## Chapter 167. Ancient Serpent (8)
Going back a bit in time, before the Seven-Headed Dragon and demons left the capital.
A monster was hiding in the Skull Mountains, watching the capital. This abomination, seemingly pieced together from various demon bodies, was Karon—the necromancer who once nearly brought a zombie apocalypse to this world.
He had faced ruin when attacked by the Cloud Demon through Mallak's plot, losing both his body and army. Yet through a series of coincidences and inevitabilities, he managed to rise again.
No, it was more than just recovery. He had gained power far beyond what he once possessed. A red divine aura enveloped Karon's body.
This was no ordinary divine power. It was a new divinity formed from the energies of multiple gods. A power that should never have existed, born through the transcendent abilities Karon had learned from beings of other worlds.
Karon's soul, no longer a single entity due to the mixing of multiple souls, played a part in this as well. A truly horrific hybrid.
Though unstable and violent, its power was terrifying.
Karon felt his efforts to find totems to absorb even minor divinities had paid off.
'I've been operating in secret.'
It had been difficult with such a massive body, but he deliberately traveled only through areas devoid of human traces. All to avoid being detected by Mallak's forces.
More precisely, to prevent the one who relayed information to Mallak in this area from discovering he was still alive.
'Sans, Mallak's dog.'
Karon had suffered greatly at the hands of that paladin. After being burned once, he had stopped accessing the Community—until he was attacked by the Cloud Demon.
That had been a mistake. The Community was an ocean of information.
When he reconnected, the Community was filled with facts unknown even to Karon. Things like the evil god Shamishur.
It was while he was searching through the Community again using the souls of possessed people he had "collected" today.
Woooosh—!
A thunderous sound came from the direction of the capital. Then a monster with seven heads took flight. Other demons followed behind it.
'The Seven-Headed Dragon Demon.'
That's what the possessed called this being. It was an incredibly powerful entity. Karon sensed strength equal to Mallak when he had regained control of his soul.
Screech—!
Eventually the city gates opened, and demons poured out. They were clearly heading to attack Mallak's forces.
"So it begins."
Karon had been hiding quietly, slowly building his strength while waiting for this moment. For the end of mythology, for the demise of the gods.
It was time to take the first step.
Crack!
Bat wings tore through Karon's back. The divine aura that had been gently enveloping him began to surge, emitting a terrifying energy.
"Shamishur."
The name of the culprit who summoned demons to earth.
Whoosh!
With one flap of his wings, Karon soared high into the sky and looked down at the capital.
Kieee...
Crunch...!
Zombie demons that had been hiding began to reveal themselves one by one.
"Time to pay the price."
The time had come to test his newly acquired power.
***
I pulled my horn from the Seven-Headed Dragon's abdomen and tried to create distance.
Or rather, I was about to.
Six pairs of heads simultaneously bit down on my neck. Though they didn't bite with much force—it didn't hurt—I missed a good opportunity because of it.
I tried to shake them off with my arms, but the distance was too short to make it possible. Damn it.
At times like this, having short arms is truly pitiful. My limbs were disproportionately small compared to my snake-like long body.
There was no time for regrets. The creature was trying to stand on all fours. It limped, suggesting its leg bones had been shattered when we rolled earlier.
Good. This is good. It won't be able to use its feet for at least a few minutes.
This is my chance. I need to give it everything. If I can't kill it now, we're looking at a total party wipe ending.
I summoned lightning through the clouds created by the "Mallak's Domain" blessing.
Lightning from the sky mercilessly struck the creature's body. Naturally, as the caster, I suffered no damage.
—!
The Seven-Headed Dragon bulged its eyes and clamped down harder on my neck. I think it howled briefly, but I couldn't hear it—my ears weren't working.
Right, one strike won't be enough. I used all my remaining charges.
Lightning strikes hammered the dragon's body at intervals of several seconds. This tough bastard trembled but refused to release its teeth from my neck.
But I succeeded in draining its strength. I turned my head left and right, shaking off the numerous teeth. My scales scattered everywhere.
Ignoring that, I headbutted its body. The creature was pushed back again.
After creating a slight distance, I was about to inhale to unleash my freezing breath.
