Chapter 279
Chapter 279
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 279
Chapter Title: Demon (5)
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Babel watched the barrier vanish with trembling eyes.
As it had continuously imprisoned Cheongyeom, known as the strongest among the Five Saints, that barrier was no ordinary thing.
It was made by slicing off a full half of the clone's power. Yet such a barrier was crumbling away like a sandcastle.
"Demons cannot rebel against opponents of higher rank...."
Babel muttered in a dazed expression.
"It's because powers of lower rank cannot stand against powers of higher rank...."
That was precisely why Babel could enjoy absolute power in hell.
There was no power that could oppose a duke-level demon like Babel.
In other words, the power Demian Haksen had used was of far higher rank than Babel's.
"I wasn't wrong after all! That thing you possess is the real deal! The true authority of the kings! How could a mere human...."
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Cheongyeom let out a deep breath and drew up his holy power. Blue flames enveloped his body.
"You still haven't come to your senses, it seems.... I'll make your mind snap to attention."
An explosion erupted behind Cheongyeom's back. In the next instant, Cheongyeom's fist slammed into Babel's face.
"......!"
With a sound like his eardrums might burst, Babel's body flew far away. It bounced across the ground like a skipped stone several times.
Babel immediately rose to his feet. A crack ran across one side of his face.
"Hahaha! Impressive as expected! Imprisoning you was a brilliant choice!"
Babel burst into loud laughter. Cheongyeom dusted off his fist and said.
"I tried to blow your head clean off with one strike. You're disgustingly tough."
"Your fist isn't exactly soft either."
"Then I'll just beat you until you shatter."
Another blue explosion rang out. Babel immediately manifested his power. Layer upon layer of barriers blocked his front.
"You're incredibly fast, but you can only move in straight lines, right?"
Babel shouted as if he had already figured it out.
Just as he said, Cheongyeom bore the moniker of the fastest fist, but he could only move in straight lines.
At that moment, another explosion occurred.
Cheongyeom's figure vanished. He had changed direction mid-charge in a straight line.
Babel hurriedly shifted his gaze to follow Cheongyeom. Then Cheongyeom exploded again, accelerating further.
Explosions erupted from all directions. Cheongyeom's afterimages filled the space around Babel.
"What kind of speed is this...."
The smile faded from Babel's face. He finally realized.
The simplicity of direction posed no issue whatsoever for Cheongyeom.
"Guess I'll have to shift from defense to offense now?"
Countless thin square pillars sprouted from the ground where Babel stood. They looked like the long spears used to halt a cavalry charge.
"Charge in recklessly, and you might end up pierced through your whole body and die...."
In that instant, Cheongyeom's afterimage cut off abruptly.
At the same time, all the square pillars Babel had created shattered to pieces.
Cheongyeom, who had burst through the square pillars, thrust out his fist. It slammed into Babel's face once more.
With the sound of a vessel breaking, half of Babel's face flew off. His left eye and part of his head scattered as fragments.
"Kraaaagh!"
Babel let out a scream. Clutching the wounded area with his hand as if he couldn't endure this one.
But Cheongyeom's assault did not stop there.
Blue explosions continued in succession. Each time, Cheongyeom lunged from every direction, pummeling Babel's body.
He smashed the side with his fist, stabbed the solar plexus with his elbow. He even pierced the chest with his knee.
In the brief span it took for a person to blink, hundreds of strikes landed.
"Kuh! Kaagh! Keuk!"
With each blow, chunks of Babel's body were shaved away.
"Truly incredible."
Demian watched from afar as Babel was helplessly overwhelmed.
The moment Cheongyeom stepped in, Demian had nothing left to do. He could only observe from a distance.
"Isn't it?"
Turning his head to the side, he saw Radiance's figure.
Freed from isolation, he was now properly facing forward.
"Even among the Five Saints, watching him makes you feel an insurmountable wall."
It was inevitable.
No matter how strong the Five Saints were, they were merely Master-class.
But Cheongyeom was a figure who had reached the Grandmaster realm.
As far as Demian knew, at this point in time, there were only four who had attained Grandmaster.
The Empire's Greatest Swordsman, the Mercenary King, Cheongyeom, and the head of Pandemonium.
A Grandmaster could stand toe-to-toe with a fully summoned marquis-level demon.
Even against a duke-level demon, a clone was helpless.
That was why Babel had resorted to using his power merely to imprison Cheongyeom.
"Ahahaha!"
At that moment, Babel burst into loud laughter. Over half his body's surface had been blown away, yet the smile did not leave his face.
