Chapter 891
Episode 223: Uncomfortable Encounters (Part 2)
At the very moment Orgal went to meet the Red-Eyed Tribe and unexpectedly ran into Manof, far away in the Land of Fire—
Shinu quietly surveyed his domain.
There was a time when no being could dare enter this place without permission. Even if someone managed to slip in, they would be consumed and perish in the flames that filled the space. Among the immortals, only the highest-tier gods could stand against him; among mortals, only Changseong could endure the fire.
But now, the Land of Fire had lost all its grandeur. More than half of the territory lay cold and barren, the flames extinguished.
It was because of Luke.
Not long ago, an ancient warrior of the Underworld Tribe had invaded the Land of Fire and pushed Shinu to his limits.
“He’s like a shadow of fear itself. Had I not already been caught in the cycle of annihilation, I wouldn’t have been so sure of the outcome against him,” Shinu said.
Kadun nodded slowly in response.
He couldn’t speak. Most of Kadun’s body was composed of spiritual energy, and after dying once in his last battle with Veradin, he was little more than a wraith.
The power of the Fire Dragon, once a symbol of Ziphl’s might, had almost completely faded. Now, only the spiritual energy kept him barely alive.
Between them was another person, barely clinging to life by the combined power of Shinu and spiritual energy.
Kelliak Ziphl was also trapped in a cycle of rampages and fainting spells. The moment he stepped outside the ‘Ring of Fire’ created by Shinu, his breath would cease.
“Ugh.”
Shinu collapsed to the ground, trembling violently.
An hour ago, Luke had returned to the fiery domain once more. Their second battle was fiercer than the first, leaving far more devastation in its wake.
The only reason Shinu was still alive and able to speak in such a hollow voice was because of Luke’s mercy.
Or rather, it wasn’t mercy—it was simply that the Solar God Cult had a use for him yet.
“Luke will probably come again soon. When that happens, I’ll have only one choice: either threaten them by accepting annihilation the moment I attack, or fight.”
Either way, there was no way out.
Accepting annihilation meant the end, and even if he fought, the result would be the same—he’d be dragged away pitifully, unable to even vanish, becoming material for the Demon God Stone.
Threats wouldn’t work either. If he wanted to avoid becoming material for the Demon God Stone and simply disappear, the opportunity was now. Luke held complete control over Shinu’s life—whether to live or die, it would be according to Luke’s will, not his own.
“Among the priests I met this time, many were from the ancient Underworld Tribe. Some seemed to be former warriors. If they appear in the mortal realm, wouldn’t the result be destruction?”
“You seem shaken after a hard fight, Shinu. I don’t know why the ancient Underworld Tribe is allied with the Solar God Cult, but they won’t bring about the world’s destruction.”
“I hope you can keep that promise. Always be wary of the priestesses. When the Demon Realm opens, this world will no longer be the place you once knew.”
“I expect you to struggle as you do now and vanish at the right time—when your disappearance won’t affect the Solar God Cult’s revival.”
Shinu recalled the conversation he had with Jin on the day they first met.
If things continued like this, the outcome Jin desired would soon come to pass: Shinu’s disappearance without impacting the cult’s resurgence.
For the first time since becoming an immortal, Shinu felt a hollow emptiness. Everything he had built over so many years was vanishing like a bubble.
How did it come to this…?
Was it because he sought power beyond the Solar God?
The Origin Stone—the original Demon God Stone.
An artifact created after the Solar God’s death, containing the power of all immortals.
The Origin Stone was initially made as a contingency for when gods might be attacked by mortals or when gods fought among themselves, threatening the world’s destruction.
But the completed Origin Stone was far more dangerous than the immortals had anticipated, and they eventually discarded it as the world’s history entered a new phase.
The first god to propose the Origin Stone’s creation was Shinu himself. He had been the most eager to make it, fully aware it would have to be discarded once completed.
Yet he pushed for its creation with the intention of later crafting a counterfeit—the Demon God Stone—to claim for himself.
He needed to see if the Origin Stone’s power was truly as great as theory suggested, if it could overwhelm all gods, even surpassing Solderet and Helluramma, and ultimately the Solar God.
