Chapter 50: The Remnants

The fake Demon King probably didn't have many powers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that could actually be useful.

The skill he acquired, Blood Terraforming, created blood pouches in a special subspace to collect the blood he absorbed from victims, then borrowed dark energy through them as a medium.

It occupied a similar position to Death Terraforming, in that you could kill a designated target and turn them into a blood zombie to use as a minion.

But since the revived target turned into a zombie, its utility was limited, and it couldn't move autonomously outside of direct commands.

Plus, that black hole he called the "gate to the demon world" wasn't a true dimensional gate to the demon realm—it was just a regional teleportation gate. So the monsters pouring out were probably just ones generated on Earth.

Even so, the combination of skills Chairman Kal had obtained—like Blood Terraforming and the ability to create inter-city movement gates—wasn't a bad setup for conquering or destroying this Earth.

The problem was that his opponent—me—was both a hero and a Demon King. That was Chairman Kal's fatal mistake.

He'd pushed forward Lea, a user of holy power skills who was practically a saintess, probably hoping to curb the Gaon of Light Order's dominance and create a weakness against me, the hero.

But his luck ran out there.

The precognitive ability user Lea had foreseen that she'd be defeated by Chairman Kal and tipped me off in advance.

After I took down the chairman, the black hole teleportation gate vanished, but the remaining monsters were still writhing and snarling, so I had to shoulder the unconscious Lea and clean them up.

"Aigoo! Hero! Leave Miss Lea to me and fight freely!"

Knight Commander Jung Hyun-seop, who'd been watching me, waved his hand and rushed to my side.

"No, it's fine. I can handle this weight no problem while fighting."

"The hero might be okay, but carrying her like that could hurt Miss Lea's back!"

"……Ah, right."

Even with all the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drama in the Gaon of Light Order, they clearly had a special affection for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lea Shed.

After handing Lea over, I turned around to see the Pope and the holy knights had already swept away the monsters and were raising cheers of joy.

"Waaaaah!"

"We defeated the Demon King! We defeated the Black Sheep!"

"The world is safe now!"

"Kuhuhuuk!"

In truth, Chairman Kal was a Red Sheep, not a Black Sheep……

But there was no need to step forward and remind these celebrating folks of that fact.

"This is all thanks to the hero! I can't express my heartfelt gratitude enough, hero!"

"Haha, yeah……."

The Iron-Blood Pope grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously up and down, shouting in emotion.

"Long live the hero! Long live the Pope!"

"Waaaaah!"

Everyone cheered for me, shedding tears of joy.

"Thanks to the hero sharing his holy power with us before we entered, we all completed our mission safely!"

"Right! The holy power surging through us was worlds apart from our previous battles!"

"Without the hero, there would've been massive casualties."

Everyone around me nodded, offering their sincere thanks.

Having someone praise me in such a bright atmosphere felt incredibly awkward, so I cleared my throat softly and changed the subject.

"……By the way, what happened to the branch representatives who went outside?"

"Ah, the branch heads are being protected by the escort teams from each country who were waiting outside, so no need to worry."

"There was fierce fighting outside the conference hall too, but Chairman Kal's forces weren't as numerous as expected, so we subdued them."

"I see. Chairman Kal must've planned to move his troops through the teleportation gate—what he called the demon world gate."

"True, an insane number of monsters came pouring out of that so-called demon world gate."

I looked straight at the Pope and said,

"We've smashed the Black Sheep Cult's headquarters and caught the Demon King, so now my brother and I can enter Yoram, right?"

"Hm? Ah, of course! If anything, the Gaon of Light Order should be requesting it from you, hero! Just having 'the hero who defeated the Demon King is in Yoram' will draw crowds of believers!"

As expected, the Pope seemed more interested in the order's rise and fall, but if it meant my brother could live comfortably and safely, I didn't care about the rest.

My mouth kept twitching upward, which was quite annoying.

……

…………

……………

The world's media raced to report on the Demon King's emergence and the hero's exploits.

Before the UHN summit, I'd tipped off the Iron-Blood Pope, who half-believed me but still gathered reporters around the venue in advance. That let the full story spread even faster.

The journalists from various countries, who had only shown up expecting a bland report on the Hunter Association and Gaon of Light summit results, struck gold with the scoop of the century.

