Chapter 127: Consumption of the Ancient Nightmare

The awakened Devil of Devouring extended the long snouts from its flanks.

A Demon of Chaos, who had been retreating, was caught by one of those snouts and dragged away.

“Save me!”

The Demon of Chaos reached out an arm, but everyone else was too busy fleeing.

The Devil of Devouring did not let those escapists go either.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Aaaagh!”

“I don’t want to be eaten!”

“Help me!”

The Devil of Devouring crunched and chewed the demons it had captured, and soon the screams faded into silence.

“Devour everything before your eyes!” Archduke Ventresca shouted.

As he expected, the Devil of Devouring moved toward the Apocalid.

Compared to the oddly shaped or meagerly fleshed demons and magic beasts, the plump Titans looked much more appetizing.

Choi Kangjoong flew toward the Devil of Devouring.

That would leave Lutal to face Archduke Ventresca alone, but stopping the Devil of Devouring was the priority.

However, the Devil of Devouring stopped.

It was a strange occurrence.

The Devil of Devouring never stopped until it had consumed every piece of matter in its vicinity.

It hadn’t been known as an ancient nightmare for nothing.

“What is it?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Not only Archduke Ventresca but even Choi Kangjoong was puzzled.

The Devil of Devouring’s snouts flailed about until their tips pointed toward Choi Kangjoong.

-You!

The telepathy sent by the Devil of Devouring was as intense as its massive body.

If Choi Kangjoong hadn’t been an Outer Mind, his consciousness would have shattered just by receiving that will.

-O being similar to myself!

Choi Kangjoong looked at the Devil of Devouring.

No matter how he looked at it—from this side, that side, or even upside down—they didn’t look alike.

-You’re a Devil of Devouring. I’m different from you.

Choi Kangjoong spoke back through psychic resonance.

-We are similar! You, too, control the root of consumption with your will!

-How did you know that?

-I am an enlightened being among the Devils of Devouring! I am the one who leads them! For me, seeing your essence is easier than swallowing a dimension!

-So you’re saying you’re the boss of the Devils of Devouring?

While it hadn’t led all of them, it was true that many Devils of Devouring had been under its command.

-If someone like me and someone like you join forces, we can swallow everything in the world! Even the crystals and the Mana Sun!

-Hmm.

-Think about it! In the past, I forced every race to unite! Humans, Elves, Orcs, demons, and even those great crystals joined as one to oppose me!

-And that’s why you lost.

-Indeed! I was defeated and sealed throughout the Dimensional Sea!

-Why a seal?

-Because I would just be born anew anyway! Demons are the sewage of the world! We are born from the place where dark desires flow down and coalesce!

-So even if I kill you, you’ll just reappear?

-It was a better choice to seal me than to let a new Devil of Devouring be born!

It meant that sealing a known Devil of Devouring was easier to deal with later than having a completely unknown one be born.

-The sewage of the world, huh…

-You are a completely different existence! Even I cannot fathom how you were born! However, we share the same desire! The consumption of all things!

-That is true.

-O Devourer with a will! Fuse with me and achieve that goal!

Choi Kangjoong stroked his chin.

It felt suspicious.

He didn’t know how they were supposed to fuse, and even if they did, the demon hadn’t explained exactly what they would become.

‘Sounds like a scammer. If it were Iselin or Dielka, they would’ve told him to get lost and stop talking nonsense.’

Above all, Choi Kangjoong didn’t feel the slightest desire to fuse with the Devil of Devouring.

If he could just swallow it, why bother with something as grandiose as fusion?

It was strange to agree to a meat’s request to join forces.

To an Outer Mind, the Devil of Devouring was also nothing more than prey.

The appetite rising within Choi Kangjoong.

The boss of the Devils of Devouring noticed it as well.

-Is it a refusal! Then I have no choice but to swallow you!

The Devil of Devouring opened its maw wide.

A tremendous suction force pulled at Choi Kangjoong.

