Became the Weapon Monopolist of the Gods-Chapter 72: Sultan’s Magic Mirror (2)

The Sultan's Dark Realm was a gate that manifested the battlefield of the First Crusade.

As the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) name "Dark Realm" suggests, it is a space governed by "magic."

Inside the Dark Realm, mana could not be recovered, so if a hunter ran out of mana during an assault, it was over.

A hunter who ran out of mana would be killed by the Muslim spirits, and the assault would be deemed a failure.

This applied even to S-class hunters.

Without mana, a hunter was just an ordinary person with exceptional physical abilities.

Because of this, the Sultan's Dark Realm was considered one of the gates that humanity had never conquered.

Well, perhaps it could have been conquered initially, but the gate strengthened itself while humanity was inactive...

In any case, the Dark Realm, now much stronger, suddenly began its "corrosion."

As the Dark Realm expanded, half of the coastal city of Cardiff in the UK was consumed by the gate.

But that was not the end. The Sultan's Dark Realm spread across the world.

Gates opened in the UK, France, China, Korea, Monaco, the Vatican, and other places, and corrosion began.

The aftermath was immense.

In Monaco, an entire city vanished, and in China, two locations saw gates emerge.

[The Hunter Association officially announced this morning at 11 a.m. that the grade of the Sultan's Dark Realm gate will be upgraded from A-rank to S-rank.]

└...What? S-rank?

└?? S-rank is a complete joke, right?

└I heard the corrosion started on the west coast too. Is Korea doomed now?

└I'm in Taean, and there's an evacuation order. Convenience stores are being looted in real-time to gather food.

(Taean convenience stores being looted meme)

└What the hell.

"Things are getting out of hand."

Taean, within the influence of the Sultan's Dark Realm, had turned into utter chaos.

Though there was no direct damage yet, the fear of an S-rank gate was enough to plunge society into confusion.

Videos of cities in upper China turning into pandemonium were spreading in real-time on communities and news.

─■■■■!

─Run, run!

Videos of Muslim spirits riding horses emerging from the gate and engaging in battle with hunters appeared as well.

S-rank.

It was a catastrophe that humanity had to address together.

A gate that contained the potential for the world’s destruction if left unchecked.

Fortunately, the speed of the Dark Realm’s corrosion wasn’t fast, so for now, only the regions where the gates had opened were suffering.

At least in Korea, where the gate had emerged over the sea, the situation was a bit better.

At this rate, it would take about a year for the Dark Realm to reach Taean, they said.

But it was too early to relax.

==

The acceleration of the Sultan's Dark Realm's corrosion begins.

The status window popped up.

It was a warning message that appeared to all hunters worldwide.

After the acceleration message appeared, the speed of corrosion in the Sultan's Dark Realm tripled.

At this rate, it was predicted that Taean would be engulfed in just four months, and the pace was increasing every day.

A small city in France was reduced to rubble, and China, with two gates, was placed under lockdown.

When such catastrophic gates appear, countries usually unite for a collective response.

For gates like the Sultan's Dark Realm, with its dark attributes, the Vatican had always taken the lead in assaults.

And that was no different this time.

[Sultan’s Dark Realm Assault Official List - Pope Paul VII]

└Who will participate from our country? I heard the Crawley family will step in instead of the Earl of Cunningham in England.

└I also heard that paladins are going to join.

└I heard the Sicheondang family is going too. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

People eagerly awaited the Pope’s announcement, as news of a multinational assault force was about to be unveiled.

"Didn’t Monaco and the UK already have gates to the Dark Realm? Why weren’t they responding before?"

"Normally, people don’t take action until it’s right in front of them."

"Wouldn't it be better to eliminate it beforehand?"

Jeanne looked confused, but that was how international relations worked.

When an S-rank gate appears in a small country like Monaco, the response is usually lukewarm, like "so what?", but once it directly affects their own country, it becomes a "national" issue.

Once the Sultan's Dark Realm became a "national" issue, the response was surprisingly swift.

As soon as the acceleration message appeared, a strike force was assembled in just one day and was about to make its official announcement.

I turned on the TV with Vanessa and Jeanne, waiting for the Pope’s speech.

─There will be words from His Holiness the Pope.

The Vatican’s St. Peter’s Cathedral appeared on screen, and Pope Paul VII appeared at the podium.

─Dear brothers and sisters, our world is currently facing the enormous threat of the Sultan's Dark Realm.

