Chapter 245: Jealousy (16)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 245: Jealousy (16)
The demons clad in dragon-like armor exuded a fairly imposing aura, but the real deal was the one who appeared at the very end.
Judging by his significantly larger build and the fact that he alone wore distinct black armor, he was likely their leader.
Even though he didn’t utter a single word, the armored demons lined up and charged at us all at once.
It might have been partly because the influence of the holy water had faded significantly, but even considering that, their movements were far superior to any demons we had faced so far.
To be precise, it wasn’t that each individual unit was exceptional, but rather that they displayed perfectly coordinated teamwork.
Two would block an attack that one couldn’t handle alone, and they utilized buffs and debuffs in a way that felt less like typical demons and more like disciplined soldiers.
Well, even so.
“So, what of it?”
It wasn’t as if that was enough to turn the tide of the battle.
They might withstand the first strike, but the second would send them flying, and if they somehow endured that, a third would follow immediately.
My friends seemed to have grown much stronger than I had anticipated.
However, I could see the doubt flickering in their eyes even as they fought.
It made sense for them to be curious.
I had already given them a rough briefing on the enemy’s strength.
Knowing that this wasn’t the extent of their forces, they could easily deduce that the appearance of these well-trained soldiers meant a balance would be struck if the enemy summoned threatening Named-class demons.
Why was the one who appeared to be the commander still just watching? Why weren’t they summoning more demons that looked like Named-class?
Such questions were likely blooming within my friends right now.
Well, I had a pretty good idea why.
And besides me, who had experienced this firsthand, there was one other person who realized their goal quite quickly—none other than our protagonist, Lilac.
“Everyone, be careful! Their goal is to separate us…!”
Correct.
These soldiers in dragon armor were so well-trained that it was easy to mistake them for the main force, but in reality, they were treated as expendables used to catch the enemy off guard.
No matter how much they were attacked, they remained consistent in their defense. When one fell, two took their place; when two fell, three filled the gap, breaking the enemy’s formation and isolating them one by one.
And the moment they judged the isolation to be successful, they would use their trump card.
Which was…
“Teleportation magic…!?”
At the same time the armored demons chanted the spell, Ju Ri-ra, having identified its nature, shouted a warning.
That’s right.
Teleportation magic.
One of the most effective ways to clear away obstacles other than the target.
It was a particularly troublesome method because it worked as long as even one demon survived to cast the spell, even if they couldn’t defeat us.
In fact, I had almost lost Seo-ha in my past life because I fell for this tactic. There was no way I wouldn’t recognize it.
“Ugh…!?”
Lilac pushed back an armored soldier approaching with magic active to create distance, but they clung to him with dogged persistence.
Of course, I had prepared for this.
I sliced into my life force to request a trade with the Touch of the Devil, and an answer came immediately.
There was no way I would leave myself defenseless against a spell I had seen before.
Back when that bastard betrayed Baek Seol and fled, I had already finished analyzing her magic to prepare for a rematch.
I intervened in the magic circle using the demonic energy obtained from the Touch of the Devil.
It was a simple matter of overwriting their spell with my demonic energy to neutralize it.
If you just blindly destroy teleportation magic, there’s a chance of being warped to some random, halfway point. Therefore, if you can’t stop the activation, the safest counter is to hijack the formula and reset the destination to this very spot.
For a moment, the demons looked shocked as their spells began to be neutralized simultaneously, but that didn’t last long.
I had been able to perfectly intervene in the formulas until midway through, but suddenly, something else pushed back, cutting off the demonic energy trying to interfere with the spells.
And strangely enough, the power that protected the spells from my demonic energy felt somewhat familiar.
An Authority.
And it didn’t seem like a small amount, either.
Since my intervention failed and the flow of demonic energy returned to normal, my friends, who couldn’t completely fend off the armored soldiers one by one, began to be teleported away.
Since they were openly teleporting everyone except me, it seemed everyone had realized their goal by now and resisted fiercely. But when suicide squads push in with sheer numbers, you can’t always stop them just because you want to.
“Hey, So-hyun!”
“Run…! Their goal is…!”
