Proposal (2)
Proposal (2)
When I opened the door and entered, there stood a man with his features concealed by a draped robe.
And before him was the woman with ram horns on her head, the Leader of the Demons I had seen earlier, frozen solid.
Even though we had entered, the man didn't spare us a single glance, instead stroking the woman who had become a block of ice.
Just as it had corroded Haeryeong's finger earlier, the magic power of Niflheim within the ice began to corrode the unknown man's hand.
However, the man nonchalantly wreathed his hand in black magic power and repelled Niflheim's power.
As I thought before entering, that man is different.
His dimension, his class, is on a different level from the riff-raff called Demons I've seen so far.
Rather than a Demon, he's closer to Apophis, whom I saw not long ago.
In essence, he's a being closer to that side.
'Shin Su-ah or Baek Yeon would only last a few minutes at most. Linnea might be similar, huh?'
I don't think there would be two Demons of this caliber.
Then...
"You are the Leader of the Demons?"
"!!"
"As expected, you recognized me. Yes, I lead those you call Demons. I cast aside my name long ago, so please call me The Prophet."
Both Shin Su-ah and Baek Yeon were startled by my words, but the man who referred to himself as The Prophet nodded in affirmation without batting an eye.
"Hmph. The Prophet. Quite a grandiose title for a self-proclaimed one. What brings you all the way here?"
"Well, wouldn't you come if the subordinate you entrusted with information gathering suddenly ceased all life activities? On top of that, the other individuals who were around her all died at once, so I stopped by to check what happened."
"I see. And your impressions from personally gracing us with your presence?"
"Hmm..."
The Prophet, who had stopped touching the Niflheim-produced ice, stared piercingly at me.
His eyes felt different from an ordinary person's, as if they were trying to pierce through to the essence.
It's not like looking will wear me down, but his persistent probing gaze was annoying, so I deflected it. The Prophet nodded his head with a satisfied expression and gave an unexpected answer.
"Would you not consider joining our side?"
"Come again?"
"I asked if you have any thoughts of becoming our ally."
"Are you insane? What would I lack that I need to join your side?"
"There are things one can know even without peering into the deepest essence. The venom manifested from your hatred towards life, and the ice imbued with the grudge of the dead. Just looking at those two, isn't it right for you, who is not human, to stand on this side?"
"What a laughable bastard. Just because I hate life, I must destroy the world? Because I possess the power of the dead, I must kill everyone? Who are you to judge sides based solely on fragmented aspects of power?"
The Prophet's words aren't wrong.
Though I don't usually show it, from the moment I was born, I found everything in this world detestable to an unbearable degree.
To the extent that I wanted to dye this entire world with hatred, making them tear at and fight each other.
But that's a story from childhood. An adult who can judge and act rationally doesn't act on whims driven by emotion.
Hatred boiling up from instinct?
That's something I can just vent on those who come at me appropriately.
And the ice imbued with the grudge of the dead is a power I gained from the essence received from Hel, so it's not particularly my essence.
Asking a question just now only brought up an embarrassing past.
Fine.
Now that I have nothing more to ask... should I kill him?
Even if his magic power is on a different level from other Demons, at best he's only about one step above Apophis.
If I go all out in my current state, it's not impossible to take him down.
'If it's not enough, I can just borrow from my main body.'
Immense magic power spreads from my heart throughout my entire body.
"You intend to fight?"
"Did you think I'd send you off politely?"
"Am I to take it that my proposal has been rejected?"
"Yes. And die."
Upon meeting, a Breath as a greeting.
This time, unlike before, I didn't hold back the venom.
Instead, I added venom, poured in more magic power, and unleashed a Breath with all my might.
A flash of light before my eyes, and the Breath swept across the area directly in front of me.
The building the Demons were using as their base crumbled, and the underground facilities collapsed.
Normally, one would get buried under the collapsing facility if they stayed, but the Breath I unleashed swallowed even the collapsing building and facilities, erasing everything.
The path the Breath traveled.
Nothing remained there anymore.
Beyond a section of the building, the Breath had swallowed part of the island, revealing the distant horizon.
"Ni, Nidhogg-nim. Wouldn't that Prophet guy be dead by now?"
"No. He's alive."
I stated definitively to Shin Su-ah, who was gulping at the island's devastated appearance.
Right before my Breath hit him as I fired it...
He hastily created a Gate rift and slipped away.
