Chapter 422
Chapter 422
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 423
Chapter Title: The Shadow of Cruas
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The king's succession ceremony, which had heralded the beginning of a new era for the demons, had finally come to an end.
The demons who had visited the Isle of the Moon returned to the mainland one by one, and the king's close aides who remained on the island began cleaning up after the ceremony.
"...Fortunately, the succession ceremony wrapped up without a hitch."
Seonhwa, standing atop the ruins, murmured softly as she watched the departing demons.
Even thinking back on it, there had been some truly precarious moments.
The six elders who had appeared before the king.
And then openly rebelling in front of all those watching demons.
It had been a situation where the king's dignity could have crumbled in an instant.
But the king had displayed an unbelievable presence and subdued them all in a flash.
It was an impact strong enough to silence all the controversies surrounding the king up to that point in one go.
Haryeong, who had heard Seonhwa's murmur beside her, nodded.
"We can call it fortunate. Even I had no idea the king was hiding power on this level."
Haryeong was genuinely surprised.
She had known he was hiding great strength, but it had far exceeded her imagination.
"But where is the king?"
Seonhwa looked around.
The cleanup after the succession ceremony was nearly done, and it was about time to head back to the mainland.
But the king was nowhere to be seen.
"He said he had something to think about alone and headed to the cliffside coast."
"...I see. What's going on? His expression didn't look good at the end of the ceremony."
After the meeting with Shinbi.
The king's expression had soured.
He had gained a new authority, yet he didn't seem pleased.
What could have happened so suddenly?
Was he feeling burdened now that he had officially become 'king'?
"We need to prepare to leave soon, so I'll go check on the king."
Instead of replying, Haryeong simply nodded.
Seonhwa stood up and headed to the location Haryeong had mentioned.
Upon arriving at her destination, she spotted Kim Sun-woo under the full moon, standing at the cliff and staring blankly out at the horizon beyond the sea.
His face was filled with worry, an expression she had never seen before.
"Your Majesty. It's time to prepare to depart."
At Seonhwa's call, Kim Sun-woo nodded without shifting his gaze.
"Is something troubling you, by chance?"
When Seonhwa asked carefully, Kim Sun-woo answered.
"It's nothing much. There are just too many things I have to do, and I'm worried if I can handle them all properly."
Seonhwa fell silent for a moment.
It seemed the king was feeling burdened by having become 'king'.
But not knowing the exact reason, she couldn't speak carelessly.
After pondering how to respond, she said,
"Your Majesty. You don't have to shoulder everything alone."
At those words, Kim Sun-woo closed his mouth for a moment and turned his gaze to Seonhwa.
Seonhwa looked straight into his eyes and continued.
"We exist for the king. Whenever you give the command, we are ready to do anything for you."
Kim Sun-woo stared at her intently for a moment before letting out a small smile.
"Thank you. That was comforting, even if just for a moment."
Kim Sun-woo turned his gaze back to the horizon.
His eyes still brimmed with worry. And then he spoke again.
"It's just something I'm suddenly curious about."
"..
"If, and I mean just if. If I were to die within a month, what do you think would happen?"
"......Pardon?"
Seonhwa was caught off guard by the unexpected question.
Him, who had just officially become king, dying within a month?
Kim Sun-woo quickly followed up as if to smooth it over.
"I'm speaking hypothetically. Just if. I'm wondering what would happen to demon society if I died."
"......Well, um. It would depend on the circumstances of the death, but they would probably rally around a new king."
"Rally around a new king......"
Kim Sun-woo let out a wry chuckle.
"Well, that's only natural, isn't it?"
"......But there would be many problems in that process."
At Seonhwa's words, Kim Sun-woo turned his gaze back to her.
"As Your Majesty witnessed during today's succession ceremony, our kind needs a leader with absolute power."
The nature of demons, possessed of endless greed and arrogance.
Even the king was no exception.
The moment they sensed any weakness, they became targets for other demons.
"If Your Majesty were to disappear, an era of great chaos would come, with every demon vying for the throne. And demon society would gradually collapse."
The elders had been like that, and so had the demons with other powers.
They didn't pledge loyalty to someone just because they were 'king'.
If they could band together and seize it, they would act on it no matter what.
"......The collapse of demon society. I hadn't even considered something like that."
Kim Sun-woo sank back into serious contemplation.
Watching him, Seonhwa felt a twinge of doubt.
He had said 'if', but his current demeanor made it seem like he was truly worried about a death coming in a month.
"......Your Majesty. Is something going to happen in a month?"
To that, Kim Sun-woo replied with his gaze fixed on the horizon.
"Nothing at all."
Then he continued.
"No, I'll make sure nothing happens."
A week had passed.
Though the Black Beast incident had quieted down and public interest had waned, the Wizard Association was still devoting all its efforts to tracking the summoner of the Black Beast, the 'Dragon'.
"Still no leads?"
"......Yes, we suspect it's headed toward Korea, but the clues are too scarce for us to be certain."
"......This is a headache."
Yang Taemin of the Intelligence Team rubbed his forehead.
Most disaster-class beasts had the ability to conceal their presence.
If it had been a different species of monster, it might be different, but since it was a dragon, the situation was all the more difficult.
"If it's heading to Seoul, we're in big trouble."
"Should we issue an evacuation order for now?"
"......Tch."
