Chapter 409
Chapter 409
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 410
Chapter Title: The Fall of the Demon King
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Seoul had turned into a sea of fire from the demons' terrorist attack.
Murderous demonic energy spread alongside black blood everywhere.
The hooded man, drenched in black blood from head to toe, knelt on the ground.
“Seonhwa… Why did you betray the king…?”
The man under the hood asked Seonhwa, the blonde woman looking down at him coldly.
Instead of answering, Seonhwa manifested black demonic energy and thrust it into the man’s chest.
Stab!
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I never once swore loyalty to the current king.”
Thud!
The man collapsed to the floor.
His body was riddled with holes, but it no longer regenerated like before.
It was proof that his breath had completely stopped.
“...Hoo.”
Seonhwa let out a short breath and looked around.
The city engulfed in flames, dying humans and demons…
It was a scene straight out of hell.
“…I never imagined you’d been preparing a plan like this behind our backs.”
I thought we’d completely fooled the king, but that was our mistake.
—Secure each district’s perimeter.
—...Communications are down. It’s frustrating. We need orders from HQ.
—Huh? Team leader, there’s a blonde woman over there?
At the voices coming from afar, Seonhwa kicked off the ground and leaped onto a building rooftop.
—Whoa! It’s a demon!
The voices belonged to Association agents. They spotted her as a demon and gave chase.
But she easily shook them off and came to a stop.
“…Where’s the king, anyway?”
If her guess was right, the king was likely with Kim Seonwoo, the child of prophecy.
She should be able to sense the king’s presence somewhere around here.
At that moment.
“...!”
A murderous burst of demonic energy erupted from somewhere.
Chills ran down her spine, and primal fear welled up from deep in her chest.
This energy… it had to be the king.
No one else in the world could wield demonic energy like this.
And then, a new demonic energy, different from the king’s, made itself felt.
“…Hm? What’s that? It doesn’t feel like Jeonghwan.”
Were there still demons left who could wield this level of power?
Seonhwa felt a twinge of doubt as she headed toward the source. How long had she been running?
She finally spotted the king. And upon seeing him, her eyes trembled for a moment.
“...What the hell.”
The king’s body was riddled with countless holes. And for some reason, his infinite regeneration had failed—blood just kept pouring out without stopping.
And…
“…What’s that?”
There was one man standing before the king.
The black energy emanating from him marked him clearly as a berserk demon.
But for some reason, he seemed a little different from a typical demon.
And above all…
She couldn’t see clearly through the black demonic energy, but that silhouette.
It felt familiar.
—...What… what are you, exactly?
The king’s voice rang out.
Seonhwa had spent countless times by the king’s side, but she’d never seen him this rattled.
At that moment, the black energy surging from the man shot toward the king.
The king swiftly countered with his own demonic energy.
The two forces collided, unleashing a massive shockwave.
The aftermath swept through and crumbled everything around them.
—Urk!
The king took the shockwave head-on and let out a short groan.
But it was only for a moment. He manifested fresh black demonic energy and launched an attack.
Stab!
The strike landed perfectly. The black demonic energy pierced the man’s shoulder and abdomen, bursting forth with blood laced with the black mana symbolic of demons.
—Ssss…
But the holes in his body fully regenerated thanks to his healing power.
Seeing this, the king’s expression hardened again.
—How… how can something like you exist? What the hell did the previous king…?
At that instant, a chilling wind blew in from somewhere, brushing against their skin.
The wind gradually dispersed the black energy pouring from the berserk man.
At the same time, Seonhwa felt a massive shock.
She had glimpsed the face hidden within that black energy.
“…K-Kim Seonwoo?”
His eyes were pitch black, no trace of humanity left, but that face was unmistakably Kim Seonwoo’s.
“The child of prophecy… was a demon?”
She had seen Kim Seonwoo use regeneration before.
But back then, he’d denied being a demon, claiming it was just a special ability.
Yet now, anyone could see he was a demon.
“…The power of prophecy.”
