Chapter 261
[Heavenly Demon’s Throne-Summoning Footwork]!
A secret art of an Absolute Being that only the Heavenly Demon could wield.
The Heavenly Demon.
He was the Supreme Being, the Absolute Being.
A titan who created the perfect world of survival of the fittest known as the Hall of all Gods.
He tamed an Outer God, a feat no one else had ever accomplished, and his martial prowess was such that even the Great Nine Lords did not dare challenge him.
Naturally, in the era when the Heavenly Demon existed, demons did not even dare dream of setting foot on the Mountain of Practitioners.
And.
The Immortals were the Heavenly Demon’s fervent ‘followers’ who followed after him.
Originally, Immortals were those who had reached the pinnacle of pure skill and ascended into immortality.
That meant they had reached the state of becoming ‘demigods.’
Thanks to that, they were granted long lifespans, but their attitude toward the world inevitably turned into one of utter boredom.
They created a separate Immortal Realm and severed all Karmic Ties.
Afterward, they devoted themselves solely to cultivation and the refinement of skill, but once the Heavenly Demon appeared, their boredom turned into fanatical obsession.
They became fervent believers and began following the Heavenly Demon.
So they could not help but recognize it.
[Heavenly Demon’s Throne-Summoning Footwork].
For an Absolute Being, there was no need to move needlessly.
Before the Heavenly Demon, everyone was merely a challenger.
He sat upon his throne and summoned every challenger before it.
That was the purpose of the Heavenly Demon’s Throne-Summoning Footwork.
It was like the Authority of the Absolute itself, folding domains, folding worlds, and forcing challengers to kneel before him.
However.
“…It can’t be the Heavenly Demon’s Throne-Summoning Footwork.”
“It’s a fake!”
“Do you think you can deceive us with such a petty Demonic Art?”
The Immortals immediately denied it.
The Heavenly Demon had disappeared.
Without leaving a single word behind, he had vanished one day.
The Immortals returned to the Immortal Realm and eagerly waited for the Heavenly Demon to appear again.
But after that, the Heavenly Demon did not reappear for a very long time.
In the end, they had no choice but to accept it.
That the Heavenly Demon had abandoned them.
The Heavenly Demon had vanished without a trace, leaving behind no successor.
At the same time, the Immortals came to think this.
-Let us create the true Heavenly Demon.
-Let us create an eternal king who will never abandon us.
…And so.
That conclusion was born from their fanatical obsession with the Heavenly Demon.
That was how Taebaek came into being.
Erasing the existing Heavenly Demon, they were perfecting him into the one and only Supreme Being.
Therefore, that [Heavenly Demon’s Throne-Summoning Footwork] could not be real.
The true Heavenly Demon, their true king, could only be one.
Only Taebaek, who had yet to hatch.
Moreover, that appearance was far too different from the Heavenly Demon they remembered.
An Anomaly possessing noble Honor.
A perfect sacrifice to offer as nourishment for Taebaek!
It was nothing more than an imitation of the Heavenly Demon.
Soon, the Immortals reached a conclusion.
All of their thoughts linked together and arrived at one answer.
“I see.”
“So it’s no ordinary Anomaly after all.”
“At that level, it has long surpassed mere ‘Informational’ grade.”
“Could it be ‘General’ grade, beyond ‘Warning’?”
“But no ‘Great Rift’ has opened around that existence, so it should still only be at the ‘Warning’ grade.”
The Immortals instantly calmed down.
Because they were beings who were one and many.
All of them were connected, with Taebaek at the center.
Thanks to that, their shifts in thought were faster and more certain.
Also.
……’Anomalies’ had grades.
Almost all anomalous beings fell under ‘Informational’ grade.
As the name suggested, anomalies born from things like ‘phenomena that should not happen’—bugs in reality—were classified as ‘Informational Anomalies.’
The second was ‘Warning’ grade, which caused ‘events that should not happen’ through its own existence alone.
The stage that caused heinous ‘Great Rifts’ was called ‘General Anomaly’ grade.
Of course, there also existed ‘Major Anomaly’ grade, which created multiple Great Rifts, and ‘Critical Anomaly’ grade, which could destroy the entire Abyss, but those two had hardly appeared since the birth of the Abyss.
And because Park Chan-woo was imitating the lost martial arts of the Heavenly Demon and causing a literal ‘phenomenon that should not happen,’ he was clearly a rare ‘Warning’ grade Anomaly.
Therefore.
“We can complete the supreme Heavenly Demon……!”
“The nourishment walked in on its own!”
Smiles bloomed across the lips of the Immortals, who had been flustered only moments ago.
Now that they knew their opponent was an Anomaly, he was nothing more than nourishment for Taebaek.
Moreover, a ‘Warning’ grade Anomaly appeared perhaps once in a thousand years.
They had already fed Taebaek countless anomalies, but most of them had only been ‘Informational Anomaly’ grade.
If Taebaek fed on something like this, his completion would accelerate even further.
Whoooooom!
Rrrrrrrrumble!
Soon, the Immortals’ bodies began to swell to enormous size.
Floating in the air in a godlike posture, they cupped their hands together.
Then dazzling particles began to gather inside the circle.
Booooooom!
A Single Flash shot out.
Several massive beams of light flew toward Park Chan-woo.
Each one was an attack from beings who had reached the state of demigods.
Moreover, this place was effectively their stronghold.