"Guess I'll have to change my approach now?"
Darkness flowed out from Babel's body.
Demian quickly realized what Babel was attempting.
He planned to 'isolate' Cheongyeom's senses, just as he had done to Demian.
'A misguided judgment.'
Things unfolded just as Demian predicted.
Cheongyeom struck Babel's darkness with 'Obliteration Fist'. The darkness scattered, and the power dissipated.
"......Huh?"
A look of bewilderment appeared on Babel's face. In that instant, Cheongyeom thrust out his hand blade.
"It's over now."
The moment Radiance said that, Cheongyeom's hand blade pierced through Babel's torso.
Babel looked down at the hand blade embedded in his torso with eyes full of astonishment.
Cheongyeom withdrew his hand blade. Babel staggered back a few steps.
"Wow.... You're incredibly strong. Even as a clone, I didn't expect to be so utterly helpless."
Even in this situation, Babel did not lose his smile until the end.
"But I just can't wrap my head around it. You're strong, but not enough. How did our ancestors lose to humans like this?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Hahaha, chattering to myself too long in front of the victor."
Babel's body began to crumble bit by bit. With the clone fully destroyed, he was returning to hell.
"Don't defile human lands again."
"That won't do. Our demons' long-cherished aspiration is to reclaim the surface."
"Nonsense. This place was our land."
At Cheongyeom's shout, Babel smiled silently. It was the reaction of someone who had heard a lame joke.
"A bit disappointing. There was something I wanted to confirm."
Babel's gaze turned toward Demian Haksen. At that moment, Babel's voice reached Demian.
-Demian Haksen, how did you obtain that power?
Babel was now speaking through souls. Because of that, the Five Saints could not hear what he was saying.
-That's the authority bestowed by the Demon Kings. How does a human possess not one, but two of them?
At those words, Demian could not help but frown.
When Dorgo implanted this power into Demian, he had called it the authority of an ancient god.
Yet it was the Demon Kings' authority?
-You seem clueless too. Cherish it well. We'll come to reclaim it someday.
Soon, Babel's body completely crumbled, and his voice no longer came.
* * *
"In the end, he was reverse-summoned."
The moment they arrived at the lab, Dorgo muttered in a small voice.
Iota, who had heard it eerily clearly, asked with a puzzled expression.
-Mother, what does that mean? There's still plenty of summon time left, isn't there? Did someone destroy that monster?
"I don't know the process. But it's certain he's been reverse-summoned."
As the summoner, he could grasp the summon's status to that extent.
There was just one thing he couldn't understand.
"How did two Five Saints manage to take on Babel?"
Cheongyeom had been isolated, so the two Five Saints must have faced Babel.
But with the level of the Five Saints as Dorgo knew them, achieving victory against Babel this quickly was impossible.
-Weren't you saying there was another man there? The three of them must have done something.
Iota said nonchalantly.
However, Dorgo still wore a dissatisfied expression.
-Mother, what's wrong? Something bothering you?
"No, it's nothing...."
There was no reason for dissatisfaction.
He had obtained the demon's essence containing the power, as originally planned.
"For some reason, it feels like I should have stayed there.... There's a strong lingering regret."
At that moment, a headache surged. Iota clutched his head with both hands.
"Ugh."
Lately, the headaches had become more frequent.
Each time a headache struck, Dorgo gained new inspirations and knowledge.
But the thirst grew as well. An ominous feeling that he was forgetting something tormented Dorgo.
-Mother, another headache?
"No, it's fine now."
Dorgo said that as he placed the orb on the table. It was filled with the demon's essence.
"To keep to schedule, things will get busy from now on."
Saying so, Dorgo looked at the large paper spread on the table.
It was labeled "Plan to Assassinate the Empire's Greatest Swordsman."
Gazing at the orb, Dorgo suddenly recalled another item he had received from Babel.
Dorgo pulled out the half-key Babel had given him.
The worn key gleamed under the lab's embedded lights.
"Fool. Giving this to me?"
Dorgo opened his subspace. He took out the other half of the key from within.
The two keys stuck together like magnets. And transformed into a complete key.
"You said you didn't know what might happen in the future? What nonsense."
The reason Dorgo clung to this wretched life for so long was none other than this.
Revenge.
Against the Empire that betrayed him and his lover.
Against the humans who forgot who the true hero was.
To exact revenge, he had crawled up to this position from the filthiest depths.
But if he summoned demons?
It would steal away his target for revenge. That, he could not allow.
"I will never use this key."
Muttering that, Dorgo shoved the key into the deepest part of his subspace.