Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 197

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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197
I followed Valefor toward Morax’s Castle.
Within the Eastern Region, Morax’s faction controlled the Gates, so we had to travel on foot.
Bringing the entire force at once risked exposure, so we divided into smaller groups to approach the castle.
The Eastern Region under Morax’s dominion was utterly different from the Western Region. It felt like the true Demon Realm itself.
Demons enslaved demons, and ceaseless battles and plunder ravaged the land.
As a result, no one spared a glance for the dying demons scattered along the streets.
“Quite different from the Western Region.”
“Gaff is the anomaly. The true nature of demons—who sustain themselves by absorbing demonic energy saturated with countless desires—is struggle and ambition. Attempting to govern them like humans is fundamentally un-demonic.”
As we left the Slums and drew closer to the castle, the buildings improved as if we’d stepped through a time portal, and the demons’ attire grew finer. Crime vanished entirely.
“This is more tolerable.”
“None dare challenge a demon of superior strength.”
We reached the castle gates. Now I needed only to conceal myself and wait for the other groups.
“Lord, from here on—? What are you doing here?”
A band of demons suddenly emerged before Morax’s Castle.
From another direction, a second group of demons appeared.
Their uniforms were unified within each group, suggesting they were factions or organized units. Yet all bore the typical demon appearance—horns protruding, skin dark or crimson.
Soon we were surrounded on all sides by demons.
Their numbers far exceeded all the vampires combined.
“What is this? Didn’t we agree you’d all be absent?”
Valefor stepped forward.
“Lord Morax has already seen through your scheme. While you’re scattered, he intends to conduct the purge he’s long postponed.”
“Don’t you know Marbas stands with us?”
“I do. But had you bats not sided with humans, this would never have happened. Bowing to worthless humans—I knew you hornless creatures were weak, but did you abandon pride itself?”
The demon’s face twisted with revulsion; Valefor’s contorted with fury.
“So the Demon Realm practices horn discrimination.”
Is a world without prejudice truly impossible?
“You’re the human with the audacity to enter the Demon Realm. Strong for a human, perhaps, but you’re still merely prey. I’ll make you immortal and slowly drain your soul.”
As his words ended, the demons began closing in.
Morax alone was beyond my reach. The rest—mere rabble—no matter their numbers, posed no real threat.
I’d intended to preserve the vampires as subordinates, but they were blood-drinkers after all; if they fell, so be it.
“Valefor, do vampires enjoy being belittled?”
“How could we?”
Valefor’s teeth ground together audibly.
“Show me the true power of vampires.”
“I’ve awaited those words, Lord.”
The elite vampires, elevated to the next tier, unleashed a blood-red aura.
The demons faltered, caught off guard by the overwhelming presence.
“Tch, you’ve been feeding on human blood? It matters not—we outnumber you! Die—”
That talkative demon had irritated me from the start. I charged toward him, my body expanding as my vampire garments tore and armor materialized around me.
“Huh…?”
As I charged forward, my body swelled in size simultaneously, and the demon caught off-guard was sent flying by the impact.
I barreled through the clustered Demon Race like an armored vehicle, leaving those in my wake either bouncing away or crushed beneath my feet.
“I’ll stop you!”
Another giant demon kicked his own allies aside and rushed at me.
We collided, grasping hand to hand.
The force transmitted through the contact was considerable. He possessed strength worthy of stepping forward.
“It’s Dratoc! The Eastern Region’s greatest warrior has him now—he’s finished!”
“Greatest warrior? Isn’t Marbas or Morax stronger?”
“Nonsense! There’s no way he survived fighting either of them!”
I pressed down on the snarling Dratoc with both hands.
His spine bent slowly beneath the pressure. A little more force and I could crush him completely, but demons attacked from all directions.
I spat toxic mist from my mouth directly onto Dratoc’s face.
“Gaaahhh!”
Dratoc’s face melted away, and the demons rushing from nearby were engulfed in the toxic mist.
When the mist dispersed slightly, what remained were Demon Race warriors with melted skin, collapsed on the ground.
“Is… is that really human?”
I trampled the terrified demons in succession, shattering their formation.
“Follow the Lord!”
Led by an exhilarated Valefor, the vampires fashioned swords and spears from blood, rampaging among the enemy demons.
“What’s with the horns! Are they just heavy?”
“Horns tear their clothes so they walk around half-naked—savages!”
The vampires, having accumulated resentment from being discriminated against for their lack of horns, cursed anything horn-related and relentlessly targeted their heads.
“Don’t lose momentum! We outnumber them! Lord Morax will stop that human!”
The demons quickly unified and pressed forward. Numbers were indeed overwhelming—no matter how many I destroyed, more kept coming.
“Morax commands this much loyalty?”
I asked Razgas, who was fighting behind me.
“It’s not loyalty, Lord. Morax is cunning. He’s simply blocked every escape route. Those demons who betrayed him before were executed in gruesome fashion.”
“My apologies, Lord. I truly believed I had convinced them.”
“For a minor player, you’re surprisingly calculating.”
“I never imagined the day I’d harvest your soul would come so soon.”
A low, thick voice echoed from behind.
“Long time no see, you horned bastard.”
“You couldn’t defeat me on Earth, yet you stir up trouble like this in the Demon Realm? You’ve grown bold.”
