Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Unceasing Danger (Revised)
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The man in the suit's body rapidly swelled, and his clothes burst apart.
"Ugh..."
Hee-seon noona's dry heaves... It wasn't just her; I felt like I was going to be sick too.
Because it wasn't just his clothes that had burst.
As his skin was torn asunder, the man began a grotesque transformation into something inhuman.
Ripping away his human skin revealed a nauseating, dark reddish-brown hide. His pupils inverted, turning like a demon's reverse eyes. Black claws grew from his fingers, and horns sprouted from his head.
Furthermore, the arm that had been severed by Mer's scythe regenerated, and the man let out a roar of joyous laughter.
"Kuhahahaha!!! The grace of Lord Jagan!!! I thank you!!!"
He was the very image of a demon. It seemed he had been granted power by a demon named Jagan.
'That guy is a demon's underling... But what's the relationship between demons and evil gods? Aren't demons supposed to be subordinates of evil gods?'
Angels felt like agents or proxies of the good gods. So wouldn't demons be underlings of the evil gods?
Maybe I could get him to surrender without a fight.
"Hey!! You! Do you know anything about the evil gods?"
"Kuhahahaha!!! I don't know!!!"
It seemed that since he turned into a demon, normal conversation was no longer possible.
I wanted to ask about the demons, but for some reason, Indicron and Kashinax were still not connected to me. I couldn't even sense their presence.
Botalily's energy was faintly detectable, but it was so weak it was hard to pick up.
I was starting to worry that the connection had been severed for good when...
[Ca...n... y...o...u hea...r me?]
Indicron spoke to me. Only then did I feel her gaze.
"Yes. I can hear you!"
[Oh my... Where on earth did you crawl off to? To be disconnected for so long... Do you have any idea how worried I was, thinking you were missing? No, wait... This energy... Hm... Forgotten... Ah, I see.]
Indicron fell silent as if sensing something. I tried to speak to her again, but she told me not to, as she needed to focus.
[Haah... I'm hungry...]
Just then, the gaze of Kashinax, who I hadn't felt for a while, returned.
[Hm? Sniff. Sniff... A familiar smell. A scent I know. A nostalgic, bloody scent... Hmm... Who was it? You. Who did you meet?]
"Uh, well, I was in the Void and..."
[Hmm... I see. That's enough. Any further talk is dangerous.]
She too fell silent immediately.
I had wanted to ask about that demon, but the two evil gods didn't seem to have any interest in him.
In the meantime, the man had completely transformed into a demon. The harem members tried several ranged attacks, but a red curtain was drawn around him as if he were invincible during his transformation, deflecting all their attacks.
It seemed he couldn't block the Abyssal Maw or my tentacles, as he dodged them quickly even while transforming. I was debating whether to capture him alive or kill him when his transformation ended.
"Kuhahahaha!!! This power!! This power!!! It's the best...!"
After finishing his transformation, the man roared, not even paying any mind to the zombies.
In an instant, the aggro of the zombies around the supermarket focused on us, and zombies that had survived the night from all over, avoiding Kishiria, began to crawl out.
"You there, Lee Eun-ji! Don't get too close to him!! The red energy he emits is dangerous!"
At Mer's sharp cry, Eun-ji, who had somehow gotten within striking distance of his neck, quickly backed away.
When did she even get over there?
I hadn't sensed her at all. Eun-ji was showing more and more of her assassin's qualities.
"We'll have to try something else, either a ranged attack or use a Divine Arts technique. If a normal human touches that dark red energy, the affected area will burn and melt."
My Profane Touch could only rot the part of the body it touched, but this guy was scattering that kind of energy all around him.
"Damn it. That guy's completely lost it."
"Still, he's not very effective against me. I'll drain his power. Master, you finish him off with a ranged attack."
"Couldn't I just grab and kill him?"
"Seeing a demon after so long has my blood boiling. I'd like to get a proper workout..."
I nodded at Mer's subtle request.
If I went all out with the Abyssal Maw or tentacle protrusion, I would win for sure since my magic power was in a completely different league, but it seemed Mer wanted to fight him herself, perhaps due to some strange rivalry between angels and demons.
"Alright. But I'll step in if it gets dangerous."
"Thank you, Master."
Mer swung her scythe wide and approached him. At that moment, the suit demon mocked us.
"Kuhahahaha!! How long are you going to keep chattering! Come at me! You trash!!"
"My... What an ill-mannered mongrel..."
In an instant, the veins on Mer's forehead bulged, and she dashed forward in a flash.
"You're too loud...! Don't bark! You worthless scum!!"