Come to think of it, he’d once mentioned having an ability similar to the power of prophecy.
“…Is he really connected to the previous king somehow?”
Just then, the king, who had been watching Kim Seonwoo, spoke.
—...Have you lost your reason?
With that, the king fired black demonic energy at Kim Seonwoo again.
But Kim Seonwoo, his body enhanced by the black demonic energy, dodged and charged forward at blinding speed.
Flash!
In an instant, Kim Seonwoo closed the distance to right in front of the king.
Berserk as he was, his speed was hard even for S-Rank demon Seonhwa to track.
It was a speed the king could have handled under normal circumstances.
But weakened by prolonged battle and countless demon-slaying spells, the king couldn’t react.
Stab!
Kim Seonwoo’s right hand pierced the king’s chest.
The king gritted his teeth and tried to attack Kim Seonwoo with his demonic energy. But Kim Seonwoo yanked his hand free and leaped back at high speed, evading the king’s demonic energy.
He then mounted the king’s shoulder and reached for his head.
Boom!
The king’s head exploded in a burst of black demonic energy and vanished.
But in less than a second, it regenerated to its original form. It was because the attack was pure demonic energy, untainted by demon-slaying power.
—...Tch. Insolent fool!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kim Seonwoo, perched on the king’s shoulder, kept unleashing black demonic energy. An endless barrage of demonic assaults.
Regeneration and destruction repeated ceaselessly.
In that moment, the king’s demonic energy seized Kim Seonwoo’s throat and hurled him into a wall.
Boom!
—...Urk. If not for that human geezer…
The king rubbed his throat and glared toward Kim Seonwoo, embedded in the wall.
Moments later, Kim Seonwoo emerged from the wall, black blood dripping steadily.
“…What should I do?”
Seonhwa watched their battle, lost in thought.
He was holding his own for now, but if the fight dragged on like this, Kim Seonwoo would surely die at the king’s hands.
No matter that the king was weakened from endless combat and Kim Seonwoo was powered up in berserk mode—the opponent was the pinnacle of all demons.
The gap in their abilities was still too vast.
But she couldn’t just let him die like this.
She was convinced there was some secret between Kim Seonwoo and the previous king that she didn’t know about.
“…Should I step in?”
...No.
Even if she intervened, she wouldn’t change the tide—hell, she wouldn’t even escape.
So what then…
As she pondered, the black demonic energy pouring from the king pierced Kim Seonwoo’s body again.
Arms, legs, chest, thighs—the king’s demonic energy riddled Kim Seonwoo’s body with holes.
But thanks to his berserk-enhanced demonic energy, Kim Seonwoo’s flesh regenerated swiftly.
However, a typical demon’s regeneration wasn’t infinite like the king’s.
Little by little, limits were showing—Kim Seonwoo’s healing was slowing.
Boom! Boom! Boooom!
Before long, the spot where Kim Seonwoo stood was obscured by nonstop explosions.
Just as she wondered if even he had finally died, a strand of black demonic energy shot straight from the smoke and pierced the king’s chest.
—...Grrgh!
The king clutched his chest and dropped to one knee.
Weakened, he couldn’t react in time.
—I never imagined I’d be tripped up like this…!
The king gathered more demonic energy than before and unleashed it into the smoke where Kim Seonwoo had been.
A colossal explosion followed, smoke billowing up even thicker than before.
Booooom!
Sss…
The smoke began to dissipate.
As it cleared, Kim Seonwoo’s figure gradually came into view.
His state was so horrific it was a miracle he was still standing.
Having reached the limits of his regeneration, blood dripped steadily from his wounds.
Seeing this, the king approached Kim Seonwoo slowly, convinced of victory.
—...I’d love to learn more about what you are, but I can’t waste more time. Let’s end this.
Black demonic energy condensed to a single point in the king’s hand.
If that attack hit, Kim Seonwoo would die on the spot.
_Well then… this is it…_
Right then.
Woooong!
An alien energy pulsed from somewhere.
