Chapter 79
Chapter 79:Demon Realm (2)
A sharp blow descended.
Golden Divine Power bloomed above young Erik's head.
In an imperceptible instant, that Divine Power vanished fleeting, and ultimately the sharp middle finger knuckle of a fist made contact with his head.
Kwaaaang!!
A shockwave rippled out from Erik, and dust flew everywhere.
"Ugh."
He clutched his head and crouched down.
Toward that Erik, white silver hair fluttered as it approached.
"Erik, still can't do it?"
The master looked down at her small disciple with disdain.
Grind!
Erik ground his teeth and lifted his head.
A small, cute kid glaring with fierce eyes, yet Riferoze was smiling brightly.
'That crazy woman.'
There was no learning to be found in the teachings of that beautiful girl.
After getting hit, there was a mysterious effect where metabolism became more active or pain decreased…….
'Damn, it hurts.'
From the moment of impact, for a while afterward, a skull-splitting pain was felt.
It was beastly painful.
This was just violence.
"Erik, your learning is slow."
Was this really how a person taught another person?
As Erik fell into such doubts.
Suk!
He felt Riferoze's movement very subtly.
A small muscle.
The will that moved that muscle.
And thus the intention of violence to strike down his head.
Thump!
Erik rolled along the ground and unleashed Divine Power.
The Divine Power gushing from his entire body began to rapidly envelop his skull.
Just as the Divine Barrier was completed in an instant and the fist fell upon it.
Baaaang!!!
A loud sound erupted and everything trembled.
However, Erik's Divine Barrier steadfastly protected his head.
Cracked and ragged though it was, it had accomplished its purpose of protecting his head.
Seeing this, the girl smiled brightly.
"See? It works, doesn't it?"
"What kind of nonsense is that……."
"Hmm, do you want etiquette training again?"
The violence Erik experienced in this other world had taken away Park Ji-hun's will.
Park Ji-hun, who had lived by his own arrogance, learned humility upon becoming Erik.
Erik lowered his head with a bow.
"You're really cute when you don't talk-."
Riferoze stroked Erik's head while fluttering her long robe.
"The body is originally honest."
After that, she organized the teachings for Erik.
"When you get hit, it hurts. Disliking pain is human instinct. Thus the body draws out its maximum functions to avoid pain."
It was crazy talk, but-.
'Strangely, it makes sense…….'
Or was it actually true?
After repeating this for several years, when he got hit, it truly seemed right.
"The Divine Power dwelling in the body drives this mechanism to an extreme speed. Of course, corresponding pain follows. However, Erik, aren't your days already filled with pain?"
As a reaction to obtaining excessive Divine Power, Erik was one who could burst and die if not careful.
Unless he expended his power to the maximum, he suffered beastly pain every night.
To the point where without Ruelle and his master, he couldn't fall asleep.
'Still……. Such crazy thinking-.'
She was his benefactor in life.
Yet Erik found it difficult to respect her way of thinking.
And for good reason.
"Since it's going to hurt terribly anyway, a chestnut-fist or two is fine. It's not like I'm cutting anything off, is it?"
The basic way of thinking was fundamentally different.
'This barbaric world.'
Erik just nodded his head as if giving up.
At that moment, Riferoze's gaze drifted to one corner.
"With that principle, shouldn't we be able to teach that ignorant fellow over there too?"
Flinch!
They were in the midst of training in a cave at the entrance to the Demon Realm.
In a corner of the cave, there was a thug with a half-shaved head, and upon seeing Riferoze's gaze, he hurriedly tried to run away.
"Thug, should I go catch you?"
"No, no! Why do you keep dragging me around!!"
At her single word, Jang Du-sik turned around from his frantic escape.
"Erik, teach him addition."
"No, how old is that guy, and now you're saying-"
"Erik, that you met this thug is surely the arrangement of God! Haven't I emphasized this several times?"
Golden light flickered in her eyes.
It was fanatical.
'If I rebel against her now, I'll really get beaten until I'm near death.'
The pint-sized Erik drew a Sign of the Cross and bowed his head.
"Sigh-. I'll give it a try."
Time flowed like a stream.
When they had been training for several months already.
"Du-sik, what is 5×6?"
"Um, 30, right?"
"Then what is 245+34?"
"……Brother, isn't it 279?"
"You're not buying time by always prefixing it with 'um' or 'well' or 'brother' while you think, are you?"
"I've really memorized it all!"
Jang Du-sik had mastered multiplication and addition.
"What is 2,354×126?"
"296,604!"
He had perfectly memorized even four-digit multiplication.
No, he had actually done it.
The only problem was…….
