Chapter 342
Chapter 342
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 342
Chapter Title: Demon God Contract
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A weary, fed-up voice.
But when the man who followed it appeared, Kim Byung-han recoiled in horror.
"L-Lee Hyuk-soo?!"
The Sword King, Lee Hyuk-soo. Why was he here?
The blood drained from Kim Byung-han's face.
Lim Chang-yeol had been terrifying enough, but Lee Hyuk-soo was on another level.
Lee Hyuk-soo approached without a flicker of expression, ignoring Kim Byung-han's shout.
His gaze was as cold as ice.
"Dead?"
A low voice echoed through the room.
"How do you know that?"
His tone carried no emotion whatsoever.
If a grim reaper came calling from the afterlife, it would feel something like this.
Kim Byung-han swallowed hard.
"W-Well...! A guy that strong... there's been no word from him at all. He must've gotten caught up in something huge and died!"
"That strong? There's hardly any information out there about him."
That was true.
Park Chan-woo had always operated alone, moving in complete secrecy.
Whenever he unleashed miracles as the Prophet, Lee Hyuk-soo had been his mask.
Yet here was Kim Byung-han, talking as if he knew Park Chan-woo inside and out.
"Th-That's because I saw it myself in the Tower of Pride..."
"Did he actually climb the Tower of Pride properly? I heard he vanished out of nowhere."
Under Lee Hyuk-soo's relentless questioning, Kim Byung-han's face flushed with anger.
It was a complicated expression, as if he found it insulting that even his own experiences were being doubted—or as if there was something he desperately didn't want revealed.
"Vanished? Who vanished! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Kim Byung-han exploded.
"That bastard... Park Chan-woo... he wasn't just some lunatic! At first, he pretended to side with that orc Kankun or whatever, then suddenly he latched onto that witch Adora...! I saw her sweeping through the tower from up close! No, he turned her into that! Even that Kankun guy or whoever... it was all because of him...!"
Kim Byung-han spilled it all in a heated rush.
He rambled on about the events in the upper floors of the Tower of Pride—the bizarre maneuvers between the two factions and the consequences they triggered.
His account was laced with self-justification and cowardice, but it included minute details no one could know without having been there.
Lee Hyuk-soo listened silently, confirming that Kim Byung-han had indeed witnessed Park Chan-woo's power and unpredictability firsthand.
And moreover.
"So you do know."
"W-What?"
"His true nature."
"...!"
"Park Chan-woo never reached the top of the tower. The one there wasn't Park Chan-woo—it was another mage."
"...!"
Kim Byung-han's eyes shook with even greater unease at Lee Hyuk-soo's observation.
"W-What are you talking about! I saw it clear as day! Park Chan-woo, that bastard...!"
He denied it vehemently, but his voice trembled, and his gaze darted unstably.
The extreme terror and chaos from the Tower of Pride, followed by his fugitive life and capture by Lim Chang-yeol, had clearly scrambled his memories.
Perhaps the very existence of Park Chan-woo had been such a shock that all related memories had become a jumbled mess.
'He's not right in the head.'
Lee Hyuk-soo judged that debating the facts of the Tower of Pride further would be pointless.
Whether his memories were distorted or not, the key point was that Kim Byung-han knew Park Chan-woo.
Knew his hidden identity.
He had grasped, to some extent, the truth of him as the Prophet.
"What are you so afraid of?"
"W-What do you mean?"
"You're scared to speak the truth. I'll protect you. In exchange, you tell me everything—nothing but the facts."
Lee Hyuk-soo read Kim Byung-han's psychological state perfectly.
He was afraid of something.
Kim Byung-han, who hadn't flinched even at Lim Chang-yeol, was on the verge of a breakdown from some other factor.
A moment of hesitation.
Then Kim Byung-han spoke in a trembling voice.
"C-Can you really protect me?"
"Have you forgotten who I am?"
The man called Messiah, standing at the pinnacle of humanity's strength.
Almost no one would deny that fact.
