Chapter 373: The World Gate XV
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
While the great Stigmata Sorcerer remained relatively unaffected by the wanton state of the Darkborne Kingdom, the same could not be said for the Dark Demon-Hunters that arrived with him.
Third Ghostpepper, Gabriel, and Kuryak joined into a small team of seven sorcerers. Together, they observed the inter-world war happening right in the heart of the foreign world’s capital.
“Third Ghostpepper…”
Kuryak stood on the apex of a pyramid-shaped flying craft. Underneath the strands of golden hair, his eyes gazed at the Spinal Staff-wielding, dark-red eyed Third Ghostpepper. At the moment, he struggled to produce any words, but those that managed to come out sounded heavy and stressed out.
Third Ghostpepper’s eyes were fixated on this foreign world capital city that was so wide it spanned the entire length of the horizon.
Even after the sheer destruction the Stigmata Sorcerers have brought down onto this city, most parts of the city remained untouched. Consequently, the resistance forces were still standing strong, so for the Dark Demon-Hunters that swarmed out from the World Gate, they still had to take every corner of the city with utmost caution.
After all, these Demon-Hunter Sorcerers had no principal Void Fortress to help them maintain their sorcerers barriers this time round.
“That Grimm, he’s really…”
Like Kuryak, Third Ghostpepper’s sentence was cut short abruptly. Nearing the end, his voice grew extremely strained before failing to produce anymore words. The only sound amidst the dead-silence came from the gray Spirit Flame that burned atop his head. His dark-red eyes were suddenly stricken with surprise.
That Grimm, how did he manage to become part of the vanguard? Why did the Black Isotta assign to him missions in this world, in which he completed it and escaped back into the Burrow World?
If this was true, then the mission’s level would…
It would have been a Rank-1 Honor Badge mission!
“Bastard!”
Gabriel bellowed out in frustration. He too, was once considered a prodigy apprentice from the same Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy. Forming into a dark streak of shadow, he descended onto the earth below.
“Oh, it seems this guy’s pissed off from the humiliation huh, hehe…”
A Demon-Hunter Sorcerer whose body burned brightly in flames, taunted as he looked at Gabriel’s descending figure.
Third Ghostpepper ignored the mockery from said Demon-Hunter Sorcerer and instead, yelled at Gabriel, “What the hell are you doing?!”
“What the hell am I doing? Why I’m heading off to collect the despair of the Acraepoids of course!”
Gabriel yelled back in reply without turning back. With a loud snap, his sorcerer’s robe were ripped into shreds, revealing the beast-like crocodilian body underneath. Like a falling meteor, he shot towards the ground at the Acraepoid civilians who were running for their dear lives, an exercise in futility.
“Let’s go too…”
The other six sorcerers sighed before similarly hurtling towards the earth’s surface like six meteorites. And thus, the small team formed a tiny part of the “evil” Dark Demon-Hunters’ brutal campaign of mass-genocide against the Acraepoids.
For the Acraepoids inhabiting the Darkborne Kingdom, these sorcerers who were invading their beautiful homeland were exactly like the berserking monsters depicted on the walls of their holy temples.
***
In an inconspicuous corner of the sky.
“Ku ku ku ku, the unique ability to control the Flame Saber with the will of their soul? It seems they are much stronger than the primitive creatures from before!”
A Level-3 Dark Demon-Hunter shrieked as he clashed with a Acraepoid Saint who, despite facing utter despair, still held on stubbornly to its will.
Energy waves rolled across the sky as the battle dragged on.
Nairy, whose body black chains wrapped around, carefully dodged the surprisingly strong Acraepoids who were part of the resistance forces as he made his way swiftly toward a building that was distinctive from the other Flame Burrows which towered high up into the skies.
Zoom!
Although this building was not as tall as the other Flame Burrows, it was built on an exceptionally large area and had a majestic stone statue erected on it.
This building seems to have yet been noticed by other Dark Demon-Hunters.
A frantic look suddenly flashed through his calm eyes, which were covered by the silky-golden hair before he flew into the building, busting through layers of thick doors which were all heavily locked and chained.
“Hmm?”
To Nairy’s surprise, the loose robes the Acraepoids in this building wore, were somewhat similar with the sorcerer’s robes. They looked different in comparison to the Acraepoids from outside.
“Sacrificial Lord…”
“We must hurry, even the great Infernal God, Dark Destroyer has prophesied about their coming. These corrupt foreign beings are too strong for us to handle…”
The surrounding younger Acraepoids coaxed.
“I’m not leaving! I am a loyal servant to the great Infernal God, Dark Destroyer. I am the physical embodiment of his will in this Acraepoid world, and this temple is where his honor lies!”
An elder Acraepoid donning a great robe refuted stubbornly.
Suddenly the elder Acraepoid’s eyes were drawn to Nairy, who had entered the hall unexpectedly. After recovering from the surprise, the elder’s face contorted with rage as he howled, “Cursed devil from the foreign world, the great and holy will of the almighty Infernal God, Dark Destroyer will never yield to such tyranny, now die…”
With a loud puff, a ball of Dark Destroyer Black Flames ignited in the middle of the elder Acraepoid’s palms.
“Damn it…”
There was a trace of disappointment contained deep within the elder Acraepoid’s gaze. The temple has finally lost the encapsulating glorious light of the Dark Destroyer Infernal God. For the remaining holy power he could still conjure up, was it only that little?
Unfortunately, the powers the elder Acraepoid managed to muster up was not even comparable to a weak, little Acraepoid warrior.