"There are twenty apples and thirty-six pears. If you combine them, split them in half, and then double them, how many do you have?"
"……What kind of nonsense is that?"
Jang Du-sik completely failed to perform the act of 'understanding.'
'Damn guy…….'
Erik's head throbbed.
His ability to apply concepts was zero.
"Master, how do I teach this guy magical formulas?"
At that moment, Riferoze shifted her gaze to Erik.
Just from that, Erik instantly unleashed Divine Power and erected a barrier against her.
On top of that, he reinforced his body and formed the shape of a blade with Divine Power.
At the same time, at lightning-quick speed, the white robe fluttered.
Whoosh!
A chestnut-fist flew in and Erik's Divine Power perfectly blocked the fist.
After that, Erik crouched his body and prepared for a follow-up attack.
Whish! and beneath the fluttering robe, a slender leg drew a curve as it flew in.
Erik bent his body and rolled along the ground, evading it.
After that, he thrust a blade of Divine Power at Riferoze.
Screech!
She disappeared without even leaving an afterimage.
All of this had happened within one second.
"Doesn't it work?"
Riferoze stood above Erik's head.
Her eyes were directed at the Erik looking up at her-.
'Cute fellow. I hope you grow up just like this.'
Erik felt a chill run down his spine at that gaze.
***
"……That, Director Erik. Your method is truly wrong."
The Crown Princess looked at Erik with a bewildered face.
He had suddenly barged in saying he would take Jang Du-sik away, so from her position, she couldn't welcome Erik.
'Du-sik's magic…….'
Formulas and magical circles are difficult even for those who understand them.
Thus the Crown Princess asked Jang Du-sik a question about the speed of his magical manifestation, and the answer she received was entirely incomprehensible.
"Well, it's not like I was hiding it! I really got beaten until it worked."
The Crown Princess, raised with the best education, simply couldn't understand.
No, she shouldn't have understood such a thing.
'This empire was created to eliminate such a violent world.'
A firm will bloomed in the Crown Princess.
Much less, Du-sik, who would become her husband…….
The Crown Princess brought up the things she had heard from Jang Du-sik and shouted at Erik.
"How could you strike someone so much who is to enter the royal family!!!!"
She unfolded her fan, glaring at Erik.
Magical power underwent a visualization phenomenon, and everything around distorted.
And a surge of magical power bounced up, grazing Erik's skin as it passed.
A streak of blood flowed and soon the wound naturally healed, returning to its original state.
'Attacking me?'
Thereupon Erik moved slightly.
'Just a light reminder.'
She would change her mind once she got hit too.
'It wouldn't be bad to remodel the Crown Princess into a Divine Mage while I'm at it.'
"Erik!"
At that moment, Ruelle stepped in front of Erik.
She quietly grasped the back of Erik's hand and looked at where the scrape had been.
"She's going to be your sister-in-law, the wife of your brother. Is that how you do it?"
Azure eyes looked up at Erik. They were eyes saying physical violence was not acceptable.
Erik nodded his head slightly.
'What exactly is she trying to do…….'
Ruelle elegantly turned her body and looked at the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess and Ruelle stood facing each other at close range.
A brilliant Crown Princess with silver hair and crimson eyes, and the noble yet bewitching Ruelle had contrasting atmospheres, yet somehow felt similar.
This was because the Crown Princess was also wearing clothing similar to Ruelle's.
Swish!
A glance from Ruelle that swept from bottom to top.
Ruelle smiled subtly and drew a graceful Sign of the Cross.
"I pay my respects to Her Highness the Crown Princess."
A situation with two peerless beauties wearing the same Dongtan Misirok.
However, the superiority was clear.
'Ruelle has a cruel side too.'
Erik read Ruelle's intention from there.
It was similar to how Ruelle treated Erica.
Tremble!
At that gaze, the Crown Princess' fan trembled.
"Second time-."
The words Jang Du-sik had uttered echoed in her ears.
Yet she was the Crown Princess.
"It's the first time I've seen a mere priest enter the imperial palace."
The Crown Princess nodded at Ruelle with authority.
As if asking, 'What can you do about it?'
That was the feeling.
"Hah, though lacking, I am called the Saint of the Empire."
Between the two women's gazes, sparks seemed to fly.
Erik stepped onto a battlefield that was both childish and sharper than any other.
"Since we've exchanged greetings, let's discuss the next matters gradually."
After the brief clash of spirits ended.
Erik walked alongside Ruelle and toured the imperial palace.
"Wow! Is that really a piece of the moon?"
"I've heard that's the case."
Unlike Earth, this empire's imperial court valued True Silver as the highest value.
