Chapter 240 : Chapter 240
Chapter 240 - Sword Master Who Lives Twice (1)
BOOM! KABOOOOM!
Under the baptism of Sword Qi pouring down from the sky, the Demon King’s Castle was reduced to ruins, and the ranks of the Demon King’s army became a scene of screaming chaos.
Holy Sword Bastian was like a fish returned to water.
Even the slightest will I poured into it made it respond fiercely, further strengthening the Sword Qi.
If I had skipped the Demon Realm on my final journey, the Holy Sword might have been deeply disappointed.
『What are you doing? Do not dawdle! Advance!』
The Demon King’s enraged voice rang out without cease, and new soldiers of the Demon King’s army emerged from beneath the ground, immediately filling the places of the dead.
This was an authority on an entirely different level from the Demon King I had experienced in Hardeon in the past.
‘Well, the Demon King back then was only an avatar.’
An incomplete existence that had not even remembered me.
But now was different.
This was not a power the demonfolk currently existing in Pandemonium could endure.
At least a thousand years. Even if the demonfolk rolled and struggled through the Demon Realm for even longer than that, it was difficult to imagine the master of the Demon King’s Hall changing.
Perhaps the demonfolk of the Demon Realm were beings who lived while dreaming an impossible dream.
BOOM!
KABOOOOOM!
Even under the wide-area attacks, the number of the Demon King’s army was not decreasing, so I expanded the range of my attacks a little further.
KABOOOOM!
But it was not mindless firing.
Following my gaze.
Following my will.
The Sword Qi, split into hundreds of strands, precisely pierced the heads, necks, and hearts of the Demon King’s army.
Countless sprays of blood rose like flames, and a sight befitting the name Demon Realm unfolded.
And at the rearmost line of the Demon King’s army, behind them all, the Demon King watched me.
『Not bad, human!』
The Demon King’s army collapsing before him did not seem particularly important to him.
As long as his authority existed, he could likely reproduce his soldiers endlessly.
Perhaps he was waiting for me to tire.
『Astonishing! Is this truly the power of a human?』
“It is also a power possible because I am human. We are not beings who rely only on authority bestowed upon us without effort.”
『You are mocking me!』
“I know very well that you avoided me until now. You lacked confidence, did you not? Because the Demon Realm became a mess, and you lost part of your authority.”
『Your delusions go too far! Where did you hear such absurd nonsense?』
The Demon King grew agitated, and I continued speaking without concern.
“The timing was also obvious. You spoke to me for the first time only after you had recovered all your authority. But what can be done? You still look as though this is beyond you.”
『Silence!』
As he wished, I closed my mouth and answered with a baptism of Sword Qi.
BOOM BOOM BOOOOM!
Screams ran rampant beneath the bombardment of Sword Qi, and the earth grew stained with blood. Corpses of the Demon King’s army covered every direction.
Of course, this alone was never going to break the Demon King’s forces.
Even as they fell endlessly, the Demon King’s army surged forward again and again.
Then hundreds more rose anew from the ground.
Their shouts never ceased.
『Say it again! Even now, can you say I look as though this is beyond me?』
I acknowledged his ability to produce sheer numbers, at least.
Of course, I was confident I could continue the present massacre indefinitely as well.
The Holy Sword was also giving me a sensation unlike anything I had ever felt before.
Still, I did not think a war of attrition like this was particularly beautiful.
“How about you stop staying in the back and come forward yourself?”
Of course, I was not looking down on the Demon King.
Commanding this tremendous army was likely only one part of the authority he possessed.
『Impudent wretch!』
BOOM!
KABOOOOM!
Once again, meaningless bloodshed spread across the earth.
Countless screams filled the Demon King’s Hall.
Then, suddenly, the air changed.
In that instant, the Demon King’s army began splitting to either side.
‘Finally.’
Far in the distance, amid the dust, the Demon King appeared again.
He was looking at me indifferently.
I met the Demon King’s gaze as well.
We looked at each other like that and spent a long silence.
Of course, it was not as though we were doing nothing.
We began measuring and calculating each other’s strength while preparing our decisive moves.
The Demon King was likely the same as me.
‘He is strong.’
He was certainly strong.
『Do you truly believe I avoided you because I feared you?』
“At the very least, you did not want to shoulder the risk. For the first time, an existence appeared who could threaten your seemingly eternal position. And even more so when you had lost your authority.”
『Humans truly are beings who fall into delusions as they please. Then watch closely now! My true power!』
The moment he finished speaking, demonic energy began rapidly filling the Demon King’s Hall.
All the senses in my body sharpened.
I felt an overwhelming power that even all those soldiers of the Demon King’s army combined could not reach.
Even more astonishingly, the scale of the demonic energy was still growing larger.
It felt like an enormous bomb just before detonation.
WHOOOM!
And that unprecedented power soon shot toward a single target.
Toward me.
What had happened to his vow that he would grant me eternal suffering?
The Demon King’s sole thought now was to annihilate me.
My friend!
I felt it as well.
No matter who I was, a fatal moment now stood before me.
