Chapter 259
Chapter 259
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 259
Chapter Title: Stalemate and Severance
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“Tch.”
Seo Woojin clicked his tongue.
‘I thought it’d be different from the hydra….’
Not just its heads, but its entire body shattered into pieces, Kratoss was regenerating.
No, regeneration wasn’t quite the right word. Time reversal fit better.
Its flesh, divided into hundreds of fragments, was rapidly fusing back together, returning to its original form.
‘Does that mean it can’t be killed with ordinary methods?’
In a mere ten seconds or so.
From a state where it wouldn’t have been strange if it had died hundreds of times over, Kratoss had achieved complete recovery.
Seo Woojin’s expression turned grave as he watched.
‘I won’t lose, but it’s going to take some serious effort.’
He needed to find a surefire way to kill it.
‘Should I try a skill?’
If normal attacks didn’t work, maybe a skill would.
But Seo Woojin shook his head at the thought.
‘It has that special ability.’
The one it had shown just moments ago. The power to forcibly cancel skills.
As long as that existed, using skills would be pointless.
[You’ve attained realm, but you haven’t reached position.]
Restored to its original form, Kratoss opened its mouth toward Seo Woojin.
“…Position?”
Seo Woojin asked.
He couldn’t grasp the meaning.
But Kratoss showed no intention of explaining.
[Return, O King of Chaos. The battle between you and I will never end.]
Kratoss had no means to deal with Seo Woojin.
Nor did the reverse hold true.
He could overwhelm it utterly, but he couldn’t kill it.
In the end, it would just be a waste of time, locked in a stalemate.
‘What to do?’
Seo Woojin pondered.
As Kratoss said, fighting would resolve nothing.
He could tear its body apart hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times, but that would be it.
Yet retreating empty-handed wasn’t an option.
‘Demon King Transformation for nothing, huh.’
Even with Ban Slane at his side, Seo Woojin had used ‘Demon King Transformation’.
Considering the risks, pulling back now would be a loss.
If he’d killed the Lion himself, he wouldn’t be agonizing like this.
Then, suddenly, Baek Si-woo came to mind.
The Lion was already dead, and Kratoss couldn’t be killed.
That left one option.
Baek Si-woo alone.
‘Not a bad idea.’
If he didn’t want any loose ends, he had to kill that guy anyway.
He didn’t know what method was used, but it seemed to have surpassed level 100, which would greatly aid Seo Woojin’s growth.
‘…Thinking of people as experience points is pretty funny, though.’
Was it the influence of ‘Demon King Transformation’?
It felt odd to entertain such thoughts so casually.
‘Whatever.’
He’d planned to kill Baek Si-woo anyway, and gaining benefits in the process would be icing on the cake.
But then.
[I cannot allow that.]
Had it read Seo Woojin’s mind?
Kratoss moved to block Baek Si-woo.
“…Why?”
Baek Si-woo held no value to it.
He’d reached the superhuman realm, but that was all.
Far too insufficient to justify opposing Seo Woojin.
Yet Kratoss didn’t see it that way.
[I have no obligation to explain to you.]
‘There’s some reason, huh?’
The dead Lion, and now Kratoss before him.
What had they seen in Baek Si-woo?
They must have perceived something he didn’t, enough to protect him so fiercely.
Seo Woojin grew curious about that reason.
“Then no choice.”
Wuuuuuung—
From the blade of ‘Caraniel’, strands of gray chaos energy formed into aura and began extending outward.
“From now on, I’m going to carve you up. Won’t die? Doesn’t matter. If ten thousand or a hundred thousand cuts aren’t enough, I’ll make it a million, ten million. Let’s see who tires out first.”
In Demon King Transformation, Seo Woojin’s stamina and chaos energy were near infinite.
He could dismember Kratoss for a whole year without tiring.
[You don’t have much time left. And yet you’d waste that precious time?]
“I said it doesn’t matter.”
He meant it.
Spending a little time now to get what he wanted wasn’t a waste.
‘And I’m not assuming it can hold out forever.’
Even its ability had limits.
He just needed to endure until then.
As Seo Woojin raised his genuine killing intent, Kratoss’s eyes narrowed.
[Reckless. Foolish.]
But it was afraid.
Kratoss truly feared Seo Woojin.
Not because he was the ‘King of Chaos’, but because of that ruthless determination.
[If I satisfy your curiosity, will you leave?]
A smile crept onto Seo Woojin’s lips.
‘As expected.’
He’d thought even Kratoss couldn’t endure endless fear of death forever, and he was right.
“I’ll hear it first.”
Seo Woojin had no desire to waste time either.
Better to learn the secret they were hiding about Baek Si-woo and let them go this once.
Kratoss stared silently at Seo Woojin before speaking.
[This toy, created by the heretic, holds boundless potential.]
“Potential?”
[It may even give birth to a new king.]
Seo Woojin’s brow furrowed.
“A new king… you mean Demon King?”
[The ruler of Pandemonium.]
Kratoss corrected him.
“Whatever. You’re saying Baek Si-woo has what it takes to become one?”
[Indeed. It’s faint now, but who knows what the future holds.]
