Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The Demons' Misunderstanding
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A flash of light burst forth simultaneously, and Lee Seo-jun's body vanished. Moments later, Lee Seo-jun appeared right in front of Seong-jin and swung his sword toward him at blinding speed.
Whoooosh!
Startled, Seong-jin erected a barrier of mana to deflect Lee Seo-jun's attack. But it wasn't a perfect defense.
A long gash appeared on Seong-jin's chest, and black blood flowed out.
"...Unbelievable. Not only did you block my attack, but you even wounded me?"
Seong-jin let out a laugh of disbelief.
Was there really such a monster in the world?
"You're fortunate. If even two more years had passed, there wouldn't be a single demon in this world who could stop you..."
Seong-jin stared at him before asking,
"I've been wondering since earlier—what's with not using the power of demon extermination?"
Lee Seo-jun froze upon hearing Seong-jin's words.
"The power of demon extermination? ...What's that?"
"You're playing dumb. It was definitely you, Lee Seo-jun, who dispelled the barrier in the third-year exam hall during the midterm exams at the Magic Academy, right?"
"......What?"
Lee Seo-jun's eyes widened at the sudden remark.
The barrier—did he mean the one Kim Sun-woo had undone?
"What are you talking about?"
"Your expression says it all. No use hiding it."
"Explain yourself properly. Are you looking for the one who dispelled that barrier back then?"
Seong-jin narrowed his eyes at Lee Seo-jun's question. He truly seemed to know nothing.
"...You really don't know?"
"Answer my question!"
"Looks like you really don't. Then who dispelled the barrier?"
Lee Seo-jun wasn't the child of demon extermination. He'd gotten it completely wrong. So who was the child of demon extermination? Who had undone the demon's barrier...
Seong-jin fell into thought for a moment. Then, as if struck by a sudden realization, he looked at Lee Seo-jun.
"You know who dispelled the demon's barrier, don't you?"
"...Do I look like I would?"
Seong-jin gathered his mana and strode toward Lee Seo-jun. The aura was markedly different from before. Up until now, Seong-jin hadn't used any killing moves, but now he would.
Soon, Seong-jin's body vanished and reappeared right before Lee Seo-jun's eyes.
Lee Seo-jun tried to leap back in surprise, but it was already too late.
Lee Seo-jun was seized by the throat by Seong-jin and lifted into the air.
"Urk!"
Lee Seo-jun cried out in pain.
"Answer me. Who dispelled the barrier?"
"I-I... don't know!"
"Answer me."
"Arghhh!"
"...No intention of answering, huh. Then you'll just have to die."
Seong-jin tightened his grip on Lee Seo-jun's windpipe.
Lee Seo-jun's face turned blue as he writhed in agony.
That was when it happened.
From somewhere far out of sight, a brilliant light flashed, and a terrifying surge of mana energy shot toward Seong-jin.
Seong-jin hadn't sensed any mana at all, so he couldn't respond properly.
KABOOOOOM—!
"Argggghhh!"
Seong-jin's arm clutching Lee Seo-jun's neck and half his upper body vanished in an instant. Black blood sprayed out, and his body burst into flames.
Seong-jin screamed in torment.
Lee Seo-jun thudded to the ground.
"Gah..."
With his airway cleared, Lee Seo-jun gasped for breath.
He turned his head toward the direction from which the aid had come. In his hazy vision, he saw a man. But perhaps due to lack of oxygen, the face wouldn't come into focus.
Seong-jin, writhing in pain, converted his body's mana into regenerative power.
The missing parts of Seong-jin's body twitched grotesquely and began slowly regenerating.
"Urgh! Who the hell are you?!"
Seong-jin glared with bloodshot eyes toward the direction of the mysterious ambush.
Far away, a lone human male stood. He looked far too youthful to believe he'd cast that spell just now.
But Seong-jin had no time to sense anything amiss. His mind was filled with rage from the ambush.
"I'll kill you!"
Just as Seong-jin gathered his body's mana to charge,
BOOOOM!
