Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

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Chapter 324: Necronovix (1)

“I will kill you.”

A surge of murderous intent rose.

The intense will to kill overwhelmed Necronovix.

The plants barely clinging to life amidst the destruction withered and died.

At that moment, the Tower Master quickly created distance and activated magic.

[Mirror World.]

The dimensions split, centering on Ketal and Necronovix.

The Tower Master’s first role was to prevent Necronovix from escaping until Ketal arrived.

The second role was to contain the aftermath of their battle.

[Whether it works or not, we’ll see.]

With a vague tone, the Tower Master continued casting spells.

Space was separated and sealed.

Necronovix did not intervene.

He seemed utterly indifferent, focusing entirely on Ketal.

[…You were on the other side of the continent, weren’t you?]

“I ran hard to get here,”

Ketal replied lightly, implying that he had traversed from the opposite end of the continent to this spot in mere minutes.

Necronovix let out a dry laugh.

[…Escaping is impossible, then.]

If he tried to flee, Ketal would immediately chase him down.

And with the Tower Master present, any escape would surely be tracked.

Wasting energy would yield no benefit.

[The losses… are manageable.]

Managing the puppets and fending off the Tower Master’s attacks had drained some of his power.

While not substantial, it was significant against an opponent whose victory could not be guaranteed even in full strength.

Necronovix sighed.

[No choice. I must kill you.]

With those words, a murderous aura erupted from Necronovix.

Their energies clashed, shaking the Mirror World.

No further words were necessary.

Ketal gritted his teeth and gripped his axe.

[…Ha.]

The Abomination let out a laugh of delight.

Simultaneously, Ketal’s body vanished.

Crack.

Even Necronovix momentarily lost track of his movement.

But it didn’t matter.

For Necronovix, perception was not vital.

[The shadow binds those who come for me.]

Necronovix’s words echoed, compressed into an instant despite the lack of time to utter them.

Ssshhh!

Shadows surged.

Ketal’s speed was beyond even Necronovix’s comprehension, but the shadows accurately caught his limbs.

The meaning behind the words themselves materialized as reality, bypassing process.

[The shadow that holds my enemy has now become a cocoon.]

The shadows coiled around Ketal’s body as though sealing him.

Ketal laughed.

“Ha!”

He spoke the process aloud, drawing forth the result.

It was like scripture.

Yet unlike any scripture Ketal had encountered before, Necronovix’s words dictated not the past but the present.

And that made sense—his opponent was one of the Four Lords of Hell, akin to a god.

In essence, every act Necronovix performed here was a miracle inscribed into scripture.

Yes.

Ketal was now fighting a being equal to a god, one of Hell’s Four Lords.

“Aaaah…”

His body trembled.

It was not from fear or tension, nor from the strain of battle.

It was exhilaration.

Ketal’s axe shimmered with aura.

Crack!

The shadows binding him were torn apart in an instant.

Freed, Ketal charged forward.

Necronovix snapped his fingers.

[A wall rises before me.]

A wall of darkness materialized in the world.

Ketal swung his axe.

Boom!

The wall shattered instantly.

Necronovix stood his ground, speaking once more.

[The shattered wall condenses into a sphere.]

Crunch!

The fragments of the wall gathered into a sphere.

[And pierces the enemy.]

The sphere shot forth, containing the power to kill even an ancient dragon.

Ketal raised his axe.

Slash.

The sphere was cleaved in half.

Ketal wielded the authority of the Abomination, a force that killed everything it touched.

Against such power, the scripture held little sway.

Necronovix knew this as well.

He snapped his fingers.

[And then, it explodes.]

Boom!

A dark explosion engulfed the space, consuming and burning everything.

Ketal couldn’t simultaneously use his aura for attack and defend his body.

From their previous battles, Necronovix was aware of this weakness and targeted his body with a wide-scale attack.

Taaat.

But Ketal remained unscathed.

Realizing Necronovix’s intent, he swiftly retreated just in time.

However, this gave Necronovix the opportunity to prepare another spell.

[The earth and sky have inverted.]

With those words, the nature of the earth and sky reversed.

“Oh?”

Ketal’s body fell toward the sky.

If this continued, he would fall beyond the heavens into the void of space.

“You’re capable of all sorts of tricks!”

Ketal laughed cheerfully as he quickly assessed his situation.

The spell’s power was too vast to cut through with aura alone.

In that case…

He retracted his aura, reinforced his entire body with mystery, and exerted his strength to disrupt the magic.

Boom!

His powerful movements broke through the world’s manipulation.

[Hmm.]

The Tower Master, who had been containing the clash’s effects, groaned.

It was no exaggeration—their powers were capable of destroying continents.

Without the Tower Master’s control, the battlefield alone would have caused the surrounding lands to quake.

[This is exhausting. My bones might shatter.]

The Tower Master exhaled, further strengthening the dimensional separation.

Ketal landed swiftly on the ground.

Retrieving his reinforced mystery, he summoned his aura and propelled himself forward.

Boom!

Darkness exploded and surged, but Ketal evaded every attack and cut through them as he closed in on Necronovix.

The distance between them narrowed further and further.

Finally, Ketal reached striking range.

He swung his axe downward.

Necronovix extended his hand.

KA-BOOM!

A powerful collision reverberated.

“…Oh?”

For the first time, Ketal's expression changed.

