Demon Realm
The Demon Realm, a purgatory land where no human or creature could survive.
A world where both sky and earth brimmed with pitch-black demonic energy and dark power.
An untimely Great Demon War had erupted there.
"Kuaaaah!"
"Kraaak! Keuk!"
Kwaaang!
Demons with massive horns and wings soared through the skies, swinging spears of demonic energy, while legions of magical beasts spewed multicolored poisons and tangled in brutal combat on the ground.
It was utter pandemonium in the Demon Realm.
"Wipe them all out! Leave not a single traitor alive—slaughter them every one!"
"Kraaaah!"
"Bloody revenge on those traitor demons!"
"Waaaaah!"
Each side branded the other as traitors, splattering blood and flesh across the battlefield.
Balpador, commander of the First Legion of the Demon Realm.
Baldr, commander of the Second Legion of the Demon Realm.
A deathmatch between these two titans was underway.
Balpador's offensive forces were overwhelmingly dominant, but Baldr's defenses—entrenched in a last-stand formation with the aghulma cocoon at their backs—proved no pushover.
Baldr's main force, which had guarded the Demon King Castle, had returned at the emergency summons long ago. And the legions of Barbatoss, now leaderless, had naturally fallen under Baldr's command after witnessing the Demon King's manifestation firsthand.
With Baldr newly clad in lava armor unleashing volcanic assaults, it even looked for a moment like he had seized the advantage.
But fighting to protect something always demands more sweat and blood than one imagines.
Baldr's legions, defending the aghulma cocoon where the Demon King had entered, were growing exhausted.
Balpador, who had silently observed the shifting tides, finally rose from his throne as legion commander and declared his entry into the fray.
"Soon, my reign over the Demon Realm shall begin!"
"Waaaaah!"
The tyrant's mad, thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield.
As if on cue, ominous darkness erupted from Balpador's entire body.
Spirals of darkness exploded around him, carving long gashes across the bodies of every demon legion in his path.
"Kuh! The lord..."
Ally and enemy alike spewed blood, their bodies splitting into chunks of meat.
Demons at the rear, pelted by sprays of blood, fled in terror.
"The lord advances! Get out of the way!"
Shrouded in black mist and exuding malevolent magic, an overwhelming presence dominated the vast battlefield, thundering toward the aghulma cocoon.
"Protect the cocoon!"
At Baldr's fierce shout, tens of thousands of legion soldiers surrounded the aghulma cocoon in layers.
"Out of my way."
Balpador charged like a living siege engine, smashing through the legion soldiers.
Demon legions hurling themselves to block him were mercilessly swept away, flying off en masse.
Soldiers with disbelieving eyes foamed at the mouth, writhing on the ground minus limbs.
The area before the cocoon cleared in an instant.
"You bastard!"
Baldr landed before Balpador with a boom.
The battlefield where the two giants faced off directly.
The legions recoiled in terror from the ominous darkness radiating from them.
A tense standoff.
Dead silence swept the field.
"You dare block your superior's path, Baldr?"
"You're no superior of mine—no legion commander. You're nothing but a traitor now!"
Balpador's ferocious gaze twisted strangely.
"Fool! Do you truly believe that fake inside is the Demon King's seed?"
"The fool is you. That one inside is no mere seed! The true Demon King himself!"
"Ha! The Second Legion Commander, bewitched by a fake—utterly deluded. I see no value in talking to you anymore."
Balpador's dark energy, surging to its limit, exploded in a massive burst.
Woooong! Kwaang!
"Out of my way! I'll cleave the cocoon and execute the fake myself!"
Just hearing that roar burst the eardrums of every demon legion nearby.
"If you won't move, I'll cut you down too! Kraaaah!"
"Kuhuhuk!"
The blades of the Demon Realm's two overlords collided.
A massive whirlwind swept everything away, leaving a vast clearing where only their swords crossed—right then.
Suddenly, a pillar of light erupted from the cocoon behind them.
As I pulled out the key, the aghulma abyss began to crumble. Through the widening cracks, I heard Balpador and Baldr arguing.
Balpador, First Legion Commander of the Demon Realm. He'd forcibly bound himself with an Existence Oath - Conclave to the previous Demon King, endured humiliating subjugation, then ultimately destroyed both himself and the Demon Realm—or so the legend went.
The moment I escaped this abyss, I'd face that monster head-on.
No matter that I'd regressed 998 times before, confronting an enemy I'd never met in any previous loop for the first time was nerve-wracking.
Unlike Baldr, who knew I was the Demon King and swore loyalty regardless of level,
this guy—who'd toppled even the previous Demon King, the pinnacle of might in the Demon Realm, and plotted rebellion—wouldn't buy my current state for a second.
My only weapon against Balpador was the Existence Oath - Conclave.
But to deploy it again, I needed the formal skill, not this temporary one. And to get that, I'd have to return to the underground dungeon beneath the Gaon of Light Main Temple.