If even he couldn't protect Kim Byung-han on Earth, no one could.
"Th-Then... can you protect me from Han Shin...?"
...Han Shin?
The sudden name made Lee Hyuk-soo tilt his head inwardly.
He couldn't even guess why Han Shin's name had popped out of Kim Byung-han's mouth.
"If you can protect me from Han Shin, I'll tell you everything. From beginning to end. Park Chan-woo's true identity, and why I said he was dead—everything!"
"I'll protect you. I despise Han Shin myself."
"I-I believe you. The first time I met Park Chan-woo was at the office, but the real 'Park Chan-woo'—I met him on the day the Abyss began. Ilsan Lake Park, that's where it happened."
"The real Park Chan-woo? So the one at the office was someone else?"
"Someone else. I'm sure of it now. He's not human. A demon wearing a human skin! On the day the Abyss started, he must've been switched out!"
"...Keep going."
And so Kim Byung-han's story began.
Park Chan-woo had originally been a huge coward.
The ultimate yes-man, safety-first type—such a beta male that no one could top it.
It was the same at the company.
He'd flinch at the slightest raised voice from his boss—Kim Byung-han himself—and at drinking parties, he'd huddle in a corner, sipping booze without a presence.
And his mistakes? Constant.
Kim Byung-han had cleaned up after him more times than he could count.
In short, the perfect lowly subordinate: easy to push around, incompetent.
That was the Park Chan-woo Kim Byung-han knew.
But that day, everything changed.
The day the Abyss first opened. Ilsan Lake Park.
Strange messages appeared in the sky, people screamed and fled, and Kim Byung-han ran in a panic too.
Those damn 'Fallen Ghosts' or whatever tore people apart—how could anyone stay sane?
"Hey! Park Chan-woo! What the hell are you doing there, you bastard!"
Spotting Park Chan-woo was a relief beyond words.
He'd found his shield, after all.
"Chan-woo. You okay? Not hurt anywhere?"
Pretending to care, he reeled him in.
That was his mistake.
"It's dangerous, so let's stick together. Yeah? Stay here, and those monsters'll eat you alive."
"Long time no see, pig."
"Pig... what? Pig?"
Shing.
Park Chan-woo raised the Dragon Slayer Blade to his throat.
"Gah...! W-What the hell, you punk. It's me, your team leader Kim Byung-han!"
The sharp blade against his Adam's apple snapped him awake.
"P-Park Chan-woo! What do you think you're doing! Drop the sword right now!"
"Scream louder, and the Fallen Ghosts'll come. Keep yelling if you wanna get eaten."
"...!"
That look in his eyes back then.
Kim Byung-han could never forget Park Chan-woo's eyes at that moment.
The usual mild-mannered facade was gone.
It was a ruthless, merciless gaze that said he'd do anything to achieve his goal.
Kim Byung-han was certain then.
That's not Park Chan-woo.
Something wearing Park Chan-woo's skin. A demon!
In the end, Kim Byung-han was shoved forward as bait, and in that time, Park Chan-woo somehow slew a Fallen Ghost with a sword from who-knows-where.
Incredibly so.
A plain office worker had transformed into a monster-slaying killer.
Kim Byung-han couldn't wrap his head around it.
After that, he slew Fallen Ghosts alone, and when the Tower of Pride rose, they met again.
He displayed skill matching—no, surpassing—Hegemon Lim Chang-yeol.
Acting like a master who'd wielded weapons for decades.
And that wasn't all.
On the third night, seeing Park Chan-woo's name confirmed it.
So when Han Shin pursued him, he sought out Park Chan-woo.
He handed over the vial called Demon God Belial's Shame.
Time passed, and after the fourth night, Kim Byung-han became certain.
The mage from the low-grade Abyss, the mage beside Adora in the Tower of Pride—they were all Park Chan-woo!
"Why are you so sure?"
Lee Hyuk-soo asked.
Kim Byung-han swallowed hard.
