Chapter 76. The Power of the Demon King (1)
Jeonghyeon dropped his head as if utterly fed up.
"Haa. So that's what this is about."
The arrangement wasn't some random ploy after all.
"Sorry, but can't we just fight in Afraksas? I could use a break too."
Unlike Jeonghyeon, who let out a weary sigh, Horakti looked down at him with smug confidence.
"Impossible. The Demon King has claimed his first territory—how could I stand idly by?"
So that's it...!
Jeonghyeon finally understood why the arrangement had kicked in at this exact moment, and why Horakti had shown up right then.
"Well, at least that's a relief."
"Relief about what?"
"Doesn't matter, birdbrain."
Even as he snapped at Horakti, Jeonghyeon felt a quiet sense of relief deep down.
He'd been starting to feel like a puppet dancing on strings, with Malekith pulling every thread of his journey. But apparently, that wasn't the case.
So the moment a Demon King candidate claims their territory, they become a true Demon King. At that instant, all of the Demon King's kin can sense the birth of a new one.
If that was true, it made perfect sense why Malekith had anticipated Horakti showing up after he completed the quest and prepared accordingly.
Everything clicked into place.
So... what now?
Jeonghyeon didn't rush into battle.
Though they'd been ambushed while he was away, the casualties weren't severe.
He could see through the Status Window that none of his subordinates had died.
"Let's see..."
His mind raced.
Glancing around, he noted with relief that the portal Horakti had descended through had opened on the outskirts of Seoul Western District. From the main routes into the center, there was no major damage.
Philip and Jeonghu handled it well. All the civilians are huddled in the district center.
Nice job, you guys.
That left only combat personnel here—the Awakeners and the arena fighters.
Jeonghyeon narrowed his eyes.
The horde of monsters before him were all beastkin, their human and animal forms fused in grotesque halves.
Beastkin, huh...
He dredged up memories from his past life.
Beastkin.
Ferocious, hard to unite, with innate high affinity for demonic mana.
The problem was their fierce independence—they attacked everyone, siding with neither Demon Kings nor humans. A royal pain.
Ah, so that's it. They had their own master to serve.
But in a way, it was good news.
Horakti the Island Radiance Dragon commanded beastkin, not dragonkin. Sure, individual beastkin were powerful, but they couldn't compare to dragonkin.
Does Horakti take a bird form to win their loyalty?
—Philip. Can you hear me?
"...!"
As Jeonghyeon reached out with mana, Philip—who was smashing a beastkin's skull with his mace—whipped his head toward him.
—Hold off on Shout until I give the signal.
Philip's eyes widened, but he nodded.
They weren't outnumbered.
In a prolonged territorial war, Jeonghyeon's side had the edge.
Not right now, maybe, but as things escalated, the Hunter Association would dispatch reinforcements.
"Hold up. Let's take a breather and sort this out."
Which was why he decided to play it cautious and buy time.
Through talk.
"A fresh Demon King who just made his territory—and you came all the way from another dimension to attack me? Sounds like your forces are pretty damn weak. Desperate, even?"
"Dost thou dare insult I, the Desert Tyrant?"
Unfortunately(?), what felt like conversation to Jeonghyeon came off as provocation to Horakti.
Whatever. It didn't matter.
"I mean, come on. Any other Demon King wouldn't bat an eye at a newbie like me."
"And where might such a Demon King lurk in Afraksas?"
"Say, Malekith, for instance..."
"Puhahaha! Malekith? That pitiful, frail dark elf?"
"...What? Malekith's weak?"
This was new intel.
When Jeonghyeon had first entered Afraksas, Malekith was the only Demon King...
Had he crushed all the others in those few years to claim the title? Was he secretly stockpiling power now?
"Other Demon Kings actually count Malekith as one of them?"
What the hell is this guy on about? In just a few years, he'll be a forgotten footnote in history...
Jeonghyeon felt a strange prick of pride.
He was thrashing like this, wielding Demon King power, solely because he could kill Malekith. And this guy was dissing him?
It felt like an insult to his past self too.
"Malekith is a wretched nobody who doesn't even qualify as Demon King. He has less territory than I..."
Horakti caught himself mid-sentence and trailed off.
He'd just admitted his own lack of territory.
Jeonghyeon pounced on the opening.
"Pft. Pfheheh. Puhuhuht."
He twisted every facial muscle into a mocking sneer.
"Puhup. Big talk from a nobody with jack shit... Pfft!"
It was partly to deal mental damage, but also petty revenge for his own bruised ego.
