IBMATG 41

chapter 41

The reason Patrick hadn’t joined Yushinwoo’s clan, despite actively siding with him, was simple. His own affiliation had not disappeared—it was still intact.

The knight Patrick belonged to was none other than…

Baron Marcus.

A being created by Markosias, originally incompatible with the Alford Castle system—a fundamentally alien existence.

“Angra Mainyu has reincarnated!”

The giant with three horns sprouting from his forehead—Archdemon Naberius—roared, his voice brimming with fury.

Kugugung!

Lightning struck from the sky, and volcanoes erupted on the ground.

Countless lower demons were swept away and died in the natural disasters.

Those that survived devoured the corpses of their fallen comrades, as if waiting for them.

This was a common sight in this hellish place.

However, the name Naberius spoke aloud caused a massive ripple among the archdemons.

“Angra Mainyu?!”

“How… how is this possible?!”

Though not physically near each other, the archdemons could communicate across space if they wished. Through this mental network, even emotions could be shared.

“Guaaaah!”

A surge of intense hatred flooded the hearts of all archdemons.

It was the uncontrolled emotion of a single being within the network.

While hatred is a source of power for demons, the intensity now exceeded the level they could normally tolerate.

Fearing that their judgment would be clouded, the archdemons severed the emotional connection with the source of the hatred.

“Markosias! Calm yourself! That is not the proper way to unleash your power!”

The source of the hatred was none other than Markosias himself.

Bael, the leader of the demons, quickly read his mind and tried to restrain him.

But no matter how powerful the leader, the impulsive actions of an archdemon could not be stopped.

This was possible because a demon is immortal.

“No! I will kill him no matter what!”

“We all understand your desire! But do not tamper with the system!”

Bael’s warning came from reading Markosias’ plan to manipulate the system.

“Even our infinite power cannot reach inside the system! Are you sure about this?”

“I don’t care!”

“Even immortality is included in that! If anything goes wrong, you will be annihilated!”

“If I can just kill Angra Mainyu right now… I don’t care about anything else…”

At this point, nothing could stand in Markosias’ way.

Anyone trying to stop him would face an eternal war with no benefit.

His hatred for Angra Mainyu ran that deep.

“Very well. From now on, none of us will interfere with your actions! No one will help you!”

“Do as you wish.”

Despite Bael’s warnings, he began manipulating the system to kill Angra Mainyu.

A trap to lure Yushinwoo.

Quests with clear rewards and easy difficulty, enough to catch his attention.

To prevent any leaks, he placed multiple manipulated quests, creating a wide and intricate net.

Yushinwoo fell into one of them—the trap called Alford Castle.

{Castle Lord: Baron Damian}
{Correction – Castle Lord: Baron Marcus}

What was originally a simple tutorial NPC for siege battles had been transformed into a demon-like man who craved the blood and flesh of the inhabitants.

The NPCs mutated into bizarre monsters from hell.

Dungeon portals were sealed.

Finally, at the peak of carnage, Markosias himself descended.

All the strange phenomena that had occurred were part of Markosias’ scheme to kill Yushinwoo—or rather, Angra Mainyu.

An archdemon, equal to a god, intervening in the mortal world, risking annihilation, and manipulating the system—what mortal could escape such a fate?

This was the utterly unfair “wheel of fate” for humans.

A curse of mortality, forced to obey the arbitrary rules of a transcendent being.

“Insert the unbound Aether Weapon into your heart.”

Yet even mortals could one day break free from the oppression of a transcendent being and spread their wings of freedom.

For that day, Ahriman had waited for eternity.

Blood flowed from my chest.

My mind felt distant, as if drifting away.

Just from making eye contact, a hole had appeared in my chest.

“Hero!”

I saw Adel approaching to support me.

{Maximum mana permanently decreased by 1.}

System messages appeared almost ten per second, eventually covering my entire vision.

Meaning, my mana, my stats, were decreasing by ten every second.

“Clear these messages… I need to see ahead…”

I removed the warning messages to see clearly.

Boom! Koo-koon!

• Angra Mainyu! Kuaaa!

“Ahhhhh!”

In the distance, a massive wolf ran rampant through the center of the village, as if rabid.

It was so large it could crush houses with a single step.

Its wings on its shoulders moved so fast, unlike the spider-like legs of a beast fusion, cutting humans into pieces.

The claw-like appendages at the tips of its wings had pierced my chest.

“It flew all the way here…”

I had been right in the village moments ago.

We had launched a full-scale attack to kill the massive beast fusion.

