The Iron Demon Gehenna's Power Activates
Iron Demon, Gehenna's power ignites!
It was chilling.
Constantly checking the time until the calamity arrived. Waiting in this tense atmosphere without rest. Everything flickered ominously.
It felt like something shadowy, impossible to shake off no matter how hard I tried, was creeping up from beneath my feet.
Yet, strangely, I wasn't afraid at all.
'The Star of the North, was it?'
Suddenly, Kairon’s nickname from the original story came to mind.
Kairon Balder. He was the one figure who dimmed only in front of the princess.
His exceptional martial prowess. His unparalleled title of duke. Even all the power in the North...
They lost their meaning with a single word or gesture from the princess.
But Kairon without the princess was different.
- The Star of the North. The man who cleaved through the demons and monsters crushing the North from the front lines.
I slowly looked down at my hand.
“……”
The hand without the black glove was rough. Covered in countless scars, it was far from beautiful.
But all of it was proof of training. A hand that gripped the sword, shed blood, and survived the North’s blizzards.
Evidence of the life Kairon had built in that harsh environment up to now.
Fwump!
At that moment, birds erupted from the eastern forest all at once.
Clank!
The escort knights on standby raised their shields in unison.
But nothing emerged from the forest depths.
The flock simply scattered into the night sky, fleeing something.
“Your Grace……”
Cecile placed her hand on her sword hilt as well.
I checked the message before me again instead of replying.
Until the calamity arrives
Just ten minutes left now.
When exactly? And where would the demon appear?
'Iron Demon, Gehenna.'
Even murmuring the name of the high demon Cecile had told me, my breath settled shallowly.
The forest where we'd set up camp was eerily silent.
No wild beasts. No insect cries. Even the wind was fading.
We all instinctively felt something was wrong.
Until the calamity arrives
I naturally gripped my sword hilt.
Until the calamity arrives
Hiiing! The horses whinnied lowly.
Until the calamity arrives
The campfire flickered wildly.
Until the calamity arrives
The darkness in the eastern forest deepened.
Until the calamity arrives
“……What the hell is happening?”
“Hold the line, everyone!”
Voices of the escort knights echoed from all over the camp.
But to my ears, they all sounded faint.
Even before Cecile could speak, my eyes were fixed on the eastern forest.
Something unnatural rippled in the darkness.
It looked like a shadow, but it wasn't.
Shrrrrk…!
A black figure slithered between the trees.
It walked on two legs like a human, but it was no human.
Black wings folded behind its back. Twisted horns sprouting from its forehead. A mouth torn open in an eerie grin.
It matched almost perfectly the faint outline from my premonition.
Until the calamity arrives
Finally, the red message announced the end.
―――!
All sounds in the forest vanished.
True, absolute silence.
No insects. No birds. Not even the wind.
As if the world itself had stopped breathing.
“Your Grace! East side!”
Cecile shouted urgently, unleashing massive mana from her entire body.
Shing!
In an instant, her sword cleared its sheath.
Clack!
The escort knights raised their weapons in unison.
“Secure the horses!”
“Shields forward!”
Orders flew every which way.
But I didn't move.
No, I didn't need to.
I was already watching.
Through the darkness.
The calamity approached clearly.
Ding.
A vivid red message floated before my eyes.
“How thoughtful.”
I muttered without thinking.
Cecile flinched and looked at me.
But I lightly drew my sword.
Shing――.
The blade let out a low hum in the night air.
Cecile was at my side in an instant.
“Your Grace, this is no ordinary demon.”
“I know.”
Even as we spoke, Gehenna slowly approached us.
Wherever the demon's feet touched, the grass withered black.
Crack!
A dead tree snapped and fell limply.
Gehenna hadn't used any force.
Just stepping forward was enough to make the surrounding nature die on its own.
“Hup……!”
One escort knight unconsciously swallowed dryly.
His face was pale with terror.
-Kekeke…… Ahh, how long has it been since I faced this world!
The demon's laughter echoed from the darkness.
I narrowed my eyes at its words.
'Too artificial.'
A demon that shouldn't exist. One that wasn't supposed to appear now.
Gehenna's words proved it.
And finally.
The demon's red eyes turned to me.
-Kairon Balder.
A chilling whisper in my ear.
A cold chill ran down my spine.
As if it had known me for ages, the demon curled its torn lips.
-So you're that insolent human.
“Your Grace!”
Cecile shouted urgently.
“Don't listen to the demon's voice. It's trying to bewitch your mind.”
“I'm fine.”
I slowly raised my sword, aiming at the demon.
The sharp tip pointed at Gehenna, far away.
How to move. How to react.
Strangely, no such worries entered my mind.
'My body remembers.'