There was no path other than facing the Demon King’s decisive attack head-on, an attack I could neither avoid nor retreat from.
I gripped the Holy Sword properly and began running toward the Demon King.
『Try to withstand it, human!』
The Demon King’s arrogant voice rang out.
The shouts of the Demon King’s army lined up on both sides poured into my ears.
The enormous demonic energy bearing down on me became a majestic wave.
SWISH!
SWISH!
I cut and cut again, running and running still.
Of course, the wave of demonic energy did not end.
The height of the wave grew higher and higher, and the force with which it surged became fiercer still.
Then the world turned into darkness.
It was a harmony created by the Demon King’s demonic energy surrounding me.
It was not an illusion.
The moment I lost even the slightest bit of concentration, this energy would melt me down and devour me whole.
『You have done fairly well until now. But what about this?』
The Demon King threw out his decisive move.
A gigantic black wave surged upward and opened its mouth wide as if to swallow me.
An indescribable heaviness pressed down on me.
The force transmitted through the blade had changed to an entirely different level.
But if I were pushed back by this weight and failed to cut it apart, it would be the end.
‘This is fun.’
An overwhelming sense of crisis sent a thrill through my entire body.
I concentrated mana at the tip of the Holy Sword and thrust into the center of the wave.
CRACK!
Cracks spread as if glass had shattered, and soon the black wave broke into countless fragments, scattering in every direction.
The Demon King’s expression cracked as well.
I ran forward without delay.
Until I drove the Holy Sword into the Demon King’s heart.
[The Demon King has been defeated.]
***
The Demon King vanished.
Since I was not one of the demonfolk, I could not take his place.
And that meant the disappearance of the Demon Realm.
The world where the Demon King, the countless soldiers of the Demon King’s army, and the demonfolk had lived vanished like a mirage, as if it had never existed at all.
The time and memories I had spent there felt like a dream.
“Ji-han, because of you, an entire world has met its end.”
“It was a place with no value in existing.”
A strange world stained with murderous desire and Killing Karma.
Of course, as long as it was only a matter among the demonfolk themselves, it was none of my concern.
The problem was that the Demon King’s reach had not been limited to the Demon Realm alone.
In truth, the Demon King had tried to destroy the other world known as Hardeon, and he had once tried to extend his grasp even to Earth.
If the Demon Realm had continued to exist, such a thing could have happened again at any time.
My friend! The destruction of the Demon Realm was truly exquisite! The Zombies created by the Demon King ended up gnawing away at the Demon Realm instead!
I had been the one to pierce the Demon King’s heart, but the fuse had been lit by the Zombies.
Of course, that had now become a history no one but me would ever know.
“It seems my journey with you ends here, sir.”
“Where in the world are you going?”
“It is a place that is rather difficult to explain.”
Red Dragon Devrias’s Nest.
That place had been the end of my previous life and the starting point of this life.
And now, I intended to go there again and untie the knot I had been unable to untie in my past life.
“Judging by the way you are speaking, I can tell it is no ordinary place. Is it perhaps even more dangerous than the Demon Realm?”
“I am not sure.”
I could not be certain.
After all, there was no law saying a Dragon stood below a Demon King.
“Ha ha! I am astonished that such a place exists in the Abyss as well.”
Old Man Heo Gyeong-woo shook his head.
“If I fail to return to Earth, please make sure to pass on the memories of the Demon Realm, sir. The Demon Realm will likely not be the only one of its kind.”
That was the reason the old man had accompanied me.
But he refused my final request.
“No. I will believe that you will certainly return. I have lived well until now, keeping my resolve to turn my back on the world. Surely you are not telling me to break that resolve?”
“So you are using it in this way.”
“It is a problem that will be solved quite simply if you return safely.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“That is not a perfect answer.”
“Are you telling me to make a promise before I leave?”
“It would be even better if you wrote a pledge, but I shall specially acknowledge a verbal promise.”
Even so, I felt neither anxiety nor impatience in the old man’s expression or tone.
His eyes were peace itself.
He was certain I would return.
In that moment, an inexplicable faith bloomed in my own heart as well.
I smiled and opened my mouth again.
“I will see you soon.”
***
Thinking about it differently, it was a path I could have ignored.
A second life that had begun in a new world.
Johan Raven no longer existed in the world, and Seo Ji-han had his own life. I could have simply lived as the current carried me.
A life in which I raised a Sword Family, allowed future generations to flourish, sometimes loved, and found happiness even in small things.
Perhaps that was the providence of the universe.
But it seemed I had been made in such a way that I could not live like that.
Even after receiving a new body, I remained endlessly bound to the past, and I had continued to turn the pedals of my life for one single purpose.
In the end, a miracle occurred, and at long last, I was able to reach the final station.
[Would you like to enter Red Dragon Devrias’s Nest?]
My friend!
Was it merely my imagination that Holy Sword Bastian’s voice sounded choked as well?
The Red Dragon’s Breath that had turned me to ash in the past rose before my eyes like an illusion.
An entirely red world unfolded.
But I felt no fear at all.
Rather, as my heart grew calm beneath that red-stained sky, I smiled.