Chapter 61: Retribution
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 61: Retribution
“—Haaa—”
Rad let out a deep sigh as he stared at Aiden, who had just dragged him out. He looked as if he were barely suppressing a surge of anger.
He had more than a few questions, but something else had to come first.
“…!”
Seeing black Demonic Energy surge from Rad’s body, Aiden grimaced and released his grip on the man’s collar.
“…How in the world did you know I was here?”
“Did you really expect to slip away undetected? The Empire’s greatest knight and the Holy Kingdom’s Second Royal Princess are using nearly all their resources to monitor this area. It’s shameless to even try.”
Rad’s face crumpled at the voice, which was utterly devoid of respect and dripping with sarcasm. It wasn’t just the offensive words; he could feel the shift in the air. Previously, Aiden had at least feigned respect for Rad’s ‘role’ as the Administrative Minister. Now, Rad could feel it in his bones that Aiden had no intention of keeping up even that pretense.
Of course.
“So, what do you plan to do about it?”
Rad plastered his habitual cheery smile onto his face. If Aiden was going to be this direct, it actually made things easier for him. It meant he no longer needed to hide behind the mask of the Administrative Minister. Black Demonic Energy poured from his body all at once.
Whatever the case, the tension was thick; neither man was about to back down.
“I believe I told you to keep your head down last time,” Aiden said, unimpressed by Rad’s display. He brushed his hair back in annoyance. “Your schemes are so petty, I don’t even know where to begin. What the hell are you doing, trying to tarnish someone else’s betrothed?”
“…Hm.”
Rad snorted, his Demonic Energy swirling violently around him. At the same time, the black energy began to forge itself into a weapon.
“Well, I’m not fond of playing house either. It’s just that our Imperial Prince kept babbling nonsense about wanting everything to end peacefully, without using drastic measures.”
He followed up with a laugh laced with open ridicule.
“Thanks to you, it seems I can stop now.”
“…”
“You just called me the Puppeteer, didn’t you?”
Aiden had definitely used that exact name.
“I did.”
“…How much do you know?”
Aiden had hinted before that he knew Rad’s true identity, but to name him so… precisely was something Rad hadn’t anticipated.
“How you know that name, how you figured out it was me… I have a few questions for you.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Normally, respecting our contractor’s wishes as much as possible is… a rule of our ‘race’.”
The perpetual smile slowly faded from Rad’s face. His gaze, now fixed on Aiden, held a calm yet piercing hostility.
“I have to get an answer, at least to that, before I go. Otherwise, it will bother me to no end.”
Hearing this confirmed it: Aiden was no longer just a dangerous variable. It was essential to dig up exactly what he knew, how much he knew, and where he’d gotten his information—
“What’s a member of the Demon Race got to be bothered by?”
“…”
“You’re mental parasites. You shouldn’t even have a basic concept of physical sensation.” Aiden sneered again at Rad, whose expression had stiffened completely. “Your god was sealed, leaving you unable to even maintain a proper body in the Material World, and you’re out here playing human? Know your place.”
Rad let out a hollow laugh.
“…I didn’t expect a human in this day and age would still know about us.”
The title that preceded the name of the Demon Race was ‘Forgotten.’
The Forgotten Demon Race. Beings that everyone had forgotten over the hundreds of years since Wonil, the God of Predation, was sealed from the Pantheon and became an Outer God.
And yet.
Who was this man, reciting facts about their existence so fluently? Their deepest shames, their very mode of existence…
Perhaps he even knew their ultimate purpose.
“…”
That thought sent alarm bells ringing in his mind. Beyond merely knowing his identity, Rad became certain that this human would be the greatest obstacle to his race’s long-cherished wish.
In other words.
This man.
He had to be eliminated. Here and now.
No, it couldn’t end with mere elimination.
“I’ll have to pry open that brain of yours, mystery man.”
Having uttered those words calmly, Rad began to walk slowly toward Aiden.
The Imperial Prince he’d contracted with had demanded the safety of ‘all Imperial citizens.’ Directly harming Aiden, who fit that description, would place a massive burden on Rad himself. For beings possessing the demonic attribute, a contract carried far more weight than a simple promise.
Even so, this man was worth eliminating right now, even if it meant shouldering that burden.
The Demonic Energy flowing from his body grew incomparably thicker than before.
“I’m glad you’re arrogant,” Rad said. “You could have brought monsters like Lionheart and Deathwish, but you came here alone.”
In a one-on-one fight, subduing him wouldn’t be difficult.
“I think I can say the exact same thing to you.”
Yet even facing such a threat, Aiden responded nonchalantly.
“Where do you get the nerve to think you can beat me alone?”
A moment later, supernatural ability flooded the revolver he drew from his coat like lightning. An infusion of three supernatural abilities—a single shot of terrifying firepower that had shattered even the bodies of Katya and the Pope.
