Chapter 176
Skeuk!
The silver Longsword infused with Aura flashed as it drove into the Hell Knight’s skull like a bolt of lightning.
At that moment—
– ……!
The Hell Knight kicked off the ground, leaping high as its greatsword swept through the air.
Kwaooo-!
It carved a vicious arc above him—right where Javier’s blade was descending.
But the path of the Hell Knight’s greatsword did not overlap with Javier’s strike.
Did it miss?
No.
‘He’s aiming for Javier.’
Lloyd’s eyes widened.
Clinging to the Hell Knight’s leg with his whole body, he only needed to crane his neck upward to see everything happening above him.
And so he saw it.
He understood.
The Hell Knight’s intent.
‘This bastard is trying to die with Javier.’
He had no intention of defending against his skull being pierced. He was using that moment to cleave Javier in two.
A heartbeat.
Lloyd’s mind spun, grasping where this battle was headed.
‘This is bad.’
If both landed fatal blows, only Javier would fall. The Hell Knight would survive.
Then Lloyd—alone—would be nothing but dessert.
‘I have to stop it!’
Javier’s Longsword and the Hell Knight’s greatsword were already passing each other, crossing in midair as they rushed toward their marks.
Javier toward the skull.
The Hell Knight toward Javier’s torso.
Just as each was about to land—
Lloyd thrust both hands upward.
He grabbed the exposed ribs beneath the Hell Knight’s breastplate like iron bars.
He pulled with everything he had—Asrahan Heart Technique, Mana Heart, forearms, back muscles—every fiber straining as if doing a chin-up.
‘Guaaaah!’
Pop!
The Hell Knight’s upper body jerked upward.
His balance wavered—just slightly.
But that tiny shift was enough to twist the greatsword’s path.
Hoo-oong!
It cut through empty air by a hair.
Javier used the opening, twisting his body and driving his Longsword forward—
Skeuk!
– ……!
The blade pierced the skull.
The Hell Knight convulsed violently, but instead of falling, he spun with ferocious force, flailing his greatsword in wild sweeps—up, down, sideways—trying to destroy everything in reach.
Javier did not back down.
His Longsword danced, relentlessly stabbing and slashing into every gap in the Hell Knight’s defense.
Each strike made the monstrous frame shudder.
And Lloyd—wrapped around the Knight’s pelvis and legs like a cicada—was far from idle.
Arms and legs locked in place, sealing its movement, he used the one weapon he could still move freely.
His mouth.
“Give me peace like a river! Give me peace like a riiiver! Give me giivemegeeeve! Peace like! A riiiver! Overflowwww!”
He belted it with everything he had.
Memories of military service.
Memories of temple visits with his mother.
Every church hymn and Buddhist chant he knew, he threw into the assault.
His vocal cords vibrated at full power, spewing the Exorcism Song.
Dissonance rippled relentlessly from his tongue.
“Form is emptiness! Emptiness is form! Sensation, perception, discrimination, volition, and consciousness are also like this. Shariputra! All dharmas are empty in nature!”
He yelled. He sang. He screeched.
Off-key. Off-pitch. Off-everything.
He wasn’t doing it on purpose.
He was genuinely trying to sing.
But the heavens, generous with intellect, had gifted him zero musical ability.
He was tone-deaf.
Horribly, catastrophically tone-deaf.
‘Damn it. It’s not like I WANT to do this!’
As he sang, memories resurfaced.
His days as a private.
Morning exercise songs—always earning scoldings for pitch so warped it turned military chants into cosmic dissonance.
Sunday church visits—where he went only for Choco Pies—but even there he was glared at for singing hymns like a demon incarnate.
The chaplain’s horrified face was unforgettable.
Then the coin karaoke date.
Which ended the fling immediately.
‘…….’
No. Don’t think about it.
Accept it.
He was tone-deaf.
And sometimes, it could be a weapon.