With an already solidified intent to die, the elder Acraepoid launched the Dark Destroyer’s energy ball towards the vile demon whose body was wrapped in thick black chains, that had arrived to rain Armageddon down unto his world.
With a wave of the black chains, the powerless black energy ball was deflected away.
“Borrowing the powers of a World Lord through nothing but prayers? Now that’s a classic method written in ancient records. Now that I think of it, it’s also the inferior method used by the Academy Guardians or the Holy Tower envoys to attain some form of evolution, or something along that line.”
Murmuring to himself, Nairy’s Slaughtering Will remained unwavered.
In just the blink of an eye, Nairy’s black chains had penetrated through the elder Acraepoid’s chest before going for the surrounding robe-wearing “weakling” Acraepoids’ lives. From their perspective, they must have thought that Nairy was a demon who had risen from the depths of hell and broke into their Infernal God’s holy sanctuary.
Nairy on the other hand, had a look of anticipation on his face.
“Described in ancient records, buildings like this in spiritual worlds are called temples. Those weaker Acraepoids must have been devout followers, living as sacrifices or messengers here. Maybe during peaceful times, they could have summoned some of the World Lord’s strength to face alien creatures from foreign worlds like a World Guardian would, to exert their force against lower-level creatures. But now, their prayers are fruitless, unable to protect even themselves from danger… hehe!”
In this moment, those crazy eyes were the most noticeable features on his face as he cackled hysterically while he walked into the deeper reaches of the temple.
There could be unexpected gains in such an area.
***
Demon-Hunter Sorcerers were turning the capital of the Darkborne Kingdom upside down in their hunger and lust for loot.
Thirty hourglasses later.
One after the other, Dark Demon-Hunters who were satisfied that they have scanned every nook-and-cranny of the Darkborne Kingdom for loot have started gathering high up in the skies above the city. Some of them had just returned from small towns dotting the landscape outside the main city.
The main bulk of the Dark Demon-Hunters went back into the World Gate, and there were virtually no traces of them afterwards.
These demons from a foreign world, have they finally left the Acraepoid world for good?
And with the entry of the four Stigmata Sorcerers into the World Gate, marked the end of the sorcerers’ campaign of terror. Gradually, the hardy Acraepoids who have survived the ordeal slowly risen up from the soil. The landscape was pockmarked with explosion craters and rubble lay everywhere. Looking at the battered and demolished sight of the once mighty and glorious Darkborne Kingdom, tears uncontrollably flowed from their eyes as a stabbing pain throbbed in their hearts.
One of the five central hubs of the Acraepoid World had been reduced to mere rubble in the matter of a few short days, wiping it completely off the map.
These cruel and malevolent foreign world gods!
However…
It would not cross the minds of these Acraepoids who were cursing, raging and suffering, that the glory of their civilization was similarly built upon the destruction, looting and enslavement of other world’s civilizations.
Those who were pillaged and raped, felt the same kind of pain these Acraepoids were now feeling, the infuriating rage and the hopelessness of having nothing to do about it.
***
Two months later.
The Sky Guardian, the Earth Guardian, the Infernal Gods, Dark Destroyer, Lightglow, and Darkglow came together.
Five, hundred-meter wide balls of dark flame turned the sky into a dark sea of fire. With the addition of hundreds of World Guardians as well as thousands of Acraepoid holy messengers, leading upwards to a billion Acraepoids, warriors, and civilians in the mix. They all had gathered here today in the rubble ruins of the Darkborne Kingdom.
Littering the ruined city were debris from collapsed Flame Burrows that once towered into the clouds. That, and the gag-inducing stench from the decomposing corpses of their fellow Acraepoids that lined the streets.
Seeing the wrecked state of the once bustling capital city of the Darkborne Kingdom, seeing the uncountable number of tragedies that have unfolded two months ago, it wasn’t only the Dark Destroyer Infernal God, but the other great beings too whose hearts were crushed at the painful sight.
It was the Sorcerer World!?
The World Gate was surrounded by the great deities and sea of Acraepoids, whose resentment and anger were directed at the wretched sorcerers’ entry point.
The Lightglow took in a deep breath.
“The contract, which the First Acraepoid King has been sent to the Metallic World to negotiate. How long is there till it is completed?”
The Earth Guardian replied gravely, “It is estimated there be fifteen years left. The price set by the other party was too high. Even the First Acraepoid King was unable to resist such temptations, and thus accepted their contract and joined the inter-world war on their side.”
The Sky Guardian looked at the World Gate, which has shrunk to just the span of a hundred meters due to a lack of spiritual replenishment and said, “Should we use the ancient seal technique to seal off the dimensional door, or should we send troops to scout the Burrow World? The sea must protect that Stone of Miracles, as according to the First Acraepoid King’s speculations, it could very well be the projection of the birth of a World Aperture between the Acraepoid World and another foreign world.”
“No way!”
The voice of Dark Destroyer was filled with sorrow, but he continued calmly, “We mustn’t give up on the Burrow World. Though, sending scout troops there is not an option in order to avoid another tragedy like the one that had befallen the Darkborne Kingdom.”
Darkglow replied indifferently, “Then we will wait like this. The World Gate will start disintegrating without further soul replenishment. It seems that the other side is not yet fully-prepared for an all-out war with us. When the First Acraepoid King returns, we can try looking for the Sorcerer World’s signal with the help of other World Gods. We must make use of the immense wealth we possess to summon the help of the World Gods from faraway worlds to join our cause, join our fight.”
Three months later.
Not a single creature dared to cross this Time Gate between the Burrow World and the Infernal Spirit World. And with no further large-scale soul replenishment, it spanned merely a few meters in length before dissipating into thin air.