Chapter 482
Chapter 482
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 482
Chapter Title: Black Curtain Hunt (3)
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A grotesque inverted eye that no ordinary person would ever behold.
The instant Miyat locked eyes with the ruby-like red pupils gleaming at its center, her mind bleached stark white.
...I'm dead. I'm going to die. For real. If I don't snap out of it right here...
She forced her rigid jaw to move, biting down hard on her own tongue.
An instinctive action she hadn't even registered doing.
The metallic tang of blood flooding her mouth yanked her drifting consciousness back with a jolt.
"Kuhk!"
She seized the neck of the stiffened middle-aged man beside her and hurled herself over the office desk, putting as much distance as possible between them and that unidentified entity.
It might not make much difference, but when survival was on the line, she had to try something.
What the hell? What is that thing?
But her mind had long since overloaded, plunged into chaos beyond its limits.
A demon? A demon?
Had demons even existed in this world to begin with?
Sabacheon, like Earth, was a realm inhabited solely by humans.
Stories of demons, ghosts, or dragons weren't entirely absent, but she'd heard they were merely distorted accounts of phenomena born from chakra.
But that thing...
Her breath came in ragged gasps.
Her instincts had been screaming nonstop since earlier.
She could sense it intuitively.
That entity had nothing whatsoever to do with chakra or practitioners.
It was a pure embodiment of irrationality, existing in its own right.
Yet she couldn't just sit there frozen.
Grinding her teeth, Miyat scanned the foe as best she could without meeting those demonic eyes.
She needed intel if she wanted to survive, after all.
"Ho? Not bad."
Hella, watching Miyat's efforts with evident amusement, curled her lips and stroked her chin.
Even if it wasn't fully activated, that was no excuse.
Her Demonic Eye carried immense allure on its own, enhanced by effects like "Nation-Toppling Beauty" and "Lord of Enchantment."
Anyone of average caliber would lose their mind the moment they met its gaze...
Like that man over there.
Hella flicked her eyes toward the middle-aged man who'd been with Miyat.
Still not fully compos mentis, he staggered about, wildly shaking his head side to side.
He'd snapped out of his daze with external aid, but the demonic influence still clouded his thoughts.
And this despite being a high-tier practitioner himself.
Probably because he's the opposite sex from Miyat— that likely amplified the effect.
Even factoring that in, though, Miyat's mental fortitude deserved praise for reacting so swiftly.
Or maybe her survival instincts were just that honed.
"Hey, mind if I ask a few favors...?"
A soft, seductive voice slipped from her crimson lips.
Just hearing it made Miyat and the middle-aged man bite their lips bloody.
Hella tilted her head playfully, tapping her fingertips together as she eyed the blood trickling from their mouths.
"We've crossed paths like this, so it's fate, right? How about cooperating a bit? It won't be hard. Just answer my questions."
It was a request so sweetly affectionate it seemed impossible to refuse.
Who in the world could say no to that?
But reality proved far crueler than such naive hopes.
Creeeak—!
Hella, who'd been smiling radiantly, froze solid in an instant.
The sheer chill radiating from her blanketed the entire office in frost.
Shaaaah—
Then thick darkness flooded the space.
A void manifesting the very concept of darkness, devouring all light like a black hole.
Miyat, at its epicenter, bolted for escape.
Faster, faster...
Fighting to the end would be suicide.
She could move now only because the foe was off-guard, but miss this chance, and she might not even twitch a finger.
Got it...!
Her Unique Skill was "Shadow Assimilation."
Not only perfectly compatible with dark chakra, it had been her lifeline in breaking through the Yun clan's barriers earlier.
It let her slip away without a trace, shifting instantly to shadows dozens of kilometers distant...
"Eh?"
Miyat froze mid-activation, a triumphant smile on her face.
Her facial muscles twitched, twisting her expression grotesquely.
Cold sweat beaded on her nape.