He pulled the trigger. A supersonic bullet pierced Rad’s head, snapping his body backward.
However.
“Ah, I know. A multiple ability user. When you imbue a weapon, its power increases exponentially, correct?”
—the words flowed out casually.
Rad stepped forward, mocking him. He didn’t even pause, as if having his head blown off was a minor inconvenience.
Generally, imbuing a weapon with a supernatural ability was known to roughly double its firepower. In Aiden’s case, however, he was a multiple ability user who could handle several supernatural abilities at once.
Two times two times two equals eight. Eight times the power of a standard supernatural ability. That was why, even with a small-caliber revolver, he could produce power that astonished even Lionheart.
And yet.
Even after taking a hit like that…
“…Do you think the Demon Race can be subdued by mere firepower of that degree? A race where even the youngest of us, like me, has lived for centuries?”
Demonic Energy poured from Rad like a tsunami, even as he finished his sentence with his head still shattered. The squirming, crawling Demonic Energy began to coalesce into a solid form, like black, hardened tar moving on its own, like soot clinging to the bottom of a gutter.
The Demonic Energy—revolting, repulsive, and nauseating just to look at—soon took the shape of spikes blacker than a moonless night.
“I already know that’s the most power you can muster. You’d best prepare to die—”
“Are you stupid?”
“…?”
“Why do you think I said all that? Talking about the Demon Race was guaranteed to put you on guard.”
“What are you talking about?”
It was simple.
He was confident.
“You asked how much I knew, so I’m answering. I know two things for sure.”
One: inflicting physical damage on a demon, a mental parasite, is pointless. That isn’t your ‘true body’ in the first place.
And two…
“It’s a different story when I strike the ‘true body’ you’ve just revealed.”
Of course, the Puppeteer was an especially insidious bastard among the Demon Race, so he likely had several of these mimic bodies. Even so, striking the true body with overwhelming power would inflict meaningful damage.
“…So,” Rad replied with a hollow laugh. “You deliberately provoked me just to inflict meaningful damage?”
An absurd bluff. Hadn’t he just seen, with his own eyes, how effortlessly he’d shrugged off the man’s trump card? This man’s sense of reality was completely warped—
“I asked if you’re really stupid,” Aiden said, tilting his head. “Your update is way too slow.”
With those words, ‘other supernatural abilities’ erupted from Aiden’s body.
“Humans are capable of application, you know.”
Supernatural ability formed on the revolver once more. It was identical to the attack he had launched at Rad just moments ago, but the ‘types’ of supernatural abilities imbued into it were different.
The first to form was Guardian’s Flame, a blend of Pure White Qi and First Vow.
The second to form was Radiant Brilliance, a blend of Savior’s Oath and Pure White Qi.
The third to form was Purifier, a blend of First Vow and Savior’s Oath.
Simple arithmetic.
Combining and imbuing three supernatural abilities of ‘one type’ results in 2x2x2. That is, 8 times the power.
But if you combine and imbue three supernatural abilities whose power has already been amplified by mixing ‘two types’ of abilities…
Roughly calculated, it’s 4x4x4.
That is.
64 times the power of a standard supernatural ability.
“…”
The blood drained from Rad’s face. Even to his eyes, the combination of supernatural abilities gathering in Aiden’s revolver was… something else. Something utterly ridiculous was coalescing.
His movements grew frantic. He immediately gathered all his condensed Demonic Energy to form a barrier before him.
“…Y-You bastard—!”
No matter how fast a demon was, he couldn’t outrun a supersonic bullet. His best bet was to block it and wait for another chance. Against power of that magnitude, he might survive if he got lucky. The odds were astronomically low, but he had to bet on it—!
“That’s why I asked you earlier, too.”
However, Aiden was about to play another card, one that shattered even those astronomical odds.
— System Message
▶ Activating ‘Skill: Divine Power Enhancement: Detonation’.
A skill that instantly doubles the power of Divine Power, limited to once per day.
Even Aiden himself didn’t know how this worked, but…
At the absolute minimum, it doubled the power.
Doubling the power of the supernatural ability already amplified to 64 times.
That is.
—128 times the power of a standard supernatural ability.
“…”
Supernatural energy so intense it felt like it would scorch the eyes from their sockets gathered in the revolver. Even before he fired, the brilliant light bursting from the gun battered the barrier of Demonic Energy Rad had deployed.
The attack hadn’t even flown yet.
Just the aftershock of the energy coalescing was tearing his Demonic Energy apart.
“…”
Rad’s face went completely blank.
Beyond his mind, his instincts were screaming.
He could never beat this man. Not even if he died and came back to life.
Only a single phrase came to mind.
“You monster…”
“Go to sleep until Act 1 ends. And stop doing annoying stuff.”
Then.
A blinding flash that seemed to blow away the night sky itself was the last thing Rad’s consciousness registered.