Chapter 235

Late at night, on the outskirts of the Eastern Jungle.

A sudden wave of pitch-black darkness crashed in this place, so close to Shulfern.

Moments later, from the heart of the darkness emerged a figure wearing a bear mask. The creature’s grotesquely bent arms dangled as it wielded a massive sword.

It was Rakul, the Judge of the Undying Minion.

“Absolutely perfect.”

A satisfied smile spread across his face.

As the second most powerful among the twelve minions, Rakul was currently waiting for enemies, following Astevan’s orders while spreading the Maze of Devouring.

‘Abyssal Maze’

If one set foot in this maze shrouded in darkness, they would temporarily be blinded by the curse of the Abyss.

Moreover, since he could manipulate the maze at will, the possibilities of usage were endless.

However, Rakul was in no rush to move.

“I’ll wait until they arrive.”

He was cautious, much like Astevan.

That’s why he had hidden the maze in the night’s shadows, planning to take out any foolish adversaries who wandered into the maze one by one.

But as the night deepened, an unexpected event occurred.

“Huh? What’s that?”

A burst of light suddenly illuminated the night sky.

The light, growing ever brighter, soon blazed like the sun. The Eastern Jungle was instantly flooded with light, dispelling the darkness rapidly.

As a result, the significance of hiding the maze vanished.

With the world brightening, the darkness of the maze became crystal clear.

“Could they have noticed it?”

Realizing the Abyssal Maze was laid out?

Even if that were the case, it didn’t matter.

He could always move to a different location and lay out the maze again. However, shortly after, the smugness on his face faded.

Stars, once illuminating the night sky, began to fall towards the earth.

“──!?”

It didn’t stop there.

Signaled by the first falling star, all the stars plummeted toward the ground like a torrential downpour.

A 7-star Stellar Magic, Meteor Shower.

And not just one but multiple meteor showers were unleashed simultaneously. As a result, an overwhelming amount of starlight struck the jungle.

Crash! Crack! Boom!

In the blink of an eye, countless trees were shattered and incinerated. Moments later, the area where the meteor shower had swept through turned into perfect ruins.

“What the hell…?”

Rakul was left speechless at the devastation before him.

The forest disappeared without a trace. All that remained was the ash of what once were trees. As he continued to stare blankly, something suddenly crossed his mind.

“Are they trying to wipe out the entire forest?”

Not an entirely nonsensical idea.

If they really knew about the existence of the maze, it would be safer to obliterate the forest entirely than venture in.

“But still, this is too…”

It’s inefficient.

The Eastern Jungle was vast beyond words. No matter how powerful the meteor shower was, destroying the entire forest was a stretch.

A truly foolish and extreme choice left Rakul’s azure eyes flickering for a moment.

But it was only for a moment.

“I need to change my position first.”

Nothing was left here.

No darkness from the maze to hide in, no thickets, no trees at all. So, Rakul pulled out a small black orb from his pocket.

It was, of course, the Abyssal Core.

Using it, he quickly retracted the maze he had spread around. Just as he was about to move, looking to find a better spot to lay it again—

Whoosh! Thwack!

Something flew in rapidly from the direction he intended to head, embedding itself at his feet.

“An arrow?”

Specifically, a silver-plated arrow.

The strange thing was that a mysterious talisman was wrapped around the shaft of the arrow. Just as a puzzled look flickered in Rakul’s eyes—

Boom!

A blast suddenly engulfed him.

Yet, he didn’t really suffer any harm.

The force of the explosion was purely magical power. There was no divine power or spirit’s influence at play.

“Looks like they’ve already come close.”

That was proof they were attacking.

Keeping his eyes on the direction the arrow had come from, Rakul tightened his grip on the Abyssal Core. He had plans to open the maze and hunt down the enemy.

But in that moment.

Chill ran down his spine!

He felt an ominous premonition creeping in.

His instinct warned him, and following it, Rakul swiftly swung his great sword.

This choice turned out to be the right one.

A massive figure emerged from the direction the arrow had flown.

