Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Phantasmal Disaster (3)
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Everything that had been visible just moments ago vanished in an instant.
The human who had been staring at him in terror.
The frail human who had charged in without knowing his place.
Even the bold wench whose hair he had gripped in his right hand—she was gone.
"What the hell?"
He couldn't fathom what had happened.
'Could it be that wench's power?'
The half-human, half-demon girl who had touched his arm at the very end.
He hadn't sensed any power from her, yet to think she possessed such a bizarre ability.
'I definitely felt succubus power. Which means it's likely something related to dreams.'
Margal chuckled as if amused, leisurely surveying the pure white space.
If this world had been created by that half-demon wench, he was certain he could shatter it by force with his own power.
"Boldness isn't so bad. Of course, I have no intention of letting it slide."
He figured he needed to teach her a lesson by tearing her limbs apart and showing her what he'd done.
As he slowly gathered his magic with that thought—
"Hey."
"……!"
A voice suddenly pierced his ear, causing Margal to leap back in shock.
'I didn't sense a thing.'
The fact that someone had approached this close without him detecting even a presence shook him.
Margal took a small breath and looked at the one who had called out to him.
"A human……?"
She was a stunning woman with shimmering golden hair and golden eyes.
Her beauty was so captivating that even he, a demon, lost himself in it for a moment.
She stood with her arms crossed, glaring at him with an annoyed expression—as if he, the Count of Crimson Flame, were a bothersome child.
"Who are you?"
No ordinary human could approach his back without a sound.
That alone confirmed the woman before him was no ordinary human.
And somehow…… her face seemed familiar.
'I swear I've heard of her somewhere…….'
As Margal thought that far, the woman's crimson lips parted.
"Five."
"What?"
"I'm going to count down from five."
She tilted her head to the side, looking genuinely irritated, her eyes filled with disgust as she stared at Margal.
"Crawl."
Her low, clear voice lodged in Margal's ears.
"Bash your head on the ground and crawl. Kneel, recite your sins, and beg."
She slowly pointed at herself with her index finger.
"Then at least I'll end it in one go."
Margal thought for a moment that he'd misheard.
Crawl? Crawl on the ground and beg for forgiveness?
'Me? The Count of Crimson Flame?'
The tension he'd felt at first vanished like a lie.
In its place, burning rage filled him.
He didn't know who this woman was.
But as a high-ranking demon—a count, no less—no one had ever treated him so contemptuously.
"I'll rip you apart."
Crimson flames erupted from Margal's entire body.
His red hair whipped about like flames, resembling a lion's mane.
BOOM!
An immense power exploded from him, incomparable to what he'd used in Nabez moments ago.
"Die!"
The white space trembled as Margal, engulfed in crimson flames, thrust his fist forward, shrouded in blazing heat.
KABOOM!
An output he'd never unleashed at full force before—one strike powerful enough to reduce a city to dust—concentrated on the petite woman.
"……!"
But Margal saw it.
The emotion in her eyes as she looked at his fist.
It was 'annoyance.'
KABOOM!
'Huh?'
Margal couldn't properly grasp what had happened to him.
Why he was flying through the air.
Why he crashed into the ground and rolled.
And why his body wouldn't move.
"Isn't being weak a sin?"
The woman slowly approached Margal, who lay twitching on the floor.
"Then you've committed a grave one against me."
At those dry words, Margal felt fear for the first time. The only other time he'd felt such terror in his life was once.
'The Demon King……'
The lord of all demons, king of the demon race.
It was the same fear he'd felt witnessing the Demon King's power.
'No way.'
For a mere human to possess power on par with the Demon King?
It made no sense. It had to be his imagination.
It just had to be.
"What technique did you just use on me?"
The technique that had effortlessly dismantled his attack.
It had to be an extraordinary one.
Otherwise, how could he have been defeated so easily…….
"I just hit you."
"……What?"
"At my level, forms don't really matter much. I just hit you a bit hard."
He thought it was nonsense.
He hadn't been at full power, sure. But not even a technique—just a strong punch?
Was there greater humiliation for a demon?
"That's why I told you to crawl obediently."
Then at least he wouldn't have felt this humiliation and despair.
That's what she seemed to say.
Then she approached Margal and slowly raised her foot.
As if to trample him where he lay.
Staring up at it in a daze, Margal suddenly recalled a woman's name.
'No way…….'
Hundreds of years ago, there was a being who struck terror into countless demons.
Demons avoided her territory at all costs, and if they ever crossed paths, they crawled on the ground to avoid meeting her gaze.
That woman's name was……
"Gran…… sesia."
Crunch.
Those were the last words of Margal, the Count of Crimson Flame and a top-tier demon.
* * *
Each time the blue light shot out with a trailing glow, the ground split and thunderous roars echoed.
Xenon truly possessed tremendous power befitting an upper demon.
But no matter how powerful the attacks, if they never reached the target, they were meaningless. Sior could effortlessly evade any assault using Solaris.
"Damn it!"
