Dark Side (1)
A dazzling light covers the sky above the city.
The city became noisy as those who had been sleeping woke up to the brightness that made it hard to believe it was the middle of the night.
Of course, it wasn’t just because of the light pollution.
Rather, I think noise is a bigger cause.
How many indifferent people can sleep soundly while a series of nuclear explosions are going off in the sky?
Those who woke up like that and looked up at the sky through the window could not help but suspect that they were still dreaming.
Few realized that an aurora-like curtain of light was protecting the city from the aftermath of the explosion, but there was something about the angel that was so thick that it could be felt clearly from afar that it touched the heart beyond understanding.
“···Huh, what on earth were we fighting about?”
Like the citizens of that city, An was blankly staring up at the sky and muttered softly.
She sighed deeply, holding the unconscious General Frey tightly in her arms.
From a demon who can manipulate time freely, to an immortal who can fight against such a monster without being pushed back, to a sniper who can strike from a place where no one can see, and to an angel who can block such attacks without taking much damage.
Is this what they call a heavenly paradise?
The fight that unfolded before their eyes was so miraculous that it made them feel ridiculous even though they had been resisting so fiercely until then. Even though they had watched the whole story unfold, it still didn’t feel real.
An slowly looked around.
On the other side, the strongmen of the Bancheonhoe, who had to use all means at their disposal to deal with just one enemy, were scattered like crumpled scrap metal.
Her gaze rose to the sky again.
An angel slowly descending with its wings spread wide.
The presence that seemed to draw the attention of the surrounding area to just one body was so impressive that I could only exclaim in admiration.
‘I’ve heard of him. He’s definitely a saint from another world…’
Looking at that appearance, I could understand the word saint.
No, rather, it felt like it was far from reality.
No matter how you look at it, isn’t that a being that is far beyond human?
‘I heard that dragons have actually appeared before? Then it wouldn’t be strange if they were real angels.’
Of course, he wasn’t the only one who showed impressive performance.
Not only did he go up against the executioner one-on-one and fight on equal terms, but he also unhesitatingly defeated the Transcendent beings who rushed at him to help him escape. A muscular man wearing beast skin…
Even the helmeted man and the devil Ken played a part in capturing the Southeast Asian branch manager who was trying to sneak away while helping with the suppression.
Although it was unfortunate that he had missed his most threatening enemy, the Executioner, there was no way that he could have been caught if he had planned to run away in the first place.
It’s nothing more than a time stop!
I was at a loss as to how I would deal with an enemy with such abilities in the future.
‘I guess I’ll have to think about that seriously in the future.’
His survival will certainly be a major obstacle going forward.
If the executioner, who holds a grudge for the failure of the work, decides to continue the ambush, even the blazing torch that has been revived with difficulty will not last long and will collapse.
‘Still, the situation itself isn’t that bad.’
The Burning Torch faction itself suffered serious damage, but they formed alliances with those of even greater power.
Masquerade is a secret organization that has the power to confront the Bancheonhoe, which has set out on a different path than their own.
Just knowing that such a helper existed was a huge accomplishment.
As she approached them to express her gratitude, her footsteps suddenly stopped.
Because of the sudden feeling of discomfort.
She looked around at the members of the Masquerade again.
An angel covered in light and a muscular warrior covered in scars.
A man with a drooping helmet sitting next to them as if watching the captured enemies, and a demon awkwardly looking at them.
Only after checking it one more time could I realize what the strange feeling was.
‘···Wait a minute, wasn’t there one more person?’
The moment I realized it.
Goosebumps ran all over her body.
‘Since when? How come I didn’t notice it until now?’
Since it had such a low presence since its first appearance, it wasn’t something I could just ignore…
Haven’t I been completely excluding him from my consciousness without realizing it, as if such a person never existed from the beginning?
‘I clearly recalled the information about the Phantom! But it’s not a mental attack, so what the heck is this…’
Looking around and observing the expressions on her colleagues’ faces, she realized that no one else had noticed anything unusual.
Even though they are all characters who are doing their own thing.
Perhaps, if he didn’t have a special ability to manipulate fate, he would have been the same as them?
‘So where the hell is he now?’
Of course, that’s true.
There was no need to say anything else.
***
Ugh—
The executioner frowned and ground his teeth softly.
He returned to his human form and pulled the hood of his jacket down deep, rubbing the wound on his chest that had not yet healed from his escape.
“Damn, what the hell is this···.”
