Chapter 233 : Chapter 233
Chapter 233 - Demon Realm (3)
[You have been judged to have accumulated sufficient Killing Karma.]
[Moving to a higher dimension.]
It was the first message transmitted by the Abyss since I had arrived in the Demon Realm.
Until now, I had not realized that a message from the Abyss could be this welcome.
‘But it says I accumulated sufficient Killing Karma?’
Something was strange.
Since coming to the Demon Realm, I had not killed anything.
I had scarcely seen anything alive in this place to begin with.
Moreover, old Master Heo Gyeong-woo had wiped out every last one of the Zombies we had encountered at the temple, so at first, I wondered whether the Abyss had made an error.
But such a thing could never happen in the Abyss.
I thought carefully.
What Killing Karma had I accumulated in the Demon Realm?
After removing several possibilities one by one, only one hypothesis remained.
It was that I had sent Zombies here.
“Ji-han! You arrived right away as well.”
This was the higher dimension.
The background had changed, but I wondered what was particularly different about it.
It was a world that did not appear very different from the first sight of the Demon Realm.
What stretched before us was the entrance to a village.
Unlike before, sounds came from the village, and smells drifted through the air.
Demonfolk were living there.
“We should enter the village.”
“Let us.”
The vague image I had held of the Demon Realm was a hellscape inhabited by all sorts of monsters.
But so far, my expectations had been quite far off the mark.
***
“You must be newcomers from the lower dimension.”
The villagers surrounded old Master Heo Gyeong-woo and me.
I could even feel killing intent from them.
This situation was entirely possible.
All of them had already accumulated dreadful Killing Karma, and there was no guarantee that it was not still ongoing.
The people each muttered a word as they looked at us.
“These days, the ones coming from the lower dimension are all Zombies. Have proper humans come after so long?”
“Why not just kill them? We could probably accumulate far more Killing Karma than from Zombies.”
As expected.
They called this place a higher dimension, but it seemed this was not the end either.
The fact that they mentioned Killing Karma meant there was another dimension above this one.
“Killing them is one option, but should we not also think about recruiting them into our village?”
“Right! The lower dimension has been in complete chaos lately, and these are people who managed to break through it and come all the way here. They might be useful.”
As though looking at monkeys inside a zoo enclosure,
or appraising goods at an exhibition, the people whispered among themselves while looking at us.
‘There is no reason to hand over the initiative.’
It did not matter if I killed some of them in the process of subduing them.
Strictly speaking, they had the shape of people, but in reality, they were demonfolk.
Rather, I thought it might be a good method to kill some of them and instill fear.
“Have you made your decision?”
I threw a brief question at them.
“What?”
“I mean what you intend to do with us.”
At my words, one demonfolk revealed killing intent and answered.
“A decision? I just made it. Because of that arrogant answer of yours.”
Then he immediately stretched a hand toward me.
He did not hold a weapon, but his sharp hand-blade shot toward me.
It was a movement on a completely different level from the Zombies we had fought at the temple.
Of course, against me, it was an attack that could not even come close.
SWISH!
The Holy Sword Bastian flashed, and his wrist flew off just like that.
Fresh blood spurted up, and his neck immediately met the same fate.
It happened in an instant, without even giving him time to scream or beg for his life.
What was astonishing was that the demonfolk vanished without leaving a corpse behind.
Even the sand on the ground, which had been stained thick with blood moments ago, had returned to its original state.
It was the same phenomenon as when the Zombies had disappeared at the temple.
Perhaps this was what the end of demonfolk looked like.
“And you?”
I immediately asked the remaining demonfolk surrounding us.
It meant I was asking what they intended to do after seeing that.
I did not care if all of them attacked.
After all, there were more demonfolk in this village anyway.
“Kill them!”
In the end, the answer that came back was no different from the dead man’s.
The demonfolk quickly began charging at us.
Their movements were indeed fast and intense.
However, their ability to sense danger seemed greatly lacking.
Had they possessed even that, they would never have made this decision.
SWISH!
SWISH!
I had no intention of enlightening demonfolk.
CRASH!
The area around us was quickly cleared.
The fact that no corpses remained was a setting I quite liked.
Only one demonfolk remained.
“You? Have you made your decision?”
When I took a step closer, he stepped back.
“I have decided. We will let you into our village.”
“Then guide us. To the place where the highest-ranking person in this village is.”
***
Only now was I able to understand this place called the Demon Realm to some extent.
The nature of demonfolk was that they constantly accumulated Killing Karma in order to ascend to a higher world.
And each time they climbed one dimension higher, the strength of the demonfolk seemed to increase by leaps and bounds.
In fact, all the demonfolk who had just died at my hand had been much stronger than the Zombies we had encountered at the temple.
The conclusion I reached from that was this.
‘So I will have to climb through an enormous number of dimensions before I can meet the Demon King.’
And one more thing.
It seemed that my act of sending Zombies into the Demon Realm had caused far greater aftereffects than I had expected.
“The lower dimension has nearly collapsed.”
The Chieftain of this village told me something important.
“Because of the Zombies.”
In truth, I already knew that much to some extent.
