Bishop Ferda looked straight ahead.
“An Orc dares…”
Bringing both hands together, he concentrated his demonic power before spreading it outward, creating black blades.
“Graaaaaah!”
The muscles of the roaring Orc twitched. With its eyes wide, it emitted a murderous intent and swung its axes.
The black blades rushed toward the approaching Orc.
Clang!
K-booooom!
The black blades parried the Orc’s axes, and the weapons slammed into the ground, generating a massive shockwave that carved a hole in the earth.
It was a powerful force filled with heavy strength. It was strong enough to kill anyone instantly if it hit them directly.
‘Where did such an Orc come from?’
There were many Orc tribes on the continent, but this was the first time he had encountered one this strong.
“No.”
He knew of exactly one place where such an Orc might exist.
The Lord of the First Forest in the Sleeping Forest.
He was a master of the Orc race, a powerhouse so great that all the other Lords of the Forest could not defeat him even if they attacked together.
“Grrrr.”
The Orc charged without showing any sign of exhaustion. Its two axes flew forward fiercely once again.
Ferda observed the creature while blocking its attacks.
It had not yet surpassed the limits of the Orc race. It was definitely not the Lord of the First Forest.
‘Is it a subordinate?’
Probably not.
The Lord of the First Forest was not the kind of merciful fellow who would hand over his subordinates to someone else.
“Regardless, I find myself wanting you.”
Bishop Ferda’s eyes flashed as he looked at the Orc.
He always welcomed someone with that much strength.
If he performed a proper physical modification and implanted demonic power, the creature could become much stronger than it was now.
Having it around would make it a useful pawn. Its rarity was not bad, either.
“Surrender quietly.”
Touching the necklace he held against his chest, Bishop Ferda activated the Artifact.
It was a Buff magic that allowed for high-level manipulation of demonic power.
By using this, he could become more than twice as strong for a while.
Vrooooom!
Feeling the thick demonic power within his body, he curled his lips into a smirk and recited high-level spells one after another.
First, he would inflict paralysis to make its body immobile.
After that, he would cast confusion to wear down its willpower, and finally, he would engrave fear to put it in a state of panic.
When all these were combined, a person’s willpower would crumble instantly, creating the optimal state for hypnosis.
Unless someone had reached the level of Transcendence, no one could withstand this Curse Magic combo deployed by a Bishop of the Black Order.
‘It is even harder to block without an Artifact that grants mental immunity.’
A smirk played on Ferda’s lips as he fired off the completed spells in succession.
The first to hit was paralysis, which stripped the Orc of its physical control. As the Orc faltered, a Black Crown fell toward it.
The Black Crown placed on its head would slowly tighten, sowing confusion within the Orc.
And finally, black smoke circled the Orc’s body, engraving a massive fear.
‘Tremble. And despair.’
Bishop Ferda grinned as he prepared the hypnosis magic to finish it off.
However, contrary to the Bishop’s expectations, the Orc’s blue eyes flashed as it let out a roar.
“Graaaaaaaaah!”
At that moment, the Orc’s paralysis was broken, the Black Crown on its head shattered, and the black smoke dissipated into the air.
The high-level spells were destroyed in an instant.
“What… What is this!”
This was not a spell that a mere Orc, who had not even surpassed the limits of its race, could escape on its own.
Flustered, Bishop Ferda fired the Mind Control magic he had been preparing and started on a new spell.
The Orc rushed toward the panicked Bishop.
Two axe blades emitting a chilling energy fell toward Bishop Ferda’s head.
K-baaaaaang!
The black barrier that Bishop Ferda hurriedly deployed blocked the Orc’s attack.
Had it not been for the Barrier Magic, he would have died then and there.
However, because he had used the magic urgently in an unexpected situation, his Mana circuits became twisted, and his demonic power ran wild.
“Gah!”
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Bishop Ferda gritted his teeth and fiddled with the Ring on his left index finger.
*Vrooooom!*
The demonic power flowing through the Ring emitted an intense light and created a barrier.
Darkness’s Grace.
Though he would be unable to move his body, he could block any attack as long as he sacrificed his demonic power.
‘I just need to hold out until Black Night handles the Lord.’
Bang!
K-boom!
Crash!
Leaving the Orc to mindlessly beat against the barrier, he focused on the area where Black Night was fighting.
As expected of a high-ranking Demonkind favored by the Greed Demon King, his skills were outstanding.
He was overwhelming the Lord who had unified six forests as if he were toying with him.
The Lord, unable to regain his senses under Black Night’s fists, was sent flying backward.
He slammed into a massive tree.
Almost simultaneously, Black Night’s follow-up attack sent the Lord flying again, toppling the giant tree.
Crack!
As the tree fell, the Lord of the Forest could be seen coughing up a great deal of blood.
‘Did he use a recovery item?’
The wounds across the Lord’s body healed rapidly. Seeing this, Black Night smirked and stepped forward.
“Tsk, tsk. No matter how much you recover, you cannot defeat me.”
Bishop Ferda nodded at Black Night’s words.
This was not a gap in skill that could be overcome by healing.
It was merely a waste of time.
The result of the Lord of the Forest falling to Black Night would not change.
…Or so he thought, right before the Lord began to emit an intangible energy.
Whoooooosh!
An indescribable, immense energy flowed out and enveloped the Lord of the Forest, and a great change appeared in his body.
His skin took on a golden hue, and two wings appeared on his back. A small tail also appeared from his lower back and flickered.
“Were you a Beastman?”
The answer to Black Night’s question was the Lord’s fist. The Lord, who had vanished into a blur, appeared before Black Night and thrust his fist forward.
“Ugh!”
Black Night twisted his body to dodge the fist, furrowed his brows, and kicked out.
Boom!
