Chapter 312  

The existence of Night and its attempts to take over Kim Jin-Woo’s body had undoubtedly been a huge threat. He had been determined to embrace the monster’s endless greed, but it wasn’t easy. There was no way he could feel at ease, given that the situation he was in felt no different from holding a bomb that could go off without any warning.

“If it doesn’t happen now, there won’t be another opportunity ever again. Obviously, you’re an interesting entity, but the Underworld Tree won’t pay attention to you twice.” The Immoral Lord explained that now was the final chance to eliminate the threat of the monster.

“What kind of bullshit…” Kim Jin-Woo muttered, staring at her while feeling the pain become more intense, no thanks to his mind becoming clearer.

“Don’t you understand? This is your last chance for you to remain who you are.”

Even as the Immoral Lord stepped closer, she was smiling as brightly as ever.

“So choose.”

Angela tried to stop the Immoral Lord. Even the Nagas, who were being crushed by the divinity of the Underworld, desperately tried to block her. But nevertheless, she quickly brushed past them and approached him.

“Master!” Angela cried out.

Enduring the intense pain and the divinity of the Underworld Tree that was crushing his consciousness, Kim Jin-Woo barely lifted his head.

“Whether you’re going to embrace that terrible monster inside you and live your whole life trembling with anxiety…”

The Immoral Lord’s pale face suddenly appeared before Kim Jin-Woo’s eyes as she whispered.

“Or whether you’re going to drive that Night out of you.”

It all felt hopeless. Kim Jin-Woo had been suppressing the monster inside of him by choosing not to absorb the power of the other Highlords, but nobody knew when the circumstances might change. If it were possible to drive the monster out even now, it had to be done.

“Let me help you.”

The Immoral Lord held out her hand.

“I’m a Highlord just like you, and Night will gladly migrate into me.”magic

Her pure white hand looked as warm as when she had reached out to Kim Jin-Woo without hesitation in the dark tunnel, back when he had been a young tunnel digger.

“So, hand over the burden to me and rest in peace, my little Jin-Woo.”

Her voice was as sweet and warm as back then.

“Kurgh…”

Kim Jin-Woo’s vision started to blur. It wasn’t because of the pain. It was because he couldn’t withstand the great divinity that was crushing his consciousness. Just a little longer and he wouldn’t even be able to control his thoughts in the face of the overwhelming Mysteries.

“Now, take my hand. Then this will all be over.”

Kim Jin-Woo’s willpower was like a fortress that had withstood even Night’s greed, but in the face of such an irresistible will, it was crumbling like a sandcastle. The Immoral Lord’s whisper was the only thing he could make out in the distance, when existence itself seemed to have completely disappeared.

“You’ll become a faithful Warden who will guard the Underworld Tree and receive its protection, and then, the monster will completely disappear from within you.”

The Immoral Lord’s words were insanely seductive. If Kim Jin-Woo reached out and grabbed that petite hand, he could escape from his terrible pain and fate. That fact made him desperate, like a stranded survivor finally encountering an oasis in the middle of the desert.“Urgh…” Kim Jin-Woo was now no longer able to make out anything in front of him, and reality itself seemed to have blurred. Subconsciously, he started to reach out.

***

“Master!” Dominique screamed.

Their firmly connected communion had been cut off, and only fragments of his thoughts had been transmitted to her. Despite that, all she could feel was pain, pain, and more pain. The master she had proudly thought would be able to withstand anyone was crumbling in the face of the Mysteries of the Underworld.

Feeling desperate, she tried her best to break free, but her wretched body didn’t budge at all, as if she were rooted to the ground itself.

“Eeeeek!” She saw the Usurper approaching her master. She wanted to take even one step further in an attempt to stop the Usurper. But now that the will of the Underworld Tree had intervened, she felt an ungodly level of pain descending upon her entire body just from the presence of its hostile divinity.

“Angela!” Unable to recite even one of her common Frost spells, she turned toward the golden-haired Vampire with her last ounce of hope.

“Ah…” The Vampire, who had been proud of her ability to appear and disappear instantly at will by crossing into the Back Floor, shook her head with a look of despair on her face.

“Eeeeek!” Dominique’s final source of hope was mercilessly shattered. And yet, she didn’t give up. Even amid the agony that seemed to rip her heart in half, she finally succeeded in moving her body against the mighty will of the Underworld Tree.

But that moment of triumph was brief, as a dozen roots suddenly appeared out of nowhere and entangled her body.

“Let go! I said, let me go!” Dominique cried. The scales on her beautiful tail broke, and her skin was torn off. Despite the mess, she continued to struggle against the mighty divinity.

Angela, watching from the safety of the Back Floor, couldn’t bear to watch Dominique struggle so desperately any longer. She remarked, “It seems the Underworld Tree doesn’t want us to even leave this place.”

She had realized there was no way that the Immoral Lord, who was a Highlord just like she was, would have the ability to limit her power to travel back and forth between the Deep Floors and the Back Floor. That meant it was the will of the Underworld Tree that was binding them, not the Usurper’s.

Thus, she had no choice but to continue observing the situation.

“But Master…!” Dominique looked at Angela and shouted desperately.

Angela could see the Usurper’s back. The being, whose name she had only heard countless times from her master, had the appearance of a surprisingly good-natured young girl.