Due to more pressing matters in the past, we were unable to respond sooner, but now we can delay no longer. If we do not act now, irreparable events will occur. I urge voluntary participation in the assault before it is too late.

The elderly Pope stepped forward and bowed deeply toward the podium.

A warning message scrolled at the bottom of the screen.

*Countries or organizations not participating in the assault will be excluded from the global crisis response list.

"Mandatory participation."

"Yes."

Though it was called voluntary, it was essentially mandatory.

Once the Pope left the podium, the eagerly awaited assault force list was revealed.

The list was long, but here are the key groups:

France: Bonaparte family

England: Crawley family

China: Sicheondang family, Namgung family

Korea: Hunter Association

Vatican: 3rd Holy Knights, Paladins

The Sicheondang and Namgung families were famous martial arts families in China, and the Crawley family was a prestigious wizard family known for their mastery of magical manipulation.

As for the Hunter Association in Korea and Bonaparte family, well, that was to be expected.

There were even five S-rank hunters on the list.

‘This is incredible.’

It was a flashy list, like seeing the Crusaders of the First Crusade.

The determination of various nations to completely eradicate the threat without leaving any trace was clear.

‘They should have done this earlier.’

While I was observing the list like a bystander, my phone rang.

Wiiing~

[Archbishop Ambrosio]

He was the archbishop of the Yeoksam Archdiocese.

"Archbishop, what is it?"

─How have you been? The reason I’m contacting you is that I believe I could help with the Sultan’s Dark Realm assault.

"I see many distinguished people are already involved. Would my help even be necessary?"

─Well, that’s...

Archbishop Ambrosio explained the situation.

He told me about the reason why the Earl of Cunningham failed the assault.

─Room Sultan is a demon. It’s said that neither magical nor physical attacks affect him.

"...Are you saying he’s invincible?"

─It’s not that attacks don’t work at all, but he recovers quickly, they say.

‘This is serious.’

The list had seemed impressive, but there was this hidden secret.

─And as you know, the dark magic is so strong that I wonder if the Saint's help would be of any use...

"I’ll think about it and get back to you."

I hung up the phone without giving a definite answer.

If it was a problem for Korea, then the Sultan's Dark Realm was a threat to me as well.

However, the fact that attacks wouldn’t work was too dangerous.

‘If it’s Hydra’s poison...’

Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.

If the attacks don’t work and the enemy recovers, wouldn’t it be enough to stop the recovery?

If someone is poisoned by Hydra’s venom, preventing further deterioration would be a challenge in itself.

After all, Hydra’s venom had even poisoned Cerberus, the gatekeeper of the underworld.

Above all, I wanted to test the abilities I had gained.

‘The Dark Realm should be susceptible to the blessings of the afterlife.’

The Sultan's Dark Realm seemed like the perfect environment to test my newly gained abilities.

Wiiing~

[Kim Ha-yoon]

As soon as I finished the call with Archbishop Ambrosio, I received a call from Kim Ha-yoon.

─Ah, Seo-jun! The Sultan's Dark Realm...

"I’ll go."

─What?

"The base camp is at the entrance to the Dark Realm, right?"

─Ah, yes. That’s right.

"Then I’ll see you there."

After hanging up with Kim Ha-yoon, I immediately made another call.

─Ancestor, I was about to contact you anyway.

It was Rachel, the head of the Bonaparte family, who answered the phone.

She was set to participate in the Sultan's Dark Realm expedition as the head of the Bonaparte family.

"Rachel, may I join you as well?"

─If you are participating, I’d be more than happy to have you along.

Vanessa and Jeanne had already been introduced as part of the Bonaparte family, so it seemed best to travel with Rachel for their sake.

Besides, there were few people I trusted as much as Rachel.

Three days later, the expedition to the Dark Realm began.

I was able to comfortably travel to the entrance of the Dark Realm in a Rolls-Royce that Rachel brought.

Above the West Sea, the black entrance of the Dark Realm hovered.

It looked like a black hole devouring everything around it.

─Would you like to enter the Sultan's Dark Realm?

‘Yes.’

As the space shifted, a foggy forest appeared.

The sky, like the border of the underworld, was pitch black with no clouds.

The Dark Realm was entirely consumed by dark magic.

And...

[The Blessing of the Afterlife is manifesting.]

The blessing of Hades was manifesting.