In reality, True Silver was a mineral made by capturing moonlight in silver, very expensive.
That expensive material was left lying around carelessly in the imperial palace.
Everywhere sparkled with silver light, and between them, ivory-colored moon fragment decorations adorned the interior of the imperial palace.
"That is so. This is the inner palace where the imperial family resides."
The Crown Princess interjected into the two's conversation and spoke confidently.
To that, Erik asked coldly.
"So where exactly is Du-sik?"
"……Over there."
The Crown Princess led the two to a Teleportation Magic Circle connected to the imperial magic tower.
"Is it already over?"
"I will show you in more detail when you meet the Emperor next time."
Ruelle expressed disappointment before the magic circle, and Erik promised another date.
As the conversation ended there.
Uuuwong!!!
The magic circle glowed and a figure with a half-shaved head appeared.
"Ooh-! Brother!"
Jang Du-sik greeted Erik with a bright face.
Glancing at the Crown Princess, Jang Du-sik abruptly turned his head away. The Crown Princess also trembled her fan par-.
To that, Erik asked.
"Did you two fight?"
"Um, the wife."
"Du-sik, originally you shouldn't fight with your woman."
"Why is your woman my wife?"
"No-. Sigh. Yes. What I mean is, you shouldn't fight with your own woman."
Erik provided a brief explanation.
A man should know how to lose to his own woman.
Of course, you have to be reasonable about it, but with someone of the Crown Princess's status, what major fault could you have committed against her?
This was the gist of what he was saying.
"More than the wife, it's that old man she brought who's the problem!"
As if this was his chance, Jang Du-sik hurriedly shouted.
The Imperial Magic Tower Master is a false reputation.
He teaches terribly.
This was what he was saying.
"He talks all day about principles and concepts and whatnot, and seriously, it's ridiculous."
At those words, Erik looked at the Crown Princess for a while.
And then he spoke.
"Your Highness the Crown Princess, my method was not wrong."
The Crown Princess reluctantly turned away her gaze.
***
"Janson, how did your master teach you Aura?"
"He made me pour out Divine Power until I pulled out my Aura."
Janson had reached Sword Master at the cost of becoming crippled.
Moreover, now in a situation where his sins had been forgiven and his legs even healed.
"-At the time, I resented it, but Riferoze's teachings are definitely correct."
"What do you think, Du-sik?"
"Um, of course. The Imperial Magic Tower Master couldn't compare to sister Rife beating me while making me memorize pictures."
"What do you think, Priestess Ruelle?"
"It's a bit extreme, but seeing how successful you've become, it's not based on an entirely wrong premise. Of course, it might be too much for very young children……."
Even Ruelle had no choice but to agree with this.
'If you do it, it works.'
Erik also agreed with this kind of teaching.
He knew it well because he'd experienced it.
Not just about martial arts.
Luxury brands, newspapers, pojangmacha, construction.
There hadn't been a single thing he hadn't succeeded in with this method.
Thus.
"Janson, we should also awaken the Possessors to Aura and magic."
"A good idea."
This was the moment when the cultivation method for the Possessor city was decided.
"Brother, but why did you use the Miracle of Teleportation so far away?"
"It seems there's some problem near the papal court."
Since gaining power this time, Erik had become capable of multiple Teleportations.
Following the transfer of an entire section of a slum, he could now teleport even fairly strong entities all at once.
And still had considerable margin left.
However, the problem was that something near the papal court blocked the power of Teleportation.
'Magical power.'
Spatial movement is quite a delicate force.
If not by overtly creating a passage, even large-scale Disturbance Magic or twisting the veins of mana alone distorted the coordinates.
The power utilizing Divine Power also had instances where moving the space itself blocked Teleportation.
Because of that, they endlessly walked along a cliff in a remote no-man's-land.
"Healing."
Thanks to Erik, who moved at ultra-high speed yet continuously restored stamina, they could run without tiring.
And the place they arrived at was.
Whooooooo!
A papal court surrounded by a murky, semi-transparent barrier.
"Erik- that."
Ruelle was startled and grabbed Erik's arm.
"It's the [Isolation] skill."
Erik's eyes narrowed.
A high-grade skill of Black Mage Possessors, [Isolation].
A superior version of the Severance incantation, it isolates a specific range from the world itself.
'With the Pope and Holy War Knight Commander present, that shouldn't work.'
The area around the papal court was filled with massive monsters, but there should be no problem.
Monster Waves were just time-consuming; they weren't a threat to the order's existence.
'Why would they use a skill with a 30-day cooldown here?'
Erik's thoughts accelerated.
What were those guys aiming for by confining the papal court?
The answer came quickly.
'Me.'