Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Memories of the Demon Realm
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157
Blood flowed across the ground instead of water.
Where smooth asphalt should have been, cracks in the earth spewed fire and lava.
The corpses of gigantic monsters towered like buildings, forming entire districts.
And at the center, more bodies and rivers of blood, with screams and wails echoing up into the dark purple sky.
These were the memories of Count Ratlin.
Such was the Demon Realm.
'Even the Heavenly Demon Cult seemed like hell... but that was mere child's play.'
The Demon Realm Yong-un witnessed was hell incarnate.
No flesh remained on the corpses of dead monsters or demons.
It was nearly impossible to even find skeletons.
It was the epitome of a food chain—kill or be killed, eat or be eaten—pure savage wilderness.
To the weak, the Demon Realm was a wild hell.
At the pinnacle of that savagery stood the castles of monstrous rulers.
Around the Demon King's Castle sprawled countless fortresses, large and small.
Their lords were all demons of viscount rank or higher, blessed with power directly from the Demon King.
In Count Ratlin's memories, there must have been thousands of such castles.
They dwarfed even the hundreds of peaks in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
This was one colossal mountain.
A stronghold of Supremacy of the Strong, scalable only by the mighty.
Among them loomed a majestic castle that touched the clouds, incomparable to the rest.
An arrogant fortress with no defensive walls or watchtowers.
Its gates flung wide open, as if daring anyone confident enough to enter.
'Terrifying...'
That was Count Ratlin's emotion as he passed those gates.
A fear that made his legs tremble just from looking.
"Don't look. Staring at them would turn someone like you into a rolling corpse outside in less than five seconds."
Count Ratlin, following someone through the gates, froze stiff.
Among demons, the rank of count was no light title.
Across tens of millions of demons, it placed in the top 0.001% of power.
In other words, scouring the entire Demon Realm wouldn't yield a thousand demons stronger than Count Ratlin.
Yet the gates that chilled even him to the bone twisted the face of the demon leading ahead—clearly a troublesome place for that one too.
That expression flashed by, and the memory raced forward.
"I intend to form a contract with a human."
It jumped straight to just before Count Ratlin's contract with the hunter in the real world.
As always, the male demon from before was there with him.
"I hear contracting requires using humans who enter open gates... Can it be done here?"
Yong-un strolled behind Count Ratlin, hands clasped behind his back.
"A new method has emerged."
But this was merely Count Ratlin's past memory.
The two couldn't see Yong-un casually surveying his surroundings.
'This guy, huh.'
Yong-un circled the male demon as he continued speaking.
"The problem is, almost no demon can attempt it, and the risks are immense."
Like other demons, the male one had a sheep's head with horns.
For a demon higher-ranked than a count, his build was small.
Lean enough to pass for an ordinary human, with small wings too.
Yet Count Ratlin hung on his every word, his tone brimming with utmost respect, belying his own count title.
"Can even you, Lord Sheiks, manage it?"
The male demon's name seemed to be Sheiks.
Pity there was no title appended.
"That's why I called you. I plan to have you contract with the human."
"What must I do?"
"Simple. After sending you, I'll seclude myself for a year to replenish my lost power. In that time, seize a human body through the contract and build your forces."
"Once I have forces..."
"Once you've gathered strength, I'll cross over too. The only way to bypass gate laws... through a contract."
Count Ratlin's loyalty to Sheiks burned fierce.
The memory cut off, resuming from Sheiks forcing Count Ratlin into a contract with a real-world human.
'This rune again.'
Letters unlike any Yong-un had seen, spanning the martial world or reality.
Like Count Ratlin's spatial transfer, Sheiks summoned demonic energy and inscribed runes in the air.
'Definitely different.'
Worlds apart from Count Ratlin's teleportation runes.
Sheiks' swift hand and immense, unmeasurable demonic energy filled the space in an instant, completing the runes at blinding speed.
Not even Count Ratlin might recall this memory.
But soul-reading sorcery captured every detail.
Had he remembered, Count Ratlin could have inscribed Demon King runes too and pulled off the same feat as Sheiks.
'No, probably not.'
Watching the runes near completion, Yong-un revised his thought.