I had hoped that defeating it would end these strange phenomena and return us home.

But my hope was dashed. I was hit before I could attack and was thrown hundreds of meters to this spot.

“What… what should I do…?”

Adel fretted, tears welling in her eyes.

Until now, she had never shown weakness, but this was the first time.

“Adel…”

“Yes…?”

“…Get it.”

“What…?”

My voice barely came out, my body weak.

I spoke again, slowly and clearly.

“Get the… steel orb in the safe…”

The voice that had been echoing in my mind—

“Insert the unbound Aether Weapon into your heart.”

—was the same demon that whispered in my ear before.

I was about to follow its instructions.

“The… in the safe…?”

“Hurry…”

“Yes! Understood!”

The castle had already been secured using orcs.

Thus, here too, I could claim the Aether Weapon in the safe as a reward.

I had originally planned to sell the second Aether Weapon for funds, having already obtained one in the other world.

But money didn’t matter now.

“Insert the Aether Weapon… into my heart?”

The demon spoke clearly.

Angra Mainyu had given me hints before.

Opening abilities by capturing orcs.

Activating stolen powers by defeating lower demons.

This time, the message was vocal, but I would trust it again.

“What choice do I have if I don’t trust it…”

I was dying.

A hole in my chest.

Not just my mana heart, but my physical heart was damaged.

I could die any moment.

Yet, my awakened body gave me a temporary grace period.

“Just a little longer… hang on…”

I had two choices: wait for death, or follow the demon’s whisper.

I chose the latter.

If I did nothing or failed, the outcome—death—was the same.

“Adel… hurry…”

It now depended on how fast she could bring the Aether Weapon.

I prayed I would survive until then.

“Haa… haa…”

Boom! Boom!

But the world had no intention of letting me be.

“Found you! Die!”

The massive wolf demon had spotted me and charged full speed.

“Damn…”

There was no escaping.

No matter how much I tried to move, outrunning the massive, fast beast was impossible.

Suddenly, I felt myself lifted.

“You can’t die!”

It was Patrick.

He grabbed me and ran, evading the demon.

“Tch… damn. I can’t use any powers?”

Markosias had descended but could not use his full power.

He had expected this to some extent, but not that none of his infinite archdemon abilities would work.

“The penalty for manipulating the system is this severe… I’m just a huge beast now.”

Even his body was only a fraction of his true power.

“Still… this is enough.”

It was sufficient to kill Yushinwoo.

He was still weak compared to Angra Mainyu’s true power.

“My plan wasn’t wrong.”

Thus, Markosias felt confident his decision to deal with him directly was correct.

Any attempt to influence the mortal world comes with heavy penalties.

Angra Mainyu was gradually regaining his original power.

The earlier he was killed, the better. Delay could make him too strong to defeat.

“Found you! Die!”

He spotted Yushinwoo battered and collapsed.

If he ran up and stomped him, it would be over.

Chaaak! Tat-tat-tat-tat!

But a new obstacle appeared.

A human grabbed him and ran, evading his charge.

“Guaaaah!”

Markosias screamed in fury.

The vile, lowly creature…

Daring to protect Angra Mainyu and trample his pride…

Everything surrounding it must be annihilated.

Bloodlust surged.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The winged wolf charged at its prey at full speed, each stride terrifyingly long, and its footwork unmatched by normal demonic wolves.

“Ahhhh! Damn it!”

Patrick ran terrified, but escape was impossible.

“I… I’m going to die…!”

The beast aimed at Yushinwoo.

He could leave Patrick behind and perhaps survive, but that would betray his knightly pride.

He ran forward, despite the inevitable outcome.

“I’m going to die… die… die…!”

“Catch it!”

At the last second, Adel threw something.

Patrick instinctively reached out and caught it.

“What is this…?”

A steel orb with a heavy weight.

An Aether Weapon.

“Insert this into the Hero’s heart!”

“…Thank you…”

Yushinwoo snatched the Aether Weapon from Patrick’s hands and pressed it to his chest.

Charrreuk.

The unbound Aether Weapon merged with his soul and changed form.

Normally, it would transform into the most suitable weapon for its bound owner, like the knuckle gloves obtained at the Orc Castle.

But Yushinwoo had the power to override the system’s rules.

It allowed the Aether Weapon to be used abnormally.

Charrreuk.

“Return of the Original Eight-Armed Armament.”

“Hall of Evil.”

The primal forms of all guardian spirits he had absorbed manifested.

Eight weapons materialized around him and Patrick.