‘Like now! Thousand Hands Sutra, let’s go!’
He remembered a monk chanting during Buddha’s Birthday.
Determination sharpened his eyes.
“Mantra Purifying Karma of Speech! Suri Suri Maha Suri Susuri Svaha!”
His voice rose—full of misguided but powerful religious fervor.
The more he sang, the more the Hell Knight’s mind unraveled.
– ……Stop!
Please, stop, you lunatic!
The Hell Knight was truly begging now.
The silver-haired knight was already overwhelming enough.
But the cicada-man beneath him was unleashing sounds so horrifying even hell’s demons would flee.
And he was so loud.
The fracture in his skull widened.
No—his skull was splitting in two.
The earlier stab from Javier.
The uninterrupted barrage.
The inability to recover.
His whole body was collapsing, crumbling, disintegrating in real time.
And then—
“Lloyd, now!”
Javier’s shout rang out.
A Detonation infused with Aura erupted.
Lloyd instantly stopped singing, released the Hell Knight’s pelvis, and threw himself aside.
The Detonation engulfed the monster’s upper body.
– ……!
Tuwhak-!
Armor melted.
The raised greatsword, the bones gripping it, the entire upper body—melted, severed, pulverized, scattered to dust.
Clatter!
The remaining lower half trembled, knelt, and toppled.
Wagudak……
Upper body: powder.
Lower body: collapsed.
Silence filled the assembly hall.
Lloyd, panting, pushed himself upright.
‘Okay. We got him.’
He and Javier had defeated that monstrous being.
But—
“It’s too early to relax. He’ll revive.”
Javier’s expression remained hard, sword still pointed at the pile of bones.
“Revive? You mean resurrection?”
“I’m not sure. But—”
He answered quickly.
“It happened earlier. Before you arrived, I’d already subdued him. But he revived as if he’d never taken damage.”
“Wait. You’re saying…”
“Yes. His Mana hasn’t scattered.”
“…….”
And he was right.
Through the Asrahan Heart Technique, Lloyd sensed it—an enormous mass of Mana remained in the heap of shattered bones.
It hadn’t dispersed at all.
Not just that—
‘There are countless Mana clusters in the air too.’
The powder Javier had blasted into the air—
Even that held dense, monstrous Mana.
‘What the hell…’
Goosebumps prickled his arms.
Mana not dispersing meant one thing.
He wasn’t gone.
‘Just like Eren. And like in Steel-Blooded Knight…’
He remembered the novel.
Before the Namaran Barrier incident, Cannavaro had bragged:
That the Hell Knight was unbelievably strong.
That even if pulverized, he would revive endlessly.
Because he was a being of hell.
And the only way to kill him—
‘Completely drain his Mana.’
Beat him until exhausted, or absorb his Mana with special magic or tools.
But who could exhaust a Hell Knight?
Who could absorb that much Mana?
No one.
Which was why Cannavaro had believed the Hell Knight to be nearly invincible.
And now, Javier’s words confirmed it.
“Then I’ll take care of it.”
“…What?”
Javier turned, startled.
Lloyd smiled faintly at his wide-eyed expression—at the quiet concern always hidden beneath Javier’s grumbling.
“I’ll do it. You know what I can do.”
“You mean that indiscriminate Mana absorption?”
“Yeah.”
Rapid Charge.
Now was the moment.
He had to deplete the Hell Knight’s Mana, or the creature would revive forever.
Rapid Charge was the only solution.
“So step back. Don’t let anyone get close.”
“Lloyd…”
“I know. I’m worried too. I’m scared.”
He forced a smile.
“You know I’m not the type who enjoys overeating.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I have to be. I don’t want to. But there’s no other way. Indigestion is a concern, but I’ll manage.”
In truth, he was terrified.
Could he absorb Hell Knight Mana and survive?
It sounded insane.
