Chapter 158 : Chapter 158
Chapter 158 : Supreme King (2)
Goo-oh-oh…….
Surging Demonic energy stretched out.
It was threatening and immense, greater than any Demonic energy I had felt until now.
Rather than intending to attack me, it seemed the Demonic energy harbored by the Supreme King was so powerful that it naturally affected me.
[Mr. Vell!]
Tzzt, tzztzzt──!!!
As soon as Lion's urgent shout was heard, the Demonic energy stretching toward me collided with an invisible wall, spewing out intense sparks.
[The authority of the Postponer of Ruin rejects Demonic interference.]
But that Demonic energy soon lost its power and crumbled by the power of the Postponer of Ruin.
If it were the past, no matter if it was the power of the Postponer of Ruin, it wouldn't have been able to exert strength against Demonic energy of that magnitude, but now it was different.
Just as my own strength had grown with the recent level up, the power of the Postponer of Ruin had also strengthened together.
‘Demonic energy of this level just from his existence…….’
That alone was enough to know that the person before my eyes was the Supreme King.
“Do you know me?”
“I do. Very well.”
The corner of the mouth of the blurred silhouette hidden in the Demonic energy twisted.
I couldn't tell if it was a smile or another expression, but I thought of it as a laugh.
I didn't know what method he used, but the Supreme King already knew of my existence.
I knew this situation.
Previously, when I encountered Great Sage Akiro, the master of the labyrinth, in Akiro's Labyrinth.
Great Sage Akiro seemed to know some secrets related to the Ascension Stone and the sky.
Just like the Supreme King now.
“Is there anyone else besides you who knows about me, Supreme King?”
“If one wishes to reach the sky, eventually they come to see your shadow. A shadow so huge that one cannot help but see it.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
I didn't know what the Supreme King was saying, but I could tell it was related to my use of the Ascension Stone.
Above all, judging by the level of the emanating Demonic energy, the Supreme King must have absorbed more Ascension Stone Fragments than anyone I had seen.
Perhaps that was why he reached a truth others couldn't see, and because of that, he could plan such madness.
“To maintain reason while harboring that much Demonic energy. Just how many fragments did you absorb?”
“One cannot reach the sky without that much resolve. I have already made such resolve.”
Since it seemed we would only have meaningless conversation if we continued like this, I got straight to the point.
My goal was to meet the Supreme King anyway, so even if the Supreme King had been waiting for me, nothing would change.
“What is your goal?”
“To open the sky.”
“What exactly happens when the sky opens?”
“You didn’t know yet. That is a bit unexpected, Postponer of Ruin. No, it is disappointing.”
The Supreme King spoke as if he genuinely couldn't understand.
“What does that mean?”
“Come to think of it, it is strange.”
Whether I asked or not, the Supreme King continued speaking as he pleased.
“Why, are you so weak?”
The gaze of the Supreme King, shimmering with Demonic energy, looked at me.
“The one who performed the great miracle of postponing ruin shouldn’t be like this…… Was there some mistake. The sky is very fickle.”
“What nonsense is this?”
“There is a need to test it.”
Along with that, the Demonic energy that began to overflow from the Supreme King started to shape into a form.
Kkudeuk, kkudeudeuk…….
[Geu-ooo……!]
A monster made purely of Demonic energy.
I didn't know how many fragments he had absorbed, but the Supreme King was now beyond freely controlling Demonic energy; he was even capable of creating temporary summons with it.
‘Absurd.’
I had seen a scene similar to this a long time ago.
Right, when hunting the Destruction Dragon.
I didn't know the extent of the Demonic energy the Supreme King harbored, but the Supreme King was capable of such ridiculous things.
“Great one who postponed the destined ruin, I shall test you in the name of the Supreme King.”
“Dammit.”
Since it came to this, battle was unavoidable.
Of course, since it was being conducted under the name of a test, the Supreme King himself wouldn't move, but that didn't mean I could relax.
[Geu-oooooo!!!]
As soon as the monster of Demonic energy let out a huge roar, a massive energy wave swept over me.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!!!
At that, the authority of the Orb of Water manifested.
[The ‘Orb of Water’ protects the wearer.]
[The ‘Orb of Water’ deploys the ‘Rotating Shield of Water’.]
[The authority of the Postponer of Ruin rejects the Demonic .]
The power of the Postponer of Ruin wrapped around the Orb of Water blocked the energy wave imbued with Demonic energy.
[Keu-ooooo!!!]
The monster of Demonic energy, having spewed out a ferocious roar once, began to rush toward me.
Kung!
Ku-ung!
Every time the monster of Demonic energy moved its heavy body, the ground rumbled loudly.
Considering its essence, it shouldn't be easy to possess physical force, yet it was exerting such physical force.
‘It’s not an ordinary monster.’
I widened the distance from the monster of Demonic energy as much as possible, stepping with Gale Step using Hermes's Gale Boots.
However, despite possessing such physical force, the monster of Demonic energy seemingly had no separate physical body; it immediately transformed its form into its essence, Demonic energy, and chased me like smoke.
‘Indeed, it’s nothing but a monster.’
I thought as I looked at the monster of Demonic energy chasing me while transformed into blackish smoke.
‘The opponent is a monster made of pure Demonic energy.’
‘If I use Divine Sword Levatein, I could certainly suppress it, but as long as the Supreme King himself isn't stepping forward, I need to save it as a trump card.’
