Chapter 62

The Corpse Legion is a force that can be active anywhere.

They have no armor, no weapons. They don’t carry a single sword or wear a single piece of clothing. Yet, even if their arms are severed, they feel no pain. Even if they fall into traps, they mindlessly march toward the enemy, tough enough to keep going. Even if their comrades around them are annihilated, they feel no fear and continue to advance.

Albatross might have thought this army had immense strategic value, but if it were that easy, the Underground Castle of Flesh would have already built a nation and unified the continent.

Dead soldiers cannot grow. Growth is a privilege only for the living.

If the Empire wished, it could conscript the people from all sides and gather a million-strong army, but why doesn’t it? Because grain and money would be consumed like crazy, with little to no utility.

With even a tenth of that money, they could bribe a Master-level powerhouse—a Transcendent—to serve under them. This is far more flexible, effective, and economical. While they can’t completely disband the army, there’s no need to invest an enormous amount of money into maintaining a million-strong standing force.

If all the young men were turned into soldiers, who would farm the fields or engage in commerce? Who would transport goods by ship or keep the economy running with currency? If you want to grasp one thing, you must let go of another. That’s the way of the world. That’s why the Empire didn’t pursue a massive standing army.

“Who dares to set foot on the land where the Goddess resides? Even a single wildflower blooming in the wasteland is an offering to Her. There is not a single inch of land on this earth for you vile beings to tread!”

Araidel, upon seeing the army of lions, erupted in anger. Her Divine Power, like Kyle’s, didn’t immediately annihilate the massive army before her, but it did cover the entire battlefield with a sacred space that devoured evil. Like mosquitoes drowning in water, the Corpse Legion didn’t die instantly but began to slowly suffocate. Albatross, watching from afar, stomped his feet in frustration.

“Priests again! Do these so-called gods have nothing better to do than meddle in everything we try to accomplish?”


“Should we continue the advance? Prolonged exposure to Divine Power will completely destroy us.”


“There is no retreat. Keep advancing. They were disposable pawns anyway.”

These were troops meant to be expended. But there’s a difference between being able to discard them and being forced to discard them.

As Albatross contemplated sending these ten thousand troops to their deaths, his expression darkened. He glanced at the woman sitting comfortably in her chair, observing the battlefield, but he couldn’t vent his anger.

‘Harmail. What are you thinking? Are you trying to use this opportunity to annihilate both us and the Hero Party?’

The woman, covering her face with a fan, revealing only her eyes, smiled faintly.

The Demon Emperor, Harmail, observed the Hero Party with her crimson eyes. Indeed, neither Araidel nor Reinhaim would be easy to deal with, even if they were to be captured.

“Let’s finish this quickly and go back. I feel like eating meat for dinner tonight.”

The Hero, Yurinel Larkponsia, didn’t even unleash her Magical Power Techniques. Just the touch of her Sacred Sword caused the Corpse Legion to fall like flies, piling up into hills. Harmail’s expression shifted slightly. If they had fought head-on, it would have been disastrous.

‘The power of the Sacred Sword is beyond expectations.’

If she had personally intervened to crush the Hero Party, not only would success be uncertain, but even if she succeeded, it would be a pyrrhic victory. The Hero’s capabilities were beyond her comprehension.

It’s not hard to gauge the strength of someone who shows everything they have. But when someone like Yurinel fights while conserving her energy, even Harmail couldn’t accurately assess her level.

‘Indeed, you live up to the title of Hero. I acknowledge you. You could have been a worthy adversary.’

Harmail, fiddling with a black orb, continued to observe the situation.

Her gaze soon fell on the woman holding a whip. Harmail’s expression soured momentarily upon seeing the Demon Killer. The cursed weapon, born from the hatred of those slain by demons, was unsettling.

That weapon was half a Death God, its power fueled by the resentment and screams of those killed by demons. It was a sacred relic in its own right.

For demons, it was a terrifying object, and the Western Family, who wielded it generation after generation, were all out of their minds. Seeing the rotten flesh and bones of those touched by the Demon Killer crumble, Harmail shook her head.

‘Is she the descendant of that Western Family? The one who provoked the guy from the Arctic, leading to the downfall of their entire clan.’

That family was a group of lunatics who launched a preemptive strike against the Primal Demon King.

Harmail, who considered herself rational, couldn’t understand such madness. They were the most twisted among demon hunters, their power not sacred but steeped in madness and hatred.

But they were powerful. A force to be wary of.

‘Parnell Citadel. The former princess of the Citadel Kingdom.’