The kick exploded in the air.
The moment the foot that had struck empty air touched the ground, he twisted his body and threw a punch backward.
The Lord of the Forest, who had been behind Black Night, dodged the attack and threw his own punch in return, pushing Black Night back.
Pow!
Bang!
Shockwaves powerful enough to cause fatal injuries exploded in mid-air.
The Lord of the Forest, who had been losing until just a moment ago, was now fighting on equal terms with Black Night.
As the battle progressed, Black Night’s expression grew dark.
“You bastard! How dare you…”
“How is it? Did I learn yours well?”
“Shut up!”
Black Night gathered his demonic power and used a Secret Art.
In response, the Lord of the Forest also gathered his Mana and took the exact same stance as Black Night.
They both lunged their fists toward each other.
A black tiger leaped from Black Night’s fist, while a golden Dragon lunged from the Lord’s fist.
The Dragon bared its sharp teeth at the black tiger, which had its mouth wide open.
Crunch!
It swallowed the black tiger whole and continued toward Black Night.
K-baaaaaang!
A golden light exploded, swallowing Black Night.
A massive explosion occurred, and the shock spread in all directions.
“Aaaaaagh!”
“Ugh!”
The nearby soldiers of the Black Order were swept away.
Dense dust obscured everyone’s vision.
Along with it, demonic power flowed out from between the dust, dyeing the surroundings in darkness.
It was Black Night’s unique ability.
He used demonic power to rob the opponent of their vision, pushing the power of his martial arts to the absolute limit.
“…He won.”
Bishop Ferda clenched his fist, certain of victory.
“Sorry, but I can see everything.”
The golden light of the Lord shone loftily within the darkness.
The Lord smiled and entered the shadows. Intense shockwaves exploded from the place where nothing could be seen.
*Pow!*
*K-boom!*
Every time a sound was heard, the ground shook, and the dust grew thicker, further blocking the view.
All Ferda could see were flashes of black and golden light within the dense dust.
He swallowed hard and prayed for Black Night’s victory.
How much time had passed?
*Vroom!*
The demonic power that had dyed the surroundings dark and the dust that had obscured the vision cleared, revealing Black Night and the Lord.
Black Night’s face was covered in blood, making him almost unrecognizable.
Standing tall while holding Black Night by the collar was the Lord of the Forest.
“T-This is impossible!”
Ferda could not accept the result before his eyes.
‘Defeating a high-ranking Demonkind?’
High-ranking Demonkind were beings second only to the Demon King.
They were that powerful. Although there were restrictions that prevented Demonkind who crossed into this world from exercising their full power, that only applied in places that had not been corrupted.
In an area corrupted by Demonic Energy Infusion—a place made into an environment identical to the Demon Realm—they could display their full strength.
“How… how could a human… a high-ranking Demonkind…”
“I’ll be the one asking the questions, so you just shut up.”
The Lord of the Forest, who was looking at Ferda, gave a chilling smile and then looked at Black Night, whom he held by the collar.
“Kneel.”
With that command, Black Night trembled and knelt before the Lord of the Forest.
“Let’s try to get along from now on.”
[Turkan of the Black Night has been appointed as a Guardian.]
[You have appointed an attribute-specific Guardian for the first time.]
[An attribute-specific Guardian of the darkness attribute can only display their strength in specific regions.]
[Furthermore, they must consistently acquire demonic power to display their true strength.]
Details related to that flowed into his mind. The only place where those two conditions could be met was the Demon Realm.
However, since the contract with his original master, the Greed Demon King, was severed and he had become my Guardian, Black Night could no longer enter the Demon Realm.
One might say his means of replenishing demonic power had vanished.
‘I’ll have to stop by the Demon Realm eventually.’
If I could make the Demon Kings there my Guardians, I could resolve everything regarding darkness-attribute Guardians and demonic power at once.
Well, unifying this Sleeping Forest is the priority for now.
“Orc, good job. I’ll take over for this guy now, so go support the others.”
【Understood.】
After sending away the Orc that had been pounding on the black barrier, I walked over there and clenched my fist.
Looking at Bishop Ferda’s complicated expression through the barrier, I threw a punch.
K-boom!
Crack!
With a fist containing the Secret Art of the Black Killing Fist, I shattered the barrier in one go and grabbed Bishop Ferda inside.
“You thought you won when you sealed my magic, didn’t you?”
“Ugh! T-The Greed Demon King will not let this go!”
“That’s fine with me. Tell him to come anytime.”
Infusing Mana into my eyes, I used Dragon Fear to instill terror in him.
“Hiiiieeeek!”
Due to Dragon Transformation and Transcendence, the effect of Dragon Fear had improved tremendously—enough to instantly instill fear in a Bishop who served a Demon King.
“Answer only what I ask.”
“Ugh…”
“Tell me why you invaded this forest.”
“I came to find… the object sealed in the Sleeping Forest.”
“An object?”
“The item you get when you unify all the forests… Urgh!”
An item one obtains upon unifying the Sleeping Forest?
“Aaaaagh!”
Bishop Ferda’s eyes, held in my hand, were dyed black. At the same time, an invisible force pushed my hand away.
As I let go of the collar I was holding, Bishop Ferda stood up as if possessed and moved his mouth.
It was a bizarre sight—only his mouth moved while his gaze remained fixed on the sky.
“I have remembered your face. On the day the gates of the Demon Realm open, I will kill you first.”
After a horrific voice, which sounded like it was mixed with mechanical noise, spoke, Bishop Ferda turned into dust and disappeared.
“…On the day the gates of the Demon Realm open.”
For the Greed Demon King to appear personally, it meant a very important item was inside.
I turned my head and looked toward the First Forest.
‘I’ll find out what it is soon enough.’