With the dragon's path unconfirmed, they couldn't issue an evacuation order rashly.
"For now, let's send out warnings nationwide. We have to avoid the worst-case scenario, just in case."
Due to the association's numerous recent failures, public trust had plummeted.
This time, they absolutely could not fail. Not this time.
Right then.
Woooong!
A warning alarm began sounding from somewhere.
And at the same time, an agent's urgent voice rang out.
"Huh? Team Leader! The dragon's mana has been detected again!"
"Where? Don't tell me Seoul?"
"Uh, well...... It's off the east coast of Gangwon Province."
A week had passed since the succession ceremony.
A short yet long time, during which a few small changes had occurred in my life.
The first change was acquiring a new [Authority] from Shinbi through the Chalice of Blood.
This authority was a power only the Demon King could possess, and it turned out to be quite special—more than I had expected.
［Soul of the Sovereign (SS)］
Classification: Trait
［Passive Effect］
►Sovereign's Might
Resistance to all status ailments and magic increases by 70%.
［Active Effect］
►Sovereign's Domain
Deploys a barrier for 20 minutes.
Within the barrier, the target(s) of your choice have their stats reduced by 30% to a maximum of 50%.
*Cooldown: 10 days
The description was simple, but upon closer inspection, it was an absurd cheat ability.
It had a debuff effect that unconditionally reduced the opponent's stats by 30%, with no conditions attached.
It did have the drawback of a rather—no, extremely—long cooldown.
But being able to reduce an opponent's power by 30% more than made up for all those flaws.
This ability would probably be a huge help in navigating the many crises ahead.
......Including the battle with Cruas that was to come later.
And besides this, another change in my life was that the number of demons loyal to me had increased exponentially.
Several times more demons than usual had begun residing inside the hideout, and even some of the elders who had caused trouble during the succession ceremony had temporarily returned to help stabilize things.
As a result.
[You have achieved the 'King's Succession Ceremony' accomplishment.]
[You have obtained 10,000 points as a reward.]
[You have achieved the 'Stabilized Demon Society' accomplishment.]
[You have obtained 5,000 points as a reward.]
With points piling up from this and that, I had gathered 200,000 points once more before long.
I planned to reinvest these points soon to prepare for the battle with 'Cruas' in a month.
"......Well, even if I invest this, I doubt it'll make much of a difference."
I sat on the newly created 'throne' in the hideout and let out a small sigh.
Even with the new trait and a bunch of points, no solid plan against Cruas came to mind.
To be honest, a head-on fight offered no chance of victory.
Cruas's strength as seen through [Dimensional Observation]......
That guy's power had laughably surpassed even the Second King.
Even if I used [Moon's Gahi] and [Berserk Transformation] at the same time, matching him blow-for-blow would be nearly impossible.
On top of that, he likely had a fate imposed on him to kill me, making him far stronger than usual.
In summary, it was the worst possible scenario.
"......Should I just hide until the time passes?"
It was the simplest solution after endless deliberation, but perhaps the closest to the right answer.
No chance of winning? Then avoid him......
After all, my goal right now wasn't 'victory' in a battle with Cruas, but 'survival'.
"But common sense says Cruas wouldn't fail to prepare for that."
Cruas wasn't a simple beast.
He was a highly intelligent beast—a 'dragon'.
The pinnacle of dragons...... no, the king of beasts that reigned at the top of all living creatures.
A guy like that wouldn't fail to anticipate me hiding.
"Ah......"
With the battle against Cruas suddenly moved up, I felt regret over the incomplete anti-disaster-class bombs and my own insufficient growth.
If I just had about three more years, some method would surely present itself.
"......The remaining option is."
To get help from another 'strongest' being to fight the ultimate lifeform.
Ask Kim Jin-cheol, who reigns at the pinnacle of all wizards.
Kim Jin-cheol's absolute defense ability......
It might just be enough to stand against Cruas, awakened by the power of fate.
I knew better than anyone the greatness of his counterattack orbs.
But this came with a major problem too.
My current identity was the Demon King.
Contacting him was impossible in and of itself.
"Sigh."
I let out a short breath. Was there really no way out anywhere......
As I sat there lost in thought alone.
"Nngae!"
A voice came from at my feet.
Looking down, Gretel was gazing up at me with a beaming smile.
I chuckled and picked Gretel up.
"Gretel."
"Nngae."
Gretel nestled into my arms and grinned broadly.
I had been wondering if there was anything that could help even a little, so my gaze naturally drifted to Gretel's head.
"Ahem."
I cleared my throat lightly and stroked Gretel under the pretense of petting her, checking if any new fruit had grown.
In times like these when even one would be precious, even a small fruit would be welcome.
"......None."
Unfortunately, no fruit was visible.
To feel disappointed over something like this. Guess I'm really backed into a corner.
"Tch."
As I did, I subtly checked Gretel's reaction.
She must have read my feelings through the [Bond] trait, but surprisingly, there was no response.
She must be used to it by now?
"Gretel~"
Just as I teasingly pulled her into a hug.
Wooooong!
Intense mana suddenly spread from somewhere. An ominous, foreboding aura......
Having felt similar mana before, I instantly recognized what it was.
And at the same time, darkness bloomed before me, revealing a horde of demons kneeling on one knee.
"......Your Majesty."
"I know. You've finally come."
I rose from the throne.
Cruas's subordinates.
They had come for me.