The place he is now is a mountain in Malaysia.
It was located hundreds of kilometers away from the small Thai town where the fighting took place.
Thanks to the time stop, he was able to get here in the blink of an eye. He slowly caught his breath and closed his eyes tightly.
‘···I owe that bastard a lot of money.’
A moment of crisis when I felt like something really big was going to happen if I continued like this.
I barely managed to escape the situation thanks to a long-range sniper shot from the sky.
I ended up getting help from the woman who had laughed at me for not being able to fight properly up close and only being able to make noise from afar.
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“Tch!”
Of course, it couldn’t be said that it was purely thanks to that assistance.
Of course, it would have been impossible to escape without the ability to stop time, let alone the subordinates who had no choice but to pay attention to his ‘orders’.
But he couldn’t deny that he owed it to the angel who was his greatest enemy, because he had to leave the front line because of that bombing.
‘Masquerade… I will never forget this. And those resistance rascals too. Next time, I will definitely tear them all to pieces.’
It will make you regret losing yourself because of useless altruism.
Whether it was the entire city being obliterated by the bombing, or the remnants of the Burning Torch being annihilated after most of its power had been depleted, I should have ignored all the damage and just caught it first.
So that I can’t help but think of it like that while I’m dying.
‘This time, I overdid it a bit. I’ll need to hide for a while and adjust my condition. But thanks to that monster, my fighting spirit has definitely been relieved, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to calm down the contamination.’
The problem of mental contamination was a natural fate that followed from the moment one accepted the devil’s karma.
No matter how high one’s status was, there was nothing one could do about the causal relationship that allowed one to overcome the wall thanks to demonization.
‘Once you’ve reached a certain level of coordination, I’ll pay you back right away. I’ll make you realize with your life what it means to turn this eternal great demon… into an enemy of the one who rules over time…’
The moment I continued to think like that.
Stop—
The corners of his mouth twitched as he stood there still.
Then his head slowly turned behind him.
“under!”
His face distorted again as he let out a sigh.
At first I was hesitant, but at this point it was certain.
“···I never thought I would be followed.”
As if responding to his softly mumbling to himself.
“It feels good. More than I expected.”
A cold voice quietly flowed from the shadows of the bushes.
“Hmm, maybe I should have kept my distance and followed you? It must have taken a lot of effort, but it only came to this. I guess I was a little too easy on you.”
As the words continued, a figure emerged from the darkness of the forest.
Unlike the Executioner, who looked like a mess after fighting with Harley, who had been persistently clinging to him, the man was dressed in a neat suit just like when he first appeared.
“Phantom···.”
The pinnacle of vampires wearing white opera masks, who used “Negation of Existence” to erase their own presence from the world and stalk their opponents—Heinz II.
But the executioner, even as he faced him directly, could not help but wonder one thing.
“How on earth did you come after me?”
Of course, he stopped time and retreated while thoroughly erasing any remaining traces.
Movement through stopped time was much more stealthy than simply using space travel, as it left no magical waves behind.
It’s only natural that the location changes in the blink of an eye, without any warning.
Of course, it was far from convenient movement as he had to move his body himself, but it had nothing to do with him possessing the body of a great devil.
Even now, in that brief moment when time stops, didn’t we jump hundreds of kilometers and reach Malaysia across the border?
I couldn’t understand how he could chase me so quickly.
“well?”
Of course, Heinz had no intention of answering that question kindly.
There was no need to give out information to the other party for no reason.
‘No matter how much you erase your presence, the moment you secure blood through Harley, the game is over.’
For the vampires of the new blood type, who considered blood itself to be the basis of divinity, it was not a simple matter to locate the target who had obtained fresh blood.
Of course, since the opponent was of equal standing, it would become more difficult as the distance increased, but a distance of just a few hundred kilometers was not a problem.
“Anyway, it’s too bad. I was hoping that if I left it like this, I might be able to salvage something.”
“You bastard···.”
“I wanted to watch a little longer and dig up more information if possible, but it seems things don’t always go as planned.”
Heinz looked at the executioner with regretful eyes.
I was keeping a certain distance from him, fearing that if I got too far away, he would completely slip out of my grasp like the Doctor.
It seems that it was difficult for him to secretly follow a quasi-god who was halfway out of the frame of the world.
“Well, there’s nothing I can do since it’s already been discovered.”
Heinz shrugged slightly.
And the moment I lightly snapped my fingers.