However, the petite figure of the young girl now looked thoroughly insidious and greedy, like a snake ready to strike its prey. It was enough to put Angela on edge, to the point that it made her feel dizzy.

Despite that, there was nothing she or the Nagas could do. The Nagas were barely able to endure against the hostile divinity of the Underworld Tree, and the Einherjar that had swept across the battlefield just moments before were now staring blankly at the air like puppets that had had their strings broken.

It was a complete domination of their will, and they had been forced to become nothing but empty shells of themselves.

“Ah…” Dominique could see black wings sprouting from the Usurper’s petite back. The Usurper looked like a snake that had finally revealed its fangs. She called out, “Masteeeeeeeeer!”

Her master, having bowed his head, finally looked up. His hazy eyes showed no signs of his will, and his raised hand slowly rattled like that of a broken doll.

“Whether you’re going to embrace that terrible monster inside you and live your whole life trembling with anxiety, or whether you’re going to drive that Night out of you.”

Dominique heard the whispers of the Usurper.

“Let me help you.”

The Usurper knew exactly what Master wanted.

“I’m a Highlord just like you, and Night will gladly migrate into me. So, hand over the burden to me and rest in peace, my little Jin-Woo.”

Dominique shouted repeatedly upon hearing those whispers, thinking, Master mustn’t hear them. She kept shouting.

“Now, take my hand. Then this will all be over.”

Unfortunately, her voice didn’t seem to reach him. Master raised his head, but it was only to look at the Usurper.

“You’ll become a faithful Warden who will guard the Underworld Tree and receive its protection, and then, the monster will completely disappear from within you.”

The Usurper’s whispers clearly revealed her terrible greed and her dark soul. Only then did Dominique finally realize what the Usurper’s objective, that Master had been pondering all along, was. She finally knew. What the Usurper wanted was the power of Night.“Now, don’t hesitate any longer. I’m here to lift the burden off you.”

The Usurper’s warm voice sounded as if it were squeezing the final breath out of Master, as he started to extend his hand.

“That’s right. With this, your hardships will all be over.”

However, perhaps because she couldn’t hide her greed until the last moment, a glaringly insidious air revealed itself in her slightly trembling voice toward the end.

“Master! You must never listen to those words!”

The Usurper wanted to become the monster herself, and Dominique had no idea what the Usurper would do with those powers. But it was clear that all it would do was bring ruin to all. Thus, Dominique desperately called out to her master again and again.

Perhaps it was her earnestness that finally reached her master. Master’s hand, which had been slowly but constantly moving toward the Usurper, suddenly stopped.

“Tsk.”

The Usurper’s gaze sharply turned toward Dominique, perhaps out of anger, spite, or even disgust. The faint hatred that appeared in her impeccably clear eyes couldn’t have been more terrifying. In the face of such blatantly murderous intent and malice, it was as if Dominique had lost her voice. She couldn’t even let out a little squeak.

“How dare you…”

As soon as Dominique shut her mouth, the Usurper turned back to face Kim Jin-Woo and started to whisper again. His hand, which had stopped, began to move once again.

“Finally!”

At last, the two Highlords’ hands touched, and the Usurper’s folded black wings unfurled wide with joy.

“Ahh…”

Dominique and Angela sighed as the desperate situation unfolded before their eyes. A new monster, the condensation of all the hatred and madness that had been passed down since ancient times, had been born.

“Mm?”

But something was strange.

“Why! Why!?” In a tone completely different from her previous calm demeanor, the Usurper screamed in astonishment. “Why won’t you come over to me!?”

Gone was the warm facade of the Usurper, as she screamed in a cold and dark tone. “Why?”

A small but powerful voice interrupted her. “Because it’s already found a new home. It doesn’t need another one.”

“Master!” Dominique exclaimed.

Kim Jin-Woo had reclaimed his usual dignified presence, looking down at the Usurper.

The Usurper seemed to be unable to accept the unexpected turn of the situation, as she clearly looked visibly confused. Her face was no longer that of the pleasant-looking So-Hee Kim Jin-Woo once knew, and she now looked just as greedy and ugly as the other Highlords.

“You see, I have a friend I’ve been with for a very long time.” Looking at the Usurper, Kim Jin-Woo held out one of his hands. But the hand he held out was stained black, as if he were wearing a black glove. He continued, “We’ve been together for so long that even I sometimes forget it exists.”

“What do you mean…” the Usurper murmured.

Kim Jin-Woo smiled as he looked at the Usurper, who looked completely defeated, and said, “The Mystic Parasite.”

“No way…” the Usurper trailed off. Why did I only realize this now? she thought to herself as she stared at Kim Jin-Woo with a look of horror and disbelief.

“That’s right. Night evaded the divinity of the Underworld and moved into this little worm,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

He turned his gaze away from the Usurper and toward the giant ash tree. It still continued to pour its divinity and great will across the Underworld, but its sanctity no longer felt foreign and uncomfortable.

“How did that…” the Usurper began.

“How did this happen?” Kim Jin-Woo cut the Usurper off as he turned toward her again.

The Usurper repeated herself over and over again in disbelief. Kim Jin-Woo truly enjoyed the flabbergasted look on her face. The sense of accomplishment from finally completing his revenge was exhilarating.

“Because I made it happen,” he concluded.

His revenge wasn’t yet over; rather, it had only just begun.