Mer and the suit demon clashed like madmen, not giving anyone else a chance to intervene. Mer swung her scythe as if she had found her element.
She avoided the red energy as much as possible, and even if she touched it, she didn't burn or melt. However, the pained expression on her face showed that it must have been quite agonizing.
"Hia!"
Mer, aiming for the demon's openings, tried to cut his neck, but each time, the suit demon emitted a strange energy to block and dodge the attack.
More importantly, there was a huge level difference between the two. Mer wasn't even level 10 yet.
If Mer were around level 12 now, she would have sliced him up instantly... What a pity.
Moreover, she wasn't in her angel form right now. It was probably too much for her. She might get hurt, so I started to heat up my magic power.
"Oppa! We'll handle the zombies! You don't have to worry!"
"Uh, got it!"
Eun-ji, who had failed to get close to the demon, and the other harem members ran out to push back the zombies that were creeping towards us and kill them.
The Ha brothers and the other slaves who had come down with us also went to help them, killing the approaching zombies.
I was looking for an opening to use the Abyssal Maw to blow off one of his limbs.
'But Han Ah-ram... Why has she been standing still this whole time?'
Everyone was moving busily, but Han Ah-ram was just standing in her spot, not moving an inch.
As if she were possessed by something, Ah-ram stared intently at the battle between the demon and Mer.
"Hey! Ah-ram! What are you doing just standing there?"
Feeling something was off, I approached and spoke to her, and just then, Ah-ram collapsed, crying out in pain.
"Keuk...!"
She dropped the hammer she was holding and grabbed her head.
"Hey! What's wrong with you all of a sudden! Hey! Get a grip!"
"My... my chest... it keeps pounding... I can't stand it anymore..."
"What? Oh, right, you're a Demon Slayer."
It seemed a class trait had activated the moment she encountered a real demon. Something unusual was happening. Just like Kang-hwa, who had gotten stupider due to her class trait, it seemed Ah-ram was about to show us something too.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Heuk..."
Ah-ram spat out a little blood and then raised her head.
Her two eyes were black.
"Haah... haah... haah... I'll kill..."
She immediately picked up her hammer again, and before I could stop her, she moved swiftly and inserted herself between Mer and the suit demon, who were still in the middle of their fight.
KWANG!!!
The hammer narrowly missed the demon, smashing into the asphalt.
Ah-ram immediately made a ferocious expression and growled like a mad dog.
Then, without a shred of fear, she charged at the demon.
She pierced through the demon's dark red energy that burned and melted flesh.
"Wha-what the hell is this crazy bitch!!!"
The suit demon was terrified as he watched Ah-ram, who was completely unharmed after touching the red energy.
After Mer, now even Ah-ram had figured out his ultimate technique, and he seemed quite flustered.
The same went for Mer, who was beside him. Ah-ram's wild rampage made it awkward for her to swing her scythe.
"Hey! Master!! This woman. No, what's wrong with Han Ah-ram!!"
"It's because she's a Demon Slayer, I guess!!"
"What? What do you mean...?"
"She seems to go crazy when she sees demons! Let's just leave her to fight! I'll step in if it gets dangerous!"
I was a little curious. I wanted to see what kind of fight she would show. Still, I couldn't let her die or get hurt, so Mer and I decided to watch their brawl.
"Alright, I understand!"
Mer tilted her head, looking confused by my words, but without complaint, she backed away and cleared the area. She must have wanted to fight too, but she yielded her prey to Ah-ram.
"Die... die!!! Die, I said!!!"
Ah-ram, lost in her frenzy, paid no attention to her surroundings and did her best to kill him.
She had always been languid and lacking in motivation, except when she was mingling with me, but the moment she faced the demon, she showed a ferocity I had never seen before.
And Ah-ram, giving it her all, was incredible.
She moved like a berserker, thinking only of killing the enemy, with no regard for her own safety.
Her partial Black Armor activation at the perfect timing and her appropriate parries were top-notch.
In exchange for losing her reason, she had gained an extreme fighting sense.
'Moreover, even though the dark red energy from the demon is touching her body... she's not taking any damage. That's amazing...'
Instead, she was absorbing the energy and growing even stronger.
'That dark red energy must be crude demonic energy... Ah-ram is absorbing it to become stronger... She's the natural enemy of demonic-type classes.'
She was a hard counter, specifically for demons.
If this continued, the suit demon would be brutally killed by Ah-ram, who was more demonic than the demon himself.
"Kuaaak!!! Die!!!! Die!!!"
"You damn crazy bitch!!!"
KWASAK!!!
Ah-ram took the suit demon's attack with her Black Armor and lunged in deeper, smashing his head with her hammer.
