Sovereign of the Infinite Clones [Novel] Chapter 448

My Alter Ego’S Path To Greatness Chapter 448

***

The Yellow Dragon’s Orb (3)

The small, bright-yellow creature met my gaze with clear, sparkling eyes, tilting its head adorably.

“Up you go.”

I gently unwrapped its long body from around my leg, grabbed it with both hands, and carefully lifted it up.

It had only just been born, so its scales still had a faint sheen, its mane and limbs had yet to fully develop, and the bump on its forehead was closer to a small lump than an actual horn.

Its appearance was still a far cry from that of a proper dragon.

And yet, even in such a state, the subtle air of dignity it exuded seemed to insist that it was, in itself, a being that embodied mystery.

“So, how exactly did you get here?”

[Kyaaah!]

Despite its reptilian appearance, Hwi-ryeong let out a puppy-like yelp and happily wagged its tail as it licked my cheek.

Thanks to the psychic connection between us, I instinctively understood what the little creature was trying to say.

“…You were just curious and decided to give it a try? And it happened to seem possible?”

[Grrrrr—!]

“Huh. How fascinating. I didn’t know you could do something like this.”

The baby Yellow Dragon looked around the house with eyes full of curiosity.

I gazed down at Hwi-ryeong with a strange look in my eyes, feeling the strong bond and connection linking the two of us.

‘Earth isn’t exactly a hospitable environment for beings like dragons that live by drawing upon the supernatural and mystical. There is only one exception.’

They could temporarily manifest in this world through the summoning of an Awakened, a being detached from the laws of this world.

Of course, as I had emphasized several times before, the ability to summon beings from other worlds had long since fallen into disuse.

No matter how lofty a realm a summoner from another world had attained, once they returned to Earth, where the restrictions were far more severe than in other worlds, they inevitably fell to little more than an ordinary level.

‘But my circumstances are different. Apparently, this little guy is being recognized by the system as a summoned creature. Could it be because it was born thanks to the “Yellow Dragon’s Orb”?’

If it was technically my summoned creature, various effects such as 『Dimensional Barrier Relaxation』 would naturally apply to it as well, making the current situation understandable.

Since Horus was me and I was Horus, perhaps from its perspective, there wasn’t much difference either way.

Of course, understanding that was one thing.

Actually accepting the fact that this little creature was now here was an entirely different matter.

“Haa….”

I looked at Hwi-ryeong here on Earth, blinking innocently as it stared back at me.

At the same time, I looked toward the baby Yellow Dragon in the Phantom Realm, peacefully asleep in Horus’s arms, and let out a sigh.

‘This really must have something to do with my 「Avatar」, right? No matter how extraordinary dragons are, I doubt it was born with an ability like this from the very beginning.’

Two tiny bodies existed simultaneously, one on Earth and the other in the Phantom Realm.

Of course, their mechanisms weren’t exactly identical to my unique skill.

If I had to put it into words, it could be considered a lower-grade version of 「Avatar」.

‘There’s no doubt that the one remaining in the Phantom Realm is the true body. The one that appeared here on Earth is… a projection of that body into this world?’

Who could possibly know more about this field than me?

Thanks to the insight I had naturally developed through the repeated evolution of my 「Avatar」 ability, it didn’t take me long to grasp the current situation.

‘There is only one body that can be projected in this manner. And the range within which it can be applied is limited as well.’

Unlike me, the biggest difference was that Hwi-ryeong’s ability came with various additional restrictions.

Perhaps things would be different if Hesperon, who possessed the 「Chain of Covenant」, grew stronger and summoned it somewhere else in the future.

But for now, it was safe to say that appearing here was the full extent of what it could do. That wasn’t all.

The moment the projection was made, the original body in the Phantom Realm would fall into a dormant state, leaving it defenseless.

On top of that, any damage sustained by the linked body would also be shared by the original body.

There were numerous other drawbacks as well.

In many ways, it was fundamentally different from my own 「Avatar」, which allowed me to operate my main body and clones as completely separate entities.