Rakul’s great sword collided with the axe swung by that figure.

Clang! Crack!

It was an intense clash that generated shockwaves.

Rakul bounced back from the opponent’s attack, creating distance. His opponent’s appearance soon came into view.

“A golem?”

A magical doll crafted by mages.

This opponent was so bulky that it was the only logical conclusion.

But could a golem, no matter how capable, move like this?

As he thought that, a warning from earlier flashed in Rakul’s mind. The warning he received from the watcher before coming here.

“Among the heroes, the one to watch out for is a warrior clad in massive armor.”

Along with the explanation that he had monstrous strength that could crush the Maze of Devouring and eliminate six minions.

And now, the opponent in front of Rakul matched that description perfectly.

“I see. So you’re the one…”

Recognizing his opponent’s identity, Rakul immediately tried to unfold the maze. Doing so would give him a better advantage in the upcoming battle.

But the attack came even faster.

Whoosh!

An enraged axe flew through the air.

It was too threatening to ignore, so Rakul raised his great sword to block the attack.

Thus began an intense exchange of blows.

Despite defending against the fierce assault, Rakul was anxiously waiting for an opening. An opening to activate the Abyssal Core and unleash the maze.

After a while.

The long-awaited moment arrived.

“Now!”

Immediately upon spotting a fleeting gap.

He planned to inject the power of the Abyss into the core. But something felt strange. He couldn’t muster any strength in his hand gripping the core.

What’s happening? As confusion washed over him, the scene before him twisted upside down. Following that, a massive figure loomed above with icy blue eyes.

It was the disembodied head of his own body.

“…Huh?”

Only then did Rakul realize.

The window he thought was an opportunity was, in fact, a trap, and he had stepped right into it.

“W-When did—”

He widened his eyes in horror, realizing his head had come off from the body. But before he could finish his thought—

Crack! Crunch!

The axe that flew in shattered his torso and cleaved his head in two. There, Rakul met a futile end.

“Only two left.”

After finishing off the enemies in the Transcendent Domain, the protagonist.

Ulan swung his axe, shattering the Abyssal Core that had fallen from Rakul’s hand. Then he recalled the remaining Undying Minions.

Calex, the Agent, and Vergot, the Watcher.

As Ulan brushed off the ash from his axe, a hidden ally in this battle made their appearance.

“That was quick.”

Sven Isaac, the sniper of the hero party.

He possessed the broadest range of vision and sensitivity among all the heroes. Thus, he moved ahead of Ulan, tasked with scouting out enemies.

“Where are the last two?”

“We might need to delve deeper. They’re definitely not around here.”

After completing his response to Ulan’s inquiry, Sven wrapped a talisman around an arrow. This talisman, received from Noa, detonated upon sensing the power of the Abyss.

Of course, it wouldn’t cause much harm, but it held significance. It would alert Ulan to the exact location of the enemy.

Moments later, after finishing up quickly.

The two gazed down the path leading to the center of the jungle. Just then, the pitch-black night sky turned bright once more.

“That’s…”

“A second bombardment has begun.”

Ulan’s eyes sparkled.

No sooner had he mumbled than countless starlights rained down toward the forest.

Crash! Boom! Crash!

Along with a thunderous roar, the forest was utterly annihilated.

Shortly after, a path to the center of the jungle was formed, and the two stampeded back to the ground.

To continue the hunt.

9.

Meanwhile, at that moment.

Rakul wasn’t the only one startled by the sudden star bombardment. The remaining two minions were equally flabbergasted.

“What the heck is going on…?”

Calex, wearing the Lion’s Mask.

Vergot, adorned with the Eagle’s Mask.

Both were waiting for the enemies to approach after laying out the maze across various spots in the jungle as commanded by Astevan.

But they never imagined such a foolish method would be used for an ambush.

However, before long, an even more bewildering event transpired.

“What? Rakul went down?”

Shortly after the second bombardment ended.

Vergot, who was with Calex, abruptly announced that Rakul had been defeated.