The “mystery of blood” that had been secretly prepared with the “denial of existence” was revealed.
A unique area created by Heinz II to counter the opponent’s time stop.
Particles of blood, no different from a part of his body, swirled throughout the space, separating the world from the outside world.
[···How dare you. You think you can deal with me like this? You alone?]
The executioner, who had now transformed into a demon, growled softly.
Of course, it is true that he suffered considerable damage in the continuous fights, but he never thought that he would be defeated by one of those phantoms.
If you feel like doing something, just pull yourself out again and that’s it.
Even if they are of the same level, there is no way to stop someone who has decided to leave.
If you wait for an opportunity and then rip the barrier and use time stop once again…
“Isn’t this a bit too much? You’re being too greedy.”
But unfortunately for him,
These weren’t all the numbers we had prepared.
“Well, it would be a bit awkward not to use something that’s already been set up… I’ve already gotten what I need, so I guess it doesn’t matter if I pursue efficiency a little.”
From the moment the bombing of the city began, from the moment I realized that I had the assistance of the Bancheonhoe, there was one thing I hastily prepared.
I had such a hard time preparing in a hurry, wondering if there would be additional support of the same level as the executioner, or if the leader of the Heavenly Kingdom would come forward himself!
Wouldn’t it be a shame to just pretend it never happened now?
Saaaa—
In an instant, the temperature within the space drops sharply.
The brightness of the world seemed to have been dimmed by several levels, as if a filter had been applied.
[···What is this?]
The executioner froze.
Then I slowly turned my head in the direction where I suddenly felt a presence.
[This is a truly extraordinary test subject! I’ve been feeling like I’ve been blocked by a wall lately. I’m sure I’ll be able to gain something from studying you.]
What on earth did he do to be able to appear without any noise?
The being was there.
If you think about it, this person can be said to be the starting point of this ‘masquerade ball’.
[···Hahoe mask!]
[Hahaha! A demon of the Demon King level that I can dissect and study to my heart’s content? That’s great, that’s great. Being able to study the differences and similarities between each dimension is like a pumpkin rolling in with a vine!]
Hans, who had appeared on Earth for the first time in a long time, burst into laughter at the sight of the fresh offering.
But the new characters didn’t end there.
“Huh~ That’s the Demon King from another dimension? Well, it’s a bit refreshing to see it this way.”
A captivating voice that invades your mind just by listening to it.
A woman with a charm that even captivated her fellow men, her beauty hinted at by the opaque veil drawn under her eyes, smiled and glared at the executioner.
At the same time, the darkness of the abyss that spread from the skull staff held by Hans enveloped the isolated space, and Hela’s “World of the Heavens” was once again placed on top of it.
At this point, it could practically be considered another dimension, not Earth.
Needless to say, all connections with the outside world were cut off.
‘What is this?! What the heck is this!’
In such a situation, a cold sweat could not help but run down the spine of the executioner who had been so arrogant.
There are three opponents, each of whom is on the same level as you.
And if you include the angel and immortal monster that I first encountered…
‘That’s ridiculous. You didn’t even realize that these guys existed or that they were united? What the hell are you doing…! Oracle! You’re just being a jerk, what the hell are you doing!’
It was the moment when the dark side of the Masquerade descended upon Earth.
Since these avatars do not have a very positive aura to begin with, it would be inappropriate to show off their skills in a crowded place, but in a place like this where they are alone, it probably doesn’t matter.
“That’s a good thing. I wanted to test how well I could deal with time stop with my eyes. And also···”
Hela, whose eyes were shining brightly, continued speaking lazily.
The jewel-like eyes that went back and forth between domination, destruction, cessation, and foresight looked straight at the executioner.
With eyes that seemed to be filled with greed.
“Rather, it’s a good opportunity. If you kill him carelessly, you never know where he might come back to life like the Doctor. Even if you pull out everything that needs to be pulled out, it’s better to leave the finishing touches to the experts.”
Heinz II nodded slightly and slowly stepped forward.
The blood droplets floating around his body began to spin more violently.
[As you said! This body is the one that rules over death—.]
Hans, who followed Heinz, rebuked him harshly, showing his authority.
The king’s proclamation, as if coming from the afterlife, echoed within the isolated space.
[You will not escape even in death!]
The basis of his divinity is ‘death’.
For him, a specialist in this field, it was a piece of cake to bypass resurrection and make it into a state that was no different from death.
···Of course, you can’t really eat it.