Yet—
‘If I don’t, I’ll die anyway. Javier can’t fight a forever-reviving Hell Knight. Neither can I. No one in this city can.’
This moment—while the Hell Knight was subdued—might never come again.
If he didn’t seize it, everyone would suffer.
So it was all or nothing.
Death if he didn’t.
Death if he failed.
Life only if he succeeded.
No choice.
He stepped toward the pile of bones, bracing himself.
“Step back.”
He pushed Javier away.
No hesitation.
He raised the Steel Shovel.
Tuwhahk-!
Triple Blast erupted, blowing open the assembly hall ceiling.
Mana drained rapidly; dizziness washed over him.
He endured and opened the skill window.
Activated the option.
[Asrahan Heart Technique Skill Option ⑤: Rapid Charge is activated.]
[Absorbs a large amount of Mana from random targets in the vicinity.]
The Mana Circles roared.
Everything within range began to lose Mana.
The marble floor.
The scattered debris.
The collapsed lower body.
Bone powder and floating Mana.
All of it was absorbed—pure, impure, easy, difficult—it didn’t matter.
Everything was taken, stolen, devoured.
If the Hell Knight had been fully summoned—
Or not freshly subdued—
He could have resisted.
But not now.
Incomplete summon.
Collapsed body.
A fatal opening.
– ……!
Through the violent absorption came the faint death cry of the Hell Knight Giorexius, commander of the legions of hell.
And then—
[Asrahan Heart Technique Skill Option ⑤: The activation time of Rapid Charge has ended.]
The Mana Circles calmed.
Lloyd opened his eyes.
Floating before him were countless messages.
[You have eliminated Hell Knight Giorexius, the commander of the legions under the Hell King.]
[The King of Hell is impressed by this tremendous feat you have shown. The ruler of hell, having lost his commander, has begun to covet your talent, wit, and potential for development.]
[You have absorbed a large amount of the Hell Knight’s Mana and made part of it your own.]
[This rare experience has significantly impacted your skills and options.]
[Mana Heart Skill Option ‘④ Undead Domination’ has been promoted to an independent skill.]
[Undead Domination has been unlocked.]
[Undead Domination has been strengthened.]
[Various restrictions and conditions for using Undead Domination have been greatly eased and removed.]
Lirigzon Gashi
Thank you !
Hello!
I was very happy to find this novel translated here (first time on this website) – but I can see it’s only from chapter 260?
Are the rest of the chapters translated elsewhere? Or are you considering translating them as well but later?
Thank you for what you’ve shared so far!
Hi! Thank you for the kind words! I really appreciated it 🙂
Yes, dont worry. I will be working on the earlier chapters once we completed the whole novel. We have about 40 chapters left more or less.
Thank you for the translate, But if you plan to add chapters before 260 I would be grateful
Don’t worry! I will. Once we finish the novel, I will upload the earlier chapters.
Thank you😍
Hi! Wanted to say thank you for your(person/team?)for translating, really appreciate it. You(singular/plural?) are the only one(s) I found that did proper translation for this series that is not paywalled like hell. I also wanted to ask what are the usual dates you release translations? Thank you very much for your work
Are you translating it yourself or is it a machine translation? Since I will be translating it into Turkish with Google Translate to read, it will be very complicated if it is a machine translation.
im using AI to translate it then I proofread once done to make sure the flow of the story is still there
Hi, really appreciate your guys work. Do not want to sound needy, but wanted to ask. How soon will you guys finish the series, now that I am so close to the end my blood is boiling to read the rest!
5 more weeks and we are through! we only have 26 chapters left from the raw material.
what happened to chapter 93 and beyond?
i started the translation of this novel from chapter 260 (mermaid arc) because that was the current arc in the manhwa at that time and finished it till the last chapter which is chapter 408. what you are seeing now are the updates from chapter 1 to the current chapter. i am consistently uploading chapters 2x a week every tuesdays and thursdays. we will eventually get there in time, dont worry!