Chapter 392
Chapter 392
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 392
Chapter Title: Demon King’s Arrival (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BOOM—!
“Kill them!”
“These rat bastards who’ve only been running and hiding—do they even know where they are?!”
“For Lady Hella!”
A cacophony of noise poured in from all directions.
Along with it came the unique aroma of the battlefield—boiling, vibrating, and intoxicating.
Across the entire field of combat, struggle, resolve, and madness intertwined, blooming into a spectacular flower of death.
On any other day, Sipar would have thrown himself into that flow and hosted a madcap party of his own—
[...What the hell are you?]
—but not today.
He couldn’t afford to divert his attention elsewhere when the presences right in front of him radiated such an ominous aura.
“Kahaha—!”
A bizarre four-legged beast bared its teeth with a mocking howl.
A pair of saber-like fangs stretched long like a saber-toothed tiger’s, surrounded by a dense thicket of razor-sharp teeth glinting menacingly.
A serpent-like tongue writhed in the center.
‘What the hell is that thing?’
Standing over three meters at the shoulder and five meters long.
Its body was wrapped in thick muscles and armor plating, topped with a lush mane of dark crimson—even Sipar, the pinnacle of beast-type demons as the Cerberus Duke, couldn’t get a read on it.
It defied description, like every fierce beast and monster in existence mashed into one.
And it sure as hell wasn’t an opponent he could dismiss just because it was much smaller than him.
His instincts had been screaming bloody murder from the start.
And even without that, anyone would think the same upon seeing those hunger- and madness-filled odd eyes and the thick drool dripping from its maw.
That beast sees me as prey.
And if he let his guard down... he might actually get eaten.
[How dare you! How dare you look at the Cerberus Duke like that! I’ll chew your skull right off!]
Sipar, naturally, had no intention of taking that lying down.
His twisted heads bellowed their rage one after another.
But the freakish creature wasn’t the only problem.
[Grrrr—that guy... is he the 14th Demon King?]
[No way. That woman’s definitely dead. Over a thousand years ago!]
[But even incomplete... that’s unmistakably a Demon King’s...]
[A new Demon King? The 16th? Out of nowhere, just like this?!]
[...If that’s true, what happens to us? What the hell have we been fighting for all this time...?!]
A lone figure sat calmly astride the grotesque beast.
A slender woman who looked fragile even compared to the monster she rode—and dwarfed by Sipar’s near-ten-meter height—flashed a subtle smile.
She tilted her head up toward the three heads lost in confusion.
“Hm hm~ So this is a duke-level demon, huh?”
A light scoff escaped her red lips in a voice as beautiful as a song.
“Impressive, sure, but...”
Her black-and-red inverted eyes gleamed.
Hella swept her gaze over the massive Cerberus, as if appraising him.
It didn’t take long to form her verdict.
“Eh, still just a mutt at the end of the day. I could’ve handled this solo, no problem.”
An outrageous assessment from Sipar’s perspective.
“Cerberus Duke, are you maybe the weakest of the dukes? Or just ridiculously lucky...?”
“Kakakakaka!”
“Or have I been overestimating demon realm standards?”
Her venomous barbs poured out like a butcher’s blade, clashing with her seductive voice and lively tone.
Punctuated by that creepy cackle in agreement.
No consideration whatsoever for her audience.
[......]
[......]
Sipar’s three heads, which had been yapping away, clamped shut in unison.
Even the one that had been snarling the fiercest.
He was one of the demon realm’s pinnacle dukes, after all.
No way he’d fall for such cheap taunts and let his emotions swing wildly.
No need for banter—just—
[I’ll kill you!]
[Krraaaah—!]
—wipe out anything that pissed him off!
BOOM!
Sipar coiled his massive body in an instant, then sprang forward like a released spring.
Ignoring all laws of physics, his overwhelming bulk shredded everything in a straight line.
RUMBLE—!
Both sides’ minions were caught in the shockwave, vomiting blood and sent tumbling like pebbles.
They’d retreated far when the leaders clashed, sensing trouble—but against this devastation, it wasn’t nearly enough.
Base or no base, he didn’t care; everywhere his bulk passed became instant ruins.
