Chapter 334
Chapter 334
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 334
Chapter Title: The Demon King Awakens
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The moment Soo-hyuk stepped outside, the underground began to shake.
Rumble rumble rumble—.
The ground trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
The surface cracked open with loud fissures. The underground ceiling split apart, and debris started plummeting down.
The tower is collapsing.
Regardless of any warnings to flee, it was clear they couldn't stay here long.
"Let's get out first."
Neila glared at Soo-hyuk with a face full of suspicion before swinging her staff.
Neila's figure vanished in an instant. It was a teleportation spell for short distances.
Following her, the chief mages of the Red Tower and the other mages teleported outside as well. Mersian trailed after them.
The last one remaining was Hayls.
"Why aren't you going?"
"I have to take you, Oppa, and Unnie with me."
Hayls glanced around, scanning the surroundings.
"Where's Unnie?"
"Right here."
At that moment, Ye-ryeong revealed herself beside Hayls. She had exited the stone gate with Soo-hyuk but had been hiding her presence.
There was no special reason. Suppressing her aura and concealing herself was an old habit for Ye-ryeong.
"Long time no see, Unnie."
"We met once before, right?"
"Yeah. We even trash-talked this Oppa together back then."
"Did we? My memory's fuzzy."
Soo-hyuk wedged himself between the two women, who were chatting after their reunion.
"Save the greetings for later. Can you send us outside too?"
Hayls nodded silently and raised her staff.
A fragrance of mana wafted through the air.
Whoosh—.
The three of them were teleported to the surface simultaneously.
Outside, the sky had already turned pitch black. The Black Tower, towering high against that sky, appeared slightly tilted.
"Th-there!"
At that moment, a merchant from the Deep Sea shouted.
"T-the tower's collapsing!"
The Black Tower, which had been tilting gradually, began to pick up speed. The people living below it scrambled to flee in panic, but it was already too late.
Just as the tilting Black Tower was about to crash down overhead.
"Tch."
Hayls swung her staff, drawing a magic circle in the sky.
Vmmm—.
The falling Black Tower halted. It seemed impossible to stop such a massive structure, yet the Black Tower truly stopped.
As the Deep Sea residents hesitated in bewilderment at this turn of events.
"What are you waiting for? Run!"
Hayls's voice boomed over their heads.
After that, Hayls turned her attention away from them. If they died even after all this, it was their fate.
Ye-ryeong pouted at Hayls's actions.
"They're not worth the effort."
The ones who deserved to die should die. That was Ye-ryeong's philosophy.
In that sense, most Deep Sea residents weren't worth saving. They treated murder like it was nothing.
Among the locals, the non-criminals could be counted on one hand.
"There might be at least one person worth saving mixed in."
Hayls replied and looked around.
The tower shook, and then the ground did too. It cracked open violently, and the sky turned black.
The world was changing dramatically. This was the first being to exert influence on such a vast scale.
"What the hell were you resurrecting in there?"
Having seen the magic circle on the stone gate from outside, Hayls knew something had been reviving there.
"See for yourself and judge."
Crack—.
Something emerged right from the split below.
It wasn't the massive monster they'd seen in the iron bars. It seemed shrunken down to human size—a being radiating dark demonic energy, climbing naked onto the surface.
The Black Tower mages who had come out. The Deep Sea residents. Even the Red Tower mages.
All held their breath as they watched the man emanating demonic energy.
Long black hair reaching his waist, hollowed cheeks pale as death. A lanky frame.
He looked like a wild human set free from the wilderness. If a person grew up alongside beasts from birth, they'd have exactly that appearance and aura.
Shuruk—.
Black clothes wrapped around the naked man's body. Once dressed, he grabbed his disheveled hair and yanked it out.
Thud—.
Several Deep Sea residents who got a close look fainted on the spot.
Some approached him as if entranced. Others gouged out their own eyes. Just by standing there, he influenced his surroundings.
The Deep Sea residents screamed and fled. They realized staying here meant certain death.
"Looks like there's one more."
Hayls, seeing the man rise from underground, inferred his identity.
"A Demon King."
There were beings called the Three Demons.
Each commanded four legion commanders, standing at the pinnacle of the demon race.
They were true kings ruling the demon world.
Demon Kings were still near-mythical, living calamities.
If this revived one was truly the fourth Demon King, it wasn't strange that Neila thought she could capture Hayls.
Swipe—.
The Demon King swept his hair back.
Though he'd exuded a ferocious aura from within the bars, he now seemed oddly pleased.
"I thought the time wasn't right yet..."
Gazing at the sky with his sunken cheeks, he grinned.
"But being out here feels good."
He closed his eyes, breathing in the wind. Inhaling deeply, he truly seemed to savor the moment.
Hayls watched the Demon King silently.
He certainly seemed different from ordinary demons. But she'd met one of the Three Demons before.
