167. King of the Snakes (2)
*
The amount of information flooding in from the Vision of Truth has a limit of about thirty minutes for an ordinary person. The visible range is about 30 meters. Within this range, every event reverberates as intangible information, embedding itself into the brain, and the pain this causes is beyond imagination.
Therefore, Fernandez closed his eyes. To prevent the overload of information from leading to confusion, it was necessary to suppress his sensory organs as much as possible.
– Whoosh…
He could see the swirls of the wind. The demon’s muscles twisted as it gripped a spear and threw it, tracing its trajectory. He didn’t miss a single detail. At the same time, his instincts screamed at him, calculating the speed and destructive power of the spear thrown by the demon.
– Crash!
Fernandez tilted his head just enough to dodge the spear. The loud noise of the spear striking the ground served as a signal, and his body dashed forward like a streak of light.
“Stop him!”
A growling sound came from beyond the fog. Soon, large men wielding weapons rushed out in droves. With his eyes still closed, Fernandez slipped through the gaps between the men.
His black hair fluttered as he ran, looking like a streak of colored wind. Fernandez flowed smoothly, slipping between the men with ease.
– Clang!
The men reflexively thrust their axes and swords. With one hand pressed to his forehead, Fernandez’s body twisted and turned. The purple eye in his left palm flickered rapidly, and information swirled into his mind.
First, the spear. He dodged to the side. Then, the sword. He deflected the greatsword’s blade. Again, the sword. Then, the spear. And again, the axe.
– Bang! Bang! Bang!
He dodged or deflected every attack, sometimes parrying them. Fernandez swung his sword as if dancing. The synthesis of information led to the prediction of events. Thus, his martial prowess was almost like a divine foresight in battle.
“Mo… monster!”
It was a rather amusing word coming from those who summoned demons by sacrificing humans, and Fernandez couldn’t help but smile faintly. The blade twisted and struck the man’s throat as he screamed. Death traced its path and settled in.
– Thud.
Before the first man’s head hit the ground, three others were already torn apart. A flower painted with blood and flesh bloomed around him, scattering across the road and walls.
– Thump!
A demon, seizing the opportunity, hurled a spear. It aimed straight for Fernandez’s chest, which had momentarily paused after the fierce battle. A force that would have crushed an ordinary person even with a shield—
“You bastard…!”
It was stopped midway. Fernandez, who had already lowered his left hand to grab the demon’s spear, slowly pulled it towards him. Creak, creak. After a brief struggle, the massive demon was slowly dragged towards Fernandez.
“You’re… not human!!”
“Not yet, at least.”
From within the flowing black hair, a deep blue light flashed. He broke the Vision of Truth spell and quickly surveyed his surroundings. There were still two demons watching, and one mage controlling them.
“My god, what on earth is that…?”
Behind him, the warriors who had been preparing for battle were staring blankly at Fernandez’s fierce combat. He had shouted for them to prepare for battle, then rushed out alone and almost finished the fight himself.
“Where did you come from!!”
“You seem to have a lot of questions.”
Fernandez glanced at the mage, who was foaming at the mouth and shouting from behind the demons. Creak, the wooden spear shaft crumbled and broke under his hand. He gripped the broken spearhead and slowly aimed it at the mage.
‘The basics of magical combat…’
– A barrier of magic. Haha.
– Sssshhhhk.
The spearhead flew like a flash of light, aimed at the mage’s hand. The mage crossed his hands to form a seal, but the spearhead pierced through, and he let out a gurgling scream.
Throwing daggers was a technique he had enjoyed using in his previous life. The basics of magical combat are to block the opponent’s magical forces, and the best strategy is to disrupt them before they can manifest. After neutralizing the mage, Fernandez raised his sword towards the demon, who was blinking in panic before him.
“Let’s make this quick.”
Time is always the most precious commodity.
*
“High Priest. An intruder is coming!”
A man rushed in, shouting at Orion, who was wiping a blood-stained dagger on his sleeve. Orion frowned and tilted his head.
“Even with five descendants of the Great Mother accompanying us, were the enemies numerous?”
“No, High Priest. There was only one.”
“…What?”
Orion’s arm, which had been wiping the dagger, stopped. One person? He had already sensed a mage of comparable skill among them. But if it was a mage, he had judged that they wouldn’t be able to handle Demidrako, who has extreme resistance to magic…
“Perhaps he was a more skilled mage than I thought. My calculations were off.”
“No. He was a warrior, High Priest.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The tribal warriors were cut down in an instant, and he slaughtered the demons! He’s a monster!”
Orion finally looked at the man and frowned.
“Are you sure you didn’t see wrong? Did he really fight only with a sword?”
“Yes, High Priest.”
“Was his face familiar? Like Morgan with the brown beard or Kerrd, the Axe King. Someone of that caliber would be needed to match that level.”
“No… he was a young warrior.”
A young warrior… Orion stroked his chin, lost in thought. It was impossible for someone with such strength and skill to just appear out of thin air. But was there a tribe nearby with such potential…? Turandar was now just a shell, and Palendar was in a critical moment, with no strength left to send troops elsewhere.
Excluding the other minor tribes, were there any clans near the borderlands capable of such a surprise attack? And if such a warrior existed, why didn’t he appear during the invasion war?
“It doesn’t matter.”
Orion shook his head and firmly gripped the dagger. He approached the trembling, foaming sacrifice. The ritual was nearing completion, and all he needed now was time.
A mage equal to himself, and an unknown warrior…
The missing warrior. With most of the tribal forces, including Erik, having left the village, the situation was clearly threatening, but a ‘death’ that they alone couldn’t stop was already being prepared.
“Take all the remaining snakes and buy us some time.”
“Yes, High Priest!”
Orion nodded eagerly and thrust the knife under the victim’s throat.