“...What a foul temper. Raise a beast like that, and you’d have no furniture left in the house.”
“Ka-hat!”
But the ambush failed to inflict any real damage on its target.
The beauty and her beast had already dodged the attack path, grumbling casually.
Sipar coiled again for a follow-up.
“Looks like you need some training.”
And then.
The world flipped.
[...?!]
The battlefield din vanished.
The well-fortified Abnormal headquarters vanished, replaced by a vast barren wasteland.
A parched wilderness blanketed the area in an instant.
⚙ WORLD ACTIVATED ⚙ 「World of the Demon Heavens」 The Demon King’s world overlaid the demon realm, targeting only Sipar.
And this desolate, empty landscape...
Even Sipar, who’d lived for eons, recognized it from encounters long ago.
[...The Forsaken Land?]
[Rrrraaaah—!]
[I knew it! What’s your connection to the 14th Demon King?! How?!]
His three heads roared, while the snake tail hissed furiously.
Vast demonic energy erupted from his colossal frame, triggering quakes and storms.
The 「World of the Demon Heavens」 creaked under the strain.
‘Ugh, always charging ahead like a mindless beast without a care. Good thing I set this up beforehand.’
Hella poured in mana to stabilize it, clicking her tongue.
After dealing with the Cerberus Duke, she planned to swallow Abnormal whole—no allies or enemies here, just future subordinates.
So naturally, Sipar’s reckless rampage, heedless of his own side’s casualties, grated on her.
“Got a lot of questions, huh?”
Hella hopped down from the freakish beast’s back, patting its sturdy flank.
“Beat my pet, and I’ll answer them all. Everything you’re wondering about.”
She flashed a brilliant smile.
But the vicious whip in her hand, bristling with thorns, cast a sinister pall over the bright mood.
“Not sure you can, though. My cutie’s a specialist in this field.”
—Hunting down big monsters like you.
She cracked the whip against the ground with a smirk.
CRACK—!
Debris scattered amid a sharp whoosh.
“I’ve got a lot on my plate, so let’s wrap this up quick.”
She pointed at Sipar, standing like a mountain ahead, and shouted.
“Go! Davidson! Eat!”
“Kakakakat—!”
Not the Mercenary King Hari, who’d been dispatched to the demon realm in disguise...
But Hella’s summoned Gluttony Demon Beast Davidson roared and charged.
CRACK—CRUNCH—!
In that split second, its body swelled several times over.
Matching Sipar’s size, Davidson gaped its jaws.
[Fine! I’ll rip you apart!]
[Demon King or whatever—doesn’t matter! Devour you here and be done!]
BOOM—!
Thus began the clash of colossal monstrosities.
***
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ RUMBLE!
Davidson didn’t utter a word, maintaining its strict quadrupedal beast form.
[Regenerating even after my fangs tear into you! What kind of freak is this!]
[Kraaak! Get off me, you pest!]
“Kahaha!”
[Grrrr—even resisting my venom?]
Hari, now the Mercenary King and Battle King, was quite famous in Outerica, so even minor details needed attention.
No matter how mercenary he was, he couldn’t openly visit the demon realm to aid a Demon King while hailed as a hero.
‘Xiana probably knows about Hari too. Gotta stay cautious—never know where word might slip.’
As a walking mutation himself, disguising his identity was simple when he tried.
He just replaced all his human traits with factors collected from countless demon beasts over time.
The result: his current form.
The Gluttony Demon Beast Davidson, composed solely of otherworldly factors.
‘Still, fighting with my potential capped and skills sealed is a bit taxing.’
His opponent was a duke-level demon—even at the edge of the transcendent gap, no slouch.
And in the demon realm, it grew even stronger, making pure physical dominance a stretch.
WHOOSH—
Then Sipar’s tail-snake struck like lightning, sinking its fangs into him.
The soul-melting venom spread instantly.
Davidson’s body adapted and resisted in a flash, but he couldn’t avoid that split-second hesitation.
CRUNCH! RIP!
Sipar’s left and right heads seized the gap, clamping onto his shoulders.
The insane bite force pierced armor and muscle in one go, blood spraying.
[Tough bastard! I’ll shred you so bad you can’t regenerate!]