Endless demonic energy poured out, shaping the runes.
And finally, a far denser, more potent surge surpassing all prior output.
Yong-un gripped the Demon-Slaying Sword tight, staring into Sheiks' pitch-black eyes.
'Marquis? Or duke?'
He couldn't gauge it.
Sheiks' power and demonic energy stirred Yong-un's battle lust unwittingly.
But as repeated, this was Count Ratlin's memory.
Yong-un eased the energy into the Demon-Slaying Sword.
That was when it happened.
As Sheiks' hand finished the final rune—
Whoosh.
Sheiks' eyes turned, locking onto Yong-un behind him.
'Coincidence?'
No.
Sheiks' gaze fixed precisely on Yong-un.
Impossible.
This space didn't exist.
Just a fragment of vanished past.
How could their eyes meet so exactly?
"It failed."
No other words.
Sheiks, having foreseen failure, offered a bitter smile at the final rune.
"Can't turn it back now."
The runes glowed, exploding with demonic energy.
Count Ratlin's memory shattered, darkness swallowing everything.
Then Sheiks' voice echoed.
"We'll meet soon... human."
The darkened memory fragment faded like a lost soul piece, ejecting Yong-un from Count Ratlin's recollections.
The house of the Soul-Exterminating Ghosts.
The Soul-Exterminating Ghosts gathered before Barum, carrying the now-maddened Count Ratlin.
"A demon?"
Barum tensed at the extraordinary demonic power radiating from Count Ratlin.
This was right before Cheon-il, hypersensitive to demons.
But Barum soon relaxed, reading the Ghosts' expressions.
They cherished Cheon-il as much as he did.
No way they'd bring danger near the fragile boy.
"The Supreme One's command."
Barum nodded silently at Myung-su's words.
Then posed the next question.
"Why did the Supreme One send him here...?"
"To deliver to you."
"That demon?"
Barum eyed Myung-su curiously.
"I was wondering too. Did the Supreme One tell you anything?"
Myung-su shook his head.
No word had come.
"Nothing at all."
"He'll explain when he arrives. How could we fathom the depths of such a profound being?"
The battle-weary Soul-Exterminating Ghosts dispersed one by one to rest.
"Won't you rest too?"
Myung-su lingered, seated amid the departures.
"Worried, you know. Cheon-il's already so precarious—like how seeing a demon while drunk could endanger him. Better if I'm here."
Barum nodded, fully agreeing.
'A profound man.'
How did he find someone so perfectly suited as a leader?
Even from a demon's long-lived perspective, Yi Guihon Myung-su cut an admirable figure.
Regardless of human or demon, as a member of the group, Myung-su was exemplary.
"Whew, what a grind."
Unaware of Barum's thoughts, Myung-su wiped Demon Cry's blood with a rag and caught his breath.
The fierce battle showed— he set his two sheathed daggers down beside the rag and relaxed.
Crackle. Pop.
Then, in the once-quiet, peaceful room of Cheon-il, crimson-black sparks erupted everywhere.
Thud.
Myung-su's hands snatched the rag-wrapped daggers.
Shing.
Barum bared his blue claws and swiftly blocked before Cheon-il.
They locked eyes and spoke in unison.
"The Supreme One?"
"Supreme One...?"
Perplexing.
The energy in those crimson-black sparks was unmistakably Yong-un's Crimson Heaven Demonic Qi.
Since when could Yong-un use such a skill?
"Stay sharp, just in case."
Myung-su tightened his grip on the daggers.
Barum tensed his blue claws further, demonic energy rising.
Fwosh.
As they braced—
Yong-un appeared in a flash of light amid the sparks.
Crackle. Zap.
"Supreme One!"
Myung-su sheathed his daggers; Barum retracted his claws.
Both dropped to one knee, bowing in reverence.
They lowered their heads.
"But who's the man you're holding?"
The man in Yong-un's grasp.
Count Ratlin's final vessel, the sacrifice for Sheiks' descent, now lowered from Yong-un's hand.
Revealed before the bowed Myung-su and Barum.
"A human?"
"A person?"
Not Demon Cry.
Faint demonic traces lingered externally, but he was undeniably human.
How?