Shocking reports that UHN Chairman Kal Rutley was a Black Sheep Cultist and had become the Demon King. Monsters bursting into the summit hall. The hero Kwon Mu-hyuk's astonishing feats in subduing the transformed chairman.

And the journalists who witnessed and heard the fierce battle outside between the branch reps, knights, and World Alliance hunter troops as they tried to escape—some even got injured in the crossfire but still delivered detailed accounts.

"Chairman Kal! Chairman Kal was the Demon King! This is insane!"

"The hero and Demon King are fighting inside right now! We need backup troops fast!"

"Kuhuk! Our Italian branch head……!"

Once the battle wrapped up somewhat, the branch reps who escaped safely gave vivid testimonies about what happened inside.

Above all, the Iron-Blood Pope's ingenuity in broadcasting the entire scene live via artifact footage shattered any lingering doubts.

He'd been embroiled in controversies over the saintess's residence before, so he knew better than anyone the power of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the media. He'd anticipated that if something went wrong at the summit as I warned, video evidence would be essential.

His artifact streamed the conference hall's events live to broadcasters worldwide, letting viewers watch it all in real time.

Viewers watching the stream live exchanged opinions in the chat at breakneck speed—too fast to read most of it.

While the world's reactions and excitement were still buzzing, massive battles erupted between the remaining Black Sheep forces within the World Hunter Association and the Gaon of Light Order alongside non-cult factions.

Even now, some in the cult refused to acknowledge me as the hero or Chairman Kal as the Demon King. Unwilling to accept the cult's downfall, they put up fierce resistance.

"Even with the Demon King dead, these guys are vicious."

"We can't let our guard down. Canada was the first place the Black Sheep planted their seeds, right? With so many awakeners, the resistance won't be easy."

Jung Hyun-seop and Pope Cheon Myeong-jin spoke tensely.

The World Hunter Association's Canadian branch had coalesced around Black Sheep cultists and hunters chasing their power, forming a massive force.

When the Association was seen as a force for good, their true nature stayed hidden.

But now that their leader was exposed as the Demon King—and considering the hunter troops that filled the summit hall were Canadian—the cult's infestation there was obvious to everyone.

The Canadian branch had already declared independence from the Association upon Chairman Kal's death, proclaiming itself the Black Sheep headquarters. That's why we'd gathered forces from Association branch heads worldwide to attack it in close coordination.

The plan was simple.

The Gaon of Light holy knights and I, the hero, would enter first. Fifteen minutes later, the Association's support troops would follow.

Unlike the holy power-armed holy knights, the international support troops could easily be corrupted by the cult's dark energy, so this was the precaution.

We'd purge the contaminated area first, then the supports would enter.

I strode forward into the Canadian branch.

"We advance too!"

"Waaaaah!"

Jung Hyun-seop and the holy knights followed behind me.

The Iron-Blood Pope had to stay at the command post, maintaining a holy power barrier and purification over the support troops' area.

Kugugugung!

Suddenly, a massive wall erupted in front of us.

'A construction-type awakener, huh.'

Pung! Peung! Pung!

Cannon-like barrels popped out from the wall, firing at us.

I activated Dimension of Evil Extinction to protect myself and the knights.

"Our attacks are bouncing off the barrier!"

A panicked shout came from atop the wall.

"Amp up the power! Level up the cannons more!"

"Ignore the scrub holy knights—target the hero first!"

Even stronger shells rained down on me.

Kwagwang! Kwagwagwang!

There was no issue blocking them, but I couldn't just sit there taking it.

"I'll handle this place, so knights, move to the rear and press the assault!"

"Got it! Hero!"

Jung Hyun-seop and the knights fell back, continuing the purification.

"The knights are ditching the hero and retreating! Now! Concentrate fire!"

Peung! Peupeupeupeung!

Kwagwagwang!

They blasted me relentlessly, but their attacks were too weak to pierce my infinite holy power barrier from Dimension of Evil Extinction.

I narrowed the wide barrier to wrap just my body and leaped atop the wall.

Kung!

Shocked faces stared at me from above.

"Who was it that just attacked me?"

"Huh?"

A small voice came from one corner of the wall.

Wide, terrified childlike eyes stared at me in fright.