified powers from outer space.
“Not sparing a single one.”
The deeper he ventured inside,
The more intense the foul smell grew.
-What’s this? Suddenly, who are these guys?
-Keeya. What a day, the women came to us by themselves? Hey, that purple-haired woman is mine……
Crunch.
The head of a Mine exploded. The head of another Mine beside it also exploded. They soon turned to ash and met their deaths. Ideally, they should have been kept alive to be questioned about their activities here, but those who attempted to harass his daughter could not be spared.
“If it comes to it, I’ll find out for myself.”
And the Overlord had the power to do so.
They delved deeper into the cave.
And then they saw it. An altar.
The Overlord covered the eyes of Kim Ara and Kim Seo-hyun.
“Dad…?”
“Don’t look.”
The altar was not just an altar; it was made of hundreds of corpses. An altar constructed from hundreds of corpses. He gritted his teeth.
The Overlord realized what it was.
‘Human sacrifice.’
There was an inscription at the site where a mountain of hundreds of corpses was stacked.
[An altar made for the god that crawls in the darkest places.]
It was an altar dedicated to an extraterrestrial entity.
Extraterrestrial entities bestowed their power upon the Mines. And the Mines praised these extraterrestrial beings with their power.
And these were usually the kinds of things involved.
Human sacrifice was the norm, where parents killed each other to protect their children, or children were made to kill their parents to save them.
Therefore, the Overlord killed all of them without exception.
Those related to them were no different. Even the term ‘vermin’ seemed too kind to describe them.
Crack.
The power of the origin condensed in his fist.
The power that cut through the most fundamental units targeted the altar and soon shattered it into pieces.
-Oh my, I worked hard on that, and you just break it?
A playful voice echoed as the altar broke.
That voice was very familiar to the Overlord.
“You’re supposed to be confined within the barrier?”
-Kyahahat! Lord Overlord, you’re so naïve. Did you really think we’d be trapped in the barrier forever? Even the greatest hero in human history couldn’t manage that. We’ve been trapped there for 50 years! Didn’t you notice anything when Vicious Abomination and Atrocities occasionally went outside?
The playful voice shook the surroundings. The Overlord looked in the direction from which the voice came, while protecting Kim Seo-hyun and Kim Ara.
‘This is not good.’
The Overlord specialized in destruction. He was not confident in protection. The magic of that creature was scraping away at the minds of Kim Ara and Kim Seo-hyun just by speaking.
“So, what’s your reason for being here?”
-Do you think I’ll tell you that easily? Hmm, maybe if you offer that body to our god? Kyahahahat!
Clearly, it had no intention of answering.
The Overlord clenched his fist.
Woooom!
The space around him twisted. The most fundamental power, the one that cuts through everything, was fully condensed in the Overlord’s hand.
“No need to tell me. You’ll just be beaten to death anyway.”
-Oh my, you’re still so brutally simple.
“Both of you, go back from this point. It’s dangerous here.”
“…Yes.”
Kim Ara and Kim Seo-hyun nodded.
Their faces were pale. Though protected from that creature, its power penetrated the Overlord’s shield and caused them harm.
Kim Seo-hyun gritted her teeth.
Lately, it seemed she was only reminded of her own powerlessness.
Even when in the United States.
At critical moments, she found herself unable to help anyone.
“I’m not weak, but…”
Kim Seo-hyun was strong. She was already looking towards the end of the middle barrier.
And while doing so, she realized that her powers were gradually merging. If her martial prowess were completed, her grandfather had said that if they were of equal rank, no one could beat her. Yet, she felt lacking.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
Kim Seo-hyun clenched her eyes shut and headed outside.
Koooom!
With a tremendous roar, she felt the cave collapsing. This battlefield was not one they could fit into. Instead, they could cause the Overlord to lose to that creature.
“What’s this?”
The closer they got to the outside of the cave, the more Kim Seo-hyun felt her legs sticking to the ground. No, it was instinctive fear. It seemed like she would face death the moment she stepped outside.
“Seo-hyun…”
Kim Ara’s complexion turned pale. There was something outside. It was incredibly ominous and sticky.
Just by sensing the presence outside, Kim Ara and Kim Seo-hyun were engulfed in an indescribable feeling.
“What in the world…”
She wanted to run away. But Lee Seo-ha was outside.
Forcing her legs to move, Kim Seo-hyun ended up seeing it as she headed outside of the cave.
Something black that covered most of the sky.
It was a giant black seed.
It was something close to death.
The Apostle.
An entity made to facilitate the descent of extraterrestrial beings to Earth. They were created to invade Earth.
Their ranks varied.
But one thing was certain. Apostles did not die, no matter how many times they were killed. And the more they fed on corrupt emotions, the stronger they became.
Their power had a limit, but it might as well be considered limitless.
“Was it when they were strongest, exceeding the Emperor and the stars’ stats combined by more than three times?”
The Emperor herself was weak, but when combined with her stars, she surpassed the Overlord. If their combined strength exceeds that of their foe by more than three times, there were almost no beings on Earth capable of stopping the Apostles.
“Fortunately, it’s still early.”
Indeed, it was fortunate.
And that seed had not yet fully matured.
As time passed, it might become possible for several transcendents to band together, defeat some of them, and banish them to outer space.
I calmly assessed my condition.
“Is my body in top condition?”
I glanced down at the corpse of the Phoenix and absorbed the Energy of Defying Heaven using The Seal of Absorption (吸). This time was different from when I absorbed a dragon. I had to completely absorb the Phoenix’s corpse.
[Your Conceptual Stat Energy of Defying Heaven increases by 10.]
“Huuh.”
Unfiltered, the power of the Phoenix enveloped my body. In the long term, this was quite detrimental. Because the power of the Phoenix was weak, it diminished the purity of the Black Flame Divine Power.
But for the moment, this was the best course of action.
“Should I have brought Seo Ga-yeon?”
If Seo Ga-yeon were here, this battle would become more manageable. Seo Ga-yeon’s power confirms the death of Mines. It affirmed their existence in outer space. Her power was specialized for expulsion and death.
However, Seo Ga-yeon was not here.
But that’s okay.
The Overlord was nearby. Even if the Overlord didn’t detect the surroundings, the arrival of such a being on Earth would prompt him to rush here immediately.
“Survive until then, and fight.”
Though not as potent as Seo Ga-yeon’s starlight magic…
The Energy of Defying Heaven is also specialized in killing Mines. Therefore, even if the opponent was an Apostle, it should be highly effective.
“The only good thing is that it’s the god that lurks in the darkest places.”
This god knew no bounds and employed all sorts of instant-death abilities, making it easy for one to perish instantly.
However, as much power as it consumed, when it descended in its initial state, it’s also the weakest Apostle.
“Shall we move then?”
Holding the Black Heaven in White Rouge, I ran toward the seed.