Its front paw grabbed my face and turned it sideways.
What? Had its bones regenerated already? Bones should be harder to regenerate than muscle.
I noticed the Seven-Headed Dragon's hind legs were still bent in an unnatural direction. It had concentrated its regenerative power on its front legs first.
Only then did I see the creature's eyes. They seemed to be boiling with rage and excitement, but deeper within, fear had taken root.
Like any other living being, it was struggling in the face of death. Apparently, it had no trump card left.
Ah.
I shouldn't be like this, but my eyes keep trying to close. It's not because True Mallak is weaker than this creature. It's because I'm insufficient.
If only I were a human with stronger mental fortitude.
I tried to shake off its front paw, but it was too thick and sturdy.
As I was squeezing out my last reserves of mental strength to hold on, the Titan suddenly appeared beside us and grabbed the creature's left front paw.
So the Seven-Headed Dragon had been frightened because it saw Harry approaching. I hadn't heard anything.
Just as I was thinking I only needed to deal with the right paw, something whooshed by and sliced off the creature's right front paw before crashing.
Ah, it's Rake. She flew up with divine power and cut off its paw. She must have consumed divine power beyond her limits to cut through that thick limb, as she fell powerlessly and tumbled across the ground.
I won't waste this opportunity Rake and Harry created for me.
Facing the creature, I inhaled and unleashed my freezing breath. The Seven-Headed Dragon tried to dodge by thrashing its heads and rolling its body, but the Titan held it firmly in place.
Cold breath infused with divine power erupted from my mouth. The creature's heads, touched by it, froze in shock and terror.
The Titan, who had been waiting for this chance, swung his fist.
The creature's heads shattered into pieces as they met the iron fist. This was the end of the supreme god from another world.
This bastard shouldn't be able to regenerate from this.
I wanted to confirm the kill by watching it turn to ash, but now that I believed we'd won, the sheer willpower that had kept me going suddenly drained away.
I'll leave the rest to the Tribal Alliance and the paladins. I released my incarnation and fell into a deep sleep.
***
Slash!
Dina cut off the head of the last high-ranking demon.
After Rake delivered a strike to the Seven-Headed Dragon and collapsed, Harry riding the Titan took charge of dealing with the still-swarming demon army.
Dina, MeleeSpy, Hanna, and the special forces team joined forces to hunt down the high-ranking demons one by one. That arduous task had just ended.
There were still mid-level demons remaining, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call this a victory.
"Finally killed them all."
Hanna sat down, her strength completely drained. She wanted to lie down and sleep right there.
"We won! We actually won! Game clear! Woohoo!"
MeleeSpy shouted loudly. He was in tatters after almost single-handedly blocking attacks from multiple high-ranking demons.
Without his help, they couldn't have won. Hanna decided not to point out his showboating.
"The evil god must be using his strength to maintain the dimensional gate, so he's probably weaker than expected! And it seems the Seven-Headed Dragon brought almost all the high-ranking demons! We've practically won! Conquering the capital will be a piece of cake, even if not completely bloodless!"
MeleeSpy was speaking extremely fast, excited. Of course, he was answering questions nobody had asked.
"Paladin power! Paladin victory!"
After cheering once more, MeleeSpy removed his helmet. A surprisingly clean face was revealed underneath.
Not exactly handsome, but quite bold-looking.
"Even my scars have healed... sweet! Now I can go around without a helmet!"
Naturally, this was due to the "Healing Totem" blessing. Given enough time, its effects were remarkable enough to heal even deep wounds from long ago.
"Why are you all so down? Huh? What's the problem?"
MeleeSpy looked at the other special forces members who had collapsed and at Dina, who was staring into space with a serious expression.
"...Check the Community."
Dina said without even glancing at MeleeSpy.
"What? Suddenly?"
MeleeSpy scratched his head and accessed the Community, then...
"PALADIIIIIN!"
He screamed and threw away his shield. Hanna, who had been looking at him like he was an idiot, also found it strange and accessed the Community, immediately cursing.
[OneSlice: My name is Karon, the one you call the Necro Lord. Possessed ones, I have taken the capital.]
"Holy shit."
The battle was not over yet.
The final enemy stood blocking their destination.