The Return of the Legendary All-Master
Chapter 365

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 365

72nd Demon Realm.

The ruler of the Demon Realm was a sovereign named Cranus.

His face resembled that of a deer, but his body took on a form closely resembling that of a human—a transcendent being.

And now, Cranus was in a dire predicament.

“Damn it… how could this possibly…”

“If you don’t give me the answer I want, I’ll kill you.”

The blade of a sword touched Cranus’s neck.

His skin tore, and blood welled up.

‘This is insane!’

To think he was wounded by a mere human.

It wasn’t even a direct attack—the human had simply brought the sword to his neck.

Yet the skin of the sovereign was torn as easily as the skin of a fragile, lowly creature.

‘Just who the hell is this guy?’

The demons who had been standing guard outside had all been annihilated.

The Demon Kings were now racing toward the castle with their demon legions in tow, but at this rate, Cranus might not survive until their arrival.

“I-I’ll talk! Just please, put the sword away!”

“If you pull anything stupid, I’ll cut you down immediately.”

Only then did the human withdraw the sword.

His body, which had been frozen stiff, finally regained its freedom.

Cranus exhaled raggedly and wiped his sweat-drenched face with his sleeve.

“Give me the information.”

“C-can I ask just one question first…?”

“No. Don’t.”

“……”

Cranus clamped his mouth shut.

<You idiot, I can hear you scheming from all the way over here.>

Tenebris looked at Cranus with a face full of pity.

If he couldn’t even manage his expression, he wouldn’t be able to keep his head attached for long.

“Well then, how about I change the question?”

At the mention of changing the question, Cranus’s face lit up with relief.

“What is it? If it’s something I can answer, I’ll tell you anything!”

Anything would surely be better than the first question.

‘Give me all the information you have about the sovereign you serve.’

Information about his lord.

That was no different from asking him to betray his master.

It was precisely why he couldn’t answer, even with a sword pressed to his neck.

‘Yes. If you ask me something else, I’ll tell you everything.’

The first question had simply been too harsh.

Because of that, Cranus felt confident he could answer anything else.

“Give me all the information about the Demon Realm your sovereign rules over.”

“You mean the Demon Realm that our lord governs…?”

“Yeah. You know, don’t you?”

“……”

Of course he knew.

Every time his lord summoned the sovereigns, he had to face that damned face.

Each time, he had barely managed to suppress the urge to tear him apart.

“If you don’t want to answer… well, can’t be helped.”

Jeong-hoon once again aimed Titan at Cranus’s neck.

A thick, murderous aura surged forth, bearing down on Cranus once more.

“Ugh… I-I’ll answer!”

Cranus barely managed to speak.

“Answer exactly as asked.”

But Jeong-hoon had no intention of withdrawing his killing intent.

As Tenebris had said, he could hear the sound of Cranus scheming all too clearly.

It was obvious he was desperately trying to find a way to survive this situation, but Jeong-hoon would make him realize just how foolish that was.

“T-the thing is…”

Cranus continued to stammer, his eyes darting around nervously.

Slash.

Without hesitation, Jeong-hoon severed Cranus’s neck.

With a chilling sound, Cranus’s head fell to the ground.

[Using the Absorption Technique.]

[Experience points acquired.]

[All stats have increased.]

Afterward, Jeong-hoon used the Absorption Technique to raise his level and stats.

‘Hmm, doesn’t look like there’s anything particularly worth taking.’

Also, now that he had become the master of a dimension, additional rewards were no longer given for defeating lower-tier beings.

Of course, he didn’t mind.

Instead, the system had changed to allow him to freely loot the items the enemy possessed.

Jeong-hoon opened Cranus’s inventory.

Inside were countless items.

“Transfer all of this.”

[All items are being transferred to your inventory.]

Without bothering to select, all the items were moved to his inventory.

There was no need to sort through them now. He could take his time organizing after wrapping up the current task.

<What a shame. The guy who was supposed to cough up information died without putting up a fight.>

<No, that bastard Cranus would have kept stalling for time by twisting his words no matter what.>

<How can you be so sure?>

<I’m a sovereign like him, you see…>

<Tsk, I knew I didn’t like your weaselly face. Turns out you’re the same kind as that bastard.>

<That’s too harsh! I only know because I’m a fellow sovereign, that’s all!>

<Sure, whatever. Same difference.>

<Then, wouldn’t that make you just like the other gods too… huh!>

When Baal saw Tenebris’s face twisted like a wrathful demon, he quickly shut his mouth.

<You really must have a death wish!>

Just as Tenebris was about to lunge at Baal—

“Quiet down for a moment.”

Jeong-hoon stepped in to settle the situation.

<You should know you just got lucky.>

<...I’ll be more careful next time.>

Baal, who had tried to put up a bit of resistance, shrank back again.

“We can get the information from the ones on their way now.”

Jeong-hoon had intervened because the Demon Kings had arrived at the castle.

The Demon Kings would already know.

That their lord, Cranus, had been cut off.

‘Let’s wrap this up quickly, then.’

* * *

Demon King Pers was utterly confused by the situation unfolding before him.

<Assemble all troops immediately and move to the castle! There’s no time!>

Just twenty minutes earlier, he had received an emergency summons from his lord.

Following the command, Pers had rallied his forces within ten minutes and rushed toward the castle at full speed.

Along the way, he learned that an intruder had entered the Demon Realm and was heading straight for the castle, targeting his lord.

An intruder in the Demon Realm.

When Pers received that report, he was overcome with disbelief.

‘Not a single demon noticed the intruder until they reached the entrance of the castle?’

Did that even make sense?

The portal connected to the human world was located on the far western edge.

His lord’s castle was at the center.