Now she was even reverse-gripping the dark red energy the demon emitted and absorbing it as if swallowing it whole.
"Kuaaaaa!!!"
But then, something must have gone wrong.
Ah-ram, who had been mindlessly swallowing the demonic energy, let out a scream.
"Hey!! Damn it! Mer!! Step in!!"
Before I could even give the order, Mer was already swinging her scythe wide to push the suit demon away from Ah-ram. I also used the Abyssal Maw to restrain him. Of course, Ah-ram's condition was more important, so I quickly ran to her.
"Grrrrgh..."
"Hey! What's wrong? Uh?!"
Cracck...!
A horn sprouted from one side of Ah-ram's forehead as she drooled.
It was a horn that curled roundly, like a mountain goat's.
Having absorbed too much demonic energy, she had become a half-human, half-demon.
"Kah... Kaaahh..!!!!!"
"Hey!! Han Ah-ram!! This is insane! Calm down!!"
The moment the horn grew, she had completely lost it. The last bit of her reason had flown away.
She openly ignored my order to calm down and stop, and started thrashing around even more violently, like a wild beast.
She couldn't control the vast demonic energy herself. She was out of control.
"Hey!!! Stop!!"
My second order was also ignored.
However, perhaps due to the recoil, Ah-ram's body trembled and she left an opening for the demon.
In an instant, the demon, who had pushed Mer away, sensing Ah-ram as the greatest threat, charged in to kill her. Just before he could block with his distorted scales, the demon's fist reached Ah-ram first.
KWANG!!!
"Kahak!"
She was sent flying backward by the suit demon's attack.
Mer quickly intervened to cut off the demon's follow-up attack.
I caught her with a tentacle as she was flying.
'Damn it... My mistake in ordering... I should have just let her fight...'
If I tried to restrain her any further, Ah-ram might be in even more danger.
Since she had already lost her reason, it would be better to let her kill him. She was on the verge of death from constantly trying to fight while ignoring my orders to stop.
"I'm canceling my previous order. Go wild as you please!"
With the order, Ah-ram, who had been in my arms crying out in pain, sprang up and tilted her head slightly, as if to thank me with a smile.
As if she had been waiting for just that order.
Koo-ung..!
In an instant, the hammer Ah-ram was holding turned black with demonic energy, and the air around her grew heavy, as if the gravity had increased.
As Ah-ram charged, Mer immediately distanced herself from the demon again. Then, she spun her scythe like a propeller, turning the zombies trying to join the fight into meat chunks. To make it easier for Ah-ram to rampage.
"You... what are you... This... I've never heard of such a being... Lord Jagan!!! What is this!!! Lord Jagan!!!! Where have you gone!!!! Uwaa!!!"
The suit man, helplessly beaten by Ah-ram, roared at the sky.
But there was no reply. He soon fell silent, and a blackened hammer flew at the head of the suit man who was standing there stupidly.
KWANG!!!
"Kuhahak!! Damn it!!"
The suit demon staggered and knelt on one knee from the heavy impact. The moment an opening appeared, I tore off his leg with the Abyssal Maw, and at that moment, Ah-ram grabbed his horn and furiously smashed his face with her hammer, shattering his jaw.
His jaw was torn off in an instant by the hammer blows.
As his jaw was torn away, his tongue drooped down to his chest.
There was no way I could take him as a slave now.
"Kiaaaah!!! Uwaa!!!"
He screamed and struggled to escape Ah-ram's grasp.
The demon's struggles were futile. No matter how much strength he put into it, or how much energy he burst forth, Ah-ram didn't budge and just beat him to a pulp.
She smiled as if that was the only thing that brought her happiness.
I no longer intervened in their desperate struggle. It was clear that Ah-ram had already won.
"Kuhahahak...!!!!"
Ah-ram, who had beaten the suit demon to her heart's content, threw down the hammer she was holding and grabbed both of his horns. She slowly applied force and ripped his horns right out.
Pwahck!!!
The suit demon, vomiting a purple viscous fluid through his gaping mouth, buried his face in the ground.
"Ghk... Kuaaak..."
I had planned to capture him as a slave at first... but it looked like he was about to die.
Since he was going to die anyway, it would be better for me to quickly offer him up.
I passed by Ah-ram, who was kneeling and panting as she came out of her frenzy, and ran to the dying suit demon.
Then, I quickly stabbed a dagger into his neck.
Pook..!
As his breath stopped, the suit man's demonization was undone, and he soon returned to a normal human.
"I offer this!"
I shouted, thinking of giving it to Kashinax.
Then.
[Ah... Such rotten stuff... I don't eat that.]
She refused.
"Huh, what did you say?"