‘Since it’s a monster made of Demonic energy, the power of the Postponer of Ruin should be enough to suppress it.’
‘I use firearms.’
Normally, I wouldn't have thought of clumsily taking out a firearm against a player, but if he knew even the fact that I was the Postponer of Ruin, the story was different.
If I couldn't hide it anyway, I'd rather use it actively.
[Activating ‘Weapon Summon (??)’.]
[Personal weapon is summoned.]
[Summoning weapon, ‘AKR-74 Assault Rifle (GF-40 Grenade Launcher Combined)’.]
Along with a blue halo of light, the AKR-74 Assault Rifle, which had now become a firearm close to being my beloved weapon, revealed itself.
Given the opponent, there was no need to use Demonic Bullets or silent bullets anew.
Just, pull the trigger.
Clack─
Ta-ta-ta-tang!!!
The bullets fired in succession rushed toward the monster of Demonic energy at once.
At a glance, it might seem like such bullets couldn't inflict any damage on such a monster, but these weren't ordinary bullets.
Bullets pulled by none other than the power of the Postponer of Ruin.
As if proving that fact, as soon as the bullets, which weren't even Demonic Bullets, touched the monster of Demonic energy, fierce sparks occurred continuously.
Pa-ji-jik!
Pa-jik, pa-ji-jik!!
The body of the monster of Demonic energy, hit by the barrage of bullets, shimmered greatly.
Because the power of the Postponer of Ruin, which possessed a power antithetical to the Demonic, dealt a massive blow to the monster's essence.
‘No need to drag this out.’
While the monster of Demonic energy flinched for a moment from the bullet barrage, I immediately moved my finger to the trigger of the grenade launcher.
Tu-ung!
With a dull firing sound, the grenade was launched, drawing a parabola.
And the explosion that occurred.
Kwa-aaaa-ang!!!───
Along with the violent explosion, sparks symbolizing the power of the Postponer of Ruin spread like a cobweb amidst the flames.
After a while, the thick smoke passed, and nothing remained in that spot.
Even while that was happening, the Supreme King, far from rushing in, watched the scene as if amused instead.
“To so easily eliminate a monster that even a Level 7 player couldn’t easily oppose…….”
“Furthermore, a weapon that shouldn’t exist in this world exists. It must clearly be something that goes against causality, but why?”
“……Is that so! Was that it! Hahaha!”
Soon after, the Supreme King began to laugh bizarrely with a voice like scratching metal.
“What is so funny?”
“Do you still not know, Postponer of Ruin! That your existence itself guarantees the connection between beyond the sky and this world!”
Although it was a sound close to a metallic screech, a certain euphoria could be felt in that voice.
“You’re only saying incomprehensible things.”
“No need to understand. Since you are the Postponer of Ruin, it is no different from being in the center of this huge flow anyway.”
“Center by whose decision?”
I hadn't talked with the Supreme King for long, but spewing only crazy talk, he seemed exactly like a guy who would do crazy things.
Indeed, if he were a sane guy, he wouldn't have the grotesque thought of offering hundreds, tens of millions of people as human sacrifices.
“Enough with the useless Zen paradoxes, just answer my question. What exactly happens when the sky opens?”
“One will be able to choose.”
“What choice?”
“Whether to open the door, or to close it.”
It was still an unknown remark, but for some reason, a scene came to mind.
What I saw beyond the sky was the scenery of Earth.
Then what meaning would opening and closing the door leading there have?
Perhaps, really perhaps…….
Would it be possible to return to Earth?
“Postponer of Ruin, thanks to you postponing ruin, the world that should have ended originally gained a reprieve.”
After hunting the Destruction Dragon, I became the Postponer of Ruin.
Then what did I become after using the Ascension Stone?
“One cannot deny that it is a great achievement. However, that twisted the fate that should have met its end originally, and the twisted fate came to harbor a destiny to destroy everything.”
The Supreme King's metallic voice flowed out.
“You asked what happens when the sky opens.”
As if he was finally ready to convey the real answer to that question, the Supreme King spoke calmly.
“I will open the sky, and going further, I will forcibly open the door that is there. All these tasks are for that sake.”
“Then what happens?”
“I am also the same as everyone.”
Instead of answering that question, the Supreme King said what he wanted to say.
“I just wish to return to my hometown.”
The Supreme King, who always seemed crazy, spoke words that weren't crazy for this moment alone.
If there was one problem, it would be that the sincerity the Supreme King spat out was the craziest.
“Returning to my hometown……. Do you reckon that will be possible if you open the sky? No, is it even true that you can open the sky with a barbaric method like human sacrifice in the first place?”
“Opening the sky will certainly not be an easy task. But there is no contract in this world that cannot pay the price. Then the magic to open the sky would be the same.”
“……You’re going to bet hundreds, tens of millions of lives on such uncertain possibility?”
“Do you intend to interfere, Postponer of Ruin.”
The Supreme King's metallic voice laughed.
“Then interfere. If you can stop me, that too would be the flow of a new fate.”
I was certain with that.
As I first thought, the Supreme King wasn't an existence that could be persuaded with words.
“I am the Supreme King.”
Blackish Demonic energy began to fill up around the Supreme King.
“Postponer of Ruin, I will wait for the fate you will bring.”
The figure of the Supreme King disappeared along with the blackish Demonic energy.