Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Demon King Descent
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I opened my eyes.
The head that had been shattered by overwhelming power had already fully recovered.
No, it had evolved beyond that.
My entire body was covered in black exoskeleton, with two horns and three pairs of wings.
There was only one thing that meant.
‘Demon King Descent’.
I rose to my feet.
A colossal power, impossible to describe in words, surged from within my body.
Omnipotence.
Not only the Forest of Death, but the entire surrounding area fell within Seowoojin’s senses.
“Hmm.”
I raised my hand and clenched my fist.
Even that simple action made space itself scream.
A satisfied smile crept across my face.
“You, you……?”
At that moment, a voice filled with astonishment came from ahead.
Seowoojin looked up to see the owner of the voice.
Luonbali.
His eyes were wide open as far as they could go, staring in this direction.
“Right, you were here.”
He wore an expression as if he had just remembered him.
In truth, Seowoojin hadn’t even paid attention to Luonbali.
There was no point in caring about such a worthless being.
Seowoojin’s stature was far too exalted to bother remembering a pest like that.
But now he acknowledged him.
The insect that had dared to crush his head.
No matter how weak and pathetic his human state had been, it didn’t make him want to forgive.
“…Are you the King?”
Luonbali swallowed hard and asked politely.
Even in this utterly incomprehensible situation, he couldn’t act rashly.
The demonic energy emanating from Seowoojin was so vast that no one but him could explain it.
Even Luonbali, one of the Apostles, couldn’t even guess.
But Seowoojin just smirked at the question.
“I’m not your king.”
He shook his head.
Then continued.
“I am your fear, your nightmare, and soon, your death.”
Flash!
Luonbali could no longer hold back and kicked off the ground.
But the direction wasn’t toward Seowoojin.
It was the opposite way.
“Running away.”
An Apostle was showing his back to the enemy and fleeing.
“That’s interesting.”
Seowoojin didn’t hide his smile as he began to walk.
Luonbali’s figure had already vanished, but he didn’t hurry.
No matter where he went, Seowoojin’s senses wouldn’t miss his presence.
Thud— Boom—
Demonic beasts collapsed around the slowly moving Seowoojin.
One, ten, a hundred….
They couldn’t withstand the overwhelming demonic energy that crushed the world.
The demonic beasts died without even understanding how they perished.
“Over there?”
Seowoojin looked toward where Luonbali was.
Then his eyes lit up with interest.
A familiar energy and an unfamiliar one were clashing.
Their levels were insignificant.
But the fact that humans of considerable meaning to Seowoojin were fighting piqued his curiosity.
“Shall I go see?”
Smashing everything and bringing apocalypse to the world sounded good, but occasionally watching these ants fight wasn’t bad either.
He could even offer some advice while he was at it.
Seowoojin spread his wings in anticipation.
* * *
‘This is bad!’
One who possessed the stature of a king.
No doubt, he was the Demon King.
‘The being that appeared when Yeoryong moved…’
Luonbali finally realized.
Baek Siu, brought by the Lion, wasn’t the king.
He’d had slight doubts, but since the Lion had spoken with certainty, he’d let it slide—and now regretted it.
‘The true king is him.’
The situation was confusing since it was his first time, but there was no room for doubt.
“But why?”
The king intended to kill him.
If he hadn’t fled the moment he sensed the unease, he surely would have been torn limb from limb right there.
Luonbali couldn’t understand it.
‘First, take Brutal and head to the hideout. There, I need to hear the truth from the Lion.’
Was it possible?
He couldn’t be sure.
Even though he’d put quite some distance, the horrifyingly immense energy from behind felt like it would swallow him any moment.
Thanks to that, Luonbali pushed his body to the limit and soon arrived where Ban Slaine and Brutal were fighting.
“Stop!”
One of Crusiel’s agents tried to block him, but it was futile.
Splat!
His head exploded from a casual swing.
Knights and agents drew their swords toward Luonbali.
“Who are you!”
“Block him! It’s an enemy!”
But they couldn’t block him.
In an instant, the five in front turned to bloody pulp and flew away, so they didn’t dare charge again.
“Retreat! Fall back!”
In the end, No. 6 ordered, putting distance between them and Luonbali.
“…Brutal!”
With the interlopers gone, he urgently called for Brutal.
Boom!
With a massive clash, Ban Slaine and Brutal separated.
“What’s going on? Leave this place to me…”
“We have to run! Right now!”
Brutal’s face hardened.
Luonbali’s changed tone and appearance bothered him, but more than that, the word “run” grated on his ears.
The word “run” coming from an Apostle’s mouth?
Moreover, wasn’t Luonbali one of the top three strongest among the 11 remaining Apostles, excluding the dead?
There was no reason for such a being to look so desperate.
But Luonbali had no time to explain.
Seowoojin would arrive any second…
“You’ve all gathered here.”
‘Too late!’
The king’s voice came right from behind.
Luonbali freaked out and tried to flee, but this time Seowoojin didn’t allow it.