The distance between them was considerable. How could not a single demon have encountered the intruder along the way?

Just as that thought reached him, Pers arrived at the castle.

At that very moment, his lord’s signal was cut off.

‘This is dangerous!’

His lord’s signal had been severed.

Surely, nothing could have happened to his lord?

A creeping sense of dread began to rise.

Pers hurriedly led his forces into the castle.

And the result—was annihilation.

As they entered, the demons at the forefront collapsed with screams.

The demons supporting Pers, as well as those in the rear, were all swiftly struck down and fell cold and lifeless.

Only Pers remained.

“Make your choice.”

And the one who had wiped out all those forces—was none other than a human.

‘Am I really… afraid of a mere lowly creature…?’

His pride was deeply wounded, but the fear that consumed his entire body left him unable to move even a finger.

“So, you think dying would be the better option?”

The human raised his sword.

At this rate, he would really die.

Summoning every ounce of strength he had, Pers opened his mouth.

“I’ll talk!”

Slash—

A sharp pain pierced his neck.

At some point, the human’s sword had come to rest against Pers’s neck, and blood was already trickling from where the blade touched.

Pers was terrified.

If he had answered even one second—no, even 0.1 seconds—later, his head would have already been on the ground.

“If I hear you scheming, I’ll cut you down without hesitation. Your lord died the same way, so it’d be wise not to try any tricks.”

Gulp.

“U-understood.”

Feeling the overwhelming gap in power, Pers began confessing everything without resistance.

He disclosed information about the 72nd Demon Realm, and also about the 71st, 73rd, 74th, and 75th Demon Realms.

Just like with Cranus, he even gave detailed explanations about who the sovereigns of each realm were.

“Hm, are you sure this is accurate?”

“Of course! I swear on my life!”

“Then, what about the one ruling over all of them?”

“That… I don’t know either… I’ve never seen him myself.”

The one ruling over the 71st to 75th Demon Realms.

It was a transcendent being named Jin.

<Jin, huh… Who could that be?>

<I don’t know either.>

It seemed even Tenebris and Baal were unfamiliar with him.

Jeong-hoon asked Thanatos, who was currently manifesting as an avatar on Earth, but Thanatos, who had long since been sealed away, only repeated that he didn’t know.

Tsk, so in the end, I have to go there myself.

Jeong-hoon had hoped he could resolve things more easily if he obtained some solid information, but none of them turned out to be helpful.

“S-so, you’ll let me live now, right?”

Jeong-hoon had already killed all the Demon Kings except for Pers.

With the sovereign’s seat now vacant, Pers had suddenly become the most powerful figure in the Demon Realm.

“No.”

“…What?”

“I told you to choose, didn’t I? Would you hand over all the information, or would you die?”

“I—I told you everything I know!”

Pers shouted, his face pale as a sheet.

But Jeong-hoon just smirked and brought his sword back to Pers’s neck.

“I said ‘all’ the information, didn’t I?”

That included information about Jin, the transcendent ruling over them.

“If—if you just let me live, I’ll somehow find out—!”

Pers couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because Jeong-hoon had already cut his throat.

“Let’s go.”

Jeong-hoon wiped the blood from his sword and turned away.

<Hmm, was it really necessary to kill him? Wouldn’t it have been better to put him on the throne and use him?>

Baal glanced regretfully at Pers’s now cold corpse.

“Why would I trust someone like him?”

<You could’ve bound him with restrictions, couldn’t you?>

“Is there any need?”

Jeong-hoon’s objective was Jin, the transcendent who ruled over these Demon Realms.

If someone proved useful along the way, Jeong-hoon would have considered binding them with restrictions to make use of them.

But this guy wasn’t worth it.

“You there, what are you exactly?”

Even without trying to make use of someone, this one had approached him on his own.

Jeong-hoon turned his head and locked eyes with him.

‘So that’s Jin.’

Even without verifying the information, he could tell.

His presence was on an entirely different level compared to the rabble.

Jeong-hoon drew not Titan this time, but the divine relic he had acquired after eliminating Escanon.

When Escanon wielded it, it took the form of a sword, but now, in Jeong-hoon’s hands, it had transformed into a single orb.

[Form of Nothingness]

Unlike the Goblet of the Void or the Heaven’s Retribution Codex, there was no need to undergo a trial.

[You meet the qualification requirements.]

Since he had become the master of a dimension, all trials were automatically cleared.

The orb briefly shone and was then absorbed into Mukho.

If Escanon had used the divine relic as a sword, Jeong-hoon, as an All-Master, could fuse it into any equipment he desired, enhancing its performance while simultaneously drawing out the relic’s power.

‘…….’

There was no response from Mukho.

Ever since becoming the master of a dimension, one change had occurred—he could no longer see the souls of Anima and Mukho.

And the communication that had once been possible was now completely cut off.

‘It feels empty.’

Normally, they would have celebrated the fusion of a divine relic.

Jeong-hoon touched his chest and fixed his gaze on Jin.

“A divine relic? So, you’re a being like me?”

Caution thickened in Jin’s eyes.

“A being like you… maybe, or maybe not.”

“Halfway there, are you?”

Jeong-hoon’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He’s sharp.

“Correct. You’re smarter than I thought.”

“…I don’t know how that’s even possible, but you’ve picked the wrong opponent.”

“Really? I think I’ve picked the perfect one.”

“Let’s see how long that confidence lasts.”

Jin smirked and summoned a candlestick.

That was his divine relic.

<You need to end this quickly. If that Named bastard catches on, this will get complicated.>

The Demon Realm had been shattered.

Right now, Jin’s entire focus was concentrated on Earth, so it wouldn’t be noticed immediately, but eventually, Logos would see and hear of it.

So, Jeong-hoon had to move fast.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]