As time passed, Sior grew stronger, and Solaris allowed him to slip through spaces to dodge attacks.
The combination was nothing short of phenomenal.
Even now, in the heat of battle, Sior's power continued to swell.
"Right! Right!"
But I merely observed, watching their fight unfold.
I'd circle around, have Genova resonate to locate Solaris, then inform Xenon of its position.
That was the only thing I was doing.
"You just talk and don't fight?!"
"Ah, I'm a weak human, so it's hard for me to join a fight like this."
"Damn it! If I can just claim that sword……."
He gnashed his teeth and pursued Sior.
But Sior repeated the pattern: hiding in spatial rifts, then emerging to strike.
"Why isn't this bastard attacking you?!"
Xenon deflected Sior's attack with annoyance and shouted.
I just shrugged, offering no reply.
'There is a reason, actually.'
But no need to explain it to Xenon.
'Anyway…….'
I glanced down at my right hand.
It felt a bit empty without its constant presence.
If Gransesia were here, she'd probably call me a con artist without a doubt.
'I wonder if she's doing okay.'
Honestly, I wasn't too worried.
Once certain conditions were met, Maria's ability was downright 'cheating.'
'A ability born from mixing succubus and human blood?'
Succubi inherently could enter others' dreams.
But as a half-human, half-demon, Maria gained a unique power unlike other succubi.
Connecting 'two people's dreams.'
That was Maria's other succubus ability.
'In normal situations, it's not particularly helpful…….'
It had potential for various uses, but it was undeniably ambiguous in many ways.
However, under specific conditions.
Say, if one of the two was the 'strongest monster on earth'……
This ability could become the ultimate power, incomparable to anything else.
'Too bad I couldn't get it.'
Perhaps because it wasn't created by Father's 'settings,' it didn't appear in Maria's status window.
'Ah, if only I could have it, I could've handed off all the annoying guys to her.'
Regretting inwardly as I recalled the strongest monster on earth, I refocused on the battle before me.
"Hey, left! No—right!"
"Speak properly!"
Clang!
Xenon's elongated spikes from his hand clashed midair with Solaris, sending a chilling screech echoing everywhere.
'It's about time for the fight to end.'
After several exchanges, Xenon began blocking Sior's attacks more easily.
Even stealthy ambushes became adaptable after repetition.
"Right above! Stab!"
"Graaaah!"
Xenon thrust with all his might into Sior, who emerged from a spatial rift at that moment.
Crash!
At that instant, a sound like shattering glass rang out, and Sior's body fragmented and scattered.
All that remained was the Boundary Sword Solaris on the ground.
"Ha, haha……."
Xenon let out a dry laugh, staring at Sior's dispersed ice shards.
After all that ordeal to bring him down, joy was natural.
Clap, clap.
"Congratulations. That sword is yours now."
"Keh, kehhehe. Insolent fool."
Xenon grimaced at my mocking applause.
"You're no longer needed. I'll kill you right after."
With a gleeful laugh, he reached for Solaris on the ground.
I watched silently, then spoke.
"Hey, Xenon."
"What? Begging for your life now is too late."
"That's what I wanted to say."
"Wha…… Gah?!"
The moment Xenon grasped Solaris, a sharp ice pillar pierced through his chest.
"I thought it shattered and died……?"
He stared in bewilderment at the ice pillar through his chest and the newly appeared Sior.
He must have thought it was definitely dead after its body broke apart.
But I knew.
Killing the 'current' Sior was impossible.
"Guh! Don't think you can kill me with this!"
Xenon shattered the ice pillar through him and swung at Sior.
Or tried to.
Before he could, another Sior appeared from the left and pierced him again.
"What the hell……."
"Well, the one we took down was just a clone. Forgot to mention that."
A disaster is a being with the power to destroy the world.
Even if not at full strength yet, it wouldn't fall to a mere demon.
"Thanks to that, we weakened it successfully. Good work."
The clone Xenon destroyed just now was the strongest one Sior had created, bearing the bulk of its power.
With that loss, the main body's power should be considerably diminished now.
I flashed Xenon a grin and slipped away.
"You bastard……!"
Xenon glared at me with bloodshot eyes and lunged, but successive Sior clones blocked him.
Already critically wounded, he couldn't dodge the stabbing attacks from all sides, his body riddled with sharp ice.
Immediately after, a clone that had picked up Solaris severed his head.
'That takes care of the demon.'
I left the palace as if nothing had happened. Sior didn't block my retreat.
'Even as a disaster, its essence is the sword's guardian.'
Like the statue that guarded the Human Sword Genova, Sior was originally the guardian of the Boundary Sword Solaris.
In the original story, he was extremely reluctant to attack Fabian. Probably because Fabian was the wielder of one of the Seven Heavenly Swords.
Likely the same reason I wasn't attacked.
'Now, just one left.'
I'd dealt with the demon that could be a variable first.
All that remained was the core of this incident.
Defeating the Phantasmal Disaster.