-1583- [ Undying King ]

In the situation where a dark torrent surged like a tsunami, Rozen calmly chanted the pacification mantra that beseeched the protection of the war god Bishamonten, enveloping himself in divine protection.

Rozen was then bestowed with power comparable to that of a war god, causing his spiritual energy to rise continuously and his strength to increase steadily.

"Zing!"

A brilliant flash of light momentarily flickered, dramatically amplifying the power of *Magic Resilience* that was imbued into the golden sword in Rozen's hand.

Rozen gripped the sword of *Magic Resilience* and fiercely slashed toward the incoming dark torrent.

"Boom!"

Amid the thunderous roar, the sword of *Magic Resilience* cleaved the dark torrent in half, dispersing it entirely.

In response, Zeth remained unfazed, raising his cursed sword once more.

"Cursed Sword Battle Skill — *Twilight Flash Blade*!"

Zeth slammed his cursed sword again, but this time, instead of a dark torrent, countless blades of light, like a dense barrage of projectiles, shot toward Rozen.

In the face of the numerous light blades, Rozen again unhurriedly raised his sword of *Magic Resilience*, swinging it in a sweeping arc, unleashing a dazzling display of swordsmanship.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Amid the deafening explosions, the light blades were severed one by one by Rozen, detonating upon impact, with not a single one managing to touch his body.

"Cursed Sword Battle Skill — Fierce Cross Slash!"

Zeth relentlessly pressed on, using another battle skill. His cursed sword slashed in front of him, forming a cross-shaped dark slash wave that tore through the silver mist and raced toward Rozen.

Faced with this skill, Rozen didn't even bother to swing his sword, simply extending his hand and thrusting out a punch.

"Boom!"

With an explosive sound, the cross-shaped dark slash wave was utterly shattered by Rozen's punch.

Zeth watched in disbelief, his eye twitching as he spoke with resignation.

"Does it really have no effect at all?"

Heaven help him, the battle skills Zeth had just employed were all remarkably powerful.

To put it in perspective, any one of them could have easily destroyed the floating city of Vebel or obliterated the surrounding artificial islands without issue.

Yet, such overwhelmingly powerful attacks had no effect on Rozen at all.

These facts made it clear to Zeth that he had once again underestimated Rozen. No matter how many times he reevaluated him, no matter how seriously he took him, he still ended up underestimating him.

And this was despite Rozen maintaining the summoning of tens of thousands of dragons and two of his Beast Vassals.

Zeth couldn't believe that summoning a dragon army of this magnitude, all controlled at Rozen's whim, came without some form of cost.

Even if there were no such cost, it should have consumed an immense amount of mana.

Indeed, summoning tens of thousands of Wyverns imbued with high-grade mana had consumed a considerable amount of Rozen's high-grade mana.

Zeth could sense this much.

Yet, even so, Rozen remained far stronger than Zeth, even after summoning the Wyvern army.

"What a pity."

With those words, Rozen suddenly vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already behind Zeth.

"I've already been holding back."

With that said, Rozen slashed his sword of Magic Resilience.

"Shk!"

Zeth's body was immediately sliced in half at the waist, severed into two.

However, before blood could even spill, Zeth's body hesitated briefly before rejoining together, fully restored.

Seeing this, Rozen showed no surprise, resolutely swinging his sword once more.

"Shk!"

Zeth's body was again cleaved in half.

"Shk! Shk! Shk!"

Rozen relentlessly swung his sword, unleashing countless slashes, repeatedly cutting Zeth's body into innumerable pieces.

Yet, even so, the pieces of flesh gathered back together, and in the blink of an eye, Zeth was fully restored once more.

At this point, Rozen ceased his attacks.

"As expected," Rozen spoke with certainty, "This isn't regeneration. It's your curse, isn't it?"

Rozen confidently affirmed this.

Meanwhile, the newly restored Zeth remained unperturbed, even smiling.

"Did you figure it out?"

Zeth nodded calmly.

"That's right, this is my curse. No matter how severe the injury, I can recover instantly. I can even resist death itself. If I lose my life, I'll immediately come back to life, fully restoring my stamina, energy, mana, and jutsuryoku — The Undying King."

This was a curse born of Zeth's desire.

"To seize dominion and ascend to the throne, I was granted this curse upon coming to this world. It was bestowed upon me to fulfill my dreams, to achieve my ambitions."

As long as his dreams remained unfulfilled and his ambitions incomplete, Zeth would never die, nor would he ever lose his strength.

"So, I am destined to become king. No matter how powerful you are, you can't kill me. And as long as I cannot die, I will eventually achieve my ambition to rule this world and all humanity."

This was Zeth's true reliance, the reason he feared nothing from Rozen.

This power was even greater than the immortality of the Primogenitors.

After all, even the Primogenitors could be killed, for example, by god-slaying weapons or tools like the Demon-Purging Assault Spear Mark Seven, which could kill them instantly if it pierced their heart.

However, Zeth's Undying King not only resisted all forms of death but also allowed him to fully restore himself to peak condition immediately upon revival. It was, in every sense, an unbeatable ability.

The reason the dusk-colored barrier of the Ninth Artificial Floating Island instantly regenerated after being breached, without any permanent damage, was that the barrier was produced by a crumbling stone imbued with Zeth's curse, containing the power of the Undying King.

Therefore, Rozen had long suspected that Zeth's curse was such an ability, and now it was confirmed.

However...

"Do you really think you can rest easy with an immortal body?"

Rozen remained utterly unshaken, speaking with composure.

"Even if you can resist all forms of death, I can still seal you away, suppress you, and ensure you never rise again."

This was the best way to deal with an immortal being and the simplest solution.

At that point, even though Zeth wouldn't die, being sealed and suppressed forever would be a fate worse than death.

"I'll seal you away right here and now."

Rozen extended one hand, forming a seal with his fingers.

But at that moment...

"Don't even think about it!"

A sharp, feminine shout rang out as a figure appeared behind Rozen.

The newcomer was none other than Kirsty Vermilion.

Zeth's personal secretary glared at Rozen's back with murderous intent, her body suddenly emitting a dense fog.

However, unlike the surrounding silver mist, this fog was pitch black.

The dark fog surged forward, engulfing Rozen and the entire surrounding area, swallowing even the heavens and the earth.