Chapter 455: Conquest of the Demon Realm (10)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 455: Conquest of the Demon Realm (10)
Stagger.
Strength bled from his body.
Blood gushed from his pierced heart, and the dark mana, now freed from his control, scattered in all directions. Stripped of its magical power, his massive frame began to shrink. Finally reverting to a human-like size, the Demon King could no longer hold himself up. He crashed to his knees.
"How on earth..."
The final blow.
It had caught him completely off guard.
It was a strike he should have easily been able to react to, yet it slipped through his defenses so flawlessly that he only realized what had happened after his heart was pierced. He couldn't understand it. Having absorbed the dark mana, he possessed more than enough power to defeat Roman Dmitry. Indeed, Roman Dmitry had seemed wary of his destructive force, but looking back at the actual exchange, the Demon King had been overwhelmingly outmatched.
Why?
How could this have happened?
The Demon King himself did not realize that this outcome stemmed from a fundamental difference in their origins.
The Demon King and Roman Dmitry.
The two were entirely different entities.
To ordinary people, both might appear to have reached a transcendent realm, but the experiences they had accumulated to reach those heights were vastly different. The Demon King had been powerful from the very moment he gained consciousness. He manifested his authority without any special effort, and because of that, he was entirely unaccustomed to fighting on equal terms. The Demon King was an existence that had always overwhelmed whoever he faced.
But what about Roman Dmitry?
What about Baek Joong-hyuk?
When he had been cast down to the absolute rock bottom of life at a young age, Baek Joong-hyuk was nothing more than a weak boy by anyone's standards.
Yet, he never accepted defeat.
If he lacked strength, he would use a stone. Regardless of whether others called him cowardly, he did whatever it took to survive and win. That was how he crushed his competitors. He spared no means or methods. Once he ascended to the position of the Heavenly Demon, people revered him as a legendary figure, but until he reached that peak, Baek Joong-hyuk had not lived the noble, lofty life that others praised.
That was the difference.
When at a disadvantage.
When evenly matched.
When dominating.
Roman Dmitry had mapped out every possibility in his mind.
While the Demon King had never experienced being at a disadvantage, Roman Dmitry felt most alive when standing on the precipice of life and death. That was why he had used the Flying Sword Technique instead of the Heavenly Demon Sword Technique. Rather than simply trying to crush his opponent with raw destructive power, Roman Dmitry knew the shortest path to victory.
He had dominated.
The Demon King was simply no match for Roman Dmitry.
Step, step.
The sound of footsteps echoed.
Without answering the Demon King's desperate question, Roman Dmitry raised his sword high toward the helpless foe.
"You will serve as an example to all."
It was the end.
Just as he was about to swing his sword, the Demon King shrieked in desperation.
"Roman Dmitry! I propose a deal! I will tell you how to solve the problem of the Dimensional Laws!"
Halt.
The sword stopped.
With the blade hovering right above the Demon King's head, Roman Dmitry looked down with cold eyes.
* * *
Only after being pushed to the absolute edge of the cliff did the Demon King truly understand himself.
He clung to life too desperately to accept death just because he had been defeated.
The Demon King spoke rapidly.
"You are just like Alexander. If Alexander showed the power to collapse dimensions because he was an unforeseen anomaly, you have violated the Dimensional Laws simply by crossing over to the Demon Realm. What do you think will happen if you return to the Earthly World? A rift will form in the Earthly World within a few years at the earliest. Just as the Demon Realm experienced, it will rapidly turn into a wasteland where no living thing can survive."
It was the truth.
Since no existence in the world could be free from the Dimensional Laws, catastrophic problems were bound to arise if Roman Dmitry returned to the Earthly World as he was. Whether Roman himself knew this fact was not important. The reason the Demon King brought up this issue was because he could offer a solution.
"I will pass the position of Demon King to you. If you transcend human limits, you may not be completely free from the Dimensional Laws, but you can delay the occurrence of the rifts. Of course, for someone like you who will live an eternal life, a delayed future is not a perfect solution. But when that time finally comes, you can simply find a new world for the people of the Earthly World to live in. Within the dimensional space, there are countless worlds other than the Demon Realm and the Earthly World, and I am certain there is a new world among them suitable for humans to inhabit."
It was an intense, burning desire.
He showed a desperate attachment to life.
He wanted to live.
To accept death from a single defeat was unacceptable when he was certain he could grow even stronger in the future.
He just needed time.
Time to accumulate experience, just as Roman Dmitry had.
When that time came, he planned to turn the tables once more.
"Roman Dmitry. God does not look after the lives of mere humans. You must protect your own life yourself."
It was the best possible approach.
If Roman Dmitry accepted this proposal, the Demon King would gain another chance to live in exchange for handing over his throne. Come to think of it, invading other dimensions wasn't a bad idea either. He was willing to lend his strength to Roman's side until he was absolutely confident he could defeat him.
Think about it.
Invading other dimensions had always been his ultimate goal. Even if he had to achieve it by riding Roman Dmitry's coattails, his tedious life would be filled with excitement.
The Demon King's eyes gleamed with madness.
Coughing up blood from his ruined heart, he looked up at Roman Dmitry with desperate eyes.
"You and I are of the same kind. Take my hand. I will gladly build a new future with you."
The Demon King's proposal.
It was indeed a way to solve Roman Dmitry's problem.
* * *
The Dimensional Laws.
It was not a problem that could be solved simply by ignoring it.
Even if he defeated the Demon King, the moment he returned to the Earthly World, the world would plunge down the path of destruction.
Alexander and himself.
There was no difference between them in that regard.
