Demonic Revelation (2)
Meanwhile, inside the helicopter filming the rooftop.
All the cameramen and casters from every broadcasting station were flustered.
“Ah… We can’t see inside at all!?”
“Yes! Right now, a massive crimson mist has engulfed the academy building! It looks like we won’t be able to enter…!”
The crimson fog was rapidly expanding in a dome shape, swallowing the entire area around the building.
In the end, aside from the Constellations connected from another dimension, the real-world viewers had no way of seeing what was happening inside.
Humans are inherently most terrified of the unknown.
While so many people trembled with anxiety, if someone who had slain the World Boss emerged once the smoke cleared, they might well become a hero praised for a lifetime.
“Bang.”
Boooom…!
Not a mana bang—an magi bang.
Nothing had ever survived it before.
This time was no exception.
The handsome man’s head was blown clean off.
“F-Finally!”
“Whoa! His head flew off!”
Yu Jihun and Lee Suyeon had been holding back the zombies trying to leap off the rooftop, but they cheered, believing the World Boss had been defeated.
Yet something felt off.
“…Huh?”
Lee Suyeon tilted her head.
“His… his head is gone… but clearly…”
Creak…
The handsome man’s head was definitely gone. The severed surface of his neck looked like ragged tree bark, but he was still alive.
They could tell he was alive.
Why?
Because [Envy’s Hand] had finally grabbed the real Sagosul.
Thud—
“Kgh…!”
It wasn’t an illusion. It was real.
Junil struggled to break free.
“Th-This fucking… I can’t believe blowing his head off didn’t kill him.”
Junil muttered in disbelief and even tried biting the black hand with his teeth.
Crunch…
“Agh, aha hiba…”
Junil mumbled something incomprehensible and gave up trying to bite it to death.
“Ptooey!”
Even now, the handsome man stood motionless without a head.
One might wonder if he was dead, but Yu Jihun shouted.
“The zombies are still fine! That bastard’s alive!”
“Ugh… It’s true! The zombies…!”
Yu Jihun, Lee Suyeon, and the others were busy fending off the zombies again.
A smirk formed behind the mask.
‘What a persistent bastard. He survives even with his head blown off.’
Junil had known, but it was still impressive.
That was probably why he had simply sealed the guy away in the seventh cycle instead of fighting him.
“Hey. You know what this is, right?”
Junil spoke to someone who couldn’t hear him.
“You should’ve died when I killed you. Dying nicely is off the table now.”
Without a head, there was no reply, but he was clearly still alive.
[Envy’s Hand]
The handsome man’s left hand clenched, and the grip of the black hand tightened further.
The strength was immense.
“Kghhhhh…!”
Junil groaned as veins bulged in his eyes.
Crackle…!
He poured out all his magi to break free, but none of the techniques he possessed could do it.
The others were in the same situation.
“Shouldn’t we save him!? Kim Ri-el! Do something!”
“…No good. I already tried. Magic doesn’t work near him at all.”
“…What?”
Junil knew the reason.
‘It’s a Dispel Field.’
The creature was casting a wide-area dispel around itself.
Any magic requiring incantations was nullified.
Even with its head gone, it could still use magic like this.
Absurd skill.
That was when it happened.
Hum!
A magic circle formed on the severed surface of the handsome man’s neck.
Then a new head sprouted.
But the head that emerged… wasn’t the handsome young man they knew.
‘So the true form is coming out.’
It was the appearance Junil had already seen through in the seventh cycle.
The real form hidden deepest inside was surfacing.
The one that had been lurking in the innermost depths.
Shhh…
What emerged from the severed neck wasn’t a human head.
It was closer to that of a fish.
No, with its long snout and teeth, perhaps it was more like a crocodile?
Yet instead of skin, dark blue scales covered its body, and horns protruded from its head.
It continued to rise through the handsome man’s neck.
A long, long body kept emerging, as if the handsome man’s form had merely been a grand passage for it to pass through. It stood still, pulling the creature out through its throat.
As it rose higher and higher, the human body finally collapsed like a shed husk.
The original form revealed itself.
It was a giant serpent.
If one had to classify it, that was the closest.
A serpent with horns and teeth.
It spoke.
“So it’s come to this.”
More precisely, it was a human face attached near the serpent’s forehead that was speaking.
This creature had originally been human.
It had simply decided, after repeated self-enhancements, that a serpent form without limbs and protected by scales was the most efficient.
It used the horns sprouting beside its human head instead of hands to cast magic.
Upon closer inspection, those weren’t simple horns—they were multiple human arms attached like branches.
Those hands simultaneously unfolded their incantations.
Whoosh!
The hands waved here and there like a newborn baby’s.