“I wouldn’t have done this alone. But you have many enemies, don’t you?”
“Did you trust that hornless half-breed vampire? Or Marbas? I’ve already lured him elsewhere. He won’t be coming here.”
“…”
“I won’t bother offering surrender. Struggle all you like before you die.”
Morax charged forward, the earth trembling beneath his feet.
“Get out of the way!!”
A towering figure standing five meters tall kicked aside the demons blocking the path ahead and charged forward, causing the demon horde to part like waves before me.
“Even now, it would be wise to retreat….”
Valefor spoke in a hesitant voice.
“Why?”
“Marbas is not here, is he?”
“I never liked relying on others anyway. This works out well.”
“Bepar, at this rate, there is no difference between this and launching a solo ambush….”
“Don’t tell Gaff.”
After issuing that warning to Razgas, I charged forward as well.
Against an opponent stronger than myself, sheer size could sometimes become a hindrance. With Morax being relatively compact and dense, it was better for me to match his dimensions.
Morax and I rushed at each other with full force and collided.
Kwaaaang!
I brought both fists down hard on Morax’s head as he charged toward me.
But Morax shattered my extended arms and drove forward, piercing my abdomen with his horns.
The collision between two powerhouses created a violent shockwave that sent smaller demons flying.
“Ugh….”
Morax’s horns did more than inflict physical damage—they pierced through my very spirit.
My consciousness wavered for a moment, but I gritted my teeth, seized his head, and pulled it toward my abdomen.
“What?!”
“Take the horns.”
I unleashed the deadly venom I had once used to sever the Blue Dragon’s tail, striking repeatedly at the junction where his head connected to his horns.
“Krraaaagh!”
Morax’s horns did not dissolve easily, but his skin melted away.
He thrust my body off his horns and freed himself.
No matter how much stronger I had become, I was not yet at the level where I could overpower a Demon King through raw strength alone. If I were still on Earth, I might have found a way.
I corrected my position mid-air, landed on the ground, and charged at him again.
His fist struck my body, but my fist also landed squarely on his.
It was an unfair exchange—for every ten units of damage I sustained, I dealt only one in return. But while my body continuously regenerated, his did not.
“This leeching bastard!”
Unlike when I was on Earth, my refusal to die no matter how many times he struck me caused Morax to unleash his demonic energy explosively, hurling me backward.
Then his human form transformed completely into a massive black bull, charging at me with primal fury.
He came at me, but his speed was as if a lance of black demonic energy itself had been fired.
I leaped diagonally backward to evade the charge’s trajectory, but he curved with an impossible arc and pierced my chest with his horns.
“Break… already… break!”
While impaled, I struck repeatedly at the junction where his head connected to his spine, but he simply drove forward into the cliff face, and the rock crumbled and collapsed.
“Die! Die!”
Morax, who had shifted back into human form, rained down punch after punch on my body buried beneath the rubble. Dazed by the impact, I could neither evade nor defend against his assault.
“A mere human causing me such trouble!”
When my resistance ceased, he exhaled sharply through his nostrils and straightened his waist.
Having grappled with Morax, I had been driven far from the center and into a depression where no other demons were visible.
“Cough… I’m still not strong enough to face a Demon King….”
“Still? Do you truly believe you’ll have another chance?”
“Yeah, I think I will.”
I retrieved a rooster from the Infinite Box and applied heat, melting it away.
“A chicken?”
The demon’s expression twisted in bewilderment as I pulled out what appeared to be an ordinary rooster, but the moment the bird dissolved and released its radiant light, his face drained of color entirely.
“That… that is!”
“A gift from the Heavenly Kingdom.”
The light pouring from the rooster seared Morax’s body.
“Argh!!”
Unfortunately, the radiance the rooster emitted wasn’t potent enough to kill Morax, who styled himself a Demon King.
He lunged to destroy the bird, but as the rooster startled and flinched, I positioned myself in his path.
Whether from the light’s effects or something else, Morax’s strength had diminished considerably from before.
As we locked in a contest of raw power, I drew a blade from the back of my hand and drove it into his flank.
“Screeeeeech!!”
A horrific wail erupted from him—something between the bellow of cattle and the shriek of a beast.
Until now, my attacks had barely scratched him, but weakened by the rooster’s light, my blade wedged deep into his side.
“Gah!!”
Unable to eliminate the bird because I blocked him, Morax struck my sword and shattered it, then attempted to flee the Basin.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I manifested an elongated spear from my palm and drove it through his back, pinning him to the ground.
“No… please… spare me… I’ll let you rule the Eastern Region! The Eastern Region!”
“What would I do ruling the Eastern Demon Realm? Go in peace.”
I thrust the spear through his skull.
“Cursed wretch! I won’t forget this humiliation!”
He tore open a Gate behind him and was sucked through it in retreat. My allies couldn’t open Gates, but he could.
“Not so fast!”
I seized Morax’s horn and yanked it as the Gate sealed shut, severing it clean off.
“How frustrating….”
I could have torn through space itself to pursue him, but without knowing what awaited on the other side, reckless pursuit was impossible.
Now I needed to secure the rooster. I’d released it out of desperation, but I had to keep it hidden from the Demon Race. The real problem was that catching it had been extraordinarily difficult.
I approached the rooster with utmost caution.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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