The central head—with its thick mane and scarred eye socket—gaped wide.
Even mid-fight, it had meticulously gathered horrific mana in its throat, roiling violently.
Direct hit, and even Davidson would lose half his body.
FWOOOSH—!
The moment the mana surged forth.
A sharp whoosh sliced the air.
SPLAT!
A torrent of blood erupted like an upturned waterfall, the ominous mana scattering harmlessly.
[Guhk! You vermin...!]
The central head glared upward, a third of it blasted away, rage in its eyes.
Toward Hella gliding through the air on fluttering wings.
Focused on offense, its barriers weakened—one eye and part of its brain gone—but as a demon, it shrugged it off.
“Hm hm, I never said one-on-one, did I?”
Hella winked at the almost indignant glare.
She shrugged nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal.
She’d called in a mercenary to end this fast—why would she sit idle?
‘Just been sizing him up till now...’
First duke-level demon; perfect chance to gauge its power.
The Black Rock Duke aside, the Dragon Demon Duke was surely far stronger than this Cerberus.
‘Got a feel now. This is enough.’
As Hella’s wings spread high, massive magic circles materialized beside her.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ 「Demon King」 + 「Mana Dominion」 Ultra-High-Speed Mana Construct
A barrage of untraceable whip strikes hammered the ground-beast amid cascading flashes.
SWISH! WHOOSH—! BOOM!
[Kraaaah!]
Mana barriers shattered relentlessly, wounds accumulating.
Davidson’s stubborn clinging made evasion tricky.
‘Ooh, this is fun. Kinda getting into it.’
Her whip hailed from Horus’s Golden Treasury, likely the Succubus Queen’s favored weapon.
It stretched infinitely, ignoring distance, rending space and inflicting lethal wounds.
[Grah! You cowardly scum! Just like that bloodline—utterly vile!]
“Pfft, technically they’ve got four heads, right? Doesn’t that make you twice as numerous?”
[What nonsense—!]
“Nonsense? Self-deprecation’s no good. No matter how wolfish you pretend to be, you can’t hide your nature.”
[%@#@$#]
While Davidson pinned its movements, she mocked and struck freely—but the destruction wasn’t light.
[Grrr—regeneration...!]
[The 13th’s power! That spawn inherited it for sure!]
Hella’s trait 「Exterminator」 pulverized all defenses—mana barriers, vitality—and drained regeneration to its limits.
Every whip and spell strike pierced defenses and suppressed healing.
Thus, the head that should’ve reformed instantly lagged.
Perfect against high demons with 「Super Regeneration」 as baseline.
‘One more here.’
Amid the chaos, Davidson’s eyes flashed as it tussled with Sipar.
Its body writhed violently.
CRUNCH—GRIND—!
Mimicking traits gathered mid-fight.
Real-time bodily shifts, incorporating only superior factors.
Selective evolution, stealing only advantages.
‘Duke-level demon, huh. Even without essence absorption, leagues above lesser ones. Some parts even beat dragons.’
The peak: something sprouting from both shoulders.
Surging up, taking form.
Soon, a new head identical to the central one.
Just like the Cerberus before him.
[...Ha?!]
[...What is that...]
[Huh? What? What the hell?! How?!]
Sipar, briefly distracted by Hella, filled with confusion.
As a true Cerberus, he knew instantly: not mere mimicry, but sharing the exact same essence.
“Kahahahat!”
“Kakakakat!”
“Kuhakakat!”
The three heads laughed at flustered Sipar, jaws wide with razor teeth.
A chill of dread crept down Sipar’s spine.
‘Dangerous.’
Pure instinct.
This was different.
Threatening before, but this was lethally worse.
Dodge somehow...
But under relentless assault from all angles, no escape.
[Gaaaah! What is this?! Another one! Aaaah!]
[Don’t let it bite! That’s... ngh!]
[Get off! Get off!!]
Now 「Divine Beast Consumption」 and 「Authority of Gluttony」, held in reserve, went full throttle.
No defense or regeneration mattered.
The duo devoured anything entering the maw—tangible or not, even concepts.
Through two—now three—mouths.
“Oh! Now it’s four against four?”
Hella beamed, hand to cheek.
The other swung her whip relentlessly.