Chapter 231: Episode 72. The Dark Lord (3)

The sky turned dark that even moonlight could not be seen. Darkness spread all over the world. At the same time, things that were not seen before began to appear.

They were the dead. They were specters. Tens of millions, perhaps even more than that, began to surround me. It was the boundary between the living and the dead that only I could see.

There was a rumor before that the Dark Lord could see things that were not readily visible to others. I thought that was just a speculation, but, apparently, it was true.

I looked up. I could see the doors of the Celestial World and Devildom. They were both closed, and neither could be opened. The door of Devildom could only be opened after Camael was killed. Meanwhile, the door of the Celestial World had to disappear.

― I feel bitter.

The specters kept whispering to me. They voiced out their misery and anger. I could feel extremely negative mana. I was grateful that I had a strong mind. Otherwise, I would be taken over on the spot.

Instead of responding, I just grinned. I knew what they were.

“The previous Dark Lords killed them. Their manifestations are the power that is still left in them.”

There were many Dark Lords throughout history. Most of them were destructive. They committed merciless killings, and many of them were insane. The previous Dark Lords took countless lives. My ears kept hearing words of despair.

“The karma of previous Dark Lords…”

I nodded. I understood. It was written in ancient books. The Dark Lord had enormous power incomparable to demons. When someone was recognized as the Dark Lord, the power strong enough to suppress all Devildom would be handed down instantly.

“It looks like the amount of power that I could absorb will affect the qualification as the Dark Lord.”

The negative mana was beyond one’s imagination. Even if I kept on absorbing it, I would not be able to fully take it up. I felt like I could only absorb about 5% of it.

But I was not too weak to be controlled by ghosts. I pushed them away. I entered the realm of transcendence and obtained divinity. I was able to grasp the identity of the specters in an instant and realized something in them.

“Get out of the way,” I ordered.

The ghosts did as they were told, and, shortly after, a long road was formed.

At the end of the road, there was a place where all the previous Dark Lords’ power was hidden. I looked down on my chest. Gustarte had given me the key to keep the balance. Thanks to this key, the divinity was not overflowing and was moving effortlessly in me.

Still, I was always in danger of becoming a god, and now, I was about to defile my divinity. I put my hand on my chest and took the key out.

Crack!

As soon as it opened, my body started to attract the specters around me.

However, what I really wanted wasn’t the specters. I wanted the best ones, the previous Dark Lords.

I reached out my hand, but the ghosts of the previous Dark Lords just snorted. These Dark Lords were considered the best of the best. Even if I was a transcendent being and gained divinity, they were also powerful creatures who ruled Devildom before.

But…one of them responded to me. He was a huge demon. He had enormous wings, the horn of a goat, and the skin of a dragon. He was the Dark Lord Diablo.

He had ruled Devildom for the longest time among the other Dark Lords. His family had always been guaranteed a status above the archdukes. It was no doubt a royal family. He was the original Dark Lord who existed for a very long time, perhaps ever since Devildom was created.

I bowed my head. He was worthy enough to be greeted with such a courteous gesture.

― I have been watching you. I have been waiting for a child like you: a child with the true power of a demon; a child who will bring down the divinity of the coward Death Bringer, who was afraid of his own creation and tried to erase everything.

Diablo took a step forward. Soon, he joined me, and the impact was more intense than that of the specters around me.

Diablo told me stories about the past. It was around the time when Devildom had just been created.

The demon god, Death Bringer, created demons. But the appearances of demons at the time were very different from what I had seen. Everyone had a goat’s horn, their skins were rough, and they had wings.

It was not entirely unfamiliar to me because I had become like that after using Depravity, and I knew how strong that power was.

The demons were too powerful, and Death Bringer was worried about it. The power of the species alone was strong enough to threaten the gods. The demon god thought his position would be in danger, so he took precautionary measures.

It was about the degeneration of the species. He got rid of the symbols of power, the wings, and the horn. He introduced human genes. He also added a more violent nature.

The demons were weakened, and that caused the unbalance between the Celestial World and Devildom. If this continued, angels would destroy Devildom. Death Bringer planned to just sit back and watch demons self-destruct in a battle among themselves.

Diablo, who was the Dark Lord at that time, learned about this and was furious.

The angels of the Celestial World were designed to have a similar strength to the demons. However, angels knew how to keep the order, co-exist, and maintain the balance. Death Bringer was just afraid of something uncertain and tried to get rid of the children that he created.

Diablo couldn’t stand still while the balance between the two worlds collapsed. Therefore, he hid the power of the previous Dark Lords. This power could be inherited to protect Devildom from the angels.

The demon god knew this as well, but it was too late to do anything. If immortals got involved in the affairs of the mortals, their divinity would diminish. Death Bringer already took a lot of risks while he had forcibly manipulated the deterioration of the species. Thus, he had no choice but to watch things unfold.

