This Time, We Go Together
Plop.
Plip-plop.
"Keh-heh-heh. Oh dear, oh dear… It seems I took the Absolute One far too lightly."
Lucifer, half his body gone in an instant, burst into laughter.
He had seen the flash of light—and after that, he hadn't even managed to react.
Sssssshhh.
With half his form vanished and his power spent, Lucifer's lingering will began to scatter into dust.
"Baek Do-ha. Let's meet again for sure."
Lucifer wore a grotesque smile—one that almost looked like a lover waiting for a reunion.
"Yeah. Let's meet again for sure. Next time, I'll make certain to snuff out your life for good."
"Kahahahaha! I like you even more."
Sssss…
Even to the very end, Lucifer's will dissolved completely, still laughing as if he found it all endlessly amusing.
In any case, that one wouldn't be able to move right away. Do-ha had inflicted a grievous wound when he stormed the Demon Realm, after all.
Of course, until recently I thought I'd killed him…
How had he survived with his wings and heart torn out?
Back then, Do-ha had ripped out the heart of the Lucifer who had tormented him to the bitter end with his bare hands.
And yet, as he'd just seen, the bastard was still alive.
Crack.
"Our Emperor. I never knew you had a hobby of being tied up."
Do-ha freed Dimerof from his restraints.
The dragon's energy had long since vanished as well.
Knead. Knead.
"Feels good to be free, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. It does."
Whoosh!
Thud!
Dimerof, still rubbing his wrists, immediately drove a fist into Do-ha's face.
"…Ow."
Do-ha stroked his cheek.
"That covers the crime of vanishing without a word to us."
"I'm sorry."
Do-ha offered a bitter smile.
When he had gone after the Demon God, he had left his comrades behind and gone alone without so much as a word of warning.
"Were we that untrustworthy?"
Dimerof's expression twisted with anger.
Why leave every last comrade behind and go alone?
Why refuse to trust his friends and fight the Demon God on his own?
How much had they regretted and grieved, believing Do-ha dead all that time?
"No."
Of course not.
These were friends he could entrust his back to—there was no way he didn't trust them.
"First, I didn't want to lose anyone else."
Beyond the friends still with him, he had already sent off countless bonds over forty years in the world of Belhart.
Even if his heart had always yearned to return to his original world where his grandfather waited, the bonds he formed while in Belhart had been precious all the same.
So he had gone alone.
Because he never knew who might die next.
Even if he returned to Earth, he had not wanted the precious bonds remaining in Belhart to perish.
"Second, I was arrogant."
He had believed he could handle the Demon God and the Demon Kings well enough on his own.
He might not overturn the entire Demon Realm, but he thought he could slash its fighting strength drastically.
And in truth, he had reduced that strength.
But alone had not been enough.
He had succeeded in cutting the Demon Realm's power, yet the colossal wall that was the Demon God had remained.
That was why, upon returning to Earth, he had reclaimed Paju and built a base there.
So that this time he would not repeat the same mistake.
"So this time, let's go together."
Swoosh.
Do-ha held out his hand to Dimerof.
"Even if the place we're going together isn't some fine tavern but a Demon Realm full of pits of fire… this time, let's go together."
"…"
At the gesture, Dimerof's eyes widened in surprise.
This guy, saying something like that…
They had spent forty years side by side.
Because of that, he knew just how enormous a change these words from Do-ha truly were.
"But that bastard Lucifer is mine."
Grip.
In the end, Dimerof smiled and clasped Do-ha's hand.
Swoosh.
"Do… Do-ha! Are you all right?!"
The moment Do-ha, who had kept his eyes closed, released his hand and opened them, Emilton rushed over.
Just moments ago a surge of energy had erupted, and a luminous light had poured from Do-ha.
She had felt his realm rising as well.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Wh… what happened?"
"…Sorry. Dimerof's dead."
"…What?"
Emilton's face froze solid in an instant.
Swoosh.
Then Dimerof forced his exhausted body upright and scolded Do-ha.
"She's already having a hard enough time. What kind of joke is that?"
"Hey!!"
Thud!
In the end Emilton kicked Do-ha square in the shin.
"Argh! You little…"
Clutching his shin, Do-ha started to say something, then promptly shut his mouth.
Emilton had thrown herself into the arms of the now-conscious Dimerof.
She's not usually this emotional…
He could tell how much she had suffered.
Even with the power of a 7-Circle mage, there had been nothing she could do—how helpless must she have felt?
Watching a dying friend, she would have blamed herself endlessly.
Hmm. The joke went a bit far for someone in that state.
But what could he do?
They had spent forty years teasing and tormenting each other just like this.
"Emilton… I'm dizzy."
"Ah, sorry."
At Dimerof's words, Emilton wiped her tears and pulled free of his embrace.
The moment he came to, she had acted emotionally without realizing it.
"Did you two talk a bit?"
"Yeah."
At her question, both Do-ha and Dimerof nodded.
Before leaving the inner world, the two of them had spoken about everything that had happened.
In reality it would only have been the span of a single breath, after all.
"We're going to be busy from here on. We have to establish exchange with the Earth where Do-ha lives, and we have to deal with the Demon God Cult that's reappeared."
Swoosh.
Dimerof, who had been lying in bed, threw off the covers and climbed out.
"Can you move?"
"Don't worry."
He was still a little dizzy, but this much was no problem.
His energy hadn't vanished, and Emilton had already finished treating every wound.
He was just a touch hungry from not eating, that was all.
Shhhhhhhh.