*
“This is fun.”
Fernandez slowly walked with the greatsword, dripping with demon blood, resting on his shoulder. Squelch, the floor, sticky with blood and fat, clung to the soles of his shoes.
He looked around with tired eyes. He had been walking straight towards the direction where a terrible magic power was felt after repelling the demon attack. Geographically, it was the center of the village. A road leading to the bustling area and the town hall.
-Ughhh…
Fernandez swung his greatsword towards the head that was making a bizarre moaning sound while looking at him. A bright red skull, peeking out from the roadside wall, crumbled and rolled on the ground.
It was like this. The walls, the floor, and occasionally the exterior or roof of buildings were painted in rather unpleasant colors. Blood and flesh were scattered all around like skin ulcers, and occasionally, some were still alive in that state.
The sound of internal organs squelching and the suppressed moans within them could be heard from the alleyway. Somewhere, a tearing scream echoed. Sensibly, it was a place quite far away.
Diemonica’s hearing was extremely sensitive, and because of that, it vividly conveyed the events happening between the streets and alleys of this village centered around him.
The process of finding color through imagination amidst the noise and screams wasn’t particularly enjoyable. Fernandez felt the demon’s madness clinging to his mind. Mental contamination was progressing.
He felt a familiar sense of déjà vu. Towards the end of the Great War, villages occupied by demons were usually like this. The smell of death was everywhere. Fernandez spoke to the warriors who were staggering towards him.
“Do not come any closer.”
“But our mission…”
“‘My’ mission, you mean. You all wait for me at the port. I will return soon.”
The warriors of Falendar, their faces pale, hurriedly turned around and ran off, inwardly relieved. Although it’s unclear how far the situation has progressed, there’s no way to prevent the mental contamination of ordinary people in an area where the demon’s corruption has progressed this severely.
Fernandez slowly lifted his foot and moved forward. With each step, memories revived, staining his heart black.
Guilt? No, probably not. Feeling guilt over a past life would surely be hypocrisy. Fernandez wasn’t the type to crumble under guilt for the atrocities he had committed. This feeling was closer to disgust.
Madness was raging all around. Under the roofs, beyond the alleys, and inside the seemingly intact buildings, the breath, mockery, and moans of corruption from demons flowed.
This was an excessively splendid, noisy, and simultaneously dead village. A massive magical formation, crudely pieced together from human limbs, was placed at the center of the village. Fernandez instinctively frowned.
“How is it, horrifying? Are you afraid?”
As he momentarily gazed at the magical formation in the center of the village, a voice, crawling like a snake, was heard from the alleyway below.
“I commend you for not breaking down mentally until you reached here. I’m curious about your name, but now it’s meaningless. Outstanding warrior. Your soul will please the great mother.”
A man walked out from the shadows of the alley. A giant man covered in solid muscles looked at Fernandez with unexpectedly gentle and benevolent eyes.
It was a familiar face. Both in past and present lives. Fernandez swept back his sweat and blood-soaked hair and spoke.
“Nice to see you. Orion Weavingrat.”
“…Do you know me?”
“Infermur.”
“Oh, that young man from back then. Indeed, if you were an Inquisition Officer, it’s understandable that you’d do such things. So, even demon hunters have fear, huh? Or is it sadness? Compassion for the sacrificed victims, Priest?”
“No.”
Fernandez looked at the magical formation made from human corpses. It was still a frown-inducing, disgusting sight. But it wasn’t due to compassion for these victims or fear of the demon’s presence.
He nodded while looking at the magical formation. I think I know why it’s disgusting. Fernandez slowly raised his greatsword.
“It’s sloppy, so it’s disgusting.”
“What?”
“Judging by the target you’re trying to summon, it’s not of the Demon Lord class. Demon King class? For something like that, the gate is drawn too small, isn’t it? The reinforcement of the third central clause is too weak.”
“…Weren’t you an Inquisition Officer?”
Orion stared at Fernandez with eyes that looked at some incomprehensible being. The martial prowess to shred demons in seconds, and now the knowledge to understand the magical formation. Orion felt a sense of déjà vu from Fernandez’s expression, gestures, and the way he looked at the magical formation.
It was the expression of a man who had summoned demons before. But that couldn’t be. Orion shook his head. The talent given to humans has its limits. Time acts equally on everyone, especially in fields like magic that require effort and time.
The fog covering the port, to use magic comparable to his own, one must spend at least that much time delving into the mysteries.
Fernandez smirked at the confused Orion.
“Go ahead.”
“What?”
“Try summoning it. There’s something I want to test.”
Rather, Fernandez took a couple of steps back and nodded. Orion, momentarily dazed, burst into a maddened laugh.
“Ha, haha. Hahaha! Arrogant. You’re rushing me! Fine, good. Even if you refuse, I was already planning to!”
Watching Orion’s hands cross in the air, Fernandez chuckled. The angle of the mantra is sloppy too. Wasn’t this period his prime?
He seemed lacking to earn the infamous title of one of the fifteen great evils that destroyed the world. Fernandez shook his head. He slowly crossed his arms and watched the magical formation starting to pulsate.
If it’s a Demon King-class demon from Sadarkelisa, it’s obvious who would come out. Fernandez watched the crimson flames tearing through the magical formation and placed his hand on the sword hilt.
-Kugugugung…
A hand covered in black scales emerged from the flames, pressing against the ground. Scratch, scratch, the hand, resembling a beast’s forepaw, clawed at the ground as the flames tore apart. Hellish magic soaked the atmosphere, emitting dark green smoke.
A sticky warmth, carrying the gloom of fever, licked Fernandez’s cheek and passed by.
“Ksharrak. Long time no see.”
![[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TS-Obsessed-Gamer-The-Ultimate-Return2.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return")
