Chapter 234 : Chapter 234
Chapter 234 - Demon Realm (4)
I had expected it, but this place called the Demon Realm was a succession of countless dimensions.
We had just broken through and ascended from the seventh dimension.
The fact that we were able to progress this swiftly was largely thanks to Melu.
As though he knew everything about the Demon Realm, he guided us without hesitation on what we had to do and where we had to go.
Everything Melu said was correct without exception, so at some point, I had no choice but to acknowledge his ability.
“Will there be Zombies here too?”
“There definitely will be.”
Melu answered with a voice full of certainty.
“How strange. Those monsters have no intelligence, yet they are breaking through dimensions this quickly.”
“I am not sure. Sometimes instinct can be more terrifying than reason. On top of that, they spread quickly and are strong as well, so there is no reason they would not be able to come this far.”
He was not wrong.
Just as humans became explosively stronger each time they climbed a dimension, that effect was also being applied to Zombies.
The most prominent characteristic was the Zombies’ movement speed.
On the previous floor, the Zombies had been running around at astonishing speed, and at this rate, they might later fly around like fighter jets.
Their monstrous strength had also become incomparable to that of the early Zombies.
When comparing beings of the same level, Zombies were clearly superior to humans, so the Zombies that had ascended to the higher dimensions must have been able to expand their forces without much difficulty.
“Now then, guide us again, Melu.”
For now, I intended to rely on Melu’s ability.
He did seem to have some sinister intention hidden within him, but he still had value to be used, so I planned to keep him with us for the time being.
Of course, from his perspective as well, our military force had its uses, so neither side would abandon the other.
“This floor seems as though it will take a while.”
“Why?”
“That is just how it feels. The land is quite vast, but it feels as though the number of residents has noticeably decreased.”
“Is it a feeling this time as well?”
“Yes. A feeling.”
He called it a feeling, but somehow, it felt as though Melu already knew.
I had begun feeling that way at some point.
There was one thing Melu had said that bothered me.
It is enough to make me wonder whether the two of you came down from a higher dimension.
He had said that because old Master Heo Gyeong-woo and I were abnormally strong. At the time, I had simply dismissed it without much thought, but now that I considered it, it was a strange thing to say.
Accumulating Killing Karma and moving from a lower dimension to a higher one was like a law.
Just as an apple on a tree did not soar upward, but fell to the ground.
Even so, Melu had voiced such an absurd suspicion.
Moreover, was Melu not someone with possessed foresight and insight?
If so, he thought such a thing was not impossible.
‘Or perhaps Melu himself came down from a higher dimension.’
***
Now, we were in the thirteenth dimension.
The speed at which we were climbing dimensions had already slowed considerably.
Of course, that was only compared to before; our pace was still likely among the very best.
“As the two of you must feel as well, climbing dimensions has to be viewed over a long span. Finding targets to accumulate Killing Karma in this vast world is no easy task.”
Forget villages. It had now become difficult even to catch sight of people.
From time to time, we found traces of people having lived together, but that had already been long ago.
This place was like the wilderness.
People had become hard to find, but in contrast, monsters were so numerous one could trip over them.
One had already revealed its enormous form before us.
“Shall we do some monster hunting?”
Melu slightly raised the corners of his mouth.
One could accumulate Killing Karma by killing monsters as well.
The problem was that it amounted to the level of dust.
Even so, monster hunting was useful in the sense that it allowed us to obtain food.
CRASH!
With a punch from Melu, a lizard at least ten meters long collapsed helplessly.
This was not simply a matter of size. It was astonishing that Melu could handle it so easily even though it was a fairly high-ranking monster.
It was not as though he had trained in any particular way.
All he had done was accumulate Killing Karma and ascend to a higher dimension.
From my perspective, it was an effortless gain.
‘If we continue climbing to higher dimensions like this……’
Someday, Melu’s martial prowess might surpass that of a Sword Master.
As long as he stayed with us, I thought that was entirely possible.
After all, he would be safe no matter what groups we encountered in the Demon Realm.
When that time came, he might reveal the claws he had been hiding until now.
***
It took quite a long time for us to ascend to the fourteenth dimension.
There was a limit to accumulating Killing Karma by hunting monsters, and in the end, we managed to arrive here only after finding and dealing with Zombies with difficulty.
Of course, Melu’s role had been considerable.
“There are no Zombies here.”
“Not that you feel there will be none?”
“Does that matter?”
When I challenged him because he had spoken too definitively, he became angry instead.
“In any case, it means we have finally caught up to all the Zombies.”
“That is one way to put it.”
As always, we had two choices.
Either kill the existing residents,
or wait for newcomers to ascend from the lower dimension and kill them.
“The problem is that neither is easy.”
Meeting residents was becoming more and more difficult.
The ecosystem of the Demon Realm would be maintained only if newcomers from below were supplied steadily, but now, with the appearance of the Zombies, a considerable disturbance had occurred in the lower dimensions.