Crunch.
Crack.
As Dimerof, now out of bed, circulated his aura, his body began to grow larger by degrees.
More precisely, it was returning to its original form.
Muscles hard as steel swelled once more, veins rose across his frame, and vitality began to course through him.
Whoa. This guy… just how much has he trained?
Sensing Dimerof's energy, Do-ha marveled inwardly.
Having gained enlightenment in the inner world and risen to Super-Peak and the 6-Circle, his senses had grown sharper.
Because of that, Dimerof's energy registered even more clearly.
If he breaks through just one more wall from here, he'd be at the level I was when I fought the Demon God, wouldn't he?
But that final wall was the problem.
Even Do-ha himself had needed five years to surpass it.
"You broke through a realm earlier too, Do-ha."
"Yeah. I felt it."
Dimerof looked at Do-ha.
While they were in the inner world, he had felt Do-ha crossing that wall.
"By the way, still only Super-Peak… isn't that a little slow?"
"Tell me about it. It's been months since I returned to Earth and I've only just reached Super-Peak."
"?"
"?"
"What?"
When Dimerof and Emilton tilted their heads, Do-ha, watching them, tilted his own head in turn.
Why were they looking at him like that?
"A few… months? Not years?"
"Yeah."
"You reclaimed an entire city, recovered Un-jeop-bi-jang, wiped out several criminal organizations on Earth… and you did all that in a matter of months? Not even a full year?"
"Ah, did I not mention the time frame?"
"…"
When Do-ha tilted his head, Dimerof shook his own.
He had assumed years had passed…
So in a mere handful of months he had become Super-Peak and a 6-Circle mage?
Emilton standing right beside them had devoted her entire life to training and was still only 7-Circle.
That wasn't slow—that was an absurd rate of growth!
"…I really, truly hate both of you."
Emilton's face twisted with irritation.
Damn geniuses.
It wasn't even like they were trying to mock her.
She had poured decades into reaching 7-Circle, and Baek Do-ha had climbed to 6-Circle in a few months.
And wasn't Dimerof a genius too?!
"Ugh, just die, all you geniuses."
Emilton stormed out of the room in a huff.
The funny part was that even she was an unmatched genius when it came to research—someone no one else could hope to catch.
"Leaving already? We're throwing a festival—at least stay for some drinks and food."
"I've got a lot to do back home. I still have to look after the reconstruction of Paju."
"I'll head to Earth too once I've sorted a few things out."
"Don't throw your weight behind either side. You know that, right?"
"I've got emperor seniority of my own. No way I'd do that."
"Huh? You used to hate that 'seniority' talk."
It was a phrase Do-ha had always used while he was in Belhart.
Of course he had—he was an Earthling who'd done his military service, after all.
But every time he said "seniority," Dimerof had hated it.
"Well… once you start using it, it just sticks."
"Heh. See? It grows on you before you know it."
"…Do-ha. Just take the throne back…"
"That seat isn't mine."
Cutting Dimerof off, Do-ha shook his head.
Sit on the emperor's throne again?
He couldn't.
In the past he had taken the crown because he had believed that would be the end of it.
But that seat was not his.
"I'm an Earthling. So my place is somewhere else."
"Fine. I understand."
"More than anything, the emperor's seat suits you. Me, I'm more the mercenary type."
"That's one terrifying mercenary."
"Right?"
Zwaaaaaang.
"Do-ha! Teleport's ready. We'll move straight to the portal—no, to the Gate leading to Earth."
While the two of them bantered, Emilton approached after finishing the teleport preparations.
The coordinates near the Gate had been unstable, so recalibrating them had taken a few minutes.
"Don't tell anyone I've returned."
"Don't worry. I'm not an idiot… Ah, not even Je-woo?"
Dimerof, who had been nodding, tilted his head.
If Je-woo learned Do-ha was alive, he would leap for joy.
"Yeah. Don't tell him. I'll give him a proper surprise soon enough."
"…Your mischievous streak is acting up again. All right."
At those words, Dimerof shook his head.
How was it that Do-ha was just as mischievous now as he had been as a kid?
Hmm. Not 'as a kid'—this is the kid period for him, isn't it?
"I'm going."
Thump.
Do-ha clapped Dimerof once on the shoulder, then teleported away with Emilton at once.
"Levi."
Whoosh!
Once Do-ha had vanished, Dimerof, still standing in place, called a name—and a figure appeared before him.
"You've worked hard protecting me."
"…Not at all. I'm simply glad you've awakened, Master."
Levi Belman.
Dimerof's disciple, the Emperor's Sword, and a Sword Master of the empire.
"You saw everything, I take it."
"Yes. When the former emperor returned, I was truly astonished."
When Emilton had brought someone into the room, Levi had almost raised his sword without thinking.
But the moment he saw the face, he had nearly cried out.
Wasn't this the former emperor, long believed dead?
"You could have come out and said hello."
Do-ha had doted on Levi since the boy was small.
Levi was Dimerof's disciple in name, but Do-ha had taught him a great deal as well.
"I wanted to, but Master's awakening came first."
"How did you know that guy would wake me?"
"Because he is the one called the Absolute One. I believed he would find a way to wake his friend—my master—no matter what."
"You brat."
Dimerof patted Levi on the shoulder.
"You saw and heard everything, so you already know what to do first."
"Yes. I've already tracked down every last rat hiding inside the empire."
At Levi's report, Dimerof nodded.
Members of the Demon God Cult.
It was time to purge the ones lurking within the empire.