'The keyhole to the human world from the Demon Realm is in the Demon King Castle...'
Simply having the key wasn't enough for gate travel.
In previous loops, I'd freely shuttled between the Demon Realm and human world because I lived in the Demon King Castle.
The gate entrance to the Demon Realm was the fortress island Killopoti, controlled by the Black Sheep cult, so I couldn't come and go at will.
Thus, to bind Balpador's power with the Existence Oath - Conclave this loop, I'd have to head to the Demon King Castle, pass through to the human world, and return.
My biggest hurdle right now: reach the Demon King Castle and open the gate without Balpador realizing I was the Demon King.
As long as he didn't figure that out, I'd be fine.
"Transformation time, huh."
I stripped off the Black Sheep cult robes I'd worn since Killopoti, gathered every ounce of divine power I had, and poured it into the Hero's armor.
Pachang!
The already eye-catching golden Hero's armor, now infused with divine power, blazed with even more radiant light.
Beyond the crumbling abyss sky, a fierce golden light—unseen in the Demon Realm before—blazed like the sun.
"Kuaaaah..."
Low-level demon soldiers disintegrated to dust at the mere touch of that light.
A mysterious golden paladin, face fully obscured by a helmet, soared up the pillar of light at its center.
"What the—?!"
"S-save me! My body's burning!"
Demon soldiers scrambled into the shadows of crumbling walls, screaming to escape the golden light that seemed ready to incinerate them.
"...?"
"...!"
Balpador and Baldr, swords locked, pulled back and turned toward me with baffling expressions.
Baldr especially so.
Pfft, old man. Careful, or lava's gonna drool out of your mouth.
I ignored Baldr gaping slack-jawed at me and addressed Balpador.
"Are you the Demon King?"
"...No. But..."
I cut off Balpador mid-sentence with a booming shout.
"I am!"
"?"
As I bellowed to the crowd, I activated the Hero skill.
Extermination Dimension.
◾ Extermination Dimension (Active)
⪡ Hero Kwon Mu-hyuk generates a massive sphere of light within 500m, inflicting mental attacks on enemies inside while gaining a critical hit chance bonus. Forms a sacred barrier on himself and allied forces who set out with him, blocking dark energy damage for 10 minutes. - Consumes 2000 Divine Power ⪢
Paaaaah!
"It's the Hero!"
With the enormous sphere unfurled behind me, it looked all the more convincing.
"I've come to slay the Demon King!"
"!"
"..."
The demon legions froze for a split second, then twisted into aggressive snarls.
"Grrr..."
"How dare you, against Lord Demon King...!"
I turned back to Balpador.
"So I ask again! Are you the Demon King?!"
"Ask a hundred times, the answer's the same. I am not the Demon King. But more powerful than that one..."
"Then it doesn't matter. I'm heading to the Demon King Castle!"
"No, let me fin—"
I ignored Balpador, whose domineering demonic aura was swelling with irritation at my interruptions, and extended a hand toward Baldr.
"You! Show me the way to the Demon King Castle!"
"?!"
Grabbing Baldr by the scruff, I rocketed toward the Demon King Castle where I'd once lived.
When the kidnapped people from the Black Sheep cult's main temple on Killopoti returned, the world erupted in chaos.
The place called the Black Sheep cult's main temple was unknown to the public, and no one had even heard of people being abducted there.
Of those abducted, only 20 had returned.
Most were prominent figures or celebrities, amplifying the shock.
People who'd vaguely dismissed the Black Sheep cult as just another religious group now grappled with evidence of their deep criminal entanglements.
Families of those who'd joined the cult and vanished had been shouting about it for years—now proven true.
"Viewers, can you see this? While the 20 miraculously rescued kidnap victims from yesterday morning receive hospital treatment, the Gaon of Light order provides ironclad protection."
"What happened? How did they escape that hellish fortress?"
"According to testimony from someone held captive by the Black Sheep Salvation Church for a full year, the place is a natural fortress..."
Reporters and officials from around the world swarmed to interview and safeguard them.
And word spread fast: they'd been saved by the Hero.
The Hero had single-handedly shattered the fortress's defenses, rallied the cult priests, and secured their safe release.
"Hero Kwon Mu-hyuk! Not even a week since awakening as the Hero, he accomplished what countless nations and powers couldn't: wiping out the Black Sheep cult's stronghold..."
"Without any prior operation or warning, the Hero's covert action rescued 20 long-suffering kidnap survivors. More on this..."
The Hero, who claimed major credit for the rescues, drew the world's spotlight. The Gaon of Light World Alliance—already buzzing from the 'Future Sight' ability user's rescue—declared full support for him.
"I endured because I foresaw the Hero coming to save us. And he truly did, so I could return alive. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
During an interview, Leah Shed bowed in Eastern style toward the camera, thanking the Hero.
Flashes exploded in unison.
Watching the scene on screen, the UHN chairman's forehead creased deeply.
"So the seed didn't sprout after all, you worthless fools."