Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: 'Unauthorized Demon King?'
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‘Unauthorized Demon King?’
The unfamiliar voice echoing in his head made Seo Woo-jin flinch in surprise.
‘What does that mean?’
The meaning of the words themselves was simple enough.
But understanding them was another matter entirely.
‘…If I’m an unauthorized Demon King, does that mean there are other Demon Kings? What’s a type, and what’s a category?’
His brow furrowed involuntarily.
Something tickled at the back of his mind, but pinning down exactly what it meant was proving difficult.
“For now, let’s take a look.”
There had been a message about authorizing access for a new user, so he should be able to check the ‘Otherworldly Demon King Chronicle’ now.
Seo Woo-jin swallowed dryly and opened the book.
“Hmm…”
The massive tome was densely packed with text.
He examined it carefully.
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■ Name: Park Myung-in.
■ Type: Category 2.
■ Descent Location: World No. 928, Talion.
■ Mission: Exterminate humanity.
■ Result: Failure.
■ Details: Impressive early results after descent, but later slaughtered by the hero who appeared.
■ Achievement: 72%
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■ Name: Lee Hyun-min.
■ Type: Category 1.
■ Descent Location: World No. 1832, Arpen.
■ Mission: Exterminate all life.
■ Result: Failure.
■ Details: On the verge of success with overwhelming power, but later sealed by the hero who appeared.
■ Achievement: 91%
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■ Name: Ronald Tanner.
■ Type: Category 8.
■ Descent Location: World No. 9998, Reneer.
■ Mission: Exterminate other races.
■ Result: Failure.
■ Details: Slaughtered by heroes lying in wait due to information leak right upon descent.
■ Achievement: 1%
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“…What is this?”
The densely packed text was formatted like a report to someone.
Type, descent location, mission, result, details.
And achievement rate.
Everything was summarized briefly, but Seo Woo-jin grasped the gist.
“Is this all of it?”
He flipped through the pages quickly.
The book, which seemed to span at least hundreds of pages, was filled with similar entries.
“All of these are Demon Kings?”
Summoned from other worlds, just like him?
“Wait, hold on. They said this was the eighth descent in this world, right?”
Seo Woo-jin looked back at the ‘Otherworldly Demon King Chronicle’.
“The descent locations are all different.”
That meant Demon Kings didn’t just descend on this world.
Thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of worlds.
Demon Kings and heroes were being summoned to fight across all of them.
Seo Woo-jin fell silent.
‘Who the hell is behind this?’
What damned bastard was pulling the strings on all this?
A god?
Who knew.
A devil?
That seemed more likely, but he couldn’t be sure.
‘Or maybe it’s something entirely different.’
He kept flipping pages, but there was no mention of that entity.
Just the names and brief descriptions of Demon Kings summoned from other worlds, as the title suggested.
With a faint hope, Seo Woo-jin turned to the very last page.
And there it was.
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■ Name: Seo Woo-jin.
■ Type: Category 13.
■ Descent Location: World No. 19999, Bern.
■ Mission: ##&$@.
■ Result: In progress ^%*.
■ Details: System collision. @&^*% error. Correction needed. Initialization request in progress.
■ Achievement: @$^&!
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“Haha…”
He couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Everything was garbled except for his name, type, and descent location.
“System collision? Error?”
He had a hunch.
Seo Woo-jin was both a hero and a ‘Demon King’.
It must have happened because those two cases overlapped for some unknown reason.
Like a computer, right?
Conflicting programs crash and cause errors.
“So I’m some kind of irregular?”
Whether god, devil, or a third entity.
Even those beings of unfathomable stature hadn’t anticipated a situation like this.
‘Then what happens to me?’
No clue.
He’d hoped the book would clear up his questions, but it only made things more confusing.
It felt like groping through thick fog, unable to see an inch ahead.
And he couldn’t shake the sense that he was being toyed with by entities beyond comprehension.
Seo Woo-jin closed his eyes and sank into thought.
‘Are the Demon Kings of the other worlds and the Pandemonium rulers that Sword Sage mentioned something else?’
From what she’d said, they were different from him.
Not summoned from other worlds like the Demon Kings in the ‘Otherworldly Demon King Chronicle’.
They seemed native to this world from the start.
His head was starting to ache.
‘So what do I need to do now? What’s going to happen next?’
As Seo Woo-jin pondered, he recalled one of the final entries.
‘Initialization request in progress.’
What did that mean?
He didn’t know exactly what “initialization” entailed, but his instincts were screaming it was bad news.
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound good for me.”
After agonizing for a long while, Seo Woo-jin opened his eyes.
“…I know what I have to do.”
No matter how much he racked his brain, fretted, or puzzled it out, there was only one thing for him.
“I need to get stronger.”
To survive.
Strong enough that no Demon King, hero, god, or devil could touch him.