Seo Woojin’s gaze shifted past Kratoss to Baek Si-woo.
His appearance had changed greatly from before, and he was glaring murderously this way.
‘He’s always had talent.’
Owner of an SSS-grade class, no less.
Inferior to Seo Woojin, but extraordinary compared to other heroes.
And now, potential to become a king?
‘Should I kill him?’
The Demon King descending soon was already a handful.
If Baek Si-woo became a new Demon King?
Even Seo Woojin lacked confidence in handling everything.
‘Better to overexert and kill him now….’
[Dream on.]
Sensing Seo Woojin’s killing intent, Kratoss gathered demonic energy.
[I may lack the power to stop you, but protecting one toy is well within my means.]
As if to prove it, Kratoss’s demonic energy swelled enormously.
[You said a million or ten million pieces? Try it. But your sword will never reach.]
Seo Woojin shook his head at Kratoss’s confident words.
‘Not good.’
Its power was no joke.
He could dismember Kratoss as much as he wanted, but it had enough strength to protect Baek Si-woo untouched.
“Fine, I’ll let you go today.”
Seo Woojin reluctantly decided to release Kratoss and Baek Si-woo.
‘It nags at me, but….’
He wasn’t worried.
Whether Baek Si-woo became Demon King or Demon God.
He was confident he could stop it.
Of course, that required far more growth than now.
[We shall meet again someday. And then, the outcome will differ from today.]
Kratoss concentrated its gathered demonic energy, tearing space to form a gate.
Then it began moving inside with Baek Si-woo.
“Seo Woojin….”
Baek Si-woo’s voice, laced with hatred, reached him.
“Keep your eyes down, you punk. I’m sparing you, and you can’t even say thanks—instead you glare?”
Baek Si-woo flinched at Seo Woojin’s murderous chaos energy.
But he still glared this way.
“Next time, I’ll definitely sever your neck. And erase every being connected to you.”
It was a curse near a malediction, but Seo Woojin ignored it.
‘Next time, you’re the one dying.’
He wouldn’t go easy then.
Even if Kratoss blocked the way, he’d grow enough to surpass it and take Baek Si-woo’s head.
Seo Woojin withdrew his gaze from Baek Si-woo and looked at Kratoss.
“As you said, that day the result will be different from today….”
Mid-sentence, Seo Woojin’s eyes widened.
Right at the gate Kratoss had created, an utterly unexpected situation unfolded.
“I have no intention of just letting you go.”
It was Ban Slane.
He swung an aura as pure white as frozen earth.
An attack neither Seo Woojin, nor Kratoss or Baek Si-woo had noticed.
Slash—!
Ban Slane’s sword severed Baek Si-woo’s left arm.
“…U, uwaaaaaah!”
Baek Si-woo screamed upon belatedly realizing it.
But Ban Slane didn’t stop.
“Guess I’ll cut down the sprout that might become a new Demon King.”
The promise was Seo Woojin’s anyway.
It held no binding force over him.
Kratoss’s mistake was forgetting about Ban Slane’s existence.
Kwaaaaaaang—!
A sword laden with immense mana descended toward Baek Si-woo’s screaming neck.
[How dare you!]
Kratoss roared and spread its wings.
Its six wings instantly enveloped everything around, blocking Ban Slane’s attack.
Kagagagak—!
Surprisingly, its wings bore not a single scratch from the pure white aura.
[Die! You shameless wretch!]
Enraged, Kratoss’s heads lunged to bite Ban Slane.
“That’s far enough.”
But Seo Woojin wasn’t just watching.
‘Caraniel’ flew through the air, piercing its heads.
Pukubuk—!
Four out of twelve heads were holed through.
Gooooooo—!
Kratoss’s demonic energy exploded like a rampage, wrapped in pain and rage.
“Kuuh!”
Ban Slane’s body trembled before the overwhelming force.
Yet he didn’t halt his sword.
“Call me cowardly, but I must block it somehow…!”
Kratoss could still kill Baek Si-woo if it pushed itself.
That’s why he’d attacked despite the strain.
But….
‘Ah!’
Regrettably, Ban Slane had to settle for one arm.
Kratoss’s body had appeared before him as if teleporting.
Its eight heads damaged by Seo Woojin hung limp, while the remaining four approached to bite Ban Slane.
‘Is this it?’
It was a shame.
Killing Baek Si-woo would have greatly helped Seo Woojin and the other heroes.
‘Killing that child seems impossible after all.’
Acknowledging his limits, Ban Slane kicked off the ground.
Since he couldn’t kill Baek Si-woo, he at least needed to survive.
Kwaak—!
Kratoss’s fangs struck where he’d been.
Fortunately, Ban Slane dodged and swiftly retreated.
Kratoss tried to pursue in fury, but Seo Woojin’s words were quicker.
“Take one more step. Your heads will look perfect severed.”
Flinch—!
It realized Seo Woojin was targeting not itself, but Baek Si-woo’s head.
In the end, Kratoss had no choice but to halt.
[…We retreat.]
Its heads, now perfectly regenerated, all ground their teeth.
But unable to press further, it shoved the screaming Baek Si-woo into the gate.
[Today’s humiliation will be repaid in full someday.]