Aisha and Woo Jae-hee, who were the first to misunderstand the goal and try to defend, were sent away first. Next were Lilac and Cheon Yu-hak, who couldn’t withstand the sheer volume of the offensive, followed by Ju Ri-ra and Lee Yu-na.
“Let go…!”
Ha-ni, already caught in a formula, violently cut down the demons clinging to her, but it was useless once the teleportation had begun.
“Hmm.”
What was unexpected, however, was Baek Seol. For some reason, despite having successfully evaded the demons, she ran toward Ha-ni and allowed herself to be caught in the teleportation as well.
“I think I can raise my affection level more this way.”
The last one remaining was Master, who was still skillfully cutting down the demons until the very end.
“Huh?”
However, causality twisted, and a demon she had undoubtedly cut down rose back to life and grabbed the hem of her clothes.
No matter how you looked at it, an Authority had intervened.
Subsequently, the teleportation magic, activated by sacrificing a life, seized her.
“I’ve been caught too, Junior. Be caref—”
So, everyone but me was taken.
Considering that only a handful of the armored demons remained compared to how many there were at the start, it could be said they had taken significant damage. However, it was undeniable that the situation had deviated greatly from my expectations.
If there was any silver lining, it was that based on what I saw when I intervened in the formulas earlier, none of the destinations were places like the inside of a volcano or the deep sea. Most were connected to other demon summoning points besides this one.
In other words, the kids probably weren’t in extreme danger.
Just in case, I channeled mana into my bracelet to see if teleportation was possible, but the mana began to scatter violently.
[It’s a convenient power, isn’t it?]
And as if she had been waiting for my teleportation to fail, she began to slowly rise from the magic circle.
A blue-haired mermaid, looking at me with a seductive smile from within a spherical bubble made of demonic energy.
It’s been a while. I didn’t miss you.
[I suppose I should say it’s nice to meet you. I am Leviathan, the Demon King of Jealousy.]
“Yeah, nice to meet you. Why would someone who is a Demon King have business with a mere Academy cadet, leaving only him behind?”
The first time I met her in the past, I told her to get lost, and she had acted all refined, saying, ‘Your rudeness is also quite charming. Would you like to eliminate me?’ I wondered how she would act this time.
[Thank you for the polite greeting. It’s a relief to see you’re a person of culture. In that spirit, would you like to eliminate me?]
Pfft. These demon bastards are as consistent as humans.
“Wow, is that right? Even if I look like this, I’ve killed quite a lot of the subordinates you sent. Can’t you hear them crying in Hell?”
[Is being killed because they were weak something to be proud of? Why would they cry? They were useless things who couldn’t even help.]
-Ah? Subordinates? My subordinates have probably killed more of your kind than you have killed mine, so let’s call it even, shall we?
[If anything, they could be considered a nuisance since they died while creating a misunderstanding between us. I have no intention of being hostile toward you.]
-There was such a minor misunderstanding. Yes, a misunderstanding indeed. I’m different from Baek Seol. I have no intention of being hostile toward you.
[As proof, didn’t I just save all your comrades you were fighting with and simply send them to other locations?]
-As proof, if it weren’t for me, that girl you hold so dear would have been murdered by Baek Seol, wouldn’t she?
[What do you think? Are you inclined to listen to me now?]
-What do you think? Do you feel a little bit like taking my hand?
Seriously, she hasn’t changed a bit.
She was like this when I first met this demon in the past, too.
Hiding her true personality and pretending to be as kind and harmless as possible, while filling her voice with hypnotic mana to try and brainwash me.
Back then, I was already under Seo-ha’s brainwashing, which helped. This time, I could endure it because I had Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils and had prepared for the demon’s tactics beforehand.
And then.
[Ah, what the. How did you know?]
When I showed no change in expression, even though she thought I would be swooning and charmed by her by now, she abruptly dropped the act.
“They say a mermaid’s voice contains mana, don’t they? I prepared for it the moment I saw you.”
In reality, it was because I had already experienced it in the past.
[Ah, this is why there’s nothing good about becoming famous. What’s the point of being strong? All your information gets leaked.]