“I thought I was strong enough already.”
His level was over 100, and he’d reached the Super-Transcendent realm.
Honestly, he figured there were fewer than ten beings who could handle him at this point.
Add ‘Demon King Transformation’ on top?
He was confident he could beat anyone.
But not now.
‘I need to get even stronger.’
Strong enough to take on the whole world alone and win!
It was then, as Seo Woo-jin steeled his resolve and bit his lip.
Whoosh—!
Time was up, it seemed.
The darkness lifted, and bright light stabbed at his eyes.
“Congratulations.”
The first thing he heard was Grand Duke Briana’s voice, celebrating his level-up.
“Uh, um. Thank you.”
Seo Woo-jin bowed his head awkwardly.
“…Are you still not feeling well?”
Briana’s expression turned worried at the sight.
She’d just seen him endure agonizing pain as the price for using ‘Celestial Wing’.
“It’s nothing. It’s just been a while since I leveled up, so I feel a bit off.”
Seo Woo-jin brushed it off vaguely.
She’d make a great confidante, but he couldn’t reveal everything.
“That’s a relief, then.”
Briana looked a bit skeptical but, thankfully, didn’t press further.
“There don’t seem to be any enemies left.”
She glanced around as she spoke.
Seo Woo-jin checked with his ‘Divine Dragon Eye’ and nodded.
“Looks that way.”
Not all the Dark Elves were dead.
Some had stayed far back from the start of the battle and were still alive.
But from their auras, they weren’t combatants.
Mostly children and the elderly, it seemed.
No need to hunt them all down, so Seo Woo-jin pretended not to notice.
“Then there’s just one thing left?”
The Witch Tree Triue.
Her real request from the imperial family wasn’t to slay Behemoth—it was to eliminate the Witch Tree.
“That way, I think?”
Seo Woo-jin pointed in one direction.
The direction Behemoth and the guardians had come from.
At its end lurked something emanating thick demonic energy.
“Let’s go.”
Briana took the lead, heading that way.
‘Focus on what’s in front of me for now. I’ll worry later.’
No point wracking his brain now; no answers would come.
He could gather intel and think it over after returning to the capital.
Seo Woo-jin cleared his mind.
“Something bothering you? You haven’t looked right since earlier.”
Was she reading his mind?
Briana asked suddenly.
“There is, but…”
“You’re not planning to talk about it?”
Her tone carried a hint of amusement.
“Sorry.”
“No, no. If you’re acting like this, there must be a reason.”
Briana’s trust in Seo Woo-jin was greater than he’d thought.
After fighting life-and-death battles together multiple times, she might even see him as a comrade-in-arms.
“Just tell me when you feel the time is right?”
“Yes.”
Seo Woo-jin nodded with a smile.
If no answers emerged.
If he desperately needed someone’s help.
Asking her—one of the few he truly trusted—wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Of course, he’d have to hold back a lot.
“Good.”
Briana smiled, satisfied with his response.
“Let’s hurry. Time to wrap this up and head back.”
The two picked up their pace.
Racing across the flattened forest like the wind, they soon spotted a massive tree ahead.
“That’s the Witch Tree.”
It was pitch-black, as if struck by lightning.
“Fits the name.”
“It absorbed demonic energy and fell into corruption on its own.”
Briana’s expression soured.
“It was originally one of the world tree’s stems, supporting the world…”
Like the sacred tree tended by Yorn, the academy chancellor.
But tainted by demonic energy from the Dark Elves, it had twisted into this profane Witch Tree.
“What happens if we destroy it?”
Would the Dark Elves go extinct, or the Demon Realm purify?
“Who knows? Never really thought about it.”
Briana shrugged.
Her face said she’d never bothered with such worries.
“…If the imperial family asked for it, something’s bound to happen, right?”
“Probably. Crusiel deemed the Witch Tree’s removal necessary, so they came to me.”
Crusiel didn’t undertake meaningless tasks.
Removing Witch Tree Triue would bring change.
What kind? Still unknown.
“But it won’t wipe out all the Dark Elves or anything. We’ll see for sure once we do it.”
Briana approached the Witch Tree slowly.
“Want to do it?”
Seo Woo-jin shook his head at her question.
“No. I’ll just watch.”
Destroying a tree like that wouldn’t yield much experience anyway.
And with unknown consequences, better to hang back and observe.
“Alright? Guess I’ll handle it then.”
Briana extended her hand.
Her supernatural power and mana intertwined, warping space.
Ruuuumble—
Was it sensing its fate?
A eerie groan emanated from the Witch Tree.
It almost sounded like a plea for mercy.
But Briana ignored it and clenched her fist.
“Vanish.”
Crunch-crack-snap—!
The Witch Tree began to crumple.
Its massive size proved no match; it shattered and snapped all too easily, meeting its end after eons.
And then…
Woooong—!
Something revealed itself.