The fingers gripping the sword. The angle of my wrist, the force in my shoulder.
Breath and the tip of my advancing foot.
This body knew it all.
How to fight demons. When to raise the sword.
I might fall short of the original Kairon, but the thought of losing to Gehenna didn't cross my mind.
For now, that was enough.
Flutter……!
Then, Gehenna's wings slowly unfurled.
A shadow blacker than night descended over the camp.
-A human resisting fate. Foolish. Utterly foolish……!
The moment Gehenna's wings fully spread.
Thud…!
The air pressed down.
“Kuh!”
One knight drove his shield into the ground and dropped to one knee.
Hiiiing…!!
The carriage horses thrashed their heads madly.
“Stay still, damn it!”
The coachman gritted his teeth, clutching the reins.
The surrounding air grew heavy naturally.
'No.'
It wasn't growing heavy.
It was being forced down.
Iron Demon, Gehenna's
Iron Submission crushes all targets in the vicinity!
'Submission.'
My body felt it too—not light by any means. My fingertips stiffened, and my sword arm grew heavier bit by bit.
But.
'Just this much.'
Kairon's memories told me.
Among the demons he'd faced, some were stronger than this.
So I wasn't weak enough to yield to this moment's crisis.
Those countless battle memories gripped my will firmly.
Step.
I took a step forward instead.
-Hmm. As expected of a fate-defier—you have some skill.
Gehenna's red eyes narrowed.
-Let's see you move more.
I looked at the demon and spoke.
“Cecile.”
“Yes, Your Grace……”
Even under the pressure of submission, Cecile gritted her teeth and held firm.
A true knight of mine.
Tremble!
Her sword hand shook, but she didn't collapse.
“Watch the rear.”
I didn't wait for a reply.
Shhhhk―!
Black mana thinly spread along my blade.
Darkness thicker than night gathered at the tip, flickering intensely.
And the next moment.
Clack!
My body moved first.
In the leap, my sword hand slashed through space in a massive arc.
I didn't even fully register my own movements.
My feet just kicked off the ground. The sword slashed, and my vision held only the demon's silhouette.
Drip.
At that instant, a drop of black blood fell from the blade's tip.
Sizzle!
As the black blood scorched the earth where it landed, I casually flicked the sword to shake off the blood.
“……”
A clear sensation lingered in my fingertips amid my shallow breaths.
Yet I knew I hadn't severed the demon's lifeline.
-……What did you just do?
The demon, laughing until moments ago, asked coldly.
Its head tilted at an unnatural angle between the twisted horns.
-You…… Are you really human?
I raised my sword again.
Whoosh!
The fishy metallic tang of the flicked blood stung my nose.
“Talkative. Eaten by fear already?”
Provoking the demon myself was better than letting it approach.
'I can protect myself.'
But I had no spare capacity for the others.
That earlier strike was to draw all its attention to me.
-Heh heh heh……!Amusing. Pretending to be at ease when you're not. Your mana is unique, but you won't handle it forever!
Gehenna's mouth split open wider.
Flutter!
Its wings spread again.
Black blood dripped from the severed tip of the right wing.
>Iron Demon, Gehenna recognizes you as an enemy.
> Calamity fully blooms.
The moment I read those words.
I realized.
Until now, Gehenna hadn't come just to overwhelm us.
It was closer to scouting what I was.
And now, the scouting was over.
The demon would unleash its full calamity now.
“Cecile!”
“Yes!”
“Fall back. Knights, protect the carriage and horses—that's all you think about.”
I issued the order without time to think.
“But Your Grace……”
“I'll handle it. That's all.”
A brief silence.
I felt Cecile looking at my face.
But she asked no more.
“All knights, fall back! Focus only on holding formation!”
Cecile's sharp voice cut through the night.
The knights moved.
Slowly.
Due to Gehenna's submission pressure.
Shrk!
Then Gehenna slowly raised its arm.
Its long black claws raked the night air viciously.
Kreeeeek!!
A sound like twisting metal echoed through the entire forest.
At the same time, I saw the trajectories.
Five arcs mimicking my earlier slash surged through space toward me.
“……”
I frowned slightly at the sight.
'Not coming straight.'
It seemed baited by my provocation, yet the demon was cautious.
Then I'd have to close the distance myself.
“Chen!”
With my shout, mana exploded from my entire body, and my vision expanded sharply.
Acceleration. Bursting mana like an eruption to boost speed.
……!
In one breath, I swung my sword down from above, shattering the five arcs at once.
Crack!
Amid the scattering energy, I glimpsed Gehenna's form leaping skyward just in time.
-Good! Let's play, then!
I gripped my sword hand tighter amid the demon's voice.
Yes. Now it began.