A thunderous roar like the clap of thunder shook the sky. A storm of mana swirled overhead, and a powerful bolt of lightning struck down toward Seong-jin.
KRAK—!
"Arggggh!"
The lightning pierced Seong-jin's chest precisely. Black blood sprayed once more, soaking the ground.
KRAK—!
Another bolt struck, this time through his abdomen. Then again, and again. The lightning didn't stop. It continued relentlessly striking at Seong-jin.
"Arggggh!"
Crackle. Crackle.
The ground rumbled with electricity. Amid it all, a woman walked toward Seong-jin, step by step. Her disheveled long golden hair whipped in the storm.
Charlotte—no, Bert—looked down at Seong-jin.
"Who are you? Why are you targeting that boy?"
"And who the hell are you?!"
At Seong-jin's words, Bert raised her hand toward the sky.
Powerful currents of electricity carrying mana flowed above her hand, manifesting a spear infused with lightning.
"I'll ask one last time, demon. Why did you attack Lee Seo-jun?"
"Heh... hehehehe..."
Seong-jin laughed as if he'd lost his mind.
He realized instinctively.
This situation was bad. The one before him was an S-Rank wizard or higher.
Having already consumed much mana on regeneration, he couldn't face this opponent...
There was only one way.
Starting from his blackened eyes, his entire face began to darken. His damaged body regenerated far faster than before. His form swelled dramatically.
The demon's berserk transformation had begun.
"Phew..."
Fortunately, things had stabilized. With Bert's intervention, the other members of Jaun would soon appear. Then Seong-jin would be swiftly subdued.
That earlier situation was dizzyingly perilous even in retrospect. Not for Lee Seo-jun, but for me.
The spell I'd unleashed was a sure-kill attack, condensed from mana over nearly five minutes.
It was the maximum output I could muster right now.
Luckily, my attack landed a solid hit, but the problem came after.
True to his reputation as an S-Rank demon, he recovered swiftly with his monstrous regeneration.
Bert's timely intervention had saved my skin.
That was close. Way too close.
He looked seriously pissed off earlier.
My body slumped heavily.
The elixir's sustained effect had worn off, plunging me into mana exhaustion.
If I ran into another demon in this state, I'd die without resistance.
...Looks like I need to hide somewhere.
As I searched for a hiding spot, I suddenly recalled the conversation between Lee Seo-jun and Seong-jin that I'd eavesdropped on by enhancing my hearing with mana.
"But seriously, it's ridiculous."
Even thinking back, it was so absurd I was speechless.
"The child of demon extermination? Lee Seo-jun?"
What nonsense was this?
I'd never imagined the demons were mistaking Lee Seo-jun for the anti-demon child.
Moreover, Seong-jin's reason for thinking so was the demon barrier dispelled during the midterms.
Butterfly effect.
All these events stemmed from the butterfly effect of my actions.
So, to sum it up:
My actions had put Lee Seo-jun in peril.
"Sigh... What a mess."
Even if Seong-jin was taken down today, the demons wouldn't let Lee Seo-jun go.
Especially the Demon King, who feared the power of demon extermination above all.
"...I need to come up with some countermeasures."
I watched from afar as Bert and Seong-jin clashed.
A battle between S-Rank monsters.
There was no sign of it ending anytime soon.
Seeing these two, who had no connection in the original story, fight stirred complicated feelings.
Then, five humans appeared behind Bert.
I recognized them at a glance.
The other members of Jaun.
They unleashed powerful mana rivaling Bert's and attacked Seong-jin.
The fight instantly became a 6-on-1. Finally, the long battle showed signs of ending.
And if things followed the original flow without changes, another faction would soon intervene, shifting the tide.
My role here was over.
From now on, I'd hide safely and watch what happened to them.
"Urgh!"
Seong-jin stubbornly held out against Jaun's six members. But even as a top-tier S-Rank demon, he couldn't withstand the combined might of the world's most elite wizards who terrorized the globe.
It was impossible for him alone.
"Why don't you just answer already? Why did you attack Lee Seo-jun?"
Bert looked down at Seong-jin, now kneeling on the ground, and said.
