Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Onbiroad's Last Demon Clan Seal
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“This can’t be happening. This is impossible. To think I’d end up like this at the hands of some lowly commoner….”
Demon of the Helparis clan, Jarillo, staggered with the right half of his upper body blown clean off.
An irreversible wound.
His death was all but certain.
And yet, even so, Jarillo refused to accept the reality before him.
The one who had obliterated his upper body was a fellow Helparis—another of his own kind, no less—but a mere commoner, not even a noble.
Compared to Jarillo, who held the rank of baron, there were two whole ranks separating them: knight and sub-baron.
And yet, a single punch from that commoner had torn off his upper body….
“How are you using your power without any restrictions? How? Grrgh!”
Thud!
Even as the last flicker of his life burned out, Jarillo hurled his question into the void, consumed by an unresolved doubt.
But he never received an answer. His breath gave out, and in the eyes of his fallen form lingered the image of the marquess he served.
“Kra ha ha hat! I, Shepalt, suffering such humiliation in this pathetic backwater at the hands of mere commoners! Kra ha ha ha ha! Kra ha ha ha ha!”
Marquess Shepalt of the Helparis clan burst into mad laughter, unable to comprehend the reality before him.
Around him lay three Molti Elite Jiangshi and eight Sa-rank Jiangshi, all felled.
This was the extent of his achievements after exhausting every ounce of his power.
Impressive in a way, but utterly insignificant when considering the Jiangshi that still remained.
The ones Shepalt had destroyed were all part of Geon-woo’s soul-linked Hundred Man Unit Jiangshi.
Not a single one from the Imperial Guard was among them.
“You’re the marquess, right?”
At that moment, Geon-woo approached Shepalt, who was lost in his frenzy.
By Geon-woo’s side was Pang, flanked left and right by the Imperial Guard Jiangshi providing escort.
Well aware of how formidable the Helparis leader could be, Geon-woo had brought the Imperial Guard along without dropping his guard.
“Usurper?”
Shepalt halted his laughter and stared at Geon-woo, seeking confirmation.
“That’s what they call me.”
Geon-woo didn’t deny the moniker of Usurper.
How many Demon Clan seals had he seized from both Onbiroad and Earth?
The title had stuck because of it, and Geon-woo had more than enough accomplishments to wear it proudly.
“A worthless wretch not even fit to be called a commoner! How? How did you trick the system?!”
Like the deceased Jarillo, Shepalt burned with curiosity over the incomprehensible situation.
“Irregulars pop up everywhere, don’t they? Like Easter eggs.”
Geon-woo shrugged it off casually.
“You think a glib answer like that will suffice here?”
Shepalt glared at Geon-woo sharply, as if trying to discern truth from lie.
“What’s the big deal? I just brought the power you used back in your dimension, restrictions and all.”
Geon-woo repeated himself.
Shepalt’s face grew even more hollow at the response.
“You truly have no idea, do you? You ignorant fool.”
“What?”
“Kra ha ha ha. No, on second thought, it’s even more absurd that a thing like you has brought me to this. Of course, yes, that’s it. Ha ha ha ha ha.”
Shepalt let out a string of dry, manic laughs, as if suddenly struck by his own predicament.
“Is it that surprising that I made these?”
Geon-woo glanced at the Jiangshi and posed the question to Shepalt.
It’d be nice to get an answer, and there was no harm in asking.
“You have no clue how many restraints I had to endure just to come here.”
Shepalt shot Geon-woo a mocking look as he spoke.
“A marquess like you must be someone even I couldn’t dream of facing back there. Hell, even these guys here are stronger than you.”
Geon-woo replied with a knowing expression.
But Shepalt only sneered at him harder.
“Hah ha ha ha. Pathetic worm. In your terms, you’re not even a frog in a well—you’re a frog in a bucket.”
“What?”
“You think your little Earth or this Onbiroad can even compare to our dimension?”
Shepalt spoke of the vast gap between dimensions.
But his words only backfired.
“Ha ha, then why’d a bunch of superior types like you bother with a dimensional expedition?”
Geon-woo’s mocking laugh turned the tables on Shepalt.
No matter how grand they acted, from Geon-woo’s perspective, the Demon Clan were nothing but invaders.
If Shepalt’s words held true, then these supposedly mighty dimension-dwellers had swarmed to conquer a worthless one.
By contrast, Geon-woo had repelled those very invaders and claimed victory in the dimensional war.
And here was a loser mouthing off.
“This is just a momentary lapse on my part. Yes, the battle’s decided anyway. Let’s end it here. But….”
Shepalt’s face flushed red at Geon-woo’s ridicule.
“But what?! You said let’s end it. What’s with the ‘but’ now? You always this long-winded?”
“Grrgh. Never set foot in our dimension. If you ever ascend there, I’ll hunt you down and tear you apart myself.”
“Hmm? From what I hear, anyone who comes to Onbiroad can’t resurrect even after death. You saying you’re the exception? That you can come back to life?”
Geon-woo pondered the meaning behind Shepalt’s warning before responding.
“You’ll understand once you experience a higher dimension someday. When you learn the truth then, I hope you don’t take your own life out of fear of me. Kra ha ha ha ha. For that to happen, you must ascend to the higher dimension. You must. You absolute….”
Shepalt uttered words Geon-woo couldn’t comprehend, then erupted into booming laughter.