The Citadel royal family had a lineage of great sorcerers, and Parnell was a genius mage who inherited that bloodline. The royal family’s power was so immense that even the current Chancellor of the Citadel Republic couldn’t overthrow the monarchy without borrowing Grimudo’s power.

The commoners and some nobles didn’t even dare to rise up, forcing them to resort to such measures. Parnell was the legitimate heir of the Citadel royal family. With her own skills and the royal family’s secrets, she was nearly at the pinnacle of magic.

‘Indeed, everyone here lives up to their reputation.’

The Big-Little Core Architecture was an innovative concept even for the demon race, who prided themselves as the race of magic, and it was a secret of the Citadel royal family. Seeing it today, its reputation was well-deserved.

Parnell activated only the Little Core, firing off small-scale spells rapidly. The speed was so fast that the Corpse Legion couldn’t even get close to her and was swept away.

“Your Majesty. Do you plan to just sit and watch?”

Albatross, the lord of the Underground Castle of Flesh, couldn’t hold back his frustration. They had agreed to hunt the Hero Party together, so what was this? The mighty Demon Emperor Harmail had come, but all she had done so far was sit comfortably in her chair and watch the Hero Party.

If she had at least sent her subordinates to attack, it would have been something. But Albatross had only sent the Corpse Legion, staying far in the rear without moving a muscle. A man who became a lich because he didn’t want to die.

Who in their right mind would throw themselves in front of the Sacred Sword, the Demon Killer, and Parnell’s magic? But Harmail had come alone without a single soldier, so of course, he was fuming inside.

Harmail glanced at him and yawned, as if bored.

“I don’t understand why you’re asking me that.”

She pointed at the Hero Party.

Only then did Albatross realize something and flinch. The Corpse Legion was being slaughtered so quickly that he had momentarily forgotten their original plan.

“My lord. So when do you plan to start the plan? These are your troops, so it’s up to you how many you want to expend. But how much longer do I have to wait here? It’s boring, so let’s get started.”


“The plan has already been set in motion…”


“Already set in motion? Are you saying Hydra’s Venom has poisoned them?”

Harmail’s expression turned cold as she looked at the Hero Party, still standing unharmed and slaughtering the Corpse Legion. Albatross fidgeted nervously.

The Werewolf Corpse Soldiers, carrying Hydra’s Venom within them, had approached the Hero Party as planned and released their bodily fluids as planned. Some even sprayed the fluids upon death.

Hydra’s Venom is an extreme poison that doesn’t need to touch or be absorbed to take effect.

Even if the Hero Party used their Magical Power to deflect the fluids, the deflected fluids would still contaminate the ground.

The area was becoming a high-radiation zone where no life could survive, but who could have known?

“It doesn’t look like anything’s happened. Are you sure they’ve been poisoned?”

To Harmail’s eyes, there was no change. To Albatross, it seemed the same, so he merely twitched his lips.

Even after being hit by the famous Hydra’s Venom, the Hero Party was still unharmed, and Albatross felt like asking Harmail if she had given him plain water instead.

“Are they fighting with their last ounce of strength? They don’t look that desperate. Albatross. You need to give me a proper answer.”

As Harmail’s gaze turned icy, the Hero Party also noticed something was wrong.

“Damn it.”

Yurinel Larkponsia was the first to notice the anomaly. Seeing the blue smoke rising from her chest, she pulled out a Bluebird’s feather and was shocked. The feather was already starting to evaporate from the tip, disappearing faster than normal.

“It’s a trap. What the hell have we been hit by?”

They knew something was wrong, but they couldn’t figure out where the problem was. The Bluebird’s feather wasn’t corroding on its own; it was clearly consuming itself to protect them from something invisible.

‘Poison…? But I didn’t give it a chance to touch me. I deflected all the fluids with my Magical Power Techniques.’

With a thin layer of Magical Power Techniques covering her body, even a fly would fall if it tried to land. Raindrops would bounce off, and hail wouldn’t penetrate.

So, even after fighting like that, not a single stain was on her clothes, let alone her skin. That left only one answer: the poison was entering through their breath.

Yurinel and Lucia came to the same conclusion simultaneously and were both puzzled.

Parnell waved her hand, creating a gust of wind to blow away the smell of blood and the air near the ground, but the feather’s corrosion didn’t slow. The fluids containing Hydra’s Venom had already seeped into the ground, and radiation was now emanating from the earth itself.

“Ugh… Archbishop, are you feeling a sudden headache? Is it from smelling too much rot?”


“This… We need to retreat immediately. If we escape quickly, it might not be too late.”

Araidel, who had been supporting everyone from the center without touching the Corpse Legion, complained of a throbbing headache. The pain, initially mild, was growing stronger.