Was that why?
"...Something's off."
Hayls frowned in confusion.
Her gaze shifted to Neila and Mersian. Their expressions toward the Demon King diverged sharply.
Neila, brimming with anticipation, now looked grave as she asked Mersian,
"The one we summoned wasn't supposed to be something like that, right?"
Something like that.
Not words for a demon who had upended the Deep Sea just by existing. But if it was a Demon King, the story changed.
He clearly radiated demonic energy beyond a legion commander.
Yet it lacked the overwhelming pressure befitting a fourth Demon King.
"What the hell is this?"
Mersian shrugged at Neila's question.
His evasive attitude made Neila snap.
"You, what the hell have you been—"
"Don't worry."
The Demon King's voice came from right beside her.
Startled, Neila whipped around. He was still far away, yet his voice rang clear as if next to her ear.
From the moment of revival, the Demon King's gaze had been fixed on Soo-hyuk, Ye-ryeong, and Hayls.
"As promised, I'll kill whoever you want."
The moment those words ended.
Fwoooosh—!
The demonic energy blanketing the Deep Sea took on a living form and lunged at the three.
A deadly poison mist enveloping their bodies. The force struck them all at once.
Crackle crackle—.
Soo-hyuk reacted first to the power.
He swung his raised sword down like a hammer.
Boom—!
The ground shook like an earthquake. The lightning on the blade spread everywhere, clashing with and neutralizing the approaching demonic mist.
"Oh ho."
The Demon King widened his eyes at Soo-hyuk. Just then, Soo-hyuk, who had repelled the demonic energy, met his gaze.
As if to say they hadn't fled out of fear of him. Soo-hyuk didn't hesitate to lock eyes.
Vmmm—.
Then, Hayls's Ebony Wing began to move again.
She raised her staff, Dragon Bane, high. Amplifying her mana through Ebony Wing, Hayls began her spell.
Rumble rumble rumble—.
The ruined ground and building debris stirred. They flew rapidly, gathering around the Demon King.
The rocks and debris converging on the Demon King were sliced by some invisible force.
But as if it didn't matter, the fragments wrapped around him anyway.
Crunch crunch—.
Countless rock fragments compressed tightly. Like kneading a large lump of clay by force.
Was she planning to crush him outright?
"I'll take this one."
Hayls sank into the ground along with the rock imprisoning the Demon King.
The Demon King and Hayls vanished in an instant.
Darkness shrouded the now-alone Soo-hyuk and Ye-ryeong.
Black magic, Dark Spider.
Black spheres filled the space around them. Mersian had raised his staff and cast the spell unnoticed.
Whoooosh—.
The black spheres pulled at Soo-hyuk and Ye-ryeong's bodies with powerful tension. Pulled from all directions, their movements were quickly restricted.
Pew pew pew—.
Then, dozens of yellow lines slashed like spiderwebs.
Soo-hyuk channeled lightning to his blade's tip and swung. The arc sliced through hundreds of spheres in a flash.
Poof—.
Mersian's Dark Spider dissolved into black smoke. Soo-hyuk glared at Mersian, who stood far off with his staff aimed at him.
It was strange.
His eyes were still those of the teacher who taught children at the orphanage.
"Those bastards revived the Demon King!"
Neila's shout echoed everywhere.
"We found the culprits! It's them!"
"Now they're just pinning it on us outright?"
Ye-ryeong muttered in disbelief at Neila's desperate outburst.
She'd tried to frame Hayls at first, and now them.
"No way anyone's buying that, right?"
That "no way" bit them.
Clack, clack—.
The Red Tower mages who'd come with her aimed their staves at Soo-hyuk and Ye-ryeong in unison.
Ye-ryeong yelled in absurdity.
"You idiots! Your tower lord did it!"
"No use."
Soo-hyuk shook his head.
"She only brought the ones who obey her blindly anyway."
The truth didn't matter.
The Red Tower mages there were Neila's loyal lackeys.
Even if uninvolved, they wouldn't defy her orders.
Fwoosh—.
Magic from dozens of elite mages heated the air scorching hot.
Dozens of fireballs soared into the sky before raining down. Like a volcano erupting downward, Ye-ryeong gripped her dagger.
But it never moved.
Sizzle—.
The descending fireballs' heat cooled rapidly.
The sweltering temperature dropped. The scorching air turned lukewarm, then frigid.
Crack crack crack—.
With each step, the ground froze white like a snowy plain.
Turning toward the chill, Ye-ryeong grinned happily.
"You're the last one!"
"Always dumping the annoying stuff on me."
Si-woo strolled leisurely through the Red Tower mages, white frost billowing around him. No one dared approach first.
Parting them, Si-woo reached Soo-hyuk and Ye-ryeong, then asked while eyeing the mages.
"So, which one's the punk tower lord?"