"Hah. There are limits to insolence...!"
Horakti ground his beak-like jaws audibly, gathering mana in both arms.
As if ready to obliterate Jeonghyeon's entire territory.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. So you, Malekith, and me—we're the weakest trio, right?"
"No more words. I shall claim this territory and take thy Blood Dissector as prize."
Yep, confirmed weakest. Dickhead.
Jeonghyeon exhaled a deep, bone-weary sigh from his core and glared with the Demon King's Eye.
***
The Demon King's power, unleashed at full throttle for a moment, fell short of expectations.
Whoosh—!
His dramatically enhanced physical abilities made Jeonghyeon's body vanish and reappear in an instant.
But...
"Looking the wrong way."
Horakti was a cut above.
Thwack!
He hurled the mana orb in his hand straight at Jeonghyeon. It exploded on impact with a heavy thud, like a solid ball striking flesh.
Even as the blast roared head-on, Jeonghyeon's body emerged unscathed.
Damn. That was close.
Thank god for that arrangement.
"Thou knowest not how to wield the Blood Dissector properly."
But Horakti, now behind him, lobbed another mana orb the same way.
"Try this!"
Jeonghyeon spun, channeling overflowing mana into the Blood Dissector and unleashing a sword aura in a whirl.
But...
"Eyes on the prize? Oh wait—that's my mana orb."
Where Jeonghyeon swung, a mana orb floated instead of Horakti.
Rumble—
One boiling from within, primed to detonate.
BOOM—!
Jeonghyeon took the hit full-on and tumbled across the ground.
"Kgh...!"
He'd banked on the Demon King's true power, but what the hell was this?
Beyond raw strength, there were no standout abilities.
The surplus mana let him wield sword auras and auras, sure—but that wasn't the point right now.
I need to master the Demon King's power in this fight...!
Swordsmanship alone wouldn't cut it.
He had to uncover the root of the Demon King's true power.
Until then, he could fight but not win.
Even as Horakti, sensing victory, rained down a barrage of mana orbs.
***
"Kuhahaha!!!"
The fight looked utterly one-sided. To everyone watching.
Since Horakti first appeared, Jeonghyeon hadn't come close to touching him—just taking a beating.
Before Jeonghyeon could blink, Horakti had teleported somewhere else, leaving mana orbs in his path.
"Jeonghyeon-nim...!"
Philip, battling four beastkin, called out in worry.
"Hah. Behold the faces of thy servants."
Horakti smirked arrogantly at Philip.
"Impossible...!"
Jeonghyeon ground his teeth.
As if those were the words he'd longed to hear, Horakti appeared before him, smug as ever.
"Impossible? Nay—this is the gulf 'twixt thee and I."
Horakti floated lazily skyward, chattering noisily like a true bird.
"Aye. At first, they all pinned hopes on thee as Demon King. But some walls cannot be climbed. Like the one 'twixt thee and I..."
"Shut your damn beak, you bird-brained fuck!"
Jeonghyeon slashed irritably, his sword aura nailing Horakti's left arm dead-on.
Clang!
"!!!"
And even Philip, whom they'd thought worried, chimed in.
"When are you gonna fight for real, sir! Hurry it up—I'm getting tired!"
When would he fight properly? Horakti's beak quivered faintly.
"Wha... what?"
It made no sense.
They had to be losing. His soldiers outnumbered theirs, and their Demon King ruler was getting pummeled.
Only then did Horakti survey the battlefield.
His troops struggling against Jeonghyeon's.
Everyone was fighting tooth and nail—except that Philip guy and one fist-fighter.
But something felt off. A subtle unease.
Buildings untouched by destruction. Exhausted foes, yet not a trace of despair on their faces.
These weren't the expressions of soldiers facing defeat.
"Something's...!"
As Horakti sensed the anomaly and tried to vanish into the air—
Thud.
Something seized his nape roughly and slammed him down.
Crash!
His bird head cratered the ground, Jeonghyeon's boot filling his vision.
How?!
"Hey, birdbrain."
Jeonghyeon poured mana into his arm.
It seeped out slowly, coiling around Horakti's neck.
"Ghk...!"
The choking sensation. This wasn't mere mana.
A dense mana construct.
Ethereal... slime?!
It was Nus, flowing from Jeonghyeon's hand.
Jeonghyeon leaned in close to Horakti's ear, spitting each word like venom. His voice dripped with fury.
"You. Know how to use the Demon King's power?"
"...What?"