My Breath swallowed even the Gate he created, but I didn't see him die.
"You two wait here."
I had already cast spells, but I added several more layers of protective magic formulas and soared into the sky towards the gaping hole.
Exiting underground, I gradually increased my size, swelling to a scale comparable to a decent-sized mountain.
Where did he run to?
He couldn't have gone far.
When I focused magic power into my eyes, things that were invisible began to appear.
The black magic power and my magic power spread through the void.
And the ambiguously distorted space visible between them.
There it is.
Wrapping my body in magic power, I flew and swung my hand towards the distorted space.
Overwhelming magic power interferes with concepts beyond mere matter, easily shattering a merely manipulated space.
Crack!!
A sound like solid stone breaking rang out, and a Gate appeared where I struck.
The Gate where he's hiding.
If I unleash another Breath right now, I can definitely kill him.
As I prepared a Breath for a confirmation kill, he emerged from inside the Gate.
It seems he wasn't completely unharmed, as one of his arms was gone.
Unlike when he shook off the magic power while touching the ice earlier, this time my signature venom was mixed in, so it's natural.
Rather, the fact that he blocked it with only that level of damage shows he's no ordinary being.
"That was vicious venom. I never imagined it would even hinder my regeneration..."
"That's why you shouldn't have come here."
"Hah, haha. I suppose I should have."
"It's too late for regrets now."
I'll finish him off for sure this time.
As I gathered my Breath for that purpose...
Blood oozed and flowed from the severed cross-section of his lost arm.
The blood that should have fallen to the ground defied gravity, clumping into a sphere in mid-air, then soon changed into a peculiar pattern, transforming into something like a magic circle.
Clearly a sign he's preparing something suspicious.
Thinking I might be too late if I just keep gathering my Breath, I immediately fired what I had accumulated so far.
Although it's a Breath, I couldn't be sure it would kill him, so I didn't stop there. Laden with magic power, I flew towards him.
Seeing him barely blocking the Breath with his one intact arm amidst the scattering Breath, I raised one leg.
This is the end.
The moment I was about to deliver the finishing strike...
The magic circle he was desperately protecting, spread in the void, glowed darkly.
And-
Crash!!
Despite the shining magic circle, the Prophet guy was sent flying by my forepaw without any resistance.
Originally, he should have died from that strike, but the moment I delivered the blow, the suddenly glowing magic circle disrupted the point of impact.
On top of that, the barrier he desperately deployed must have been tougher than I thought, reducing the power somewhat, causing me to miss the chance to turn him into mincemeat.
The guy who flew far away and slammed into the ground staggered as he got up.
Having risen, his appearance was that of one arm missing, the other arm broken in various places, and his entire body covered in wounds.
I flapped my wings and approached the nearly dead Prophet.
"Kkh..."
"Fitting for the Leader of the Demon bastards, you're even more tenacious than a cockroach."
"Hu, hoo... Experiencing it firsthand, I understand clearly now. Indeed, you should come to our side."
"Still saying that? Let's see if you still say that even after being trampled into minced meat."
Not giving him a chance to prepare another strange act, I gathered magic power, intending to definitely sever his breath this time.
Oooong-
The flow of magic power felt from behind my back.
A flow of magic power so immense it could compare to my Breath. Hurriedly turning my head, I saw the magic circle he barely protected, made from his blood, emitting ominous magic power.
Before I could erase the magic circle due to the foreboding feeling.
The black magic power that emerged from it shot into the sky as a beam.
"What have you done?"
"You'll know soon. Just wait a little."
True to the Prophet's words, not long after, I could realize what kind of magic that was.
The magic power that soared high enough to pierce the sky spread explosively across the entire sky after reaching a certain height.
The magic power that broadly covered the sky no longer dispersed but remained in place, and then.
Crack!!
"Don't tell me..."
"I never intended to fight you from the start. What would be the point of fighting someone who could become our most reliable comrade?"
"You bastard. You planned this from the beginning...!"
I roared with rage-filled anger, but the Prophet still stood there, looking up at the sky with satisfaction.
Looking up as well, the sky had cracks appearing irregularly here and there like broken glass.
Chaeeng!!
The shattered sky as if it could no longer hold.
Countless black magic powers unique to Demons felt from within.
The Prophet's target wasn't an attack aimed at me from the start.
He had opened a Gate of an unprecedented size using his blood and magic power as the price.