A considerable number of villages in the lower dimension had already been completely emptied.
“And now this place where we are will collapse as well.”
“Because of the Zombies, again?”
“That is correct.”
It seemed the Zombies had already infiltrated this dimension in large numbers.
This place, the first village we happened to arrive in, was fortunate enough to retain some village functions, but I heard that many places had not managed to do so.
“And perhaps the entire Demon Realm may collapse as well.”
The Chieftain’s logic was clear.
For the pyramid-shaped Demon Realm to continue existing, the lower dimensions supporting it had to be maintained stably.
However, as the zombification of the demonfolk proceeded rapidly, population reproduction in the lower dimensions had become impossible.
‘If that is true, that works out well.’
This place called the Demon Realm was not normal.
It was a place where a bizarre yet powerful urge to kill existed, much like appetite or the desire for sleep.
If so, I wondered whether the current Demon King had also been born that way.
‘Perhaps one becomes the Demon King by continuing to accumulate Killing Karma and eventually reaching the summit.’
It was something that could never be done with the mind of a human rather than a demonfolk.
Furthermore, the Demon King did not exert his influence only over the Demon Realm.
After all, he had also sent Zombies to other dimensions in an attempt to bring about the destruction of those worlds.
“But how did the two of you obtain such great power?”
“Why? Is it strange?”
“It is more than strange. It is enough to make me wonder whether the two of you came down from a higher dimension.”
Wrong, but a good approach.
The fact that he had that much insight showed that he was not the Chieftain for nothing.
“You two. Join hands with me.”
Then he suddenly made a proposal.
“Join hands?”
“If the three of us combine our strength, we will be able to move to a very high place.”
The Chieftain was utterly serious.
“The two of us have power. Chieftain, what do you have?”
“I can see what others cannot.”
“For example?”
“That differs depending on the time.”
“You smell like a swindler.”
“I know it is not easy to believe, but why do you think our village remained intact amid the storm of Zombies?”
“Are you saying that was because of your ability, Chieftain?”
The Chieftain nodded.
“Then what about the villagers who died by my hand? How do you explain that?”
“I could not foresee that much.”
“So it is a scam after all.”
The Chieftain remained silent for a while, then cautiously opened his mouth.
“Was it you, between the two of you?”
“What was?”
“I mean the cursed rain that fell upon a village in the lower dimension. It was a truly astonishing power.”
Before I met the boy, I had indeed poured a baptism of Sword Qi across the entire village.
However.
‘Do not tell me he saw that?’
It did not make sense.
That place and this one were completely different worlds.
“That astonishing cursed power that burst from the sword. I saw it.”
A chill ran through me.
Old Master Heo Gyeong-woo beside me could not even manage his expression.
“I accept. Chieftain, we will join hands with you.”
For now, I thought he was someone we needed.
The Demon Realm was still an unfamiliar world to us.
***
The Chieftain’s name was Melu.
Even though he was called the Chieftain, he was not particularly old, nor had he stayed in this village for a very long time.
The goal of all demonfolk was to continue entering higher dimensions.
After all, the world of the Demon Realm was a place where people were constantly replaced.
“Melu, do not misunderstand. My doubts about your ability have not all disappeared.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. If you truly had an outstanding ability, would you not have gone up to a higher dimension long ago?”
“If I had, I would not have met you.”
His answer came without hesitation.
“Then you were drawing a grand picture until now in order to meet me?”
“Let us say that is the case.”
I did not know whether I could believe everything this swindler-like fellow said, but he certainly possessed a mystical power.
Before we even arrived at other villages, he could already look ahead and see the state of those villages.
Once or twice could be dismissed, but Melu’s predictions had already been correct seven times.
“It is swarming with Zombies.”
Just as he said, the village was full of Zombies.
Perhaps they had not yet filled enough Killing Karma, because they had not moved to the temple.
The Zombies were loitering through the village with their distinctive grotesque movements.
BOOM!
When I destroyed a stone monument standing near the village entrance, the Zombies all opened their eyes at once at the sound.
KIEEEEEK!
KIEK! KIEK!
A feast of joint-twisting dances unfolded as they rattled and convulsed wildly.
The Zombies began swarming toward us.
‘As expected.’
Their movements were on a different level from the Zombies I had seen at the temple on the first floor.
It was not only demonfolk who gained explosive strength each time they climbed one dimension higher.
The Zombies, too, seemed to have become at least twice as strong.
‘Only old Master Heo Gyeong-woo and I remain the same.’
There was nothing that could be done about that.
We were not natives of the Demon Realm.
BOOOOM!
Of course, that did not mean I would have any difficulty dealing with Zombies of this level.
The bodies of the Zombies were torn to shreds by the Sword Qi fired from the Holy Sword, and after a short while, they vanished as the village cleanup proceeded swiftly.
“Melu, should I leave some for you?”
“Why bother?”
“You need to accumulate Killing Karma as well in order to go to a higher dimension, do you not?”
But his answer was extremely unexpected.
“There is no need. I have already accumulated enough.”
Even so, he still had not gone to a higher dimension.
Hearing those words left me wondering.
Whether I should believe his nonsense that he had been waiting to meet me or not.