Thanks to the power of the Dark Lord, the balance between Devildom and the Celestial World had been maintained. But that was it. Devildom and the demons had always been in danger of being destroyed, whether internally or externally.

Diablo had been waiting for a demon who could get rid of the demon god, Death Bringer. And now, the long wait was finally over.

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I put the key back to my chest. The swirling mana gradually calmed down, but I lost a lot of my divinity.

The tattoo, the red dragon swallowing the mirror, turned dark. It looked like even Gustarte’s, an intermediate-grade god, power could not stop all of Diablo’s mana.

No one knew what would happen as two different forces merged. However, if they were combined, unprecedented power would be completed.

Rip!

I tore the negative world apart. Thus, the ceremony to become the Dark Lord was finished.

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“I greet Your Majesty, our Dark Lord.”

When the ceremony was over, the first one to kneel in front of me was Ariel Diablo. Until before the ceremony, she spoke casually to me, but she changed her attitude and greeted me politely.

Following Ariel’s move, her demons also knelt one by one. Other monsters who were watching us, also followed suit. Even Lyhee was moved, and she also knelt in recognition of my new position.

Whoosh!

I flapped my wings. My appearance was changed. I got a huge horn and wings. Even if I didn’t do anything, mana overflowed around me, overwhelming everyone.

I was literally full of power. It felt quite different from when I had received divinity. I opened the status window. I couldn’t help but smile as I went over the changes.

Name: Randalf Bruciel

Occupation: Dark Lord (Dungeon Master)

Title:

<ul>

Dungeon Hunter (When conquering a dungeon or hunting a demon, remaining statistics +1)

</ul>

*Unbreakable Warrior (Ex U, All statistics +2)

<ul>

The First One to Be Blessed by a Fairy (U, Mana +6)

Owner of the Origin (Epic, All statistics +3)

Undead (Ex U, All statistics +5)

Ruler of the Underworld (Legend, All statistics +5, the rating of all skills below epic grade +0.5)

The Original Dark Lord (God, All statistics +10, You can use the transcendence level Kotodama.)

</ul>

Capability:

Power 127(+30), Intelligence 129(+25), Speed 121(+30), Strength 133(+32), Mana 138(+26)

Potential (648/143/???)

Remaining Statistics: 47

Electrical Power: 742GW

Others: The Master of the Underworld. The heart of the Hell Lord has completely awakened. You have obtained a strong divinity for some reason. You inherited the power of Diablo, the original Dark Lord.

Skills: Combination of All Things (Ex U), The Mind’s Eye (Epic), Dark Sword (Epic), Sentiment du Fer (Epic, Passive), Spirit of Electric Power (Epic), Pride (Epic), Depravity (Legend), The Power of Domination (Ex Epic, Passive), Commune with Spirits (Epic, Passive), Reverse World (God), True Kotodama (God, Passive)

Applied Skill & Item Effects: Rage (Power+7), Sloth (Speed+7), Pride (Strength+7), Sentiment du Fer (Power, Speed +3)

[Progress Comparison]

Power 130, Intelligence 135, Speed 130, Strength 137, Mana 146, Potential (585+93/???)

Power 157, Intelligence 154, Speed 151, Strength 165, Mana 164, Potential (648+143/???)

“Hmm…the original Dark Lord?”

Besides, I got another god-grade skill like the Reverse World.

True Kotodama! It meant that my words would have a bearing. Also, the grade of Depravity increased.

I loved it.

My strength and power had improved. I was a monster with almost 800 stats! I had never seen or heard of somebody with these stats. However, this wasn’t the end. I would become even stronger. I had no plans of slowing down at this point.

At the time, Ariel looked up at me. Her eyes were different from before. I could see the longing and respect from her. She was aware of the power I had obtained. Her name was Ariel Diablo. She was the daughter of the previous Dark Lord, Diablo. Blood was a powerful connection.

I hadn’t thought about it, but it wasn’t bad. As a result, she would become a faithful vessel, getting rid of my enemies enthusiastically.

But even if I was now the Dark Lord, I still would not be able to fully achieve my dream yet. I could not go to the castle in Devildom. My dream was to actually sit on the throne and laughed to my heart’s content. In order to do so, I had to get rid of the enemies in front of me.

“Listen,” I said.

Whoosh!

My voice had strong mana. I also had a new skill, ‘True Kotodama’. It had a more powerful effect than Ariel’s skill. All eyes were at me.

“This is my first order as the Dark Lord. My loyal servants, kill all the enemies blocking my way. Wipe out Camael and all his angels.”

“As you wish!”

“As you wish!”

My words were absolute. Opinions, especially dissenting ones, were not allowed. Of course, everyone agreed, and all that was left was the destruction of the seraph, Camael.