‘Well, Hwi-ryeong’s true body is in the middle of Geumo Island’s headquarters, so there shouldn’t be much danger anyway.’

Besides, the projected body could cancel its manifestation at any time.

If things ever reached a truly critical point, it could simply withdraw.

Just as I had avoided more than a few crises in the past by using ‘Dismiss Summon.’

“You really are something, aren’t you? Not only did you think it might work, you actually went ahead and did it.”

[Khaaa! Kkyang! Kkyang!]

“…Yeah, yeah. Aren’t you a clever little thing?”

I chuckled and stroked Hwi-ryeong’s head, pleased with the praise.

I hadn’t even realized what was happening this time, which was why I had allowed its sudden intrusion.

But since I was the one who held the initiative in this relationship, there was no way I’d let that happen again.

[Kyahang! Kyang!]

“Yeah, yeah. Here you go. You wanted to try this?”

Still, now that things had turned out this way, perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to put everything aside for a little while and spend some time with this little one.

I let Hwi-ryeong, which was fussing like a small child, wrap itself around my neck like a scarf as I showed it around various parts of my residence, feeding it all sorts of snacks along the way.

‘It’s warm. It looks unmistakably like a reptile, but is it warm-blooded rather than cold-blooded?’

For the first time in a long while, a guest had entered this enormous place that I had always used alone.

And as a result, I began to feel some emotion gently tickling the depths of my heart, something I hadn’t even realized had been there.

Suddenly, an impulse I thought I had long since grown numb to surged up from within me.

“…Well, I thought I was over this by now.”

Was I lonely too, after all?

I had thought I would be fine since I lived a social life several times more extensive than that of ordinary people thanks to having multiple bodies.

But apparently, there was something those superficial relationships could never satisfy.

‘Even if it was just with Taesan… No, no. This isn’t the time to let my guard down.’

The full-scale conflict with the Beoncheon Society had only just begun.

I had no idea what kind of ability users they might mobilize or what schemes they might devise against me.

I couldn’t carelessly create a weakness.

If I carelessly let something slip in the current situation, I might only end up putting my friend in greater danger.

‘It’s fine. I have plenty of capable people who can fight alongside me against them now. Once everything is over…’

Lost in thought, I shook my head and turned my gaze back to Hwi-ryeong, gently stroking its body.

The time we had spent together on Earth wasn’t particularly long.

But that didn’t mean I could keep this little one here forever.

“Alright. You’ve played enough, haven’t you? Then it’s about time you went back. They’re waiting for you to wake up over there, too.”

[Kkyung….]

“What? You can come visit again next time, can’t you? Today’s not the only day you’ll ever have.”

[Kyang!]

Only a few hours had passed since Hwi-ryeong crossed over to Earth.

But because of the time difference, an entire day had already passed in the Phantom Realm.

Dragons were naturally a species that slept quite a lot, so it wasn’t particularly strange.

Still, for the inhabitants of Geumo Island, who had been preparing a festival to welcome the newly born Yellow Dragon, it was bound to be disappointing.

Sssshk—

Perhaps sensing my thoughts, the baby dragon quietly nodded as its body gradually began to fade away.

The warm sensation slowly growing more distant.

Just before it disappeared completely—

Tap.

The tiny head, smaller than my fist, touched my forehead.

And a short while later.

I was left standing alone in the middle of my spacious living room, just as usual.

“……”

For some reason, the house seemed even emptier than usual.

The place, which had been filled with movement just moments ago, was now steeped in a cold silence that made it feel as though none of it had ever happened.

I stood there quietly, staring at the scene.

“Ha! That little brat just got born and it’s already getting cheeky…”

A hollow chuckle escaped me for no particular reason.

What was even fSisr was that I actually felt somewhat comforted by such a trivial gesture.

Was this why people kept pets?

“…Well, it was a little empty for a place this big. Maybe I’ll raise a few animals as a hobby.”

Preferably something as clever as that little guy.

Having roughly settled my thoughts, I turned my attention to the situation that was still unfolding elsewhere.