Seong-jin reverted from his berserk state to his original form.
A typical demon's berserk mode didn't end easily once started, but as an S-Rank demon, Seong-jin could manage it.
"...Shut up and kill me."
"Funny. You won't die until you answer."
Seong-jin bit his lip at Bert's words. Refusing to kill meant they'd torture him if needed.
"And don't even think about self-destructing. The moment I sense it, I'll sever your limbs."
"You bastard..."
As Seong-jin and Bert exchanged words,
A massive flow of mana rippled through the space.
"W-What's that?!"
Whoooosh.
The pitch-black sky suddenly turned crimson. Sensing the anomaly, Seong-jin and the Jaun group looked up.
A massive blazing orb hung in the sky.
Everyone gaped in shock at the majestic fireball reminiscent of the sun.
"B-Block it!"
The enormous fireball plummeted toward them rapidly.
Jaun's group hastily erected a magical barrier, but it fell short of fully stopping the ultra-condensed mana orb.
BOOOOM......
KABOOOOOM—!
"Arggggh!"
A fierce shockwave spread wide, crumbling the surrounding terrain.
A colossal plume of smoke rose where the orb had struck. The ground turned into a sea of fire in an instant.
As the smoke cleared, Seong-jin's unrecognizable corpse and the tense-faced Jaun group within their barrier came into view.
Dumbfounded by the sudden event, they instinctively knew who had ambushed them.
Only one person in the world could wield such high-density fire magic.
And sure enough, a black-haired woman appeared, her hair fluttering.
Bert murmured quietly upon seeing her.
"...The Fire Witch."
Yoo A-yeon, known as one of the world's top five wizards, stood before them with a face full of fury.
Whoooosh!
And above her head floated the same massive fireball that had just attacked them, regenerated.
The situation wrapped up swiftly.
As in the original story, 'another faction'—Dawn's Blade—intervened, turning it into chaos.
Jaun had six members, Dawn's Blade only two, but Yoo A-yeon was among the world's strongest wizards. She could hold her own despite the numbers.
What followed proceeded exactly as in the original.
Jaun judged there was no gain in winning this pointless fight and ultimately fled, leaving Yoo A-yeon enraged at letting them escape.
"You okay?"
After everything settled,
I helped Lee Seo-jun to his feet. Supported by me, Lee Seo-jun limped toward Lee Hyun-joo.
Lee Hyun-joo had also regained consciousness by then.
"Are you alright?!"
Choi Seo-yoon arrived late from afar. Impressively, she'd taken down a demon on her own.
"What the hell happened here?"
"...Beats me."
"I felt several massive mana surges from far away earlier. What was that?"
"I don't really know either. No idea what's going on."
Lee Seo-jun murmured quietly.
"Oh, and on the way here, I saw two demons down. Did you take them out, sunbae?"
Choi Seo-yoon turned to me and asked.
"Yeah, me."
"Really?"
Choi Seo-yoon looked at me in surprise. Beside her, Lee Seo-jun eyed me oddly too.
"What? You took one down yourself."
"Yeah, but one and two are worlds apart."
Choi Seo-yoon made a face of disbelief.
"Luck."
Then a handsome man approached us. I recognized him instantly.
Jeong Je-won. Dawn's Blade member, always stuck to Yoo A-yeon's side.
"You alright?"
"Yes. We're fine."
"Oh, and by the way, I'm a wizard with the Dawn's Blade Guild."
"...Dawn's Blade?"
We listened as Jeong Je-won explained the situation.
The client had actually been a Jaun member, and this whole thing was a trap—everyone reacted with shock.
"Jaun? That terrorist group from 13 years ago?"
"Why would Jaun target us?"
As curiosity swelled,
Lee Seo-jun shot a sharp question at Jeong Je-won.
"But how did Dawn's Blade know to come here?"
"Huh? Uh, well..."
As expected, Jeong Je-won faltered, unable to answer straightforwardly.
Of course he couldn't say, 'We were tailing you, Lee Seo-jun, since you're important to Jaun.'
"Ahem... We have our ways."