“Where do you think you’re going.”
Grab—
“Aaahhh!”
Terrifying pain shot from the head Seowoojin had seized.
Crack—
His skull cracked.
From mere grip strength, Luonbali’s head—the most durable among Apostles—began to shatter.
“What are you!”
“And what are you?”
Brutal shouted, and Seowoojin replied indifferently.
His gaze was like looking at a passing insect.
Even realizing that, Brutal didn’t act rashly.
The vast demonic energy from Seowoojin gripped his ankles.
‘Strong.’
At his level, gauging Seowoojin’s stature was impossible.
But it was certainly far above Luonbali’s.
Otherwise, that clown wouldn’t be screaming while held by the head.
Brutal eyed Seowoojin warily.
Horns, wings, exoskeleton.
He didn’t look human.
Plus the demonic energy dominating everything around.
‘No way?’
Something flashed in his mind, but he shook his head.
‘Can’t be the king.’
The new king had clearly been brought to the hideout by the Lion himself.
Hadn’t he seen it with his own eyes?
Brutal’s faith in the Lion was absolute.
Naturally, he had no doubt that Baek Siu was their new king.
So this one wasn’t the king.
That’s what Brutal thought.
“You won’t answer.”
Crack—
Seowoojin’s fingers dug into Luonbali’s skull.
It was like squeezing tofu.
“…Let him go. Or I’ll cut you down.”
He raised his sword, aiming at Seowoojin.
Seeing that, the corner of his mouth lifted.
“Blind, or bold.”
If the former, he’d tear him apart now; if the latter, break that resolve before killing.
Seowoojin grew curious which Brutal was.
“Can you beat me?”
Seowoojin asked.
His answer would decide what kind of death awaited.
But disappointingly, Seowoojin didn’t hear it.
“…The Demon King?”
Ban Slaine’s voice came from where he’d been watching from a distance.
Seowoojin’s gaze turned there.
He saw cold, sunken eyes like those from his hometown.
But fortunately, he didn’t seem to recognize Seowoojin.
Of course, their appearances were too different to think they were the same person.
Even for Ban Slaine, recognizing Seowoojin with changed form and aura was impossible.
Not that the current ‘Demon King’ cared whether he did or not.
“Oh.”
Seowoojin’s head tilted slightly.
Ban Slaine’s level, once unknown, was now clearly visible at a glance.
‘So that’s his level.’
Strong.
Compared to human Seowoojin, he’d reached several stages higher.
As expected before, he’d need level 100 to catch up to Ban Slaine.
But,
‘Doesn’t matter now.’
Even the once-mighty Ban Slaine was nothing to him now.
A weak being he could crush with a finger.
Nothing more, nothing less.
“Nonsense!”
Brutal rebuffed Ban Slaine’s words.
The being before them couldn’t be the Demon King.
It mustn’t be.
That would mean the Lion had deceived them.
Brutal shook his head in denial and looked at Luonbali.
He saw the clown bleeding from the head gripped in Seowoojin’s hand.
“Is Ban telling the truth?”
Of course, Luonbali couldn’t answer.
He was half out of his mind from the agony.
Yet Luonbali’s head moved faintly.
As if affirming.
Brutal’s eyes trembled.
“Is it true? Truly… are you the King?”
The first question was to Luonbali, the last to Seowoojin.
And Seowoojin gave the same reply as to Luonbali.
“I’m no king of yours.”
In the new world he would create, such insects had no place.
Thus, Seowoojin was no king to Brutal.
A reaper was enough for now.
The reaper to erase this distasteful world and purify it with destruction.
“So…”
Strength entered his hand.
Crunch!
Luonbali’s head exploded.
Black blood and white brain matter spilled.
“C-Crazy bastard!”
One of the 13 Apostles had died.
The third death after Gerald and Reina.
Brutal charged at Seowoojin with a shocked expression.
He’d long forgotten Ban Slaine’s words about the Demon King.
Now, he was just the enemy who killed an Apostle—his neck must be severed.
But someone blocked Brutal’s path.
Clang!
“Stop.”
“Ban!”
Old friend and lifelong rival.
Ban Slaine had moved beside him, blocking his advance with his sword.
“Get out of the way! Even if it’s you…”
As Brutal yelled with killing intent, Ban Slaine whispered softly.
“That’s not the Demon King.”
More precisely, not the Demon King they knew.
It was different.
The type of demonic energy was subtly off, and the aura didn’t match the records.
And crucially.
“He hasn’t ‘descended’.”
Brutal’s body shook.
‘Descent’
It didn’t just mean coming down from the sky.
An ultra-high-grade grand magic.
Even all Sky Tower mages, including Magic Dukes, couldn’t imitate it—the supreme magic known as ‘Descent’.
Naturally, when activated, a mana flow appears that all lifeforms can sense.
But there was none.
Thus, Seowoojin wasn’t a Demon King who had ‘descended’.
“…Then?”
Brutal asked, and Ban Slaine replied with a grim expression.
“We’ll have to find out from now on.”