She and Reinhaim didn’t have Bluebird’s feathers, meaning the radiation could ravage their bodies. As a metallic taste filled her mouth, Reinhaim’s expression froze.

This… this is Hydra’s Venom. The worst poison all living beings fear!

This horrifying poison has no antidote, and death is the only escape. It’s one of the few poisons even Divine Power can’t cure, the most representative extreme poison.

When DNA, the blueprint of life, is shattered by radiation, Divine Power triggers regeneration that causes necrosis.

Cells can no longer replicate, so triggering regeneration doesn’t heal but causes the skin to melt and diarrhea to ensue. The shortest-lived cells, like skin and mucous membrane cells, die first. From the moment of exposure, Divine Power becomes poison, not medicine.

‘I can’t feel my teeth… I’m already fully poisoned.’

Once poisoned, there are signs to recognize it, but before that, this colorless, odorless poison is undetectable.

Realizing she was poisoned, Reinhaim stopped channeling Divine Power through her body. The dizziness only worsened when Divine Power touched her, and her mouth felt numb, as if all sensation was gone.

She bit her tongue slightly but felt no pain. No, she couldn’t even feel the act of biting. Only a strange sensation, as if a powerful anesthetic had numbed her entire mouth, remained.

Even the rational and cold Reinhaim momentarily blanked out. It was that shocking.

‘This is bad. The Underground Castle of Flesh prepared such a method…!’

Hydras are hard to find and even harder to see. Extracting venom from their glands is as difficult as climbing the Kalkanmir Mountain Range barehanded.

Even if you subdue a Hydra by force and extract its venom, the radiation from the venom glands means the extractor won’t live long. The Slime Demon King, Marmanun, played a huge role here.

Usually, people collect water from ponds where Hydras drink or sand from their paths, claiming it’s Hydra’s Venom. That alone is enough to kill a person easily.

So, the real Hydra’s Venom, extracted directly from the glands, is of unknown potency. A single drop can contaminate an entire pond, and Marmanun had extracted not just a few drops but several bottles, presenting them to Harmail. The potency was beyond words.

‘Where and how did they get this much venom? This is impossible. Unless it’s Grimudo, the master of the Monster Legion…’

Of course, undead aren’t affected by Hydra’s Venom, but Hydras are strong even without their venom. Did the Underground Castle of Flesh subdue that massive monster and extract its venom themselves?

There was no time to think further. Reinhaim grabbed the Saint and soared into the air. Moving away from the ground weakened the power from the Goddess, but that wasn’t important now.

“Archbishop? What’s happening?”


“Everyone, move upward! This is Hydra’s Venom!”

Reinhaim didn’t even have the mind to answer the Saint. Hearing her words, the three below also rose.

Yurinel and Lucia used their Magical Power Techniques, while Parnell used a levitation spell to escape. Now, the less-than-half remaining Corpse Legion could only stare blankly into the void, like dogs chasing chickens.

“But isn’t it working now? Look. They’ve given up fighting and are fleeing. They must be starting to feel the effects.”


“They should have already died if it were working properly. If things had gone as planned, they’d be lying on the ground by now!”

Seeing the Hero Party rise into the air, Harmail stood up, fan in hand, looking disdainful.

As expected, if she didn’t step in herself, nothing would progress. Well, it was her mistake to expect anything from a bunch of rotten corpses with decayed minds.

“But still…”

Before Albatross could finish his excuse, Harmail shot forward. A buzzing sound and shockwave split the ground in a fan shape, naturally drawing the Hero Party’s attention. Yurinel hastily drew her Sacred Sword, and her Divine Power resonated with it, glowing brightly.

*Clang!*

The sword and fan collided, producing a dull metallic sound, like iron striking iron. The opposing forces repelled each other, sending sparks flying in all directions.

Several Corpse Soldiers below were roasted, filling the air with the smell of cooked meat. Yurinel’s eyes widened as she saw the owner of the power that matched her own.

“You are…”


“Harmail!”

Lucia shouted in shock, swinging the Demon Killer. Behold the blazing Magical Power Technique shaped like a fallen white dragon! Magical Power Techniques are the embodiment of one’s life journey, unique to each individual.

How could anyone not recognize who this woman was after seeing such a distinctive Magical Power Technique?

Magical Power Techniques are the most definitive form of identification. Even in her dizziness, Araidel’s expression changed upon seeing the Dragon Form Technique. She remembered seeing Princess Ardein use a similar technique when she was young. It was nearly identical!

The infamous Immortal Demon King, now to be called the Demon Emperor, stood before them.

The Saint, despite her nausea, clung to her sanity. Whether it meant anything was another matter.