Choi Kangjoong did not resist and entered the interior of the Devil of Devouring.

“Stupid fool! You’ve invited your own death!”

“It’s over.”

Archduke Ventresca and Archduke Luderlock mocked Choi Kangjoong as he was helplessly sucked in.

“Give up! You’ve lost!” Archduke Luderlock shouted at Iselin and Dielka.

Iselin and Dielka did not stop fighting.

They maintained strange smiles on their lips.

“This is odd.”

Archduke Ventresca felt a sense of dissonance.

Even though Choi Kangjoong had disappeared, there was no agitation among the things he controlled.

If they were summons, they should be enraged or panicked; if they were monsters, they should be attacking each other or fleeing.

Yet, that Bio-Dimensional Ship and the monsters were still fighting stably.

“Could he possibly still be alive inside the Devil of Devouring?”

Archduke Ventresca dismissed the thought.

That Devil of Devouring was an exceptional individual even among its kind, and it was impossible even for a Demon Legion Commander to escape from inside it.

Archduke Ventresca, who did not know that Choi Kangjoong was a massive Hive Mind, searched for the most rational explanation.

“Is it a method similar to an IANT Queen?”

When an IANT Queen disappeared, one of the individuals evolved into a Queen.

If a new boss had been born after Choi Kangjoong’s death, it could explain the current situation.

“I’ll have to find the new boss. Is it that guy?”

Archduke Ventresca turned his head toward Kuongi.

Since it was emitting the largest and most powerful mental waves, it wasn’t strange to consider it the new boss.

“Or is it you?”

“Grrr.”

Lutal’s black eyes swept over Archduke Ventresca.

Archduke Ventresca couldn’t help but marvel at the eyes, which held a startling lack of emotion.

“You are beings more terrible than demons. It would be troublesome if the Greed Legion obtained a way to control you. I shall wipe you all out before that happens.”

Archduke Ventresca flew toward Kuongi and unleashed Chaos Balls.

The Apocalid collapsed helplessly under the Demon Duke’s Chaos Magic bombardment.

The Giants couldn’t withstand more than a few hits, and the Battle Titan’s life activity stopped after being struck thirty times.

Lutal tried to keep Archduke Ventresca in check with his Death Blade, but he was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Chaos Balls the Duke could simply create and fire.

With Archduke Ventresca joining the fray, the demons grew even more high-spirited.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Pillars of fire erupted repeatedly from Kuongi’s back.

The attacks from the Demons of Ruin also gained more power.

Flash.

The Life Spirit fired its main cannon.

A beam of pure white light streaked out.

Archduke Ventresca dodged it easily and threw a blue fireball.

The magic, which projected as it blinked, slammed into the Life Spirit.

K-boom!

A large hole opened in the Life Spirit.

Black smoke billowed fiercely from the gap.

Archduke Ventresca swept through the battlefield like a fish in water.

Then, he suddenly realized an even greater dissonance.

“Why is the Devil of Devouring standing still?”

The Devil of Devouring moved constantly to swallow something.

But now, it stood still, doing nothing.

It was like a puppy trained by a strict master.

Driven by an inexplicable sense of unease, Archduke Ventresca gathered his Demonic Energy.

Crunch!

A portion of the Devil of Devouring vanished as if it had been deleted.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

The same thing happened repeatedly, and before long, the massive body, over 30km long, disappeared.

Archduke Ventresca watched the scene blankly.

It was because the event was far beyond his range of perception.

As demons grew stronger, their desires grew stronger as well.

The fact that the Ruin Legion Commander never stopped fighting followed the same logic.

And the Devil of Devouring was born with nothing but the will to consume.

In terms of status, it was a demon equal to or greater than a Legion Commander.

It was infamous as an ancient being with immense potential that could grow infinitely by swallowing everything.

Furthermore, the Devil of Devouring brought here was a special entity capable of controlling its desires despite growing to that extent.