[Get that away from me. It's spoiled.]
She was openly disgusted.
I thought Kashinax ate anything without discrimination... Was I wrong?
To refuse it so bluntly. What in the world is this?
I couldn't help but be flustered by her unexpected reaction.
"Uh, rotten, you say?"
[It's a contaminated soul. Ugh... that... it's gross. Gross... Get rid of it quickly.]
She shook her head, shuddering.
Then, her presence faded as if she were hastily retreating.
If I pushed any further, my favorability with her would drop.
"Uh, then what about Lady Indicron...?"
[Haah... My child. Listen well. That soul is, to our situation... to put it metaphorically, like the egg laid by a parasite. It's very grating. Revolting. As for the current situation... well, to express it from your human perspective, it's like a cute cat bringing home a sewer rat. And it gives it to its owner. What do you think. Do you want it?]
"Ah, no. Ah..."
Ah... A cat catching a mouse or a bird and bringing it to its owner as a gift... It's kind of impressive, but it's a situation where you'd sincerely not want to receive it...
And she said it was an egg laid by a parasite. I wouldn't want that either.
I ended up doing something terrible to the gods...
'But a parasite and an egg. If the parasite is the demon and the egg is that suit man... That means that suit man is an underling who made a contract with a demon.'
While mulling over Indicron's explanation, I asked what I was curious about.
"Uh... Aren't demons supposed to be subordinates of evil gods?"
I had thought so. But it seemed that wasn't the case.
[Not at all. We create our own slave races separately. For me, Kishiria is like a daughter. Demons are just bastards born from the twist of fate. They are not our kin or subordinates. They are just beings that cling to our domain and live.]
"Aha..."
[Ah, right, and you can't make a demon's subordinate into a slave. If you see one, just kill it without hesitation.]
It seemed the relationship was different from what I had thought. No wonder they weren't interested. They were a bunch that wasn't much help, whether you killed them or not.
"Bo... Botalil..."
[Don't mention my name. It hurts.]
"Ah, yes."
[And I can't eat anything. Sorry.]
I was about to ask just in case, but as expected, she refused.
"Ah-ram. Are you okay?"
"Ugh... Sorry... Me too... I couldn't control it..."
I picked up Ah-ram, who was sitting on the ground catching her breath. She looked like she could barely even walk properly.
"Hmm... Let's go inside for now!"
"Yes!"
We dealt with the zombies on the street and hurried into the supermarket, sealing the entrance again.
"I was thinking of going out to hunt for slaves, but if we go out defenseless like this, we'll be in big trouble."
"He definitely mentioned something about a Central Council, didn't he?"
Eun-ji agreed with me and recited what the suit man had shouted earlier.
A all-weather, largest-scale survivor group formed by the Neighborhood Association, the Comrades Association, and the Fellowship Association. He had said that was the Central Council and tried to recruit us.
"And if the person going around trying to recruit us is at that level... wouldn't you say the main base is a pretty large and strong group?"
Everyone agreed with Hee-seon noona's opinion. She rubbed her arms as if the image of that demon from earlier was still creepy.
The sight of him tearing off his human mask and turning into a demon was grotesque and terrifying.
"Then what should we do? Should we just hole up here? If he doesn't come back, there will definitely be others coming to look for him."
Mer's words were also right. If the guys were in their right minds, they would have planned their patrol routes in advance, and if their comrade didn't return, they would follow those routes to find him.
"Master, you remember that special zombie he was talking about earlier."
"Yeah. The War Boy."
"I have a bad feeling about that. The guy who was controlling that zombie must have noticed immediately that it was dead."
"Haah. Probably... Damn it. They might swarm us like a pack of dogs soon."
I also knew right away when the Black Wheel died and its summoning was released.
"It seems there's never a peaceful day..."
It might be natural, since this is an apocalypse.
We decided to temporarily suspend our plan to go out and hunt for slaves.
Instead, I cleared out the inside of the supermarket and summoned the Black Wheel to scout the vicinity. So it could send me a signal immediately if it found anything.
And so, the sun set and evening came. Still, nothing unusual had happened.
"But... What should we do about this?"
Before dinner, I had some free time, so I took out the red bead from my bag and asked the gods.
The one I got from Botalily... the bead that supposedly twists fate.
I had been holding onto it, thinking I might eat it, but instead, I asked the evil gods.
[Hmm... I think you can eat it. I feel a significant amount of causality... since that fellow obtained it after being erased from existence...]
Indicron advised me to try eating it once.
[Gulp... Looks tasty... But... I can't eat it..]
Kashinax seemed to want to eat it herself.
"Well then..."
I popped the bead into my mouth.