“Yeah. His presence has completely vanished.”

“Does that mean they’ve already breached the Abyssal Maze?”

“No, the maze hasn’t been opened.”

“…What?”

The maze hasn’t been opened.

This could be interpreted as having been defeated before they could even spread the maze. With the sudden bad news, Calex’s eyes blazed fiercely.

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know. I lost their presence.”

Vergot shook his head.

Empowered by Astevan, as a Watcher, he could share vision with all undead existing under the command of the Undying Legion.

But currently, there were no undead in the jungle for some reason. While he was troubled, an idea suddenly came to mind.

“Wait. Now that I think about it…”

There was another presence that could observe distant enemies besides Vergot within the jungle.

However, right after realizing this, new doubts arose.

“Where’s Rakus’s minion?”

All the eyeballs that had disappeared at some point.

Furthermore, the Abyss Worshippers who had been lurking in the center of the jungle also vanished without a trace.

As doubts clouded his mind, a suspicious thought crossed Vergot’s mind.

“Did they foresee this happening?”

Did they leave the jungle ahead of time?

This was a suspicion with credible potential.

These were the trickiest among the minions of the Abyss after all.

As anger welled up in Calex’s eyes.

“We should change our location.”

Vergot spoke again.

Now, in a place turned to ruins, there was nowhere left to hide the maze.

“Agreed. Let’s retract the maze.”

Calex nodded as well.

Just as both were about to withdraw the maze and move to a pristine forest—

Whoosh! Thwack!

Out of nowhere, an arrow shot in.

An arrow wrapped in a talisman.

“This is…”

The moment he recognized the ambush.

The arrow that fell at Vergot’s feet exploded with an intense force. As far as appearances go, there was no real issue; no one was injured in the explosion.

However, at that moment.

Simultaneously with the explosion, Calex instinctively sensed a chilling threat. Feeling as if death was drawing near, he shouted in a hurry.

“Vergot!”

To warn him to retreat quickly.

But before Calex’s warning could finish, Vergot’s mask shattered in half. Of course, his head and torso followed suit.

What emerged next was a colossal golem.

Ulan, clad in Magic Armor.

“Now there’s just one left.”

The Agent, Calex.

As Ulan glared at Astevan’s only Apostle, he grinned ferociously. Meanwhile, Calex howled with rage, his eyes ablaze.

“You! How dare a mortal!”

Calex was ready to squash Ulan right there, but didn’t strike first.

Instead, he pulled back.

His instincts continued to warn him.

However, he couldn’t fully escape. Ulan was persistently closing in on him.

‘Either way, it doesn’t matter.’

He had his trump card ready.

It was, of course, the Infinite Maze granted by Astevan.

Anyone entangled in this maze would endlessly wander within it until they perished.

‘If I can just find an opening to unfold the maze…’

He could not only fulfill the king’s orders, but also claim victory. Thus, Calex watched for an opportunity and tried to unfold the Infinite Maze.

No, he meant to unfold it.

But strangely, the power of the Abyss he infused into the core kept leaking out.

‘What’s going on?’

What happened?

Feeling bewildered, he slightly shifted his eye to gaze at the core. And at that moment, the blue light in his eyes flickered uneasily.

“…?!”

What reflected in Calex’s eyes.

It was an arrow not only plated in silver but inscribed with holy runes. Moreover, the arrow had pierced right through the Abyssal Core.

“When did this happen…”

As he muttered despairingly, the culprit who shot the arrow became visible far away.

With indifferent eyes gleaming, the Mystery Clan hunter aimed their arrow at Calex.

It was Sven Isaac.

“That darn bug—!”

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Calex was about to curse, but just then, an axe flew through the Transcendent Domain and smashed his jaw, obliterating his head.

Thwack! Crunch! Boom!

With an ear-splitting sound, his head soon bid farewell to his torso. Moreover, even his relatively intact body was swiftly cleaved in half.

This was the moment the last minion of the Lord of the Immortals, Astevan, met an unjust end.

Chapter 54. Lord of the Immortals

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