The work of sorting through the supplies obtained from the Heavenly Demon Divine Church’s warehouse had already been completed long ago.

Rare weapons and various spirit beasts’ cores containing extraordinary powers, materials harvested from high-ranking monsters, and even a considerable number of Dragon Pearls.

There was more than enough material that could be used as energy.

‘It’s a shame I couldn’t obtain an intact Yellow Dragon’s Dragon Pearl.’

But that couldn’t be helped.

There was no way the Demonic Cult would have obtained an artifact as precious as a Dragon Pearl and simply left it sitting untouched for decades.

The Dragon Pearls had been contaminated through all sorts of experiments and demonic arts training, and had long since lost their original purity, reduced to nothing more than lumps of energy.

‘Besides, there’s no way Tam, the Celestial Demon Diviner who served as the Demonic Cult’s strategist, would have simply left them alone.’

In any case, the energy problem had been solved.

Unfortunately, however, I couldn’t immediately begin the ritual to hatch another Yellow Dragon.

Energy had been Azure Dragon’s biggest concern as well, which was why she had brought it up first.

But obviously, energy couldn’t possibly be the only requirement for conducting such a grand ritual.

‘If pushing things too hard makes it even more difficult to maintain the Phantom Realm, there’s nothing I can do. She said more time was needed to reduce the burden.’

Perhaps thanks to Hwi-ryeong giving me a chance to clear my head, I finally realized that I had been unnecessarily impatient.

It was probably all the stress that had accumulated without me realizing it as I confronted the formidable enemy known as the Beoncheon Society.

The more I fought them, and the more I learned about the Beoncheon Society, the larger the shadow of the Beoncheon Society Master standing behind them seemed to grow.

An absolute being who possessed enough power to overturn the entire world and reshape Earth’s order at any moment, yet kept those beings firmly restrained and under control so they couldn’t act recklessly.

‘If there weren’t some reason forcing them to remain active from the shadows, the world would already have fallen under the Beoncheon Society’s control.’

That restriction was probably closely related to the Beoncheon Society Master’s inability to use his powers freely.

It likely wasn’t a limitation imposed solely on his own martial strength, but one that applied to the organization he had built with that power as well.

‘And as time passes, the restrictions holding him back are gradually weakening.’

That must be why he traveled across multiple dimensions, destroying worlds along the way.

It was true that I needed to settle the matter somehow before he finally broke free of those restraints completely.

The prospect of fighting someone who had become the god of Earth was intimidating enough.

And if things really progressed that far, there was no guarantee that Korea, which was known as my main base of operations, would survive either.

‘I could just hide somewhere with 「Dragon Lair」, but… everything I’ve built up over all this time would be wiped out.’

The whole of South Korea would become a battlefield.

The moment the nuclear missiles launched from China turned the entire country into a sea of fire, the moment I stepped forward to stop them, an all-out war with the Beoncheon Society would begin.

Would someone plotting to send more than half of humanity to its death really care about the lives of merely tens of millions?

“Phew. With things like this, it’s only natural that I’m getting impatient.”

But after calmly analyzing all the information I had gathered so far, it didn’t seem like that day would come anytime soon.

Even by the most conservative estimate, I should have several more years.

There was an old saying: The more urgent the matter, the more you should take the long way around.

Rather than ruining everything by acting rashly out of impatience, this was precisely when I needed to remain calm and deal with things one step at a time.

“First, there’s the all-around pressure being brought down on us. Our capable people are handling it well enough, but…”

Howard Industries, which had made a huge name for itself by selling magical artifacts throughout the world.

The various vampire organizations in different regions, including the Blood Alliance, along with the idol group Lycoris they had placed at the forefront as their public face.

And even the country of South Korea itself had only recently come under diplomatic pressure.

‘The Beoncheon Society must have had a hand in that.’

They hadn’t resorted to direct military force, but even so, it was by no means something to take lightly.

After all, the difference in scale alone was overwhelming.

‘Still, this is manageable for now. That’s why I reorganized the intelligence organization and gathered our subordinate forces in the first place.’

So what did I need right now?

