{Chapter: 152: Malice}
Inside a Fortress Along the Defense Line...
The outer corridors teemed with disciplined guards, their armor polished, weapons at the ready. Each step echoed off the cold stone floor of the massive stronghold, a structure designed to withstand not just time but calamity. Deep within this fortress, far beneath the sunlight, lay a chamber of paramount importance — a sealed room under strict, 24-hour surveillance.
A sharp sound split the stillness.
"Bang!"
The crisp crack was not physical, but magical — a reverberation from the sudden extinguishing of a powerful soul-bound seal.
Inside the chamber, the man in charge of monitoring life-signatures snapped his head toward the glowing board of [Self-Marks], his expression hardening as he located the one that had just burst.
His gaze scanned the details now flickering in red:
---
[Power Affiliation: Earth Church — Aruna Parish]
[Name (Age / Gender / Race): Komuser Berent (239 years old / Male / Human)]
[Class: Legendary Priest, Legendary Mage]
[Assignment: 75th Defense Zone, 15th Support Group]
---
He exhaled slowly, rubbing the smooth, verdant surface of an emerald ring on his finger — a magical communicator bound to central command.
His voice was low, heavy with the gravity of his duty.
"A legendary priest of the Earth Church has fallen... Komuser Berent. I'm transmitting the full record of his service and death. Notify the Earth Church and begin the replacement process immediately. He's the first to fall in this wave of demonic assaults."
There was a pause — then a calm, female voice echoed from the ring, emotion tightly controlled but not absent.
"Understood. I'll contact the Church and initiate coordination."
This room had no windows, no unnecessary furnishings. It was not a place of comfort. Its primary purpose was simple yet vital: to monitor the life status of every notable combatant on the defensive network. Each registered individual had a [Self-Mark], a soul-bound identifier that provided real-time updates on their condition. This magic prevented infiltration by shapeshifters or soul-mimics, ensuring no enemy could impersonate a fallen warrior and sabotage from within.
It was here that the man tracked and submitted deaths to high command, allowing the leadership to make swift and informed decisions regarding front-line deployments, reinforcements, and strategic adjustments.
---
Back at the front...
The orc tumbled through a shimmering light, landing hard on his knees within the interior of the defense perimeter. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his tusks grit tightly. His face — usually stoic and carved from stone — was twisted in fury and shame. His comrade... his brother-in-arms... had died before his eyes. And he had been powerless to stop it.
Komuser had always seemed untouchable. Wise, calm, and immensely powerful — a pillar among men. But against that thing, none of it mattered.
Dex's punch had not only torn open the land — it had shattered their hope of victory. The sheer force of it had launched several platoons into the air like debris. And in that moment, the orc realized something terrifying: even if he and Komuser had combined all their power, pooled every last drop of strength and experience... they still wouldn't have stood a chance.
It wasn't just the strength or the speed. It was the unnatural difference in scale. They weren't even in the same realm of existence.
He had tried to grab Komuser and flee. Survival was the only rational choice. But Dex — that demon — didn't allow it. Before the orc could act, a single strike tore through Komuser's divine shielding, through layers of magical defense and body alike. There had been no room for resistance, no possibility of retaliation. Komuser had been obliterated in a blink.
The orc had escaped only because he had prepared a fallback teleportation in advance — a desperate measure saved for the unthinkable. And now, panting amid the defense zone's familiar wards, he sprinted toward the command center, heart pounding like a war drum.
He didn't care what anyone thought. He had to report the truth.
Dex was not a [Middle-Class Demon].
He was something far, far worse.
---
Back in the cratered wasteland...
Dex remained exactly where he was, standing amidst the ruins of the battlefield. He made no move to chase the fleeing orc. He could guess what the survivor would do next — run, report, warn others. But none of that mattered.
He wasn't concerned.
Instead, Dex closed his eyes and rolled his shoulders. The tension seeped from his muscles as a faint sigh of satisfaction escaped his lips.
The sensation of movement — of unleashing even a his power — was exhilarating. His body, which hadn't truly exerted itself in decades, now crackled with energy. Every nerve, every inch of muscle felt alive again.
'I just feel that after the activity, my body and mind felt extremely happy.'
The body, which has not fought for decades, is longing for a good vent.
And for the first time in years...
He was enjoying losing himself.
"This... This is what I've missed."
He opened his eyes, and they flashed a dull crimson. All around him, within a radius of dozens of kilometers, he could feel the presence of others — enemies. Soldiers. Adventurers. Mages. Scouting units. Lives, all of them.
He selected one.
Raising his hand to the sky, Dex caught a falling boulder — a gigantic chunk of debris tumbling from a distant mountain shattered in an earlier blast. It was easily fifteen meters tall and nearly as wide.
Without ceremony, with the help of magic. The rock's mass remained, but its volume shrank to the size of a child's fist. Its jagged surfaces became polished smooth, gleaming like an obsidian mirror.
Dex compressed its volume to one thousandth of its original size,
And then, with the ease of flicking a coin, he hurled it into the air.
The attack was not merely a projectile—it was a judgment.
Like the swing of a divine hammer, the stone shot out not with the sluggish path of a thrown object, but with terrifying velocity—compressed mass turned into pure destruction. It screamed through the air, breaking the sound barrier thrice over before even completing its path. The surrounding air ignited in violent friction, fire licking its edges, the dense stone glowing molten red as it became a meteor forged in the hands of a demon. A crimson tail flared in its wake, drawing a scar across the skies that could be seen for miles.
The airflow trailing behind the impact resembled a descending whirlwind, spiraling downward like a divine spear hurled by a war god. With a howling roar that rattled bones and shattered courage, the air burst outward in every direction.
Everything caught within its path—beasts from the Abyss, unfortunate native creatures, even terrain itself—was reduced to pulverized gore and rubble. Flesh was torn into mist, limbs scattered like leaves in a storm. The hardened soil was cleaved open, a deep scar of a trench ripping across the battlefield as if the ground had been split by a colossal, invisible blade.
---
Some distance away, casually wiping away the blood that had not yet fully dried on his curved black blade, the dark elf Emerson allowed himself a slow, confident smile. His silver eyes glinted with amusement, and his long, slender figure stood proud amidst the scattered corpses.
Dozens of abyssal demons surrounded him, claws twitching, mouths frothing with hunger—but he remained calm, unshaken.
He knew this mob well. They were [Middle-level Demons], creatures born of the Abyss, powerful in their own right. Had they coordinated their assault, he might have been forced to retreat, perhaps even bleed.
But cooperation among such beings was a fantasy. Their own selfish nature, honed by centuries of betrayal and greed, made unity impossible. No shared strategy. No loyalty. Just chaos and instinct.
So although the battle appeared one-sided on the surface—a lone dark elf against a pack of nightmare fiends—in truth, he was fighting them one at a time. The longer he held, the more likely they'd turn on each other or flee in desperation.
******
You can support me by joining my Patreon and get upto 60 chapters in advance.
patreon.com/Eden_Translation