How powerful must the soul of such a thing be?

Even Archduke Ventresca felt his mind go faint when facing that Devil of Devouring head-on.

What he had tried to ignore suddenly popped into Archduke Ventresca’s mind.

The fact that Choi Kangjoong, who had killed the Devil of Devouring, was perhaps an existence even greater than a Demon Legion Commander.

Fear gripped him.

His body felt heavy, as if crushed by the dimension itself.

“Gah!”

When his eyes met Choi Kangjoong’s, he could see beyond.

His consciousness shifted as if it were being extinguished.

A giant mouth swallowing the Devil of Devouring.

Before it, Archduke Ventresca’s soul was a mere speck of dust.

The Devil of Devouring passed behind the mouth.

There was nothing there but infinite hunger.

It was a sight gruesome and terrifying even to a Demon Duke.

The giant mouth closed.

Archduke Ventresca was finally able to return to reality.

“Just what kind of being are you? Something like this cannot exist in this world!”

Archduke Ventresca screamed in despair.

Before he knew it, Lutal had arrived in front of him.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

Archduke Ventresca hurriedly pulled his body away from the intricately weaving Death Blades.

His reaction was slow; his left arm was severed from the shoulder, and the area below his chest fell away.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Archduke Ventresca went berserk.

Countless Chaos Magics poured toward Lutal.

Lutal avoided the Chaos Magic by making a wide circle around him.

As Choi Kangjoong approached, Archduke Ventresca’s struggles stopped as if they were a lie.

Because whatever he did before that giant mouth was meaningless.

“Your power is impossible… Infinite hunger that does not exist in this world cannot be implemented even by the Dimension System…!”

“Even if I explained it, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Could you not give me a clue…? I, too, was once a seeker trying to uncover the secrets of the Dimensional Sea…”

“You’re a demon now.”

“It is my last request…”

Crunch.

Lutal drove his Scythe Claw into the crown of Archduke Ventresca’s head.

“Throw him into the Soil Pit.”

“Grrr.”

Lutal flew toward Kuongi.

Soon, the Evolution Points increased by 200 million.

“Archduke Ventresca gives 200 million points. I should hurry up and eat that skeleton too.”

Choi Kangjoong dropped toward Archduke Luderlock.

Archduke Luderlock quickly deployed a Death Shield.

K-boom!

Choi Kangjoong, who broke through the shield, snapped Archduke Luderlock’s spine and landed on the ground.

“Why are you eating so late! I thought you were dead!” Dielka made a fuss.

“I told you the Devil of Devouring is my food.”

“Do you know how many elves die from choking while eating salad!”

“Let’s deal with that first.”

Choi Kangjoong and Dielka pounced on Archduke Luderlock from behind.

Iselin and Lutal 2 attacked from his front and side.

Boom! Boom!

Slash! Slash!

Archduke Luderlock was dismantled by the Death Blades and melted by Life Mana and Death Mana.

His body and Soul Vessel were entrusted to Lutal 2 and sent to the Soil Pit.

Soon, the Evolution Points increased by over 100 million.

Choi Kangjoong was overjoyed that his score had risen by 300 million points from just two Demon Dukes.

“We’ve caught all the Archdukes. You guys go take a rest.”

“No. Let’s fight together.”

Iselin rejected Choi Kangjoong’s suggestion.

She wanted to set a record for killing the most demons in a single battle, and she found fighting in this state fun.

When Iselin did so, Dielka also stepped forward.

As the two High Elves spared no stamina or Mana, the Immortal Demons began to collapse one by one.

The magic beasts went without saying.

The Demons of Chaos were safely removed by the Super Titan’s Breath and the Titans’ bombardment.

[You have obtained Evolution Points.]

[You have obtained Evolution Points.]

[You have obtained Evolution Points.]

“Demons certainly give a lot of Evolution Points.”

It seemed he could create at least two more special entities once the battle was over.