What did I need to turn the tables instead of being dragged around by them, and to buy myself more time?

“Information. About the Beoncheon Society Master. And about his exact objective.”

Everything I had discovered so far consisted of nothing more than superficial information.

To devise a fundamental countermeasure—to anticipate his intentions by one step—the first priority was to understand the more detailed chain of cause and effect behind his actions.

And, as it happened. One method perfectly suited for that purpose had just been prepared.

***

[It is said that the ideology and beliefs of one who carries a great cause are revealed through the deeds they have committed in the past.]

A space filled with deep darkness.

From its center, an eerie voice rang out.

[I shall thoroughly uncover it all. The path you have walked until now.]

And immediately afterward.

The overwhelming presence that had filled the darkness vanished without a trace.

***

This world had fallen.

Demons freely roamed the surface, while humans hid underground to escape them.

The few humans who had managed to survive did nothing but kill one another and plunder what little supplies remained, fighting over them with no will left whatsoever to oppose the demons.

Those brave enough to dream of doing so and challenge the impossible had already all fallen into Purgatory.

“Ugh… I won’t let you get away with this… I swear… I’ll kill you…”

In this world, being captured, toyed with, and killed by a demon was no different from a natural disaster.

Their acquaintances could only mournfully chalk it up to bad luck.

They couldn’t even bring themselves to think about taking revenge on the one responsible.

Because such a thing was impossible to begin with.

“Haa, haa… A demon… A demon! If only I could make a contract with a demon stronger than the one he contracted with…”

But if another human being was behind it, the story was different.

If the wildfire that had burned everything you owned had been deliberately started, wouldn’t the arsonist responsible be the true enemy?

The problem was that even that arsonist stood at an unreachable height, ruling over the very top of the hierarchy in this ruined world.

Demon Contractors.

Slaves who had betrayed humanity and sold everything they possessed to demons.

In exchange, they were promised wealth and glory while they were still alive.

Demon Contractors were nothing more than toys of the demons.

“Great being, supreme being. I offer you both my soul and flesh. Please, I beg you, heed the resentment that tears my very guts apart…”

It was precisely because of this that there were plenty of people who wished to become Demon Contractors.

Was it really so strange to consider the reality right in front of them more important than whatever happened after death?

The young man performing a ritual here now was no different.

He, too, held such thoughts as he performed the ritual to become a Demon Contractor.

Following a method he had painstakingly discovered after overcoming all manner of hardships and adversity, he spared no expense, pouring even rare and difficult-to-obtain materials into the ritual.

But becoming a Demon Contractor was by no means easy.

The reason was simple.

It was more fun that way.

The method this young man had obtained was also one of the fake methods the demons had scattered around for precisely that reason.

An utterly meaningless struggle, painfully difficult and completely useless.

Had he possessed even the slightest talent for becoming a Contractor, there might have been a faint possibility.

Unfortunately, he possessed not the slightest bit of talent.

Ghuuooooo—

And therefore.

What was happening now was unmistakably an anomaly.

Deep darkness began gathering atop the altar the young man had painstakingly prepared.

A fog as deep as an abyss, one that not even a single ray of light could penetrate, slowly began to take shape.

“Oooooh! Great Demon of Eternity! Please heed my call—!”

But the young man, who knew absolutely nothing about this field and, until recently, had been concerned with nothing more than surviving, had no way of knowing.

He merely rejoiced at receiving the response he had hoped for and cried out at the top of his lungs.

[Great Demon of Eternity…? Where did you pick up such a pathetic name?]

Then, an eerie voice emerged from the center of the altar.

An overwhelming presence, as though all the evil in the world had been fused into a single entity.

[Heh heh heh. I am the king of all the dead, the ruler of death.]

Under the pressure so overwhelming that merely facing it felt as though his soul were being crushed, the young man began gasping for breath.

He desperately tried to keep his mind intact, but he had reached his limit.

And as his consciousness slowly began to fade beyond the ritual, A terrifying voice drifted faintly through the darkness.

[I am Hannibal Strauss.]