"What are you doing? Hurry...!"
The middle-aged man, scraping together his remaining willpower to wield freezing chakra, shouted at her—but she didn't react.
She just slowly raised her head, staring at one spot ahead.
Where the demon had stood moments ago.
Darkness shrouded everything, visibility zero, but with her dark chakra unleashed, she saw it clear as day.
And thus beheld it vividly.
"......!"
A pair of eyes gently curved within transparent ice.
A warm smile, like one indulgent of a child's antics.
"Were you hoping, by any chance?"
That ever-enchanting voice wormed into her ear.
The middle-aged man nagging at her spun toward it, eyes bulging.
Crack—
The ice encasing Hella shattered.
Simultaneously, the enveloping darkness melted away like cotton candy in water.
"Ta-da! How was that? Heart racing? Jumped a bit?"
Now only the frost-blanketed office remained.
Nothing else had changed from the start.
Not a drop of water on her ice-bound form—it almost felt like a dream.
"How... No, since when..."
Miyat forced her mouth open.
She'd definitely activated her Unique Skill.
But it had failed.
And the reason was simple.
The entire area was already under that demon's dominion.
With the shadows needed to fuel "Shadow Assimilation"—and control of the whole space—in another entity's grasp, what could she possibly do now?
Her own summoned darkness wasn't hers.
And she hadn't noticed until just now.
It was absurd enough to draw a hollow laugh, but what more could be said in this reality?
Now that she thought about it, with all this commotion, no signs of activity came from outside.
Maybe I'm already enthralled, lost in an illusion.
Only then did she truly realize.
The foe hadn't been careless, leaving them be.
"Since when? Why, from the very...
Hella cocked her head at Miyat's question, then flashed a grin.
She approached the rigidly frozen woman, lifted her chin with one finger, and murmured low.
"...beginning?"
For all her whimsy, Hella reigned as the Demon King atop the notoriously wicked demons.
To her, this was mere lighthearted fun.
"We've had our fun and bonded a bit—shall we get to the main topic? You'll help, right?"
Hella glanced between the man and woman before her.
Her "Seven-Colored Demonic Eye" activated, each iris glowing a different hue.
The red of domination in one, the green of the mind in the other.
Miyat felt her strength drain away, her mind fogging as she stared blankly.
Aaah...
No means or will to resist remained.
For practitioners who honed their inner cultivation, Demon King Hella was a calamity that eroded the mind by mere existence.
Without that "play," it wouldn't have dragged on this long.
So beautiful... I want to sink into it...
A pair of jewel-like glows piercing the dark.
Miyat followed those lanterns, sinking endlessly into her depths.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Selecting Hella for dispatch to Sabacheon had been a calculated choice, weighing multiple factors.
Above all, her abilities were perfectly suited against chakra practitioners.
She was a hard counter in a different sense from Hoon, who spewed mental corruption like a firehose.
His "Thought Rampage" was an all-or-nothing offensive extremism, whereas Hella could freely calibrate hers.
She's also the true owner of the Demonic Eye used to probe Anton's mental state.
And the results of that choice streamed in real-time.
In a thoroughly satisfying form.
"I've brought some hot tea."
"...Is there anything else you wish to inquire, Lady Hella?"
Seated on the office sofa, Hella sipped the tea Miyat poured, eyes gently closed.
Beside her stood the room's owner, the middle-aged man... Pirat, a high official of the Azure Sea Kingdom, humbly recounting all he knew.
"...Hmm, the Prime Minister, eh? So he's your superior and oversees this sector?"
"Yes. I handle the practical duties under the busy Prime Minister."
"And the Azure Sea Kingdom's Emperor? Does he know about this?"
Naturally, Pirat's mind as a high-ranking official bore some security seal.
Under normal circumstances, subduing him wouldn't unravel things so smoothly.
But Hella was anything but normal.
"The young Emperor is still a child, so the Prime Minister acts as regent. He holds most of the real power."