At the same moment, a beam of light shot in a straight line from behind the king, piercing his chest.
—...?
The king looked down at his chest.
The spot pierced by the magic was burning.
—...Th-this is.
The king turned around.
At the end of his gaze stood a human girl with ordinary mana.
Seonhwa, watching her, was dealt a heavy blow.
That magic…
“D-Demon-slaying power?”
Two demon-slaying users?
—...Urgh.
The girl collapsed to the ground, as if she’d expended all her mana.
Trembling, she looked at the king, then turned her gaze to Kim Seonwoo. Pity and anguish filled her eyes.
—...Seonwoo.
The king muttered as he stared at the girl.
—...So everything… was a trap?
Instinctively, the king realized.
The girl before him was the true child of prophecy the previous king had spoken of.
All this had been a trap to hide the ‘true child of prophecy.’
Even demon-slaying power, called the natural enemy of demons, couldn’t kill him in one blow…
The child of prophecy had hidden among the humans, waiting for this moment when his power was greatly weakened.
—...To think such an ordinary child was the child of prophecy.
The demon-slaying flames burning in his chest spread wider and wider.
The king raised his palm toward the girl. Demonic energy slowly gathered before it.
—Child of prophecy… I must kill you now…
But the manifested demonic energy lost power and scattered.
The demon-slaying force eating into his chest had burned away what little demonic energy remained in his body.
With no choice, the king staggered toward the girl on foot.
If he couldn’t use demonic energy, he’d kill her with his body.
But things didn’t go as he wished.
Stab!
A dazzling flash erupted as a sword infused with light mana pierced the king’s chest.
—Cough!
The king spat up black blood.
Lee Seojun, standing before him, looked at Kim Seonwoo with trembling eyes.
—...Kim Seonwoo.
Then, one by one, people who had lost consciousness during the battle with the king began to appear.
They stared at Kim Seonwoo in shock.
—...Kim Seonwoo was a demon?
—S-Sunbae…?
The powerless king knelt and looked into the child of prophecy’s eyes.
—...If that child is the true child of prophecy.
The king turned to look at Kim Seonwoo.
—Then what the hell is this guy…?
With those words, the king’s body slowly crumbled into black dust and scattered.
The demon king, who had terrorized the human world, met his end and vanished.
And from within the black dust, a cosmic black glow seeped slowly into Kim Seonwoo’s body.
—Urk...
Pain twisted Kim Seonwoo’s blackened face.
Soon, the faint demonic energy emanating from his body began to grow stronger.
—Kim Seonwoo!
Lee Seojun tried to rush to him. But Kim Deokhyeon appeared, blocking his path.
—Stand back.
Then, countless Association agents arrived late and swarmed in.
They surrounded Kim Seonwoo, mana flaring.
—What are you…?
In response to Lee Seojun’s words, Kim Deokhyeon said,
—...Lee Seojun. Get a grip. That’s a berserk demon. And for all we know…
—...that might be the demons’ new king.
—What do you…
At that moment, the intense demonic energy surging from Kim Seonwoo began to subside.
Soon after, Kim Seonwoo lost consciousness and collapsed.
As he suddenly fell, one of the agents shouted.
—Huh? He’s down?
—N-Now’s our chance!
Just as they all unleashed their mana to attack, black demonic energy descended from the sky onto Kim Seonwoo’s position.
—...Urk! What the hell is this?
From within the demonic energy, a woman emerged.
It was Seonhwa, one of the surviving Ten Demon Council members.
—...A n-new demon?
—Battle stations!
As the agents raised their mana, Seonhwa’s eyes turned black.
At the same time, terrifyingly powerful demonic energy spread out, sweeping over the agents.
—Grrgh!
Kim Deokhyeon blocked the spreading black demonic energy with a mana barrier. He took a step forward and glared at her.
—...Demon. What’re you planning all alone?
Seonhwa didn’t answer.
She simply lifted Kim Seonwoo’s body in silence.
The demonic energy enveloping the area turned to mist, swallowing the two in an instant before vanishing.