Leviathan, her expression shifting from a benevolent smile to a mischievous grin, continued speaking in a relaxed manner, as if talking to a friend.
[But you know, it’s true that I’m very interested in you. Don’t you think we could get along?]
“I don’t think so. One of my friends is suffering greatly right now because of you.”
[That wasn’t my doing; my subordinates did that on their own. I never told them to use such methods, you know?]
“Then was invading the surface also something those guys did on their own?”
[I did order that. But they chose the methods themselves.]
This crazy bitch is the same as ever.
“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think we’ll get along.”
[Is that so? That’s a shame. That means I’ll have to use force, but it would be troublesome if you broke. I want all beautiful humans to praise me, but if they’re broken, they’re not beautiful.]
-What a shame. I hoped those eyes that looked at her would look at me perfectly, but if I make a mistake, you’ll break, won’t you?
Right, you underestimated me like that in the past, too.
[I’ll show you my breasts, so why don’t you just come with me?]
Right, right, in the past you also… wait, what the fuck? She never did that before.
[Haha, they said you’d be weak to breasts, and you really are flustered, aren’t you? They are pretty, right? They’re a work of art that humans can’t even hope to aspire to. It’s understandable to be tempted.]
The half-human, half-fish Demon King proudly thrust out her chest, but unfortunately, I was startled because she suddenly started talking nonsense, not because I was charmed by her breasts.
I’m not sure if this is the right thing to say at a time like this, but in terms of both size and shape, Cathy Noona’s are much prettier.
[…I feel like you’re having some very rude thoughts right now, but anyway, I’ll give you one last chance. Obediently become part of my collection. Then I promise that neither you nor your precious comrades will be hurt.]
“Hmm, being a Demon King sure makes you good at talking nonsense.”
[Think carefully. You might not know, but I haven’t summoned a single truly strong Named demon yet. The Demon Realm is crawling with monsters beyond your imagination, you know?]
I know most of them. I’ve killed quite a few with my own hands.
[In the first place, as long as I have the power I received from my Helper, I won’t lose to anyone. I am the strongest Demon King.]
Still, she’s a Demon King, so she’s a bit annoying when she’s being rational. Shall I start getting her worked up?
[Of course, it’s true that the human race is beautiful in their defiance, but you also need to know how to compromise…]
“Hey, you fish-wench.”
The Demon King, who was trying to win me over, stopped mid-sentence.
Hmm, I remember she went absolutely ballistic when I said something like this before.
“Why do you talk so much? It’s annoying because your mouth smells like raw fish, so knock it off.”
[Ha, ha? Haha?]
“Or are you just scared of fighting because you’re a Demon King in name only? Do you think you’ll lose to a human?”
[You shouldn’t act up too much just because I’m being fond of you. You should think about your friends besides yourself, shouldn’t you?]
Oh? She’s enduring this? I remember her losing it right about here in the past.
“My friends aren’t the type to be defeated by your incompetent subordinates.”
[But just in case…]
“And I’m not such an idiot that I’d get beaten by a fish out of water.”
Leviathan, listening to my provocations, stared at me with wide eyes before finally letting out a sigh.
[Sigh, yeah. It’s always like this. Beautiful humans always try to keep their distance from me.]
Right, Leviathan, you held it in well for someone like you.
The Demon King of Jealousy, adjusting her posture within the massive water bubble she had created, slowly raised a finger.
And the moment she pointed her finger at me, a whip of violent whirlpools, like a tentacle, erupted from the bubble surrounding her and lunged toward me.
Avoiding it wasn’t difficult.
This, too, was a technique I had seen before.
[Ah, don’t dodge. I’d prefer your eyes to remain intact, if possible.]
“Are you giving up on having me perfectly?”
[What can I do? If you say you like being in pain… don’t worry. I’ll neatly cut off your arms and legs and collect you.]
She was smiling, but judging by the vein popping on her forehead like in a manga, she was well and truly pissed off.
[I’m already getting excited thinking about playing with you, who couldn’t do anything in front of Lucifer.]
I hadn’t originally planned on fighting alone, but since I’m the only one left, I guess I have no choice.