"When I gave him Demon God Belial's vial, I snuck something."
He pulled a few thin threads from his pocket.
"Threads?"
"A piece of Park Chan-woo's clothing. His clothes were ragged from wherever he'd been. Now only these threads remain, but..."
Creator of the Invisible Hand.
Using the authority gained from him, he'd slipped the tattered cloth while handing over Belial's Shame.
It was so trivial, Park Chan-woo hadn't noticed.
"I analyzed it in several ways and found out."
There was even a manic certainty in Kim Byung-han's voice.
He continued boastfully, like a detective unveiling a grand secret.
"I detected traces of magic. Decisive proof that every mage I saw was Park Chan-woo. And that he's not human."
"Why?"
"The magic traces I found were the kind no human could use. Something only a dragon... or a demon could wield."
"Then why do you think he's dead?"
"This is the proof. The cloth suddenly disintegrated, leaving only this. You know what that means."
He'd died in the Abyss.
Turning to dust and scattering.
Along with everything he wore or carried.
Kim Byung-han was utterly convinced.
On his outstretched palm lay only unrecognizable fine powder.
The threads from Park Chan-woo's clothes had suddenly become this.
By Abyss logic, it happened when the owner died.
Lee Hyuk-soo stared silently at the powder.
Logically, Park Chan-woo was dead.
He understood why Kim Byung-han was so certain.
But conversely.
"...It's not completely gone."
There was still hope.
Death in the Abyss turned you to dust, then nothing.
It should vanish completely.
But the cloth hadn't.
It remained as this fine powder.
Lee Hyuk-soo snatched the dusty threads.
Then he said.
"You said Belial's vial originally belonged to Han Shin."
"Y-Yeah. I passed it to Park Chan-woo because of Han Shin's curse."
"I need to find Han Shin."
"A-Are you insane?! Han Shin's lost his mind!"
"I know."
Lee Hyuk-soo nodded.
He knew better than anyone.
The guy he never wanted to see again, whom he'd vowed to kill next time.
Han Min-oh's older brother... and his most troublesome foe.
Lee Hyuk-soo decided to find Han Shin.
A deep mountain.
Long abandoned by humans, only eerie winds rustled the branches.
The sky hung low with clouds, dark and heavy; the air around was thick and murky.
A small clearing midway up the slope pulsed with an ominous aura that repelled all life.
A man stood there, back turned.
Tatters of a black coat fluttered in the wind.
At a glance, an ordinary silhouette—but the energy radiating from him warped the space around.
A deep, chilling pressure like condensed night.
He slowly turned his head.
Sharp jawline, emotionless eyes.
Once human, now straddling that boundary.
The King of the Night, Han Shin.
His gaze fixed on another man who had just entered the clearing.
Hand on his sword hilt, standing without a single gap.
The Sword King, Lee Hyuk-soo.
A faint sneer curled Han Shin's lips.
"Here to kill me?"
His voice was low and raspy, but the confidence within was unmistakable.
As if he'd anticipated this encounter.
Lee Hyuk-soo didn't flinch at the provocative question.
His eyes merely stared coldly.
The being Kim Byung-han feared so much.
A troublesome opponent in many ways, but now was not the time for emotions.
"Not to kill you."
Lee Hyuk-soo answered curtly.
His voice steady as ever.
"I came to ask something."
"Ask something?"
Han Shin raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"The Sword King himself graces me to ask a question. Interesting. What is it?"
Without breaking eye contact, he turned fully to face him.
Between them, invisible sword intent clashed with dark energy, tension crackling taut.
A powder keg ready to blow.
"Park Chan-woo."
Lee Hyuk-soo named him.
"What do you know about him?"
For a moment.
Smirk!
Han Shin's smile widened.
"I know him well. Maybe even better than you."
"...What do you know?"
"That he's dead."
"... ."
"He fell to Dragon God Sepiro. The great rift opened first."
"...What does that mean?"
"Ah, you wouldn't know. I learned it through my contract with the Demon God."