To defeat the Immortals here, in a place steeped in the energy of the Immortal Realm, was nearly impossible.
The brilliant absolute light that burned away all impurities, including anomalies, a force even ordinary Demon Gods could not endure head-on, soon struck Park Chan-woo.
Park Chan-woo.
No, the Heavenly Demon raised [Aura Armor].
Drip.
At the same time, black blood ran down from the corner of his mouth.
Because he had already exceeded the limit of power this body could use.
The growth of this body was not yet enough to fully contain the Heavenly Demon’s martial prowess.
Even his mana was desperately lacking.
He had shown fist techniques, sword techniques, and secret arts, but none of them had reached their full power.
But it did not matter.
The contract condition was only one thing.
To land a single blow on Taebaek.
For that, the Heavenly Demon first examined this body’s ‘potential.’
A being that had truly summoned him.
He, who should have remained sealed forever in the Negative Realm, had entered the world by borrowing Park Chan-woo’s body.
Originally, he should have slept eternally in the Lower Domain of Negative Level.
The fact that he had been summoned meant, in other words—
‘Indeed.’
It meant there was an Anomaly equal to him, or perhaps greater.
But an Anomaly on the Heavenly Demon’s level could not exist in the Abyss.
It would have already been hunted down by the Great Nine Lords, triggered a Great Rift and perished, or, like him, been imprisoned inside the [Sealed Demon God’s Grail].
The [Sealed Demon God’s Grail] was exactly that sort of item.
It was a mad artifact that created Anomalies.
And it was also the worst grail, one that ultimately imprisoned and eternally sealed the very anomalies it created.
The Heavenly Demon had been sealed after using the [Sealed Demon God’s Grail].
But…… although there had been cases where ‘new owners of the grail’ occasionally summoned beings sealed inside it.
This was the first time he himself had been summoned.
Because no new owner of any grail had ever surpassed the Heavenly Demon.
Because none of them had been anomalies greater than the Heavenly Demon.
‘You hid it perfectly.’
The owner of this body, Park Chan-woo, was different.
An Anomaly capable of summoning the Heavenly Demon, and yet absurdly weak.
He was full of contradictions, but the Heavenly Demon quickly discerned the reason.
[Nonexistent].
That was even hiding Park Chan-woo’s anomaly.
For the first time, the Heavenly Demon felt intrigued.
How interesting.
Just what level of Anomaly was it, for the God of Offerings to hide it so thoroughly?
Moreover, it had even placed the terminal state [Terminal] beside him so that no one’s attention would linger.
It had forcibly balanced what should not exist.
No wonder he could not be recognized as an Anomaly.
It made sense that even the Great Nine Lords, hunters of anomalies, had failed to notice.
He was an Anomaly, and yet an inevitable death had been installed beside him so he would not appear to be one.
Even if someone discovered him by chance, they would only tilt their head in confusion at that absolute [Terminal].
That [Terminal] hid Park Chan-woo’s true nature while also killing or sealing the memories of those who peered inside.
Of course, if the purpose was not achieved within the allotted time, it was also the existence that would bring true death.
Then……
If there truly was hidden power—
‘Found it.’
The Heavenly Demon gave a small nod.
He found a single heart hidden beneath the premise of death.
It was none other than the heart of Dragon God Sephiro.
‘Why is a Transcendent Dragon’s heart sealed inside this human?’
He could not be mistaken.
The Heavenly Demon had met a Transcendent Dragon before.
That grotesque monster, unmatched in its bizarreness, had also been an existence that was an Anomaly and yet not an Anomaly.
The first strange thing that had ever brought the Heavenly Demon defeat.
The fact that Dragon God Sephiro’s heart was inside Park Chan-woo meant—
‘Do you intend to trigger a Critical Anomaly and destroy the Abyss, God of Offerings?’
Critical Anomaly.
A grade of Anomaly that existed only in theory and had never once appeared.
It was said that if a Critical-grade Anomaly appeared, the ‘Infinite Great Rift’ would begin.
And then the entire Abyss would be destroyed.
Perhaps that meant the God of Offerings desired the destruction of the Abyss.
Whatever.
It did not matter.
His role was simply to use that power to land ‘one blow.’
The problem was that if he forcibly drew out and used the heart’s power, Park Chan-woo’s body would never endure it.
Also, the chances of Dragon God Sephiro noticing were extremely high.
Only then did another curiosity arise.
‘Dragon God Sephiro. I wonder whether that fellow still has this heart or not.’
If he still had it, that was a problem.
If he did not, that was also a problem.
If the same heart existed in two places, the weaker of the two would perish the instant they met.
Conversely, if Sephiro no longer had this heart……
The moment they met, it would return to its original owner.
Either way, Park Chan-woo would not survive.
Whatever.
Again, it did not matter.
He was only curious.
Having summoned him, there was no way the God of Offerings had not known it would end badly.
And yet it summoned him anyway.
The Heavenly Demon forcibly drew out the heart’s power.
Far beyond the maximum Park Chan-woo’s current body could endure.
Burning through every last scrap of potential, he would show it properly.
One blow was enough.
Whether Park Chan-woo lived or died afterward was none of his concern.
Kraaaaaaaaaaash!
The Immortal Realm shook.
The Single Flashes fired by the Immortals could no longer even approach the Heavenly Demon.
At this brief instant, he was no different from a god.
[Heavenly Demon Divine Art.]
The Heavenly Demon’s strongest and ultimate secret art unfolded.