"Ah, I've heard of that. But isn't his coming-of-age soon?"
"That's part of why we've hurried. To keep the Emperor from meddling and ruining our long-prepared plans."
Like any world, this realm's politics were a mess.
The Prime Minister's war-mongering motives were obvious.
That damn power...
Hella, absolute ruler over the entire Demon Realm, clicked her tongue and downed the rest of her tea.
She rose, patting Pirat's back.
"Thanks, I've got the gist. You explain well—must be all that government work."
"Ah, what an honor! If there's more you'd command..."
"Yeah, sure. So guide me."
She cut him off eagerly, baring pristine white teeth in a refreshing grin.
"To that Prime Minister."
Pirat's residence wasn't far from the imperial palace.
Convenient for court visits, naturally.
No need to detour now that they were this close.
Can't waste time if I want to wrap this up quick.
The Prime Minister wasn't the sole mastermind.
Red Mountain Kingdom and the magi practitioners had equivalents, plus the overarching "That One."
She aimed to nab them all in one go.
"...Forgive my impertinence, but the Prime Minister resides deep in the palace. He rarely emerges unless something major occurs. With his many underlings besides me, false reports won't lure him out."
In short, reaching him meant infiltrating the palace depths.
The security of a kingdom ruling half a continent wouldn't be lax.
Even Hella might trip once or twice.
"Yeah, so?"
"Pardon?"
Such concerns meant nothing to her.
"Guide me."
"...Yes."
No one in this world could bar her head-on anyway.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Hella's palace stroll began quietly.
She simply trailed Pirat, who had access privileges, masking her presence.
Even in the imperial palace, few could detect her deliberate concealment.
Thus, the pair blitzed past the outer walls and stormed the inner citadel where the Prime Minister resided.
This might end easier than expected?
But things rarely go as planned.
Reinforced barriers and elite guards spiked in quality, finally sensing something amiss.
"There!"
"Halt! Resistance means immediate execution!"
The imperial guards blocked Pirat's path, eyes fierce.
An elite unit including high-tier practitioners treated as elders in the Yun clan—even deep-tier ones.
...Hella's response to these blockers was predetermined.
She eyed the extras who'd charged in boldly only to writhe on the ground, then sighed deeply.
"Looks like we're made. Better pick up the pace—no sense losing the target in the noise."
"Understood, Lady Hella."
Pirat nodded, channeling chakra and sprinting ahead.
They'd held out decently long despite detection; the goal was near.
Weeeeng—!
But once exposed, interference was inevitable.
Now they swarmed desperately to snag their ankles.
And among them...
"To dare invade the Blue Dragon Palace where His Majesty resides! Your guts are swollen indeed! Reveal yourself!"
...a transcendent powerhouse: a single Heavenly Realm practitioner.
Unlike the others, he stared Hella down squarely. She gave a wry smile.
"Eh, infiltration really isn't my thing."
She'd sneaked into the inner palace fine, but she meant it.
Heinz 2nd would've infiltrated unseen, snatched the Prime Minister, and sauntered out bag and baggage.
"Well, everyone has strengths and weaknesses."
Making it here while leaking demonic energy everywhere was impressive in itself.
She shrugged lightly and surveyed the surroundings.
The target was within arm's reach.
Even if he fled, she'd catch him easily.
"Didn't plan on this, but..."
"Slay the rebels!"
"Attack!"
Hella smacked her lips. Bat-like wings unfurled from her back.
Simultaneously, the landscape warped into a barren wasteland.
"I'll try to go easy so it doesn't hurt too much?"
In the heart of the Azure Sea Kingdom's palace, horrific demonic energy erupted.
A profound abyss incomparable to any magi practitioner threatened to engulf the world, blanketing heaven and earth.
"Can't help it if it still stings, though."
The colossal evil manifested before their eyes.
The imperial guards' faces drained pale.