Crackle…!
Threatening magi erupted, making the air vibrate.
But it hadn’t cast any magic yet.
There was something it had to do first.
“Sar. That is my name.”
This time, Isilen didn’t interfere.
Ding.
Sar Lv.71
Finally, its level was revealed.
‘Level 71…’
In the worst case, Junil had considered up to level 80, so level 71 was manageable.
It definitely didn’t seem as strong as Sirvelis.
Her scale was on the level of freezing an entire city for over a century. Compared to this serpent, Sirvelis might feel slighted.
Of course, the Constellations didn’t know these details, so they were surprised that the revealed level was higher than Belzerak’s.
The Constellations had inwardly thought this creature would be weaker than Belzerak. After all, they didn’t know that Sar was a Demon King’s commander.
Shhh…!
Having revealed its true form, Sar coiled its massive body and glared at Junil.
“You were one of the most troublesome opponents I’ve ever seen, Sagosul.”
Sar already knew Sagosul’s name.
Because its memories were linked with Kim Dojeok… no, Dross.
“You’re not even that strong, yet you’re the first to push me this far. I’ll give you that much praise.”
A voice that was neither male nor female, carrying a horrifying tone, echoed from all directions.
“But at the same time, I want to kill you!”
“Not just you—I’ve decided to grant death to everything here.”
“Why are you blaming me for that, you snake bastard! You came here to do that in the first place!”
Junil could tolerate many things, but not this kind of political maneuvering.
To him, popularity among the Constellations was directly tied to survival.
“In the end, the dead have no voice.”
Sar spoke in a rather realistic manner and moved its horns.
[Envy’s Hand - Enhanced]
Crack crack crack crack!!
The black hand began squeezing Junil with enough force to crush him.
“Kghhhhh…!”
Junil gritted his teeth and endured.
‘When the hell is that guy getting here?’
He had been waiting for something.
It was almost here, but he was starting to struggle.
“I’ll kill you in the most painful way possible, Sagosul.”
Fortunately, Sar’s rage was beyond imagination, so it didn’t seem like it would kill him immediately.
But as it said, it was killing him in the most painful way, and Junil felt like his head was about to burst.
‘It’s here.’
That was when it happened.
“S-rank Awakener coming through!”
Another Junil (the porter)’s voice rang out.
Panting, he climbed onto the rooftop, followed by a fully recovered Hae-il.
“…What is that. That worm.”
“It’s at least a serpent, sir.”
The porter added helpfully from the side.
It was the usual conversational pattern whenever the two were together.
“Sagosul is tied up. Should we just leave?”
“No, sir. That’s…”
“Just kidding.”
“Right. Without that guy, we can’t win alone.”
“What do you mean by ‘we’?”
“Well, it’s just you fighting alone, sir… I’m only F-rank.”
“Fair enough.”
Snicker.
A smile spread across Junil’s lips behind the mask.
So this was how their bickering looked from a third person’s perspective.
‘How unsightly. Me.’
He realized why Kang Hae-il’s Constellations disliked him, and at the same time, why tears were welling up in [Belzerak’s Tears] right now.
Slosh—
Probably because it knew what was about to happen.
‘But…’
Junil began drawing out all the magi in his body.
‘I have to do what needs to be done.’
Crackle crackle crackle…!
The black magi wave slightly pried open a gap in the black hand.
“Kghhhhh…! Hey, snake.”
“Foolish. That hand is several times stronger than before…”
Junil deliberately shouted loudly so everyone could hear.
“Do you know what a switcheroo is!?”
“?”
At those words, not only the serpent(?) but even Kang Hae-il tilted their heads.
Boom!
In that instant, smoke rose around Sagosul.
It wasn’t an explosion.
Just a smoke screen.
But when the smoke cleared, Kang Hae-il’s eyes widened.
“What?”
What [Envy’s Hand] had grabbed was no longer Sagosul.
“Uh… What? What is this!? U-Ughhhhh!!”
It was the porter.
The porter was caught and being crushed.
“What…”
Kang Hae-il turned to the side to quickly grasp the situation.
“Whew~”
The guy wearing the Sagosul mask was casually stretching, cracking his neck.
“Thanks for the bait. Since he’s F-rank, it doesn’t matter, right?”
Kang Hae-il couldn’t speak.
Even if he could have answered, it wouldn’t have mattered.
This wasn’t the time to vent his anger at Sagosul.
With the porter’s stamina, enduring the pressure of [Envy’s Hand] was impossible.
“U-Uwaaaah! S-Save me! Hae-il hyung! Hyuuuung!!”
Crack crack crack…!
The porter’s eyes began to redden with blood.