And when the laughter and words faded, no life remained in Shepalt’s body.
“What? He’s dead?”
Pang, who had been watching from the side, couldn’t hide his bewilderment at Shepalt’s sudden death.
Whoosh! Fwoosh!
“Damn, this guy’s thorough.”
Moreover, white flames suddenly erupted from Shepalt’s corpse, incinerating it in an instant.
All that remained was a new Helparis seal that flowed into Geon-woo’s possession.
“Another Helparis seal?”
The new seal he sensed within his consciousness felt far larger and more refined than the previous one or any of the other clan seals he’d acquired so far.
“A seal?”
Pang asked.
“Yeah. This one looks way higher class.”
“Still useless in the end, right? Those only matter here on Onbiroad.”
“Yep. But you know I can’t just toss it out once it comes to me.”
“Why not just die once? If you kill a Demon Clansman, doesn’t the seal go back to the original owner or heir?”
Pang teased, suggesting that as a way to ditch it if it bothered him.
But.
“Wonder if there are any Demon Clansmen left. Actually, there must be some still hiding out.”
The Helparis marquess had been the last seal bearer among those who joined the Onbiroad expedition.
There were likely stragglers who’d fled or remained unfound, but no Demon Clan seals remained on Onbiroad.
That meant Shepalt’s death truly marked the end of the Demon Clan’s expedition to Onbiroad.
“Onbiroad’s safe now.”
Pang murmured, his face swelling with a sense of profound emotion.
“Probably. But it won’t be the same as before.”
Geon-woo said as he walked toward one side.
There floated the ethereal form of a spirit.
= My lord. Congratulations on your victory.
The spirit clasped its hands together, bowing deeply toward Geon-woo in greeting.
‘Good work, you too.’
Geon-woo praised the spirit as he surveyed the battlefield.
Tens of thousands of creatures and hundreds of Helparis demons lay slain.
Despite the fierce battle, the only destroyed Jiangshi were those felled by Shepalt.
“He was strong, I’ll give him that.”
Geon-woo muttered, eyeing the ruined Jiangshi.
“The marquess?”
“Yeah.”
Geon-woo nodded at Pang’s question.
“Enough about the dead marquess. What was that about Onbiroad not being the same as before? You saying the Demons might come back or something?”
Pang asked with a ‘no way’ expression.
“Nah, the expedition’s over. The seals indicate all passages to their dimension are sealed shut.”
“The passages are blocked? So that Rrat Rohit magic circle’s useless now too?”
Pang sounded genuinely disappointed at the thought.
“No, that’s not it. Their dimension isn’t going anywhere, and the Rrat Rohit circle doesn’t use system-linked passages anyway.”
“Phew, that’s a relief. But come on, spit it out. What makes Onbiroad different now?”
Pang pressed, wondering what the real issue was.
“The people of Onbiroad have learned things they never knew before. They’ve confirmed the existence of other dimensions—Earth and the Demon Clan’s realm. Plus, there are still Ark Capsule users around.”
“Users aside, just knowing about new stuff is a problem?”
“It’ll change their entire mindset. Probably like the discovery of the New World.”
“Like when Europeans found the Americas?”
“No, more like the Native Americans who got ‘discovered.’ Though unlike them, they repelled the invaders.”
“Oh, got it. Yeah, that’ll be different. And you mentioned a bunch of kingdoms have fallen in the meantime.”
“Minor stuff compared to that.”
“Minor?”
“Compared to awakening to dimensional wars and exchanges, a few vanished kingdoms are nothing. Anyway, Onbiroad’s sorted, but Earth….”
Geon-woo trailed off, his expression souring mid-sentence.
After securing the Prophet’s Obelisk from the first sanctuary, it had taken four whole years to wipe out the Demon Clansmen on Onbiroad.
Geon-woo and Pang had spent most of that time here.
As a result, the Molti Imperial Guard Jiangshi and Hundred Man Unit had nearly eradicated the Demons, leaving not a single seal bearer alive.
But in that time, Earth had changed in ways Geon-woo hadn’t wanted.
“A world where humans, demons, and implant users coexist? What kind of peace is that?”
“It’s partly your fault, you know? All that talk about tolerance for the marginalized started right after the Holocaust incident.”
“Haa.”
Geon-woo let out a deep sigh.
As Pang said, after the purge of the Demon Clan autonomous zone, buzzwords like the weak, the marginalized, minority races started cropping up. Before long, calls for ‘togetherness’ and ‘coexistence’ gained traction.
He’d tried ignoring Earth to avoid the sight, but now they were calling it an era of peace, with demon-possessed bodies and bio-armor implant users keeping a polite distance while living side by side.
“What’re you gonna do? Flip it all upside down?”
Pang asked Geon-woo in a sly tone as he sighed.
“No need. Everyone says things are good now. No reason for me to meddle.”
Geon-woo shook his head.
“Then? You’re just gonna let it be? I thought you hated that kind of setup.”
Pang’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Hate it all you want, starting a rampage isn’t easy. I’d become public enemy number one.”
“Nothing scares you. You could turn the whole Earth upside down if you wanted.”
“Ha ha ha. Nah. I’ll just use the Prophet’s Obelisk to qualify for a higher dimension. That marquess practically begged me to come up.”
“That’s not what he meant.”
“…….”