In the long term, the destruction of the Demon Realm was a fixed future.
“So, Melu, are you saying you have no plan?”
“No. I have one.”
What he said next was completely unexpected.
“We are going to hunt a monster.”
“A monster? Killing one would barely amount to a speck, would it not?”
To make a mountain out of specks, it might not even be possible after killing every monster in this place.
But Melu told a completely different story.
“Of course, it would not be an ordinary monster.”
“Then?”
“A monster that the strength of the residents living here in the fourteenth dimension could never defeat.”
“So what you are saying, Melu, is that you feel such a monster exists?”
“Yes.”
“And you feel you know where it is?”
He nodded, and so our journey began again.
Fortunately, it was not very far.
After all, we had only walked for fifteen days and nights straight.
At the highest peak of an unbearably rugged mountain range, we stood at the summit and looked at the twin-headed Wyvern in the sky.
A Wyvern was among the highest-ranking monsters.
And if it was a mutant twin-headed Wyvern, then it was clear that it was effectively impossible for the demonfolk of this current dimension to deal with it.
KIEEEEEK!
The creature, which had been leisurely flying through the sky, discovered us and began circling.
“Melu. So you knew by feeling that this monster called a Wyvern existed here?”
“That sarcastic tone of yours is beginning to grow tiresome.”
“Then try guessing this with that feeling of yours.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whether you will become that Wyvern’s meal or not.”
“What?”
“I mean exactly what I said. Our alliance ends at this moment.”
Old Master Heo Gyeong-woo seemed quite surprised by my words as well.
In truth, I had hesitated until the very last moment.
Melu’s usefulness was still more than sufficient.
However, both of us knew that this alliance would one day be broken.
I wanted to catch him off guard at a moment when he believed that future was still far away.
“I wanted to see what you would look like when you had made no preparations at all.”
For the first time, a ripple appeared on the face of the man who had acted like a sage until now.
“……You are betraying me like this?”
“It seems you could not foresee this much by feeling.”
I walked one step toward him with the corners of my mouth slightly raised.
“You have been curious all this time, have you not? How I could predict so many things! You are doing this now to make me open my mouth and learn the reason!”
“You must be desperate. Your tongue is growing longer.”
“Do you think you can make me speak by threatening me?”
“You are mistaken.”
“What?”
“I have no intention of threatening you. I already know you will not open your mouth anyway. Well, I can still accumulate Killing Karma.”
“Wait! Killing the Wyvern with the three of us will be enough Killing Karma!”
But I paid him no heed and took another step toward him.
Melu stepped backward, and even in that moment, the Wyvern continued circling the sky as it narrowed the distance between itself and us.
“Ji-han! Are you truly going to kill this man? He still has his uses……”
Old Master Heo Gyeong-woo seemed truly regretful about his usefulness.
He did have uses, but that did not mean we could not break through the Demon Realm without him.
It would simply take a little more time.
WHOOSH!
Melu’s surprise attack.
It was the moment the sense of mystery around him dropped sharply.
Even if it was a surprise attack, had he truly thought this would work?
With this, the limits of his foresight and insight had been laid bare.
‘He must have known about the higher dimensions.’
I did not know for what reason, or by what strange means it had been possible, but he had clearly experienced a higher dimension before coming down below.
WHOOSH!
When I lightly avoided the surprise attack, his hand shot toward me quickly again.
It was at the level of a supreme fist arts master I had seen in Murim.
The mystery of the Demon Realm, which allowed him to display such movements without learning them, was truly astonishing.
Of course, he was still far from being a match for me.
Forget me; he would still need to climb several more dimensions just to reach a level where he could contend with the old Master.
I lightly moved behind Melu and seized him by the nape of his neck.
Then I infused mana into my grip, lifted him up just like that, and—
WHOOSH!
I threw him toward the Wyvern.
KIEEEEEK!
KIEEEEEK!
The two heads swimming through the air screeched at the same time, and the Wyvern began a rapid descent.
It moved with a speed difficult to believe could come from such a massive body.
At this rate, Melu would be caught in the Wyvern’s sharp talons and eaten alive.
Judging only by what he had shown so far, Melu could never be a match for that monster.
But for some reason, I had a feeling that he would not die obediently.
I felt that such a hollow death did not suit a man who had gone against the dimensions in a way without precedent.
SWISH!
And this kind of premonition was never wrong.
The Wyvern’s two necks were cut off in midair.
Its wings, which had been spread elegantly to either side, drooped, and its enormous body began falling just like that.
‘But how?’
Melu had not done it.
He did not have that much power.
The Abyss message that suddenly came at that moment was astonishing.
[Due to interference with a lower dimension, a portion of the Demon King’s authority will be extinguished.]
The one who had killed the Wyvern was the Demon King’s interference.
I looked at Melu, who had fallen to the ground.
This man, as it turned out, was under the Demon King’s protection.