However, from the moment he had conversed with God until now, Roman Dmitry's thoughts had remained perfectly clear.
God had said:
"If you reject my will and insist on going to the Demon Realm, I will have no choice but to make a decision to preserve the balance of dimensions. At that time, after a grace period, I will return you to your original world. Once you return to your original place, your soul will no longer cause any problems."
Those words.
That was enough.
God had stated that when Roman resolved all his issues and returned to the Earthly World, He would not stand by and watch its destruction; He would take action. If so, there was no reason to worry. After achieving all the goals he truly desired, Roman Dmitry would do what he deemed necessary.
The Demon King's proposal was not wrong.
If Roman Dmitry had a strong attachment to life, the offer would certainly have been worth considering.
"I do not desire eternal life."
Shink.
He pointed his sword at the Demon King's neck.
Looking down at him with cold, unwavering eyes, Roman continued.
"An infinite life is a curse to a human. If I accept your proposal, I might solve the problems before me, but I would only repeat a life that once plunged me into suffering. Having lived as Roman Dmitry, meeting a powerhouse like you, and getting to know my people—these facts alone leave me without a single regret. As I have always done, I will live my present life to the fullest and die as a human."
He repeated his ultimate choice.
Just as he had defied the Heavenly Mandate at the moment of his Ascension to Immortality, Roman Dmitry wished to die as a human once again.
The Demon King stared at Roman Dmitry.
It was miserable.
He, the defeated, clung so desperately to life, yet what kind of life had Roman Dmitry lived to accept his impending reality so calmly? Servile, wretched words welled up in his throat. But now that even his final proposal had been rejected, he did not want his death to be pathetic.
"...Damn human. I ask you one last thing. Even if you die, are you truly confident you won't regret it?"
He asked for Roman's true feelings.
To that, Roman Dmitry raised his sword.
In his past life, and in this one.
In his life lived as a leader, he had absolutely no intention of leaving behind any element that threatened himself or his people.
Therefore...
"That, too, is my choice."
Flash.
With a single, decisive strike, he severed the Demon King's head.
* * *
At that same time.
The Rear Guard was in hell.
Unlike in fairy tales, their strong resolve to fight with their lives on the line was quickly drowned out by horrific screams.
"Aaargh!"
"Aaaah!"
Screams echoed from all directions.
Swarms of pitch-black demonic creatures tore into the soldiers' flesh. No matter how fiercely they resisted, they could not overcome the sheer weight of numbers. Many died. With soldiers falling everywhere he looked, their commander, Chris, had already given up on survival.
'But I won't die easily.'
Flash.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
With every strike, the heads of demonic creatures flew into the air.
Chris pressed forward, slicing down everything in his sight.
His body had already reached its absolute limit.
From the moment he set foot in the Demon Realm until now, he had not been allowed the luxury of a proper rest. To fill Roman Dmitry's shoes, Chris had refused to sit idle. He constantly monitored his surroundings. Every time he checked on the men and pushed toward the impossible, he felt the crushing weight of Roman Dmitry's absence.
'My Lord is not simply strong in martial power. How on earth did he bear this burden and carry all of us on his shoulders?'
It was awe-inspiring.
People believed in fate.
Chris was not a fatalist, but he truly believed that Roman Dmitry was born to be a leader.
In truth, he knew it now.
His dream of surpassing Roman Dmitry was truly a pipe dream. Even if he were granted eternal life, he would never be able to achieve it. But now, the outcome did not matter. He simply loved the fact that he was moving toward the summit that was Roman Dmitry, and he was proud to stand by the side of such a man.
He gritted his teeth.
He channeled his Aura.
He had already slain hundreds of creatures, but he could not stop here.
Beyond the pitch-black darkness, Roman Dmitry was waiting.
He did not want to show a disastrous result—that the Rear Guard had died helplessly—to the man who had trusted them and shouldered all their burdens. He did not doubt for a single second that Roman would be victorious. Roman Dmitry would surely win, so Chris wanted to prove himself worthy.
Rumble.
Ruuuumble.
He charged forward like a madman.
Though he had broken away from the formation alone, Chris slaughtered every demonic creature he encountered, no matter how many surged toward him. He lost all track of time. Plunging into the endless darkness, Chris burned through his very life force.
His mana was reaching its absolute limit.
If he depleted it all, he would burn up his very existence and die, even if it meant consuming his Primordial Energy.
It was then.
"Screeech!"
"Grrrr..."
Suddenly, chaos erupted among the demonic creatures.
The monsters, which had been surging forward like a tidal wave just moments ago, hesitated. Then, as if by some unspoken agreement, they scattered in all directions. It was a bewildering sight. Having prepared himself for death, Chris could not comprehend this sudden turn of events.
Abruptly, Chris looked in the direction of the Demon King's Castle.
To explain this sudden mass flight of the demonic creatures, there was only one possible explanation.
"My Lord has won."
It was certain.
Roman Dmitry.
He had done it.
* * *
He hurried.
There was no time to catch his breath.
Leaving the wounded behind for now, Chris led the remaining soldiers forward, preparing for any unforeseen circumstances.
"Hurry!"
What if the enemy wasn't just the Demon King?
What if Roman Dmitry was still fighting?
Chris prepared for the worst, and the swordsmen of Dmitry followed him despite their battered bodies. Simply defeating the Demon King could not be called a true victory. They had to confirm with their own eyes that Roman Dmitry was alive and well.
It was then.
In the distance, a familiar silhouette appeared.
As the figure grew clearer, Chris's eyes shook violently.
"...!"
It was Roman Dmitry.
He was walking toward them.
And in his hand, a severed head—presumably the Demon King's—dripped blood onto the ground.