His aura embodied the power of the Abomination—

It killed all things.

A force nearly impossible to defend against.

Yet now, it could not pierce the pitch-black shroud enveloping Necronovix's body.

The axe blade was lodged in the shroud.

[Finally ready, are you?]

Click.

A low voice was accompanied by the unveiling of a hidden space.

“A book?”

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[My book, Lemegeton. I need it to unleash my full power.]

Necronovix raised a finger, pointing at Ketal.

[The light of darkness has descended upon the earth.]

Black light gathered at the tip of his finger.

Chills.

Ketal felt the hair on his body stand on end.

Death.

A primal instinct moved him.

The axe swung, blocking the light.

KA-KA-KA-KANG!

The dark light clashed with the axe.

In that moment, Ketal's body buckled under the force and was pushed back.

His pupils widened.

The aura within his axe—

It could not kill the dark light.

No, it was killing the light.

But the amount of light being killed was overwhelmed by even more light attacking in waves.

KA-KA-KRACK!

Ketal succeeded in defending himself.

At the cost of being pushed far from Necronovix.

His mystery was visibly diminished.

Necronovix spoke in a low tone.

[You are indeed strong. The power of the Abomination is incredibly formidable.]

A force capable of killing all things.

It was undeniably extraordinary.

Necronovix himself had been captivated by it, analyzing it for countless ages in hell.

[But I am a being who has fought against your kind.]

In the past, Necronovix had opposed Abomination and ancients.

He had fought them to the death and survived to stand here.

[I know exactly how to counter you. My infinite thorns will rise in chaos and skewer my foes.]

KA-KA-KA-KANG!

Thorns materialized and shot toward Ketal.

He swung his axe to cut them down but quickly realized it was impossible.

There were too many thorns.

They filled the space like a dense net.

The aura in his axe wasn’t enough to cut through all of them.

Ultimately, Ketal dodged by leaping away.

Seeing this, Necronovix spoke calmly.

[In the end, you are doomed to lose.]

Once, the oldest beings ruled the world.

But gods and demons united against them and waged war.

After a long, grueling conflict, the gods and demons emerged victorious.

The oldest beings were defeated and sealed away in the Forbidden Lands.

[We couldn’t kill you then. But this time, I’ll finish the job.]

“That’s more like it!”

Ketal grinned, gripping his axe tightly.

[Even in hell, stars existed. But they were far from ordinary. Tiny, dense, and volatile, they unleashed massive explosions upon the slightest impact.]

The stars of hell descended.

They collided with the ground, erupting into violent explosions.

Demonic energy filled the space.

[Amid the blackest world of hell, a single ray of light arose. It began to burn the entirety of hell itself.]

The primordial hellfire descended, consuming all creation as it roared.

This was no longer the earth.

It was hell.

The barrier cast by the master of the demonic tower cracked in an instant.

Though a new barrier was hastily constructed, it couldn’t keep pace with the destruction.

Amid the onslaught, Ketal remained unscathed.

He evaded the raining explosions and flames with miraculous precision.

Clearing paths of attacks that blocked his advance, he moved forward with minimal motion.

Finally, Ketal managed to reach Necronovix.

He swung his axe downward with tremendous force.

CRAAAAANG!

But it was blocked by the pitch-black shroud.

The blade caused cracks to spread across the barrier, but it still managed to protect its master.

Necronovix spoke.

[The hellfire has melted the foe before me.]

Flames rose voraciously, attempting to engulf Ketal.

He quickly kicked off the ground and leapt back.

But he couldn’t completely evade.

Hellfire clung to his left arm, burning it and spreading toward his entire body.

“Hmm.”

Ketal shook his left arm, dislodging the flames.

However, his arm was already burned.

“You’ve done well to withstand this.”

[Did I not tell you? I’ve faced the Abomination and survived.]

Necronovix had been so captivated by the power of the Abomination that he even mimicked it.

He knew better than anyone how to counter it.

[No matter what you do, you cannot strike me.]

BOOOOM!

Power clashed and exploded.

Ketal was pushed back again.

“Getting close won’t be easy.”

Every strike contained immense force.

Even fragments of it could kill beings hailed as heroes.

Even Ketal would sustain damage if hit directly.

He had no choice but to dodge, but the sheer volume of attacks filling the space made advancing difficult.

And even if he managed to close the gap, Necronovix's pitch-black shroud would prevent him from landing any meaningful blow.

‘He’s strong.’

Ketal was genuinely impressed.

To be honest, ever since he gained the ability to wield his aura, he had become bored.

The power of the Abomination—

A force that killed all things.

Few could stand against him.

Even if he were to fight his old adversary, the rat, it would be an easy victory now.

His overwhelming power had made combat dull.

But this—

Necronovix was not only enduring Ketal’s aura but surpassing it, pressuring him.

This was one of the Four Great Lords.

A being among the top five strongest in hell.

It was awe-inspiring.

It was exhilarating.

‘Behold!’

This is what it means to be a demon!

This is the world!

This is the power of fantasy!

‘In a fantasy, one must not yield to these monstrous forces!’

Filled with euphoria, Ketal stomped the ground.

The earth quaked.

“I acknowledge it! You are strong!”

Ketal admitted Necronovix’s strength, baring his teeth in a grin.

“But I’ll be the one to win!”

THOOM!

He charged straight toward Necronovix.

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