But from the start, Shinu’s expectations were off—because of the error known as the Five Kings of the Black Sea.
“Perhaps the fragments of the Origin Stone transforming into the monstrous Five Kings of the Black Sea was a warning from the Solar God Kinzello. Or maybe it was just a prank by the witch Helluramma… If only I had abandoned my greed for the Demon God Stone back then and focused on eliminating the Five Kings. Would things be better now?”
Kadun remained silent.
Kelliak, gasping for breath inside the Ring of Fire, said nothing either. If the young Fire Dragon Pai were here, he might have said something, but Pai was currently in the mortal realm, searching for the Fire Dragons Shinu had sealed long ago. Pai was the only one among them still in good condition.
Pai’s presence was their faintest hope.
If Pai found the sealed Fire Dragons, they would have no choice but to help Shinu, whether they wanted to or not.
These were the Fire Dragons Shinu had created but could not control.
The Fire Prodigies of Fire, whose power surpassed even the first Fire Dragon King Trakarnis and his successor Kadun—never before had their strength been so desperately needed.
With their help, they could buy time against Luke, and perhaps even burn away the spiritual energy consuming Kelliak.
So, in the end, Shinu’s only hope was that Pai would return to the Land of Fire bearing good news.
All the divine power and majesty he had displayed before Jin had been nothing but empty bravado.
Now, Shinu had lost most of his strength and authority, his contractor, his most cherished guardian dragon, and had been abandoned by Ziphl. He was little more than a pitiful shadow of his former self. That was why, when Pai found Tikan, Shinu was in such a starving, wretched state.
Remembering Jin’s mocking gaze piercing through him only deepened his misery.
“…Sometimes I think it might just be better to accept annihilation, Kadun. Most mortals in this world manage to rise above such despair.”
For the first time, Kadun shook his head. As he moved, dark, spirit-tainted blood trickled between his blackened scales.
“You want revenge, don’t you? But now, I must accept defeat. My plan, older than human history itself, was flawed from the start. The twisted fruit that bloomed through it all has fallen into others’ hands. We no longer have the power to fix the plan or reclaim the Demon God Stone.”
Kadun shook his head again.
Though he had no voice, Shinu understood what he meant.
“You want to say we should join another faction, don’t you, Kadun? But we have no value now. If we find the sealed Fire Dragons and offer them to protect me, who would accept such a request?”
“Ugh…!”
Kadun let out a weak groan.
“The Imperial Family? They’re the ones who would sell us to Veradin first to complete the Demon God Stone. Even if Jin Runkandel contacts me again, it would only make me look more ridiculous. Orgal might protect me, but… he would use Bubar’s power to change us into something unrecognizable. Now that I’m weak, even a trivial fragment of a god’s reincarnation could do that.”
“Geh…”
“You mean the Red-Eyed Tribe? They’ll try to awaken the warriors by feeding on us. That’s worse than annihilation. As for the True Demon Realm… Hah, I don’t even want to talk about Jito. Just know that in this state, being with Jito is the most horrifying fate imaginable.”
Jito had long delighted in torturing immortals. For him, neither cause nor gain mattered—only pleasure. Shinu was the perfect toy for Jito.
Shinu pressed his forehead, shaking his head at the thought of Jito.
Just as he was about to prepare himself to accept annihilation, a sudden sensation came from beyond the fiery domain.
Could it be that Luke had already returned?
Luke had been here only an hour ago. He hadn’t escaped unscathed either, so Shinu was certain it would take at least three days before Luke could come back.
But moments later, Shinu’s eyes fell upon the young Fire Dragon Pai.
And someone completely unexpected.
“Uh, sorry, Lord Shinu. I should have asked your permission first… but this person stubbornly followed me and entered the Land of Fire…”
Shinu stared intently at the man standing beside Pai. Even Kadun suddenly stirred, blinking rapidly in disbelief.
[Ha ha… For a moment, I wondered if there was something wrong with my insight—if I was seeing things like mortals often do.]
The man didn’t respond to that, instead slowly approaching Shinu. Yet Shinu showed no sign of caution as the man took a step closer; on the contrary, he reached out his hand first.
“Welcome, Joshua Runcandel. Like you, I am a fallen being—the fire god, Shinu.”