Yong-un had sent the Soul-Exterminating Ghosts and cleaved at this man with the Extreme Heaven-Cleaving Sword.
A supreme technique that could slice the heavens pierced him.
Yet he lived?
"He's human."
Yong-un declared firmly.
A human found in Demon Cry's cave?
Myung-su looked up and asked.
"The one trying to contract?"
Yong-un smiled at Myung-su's words.
"Does he seem it?"
"Yes, demonic aura clings outside, but nothing from within."
"Then it worked."
"Pardon...?"
"Brought him to confirm."
Passing the soundly sleeping man, Yong-un stood before the slumbering Cheon-il.
He drew the Demon-Slaying Sword, just as with the man.
"Supreme One..."
Barum eyed Yong-un anxiously.
Fearing perhaps no other way but death.
But Yong-un gathered his extreme intent and reassured Barum.
"Worry not. I've found the way."
Yong-un infused the Demon-Slaying Sword with extreme intent.
To free Cheon-il from Sheiks' contract, like the man.
He'd already tested it.
And confirmed success through the Ghosts just now.
'I'll sever your contract.'
No reason or time for hesitation.
With the method found, action was next.
His purple eyes blazed as his full power peaked, slamming one wall of the room like in the cave.
Veins bulged on the hand gripping the Demon-Slaying Sword.
Unlike the reckless swing at the man, Cheon-il was precious to the Ghosts and Yong-un alike—requiring utmost care.
"Everyone, withdraw from the Demon-Slaying Sword's range."
Preparations complete.
Now, cleave the invisible contract with the Extreme Heaven-Cleaving Sword, as if slicing the sky.
"Yes."
Myung-su bowed and rose.
Gripping the Demon-Slaying Sword firmer, Yong-un awaited only Barum's retreat to save Cheon-il.
"Supreme One..."
Barum stood.
But unlike Myung-su, he didn't step back.
Instead, he positioned between Cheon-il and Yong-un, dropping both knees.
"What are you doing?"
Yong-un's brow twitched.
Barum's obstruction baffled him.
"Supreme One... You plan to make Cheon-il like that?"
Yong-un glanced at the man freed from Sheiks' contract.
"Yes. Only then can Cheon-il be free of demons."
Steady breathing, no demonic energy left—not a trace.
Barum raised his bowed head, gazing up at Yong-un.
"If the contract breaks... this Yi Guihon vanishes too."
The indispensable Yi Guihon of the Soul-Exterminating Ghosts.
Cheon-il, who felled countless foes alongside them through demonization.
"I understand."
Barum feared losing that Cheon-il.
Not mere loss of combat power.
Barum worried for Cheon-il without demonization.
"Cheon-il has lived to aid you, Supreme One, and the Soul-Exterminating Ghosts. That brought him the greatest joy. But without it... can he bear that reality?"
Without demonization, Cheon-il couldn't fight as the Yi Guihon.
Even the demonic energy from Gongwoongsal Gong relied on demonization to roam battlefields.
Truly tragic.
A cursed child, unknown when contracted, who once loathed his own demonization.
Now it defined his life—a disaster turned blessing.
Parentless, raised in ignorance.
Recalling Cheon-il's short life, Yong-un's expression soured bitterly.
But!
"No other way. It must be severed. Else we lose Cheon-il entirely."
Barum bit his lip at Yong-un's resolute words and face.
"Forgive me. I know... no alternatives. Still, as his brother, I had to plead once."
Barum rose, unfolding his knees.
He turned, back to Cheon-il.
"Please, Supreme One."
Biting hard enough to draw blood, Barum squeezed his eyes shut.
Lacking courage to face despairing Cheon-il.
"Then, begin."
Yong-un's extreme intent stirred; Barum opened his eyes.
To comfort a demonization-lost Cheon-il, Barum steeled himself first.
He clenched fists to breaking point, tensing his body.
Soon, Yong-un's Demon-Slaying Sword unleashed Extreme Heaven-Cleaving Sword, whipping up gales.
Shwick.
Something severed.
Barum closed his eyes again.
Sensing Cheon-il's demonic energy scattering via his senses...
Barum bit his lip until blood welled.